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Somewhere in the Heavenly Realm.

Gabriel, one of the members of the Angel Guild, was kneeling with her eyes closed, waiting for someone by the lake.

Before long, a radiant light emanated from the water, and someone rose up.

A translucent figure of an angel.

Small creatures, including rabbits, scurried away, hiding behind Gabriel.

“Haelro.”

—The prospective angel Gabriel.

“Please speak.”

—All who went to the Demon Realm are dead. And ‘That Person’s’ blessing was bestowed upon the prospective angel Uriel.

“It seems you completed your mission well. That’s a relief. Now we can restore the balance of the world.”

—That’s not what I wanted to ask.

The administrator of the angels.

Haelro looked down sternly at Gabriel, positioned just below the God of Balance.

Even as a fragment, he was an existence that touched the uppermost edge.

Gabriel was not someone who could dare to take action against him.

—Why did you transfer ‘That Person’s’ blessing to Uriel?

“… I thought it might get complicated, so I figured it would be better to have an extra protective measure, wouldn’t it?”

—It’s a blessing bestowed upon you.

“It’s a blessing given to all of us.”

The power and authority of the highest angels is quite extraordinary, but it cannot be freely spread to anyone.

Ultimately, even the God of Balance operates under the influence of the ‘System.’

Unless special conditions, like continuous contracts and exchanges of power, akin to sacred protection, are met, one cannot ‘strongly ascend.’

Of course, once the deadline passes, everyone could be controlled regardless of conditions, but that time hadn’t come yet.

Gabriel slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Haelro’s fragment.

“‘That Person’ said to use this power for the safety and protection of the seven prospective angels, and for the glory of angels. I merely followed that directive.”

—The order got mixed up. The glory of angels comes before your safety.

“It was also an action for the glory of the angels.”

—What do you mean?

“Evil beings have all been eliminated, haven’t they?”

All four Lords of the Demon Realm are dead.

The lower-ranking demons were also all killed, and what remained were some lowly corpses and the God of the Dead.

In comparison, there were still quite a few living beings in the Heavenly Realm.

“The demons will all be dealt with by Black Lily. If this isn’t the glory of angels, then what is?”

—… The balance is tilting.

Haelro’s fragment blurred.

Whether it was because there would be no more to see or if he received a summon from someone, he gradually started to disappear.

He glared at Gabriel with a dissatisfied expression.

—The fall of the demons is to be expected, but such rapid changes are not good. If we’re not careful, ‘balance’ itself could collapse…

“I’ll do my best.”

—I will be watching you and the other six. Do not act recklessly…

Patarak…

The fragment vanished.

Left alone, Gabriel smiled at the rabbits gripping onto her clothes and then stood up.

Haelro would soon perish.

He was a loyal subordinate of the God of Balance and held powers close to his own, making him a crucial figure.

Nearly all the angels of the Heavenly Realm would move according to Haelro’s will.

Thus, his ‘weight’ was extremely heavy.

‘So much ‘darkness’ has been slain. The speed of slaughter by Lady Lily is much faster than that of Black Lily…’

At this rate, ‘balance’ will surely collapse.

The collapse of balance is akin to the collapse of the angels themselves.

The God of Balance was considering expelling members of the ‘light’ to adjust that weight.

It was an understanding one could grasp only by becoming ‘one’ with that existence.

Gabriel passed the bracelet that connected her to the God of Balance to Uriel to prevent the expulsion from heading towards the Angel Guild.

Its purpose was a bit unexpected, yet Uriel used it at an appropriate time…

“… Cruel indeed.”

Uriel, the ‘terminal’ of the God of Balance, and the remaining Angel Guild were now out of the target.

Though Uriel was dead, she hadn’t lost the powers and strength of angels.

It meant she was simply killed to claim ‘justification.’

Gabriel looked up at the sky with a grim expression.

The light of the blue sky was flickering, repeatedly disappearing and reappearing.

There were no sounds, no sights, yet it felt as though a colossal being was struggling and attempting to escape.

It was like a massive asteroid, but the opponent equated with the sun.

No matter how much it struggled, it was a futile frantic effort.

Once again, the light flickered, and eventually that colossal being was trapped and transformed into a mass of light.

The mass of light moved somewhere and got ripped apart among users associated with Lily or Evil, or perhaps scattered remnants of corpses.

Clatter!

The scales beyond dimensions tilted once more.

Still, the weight of light was greater, but it had achieved a certain degree of ‘horizontality.’

Gabriel clenched her fist while feeling unease.

It was true that Lily, who seemed to have lost her mind, was a threat to the world…

Yet…

‘Aren’t angels essentially the same?’

What exactly is the God of Balance’s true intention?

Is it a perfect balance of this world?

Or is it that the angels dominate the world?

‘If that’s not it…’

■

“Haah!”

“Focus! This is really the last time!”

In Lily’s dream.

Yena and Young Lily rushed towards ‘That Being’ with a dagger and spear respectively.

After a long training, this was it. The true finale!

The last training was about landing a hit on ‘That Being’ without using any techniques.

The figure made of light merely stood there holding the spear.

Thud!

“Keek?!”

But they couldn’t win.

Whenever they charged in to land an attack, the spear would come right in front to defend at some point.

Instead, it countered with even stronger force!

It was hard to understand how it devolved into merely ‘deflecting’ or ‘bouncing’ away.

Even in this last match, all seals on their strength were released.

Naturally, ‘parrying’ was also engaged.

“Seriously?! We’re not supposed to be using techniques, right?!”

“──────.”

“… That’s right. And the Master has most of her power sealed right now. If she uses her real strength, you’ll die.”

Young Lily said that while rolling around messily on the ground.

It perhaps didn’t look good for a child of roughly 10 to 12 years to be rolling like that, but considering she lived for much longer, no one could complain.

The youngest here was Yena after all.

Suddenly!

“Haah! I’m going all out!!”

She pushed her power to the limits.

The massive amount of strength and techniques, powers, races, equipment, weapons she had accumulated…

All of it coalesced as Yena soared.

All those training sessions were not illusions.

The amplification of her power was something ridiculous given her level.

‘At this level…!’

Strength comparable to an Intermediate-level demon race!

Not just in strength; she had grown significantly enough that, even when engaging in combat, it would be quite meaningful.

The dagger held by Yena emitted a pink aura of the Hermit and she tried to strike ‘That Being’…

“Gah!”

…but she couldn’t and was bounced away.

“Haah!!”

Another failure.

Yena stared at the crumpled green Hermit and turned away in disbelief.

“Hey?”

“Did you come too?”

Beside her was Young Lily, who also got repelled in the same manner.

Her spear was broken too.

The two exchanged a glance, feeling a sense of camaraderie, just lifting their heads slightly.

“─────.”

‘That Being’ stood still, still uttering incomprehensible sounds.

…Can we do it?

“… Is there a way?”

“There is, but….”

Young Lily stood up, despite her messed-up state from the spar.

In a training fight, she wouldn’t die, but still ended up in a disaster.

Young Lily infused something akin to a holy essence into her broken spear, and regained her original form.

“I originally intended to wait until things looked suspicious outside and then act, but… you might be able to do it.”

“Meow?”

“Now is that moment. Think of everything you’ve learned and attack!”

“… But I already put everything into my last attack.”

“I’m not just talking about amplifying your force.”

The ways to enhance strength and techniques, powers are tenfold everywhere.

People who can provide such a thing are scattered throughout the world, and Yena has endlessly encountered those things so far.

But this time was different somehow.

“You received the teachings of an existence that ascended to ‘above.’ That’s not an ordinary experience.”

“…?”

“Just so you know it’s the last time… I’ll show you. Watch closely.”

Young Lily got into position.

And then she moved.

“?!”

The space seemed to slice apart as she fell into an infinite void.

It felt as if the world’s rules were being tidied up by her.

Yena’s eyes bulged with blood as she saw the distant ‘mystery’ emerge.

She saw.

The sight of a light figure appearing to show damage on the palm of ‘That Being.’

“… W-What did you do?!”

What in the world just happened?

It wasn’t a fantastic power.

Barely a worthless attack equivalent to levels 80 to 90; merely a kind of ‘stab.’

Not a roar of a spear, not annihilation, just a pure thrust.

Yet its impact wasn’t limited to just a simple stab.

“Hey…?”

Nothing.

Turning her head, Yena could only see shards of light scattering away.

With a single attack, Young Lily’s physical form was completely obliterated.

Yena stared blankly at the vanishing Young Lily and turned away in disbelief.

“──.”

Still, incomprehensible sounds from ‘That Being.’

But for some reason, she felt she could understand.

‘Come.’

She got into position.

Setting aside the forces she’d gathered awkwardly, she concentrated all her nerves together.

An ordinary but infinitely refined thrust.

The fundamental technique that ‘That Being’ shunned, commanded, and commanded again struck out.

Although it was infinitely weak compared to what Young Lily showed, it was sure to ‘reach.’

Thud─!

‘Ah…’

Her physical form crumbled, and even a part of her soul burst out.

It was a disappointingly absurd outcome, but for a moment, she reached a higher level of existence.

She understood the reason Lily had lost her memory.

The reason why Lily had gone berserk upon seeing ‘That Being.’

‘… Contradiction.’

She loathed angels, but at the same time, she was a contradictory existence closely tied to angels.

That was Lily’s essence.

As long as ‘That Being’ exists, Lily’s contradiction does not end.

Thus, ‘That Being’ had to disappear from Lily’s dream.

‘……’

■

“… Did I reach ‘above’?”

In the place where Yena and Young Lily perished.

‘That Being’ nodded as he looked at the traces of Yena, who had realized the truth in her final moment.

Weak.

The mystery Yena unfolded was far messier compared to ‘That Being’, and infinitely more so than Young Lily.

Even that was a technique that would have been impossible without the power of the ‘Great One’ called the System.

Yet, ‘That Being’ faintly smiled.

“I’m somewhat dissatisfied, but… I must keep my promise.”

Even if it meant achieving it through death, and even if it is done by the hands of another.

‘As per Lily’s will.’

A promise made long ago with ‘Lily’ had become fulfilled through Yena.

As ‘That Being’s’ figure vanished, Lily’s dream began to collapse…

.

.

.

“… Ah.”

Lily opened her eyes.

 

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