The debris of the broken wall was scattered everywhere.
Tududud— Tudududu…
Fragments of the wall fluttered chaotically in the air. A thick cloud of dust filled the space. The Celestial Being slowly approached, stepping over the broken shards.
Gulp.
The overwhelming pressure emitted from the Celestial Being made the High Elf Luine swallow unconsciously and step back. Princess Brigitte’s personal guard knight, Michael, also retreated alongside Luine.
Yuma picked up Balmung.
He carefully observed the approaching Celestial Being.
“Only the truth.”
The Celestial Being, with no eyes or nose, advanced towards Yuma. The only thing moving on the pure white angelic face was its mouth.
“Speak.”
Yuma faced the Celestial Being coming towards him and stepped forward.
“Human, Yuma.”
The Celestial Being continued speaking in a halting manner.
“I ask you.”
Yuma listened to its words with a serious expression.
“You killed a Black Dragon all by yourself.”
The voice continued as if interrogating him.
“Is it true that you killed God Incrinew?”
Yuma tilted his head slightly.
“It seems you have learned about me.”
A strong chill flowed between Yuma and the Celestial Being.
“So, what’s your business?”
The Celestial Being’s mouth opened again.
“The duty of the Celestial Beings is to awaken the seed capable of killing the Evil God. Finding those who can take down the Evil God and facilitating the awakening of that seed is our task.”
The Celestial Being took a step closer to Yuma.
“If you indeed accomplished those feats, then you possess the power to hunt the vile Evil Gods of the Divine Realm.”
Step.
“And that human woman named Bell, who has reached Grand Master, is the same. She has the talent to become an apostle capable of punishing the Evil Gods. I will take you both to the Celestial Realm and make you apostles.”
Yuma tightened his grip on Balmung.
“What exactly is this apostle thing?”
The Celestial Being kindly explained what an apostle was.
“An apostle moves according to the will of the Celestial Sovereign. They kill the Evil Gods and their ilk to make this world better. For races other than the Celestial Beings, the way to become an apostle is for humans to completely transform their physical bodies. To preserve the talents and dignity that humans originally possess, their souls remain intact. However, the body, the vessel, must be completely altered. All unnecessary human emotions that impede combat must be erased.”
Yuma tilted his head quizzically.
“Transforming the body and erasing emotions means abandoning being human entirely, doesn’t it?”
The Celestial Being tilted its head in response, almost like a mirror that reacted one beat late.
“Isn’t that obvious? Emotions are of no use in facing the Evil Gods. They only get in the way.”
The shell.
It only takes the talent possessed by the soul and discards the rest. That was the truth of the apostolization performed by the Celestial Beings. And it gave Yuma no need to even have a hint of doubt as Yuma.
No matter how strong one could become, is it worth discarding emotions?
Yuma thought it was impossible.
‘Without discarding the human body, without discarding emotions.’
Bell and Cloney were transcending the enormous walls they faced. Yuma believed without a doubt that they had the potential to surpass humanity.
‘It wouldn’t just be the absence of emotions; it would be becoming a puppet that moves according to that Celestial Sovereign’s will.’
There was no reason for it to turn out that way.
“You, who have achieved such remarkable feats, and Bell, a human standing at the pinnacle accessible to humanity—both of you are vessels that must become apostles. All previous humans who attempted apostolization burst their bodies and had to be discarded, but you two seem to have sufficient vessels.”
Celestial Beings.
Yuma could confirm through that line that while they shared the common goal of needing to kill the [Evil God], they were entities that should not become entangled.
Step by step.
The Celestial Being took another step closer.
“If you remain quiet, you shall not die.”
“And if I don’t remain quiet?”
The mouth of the Celestial Being twisted.
“I suppose I’ll have to make you quiet.”
Yuma slowly nodded. He had clearly decided what stance to take regarding the Celestial Beings.
“Give it a go.”
[Lv.529] Sarimun
Race: Apostle – Celestial Being
Position: Great Angel
Realm: God
A Celestial Being Apostle of divine power charged forward. The spear tip spiraled amidst the pure white light as it surged. Yuma keenly observed that attacking spear.
The spearhead, swirling like a spiral of white light, wreaked havoc upon the atmosphere; ultimately, it aimed for Yuma’s head.
Yuma’s Balmung swung to parry the spear’s tip that stretched out like a spearhead.
Kaaahh!!
A golden circular wave spread out widely.
The [Absolute Counter] was triggered.
The reversed white light was shot towards Sarimun.
Sarimun flapped his wings powerfully in front, swiftly retreating.
Zzzzrrroooong─!!!!
Sarimun maintained a calm expression while flapping his wings. He had faith that if he evaded endlessly, this attack would eventually cease.
Paaaah─!!
The wind from the continuous wing flaps fiercely struck the atmosphere continuously.
Sarimun’s figure quickly shrank to a dot. A rather flustered High Elf, Luine, who had completely retreated, approached Yuma’s side.
“Is it okay to let it go like that?”
At Luine’s words, Yuma slowly nodded.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It seems you really know quite a bit about yourself.”
“Right, you do know quite well.”
Yuma walked forward.
“However, he probably didn’t expect to face that. He might think he can evade that easily.”
After casually kicking aside the debris, Yuma stepped outside through the gaping wall. Before long, he spotted the white Celestial Being, Sarimun, soaring through the sky.
WOOOOOOSH!!!
Sarimun’s wings kept flapping in the sky.
Sarimun’s previously expressionless face contorted sharply. The attack they thought could simply be dodged was endlessly chasing them.
The guiding effect inherent in [Absolute Counter] was relentlessly pursuing Sarimun.
Sarimun twisted their whole body and wings sharply to the right, attempting a quick acrobatic maneuver, but the brilliant light also changed direction at a right angle simultaneously.
Surprised, Sarimun halted all movement in the sky.
Absolute Counter did not miss that obvious opening.
─KWA-AAAAAANG!
Sarimun’s body was engulfed in bright white flames, completely scattering without leaving any ashes behind.
Michael, the High Elf Luine, and the gathering of over a hundred knights drawn by the commotion of the collapsing wall witnessed Sarimun’s downfall.
After confirming Sarimun’s complete annihilation, Yuma quickly continued to use [Blink].
‘Bell.’
The arrival of Celestial Beings meant it was highly probable that someone was attacking Bell too.
Just before heading to the demon realm, Yuma had already handed over the defensive artifact received from the Elves to Bell. It should be enough to withstand considerable attacks two or three times.
Moreover, Bell’s combat sense and survival instinct far exceeded what any level could show Yuma; he had no thoughts that Bell might have been killed.
There was also a place where the people from the royal palace had gathered. Coincidentally, it was the outdoor training area where fierce battles occurred daily. In the middle of the outdoor training ground, Bell was engaged in a swordfight with a Celestial Being.
Bell was clearly being pushed back by the Celestial Being’s sword. However, to the eyes of sword experts, it appeared as if they were fighting evenly, as Bell was closely following the Celestial Being’s sword path.
CLASH-!!
The two blades clashed fiercely, revealing their edges as red and golden sparks flew.
Yuma looked at the Celestial Being facing Bell. Its appearance was identical to the recently slain Sarimun.
[Lv.227] Arkmoon
There was a reason Bell seemed to be fighting evenly without using the artifact’s power at first glance.
‘Did they send down an apostle matched to the target’s level?’
Well, no matter how much of a Celestial Being and an apostle they were, not all of them would exceed level 300.
The Sarimun that descended from the Celestial Realm to target Yuma was unable to overpower him and died, and now the Arkmoon sent down to capture Bell was also failing to properly subdue her.
Bell was wielding her sword with reckless abandon.
‘I’ll show you.’
The sword of Arkmoon, which initially felt incredibly heavy, became somewhat bearable. Similarly, she adapted to the lightning-fast strikes, now able to keep up with their speed.
The blue flames of her protective energy expanded across her entire body.
‘I’ve got you now.’
While she increased her strength and speed equally, it was a temporary breaking of limits.
She needed to raise her power to surpass Arkmoon’s expected range in an instant and finish him off.
Bell’s gaze gleamed coldly.
KABOOM!
She took a powerful step forward and swung her sword horizontally. The slash seemed capable of cleaving the world in two.
A blue crescent was drawn across the training ground.
Arkmoon’s waist was severed.
‘─Got it.’
The sensation flowing along the grip of the sword in his hands was definitely not an illusion. It was exhilarating.
A sense of achievement surged from his toes, knowing he had strategically taken down a being overwhelmingly stronger than himself.
Just as he was about to relax and loosen his body, Bell’s eyes widened.
He could feel the presence of the Arkmoon, whom he was sure he had killed, right behind him. And the body of the Arkmoon, which had led him to believe he had cut it down, scattered like dust—was it an afterimage?
He had literally cut through an afterimage.
Kwa-Duk!
Bell urgently swung her sword, twisting on her heel. But the red light aiming for her neck seemed to be faster.
In that moment, Duke Yuma, endlessly flashing toward Bell, grabbed her shoulder and pulled her quickly towards himself. Then he swung Balmung towards the red light.
KAAAAAANG!
[Absolute Counter]
The reversed red beam pierced through the Arkmoon’s head. The body of the Arkmoon, which had fallen pathetically onto the ground, began to lose its form slowly while flowing out a white aura. It was evaporating.
Amidst the countless members of the imperial palace who had gathered, many let out a sigh of relief. Yuma lifted his head to gaze at the massive eye nestled among the dark clouds.
It was an enormous eye—one that seemed capable of seeing everything in this empire.
After observing through Search Eye, he confirmed its identity.
“Heavenly Eye.”
– This is the eye opened to observe the Intermediate World from the Heavenly Realm.
He could very simply grasp its identity.
“Ethan.”
The renowned member of the Astes Imperial Palace, the Griffin Ethan, swiftly approached Yuma at his call.
Having perched on the outer wall of the outdoor training ground, he was able to get there quickly.
Grrrng…
Bell looked at Yuma, who was mounting Ethan, with a face full of dejection.
The self-doubt stemming from thoughtlessly confirming a victory in a battle that wasn’t over yet and the worry that Yuma might be disappointed in her weighed heavily on her mind.
Currently, Yuma’s focus was on that Heavenly Eye, so he couldn’t pay attention to Bell. Ethan, carrying Yuma, soared into the sky.
Swaaa—!
And he remained poised, flapping his wings just below the Heavenly Eye as per Yuma’s command.
“If you can hear me, great. If you can’t, just deduce it from my lip movements. Heavenly Realm.”
Yuma continued to speak while gazing at the bizarre, multi-colored eye quivering in its pupil.
“Neither I nor Bell, nor anyone around me, will become your apostles. This means you will have to kill all the Celestial Beings that come down to make apostles who will slay the Evil God.”
Blink—
The massive Heavenly Eye was closed. A dark gray eyelid came into view, and the eye opened once again. Yuma bravely delivered his message, despite the grotesque sight.
“I don’t care if you all decide to kill the Evil God. But if you become an obstacle to my killing the Evil God or touch my people, I will kill you all.”
Yuma stroked Ethan’s neck. Ethan’s body slowly made its way toward the Astes Imperial Palace.
BAM!
A sudden thunder rolled across the clear sky. Then the Heavenly Eye blinked shut once more, as if slowly disappearing from view.
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