CH 322

“Hmm,” Kronos mumbled as a weak light seeped into a dark space. Gradually, the glimmer gained strength and began creating a shape. “Did he think of that?”

He had used the Scythe of Time to monitor the battle through a crack he had created in the dimension. Kronos wanted to watch the fight between Gabriel and Gi-Gyu because it wasn’t going the way he had expected.

“I guess I know for sure now.”

Kronos had fallen into Chaos and had spent a long time inside. However, he hadn’t been alone there. Gabriel, El, Lou, Raphael, and Satan had all fallen into Chaos. They had spent an unknown amount of time inside. And just as the name suggested, chaos was omnipresent in Chaos. It was an indescribable place, but Kronos had seen something there. He wasn’t sure if the others had also seen it, but now he knew.

“Gabriel might not have seen it all, but he certainly caught a glimpse,” Kronos suspected that Gabriel had seen the truth about their creation, which had to be why they were in this situation.

“Hmm.” Kronos watched the projection of Rome and contemplated for a moment. He mumbled, “This will get dangerous.”

Kronos realized that if he didn’t interfere, Gabriel’s plan would work perfectly. Now that Gabriel had shown himself, he was bound to become a significant threat to Kronos in the future.

“I could just take care of him now…” Kronos knew that he could eliminate Gabriel right now quite easily without making any sacrifices. But instead of jumping into the projected city of Rome, he smiled. “But I think I’ll just watch for now.”

Gabriel was still unstable, so Kronos decided not to take care of him now. If he left Gabriel alone, “he” would appear.

‘But…’ This battle was impossible to predict. Gi-Gyu was incredibly powerful because he could use God’s power, Chaos, Death, Life, and sorcerous energy.

‘But even he might not be able to do this.’ Even in his current state, Gabriel was a formidable opponent.

“So I’ll just watch for now,” Kronos mumbled. He wanted to see if Gi-Gyu could do this. As if reacting to Kronos, the crack in time shook.

Fwoosh.

A bright light hugged Kronos as it brought what was happening in Rome to him. As if he was standing in the middle of the Colosseum, Kronos could see everything.

***

Everyone had thought the battle in Rome was over. However, that changed when a light beam from the sky fell in the middle of the Colosseum. It was becoming stronger, and those around it and even outside the structure were getting drained fast.

“Ugh…” groaned a player. Lamentably, things were much worse for the non-players. Their breathing slowed down dangerously; before long, a silence fell as they fainted one by one.

“N-no…” Hamiel, whom the light bream was hitting squarely, mumbled as he opened his eyes. He had fainted, but now, he staggered to stand up and looked around.

“Ackkk…” He could hear the screams of the players, but they sounded faint to him.

“Protect them.” When Hamiel ordered, his dark energy formed a small but firm dome-shaped barrier.

“Ugh.” Hamiel coughed up blood suddenly. The light beam had awakened him before he could recover completely. Having to use this much energy was taking its toll on him. But ignoring the bone-wracking pain, Hamiel carried the players around him. He took Sung-Hoon, Alberto, and the other association players to safety.

‘This place should be okay.’ Hamiel found a place less divine energy could reach.

“We still have time,” he mumbled, believing that he still had some time before who or whatever was coming down this beam would arrive. This was why he communicated silently while enduring the intense pain.

-P…please open.

Hamiel wasn’t sure if his voice could exit the divine energy-rich light beam and reach the place of safety.

-All right! But only for a moment! The energy around you is too powerful! Just what is happening over there?!

When Hamiel heard Brunheart’s voice, he smirked. A moment later, a blue gate just big enough for a few people to enter opened. It was the entrance to Eden.

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Hamiel threw Sung-Hoon and Alberto inside.

-Hamiel! You need to come inside too! You have accomplished what you must over there! That place is…

Brunheart’s voice shook and began breaking.

-It’s… too… dangerous…

Though her voice failed to reach Hamiel smoothly, the gate remained open.

But Hamiel turned his back to the gate and replied, “It’s all right.”

-...

Hamiel couldn’t hear Brunheart’s voice anymore, but he could tell her voice was shaking. Taking a calm breath, he added, “Close the gate. I can’t go back.”

Brunheart was right to be worried. The light beam was exuding so much divine energy that even she could feel it despite being in Eden. In fact, this divine power was shaking the entire world.

Hamiel recalled something from his long-lost memories. This much divine energy only meant one thing: He was coming. With his lips shut tight, Hamiel began walking with a tense face.

-Please… don’t… die…

Brunheart whispered before the gate closed. It was impossible to tell why it had closed. Did she close it? Or did the excessive amount of divine energy sever the connection? Hamiel began walking toward the Colosseum’s center. There were many people inside and outside the structure.

‘But I can’t save them all.’ In his current state, Hamiel couldn’t rescue them, but he could do one thing.

Crunch.

Two giant horns broke out of his forehead, the bone-like wings reappeared on his back, and even his limbs became much more robust and thick. It was as if he was transforming into a dragon.

“Haa…” Hamiel sighed deeply.

‘I must repay Master,’ he thought in determination. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the power to rescue every single human here. But if they died, Hamiel knew his master would be saddened.

He could only do one thing to save them: Block the divine power with his body.

“I must stop it.” He could redirect all the power to the middle of the Colosseum and endure it alone. He knew he wouldn’t last long, but the smart players and Gi-Gyu’s creatures would figure out his plan and move quickly.

At least, that was what he hoped.

‘I will give up everything for this.’ He gave his determination a mental boost and began exuding some dark energy; it wasn’t Death or sorcerous energy. It was a different kind of power.

“Such power.”

“...!” Hamiel jumped when he heard someone’s voice from behind him. Someone was standing behind him. He had used too much of his power just now. Consequently, the blood vessels in his eyes had popped, blurring his vision. He couldn’t even tell who was standing near him.

“It’s me. Lou,” the figure behind him announced. Hamiel had been concentrating all of his power on blocking the divine energy, so he had failed to recognize Lou’s presence.

Lou stood beside Hamiel. While keeping his face toward Lou, Hamiel kept his body still. He was using his body as a container to seal away the divine energy to protect the world. It was an incredible accomplishment.

“You can block this thick divine energy with your body alone? What a surprise,” Lou murmured. “I guess I can no longer say that the demons are the angels’ greatest nemesis.”

Lou’s voice was filled with seriousness and majesty, which was different from his normal self.

‘He also knows…’ Hamiel realized that Lou probably also understood what was happening.

“You’re the real nemesis of the angels,” Lou said with a smile. “I’ll help you.”

Boom!

Powerful energy emanated from Lou. It was strong enough to make Hamiel shudder. The effect was satisfying. Hamiel hadn’t been able to block all the divine energy, but with Lou’s help, it was now fully contained in the middle of the Colosseum.

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Lou’s voice shook a little as he explained, “The players outside are already on it, so don’t worry.”

It was clear that Lou was using a lot of his power for this. “You have done your part, so…”

Fwoosh!

It appeared that Lou had even more power to offer. With an explosive sound, more of his energy joined the effort.

“Let’s just last until ‘he’ returns,” Lou added.

Hamiel had never felt energy thicker or denser than Lou’s. In comparison, what he had been using until now was nothing.

‘Lou is using… true Death.’ 

Genuine Death wafted from Lou.

***

“Ugh…” His body ached like it was shattering. It was even worse than when he had forcefully absorbed that giant amount of sorcerous energy.

“Dammit,” Gi-Gyu cursed. The Chaos attack he had just triggered threatened to swallow Gabriel and the whole world. Gi-Gyu tried to prevent this, and it took a much larger toll on him than he had expected. After all, taming a calm stallion was easier than taming a wild one.

But this was exactly what Gi-Gyu was doing. He was trying to stop his attack because of what was in front of him.

“Michael…?” Gi-Gyu whispered. Michael was kneeling before him, slumped forward. Gi-Gyu used to believe that Gabriel was in total control of Michael’s body, but he realized the truth as soon as he had released Chaos.

-I’m Michael!

Gi-Gyu stood closer to Michael and asked, “Michael? Are you really Michael?”

His body was still throbbing, and he knew he wouldn’t last very long. Just then, a dying voice stammered, “Y-yes…”

Michael looked straight into Gi-Gyu’s eyes and muttered, “D-dammit… what have you done…?”

Michael could barely raise his face, but the look in his eyes told Gi-Gyu that this was indeed Michael.

“You’re really Michael,” Gi-Gyu whispered. He no longer felt an odd energy from Michael’s body. But just to be sure, he placed his hand on Michael’s head to read his memories.

“What are you…?” Michael jolted. Whether this was Michael or Gabriel, he had no power left to hurt Gi-Gyu. Gi-Gyu had stopped as much of his Chaos as possible, but he couldn’t contain all of it. It had affected him and the man kneeling in front of him.

‘It’s really Michael.’ Gi-Gyu could read the memories; if this were Gabriel, he wouldn’t have been able to do this.

“What… have you… done…?” Michael dryly asked again, and Gi-Gyu turned rigid. At first, Gi-Gyu thought Michael was just protesting because his body was damaged, but he realized it was something else.

“Dammit.” Gi-Gyu took his hand away from Michael after reading his memories. He now knew Gabriel’s plan.

“El!” Gi-Gyu screamed.