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The North of the Continent.

Uriel and Sandalphon, who arrived at the Eden Alliance, the stronghold of the Angel Guild, directly sought out Raphael and soon discovered her.

“There she is.”

“…This is unsettling.”

On top of an abandoned castle.

Due to a recent attack by the dead, the corresponding city fell, and all the residents of the castle evacuated, leaving behind one desolate fortress.

Raphael was hanging at the highest spire of that castle.

‘With an intense aura of evil magic, no less.’

Uriel felt a chill run down her spine and took out her hammer.

“What on earth were you acting all high and mighty for if you get caught like this?”

“…The demons might have been that strong as well.”

“Strong, huh? I’ve been wondering if that was part of the plan.”

No matter how strong the demons were, Raphael was a user.

With her status as a user and the abilities granted by the system, she could definitely escape.

However, it had been over ten days since Raphael went missing after that day, and she was discovered by angels.

“Are you plotting something again without me knowing?”

“I’ll go first. There’s a lot of magic in the area, so we need to clear it out first—”

“Hold on, stop.”

Woosh—!

Uriel’s hammer blocked Sandalphon.

Sandalphon stopped the holy light pouring from his hand and looked at Uriel.

“You need to explain yourself too.”

“…What about?”

“It’s strange no matter how you look at it. Isn’t your goal to gain the favor of users and align with angels? So why are we suddenly tasked with rescuing Raphael?”

“I don’t know…?”

“Right this moment, the Empire and the users are in crisis, and the alliance has already collapsed. This would be the perfect time for an angel to appear as a hero to gain favor.”

“How would I know?”

“Besides, there are no top-level dead or a massive army of the dead here. One or the other would have been enough, so why send both?”

“I wouldn’t know…”

“You and Lady Lily just did the quest together until the end. After which, Lady Lily changed.”

“She just fainted. I seriously don’t know anything.”

Uriel shot a glare at Sandalphon, who had joined late, but Sandalphon really knew nothing.

All he did was fall into a deep sleep after clearing the quest and had only just awoken to carry out the angels’ mission.

With a dissatisfied expression, Uriel lowered her hammer.

“So what do you think the situation is?”

“…No clue.”

“Don’t be stupid, just say something—”

“Isn’t it enough to just rescue Raphael? She knows almost everything, right?”

Sandalphon pointed toward Raphael.

Raphael, who was still out of it.

“……”

It was clear that Raphael was aware of the plan that neither Uriel nor Sandalphon nor Laguiel knew of.

Laguiel seemed to have taken on some of Raphael’s role, but…

‘Laguiel doesn’t know everything either.’

Laguiel said he was just following orders.

For proper information, they would have to ask Raphael directly.

“If we rescue her, we’ll find out. What’s talking gonna change?”

“…Fine, let’s rescue her then.”

Uriel raised her hammer once more.

It felt like they were playing on a vast chessboard they couldn’t comprehend, but all they could do was move forward.

“Let’s begin.”

“Okay.”

As Sandalphon scattered the holy clouds and approached, the dead in the abandoned castle reacted immediately.

Thanks to the significantly increased level of the dead, they didn’t fall that easily, but they were no match for Sandalphon.

Before long, the bodies of the dead naturally turned to pureness and fell.

Kraaahhhh!!

Kooorrr…

All that was left was to tidy up the high-ranking dead guarding the interior of the spire.

Sandalphon waved his hand.

“Cleared below.”

“Going in.”

Uriel spread her wings and soared high.

The power of the God of Balance enveloped Uriel’s hammer as she struck the spire hard.

Kwaaaang—!!!

The massive spire crumbled down.

The high-ranking dead within couldn’t even put up a proper resistance and were buried, while Uriel swung her hammer down again toward the remains.

Kraaahhhh…

Along with the debris of the spire, all the high-ranking dead perished.

No more undead remained nearby.

“It’s over.”

Raphael, at the top of the spire, had already been snatched up by Sandalphon’s clouds.

“I got her. Ugh, what a pain.”

“Too easy. Why did you call us?”

“Well, you can ask me that now, can’t you? Hey, hey. Wake up.”

Tap, tap.

Sandalphon lightly tapped Raphael’s cheek.

Since the Angel Guild was like a family from the very beginning, this kind of touching was quite natural.

Before long, Raphael opened her eyes and looked at the two of them staring down at her, dazed.

“Woke up. You’re awake.”

“Uriel… Sandalphon?”

“Phew. I thought I’d have to follow the forest princess trope and kiss her awake.”

“Hey, you okay?”

“Ah, Uriel…”

“What the heck happened? Why were you captured?”

Asking for details from someone who had just been rescued felt a bit excessive, but Uriel was pressed for time.

Now that they had saved Raphael, they had to quickly head to the Empire or the Alliance to provide support.

Uriel blinked her eyes, and as if something clicked, her expression turned pale.

“Ah, no!”

“Raphael?”

“Because of that demon, everything happened faster than planned. I absolutely must not wake up now…”

“What are you talking about?”

“We have to leave here immediately! Right now!”

“? We’re leaving anyway. Before that, can you tell me why you were captured…?”

“WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!!”

Raphael shouted, causing Uriel and Sandalphon to look quite taken aback.

Raphael had never been one to show much emotional change compared to other guild members.

Moreover, since contracting with angels, her emotional fluctuations had decreased even more. So why now…?

“!”

Rumble…!!

Something was rising from behind them.

From the rubble of the spire, filled with signs of battle, a white light was emanating from a cylindrical something that rose up.

It was roughly 30m long, a thing they had never seen before, but everyone instinctively knew what it was.

No, it would be more accurate to say that divine power had forcibly injected information into them.

“The Scales of Balance…?”

The Scales of Balance.

An instrument that adjusts the great balance of the world and a device that tunes to allow the ‘God of Balance’ to descend upon this land.

There were four Scales of Balance, which were planted across the continent when the gate to the Heavenly Realm opened, and they wouldn’t reveal themselves until perfect balance was achieved.

And now, one of those scales had achieved perfect balance.

The attainment of balance meant that the intervention of the Heavenly Realm would deepen.

Before long, countless spatial rifts opened in the sky, and angels began to pour out.

Although there were no top-level beings, each was close to or equivalent to an intermediate level.

They began to exert their strength to retrieve the scales, while a high-ranking angel that appeared to be a captain approached the Angel Guild.

“Preparatory angels, well done. Thanks to you, we’ve already filled a part of the balance.”

“……”

“Great Haelro himself will personally bestow grace upon this matter. It would be an honor to be here.”

“Is that why you called us here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The demons intended to use the preparatory angel Raphael as bait to corrupt or destroy the Scales of Balance. But because of your efforts, balance was perfectly achieved instead.”

“…It’s just a scale.”

“The Scales of Balance are something great. Preparatory angel Uriel.”

Uriel clenched her jaw.

In the end, the whole rescue of Raphael was just an excuse, and they didn’t want the Scales of Balance to be taken by demons.

Because of that, people were still dying at this very moment.

As Uriel gripped her hammer, seriously contemplating whether to smash someone in the face, suddenly—

“Absolutely not!”

The fallen Raphael yelled while spitting blood.

“On the contrary! The demons intentionally brought balance! At the cost of their own flesh!”

“…?”

“What does that mean, preparatory angel Raphael?”

“That is—”

“It’s a simple story.”

When the Scales of Balance activate, more power and angels can be sent down from the Heavenly Realm.

The angels, of course, would send their forces to protect the important Scales of Balance from being corrupted or destroyed.

‘And when there are more angels in one place….’

“What is this? Are you gathering to get yourself killed?”

“…Lily?!”

Lily appeared.

Numerous spears rained down from countless angels.

The angels scrambled to cast a barrier using their holy magic, but it was already too late.

“The Roar of the Spear.”

At the pinnacle of existence, a powerful storm obliterated them.

■

“Hohoho. It worked.”

Bang!!!

Kuzukuguu…

“Damn this bony brat…!”

“Damn it! Try and tie me up!”

“Too fast!”

In the heart of the Empire.

The clown, besieged by numerous users, evaded all their attacks like a phantom, laughing all the while.

At last, the first button in his plan was secured.

After intentionally aligning the angels’ symbol, the ‘Scales of Balance,’ he lured them all to one place.

Then, he planned to use Lily, who detested light, to provoke a battle.

It seemed quite simple, but precisely aligning “balance” was harder than initially thought.

To pull this off, countless undead were sacrificed, and the clown also made some sacrifices to deceive the angels.

Perfect!

“Ha ha ha! I am indeed perfect!”

“Die!”

“I’ve already died once!”

“You bastard!!!”

The clown distorted space and evaded numerous attacks from soldiers.

Now all that was left was to leisurely watch the angels fight and once everything was settled with Abid here, it would be the end.

When that time comes, this land will become a world full of the dead.

With a beaming smile, the clown contacted Abid.

─Abid. Is everything going well?

─……

─Abid?

 

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