Chapter 104 – Even One More Person
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Gods are not omnipotent and omniscient like people think.
Even a god has limits to their abilities and flaws in the judgments they make.
Some were frivolous and some even easily excited.
Only a few exceptions maintained awe toward the gods.
But even this was now merely a thing of the past.
When the gods who gave up facing the Sun God became meteors and fled, faith was also shattered into pieces.
In a broken world, there were exactly two faiths one could hold.
Would they follow the will of the Sun God under a black-stained sun and a pitch-black sky.
Or would they follow the will of the young god under an incomplete sun and a dim dawn.
Anniel was the latter.
Though the vast majority of angels chose the former.
And the divergent faiths brought about armed conflict.
At the place where Anniel hurriedly arrived flapping her wings, there were already guests.
An angel with a pure white porcelain-like face raised their right arm with an emotionless face.
=It’s the emissary of blue light. The two of you stall for time.=
The opponents were the Celestial Church with scarlet halos.
It was hard to consider them mere demons, but there was no room for persuasion either.
They were lunatics following the Sun God, who intended to exterminate the world and life.
They had no choice but to completely oppose the Nebula Church with its blue fluorescent halo in every aspect.
To save the innocent, one had to pick a fight even if outnumbered.
Anniel spun the spear in her hand with a whish while taking in the surrounding situation.
Three angels of the Celestial Church.
One acting as the leader, separately.
The number of survivors they were luring was 82.
Before them lay a dragon lurking beneath the plains.
A chilling coldness settled in Anniel’s eyes as she looked around.
The Celestial Church angels, leveraging their numerical superiority, were gradually narrowing the distance.
“Do you think doing this will make the Sun God change its mind?”
It was a provocation to figure out the opponent’s disposition.
As an angel, a provocation directed at faith and commandments is hard to ignore.
It would definitely elicit a reaction in some way.
Sure enough, the angel who stayed behind and raised their right arm opened their mouth.
=Even if we cannot change His mind, we cannot stop testifying.=
“Even knowing it’s meaningless…!”
=The assessment of ‘meaningless’ does not suit devotion. We are merely returning everything intact to the one who was for us. O End, take away our end as You intended.=
The divine characters engraved on the angel’s right arm were heating up.
Like a supernova whose explosion was imminent.
It was the moment Anniel furrowed her brows seeing the body and soul beginning to crack all over.
A change also came to the angels with scarlet halos.
The eyes glaring at Anniel were melting.
What took root in the gaps of the pure white porcelain faces was a scarlet bright light that stung the eyes.
Anniel was horrified and astonished by that sight, and urgently cried out to her god.
=O Sun, we offer our everything to You!=
“Godfather of Stars, Young Father! Forget my lack of virtue and regard only what must be done right now!”
The Celestial Church angels spread their wings wide and lunged.
A suicide attack risking death. Anniel’s rapidly spinning spear tip touched one of them.
Claaang.
It was a loud noise like scraping iron. Under the robe torn by the spear, a body baked like pottery was revealed. It was hard enough to send sparks flying from time to time.
Anniel’s eyes grasped all of this in an instant.
She must not think of slicing flesh, but consider it shattering pottery.
Having made the judgment, Anniel immediately flapped her wings powerfully and retreated.
She retrieved the spear.
Reset the striking point.
Folded her wings so she could charge in a single breath.
At that moment, the stars embedded in Anniel’s flesh began to orbit rapidly.
It was worth frantically raising her voice in front of three angels.
The most reassuring voice of all swept into Anniel’s mind like a gentle wave.
[You did not step back.]
The Godfather of Stars, the Young Father, and the adversary of the black-stained sun.
Star Creation, the last god born in the dark radiance, answered the prayer calling him.
Star Creation was essentially a god who often neglected his believers or bestowed one-sidedly, and was a god who sometimes played mischievous pranks.
So not only people but even enemies easily let their guard down.
They underestimated the limitless possibilities and power contained in the divine name of Star Creation.
Anniel was the same.
She had been.
[If you desire it, then ask.]
No matter how disloyal a lapsed believer might be, experiencing that power firsthand would change their mind.
There was no need to look far. Anniel, who served Star Creation immediately, was surprised every time.
Following the fiercely shaking starlight, an immense divine power surged like a tidal wave.
Everything that power touched was changing.
[As long as you wish to fight, my power is yours.]
Time slowed down.
While Anniel charged and aimed her spear tip, the enemies couldn’t even perceive it.
The spear was forged sharply.
The pure white porcelain skin could no longer deflect the spear.
As if ripping apart a soft cotton blanket, Anniel forcefully swung the spear that had pierced the angel.
The immediately impending future was visible.
Exactly where the fists thrust by the enemies were aimed, exactly where the enemies were repositioning themselves, all of it.
She flapped her wings and swung her spear to erase the faintly wavering afterimages of the future, dodging them.
One pierced through, and one battered by the spear shaft.
Two angels burst like firecrackers in two exchanges.
The scarlet radiance they had carefully harbored beneath their shattered porcelain skin rapidly dispersed in an instant.
After Anniel moved, the enemy moved.
Like a play choreographed beforehand, sticking together precisely.
The only exception was just one, the leader-like angel remaining in the back.
Even that was merely slow and sluggish to Anniel.
The pure white porcelain face was covered in fine cracks the moment it harbored astonishment.
When Anniel approached to point-blank range, the angel indiscriminately swung its right arm harboring divine characters.
It didn’t even realize how meaningless an attack made having lost its cool was.
The thrust fist struck the spear shaft and bounced off.
The kick raised with all its might was blocked by a knee.
When distancing, the spear swung; when closing in, fists flew.
It was quite a while later that the angel, repeating a desperate back-and-forth, noticed its mistake.
It was when Anniel reached out her hand aiming for the exposed neck.
=Kuh-heuk, keuk.=
“You can’t keep up with the power your technique possesses. If it were power bestowed by your god, you would have received knowledge and experience along with it, so it’s strange.”
Anniel narrowed her brows, grabbing the angel by the collar and shaking it.
Angels are the army and pawns of heaven.
The reason they craved the god’s favor was not simply because they thirsted for affection.
Because it was practically the only way to increase an angel’s power.
If an angel had abnormally developed power or technique in either aspect, there was only one reason.
“How many human sacrifices have you performed.”
The truth was clear. The angel before her had devoured the bodies and souls of people.
No matter how conservatively estimated, dozens of people.
It was disgusting to Anniel, who had volunteered for penance just for suggesting human sacrifice.
However, the captured angel did not regret it.
The porcelain face covered in fine cracks started to smile broadly.
=Keok, keuk, kek, keuheu… heuheuheuheuheu.=
“….”
=Do not misunderstand, emissary of blue light. Your sun is not whole. When the true sun rises, how can a false light destined to fall claim to save the world?=
“It is not a false light, but the possibility of a new sun. The new sky has already reached you as well. You must have seen it multiple times.”
Only then did the laughter stop.
Only after hearing Anniel’s words did the angel withdraw the madness cast over its soul.
What was engraved on the porcelain face that had stopped laughing was resignation.
Even though resignation was everything.
=Dawn and evening. We can no longer distinguish between the two.=
“Star Creation called it dawn.”
=Your dawn, our evening. The sun to welcome you, the dark radiance to drive us out.=
The Celestial Church angel, with a gloomy expression, began to crumble away.
It was the end of an angel who had lost both commandments and faith.
The soul that had once ascended to heaven with a more upright heart than anyone else was turning into black dust.
=He is merely a god of the end of days who has come to destroy our world.=
“Our world? No!”
Anniel did not allow the angel a peaceful death.
Crunch.
She ripped the collar, reached out again, and snapped its neck.
Amid the scattering of shattered porcelain fragments, Anniel raised her spear-holding hand high.
“The Young Father has come to destroy the Sun God’s world!”
The spear was thrown.
The Celestial Church angel, pierced by the spear Anniel threw, plummeted.
The angel fell for a long time and only died after slamming into the ground.
She couldn’t even allow it the grace of dying while lingering in the sky.
However, little was resolved.
When Anniel descended to the ground, what she saw were people trembling terribly, stricken with terror.
“Th-the angel died.”
“O light guide us to eternal victory…”
“Turn… turn your eyes away. Don’t make eye contact.”
Anniel, knowing that Star Creation’s power still lingered within her, opened her mouth.
“Godfather of Stars, I beseech you who are watching.”
Pulling the spear stuck in the ground out again, she examined the vast plains beyond the shoulders of the cowering people.
It was too vast.
No one knew how many people had been dragged into that plain.
Seeing that the god she served, Star Creation, continuously informed her of the survivors’ locations, Star Creation at least must know.
If so, He would also know that her petition was justified.
Anniel let out a sigh, blaming herself for her own powerlessness.
“It is impossible with just me and Lady Ceciel.”
The fights themselves were easy.
The lunatic Celestial Church serving the Sun God and the Nebula Church serving Star Creation.
If the two clashed, the Nebula Church conditionally won.
Star Creation did not spare miracles for his angels and believers, and the forces of the Nebula Church were qualitatively superior thanks to that.
The problem lay in numbers and mobility.
There was no way Star Creation wouldn’t know the limits Anniel felt.
“We need more angels.”
[They do not wish to fight. I worry whether they can truly fight if I forcibly push forward those without the will to do so.]
Anniel squeezed her eyes shut while readjusting her grip on the spear shaft.
It was a perfectly natural worry.
For Anniel, she could understand both Star Creation and her own comrades stuck in Elysium.
It is a world where ordinary angels are naturally swept away by a single hand gesture.
She couldn’t criticize them saying their hearts were broken after feeling the overwhelming difference in power.
But what is an angel?
When Anniel opened her eyes again, a firm resolve dwelt in those pupils.
“If so, I will persuade them. I will awaken them to the duty bestowed upon them.”
[If it’s persuasion, I will step forward.]
Grind.
Veins popped out on the forehead of Anniel, who always maintained her calm.
Angels are souls reborn as the army of heaven.
For those created to assist the god to only step in the front lines after being encouraged by the god to work hard is putting the cart before the horse.
Anniel gripped her spear roughly and answered.
“No, it won’t be a persuasion done with words.”
They had played around long enough.
Anniel’s anger toward her comrades stuck in Elysium was sufficiently justified.