The Unbroken Bond from Ancient Times
Slap—
Judging Yeo’s cheek turned to the side from Gabriel’s palm strike. Then Gabriel’s other hand followed, striking the opposite cheek of Yeo, forcing it to swing the other way.
“Whew, a little less bitter now,”
Gabriel said with a smile that carried genuine relief.
“It still hurts,”
Ye said, grumbling, though a thread of joy wove through his voice.
Five years on Earth had twisted his thinking, turning him into a solitary tyrant of a man. Yet he remained the tender family man, the one who shielded his descendants.
Gabriel had never been family or descendant, but among those who had shared his path, she stood as the sole unbroken thread from more than eight thousand years ago—apart from the three women who now shared his bed: Rachel, Ruina, and Silvia.
The Dragon Lord had lived through those same ancient times as well, yet Ye knew him only in passing.
So the only unbroken connection from that distant era, beyond his current wives, was Gabriel.
Everyone else he had known back then had already grown old and passed on long before.
Even the dragons.
“Still, to say it again—long time no see, Gabriel.”
“Long time? Too much time has passed for that to be accurate.”
Ye gave a wry smile at her reply.
“Can’t be helped. I couldn’t have done anything about it. To you that’s over eight thousand years ago, but for me it’s only been five years at most.”
“Only five years? From my perspective that’s twelve thousand one hundred and twenty-three years. Quite a lot of unfairness, don’t you think?”
To Gabriel, that was genuinely unfair. She had waited through twelve thousand one hundred and twenty-three years for him, while he had only lived five!
But the fact that it had ended at all was thanks to the fact that she was an angel with infinite lifespan.
Demons within the Demon World always fought for rank, slaughtered one another over personal slights, and waged endless wars between their own species—yet even with infinite life, most lasted no more than ten thousand years before being killed.
Or powerful demons, tired of living so long, simply provoked battles with the Heavenly Realm or with their own kind of the same age, ensuring both died together in a friendly manner.
Looking at that belligerent nature, even without a lifespan limit, demons would never have reached ten thousand years.
Angels, on the other hand, were not so aggressive. While one individual angel’s strength might not match a demon’s, without the constant war with demons, they could steadily multiply their numbers without depletion.
That was why the angel population of the Heavenly Realm now exceeded that of the Intermediate World.
Of course, the Intermediate World’s human population had been slashed by nearly two-thirds in the war against the dark armies, but even so, it remained an enormous figure.
The Holy Astraea Kingdom was the second-strongest nation on the continent, yet after the war its population had shrunk to just over forty million.
The Habsburg Empire’s population barely exceeded one hundred million. Its territory covered vast areas, including the cold northern wastelands where few humans could survive, but compared to the landmass of Earth’s China, it was still an absurdly small number.
The Holy Astraea Kingdom itself spanned an area rivaling Australia, while this continent—blessed with fertile plains and a mild climate—still had only a fraction of the people.
Relative to the continent’s landmass, humanity’s numbers had dwindled to this extent, and restoring them to pre-war levels would take countless years.
Yet the Heavenly Realm’s angels numbered around three hundred million.
Far beyond the two hundred and fifty million humans still surviving in the Intermediate World.
And Ye was the one who had opened the gate to the Heavenly Realm. Through that newly opened gate, the angels of the Intermediate World could now pour into this world at will.
“For now, I have already grasped the situation in the Intermediate World and the Demon World to some degree. Our power is stronger than ever, but the current Demon King is simply too formidable to provoke carelessly.”
“Yeah, this generation’s Demon King is truly absurdly strong.”
Ye agreed with Gabriel. He had only seen the Demon King’s power in part, but that being was already beyond belief in strength.
Even if Ye recovered the Holy Sword, he doubted he could win.
The Demon King had absorbed the accumulated knowledge of every previous Demon King, and the one who had inherited it had been none other than Ye himself—after he became the Hero.
The problem was that Ye had swallowed the entire arsenal of knowledge and techniques possessed by the previous Demon Kings into his own strength as soon as he became the new Demon King.
Normally it took ten to a hundred years for a new Demon King to emerge after the old one’s death, because they had to digest or gradually absorb that knowledge.
But Ye had not needed that time. Since he had already been stronger than the previous Demon King before ascending, the moment he took the throne he absorbed the knowledge into his own power on the spot and began operating as Demon King within a single day.
Thanks to him, the Demon World had avoided the dangerous gap of a vacant throne.
Before Ye’s rise, after the previous Demon King’s death, the demons had constantly clashed over territory and slain one another in chaos. Thanks to Ye’s lightning-fast ascension, that chaos was gone—and the Demon World now possessed its greatest strength in history.
Moreover, every demon who had touched the Demon King’s hand had grown even more powerful than before. That fact alone was already a threat to the angels.
“That is why the other Grand Archangels and I believe we must cooperate with the humans and dragons of the Intermediate World. If we angels attacked the Heavenly Realm by ourselves, the Demon King could simply cross between the Intermediate World and the Demon World at any time, rendering the effort pointless. The strong ones should confront the Demon King, while the rest of us angels, working together with the humans and dragons, will face the other demons.”
Gabriel did not waste time with negotiation proposals. She had already stated her position: full military cooperation. As an angel who prized trust, it was the most angelic way possible—joining forces for a common goal.
“If it were a human, they’d eventually need lips just to bite back the pain, then try to squeeze every condition out of me before refusing. But you, an angel, are exactly the same.”
“We angels change much more slowly than humans.”
Ye nodded, having always known angels were a slow-changing species. They lived for such long periods that almost nothing altered… and they lacked the burning desire to grow stronger that humans possessed, making their growth painfully slow.
“Still, after twelve thousand one hundred and twenty-three years, the martial arts you taught me have spread throughout the Heavenly Realm. Everyone is stronger than before. I myself have grown quite strong. Honestly, I had planned to give you a proper beating with a fist rather than just a slap.”
Gabriel’s smile as she spoke was breathtakingly beautiful, but Ye, knowing her words were not a joke, replied with a wry grin.
“You’re pretty angry, huh. After all that time, more than eight thousand years…”
Ye said, then placed his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. Her current outfit was a pure-white dress with bare shoulders, so his palm rested directly on her smooth skin. Ye smiled and spoke.
“Either way, I’ve become quite a rotten bastard, but I’m counting on you, Gabriel.”
“Of course. I’m counting on you too.”
Love between humans and angels was forbidden, so they could not kiss or share the same embrace. Yet between them lingered eight thousand years of longing and trust, and the bond forged in ancient times remained unbroken.
“First, we need to gather the other angels and search for the holy relics hidden in the northern wastelands. But before that, I’d like to receive the Grand Archangel’s sword as my weapon.”
“The Grand Archangel’s sword? Indeed… since the Holy Sword belongs to the Demon King, the Grand Archangel’s sword is the only weapon worthy of a hero like you.”
If holy relics existed in the Intermediate World, then six relics existed in the Heavenly Realm.
The Grand Archangel’s Sword—the strongest weapon in the Heavenly Realm.
The Grand Archangel’s Shield—the strongest defensive item.
The Grand Archangel’s Spear—the strongest offensive spear.
The Grand Archangel’s Helmet—the strongest head protection.
The Grand Archangel’s Bow—the strongest ranged weapon.
The Grand Archangel’s Gloves—the strongest hand protection.
Among the four Grand Archangels, Michael carried the Grand Archangel’s Sword, Gabriel the Grand Archangel’s Bow, Raphael the Grand Archangel’s Spear, and Uriel the Grand Archangel’s Gloves.
The Grand Archangel’s Helmet and Shield had no single owner but could be claimed by any of the Grand Archangels as needed.
“I don’t have a bow, but the sword belongs to Michael…”
Since it was not hers, Gabriel could not promise outright. She knew Ye needed her support to defeat the Demon King, and she assumed Michael would think the same. If she asked, Michael would hand over the sword—but there was a possibility it might not be granted, so she could not give a definite yes.
“I’ll talk to Michael first. I’m not sure I can promise for sure.”
Ye understood Gabriel’s hesitant tone and nodded.
“Understood. But if we’re doing this, we need to act quickly. The Demon King might snap at any moment and invade here.”
“…Yes. Then may the angels descend here first?”
“Ah, just a moment.”
Ye stopped Gabriel’s words for a moment, then turned to the figure who had been silent and almost nonexistent beside him—Griffith—and asked.
“Angels will need to come down for a while, but will there be somewhere for them to stay?”
“How many angels are planning to come down?”
Griffith’s eyes lit up with joy at the prospect of angels descending to fight the demons. He asked for the numbers.
“Up to a hundred million is possible.”
“One, one hundred million?!”
Gabriel had spoken the impossible number, but the fact that it was not a lie was clear. The angels of the Heavenly Realm were all battle-ready except for the young ones.
With the Holy Power the angels could bless the humans, the shortage of priests would be solved. As a Grand Archangel, Gabriel could even replace the Saintess Lucretia’s role.
Moreover, the other three Grand Archangels would restrain the top demons right below the Demon King’s level, while the strongest angels would fight the other demons directly. Hope shone in Griffith’s eyes at the thought.
“Huff… huff!”
At that exact moment, Crown Prince Ferdinand came running, gasping for breath. Less than an hour had passed since his forced encounter with Griffith, yet his body felt as weak as a ragdoll. But the moment Ye appeared and opened the gate to the Heavenly Realm, he had rushed over without a second thought.
“You came? My descendant, Emperor Ferdinand.”
Ye called Ferdinand’s name and subtly revealed his royal status, but Gabriel had already known. The magnificent imperial robes he wore were an obvious giveaway.
“Ah, how nice to meet you, Emperor of the humans. I am Gabriel, one of the four Grand Archangels who lead the Heavenly Realm.”
Gabriel bowed respectfully toward Ferdinand. From the eyes of an angel, he was quite an ugly human, yet still far better than a demon or a demon king.