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Chapter 158 – Akashic Records
Bayel looked around the moment he arrived on the ground.
[So this is where the signal came from?]
The place he had arrived at was the secret hollow—one of the most concealed places in the Holy Empire.
It was the altar where oracles were carried out.
Kallen, who had been crouching on the floor after being overwhelmed by Ryu Min’s pressure, snapped his head up and brightened.
[S-sir Battle Angel!]
Bayel frowned as he watched Kallen scurry over and cling to his wing.
[You were the one who sent the distress signal?]
[Y-yes!]
Thud—!
Bayel shoved Kallen away with his wing.
[It disgusts me, so don’t cling to me. You got captured by a mere human, and you’ve made me go through this annoying trouble.]
[I-I’m sorry.]
Kallen had no choice but to bow his head.
The heavens were a vertical society with strict ranks.
Even calling a 6th-rank to help when you were 9th-rank was something you had to be extremely wary about.
In human terms, it was like a private calling a sergeant.
[Tsk tsk. Getting beaten by a mere human—how truly disgraceful.]
[I-I have no excuse….]
[It’s fine.]
[Huh?]
Bayel grinned.
[Thanks to you, I get to play with a human. I was bored to death anyway.]
Bayel’s gaze shifted to the center of the hollow.
A human stood there blankly, holding a scythe.
[That human?]
[Y-yes! That’s him! Please—tear his arms and legs to pieces!]
[Just that? You have to pull out his organs while he’s alive and wrap them around his neck, kihihihik.]
Letting out a bizarre laugh, Bayel was already looking forward to it.
Just imagining the human’s screams of pain, the blood and organs spilling out like juice—it made him feel good.
Any drowsiness had long since vanished.
‘I’ll slice off his arms and legs one by one and toy with him.’
A pathetic human isn’t a match for a Battle Angel.
Even if they’re a player who inherited the system’s power, that fact doesn’t change.
‘It’s around Round 10 now, so what—about Level 40?’
A Level 40 trying to come at him?
Bayel snorted without meaning to.
‘If it were Level 99, maybe. Anything below that isn’t even worth facing.’
He was putting on a show of bravado, but he didn’t look that strong.
Shing—
Folding his wings, Bayel drew the sword at his waist.
Golden holy power burst from the blade.
It was the Battle Angel technique that could cut even steel like tofu: [Holy Aura].
[Hey, human. Is life boring for you?]
“……”
[Not knowing your place, you dared to lay a hand on an angel. I can assume that means you want to die right now, yes?]
Instead of answering, Ryu Min took four potions out of his inventory.
They were the intermediate Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Luck potions he’d received from Victor this time.
With the activation word ‘Use,’ the contents of the potions seeped into Ryu Min’s mouth.
He couldn’t taste anything, and he didn’t feel any change, but he could tell by the messages.
[Strength increases by 8 for 24 hours.]
[Agility increases by 8 for 24 hours.]
[Intelligence increases by 8 for 24 hours.]
[Luck increases by 8 for 24 hours.]
All his stats had risen.
Crack—
It felt like somewhere, the last thread of reason had snapped.
Bayel’s cheeks were twitching violently.
[You dare suck down potions in front of me…?]
It seemed his little display of leisure had offended Bayel’s eyes.
A sigh escaped Ryu Min’s mouth.
[You’re even sighing?]
Not just a sigh.
Ryu Min tapped his own head twice.
“Seriously, angels—this is the problem. This head.”
[What?]
“Just how did they teach you in the heavens that every single one of you looks down on humans? What, did you get brainwashed in training or something?”
[……]
Now too dumbfounded to bother talking, Bayel raised his sword as if the conversation wasn’t worth it.
He planned to cut the bastard’s arms and legs off one by one with his specialty—swift sword strikes.
‘Then I’ll rip open your belly and show you each and every organ right in front of your eyes.’
He had no intention of letting him die cleanly.
He would disassemble his limbs as painfully as possible, use his screams as music, and toy with him slowly as he died.
[Human. Even in death, you will regret meeting—]
Bayel, about to swing his sword, suddenly paused.
At some point, the human’s body turned semi-transparent, and black energy flowed out and wrapped around his whole body.
Like he was surrounded by black smoke.
So much that his face couldn’t even be seen.
‘What is that?’
It was Sasin-hwa, but Bayel didn’t know much about players, so he could only be puzzled.
‘That aura isn’t normal.’
Feeling an instinctive sense of danger, Bayel closed the distance like he was bouncing forward.
In moments like this, striking first was the answer.
Shu-shu-shu-shu-shu-shuk—!
The swift sword, soaked in aura, embroidered the darkness like a beam of light.
But there was no feeling of contact on the tip of the blade.
Bayel’s eyes went wide after that.
‘He dodged all of it?’
In a little over two seconds, he thrust six times, aiming for the upper body—yet every single one was avoided.
‘It’s a fluke. It has to be a fluke. It must be a fluke.’
He wouldn’t be satisfied unless he confirmed it again.
Bayel’s sword moved, leaving golden afterimages.
Shu-shu-shuk— shu-shu-shuk—!
‘H-he dodged all of those too?’
He’d always been confident that, in speed, he wouldn’t lose even to a 5th-rank angel—so why?
Why wouldn’t his sword hit the black human in front of him?
“Are you seriously asking because you don’t know why?”
[What?]
“It’s simple.”
Ryu Min’s scythe flashed diagonally.
“Because I’m faster than you.”
Clang.
Bayel dropped his sword and fell to his knees.
[Keuk… keo-uk…!]
From his chest, split open in a long gash, golden blood flowed without end.
Thud—
One strike.
That was all it took to bring down a 6th-rank angel.
At the unbelievable scene, Kallen’s face turned pale.
‘A B-battle angel died without doing anything….’
As far as Kallen knew, a battle angel could, at the very least, fight a Level 99 player.
And yet a being like that got taken out this absurdly.
‘That human… could he be Level 99?’
Kallen immediately shook his head, correcting the thought.
‘No, that can’t be. By Round 10, there’s never been a player in history who already reached max level—’
“Hey.”
[……Y-yes?]
Without realizing it, Kallen answered in honorifics.
“Call more.”
[M-more…?]
“Yeah. If you don’t want to die, hurry. My body’s itching like I’m going to die.”
[Ah… yes.]
As ordered, Kallen sent another distress signal.
Along with a message that they needed as many troops as possible.
‘This time, please—please kill that human bastard!’
With that desperate wish in his heart, he waited, and soon reinforcements appeared.
Five 6th-rank battle angels.
Kallen’s face brightened like nothing had happened.
‘Good! With that, we can definitely kill that arrogant human ba—’
[Gaaaah!]
[Keo-heo-heok!]
[Kyaaah!]
At the sudden screams, Kallen’s face hardened.
He didn’t even see how many times the scythe swung.
All he could see were angels collapsing meaninglessly, spraying golden blood.
“Are you kidding me? Call someone stronger. Now.”
At Ryu Min’s words, Kallen swallowed hard.
Now he could see it—this wasn’t an ordinary strong human.
Akashic Records.
A trans-dimensional information aggregate said to record everything that happens in the universe.
An angel opened the doors of that immense library.
Kuurururung—
Normally, no one could enter freely.
But he had the right.
Because he was one of the Seven Archangels.
[Remiel-nim, you have arrived?]
[Luvaiah.]
Luvaiah was the thought-form that managed and guarded Akashic Records.
If this were a library, Luvaiah would be the librarian.
Thud—
Only after the open doors closed did Remiel spread his wings and fly toward the center.
To Remiel, the infinite library—filled with records of the entire universe in every direction—was a great place to kill time.
[Did you come again today to peek at records from another world, Remiel-nim?]
[Yes. Do you have a story you’d recommend?]
[There is a good story.]
The moment Luvaiah finished speaking, a single book drifted up, floating gently.
[It is a story you will find interesting.]
[Is that so? Then let’s see if it’s worth 기대ing for.]
Smiling, Remiel checked the book’s title.
[Hm? A record about someone called Black Scythe…?]
He didn’t know who it was, but since Luvaiah claimed it would be interesting, he flipped the pages.
And soon, he understood who it was.
[Isn’t this the human currently playing the survival game on Earth?]
[That is correct.]
[What could possibly be interesting about a story like this?]
[Read a little further. You will certainly be drawn in.]
Luvaiah had never been wrong, so Remiel held back and turned to the next page.
Before long, his eyes had no choice but to widen.
[An impressive human. It’s only Round 10, yet he’s Level 89. At this point, players wouldn’t even have reached Master grade yet.]
[That is not all. Please keep reading.]
As he read the record written in the book, Remiel kept letting out impressed sounds.
[He maintained 1st place across all zones from Round 1 to now. And what is this? He rewrote Akashic Records’ record twice?]
In the book, the record of a 1-second time attack and the record of clearing the Tower of Ordeals’ 99th floor were engraved in golden rune-letters.
[I’ve seen countless humans, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a human like this.]
[See? I told you it would interest you.]
It was definitely intriguing.
But only a little.
This alone wasn’t enough to truly catch Remiel’s interest.
[If this is the end, it’s a bit disappointing. Yes, he’s an interesting human—but the story isn’t fun.]
Remiel fluttered his wings and turned another page.
Black Scythe’s path and growth process were recorded in detail, but Remiel flipped through them without much care.
[At a glance, he grew at a staggering rate and already reached Level 89. At this rate, he seems like a strong candidate to fulfill the wish at Round 20.]
[And yet your eyes look interested, despite what you’re saying?]
[Impossible. No matter how the survival game ends, it doesn’t drop any scraps to me. Why would I be interested, Luvaiah? You know my tastes. Compared to a goblin mating with a human woman, this kind of human is far less interesting.]
[I know. But will you turn to the last page?]
[There’s no need.]
[You will certainly find it intriguing.]
After repeated urging, Remiel flipped the page as if he couldn’t win.
[Huh?]
As though he had seen something he wasn’t meant to, Remiel’s brows knit.
[What is this? It says he killed fifteen battle angels?]
[Yes. He is the only player who has drawn a blade against angels.]
[Hah. A laughable human, getting arrogant. Ridiculous.]
At that moment, new words appeared on the page Remiel was holding.
[One more angel has just been added.]
[Are you saying a battle is happening in real time?]
[It seems so.]
His troops were dying right now?
To a mere human?
Because he’d been inside Akashic Records, he hadn’t realized.
In here, the connection to other worlds was blocked.
[Haha. He really is an interesting human.]
Rather than anger, interest stirred.
To think he’d decide to kill angels.
Thinking this human might be more entertaining than expected, Remiel moved his wings.
Flap—
[Are you leaving?]
[I have to. My subordinates are being ground down like consumables—how can I, an archangel, just sit and watch?]
Kuurururung—
Remiel left through the doors.
Would one of the Seven Archangels go to meet a human that could be “cleaned up” by sending a single 1st-rank battle angel?
Normally, such a thing would be impossible.
[See? I told you it would interest you.]
In the empty library, Luvaiah muttered.