Ch.224Chapter 224. Angels, Demons, and Humans

The riot that broke out over the system, followed by the imperial martial law.

The casualties and the public execution of ringleaders as examples instilled fear in the people, ultimately leading many to flee the empire.

But not everyone could choose such a path.

No matter how much the imperial family had abused the public, this land under their protection remained the only safe zone.

“G-Great heir of the empire! Please save us!”

Yes, those gathered in front of the imperial palace now were the weak who couldn’t even muster the courage to leave this land.

With even the soldiers who had been suppressing them now gone, what these people did in the empty streets was plead toward the tightly locked palace gates.

“Crown Prince Seis! W-We acknowledge you as the next heir! So please give us instructions! Show us the way!”

“We were all wrong, we were all foolish. From now on, we will absolutely obey your words!”

“So please open the palace gates and send the army! If things remain like this, everyone will die!”

Even though the soldiers who had suppressed them had disappeared from the streets, they couldn’t even muster the strength to take up arms.

It wasn’t just because they were starving and sick.

The news that the Demon Lord’s army was approaching even now was enough to sober their minds from madness and anger.

“If things stay like this, we will all die!”

“Please save us! Please save us!!”

Yes, they had been foolish.

Even if there had been oppression and tyranny against them before, everyone in this land should have realized that hell would unfold if they didn’t endure and bear it.

“Th-The Demon Lord’s army… The Demon Lord’s army has already advanced to the front of the territory!”

“Please… Please, someone, anyone, help us!”

So they pleaded.

Believing that this was the only resistance permitted to them.

Hoping that if they could exert their will through their starving and sick bodies, someone who heard their voices would take their hands.

“Oh God!!!”

The prayer that burst forth at the end meant their attention had shifted away from the imperial family.

Following the first person who looked up at the sky, the crowd began to shout toward the reddened sky as if spitting blood.

“Oh God! Please… Please save us!”

“Your poor lambs are suffering like this! Without your salvation, our lives will disappear, and we won’t be able to maintain our faith in you!”

“Why aren’t you responding to our expectations! Why are you leaving us to suffer!”

That too was ultimately nothing more than a desperate struggle to protect themselves.

Just desperation born from the pressing situation.

Expecting salvation from a truly transcendent being based on that alone would be too vain a hope.

“God, please…!”

“W-Wait. Everyone, look over there!”

But had the sky really heard their voices?

One by one, the crowd’s gaze began to turn toward the sky above the imperial palace as they faced the anomaly that had suddenly appeared before them.

The light leaking from above the towering palace was descending toward where they stood.

“Light…?”

“Yes, it’s light.”

Because the situation was so dark, the light was enough to make them forget even that darkness, seeming like hope.

As everyone focused on that light, its source gradually closed the distance, intensifying its presence.

What approached with brilliant light at its back had a human form.

-Flutter!

And those massive wings fluttering behind it…

Wings that contained brilliant light within themselves.

“…An angel.”

“The angel has come here to save us.”

Those who encountered the shadow hidden in that radiance began to voice what came to mind one by one.

That truly heaven had taken pity on them and extended a hand of salvation.

That God did not want them to die, so he had extended this saving hand to them.

“Ah, aah… Angel.”

Having firmly established this belief, they prepared to welcome the approaching light.

Not realizing that this belief was nothing more than their own wishful thinking.

“Angel. You’ve come to save us…”

-Crunch!!!

The sound of the body of the person who had reached out first being crushed.

As blood splattered in all directions, the faces of those facing him turned pale one by one.

Even before their minds could comprehend it, they instinctively recognized what the blood droplets staining their bodies meant.

-Crunch, crunch.

Yes, as soon as the angel descended to earth, it crushed the body of the first person it encountered.

And now it was tearing off pieces of flesh and bringing them to its mouth.

To the huge mouth attached to what would clearly be called the abdomen in humans…

-Chomp, chomp.

But none of those who witnessed this hideous sight screamed.

Because in their minds, still yearning for hope, they insisted that the being before them was an angel.

Because in such a desperate situation, they had to, they tried somehow to accept the situation before them.

Why would an angel devour its believers as soon as it appeared?

Why would a holy body backed by radiance have such a hideous form entangled with flesh and organs?

-Crunch!

Before an answer could be given, a baptism of light beams struck.

In an attack that could rightly be called an air raid, blood splattered in all directions, and the survivors who faced this bloodshed head-on were miserably defiled.

And following that came the sound of flesh being torn apart—crunch, crunch.

Only then did the crowd come to their senses and properly see the appearance of the “angel” they had defined.

“Uh, aah…”

Grotesquely twisted flesh and moans leaking from gaping mouths.

Just facing this was enough to rapidly crumble the firmly established faith in their hearts.

“Uh, aah…”

Yes, it was no angel.

They had only believed it was an angel because it glowed and had wings.

They had only been immersed in the groundless belief that heaven wouldn’t abandon them because they were so afraid.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Starting with the scream of one who had awakened from such a dream, the crowd gathered in front of the imperial palace began to flee from the tragedy.

And the monsters, stimulated by the commotion, began to spread their wings.

The monsters with angelic appearances and names rushed toward them to satisfy their appetite.

“AAAAHH! Save meee!”

The streets were instantly covered with blood and screams.

In the minds of the survivors who escaped the scene, only questions arose.

Why did those monsters have the form of angels, and why did they fly from the imperial palace and begin massacring people…

-CRASH!!!

Before they could answer these questions, another anomaly struck the direction they were heading.

What broke through the walls surrounding the territory and rushed in were the external dangers they had so feared.

“Hahaha! There are so many humans here!?”

“The other units haven’t arrived yet? Lucky! We can have all these ones to ourselves!”

The Demon Lord’s army.

The vanguard of the military force that reigned as the greatest calamity in this world had now broken through the walls and entered the territory.

“AAAAHH! Save me!!!”

As the Demon Lord’s army began indiscriminately killing the people who had fled earlier, those following behind began to scatter in all directions.

But it’s not easy to shake off the pursuit of demons who are inherently superior to humans.

“Hehehe! I’m really curious what kind of scream that one will make… What’s that?”

A demon who had successfully cornered a person in an alley began to express doubt about the light approaching from above.

Not realizing that this split second was enough time to end its life.

-Crunch!

Yes, to the angels, demons were also nothing more than prey.

Seeing a demon being crushed to death by their hands, a survivor began to express ecstatic joy in a deranged state.

“Ah, aah!! So you did come to save us after all! Angel! Angeeel!”

If they killed the calamity threatening them, then surely they deserved to be called saviors.

Using that belief as a painkiller, those who rushed forward were also mercilessly torn apart, and a man who barely maintained his sanity escaped the scene of the tragedy and ran to the plaza.

A wide open space.

Although he could see everything around him, he finally abandoned the thought that he needed to escape.

Because angels were watching the ground from the sky, and demons were breaking through the walls and approaching from outside.

“Ha, hahaha.”

Realizing he was isolated, the man muttered his realization with a hollow laugh.

“In this world… there is no salvation.”

In the end, everything in the world is just filled with sadistic intent toward humans.

Even that realization was soon crushed by the wave of despair that followed, and finally disappeared without a trace from this world.

*****

-Boom, boom.

By the time things had calmed down somewhat.

The angels, having annihilated the vanguard of the Demon Lord’s army, began to roam the ruined streets of the territory, true to their instincts.

Leading their bodies that had grown even more massive through predation, looking for a place to release their uncontrollable power.

-Boom, boom.

As tremors arose with each step of those bodies, those hiding in the ruins could only wait for this nightmarish moment to end.

That was all they could do.

They hoped that those cruel predators, who had even annihilated the demons, would simply give up and withdraw.

-Need… power.

But contrary to such hopes, they did not leave the scene.

Their instincts insisted that they protect this place and devour everything that approached it.

-More, blood… flesh, must eat…

-Only then, can we, become, gods…

-We will, be, the masters, of the era…

They didn’t know what meaning those instinct-driven words held.

All the survivors wanted was one thing: if those beings wouldn’t withdraw, they at least hoped they would pass by without discovering them, as they waited with bated breath.

-Found… you.

But contrary to such desperate hopes, the angels eventually found the survivors and tried to grab their bodies and devour them mercilessly.

In the end, it was just a matter of sooner or later.

If they remained in this city, they would surely all be eaten by those beings.

“Aah, aaah! Save, save me!”

People who couldn’t endure such moments tried to escape, but even the desperate will they squeezed out for the last time was soon swallowed by futility.

What awaited them after escaping from here?

The future seemed bleak after escaping the angels only to enter the den of demons, and beyond that, a world of continuous calamities.

-Come heeere…!

No longer having the energy to avoid the hands reaching out to their hesitating selves, they finally closed their eyes and tried to submit to their fate.

Just thinking that this was the fate allowed to them.

Desperately hoping that this painful time would end somehow.

-Bang! Bang!!

It was at that moment that the sound of gunfire echoed.

Something that had rushed in from beyond the collapsed walls hit the pursuing angels, tearing their bodies apart and making them collapse onto the ruins.

Yes, artillery shells.

The light bursting from shadows visible in the distance was firing shells toward this place.

“Pai, painful…!”

“Who, is doing this, to us…!”

As the monsters who had mercilessly devoured humans let out voices soaked in pain for the first time.

What came to them as they raged and tried to rampage was the sharp tip of a spear following the sound of gunfire.

-Bang!!

A head pierced by a thrown spear, followed by an explosion.

As the fallen mass of flesh on the ground writhed, presences began to appear one by one behind those who were blankly staring at the scene.

Were they hope?

“Y-You… are you gods?”

Or were they, like before, a setup for an even greater despair?

“Or are you demons?”

If it’s despair, I’d rather have it end here.

As those who heard such desperate pleas revealed themselves one by one, the man at the forefront formed a weapon in his hand and said in a resolute voice:

“…Humans.”

To the paradise where waves of despair surge.

At last, the ark for salvation has arrived.