Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Heaven's Affairs
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──BOOM!!
Watching Arthin raise his middle finger toward the monitor, Akrael slammed his fists down irritably.
"How dare you ignore my commands and even insult me...?"
How dare a mere mortal? He, who had been created as a 6th-class Competent Angel and had now risen to a 5th-class Extraordinary Angel?
"Calm down, Akrael! No matter how you look at it, this is defying the Goddess's orders! The manual doesn't cover something like this..!"
"Shut up! You think a lowly 9th-class angel like you can order me around?!"
Zetael, who had been watching from the side, hurriedly tried to restrain Akrael, but to Akrael—whose fists were trembling with surging rage—it was nothing more than an irritating nuisance.
"Fine...! Arthin Ludwig! I've given you your chance! Go ahead and regress the way you chose—start over from scratch with nothing but grit and evil!"
──Weeeng! Weeeng!
As Akrael clicked on the screen, the alert announcing the world's regression began to blare.
Five minutes until regression activation. In just five minutes, that mortal would eternally regret his choice!
"Hahaha! That's exactly why we call you mortals foolish—for making idiotic choices like that! Chew on your decision forever, Arthin Ludwig!"
"...Stop this! I won't just advise you anymore!"
Seeing Akrael completely lose it, Zetael finally raised her whip and spread her two wings.
Akrael burst into laughter at the sight of those puny wings—mere two pairs, and shorter than her own arms—and gripped his baton.
"Hahaha! You think a mere 9th-class angel can stop me? Don't you know you lack both the authority and the power? You pathetic failure!"
"I may lack power and authority, but I know I can't stand by and watch an angel like you! Prepare yourself!"
Zetael shouted resolutely and swung her whip.
She didn't think she could defeat a 4-winged Extraordinary Angel, but she could exploit an opening, halt the regression, and buy some time─!
However, Zetael's whip, charged with her divine power, was blocked by the shockwave from Akrael's swung baton, enveloped in holy energy.
──KABOOM!
"Urk...!! Cough!"
Immediately pushed back by the shockwave, Zetael's body couldn't withstand the impact. She began coughing up blood, splattering it across the floor.
"You think a mere 9th-class angel can stand against me—a former Competent Angel created for the Great War against the demons?"
Akrael's four wings unfurled arrogantly behind him. Their massive size visually emphasized the gulf in power between him and Zetael.
"Whatever. You dared attack your superior and a higher-rank angel. I have no choice but to punish you."
Akrael had never liked Zetael, who constantly interfered with his judgments. No, her attacking him now gave him the perfect excuse to punish the insolent woman.
He set his baton on the desk and drew his true weapon—a sword from his waist—flashing a sinister smile.
"Even a fool like you should know that a higher-rank angel has the right to execute a lower-rank angel on the spot if signs of corruption appear, right?"
Zetael gritted her teeth at his words. Akrael's intent was clear: he planned to dispose of her right here.
"...I know full well that summary executions only happen during the Great War!"
"Oh? And you're the one obstructing the Goddess's direct command. Doesn't that make you no different from the fallen angels who sparked the Great War? This is justice."
Zetael swung her whip at Akrael as he approached slowly, but he sliced it apart in one stroke without breaking stride.
Slash!
"Urk...! My whip!"
"Taking after the Goddess's mercy, I'll offer you one last warning. Obey me without resistance and guide the hero and mortals my way. Do that, and I won't execute you."
Akrael, having fully severed Zetael's whip, pointed his sword at her furious expression.
"...I refuse. I won't compromise what I believe is wrong..!"
She knew a slash from that blade might truly erase her, but Zetael steeled her resolve.
Even if she vanished here, her senior would surely help the regressor..!
"Foolish to the end, then. Farewell!"
As Akrael swung his sword, Zetael squeezed her eyes shut.
Though she would vanish here, she took pride in her unyielding heart for upholding justice and order..!!
──CRACK!
The first sensation Zetael felt after steeling herself wasn't the cold bite of the blade—but a dull thud of something breaking.
"Gaaah!!! How dare you!! Who is it!!"
Akrael dropped his sword after a flail struck from somewhere, hurriedly regenerating his shattered hand as he glared in its direction.
"You fly-brained bastard of Beelzebub... You dared harm my precious junior angel?"
"─Lady Sardiel!"
Her blue eyes flashing, Sardiel swung her flail at Akrael once more.
'What the hell is this power?!'
Akrael barely dodged by leaping aside, but the flail's impact—which pulverized the wall in his place—was utterly astonishing. Could such power truly come from another Extraordinary Angel?
"You... a mere status window administrator...!!"
Akrael couldn't tolerate it. Not only had a confined angel appear to interfere, but she was making him flinch in fear.
This wouldn't do. He was a veteran warrior who had fought demons, an elite promoted to 1st rank by the Goddess herself!
Managing status windows was just a stepping stone far beneath him. Failures like her had no right to defy him.
"I am Akrael! The Goddess's sword that slays demons, the Extraordinary Angel who obeys her word! I will personally punish you for obstructing my duty!"
No matter her brute strength, she lacked real combat experience—he couldn't lose to such an angel!
Akrael unleashed all his gathered power and charged at Sardiel!
"Shut your yapping, you fly-brained shit!"
──KABOOM!!!
Before Akrael could swing his sword, Sardiel's flail crashed down on his back like lightning.
"Gaaaaaah!!"
In that single blow, Akrael felt as if his entire body might disintegrate.
In truth, Sardiel could have erased him with that strike alone, but she held back.
"Zetael! Can you move? If so, stop the regression now!"
"Y-Yes, Lady Sardiel!"
The first priority was halting the regression. Zetael rushed to the intact computer amid the half-destroyed office and operated it, silencing the regression alarm.
"H-How... How can an Extraordinary Angel be this strong...?"
Akrael muttered, writhing at Sardiel's feet. How could a defeated loser who dared oppose the Goddess's proxy be this powerful?
"Competent Angel, huh? Can't even the 6th-class ones recognize their superiors these days?"
Sardiel sneered and dramatically unfurled her wings again.
"...Impossible... Wings?"
It was Zetael who reacted first to the wings spreading behind Sardiel's pristine white suit.
Zetael had only seen the modest wings Sardiel showed off when being tsundere. The full, serious version was utterly unfamiliar.
Even one pair alone was dragon-wing massive, exuding the majesty of an Archangel's wings.
"...S-Six wings? You're... supposed to be an... Extraordinary Angel..?"
And there were six—not four.
In Heaven, fewer than 1% possessed six wings; only higher angels. Akrael was dumbstruck.
"I've been demoted so many times for causing trouble that I'm stuck here, but originally, I was a 2nd-class Supreme Angel~ That's what I mean. I smashed more demon skulls in the Great War than you have feathers!"
Akrael couldn't comprehend it. A Supreme Angel meant to command angels, purge divine foes, and guard Heaven—reduced to scrap like her? And what kind of trouble demoted a 2nd-class to 5th?
"I usually only show four since pulling out my wings gets me disciplined... You're gonna get me in so much trouble. Right, Akrael?"
"...D-Don't come closer! What are you planning?!"
"Nothing much~ You said it so confidently earlier, didn't you? That higher angels can personally punish insolent underlings."
Terrified, Akrael tried to flee backward, but with his body still reeling from the devastating blow, he couldn't escape Sardiel.
"...What are you doing, Zetael?"
"Y-Yes?! What is it, Lady Supreme Angel?!"
"Hurry and wrap up the status window. How anxious do you think our Arthin is right now?"
Quick-witted Zetael realized this meant "look away and pretend you didn't see."
Glancing down, she saw Akrael crawling on the floor, pleading desperately with his eyes.
"...Understood. With the administrator absent, I'll handle the duties in their place."
"Z-Zetael! What are you saying?! The administrator is right here... Aaaack?!"
As Zetael turned and tapped the keyboard, Akrael screamed, then shrieked in agony.
The reason was simple. Sardiel had placed her foot on his back and gripped a pair of his wings tightly with both hands.
"I'm just~ too merciful, you see. I can't do barbaric stuff like erasing someone."
"Th-Thank... you... But why the wings..?"
"But punishment isn't just execution, right? Demotion is also a commander's prerogative, isn't it?"
A chill ran through him. Though dazed from the shock, Akrael instinctively sensed something terrible was coming.
"I'm sorry! Lady Sardiel! Just once! Forgive me this once, and I'll obey your every command!!"
"Oh? Too bad, men like you aren't my type!"
CRACK!!
"Gaaaaaah!!!!!"
Sardiel yanked the wings clean off, and they tore free in a burst of light. Akrael writhed in torment, but Sardiel laughed delightedly as she fully ripped them away.
"Eek!...Due to...the status window...error...we apologize... Sob!...and will provide...compensation..."
Zetael ignored the physical demotion happening behind her and announced the quest cancellation along with compensation for Akrael's tyranny.
'...Didn't Lady Sardiel say she'd only been created less than 100 years ago?'
A past remark from Sardiel flashed in her mind, but Zetael decided not to pursue her curiosity.
"Gaaaaaah!!! Graaaah!!!"
"Now, if you strut around in front of me again, I'll rip off your remaining pair too, got it?"
Satisfaction gleamed in her eyes as she gazed down at the writhing angel on the floor, wiping her bloody hands on the freshly plucked wing. Asking her would require more courage than facing oblivion.
"All done, Zetael?"
"Y-Yes, Lady Sardiel! I've announced it as an error and issued compensation! I'll focus on intensive care afterward!"
"Aw~ Relax! I like your prickly side, Zetael!"
Zetael wanted to retort, "How can I relax with you like this?" but hearing Akrael's ongoing groans, she swallowed it silently.
"...Huh? Zetael? Did you handle it right?"
"Yes, I processed it as mildly as possible. Why, Lady Sardiel?"
"...Then why is Arthin collapsed?"
On the monitor Sardiel pointed to, Arthin lay slumped in Olga's arms.
"Huh? The forced regression didn't activate, and it's not an error either. This is.."
"Move aside. Check the status button and detailed logs."
Pushing Zetael away, Sardiel worked the computer. Soon, Arthin Ludwig's full status window appeared on the monitor.
"...Sleeping incense? Line 28 says he's afflicted with sleep poison."
"What? Who uses sleep poison out of nowhere?"
Only Olga and Arthin were in that space.
Unless his contracted high-ranking dream demon Circa had backstabbed him, no external interference was possible. Sardiel checked the detailed logs.
"...Olga Virtus poisoned Arthin with sleep toxin? What does this mean?"
As Sardiel demanded irritably, Zetael flinched in surprise but had no answer.
She couldn't read the mind of Olga, who smirked sinisterly at the slumbering Arthin on the monitor—like the star of some melodrama.