Chapter 47: The Angel Walks Outside (7)

Episode 47

Keter.

In Hebrew, it means “crown,” and…

In Kabbalah, it’s the sefirot closest to God, a noble word that signifies God’s initial will. And Keter, as an Ultimate Skill…

…was well known as Archangel Leffriel’s Ultimate Skill.

So what kind of ability was Keter? Keter, befitting an angel, was simply praying to Heaven.

Leffriel clasped his hands and prayed towards Heaven.

Indeed, it was true.

Prayers could be answered or unanswered. So when people failed, they would sometimes give the absurd excuse that it was because they didn’t pray hard enough.

But Keter was an Ultimate Skill, meaning that it was a prayer that reached the ultimate level of all prayers in this world. Prayers offered through Keter would always reach Heaven.

“Lord in Heaven.”

Therefore, an ultimate prayer was practically reality alteration.

It practically meant that anything would be granted if prayed for, so it could be called omnipotence. Like a genie in a lamp.

Of course, even Keter had weaknesses.

Heaven could refuse prayers… the target of the prayer could be a powerful being capable of resisting the power of Heaven, or Leffriel’s heart could be clouded, making him fail to pray with a pure heart.

But only beings at the level of the demon king, the Four Heavenly Kings, or the professors could even think about exploiting those weaknesses… lower-level beings couldn’t even fathom such things.

Why? Because they wouldn’t even be able to perceive the reality altered by the prayer.

“Hear my prayer.”

What kind of prayer would Leffriel offer?

Leffriel, who had been looking at the world with cold eyes. What would he wish for from Heaven? Naturally…

Judgment upon this world.

Leffriel wasn’t passing judgment out of anger at the sins he had witnessed. Nor was he passing judgment to punish the sinners lying at his feet.

Without any emotion, he was simply carrying out his duty.

“This world…”

Just as he was about to purify this entire area with a single prayer…

Leffriel’s sleeve was tugged.

“Sob… sob… Angel-nim.”

Leffriel looked at the girl pulling on his sleeve with indifferent eyes. And he looked at the countless people who had gathered around her.

Leffrey used his Angelic Ability, Eyes of the Knowing Archangel that Pierces All Creation, to see through them.

The healing facility in the Central Sanctuary had collapsed due to the earlier battle, and the commotion had drawn all the believers gathered there to this spot.

And they… discovered their families, mangled beyond recognition. They had believed in this religion because it promised to heal them with the power of angels… but that choice had brought about the worst possible outcome.

Some were enraged, assaulting the executives of the New Truth Church… others were wailing, clutching the cold bodies of their family members and children.

Those who had become cold corpses were the fortunate ones. There were also families whose members had been transformed by the demon army’s experiments.

And even the believers who didn’t have families were also… in a state of panic after seeing this facility and the fallen demon army elites.

Seeing this scene, Leffriel felt no emotion.

Just as he was about to offer that cruel prayer once again…

“Angel-nim… please… save my brother… please…”

It was Sori, the bird beast folk girl, who kept tugging at his sleeve. Leffriel ignored the child and continued to…

He couldn’t pray.

Because he felt empathy, the grief of losing a family member.

Leffriel knew the pain of losing a family. Family? Leffriel, who had lived his entire life as a tool of Heaven, how could he have such a thing as family?

But Leffrey’s heart ached.

Because a certain memory surfaced.

Blood flowing under the sofa.

Mother’s voice no longer reaching him.

“This… whose…”

Another function surged in.

And a soul that he couldn’t bear to reap.

The girl who was holding a child.

Leffriel was smiling as he looked at the child.

“…But I don’t have that function.”

Leffriel looked at the world once again. This hopeless world, abandoned by Heaven and invaded by hell.

And the people who had fallen into despair once again.

“Angel-nim… please… hear our prayers…”

Overwhelmed by this pain he had never felt before, Leffriel prayed.

No, he couldn’t help but pray.

“Lord in Heaven.”

A single teardrop flowed down Leffriel’s white cheek. A teardrop even he didn’t know why it was flowing.

“Please grant my wish.”

The boy, clasping his hands respectfully, knelt and prayed.

Please, these pitiful people…

“Please, grant their wishes.”

Ultimate Skill Keter activated.

* * *

In fact, Leffriel, who had been summoned at this point in time, was in a very unstable state. First of all, the one who summoned this mighty archangel was none other than Drewmark the Reverser, one of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings.

A being infinitely weaker than Leffriel.

A weaker being summoning a stronger being?

Such a summoning couldn’t be maintained for long.

Second, it was because of the angels’ rules.

Angels, the messengers of Heaven, were forbidden from directly interfering in this world. It was an ancient pact made with the demon king long ago.

Therefore, angels could only provide indirect support, such as aiding heroes or acting as guardian angels for those who would become heroes.

Or they could fall to Earth and become like Leffrey, a low-level angel.

Finally, there was a contradiction. Leffriel had already lost his power and fallen, becoming Leffrey. But to think he would regain his power through the trickery of a mere Demon King’s Four Heavenly King?

Perhaps a greater power could do it, but…

The Great Mana wouldn’t tolerate such a contradiction for long.

Because of these three reasons, Leffriel couldn’t fully unleash Keter.

In his fading consciousness, Leffrey felt fear.

‘This power… Leffriel is dangerous…’

Leffrey collapsed.

“B-Brother…!”

“Ugh… Sori…”

Of course, that didn’t mean Keter had failed. Keter was successful, saving those who were sacrificed by the demon army and the New Truth Church, and…

“The child, the child is breathing again!”

“…It’s a miracle.”

It granted salvation to those believers who needed salvation.

However, Keter didn’t completely succeed…

“H-How did this happen?”

“…That angel over there saved us.”

It failed to erase the memories of those caught in Keter.

“I saw it too. That angel over there…”

They had seen it.

“He single-handedly defeated all those demons…”

They witnessed Leffriel defeating the terrifying demon army and performing a miracle to heal them.

They would never forget what happened today. The angel who suddenly appeared and saved them all in their moment of despair.

They believed in angels.

They believed in Leffrey.

“He saved us.”

Sori, holding her brother’s now healthy hand, caressed the collapsed Leffrey.

“Angel-nim… Angel-nim…”

Sori was crying.

So were the others.

What on earth was Leffrey doing in this chaotic situation?

Breathing softly- A boy, as beautiful as an angel, was sound asleep.

That’s right.

Leffrey was fast asleep.

“Mm.”

He had recklessly used his Ultimate Skill in an unstable state. Moreover, Leffrey was practically in a state of possession…

So Leffrey couldn’t help but fall asleep.

“Sleeping? An angel sleeping? Heh, he pushed himself too hard.”

At that moment, Drewmark, who had collapsed, got up. Drewmark hastily recovered his torn arm, then tried to escape from this place.

“Move aside, you trash.”

Drewmark, who had lost an arm and could no longer form hand seals. But even without his ability to form hand seals, he was still a terrifying monster capable of killing everyone here within ten minutes.

“Move.”

But Drewmark didn’t kill them.

Why? Because he suddenly developed a love for humanity?

Absolutely not.

It was simply because he didn’t want to provoke Leffriel’s wrath by killing anyone near him. Even though Leffriel was in a deep sleep, there was always a chance, wasn’t there?

In fact, if Drewmark were in his right mind, he would immediately kill the sleeping Leffrey and eliminate any future threats, but… completely consumed by fear, he could only think about running away.

Run away.

Run away from an angel.

That was all Drewmark could think about.

“No, I won’t move.”

Sori blocked Drewmark’s path.

“You little brat… I’ll give you one last chance, so get out of my way. Otherwise, I’ll show you true pain.”

“You… You took the children who lived here! My friends!”

Drewmark laughed.

And muttered,

“Yes. I meticulously tormented each and every one of them.”

The overwhelming pressure unique to a Heavenly King bore down on the non-Awakener Sori.

“So… do you want to experience the same? Do you want to regret being born, just like those children?”

An aura powerful enough to make even a powerful Awakener tremble and freeze in place, a force that would make even a skilled Awakener flee in terror.

It was so dangerous that it could even kill a non-Awakener through shock.

But…

Sori smiled and said,

“The angel will surely judge you.”

Drewmark, enraged by those words, tried to strike Sori’s head without thinking. At that moment…

“Ha, Drewmark, is this truly how you are?”

“Lusa, be careful. Drewmark is a Heavenly King. He’s not someone to be underestimated.”

“Heh, he’s just a crippled bastard who lost an arm.”

An elf blocked Drewmark’s punch.

Her name was Lusa. And her title…

“M-Martial God?”

“It’s been a while, you pedophilic bastard.”

Lusa crushed Drewmark’s remaining hand and said,

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

“For the revenge of our children you kidnapped…”

Lusa smiled genuinely joyfully.

But behind that smile…

…lay a deep sadness.

“I can finally have it!”

Klein sighed and opened his mouth,

“Phew, you know we need to use him as a test subject first, right? A Demon King’s Four Heavenly King… a test subject we can never catch again. If we use him well, we can easily learn the weaknesses of the other Heavenly Kings.”

“Tsk, that’s why science guys are…”

“Magical studies isn’t science… forget it.”

How did Lusa and Klein appear here at this point in time?

It was because of the magic circle that Soya had prepared.

Six layers of barriers.

Numerous guards dispatched from large guilds.

And the authority of the New Truth Church, protected by law.

To overturn all of this at once, Soya’s ‘Barrier Absorption Technique’ was the only option.

Barrier Absorption Technique, a magic Soya developed, the technique involved entering the enemy’s barrier magic circle and converting that barrier into her own mana.

And the New Truth Church, rich as they were, had installed six high-spec barriers.

These six barriers, through Soya’s magic, transformed into immense magical power, and…

Soya used that magic power to send a report to the Central Superhuman Academy, informing them that the New Truth Church was colluding with the demon army.

And as soon as they received the report…

Klein and Lusa rushed over.

Lusa, crushing Drewmark’s arm, looked at Leffrey with a truly grateful expression.

“Our race owes that child a great debt. A very great debt.”

Even Klein, who had been looking at the surviving believers with cold eyes… looked at Leffrey with a delighted expression, muttering,

“To capture a Demon King’s Four Heavenly King… as expected of my ‘sole’ disciple.”

With those words, Klein carried Leffrey on his back.

Lusa immediately turned serious.

“Don’t add strange things to the back of my disciple’s name. I’ll kill you.”

“…Just torture Drewmark a little and come back. We’ll have plenty of time to spend with him from now on.”

“Don’t change the subject, you bastard. Leffrey is my disciple. Absolutely my disciple. Got it?”

But Klein was already gone.

“That bastard, already gone?”

Lusa looked up at the sky.

Klein was already disappearing beyond the horizon.

“Who’s that witch?”

She spotted a gray-haired witch clinging to Klein’s side. As they disappeared, she heard a faint echo, “P-Professor! This flying technique is a bit black magic hate!”

“Tsk, that guy’s fast when it comes to flying. Ah, right. Drewmark. You thought I was ignoring you because you were pathetic, didn’t you?”

Lusa smiled as she looked at Drewmark.

And she whispered in his ear,

“You always said this, didn’t you? ‘From now on, your good days are over’… Well, you’re right. From now on, your good days ARE over, you son of a bitch. You better believe it.”

Drewmark trembled slightly.

And wet his pants.

* * *

The New Truth Church was destroyed.

But the Central Sanctuary wasn’t destroyed.

No, the Central Sanctuary was flourishing even more than when the New Truth Church operated it. Many more people. And many more lively believers.

Of course, ‘lively’ was a rather toned-down expression.

To put it more bluntly…

They looked like fanatics.

But no one could blame them.

After witnessing a miracle with their own eyes…

How could they not believe in it?

“Leffriel-nim…”

Sori, the bird beast folk, wearing a veil, prayed in front of a painting that depicted Leffrey as a holy being.

Behind her, countless people prayed along. Their bibles contained photos of Leffrey drying Soya’s hair, playing with Hongwol using a laser pointer, and sweating profusely while being taught by the professors.

Fanaticism burned in their eyes.

And so, a new cult called the New Angel Church,

Spread secretly throughout the world.

Secretly, yet swiftly. Quickly, yet powerfully.