Ch.145Chapter 145 – Fallen Angel (3)

“Too easy.”

In just three hours after Lucifer’s descent, the empire fell.

Streets were scorched, buildings collapsed, and no living creatures were found on the ground. The moment anything was seen stirring, fallen angels swarmed like bees, reducing survivors to rags.

Azazel, the angel of burnt offerings, polished the horns on his head that had been soiled in battle and smacked his lips. He had expected a thrilling fight, but the hunt ended before his body could even warm up. He spat out a complaint.

“Truly, they’re weak beyond measure. The only opponent who put up a decent fight was that old Sword Master at the beginning… Did King Belphegor and Belial really fall to such vermin?”

Lucifer, who had been watching the massacre from the sky, chided Azazel.

“Pride is forbidden. Our true enemies are not these insignificant humans, but the Holy Knight and the Hero.”

It was ironic. Lucifer, known as one of the Four Kings of Pride, was advising a subordinate not to be arrogant.

Yet Azazel did not mock Lucifer’s contradictory behavior and instead bowed his head respectfully.

“Yes, Lord Lucifer. More importantly… what are your observations of these ‘Hunter’ creatures?”

“I’m quite satisfied.”

Various elements swirled above Lucifer’s hand. No incantation or spell words were heard.

Azazel swallowed his astonishment.

‘She really did replicate it. What terrifying talent. To copy a completely unfamiliar type of technique after seeing it just once….’

The elements dancing freely above Lucifer’s hand were skills that the Hunters had used against the fallen angels moments ago. Techniques operating on mechanisms completely different from existing magic, divine spells, or martial arts.

“It’s a curious feeling. To indirectly interfere with the System. Surely God feels this sensation at every moment.”

The beautiful voice revealed excited emotions.

“Hehe. If I can research just a little, just a little more, I could reach the same level as God…”

Lucifer’s past is famous. An angel who, intoxicated by her own power, dared to rebel against God. And as punishment, was banished from Heaven and fell to Hell as the Morning Star.

Trapped in Hell, Lucifer had abundant time to ruminate on the reasons for her defeat. After hundreds of deliberations, she reached the same conclusion.

‘I was too proud.’

In her pride, she overestimated her own power and underestimated God’s. She challenged an enemy whose level she didn’t fully understand, and consequently, was defeated as expected.

‘Then how can I become stronger?’

The answer was simple. She must abandon her prideful mindset. She must become humble.

She needed to break free from the illusion of being the strongest and be willing to learn from anyone who possessed qualities superior to her own.

From the moment she reached this conclusion, Lucifer never lost her attitude of learning. Of course, in the demonic ecosystem, normal teacher-student relationships couldn’t exist, so Lucifer received one-sided “teachings” from her “teachers.”

In other words, Lucifer copied others’ techniques.

Lucifer observed her learning targets and imitated their strengths. Being naturally talented, she could replicate a master’s actions in a single attempt. What took others decades to master, Lucifer acquired in just one observation.

By never hesitating to learn from those better than herself, Lucifer could continuously grow stronger.

Yet even now, having secured her position as one of the Four Kings, Lucifer still felt her power was insufficient.

The overwhelming gap she felt when facing Elohim. There was a realm in Elohim that couldn’t be challenged by merely learning a few more techniques.

‘Divine power. The ability to manipulate the System… I must acquire it. That is the minimum qualification to face Elohim.’

That’s why Lucifer decided to deploy to Earth to research the System. To understand the principles of the “skills” used by the Hunter species.

By continuously mastering skills, she would eventually reach a level where she could perfectly manipulate the System.

“The first step toward this goal has been successfully completed.”

Looking down at the burning empire, Lucifer let out a satisfied smile. The invasion plan was proceeding smoothly so far. The thought of successfully buttoning the first button made Lucifer content.

“Indeed, being summoned to Eden rather than directly to Earth was the right judgment—it’s less burdensome for the summoning and there’s less chance of encountering the Hero. Now, shall we finish the first phase of our plan?”

Lucifer’s mind recalled a miracle once demonstrated by Elohim. A miracle used to destroy cities fallen to sin. She vividly remembered in her heart how to use that miracle.

Ominous colors gathered at the tips of her twelve pairs of wings. A contradictory light that was both blindingly bright and as dark as midnight in winter.

“I bring judgment upon this sinful land where not even ten righteous people exist.”

Flash. The light of punishment that once destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah struck the city. The miracle Lucifer performed faithfully recreated the biblical account.

A miracle that transforms inorganic matter into salt. Buildings directly hit by Lucifer’s beam all turned into pillars of salt. The concrete foundations, now transformed into salt, collapsed under their own weight. From the sky, burning sulfur rain fell, melting the buildings that had turned to salt.

“It’s as if the final day prophesied in the scriptures has arrived. The day when all things are judged… Everything that Eloah loves is burning. How beautiful…”

Azazel murmured dreamily. Fallen angels hate everything God loves as much as they hate God. This was true for both Azazel and Lucifer.

Among the crumbled salt hills, only blue lights maintained their form. Gates connecting to various places on Earth like Pyongyang, Paris, Rome. Lucifer pointed to the gates and declared:

“Now all the world that Eloah loves shall burn like this. Go, angels of Gregory! Beyond those gates lies a world where humans dwell!”

“Death to the hateful humans!”

“Equal punishment to all creation!”

The fallen angels cheered as they passed through the gates. The invasion had begun.

***

“This is as close as we can open a gate. If we open it too close, the Demon Lord might notice.”

Shin Jaehyuk and Kwak Taewoo surveyed the desolate landscape. The disorienting dust, the sulfur mixed in the air. This was undoubtedly Hell.

“To think I’d walk into Hell again with my own feet…”

Kwak Taewoo grumbled quietly. Shin Jaehyuk remarked as if newly realizing:

“Come to think of it, neither of us is new to Hell. That’s fortunate in our misfortune.”

“No. I only wandered around the Demon King’s castle, so I don’t know Hell’s geography beyond the castle’s structure.”

“Wait. Then who’s going to guide us?”

Neither of them knew where Asmodeus’s territory was.

“Satan, are you going to guide us?”

“No, I’m busy. Besides, if I’m spotted by other demons, the current Demon King might learn of my survival. I can’t take that risk.”

“Then how do we find Asmodeus’s territory?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve prepared one of my contractors as a guide. If you head east, you’ll meet him. He’ll find you.”

Shin Jaehyuk looked in the direction Satan pointed. An endless desert stretched to where the horizon faded.

‘Desert…’

It wasn’t a particularly pleasant place for Shin Jaehyuk. Wasn’t the desert also where Iscariot, Sabah, and God betrayed him?

As his mood sank with bitter memories, he turned to ask if there was a way to bypass the desert, but Satan had already disappeared.

“…He’s already gone.”

“Hah… nothing we can do.”

Shin Jaehyuk received weapons from Kwak Taewoo, gripping a spear in his right hand and a mace in his left. Just as Longinus had done in the past.

“Well then, let’s go.”

The two pilgrims, fully armed, took their first steps onto the sand.

***

When the fallen angels invaded the empire, no unusual signs were detected on Earth.

The gates that separated the two spaces did not allow light or air to pass through, making it impossible to observe what was happening on the other side through sight or sound.

Naturally, radio communications didn’t work either, so unless someone came across directly to report the situation beyond the gate, there was no way for Earth to know what was happening in Eden. Such desperate attempts were consistently thwarted by fallen angels, so there were no signs of attack until just before the fallen angels crossed over to Earth.

Thus, the attack began when no one on Earth was prepared. Fallen angels poured out like hornets from the centers of major cities around the world.

The soldiers guarding the gates were bewildered. Unlike the black gates connected to Hell, they believed that demons would never emerge from the blue gates connected to Eden.

The other side of the gate was the heart of the empire, the most heavily fortified place in Eden. Through months of exchange, Earth’s people were convinced that the empire was thoroughly protected from demons. So they hadn’t stationed many troops around the gates.

It took only an instant for what was originally an efficient trade route to transform into an infiltration path for the enemy. A dagger struck unexpectedly from the heart of the empire, which they had thought was the safest.

“Huh? Sergeant, what’s that?”

“Monsters? No, why would monsters come from there? Wait… why are there so many?”

Confusion is an emotion that momentarily makes the body sluggish. While the bewildered soldiers stood dumbfounded at the unexpected situation, the fallen angels’ slaughter began.

The soldiers, whose duties had been limited to checking if criminals were mixed among gate users, couldn’t respond appropriately to the surprise attack. In contrast, the fallen angels acted swiftly, drawing on their experience with modern firearms in Eden.

A circle of machine guns surrounded the gate. This was a mandatory defensive measure installed in case enemies appeared from the gate. It was a minimal precaution for situations like this, but unfortunately, the enemy moved too quickly.

The fallen angels, spotting the long barrels, recalled the weapons used by humans in Eden. And their power.

“Human weapons! Destroy them!”

Before the machine guns surrounding the gate could aim at the invaders, the fallen angels’ attacks rained down. The expensive machine guns became skewers, impaled by angels’ spears before they could fire a single shot.

With the most powerful countermeasure gone, the soldiers’ defeat was all but certain. The rifles’ firepower couldn’t overcome the fallen angels’ healing spells. Concrete covers were shattered in an instant by the aerial spear cavalry’s charges, and the hiding soldiers were reduced to pieces of meat.

Resistance was futile. A grenade thrown by someone bounced off a protective barrier created by dark magic, not even touching a hair on the fallen angels. Instead, fallen angels who had looted firearms from fallen soldiers accelerated the massacre.

“Weapons that spew lightning from the end of a cylinder! Is this how they’re used?”

When winged soldiers were given guns, an air squadron was instantly born. And in a clash between infantry and fighter aircraft, the outcome is usually predictable. The fire network of fallen angels who had secured high ground unilaterally covered the ground. The result was, of course, the annihilation of the human side.

Similar events occurred simultaneously around the world.

After occupying cities, the fallen angels returned to Eden like bees returning to their hive after collecting honey. Then they immediately emerged from other gates connected to Earth and supported battles in areas with strong resistance.

Just two hours after the fallen angel invasion began, cities with Eden gates were devastated.

An emergency countermeasure meeting was hastily convened at the Hunter Association. And the deployment of S-class Hunters was decided. Only 4 out of the Seven Superhumans: the ESPer, Zeus, Pharaoh, and Teleporter.