Chapter 157
Battles broke out throughout Ferrum, resulting in audience members and clans who had come to enjoy the festival getting caught up in it.
“Ahhh! What the hell is going on?!”
“Run away!”
“Die, damn angels!”
Those who could run ran away, and some clans joined forces to fight. It looked more like a street brawl than a battlefield.
“Glory. Glory. Glory.”
“Glory to the God of Heaven.”
“Glory to our radiant God.”
The Angelos, angels with one to two pairs of wings, descended with spears, blades, shields, or bows in hand and killed the enemies as if they were programmed to do so.
“Haaa!” Seong-Hwi shouted as he charged into the group of Angelos, a gold card flying out of the Tarot Deck of Destiny.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Penetrating Spear, one of the symbols of No.7 The Chariot]
[Urim and Thummim, one of the symbols of No.7 The Chariot]
[Charging Belt, one of the symbols of No.7 The Chariot]
The Major Card, No.7 The Chariot, was a symbol of progression, propulsion, pioneering, war, charge, penetration, and such, specialized for melee.
A sharp, steel spear, with a diamond-shaped framea, about two meters long, appeared in Seong-Hwi’s hand. One white and one black pauldron appeared on his shoulders. On his right shoulder was Urim, the smiling white face, and on his left shoulder was Thummim, a despairing black face. A steel belt engraved with the moon and a crab appeared around his waist, which enhanced his charging power.
Seong-Hwi thrust the Penetrating Spear in all directions, using his superior-caliber A(30) Strength and A(29) Dexterity stats. The Angelos around him collapsed after becoming Swiss cheese.
[125,580 Karma obtained.]
[113,777 Karma obtained.]
...
“You who have no faith.”
“Repent.”
Dozens of Angelos flew toward Seong-Hwi.
“Do you think you’re the only ones who have wings?” Seong-Hwi said as his wings flashed.
He instantly accelerated as Urim laughed silently, and the moon and crab engraved on the Charging Belt shone.
[Amplifying penetrative power as per the effect of Penetrating Spear, Urim, and Charging Belt.]
Seong-Hwi flew forward, pointing the Penetrating Spear in the direction of his charge. He was like an arrow fired by a giant ballista, creating sonic booms. Blood poured like rain wherever Seong-Hwi charged through. Even more Angelos flew toward Seong-Hwi.
It’s like they don’t have survival instincts, Seong-Hwi thought as he stared at the angels’ chilling, expressionless faces.
They were nothing more than puppets carrying out their God’s orders. However, Seong-Hwi did not fear them.
“Heh! Come at me!” he shouted.
To him, they were simply sacks of Karma for him to collect. He displayed the spearmanship he had modified from the extraordinary techniques of his former four-card destiny, God Spear Li Shuwen. Although it was rough around the edges since he did not borrow the destiny in this life, his superior-caliber A-rank stats made up for the lack of technique.
“Huuu,” the blood-drenched Seong-Hwi exhaled, looking at over a hundred angel corpses around him. He smiled and said, “Nice!”
War was never a good thing; it was an absolute tragedy. However, some advancements ironically could only come from war. Just then, Seong-Hwi heard screams.
“Ahhh! Go away!”
“Save me!”
“I don’t wanna die!”
He turned to the source of the screams and saw around thirty humans, their expressions filled with despair, gathered in a circular formation. They seemed to be fellow clansmen.
“Stoppers! Stop them!”
“How are we supposed to stop that?!”
A Dynameis with five pairs of wings, roughly twenty meters tall, was charging at them. Seong-Hwi vanished from the ground and instantly appeared in the air. Seven cards flew out of the Tarot Card of Destiny.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Wands]
[Two of Wands]
...
[Seven of Wands]
Twenty-eight wands enveloped in fire appeared and lined up in series, pointing at the Dynameis.
“Hup!” Seong-Hwi grunted, throwing the Penetrating Spear with all his might.
The spear pierced through all twenty-eight wands, the heat from the wands transferring to the spear and creating a bright red line in its path. The red-hot spear penetrated the Dynameis’s solar plexus as it was about to stomp on the humans.
“GURGHHH!”
Flames engulfed the Dynameis moments after. He slowly tilted to one side and fell on some houses.
“W-what was that?”
“A... fiery spear?”
“It came from over there!”
The humans saw Seong-Hwi floating in the air, noticing the iridescent wings resembling stained glass on his back.
“Who is that?”
“I’ve heard of those wings! He’s RB!”
“Record Breaker, Cheon Seong-Hwi? The one who killed Jazathura?”
“I was skeptical, but... seeing that, he’s undoubtedly a High Ranker!”
The humans cheered at seeing that the one who killed a fifth-grade angel in one blow was a human. Seong-Hwi glanced at them and looked around for the next target. Just then, a white pillar of light made of Holy Force surged up to the sky, penetrating the clouds as if it were connected to another world.
Seong-Hwi felt his heart pounding and thought, What is this unsettling feeling?
He twitched from head to toe. His instincts screamed at him that he mustn’t leave that pillar of light to be. He vanished from the air.
***
The pillar of light was massive enough to be visible anywhere in Ferrum. Bafor, battling against Uriel and Hadafu simultaneously, widened his eyes after sensing the unsettling Holy Force filling Ferrum.
“That’s—”
“Ahaha! The Divinus Iter has begun!”
Divinus Iter, or the Path of God, was a group race skill that allowed angels to call upon fellow angels from anywhere in the Mirror World. Unlike the skill Warp Gate, it could only be used by angels, and the preparation duration and price required to activate the skill depended on the caliber of the individual traveling through it. However, once it was activated, it allowed one to travel any distance.
“You... could it be?!” Bafor mumbled as he tightly gripped Ustrina’s Hammer.
There was only one individual whom the archangel Uriel would call upon with Divinus Iter.
“Ahaha! Correct! This place will soon become a sanctuary for the God of Orbis to grace us with his presence. Ahhh, worship him and his advent, lowly mortals!”
Uriel’s red eyes were filled with ecstasy. The god whom he worshiped was Creo, the God of Heaven, fourth in the world ranking, and the Second Lord. He was a monster among monsters, a disaster among disasters, and a destroyer among destroyers.
Creo will descend on Ferrum? That’s impossible! He should be in the eighth zone! Bafor shouted inwardly as his dark grey beard trembled.
If Creo were to arrive, there was no other future for Ferrum than obliteration.
“Uriel! This wasn’t part of the plan!” Hadafu shouted.
“Ahaha! Do not worry, Hadafu. Our promise will be kept. Ferrum is yours.”
Uriel held back his nasty smirk and said inwardly, If all you want is a Ferrum with nothing left, you’re more than welcome to have it!
However, he said otherwise, “Hence, let us stick to our objective. Didn’t you say you wanted Bafor dead?”
“It’s not too late to come to your senses, Hadafu! You’re being used! Do you truly believe they will give you what you want?! After the Second Lord arrives, no less?!” Bafor shouted.
However, Hadafu shut it out simply because Bafor was the one who was talking.
“Shut up! Bringing you down is all that matters to me! The God of Heaven? Even better. He will make sure you are dead!”
“You imbecile!” Bafor shouted as he gritted his teeth.
Just then, thousands of angels flew down toward the Golden Iron Palace. Among them was Bethaniael, a Cherub, a second-grade angel with eight pairs of wings. She was the leader of the Cherubim of the fifth legion.
She shouted, “Kyahaha! I will bring that, Master Uriel!”
Their objective was Lilar, who was hidden deep inside the Golden Iron Palace.
“No, you don’t!” Bafor shouted as he swung Ustrina’s Hammer.
The hammer smashed the air, forming cracks and sending a powerful shockwave at the thousands of descending angels. Hundreds of angels were reduced to lumps of flesh, but the remaining angels did not stop. As Bafor was about to swing his hammer again, Uriel and Hadafu charged at him.
“Chaaa!”
“Die!”
The Volcanic Holy Force enveloping Uriel’s Iahav singed Bafor’s beard, and Hadafu’s Chrysos cut the bridge of Bafor’s nose.
“Kurgh! Bastards!” Bafor grunted.
“Where do you think you’re looking?!”
“Ahaha! Obediently offer your head to the God of Heaven!”
Bafor wanted to eliminate the remaining angels flying down toward the Golden Iron Palace, but Uriel’s and Hadafu’s joint attack prevented him from doing so. He couldn’t cancel the Will of Steel skill either, since it would result in far too many civilian casualties.
“Lilar!” he shouted, unable to choose between the safety of his daughter and his people.
Just then, a man appeared on the roof of the Golden Iron Palace and said, “Wipe them out, Kang-Il.”
Gruuu!
Hiss!
A giant lifeform suddenly appeared in the air over the Golden Iron Palace. It had a dark green shell, a dark red tortoise head, and a snow-white snake head for a tail. It was the Black Tortoise, Lee Kang-Il, Kang-San’s D Weapon.
Gruuu!
Hiss!
The tortoise opened its mouth, gathering the moisture in the air. Then the white snake opened its mouth, freezing the moisture and turning them into balls of ice. The balls of ice shot from the ground to the sky like bullets. The corpses of angels hit by the hail fell to the ground, and those who managed to survive the reverse hail shower couldn’t even scratch the Black Tortoise’s shell.
“Kyahaha! Insolent tortoise!” Bethaniael shouted as she drew her bow made of Holy Force and fired an arrow. The arrow, infused with Holy Force, exploded once it struck Kang-Il’s shell. She said, “Master Uriel! I killed the big tortoise! Let’s grill it with Iahav! Huh?”
Bethaniael’s innocent expression hardened. The dust cloud from the explosion dissipated, revealing the Black Tortoise with only a small scratch on its shell.
Gruaaah!
Kang-Il, who was usually docile, roared once he was injured. He opened his mouth even wider to gather even more moisture from the air, and shot it at Bethaniael like a water cannon the size of a river. Bethaniael shot another arrow to defend against the water cannon, but it did nothing.
“KYAAAH!”
Bethaniael took a direct hit from Kang-Il’s water cannon, its pressure powerful enough to crush even steel. Bethaniael’s head rotated to the opposite direction, her limbs cracked like broken wooden chopsticks, her organs exploded, and her eyeballs popped out of their sockets.
“Glo...ry... to... the... God... of...”
Bethaniael, her teeth all shattered, was blown away to the outskirts of Ferrum. Her corpse sprawled like garbage.
“That tortoise belongs to... the Tortoise Emperor!” Uriel shouted, enraged by the deaths of the God of Heaven’s soldiers.
Kang-San arrived beside Bafor before Uriel had realized it.
“We meet again,” Kang-San said.
“Huff! Didn’t you say you were returning to the Capital, Lee Kang-San?” Bafor asked.
“I had to come back after receiving something like this,” Kang-San replied as he grabbed a scroll from his pocket. It was the abstract of the alliance proposal written during the Faber conference. “My junior must have succeeded.”
“Heh, splendidly.”
“An alliance, huh? It is just what we humans needed. When will it take effect?”
“I wonder... However, that scroll will become nothing more than scrap paper if Ferrum falls.”
Kang-San put away the scroll and continued, “I can’t have that. Humanity hasn’t come across a proposal this excellent in a while. Allow me to assist you.” He pointed at a white pillar in the distance and said, “That aside, that thing looks extremely dangerous.”
“Creo will come out of it.”
“The God of Heaven, Creo? Well... it appears I have come to the wrong place. I thought I was entering a bed of flowers, but it turns out it was a cliff.”
“Gahaha! There’s no turning back now!” Bafor laughed heartily, having regained his composure after reinforcements arrived.
Hadafu and Uriel prepared for combat, cautious of the new enemy.
“That’s Hadafu... Has he betrayed the dwarves?” Kang-San asked.
“Yes. This is all... my fault.”
“I will handle him, so I will ask you to deal with Uriel, Lord Bafor. How about whoever defeats their opponent first goes to stop Creo’s advent?”
“Are you sure? Hadafu is a World Ranker, like you. Not only that, but he’s eighty-eighth. He’s higher in rank than you.”
Kang-San smiled and activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Divine Beastification.]
[Black Tortoise.]
Gruuu!
Hiss!
Kang-Il shrank in midair as he dropped toward Kang-San and entered his chest. Soon after, Kang-San transformed. Dark green shell armor grew on his skin, covering his entire body. He looked as if he had donned a thin full-body armor. The white snake floated in the air behind Kang-San like a celestial raiment, its eyes as chillingly blue as ice.
“I would like to know how I look in your eyes. Do I look like a fool who flaunts his full power for the world to see?” Kang-San asked Bafor once he completed his Divine Beastification, putting his hand over the Dual Dragon Swords.
Bafor sensed Kang-San’s mana and caliber, and mumbled, “I heard you barely won against Remus after three consecutive days of battle... I see it was just a show.”
“The extra attention would have been troubling. Humanity would have gotten on the angels’ bad side if I had killed Remus. However... I didn’t expect to face them head-on,” Kang-San replied and turned to Uriel.
This incident would severely worsen the relationship between Orbis and the Union.
“Tortoise Emperor! You dare stand against Orbis? You and your people will receive divine judgment!” Uriel shouted to take advantage of Kang-San’s known tendency to care deeply for his fellow humans. “Leave now, and Orbis will promise not to demand that you and humanity take responsibility!”
Kang-San smiled faintly instead of expressing fear. “My people have done their best to reclaim the fourth zone, and my juniors are growing strong enough to help me bear the load on my shoulders. I think the time has come for me to rise through the ranks. After all, I’m the face of humanity.”
He unsheathed the Dual Dragon Swords and pointed them at Hadafu, continuing, “That aside... take responsibility, huh? If that is the price of freedom, I will happily pay it. Humanity is a free race, if you happened to forget.”
“You’ve trampled on the opportunity I’ve given you out of my goodwill, Tortoise Emperor!” the enraged Uriel screamed.
Kang-San glared at Uriel with blazing black eyes and shouted, “Opportunity comes to those who create them! I am Lee Kang-San, the First Son of humanity! I have come as the breadwinner for my people, suffering from poverty! Who dares stop me?!”
Drops of water formed around Kang-San.
***
Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose.
Paulo Coelho, The Magical Moment