Chapter 278 - Escape
[Aaah!]
[Please, save me!]
[M-Michael-nim!]
The screams echoed in the celestial training ground at an inopportune time.
Each scream became an omen.
[Angels eliminated: 37/100]
………………
[Angels eliminated: 51/100]
[Angels eliminated: 83/100]
………………
…………
A flash of light shone in the training ground.
However, it couldn't be considered a beautiful sight when thinking about that shine coming from the blood of the angels.
[Angels eliminated: 100/100]
[Conditions to use the Rune of Devil met.]
[You can activate the 'Rune of Devil' at any time by reciting the keyword.]
"Now I can use the blessing."
Ryu Min pulled at the corner of his lips and directed his gaze to the remaining angels.
The fifth-class angels who met his gaze recoiled in horror and fled.
To them, Ryu Min was no different from a demon.
"Are there about twenty left?"
Although they all scattered like frightened cockroaches, Ryu Min did not chase after them.
He had achieved his goal of accumulating stacks.
He had no intention of using the Rune of Devil.
It wasn't worth killing a few fifth-class angels, and he didn't have time to kill Michael.
[You have left the current round.]
[If you do not return to the starting point within an hour, you will be stripped of player status.]
[Time remaining to lose player status: 00:15:21]
"I can kill Michael anytime. Killing him now would be a waste. He is the only angel I want to survive until round 20."
Returning to the underworld immediately was a priority.
Otherwise, all the energy accumulated so far would disappear like a mirage.
Even though he lost sight of many angels while thinking, he didn't care.
Even one would be enough to go home.
"Hey, you."
[Agh!]
An angel hidden in a corner was startled when Ryu Min approached.
He tried to flee, but Ryu Min's ruthless hands grabbed his wings.
"Where do you think you're going?"
[Please, save me! Please...]
"Do you want to live?"
The angel looked at him as if asking if that was a joke.
"Then, take me to the underworld."
-----------------
Wrinkles formed on the Goddess's face.
"Why is he taking so long to return?"
He should have already handed the scythe to Plunictos and hasn't returned yet.
Thinking of reprimanding Michael if he forgot to report.
"Oh?"
But something bigger awaited her.
"What is that guy doing there?"
She saw Michael sleeping somewhere in the celestial realm.
But the strange thing was that he had bloodstains at the corner of his lips.
"It can't be, can it?"
Nemesis immediately searched for the scythe.
She found it descending not to the infernal realm but to another one.
With a combat angel as a hostage.
"W-what is happening here? Why is he in this realm...?"
Though she could sense the situation, she tried to deny it.
The only sure thing was that she had to wake Michael and ask him.
Zas-
She tore through space and appeared before Michael.
"Michael! Wake up, Michael!"
She lightly kicked him to wake him, and he slowly opened his eyes.
[Uh, what? Yes, Lord Nemesis?]
[What the hell happened? Why did Black Scythe return to the Other World?]
[Oh....]
Surprise reflected on Michael's face.
At that moment, Nemesis realized her foresight had come true.
[I'm very sorry... I was transferring it when I was suddenly attacked and lost consciousness...]
[T-this... idiot!]
Black Scythe attacked Michael and fled.
It seems he threatened the combat angel he had with him and descended to the Other World.
Just at that moment, messages appeared before Michael's eyes.
[Lord Nemesis, reports indicate that the fifth-class angels who were training have been affected. It seems to be the work of Black Scythe...]
Michael reported, looking at Nemesis's reaction.
It was clear she was quite furious.
Nemesis unleashed her pent-up anger.
[How... how could we let all the prisoners escape!]
[I'm sorry... I have no words, no matter how much I try.]
[You won't have any! Of course not!]
Nemesis pushed Michael as if implying it was not the time for this.
[What are you doing? Go and bring back the criminals immediately!]
[Ah, I understand... but...]
However, Michael couldn't continue speaking and lifted his head aimlessly.
[What is it?]
[T-the... cycle... has ended.]
[What?]
It seems the ongoing Round 17 had ended.
This meant that, except for the angel assigned as a guide, the gates to the Other World would close.
Another angel would have to spend 90% of their power to forcefully open the gate and descend.
[Michael! Could we catch Black Scythe if we descend now?]
[T-that would be difficult. With 90% of our power exhausted, it would be hard to subdue him...]
[Then, what else can I do?!]
Directly interfering in earthly matters was forbidden by divine rules.
This was the reason she had been directing the angels instead of intervening personally.
[Damn it! Damn Michael! Why are you sleeping?!]
[...]
Michael wasn't sleeping by choice but had fainted, yet he just lowered his head without responding.
[Now what? We had agreed to hand over Black Scythe to Plunictos before Round 18!]
[I-I'll go see Plunictos and ask for more time...]
[You must, you must succeed in the negotiation! If not, you'll have to take responsibility for losing Black Scythe!]
Ryu Min stepped on the ground of the Other World and exhaled in relief, seeing the warning disappear.
"If I had been 15 minutes late, I would have lost my qualification."
Just his qualification?
He would have lost all accumulated power and reverted to being an ordinary human.
Sure, he didn't expect to not have to participate in the survival game due to losing his qualification.
However, the problem was that they couldn't let the angels return to Earth.
"What must Michael be doing right now? He's probably being reprimanded at this moment."
Even if reprimanded, it would surely be for losing Black Scythe.
Michael wouldn't think they let him go on purpose.
"I could look from afar as if I were a million kilometers away, but I can't hear the conversation. Surely, they didn't discover me."
Michael had already heard that he had vast skills like the heavens. That he could be seen but not heard.
"I suppose I can be at ease for a while. I don't have to worry about fearing God or anything like that."
It was said that for a celestial being to cross into the human world, 90% of their power was consumed.
That’s why they could only target this world where the round was unfolding.
The reason God didn't intervene directly was because of the rules preventing divine interference on earth.
Michael had obtained a lot of information from various sources.
He even knew of the existence of another being with a status even higher than an archangel.
"Was his name Artaros?"
Michael thought he occupied the highest place in heaven, but he was wrong.
There was another.
The Chief Archangel, Artaros.
The most powerful being in heaven.
He was the true heaven above the heaven.
"However, he is considered a different entity, classified apart from the archangels."
That was the reason why Michael was the only one known as the sole archangel.
"I saw Artaros in the last round. I'm sure it was him."
Therefore, he was different from ordinary angels. He turned out to be a deity.
"Even the entity that insulted me in heaven was a deity. She was called Nemesis of Vengeance, right?"
Though she had purple skin and the appearance of an alien, she was called a goddess.
"Still, it wasn't a bad experience meeting a god, even for a moment."
Looking at Nemesis, Ryu Min had obtained information.
Unlike Michael, he couldn't read the gods' thoughts.
"I'm not sure if it's just Nemesis or if all gods are like this..."
It would be useful information if he had to face Artaros.
Though his mind couldn't be read either.
"I don't know why the guy I saw in Round 16 hasn't shown his face yet..."
Someday they would meet.
With that thought in mind, Ryu Min turned his head.
It was time to leave someone to guide them.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"Stop following me now."
"Ah, understood."
After saying that, the fifth-grade angel who was following him stopped in his tracks and quickly recited a return spell.
"Stupid humans. I thought you were going to kill them, but you let them live. I'll have to report to the superiors as soon as I arrive. We should kill those humans like insects."
Hearing the annoying angel's thoughts, Ryu Min sighed.
"It won't work after all."
"What?"
That was the angel's last will.
With a quick, emotionless cut, Ryu Min spread his black wings and soared.
He didn't need to return to headquarters.
"The war has ended with the victory of the Kingdom Union."
"I will return to the meeting point in a moment."
Ryu Min, who had returned to a colorless space, could now meet other players.
"Sir Black Scythe!"
"Oh, it's Black Scythe."
"Where have you been? You should have seen how we pushed back the imperial army!"
"It was really a great scene."
Although his followers lamented as if they had missed an important moment in a football match, there was no need to see it.
"I've seen it almost sixty times already."
He already knew the Kingdom Union was going to win.
It would have been a great injustice if they hadn't won after spending nearly 6 billion gold.
[They have arrived. 286 commanders of the Kingdom Union.]
The guide angel waiting showed a look of surprise.
"First, congratulations on winning the war! It's incredible to have achieved victory with such a precarious union of kingdoms... honestly, I was very surprised! I didn't expect any of this."
The players didn't know either.
They didn't expect to survive so easily.
"All of this is thanks to Black Scythe's support."
People looked at Black Scythe with gratitude in their eyes.
"The two fools who chose the Holy Empire have already been eliminated, so there's no need to look for them. How about we see the results of the Round 17 count?"
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