Zeke closely examined the angel whose lower body had not yet formed.
"It looks like it escaped from the cocoon just before hatching."
If there had been a bit more time, it would have hatched perfectly.
The smooth upper body that formed over the wriggling mass of flesh resembled a mysterious statue of a deity.
It was then, as Zeke narrowed his eyes, raised Laevatein, and began to slowly move toward the statue—
The statue's eyes suddenly snapped open.
The angel's pupils were mysterious in themselves, as if the night sky had been transplanted there.
Its gaze, like a dark night embedded with the starlight of the Milky Way, scanned the surroundings.
Ooooooo—
A mystical tone flowed from the mouths of the two angel statues.
It was a strange melody, neither song nor voice, yet so beautiful that merely hearing it stirred the heart.
Moreover, the angel of the Sagyeon Palace, awakened by Harvey West using fragments, had possessed an unapproachable beauty, but the one before him had surpassed it, embodying the pinnacle of beauty.
The people around, captivated by the angel's exquisitely beautiful form and the enchanting tone from its mouth, began to assume reverent postures and pray.
"The... the Lord has descended."
"The Lord bestows grace and blessings upon us!"
It was not grace or blessings, but a signal of the apocalypse—yet the ignorant humans saw it only as a divine being.
At that moment, the wriggling flesh at the base of the angel statue's lower body stirred, extending tentacles that began to move like spider legs.
Ooooooo!
Unlike the upper body, which sang in a beautiful tone, the tentacles that sprouted from below its waist made it look quite grotesque.
Sensing the energy that emanated from the angel, Zeke channeled the power of the Chaos Field into Laevatein.
'Judging by its appearance... it must be the angel of the Gemini Palace.'
Seeing the two angel statues joined together, it seemed to represent the constellation of the twins among the Thirteen Palaces.
Zeke sent Bucephalus back and, gripping Laevatein, swiftly flew toward the angel atop the tower.
Rumble—
For an ordinary human, the awe that rose from the angel's song was overwhelming, impossible to contain.
But for Zeke, who had transcended to divinity beyond even a transcendent being, the angel's song had little effect.
Zeke swung the sword wrapped in Chaos Field energy toward the Gemini Palace angel.
Slash!
The tentacles that sprouted from the angel's lower body moved to block Zeke's sword.
But the tentacles that touched his blade turned to ash and scattered.
He immediately thrust the sword into the neck of one of the Gemini Palace angels.
Crunch!
Laevatein sank deep into the angel's neck, and with the sword gripped, Zeke poured in the power of the Chaos Field.
Sizzle—
The Chaos Field energy Zeke emitted infused into the angel's body.
In response, the tone from the angel statue grew even louder, spreading in all directions.
At the same time, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Sentinel No. 3 senses a threat from the exclusion target.]
[Emergency situation recognized. Emergency program activated.]
[Releasing control device on Sentinel No. 3.]
With the message, changes began to occur in the angel's body.
Crunch!
The angel statue, whose backs were joined as one, split into two sides.
'Was it meant to separate originally?'
Zeke urgently pulled the sword from the neck and tried to strike the other separating head.
But the already separated statue had moved out of his attack range.
Crunch!
From the backs of the two separated angels, four wings began to sprout.
Zeke first drew Chains of Solomon from his left hand, wrapping them around the angel with the sword in its neck to immobilize it.
In the meantime, the other angel transformed into a complete form with four beautiful wings on its back.
Its lower body still had sprouting tentacles, but the upper body alone resembled an angel from scripture.
Zeke, holding one angel with the chains, aimed his sword at the other with spread wings and stirred the Chaos Field.
Rumble!
A storm of Chaos Field raged from Zeke's body.
He watched the winged Gemini Palace angel warily, observing its movements.
'It's not fully hatched, but even in this state, it's dangerous.'
Then, the Gemini Palace angel opened its mouth wide toward Zeke.
Kaaaaaaa—
Concentric circles spread from the angel's mouth, unleashing a powerful sonic wave that engulfed Zeke.
Eeeeee—
Startled by the sonic wave ringing in his ears, Zeke retreated.
'Ugh!'
Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, Zeke momentarily exposed an opening.
After attacking Zeke, the angel spread its wings and ascended into the air with a dignified posture.
As Zeke tried to pursue, another message appeared before his eyes.
[Sentinel No. 3 connects to the dimensional server.]
[Updating information on unauthorized escape entity.]
[Deriving optimal exclusion method.]
[Related content updated.] [Activating extermination program.] Zeke was startled by the message.
'An extermination program? No way...'
Zeke turned to see where the Gemini Palace angel looked.
It was toward the citizens and allied forces outside Jupiter Castle.
Zeke realized what the angel targeted.
"Don't waste time—focus on me!"
He launched a sword strike straight at the angel.
Whoosh!
The angel spread its four wings toward Zeke's incoming sword strike.
Whoooong!
The vibrating, glowing wings created a protective barrier, blocking Zeke's sword strike.
Rumble—
After neutralizing Zeke's attack, the angel immediately flew toward the citizens and allied forces.
Another message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Replenishing energy for full activation of the extermination program.]
The tentacles that extended from the angel's lower body plunged toward the allied forces and citizens.
'Even without the Hero King's homunculus, it's this strong. Definitely different from that one before.'
Unlike the Sagyeon Palace angel cultivated from fragments, this Gemini Palace angel seemed capable of blooming without absorbing a special spirit body.
In truth, angels were beings that, after causing the apocalypse, became cocoons buried in various places in the phenomenal world and awakened to their original form at the call of a constellation when the time of the end came.
The Sagyeon Palace angel absorbed by Zeke had been shaped by Harvey West, who cultivated fragments with his own blood and flesh into an incomplete cocoon.
It had then fully regained its original spirituality by absorbing the Hero King's homunculus.
And this Gemini Palace angel was one that had slumbered in a complete cocoon form, discovered by Emperor Nero, who had devised a way to awaken it using dark magic.
'It's absorbing humans to rapidly complete its incomplete body.'
If the awakened Gemini Palace angel exhibited abilities similar to the previous Sagyeon Palace angel, it was highly likely to become a constellation's avatar body and unfold a unique domain.
'I have to stop it before that.'
Zeke glanced at the other angel bound by Chains of Solomon.
'If the two are paired...'
Looking at the chained angel, Zeke's eyes flashed.
He slowly extended his hand toward it and said,
"I'll make you regret awakening here."
*
"All Blue Knights and above, step forward!"
The allied forces swung their swords at the tentacles that extended from the sky.
Only an aura blade could damage the tentacles, so those of Blue Knight rank and higher stepped up to attack, while other knights and soldiers raised shields to block the approaching tentacles.
Slash—
Hundreds of knights slashed the tentacles with aura blades, but more tentacles regenerated from the severed ends.
"Argh!"
At that moment, a soldier caught by a tentacle was lifted into the air, his essence drained on the spot, turning him into a mummy.
The nobles, witnessing this, trembled in fear and hid behind the other knights' shields.
"Q-quickly, do something about that thing!"
The nobles who had prattled about knightly honor earlier were the first to charge when storming an empty castle, but in this emergency, they only cared about saving their own skins.
But the angel's tentacles made no distinction between nobles and commoners.
The extending tentacles wrapped around not just knights and soldiers, but also the nobles hiding behind them, lifting them up.
"S-save me! Aaaah!"
They screamed desperately, but the nobles, their essence completely drained in an instant, turned into mummies, leaving only bones and skin on the ground as they died.
Watching the situation, Helen shouted at Duke.
"Sir Duke! Chopping the tentacles won't end it! We need to attack the main body."
Duke nodded at Helen's words, raised his sword, and stirred the energy of the Gale Technique.
Rumble!
Duke generated a gale and unleashed a sword strike toward the angel floating in the air.
Whoosh!
As the powerful gale rushed toward it, the angel spread its wings again, vibrating them to form a protective barrier.
Rumble!
Duke's gale was blocked by the angel's barrier.
As Duke frowned at the blocked attack, something came flying at high speed from behind.
Whoosh!
It was the Red King's spear, infused with draconic energy, aiming for the angel's back.
Despite the spear flying in an instant, the angel's arm split into two, catching the incoming spear.
Sizzle—
Smoke rose from the Red King's spear gripped in the angel's hand.
The angel had neutralized the sudden ambush without a care.
As the angel tried to throw the spear in its hand back toward the ground—
"Haaah!"
Alicia, who had soared into the sky, swung her Fang-Wolf Sword toward the angel's head.
Taking advantage of the opening from Duke and the Red King's ambush, Helen had created aerial stairs with armor fragments, allowing Alicia to leap up to the angel's position.
Rumble!
Alicia tore through the angel's barrier with the Fang-Wolf Sword imbued with the Wolf King Fenrir's power and struck down with force enough to split its crown.
The angel, startled, tried to dodge sideways, but it was a step too late.
The Fang-Wolf Sword dug into the angel's shoulder.
Crunch!
The blade advanced unimpeded, slashing from the right side of the angel's neck down to its chest.
Ooooooo!
Though ordinary weapons couldn't wound the angel's body, the Fang-Wolf Sword, made from Wolf King Fenrir's fangs, carried godslaying power, inflicting a fatal injury.
Alicia gripped the Fang-Wolf Sword that had cleaved the angel's body with one hand, while seizing one of its four wings with the power of the Great Strength Wielder in the other.
"You monster bastard! This is the power of the North!" Crunch!
Alicia ripped off one of the angel's wings outright.
At the same time, the fully awakened Fang-Wolf Sword opened wide, devouring the angel's flesh and drinking its sacred blood.
Kaaaaaaa!
The angel, with a wing torn off and suffering a fatal wound, let out a horrific screech.
Alicia, taking the sound head-on, bled from her ears but did not let go of the sword.
The angel reached out to pull the Fang-Wolf Sword from its body and tried to shake off Alicia.
But Alicia clung tenaciously to the angel's body, enduring as the Fang-Wolf Sword feasted inside.
Kaaaaak!
As its insides were eaten alive by the Fang-Wolf Sword, the angel writhed in agony.
No matter how it thrashed, Alicia wouldn't detach, so the angel finally recalled the tentacles it had sent to the ground, attempting to pry her off.
Dozens of tentacles wrapped around Alicia's arms, legs, and body.
"In your dreams, you bastard!"
It wasn't easy to detach Alicia, who possessed the power of the Great Strength Wielder, so the angel changed its plan.
Squelch!
After wrapping Alicia's body with tentacles, it shoved her into the gash in its body, intending to absorb her whole.
Even Alicia, who had been tearing at the tentacles with brute force, couldn't move once fully bound.
"You son of a—!"
Flames flickered in her eyes as she struggled to escape.
But the angel tightly gripped Alicia's bound form and inserted her into its body.
Crunch!
Inside, it could feel her thrashing violently in resistance.
The angel, embracing the tentacles wrapped around Alicia like an egg, tried to digest her somehow.
Soon, the movements inside began to subside gradually.
Only then did the angel unfurl its crouched body and wings, rising again.
But at that moment, a message appeared before the angel's eyes.
[Unauthorized user accesses the main system of Sentinel No. 3.]