Chapter 439
Chapter 439
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 439
Chapter Title: The Day of the Full Moon (3)
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With the activation of his Artificial Brain, the time it took to reach Ataraxia was more than halved.
Staring at the brilliant, five-colored halo aimed before him, Shirone cast his spell.
‘Photon Cannon!’
The moment the photons compressed, shaking as if about to explode, Icasar appeared right before his eyes.
“Ugh!”
A fist drove into his solar plexus. Armant caught it, but it couldn't completely nullify the shockwave.
An equivalent exchange of cause and effect.
Valhalla Action was merely the reversal of potential and kinetic energy, yet for beings living within the flow of time, it was an impossibly tricky phenomenon to adapt to.
“How dare you!”
Icasar unleashed a high-speed barrage with Valhalla Action, and Shirone deflected the fists by whipping Armant's tentacles.
When the Photon Cannon fired at point-blank range, Icasar evaded the attack with dazzling weaving movements.
The surviving rebels couldn't even dream of intervening in a battle where hand-to-hand combat and magic unfolded simultaneously.
“So that is a Nephilim…”
A human was fighting an angel on equal footing.
Even a fallen angel was an untouchable being to the faithful.
For them, it was an event as shocking as the shattering of beliefs they had held since time immemorial.
‘This can’t be happening!’
Icasar was also struggling to accept reality.
A human who couldn't even lift a finger against her a year ago was now fighting on par with her, even when she was empowered by the full moon.
“You’re nothing but a mere insect!”
Icasar desired it—the ultimate combo she could deliver upon Shirone's coordinates.
As the afterimages of her fists formed a colossal barrier and surged forward like a tidal wave, Shirone took an extremely defensive stance.
The Ultima System activated instantly, twisting Armant's robe to conform to his body and increase its thickness.
Fist-shaped patterns were imprinted all over Shirone's body.
“Kughhh!”
An attack so fast he could think of nothing but defense.
But once this storm passed, the opportunity would be his.
‘As I thought, it has its limits against a target with a will of its own. If I can just endure this, I can win.’
Knocked back by Icasar's final blow, Shirone endured the bone-shattering pain and began to gather Ataraxia.
His prediction was correct; having pulled the results forward with Valhalla Action, Icasar was completely motionless.
‘But it's close. Can I make it in time?’
He had to.
Considering the angel's durability, this was the only way to end it in a single blow.
Watching the rapidly gathering Ataraxia, Icasar felt like a death row inmate on the execution block.
‘That thing is dangerous.’
It was Archangel Ikael’s signature move.
If it was completed before her Valhalla Action returned, its mere existence, regardless of its power, had a high chance of plunging her into a state of panic.
‘Six seconds. Five. Four.’
Ataraxia versus Valhalla Action.
It was a battle to see who could complete their angelic ability first.
“Now. Deploy it.”
As Laysith, who was monitoring the situation from below the command center, gave the order, every living creature on the surface simultaneously stopped moving.
‘What is this?’
Sensing the strange change, Plu managed to lift her gaze.
A giant eyeball was darting around rapidly, as if observing everyone on the surface.
A biological weapon—True Akamai.
The power of Antithesis reversed the laws of nature.
As if bound by ropes, Icasar's shoulders constricted, and she screamed.
“Kugh! Wh-What is…!”
Even for a fallen angel, the binding force was absurd.
An ordinary angel might not stand a chance, but even with the power of the full moon, it was a law difficult to endure.
If Icasar was bound to this extent, it went without saying for the others.
The only one who showed any movement was Shirone, who was resisting with the power of Mental Transcendence.
‘This power is immense. What in the world is this?’
Even Armant's robe couldn't withstand it, disassembling in the reverse order of its equipping and reverting to a magic sword.
A researcher watching the situation from underground reported.
“All targets have been captured. What are your orders?”
Laysith threw off her commander's mask.
Now that the ingredients were gathered, the rebels on the surface were nothing more than worthless slabs of meat.
“Imprison the soldiers and bring me Shirone, Plu, and the angel. Prepare the Rite of Oneness immediately.”
Laysith’s aides moved at once.
While the Rite of Oneness was being prepared, Shirone, Plu, and Icasar were locked in an iron cage.
Of course, their real prison was the True Akamai glaring at them from outside the cage.
Plu gritted her teeth.
She never imagined Laysith would make her move while an angel was invading.
‘No, that just shows how powerful that weapon is. How on earth did they create it?’
The three who had been fighting so fiercely just moments ago were now suddenly cellmates.
Plu shot a fierce glare at Icasar, who had ruined everything.
But emotions were not important in a situation like this, so she first relayed the necessary information to Shirone.
Laysith was strengthening herself through biological experiments, Shirone had been chosen as an ingredient for that purpose, and she was using Garas and Plu to mass-produce clones—that was the gist of it.
Even for the angel Icasar, it was a ridiculous story.
“A lowly species trying to become a god? How foolish.”
It was an ironic statement coming from the angel of desire, but Shirone's thoughts weren't much different.
‘She was cloning me? But how…?’
Just then, the door opened and Laysith entered.
“Huhu, an angel and a Nephilim. What a delectable pantry. Or should I say, luxurious?”
Icasar bared her teeth and shouted.
“You insignificant human! Do you have any idea what fate awaits those who defy an angel?”
“Hahahaha! And who is it that’s been caught helpless by a creature made by that insignificant human?”
Laysith, showing no fear, opened the cage, walked in, and sat before Icasar, caressing her chin.
A fallen angel of unparalleled ferocity. But her physical form was undeniably that of an angel.
“Truly beautiful. You’re a perfect fit to become my body.”
Shirone asked.
“Why are you doing this? Even if you become stronger through these inhuman experiments, you’ll just be a monster.”
“A monster…”
Laysith recalled Satan’s words from long ago.
“‘Form is merely function. It is only inferior humans who assign aesthetic meaning to it. Therefore, strength itself is beauty.’”
The bones in Laysith’s face distorted, transforming her into a monster.
Her eyes were slanted, her nose protruded like a beast's, and her lips split all the way to her ears.
Flames ignited in her two snake-like eyes, and the surrounding scenery shimmered like a heat haze.
As the Memory Vision activated, displaying a scene from her memory, Shirone felt as if he were standing in the laboratory.
In the central Physics Machine, the corpses of Antithesis's Akamai, the Gluttony Demon Kuzen, the Infinite Cell Proliferator Kencer, the True Demonic Graft Galtomic, and the Armored Mineral Species Ringer were enshrined separately.
“What do you think? These are the creatures that will guide me to a divine body.”
Shirone’s lips curled.
“You think you can become a god with trash like that?”
“For living beings, mortality is not inevitable. Death is merely a function chosen by life. For the sake of a single, perfect individual, death is but a phenomenon that can be eliminated. The remaining two slots will be filled by you and the angel. By merging all of this into one, I shall become the god of this world.”
“You’re insane.”
Hatred filled Plu’s eyes.
She had watched from beginning to end how Laysith mass-produced the clones.
“Huhu, in any case, you are like excrement that cannot even permeate my body. Think what you will and just wait for death.”
Laysith left them with those words.
Soon, the researchers would drag Shirone and Icasar out and throw them into the Physics Machine.
The Rite of Oneness created by Anke La was flawless.
Even the body of an angel like Icasar would be helplessly dissolved into a black liquid if mixed into the plasm.
Plu strained with all her might, but the True Akamai’s binding force was so immense that she couldn't even move a finger.
“This is bad. We’re all going to die if we stay here.”
Icasar scoffed.
“A mayfly dares to speak of death. How absurd.”
“Haha, is that so? Come to think of it, angels have long lives, don't they? It must be frustrating, to be extinguished like this.”
Icasar fell silent.
It was true. As long as the Akashic Records existed, there was no eternal death, but for an angel, annihilation was one of the most unpleasant events imaginable.
“There is one way.”
“A way?”
Shirone asked, turning his head with great effort.
The mere fact that he could move under the True Akamai's restraint told Icasar just how strong Shirone's incarnation was.
“Of course. Did you think a noble angel would fall to a creature made by mere humans?”
Plu said.
“You’re falling for it right now, aren’t you? What’s the way?”
Icasar hesitated for a moment before speaking.
But the feeling that it wasn't a fair trade lingered.
“I can destroy this creature with Valhalla Action. In other words, I'll pull the result of its destruction into the present.”
“That doesn’t make sense. If that were possible, why are you still captured?”
When Plu pressed, Shirone spoke up.
“It's because the price is too high.”
Icasar no longer hid it.
“That's right. Judging by its binding force, the price would be equivalent to at least eight hours of my power. In other words, if I destroy this thing, I'll be incapacitated for eight hours.”
“Eight hours…”
A binding force that required Icasar, who could destroy a mountain in less than thirty minutes, to pay a price of eight hours of labor.
It was a result made possible because it was an antithesis of law, not physical force, but it still gave a hint as to how powerful the creature before them was.
Shirone understood why Icasar had hesitated.
“I promise I’ll save you. So please, free us.”
“Hmph, a human’s words. You think I’d believe them?”
“You have to. If we stay like this, we all die.”
Icasar’s face twisted in annoyance.
“I might be one thing, but what difference would it make if you two got out? There won't be just one or two of these creatures. You'll just get caught again and end up back here.”
“I have a plan for that.”
Plu said.
“Garas is being held in the underground lab. We can release it here. To that thing, this place would be no different than a flower garden.”
“Hmm.”
Icasar fell into careful thought.
The King of Propagation, Garas, was one of the worst creatures she knew of.
‘Eliminate this parasitic species with Garas? Well, if I can just get free, it's not impossible.’
“Icasar.”
Shirone, who had forced himself to his feet through Mental Transcendence, slowly approached and met her gaze.
“I will definitely come back for you. Free us.”
Humanity's desire for life is truly tenacious.
It was the reason Anke La had no choice but to control humans, and because of it, Icasar had become a fallen angel.
“Hmph, don't compare me to a mayfly human. I'm not afraid of death. It's just a little annoying.”
“But to you, too…”
Icasar cut Shirone off.
“Go. I'll let you out.”
When Shirone looked surprised, Icasar snorted as if the idea was ridiculous.
“It's not for you. I have no other choice, and I think I'll feel better once I see that woman who dared to challenge the authority of an angel meet her end.”
“I’ll be back to save you. Wait for me.”
Instead of answering, Icasar closed her eyes.
Her astral body expanded, and the power source for Valhalla Action began to concentrate in the halo.
‘The binding force is even stronger than I thought.’
Valhalla's calculation came to a conclusion: nine hours and forty-three seconds.
That was the time it would take for Icasar to destroy the Akamai with the power of her incarnation.
‘But still, it would have a hard time capturing a regular angel.’
It was her own way of consoling herself, thinking that if she hadn't become a fallen angel, she wouldn't have been caught so easily.
‘To think the day would come when I have to rely on a mere human.’
Taking a deep breath, Icasar’s eyes flashed open.
Valhalla Action!
“KIIIIIIIIII!”
The True Akamai let out a piercing shriek from its body.
Its massive focal point moved as fast as light, and its squishy body withered away.