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“I’ve decided.”

I steadied my heart.

There was still a lingering personal question, but I had come to understand the situation.

‘I have to stop Lady Lily.’

It’s too late to turn back now.

It may be regrettable for Lady Lily, but it’s better than everything falling apart.

Uriel returned to the Demon Realm to finish the command, having made that resolution.

If possible, I wanted to stop Lady Lily right away, but right now, she seemed to be wreaking havoc all over the Heavenly Realm.

It was impossible to pinpoint her location easily, and even if I did, capturing her would be infeasible.

Thus, most angels in the Heavenly Realm were clustered under the grace of upper angels.

‘First, let’s wrap up the order and then head back. We have things we can do as “Users” that angels can’t.’

If Gabriel’s sister was to be believed, there should be a way to stop even that Lily.

There would be some degree of sacrifice involved, but it would be better than everyone dying…

“…Huh?”

The Demon Realm.

A land filled with distorted abnormal creatures due to magic and magi.

Just standing still felt as though unpleasant magic was brushing against my body, and the boss-level demon here was quite a formidable being.

‘For a simple-minded one, it sure is strong.’

Even Uriel, who had become stronger after the contract with the angels, dared not confront the monster.

At that time, the goal was to quickly defeat the low-grade demons and meet Gabriel or Michael, as I had recognized the gap in power and retreated.

It would take at least three of the Seven Archangels to take it down.

Therefore, after returning to the Demon Realm, I intended to first look for Laguiel and Sandalphon, who had lost contact…

“……”

Creak… creak…

The crumbling mansion.

At the very top of that mansion hung a simple-minded demon, crying bloody tears.

Its face was twisted in agony, resembling that of an evil spirit.

There were quite a number of demons in the mansion, but all were dead; there was not a single hint of life except for one.

‘What the…’

Chills crept down my spine.

What in the world had happened in such a short time?

The boss-level demon was dead, so I had essentially achieved the command, but Uriel shuddered at the eerie sensation.

My instinct screamed at me to get away from the mansion immediately.

If I went any further, I would certainly die.

I needed to leave the mansion and escape the Demon Realm.

“…Even so.”

Thud.

I had to check!

No matter who was inside, I needed to get a grasp of the situation.

If I went back like this, I wouldn’t be able to act properly without a justification.

Uriel steadied herself and slowly moved forward.

Creak… creak…

The deeper I went inside, the denser the magic became.

Normally, I would feel pain from the unpleasant magic, but the magic now was different.

“……”

It felt as if the magic had been neatly ‘refined.’

It was puzzling how the magic, known for distorting and destroying targets, could be ‘clean,’ but that was the flow of magic prevailing right now.

Despite having different powers, an awe-inspiring feeling washed over me…

Crack!

“Ugh…”

My head started to feel fuzzy.

Uriel slapped her own cheek to clear her mind.

‘If I have such strong holy power…’

The others might well be out of their minds the moment they stepped into the mansion.

Instinctively, Uriel pulled out the Light Hammer.

As the holy power emanated from her, the magic that had been flowing quietly began to roar violently.

But it merely rampaged; it couldn’t do anything to Uriel herself.

“Phew… haah…”

I picked up the pace.

Everywhere I looked was full of signs of battle.

Streaks of dark red and purple blood splattered here and there, and though the corpses were absent, the ‘traces’ of them were all too apparent.

At a glance, it seemed like an intense battle had taken place, but in Uriel’s eyes, it was quite the opposite.

‘There was no resistance. This trace occurred after everything was mopped up.’

Someone had neutralized most powers, and then an urgent fight unfolded afterward.

The latter Uriel could handle, but the former was something she couldn’t even dream of opposing.

As she approached the ominous door with a clear goal in mind, a sinister sensation enveloped her body.

“…I should have just run.”

Why did I even bother to check…

But I couldn’t avoid it either.

Uriel threw herself towards the monster’s jaws and spotted someone beyond the door.

A familiar face with a mix of pink and purple…

“Master of the Magic Tower?”

“Uriel?”

“Why is the Master of the Magic Tower here?”

It was Neris.

She was perched at the end of a long table adorned with a feast, looking rather anxious.

Despite the considerable presence I had felt, it was just a User, Neris.

Furthermore, Neris couldn’t use her magic, functioning now like an ordinary person.

Uriel felt a sense of unease as she walked towards the table and soon discovered something suspicious.

‘…Is that magic?’

Magic could be felt coming from Neris.

It wasn’t in large quantities, but it surpassed that of many low-grade demons.

Frowning, Uriel sat opposite Neris.

She didn’t touch the food.

“Don’t tell me you’ve betrayed us?”

“…What are you talking about, showing up all of a sudden?”

“I asked if you betrayed us.”

“That’s ridiculous. Angel Guild Uriel, angels and demons are the same, you know? You’re the one who made a deal with me first.”

“Demons are crazy murderers. You think I’d make a deal with such beings?”

“What’s so wrong with that? I just gained power. And I don’t plan on siding with demons, unlike some people.”

“……”

Clang!

As Uriel lifted her hammer, Neris also ominously pulled out a glimmering staff.

In the midst of escalating tension, it was Uriel who lowered her weapon first.

“…Sigh. Fine. I’m not necessarily taking sides.”

“The Angel Guild appears that way.”

“…More importantly, where did the others go? I knew they came together as an alliance.”

Laguiel and Sandalphon had aided to some extent, but there was a high probability that issues occurred when crossing into the Demon Realm.

Most of the party members must have scattered here and there.

‘Even so, by now they should have gathered to some extent…’

Neris held her slightly trembling hands and shrugged.

“…Well, it is quite a perilous place.”

“What about the demons outside? It wouldn’t be you who killed them, right? Did the demon you made a contract with do it?”

“For now… yes.”

“What are you doing here? If you planned to use demons as you said, you should be out killing angels right now.”

Mages normally couldn’t confront demons.

Due to magical control, all spells and powers were blocked, and fighting demons without holy or magical attributes amounted to suicide.

Neris briefly lifted her head and then laughed hollowly while shaking it.

Seeing her smile, Uriel immediately stood up.

“If you’ve betrayed everyone, I’ll kill you right now. That way, the quest progress will significantly decrease, right?”

“Sorry, but this isn’t something I want to do. I originally wanted to go there directly, you know?”

“For you to say that now…”

“I tried to hide it, but… they already noticed everything. I really thought I would lose everything.”

“? What?”

“Anyway, take this. I think I’m starting to understand why you’ve been told to stay here.”

Woosh…!

The air parted.

As Neris’s staff unleashed a medium-low-grade demon-type ability, a space imbued with the night sky appeared.

Uriel’s eyes widened in shock, but those widened even more when she saw what fell from it.

Covered in blood…

“…And you say you didn’t betray us?”

“Calm down. I didn’t do it. Let me explain…”

“Don’t kid around!”

It was Laguiel and Sandalphon.

Though their lives were not in jeopardy, they lay unconscious on the ground.

Uriel imbued more holy power into her hammer and lunged at Neris.

“This betrayer…!”

“Stop! This could lead to a really big problem—”

“Shut up!”

Boom!!!

As Uriel’s hammer swung into Neris, a curtain of purple light unfolded around her.

The God of Balance was striving to purify the magic, but the barrier didn’t break; instead, it emanated an even stronger force.

Chiiik…

‘Could it be…’

Uriel bit down on her lips.

“…Don’t tell me? Please say it isn’t so.”

“…I don’t know anymore.”

I had suspected this, but I was trying hard to ignore it.

Unlike angels, demons sometimes turned against each other and kill each other.

I had certain expectations about one particular unique demon, but…

“Lady Lily is disoriented, and now another one…”

The Black Lily.

Unlike Lily, the Black Lily, who hated ‘demons,’ unleashed her magic on Neris.

Perhaps even more dangerous than Lily.

Uriel intended to gather up Laguiel and Sandalphon to leave at once, but it was already too late.

Cha-chak…!

The door slammed shut, and countless spells filled the mansion.

“Cough?!”

Soon, a torrent of magic began to press down on Uriel.

As if revealing the holy power here was itself blasphemy.

However, contrary to my expectations, I was able to withstand it for now.

‘If I can endure this much…?!’

Tidik.

The night sky opened.

Thousands, tens of thousands of spells merged into one, revealing a purple ‘eye’ through a rift in the dimension.

For an instant, it felt as though all elements constituting existence were collapsing downward.

Uriel, the mansion, and the demon dangling outside all fell, leaving only the anxious-faced Neris unscathed.

The Black Lily looked down from above.

“A guest has arrived again?”

 

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