574
Chapter 574
Zeke carefully examined the angel whose lower body had not yet formed.
'Did it emerge from its cocoon right before hatching?'
If there had been a little more time, it would have hatched perfectly.
Above the writhing flesh, the smoothly formed upper body looked like a mysterious divine statue.
Just as Zeke was narrowing his eyes and slowly moving toward the statue while raising leviathan, the statue's eyes suddenly flew open.
The statue's eyes were mysterious in themselves, as if a night sky had been transplanted into them.
The angel's gaze, which seemed to have the dark night and Milky Way's starlight embedded in it, scanned the surroundings.
OOOOOOO!
A mysterious timbre flowed from the mouths of the two angel statues.
It was a strange rhythm that was neither song nor voice, but it was beautiful enough to stir one's heart just by listening to it.
Moreover, while the angel of the Sagittarius awakened by Harvey West using fragments possessed an unapproachable beauty, the angel before him was like the crystallization of beauty that far surpassed it.
Those around began to pray in reverent postures at the beautiful appearance and the beautiful timbre flowing from the angel's mouth.
"God... God has descended."
"God bestows grace and blessings upon us!"
Though it was a signal of the apocalypse rather than grace and blessings, humans who didn't know this saw them only as god-like beings.
Then, the flesh writhing at the lower body of the angel statue moved and soon extended tentacles, beginning to move like spider legs.
OOOOOOO!
Unlike the upper body of the divine statue singing with beautiful timbre, it looked quite grotesque with tentacles moving below the waist.
Zeke raised chaos energy in Levantine while sensing the energy emanating from the angel.
'Judging by its appearance... is it the angel of Gemini?'
Seeing the two angel statues attached, it seemed to be the angel representing Gemini among the thirteen constellations.
Zeke sent Bucephalus back before quickly flying toward the angel with Leviathan raised.
KUGUUGUGU!
An ordinary human would have been overwhelmed by the reverence rising from hearing the angel's song.
However, the angel's song had little effect on Zeke, who had already transcended beyond a transcendent being and attained divinity.
Zeke swung his sword wrapped in chaos energy toward the Gemini angel.
SCHWAAAK!
The tentacles protruding from the angel's lower body moved to block Zeke's sword.
But the tentacles that touched Zeke's sword simply turned to ash and scattered.
He immediately thrust his sword into the neck of one of the Gemini angels.
KWADUDUK!
Leviathan deeply pierced the angel's neck, and he pushed in chaos energy while gripping the sword.
TSUTSUTSU!
The chaos energy Zeke emitted was injected into the angel's body.
Rather than weakening, the sound flowing from the angel statue spread even more widely in all directions.
At the same time, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Guardian 3 senses a threat from the exclusion target.]
[Emergency situation acknowledged. Activating emergency program.]
[Releasing Guardian 3's control device.]
With the message, changes occurred in the angel's body.
KWADUDUK!
The angel statues that had been connected as one at the back split into two sides.
'Was it originally meant to split?'
Zeke hurriedly pulled the sword from the neck and tried to strike the neck of the other half that was trying to separate.
But the separated statue had already moved beyond Zeke's attack range.
KUDUDUDUK!
Four wings began to surge from the backs of the angels that had split in two.
Zeke first drew Solomon's Chain from his left hand and wrapped it around the angel whose neck he had stabbed, restraining it from moving.
Meanwhile, the other angel transformed into a complete form with four beautiful wings on its back.
Though its lower body still had tentacles protruding, its upper body looked like an angel straight from scripture.
Zeke held one side with the chain while raising his sword toward the other that had spread its wings, stirring up chaos energy.
KUGUGUGUGU!
A storm of chaos energy swirled around Zeke's body.
He watched the movements while staying wary of the winged Gemini angel.
'Though it hasn't hatched completely, it's dangerous even in that state.'
Then the Gemini angel opened its mouth wide toward Zeke.
KAAAAAAK!
Concentric circles spread from the angel's mouth as powerful sound waves struck Zeke.
EEEEEING!
Zeke stepped back in surprise at the angel's sound waves that made his eardrums vibrate.
'Kugh!'
The unexpected attack made Zeke momentarily show an opening.
After attacking Zeke, the angel rose into the air with its wings spread in a noble posture.
Just as Zeke tried to catch up with the angel, messages appeared before his eyes again.
[Guardian 3 is connecting to the dimensional server.]
[Updating information about unauthorized deviant existence.]
[Deriving optimal exclusion method.]
[Related content is being updated.]
[Activating extermination program.]
Zeke was startled by the messages.
'Extermination program... no way?'
Zeke turned to look where the Gemini angel was facing.
It was where the citizens and allied forces were outside Jupiter Castle.
Zeke realized what the angel was targeting.
"Stop messing around and focus on me!"
He launched a sword strike straight at the angel.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The angel spread all four wings toward Zeke's incoming sword strike.
WOOOONG!
The glowing wings created vibrations, forming a sound wave barrier that blocked Zeke's attack.
KUGUGUGUGU!
After negating Zeke's sword strike, the angel immediately flew toward where the citizens and allied forces were.
Messages appeared before Zeke's eyes again.
[Replenishing energy for full activation of extermination program.]
The tentacles extending from the angel's lower body stabbed down toward the allied forces and citizens.
'To be this powerful even without the Hero King's homunculus. This one is clearly different from before.'
Unlike the Sagittarius angel cultivated from fragments, this Gemini angel seemed capable of blooming without absorbing any special spirit bodies.
In fact, angels were originally beings that caused the apocalypse, then became cocoons buried throughout the phenomenal world, revealing their true forms when called by constellations at the time of the apocalypse.
The Sagittarius angel absorbed by Zeke had taken form after Harvey West cultivated fragments, not a complete cocoon, with his own blood and flesh.
Then it was able to completely regain its original divinity by absorbing the Hero King's homunculus.
And this time, the Gemini angel had been sleeping in complete cocoon form when Emperor Nero found it and discovered how to make it bloom through black magic.
'It's absorbing humans to rapidly complete its imperfect body.'
If the bloomed Gemini angel displayed abilities similar to what the Sagittarius angel showed before, it would likely become an avatar of the constellation and unfold its unique domain.
'I have to stop it before then.'
Zeke looked at the other angel bound by Solomon's Chain.
'If the two are bound as a pair...'
Zeke's eyes flashed as he looked at the angel caught in the chain.
Then he slowly reached out toward the angel and said:
"I'll make you regret awakening here."
* * *
"Blue Knights and above, step forward!"
The allied forces swung their swords at the tentacles extending from the sky.
Since only Aura Blades could damage the tentacles, fighters at Blue Knight level and above attacked while other knights and soldiers held up shields to block the approaching tentacles.
SCHWAAAK!
Though hundreds of knights cut down tentacles with Aura Blades, even more tentacles regenerated and shot out from the cut areas.
"AAAAAGH!"
And then, a soldier caught by a tentacle rose into the air and was drained of fluids on the spot, turning into a mummy.
Seeing this, the nobles trembled in fear and hid behind the knights' shields.
"Qu-quickly, do something about that thing!"
The nobles who had just been talking about knightly honor and rushed in first to attack the empty castle were now only desperate to save their own lives in the emergency.
But the angel's tentacles did not discriminate between nobles and commoners.
The extending tentacles spread in all directions, wrapping around and lifting up not only knights and soldiers but also the nobles hiding behind them.
"Sa-save me! AAAAAGH!"
Despite their desperate screams, the nobles were completely drained of fluids in an instant, leaving only bones and skin as they died and fell to the ground as mummies.
Helen, who was watching the situation, shouted to Duke,
"Lord Duke! Cutting the tentacles is endless! We must attack the main body!"
At Helen's words, Duke nodded and raised his sword, stirring up wind energy.
KUGUGU!
Duke created a whirlwind and launched sword strikes toward the angel in the air.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
As the powerful whirlwind flew toward it, the angel again spread its wings to create a protective barrier with vibrations.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Duke's whirlwind was blocked by the angel's barrier.
Just as Duke frowned at seeing his attack blocked, something flew at high speed from behind.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
It was the Red King's spear imbued with dragon energy targeting the angel's back.
Despite the spear flying in instantly, the angel's arms split in two and caught the incoming Red King's spear.
CHIIIIIK!
Smoke rose from the Red King's spear caught in the angel's hands.
The angel neutralized the attack, undisturbed by the sudden surprise assault.
Just as the angel was about to throw the spear back toward the ground….
"HAAAAAH!"
Alicia, who had soared into the sky, swung her wolf fang sword toward the angel's head.
Using the opening created by Duke and the Red King's surprise attack, Helen had made air stairs with armor fragments, which Alicia used to leap up to where the angel was.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Alicia tore through the angel's barrier with her wolf fang sword imbued with the Wolf King's power and struck down aiming to split its crown.
The angel tried to dodge sideways in surprise, but was too late.
The wolf fang sword dug into the angel's shoulder.
KWADUDUK!
The sword advanced relentlessly, slicing from the angel's right nape down to its chest.
GOOOOOOO!
Though the angel's body couldn't be wounded by ordinary weapons, The wolf fang sword, made from Wolf King Fenrir's fang, contained god-slaying power and could inflict fatal wounds.
While gripping the wolf fang sword that had cut the angel's body with one hand, Alicia grabbed one of the four wings with her other hand using her Great Warrior strength.
"You monster! This is the power of the North!"
KWADUDUK!
Alicia tore off one of the angel's wings.
At the same time, the awakened wolf fang sword opened its mouth wide to tear at the angel's flesh and drink its holy blood.
KAAAAAH!
The angel let out a horrible shriek as its wing was torn off and it suffered fatal wounds.
Though Alicia bled from her ears taking the sound head-on, she didn't let go of her sword.
The angel reached out to pull the Wolf fang Sword embedded in its body and tried to remove Alicia.
But Alicia tenaciously clung to the angel's body, enduring so the Wolf fang Sword could tear up its insides.
KAAAAK!
As its insides were being torn apart alive by the Wolf fang Sword, the angel twisted its body in agony.
When Alicia wouldn't fall off no matter how much it thrashed, the angel finally recalled its tentacles from the ground to try removing her from its body.
Dozens of tentacles wrapped around Alicia's arms, legs, and body.
"Not a chance, you bastard!"
Since it wasn't easy to remove Alicia who possessed Great Warrior strength, the angel decided to change its plan.
TSURURURUK!
After wrapping Alicia's body with tentacles, it tried to put her into its split body gap, attempting to absorb her whole.
Even Alicia, who had been tearing at the tentacles with her mighty strength, could no longer move once her entire body was completely bound.
"You bastard!"
Flames flickered in her eyes as she struggled to escape somehow.
But the angel held Alicia's body tight and put her inside itself.
KUDUDUK!
Her resistance could be felt moving violently inside.
The angel tried to digest her somehow while embracing the tentacles wrapped around Alicia like it was brooding an egg.
Soon the movement inside began gradually subsiding.
Only then did the angel unfold its crouched body and wings and rise again.
But then a message appeared before the angel's eyes.
[Unauthorized user accessing Guardian 3's main system.]