Chapter 67: Path of the Angels

[Path of Trials]

[Path of Angels]

We need to split the team here.

“It looks like we should divide here.”

“How do you want to do it?”

“Let’s do it like this. Succubus, you stay here and keep an eye with the drone. Just in case, let’s split the teams here.”

If my guess is right, after this, each of us will be assigned to lead a new demon army unit.

“I don’t mind who I go with.”

“Then, would you like to come with me, Pixie?”

Anyway, I’ll go with the Pixie, and the others can go with the Elf.

The balance isn’t too bad.

Wouldn’t it be better to leave out the Succubus and the drone, who don’t have combat abilities?

“Alright, I’ll take the Elf.”

“And I have to stay with this tin can?”

Even though the Battle mage, who’s a fighter, had no complaints, the Succubus, who wasn’t, pouted and complained.

[“Hey, tin can? I do have combat capabilities, you know!”]

“That thing has combat abilities? What, does it shoot radioactive bombs or something?”

In movies, drones tend to drop weird bombs and stuff like that.

[“Manifestation.”]

“Clone?”

[“I can split off up to five clones, each with half the combat power of the main body!”]

The drone can split into clones?

Surprisingly useful.

Perfect for boosting our numbers.

Should we re-divide the teams?

The balance feels off now.

“Maybe we should split the teams again.”

Hmm, time to pick a method.

“We don’t know what’s coming, so… let’s do ‘tongue-to-nose covering’.”

I stretched my tongue up to cover my nose.

As I wiggled my tongue, everyone else followed, sticking out their tongues and trying to reach their noses.

First up, the Battle mage failed, coming just a hair’s breadth away from making it.

Next was the Pixie.

Surprisingly, her long, flexible tongue reached and covered her nose.

The Succubus?

Despite the expectation, she couldn’t do it and trembled before giving up.

The Elf also failed.

Lastly, the manifested drone successfully covered its nose.

“I mean, seriously, who would’ve thought three people could cover their noses with their tongues?”

The Battle mage frowned in disbelief.

“It’s perfectly three on three, though. So, my team is the Pixie and the drone, and Berserker, you get the Succubus and the Elf. Honestly, I never thought the Succubus would have such a stiff tongue.”

Shouldn’t Sucubi have more flexible or longer tongues?

“You’re the only one who’d come up with something like ‘tongue-to-nose’ for team division. How did exactly half the group manage to do it? What was the backup plan if it didn’t work?”

“We would’ve figured something else out.”

Truthfully, the balance doesn’t matter much.

If it matters at all, it’s whether we have the Pixie or not.

Her tricks could drastically upset the balance.

“So, I’ll take the Path of Angels, and Battle Mage, you take the Path of Trials.”

That settled it.

***

Incheon International Airport

As the Saintess’s party was busy dividing teams to conquer the tower, a plane belonging to the British Red Dragon Guild was landing at Incheon International Airport.

“It’s a shame we have to part like this, Hero.”

A white man wearing sunglasses clicked his tongue in regret as he looked at the hero and his group.

This man was Michael, a hunter from the Red Dragon Guild, the top guild in England, whom the Hero’s party had met during their stay in the UK.

They had relied on him a lot during their time there, but that didn’t mean they could give up on the Saintess.

“England and Korea are connected through portals, right?”

Then there’s no problem.

We can meet again anytime.

“Still, it’s a shame. But you’re off to meet the woman you love. Who could stop you from doing that? You traveled all this way, so make sure you confess to her, alright?”

“Ah, of course.”

Thinking about the mace doesn’t make me feel like confessing, but thanks to the emotional buildup, we made it to Korea.

As I was about to get off the plane, I noticed something felt off.

“Hero, your shoes?”

“Ah.”

The Hero slipped on the shoes that Maria, the Mage, handed to him.

“Wow. Come to think of it, we really did board the plane barefoot, huh?”

“We had no choice. It felt weird, though.”

“Usually, even when visiting noble houses, we keep our shoes on. Why did we have to take them off for the plane?”

When they boarded the plane, the Hero had taken off his shoes.

“Well, I just felt like it was something we had to do. You never know—things could be different here.

Didn’t the Saintess mention something about it before?”

“Oh, right. In the Saintess’s world, you take off your shoes before going inside.”

“Yeah.”

The Hero remembered something the Saintess had once said.

-“Hero, in some worlds, there’s a flying carriage called an ‘airplane.’”

-“Really? That’s amazing.”

-“To ride it, you have to respectfully take off your shoes. If you ever get a chance to board one, make sure to take your shoes off.”

-“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Right. That’s what she said.

I was just following her advice.

“Anyway, this is the country where the Saintess lives.”

Maria scanned the view of Incheon Airport.

It was clearly different from the world they came from.

Unlike in their world, where they rode griffons, here they had flying carriages made of iron.

Plus, if you paid a little extra, you could even travel through portals.

“Yeah. We’ve finally arrived.”

There was a lot of talk and trouble.

How did we end up going to England anyway?

In the end, it was all because of that damn dragon.

If it weren’t for that dragon, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

“First, let’s find a PC. I want to game.”

Erin, who first encountered a PC in England, quickly became hooked.

She delved into Earth’s history, language, information, and games.

Of course, the excuse was to gather information about the Saintess, but unexpectedly, Erin became so enamored with computers that she got deeply into AOS games.

“It seems like she’s got internet addiction or something.”

“Well, no, I mean, there are elves on the internet! Our kin! And we have to get information about that damn Karina, right?”

“That’s true…”

“And Korea may look small, but it’s probably bigger than our kingdom. It’s not like we can find her just by wandering around.”

This world is far bigger than the one we lived in.

England alone feels much larger than our kingdom, so Korea is likely no different.

“What did that Michael say earlier?”

At Maria’s question, the Hero took out a pamphlet given by the white guy earlier.

“He said we could get help from the Red Dragon’s Korean branch.”

The Red Dragon Guild seems to be quite a big organization.

After all, we learned English because of them.

“One thing’s for sure, he mentioned something about wandering through the Tower of Destruction.”

“But after we find the Saintess, what next?”

“Let’s just focus on finding her first.”

We’ve suffered enough because of Karina, so for now, the goal is just to find her.

***

[Path of the Angel]

The Path of the Angel is where the Fallen Angels reside.

Pixie, Jeon Tae-yeon, and I entered this path.

Since Jeon Tae-yeon has materialized, we can properly converse with her now.

So, I explained about the Path of the Angel.

This place is home to the whole angel series.

For example:

“Like the Weeping Angel.”

Statues of weeping angels lined up around us.

The first stage consists of angel statues.

I’ve been here once before.

There are weeping angels on both sides of the long hallway ahead.

If we walk a bit further, we’ll reach an open space.

“Angels? Could it be what I’m thinking of?”

“Weeping Angels, yes.”

“But they look a bit different from the ones that appear in internet shows or dramas.”

They are somewhat different.

These angels have a more revealing female form and are crying while facing forward in a praying pose.

“Do they actually look like crying statues?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t get too comfortable just because of that. If you think these are the same as the Weeping Angels from the internet or fiction, you’re wrong.”

As Cheonma once said, generalizing is dangerous.

The weeping angels here are much more vicious.

“That’s true. If these weeping angels were exactly like the ones from TV shows or games, there’d probably be a copyright fight already.”

Jeon Tae-yeon seems to be quick-witted.

She’s not wrong.

Assuming that fantasy world’s weeping angels are like those in media here would be a mistake.

Anyway, these weeping angels are strange.

“But still, they only move when we’re not looking, right? Pixie, get on my back.”

“Get on your back?”

“Yes, you need to keep watching them.”

It’s a pattern issue, so…

“You’re trying to carry me around like a backpack, aren’t you?”

“Oh no…”

I don’t like kids who are too sharp.

If I tie a strap around her and carry her like a backpack, I can avoid being backstabbed by the angels.

“At least pretend to deny it.”

“But can something like that really hurt the Saintess?”

At Jeon Tae-yeon’s question, I shook my head.

Can those guys hurt me?

Ridiculous.

There’s no way I’d be harmed by mere backstabbers.

“Of course not. But it’s just a hassle to deal with them.”

“A hassle, huh?”

“You’ll see once we test it out. There are two attack patterns.”

It’s a bit different from the usual weeping angel.

Then, there’s the sound:

“Kyaaaaaaaaah!”

A scream that could burst your eardrums.

That’s how they flip people out.

But that’s not the end of it.

“They rupture your eardrums and…”

“Heeek!”

A weeping angel had snuck up behind me.

Its hands, which had been in a praying pose just moments ago, were now reaching toward me, and its nails had grown long and sharp, like blades.

“They attack, too.”

“Wait, are those really angels?”

“They’re not angels. Technically, they’re fallen angels. Angels who descended from the celestial realm on their own. That’s why the lower-ranked angels ended up in bodies like those.”

They came down from the celestial realm of their own accord, and as a result, they fell.

There’s a reason for it. Those angels, having chosen to fall, transformed into beings that kill people.

“How pitiful.”

“They broke the heads of lower angels because they wanted to get an angel ring, then joined the Demon King in a quest for revenge, and that’s how they ended up like this.”

At my offhand comment, Jeon Tae-yeon and Pixie stared at me quietly.

What?

It can happen.

“Isn’t this your fault?”

“Yes. Thanks to me, angel mobs were added to that other world.”

“So, did you get it?”

“Of course. I am an angel.”

I pulled an angel ring from my pocket and floated it above my head.

In that moment, I could feel the murderous intent from the angel statues.

As expected, those angels have strong loyalty.

That’s why they ended up falling so foolishly.

“Wait a minute. Are you really a Saintess?”

“Under the goddess I serve, I am indeed a Saintess.”

“To me, she just looks like a fallen Saintess.”

Well, isn’t life like that sometimes?

“So, what are you going to do with them?”

“I’d like to just pass by, but it’s becoming a hassle. I think they’ll be a problem on our way back too.”

“So, what’s the plan?”

The answer is simple.

Those angels are not threatening at all.

Sure, that ear-piercing scream is annoying, but the most important thing is to avoid their attack patterns, and then they can’t even move.

“In fact, if you think about it, those angels are in a completely defenseless state.”

“If you follow the pattern correctly, they’re actually the ones in danger, right?”

“It’s simple.”

Holy Crash!

KABOOM!

I wiped out all the angels in the hallway.

“Kyyaaaaah!”

The angels screamed as they shattered like brittle crackers, crumbling into pieces.

“See how easy that was? Let’s just keep up this overpowered playstyle.”