Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: The Descent of the Angels
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On a snowy winter night, people silently watched as a white angel slowly descended from the sky, flapping its wings.
“Oppa, I can’t sense any mana. It’s not a monster, right?”
But after everything we’d been through, we couldn’t simply rejoice that an angel had come down.
“It doesn’t seem like it. There’s no hostility.”
I had seen the demon Gaph before. Recalling the conversation between Eres and Gaph, I knew demons weren’t benevolent toward humans. So what about angels? They were said to be the messengers of God. They might be here to save us, or they might have come to punish us on God’s behalf.
If Eres were here, I’d ask her, but she had returned to Tellus, saying there was nothing more to train me in. I’d have to send someone to Tellus later to check.
The angel’s feet touched the ground, and the pillar of light vanished. But a warm, gentle glow enveloped the angel’s body. The angel had a soft countenance and was male, dressed in a tunic-like garment one might see in Greece.
“Angel!”
“Lord! Have you come to save us?”
“Is that real? It’s not a movie shoot?”
As soon as the pillar of light disappeared, people knelt and shouted toward the angel, some invoking God, others holding up their phones and doubting its very existence. The angel silently surveyed the crowd.
“Kyaa!”
In the endless press of the crowd, a young woman at the front fell.
“Owie….”
The angel approached the woman, who looked up with a tearful face at her scraped and bloodied hand from the rough ground.
She looked up quietly, and the angel gently took her hand in both of his.
Flash.
Light spread from his hand.
The light slowly faded, and the angel released her hand. The wound on her hand had vanished without a scar.
“Na-young-ah, isn’t that just a heal?”
“It’s a bit different. Hunters convert mana for theirs, but this… I can’t sense any mana.”
Na-young, sensitive to mana, watched the angel’s healing intently.
“It might be holy power. I heard about it while learning magic from Sonorim before. It’s power borrowed from higher beings.”
“Higher beings? Gods?”
“Something divine. It could be like Lady Eres.”
While I pondered Na-young’s words.
“Please rise, everyone.”
The angel spoke to those kneeling. His voice was soft and calm, yet it carried far.
The people slowly stood.
Na-young and I kept our distance, mentally preparing to subdue the angel if necessary.
“Angel, have you come to save us?”
“Yes. I have come to free you from your suffering.”
No malice could be felt in the angel’s words, but that word “free” grated on me.
“Make way! Step back!”
With the excessive crowd in the narrow central street, police arrived.
“Disperse! Don’t push—step back slowly!”
They immediately formed a perimeter around the angel. The angel quietly watched.
The Awakening Bureau would deploy soon too. Ever since the Helen and Franklin incidents, unknown entities were to be handled by the Bureau first.
Unable to push back the crowd by force, the police’s arrival allowed us to get closer as people retreated.
“Lee Ji-seok Hunter!”
A police officer recognized me and saluted.
“I’ll approach.”
“Please do!”
I approached the angel. He just smiled softly, making no particular move.
I sensed almost no power. At best, E-Rank or F-Rank Hunter level? They said he used holy power, so I’d have to test him in combat to know for sure.
“I’m Lee Ji-seok. What should I call you?”
Unsure yet if this being was an enemy or ally, I was as polite as possible.
“I am Angelus.”
“Angelus. What is your purpose here?”
“Do not worry. I have no intention of attacking. We have come from the Heavenly Realm to free you from suffering.”
“Heavenly Realm? Free?”
“The Heavenly Realm is where we angels dwell. The cries of you all, suffering from the invasion of otherworldly beings, reached even there. We will liberate you from that suffering.”
I wanted to talk more, but there were too many eyes around. Some things weren’t good for the public to hear.
“Staying here endangers others. Come with me.”
“Understood.”
The angel followed me willingly.
With thousands gathered in such a busy area, a crush was inevitable. Once the angel left, the crowd would disperse naturally.
“Let’s go to the Awakening Bureau’s special investigation room.”
We put the angel in a police escort vehicle.
I felt Na-young’s piercing gaze on my cheek.
“Do I have to go?”
“Yeah… With Jeong Min-gi Hunter in a Gate, I have to step up.”
Jeong Min-gi Hunter and I had been taking turns entering Gates so Korea wouldn’t lose both S-Rank Hunters at once. He’d yielded Christmas for my date, but things turned out like this.
My increased power was good, but so were the responsibilities. The government couldn’t force me, but I didn’t want to shirk. Besides, I was curious about this being’s true nature.
“Let’s date again next time. I promise.”
“Am I cursed or something? Every time the mood’s right, this happens.”
I took the dejected Na-young and headed to Awakening Bureau headquarters.
A huge crowd of religious folk and onlookers who knew the angel was coming had gathered in front.
“Don’t push! You can’t come further!”
Bureau Hunters and soldiers tried to control them, but unable to use force on civilians, they could only shout loudly.
“Oppa, it’s chaos…”
“Yeah. Let’s go in.”
There was nothing I could do for civilians who weren’t monsters.
“Director.”
“Ah, you’re here.”
“Anything new?”
“Same as what Lee Ji-seok Hunter heard on-site. All angels repeat that they’re from the Heavenly Realm and here to help people.”
“How many?”
“Forty in Korea alone, about 10,000 worldwide confirmed.”
“…That’s huge.”
“Satellite photos make it even more impressive.”
The screen showed satellite images of thousands of light pillars pouring down on Earth.
“It looks like a light of salvation, but at a glance, it feels like the apocalypse… Never mind. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“No. I feel uneasy too.”
“May I talk more?”
I entered the interrogation/detention room 50 meters underground. If things went wrong, the passage would explode, and bombs and gas would trigger below. This was built after Helen and Franklin.
“Hello.”
The angel greeted me with a soft smile as I entered.
“Angelus, thank you for cooperating.”
“No trouble at all.”
“Let’s get to the point. You said you came to free us from suffering. Specifically, how?”
“We will heal the suffering and block otherworldly beings.”
“I see you have healing abilities. But your combat power doesn’t seem strong. Can you stop monsters?”
“As you saw, I have no combat ability, but those who can block otherworldly beings will come soon.”
“More… are coming?”
10,000 already…
“We humble ones are insufficient to save everyone.”
“One more question. Whose orders?”
“By the command of the Heavenly Realm’s leader, Lord Metatron.”
“Will he come too?”
“We don’t know. We only came to help those in need on orders.”
He answered too readily, which made me more anxious.
I asked a few more questions and left. Not much useful info.
“How was it?”
“Hard to read with no expressions, but no immediate malice. But…”
“What is it?”
“Something feels off. Hard to explain.”
My sensitive senses skill kept warning me nonstop. But the unhelpful skill didn’t say how to beware.
“I see. Did Bae Na-young Hunter sense anything?”
“No. Didn’t try mind-reading in case they notice.”
“Good call. We haven’t decided our stance toward them yet.”
“Government’s position?”
“For now… we’ll monitor with handlers but release them.”
“Really? Without knowing their identity?”
“The impact was too strong. Angels descending from the sky on Christmas. Without special reason, detaining them would rile up believers.”
Indeed, outside was on the verge of riot. Religious folk chanted for the angel and sang hymns.
Unable to resist public demand, they moved the angels to the now-closed old Olympic stadium.
It was a place wide enough to avoid crushes, the only large unused lot.
No need to announce the move. Religious folk camped out for days, following when angels emerged.
People saw hope. Hope that angels would end the long era of hardship and save humanity. But their intense longing worried me—they might not face reality when needed.
The long-closed stadium was overgrown with weeds and needed repairs. The government hastily cleared it for use. But as soon as angels arrived, religious groups volunteered to clean. With thousands, it was spotless in no time.
Tents of all sizes sprang up, as if they planned to live there.
Within days, lines to see the angels stretched long.
The angel met each person, held hands, listened, and healed wounds. Couldn’t restore amputations, but cured most illnesses. Far stronger than standard heals.
“Angel! Please, I beg you!”
A mother on a wheelchair brought her young son, wailing and kneeling before the angel.
The angel reached for the boy, light enveloping him. The light gathered at his waist.
“Rise, little lamb.”
The angel extended his hand, and the boy took it as if entranced. Pulling him up, the boy stood from the wheelchair. Legs shaky from weakness, but his eyes widened, and his mother sobbed.
“Oh! The angel has wrought another miracle!”
“Worship! God’s messenger has come to save us!”
As the boy stood, watching angel devotees loudly praised.
The public’s fervor for the angels spread like wildfire. And the situation slipped further from government control.