Chapter 222. VS Uriel
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG—!
Trees were pulverized, and a pit with no visible end formed.
Lightning-like light burned everything in every direction in an instant.
But not even a hair’s breadth of scorch mark clung to Ryu Min’s collar.
The mercenaries were the same.
[Ha! You’re scrambling around and running away so well. Like rats!]
Watching Black Scythe save thirty mercenaries already, Raguel’s stubbornness flared.
‘You damned filthy worm. How is it that every single attack I make, he dodges?’
He had boasted that he would kill every other human besides Black Scythe, but he hadn’t killed a single one.
He tried using techniques and even thrusting his swords directly, but each time, Black Scythe evacuated and saved the humans.
As if he were predicting the attacks, always one step faster.
‘That unlucky bastard—at least I’ll 인정 his speed.’
This won’t do.
Letting him keep saving humans any longer—his pride won’t allow it.
‘I’ll kill them all at once with a big technique.’
If he did that, Black Scythe might die too, but who cares?
The goal is to take him alive, but he’s someone who’s going to die anyway.
He could just claim he had no choice and killed him because he was stronger than expected, and that would be that.
‘Whether he dies in the Heavenly Realm or dies here, it’s all the same.’
Raguel spread the wings he had folded and gathered energy from all directions.
At the same time, he crossed his swords and raised them toward the sky.
It was the preparatory motion to use the technique he’d used so far—[Heavenly Judgment]—over a wide area.
‘Go on—try saving this many people at once. Heh-heh.’
But Raguel didn’t know.
That at that very moment, the Hero Rune stack Ryu Min had been gathering had filled to the brim.
That he no longer needed to save the mercenaries.
[Hero Rune Stack: 100/100]
[Due to Hero Rune effect, all stats increase by 100.]
[You can consume 100 stacks to use ‘Hero’s Protection.’]
‘Good. I built the stacks exactly like I wanted. I don’t need to only defend anymore.’
With a grin, Ryu Min’s gaze turned forward.
Raguel had his arms raised, gathering energy.
‘Preparing a technique in that defenseless stance… he’s basically begging me to kill him, isn’t he?’
No matter what, that stupid angel needed to be made to feel the gap in power.
Swallowing his mockery, Ryu Min launched himself in the blink of an eye.
[Ah.]
Right before the technique completed, Raguel stared blankly at Ryu Min arriving right in front of him.
His face said he’d never imagined an attack at this timing.
“Even if I’ve only been defending the whole time, aren’t you being way too careless?”
[You…!]
While he panicked, Ryu Min’s scythe sliced through his waist, and Raguel was split cleanly in two and died.
No—he should have.
If only Uriel hadn’t intervened.
FLASH—!
With the burst of light, Ryu Min’s scythe lost its target and cut through empty air.
The Raguel who had been right in front of him had already been moved beside Uriel.
[U-Uriel-nim!]
[I stepped in at the right time, didn’t I?]
[Thank you. Honestly, you scared me.]
The technique he was preparing was cut off, but thanks to that, he survived.
“Tch.”
Ryu Min looked annoyed, but inwardly, he wore a completely different smile.
‘Knew it. Of course he’d save him.’
He had already predicted with the Rune of Foresight that if he attacked at this timing, Uriel would step in.
But even knowing that, Ryu Min attacked Raguel anyway.
And in a way that was easy to respond to—at a slower speed than usual.
‘Even if I kill him, he won’t give me any rewards, so I can’t kill him.’
It must have looked like an attempt to kill, but in truth, Ryu Min had no intention of killing Raguel at all.
Uriel was the same.
Because there was no Demon’s Blessing.
‘If I want profit, I have to put Demon’s Blessing on them first, then kill them.’
But right now, Ryu Min had only filled the Demon Rune stack to 1.
Meaning he had to catch ninety-nine angels before he could use the blessing.
Everything up to now—him not killing them even though he could, and him showing a passive attitude of only defending—was all because of that.
‘There’s no profit, so I can’t kill them. If I’m going to kill them, I need to kill ninety-nine angels, put the blessing on, and then kill them.’
If he killed an archangel now, it was the same as throwing away the chance to gain thousands of stats.
That was why Ryu Min was simply staring the angels down.
‘Then what should I do? Like with Remiel—threaten their lives and force them to call in subordinates?’
Ryu Min shook his head inwardly.
Maybe another angel would fold, but Raguel, a hot-blooded angel overflowing with a sense of justice, wouldn’t yield to threats.
‘He’d rather choose death than compromise with a criminal.’
His superior, Uriel, was also highly likely not to compromise.
He seemed, unlike his appearance, to have a slippery, crafty side.
‘Even if I say I’ll spare them if they call subordinates, they won’t believe me.’
So the method of threatening them was rejected.
Then how could he make them call subordinates?
‘Yeah. That’s good.’
While he thought through the plan, he heard the angels’ conversation.
[From here on, I’ll join the fight. An opponent you can’t handle alone.]
[Ha… I wanted, if possible, not to borrow Uriel-nim’s power, but… it can’t be helped.]
The two angels stared at Ryu Min.
Having already finished gauging his strength, without even realizing he didn’t think much of them.
Shhk—
Uriel drew a small dagger from within his clothes.
For a moment, Ryu Min wondered if he was an assassin-type, but after reading the guy’s thoughts, he understood.
‘Not an assassin. He’s a mage-type.’
Sure enough, the gemstone set into the dagger shone, and grotesque letters began to swirl.
Ryu Min grasped what kind of spell it was just by thought and threw himself aside.
At once, a golden scroll whipped around the spot where he had been.
KWA-JA-JA-JA-JAK—!
A tree, bound in Ryu Min’s place, shattered into pieces.
It wasn’t strength you could dismiss just because it was “a scroll.”
[Fast—I’ll 인정 that. But.]
Uriel chanted again.
[You won’t be able to block this.]
The dagger flared with light, then left Uriel’s hand.
SSWEEEEEEEK—!
The dagger shot like an arrow and grazed past Ryu Min’s head.
His skull nearly could have been taken off, but it wasn’t over.
Like a boomerang changing its trajectory, the dagger flew back in to target Ryu Min again.
Like a guided missile.
‘If I can’t dodge it, I have to block it.’
Ryu Min lifted his scythe to knock the dagger aside.
But the instant the dagger made contact—
BOOOOM—!
An explosion went off and flung Ryu Min far away.
“Keugh.”
For the first time since fighting archangels, he rolled along the ground.
Seeing Ryu Min stand with a resentful expression, Uriel widened his eyes like a startled rabbit.
[No real injury even after being hit by an ‘Exploding Dagger.’ What kind of body is that supposed to be?]
Uriel, who had no way of knowing there was a Title that reduced damage from holy-type opponents by 80%, raised his hand again.
FLASH—!
The dagger he thought had vanished with the explosion was caught in his hand, and he chanted once more.
“Annoying bastard.”
He hadn’t taken major damage, but Uriel was definitely a harder opponent than Raguel.
Deciding to target Uriel first, Ryu Min charged in during the gap while he chanted.
In that moment, as if the technique had completed, Uriel slashed the air with the dagger.
[I absolve your sins with death.]
Sensing danger, Ryu Min twisted his body in a split second.
KU-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG—!
With only a hair’s breadth to spare, a storm of light and flame swept through the Forest of Magical Beasts.
[You dodged? Well, just as I expected.]
“What?”
A light glinted from Uriel’s dagger as he finished double casting.
Before Ryu Min could grasp the situation, a prison of light dropped from the sky.
KU-WOONG—!
Trapped in the prison without being able to move, Ryu Min visibly panicked.
KANG— KANG—! KANG!
He tried to break the bars with his scythe, but they didn’t even get scratched, much less cut.
[It’s over.]
[Humans can never escape the ‘Prison of Divine Punishment.’]
Raguel and Uriel smiled like victors.
Their faces looked relieved, as if they’d caught the troublesome rat and felt unburdened.
[As expected, Uriel-nim is incredible. To bind a human that even I struggled with so easily.]
[His movements are fast, but it’s lucky he’s dumber than I thought. No—was he dumb exactly as I thought? Human intelligence is obvious, after all.]
[Kih-heut-heut-heut-heut.]
Thinking he was a rat in a trap, the angels openly mocked him—but only for a moment.
“Reaperization.”
Ryu Min’s entire body turned pitch-black, and his presence changed.
KWAANG—! KWAANG—!
Even the sound of him striking the bars was different from before.
They truly realized it was a different level of destructive power when he finished five swings.
PA-KANG—!
Because he shattered the prison and stepped outside.
[Th-this…!]
[W-where do you think you’re crawling out, you filthy worm!]
A flustered Raguel crossed his swords to use Heavenly Judgment, and Uriel began chanting as well.
But before they could, the distance had already narrowed to the point that if he just reached out, he could touch them.
[Hk! This worm—kkuh-eo-eok!]
Raguel, startled, was struck at the end of the pole and folded over like a shrimp.
Swinging the pole, Ryu Min smashed the back of his head, and with a bang, Raguel’s head slammed into the dirt.
But perhaps because Raguel bought time—
[Wash your sins away with death!]
Uriel’s flames surged into Ryu Min, who had no time to dodge.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG—!
Seeing that it hit cleanly from the angle, Uriel curled his lips.
[Heh-heh, foolish human. In the end, you’ve turned to dust and vanished—]
“Who vanished?”
At the voice coming from within the dust, Uriel’s smile disappeared.
A rectangular wall of darkness stood like a shield.
Sssrk—
When the wall was released, Black Scythe appeared without a single scratch.
[H-how?]
“How did I live?”
Ryu Min stepped forward with a sneer.
“Because I’m strong, of course I survived. You don’t believe it? Then take a hit. You’ll know right away if you get smacked just once.”
Kicking off the ground explosively, Ryu Min grabbed Uriel’s wing in an instant.
CRACK—!
[Kiiiiiiaaaah!]
When he yanked as if pulling up a green onion, wings and feathers rained down in clumps.
Uriel immediately tried chanting and raising a protective barrier of light, but—
BANG— BANG—
It wasn’t enough to block the force of the scythe swings in Reaperization.
BANG— KWA-JA-JAK!
[Hk!]
As the barrier shattered and the scythe came in, Uriel hurriedly fired an Arrow of Light and teleported his body to the opposite side.
He’d nearly had his neck severed.
[Keugh—try blocking this too, if you can.]
Chanting, Uriel completed and hurled the Exploding Dagger he had landed on Ryu Min earlier.
SSWEEEEEEEK—!
Ryu Min openly let that guided attack—impossible to dodge—hit him.
BOOOOM—!
But unlike before, it didn’t leave even a single nick.
Because he had already wrapped his whole body in a wall of darkness.
“Do you think I’m stupid? You think I’d fall for an attack I already took once, again?”
[Keugh.]
With a relaxed smile, Ryu Min moved to pressure Uriel—and at that moment—
CHANG—!
Raguel appeared behind him in a sudden ambush.
Of course, Ryu Min, who had read it with presence detection, had no reason to take it.
[Die! You worm of a human—keok!]
After dodging the strike, he hooked the guy’s foot with the pole and flipped him over.
“Did an angel bastard hold a grudge from a past life? Why are you so desperate you can’t stand not eating me?”
[You lowly human—kkeuuaaahk!]
Taking his back in an instant, Ryu Min tore out Raguel’s wings with a crunch.
Whether Raguel screamed or not, Ryu Min yanked and yanked until he sprang back.
A scroll of light appeared a fraction too late, coiled through empty air, and vanished.
“I told you, didn’t I? I don’t get hit by an attack I’ve already taken once.”
Smiling, Ryu Min was about to charge again when—
“Ah….”
As bad luck would have it, Reaperization ended.
Ryu Min’s flustered expression was exposed to the angels without any filter.
“F*ck.”
Leaving only that curse, Ryu Min spread his wings and left the spot.
He flew far away and vanished in no time, and the angels stared after the disappeared Black Scythe with dumbfounded faces.
“W-what… what just happened? Why is that human suddenly running away? Uriel-nim?”
“How would I know.”
Even Uriel was flustered, since they’d been the ones being pushed back.
“He had the advantage—so why in the world…?”
In the wrecked surroundings, there were only two angels left.
The other humans had already run away.
Then Uriel snapped his fingers.
[Ah! I think I know why he ran.]
[What is it?]
[Didn’t he run because he ran out of strength?]
[Strength?]
[Think about it. That human—didn’t he suddenly become explosively strong after he turned black?]
Come to think of it, he had.
The guy who had struggled against the two of them became drastically stronger after transforming.
[And then when it wore off, he panicked and ran.]
[Ah… so?]
[Yeah. He ran because he ran out of strength and had no choice. Once that black transformation ended, he judged he couldn’t handle the two of us.]
Only now seeming to understand, Raguel nodded.
[Then now’s our chance. Let’s find that filthy worm quickly and kill him.]
[I want to, but as you can see, both of us lost one wing.]
Having lost their ability to fly, the angels could only stare after Ryu Min like a dog that chased a chicken and can only look up at the roof.
[Huaaah… damn it! A perfect chance came along and we have to let him go while watching!]
[Don’t be too frustrated, Raguel. There is a way.]
At the words that there was a way, Raguel calmed his excitement.
[What way?]
[Request support. Contact the Heavenly Realm right now and handle him together.]
[What? But if the higher-ups find out, our dignity becomes a joke—]
[You think I don’t know that? Of course we have to call them without the higher-ups knowing.]
[Without them knowing?]
[Exclude up to Grade 3, since that could reach the upper line’s ears, and call in forces of Grade 4 and below. Then even if we catch Black Scythe, we can credit it as our achievement. And naturally it won’t reach the higher-ups’ ears.]
[Ah, a method like that…]
If they mobilized angels of Grade 4 and below, who were in the mid-to-lower ranks, they could clean things up behind the scenes without the archangels’ superiors knowing.
[I’ll send the support request immediately. How many should we call?]
[When he isn’t turned black, his skill is nearly on par with the two of us. From that angle, I don’t think we need that many.]
[But what if he turns black again?]
[Then we’d be in danger.]
The destructive power when he turned black was on a different level than when he didn’t.
If they called too few, they didn’t know what kind of disaster could happen.
[Then what do we do? How many should we call…?]
[Hmm….]
After weighing it carefully, a sigh-like sentence came from Uriel’s mouth.
[What can we do? We have no choice but to call as many as possible.]