Chapter 18 Judgment and Sin (Part 1)
Prayers, holy bells ring, fervent and pure faith spreads to the horizon, the entire Arnor Colon sinks into an ocean of light.
However, amidst the dense golden brilliance, darkness erupts. The ominous greatsword, igniting the fire of sin, is drawn in an astonishing arc by the angel’s hand, shattering countless spaces in an instant. Even the purest light is instantly tainted and burned into foul, blazing flames!
The divine power of life flashes in the young girl’s hand, pure light overflowing, purifying the surrounding encroaching filth.
At the same time, brilliant and sacred life radiance condenses in Verafia’s hand. She slightly lifts her head, and before her gorgeous golden eyes, the fallen angel’s figure shatters space to appear. A crystal pure sword of life condenses, its edge flashing with life divine radiance.
The sacred radiance of life instantly extinguishes the fire of sin, and the translucent, slender longsword in the goddess’s hand lightly swipes through the vast scene, stabbing towards the fallen angel!
“Ching!”
A crisp sound, like the clinking of gold and jade, as the translucent, jade-like sword edge lightly touches the greatsword of sin parried by the fallen angel. The ominous, burning fire of sin still blazes, but it cannot taint that slender sword edge.
“This sword… Sariel, is this the Sword of Judgment from your former days when you served the God of Light?”
Verafia’s voice rings out. Where her gaze falls, the greatsword in the fallen angel’s hand is an extremely magnificent sword, as if forged from sacred gold, with faint traces of the光明圣纹 (Gwangmyeong Seongmun – Sacred Light Runes) once inscribed upon it.
At this moment, the former sacred sword is burned by the flames of sin, pitch black and tainted, exuding a heavy aura of sin.
A slight tremor blooms between the slender sword edge and the sword edge of sin, causing the touched laws to collapse, light to be extinguished, and the authority of life divine power to permeate the entire sky. However, Sariel’s wings suddenly vibrate, and the fire of sin suddenly blazes, blocking the attack of life!
Magnificent divine radiance pours from behind the fallen angel. His dark wings suddenly vibrate, revealing a handsome face, and he says, “As you say. Goddess of Life, in former days, my fall was precisely with such a fire of sin, burning the light that my Lord gave me birth to.”
Sariel’s words speak of his fall from light, but he shows no remorse or regret. His blindingly brilliant gold eyes, lingering in the darkness, stream with a calm and reminiscent hue.
This demeanor, instead, causes Verafia to frown, slightly puzzled.
She had thought this fallen holy angel, out of longing for the light, had ignited the faith of Arnor Colon, aspiring to return to his former state in memory…
Verafia pauses, seeing a wisp of pure light gradually condensing behind Sariel. She understands that this is what the holy angel, who once fell from the light, truly desires.
She cannot help but feel a trace of mockery, “But you still want to use their faith to reshape the fragments of light that Moon gave you. Even, you want to use this young lady as a part of Him?”
This fallen holy angel attacking her suddenly is precisely as he said, to have her, the Goddess of Life, integrated into the light.
Sariel was once the Angel of Judgment under the God of Light, possessing eight pairs of light wings. Just as Lichen and Lancaster were forged into a sacred spear, the divine spark of the eight-winged angel, in the ancient era of deities, Sariel was also a god of angels, a being with divine position.
Even after following the God King of Darkness to the Demon Realm, Sariel still held his divine position. Unlike Anrize and Medantzo, the Demon Monarch who now appears before Verafia is still an immortal, and in Verafia’s understanding, his power is even greater. Even she, in her current state, cannot suppress him.
“Noble Goddess of Life… His Majesty Siru, formerly was an existence comparable to light. However, you are not yet restored. Is it perhaps due to the damage from your battle with the Goddess of Moonlight?”
As the fallen angel speaks, the ignited fire of sin sweeps down, almost annihilating the lingering life divine radiance, and the ominous greatsword cleaves down towards Verafia.
As an immortal, Sariel also exists at the realm of deities. He can naturally see Verafia’s damage, which is why he dares to speak boldly and intends to defeat her!
The radiance of life surges again. Verafia, while blocking the pouring light with one hand, her slender hand draws a green sword mark that strikes the greatsword. She raises her face, “And! This light does not belong to you either! Sariel, what is Moon asking of you again?”
Sariel swings his sword down, the fire of sin blazing towards the divine maiden’s side, his dark wings swirling out of the light.
He lifts his face, seeing the hem of the maid’s dress behind the Goddess of Life stained with some light. Lori Anrilze, with her snow-blue long hair, her little face hesitant, her slender hand still clenching the pale blue scythe condensed from the divine spark of death. Her dress dances in the dimness, and a trace of icy coldness actually condenses within the laws of light.
“The Wings of Death are by your side. She should have informed you that in the Demon Realm, my title is ‘Despair’.”
The fallen angel laughs, waves his right hand, and traces of light, like a scroll of order, move in his hand, blocking Anrilze’s scythe of death. His face contorts as he looks at Verafia, who presses on with the sword of life:
“Hmph, that madman who yearns to touch the nobility of light… What he asks of me is even despair. As you guessed, I will sow plagues, and in addition to spreading the faith of light, even after taking them, comes despair when death arrives.”
Hearing his words, Verafia’s sword light falters in her hand, and her delicate eyebrows furrow.
Although she is now facing an immortal Demon Monarch, Verafia’s mind is still more concerned with Moon, the Pope of Light.
Earlier, while conversing with Anrilze, Verafia had vaguely thought of despair… but now, being told by the fallen angel, it makes her think even more.
“Moreover, Sariel said… he wants to touch the nobility of light. Does Moon want to usurp the Sacred Light with despair? Then, what he pursues is…”
As Verafia’s thoughts falter, the divine radiance of life surges around her.
Anrilze clutches the phantom scythe of death with her little hand. Wisps of blue hair touch her youthful snowy cheeks, her gaze fixed on the figure holding the dark greatsword in the blazing light. She eagerly raises her eyes:
“Sariel, tell An’an why you came here? And, An’an’s people…”
Sariel’s gaze falls on the girl, and then he sees Igert and the others who have arrived behind her: “The Demon Realm has indeed been destroyed. As for your people, perhaps they are being protected by that giant.”
As he finishes speaking, the sacred sword of sin ablaze swings, shattering the frost frozen by death, its magnificent power dyeing the entire sky into a fallen crimson!
“Wings of Death, since the Demon Realm is destroyed, my pact with darkness has ended. We are no longer colleagues. You follow the Goddess of Life, so there is no need to hold back!”
—
Suddenly there was a power outage due to heavy rain, so I wrote this in a bit of a hurry.
