Chapter 522: You Shouldn't Have Trusted Me
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 522: You Shouldn't Have Trusted Me
“You shouldn’t have trusted me, Michael.”
“........................”
Michael should not have trusted me. He shouldn’t have believed that I would honor his wishes even after his death. His mistake was trusting me, believing in that fucking promise.
Thinking back, it wasn’t as if there were no warning signs. The way he said he was going to pick up his daughter, the way he suddenly unfurled all his wings—it was all strange. If I had known he was returning to Agape to atone for his past, I never would have let him go alone.
For someone who wanted to share the burden, he made a rather large sacrifice.
I don’t know what happened, or what his final moments were like.
All I know for certain is this: before the incident, he entrusted his wings to his daughter, then presented them to me, and threw himself into the fire without a thought for the consequences. He must have believed that with the tracking magic on them, I would one day find his daughter. I don’t know if Michael’s sacrifice and his arguments had any effect on the pigeons in Agape.
Perhaps he died at the hands of the other pigeons, unable to convey anything at all.
Or perhaps he fought to the very end, raising his voice until his last breath.
His actions might have been ridiculed by some, or condemned as meaningless by others.
All for the sake of some meaningless words exchanged over drinks.
“..................”
Now, the only thing that matters is the fact that he is dead.
What matters is that I was left with only two choices.
The first was to accept Michael’s death as a noble sacrifice and work to reform them slowly from within.
I thought it wouldn’t have been a bad path. It would have taken time, but I might have been able to improve my relationship with Seraphim. Perhaps we could have truly come to understand one another. Just as Michael wanted, we could have taught them about the diversity of religions and cultures, acting as a repellent against the pigeons’ dichotomous, black-and-white logic.
A day might have come when we laughed and talked with the pigeons, just as we do with the humans of the continent. Michael’s daughter might have grown up respecting diversity, not just a single set of values. She might have had the chance to contemplate what is right and wrong in their arms, not ours. She might have lived with many choices, not just one religion.
‘No.’
But that option is gone now.
In a way, I chose to betray Michael’s expectations. No, I betrayed them completely.
I couldn’t accept his death as a noble sacrifice. I betrayed his hope that I would reform his race. I betrayed the trust and faith he placed in me. It was because I couldn’t bear it without unleashing the rage burning inside me.
Perhaps it was a misfortune for him that I took a liking to him. The short time we spent growing close was, for him, an undeniable disaster.
Instead of joining them, I chose to wipe them out.
To exterminate them down to the very last one, leaving no seed behind.
“You must be feeling something. Right? It’s a little different from the salvation you speak of, but the part about the body disappearing is the same. The method is just a bit more brutal.”
I slowly raised my arm.
Betraying a friend’s expectations and dreams was a sad and dirty business, but my heart didn’t feel heavy.
Betraying a friend’s wishes and his people was a sad and dirty business, but the knot in my heart melted away like snow.
Ignoring a friend’s last words was a sad and dirty business, but… it felt incredibly blissful.
I don’t know how long I’ve waited for this day since confirming Michael’s death.
I don’t know how long I’ve waited for the day the dignitaries of Agape would gather at the Eastern Grand Temple to set off celebratory fireworks together. I don’t know how long I’ve waited for the moment their blessings would turn into a living hell.
I don’t know how long I’ve waited for the day that would mark the beginning of an endless war. I smiled as I watched the hall, where blood splattered endlessly and screams never ceased.
“Puhahahahahahat!”
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
“Gwoooaaaaaaargh!”
Pigeons, too, can feel pain and scream. They, too, can feel terror and fear.
The look on Seraphim’s face as she sat there, dumbfounded, radiated an emotion I had never seen from her before. I definitely prefer this expression to her usual empty one. Leaving her behind, I slowly began to walk. Seraphim was a non-combatant. I judged there was no need to deal with her first. Various scenes came into view.
Countless angels were fighting to push back the believers, while Choi Seulgi, Choi Eunju, and the others were facing off against the Archangels. Some trembled with daggers embedded in their hearts; others clutched their torn wings and wept, only to have their heads blown off by a magic bullet. I saw one who couldn’t even scream as an Inquisitor’s spear pierced through his entire body.
There were one or two who stood out. They were by no means weak, so hunting them would take some time. Seeing Jang Ye Ri struggle a bit, I could tell the Archangels were stronger than I’d expected.
“Get out!”
“Quickly!”
“Break through the entrance! To the ceiling! To the ceiling!”
“We have to inform the main… land! Aaaaaaaargh!”
“Get the plant woman first! The plant woman! Get her!”
The path to the main gate was blocked. The way up was sealed as well, as Jung Hayeon had completely enveloped the entire building with her roots. The ambush was a great success. Who would have expected an attack from behind on the day of the ceremony?
Who would have thought such a fucked-up thing would happen on a day that should have been blessed?
Who would have thought such a tragedy would occur on a happy day?
In that I wanted them to feel the same way I did, today’s plan was a resounding success.
“You… you vermin!”
An angel came flying toward me, apparently deciding that I was the priority target. There was no need to move. As I shielded one side of my body with a wing of blood, now larger than ever, the angel swung his sword at it as if on cue.
Sshhhhaaaaaaa!
The wing, which had been waiting for his attack, spread wide and began to swallow him. Like an unidentifiable beast opening its maw, the beast of blood parted its teeth and devoured the angel’s lower body. It all happened in an instant.
Craaack! Crunch!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!”
- Kyahahahahahahahahaha! Die! Good! Delicious! Pigeon! Delicious! My love! Thank you! The best! The best gift! Kyahahahahahaha!
Contrary to my belief that it would be uncontrollable, Dain was following my will perfectly. It wasn’t that it had regained its senses, but rather that it was pleased with the current situation and my state of mind. I reached out a hand toward the wing that was devouring the angel. His face drew closer and closer.
Cruuunch!
Squelch!
The sickening sounds grew clearer, but the feeling wasn’t bad.
“Agh, uwaaaaaaaargh!”
“Michael.”
“Wha… Whaaaaaaaargh!”
“How did Michael die?”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!”
“I’m asking you how he died.”
“H-How… Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!”
“Last chance.”
“That, that heretic… That heretic…”
The angel, who had tried to hold on, trembled violently before going limp. Dain had sucked him dry of all his blood. Just as I felt a slight itch on my back, another pair of wings burst forth. Perhaps because they were pigeons, the purity of their blood was quite high.
Things that could no longer be called wings began to sprout continuously from my back. This must be what it meant, that the more blood I absorbed, the more wings I could control.
It was the perfect kind of ability for a day like today.
I didn’t bother trying to control them. I figured they could at least distinguish between friend and foe. As if to meet my expectations, the wings, each with a will of its own, shifted form—sometimes into the maw of a beast, sometimes into a monster’s hand, and sometimes into giant thorns—and brought down the holy angels. With sickening sounds, red raindrops began to fall from the sky.
As they chewed and tore at the pigeons’ wings, new wings continued to sprout from my back. This new one seemed to have a form similar to a centipede. I extended my hand slightly, and the massive wing changed shape and lunged at the pigeons. No sooner had one wing emerged than another sprouted from my back. A giant beak shot out from a wing and tore out a pigeon’s entrails.
I looked like I was harboring a beast. I couldn’t know how I appeared to others right now, but I found myself thinking it wasn’t so bad.
I’d heard that in Earth’s religions, the apocalypse was described with a rain of blood. I couldn’t remember if it was the Book of John or Revelation, but it was just like this.
The screams of angels are the trumpets heralding the apocalypse, and the rain of blood that accompanies its beginning is the blood of angels. The piling corpses are the mountains that will soon crumble, and the results of it all are right before my eyes.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!”
“Save… Save me!”
“The Archangels!”
“We must save Lady Seraphim!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaargh! Uwaaaaaaaargh!”
“N-No… Sal… Salvation… Salvation…”
A pigeon that had spread its wings and aimed for the top of the building was pierced by countless thorns of blood and fell from the sky. Another, who had been targeting the believers, was torn to shreds by the claws of a grotesque form. Those who spread their wings to rescue Seraphim had their bones shattered by a monster’s teeth. Even one who tried to escape outside instead of into the air was slowly being swallowed by a tentacle of blood.
Squelch!
Craaack!
Gulp.
- Kyahahahahahahaha! Pigeon is delicious! Delicious!
A pandemonium. It was literally a pandemonium. As I was pleasantly observing the situation, a powerful holy energy began to emanate from ahead. Soon, I was face to face with an Archangel bearing twelve wings.
“Gabriel.”
“Do not speak my name with that filthy mouth, demon.”
The name was somewhat familiar. I think we’d exchanged greetings before. Did I say it was a pleasure to meet him? I have a memory of such a conversation.
“Was this your plan from the beginning?”
“Foolish pigeon. It’s not like I planned to cause trouble from the start. Betraying a brother’s expectations is not a pleasant thing for me, either.”
“.............”
“You shouldn’t have killed him.”
“That heretic, you mean?”
“From my perspective, you are the heretics.”
“Nonsense, demon. A holy war will be waged. You will all die without receiving salvation. You will fall into hell without ever meeting God. Not just you, but your people as well will die resenting you.”
“You speak like you’ve died before, you piece of trash.”
“....................”
“Have you ever died? Salvation, hell, all that crap is bullshit. There’s nothing after you die. You can’t see anything, you can’t feel anything.”
“You speak as if you’ve experienced it… Blasphemy, demon!”
“Blasphemy? Puhahat, you’ll get to experience it too, pigeon. By the way, you Archangels say that many things change depending on the number of your wings. Look, you maggot. How many wings do I have? Do I look holy, too? Puhat.”
“Do not think of yourself and us as the same kind. Those hideous things drenched in blood are different from what we possess.”
“......................”
There was no getting through to him. Still, the brief conversation had been quite entertaining. I raised my hand slightly and slowly opened my mouth.
“Die. Trash.”
- Kyahahahahahahaha! Pigeon, time to eat! Time to eat!