Chapter 133: This is an Angel?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 133: This is an Angel?
The moment she caught a glimpse of that golden figure hidden in the shadows, Cecilia’s heart lurched.
Atoris?
What was she doing here?
Wasn't she supposed to be presiding over Carlos Lilanka, handling the daily affairs of the Wheel of Fate’s Aodu Empire branch?
Cecilia’s mind surged with disbelief and shock.
This felt even more surreal than running into a ghost in the heart of the heavily guarded Holy Church—though she herself had just been treated like a ghost by the guards here, chased from one place to the next.
However, thanks to her years of training as an assassin, her face didn't betray a hint of panic.
Under Atoris’s watchful gaze, Cecilia quickly adjusted her posture and turned back to the two little ones.
"Um, so... Big Sister really isn't a bad person. I just... had to... well, 'handle' them for work."
Against a backdrop of scattered corpses and the lingering scent of blood, her polite smile felt indescribably eerie.
The two little ones stared at her in silence, saying nothing.
"Ahem."
Cecilia cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Anyway... if you want to keep exploring this place, you can follow me. I just wandered down from the summit, so I know the way well. I promise I can take you back up."
The two little ones exchanged a look.
"Hmm... a guide?"
"Will following you be more fun than playing by ourselves?"
Cecilia perked up instantly, puffing out her chest with a solemn vow.
"No problem at all! Every secret passage on this Heavenly Mountain, every gap in the guard rotations—Big Sister knows them all like the back of her hand!"
Hearing this, the two little ones exchanged another look.
"Since you're so willing to lead us, we'll reluctantly agree."
"Let's get this straight first: you can't do anything weird to us."
After a brief evaluation, the two little ones finally nodded.
Cecilia let out a long sigh of relief.
"Alright then, Big Sister promises to show you everything Heavenly Mountain has to offer."
With that, Cecilia began her "Heavenly Mountain Tour Guide" routine, leading the two little ones along.
Atoris followed closely behind.
To be fair, Cecilia wasn't exaggerating.
From the moment Brandon dispatched her here to infiltrate the Holy Church headquarters alongside a pre-arranged mole, she had used an assassin’s characteristic sharp intuition and patience to etch the defensive layout, patrol routes, and architectural structure of Heavenly Mountain into her mind.
She had even managed to penetrate deep into the core area near the summit, nearly catching a glimpse of the rumored Pope himself...
Then, the sudden Great Purge of traitors swept through the entire Church like a storm.
Although no concrete evidence was found against her, she was still detained on trumped-up charges. Cecilia hadn't even had time to react before the entirety of Heavenly Mountain was placed under a total lockdown.
After a series of twists and turns, she had finally fought her way from the summit back to the outskirts... right until she ran into these two blue-haired little angels who had wandered into danger.
Under Cecilia’s guidance, the two little ones strolled through every "scenic spot" on Heavenly Mountain as if they were on a spring outing.
Finally, Cecilia led them around a patrol squad, perfectly timing the shift change to slip through the blockade... only to be nearly caught by the presiding Bishop.
After dealing with a few unexpected factors, the three of them had quietly reached the edge of the Holy Church’s core area.
As for why Cecilia dared to lead the two little ones back to the very place where she had nearly met her end—aside from the fatal attraction the two little ones held for her "lolicon" heart—there was an even more important source of confidence.
That golden aura following them. Faint, yet never truly disappearing.
Atoris.
While being monitored by Atoris didn't feel great, the woman was, after all, the guardian deity of the Aodu Empire and its strongest combatant. With such a powerhouse following behind, Cecilia naturally felt a profound sense of security.
Except...
She stole a glance at the two small figures looking around beside her, and a deep sense of tragic indignation welled up in her heart.
Such adorable children were right within arm's reach, and yet...
I! CAN'T! TOUCH! THEM!
This feeling was more agonizing than being surrounded by a hundred elite guards!
Upon reaching the edge of the core area, Cecilia pushed aside her stray thoughts and cautiously scanned the surroundings.
After confirming there were no living threats nearby, she lowered her voice.
"This should be... the deepest part. To be honest, I've never actually been inside. So, as for what happens next, I—"
Before she could finish, she suddenly felt something was wrong.
She whipped her head around.
The two little ones, who had been following obediently, were gone!
"Oh no, oh no! Where are they?!"
Cecilia’s pupils shrank, and cold sweat instantly drenched her back.
If she lost them here, wouldn't she be... finished again?!
Wait, why did she think "again"?
Just as the thought flashed through her mind, a minute disturbance came from behind.
Whoosh—
A short burst of breaking air.
Almost instinctively, Cecilia turned, stepped back, and swung her blades in a single fluid motion!
Her twin daggers sliced precisely into a figure lunging at her!
The figure, struck by blades infused with the aura of death, let out a shrill, inhuman shriek and stumbled back.
Only then did Cecilia see the full appearance of her attacker.
It was... a form that could hardly be called human anymore.
Remnants of a Holy Bishop’s robes clung to its body, but most of its flesh was covered in bizarre, white-gold tumors. The tumors throbbed as if something living was writhing inside.
Most horrifying of all, a pair of distorted, ragged white wings had torn through its back. Embedded between the feathers were several golden eyeballs of varying sizes.
"The... Angel Race?"
But this was too...
Staring at the unsettling sight, she couldn't find the right words for a moment.
Ugly? Profane? Eerie?
This looked nothing like the "messengers of God cloaked in glory and holy wings" described in the texts. This was clearly a parasite that had forcibly occupied a human shell, twisting it into a horrific form caught between divinity and mutation.
Perhaps "Aberrant Angel" was a more fitting name.
What alarmed her even more was that her blades, saturated with the power of death, had clearly torn through the creature's body. Yet now, the granulation at the edges of the wounds was writhing and healing at a visible rate.
The power of death granted by Thanatos possessed an almost absolute suppression over living beings. Normally, a wound torn by this power would only expand and rot until the target completely disintegrated; healing should have been impossible.
"But if I just treat it as a monster with high regeneration, it doesn't make much of a difference."
Cecilia narrowed her eyes. With a flick of her wrists, her two dark-gold short blades traced elegant arcs in her palms.
The blessing of the Star of Destiny was fully displayed at this moment.
Even in a direct frontal assault, every one of Cecilia’s strikes still triggered the core "Sneak Attack" mechanic of the Assassin class, dealing massive critical damage.
The Aberrant Angel flapped its deformed wings frantically, firing a rain of light feathers, but Cecilia dodged them all with her supple movements.
As the dark-gold blade-light fell, "Death Rifts" stacked upon the creature's body, spreading like a spiderweb.
Seventeen strikes, thirty-one strikes, sixty-four strikes...
The final blow.
The dark-gold light pierced through the dense cluster of white-gold tumors, sinking directly into the Aberrant Angel’s core.
Squelch—
Like a punctured abscess, the body suddenly shriveled and collapsed, turning into a pile of grayish-white residue on the ground.