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Chapter 264

If Laplace’s Compass pointed here as the location of the Fate Lord, then the ring should definitely be here.

But instead of the ring, something else made contact with me.

At this point, I was beginning to suspect the compass might be broken.

A voice echoed from within the statue and delivered its message to me directly, through some sort of informational resonance.

Something sealed inside a statue…

Come to think of it, the whereabouts of the archangels were never clearly known.

Even Luna didn’t know what had become of them, and the same went for the other archangels.

If something is sealed in this statue, maybe it’s that vanished Remiel… but the feeling was strangely different.

I attuned myself to the voice as if matching its frequency.

—Can you hear me? I need your help.

The girl’s voice was faint and weak.

But within it, there was an unmistakably powerful presence.

—Please… help me. You're the only one who can hear my voice right now.

‘You think I can help you?’

As I began resonating with her, I sent a reply.

A moment of silence followed.

—Adam? No way… are you Adam?

What the hell is this woman talking about all of a sudden?

—Adam! Please help me! With your authority...

She was saying something in a hurry, but I calmly denied it.

‘I’m not Adam.’

—What? That can’t be. This voice is unmistakably Adam’s.

‘No, seriously, I’m not. Lady, are you alright?’

—The voice is definitely the same... What on earth happened while I was gone...?

I didn’t even know who she was, so I couldn’t recklessly break the seal.

I had definitely seen something like this in the Labyrinth.

An archangel who had appeared as a hostile entity.

There was no way to know who that archangel was, but if they were anything like Luna, they definitely weren’t going to be friendly toward me.

In times like this, I had a go-to solution.

“Luna. Come here for a second.”

She stopped rummaging through the temple with her bare hands and looked over at me.

“What is it?”

“There’s something inside this.”

At my words, Luna clenched her fist.

Whoa there, she’s about to smash the statue…

—Wait! I sense something abnormal from the outside! I don’t know what it is, but you mustn’t just destroy it!

As she tried to crush the statue, I quickly hugged her from behind to stop her.

“Hey, hey. Just wait a second.”

“Le…Leon…”

She struggled briefly, then looked back at me and relaxed.

“There seems to be something sealed inside this statue.”

At my explanation, Luna crossed her arms, tilted her head, and inspected the statue from various angles.

“Hmm…”

But it seemed she couldn’t hear the voice of the being sealed inside.

—You’re wrong. It seems my voice doesn’t reach her. Whoever she is.

‘So. What should I do?’

—Though it looks like an ordinary statue, this is no ordinary sculpture. It’s a manifestation of a seal. You won’t be able to break it through normal means.

She couldn’t feel the voice or anything else directly connected to it.

‘Well, at least explain who you are. I’m not just going to break a seal for someone I don’t know.’

She fell silent.

‘Why the silence?’

—My name is Lispa Elde.

Didn’t ring any bells.

If she was an extremely dangerous being, her name would’ve shown up in historical records.

‘So what did you do to end up sealed in here?’

—I was originally sentenced to annihilation. But thanks to the preparations I made, I was able to conceal myself by being sealed here.

Then shouldn’t she stay sealed?

‘What did you do to deserve the sentence of annihilation? Judging by this, you’re no ordinary being.’

—I went against the will of God and killed many humans.

Her words made my expression harden.

‘You killed people?’

—Yes. I killed hundreds.

How could she say that so calmly?

“Leon, what on earth are you doing?”

“Oh, right. Luna, do you know the name Lispa Elde?”

At my question, she froze.

Then she tilted her head in confusion.

“How do you know that name?”

“She says that’s her name, the one inside this statue.”

At my reply, Luna narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the statue closely.

“Ask for her full name.”

At her suggestion, I placed my hand back on the statue.

‘What’s your full name?’

When I mentioned her full name, the girl sealed inside the statue clicked her tongue as if displeased.

—I’m not fond of that name. Is it really necessary?

‘Then I have no reason to unseal you. Whether you stay sealed or not doesn’t concern me.’

She was silent for a moment, then slowly answered.

—Lispa Elde…

Hmm…

—Remielia.

“Remielia… Wait, that name format sounds familiar.”

“Remielia? Lispa Elde Remielia?”

“You know the name?”

“Who wouldn’t? It’s the full name of the archangel Remiel, who sang praises of God’s blessings.”

I realized my guess had been right.

Which meant… the hundreds of humans she claimed to have killed were…

‘Were those humans you killed royalty, by any chance?’

—How do you know that?

Bullseye.

At this point, I started to understand why two Divine Beasts, Barva, had been guarding this place.

It made sense.

There’s no way Divine Beasts would be stationed to protect an empty temple.

It was only logical.

“I think I’m right. Luna, they’re asking for the seal to be undone. What do you think?”

“Doesn’t matter. If anything, she may have awakened her sense of self just like I did.”

After some deliberation, I resonated with the statue.

‘So, how do I unseal you?’

—Are you really going to release my seal?

‘If you knew who was standing next to me, you’d be surprised. But let’s skip to the how.’

After a brief silence, she slowly opened her mouth.

—There are several ways, but the seal is powerful. The easiest method would be using a Saint’s Stigma.

The Saint’s Stigma, huh…

—But the wielder of the Stigma needs to be capable of wielding its full power.

Saint Nadia had once summoned an archangel.

It was a result of me planting a song of suggestion to awaken her potential.

But she still had a long way to go.

The Stigma method was out.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

‘What else?’

—There’s also a way to “kill” the seal itself using the Authority of Adam, but I’m guessing that’s not possible for you. Which means… there's no immediate solution.

‘Can’t I just break it?’

—Ordinary attacks wouldn’t do anything. But if it truly were broken… I might vanish along with it.

So many conditions.

At that moment, Luna, who had been quietly examining the statue, spoke up.

“I think I can break it.”

“How?”

“Like this.”

Luna reached her hand out toward the statue.

Wooooooong!!!!

At that instant, concentric holy circles, possibly dozens of layers thick, spread out from her fingertip.

However, many of them shattered, scattering fragments.

“How many broke?”

“I’ll just replace them with others...”

After that, Luna formed black-glowing magic circles and slotted them into the gaps where the others had broken.

Unlike when she used the archangel's power via the bracelet, now she had to rely entirely on her own strength—perhaps that’s why the result was so different.

What emerged was a startlingly intricate combination circle, dispersing overwhelming divine energy.

—W-What is this?! Where is this powerful, strange holy energy coming from...?

As Luna’s magic circle wrapped around the statue, its grey surface began to slowly shimmer with a rainbow of colors.

“Leon. Do you remember the box I was sealed in?”

“I remember.”

“And do you remember that it was contact with you that shattered the seal?”

“You want to do the same thing here?”

“This seal is stronger than that one. So I’ll amplify the effect with my power and twist the core in one blow.”

Luna’s own seal had been damaged, almost as if someone had tampered with it.

But this one was too sturdy, so she suggested a different approach.

The method of sealing might be different, but if the nature is similar, the means of release could be, too.

As she intended, a massive amount of mana inside me suddenly began pouring out, placing enormous strain on the seal.

Crack!! Crackle!!

At the same time, chains previously invisible around the statue began to appear—and started breaking apart.

Of course, the seal resisted fiercely.

Massive surges of energy erupted throughout the temple, and three Divine Beasts—Barva—were summoned.

When unsealing Luna, even one had been too much, and we’d had to poison it to win.

But this time, the stakes were different.

Like a pack of wolves circling their prey, the Barvas growled lowly, divine flames flickering on their sharp claws.

Luna was focused on the holy circle, and I was focused on supplying mana and aura.

—Please concentrate! I’ll try to hold back the Barvas!

Just then, as her seal began to weaken and her power started to return, the voice of Archangel Remiel rang out.

Simultaneously, a mystical melody began to echo from the statue.

Strangely, musical notes started appearing in mid-air and burst with cracking sounds, creating bizarre shockwaves.

Bang! Bang bang!

At the first explosion, the Barvas staggered.

As the notes kept bursting, they began to reel, disoriented, and slowly started backing away.

For an archangel, her power was still weak, but it was enough to keep the Barvas from getting any closer.

Thinking back, it made sense.

Remiel’s seal might have been placed even earlier than Luna’s.

But this seal had clearly withstood the passage of time far more effectively.

Almost as if someone had come back and reinforced it.

Moreover, there were no signs of outside interference or damage to the seal, making it exceptionally hard to break.

But unlike last time, I now had a much greater reserve of mana and aura—and Luna as a supporting force.

Crash!!!

At last, the seal couldn’t hold.

It shattered, and an immense divine shockwave swept outward, engulfing the surroundings.

The area where the statue stood erupted into a pillar of energy, shooting into the sky like a waterfall in reverse.

It pierced the ceiling cleanly, the wave of energy soaring upward like a beacon proclaiming Remiel’s return.

The blast wasn’t something that could go unnoticed—it likely made her presence known across the entire central continent.

And then—

Amid the pillar of light, the figure of a girl slowly began to emerge.

She was about the same height as Luna.

Unlike Luna’s flowing garments, this girl wore a revealing blue hanbok-inspired outfit.

Her blue hair and halo adorned with several stars radiated a commanding presence.

Sssshhh...

And then, three pairs of snow-white wings spread gracefully behind her, as if they were made of condensed light.

They were very different from Luna’s wings.

While Luna’s were grey with a dark, black-tinged halo—she was a fallen one—this girl was a true, untainted archangel.

It was then.

As I looked at her, radiant and divine, something suddenly flashed through my mind and sent a chill down my spine.

[I won’t forget. Your pain, your sorrow—I will never forget.]

[I won’t leave anything behind that’s tied to them. Not even a trace. I’ll erase it all.]

[Eligos. Melli... my friend.]

It was like a whisper, an eerie voice filled with haunting resentment that rang in my mind.

Just for a moment, but it struck so deep it gave me chills.

“What… was that just now?”

“What was what?”

She didn’t hear it?

Was it just me?

Did I imagine it?

As I stood there confused—

Within the light, the archangel—Remiel—slowly opened her eyes.

Unlike Luna’s galactic pupils, her eyes shimmered with blue light, as if filled with stars.

She gently descended with graceful movements.

Had she truly remained uncorrupted all this time, never having lost her power?

From her, an overwhelming divine aura poured out.

Luna smiled warmly as she looked at her.

But for some reason, perhaps because of that chilling voice I’d heard, I couldn’t shake a strange sense of unease.

I wasn’t sure anymore…

Was unsealing her really the right thing to do?

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