Chapter 742 – Room 302, The Cursed Room – ‘Brave New World’ (16)
—
「User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 40
Current Location: Room 302, The Cursed Room – ‘Brave New World’
Sage’s Advice: 0」
—
– Han Kain
After the official clash between my comrades and the angels began, I decided to throw off my mask.
Since it’s already been discovered that “we” have appeared in paradise, hiding is pointless.
I felt the need to gather my comrades scattered throughout Eden.
If everyone falls just like that, I’ll be left alone trying to escape!
“You bastard!”
An angel with murder in his eyes charged at me.
His build was three times larger than my teenage physique, and he looked strong enough to crush a tree with his fist.
He began choking himself with that very strength.
“Guhhh!”
“Damn it! T-this guy – Gahhh!”
One was killed by the power of a deity, another’s head melted by the divine sun’s power, and yet another just fell as I scorched their wings.
How many angels did I just take down?
I honestly lost count of how many I’ve killed.
They keep appearing from everywhere thanks to their flying ability, making it seem endless.
To be honest, angels aren’t that strong individually.
Sure, we ought to remember that some would call us demigods right now, but still.
“Gahhh!”
I scorched another angel’s wings.
I’ve noticed that it’s much easier to burn wings and send them crashing down than to outright kill them.
“Die!”
Another angel, undeterred by my comrades suffering beside me, rushed at me full force.
At this point, I figured out a few tricky aspects of these angels.
First, there are just too many of them.
Given that all of humanity turned into angels before the end, we’re probably looking at at least a billion or so.
With this many, even if blood flowed in the lake, it’s just a drop in the bucket of the total angels.
Second, they seem to have zero fear.
Under normal circumstances, if a comrade next to you dies, you’d expect some fear, right? But not these guys.
Some angels even charged at me cackling like it’s some fun sport.
They’re immortal after all.
They know death just leads to resurrection.
Just like hotel parties don’t fear death in the cursed room, the angels also don’t fear it.
— Whoosh!
With one sweep, I burned four of them and created a brief moment of peace.
I immediately began flying through the air.
Suddenly, I thought it would be nice to have wings too.
If I did, I wouldn’t have to use the divine sun’s power like this to move!
*
Following the location info of my comrades, I traveled 12.4 km in the northeast.
The first comrade I found was Elena.
— Raahhh…!
The first thought that struck me upon hearing that sound.
Elena’s blessing, ‘Justice,’ can only be used against evil beings.
This means her scales of justice must have manifested because she sees the angels as evil beings.
Honestly, even I see these angels as a mere transformation of humans, so it’s fair enough.
They surely attempted to kill Elena first, so it’s justified by self-defense.
— Rumbless!
The golden scales illuminated like a massive wave, rising and transforming into a net, enveloping the area.
Soon, dozens of winged beings were trapped and squirming like fish caught in a net.
— Squeak!
The ensuing scene turned into a whirlpool of flesh and blood.
Having experienced all sorts of things in the hotel, I thought my stomach was stronger, but nearly gagged just a moment ago.
“…”
Elena herself is a person very distant from cruelty and violence.
It’s not just her appearance — her cheerful, lively personality shines through.
Despite her dark experiences while escaping from a dictator, her inherent nature leans towards brightness.
Plus, she harbors a whimsical, fairy tale-like dream in her heart.
Not everyone dreams of becoming a TV celebrity while running away from a dictator, right?
Contrarily, Elena’s abilities are devoid of humanity.
Just take her blessing of justice.
It’s a power that judges according to divine law, not human discretion.
While it might sound impressive, it’s, in essence, a power lacking in humanity.
Just like now, she can squeeze dozens of angels like fish to death without hesitation.
In fact, if Elena personally controlled the power, I doubt she’d fight as effectively.
An extreme violence that reigns in this hell.
Once all the angels in the area were dead, the scales of justice finally fell silent.
I half-expected Elena to be in deep anguish the moment her blessing was extinguished.
After all, the surroundings were drenched in gruesome carnage.
Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.
“Ah, Kain, you’ve arrived.”
Her sweaty brow continuously trickled with cold sweat.
She kept her eyes half-closed, deliberately avoiding the gruesome scene.
Such behavior shows the internal turmoil Elena was feeling, but it’s fairly tame for her.
She didn’t even sink to the ground and vomit or anything.
Elena must have grown in her own way during her time in the hotel.
Of course, that growth isn’t necessarily good, but still.
“Are you alright?”
“… Yes.”
“I’m glad you were able to activate Justice without much difficulty. I was worried you might struggle since it’s an angel you’re up against.”
“Just a distorted human. They’ve tried to kill me too. And…”
“And?”
With her mouth half-open, Elena shook her head.
“… It’s really disgusting to see a person fall like this.”
Seems like she’s seen the dreadful side of angels quite a bit.
Indeed, it must have been an unpleasant experience, but it surely helped her utilize her powers well.
“Let’s get going. Next up is Jinchul.”
*
As we reached the place where Jincheol woke up, Elena exclaimed in surprise.
“Wait, aren’t they fighting in the sky right now?”
“Yup.”
“How? Ah, does Jincheol have wings—”
“He’s pretending to be a wingless angel like us.”
“Whaat? I’m definitely hearing sounds of fighting up in the sky!”
Unlike Elena, who couldn’t accurately observe the battle in the heavens, I could see it all.
Thanks to the activation of the divine sun, my senses were heightened to the extreme.
“Wow…!”
“Kain?”
“Looks like he’s doing really well.”
I didn’t realize it before, but my comrade Cha Jinchul sure knows how to fight.
Thanks to that precious ‘moment,’ each of his movements looked like a stunt performance.
“How’s he up there?”
“He fights by stepping on angels.”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, he steps on one angel’s head, bursts it, then leaps onto the back of another—”
“Does that even make sense?”
Watching him perform such stunts genuinely amazed me.
Could I move like him if I use the divine sun?
I might exert even greater force temporarily, but I doubt I’d manage such acrobatics.
“Stars really seem to work wonderfully against angels.”
“R-Really?”
I could see angels falling every time he swung his hand.
If he were fighting on the ground, they likely couldn’t be so instantly subdued by physical attacks.
Being in the sky, the stars proved even more impactful.
Even slight damage to their wings causes them to crash, resulting in greater impact.
“Then why do the angels fight in the sky?”
“Because it’s the only way they think they have a chance, I guess?”
While Elena and I were commenting on the situation, an annoyed voice rang out from the sky.
“What are you doing? Come help me!”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Ah! Kain! Let’s hurry—”
I calmly shook my head.
“Let’s just stay put.”
“Whaat?”
“I think they’ll manage it themselves. Plus…”
“Kain?”
“… It’s time for both of us to conserve our strength.”
Calmly assessing the situation.
Jinchul’s blessing, Courage, is one noted for its strong persistence.
What about mine? The star fragments don’t even have the concept of duration.
Sure, using the star fragments gives Jinchul a time limit on usage, but he can recover with regeneration.
In short, he can fight for a long time against weaker opponents without much cost, unlike the weaker four-winged angels.
In contrast, Elena and I are entirely different.
“D-Don’t help?”
“Sorry, Jinchul, but our power is far more consumable.”
Let’s look at Elena first.
Her Justice has been spent, and it takes time to recharge for a rerun.
Plus, that ominous power tends to drive one insane with prolonged use.
The same applies to me.
The grimoire has some recovery over time, but…
The divine sun is entirely consumable.
In reality, I’ve spent most of my time just draining it without recharging.
Now, I’m left with less than 20%.
So…
“Hey! Han Kain! What the heck are you doing down there?”
I just watched from below.
“Aaaah! Help me, please!”
Out of a mix of pity, I even clapped.
“Seriously, isn’t the guy with four wings super strong?”
I acted as though I’d swoop in at any moment.
Just that was enough for the angel with glorious four wings to lose balance, so I helped a bit.
Conserving strength is crucial.
From now on, the divine sun power will be preserved entirely.
The grimoire’s power is better for now, but it also needs to be used sparingly.
Considering the odds, this choice is definitely the right one.
“Aaaah! What the hell is this guy, spewing lightning from his hands—”
“Just take a hit and close in!”
“Damn it! You take it!”
Amidst the hellish battle, slight swearing rang out.
Listening to them pounded my heart, but it’s unavoidable.
I have to conserve my consumable strength.
Holding out based on sustaining powers is key.
For now, Jinchul is dishing out that role.
…
Once the fierce battle with the angels ended, my brother Jincheol approached me with his mouth half-open.
He looked furious but also seemed to understand my reasoning to some extent.
I mean, he must have been thinking, “Why isn’t Han Kain helping and just standing back?”
“… Kain.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“… Is the divine sun running thin?”
“After one big fight, it’ll be over.”
“No matter what, dammit.”
“I can’t help it. Do you see the situation?”
“…”
“Countless angels are charging at us like moths to a flame. You have no idea how many have died this morning alone! And yet we still haven’t seen the true elite ones, like the high angels!”
“High angels? The ones with six wings?”
“They’re a precious resource to the angels. It could take them a lot longer to resurrect, so they’re only using the countless low-tier resources to drain us.”
Realization of the cold truth settled.
Angels are immortal beings who resurrect no matter how many times they die.
Plus, with the entire human race turned into angels, their numbers are beyond imagination.
Translation: For them, two-winged and four-winged angels are just expendable characters.
To the angels, allowing us to trade off a wound for hundreds of deaths is trivial.
Only four of the precious six-winged angels exist beneath the heavens as rare souls.
When they show up, that’s when the winning moment will arrive.
“Let’s go. We need to find Ahri.”
Before we moved, Jincheol wore a worried expression.
“What do we…”
“What?”
“Seriously, what do we do to escape from here?”
“…”
“Will just killing endless angels lead us to freedom?”
That’s a valid question.
I’ve had those thoughts too.
“There are two methods to escape.”
“Oh! Just as I thought! Haha! I was ready to smack you for just standing there, but it turns out you’re just brilliant!”
“… Ahem. One is to run, you know? Escape means just getting away from the crisis—”
“What? Hey! Every angel knows we exist and is after us, where exactly would we run?”
“I have some thoughts about that. And the second is…”
“The second?”
That mysterious clue left by the one who sought the ultimate at the cost of humanity’s future, Aleph.
A single phrase.
“… Know that you are the only one under the heavens.”
“What did you say?”
“Let’s go. We need to find Ahri.”
It’s time for the third line of the Grimoire to take effect.
I will reveal to humans, who have become angels, what they’ve forgotten.
The fear of death.
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