A silent tension filled the sacred halls of the Angelic realm.
The space itself felt strange.
Moments ago, something had existed.
Something immense.
Something divine.
And now—
It was gone.
Completely.
At the center of the hall stood Feldway.
His expression was colder than usual.
"…Gone."
His voice echoed through the chamber.
Nearby, Zalario folded his arms.
"You mean the presence from earlier?"
Feldway didn't answer immediately.
Instead, his eyes slowly narrowed.
"Yes."
Across the chamber, Cornu frowned.
"That's impossible."
"It felt like a Primordial-class existence."
He scratched his chin.
"And yet now… nothing."
Not weakened.
Not distant.
Just—
Gone.
As if it had never existed.
The silence stretched.
Finally, a calm voice spoke.
Obera.
"It disappeared very suddenly."
Her tone remained composed.
But her eyes quietly studied Feldway's reaction.
Feldway slowly exhaled.
"I cannot sense it at all."
His words were sharp.
"Not a trace."
Zalario raised an eyebrow.
"That's unusual."
Cornu chuckled slightly.
"Maybe it died."
Feldway's gaze snapped toward him.
Cornu immediately stopped laughing.
"…Right. Bad joke."
The room fell quiet again.
Feldway turned away from them and stared into the vast sky beyond the hall.
"That presence…"
His voice lowered.
"It carried the purity of an angel."
He paused.
"But also…"
Zalario finished the thought.
"…something darker."
Feldway nodded.
"Yes."
Obera watched the exchange carefully.
Angel.
Yet something else.
That strange duality had been obvious to her as well.
But unlike the others—
She did not feel confusion.
She felt relief.
'It disappeared.'
That meant Feldway couldn't track it.
Couldn't locate it.
Couldn't manipulate it.
Obera kept her face completely neutral.
Inside her mind however—
'Good. Stay hidden.'
Feldway slowly clenched his hand.
"This is unacceptable."
Cornu blinked.
"You're angry?"
Feldway turned toward them.
"For countless years we have waited for the return of Veldanava."
His voice echoed through the chamber.
"Every powerful existence is a potential piece of that future."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"And yet this one vanishes before we can even identify it."
Zalario nodded slowly.
"So you wanted to recruit it."
"Recruit?" Feldway replied.
"No."
His gaze sharpened.
"Control."
Cornu let out a low whistle.
"Direct as always."
Obera finally spoke again.
"…Feldway."
He looked toward her.
She kept her tone measured.
"Even if that being is an angel…"
She paused slightly.
"That does not mean it should be treated as a weapon."
The room went quiet.
Zalario glanced sideways.
Cornu raised an eyebrow.
Feldway stared at Obera.
For a long moment.
Then he spoke.
"You misunderstand."
His voice was calm again.
"I treat everything as a weapon."
Silence returned.
Obera lowered her gaze slightly.
She had expected that answer.
Of course she had.
Feldway turned back toward the endless sky.
"Whatever that being is…"
His voice echoed softly.
"It will appear again."
He slowly closed his eyes.
"And when it does…"
The air itself felt colder.
"We will be ready."
Far away—
Within the shattered capital of the Holy Empire of Lubelius.
The air still smelled of dust and destruction.
Collapsed buildings surrounded the ruined cathedral square.
At its center stood Luminous Valentine.
Her crimson eyes were fixed directly on Leon Cromwell.
The tension in the air was suffocating.
"…Leon."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Answer my question."
Behind Leon stood two familiar figures.
Rain lazily leaned against a broken pillar.
Beside her, Misery watched the exchange quietly.
Luminous gestured toward the destroyed city.
"This."
Her voice sharpened.
"Someone did this."
Her eyes burned slightly.
"And you know who."
Leon remained silent for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"…You're correct."
Rain whistled softly.
"Well, he's admitting it."
Misery nudged her lightly.
Rain shrugged.
"What? It's true."
Luminous ignored them.
Her gaze never left Leon.
"Who is he?"
Leon crossed his arms.
"I cannot give you a complete answer."
Luminous's eyes narrowed.
"That is not acceptable."
Leon continued anyway.
"But I can tell you this much."
He looked toward the horizon.
"That being…"
"…is both an angel and a demon."
Luminous blinked.
"…Excuse me?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"That should not be possible."
Leon nodded.
"Normally, yes."
"But that one exists outside the usual rules."
Luminous remained silent.
Her expression didn't change.
But the pressure in the air slowly increased.
Leon continued.
"He possesses the energy of an angel."
"But his existence…"
Leon glanced briefly at the destruction around them.
"…resembles that of a primordial demon."
Luminous rubbed her temple.
"Great."
"So we've got an angel-demon hybrid running around blowing up countries."
She sighed softly.
"That is certainly… troublesome."
Luminous finally spoke again.
"And his name?"
Leon paused.
For the first time—
He hesitated.
"…That."
He looked back at her calmly.
"I will not reveal."
Luminous stared at him for several seconds.
Then—
She turned away.
Her long hair swayed behind her as she began walking toward the ruined city streets.
Rain blinked.
"…Uh."
"Where are you going?"
Luminous didn't stop walking.
"If you will not answer me…"
Her voice echoed calmly through the broken city.
"…then I will ask someone who will."
Leon already knew who she meant.
Rain did too.
"Oh."
Rain shuddered.
"Guy-sama is gonna hate this."
Misery nodded.
"Yes."
Luminous stopped briefly.
Her crimson eyes looked toward the distant horizon.
"…Guy Crimson will answer me."
For hours, the world had trembled.
Mountains shook.
Seas churned.
Cities held their breath.
Powerful beings across the world had felt it—the violent collision of monstrous energies clashing somewhere far away.
And then…
Just as suddenly as it began—
It stopped.
The silence afterward felt almost unnatural.
Dust drifted slowly through the broken streets of the Holy Empire of Lubelius.
Collapsed buildings lay scattered like fallen dominoes.
Several figures slowly stood from the debris.
At the center of them was Hinata Sakaguchi.
She brushed dust off her coat and quietly scanned the horizon.
Around her, the Ten Great Saints struggled to stand.
Bruised.
Exhausted.
And very confused.
"Ugh… my ribs…" muttered Bacchus, clutching his side.
"That pressure earlier…" said Garde, wiping blood from his lip. "It felt like the world was ending."
Fritz looked around the ruined street nervously.
"But… it stopped."
Hinata said nothing.
Her sharp eyes remained fixed on the distant sky.
The tremors had been violent enough to shake the entire region.
But now?
Nothing.
Not a single ripple of that overwhelming energy remained.
Garde exhaled slowly.
"Well… at least it's over."
Bacchus nodded.
"Yeah… looks like Leon Cromwell handled it."
Fritz rubbed the back of his head.
"That demon didn't stand a chance against a Demon Lord."
Hinata remained silent.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
'Handled it…?'
Perhaps.
But something about the situation felt strange.
The energy she had felt earlier…
It had been monstrous.
Hinata quietly turned away.
"…Regardless."
Her voice cut through the group.
"The tremors have stopped."
She began walking forward through the ruined street.
"Our priority now is restoring order."
Behind her, the Saints quickly followed.
But several of them still glanced nervously toward the distant sky.
None of them had any idea what had truly happened.
---
The Sorcerer Dynasty of Sarion
Within the shining halls of the Sorcerer Dynasty of Sarion, elegant crystal windows overlooked a peaceful forest.
Standing beside one of those windows was Elmesia El-Ru Sarion.
The trembling had finally stopped.
She gently sipped her tea.
"…How dramatic."
Behind her stood several royal attendants.
One of them spoke carefully.
"Your Majesty… the disturbances across the continent appear to have ended."
Elmesia nodded.
"So it seems."
She looked out at the sky thoughtfully.
The magical tremors had been strong enough to reach even Sarion.
Something absurdly powerful had been fighting somewhere in the western regions.
And now—
Silence.
Her lips curled slightly.
"This will certainly complicate things."
An attendant blinked.
"The Western Nations Conference, Your Majesty?"
Elmesia laughed softly.
"Yes."
Her golden eyes gleamed.
"With an incident like this shaking the continent…"
She placed her teacup down gently.
"…everyone will be extremely nervous."
Kings.
Merchants.
Demon Lords.
The entire balance of power was already fragile.
And now this mysterious battle had just reminded the world how small they truly were.
Elmesia stretched slightly.
"Well then."
She turned away from the window.
"I suppose it's decided."
The attendant tilted their head.
"Your Majesty?"
Elmesia smiled mischievously.
"I won't be attending the conference."
The room went silent.
The attendant nearly choked.
"Y-Your Majesty!?"
Elmesia waved her hand casually.
"Oh, relax."
Her eyes sparkled with amusement.
"I'm simply not interested in sitting in a room full of nervous politicians."
She glanced toward the distant west.
"Especially when something far more interesting is happening."
---
At the Freedom Academy
Inside a quiet classroom of the Freedom Academy, several children were gathered around a window.
They had all felt the tremors earlier.
Even here.
And it had terrified them.
But now—
Everything was calm again.
Shizue Izawa stood beside them.
Her arms were folded as she stared quietly at the sky.
"Sensei…"
One of the children spoke softly.
"What was that?"
Another student nodded nervously.
"The whole building was shaking…"
Shizue remained silent for a moment.
Then she smiled gently.
"I'm not sure."
That wasn't entirely true.
She had felt it.
That terrifying energy earlier.
It had reminded her of the monsters that ruled this world.
Beings far beyond normal understanding.
Before she could say anything else—
A cheerful voice cut in.
"Whatever it was…"
Everyone turned.
Standing near the doorway was Kirara Mizutani.
She stretched her arms over her head casually.
"…it's gone now."
The kids blinked.
Kirara smiled brightly.
And that smile looked completely different from the hollow expression she once had.
Back when she had been nothing more than a weapon used by Kingdom of Falmuth.
Now?
She looked alive.
Relaxed.
Free.
One of the children laughed nervously.
"You're weirdly calm about this."
Kirara shrugged.
"Well…"
She looked toward the sky.
"…if something strong was fighting out there, it means someone else strong stopped it."
Then she grinned.
"So everything worked out, right?"
The kids slowly nodded.
Shizue quietly watched Kirara.
And smiled.
---
In A Hidden Chamber
In a dimly lit room somewhere far away—
Two figures sat across from each other.
One of them leaned back in his chair lazily.
Yuuki Kagurazaka tapped his finger against the table.
"…Well."
He looked amused.
"That was unexpected."
Across from him sat Kagali.
Her expression was far more serious.
"The tremors were enormous."
Yuuki nodded.
"Yep."
He grinned.
"Something ridiculous was happening."
Kagali folded her arms.
"Do you know what caused it?"
Yuuki tilted his head.
"No idea."
His smile widened slightly.
"But I'd love to find out."
Kagali studied him.
"You're enjoying this."
Yuuki chuckled.
"Of course I am."
His eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"The world just shook like it was about to break…"
He leaned forward slightly.
"…and we don't even know why."
To Yuuki—
That was exciting.
A new unknown variable had appeared on the board.
Kagali looked toward the distant west.
"…Whoever caused that battle…"
Her voice lowered.
"…must be a terrifying existence."
Yuuki laughed softly.
"Exactly."
He rested his chin on his hand.
"And I can't wait to meet them."
---
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