"I am finally free!" A hearty cackle echoed in the surroundings.
Even though it was only a voice that Azekiel heard, he could still feel the power behind that voice. That voice was nothing similar to the voice of the old man from before.
"I was wrong. That man wasn't the Soul Demon."
Azekiel understood that he had made a mistake, but he also knew that there was no way he could've known. In the entire town, the only suspicious person he saw was the old man. Moreover, the system only gave the mission when he was with the old man, which made him assume that the system was referring to the old man.
Who was the old man? What did he want from him if he wasn't a Soul Demon? He left without taking anything, so what was his end goal? And what was the meaning behind his vague words? Why was this place different in his presence? There were thousands of questions in his head.
Unfortunately, the only person who could answer these questions was gone now. Even if he was here, Azekiel was sure the man wouldn't have responded in clear terms. For now, he couldn't worry about what could've been. Instead, he needed to focus on what was ahead of him.
"How strong is he?" Azekiel asked, calling forth his Gauntlets of Gluttony.
"She…" Raphael answered. "It's a woman who appears to be the leader here."
"Leader? You mean there are more than one?" Azekiel had assumed that there was only one person he needed to fight, and it was the Soul Demon, but to find out that there were more people here truly came as a surprise.
This place was the Prison of Heaven. If there was anyone here, it was evident that they were going to be really powerful. He was already worried if he could kill the Soul Demon, but as the number increased, things became more complicated.
"How many are there in total?" Azekiel asked.
"I'm not sure. So far, I have seen two people. The person who attacked me and the lady who was the leader from the way the man addressed her."
"Two... so numbers are in our favor at least." Azekiel theorized. "Lia, I think we would need your help in this one. You stay out of the battle and provide us passive support, mostly through your illusions. They shouldn't know that you're even here."
"I'll take care of the Soul Demon myself. It should be that woman, if I'm not wrong. Raphael, you can kill her partner. Can you do it?"
Raphael agreed. "I should be able to. He attacked me when I was distracted by their leader, asking her who she was. He won't have it easy next time."
Raphael was somewhat embarrassed that Azekiel saw him being sent flying in the first clash. He was eager to prove himself since he didn't want to be seen as weak. What he said was also not a lie since he hadn't expected to be suddenly attacked. If he had, he could've reacted in time.
"Kekeke, little rat, don't tell me you died in one punch?" Through the hole in the wall, a dark hooded figure entered the hall, laughing.
He was the same person who had attacked Raphael out of nowhere. Not wanting the man to see Lia here, Azekiel rushed to the man, clenching his fist.
"Wha-"
The man couldn't even react as Azekiel appeared before him. He brought both his hands together, making a cross to protect his chest, blocking the attack.
Unfortunately for him, throughout the journey, Azekiel had not only increased his speed, but he had also increased his strength by a lot. He was now in the Top Tier Kings in the tower, even without having to use any skills.
Moreover, the Gauntlets of Gluttony further strengthened his arms, providing them with extra reinforcements.
In the past, Azekiel had suffered a heavy injury in both his hands which weakened his hands and made him unable to use them for heavy tasks without serious risk of damaging them further.
Fortunately, the Gauntlets removed that weakness by providing absolute protection to his hands, allowing him to do what he couldn't do before! It allowed him to use his fists to fight while forcing his entire strength behind it.
The hooded figures came expecting a wounded Raphael. He didn't expect someone to survive his hit without being seriously hurt. That was also part of the reason why he was so relaxed. He expected Raphael to be on the ground, struggling to even stand, let alone counter.
Moreover, other than Raphael, he hadn't expected anyone. That's why when Azekiel appeared before him like a ghost, he couldn't do anything but protect himself.
The strength behind Azekiel's fist was no less than his own attack on Raphael. If anything, it appeared to be even stronger to some extent.
The hooded figure managed to protect his vitals from the attack, but the impact behind the attack was just so powerful that even he was sent flying this time.
Azekiel stepped out of the house through the same hole in the wall to land on the street. He finally had a clear view of the village.
The village, which previously looked like any ordinary village, if one was to ignore the strange houses, was now completely different. It was unrecognizable.
The streets which were previously clear were now filled with blood marks. Many craters were also visible on the ground. As for the villagers that were previously present in the village, they were all missing.
The houses that were made from trees were also missing. In the entire village, there was only one house present, and it was where Azekiel was previously residing. And even that house looked nothing like it did from outside before.
The dark hooded figure landed on the ground, seemingly unharmed at all.
"Big mistake, kid... Big mistake."
The figure took off his cloak, tossing it to the side, revealing his well-built body, which was no different than the body of an ordinary human. His face also looked like that of an ordinary human if one was to ignore the two crimson horns on his head as if he was the devil.
There were two long scars on the face of the man, making a cross on his face. It was only after the man removed his cloak when it came to light that the man didn't have eyes! The scar was going straight through where his eyes were supposed to be.
"You are mine!" The man flew to Azekiel.
Unfortunately for him, before he could even get close to Azekiel, a winged creature appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the man by his neck. "Why don't you play with me?"
Raphael had managed to grab the throat of the man.
Instead of appearing worried, the man flashed a grin.
