Chapter 419
Chapter 419
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 419
Chapter Title: In Heaven (1)
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The 6th Heaven, Zebul. The Great World Hall.
There was an angel with a face as transparent and beautiful as light.
A slender body standing at 2 meters and 30 centimeters, the pinnacle of intellect born with the knowledge of all the world's principles.
Among the countless angels, he was one of only eight archangels, and the one who boasted the most outstanding beauty—Cariel, the Angel of Birth.
But now, his face was as gaunt as a sick human's.
His eyes were sunken, his expression irritable.
The benevolent and sharp facial lines that once overflowed with intellectual beauty had frequently become distorted in recent days.
In truth, he was in a state akin to being ill.
If an angel's power stemmed from a distinct concept, his current clarity was merely a tenth of its usual state.
All of this was the result of the labor he had undertaken to bring back a single human.
“Cariel, are you truly all right?”
Uriel, the Angel of Destruction, gazed worriedly at Cariel, whose very presence had grown faint.
The tallest among the archangels at three meters, he had a sturdy physique, and at the center of a thick breastplate that reached his chin, a golden halo spun as if in anger.
“I can still hold on. I have to. It’s only just beginning.”
If Cariel's fatigue were converted to human standards, it would be equivalent to going without sleep for roughly 40 years.
Any living creature struck by such exhaustion would have had all its cells wither away by now.
But his eyes still burned with emotion.
Uriel turned his head toward where Cariel was looking.
Below the Galactic Mirror that governed the workings of the world, a woman, beautiful by human standards, sat cross-legged.
Adrias Miro.
Could there be a more detestable concept to the beings of Heaven?
She was humanity's final bastion, erecting a barrier that not even Anke La, the incarnation of the Akashic Records, could penetrate, obstructing the conquest of the universe.
But even she had been helplessly ensnared by Cariel's persistence.
“You finally did it.”
Just before the rebel army was annihilated, Anke La had abruptly canceled the war and prohibited any and all investigation into humans.
All the angels obeyed the message, but Cariel alone refused to give up and steadily continued his plan for human extermination.
What he had obtained through his efforts was Miro's ‘body,’ right before his eyes.
“How did you do it? Didn't you say Miro's space-time couldn't be destroyed?”
A smile touched Cariel’s weary face.
“When we attacked Miro's space-time with the Heavenly Bombardment, Optus crossed over through a crack. Information about Miro's space-time was embedded in its electromagnetic pattern. I analyzed it.”
“But Miro's space-time healed immediately. You couldn't have brought her through the dimensional barrier, could you?”
“A dimensional barrier doesn't actually have a physical form. The reason Heaven's army can't go to the land of men is because the protocol is different from ours. It’s an independent world, without even quantum entanglement.”
Uriel didn't try to understand.
One born for destruction had no obligation to understand the target of destruction.
“So?”
“I decrypted the protocol with the information from Optus. Then, I transferred Miro to the Great World Hall through quantum superposition.”
“Hmm, so?”
Cariel realized Uriel hadn't understood.
“To put it simply, I put my hand in a jar and kept drawing until I got what I wanted. It’s no exaggeration to say the jar was the size of the entire universe.”
Uriel understood why Cariel was so weakened.
“So you’re saying you searched the universe and kidnapped her.”
“Well… that’s basically it.”
Cariel decided to just let it go.
“Hmm.”
Uriel looked at Miro's face, lost in deep meditation.
It was the same youthful face from just before the final war broke out, when she had single-handedly faced Heaven's army and unfurled the dimensional wall.
“The human spirit… in a way, it’s formidable.”
Currently, her spirit, which constituted Miro's space-time, was being endlessly sucked into the Dimension of Kalpa.
It was a mental state and a concept incomprehensible to angels, who were perfect from birth.
“Hmph, that itself is proof of their imperfect existence. Don't waste your sentiments on lowly humans.”
Uriel didn't reply.
For him, anything he couldn't understand, he could simply destroy.
But was it the same for Cariel?
Birth was a concept founded on the premise of understanding everything.
The fact that Cariel, who wielded the art of life, couldn't understand humans might just be the greatest contradiction in this universe.
“Humans are truly strange beings. Even now, a single human is holding back all of Heaven's forces.”
Cariel's expression crumpled.
Humans. Humans.
He couldn't understand why everyone, starting with Anke La, applied a different standard only to humans.
“That won't happen. Because I will destroy them.”
Uriel changed the subject. He didn't want to provoke the angel who was like a twin, born on the same day with a different concept.
“Right, so what's the plan now? Killing Miro won't make Miro's space-time disappear. Why did you bring her here, pushing your spirit to the brink of annihilation?”
“Hmph, obviously to destroy Miro's space-time. I'm going to pull Miro out of the Dimension of Kalpa. If I kill her after she regains consciousness, Miro's space-time will vanish.”
It was a decent method, no, the only method.
“But we can't understand the imperfection of humans. None of the subjects will be able to understand Miro's spirit either. The Nephilim disappeared after the Guffin Erasure.”
“There are none in Heaven, but there are in the land of men.”
Uriel tilted his head.
Of course, in the land of men, there were those who awakened as Nephilim on their own.
But as long as Miro's space-time stood in the way, it was impossible to bring anyone from there.
“Are you planning to search the entire universe again? You might be completely annihilated if you do.”
“There's no need for that. I don't have the strength for it anyway.”
Cariel flew up to the pillar-shaped central system and connected to the Akashic Records.
Uriel, following him, watched the screen from behind Cariel.
“I found something interesting while searching the Akashic Records.”
Cariel stepped aside, and the name of a human appeared on the screen.
Reading the explanation below, Uriel nodded.
“Indeed, this is interesting.”
Coincidentally, it was a human who understood the human spirit best.
No, it was more accurate to say he had become his current state precisely because he understood the human spirit so well.
“I will summon this person to the Great World Hall.”
As Cariel spread his hand, a holy light flashed, and a codex materialized on his palm.
The codex, containing the principles of the universe, had a high-strength metal hardcover, and its light-made pages began to turn.
The central processing system went into full operation, and bluish electricity flowed like waves across the floor, gathering in an arched mechanical device.
Uriel watched for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the central processing unit's screen.
‘A grave robber…’
The name of someone who existed only as a concept was blinking.
Morrigan Arius
* * *
Rebel 1st Command HQ.
Shirone and his companions received a fervent welcome from the rebels.
The tale of Shirone's valor, having subjugated hundreds of giants with the power of an archangel, had spread quickly via drones and had already become a new legend among the rebels.
Amidst the massive white noise, Shirone's face was grim.
He had been puzzled by the "1st" attached to the command headquarters, but the scale of the rebel base, far larger than expected, dispelled any doubt.
Dozens of buildings, presumed to be munitions depots, surrounded the site, and deep in the forest stood a massive structure over 30 meters tall.
‘Incredible military power. If they were to move…’
Gaold thought differently.
‘It wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference.’
Of course, the command's forces were formidable.
But there was no reason to doubt the battalion commander's words that they had been on the verge of annihilation.
It wasn't a matter of asymmetrical power.
From the very beginning, the beings of Heaven were something different from humans.
If thousands of ants bit a human, he might die, but no human would let that happen in the first place. It was the same with the angels.
“Huh? There's Shirone. Hey, Shirone! It's me!”
A familiar face popped out from the middle of the procession.
It was Clove and Gardlak, who had guided Shirone and his friends to Nor's Shelter in Heaven a year ago.
The memory of Clove ignoring Amy still lingered, but seeing a familiar face at a moment like this was a welcome sight.
However, Shirone couldn't bring himself to approach them. Hearing Clove's words, a massive crowd was about to surge forward.
“Wooooah! It was real! Shirone really came!”
Clove and Gardlak were swallowed by the crowd, completely out of sight.
This was because, apart from the people of District 73, very few knew what Shirone looked like.
Shirone, with a startled expression, put some distance between them.
If he got any closer, people could easily get hurt.
Watching the retreating Shirone, Clove clutched his head and lamented.
“Agh, to think that brat would become such an important figure. I should have befriended him sooner.”
Gardlak smacked his disciple on the head.
“Is that what matters now? We're on the verge of being wiped out by angels.”
Clove said with an aggrieved look.
“But you said it too, Master. That if Shirone came, we'd get better treatment here.”
Gardlak was silent.
Shirone had returned. And at a very opportune moment.
The halt in Heaven's attack was certainly a boon for the rebels, but that alone couldn't mend the deep rift between the Mecha and the Nor tribes, which had grown through repeated defeats.
Unable to reach a consensus, the command had finally split into the 1st and 2nd Command HQs. Though there was no fighting, the specter of defeat was already looming.
Just as everyone was waiting for self-destruction, the light of District 73 began to shine on them again.
‘Why now? Did he know and come back?’
The series of events, connected by an invisible thread, made it impossible to dismiss Shirone's return as a mere miracle.
“Hehe, I love walking like this with you, big brother.”
Meanwhile, Lena, who was clinging to Shirone's arm, didn't leave his side for a moment on the way to the command center.
Watching Shirone’s stiffly straightened back, Plu clicked his tongue and said.
“What's he doing? Did he come to Heaven for a date?”
Gaold couldn't care less.
“Keke, let him be. That sort of thing will help with the parade.”
A miracle named Shirone had arrived for the rebel army that had been on the brink of annihilation, so a little bit of theatrics wouldn't hurt.
But Kanya was just embarrassed by her sister's behavior.
Unable to stand it any longer, she approached Lena and whispered in her ear.
“What do you think you're doing? Let go, quick. Don't you know what Shirone means to the rebels? What if people get the wrong idea?”
“What wrong idea? It's not like we have an ordinary relationship with brother Shirone. We haven't seen each other in a year, can't I even link arms with him?”
Lena looked back at Shirone and said.
“Brother, let my sister link arms with you on your other side too.”
Shirone couldn't find the words to reply.
His heart was already pounding; how could he possibly walk with a woman on each arm?
Kanya's face turned red as a beet.
“Wh-what are you talking about? Why would I link arms with Shirone?”
“Oh, come on. You're so naive about these things, sis. We need to look close to brother Shirone so we can get work at the command. Your Guroi is damaged, isn't it? You need to get a new one supplied here to become a pilot again.”
Kanya was struck dumb.
Though younger, her sister was more calculating in her thinking.
Or, in this case, should he call it cunning?
Shirone reassured her.
“Kanya, don't worry too much. I was the one who destroyed your Guroi. I'll be sure to tell the commander when I meet him.”
Kanya smiled at Shirone, then turned to Lena with narrowed eyes.
‘Ugh, that little fox…’
Whether she knew her sister's thoughts or not, Lena, with her arm wrapped around Shirone's, was just smiling contentedly.