Ch.143Chapter 143 – Fallen Angel (1)

“Humans! Hateful products of God!”

Black-winged angels fell to earth.

While the descent of angels in sacred paintings is typically depicted with a holy atmosphere, the reality was nothing like that. The fallen angels, filled with twisted killing intent as they flew down to hunt humans, resembled a flock of crows swarming to peck at corpses.

“Why would angels… urgh-“

With most forces already lost to the vampire disturbance, there was no fighting spirit left when angels, beings only seen in myths, attacked them. People scattered in despair, only to be pierced by the spears of angels attacking from above.

Yet among the despairing masses, there were a few with determination. Hunters who had crossed over from Earth. Pioneers of a new era who grew stronger by hunting powerful demons and pursued wealth and honor.

Guilds hoping for dispatch to Eden were evaluated by the Hunter’s Guild for sufficient military power and received approval from the association. In other words, all hunters in the Empire were veterans, composed entirely of high-ranking B-class hunters or above.

Confident in their abilities, they viewed the appearance of the Four Heavenly Kings as an opportunity. A chance to rapidly elevate their guild to one of the world’s finest. Since humanity had successfully vanquished the Four Heavenly Kings twice before, they thought it wouldn’t be too difficult this time either.

“These guys seem to be B-class on average, but their regeneration is terrible, so guns work! Push them back with firepower before they touch the ground!”

Machine guns fired toward the fallen angels filling the sky. Heat rays at 1,200 rounds per minute turned the front lines into a honeycomb.

“They may be high level, but they’re nothing special!”

“Keep firing! Just watch out for their spears!”

The fallen angels were initially confused by the unfamiliar weapons but soon began to respond. Those in the rear ranks muttered dark incantations. Dark light gathered in their hands, healing the wounds of their comrades.

“…Monsters with healers?”

The tide of battle reversed in an instant. Bullet holes were filled by spells. Holy incantations, once exclusive to angels and clergy, were now performed with corrupted power.

The moment the machine guns became mere scrap metal, fear finally settled in the hunters’ expressions.

Chaos erupted. Each time the fallen angels threw spears from the sky or cast spells, screams erupted from the ground. Even the elite hunters, no matter how skilled, couldn’t turn the tide. They were already at an absolute disadvantage in numbers.

What was happening now was one-sided hunting and desperate struggling.

“We’ll be annihilated at this rate! Strike the head! That one giving orders earlier!”

A hunter pointed at Lucifer observing the battle from above. One of the Four Heavenly Kings. The entity commanding these numerous fallen angels.

Generally, when a boss is defeated, their subordinate monsters are significantly weakened. Therefore, there was only one way to break this situation: defeat Lucifer.

“If we can just get… just get their leader!”

Hope filled the hunters’ eyes. Each used their skills—the single power granted to each individual.

Between the wings covering his eyes, Lucifer’s gaze shone.

“Oh, so this is…”

Lucifer’s gaze observed the incoming skills. His penetrating look thoroughly dissected the structure of each skill and understood its principles.

“The sensation of manipulating the system… worth learning. Is this how it’s done?”

“Huh? My skill?”

The skills launched by the hunters lost control and froze in mid-air. An unprecedented phenomenon. While the hunters were bewildered, Lucifer began to act.

Various attacks bloomed according to Lucifer’s will. Fireballs, ice chunks, lightning, rocks—the very skills that had been flying toward him moments ago.

“Impossible… he copied our skills?”

Skills now several times more powerful than their original forms flew back toward their owners. The hunters hastily used skills to construct barriers, but their defenses shattered before the enhanced versions of their own skills.

Fallen angels dove through the broken formation, rampaging among the hunters. Blood and flesh splattered messily.

“Lord Frederick, please send reinforcements!”

Meanwhile, Kwak Tae-woo, watching the battle from the imperial palace, tried to rush out to help the hunters. But Lord Frederick held him back with a stern expression.

“What are you doing? We need to hurry and help those people…! Master?”

“…You need to escape.”

Lord Frederick’s gaze was fixed on two shadows flying directly toward them from the sky. Fallen angels called Satamael and Azazel. Concentrations of terrifying demonic energy approached at frightening speed. Even Lord Frederick couldn’t guarantee victory against them.

Kwak Tae-woo protested angrily.

“What nonsense is that? You’re telling me to run away alone?”

“Don’t be stubborn. These are enemies we cannot handle. At such times, one must know when to retreat for the future.”

“Then come with me, Master!”

Without taking his eyes off the fallen angels, Lord Frederick spoke calmly.

“The Empire is already finished. You already know this, don’t you? The vampires have destroyed all our infrastructure, including the magic cannons. Even if we repel the Four Heavenly Kings here, the Empire cannot stand on its own again.”

“…”

“As the Empire’s last knight, I will share its final moments with my homeland. But you are still young. You have many days left to live…”

“Ugh…”

“Run to the gate connected to Earth now. I’ll hold those two back.”

The most brilliant sword aura Kwak Tae-woo had ever seen enveloped Lord Frederick’s sword. A flame ignited by drawing upon even his life force. It was the fighting spirit of burning one’s life.

Kwak Tae-woo felt as if he’d been struck in the head.

‘He’s already decided his end.’

Once he’d drawn upon his life force, there was no way Lord Frederick could survive. Potions could only activate cellular healing, not replenish life force.

Kwak Tae-woo realized that Lord Frederick would make him escape no matter what. That even at the cost of his own life, he was staking everything on an unwinnable battle to ensure his disciple’s survival.

Facing his master’s back as he burned with fighting spirit against mythical beings, Kwak Tae-woo quietly offered his final farewell.

“…Thank you for everything.”

As Kwak Tae-woo turned and ran, Lord Frederick’s final words reached him.

“Kwak Tae-woo, my final disciple from another world! As your master, I offer one last piece of advice. Your sword is lonely. It’s the sword of an asura who fights alone, expecting nothing and relying on no one. Fighting alone while guarding all directions makes you scattered.”

Lord Frederick’s sword faced forward. The blue-burning fighting spirit of the old knight entered an extreme state to cut down the two erratically flying fallen angels.

“Trust your comrades. Leave your back to them and focus only on what’s before you. Then surely a new path will open before you.”

The spears of the two fallen angels, flying in irregular orbits to confuse the eye, rushed toward Lord Frederick. The form of the old knight who had protected the Empire for fifty years blurred for an instant, and then came the sound of collision.

‘Next time, next time I will surely—!!!’

Behind him, the explosive sounds of metal clashing against metal rang out repeatedly. Kwak Tae-woo didn’t look back. He just ran with all his might, seeking his own survival, silently swallowing his feelings of helplessness, anger, and inferiority. Just as he always had.

***

“Earth was created as an alternative to Eden to harvest faith? According to you, just a thousand years ago?”

Shin Jae-hyuk was bewildered by the claim that Earth’s creation was essentially part of a “two-track strategy.” The Sage’s words didn’t make sense. By rough calculation, Earth had been determined to be over 4.5 billion years old, making it chronologically impossible for it to have been created so recently.

“You think it’s chronologically impossible? Consider the Holy Grail that can turn back time. Elohim can manipulate even the flow of time using the system.”

“…Are you saying that time flows differently between Eden and Earth?”

“You already suspect this, don’t you? Although the time speeds returned to normal when the gates opened between the two worlds, Earth was originally a world where Elohim artificially accelerated time. It was a measure to rapidly increase Earth’s civilization and population. You know that the Hero, despite appearing to be around twenty due to his transformation, actually spent a hundred years in Eden and Hell, don’t you?”

The Sage was right. When Kim Jae-min returned to Earth after spending over a hundred years in other worlds, only about ten years had passed on Earth.

Shin Jae-hyuk nodded in agreement. But it was too early to completely lower his guard. There were still unresolved questions.

“I’ll admit there are no logical flaws in what you’re saying. But it’s still hard to believe. You still haven’t explained why Satan is on your side, or what your true purpose is.”

How could one not question the motives of a being who, as the Demon King, had slaughtered tens or hundreds of millions, suddenly approaching as an ally? It was a situation that twisted lifelong common sense. Even though Satan had consistently shown goodwill toward Shin Jae-hyuk, caution was necessary.

“Satan and I have been collaborators since his days as the Demon King. Though called a Demon King, he was essentially Elohim’s pawn and harbored rebellion against Elohim. Not long after I acquired divinity, he approached me proposing an alliance, saying that Elohim intended to become an absolute god, destroying and recreating this world.”

The moment the Sage acquired divinity, he learned the truth of the world and Elohim’s plans, while Elohim simultaneously noticed the emergence of a new god. To Elohim, the appearance of a Sage who could manipulate the system like himself felt threatening. Therefore, he released the Fallen, Elohim’s pawns, across the continent to kill the Sage.

The Fallen massacred magicians throughout the continent searching for the Sage, nearly eradicating magic users from Eden. Hermes Leonhardt fled from the Fallen, roaming everywhere to escape, and that’s when Satan approached him.

Satan proposed cooperation to stop Elohim’s plans and helped Hermes cross over to Earth, away from Elohim’s eyes. On Earth, the Sage subtly wove Eden’s stories into Earth’s culture, making people familiar with Eden’s demons and monsters. Just as ignorance breeds fear, knowledge dilutes it.

Meanwhile, the Sage developed a plan spanning hundreds of years to counter Elohim. While the Sage formulated plans against Elohim with his exceptional intellect and near-prophetic insight, Satan, with his ability to open gates and disguise himself, executed those plans.

“What exactly is this plan?”

“There’s not enough time to explain a plan spanning hundreds of years in full. I’ll only tell you the part where we need your help.”

The Sage closed his eyes and elevated his mind to a distant place. Eyes that could see a thousand miles watched the situation in Eden.

“But before that, let’s wait for our guest for a moment.”

***

Kwak Tae-woo ran.

Scenes of hell flashed by.

Angels cursing God joyfully tore apart God’s creations, playing with them like toys. Kwak Tae-woo wanted to rush out and stop the massacre, but he couldn’t.

‘You need to escape.’

His master’s final request wished for Kwak Tae-woo’s survival. He had to honor that request.

Kwak Tae-woo tried to think coldly. It was clear that even if he alone charged at the fallen angels, the Empire couldn’t avoid destruction, and it was equally clear that his master had no chance of survival against the two fallen angels emanating the aura of S-class bosses.

While his master held back Azazel and Satamael, Kwak Tae-woo needed to get as far away from Satamael as possible. To ensure his master’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.

So Kwak Tae-woo ran with his eyes tightly shut. Ignoring both the scenes of one-sided slaughter and the hands reaching out for help, he sprinted at full speed toward the gate connecting Pyongyang and Eden.

“Damn it, damn it all—!!”

If only someone would stop him. If he could fight an enemy, the guilt might be less, but that didn’t happen. Even the enemies ignored his flight. No fallen angel dared touch Kwak Tae-woo, marked as Satamael the Angel of Death’s prey.

Then came a sonic boom from behind. Kwak Tae-woo glanced back and swallowed hard.

‘How so soon!’

The angel called Satamael was pursuing him at a terrifying speed. Judging by Azazel’s absence, Lord Frederick hadn’t fallen yet, but he had failed to completely hold back Satamael.

As the saying goes, “above the runner is the flyer,” Satamael steadily closed the distance between them. Kwak Tae-woo moved his legs desperately but couldn’t shake off Satamael’s pursuit.

‘He’s catching up!’

Just as Kwak Tae-woo thought he would be caught, a familiar voice reached his ears.

“Kwak Tae-woo. It’s me, me.”

“Huh?”

Beside the running Kwak Tae-woo, an angel’s red eyes gleamed ominously. The angel’s face writhed like formless clay, then transformed into the handsome face Kwak Tae-woo knew. A snake-like voice greeted him.

“Hello there.”

“Satan?”

“I’ve come to get you. So.”

Satan snapped his fingers. The next moment, both of them vanished without a trace.