This angel"s fiery wings were burning behind him. He held a giant two-handed sword that was similarly illuminated by holy flames. There was even a faint aura behind his back. Such an image made him seem like something out of a holy image.He was more than four meters tall, but he didn"t seem pudgy at all. His proportions were perfect. His gigantic body was covered in golden armor. His solemn expression was filled with seriousness and justice. Under his bushy eyebrows, his eyes burned with hatred for all things evil.
However, this angel was no ceremonial angel. His greatsword, the gigantic bow on his back, and his tower s.h.i.+eld were no decorations at all. He was a rare angel species that was at the top of the food chain for both melee and ranged combat. He was a six-winged warrior angel, a veritable flying fortress.
He was a Level 2 Skyfire Angel, who had the powers of judgement and sanction. According to my knowledge, there were less than 100 of his kind in the world. Various veteran G.o.ds would keep them around as honor guards. It was rare for them to be sent out.
Did his image seem rather familiar? Perhaps I should use a more common description. He was known as one of the strongest beings that wasn"t a G.o.d—a Seraphim.
"Your Highness Roland, Pope Caloma wishes to meet with you. Please come with me."
It was the Holy Church"s angel squadron that had come for me rather than any demons trying to hunt me down.
The angel"s low and heavy voice produced a resonance which was a holy voice that all high-level angels would naturally possess. Those who didn"t have strong enough willpower would be completely unable to resist his natural charm.
Of course, the Seraphim had no expectation that I would be convinced by his words.
Although he was nominally inviting me, his tone sounded rather doubting as well as respectful of me. It was apparent that he was used to it being only natural that others would obey him.
"So this is how you"re inviting me?"
The Seraphim hadn"t come by himself. There were 11 mid-level four-winged angels floating in the sky together with him. Some of the angels wielded bow and arrow, while other angels wielded staves. They were faintly surrounding me in a battle formation.
Dragons would display their might through size. The larger the dragon, the more powerful they would be. Meanwhile, an angel"s level would be displayed through the number of wings. Low-level angels would have only two wings. Mid-level angels would have four wings. High-level angels would have even more wings than that.
Previously, only the lowest-level angels had entered the mortal plane before. But even so, the low-level angels would still have individual strength that was at Gold rank or above.
Meanwhile, four-winged mid-level angels would have at least Saint-ranked strength or higher. It was also possible for them to even have Level 4 strength.
As for the high-level angels? They would be born with Level 4 strength right from the start. The strongest among them would be strong enough to even directly fight against the G.o.ds. These high-level angels were truly a species strong enough to influence a war between G.o.ds.
Seraphims were famous even among the high-level angels for being highly capable fighters. These Skyfire Angels were incredibly rare, and would all have their own names.
"Are you Sinot? Or maybe Winton?"
"My name is Winton. I am the right hand of my master, and act as his hammer."
Winton"s tone sounded just like a devout prayer. His voice naturally contained holy sound. Yet, I was unable to hear any traces of emotion in his voice.
Winton Angla, the Glorious Hammer. He was a G.o.d Envoy who worked directly under the G.o.d of Holy Light.
Evidently, he wasn"t here to give me any sort of friendly invitation. Could it be that Prince Winston and Pope Caloma believed that they would be able to end San Antonio"s civil war by killing off the "culprit" behind Maria"s a.s.sa.s.sination?
No, Winton was actually ranking higher than Pope Caloma in the G.o.d of Holy Light"s faction. Was this a sign that the G.o.d of Holy Light had finally lost his patience? Maybe he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to finally get rid of me.
The angels tightened their formation around me ever so slightly. Although a few steps of distance was meaningless for us, they were using their movements to emphasize their existence. If I showed any signs of trying to escape, they would immediately attack.
"…Uh-oh, I just happen to have urgent business right now, so maybe next time—"
I was interrupted midway by a spear of Holy Light that materialized right in front of me, which was the best evidence of the angels" att.i.tude.
It would seem that this wouldn"t end peacefully. However, I actually laughed in delight.
This was no forced laughter or attempt at a scam. I was delighted from the bottom of my heart. I finally, finally had this chance now.
"Do you know what I hate most in this world?" I asked Winton.
"A negative emotion like hate is bad for you. As you are a user of Holy Light, you should learn how to control your own emotions."
Winton"s voice was calm as always. He sounded like a teacher who was trying to teach me a maxim. This was an emotionless angel"s way of looking down on humans. In the angels" culture, emotions were considered completely unnecessary.
"…As for me, firstly, I hate idiots who think that they"re better than others. I love more than anything to break their haughty noses. Secondly, I hate morons who have no will of their own and know only blind obedience. Scamming and toying with them will truly makes me delighted from the bottom of my heart. Thirdly, I hate all sorts of birdmen. Seeing them makes me feel itchy all over. You guys are all three simultaneously, which is quite rare…"
My words didn"t contain much emotion, either. The hate deep within me didn"t need to be shouted out loud. I would simply remember, find a chance, and then kill my most hated enemies.
Back in Bardi"s plains, the angels had slaughtered devout believers of the pure Holy Light, which was what Holy Light really was. Estrada and his followers had all died to the overwhelmingly more powerful angels.
Holy Knights and priests of Holy Light, who all wors.h.i.+pped the Holy Light, had actually died to the hands of angels sent out by the G.o.d of Holy Light. Just how ridiculous and pitiful was this?
Yes, I knew that the angels were only the G.o.d of Holy Light"s puppets. The angels were nothing more than war machines that had no sense of self. Even so, I might as well reclaim some interest owed to me by these puppet war machines.
Since the angels were just like swords with their own souls that were being controlled by their master to kill others, then it would be quite fun to shatter the G.o.d of Holy Light"s sword here.
As I expanded my personal domain of death magic, dark magic power spread all around me. I transformed into my Original Sin Demon form that I hadn"t used for a long time by now.
The power of Holy Light would only buff angels. My half-baked ice magic power would be limited in attack power against them. The power of Law would basically be powerless against anyone who hadn"t committed a crime.
My skin started distorting as scales and demon wings appeared on my body as signs of demonization. The next instant, the angel squadron unhesitatingly attacked me. Their original orders had been to "kill Roland if he resists capture" to begin with.
I laughed. The shadow of death now belonged to my personal dance.
"…Despair! Seven Sins of Creation Sword!"
Countless howling dark shadows gradually appeared in my own shadow. These were despairing souls that I had gathered during the demon wave"s first attack.
These shadows transformed into humanoid figures. A tear appeared in the world from which black mud-like humanoid figures poured through.
Even though my death magic sword was the farthest of my four magic swords from being completed, it definitely had the greatest attack power, especially against all sorts of G.o.ds and heavenly creatures.
My Holy Light sword, Dawn, was created to counter all demons and undead. Meanwhile, my death magic sword, Seven Sins of Creation Sword, was designed to especially counter all Order G.o.ds and the angels.
The soul had always been my main topic of research for death magic. Moreover, emotions were the key to opening up the secrets of the soul.
The entire sky was polluted as white clouds darkened, the wind began to smell tainted, and the fertile soil was instantly corrupted black. This ordinary land suddenly transformed into a plane of death.
Yet, this was only a side effect from my death magic sword"s Concept.