Chapter 222
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 222
Chapter Title: VS Uriel
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Trees shattered, and an endless crater formed.
Lightning-like light incinerated everything in an instant.
But not a single scorch mark touched Ryu Min’s clothes.
The mercenaries were unscathed as well.
[Ha! You’re scurrying around like rats, saving them one by one.]
Raguel’s competitive spirit flared as he watched Black Scythe rescue the thirtieth mercenary.
‘This damn pest. How does he dodge every single attack?’
He had boasted that he would slaughter every human except Black Scythe, but not one had died.
He’d tried skills and swung his sword directly, but Black Scythe had always evacuated and saved them beforehand.
As if predicting the attacks a step ahead.
‘This unlucky bastard’s speed is at least impressive.’
This wouldn’t do.
Letting him save any more humans wounded his pride.
‘I’ll wipe them all out with a big skill at once.’
Black Scythe might die too, but who cared?
The goal was to capture him alive, but this guy was expendable.
He could just claim it was unavoidable since he was stronger than expected.
‘Dead in heaven or dead here—it’s all the same.’
Raguel spread his folded wings and gathered energy from all directions.
At the same time, he crossed his swords and raised them toward the sky.
This was the preparatory motion for using his skill, [Heavenly Judgment], on a wide scale—the biggest one he’d used so far.
‘Let’s see you save all these people at once. Heh heh.’
But Raguel didn’t know.
That Ryu Min’s Hero’s Rune stacks had just filled up perfectly.
That he no longer needed to save any more mercenaries.
[Hero’s Rune stacks: 100/100]
[All stats increase by 100 due to Hero’s Rune effect.]
[Consume 100 stacks to use ‘Hero’s Protection.’]
‘Perfect. I’ve stacked them up just like I wanted. No more need for pure defense.’
Ryu Min grinned, his gaze shifting forward.
Raguel was gathering energy with his arms raised.
‘Preparing a skill in such an open stance... He’s basically begging to be killed.’
It seemed this dumb angel needed a lesson in the power gap.
Swallowing a sneer, Ryu Min shot forward in the blink of an eye.
[Ah.]
Just before the skill completed, Raguel’s blank expression appeared right in front of him.
He hadn’t expected an attack at that exact timing.
“Even if I was just defending until now, isn’t that a bit too careless?”
[You...!]
In his moment of panic, Ryu Min’s scythe sliced across Raguel’s waist, splitting him in half.
Or at least, that’s how it should have gone.
If Uriel hadn’t intervened.
Flash—!
With the burst of light, Ryu Min’s scythe missed its mark and cut through empty air.
Raguel, who had been right in front of him, was now at Uriel’s side.
[U-Uriel!]
[I stepped in at the right time, didn’t I?]
[Thank you. Honestly, that scared me.]
His skill preparation had been interrupted, but at least his life was saved.
“Tch.”
Ryu Min looked disappointed, but inside, he was smirking differently.
‘Knew that guy would save him.’
He had predicted Uriel would intervene at this timing thanks to the Foresight Rune.
Yet Ryu Min attacked Raguel anyway.
Even at a slower speed than usual, making it easy to counter.
‘Killing him gives no reward anyway.’
It might have looked like a killing blow, but Ryu Min had no intention of actually killing Raguel.
Same for Uriel.
Because there was no Demon’s Blessing.
‘To get the benefits, I need to apply Demon’s Blessing before killing him.’
But Ryu Min currently had only 1 Demon Rune stack.
He needed to kill 99 more angels to use the blessing.
That’s why he hadn’t killed them outright despite being able to, and why he’d played purely defensive.
‘No point killing without profit. If I’m killing, it’s after 99 angels and applying the blessing.’
Killing the archangel now would mean throwing away thousands of stat points.
That was why Ryu Min had simply targeted the angels without finishing them.
‘So what now? Threaten him like with Remiel, say I’ll kill him unless he calls his subordinates?’
Ryu Min shook his head inwardly.
Any other angel might cave, but Raguel, the hot-blooded justice-driven one, wouldn’t yield to threats.
‘He’d choose death over compromising with a criminal.’
His superior Uriel seemed unlikely to compromise either.
Sly despite appearances.
‘Even if I say I’ll spare him if he calls them, he won’t believe it.’
Threats were off the table.
So how to make him call his subordinates?
‘Yeah, that’ll work.’
As the plan formed, he overheard the angels talking.
[From now on, I’ll join in. You can’t handle him alone.]
[Sigh, I didn’t want to borrow your power if possible... but no choice.]
The two angels glared at Ryu Min.
Unaware that they’d already been sized up.
Shing—
Uriel drew a small dagger from his robes.
Ryu Min thought assassin at first, but reading his mind revealed the truth.
‘Not an assassin. He’s a mage type.’
The gem embedded in the dagger glowed, swirling with strange runes.
Ryu Min discerned the spell and launched himself forward.
Immediately, a golden scroll whipped around where he’d stood.
Krzzt—!
The trees bound in his place exploded into splinters.
No ordinary scroll’s power.
[Quick, I’ll give you that. But...]
Uriel chanted another spell.
[You can’t block this one.]
The dagger glowed and left Uriel’s hand.
Swoooosh—!
It flew like an arrow, grazing Ryu Min’s head.
His skull nearly flew off, but it wasn’t over.
The dagger curved back like a boomerang, homing in again.
Like a guided missile.
‘Can’t dodge? Then block.’
Ryu Min raised his scythe to deflect it.
But the moment it connected.
Boom!
An explosion hurled Ryu Min far away.
“Urk.”
For the first time since fighting the archangel, he rolled across the ground.
Uriel’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit as Ryu Min stood, face full of frustration.
[No real damage from ‘Exploding Dagger’? What kind of freak body is that?]
Uriel, unaware of the title reducing holy damage by 80%, raised his hand again.
Flash—
The dagger he thought gone reappeared in his grip, and he chanted once more.
“Tricky bastard.”
No major damage, but definitely tougher than Raguel.
Ryu Min charged during Uriel’s chant, targeting him first.
The spell completed; Uriel slashed the dagger through the air.
[Your sins are absolved by death.]
Sensing danger, Ryu Min twisted away in a split second.
Boom boom boom boom—!
By a hair’s breadth, a storm of light and flame ravaged the beast forest.
[Dodged? Well, as expected.]
“What?”
Uriel finished his double cast; the dagger gleamed.
Before Ryu Min could react, a prison of light dropped from the sky.
Thud—!
Trapped inescapably, Ryu Min’s panic was obvious.
Clang—clang—clang!
He struck the bars with his scythe, but they didn’t even scratch.
[It’s over.]
[No human escapes the ‘Prison of Heavenly Punishment.’]
Raguel and Uriel smirked in victory.
Relieved to finally catch the pesky rat.
[As expected of Uriel. You bound so easily the human who gave me trouble.]
[He’s quick, but dumber than I thought. Or is he as stupid as expected? Human intelligence is predictable.]
[Kehehehe.]
Thinking him a cornered rat, the angels laughed openly—but only briefly.
“Reaper Transformation.”
Ryu Min’s body turned pitch black, his aura shifting.
Boom—boom—!
The clang of his scythe was different now.
They realized its extraordinary destructive power after five swings.
Crack—!
He shattered the prison and emerged.
[Wh-what?!]
[Y-you pest, where’d you crawl from?!]
Panicked, Raguel crossed his swords for Heavenly Judgment, and Uriel began chanting.
But Ryu Min was already within arm’s reach.
[Gah! You pest... guroooh!]
Raguel bent like a shrimp from a polearm strike to the gut.
Ryu Min swung the polearm into his nape—thwack—smashing his head into the dirt.
But had Raguel bought time?
[Cleanse your sins with death!]
Uriel’s flames surged at Ryu Min with no time to dodge.
Boom boom boom boom boom—!
Uriel smirked, seeing a direct hit.
[Heh, foolish human. You’ve turned to dust and...]
“Who’s dust?”
Uriel’s smile vanished at the voice from the dust.
A rectangular dark barrier stood like a shield.
It dissolved, revealing unscathed Black Scythe.
[H-how?]
“How’d I survive?”
Ryu Min stepped forward with a sneer.
“Naturally, because I’m strong. Don’t believe me? Take a hit. One’ll tell you.”
Explosively kicking the ground, he seized Uriel’s wing in an instant.
Rip—!
[Kyaaaaah!]
He tore it out like a radish, feathers raining down.
Uriel hastily raised a light barrier while chanting.
Thud—thud—
But it couldn’t withstand Reaper-transformed scythe strikes.
Thud—crack!
[Gasp!]
As the barrier shattered and the scythe closed in, Uriel fired a light arrow to teleport himself away.
His neck had nearly been severed.
[Urk, try blocking this.]
Uriel completed and launched another Exploding Dagger.
Swoooosh—!
The unerring guided attack—Ryu Min took it head-on.
Boom!
But this time, not a scratch.
He’d already wrapped himself in a darkness barrier.
“You think I’m an idiot? Falling for the same attack twice?”
[Urk.]
As Ryu Min closed in with a leisurely smile—
Clang—!
Raguel ambushed from behind.
Of course, Ryu Min, who’d sensed it, didn’t let it land.
[Die, you filthy human... gah!]
He sidestepped and tripped him with the polearm.
“What grudge do you angels have from a past life? Why can’t you land a hit?”
[You lowly scum... kyaak!]
Ryu Min flanked instantly and ripped out his wings.
Ignoring Raguel’s screams, he yanked them all out before leaping back.
A light scroll whipped through empty air by a hair.
“Told you. I don’t fall for the same attack twice.”
As Ryu Min grinned and charged again—
“Ah...”
Annoyingly, Reaper Transformation ended.
His dismayed expression was plain for the angels to see.
“Fuck.”
Cursing, Ryu Min spread his wings and fled.
Watching Black Scythe vanish into the distance, the angels looked baffled.
[Wh-what just happened? Why’d that human run? Uriel?]
[How should I know?]
Uriel was just as confused, having had the upper hand.
[It was going our way—why...?]
Only the two angels remained amid the wreckage.
The other humans had fled long ago.
Then Uriel snapped his fingers.
[Ah! I think I know why he ran.]
[What?]
[His power ran out.]
[His power?]
[Think about it. Didn’t he suddenly get explosively stronger after turning black?]
Come to think of it, yes.
He’d struggled against their attacks until the transformation, then surged.
[Then it wore off, he panicked, and ran.]
[Ah... so?]
[Exactly. He had no choice—his black form ended, and he couldn’t handle us both.]
Raguel nodded as if it all made sense.
[Then this is our chance. Let’s find that pest and kill him quick.]
[I’d love to, but look—we’ve both lost a wing.]
Flightless, they could only stare after him like dogs after a chicken on the roof.
[Huaaa... damn it! A perfect chance, and we let it slip right in front of us!]
[Don’t get too upset, Raguel. There’s a way.]
Hearing that, Raguel calmed.
[What way?]
[Request reinforcements. Contact heaven right now and have them help take him down.]
[Huh? But if the higher-ups find out, we’ll look bad...]
[Who doesn’t know that? We call them secretly, of course.]
[Secretly?]
[Exclude up to 3rd rank—they report up the chain. Call 4th rank and below. Then we claim the credit for catching Black Scythe, and it stays off the higher-ups’ radar.]
[Ah, that’s genius...]
Using mid-to-low 4th rank angels would let them clean up without superiors knowing.
[I’ll request reinforcements now. How many?]
[Without the black form, he was about even with us both. So we don’t need tons.]
[But what if he goes black again?]
[Then we’re in trouble.]
The destructive power in black form was on another level.
Too few, and disaster.
[Then what? How many...?]
[Hmm...]
After pondering, Uriel sighed.
[What choice? Call as many as possible.]