120. Priests of the Heavenly God
Leaving Angela, who was still dozing off, I stepped out of the Sky Guardian's shelter and headed to the heavenly couple's house. Just as expected, two heavenly beings with two pairs of wings—known as priests—were standing there waiting.
The heavenly couple looked like ordinary folks being grilled by detectives, fumbling through answers to the priests' barrage of questions.
"Perfect timing. We'll hear the rest from him directly."
But that came to an end the moment the priests spotted me. One of them spread his wings and closed the distance in an instant.
Fast. As expected, priests had specs way above the average heavenly being.
"You're the earthling who ascended to the Heavenly Realm a week ago, correct?"
"Yeah."
"I am Adriel, priest serving the will of the Heavenly God." Adriel introduced herself and the priest beside her, Ropiel.
Ropiel was a tall, striking man with glowing golden eyes, while Adriel was a female heavenly being with long blonde hair. Their weapons were a spear and a bow, respectively. The mana they radiated was nothing compared to demons, but it wasn't insignificant either.
"You currently face two charges. One is assault on a divine beast in Sector 7. The other is corruption of a Sky Guardian."
"Corruption?"
"You imparted earthly knowledge to Sky Guardian Angela. This constitutes corruption, as it defiles the pure mind and body of an innocent heavenly being."
So they knew about what happened with Angela. But calling that corruption? Heavenly Realm laws were a real pain in the ass.
"It was consensual. How the hell is that corruption?"
I voiced my genuine confusion. At that, the heavenly couple, who had been standing off at a distance, jumped in shock and rushed over.
"Warrior, what are you saying? Our child would never consent to something like that... impossible!"
"Exactly. Angela is a good, pure, and noble heavenly being. That makes no sense."
To folks who believed heavenly beings were flawless by nature, this must've hit like a thunderbolt. But facts were facts. Your daughter was wild.
Anyway, I just shook my head slowly. I wasn't about to lie.
"We'll investigate the full circumstances in detail. You two, please rest easy and go inside."
The priest sent the distraught couple back into their house.
"Assault on a divine beast is understandable for an impure earthling, so we'll take that into consideration... but corruption of a Sky Guardian warrants divine punishment."
"A Grade-5 divine punishment, enforced by us priests, will be imposed upon you. Depending on the investigation, it could escalate to Grade-3."
"However, if you come quietly to the Core Temple without resistance, we can mitigate it to Grade-6 or lower. Will you comply?"
My goal was the Core Temple from the start. No reason to resist here.
"Just so you know, an impure human's power can't stand against us priests."
But no real reason not to fight either. Once I got to the Core Temple, that was that.
"I'll follow."
-Shing.
"But first, let's see what you've got."
Opportunities to fight under such heavy handicaps didn't come often.
The moment I drew my sword and deployed mana, the two priests reacted with near-frenzy speed.
"Foolish! Cease at once!"
Adriel swiftly nocked three arrows to her bow. Fast, but only against melee fighters. I smacked her bow-holding hand with the flat of my blade.
Thwack. One arrow fired at point-blank range.
I read its trajectory and tilted my head back to dodge. The arrow was quick, but at this range, the line was predictable—speed didn't matter.
-Boom!
The missed arrow slammed into a distant cloud and exploded. What the hell? That power was insane. More like a mortar than an arrow. Taking a direct hit in my current state would've been bad.
Judging she couldn't fight at close range with a bow, Adriel pulled back, scattering glowing mana. It absorbed the surrounding clouds, forming shapes—summoned beasts in various animal forms.
Probably one of her priestly blessings. Golems conjured on the spot.
She planned to stall with them and widen the gap. But did she think I hadn't smashed dozens like that before?
-Slash!
One swing destroyed a summon's core, dissipating it. But others swarmed, hindering my movement.
-Twang!
An arrow timed perfectly for the opening—or so she thought. No chance.
"Nice try."
-Whoosh!
I casually tilted my head to dodge again. Ranged attacks rarely landed on me. It was a melee fighter's biggest weakness, so I'd drilled countermeasures relentlessly.
Skills like Mana Detection, Super Sense, and Sense Enhancement woven together formed a radar-like detection. Weakened under handicaps, sure, but I'd focused training on recovery.
Right after dodging, a bullet-like presence dove from above.
"Hyaah!"
Ropiel, wings spread, plunged vertically with a flame-wreathed spear.
I shook off the summons and leaped back. Boom—the burning spear cratered the cloud ground.
"Taste the divine flame that purges the impure!"
Ropiel yanked the spear free and swung wildly, flames roiling. Called "divine flame," but it was just fire—blocked by my Fire Resistance.
I ignored the blaze, charged in, and clashed sword against spear.
-Clang!
"Urk?"
Ropiel faltered slightly. My strength had the edge. But as I pushed—
The flames on his spear flickered, transforming the burning spear into a burning axe in an instant.
-Whoosh, boom!
I leaped back; the axe smashed where I'd stood. Then it reverted to spear form.
Freely switching between spear and axe? Or more forms? Either way, facing this myself—nice.
"That spear looks fun."
A weapon that shapeshifted at will? I wanted one.
My unique style: swapping weapons from inventory mid-fight. Seeing it from the other side felt oddly intriguing.
Up close, it was tricky.
-Clang! Clang! Clang!
Spear, axe, flail, sword, staff—the weapon shifted forms relentlessly, clashing with mine. Technique wasn't exceptional, but paired with flames and defensive play, it was near-impregnable.
Skills could've broken it easily, but pure swordplay? Tough.
-Twang!
An arrow grazed my ear as my sword extended—perfectly timed. No openings? Adriel's shots from afar filled them seamlessly.
Decent specs, decent skill, but their blessings synergized perfectly with teamwork. The upside of parties. Solo players like me would never pull this off.
"Nah, not quite."
I'd seen their skill. Time to break the teamwork.
-Whoosh!
I dodged Ropiel's spear and hurled a sword from inventory at Adriel.
"Gasp!"
-Thud!
It embedded beside her head. Not aiming to hit—just bait. Not a plain Steel Straight Sword, but Kaleon.
I awakened the Sword Spirit mid-throw, using a low-grade magic stone.
"You bastard... called me mid-battle again, huh? Where am I this time! Now you'll see my true power!"
As a former demon sword, the spirit exuded fierce mana. Ropiel and Adriel reacted violently.
"What foul aura! Get back, Adriel!"
Sensing something from the sword-wielding spirit, Ropiel broke off and dashed toward Adriel. His spear tip blazed massively—his trump card, by the looks of it.
"Hraaah!"
-BOOM!
The strike unleashed a massive flame explosion over a wide area. Handicapped Kaleon couldn't even beat a giant horned rabbit—dodging was impossible.
Sword Spirit Kaleon, deceased.
But he wasn't for fighting. Perfect bait.
Their guard dropped wide open—beyond what an archer could cover.
Haste amplified my agility; I closed in instantly and struck the gap.
"Gahk!"
Ropiel crumpled from my sword hit. Left with Adriel, who couldn't fight solo.
Perfect for Floor 15. Without handicaps, they wouldn't have lasted.
Alright. I win.