Chapter 538: One-winged Angel
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was a rather strange sight to behold. The angel had spread open her only wing, ready to fly away when she stopped to pat her waist clumsily. The youths watched the agitated angel with expressions of discomfort, but none of them dared to get up.
The Pope, Chief Judge, and High Priest, whose tears of joy had dried up, stared at the angel in confusion. For some time, no one said anything.
The awkward silence persisted as the angel clumsily rummaged around her waist, and eventually, a brave youth decided to speak up. “Um… Your Grace, are you… looking for something?”
With a bizarrely calm voice, the angel replied, “Kitty. Kitty is gone.”
Everyone in the hall was confused. Another youth elbowed the youth that had just spoken. “Can you, um, repeat what you just said, Your Grace?” The brave youth stuttered in fear.
The angel’s expression of indifference changed, and she suddenly looked very lonely. “My kitty plush toy is gone.”
At that moment, the angel did not seem high and mighty; she was no different from a blindfolded girl that had just lost her toy and was very upset about it. Everyone in the hall could not help thinking, ‘What in tarnation?!’
After many months of prayers, during which time they used up all their manpower, money, resources, and other valuables for the summoning ritual, this angel is what they get? They could forgo the fact that the angel had only one wing and wore a collar — like someone engaged in BDSM — but how could they ignore the fact that she was a little crazy, as well?
How could an angel — beings who are supposed to look down on humans — wear such a human-like expression? The longer everyone in the hall looked at the angel, the more they thought the angel resembled a little girl; this was the reason for their concern. How would a little girl defeat that devil? How did an angelic being, who was supposed to look over mortals with indifference and detachment, bore such a human expression? At this point in time, everyone and their mothers knew that charming little girls into his harem was that devil’s specialty!
The Pope’s face twitched. The urge to choke the High Priest nearly overwhelmed him. The ritual’s failure made the Pope wish to scream at the High Priest, but he was able to calm himself. Two youths helped him get back on his feet.
The High Priest was not sure what to make of this strange angel. As High Priest, he had just one role: to receive divine beings on their arrival — a ceremonial role. High priests were chosen through nepotism. If the role had been instrumental to the angel-summoning ritual, it would have retired into Church history a long, long time ago.
No angel had visited Isythre in the last millennia, and so many generations of High Priests, including the current one, had never interacted with an angel. This was the reason why many rites and elements of the present ritual were incomplete, so the Church had ended summoning a crazy angel.
When the High Priest sensed the intense killing intent emanating from the Pope, he hurried to begin damage control. “Your Grace, is there anything we can help you with?”
“Find my kitty plush toy.” Noirciel’s ordered and raised her index finger. “It’s about this size.”
With that, she dismissed everyone in the hall and looked out a window.
“Listen up, all of you! You are to find a, uh, kitty plush toy — about this size — for Lady Noirciel!” The High Priest announced. “Everyone is to help with this momentous task!”
“Even the choir boys?” Someone asked.
The High Priest shot a glance at the crazy angel and hesitantly replied, “Yes. Now, everyone, go!”
Normally, whenever an angel descended to the realm, it is accompanied by a grand procession. A large choir would sing various hymns, and a sea of followers, led by priests and bishops, would gather around the angel to pray. Many crusaders would be stationed on the streets to maintain order, as such events were very rare and considered unfathomably holy.
The High Priest had prepared for everything, except for the arrival of a mentally unstable angel. Now, his plans had to take a backseat to a useless errand.
Screams soon began to ring out all across Canningham, as little girls were forced to part with something precious to them. “Nooo! Gimme back my Kitty! That’s my plus.h.i.+e!” The High Priest watched the chaos unfold with an indifferent expression. His attention was on the angel, whose reaction he was trying to gauge.
She was oblivious to the chaos she had started.
The High Priest snuck back to the small chamber and was instantly grabbed by the throat. The fuming Pope in front of him bellowed, “What the h.e.l.l is going on?! Explain now, or so help me G.o.d…”
“I-I don’t know!” The High Priest groaned. “I swear to you; I followed the procedures written in the scriptures, down to the letter! B-but, we haven’t performed this ritual in such a long time; who could have predicted this?”
The anxious Pope loosened his grip on the High Priest’s throat. That angel’s first request was for a child’s toy. What next would she ask for? A cup of black tea strong enough to knock her out? Paintings of the Pope’s facial expressions for her entertainment?
“Is she really an angel?” The Chief Judge, the only person that had kept his cool so far, asked. “She can fight, can’t she?”
“No question about that. Although she has only one wing and that kinky choker — I mean, the mark of punishment, the great amount of Divine Energy pulsating within her is clear to see. She is, without a doubt, the strongest being I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The Pope and Chief Judge glanced at each other. Although they were far away from the angel, they could feel the unnatural energy surging out from her. There was no doubt that the angel was filled with power, but was power enough to defeat that devil? Noirciel was much stronger than a DemiG.o.d-level fighter at full power. As Divine Energy was superior to mortal energy like combat chi and mana, the angel had to be stronger than any human, living or dead.
But, was this enough to subdue that devil with?
According to some intel that the Church possessed, ten years ago, the devil defeated a monster the size of a mountain by himself on Mars. The monster prevailed against an enemy the size of a mountain, solo. That monstrosity — which G.o.dsfall cultists called the ‘Law Marionette’ — was the G.o.dsfall cult’s doomsday weapon, which had a far greater amount of Divine Energy than this angel had.
“There’s still no reason to be so pessimistic. An angel’s battle prowess is not limited to raw power, after all! They are personally blessed by G.o.ds, and these blessings are more potent than Divine Energy alone,” the High Priest quickly said. This was what he had seen in the Scripture.
The Pope glared daggers at him, after which he turned his attention to Noirciel’s metal collar. Although he said nothing about it, he could not help but think, ‘Are you telling me the G.o.ds would bless someone they look down on?!’
“Be that as it may, she is currently the most powerful a.s.set at our disposal. Unfortunately, she is also r.e.t.a.r.ded, so I can’t tell if she will lend her strength to our cause,” said the Chief Judge.
“Look, she can only stay here for three days. All I want is for that angel not to get killed by the devil while no one’s looking, okay? In the meantime, we will try to summon another angel — this time, a normal one.” The Pope sighed helplessly.
The thought of how much resources had gone down the drain to summon this wacky angel made the Pope look much older. Although the Church was wealthy, this failure still stung.
Although Noirciel fell short of the Church’s expectations, it still had to observe the customs created for the welcoming of angels. After leaving the secret chamber, the Pope and Chief Judge had their personal attendants dress as guards of honor. The guards of honor doubled around the chapel and re-entered through the main entrance, pretending that they had just received word of the angel’s arrival.
The Pope knelt before the angel and began to recite litanies, but Noirciel ignored him. It was as though she could tell that his reverence was feigned. Noirciel continued to stare out the window closest to her.
It took the Pope all he had to avoid flying into a rage. Fortunately, the youths soon returned from their plus.h.i.+e hunt.
Their arms were filled with different cat plush toys. Some of the youths had even arrived with real cats, which were hissing and scratching furiously.
“There are more people on the way here, and others are still searching. We thought it best that some of us come back here first,” explained a boy.
As the capital city of Isythre’s largest religion, Canningham was an expansive metropolis inhabited by three million people. A significant number of these residents were not religious, so there was an abundant number of cat plus.h.i.+es around.
The angel was jolted out of her reverie by the arrival of the toys. She quickly descended, stopping a few inches away from the ground and looked at the crowd. She floated towards the plus.h.i.+es and began to scan them.
After some time, a look of disappointment crossed her face.
The Pope eyed the toys with disdain. The youths had said that these toys were only the first batch, and every single toy in this batch was pretty well made. Most even resembled real cats[1]. These toys were made by master toymakers, but the angel was not interested in any of them.
The angel floated towards the last boy in the group and began to scan the toys he brought. A few moments later, Noirciel’s eyes lit up, and she s.n.a.t.c.hed a plush toy from the pile and rubbed her cheeks against it. When she was satisfied, she hung the toy at her waist.
The attention of the crowd was directed to that toy, and everyone was shocked at the toy’s hideousness. It was as though it had been made by someone that could not even stick a thread through the eye of a needle. It would not surprise anyone if a little girl had made that plush toy.
Nevertheless, Noirciel was delighted with it. She nodded in grat.i.tude at the boy that brought the toy.
Without paying any mind to the others, Noirciel spread her wing and flew out the window and soared into the brilliant blue sky. She was an eagle ascending rapidly, free and liberated!
The free-flight did not last long, though. A soft cry permeated the air, and the angel fell like a pigeon that had been struck by something fired from a slingshot. Within moments, she crashed into the ground with a loud bang, creating a human-shaped crater in the ground.
“Ow! That really hurt.” The one-winged angel slowly climbed out of the hole her fall had created. By some miracle, there was no scratch on her; even her clothes remained spotless.
However, the confidence the onlookers had in her was damaged. Many people were stupefied by what they had just witnessed. The expressions on the faces of the Chief Judge and Pope were so unsightly, those close to them thought they could hear the rumbling of thunder from somewhere.
The Pope and Chief Judge could not help but scream in their minds. ‘Did this chick answer our call just to show off how clumsy she is?’