[501] Despair. Despair. (4)
Yinyang Wave Fist — Heavenly Collapse.
Etella's spinning kick slammed into Satan's abdomen.
Hundreds of waves already woven into the strike interfered with one another, unleashing a brutal shockwave that tore through him from the inside.
"Kraaak!"
His muscles rippled like waves.
Satan was flung to the far end of the Jebul and slumped with his back crushed against the wall.
'It can't end like this.'
Etella slid her left hand behind her back and took a neutral guard.
The second confrontation.
Just hours ago she had nearly met death at Frankwein's hands.
'Still, he doesn't move because—'
Because he had an ulterior motive.
As she expected, Satan's gaze swept past Etella and landed on Metiel and Satiel as well.
'Hmm, a follower of good. That's dangerous.'
That left two choices.
Either annihilate the archangel to quickly tip the scales of the Law, or expend everything to eliminate Etella.
Sensing Satan's stare, Metiel spoke.
"Run, Satiel."
Satiel's face crumpled.
"What? Run? We're archangels—are you telling us to run?"
"No. You go alone. At least one of us has to escape and gather more angels. If we don't, we can't win."
Satan was the natural enemy of angels who'd strayed from the Law, but Satiel couldn't accept it easily.
If a human's attack could send him flying, maybe Satan's current strength wasn't overwhelming.
"Finish it here. Without using powers, the two of us attacking together can annihilate him."
"Not at all. Satan is already strong—and he's getting stronger. The ordinary angels are being beaten by Garas."
"But that human's attack hit. Our attack could land too."
"It wasn't a matter of force. That human's Law negated Satan's Law, so it won by type advantage."
Satiel glared at Etella's back.
"Negate Satan's Law? How is that possible? Humans are—like angels—bound by the Akashic Record's Laws, aren't they?"
"Yes. Perhaps that's exactly why Anke Ra fears humans."
Metiel finally understood the true meaning of this war, but it was already too late to explain further.
"What do you mean? Ra fears humans?"
"Satiel, do as I say."
As Metiel beat her wings of light and took flight, Satan sprang off the wall and burst forward.
His target was Etella.
'That's what's most annoying.'
A human's will for good destroyed Satan's will.
How a being recorded in the Akashic Record could do that was a mystery even to Satan.
'But it's weak.'
That was the limit of biology.
Still, by merely buying a moment, Satan had become more than twice as strong as when Etella struck him before.
'Now I can finish this.'
With terrifying acceleration, Satan lunged at Etella and raised his massive, clawed hand.
Metiel darted in from the flank and struck at Satan's ribs with a slender arm.
"Ugh!"
It was Metiel who winced.
Without the power of the Law applied, Satan had grown so solid that ordinary blows barely moved him.
"Heh—planning to lose only half?"
Sacrifice one archangel to save another—still a profitable trade for Satan.
Twisting his torso to change targets, Satan drove his might through Metiel's chest.
"Metiiieeel!"
Satiel's cry rang out when she saw a blood-red arm thrust through the angel's back.
Her wings spread wide and her torso pitched forward.
Born at the same time yet opposite in nature, all their lifelong rivalry couldn't prepare her for the feeling of a part of herself being torn away.
"I'll kill you!"
As she swung her golden wings to strike, Satan's cold pupils fixed on Satiel.
Annihilation.
Overcome with a chill of terror, Satiel unconsciously changed course and fled with all her strength.
'Heh. Too late.'
Metiel's death bought only a single second.
But that single second was Satiel's only chance.
As she coiled her muscles like a spring to launch herself, Etella's fist struck Satan's face.
Kraang!
The impact sent Satan flying; he slammed a shoulder into the corridor, and Satiel smashed through the ceiling with her head and escaped from his sight.
Satan, disappointed, licked his lips like a reptile and narrowed his thin pupils on Etella.
He'd become so strong, yet the avatar had staggered him with a single blow.
A strike filled with spirit—at that moment it was no exaggeration.
Having confirmed Satiel's escape, Etella put distance between them and readied herself.
"Devious creature, don't try cheap tricks. After all, I'm the only one left now."
"Kahahahahaha!"
Satan laughed, straightened as if nothing had happened, and spread his arms wide.
"I concede—you stand with good. But—"
His gaze shifted to Metiel, whose chest had been pierced and who collapsed.
Her body flared into light and dissolved into fine particles.
That made two archangels annihilated.
Two of the eight parts of the Akashic Record were gone.
Kukukukukuku!
Satan visibly expanded in an instant, and Etella retreated with a grave expression.
"In the end, evil prevails."
The ten-meter-tall crimson demon towered over Etella, baring fangs.
* * *
"Aaaaargh!"
Gawold's scream tore the sky.
The power—an amplification of sensation a hundred millionfold—was so intense it pulverized the fallen angels and mara around him, but that effect required the caster to maintain concentration to wield magic.
In agonizing torment, Gawold was being dragged back into hell.
Just like ten years ago—an event Gangnan could never forget.
"Kraa! Kraa!"
Gawold's eyes had rolled back; he flailed and staggered.
The initial devastation left everyone too stunned to approach, but it was only a matter of time before they realized the Air Press had vanished.
"Aaah! Aaargh!"
Gangnan pulled with all her strength on , but couldn't move an inch forward.
She couldn't let Gawold be taken like this.
But her yearning smashed against reality's cruel wall and shattered into delusion.
Even amid that heartbreaking struggle, Kariel remained calm.
In the end, Miro did not come.
As long as Miro lived, humans had not been defeated.
'Despicable Miro.'
Kariel swept heaven's corners with narrowed attention, but Miro's presence was nowhere to be felt.
'Where are you? Where are you?'
Then Kariel's eyes caught a shocking sight.
"Ikael..."
Kariel trembled without even realizing Yuriel had turned back.
Ikael was dying.
And, bitterly, what made it shameful was that Ikael—second only to Miro in loathsomeness—was being struck down by Paiel while protecting Shirone.
'Human! Human! A filthy archangel who slept with a human! How far will you sink with that filthy body!'
Seeing Ikael risking annihilation to protect Shirone rekindled a well of anger Kariel had long buried.
'Why—'
Why wouldn't she look at me?
A blinding flash shot into the sky and curved into the Arabot with a thunderous roar.
* * *
'Ikael! Ikael!'
Shirone's eyes were bloodshot; hot tears streamed down her face.
She watched Ikael weaken under Paiel's power and hated herself for being powerless.
Valhalla Action borrows the Akashic Record's principles, so even those who draw the circle cannot always predict how far acts needed to invert causality will reach.
She was left only to feel helpless and resent everything.
As if understanding Shirone's heart, Ikael kept smiling—though her face had long since lost its brilliance.
Each time Paiel shattered the amplification barrier and shoved in the aura of annihilation, Shirone's heart withered like a battlefield.
"Hurry! Please hurry!"
There was roughly a minute left until the Valhalla Action masterwork concluded.
Every second crawled.
She would do anything.
If only she could move—if only she could return to a state where she could do something—she would gladly fall into hell.
"Shirone, when the Valhalla Action ends—"
Ikael smiled gently and said, "Leave heaven. Never come back."
"No, Ikael!"
There was so much left unsaid.
Ten seconds remained.
Would Ikael still be alive by then?
As terror threatened to overwhelm her, something condensed inside Shirone.
'I will not forgive!'
Imagining Paiel behind Ikael, Shirone braced for ten seconds that felt like hell.
Nine. Eight.
'If only I could move—'
Four. Three.
'I'll pay any price—'
Two. One.
She would never forgive Paiel.
Valhalla Action reset.
Shirone's mouth opened.
"Ika—!"
"Ikaeeeeel!"
At the same moment, a ragged woman's howl overlaid Shirone's voice.
Bang!
Satiel—who had flown here from the Jebul to avoid Satan—landed and kicked Ikael, sending her sprawling.
"Because of you…! It's all your fault!"
She stamped mercilessly on Ikael.
Even while Metiel—the one she'd known longest—was being annihilated by Satan, Ikael had wasted strength protecting a mere human.
'Why did she—'
Why had she loved such a faithless angel?
Even though every angel hated him, he was the only one she had defended, and he turned away from her.
"It's because of you! It's all because of you!"
Ikael, already drained of strength, couldn't even take a defensive posture as she was struck.
Watching that, Shirone's eyes snapped with fire.
Valhalla Action.
A black-and-white magic circle spun above Shirone's head, and Paiel stepped forward to stop her.
The combination of Valhalla Action and Ataraxia was an unknown realm impossible for angels.
Even if a human cast it, it couldn't be allowed.
"This ends now, Nephilim."
Paiel's dark hand was about to stab Shirone's throat when a teleportation flash struck him.
"Ugh!"
Flu's face twisted as he grabbed Paiel and fell to the ground.
Thanks to Jona's keen sense of distance, they had calculated the point where teleportation would cancel—had they stepped a fraction further, their bodies would have been shattered.
"Shirone! Shoot her down!"
Flu clutched Paiel and shouted.
As Valhalla Action activated and the sound of Ataraxia unfurling reached Shirone's ears, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Whatever magic was cast, his life would end here.
Shirone spoke softly.
"Everyone… farewell."
Contrary to expectation, no magic triggered.
And the fact she could speak in the Valhalla Action state meant the calculation had already begun.
Puzzled, Flu turned—and Shirone's body moved toward Ataraxia.
Ikael, who'd been struck by Satiel, cried in terror.
"No, Shirone! You can't—!"
Before the shout finished, Shirone crossed Ataraxia's boundary.
Flash!
The world brightened for an instant, and mental power amplified to the point it could have filled the Arabot.
Ataraxia—Physical Domain.