Chapter 359: The Tin Knight and the Emerald Country (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 359: The Tin Knight and the Emerald Country (9)
Seeing the scene unfold before her, Langwidere’s mind raced.
‘An angel? A general? She resurrected the dead?’
It was impossible.
She already knew that the souls of the Vampire Queen and the Angel of Divine Calculation resided within Sophia, but they were nothing more than remnants.
To resurrect them and allow them to act would require a commensurate price. The Vampire Queen’s relic, the Chalice of Tuberose, had already been consumed in the heavenly realm, and she had confirmed that the flute left by the Angel of Divine Calculation had been used up during the fight with the resurrected queen.
While it was true that all the mana and holy power remaining in Sophia’s body had vanished, it was unthinkable that such a meager price was enough to summon two transcendent beings. The scales just didn’t balance.
Unless something else was offered, something truly one-of-a-kind in all the world—
‘—Don’t tell me.’
There was only one thing.
One price Sophia possessed that was worthy.
The one thing the heavenly realm had tried and failed to replicate, even after learning of her existence.
An ability coveted by countless beings, a power that could obtain anything in the world depending on how it was used.
Immortality. An eternal and infinite life.
If she had offered that as the price, then temporarily resurrecting transcendent beings was not entirely out of the question.
But even so, it made no sense.
What could she possibly gain by doing such a thing?
Whether she won or lost this war, she would have survived regardless. What was her reason for fighting to the point of discarding that?
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
A small girl who had once admired her master whispered from the depths of a distant memory.
Sophia’s eyes, which remained unwavering despite all the insults and violence she had endured, spoke the answer.
Unable to accept that answer, Langwidere shrieked as if having a seizure.
“Eight generals? An angel of the old era? You think those relics of the past mean anything now? The new angels were born from the lessons of your battle! That’s me!”
Furl!
The wings hidden behind Langwidere’s back spread wide.
An immense amount of holy power surged around her body.
It was a force so great it went beyond mere sight, creating a palpable physical pressure.
The new blade, forged and sharpened by the heavens using old humiliations as a whetstone, clearly held a power far greater than that of the old transcendent beings.
A crimson red hat appeared once more on Langwidere’s head, and a massive fireball shot from her hand.
It was a terrifying heat, enough to melt not only human flesh but even solid metal in an instant.
“To be honest, I found it rather absurd when I heard you were some kind of ‘external instructor’…”
And the Vampire Queen blocked it head-on.
“…But seeing the way that wench talks, I think I understand now. She is certainly in need of some education.”
Blood.
A massive volume of blood, clearly weighing more than the queen herself, flowed from her body and swallowed the fireball whole.
It was a heat that should have vaporized any normal liquid, but that didn't matter.
The Vampire Queen.
The blood shed by the one who stood at the apex of all who manipulate blood could never be the same as ordinary blood.
Langwidere scowled and tried to draw forth more power, but in that instant, her vision wavered.
The ceiling became the floor, and the floor became the ceiling.
A distant wall felt close enough to touch, and the three figures who had been right in front of her vanished without a trace.
～～～～～♪
And then, the sound of a flute came from somewhere.
“The old era and the new. I won’t deny it. Your performance certainly seems superior to mine. But it is also true that you lack manners. As your senior, I shall teach you what respect is.”
The heavenly melody, which entranced the listener and controlled their senses and mind, tore through Langwidere’s senses at will.
Langwidere scattered flames indiscriminately around her, but it was difficult to even confirm whether her attacks had landed.
She gritted her teeth and summoned a new hat.
As a bright yellow hat settled on her head, the hallucinations and phantom sounds that had been tormenting her vanished all at once.
Langwidere’s eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, and she charged with all her might toward the angel playing the flute in the distance.
The Angel of Divine Calculation fired orbs of light to keep her in check, but they failed to pierce the yellow aura surrounding Langwidere’s body and were instead reflected back along their original trajectory.
The light orbs fired by the angel pierced the angel once more, and Langwidere’s fist, following close behind, slammed her into the ground.
Langwidere tried to follow up with another attack, but the Vampire Queen, who had approached at some point, kicked her away.
“That hat. It seems to resist interference from mana or holy power, but it has little effect against physical force.”
“You damn bat…!”
Each time the emerald lightsword and the spear of blood clashed, shockwaves echoed, shaking the Emerald Palace to its foundations.
In close combat, the queen had the upper hand.
Among the many races banished to the underground by Oz, the vampires, known as the nobles of the night, were the proudest.
And they truly possessed the power to back it up.
Immense physical strength. Superb regenerative ability. The freedom to transform. A long lifespan and the experience and skills gained from it.
No matter how many times Langwidere’s sword cut and stabbed the queen, the queen regenerated her body as if it were nothing and, in turn, overwhelmed Langwidere.
Langwidere’s holy power, which had easily incinerated Sophia’s body, could not overpower the queen’s mana and regenerative abilities.
Eventually, Langwidere threw off the yellow hat.
The moment she put on a bright, burning orange hat, a sun materialized around her.
FWOOOOSH!
Overwhelming heat and waves of fire incinerated the Vampire Queen.
The power was incomparable to the flames she had fired with the red hat. The blood barrier and the regeneration proved useless, rendered completely ineffective.
It was at that moment, as Langwidere moved to finish the queen.
～～～～～♪
Langwidere’s body wavered once more.
The image of the queen falling before her vanished, and her vision was filled with angels bearing soft, artificial smiles.
Langwidere tried to locate her enemies through their holy power and mana rather than sight, but the senses distorted by the Angel of Divine Calculation warped even that.
Grind. Langwidere gritted her teeth.
She was filled with the desire to burn everything around her, but if she unleashed a high-powered attack while her senses were unstable, she could end up getting hit by her own attack.
Left with no choice, she threw off the orange hat and once again put on the yellow one.
And as if waiting for that very moment, the queen closed in and initiated close combat.
“You bitches, I swear!!”
Langwidere felt like she was going to die of frustration.
Her name as an angel was Transformation.
Depending on the hat she wore, she could become a top-tier warrior, a noble mage, or a genius strategist.
She was the most versatile of the four great angels, able to use all sorts of abilities in the right place at the right time. She was the easiest card for the heavens to use, and from their perspective, the most useful.
But at this moment, the story was different.
If her enemy had been only the Vampire Queen, Langwidere would have mercilessly burned her with firepower that overwhelmed her regenerative abilities.
If her enemy had been only the Angel of Divine Calculation, Langwidere would have gained immunity to mental abilities and crushed her petty tricks.
But there were two enemies, and while their individual abilities might be inferior to Langwidere’s, they were not so weak as to be defeated in an instant.
A spear of blood pierced Langwidere’s wing.
The melody of the flute churned Langwidere’s insides.
Slowly, but surely, damage accumulated on Langwidere’s body.
She also possessed a hat specialized for recovery, but the moment she abandoned her current abilities to use it, her enemies would launch a bold, unhesitating assault, inflicting wounds just as severe as the damage she had healed.
The Angel of Heaven and the General of the Underground.
Despite being mortal enemies, their coordination was as perfect as if they had once been a single body.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't just "as if"—it was a literal fact.
“Don’t be ridiculous, just… just with something like this!”
Langwidere began to struggle, trying desperately to turn the situation around.
Silver. The emotion it held was coldness. The abilities it granted were powerful physical attacks and decent resistance.
“A power with resistance to both physical and mental attacks. But its defense in each area is inferior to a specialized one. I just need to break through it head-on.”
Brown. The emotion it held was tranquility. The ability it granted was the creation of numerous minions.
“Your confidence is quite admirable, Junior. I never imagined you’d have the nerve to fight a group battle against us. But you will have to pay the price for your excessive confidence.”
Navy. The emotion it held was grief. The ability it granted was a wide-area curse.
“Hmph, as expected of those from the heavens, always so insidious. They preach about our evil every day, yet they themselves use far worse things behind our backs.”
“I concur. Insidiousness is an ability in itself, but it’s an ability far beyond the people of the underground, who do nothing but get beaten and chased away.”
Black. The emotion it held was solitude. The ability it granted was—
“Cough!”
Langwidere’s movement to put on a new hat was forcibly stopped.
Blood poured from her mouth, and her knees hit the ground.
Her immense holy power remained, but the body that contained and controlled it had already reached a dangerous level.
Defeat.
Those two words shimmered before Langwidere’s eyes.
It meant that she had failed to fulfill her role as a guardian.
It meant that the Kingdom of Heaven was one step closer to defeat.
It meant…
“It means you will be free, girl.”
At the queen’s words, which seemed to read and point out her thoughts, Langwidere’s eyes widened.
The queen continued as if it were nothing.
“My prophetic ability is incomplete, but I don’t need to borrow its power for a prediction like this. Think about it, girl. Even if you fight desperately here, do you really think the heavens will acknowledge it?”
“Of course not.”
Before Langwidere could answer, the Angel of Divine Calculation spoke.
“Just as they treat the Kalidahs now, they will continue to use you as long as you’re breathing. But at the same time, they will prepare the ‘next generation.’ Just as they replaced my vacant spot with you when I failed to overwhelm the general of the underground. One day, they will create an angel superior to you and replace you.”
Langwidere could not deny it as a lie.
There was no need for proof. The very beings before her were the witnesses and the evidence.
“Girl. Do the heavens treat you as a human? Do you truly believe the reverence their minions pay you is directed at you as an individual? Is there a single person here with whom you can open your heart as an individual?”
“Junior. They look not at you, but at the power you possess. They value not your loyalty, but the authority of the King of Heaven behind you. No matter what plausible title they give you, an angel is nothing but a tool of the heavens.”
“Therefore, I ask.”
“Therefore, I ask.”
““—Why do you fight?””
Langwidere couldn’t tell if it was the angel or the vampire who uttered the last words.
A much larger question was piercing through her.
The reason she fought.
Because she was an angel. —But she hadn’t become an angel because she wanted to.
Because she had to protect the Kingdom of Heaven. —But she had never once loved the Kingdom of Heaven.
Because it was the King of Heaven’s command. —But the King had never once shown her any affection.
Something was wrong.
Everything she had dismissed as simply ‘the way things were’ turned into question marks, tearing through her mind.
The moment she tried to seriously contemplate it.
Wuuuuuung!
The hats that filled the palace all began to emit holy power at once.