Chapter 109: Divine Order (3)
At the branch of the cult in the Ketterland region, Estasia felt an inexplicable chill as she looked up at the sky.
For some reason, her throat was dry and her nose was ticklish today.
She rubbed her twitching nose and blinked her halo as she gazed at the sky.
She soon let out a big sneeze and closed both eyes.
“Achoo!”
Estasia looked at the sky with a blank expression after a long time without sneezing.
It was still summer, with warm sunlight shining down.
It was not a weather to feel cold for no reason.
But she suddenly coughed out loud.
I was reminded of my days in heaven today.
“Hmm…”
When I was still in heaven, I always felt a shiver whenever my boss chased me to nag at me.
It was a survival skill I acquired to avoid the angels’ scolding.
But now that I had descended to the earth, I didn’t need to worry about my boss following me.
Unless it was another angel who came down to the earth.
“I should go get some strawberry juice.”
Considering the personality of Aronia, who was my direct boss, the chances of her coming down to the earth were slim.
Aronia was diligent but not meticulous.
She was also an unlucky and naive angel.
She had many troublesome aspects that made it hard to send her down based on her abilities alone.
Even if the goddesses personally sent an angel down, they would not likely choose Aronia.
That’s why I ignored the inexplicable chill and entered the kitchen on the first floor of the cult.
“Oh! Did you come, angel-sama!”
“Yes.”
“Here is the freshly made strawberry juice!”
As I folded my wings and entered the kitchen, a believer who saw me greeted me with a smile.
He quickly brought me a strawberry juice with ice in it.
It was made by a mage who was waiting in the kitchen and put ice in it for me.
Estasia always came to the kitchen at the same time, so the believers had prepared a strawberry juice for her in advance.
She nodded and took the cup of strawberry juice from a believer.
“Good job.”
“Thank you! Angel-sama!”
Gulp.
She took a sip of the strawberry juice from the believer.
Sweetness spread from her lips.
The uneasy feeling she had been feeling since earlier faded a little.
She quickly finished the strawberry juice and handed the cup back to the believer.
“Do you have oranges for tomorrow?”
“We don’t, but we’ll get them for you! Don’t worry!”
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you! We are grateful that you are here with us!”
That was the end of her visit to the kitchen.
She stroked the head of the believer who took the cup and went outside.
She always felt this way while she was here, but the cult people loved angels very much.
They would do anything for her, even if it was hard.
It was like paradise for Estasia.
She hoped that this happiness would last forever as she left the cult building.
“The weather is nice today…”
I stepped out of the cult and was greeted by the sunny weather.
The heat that had been lazily wrapping around my body was also relieved by the cool strawberry juice.
My eyes looked at the sky where the warm sunlight was shining.
On the other side of the blue sky, I saw the endless horizon and the colorful clouds filling the space between them.
And I also saw something flying across the clouds.
“…”
Blink. Blink.
I closed and opened my eyes at the sight of something piercing through the clouds.
I was trying to identify what it was that was flying from afar.
It was a straight line that cut through the dark clouds.
My eyes were filled with caution at the trail of light that moved at a very fast speed.
My halo, which was looking at the sky, also resonated with the divine power and emitted light.
“No, don’t tell me…”
A huge divine power was coming from far away through my halo.
There was only one being that had such a divine power.
An angel.
And it was an angel of a higher rank than me.
I raised my divine power to guard against the intruder, who was drawing a trail of light and flying towards me.
My wings spread wide and a bright light surrounded me.
I was ready to show my full power for the first time since I came to the earth.
“——sia.”
“Aronia…?”
“Estasia!”
Boom!
A huge sound echoed from the distant sky as an angel wrapped in light revealed herself.
She had bright golden hair that reached her waist.
And a halo that shone even brighter than her hair.
The angel who appeared in front of Estasia was someone she knew well.
Archangel Aronia.
She was the highest rank of angels in heaven, and Estasia’s former boss.
“Why are you here, Aronia…?”
Estasia looked at her old boss with a bewildered expression.
She was as always, surrounded by a holy aura.
Aronia stopped in mid-air with a spear in her hand, and the sky opened up and a ray of sunlight pierced down at her.
Behind the hovering Aronia, a bright halo burst out.
It was the heavenly light that only seraphim could have.
Aronia arrived at the cult and looked down at Estasia with a displeased eye.
“Estasia! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you!”
“Uh, yeah.”
“You! How could you run away from heaven like that, even if you hate your work!”
“That, that’s…”
Estasia’s body shrank under Aronia’s sharp gaze.
She used to run away whenever Aronia nagged at her.
She had to listen to Aronia’s scolding in a place where she couldn’t escape, and Estasia felt very uncomfortable.
She thought she would never hear from her again after running away from heaven, but she followed her to the earth and nagged at her.
It was an awkward situation that she couldn’t even imagine.
“And… And you even became a fallen angel after being tempted by the evil god…!”
“…”
“Huh? But your halo is normal.”
Aronia was scolding Estasia, but then she noticed her halo and tilted her head.
She probably thought Estasia had fallen long ago.
Aronia looked at Estasia with a puzzled face.
And then she asked Estasia a question.
“Estasia, haven’t you fallen yet?”
Nod.
Estasia nodded and affirmed Aronia’s question.
As she said, Estasia had not given up her angelic nature yet.
Estasia was no different from when she was in heaven.
She was always an angel who hated work and liked to play and eat.
Aronia asked her again with a curious face.
“Why is that? You would suit being a fallen angel better.”
“Too lazy…”
“…”
I was shocked when I heard Estasia’s answer.
I flinched when I saw Aronia’s eyes glinting with anger.
Sigh.
Aronia sighed briefly and shook her head with the spear in her hand.
She was lost in thought for a moment, then spoke to Estasia with a thin eye.
“I heard about you. You haven’t fallen yet, so let’s go back to heaven with me when this is over.”
“No.”
“Why, why don’t you want to go back? Isn’t it our duty to pray to the Goddess of Harmony and serve her?”
“Praying doesn’t give me strawberries or oranges.”
I was afraid of Aronia, but I didn’t hate or dislike her.
But I didn’t want to go back to heaven with her either.
This place was like paradise for me.
No one bothered me here, and everyone liked me and gave me gifts.
I had no reason to leave this place and go back to heaven.
Besides, I couldn’t go back as I pleased because of the oath I made with my master.
Aronia shouted at Estasia with trembling lips.
“That, that’s because you always pray for weird things!”
“Have you ever received strawberries?”
“No? Of course not!”
“Here, praying gives me cool strawberry juice.”
I licked the traces of the strawberry juice I had just drank and said.
Maybe she understood that my words were not empty.
Aronia looked at me with a blank expression for a moment.
But that was only for a moment.
She soon clenched her hand around the starlight and aimed it at me.
“You are——.”
“Aronia…?”
“You are… always like that. Even though I’m higher than you, you treat me like a fool and tease me all the time.”
“No. I don’t think of Aronia like that…”
I tried to explain to her as she pointed her weapon at me.
But Aronia didn’t seem to listen to my words.
Rather, she showed resentment towards me.
“You have no sense of duty as an angel, and you always send weird prayers to the goddess.”
“I don’t do that…”
“What do you think of the goddess?”
Vroom.
A massive divine power began to shake around Aronia, who aimed her spear at me.
She was an archangel who had received the most divine power among the angels.
As she used the starlight to condense her divine power, a tremendous current of light gathered at the tip of the spear.
Aronia showed clear hostility towards me and I answered her seriously.
“I never thought of Aronia like that.”
“Don’t lie. If not, you wouldn’t play with me all the time!”
“Aronia…”
The angel’s spear created the light of judgment.
Rings of light formed and made a straight path in front of Aronia’s spear.
No one was unaware of what the sharp tip of the spear was aiming for.
Aronia didn’t listen to what I had to say, and I bit my lip and raised one hand.
I didn’t mind being attacked once or twice.
I was exceptionally sturdy even in heaven.
But it was different if the attack happened here.
“I will judge you on behalf of the goddess.”
It was a strike prepared with sincerity by the highest angel.
I felt uneasy about the attack and tried to persuade Aronia.
“Aronia. If you shoot that here, you might hurt the people here.”
“Don’t tell me you came here without knowing what kind of place this is!”
The air shook violently.
Aronia’s eyes were filled with bright light as she prepared the sincere attack and looked at her target.
Her eyes showed clear hostility.
She was determined to attack the whole cult, including me.
I raised my divine power against the shining spear.
Aronia’s announcement echoed as I prepared the divine barrier.
“The ones who deceived you and made you like this must be the evil followers of the evil god here!”
“No, no…”
“I know everything. There are people who lure others with cunning words and make them fall into a wrong faith.”
“I said no…! I’ve never been deceived by these people!”
I deployed the barrier with full power against Aronia’s glaring eyes.
It was difficult for a lower rank angel to block an attack from an archangel in normal cases.
But I was an angel who gave up all attack magic and focused only on defense.
I thought I might be able to stop Aronia’s strike if it was me.
Aronia’s cold eyes shone through the barrier that spread out with full power.
She put more strength into her spear and opened her mouth.
“Wrong faith needs judgment accordingly.”
“Aronia–.”
“If I clean up these heretics, maybe I can change your mind a little.”
“I, I…”
Crack.
A sound of grinding teeth came from Aronia’s mouth.
She hated the cult sincerely.
And she hated me for being with the cult.
She clearly didn’t care if some people died from her attack.
“So I can’t forgive you. You who betrayed me, the heretics who control you, and the evil god who commands them all!”
“…”
“I don’t care who they are. I’ll take them all down and save you.”
To prepare for the next attack, I made a divine barrier that covered the entire cult.
And I also put up several layers of light shields in front of the barrier.
I couldn’t let Aronia hurt the people of the cult here.
It was my job and responsibility.
I couldn’t hide and blame my laziness even at this moment.
Aronia gave me a final warning as I used magic consecutively.
“So, Estasia. Go back to heaven and reflect quietly.”
As soon as Aronia finished her words.
Light burst out from the end of the starlight.
Boom!
The light that fell with a huge amount of light swept the surroundings.
