Chapter 176
Chapter 176
Chapter 176
Elysion (1)
"A greedy one who covets the seat of god..."
At Uriel's interrogation, Rudian narrowed his eyes and asked back.
"If that were the case, what would you plan to do?"
"..."
When Rudian, who seemed to be cornered, suddenly completely changed his expression, Uriel's eyes widened in surprise.
"Will you fight us to the death? That would be good too. A bloody battle between an archangel and a human who has approached the seat of god. It would be a big match that all the gods of the pantheon would pay attention to."
At Rudian's sarcastic response, Uriel broke out in cold sweat and took a step back.
"Coming on strong..."
"Frankly, I don't care about your plans."
Heaven's Fall.
Of course, there was no way the angels alone could defeat the pantheon with their power.
Moreover, there was absolutely no way the pantheon, as creators, would grant unlimited power to the angels, their creations, without any restrictions.
Naturally, to execute Heaven's Fall, they would inevitably have to gather other forces and beings from other dimensions, so the middle realm that Rudian was trying to protect would most likely end up as a shrimp caught in a whale fight.
"It's fine to cooperate where our mutual interests overlap, but I decline to be dragged in any further than that."
Above all, considering that 's final boss, the incarnation of destruction, was created as a result of Heaven's Fall, full cooperation was out of the question.
"Mutual interests, you say?"
Toward Uriel, who was pressing for an 'answer' to the end, Rudian let out a bitter smile.
"...Weakening the pantheon's power."
"Very good. We really are on the same page!"
Uriel happily grasped Rudian's hand and shook it up and down.
-Let go of that hand!
"Eh, I don't want to?"
Uriel only let go after playing patty-cake with Rudian for quite a while.
"Good, then I'll specially give you one big piece of information!"
"Didn't another fellow archangel tell you to inform me anyway?"
"...I hate sharp-witted brats like you."
Uriel, who had just awakened from sleep, couldn't have obtained any information on her own, so she must have received it from someone else.
Uriel pouted her lips and pretended to be slightly sulky, then eventually gave in and revealed her cards.
"North and Garganta... More precisely, Garganta's plan isn't over yet."
"The alien invasion, you mean..."
Of course, the alien invasion was something that would come sooner or later, so that plan would be to break Berus's barrier surrounding this planetary system.
"Right. For Garganta, this is one 'show.' From Charon's rampage to me descending to the lower realm to quell the disturbance."
"They're trying to divert attention by escalating things like this."
"Yeah, they seemed to secretly expect a rampage due to the resonance of the seven-colored worlds too, but fortunately I blocked that well!"
"In the end, I'll have to visit the main headquarters of both cults."
Even if the North side had retired, there was a possibility it was deception, so even if the possibility was low, he had to visit once.
What would really be a problem was if even the cult headquarters didn't know what their 'target' was, then the case would fall into a labyrinth...
"Well, I've delivered Michael's message, so now I'm really going."
"Ah, wait a moment."
"Why?"
Rudian briefly stopped Uriel, who was about to disappear while flapping her wings.
"I have one last thing to ask."
"Hm? What is it?"
Uriel innocently turned her head, then stopped her divine form abruptly at Rudian's next words.
"...Where is Luciel now?"
"...!"
Those last words seemed to touch her reverse scale, as Uriel's playful expression completely darkened for the first time.
Uriel's darkly subdued voice pressed against Rudian as if to pierce him.
"How do you know that?"
"Didn't you speculate that I knew Gabriel's plan? Then naturally I would have to know, wouldn't I?"
"Speculation and certainty are different realms. Right now you're in the realm of certainty."
WHOOSH!
Uriel, who had been about to return obediently, flared up with divine flames and glared.
"Speak. Where and how did you learn that fact?"
"Hehehe..."
Naturally, Uriel had no choice but to show such a sensitive reaction.
Rudian had just used the name 'Luciel,' not 'Lucifer.'
Seven Seats, Lucifer of the Fall.
The fact that she hadn't actually fallen and was still secretly communicating with the heavenly realm was an absolute secret shared only among fellow archangels.
Even Baal only knew that she has 'fallen' and is joining hands with past comrades to bring down the heavenly realm...
Having built up their foundation for over ten thousand years for their plan, it wasn't strange that Uriel reacted so sensitively.
"I'll ask one last time. Speak. This time I absolutely won't let it slide as a joke."
"That's... a secret."
He tried copying a certain squinty-eyed character's famous line, but what came back was a tidal wave of Uriel's full-power divine flames.
BAAAAANG!
"Eek!"
If he avoided this instead of blocking it, the continent would become a sea of fire. Divine flames were absolute fire that wouldn't die down until they burned everything in the world.
"Hmph."
"How dare you!"
"To Rudian!"
But before he knew it, Maria, Rebecca, and Evangeline stepped forward to face Uriel's divine flames.
No matter how much the divine flames would burn the continent, these three had the power to block even such fire.
The Spirit Kings of water and wind slowed the divine flames' momentum, psychic energy with the power of ice and time stop reduced the divine flames' power, then Rebecca's power of gluttony devoured the dying divine flames.
In just a few seconds, a series of operations were carried out very naturally, canceling out Uriel's attack.
"...Not bad?"
The strike just now was the power of a high-ranking god shot completely without any interference from causality restrictions or anything else.
But three humans blocked it without much effort?
Uriel was reminded of the time of the Heaven-Demon Great War.
"It feels like seeing the First Knights?"
"You mean yugria A Elskrain's suicide squad?"
"...Right."
The strongest human force led by yugria, hero of the Progenitor Empire.
Since Maria and Rebecca had received their training, it wouldn't be strange to call them those who practically inherited their power and spirit.
But now wasn't the time to discuss that.
"Is asking about Luciel's whereabouts something to make you hostile toward me like this?"
"You didn't ask me about Luciel's whereabouts because you didn't know. You just confirmed what you already knew."
At Uriel's certainty, Rudian clicked his tongue inwardly.
'Tsk, can't say a word.'
As expected of an archangel with experience, her sharpness in finding the true meaning in every word was no joke.
Uriel still glared at Rudian with killing intent floating around her.
"I'll change the question. Why did you bring that up to me?"
"It's my answer to your help."
"...Answer to help?"
Rudian smiled broadly. They had helped Rudian's plan by mentioning Garganta, so now Rudian helped by mentioning Luciel.
How they would take it was up to them, but seeing Uriel have a fit over one word made him think he might have brought it up for nothing.
"You'd better hurry. If you're too late, you might lose a precious comrade."
"..."
Uriel showed a blank expression at those words for a moment.
"You... know much more than I thought."
"Yes."
"Truly an irregular who suddenly appeared in the world. It wasn't for nothing that the goddess of fate sighed and closed her eyes..."
Uriel shook her head as if deflated.
"Well, fine. I'll gratefully accept the goodwill. Then see you next time."
With those words, Uriel returned to the heavenly realm.
***
"Ru…di…aaan!"
And so one major incident came to an end.
Rebecca dove straight into Rudian's arms.
"Ugh! Wa, wait Rebecca, my waist!"
Having absorbed various divine powers and even Uriel's divine flames, Rebecca's physical abilities had temporarily risen to a level comparable to a giant god.
It was fortunate she hadn't completely released all her physical enhancements, or it would have nearly caused a disaster of all his bones breaking.
"I missed you so so so much! Really really really!"
Rebecca, meeting him after a long time, had become much more of a spoiled child than before.
"I was really lonely for 10 years not being able to meet anyone!"
"...I see."
Rudian stroked Rebecca's head with a softened expression.
"Ah, right."
Before catching up on their reunion...
Rudian roughly grabbed Rebecca's arm.
"You come here for a moment."
"...Huh?"
"Maria too, come here."
"Okay."
Maria made a circle with her thumb and index finger as she moved her steps.
"You two wait for a moment. Yev, could you help out?"
"..."
Rowen took it in stride, and Evangeline pouted her lips as if greatly dissatisfied.
Yev obediently followed Rudian's words, whether she was trying to help or not.
"Wh, what's going on?"
Rebecca asked with slight nervousness as Rudian put some distance between them and the group.
But the answer she heard from Rudian exceeded Rebecca's imagination.
"First take off that coat."
"Oh, meeting after so long made you wild. I like that kind of Rudian too..."
"Ah, be quiet."
SMACK!
"Ow!"
Rebecca got a flick on the forehead from Rudian and fell silent.
Then Maria, who followed behind, slowly removed Rebecca's top and laid her on the ground.
"I wanted to check when we first reunited, but I postponed it to look for Rudian. Besides, what you were worried about didn't seem to happen."
"Good job. Thanks to that, you joined quickly and we survived."
"Hehe, don't mention it."
"You, you two are sticking too close together... Wait! Ye, Yev!"
Before she knew it, Yev with a blank expression cast a shadow over Rebecca lying down.
Yev looked back at Rudian and spoke briefly.
"Check?"
"Yeah. Check thoroughly."
Why Rebecca possessed the red world, and how she could handle Baal's authority.
Whether the check itself was problematic, Yev nodded and placed her small hand between Rebecca's chest.
And not long after, red energy began flowing from around her heart area.
"Correct, red world."
Rudian, who had been turning his head and waiting for the examination results, whipped his divine form around at the words "red world."
"Really?"
It was something he had been certain of from the resonance of the seven-colored worlds, but having it confirmed by Yev's mouth left a bitter taste.
But what truly shocked Rudian was what happened next.
"Baal's power. Mixed with red world. But power manifestation itself is separate. A kind of atavism."
"...What?"
Rudian widened his eyes with disbelief in his tone.
"What did you just say?"
"Atavism."
"..."
A setting that never appeared even once in the original work.
Rudian felt his mind going blank.
Yev's words meant... Rebecca, and the Demon Eater bloodline that had continued for ten thousand years, were descendants who inherited none other than Baal's bloodline.
***
Now it made sense.
How Sarah Bloodrain had been so helplessly subdued by Baal in the Hall of Heroes.
And why Rebecca could use Baal's power so freely.
"Diablo."
-Speak, brat.
Rudian asked Diablo without hiding his dejected mood.
"Answer me, what is Baal's purpose?"
-Even speculation?
"It doesn't matter, if it's your speculation it would be quite credible."
-...Fine.
Diablo paused for a moment, then eventually told Rudian his speculation.
-Baal is probably thinking of creating a demon realm queen who can exert her true power in this middle realm.
Thus, what Baal was really aiming for began to be revealed through Diablo.