Chapter 976

               

Gooooooo!

Raphael’s severed head moved on its own. Her distorted blue eyes turned to Raon.

“You…”

Raphael’s gaze seethed like lava, reflecting both shock and bewilderment.

“Didn’t I tell you? A dove can’t comprehend the phoenix’s will.”

Raon brushed off the chilling murderous intent emanating from Raphael, a smirk playing on his lips.

‘I don’t need to hide my power from the Celestial race, even if I do from others.’

Derus Robert was the one who summoned Raphael. It was obvious he would have told her about him, so there was no need to conceal Wrath’s Authority.

‘It’s a shame, though.’

It would have been better if that was her main body.

That Raphael seemed unharmed despite her head being severed, because she was just an avatar.

If it had been her main body, he might not have been able to kill her, but he could have dealt a significant blow. He regretted not achieving that.

“How dare a mere human!”

Raphael shrieked, her voice tearing. Her murderous intent towards Raon spread throughout the entire Balkan kingdom.

Faaaaaa!

As malice erupted from Raphael, a faint light began to return to the eyes of those who had been captivated by her.

“Huh…?”

“That, that’s an angel?”

“It’s like her very nature has changed?”

“Not an angel, but a demon…”

The people who had been offering devout prayers swallowed hard as they watched the transformed Raphael.

“Ha?”

Olga, more surprised than anyone, stared at Raphael, biting her lip until it bled.

“I was told to leave you alone, but it seems right to crush an impudent bug.”

The Scale Staff in Raphael’s hand flickered with golden light, unleashing a massive Divine Power.

The light was so bright that it was difficult to open one’s eyes properly.

Woooooong!

The light that rose from the end of the staff reached the sky, turning into golden lightning that crashed down.

“Ugh…”

The speed at which the thunder fell was much faster than expected. Just as he was about to bend his knees to avoid it, someone stepped forward.

“How dare you…”

It was Glenn. He hadn’t moved even when thousands, no, tens of thousands of people were affected, but as soon as Raon was in danger, he unfolded his arms and raised his hand.

“Who do you think you’re touching?”

Without even drawing the Heavenly Tremor, Glenn raised his fingertips, summoning red lightning.

Kwarurururung!

The crimson lightning that poured out with his immense rage tore apart the golden lightning summoned by Raphael.

Puhuhuhuhuh!

The Sky-Piercing Thunder Art that Glenn unleashed not only erased Raphael’s lightning but also incinerated her remaining body.

“You, it was you…”

Raphael exhaled in disbelief.

“To be born as a human and gaze at the heavens.”

As she glared at Glenn, biting her lip, Raon moved his fingertips.

Faaaaaa!

The Wooden Wheel Sword, shot out with Void Slash, fell, imbued with the same Sky-Piercing Thunder Art energy as Glenn.

Puhuhuhuhuk!

Raphael’s head was pierced by the Wooden Wheel Sword, and she began to turn into black ash and crumble away.

“You…”

“It is because we endure countless pains, are exhausted by cold and heat, and sometimes cannot sleep because of nightmares, that we are human.”

Raon raised his chin, watching the black fragments of Raphael scatter.

“…So, a human, is it? Good words.”

Raphael, as if she had accepted her end, did not show the anger she had displayed earlier, and slightly lowered her one remaining eye.

“But the time given to you is running out. If you wish to be saved, wait for me. Wait for the Celestial Realm.”

Her last voice, like when she first descended, carried a warm aura as it spread throughout the Balkan kingdom.

Hoooosh.

Raphael’s last remaining right eye turned to dust and scattered, her avatar completely disappearing.

“Hoo…”

Raon bit his lip, watching the slowly darkening sky.

‘Knowing she couldn’t win now, she tried to enthrall the people, at least?’

Even as her avatar was being erased by him and Glenn, she tried to achieve her purpose in coming here. She was a woman of great caliber, worthy of the title of Archangel.

-Didn’t this monarch tell you! She’s the most insidious of them all!

Wrath gnashed his teeth as he looked at Raphael, annoyed.

-But it’s a relief that you cut her down for sure. If you hadn’t moved, all the humans here would have fallen into that bitch’s arms!

He patted his shoulder as if he had done well. He never praised him normally, but he seemed unable to tolerate anything related to the Celestial race.

“Is this right?”

“To cut down an Archangel…”

“Are we even killing angels now? Well, he is the Sword Emperor, so I guess it’s to be expected.”

Raphael’s charm seemed to vary depending on the human’s power. The strong had already regained their senses and were shaking their heads as they looked at Raon.

“If, if you kill an angel, aren’t you a demon…?”

“Well, his personality is already demonic. Maybe we should just accept it.”

Dorian and Krein also regained their senses and laughed among themselves.

“That’s right. Our Lord of Light Wind Palace is closer to a demon than an angel.”

Burren agreed, a faint smile on his lips.

“Leaving aside angels and demons, he’s just crazy. How did he even think of cutting her down?”

Martha still seemed dumbfounded, exhaling in disbelief.

“Today, he was so.freaking.handsome.”

Runaan simply raised her thumb, saying he was amazing.

“Hoo, I feel kind of tired?”

“Yeah. Was that even an angel?”

“I don’t know. When she was cut down by the Lord of Light Wind Palace, she seemed like a demon…”

The leaders of the forces following the Five Kings, as if awakened from Raphael’s charm, swallowed hard and conversed with each other.

“Raon! Well done!”

Ogram was amazed and struck his shoulder with his large hand.

“How did you break through that barrier? Surely its power wasn’t that different from mine!”

He nodded, marveling at it.

“It seemed like there was something special contained in his swordsmanship.”

King Lecross also approached, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Our kid is originally beyond comprehension!”

Chamber waved her hand, telling them not to ask such things and just accept it.

“Our kid?”

Glenn frowned, looking at Chamber.

“I cannot accept that statement!”

He rarely raised his voice, glaring at Chamber.

“No, why are you getting angry…”

Chamber, flustered, took a step back.

“……”

Larian, as if deep in thought, was only looking up at the sky with sparkling eyes.

“Hmm…”

Raon turned his gaze away from the Five Kings and looked at the leaders of the neutral forces who had not yet made a decision.

They still had dazed expressions, as if they had not completely escaped Raphael’s charm.

‘This is not good.’

Thanks to Raphael revealing her true nature in the middle, her charm wasn’t completely effective, but it wasn’t without influence.

‘If martial artists are like this, the ordinary people of Balkan must be even worse.’

He thought he could easily borrow the power of the remaining neutral forces through the Five Kings Conference, but it seemed Derus had no intention of just standing by and letting that happen.

‘She said the time given to us is running out?’

Raon clicked his tongue, looking at the sky that had darkened again after Raphael disappeared.

‘Then we need to move even faster.’

-That’s right. Tear off all the wings of those Celestial bastards!

Wrath nodded, saying he had thought well.

‘Speaking of which…’

Raon nudged Wrath and tilted his head.

‘Do you happen to have something like the Song of the Demon King?’

* * *

A dim space where warm particles of light scattered.

Piiiiik!

A red line was drawn across Raphael’s neck, and blood, so red it seemed sacred, flowed down.

“Ha…”

She wiped away the blood with her fingers, letting out a hollow laugh as if in disbelief.

“You’re telling me the wound inflicted on the avatar was brought to the main body?”

Raphael stared at the blood on her fingertips with trembling eyes, unable to believe it.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

A man leaning back on a black sofa raised his head. Derus Robert. He curled his lips with a slightly pale face.

“Raon Zieghart is a being more special than the Celestial race or the Demon race.”

Derus removed his black leather gloves. Sticky blood flowed from a wound on the back of his hand.

“This wound, which even you, the Archangel of Protection, could not heal, was also left by him.”

Derus’s eyes narrowed as if he was excited by the pain transmitted from the wound.

“Why did you tell me not to kill that human? If he has such abilities, it would be better to deal with him quickly, wouldn’t it?”

Raphael narrowed her eyes.

“Because there are many ways to use him.”

“Ways to use him?”

She tilted her head, as if asking what he meant.

“Raon will be a great help in our final war.”

Derus lightly flicked his fingertips, saying that she would know when she reached the end.

“……”

Raphael crossed her arms with a displeased expression.

“Enough about Raon. How was it? Are the bugs following you?”

Derus shrugged, as if asking if the trip to Balkan had gone well.

“Thanks to that human you told me not to kill, it wasn’t fully accomplished.”

Raphael slowly shook her head.

“But my voice and Divine Power remain in the minds and bodies of the humans. Even if it’s not to the level you wanted, it will have a significant impact.”

She nodded, saying that there would be many people who would doubt their fellow humans.

“As expected…”

Derus clapped his hands lightly, saying he had believed in her.

“I’m glad I summoned you next.”

He smiled, saying that it was worth the effort of summoning her.

“In terms of overall power, we are still at a disadvantage. The Five Kings won’t leave their injuries as they are.”

Derus frowned, saying that the current balance would be broken the moment the leaders of the Five Kings recovered.

“That’s why your role is important. I hope you will continue to draw the bugs to our side.”

“…Human.”

Raphael lowered her gaze, which was curving towards Derus. A chilling aura rose above her blue eyes.

“Watch your words. I am not your subordinate. I am merely…”

“Going the same way? I know it well. Archangel.”

Derus bowed slightly to Raphael, saying he knew it well. He slowly got up from the sofa and approached the door.

“Rest for a while. And heal that wound.”

Derus waved his hand lightly and disappeared from the dim room.

“Raon Zieghart…”

Raphael bit her lip, holding her neck, which was still bleeding.

* * *

The next day.

Raon re-entered the Balkan Conference Hall and stood behind Glenn.

Originally, the festival should have continued, but due to the sudden appearance of Raphael, only the leaders of the Five Kings held an emergency meeting.

“What’s with these Archangels keep coming down!”

Ogram slammed his fist on the round table, annoyed.

“Archangels are at the highest level even within Transcendence, so it’s no exaggeration to say that Derus’s side has two Five Kings attached to it.”

King Lecross sighed deeply, saying that the situation was not good.

“That’s not right.”

Chamber shook her head, tearing open a candy bag.

“In reality, it might not be the second one. They might be hiding other Archangels.”

She said it wasn’t good to think with certainty and put a candy in her mouth.

“Hmm, that’s right…”

King Lecross lowered his eyebrows, saying he had made a mistake.

“It seems it wasn’t the time to hold a festival.”

Xanthos frowned, saying that the situation had changed in just one day.

“Yeah. We shouldn’t have been happy about catching the Black Tower Lord. We should have moved faster.”

Chamber also sighed, saying she regretted it.

“To think that wasn’t even the main body, but an avatar, is absurd.”

She gnashed her teeth, asking where such a damn ability came from.

“If this is the case, we should see the war situation as unfavorable.”

King Lecross bit his lip, saying that the Four Demons’ side seemed to be stronger.

“Still, we can win enough if we recover our strength.”

Ogram clenched his fist, saying that if he, Lecross, and Chamber returned to their original state, they could win the war.

“That’s true. But…”

Chamber narrowed her eyes, looking at the corner of the round table.

“Why is one of the ones who are fine so quiet? He was just standing still yesterday too?”

Chamber stared at Larian, who was wearing a robe and muttering incomprehensible words to himself.

“…Aren’t you trembling?”

Larian slowly raised his head. An unknown formula filled his eyes, which had been full of shyness and annoyance.

“It’s a Celestial. And an Archangel from legends at that! The avatar and protection abilities alone are astonishing, but what else are they hiding?”

Larian twisted his lips, covering his flushed cheeks as if he was too curious.

“I want to dissect that pure white body. Cutting it slightly with a dagger and extracting the Divine Power. It’s a rarer existence than the Demon race.”

He uttered a series of chilling words, to the point where one couldn’t tell what his original personality was.

“There it is. That cornered mage’s true nature…”

Chamber shook her head, saying it wasn’t good.

“Hey. You should recover quickly too.”

She gestured lightly to King Lecross.

“Yes. It won’t take me that long.”

King Lecross nodded, saying that he had only not overdone it, but had almost completely driven out the aura of death.

“What about the people who saw Raphael?”

Glenn turned his gaze to Xanthos.

“For now, all the Grand Masters have recovered.”

Xanthos nodded, saying that all the Grand Masters had escaped Raphael’s charm.

“However, those below that level still seem to have Raphael’s words stuck in their minds. It doesn’t seem like a simple charm magic.”

He shook his head, saying that the weaker the martial power, the stronger the power of the charm seemed to be.

“We need to solve that first.”

Glenn frowned, saying that there was no reason for them to gather here if they couldn’t erase the aftereffects left by Raphael.

“That’s true.”

Chamber bit her lip, saying that they couldn’t send them out of the royal capital before erasing it.

“It’s already difficult enough to find the Four Demons, but we’re wasting time.”

She shook her head, displeased.

“There is a way to quickly get people out of Raphael’s charm.”

Raon said that it was also a quick way and stood in front of the round table.

“And there is also a way to find the Four Demons. Of course, it’s not perfect.”

“There’s a way to erase Raphael’s aura?”

“And to find the Four Demons?”

“Is that true?”

The leaders of the Five Kings widened their eyes at the same time.

“Yes. First of all…”

Raon looked at the leaders of the Five Kings at the round table and revealed a fierce gaze.

“Let’s poke the lizard’s nest first.”