Chapter 54: The New Archangel

“My child, what are you saying?” Questions Michael at Eliza’s sudden confidence. “You barely know how to swing a sword and cast a gust of wind. This battlefield is not for you…”

“Oh, would you shut up, Gramps!” The bratty princess shouts in anger and stomps on the ground, but what takes us aback the most is the sudden sprout of angelic wings on her back. “See? My wings spawned! I’m as good as Sis now!”

“No, you don’t get it. Angel wings may be the indication of our latent powers manifesting, but they only grant us flight and confirm our control over Galatine. You can’t…”

“Don’t worry so much!” Another stomp on the ground for the angel child, but this time, it causes the ground to violently shake, forming a giant crack from her spot all the way to the walls.

What in the world happened to her? Just a few days ago, she was just a whiny child with no actual threat. Now she’s still a whiny child, but she can also break the earth itself? And considering Michael’s words, that’s not just because her wings sprouted. Then…

“I can’t believe it…” Balam’s voice sounds inside my head, and at the same time, all three of Petra and the two other boys exclaim aloud.

“What’s going on?”

“That’s… Raphael’s power, isn’t it?” Petra is the first to utter.

“Yeah. Something like that is definitely only doable by my old man,” the redhead boy breaks a cold sweat.

“Raphael? Is he another Archangel?” I ask, curious about his words. “And he’s your… father?”

“Foster,” the boy answers. “But that’s not important right now. What’s important is that we already killed him. So why…”

“An Archangel isn’t a person, but the Gift itself,” both Petra and I utter at the same time. “They never truly die, just lie in wait for God to bestow them to another person… But if that’s the case…”

The thought sends shivers down my spine. For a Gift to manifest into another vessel right away like this can only mean one thing.

And to add insult to injury, Balam is the one to finish the dreaded premonition in my head.

“God is here, or at least He knows about this situation…”

“The final obstacle…” I mutter, every fiber of my being shivers uncontrollably. Whether it’s due to fear or excitement, I don’t even know myself. But what I do know is that I need to calm down, and the only way to do that right now is to swing the swords in my hand.

“We attack all at once!” I shout to signal my comrades, raising Galatine with one hand while pointing Excalibur towards my targets with the other.

From behind me, an array of muskets floats about in the air, and just above them is another line of fiery spears.

“Don’t fire at the same point!” The long-haired boy orders. “Spread your attack over the field!”

“Got it!” Answers Petra, who directs her spears to the flanks. At the same time, Pelle’s thunder infuses the spears with an electrifying blue.

“Now!” I shout. However, I’m just a fraction of a second off, and for an adversary with the title “the pinnacle of strength”, a fraction of a second is all she needs.

Eliza, with just a single step, has crossed the room to appear right before me with a deranged smile on her face, while behind her is nothing but a pile of rubble. At that moment, the way her fist descends at me is akin to the meteor I dropped at the angels at the start of the war.

At that moment, I feel death approaching me. However, I’m not destined to die just yet.

The remaining boy from our side, the one without any weapons to his name, has already dashed forward to meet the crazed angel. His body cackles with lightning, while his hands completely stop Eliza’s punch dead on its track.

“I… Impossible,” Eliza can only utter in shock.

“Compared to the old man, you have a lot to learn,” her opponent grins with confidence, before overpowering her completely. With a swift punch, he pins Eliza to the ground, while utilizing that momentum to propel himself upward, but not before giving one final shout to us:

“Now!”

“Solar Excalibur!”

“Three-line Formation!”

“Roue de Feu!”

“Dystre Torden!”

All of our attacks combine as one, creating a massive explosion of fire, thunder, wind, and light, blinding everyone with its immense heat and radiance. The space around the Vault is already on the verge of collapsing, and this hit serves as the final nail in the coffin. The ceiling crumbles down, while the floor breaks open.

To our surprise, we’re not standing on solid ground, even though this vault itself is hidden behind an underground path. And the result of which is obvious. As soon as the “ground” crumbles, everyone falls down into the awaiting abyss.

I quickly conjure my power into Excalibur, stabbing it towards the side of the endless trap hole. Earth spikes instantly spawn, making a stand strong enough to support my weight. As for the others, Petra has done the same with her spears, while Pelle floats in the air along with the two remaining boys. Eliza, Pedro, and Michael, however, are all nowhere to be found.

“What is this place?” I mumble. “Why is there another underground path beneath an underground path? Balam, do you have a clue?”

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“I… don’t know,” answers the Demon in an equally surprised tone. “This Palace was built over Camelot, but I could have sworn there was never something like this when I was around…”

“The work of the current Royals, I assume.”

“No, not quite,” Sounding above us is none other than Michael and Eliza flying, with the former holding onto Pedro by the waist, like carrying a potato sack. “Since you’re here anyway, there’s no harm for you to know. This is the secret entrance that only Archangels know about – the hidden passage leading to Heaven’s Gate.”

“Heaven’s Gate…” Balam’s voice sounds in my head once more, shivering with surprise. “Even in the first war against God, we’ve never discovered their final stronghold…”

“Ironic that Heaven’s Gate is deep underground, don’t you think?” Petra gives a snarky remark, but her words don’t faze the angel at all.

“Of course not. Down there is just a teleportation circle. We can’t be revealing our exact location right away like that.”

“So, you’re saying that… Once we go down there, we can directly face God?” I grip my sword with anticipation.

“Sure… If you’re up for it. But aren’t you forgetting something?”

The angel then raises Pedro, who, despite still having his eyes opened, looks as if he’s already long dead.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret: your last comrade is right here. He has been chosen by the Royals to be the one who holds Belial’s cross.”

“Belial…”

The name echoes in my mind. It was a name mentioned the most from Balam when we first set out, and the final remaining Demon in this world. To think that our final player was right there in front of me all along, not to mention he’s the friend I was desperately trying to get on our side. And now things get a lot more complicated, thanks to him being held hostage essentially by my opponent.

“Seeing that Balam is your partner, you must have known a thing or two about Belial, am I correct? How she is the one…”

“With the most powerful regeneration among the Demons,” I answer.

“And of course, this one hasn’t awoken Belial’s powers yet. Now, shall we do a little experiment?”

“What did you do to him?”

“Right now? Nothing, actually. He was just too shocked when he saw our display of power.”

On one hand, I’m glad that Pedro wasn’t put under some weird control. But on the other hand… shocked by our display of power? Pedro, since when have you become so spineless?

“Back to my point,” Michael continues. “We’ll make a bet on whether or not he can awaken Belial’s cross. If he manages to do so, I’ll personally escort you to Heaven’s Gate. How does that sound?”

“… And if he can’t?”

“Then he’s of no use to any of us,” smiles Michael, putting his rapier directly above Pedro’s back. “And he dies right here, while you’ll have to go through me if you want to proceed to the final stage.”

Shit. It would be best if Pedro has the will to fight back, but for the moment I’ll have to divert from the subject somehow.

“What a ridiculous bet. Why do I have to agree with something that involves a bystander?”

“Bystander? Surely, you’re mistaken; isn’t Belial’s cross right here on his neck right now?”

“Crosses choose their vessels, not the other way around. The Royals might choose him, but what do you have to guarantee that Pedro’s the one? And if he’s not chosen by Belial, then he’s nothing but a bystander.”

“Hmmm…” the angel pretends to ponder for a second, before letting out a conniving smile. “You have a point there. Then he’s of no use to us… which means his life ends here.”

“W-Wait, Gramps!” Before I can react, Eliza has already put her hand under the blade, stopping it just in the nick of time. “Surely Pedro isn’t related to any of this, right?”

“He is, my child. Your family has raised him all these years for this purpose alone. And if he can’t be the one to fulfill it…”

“H-Hold on! I’m sure he’ll be able to do it eventually!”

“… Very well,” Michael gently pats Eliza’s head. “Since it seems you’ve taken a fancy to this boy here, I’ll leave him in your hands. Whether you’d keep him safe or kill him, that’s up to you.”

“T-Thank you!” Eliza bows as hard as she can, before taking Pedro away from Michael, still holding him by the waist akin to what the latter did. Meanwhile, Michael turns to us yet again and readies his blade:

“Well, it’s a shame that we can’t attempt our little experiment, my combatants, so we’ll have to settle this the old-fashioned way. Now, what says you?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” I return the gesture, pointing Excalibur at the angel in question. “We’re not getting out of here with you blocking us anyway. Either we make it down to Heaven’s Gate, or we deal with you and return to the surface.”

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