Chapter 134
The Angel Sandalphon, who had taken over Wol-ah’s body, stared at Seongwoo’s corpse.
No trace of life remained within him.
‘To think he possessed this much power even though not a single chain sealing the End had been released.’
He became convinced once more that his decision had been correct.
The Angels, having lost Metatron, their leader, could never handle the resurrection of the Demon of the End.
How could they simply prepare for the time of prophecy instead of trying to stop it?
Sandalphon could not tolerate the noble sacrifice of his brother Metatron being reduced to nothing more than a stepping stone for prophecy.
He recalled the distant past.
Long ago, on Earth, a great war erupted between Angels and Demons over the “Gate.”
The Demons targeted Earth in order to seize the “Gate” leading to all dimensions, while the Angels fought to stop them.
The war between the two factions was unimaginably fierce, and during its course Earth became devastated while countless lives burned away.
Unable to bear it any longer, Metatron, leader of the Angels, made a decision.
He sacrificed his own life to seal the King of Demons, the Demon of the End, and destroyed the “Gate” connecting all dimensions.
As a result, the shattered fragments of the Gate scattered across Earth, humanity evolved, and beings from other dimensions could no longer interfere with Earth directly.
But they could not rest easy.
At the very moment the Gate was destroyed, a prophecy descended.
A prophecy that, two thousand years later, the Demon of the End would revive and the great war would begin anew.
The prophecy descended upon both Angels and Demons alike, and both sides immediately began preparing for the war that would occur two thousand years later.
The Demons tempted humanity, granting them power and Authorities in exchange for their souls.
The Angels, meanwhile, resisted through Heroes acting as agents of their will.
But Sandalphon hated all of it.
He believed they should use the sacrifice his brother created as a foundation to eliminate the Demon of the End and slaughter every Demon once and for all.
That was why Sandalphon insisted that even at the cost of countless sacrifices, they should temporarily open the dimensional Gate and eliminate the Vessel of the End.
But his proposal was never accepted.
The other Angels warned him not to lose himself to rage and hatred.
Looking down at Yoo Sung-woo’s unmoving corpse, Sandalphon sneered.
No matter what his fellow Angels said, in the end, he had been right.
Sandalphon had observed the Vessel of the End for a very long time, waiting for this exact moment.
The day he would drive a blade into the neck of the Demon of the End that had brutally hunted his brothers.
Soon, the Demon of the End—having lost its vessel—would descend in an incomplete state.
And if he killed it then, he could avenge his brother and prevent the great war altogether.
‘A Demon of the End stripped of its power and deprived of its vessel should be manageable by me alone.’
Thinking that, Sandalphon steeled his resolve.
Dense demonic energy began leaking from Yoo Sung-woo’s dead body.
It was abyssal demonic energy, far thicker and more viscous than ordinary demonic power.
He instinctively realized the Demon of the End was awakening after losing its vessel.
A crimson spear appeared in Sandalphon’s hand.
“With this, the great war and my brother’s death shall finally regain their true meaning.”
The spear of light descended toward Seongwoo.
But Sandalphon overlooked one thing.
Fate was called fate precisely because no matter what variables interfered, it ultimately came to pass.
And the chains of causality born from that inevitability acted as a coercive force to ensure fate’s fulfillment.
In other words, Sandalphon’s attempt to prevent the prophecy had instead become the catalyst that fulfilled it.
Yoo Sung-woo’s eyes snapped open.
Golden eyes burning brighter than ever pierced straight through Sandalphon.
Seeing them, Sandalphon sucked in a sharp breath.
At the same moment, Yoo Sung-woo’s hand shot forward and seized Sandalphon by the throat.
“Ghk……?!”
The mouth of Yoo Sung-woo, staring at Sandalphon, slowly split into a grin.
“Sandalphon. It has been a long time.”
“You……!”
More than rage or hatred, Sandalphon felt confusion.
A shattered vessel should not be capable of holding water.
Which meant the Demon of the End should never have been able to descend into Yoo Sung-woo’s dead body.
What Sandalphon imagined was merely a Demon wandering after losing its vessel atop Seongwoo’s corpse.
Then why was it occupying Yoo Sung-woo’s body?
The reason was simple.
The Extreme Demonic Body, and the Heart of the Demon.
Yoo Sung-woo’s body had already become something close to a Demon.
And Demons were immortal so long as their hearts remained intact.
In other words, even though Seongwoo’s body had stopped functioning, the Heart of the Demon preserved his life.
Sandalphon’s fatal mistake was failing to consider that the chains sealing the End remained intact while Yoo Sung-woo had already obtained the Heart of the Demon.
And ironically, that became an opportunity for the Demon of the End.
Part of the seal had loosened, weakening the force binding it, while Seongwoo’s halted body granted it temporary freedom.
The Demon gripping Sandalphon’s throat smiled faintly at its regained freedom.
“You look as though you’ve seen a ghost. Something didn’t go according to plan, perhaps?”
“Judge!”
Words of power burst from Sandalphon’s mouth, instantly manifesting into reality.
A gigantic hammer of light materialized in midair.
BOOM!
Together with an explosion of light, the enormous hammer struck directly toward both Sandalphon and Yoo Sung-woo.
Sandalphon, having escaped Seongwoo’s grasp, glared at him.
A cheerful laugh echoed through the dust cloud.
The Demon was thoroughly enjoying the situation.
Unexpectedly granted temporary freedom, along with the ancient enemy standing before him.
The Demon of the End reveled in his liberation.
His gaze shifted toward Sandalphon, who still hadn’t fully grasped the situation.
Sandalphon.
The younger brother of the greatest Archangel, Metatron, and one of the adversaries who stood alongside Michael against him during the distant great war.
Drawing upon the Demonic Authority, he instantly appeared before Sandalphon and swung the black sword.
KWAANG!
With a violent explosion, Sandalphon’s body pierced through the ceiling and was launched skyward.
Immediately afterward, Sky Cleaving—a skill combining the Authorities of Mighty Strength and Severance—poured relentlessly toward Sandalphon.
“Defend!”
At his shout, a gigantic shield of light formed and blocked the incoming slashes.
Crack! Craaash! BOOM!
The shield of light shattered, unable to withstand the attack.
Yoo Sung-woo’s face twisted viciously as he shouted toward Sandalphon.
“Sandalphon, you remain as foolish and pathetic as ever! Did you truly believe someone who came to kill me could succeed with only that much power?!”
At that moment, immense power began swirling around Yoo Sung-woo.
Seeing it, Sandalphon’s face turned pale.
He realized what the Demon intended to do.
Different Authorities began obeying the command of the being known as the Demon of the End.
【Authority Mighty Strength activates.】
【Authority Dark Relic activates.】
【Authority Flames of Gehenna activates.】
【Authorities belonging to different masters begin to unite.】
【Three Authorities begin to fuse together.】
【Compression initiated. This is an achievement never before accomplished.】
【A new Authority, Great Sword of Annihilation, has been created.】
【Corrosion Rate increases by 3%.】
The moment the messages appeared, the sky turned crimson.
The clouds split apart, revealing a fragment of something enormous hidden behind them.
Rumble……!
In the distant past—
The Demon of the End wielded incomprehensible power and unleashed destruction akin to the apocalypse itself.
And among the techniques he used most frequently, stained with the blood of countless Angels—
Was the Great Sword of Annihilation.
Its appearance resembled a gigantic meteor descending from the heavens.
Then the clouds burst apart completely, and an enormous burning sword began falling toward the earth.
Grinding his teeth, Sandalphon began calling forth the power of his true body.
Things had unfolded unexpectedly, but if he succeeded in killing the Demon of the End once more, it remained true that the prophecy would never be fulfilled.
Crack.
The Halo, unable to withstand Sandalphon’s immense power, split with a massive fracture.
Believing this would be the final strike, Sandalphon shouted toward the heavens.
“Descend!”
At those words, cracks spread across space itself before shattering apart, and a gigantic arm burst through.
Its sheer size surpassed even the Great Sword of Annihilation.
Sandalphon was the largest Angel in all of Heaven.
He summoned his true body to meet the Demon’s attack head-on.
Soon after, with a tremendous explosion, the vast dimension created by the Angels began collapsing.
---
Inside the mental world of the skill Lamb.
I shouted at him.
“Get out of my body right now!”
The Demon of the End controlling my body had temporarily connected with me.
I could vividly feel his endless madness and malice.
Damn it.
The Demon of the End completely ignored my words.
He was merely enjoying the current situation while focusing entirely on the battle against Sandalphon.
The battle between the Demon of the End and Sandalphon looked like something straight out of mythology.
I couldn’t believe this was only a fragment of the power he truly possessed.
This was dangerous.
Not just for me.
Wol-ah’s body, currently housing Sandalphon’s power, was surely under immense strain as well.
A crushing sense of helplessness gnawed at my mind more strongly than ever before.
There was nothing I could do.
All I could do was wait for him to return my body.
Even so, I struggled endlessly.
I knew it was meaningless resistance.
But doing nothing here was no different from giving up on everything entirely.
So I continued resisting.
I screamed at the top of my lungs for him to release my body, and twisted desperately against the chains binding me.
Until my body became soaked in blood.
I was furious.
No matter how much stronger I became, I was still being manipulated by someone else again.
And at the most important moments, I still couldn’t accomplish anything with my own power.
After struggling for a long time, I felt the force suppressing my body begin to weaken.
More accurately, the seal binding the Demon of the End was strengthening once again.
The time granted to him was running out.
But absorbed in his struggle against Sandalphon, he hadn’t even noticed.
This was an opportunity.
An opportunity to reclaim my stolen body.
Even if I waited naturally, my body would eventually return to me—
But the Demon intended to kill even Wol-ah, who contained Sandalphon within her.
Dragging my bloodied body forward, I charged at him.
The instant my fist, drenched in blood, touched him, the golden weapons piercing his body suddenly shone brilliantly all at once.
Only then did the Demon realize he was being sealed again, and his expression twisted.
【Pointless interference!】
At the same time, my consciousness suddenly floated upward.
It meant control over my body was returning to me.
The Demon’s eyes, rapidly shrinking away in the distance, gleamed coldly.
His icy gaze turned toward me, robbed of the entertainment he had been enjoying.
His lips moved as he stared at me.
But I couldn’t properly hear what he said.
My vision instantly turned white as sensation returned to my body.
Before me stood Wol-ah—
No, Sandalphon—
Covered in horrific wounds while glaring at me with murderous intent.
“Do not believe this ends simply because you destroy this body, O End. My true body still exists within the lofty heavens.”
I drew the black sword and pointed it toward him.
“Stop spouting bullshit and get out of Wol-ah’s body.”
The black sword slashed toward Sandalphon.