[Cough.]
[She wishes for my death.]
[O sweet death.]
[I've forgotten about death for a long time. She awakened the longing for death inside me.]
The angels with white wings all committed suicide with their own weapons. It was no different for the fallen angels with black wings. They used their swords, spears, whips, or even hands to cut open their own chests and crush their hearts.
Black and white blood scattered over the battlefield. Looking at the scene, Helièna extended her two arms and closed her eyes.
[Look, such a beautiful scene, no? Don't you feel their straight and pure love?]
"Be pure twice, and the world will end, duh."
[There's nothing more truthful a proof of love than death.] It means they've thrown away their all for it!]
The surviving 5th-class beings all severed their own lives as soon as Helièna willed it. Black-and-white feathers scattered in the air. Yu IlHan felt slightly disgusted at himself for thinking it was beautiful.
[Ah, aaaaaaaah!]
[This damned... bitch...!]
[Natière, it was your mistake to come here today. Oh my, you mean it isn't? You love me so much? How thankful I am!]
[Guoooooooooh!]
The 8th Wing of Brilliant Light, Natière, and the Chief Gatekeeper from the Garden of Sunset, Kelatuke, were no exceptions. They were resisting to the best of their abilities by agitating their own mana. They might have been able to resist if they were at full power, but with their powers exhausted by the violent fight so far, it was nearly impossible for them to withstand Helièna's final attack.
The shark reversed the spikes on its armour and shaved its own body out while roaring, and Natière spread her own three pairs of wings to rip her body apart. If there was anything better for them than the other suiciders, it was that it took much longer for them to die due to the strong bodies they had.
[Kh....Kugh!]
[Fufu, you're beautiful, Natière. You're the prettiest that you've ever been right now.]
[Kuhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]
Perhaps Helièna was waiting for this moment from the beginning – slowly poisoning them and paralyzing them, and instantly severing their lives once they became unable to move. She was not only a beautiful succubus but also a meticulously proficient hunter.
Yes, right now he could understand why Helièna was so obsessed with him. To her, who had won victory after victory like this all her life, there should have been none who could surpass her.
[Succu, bus....! I shall...!]
[Oh my.]
However, just one was able to endure the succubus' order to commit suicide. It was none other than the 6th-class high angel Spiera. Even as a festival of death surrounded her, she stiffly raised her head to glare at Helièna.
[I'll kill you myself!]
[How? Oh, that's it. You're in contract with Yu IlHan?]
Helièna's gaze headed to Yu IlHan once again. She asked with a cute and adorable face.
[Darling, what will you do? If you say don't, I'll let that angel go.]
Yu IlHan could not understand Helièna at all. Did she mean that she would follow him if he wished to? Wasn't that as if they were in a master-slave relationship? Just what did the 'fifth' mean?
[Yu IlHan...! You need to kill her! She's the enemy of Heaven's Army, and your enemy!]
"...Spiera."
Yu IlHan held off replying to Helièna and turned to Spiera. As Helièna had said, the contract between the two was still maintained.
He could feel the connection linking her to him, one that allowed them both to feel each other's emotions minute by minute. Yu IlHan thought that this was perhaps the best time to wrap things up.
"Spiera, I have something to ask you."
He asked. It was a firm voice, devoid of emotion.
"What did you feel like when you abandoned Earth?"
[....]
[Oh my, you knew without me telling you?] My, my, you really are my type!]
Spiera was silenced by Yu IlHan's sudden question, and Helièna rejoiced that the man she chose had a darker heart than she had originally thought.
"..."
"...Uu."
Only Liera and Erta's expressions stiffened. Their guilt over betraying the Heaven's Army and their rejection of the Destruction Demon Army were dragging them back. They just didn't like this situation at all.
However, they wouldn't try to run away either. As long as they decided to go with Yu IlHan, they had to accept everything that he did.
"What did you feel when you realized that so many people could not meet their loved ones ever again?"
[That, is....]
"Returning to Heaven while leaving Liera and me behind, while countless infants died in that hellish place – what did you think about at that time?"
[...]
"Answer me, Spiera. I want to hear your honest thoughts."
Spiera's expression tragically twisted. She realized that Yu IlHan's heart had left the alliance with the Heaven's Army a long time ago.
[I... did not think anything of it.]
She eventually replied.
[I only act upon orders of the Heaven's Army. I am a higher existence, and my emotions are not moved by lower existences.]
"So that is it."
[Did that... answer your question?]
"Yes."
Yu IlHan raised his spear and asked Helièna for the first time
"Can you sever the contract between her and me?"
[Oh, darling, sure! You heard that? Agree to the dissolution of the contract. Here, nod already.]
[...]
Spiera bit her lip and nodded. At that time, the contract between the two was dissolved by mutual agreement.
[You have no angels in contract with you. All powers as an Angel's Partner become sealed. If you do not contract with an angel within a certain period, you will lose your eligibility as an Angel's Partner. At that time, you may select a new subclass.]
The moment the contract was completely dissolved, emotions of loss and vanity assaulted Yu IlHan. However, he felt a certain sense of newfound freedom. Being tied to somewhere did not fit him. The fact that a loner tried to join another group was a problem. He liked his current self the most.
[Yu IlHan, do you plan to go against me? Do you plan to go against the Heaven's Army?]
"I'll explain this situation in the simple words I like so much."
Yu IlHan's lips made a cold smile.
"You sound like a thug that just asked 'you wanna go against me?' even though you socked me right in the face."
[...]
Spiera's reply did not come back. Helièna realized Yu IlHan's decision and made way for him while retreating to make a stage for the two of them. She even retracted her power so Spiera would not be charmed by her!
"Spiera, let us fight. Not for the purpose of training, but with our lives on the line."
[...The succubus is listening to your words right now. If you use that power, you should be able to kill me easily. Why do you still hold your spear?]
"I can't let someone else take over the finisher and just step back."
Yu IlHan took deep breaths and looked behind him. Liera and Erta nodded at him with stiff expressions. Na YuNa seemed hesitant to say anything, but she still gave him a blessing to restore him to his full condition, pouting, and Yumir swayed his tail lightly, as if he knew what his dad was thinking.
That was enough.
"Well, come on, then."
[You've become more confident of yourself, Yu IlHan. Nice going.]
"I'm not underestimating you. If you were in your normal condition, I wouldn't do something so foolish like this."
However, Spiera was currently exhausted with injuries all over her body. Although she was freed from the charm, her mental self should have been severely wounded as well. Even with 6th-class powers, she would not be able to overwhelm Yu IlHan.
Above all, Yu IlHan wanted to experience the Great Cosmos-severing Spear for himself. There would never be another opportunity.
He cancelled Falling Down, which had been maintained until now, gathered all the dissipating flames, and put them on the tip of his spear. Spiera's lips curved into a smile as she faced the spear of flames, blessed by the goddess of fire and burning as if to melt everything around it.
[So you are showing such courtesy to a mere traitor like me... You really are a good man.]
"...Please conduct the last lesson properly, Spiera."
[Very well, I shall show you my best.]
Spiera also held her pure white spear and faced Yu IlHan. Her foggy eyes instantly turned crisp and clear. Liera, who knew how strong she was, grew nervous and grabbed Yu IlHan's waist, but he shook his head lightly.
"It's fine."
"What's fine, you idiot!"
"On one of the options of Untouchable, there's one that allows me to escape an attack that will instantly put me to death. So, in any case, I won't die with one hit. And if I don't die, then I can recover somehow."
"..."
He actually did have countermeasures! Liera fell silent at Yu IlHan managing to ensure his safety even in such a situation. However, she eventually smiled, thinking that it was very much like him.
Yu IlHan did not mind her, stood up from Yumir's head, and extended Ruin Calling. However, before he could leap, Spiera expanded her two pairs of wings and charged towards Yu IlHan!
[Die for the Heaven's Army, Yu IlHan!]
"Hhp!"
Yu IlHan leaped slightly later than her. He set the angle to horizontal and overlapped leaps, re-leaping several times in the air to burst through the limit!
[Activating God Force. Muscular strength increases by 340%.]
While charging, Yu IlHan activated God Force without Falling Down's support. Although he would be in much pain after the battle, he could not hold back with Spiera as his opponent.
[Hah!]
"...!"
As the two were moving at high speed, the moment of outcome drew near as well. Spiera drew a stroke with all her power in her spear, and Yu IlHan overlapped eleven trajectories into one.
[...!?]
Spiera's eyes abruptly opened as he watched his spear strike. She had realized the power in his strike. Immediately after that, the two trajectories collided, and there was no sound at all.
[....]
"...Kugh."
Yu IlHan, who was standing up with Ruin Calling Open, suddenly vomited blood. Although he looked fine on the outside, the amount of shock he had received internally was very high.
"IlHan!"
"Fuu... you don't need to come."
Liera and the others shouted, widening their eyes, but Yu IlHan shook his head firmly. He gestured that he was fine. By now, punctured internal organs didn't even count as injuries.
[Yu IlHan.]
Spoke Spiera.
[Is that the path you have chosen?]
"It's still incomplete. I'm going to incorporate your technique later too."
[Is that so... It's a pity that I… cannot see… the final.... form.]
A bitter smile hung on Spiera's lips. After that, her body split in half, starting from the head to her waist.
[You have earned experience.]
[You have earned the record of Lv 478 Spiera.]
[Fusion evolution of skills is possible. By consuming 1 5th class magic stone and 1,000 4th class magic stones, will you fuse Spear Mastery, Physical Combat mastery, Blunt Weapons mastery, Whip mastery, and Sword mastery?]
Even though she was exhausted by Helièna's power, Spiera was still able to fight, and it seemed that Yu IlHan was deemed the biggest contributor to her death, as he received the experience and records.
Moreover, having experienced the Great Cosmos-severing Spear in her final moments, and having even killed her and acquired her experience, he had fulfilled the conditions to learn it. Although he couldn't learn it immediately, as he had spent all his 5th-class magic stones, it would become possible if he searched among the dead 5th-class beings lying around.
[Darling.]
Making a sweet expression specific to a woman in love, Helièna flew towards him.
[You're so cool! You're the partner I've been waiting for all my life, I'm sure of it!]
"Really?"
[Darling will become the fifth God. You shall become the latest, but the brightest and strongest star...!]
Yu IlHan looked at the remaining people on the battlefield as she listened to her words. Although Yu IlHan and his companions were without any injuries, all the rest had died. Natière and Kelatuke also lost their lives while Yu IlHan and Spiera were fighting, so they were really the only ones left now.
[I heard a prophecy. That I would eventually stand next to the fifth God!]
"What is this 'fifth God'? Do you mean that I will create a new faction of higher existence?"
[You have noticed yourself, right? Darling… there are no beings who can withstand a 7th-class being's attacks while being a lower existence. There's only you – in this wide multiverse, you're the only one. I also thought 'no way,' but now I believe it. Can't you feel my heart pounding?]
Helièna grabbed Yu IlHan's hand and placed his palm onto her voluptuous chest. Yu IlHan admitted with a bitter smile.
"I can indeed feel your heart."
[Right?]
"Yeah."
Yu IlHan took his hand off her chest. Then he struck her with his spear through the heart.
God Force was still maintained, and having acquired Helièna's records, he knew her weak points and mana pattern as well, allowing him to make her heart burst instantly. Helièna's two eyes widened as if she couldn't believe what was happening.
[...Dar, ling?]
"Thanks for clearing up the situation."
Yu IlHan twisted his spear to completely kill her. Then, he spoke with a cold voice.
"But Liera is my only partner."
There's no way Yu IlHan would believe a woman who spoke of 'love' so easily, which he himself had taken hundreds of years to accept and admit. Additionally, he didn't know her true intentions, nor did he know whether they were pure!
From the moment she didn't realize that, Helièna's final moments were as good as set in stone.