[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 279

BOOOOOOOM!!!!

With a thunderous roar, a massive pillar of light—at least six meters wide—shot up from the ancient fortress, like a waterfall flowing in reverse.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at the sky.

In that moment, they all felt something chilling sweep over their entire bodies.

The being’s face was not visible.

But the three wings radiating from that figure told them everything they needed to know.

An Archangel.

Floating in the sky with both hands softly extended, she made no sound, took no action.

And yet, simply standing before the pillar of light, her presence spread out like a wave.

“Heaven... is opening.”

Someone muttered blankly.

They felt an overwhelming intuition—an enormous passage connecting heaven and earth had just opened following the archangel’s arrival.

Then, light began to gather around her, forming small, angelic figures.

They looked like children with angelic wings.

One by one, they appeared.

And then more.

Their numbers rapidly multiplied, and they seemed to be pouring their power into the being at the center.

“Hey!! Dove of the Holy Kingdom! Isn’t that divine magic?! Isn’t that your god’s power?!”

“Damn it. I don’t know either! Just prepare for anything! Something’s seriously wrong! Something’s gone haywire inside...!”

At the cry of Dobel, a high-ranking cultist, the expression of the Holy Knight Commander hardened.

Then—

“Massive energy reading!! If it falls, the entire area will be vaporized!!!”

The Holy Knight Commander looked around in a daze.

Among the people staring blankly at the sky, one of them—Luna—stood frozen, eyes wide open.

“Remiel. Why...?”

The skull of a monster she had been holding suddenly crumbled into powder.

She tried to move, but before she could, spears of light rained down from the sky, pinning her in place and sealing her movements.

“What is this?! Michael!!!”

Only the Holy Knight Commander heard her furious shout.

“Massive energy inbound!!”

At the shout of a priest, the commander realized that neither the rift nor the monsters were the real problem now.

He shouted:

“Circle of God!! Redirect the spell toward that being in the sky!”

“C-Commander?!”

“Now!!”

The elves reacted the same way.

“Crown of the Sacred Tree! Target the white figure in the sky!!”

And the moment preparations were complete, both factions released their strategic magic.

The enormous spells, charged with tremendous energy, surged toward Remiel, who floated in the sky, wings unfurled.

But—

Remiel’s expression didn’t even flinch as she slowly raised one hand.

And in that hand, a massive horn appeared from thin air.

The Horn of Apocalypse.

No one had ever seen it in person—none could identify it.

But everyone instinctively sensed their own death.

BWOOOOOOOOOO...

With the horn’s haunting sound, as if announcing the world’s end—

The world turned pure white.

No one spoke.

No one reacted.

They could only stare blankly, watching as the night sky turned to day under the overwhelming light.

The power the archangel wielded was, in some sense, a catastrophe.

CRACK...

Because of that, no one noticed the red flash that burst from the rift in the sky above the fortress and shot straight at Remiel—narrowly avoiding the mass of light.

* * *

A massive energy concentration.

It seemed the holy knights and the elves had prepared their own large-scale spells, but compared to the immense power of the archangel, it was utterly insignificant.

To be fair, the red rift and the monsters of annihilation had been completely obliterated—reduced to dust in Remiel’s brilliant light.

But if left alone, that massive force would crash into the ground and vaporize everything in the area.

Having sealed me away, she left the fortress and immediately connected with the heavens, unleashing her full power and activating one of her extinction-class miracles—The Horn of Apocalypse.

It’s unbelievable, but that enormous energy construct is supposedly a nerfed version of her true attack.

I don’t even have time to be annoyed.

The two factions’ strategic spells were swallowed by that energy construct and are now falling toward the ground.

Luna is...

...

Seeing her struggling, bound by spears of light, sent a chill through my mind.

Ah.

Right.

Are you telling me to break through this on my own?

That way, all the blame lands on me?

[It is presumed she has another purpose as well.]

Then what is it?

[The Archangel’s Spear that you possess.]

Ah.

That thing.

Right.

One strike from it, and both of us will be reduced to molecules—together, in perfect symmetry.

The spear I received from the archangel carries that kind of power.

And honestly, there’s only one being I can think of who could create such a thing.

Sorry, but I have no intention of using it.

“Status window.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

At my murmur, text rapidly appeared before my eyes.

Name: Leon Cascadia

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Abilities:

(Hall of the Sword)

Mind Master – Acquired skills can be viewed with [Expand].

The aura of [Mastery] is preserved.

(Hall of Nothingness)

Mind Master (Top Tier) – Acquired skills can be viewed with [Expand].

The aura of [Calamity] is preserved.

(Hall of Necromancy)

Grand Necromancer (7th Circle) – Acquired spells can be viewed with [Expand].

Death Mana of the Death Lord is preserved.

Authority over death is preserved.

Divine Right [Death] – Thanatos is granted.

(Hall of the Sage)

[Gate of Truth]

The heart of the Machine God and all its memories have been implanted.

(Hall of Truth)

Archmage (7th Circle) – Learned spells can be viewed in detail.

The elemental mana of the Demon God is preserved.

[You acquire the Word Command.]

[All fusion ability slots are full. 2/2]

(Hall of the Spirit Sword)

Contracted Spirit Swords [2]

Falling Flower – Second Awakening state.

Utopia – Second Awakening state.

Spirit energy reaching requiem-level is infused into the body.

(Hall of Spirits)

Two contracted spirits.

Earth Spirit [Griby]

Heat Spirit [Surr]

The authority of unity with nature is infused into the body.

Compared to the weak beginnings, it’s a significant development.

However, the days of cheesing progress with cheap transcendence builds are nearing their end.

From the Grandmaster level onwards, even that becomes difficult to manage.

How to blow away that damn condensation…

As I was pondering, I saw someone raise their sword.

‘Isna Mielephon?’

Despite everyone else falling into despair, Isna Mielephon silently took a stance with her sword raised.

As far as I know, her level is at best Expert.

But for her to withstand this oppressive force felt oddly suspicious.

‘Is she hiding her true power? No, that’s not the issue now.’

Stop thinking and move.

Having organized my thoughts, I took a short breath and rapidly circulated my aura.

Including parts of the body that hadn’t circulated before.

[Overdrive (Transcendence)]

Pain surged through my body like my muscles were on fire, but it didn’t matter.

I’m used to this pain.

[Ultimate Sword]

[Complete World]

Unlike before, the overwhelming strain hit my arms, tearing my muscles in places—but it didn’t stop my sword from swinging.

In a single strike, I cut through the very logic of the world.

A realm that touches not just thought, but the origin of the world itself.

That is the path a Mind Master must eventually reach.

Soaring like a flash of light, I struck before Isna could do anything, slicing through the Horn of Apocalypse that Remiel held.

At the same moment, Remiel staggered from the backlash, trying to counterattack, but I slipped through the gap created by the horn and activated Diablo’s trump card.

Simultaneously, black mist-like forces were expelled from her body like they were being exorcised. Her eyes widened and she staggered.

—Gah…

Her body lost strength and plummeted, its light extinguished.

What would happen if the world found out that the being who nearly caused a catastrophe was actually an archangel?

No doubt, there would be an uproar.

Catching the falling Remiel, I confirmed she had completely lost consciousness.

Apparently, what Diablo had embedded in her was some method of expelling the power of an Outer God implanted within her.

Maybe it wouldn’t work on an ordinary being, but for an archangel, it might’ve been enough to force it out.

Or… maybe she’d only recently been possessed.

Whatever the case, I couldn’t just leave her like this, so I passed her off to the dragon Baril, who was soaring through the sky.

“Take her to Cascadia. I’ll follow once I finish up here.”

At my command, the Shadow Dragon Baril flapped his enormous wings and took to the skies, clutching the unconscious Remiel in his massive forelimbs.

Her wings and the angelic choir she summoned with the Horn of Apocalypse had vanished.

All that remained were the ruins of the fortress crushed by her overwhelming power—and traces of the monstrous beings of annihilation.

“Lord Leon!!”

“Are you hurt?!”

As I landed, I immediately freed Luna, whose body had been pinned by a spear of pure white.

As I broke and pulled the spear out, she clutched my arm.

“Are you hurt?!”

“Just minor injuries.”

At my words, she wrapped her arms around me.

And with a short sigh of relief, she muttered:

“That’s a relief.”

“Weren’t you curious about everything?”

“Right now, none of that matters. I was already regretting letting you go into that fortress when all the ominous signs started appearing.”

“Lord Leon.”

Eventually, Isna approached.

I walked up to her and flicked her forehead before she could react.

“Eek!”

“Lady. Courage is fine, but charging in without thinking—if you die, no one will take responsibility.”

Think before you act.

Understanding my words, she pouted.

[Her behavioral patterns are not normal.]

Well, when was she ever?

I didn’t bother thinking too deeply about her.

I never expected normalcy or common sense from someone who showed up at the banquet wearing a mascot costume.

Eventually, the cultists, the Holy Kingdom, and the Great Forest representatives all gathered, and I informed them that the crisis had been resolved and that Cthugha was presumed dead.

“Um… what about High Priest Diablo…?”

Naturally, the Holy Kingdom was uneasy about Diablo’s absence.

“He withdrew early due to injuries.”

“That’s a relief then.”

Afterward, the Holy Kingdom declared that they would send additional forces to investigate the fortress, and the elves said the same.

However, the cultists departed without hesitation, carrying a large coffin with a body inside.

“Our mission is complete. We didn’t eliminate all the threats, but we achieved our main goal.”

Inside the coffin was probably the body of a being possessed by an Outer God that had erected that barrier.

According to Luna, it was the previous Black Tower Master.

No matter how powerful she had been, she must’ve been overwhelmed by the combined assault of Luna and Baril, both of whom had lost all reason.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]