NOVEL NEXT Chapter 265
At that moment.
In the Celestial Realm, known as ‘Heaven’ to the surface world, several Archangels began a serious discussion by the blue gate that had opened in the plaza.
“Are we really going to go? Luciel’s Gate.”
“…There might never be a chance to cross into the Intermediate Realm again.”
“But it’s dangerous. We’re talking about Luciel.”
“Many angels have already crossed into the Intermediate Realm. They are currently waging a holy war against the Unbelievers of the Intermediate Realm and the puppets coming from the Demon World. Oh Gabriel, you must decide.”
“…….”
The angel with blue hair shut his eyes, remaining silent.
“Is this really the will of the Moon Goddess?”
“…….”
No angel answered the Archangel’s question.
Before them, shimmering in the center of the plaza, the blue ‘sanctuary’ was indeed a dimensional door connecting the Intermediate Realm and the Celestial Realm.
However, it was not opened by the Moon Goddess, but by Archangel Luciel.
Once, he had committed blasphemy, fallen from grace, and been cast into the Demon World.
If this is indeed the will of the Moon Goddess, does that mean even his fall was part of her desire?
“If the Moon Goddess wishes for angels to descend into the Intermediate Realm, I will throw myself through this dimensional door immediately.”
“But the Moon Goddess….”
“For 500 years, she has said nothing. Not a single word.”
The silence of the Moon Goddess.
While her divine power still existed, the Moon Goddess had not sent her blessings to the surface as before.
Until now, angels and Archangels had been sending divine power down to the surface.
Humanity had accepted this divine power without doubt.
Perhaps this was exactly what the Moon Goddess desired.
“The Moon Goddess….”
“Gabriel! Over there, something’s reacting in the dimensional door, it’s shimmering…!”
“…What?”
At the moment when one angel peeked cautiously towards the dimensional door—
KWA-AAAAA—!!!
Golden magic surged through the gate and reached the heavens.
The intense bombardment of light, unstoppable even by angels, struck the celestial door, instantly shattering it apart.
Pusss.
The bombardment of light gradually faded.
The gate opened on the surface, belonging to Luciel, vanished without a trace, leaving behind only the marks of devastation wrought by the magical bombardment on the Celestial Realm.
And then,
“Th-this can’t be…!”
Beyond the celestial door.
The bombardment that swept through the plaza erased what should have been there.
“Bl-blasphemy…!”
The statue of the Moon Goddess was half-destroyed.
In the middle of the plaza, the goddess who had been praying with her wings spread was nowhere to be found, only her lower half remained.
And beneath the statue of the Moon Goddess, the blood of angels who had burst from the bombardment dripped down.
“Th-this…!”
Whom should I blame for this?
Luciel, who opened the gate on the surface?
The Archangels who didn’t close the gate swiftly enough?
Or the Moon Goddess who said nothing, who gave no reply?
“Uwaaa!!”
Gabriel let out a roar of fury.
“I will surely take revenge! On those who blasphemed the divine and disturbed the Celestial Realm, I will swing the divine hammer!!”
However, his rage reverberated emptily throughout the Celestial Realm.
The door leading directly from the Celestial Realm to the Intermediate Realm was—
“Uwaaa…! Luciel! If you are listening, open the door at once! I will go down first and eliminate all the Unbelievers of the Intermediate Realm!”
It had already been shattered to pieces, obliterated.
A faint voice echoed at the end.
—Ah. Did I go a bit overboard?
With a carefree laugh, Gabriel’s eyes bulged in disbelief.
“I command all angels! Find a way to cross into the Intermediate Realm! If another door opens somewhere in the Celestial Realm, report it to me immediately! I will descend personally!!”
The Celestial Realm began to move in earnest.
*
A golden storm rages in Abelfia.
The storm, tearing apart everything in its path, cuts down demons, celestial beings, and spares none.
“Wind—!”
The hero, Lucius, surrounded by a golden storm, swung his dual spears, overpowering the approaching enemies.
He pierced the sandworm Kimaria that leapt from below by embedding his spear into the ground.
He threw the golden spear toward the crows of Kimaria flying above, stirring the winds.
With the golden lance he conjured in both hands, he whirled around, creating a cyclone as he cut down the bug-like Kimaria creeping on the ground.
“Ha.”
Lucius composed himself and tossed the holy spear aside.
“Kraaak!”
A scream echoed.
Not from the demons, but from the celestial beings on the battlefield.
“Y-young Hero…? Why are you…?”
“Even if they call themselves angels, they are ultimately beings who came to invade the Intermediate Realm.”
Lucius raised his chin confidently as he aimed the holy spear in all directions.
“Those who come to human lands, claiming territory, I shall cut them all down.”
“Is that really the answer of a Hero?”
Thud.
An angel with a solemn face landed before Lucius.
The towering giant angel, with six wings fluttering, aimed his blue spear at Lucius.
“I offer this in the name of the Moon Goddess’s Apostle, Zaniel. Will you not follow the Moon Goddess?”
“…….”
“If you simply follow the words of the divine, all will become happiness. I am here to enlighten all in this land, the ignorant and foolish humans—”
“I’m not interested.”
Woom.
The holy spear pierced through Zaniel’s chest.
Piercing through the blue divine shield in an instant, Lucius turned away with the spear still embedded in him, seeking his next prey.
“H-how…?”
Thud.
Zaniel fell backward, unable to even leave behind a dying word.
All angels were shocked as someone, a larger angel, a ranked angel, had fallen.
“This impious one! How dare he kill the Apostle of the Moon Goddess!”
“Unforgivable! To act so arrogantly merely because he wields the sacred sword!”
“The sacred sword? What a laugh.”
Lucius raised his hand high.
“Does this look like a sacred sword?”
The golden spear emanating from his hand stretched up toward the sky.
“Clearly a holy spear.”
Bam bam bam!
The golden spear, rising high towards the sky, exploded and scattered in all directions.
Like rain of thorns, it pierced both demons and celestial beings, instantly turning them into a hive.
“Uaaah!!”
But not a single human fell to the golden thorns.
As demons and celestial beings fell, the sharp thorns merely brushed past the humans as a gentle breeze.
“W-what is happening….”
“…It’s a god.”
People gasped, gazing at Lucius.
“Lucius, he’s a god!”
Having already proven himself by defeating Demon King Satan once.
And now, he was demonstrating his abilities once more.
“Lucius! Lucius! Lucius!!”
In the hearts of humanity, sparks of hope began to ignite one by one.
“I can’t just stand by! Everyone, we will survive until Lucius defeats them all!!”
They couldn’t help Lucius.
Humans cannot assist a god.
But while the god was executing miracles and eliminating foreign beings, they could struggle to survive.
“That’s right, humanity!”
Flap.
Behind Lucius, a golden cloak fluttered.
“I will take them all down! The angels who impose their beliefs and kill the Unbelievers! The demons who seek to kill and devour humans! The true culprit behind all this, the New Demon King’s Army Asydia! I will defeat them all!”
There were no comrades.
It felt like there had been comrades once, but now Lucius stood alone.
No one to lend strength to Lucius, no way for humanity to help.
“I believe…. in you, Lucius!”
They could only believe.
“Lucius.”
Flap.
With wings altered in hue, Archangel Luciel stood before Lucius.
“What you wish for, I shall grant. I will give you what you desire. Will you not take my hand?”
The Archangel offered his hand.
“If you take down all those demons, I shall give you what you truly desire.”
“What I desire?”
“Indeed. The one thing you cherish. I will give you that.”
“…Ha.”
Lucius swung his spear towards Luciel.
Fwoosh.
Luciel effortlessly dodged the spear with a nod, and Lucius’s expression twisted for a moment.
“I’m not suggesting a deal because I can’t beat you. I’m saying this because I can’t be bothered to deal with you, because I despise variables running rampant in front of me.”
“That’s….”
“Not going to happen!”
Thud.
Behind Lucius, the Black Dragon Beel Zephar landed, shaking the ground.
“Who dares conspire in my presence! I am Beel Zephar, the Demon King!!”
“…We finally meet.”
Lucius, with an expression full of irritation, extended his other hand and aimed the holy spear at Beel Zephar.
“You are also someone I need to bring down; it’s nice you arrived. I assumed you were scared and running away, only summoning demons from the battlefield.”
“How arrogant! Just because you hold a sacred sword, you act all high and mighty!”
“It’s not arrogance; it’s confidence.”
Lucius nonchalantly shook his sacred sword up and down.
“I have the confidence to win even if you both attack me at once.”
“Such a bold Hero.”
As Luciel extended his hand forward, a rapier mixed with blue and white appeared in his hand.
“We must face a sacred sword with a sacred sword. Witness the blessings bestowed upon this land by the Moon Goddess, the power of the Divine Sacred Moon Sword.”
And just before they clashed—
Swoosh—!!
Over there.
From the south, a golden trajectory soaring toward the heavens caught everyone’s attention.
The pillar of light rising towards the sky from the southernmost tip of the continent was neither the color of the Moon Goddess nor the demons.
It was the power of the golden magic wielded by Lucius, mixed with a hint of red.
“…Huh.”
Lucius shrugged lightly at the sight of the pillar of light.
“What are you doing?”
He aimed the holy spear at the Archangel and the Demon King.
“Since it’s bothersome, come at me all at once.”