"Those pieces of trash…"
His hands trembled, and he felt his anger rising.
KangWoo frowned.
"Guardians made Ludwig fall?"
That was complete nonsense.
The Demon Cult didn't know what had happened inside that dungeon, what kind of conversation was exchanged, and how Ludwig had died.
There was absolutely no proof.
What they were doing was incitement and fabrication—they were just throwing out a random fantasy they had thought up.
'They're trying to make him distrust us.'
Thanks to what happened with Ludwig, the angels had started to distrust Guardian, and the Demon Cult was trying to take advantage of that.
Instead of providing evidence and logic, they tried to prove themselves through lies.
"Ha."
He laughed in disbelief.
It was a foolish attempt.
'But…'
KangWoo's eyes narrowed.
'It's still not good.'
He wasn't sure what kind of fake scenario they would lay out to enforce their lies, but the most important thing was what would happen if Raphael believed them.
There were many things about Ludwig's death that weren't clear, so Guardian also didn't have a way to counter their lies.
'The biggest thing is…'
Kim ShiHoon had killed Ludwig.
Even if he'd already fallen at that point, it didn't change the fact that he'd killed him.
"I wonder what they're going to say…"
He fell into thought while looking at Yulia.
'They probably won't just talk without showing anything.'
It didn't matter if they'd really made Ludwig fall or not.
Satan and the Demon Cult were both forces of darkness—they weren't beings that could reach an agreement with Ludwig.
"What I’m guessing is that…"
He narrowed his eyes.
'Authority of Insight.'
'As expected.'
The tips of KangWoo's mouth went up.
'So you're going to do that, huh?'
He got up.
"Balzac…"
He put his finger on his ear and called his underling.
- Did you call me, Master?
"Are the preparations done?"
- Of course.
There was no need to ask what he was talking about.
KangWoo nodded.
"Send it right now."
He cut the conversation.
'I can't stand still and do nothing.'
Incitement and provocation…
They were trying to spread false information to worsen the relationship between Guardian and the angels, and he couldn't stand still while they did that.
'Instead…'
It could be a great opportunity.
KangWoo raised the communication crystal as he walked.
"Lilith…"
[Yes, Mr. KangWoo?]
A reply came immediately.
"Have you heard any information about the situation?"
[If it's about Satan's apostle entering the angel's base, I just received the news. I'm sorry, I should've been more careful…]
"No, it's okay. Rather than that…"
He quietly opened his mouth.
"There's one thing I wish you could help me with."
Lilith laughed lightly at KangWoo's words.
[Anything the King orders.]
* * *
"What…?"
A breathtaking sense of pressure emanated from his five-meter-tall body, and he stood straight with wide shoulders and bulging muscles. His armor shone with golden light, and eight wings sprouted from his back.
Archangel Raphael frowned at the Demon Cult apostle’s words.
"Nonsense!"
Kim ShiHoon stood up and stomped on the ground.
A white light began gathering as he spread his hand and summoned a greatsword.
Holy Sword Ludwig…
The Myth-ranked Weapon that had the strength of Archangel Raphael and the blessing of a high elf began to pour bright light out of it.
"Wait…"
Raphael raised his hand.
He looked at Yulia with deep, sunken eyes.
"What does that mean?"
Yulia lowered her head.
"It's just like I said—the Demon Cult and Satan have nothing to do with this incident. This is something that was caused by Guardian."
"Ha!" Raphael laughed in disbelief.
He looked at Yulia as if she was speaking nonsense.
"Do you think I'll just believe you?"
Her words made no sense, and there was no way he would believe something like that.
It would be hard to believe from one of his apostles, let alone one of Satan’s apostles.
There was no need to think about it.
"Fufu."
The tips of Yulia's mouth went up, and she slowly stood.
* * *
"…"
Yulia seemed confident.
Raphael frowned when he saw her unashamed, confident demeanor.
She seemed too confident to be an apostle of Evil who had walked straight into an archangel’s base.
"Then, Mr. Raphael, are you sure Guardian wasn’t involved in this?"
"That…"
"That's probably not the case, right? In the end, the one that killed Ludwig was…"
She slowly raised her finger and pointed at Kim ShiHoon.
"That human over there."
"Shut up!!" Kim ShiHoon angrily shouted.
He glared at her.
"Ludwig… was already at a point… of no return," he said as if he were chewing the words.
He remembered Ludwig’s grotesque veins and pained appearance, and he remembered his last communications in the dungeon of begging them to escape and not go there.
"There was nothing I could've done."
Kim ShiHoon lowered his head.
Yulia smiled brightly.
"There was nothing you could've done? Do you have any proof of that? Wasn’t everyone there a Guardian?"
"…"
"Answer. Was there anyone there that wasn’t a Guardian member? There was nobody, right? Then—"
"Stop."
Raphael raised his hand and glared at Yulia.
"Apostle of Evil, are you trying to play tricks on me?"
"Mr. Raphael, I'm sorry if you feel that way."
Yulia turned her head and kept talking.
"Still, don't you think that it's weird? They said that Ludwig suddenly fell into a demon’s trap at that moment, but… how did he end up falling for that?"
"…"
There was a heavy silence.
"We thought the situation was strange, so we took a glimpse at Light Watchers’ reports."
Yulia's eyes shone.
"According to the report, Ludwig used the gate in the Hall of Protection that the Guardians use to get here. Fufu. Isn't that too much of a coincidence? To think he'd get dragged to another place while using a gate inside the Guardians’ base…"
"You bitch…!!"
Kim ShiHoon couldn't hold back the anger anymore and stood up, and the holy sword in his hands began shining intensely.
He was about to leap forward when Raphael opened his mouth.
"Wait…"
BOOM-!
"Cough!"
A huge amount of pressure weighed down on Kim ShiHoon's shoulders, and he fell to his knees.
"…"
Raphael closed his eyes and began to organize his thoughts.
Five minutes… Ten minutes…
Raphael kept thinking in the heavy silence.
He slowly opened his mouth.
"Still, I can't trust what you're saying—"
"I knew you were going to say that."
Yulia cut Raphael's words short.
Yulia took out something she had prepared—it was a black communication crystal.
"That's…"
"This isn't the place for a lowly servant like me anymore."
She smiled brightly.
"I think it would be better if you cleared up the misunderstanding by yourselves."
Whir-
A light started to come out from the black communication crystal that spread to form a hologram, and pitch-black darkness appeared.
A floating red mask showed up.
"You…"
[I didn't think that we would ever talk like this.]
"Don't tell me… Satan?"
[My appearance has changed a lot, but yes, I'm Satan.]
Yellow eyes became visible from behind the mask.
[I'm Satan.]
"…"
Raphael closed his mouth.
"Sa… tan."
Kim ShiHoon's expression distorted, and immense anger rose up within him.
‘How dare the one that made Ludwig fall…’
‘Try to put the blame on Guardian!’
Crack-!
"Ugh, ah."
He pushed back Raphael's divine energy, straightened his knees, and stood.
"What…?"
Raphael's eyes widened as if he wasn't expecting a human to be able to withstand his energy and stand up.
BOOM-!!
Kim ShiHoon stomped on the ground.
"SATAANN!!!" he screamed and charged forward.
Then…
BOOM-!!
"ShiHoon!!!"
Someone grabbed Kim ShiHoon's arms.
"H-hyeongnim?"
"Calm down. If you move, you'll just be doing what he wants."
KangWoo appeared after smashing through the ceiling of the fortress and was able to stop Kim ShiHoon.
"You're the hyeong of that human, Kim ShiHoon…"
It seemed like Raphael had already heard about KangWoo, so he wasn't that surprised.
"I'm sorry for listening in on your conversation."
KangWoo bowed.
Raphael answered with deep, sunken eyes.
"No. It's okay. I wasn't expecting you guys to send that human alone, after all."
Raphael was aware of the uncomfortable relationship between angels and the Guardians.
[Things are flowing in an interesting manner.]
Satan, who was looking at the scene unfold, began to laugh out loud.
"You…"
KangWoo glared at Satan.
Satan spoke in a relaxed voice.
[Then let's go back to the main topic.]
"Say it…"
[I didn't put a hand on the human you call ‘Ludwig’. If you're still suspicious…]
Satan spread his hand.
A thick darkness started to distorted and take shape, and a black sphere appeared.
[This is my demonic energy. Go ahead and follow it. If there are traces of it inside the Hall of Protection, then you will know that I was involved, but if there's none…]
He began to laugh out loud.
[It will prove that the Guardians did it!]
"…"
There was silence, and Raphael's eyes shook.
He couldn't think of it as one of Satan’s simple tactics.
An angel's ability to track demonic energy was quite advanced, after all, and there was no way Satan didn't know that.
'If he’s willing to go this far…'
It was true that he couldn't help but have some doubts.
No, there were lots of weird things regarding Ludwig's death.
It was true that he had died after using a gate that was located in the Hall of Protection, and when he 'fell', the only ones to witness it were Guardians.
Doubt started to appear in Raphael's eyes.
"You…"
KangWoo also frowned.
It was as if he'd been hit unexpectedly from behind.
[How about that?]
Satan's laugh was heard.
[Isn't it pretty suspicious?]
* * *
A giant black sphere hovered in a cave covered with transparent ice and shrouded in darkness.
One of Satan’s fragments was wearing a mask and draped in curtain-like darkness.
[Hmm…]
There was a black communication crystal in front of him.
[What's going on?] Satan mumbled uncomfortably.
[Why aren't you making the connection, Yulia?]
The expected time had already passed, but still, there was no reaction coming from the communication crystal.
[Why is it taking so long?]
Satan tilted his head in confusion.
