Chapter 353: 353

EPISODE 353 – THOSE WHO CONTINUE THE TRAIL (1)

“Till doomsday.”

***

The sky was split.

The pillar of red light shattered into pieces, and its fragments covered the sky.

The blue sky turned red.

The forced twilight enveloped the place.

Night was coming.

The sunset was spreading.

The purple light rising from the end of the twilight diffused and muddied the skies, weighing down the world.

Those who had eyes had no choice but to see.

Those who had ears had no choice but to listen.

Wings covered the sky.

An absolute command was heard.

It was not just Lucas, Velkian, and Fran.

The demons also saw the sky.

So did the monsters and demon followers.

Those detained in the imperial capital to be sacrificed also blankly stared at the sky.

Beneath the bloodstained sky was a divine beauty.

She had a triangular helmet engraved with a red inverted cross, long pauldrons that covered her shoulders, and protective armor in the shape of golden wings wrapping around her waist and back.

Her twelve wings turned into light.

Each wing gave off a different color of light that blinded the viewer’s eyes in the end.

Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment.

Many people could not help but admire her majestic and beautiful figure that would only appear in holy paintings.

Eventually, a person knelt down and prayed, thinking that it was the hand of salvation that came down from heaven.

There were also people who cried and thanked her.

Save me.

Please help me.

The thousands of people detained in the capital wept and prayed.

And their prayers were delivered without fail to the archangel who appeared above the imperial capital.

Their begging, pleading, and crying.

Auriel laughed. She laughed because she found it ridiculous.

“You haven’t changed a little.”

You all are always the same.

You don’t even think about standing up on your own. You just always beg for help.

Leeches who continue their lives by sucking the blood of those who sympathize with you.

Trash that should not exist.

Auriel held her Judgment Sword.

At that moment, Velkian shouted.

Scarlet hurriedly turned to the ground. She looked at those who were detained in the imperial capital.

“No way.”

At that time when she spoke without realizing it, Auriel swung the Judgment Sword.

Lucas knew at that point.

What Auriel was trying to attack was not just part of the imperial capital.

“Get down!”

Fran quickly shouted. Velkian moved his hand, causing the undead to jump into the sky.

He did not do it to attack. It was to block her attack, though his method was poor.

“It’s coming.”

At the time Kajsa spoke.

Light rained down from the sky.

The blood-red sky twinkled, and hundreds to thousands – no, tens of thousands of light blades began to fall down like torrential rain towards the ground.

Babababababababang-!

It suppressed all sounds.

It swallowed up all sounds.

The screams of the people could not be heard amidst the forced silence.

Their cries were only crushed by the heavy silence.

The whole place seemed to be stained with blood.

The crimson blades struck and pierced through everything that lied in the ground.

“Aaa… Aaa…”

Even the usually bright and cheerful Adelaide could not help but collapse in fear.

She wept under her veil.

Tears endlessly flowed down her white cheeks.

People were dying.

The monsters were dying.

Before the fair and cruel judgment of light, everyone in the capital was swept away.

The demons were no different.

Those who roamed around the capital could not even dare to stop the judgment swords that the archangel had summoned.

The situation was that the archangel and the overlord would cooperate until the Great Summons happened.

Neither Auriel nor Asmodeus cared about the survival of lesser beings.

“Calm down!”

Kajsa loudly shouted and pulled Adelaide by the collar.

Velkian made a shield with the undead. To put it more simply, it was a meat shield, but it was hardly enough to block the judgment swords.

The swords of judgment rained down on the undead barriers, so this place was not safe for them.

“Come at me!”

Lucas’ desperate cry was heard amidst the noise.

He drew the long white sword of Claíomh Solais as he urgently blocked the judgment swords raining from above.

Bababababababang-!

The heavy rain could not be easily stopped.

Therefore, it was impossible to completely block it.

“NOOO!”

A judgment sword stabbed the shoulder of Sun Song.

A judgment sword exploded on the back of Kajsa who had ran to protect Scarlet, and the right arm of the Sword God disappeared when he protected his unconscious disciple.

Lucas also did not come out unscathed.

His body was covered in blood from the fragments of the broken judgment swords.

Fran could no longer maintain his Orion-like form. He returned to his human form while Velkian lost almost all the undead he had summoned.

And at some point.

The rain eventually stopped.

Velkian tried to move the undead that only had their outer appearance left, revealing the sky.

But the undead could no longer maintain their bodies as it had almost been destroyed.

Everyone caught sight of the imperial capital.

The nauseous Adelaide lifted her veil and vomited.

It was not a lie that she was the most beautiful in Pleiades, but even her dazzling appearance did not catch anyone’s attention.

No way.

She could not even speak those short words out of her mouth.

In just a few dozen seconds, the appearance of the imperial capital completely changed.

Tens of thousands of monsters died and became corpses, and the more than 100,000 people detained in the imperial capital were also massacred.

Buildings collapsed and crumbled, failing to maintain their proper shape.

One could only see now the building foundations of the largest city on the continent.

Kajsa let out a breathless sound.

It was not just because of the pain.

There was fear.

Terror.

Fran was the same.

He heavily breathed and remembered the Demon Prince who drove the Paragon Kingdom to destruction.

Velkian recalled Malekith, the Ancient Black Dragon that covered the southern skies.

Both were powerful beings.

After all, they were strong existences who were described as god-like.

But the two could not reach her.

These two beings could not even dare compare themselves to that being firmly flying in the sky on a high place.

Scarlet looked up the sky.

With Claíomh Solais pointed down, Lucas also saw Auriel looking down at the ground.

They instinctively realized.

She, Auriel, was the judge of Heaven.

She was not god-like.

She was a true god.

***

Sarah and Leon, who had been fiercely fighting, unconsciously raised their heads and looked in the direction of the imperial capital.

The red pillar of light disappeared.

But they did not think that Jude and Cordelia had succeeded.

No one could think of that given the blood-red sky.

The two looked at each other.

They sensed that something had gone wrong.

***

Having encouraged the Jackdaws, Count Hræsvelgr realized that something had changed.

It was only a small change, but the power of the monsters had grown stronger.

And even at this moment, the monsters were getting stronger.

The change was still insignificant.

But it was clear that if the monsters’ current growth continued, they would be unable to do anything in the future.

‘Why?’

Count Hræsvelgr reflexively turned to view the imperial capital. He understood and realized it.

The blood-colored sky of the imperial capital.

There was a reason why the sky was like that.

***

“It’s swaying.”

The witch of the west forest knew.

She understood what was happening now.

The moment the archangel Auriel forcibly descended on Pleiades, the scales began to sway.

Asmodeus took advantage of the ripple caused by the descent of the great being called the archangel.

Beyond the blood-red sky, a Hell Gate was opening.

The huge gate earlier could not even compare to it.

The larger the wounds the archangel inflicted on the world, the bigger the ripples it caused. And the power of those ripples would be the driving force that would make the Hell Gate open wider.

The changes that would result from that.

Their armies would become more powerful.

As Hell drew closer, the powers of the monsters would increase, and the demons could unleash their original powers.

Naturally, the calamities that came from Hell would also grow stronger.

They had to stop Auriel.

Their situation could only be resolved by stopping her, clearing the blood-red sky, and closing the Hell Gate.

Otherwise, an irreversible situation would occur just by the passage of time.

All armies would be annihilated.

The monsters and demons would spread throughout Pleiades, committing horrific massacres.

And what would follow was the Great Tribulation.

What awaited at the end was the Great Summons that would bring about the destruction of Pleiades.

The witch of the west forest clasped her hands together.

She looked at the imperial capital and just prayed.

***

Auriel swung her sword with an indifferent face.

She widely spread her twelve wings, and the colorful feathers at the tips scattered in the air.

It was a beautiful sight.

Light scattered under the blood-red sky.

The angel’s feathers fluttered in the wind.

But everyone who managed to survive knew it.

That this majestic and beautiful sight was another precursor to despair.

Light rose from the hundreds of feathers that were dancing and falling from the sky.

Each one took the form of an angel.

Pure white angels with a beautiful woman’s face, a pair of wings, and a sword in their hands.

They looked down the ground.

They brightly smiled and raised their swords.

They looked into the eyes of the survivors who were fascinated by their beauty and still begging for salvation, and they happily swung their swords.

They were low-ranking angels.

But they were beings that ordinary humans could not withstand.

Up to a thousand angels flew around the imperial capital, eradicating the survivors.

The appearance of angels brightly smiling and continuing the massacre, regardless of age or gender, was horror in itself.

“Stop, stop… please.”

Fran could barely speak.

Velkian was the same.

But it was difficult to even deal with the angels flying towards them now.

Velkian’s undead legion was wiped out. Although the already dead undead could be raised, it would only increase their numbers but not their power.

Fran was also exhausted. The land of the imperial capital lost its power in the series of disasters that happened.

He could no longer summon the spirits.

“AAAAAAAAAH!”

Scarlet screamed and swung her whip sword.

She created a space by cutting down the rushing angels.

Scarlet’s gaze was on her front, but she could not erase from her mind Kajsa who was lying on the ground, groaning and suffering as a result of being directly hit by the judgment sword instead of Scarlet herself.

Red Wind became one with the Phoenix and flew.

She set fire to the angels with spear flames, and crazily flew around, but gradually lost her power.

Lucas swung his sword.

And he saw.

The archangel was descending.

Looking down at the ground with a cold face, she began to land down and stared at them with a look as though she was observing ants.

Auriel’s feet touched the ground.

At that moment, there was a ripple.

Golden ripples with a beautiful melody that sounded like songs then spread in succession.

They could endure the first one.

But it was difficult to even stand after the second, third, and fourth ripples.

Scarlet collapsed and coughed blood, while Fran fell down and clutched his chest. Velkian could no longer stand.

Red Wind fell.

Kajsa’s face turned pale, and her wounds that had barely recovered were ripped open again.

Lucas did not fall.

With a steel mind and indomitable will, he lifted Claíomh Solais.

He raised the light of the Holy King once again.

Auriel saw him.

She glanced at the human being who pierced through the angels and was rushing towards her.

And she expressed her displeasure.

“You disgrace Solari.”

How dare you defile that child’s sword.

She sent her will.

And that was enough.

Claíomh Solais that was in Lucas’ hand shook and freed itself from Lucas as it flew away.

It naturally returned to Auriel in an instant.

“Get down and die.”

Auriel’s words became a command.

A mighty force crushed Lucas who had lost his sword. He fell after being forced to kneel.

“Cough!”

Lucas threw up blood. The continuous pressure made him unable to move anymore.

“Luca-!”

Scarlet’s cry was unfinished.

The swords of the angels stabbed her body.

With four swords stabbing her back, chest, thigh, and waist, she fell and bled from every wound.

Angels trampled on Fran. They thrust a sword on Velkian’s chest and cut off his arm.

Auriel took a step amidst the ruthless violence.

She looked at her agent that the fallen Sword God covered in blood had tried to protect until the end.

“Maximilian.”

Auriel hated everything that existed in Pleiades.

But if there was one thing she had an attachment to, it would be the agent in front of her.

“Sun Song!”

The angel’s sword pierced Sun Song’s chest.

The angels trampled on the back of the screaming Red Wind. As if she was an insect in a collection, she was immobilized by a sword stabbing her stomach.

Die.

Everyone would die.

The beatings of their hearts would gradually lessen and eventually stop.

“AU-RIEL!”

At that very instant, an angry voice broke through the ground and soared.

The divinity of the sun dazzlingly shined and brightened the sky.

Cordelia Chase.

Solari’s successor.

An immense amount of light was radiated from her wings and halo.

Auriel looked at her with an astonished face, and Landius dug into that gap created by her surprise