Chapter 106
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Archangel's Verdict
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"A revelation directly from the Archangel of Punishment. The reason doesn't matter."
Whispers spread among them.
It might not look painful from the outside, but for the one enduring it, it was no different from the agony that made you want to bite your tongue and die.
"Leon... it hurts so much..."
Luna muttered shortly, as if throwing a tantrum to herself.
That was when it happened.
The fires scattered throughout the Temple of Judgment—all the dying embers—flared up at once.
The flames burned red.
At the same time, a spear composed of crimson light plunged down at tremendous speed into the center of the Sanctuary of Judgment, making its presence known.
"The Archangel of Punishment has issued a revelation."
The punishers knelt toward the spear in unison, bowing their heads as if receiving something holy.
One of them slowly rose from his seat, grasping the spear solemnly like a priest who had been granted a sacred relic.
Both the punishers and Luna knew what that spear was.
The leisure vanished from Luna's expression.
"This is bad. That ragtag bastard has crossed the line by a mile."
Luna urgently glanced at the punishers.
"Do not approach."
"The revelation is absolute. No matter the sinner's identity or crimes, it no longer matters. We commence forced execution."
In that instant, the punishers scattered like flashes of light, and one thrust the red spear into her chest.
There was no time to react, nor the strength to do so.
Pierced through by the spear in an instant, Luna convulsed and slowly floated up into the air.
It was a spear imbued with the power of an Archangel.
Even the same spear held power that ordinary angels couldn't discern just by looking, so even the punishers had no way of knowing what effect it would produce.
But one thing was certain.
The spear that fell in the Sanctuary of Punishment was the Archangel's revelation.
And the purpose of that spear was to pierce the sinner on trial.
Whether it condemned the sinner to death or offered merciful salvation—it didn't matter to the punishers.
They simply followed the will of the Archangel, who spoke for the gods.
Soon, clusters of light began gathering around Luna's entire body.
The same power she usually used for healing wrapped around her protectively.
Kwa-chang!!!!
But her power shattered helplessly and scattered before long.
The aura emanating from her seemed overwhelmingly strong for an ordinary angel, yet the Archangel's power crushed even that.
"Damn it..."
The punishers flew into a rage at Luna's mutter.
"How dare you belittle the Archangel's power like that."
"Shut your mouth."
In response, Luna unhesitatingly flipped them off.
"Every single Archangel is the same—a bunch of assholes! If this is the will of the gods, I won't remain one of your angels anymore."
Has there ever been a low-ranking ordinary angel in heavenly history who blasphemed the punishers like this?
"Blasphemy..."
The two pairs of high angels who were punishers murmured in shock.
It wasn't particularly surprising that she hadn't died despite being impaled by the spear.
In form it was a spear, but imbued with Archangelic power, it could be either a spear that killed or one that saved.
Of course, Luna's expression wasn't good.
"Ugh... kuhk..."
The punishers silently watched as she writhed in pain with an expression on a whole other level from before.
Considering the blasphemy she'd uttered moments ago, she deserved summary punishment, but the Archangel's power enveloping her now kept them at bay.
It felt like something was forcing its way out from within her, and she was desperately holding it back.
Of course, that resistance didn't last long.
The intangible something spread around Luna began to pulverize at rapid speed.
"Damn it. So from the start, lending that human prince power was all part of this plan!"
How could a human possibly wield the Staff of Punishment, the symbol of the Archangel?
At her cry, a voice—not quite a voice, but some kind of wave—resounded in her mind.
She understood and interpreted the wave effortlessly.
The Archangel's will conveyed to her was simple and clear.
Repent your sins and return to your rightful place. Otherwise, she—and the anomalous human with her—would be added to the list of those to punish.
Luna, naturally, refused to accept it.
But if the Archangel's revelation had come this far, it was inevitable.
Leaving things like this would bring great harm to Leon.
Luna's deliberation didn't last long.
"I won't let you pull that crap on me—not once, and definitely not twice."
With her decision made, a bizarre energy began overflowing from her entire body.
At the same time, the high angels—the punishers with two pairs of wings who had been watching—showed signs of alarm.
Streams of shapeless light began forming behind her back.
"What is..."
Wings and eyes were fundamentally a angel's proof of self, their very reason for being.
An ordinary angel with one pair of wings could never have two pairs, nor could a high angel with two pairs have one pair or more beyond that.
All angels had either one or two pairs of wings, with only Archangels possessing three or more.
Even the punishers were said never to have seen an Archangel in person, making three or more pairs of wings the stuff of myths.
Even the Archangels known in heavenly myths varied in wing count, and those with four pairs—absolute powerhouses—were said to be a rare few among them.
In any case, it wasn't easy to believe that a being with one pair of wings was manifesting another pair made of light.
At the same time, Luna's closed eyelids, which had been slightly lowered, trembled faintly and began to slowly open.
What emerged first were pupils the color of the night sky's deep blue.
But the punishers who beheld them could only gasp in horror.
For the galaxy-like sheen in Luna's pupils was something even they had never seen.
She swept her chilling, emotionless gaze across the floor as she fully opened her eyes, her beauty eerily captivating.
"Those... eyes couldn't be..."
Then, one punisher who had served for a long time murmured softly.
"Heavens... the Celestial Realm..."
Following that, the sky began to darken, and the bright sun overhead was gradually eclipsed as if an eclipse had occurred.
The fully obscured sun lost its light, leaving only a red rim, plunging the world into apocalyptic gloom.
Kwa-jik!!!
The power bursting from Luna's body enveloped the red spear of the Archangel's revelation, shattering it like a broken windowpane.
Immediately after, her fully opened eyes, shining with light, gleamed faintly, and cracks spread across the entire Sanctuary of Judgment like a massive hammer had struck a glass window, shattering it.
"E-everyone, run!!!"
At the cry of the veteran punisher who instinctively realized something, those who had acted emotionlessly until moments ago swiftly fled the sanctuary.
Kwa-jik!!!
And soon after, a massive shockwave erupted, crumbling the entire sanctuary effortlessly.
"You can't touch Leon. No one can."
With those words, Luna made the additional pair of wings made of light vanish, gazing sadly up at the sky.
Above her, floating alone in the endless expanse where the ground was invisible, transparent raindrops fell, lightly pattering against her.
Staring silently at the sky with a sorrowful expression, she brought a hand to her eye and gave a bitter smile.
"Leon would love to see this..."
Leon had always been oddly eager to see her open her eyes.
Soon, the connection between the intermediate realm and the heavens fully severed, and her form dispersed.
Her forcibly projected consciousness was returning to her original body.
She didn't resist the flow of that power.
That ragtag Archangel—the Archangel of Punishment she despised, Raguel—his power was exhausting enough to tangle with, but unintentionally linking her to the heavens she'd left made it worse.
Right now, she just wanted to see Leon.
With Raguel's power severed, Dorn Lu Pascalia could no longer use angelic strength.
He was no longer a threat. The only remaining danger might be the rampaging Mist's main body, but even that wouldn't pose a major threat to Leon.
Dorn Lu Pascalia instinctively felt his power draining away and cried out, his face paling.
"What in the world?!"
"Hm? What's this? Why's your power leaking out?"
Leon narrowed his eyes, sensing the anomaly as well.
He then smirked as he saw an ominous power pouring out from the sphere Dorn had created.
"Looks like you ate the poisoned apple after all."
He already knew the halo was connected to angelic power.
Whatever his intent in trapping Luna in that space, it had backfired due to Luna's power, which was far from ordinary.
The man who had been radiating immense power had lost it all.
Borrowed power could only go so far...
"This can't be happening. It can't!"
He screamed desperately at the halo floating above his head.
Leon didn't know—or care—what treatment he'd received in the imperial palace or what hardships he'd endured.
But from the moment he'd dragged Melissa into this, an uncrossable river had formed between him and Leon.
Sring...
The sphere encasing Luna slowly cracked, and her aura felt even clearer and more vivid now.
It hadn't been this intensely present before.
Leon approached him silently, pointing the tip of his ghost sword at him.
"Any last words?"
Dorn, who had been staring blankly, finally focused on him.
"In the end, even luck abandons me. The gap in power seemed overwhelming."
"I don't know the continent's history, but you surely haven't accumulated as much experience as someone who's shaped human history. Call it a difference in experience."
"What do you mean?"
He murmured blankly.
"It's just frustrating. Kill me."
At Dorn's request, Leon approached without hesitation and asked,
"Before that, one question."
"..."
"Who gave you that halo?"
"What are you talking about? This halo was found in the imperial treasury..."
He started to frown and reply, but Leon cut him off ruthlessly.
"Fine, say it came from the imperial treasury. But does that look like something you could contract on your own?"
"..."
"Honestly, I already have a rough idea who the culprit is. Who do you think it is?"
Leon asked without turning his head.
This time, the question wasn't directed at Dorn.