Chapter 219: Sky (2)

Baalbe, called in a certain civilization the god of anesthesia, was a Mara who put all kinds of living beings to sleep and implanted those bodies into his own organs.

Sleep degrades living beings to the phase of inert objects.

The beings captured by Baalbe were no different from objects, and thus they had to live their entire lives transformed into organs of the monster.

— Progress of the Liquor of the life: 90 percent.

Baalbe, who exceeded 100 tons, clumsily shook his heavy body as he pursued Shirone. From his shoulder sprouted something like the foreleg of a quadruped beast and struck the ground.

The Great Temple of the World rumbled with a roar.

“Kiki! What do you think? It’s the power of 260 lions. Soon you will also become part of my body.”

— Progress of the Liquor of the life: 91 percent.

After surpassing 90 percent, the voice began to announce in units of 1 percent. Knowing that only 9 percent remained, Shirone’s heart skipped a beat.

“…Shirone! Shirone!”

Shirone came back to his senses upon hearing Canis’s voice.

“What are you thinking? If you have something prepared, do it quickly. Don’t tell me you came without thinking, right?”

If he had come only because his magic had improved a little, Canis was ready to throw Dark Worm at him himself.

Dying was better than becoming part of a dream demon and suffering eternally.

Hearing Canis, Shirone remembered the magic circle that Ikael had transmitted to him.

But even if he could create a halo, he could not use it immediately like an angel.

“There is one thing I can do…”

“Then do it! Why are you hesitating?”

From the lower part of Baalbe’s body sprouted 20 crab legs.

When those swift legs pushed the weight of 100 tons forward, Shirone and Canis jumped aside at the same time.

Baalbe leapt 10 meters and crushed the place where they had been.

The Great Temple of the World shook, and metallic dust fell from the ceiling.

“I need time. Can you buy some time?”

Canis sighed. So in the end, it was that?

But how long could he hold off a two-horned Mara, even at full condition?

“10 seconds. I won’t last longer than that.”

“Just give me one minute.”

At the moment Shirone moved away, Baalbe swung one of his octopus legs.

When Canis jumped like a flying squirrel, the moist tentacle smashed the ground.

“Kihehehe! You’re good at running away. I suppose that’s the only virtue of the weak.”

“Ha! And you, being so slow, think you’re something great.”

Canis focused and calculated the time. The difference in power was enormous, but if he focused only on evading, it was not completely impossible. That a mosquito cannot defeat a human does not mean it cannot run away for a minute.

Rian stood up, gripping his greatsword.

“I… must go.”

He could not stay resting forever. Shirone was preparing something, so he had to buy time together with Canis.

At that moment, Peophe looked outside and shouted.

“T-that!”

When Rian turned, the king of the giants, Ymir, was running toward them with eyes full of rage. He was undoubtedly aiming at Shirone, who had caused him that humiliation.

Dragging his broken body, Rian charged with all his strength and slammed into him, causing Ymir’s body to shift to the side. Rolling on the ground, Rian grabbed his greatsword and blocked the path toward Shirone.

‘What is this? Why?’

He had charged ready to die, but he did not expect to push Ymir. He felt that his strength had decreased.

Ymir stood up, shaking his knees.

“This is the third time. But now it doesn’t seem so fun.”

“I am Shirone’s sword. As long as I don’t die, you will not get close.”

Thanks to Peophe’s telepathy, they could now understand each other, but Ymir frowned with a disappointed expression.

“You’re wrong. Strength does not exist to protect something. The essence of strength is destruction. If you don’t understand that, you will never be able to stop me.”

Ymir moved like the wind. His brute strength had decreased, but his agility seemed to have increased.

A rain of blows fell on Rian’s body. Already completely destroyed, he could not even counterattack.

But that was enough. As long as he remained alive, Ymir would not be able to reach Shirone.

‘Endure. Just a little longer and you can die in peace.’

Ymir’s eyes began to redden. No matter how much he struck, Rian did not fall.

He had destroyed everything visible, yet he continued enduring as if something still remained.

“Rian! Rian! Stop it, damn it!”

Tess shouted with her face soaked in tears.

“Please, stop hitting him! He’s going to die!”

Ymir did not stop. It was a madness different from a normal fight.

The sensation of life against life colliding was transmitted through the skin.

It was fun. A truly interesting human.

“Magnificent! Destroying you is my mission!”

Rian’s body shook with a sound as if it were tearing apart.

Tess closed her eyes. But even so, she could see it. Rian’s death was transmitted to her five senses.

She shouted at Kariel, crying.

“It’s fine! I’ll give birth to them! If they are nephilim, I’ll give birth to as many as you want, so please stop!”

Kariel did not react.

“Giving birth to nephilim is something natural. And besides, Ymir is not under my control.”

— Progress of the Liquor of the life: 96 percent.

Ymir stopped his attack and panted. It was shocking. What was this human made of?

He was dead. No, he should be dead.

He could not even raise his guard, and there was no trace of life left in him.

But he was still holding the greatsword.

How was that possible? He had destroyed all the muscles in his right arm. It was impossible to hold steel with tendon strength alone.

‘No, it’s just a corpse. It stiffened like that.’

He had won, without a doubt, but it did not feel like he had won.

“I’ll finish it!”

Ymir gritted his teeth. He took a wide step and raised his fist for the final blow.

At that moment, he saw Rian’s greatsword rise.

Very slowly.

When he expanded his field of vision, only he was moving in the entire Great Temple of the World.

‘Tch. This again?’

Ymir, with countless battles behind him, called this a seesaw of time. When the speed of the world suddenly skyrockets, from the perspective of the one receiving it, time flows slowly.

When one accelerates, the other slows down.

In other words, while Ymir’s time slowed down, Rian’s arm moved faster.

‘Damn it!’

Ymir understood why the boy in front of him could move even with his body destroyed.

His mind had not been destroyed.

And that intact mind was directly moving his body.

A technique that completely transcends the biological mechanism where the body moves after receiving orders from the mind.

It was the technique of incarnation, something only the highest-level giants could use.

Since schema was originally a technique of the giants, the incarnation technique also had similarities with concepts from the human world.

Swordsmen who strengthen their brains through schema control their bodies through mental blocks.

But when that surpasses a certain limit, the mind and body merge, and the body moves exactly as one thinks.

In the human world, this phenomenon is called divine transcendence.

‘Heh. You should have done this from the beginning.’

Ymir twisted his body while watching Rian’s greatsword heading toward the ceiling.

At the instant he thought he had tilted his body enough to dodge, the speed of time suddenly returned.

Rian’s greatsword disappeared from his sight.

At the same time, his severed right arm spun through the air.

Ymir’s face turned bitter. The faster Rian moved, the slower time flowed. Even so, he could not completely dodge, which meant he could never have avoided it from the start.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

At the moment the greatsword touched the ground, Rian’s right arm exploded.

The torn muscles hung loose, and the bone was completely exposed.

The body could not withstand the speed of divine transcendence.

— Progress of the Liquor of the life: 97 percent.

The Liquor of the Life was already rushing toward its final stage. And the lives of the humans were also fading. Canis, who had been struck by one of Baalbe’s tentacles, was flung dozens of meters and crashed into the wall.

And he could not get up.

“Baalbe, finish this.”

“Yes, Kariel-nim!”

After defeating Canis, Baalbe lunged at Shirone. The minute he had promised at the beginning had already passed. Yet still, no change occurred in Shirone.

“Shirone! It’s dangerous!”

Shirone heard nothing. In the process of opening Immortal Function to the limit and reversing it, there was no room for nerves to intervene.

“Kuhahaha! I’ll hang you on my most repulsive part!”

From Baalbe’s back sprouted something like a scorpion’s tail. At the tip of the stinger hung a black drop.

A sleep poison so potent that a single sting could anesthetize even a dragon.

At that instant, Shirone’s eyes snapped open. Boom! A circle 2 meters in diameter formed, and Baalbe’s attack was repelled by a shockwave.

Seeing that, a look of confusion crossed Kariel’s face.

‘It can’t be. No, that’s impossible.’

A human cannot use an angel’s abilities. It was not something the human mind could comprehend.

Then why this unease? What was this miserable feeling pressing on his heart?

“Baalbe! There’s no time!”

“Kieeeee!”

Hearing Kariel’s order, Baalbe screamed and launched a close-range attack. His grotesque face was filled with fear.

Shirone’s halo spun at the speed of light, and a red point embedded itself in the center.

Immediately after, the first magic circle began to invoke countless concepts.

The magic circle of an angel.

Halo of infinite jurisdiction.

As he watched the countless magic circles blooming like a lotus from the halo, Kariel could not hide his shock.

It was truly a halo.

For a human to comprehend it on his own made no sense. Without a doubt, someone had taught it to him.

Who? What insane angel in this heaven would teach a halo to a human?

While Kariel remained trapped in shock, Peophe flew toward the women.

“Hurry! Hurry!”

“Alright! Wait a moment!”

Applying a twisting force, the restraints warped.

Thanks to Canis having already cut more than half, Peophe was able to destroy them without difficulty.

Meanwhile, Kariel could not take his eyes off the halo.

What was happening before his eyes was an even more serious problem than the nephilim.

The betrayal of an angel was a matter that shook the very foundations of heaven.

He had to know. Who had taught him.

And he had to erase their existence.

Baalbe used all his organs to crush Shirone. But as if blocked by an invisible barrier, the attack stopped before reaching him.

“Kiik! Kiik!”

He did everything he could, but it was useless. Just as a child cannot kill their mother, the authority of a higher being recorded in the laws prevented him from even approaching.

When multicolored flashes crashed into the halo, countless magic circles were born and meshed together like gears.

At the moment the information density exceeded 80 percent, the concept changed abruptly and the rotation speed increased.

The rotation speed of the halo, surpassing imagination, gave the impression that it alone could disrupt the world.

Upon understanding the concept contained in the magic circle, Baalbe’s face turned pale.

His legs lost strength and he fell flat on his back.

He had come face to face with the most terrifying thing for a Mara.

“Hiiik! Ata…! Ata…!”

Baalbe mobilized all the organs he could move and began crawling toward Kariel. But he was so out of his mind that none of his organs managed to propel him properly.

Abandoning the intent to kill, Baalbe turned his head and screamed.

“Kariel-nim! Avoid it! It’s the superpower amplification circle Ataraxia!”

Kariel knew it. But he did not move. All kinds of thoughts filled his mind, to the point that it seemed time itself was not even flowing.

Ataraxia?

The most powerful judicial technique of heaven, which had subdued countless angels. The signature move of Ikael, capable of making even any Mara scream.

And that ability had been passed on to a human?

It could not be.

It would be more believable that his eyes were failing and that the Ikael there only appeared to be a boy.

‘Ikael… have you truly gone mad?’

No, she had not gone mad.

She truly wanted to stop the war. She even chose to stand on the side of humans, abandoning the honor of being the strongest angel.

— Information transmission rate: 98 percent.

Kariel’s body trembled.

Only 2 percent remained.

But Ataraxia was in front of him.

He saw Shirone’s gaze aimed at him. Could a human really use that?

It might be a trick. The Liquor of the Life had to continue. But if what was happening now was real.

He would be annihilated.

“Ikaeeeeeel!”

At the very moment Kariel roared in fury, Shirone’s Photon Cannon was fired.