Chapter 110: Divine Command (4)
Under the scattering light from the aftermath of the attack, Estasia opened her eyes that had been tightly shut.
The shield that she had placed in front of the holy barrier was completely shattered, and only the cracked barrier was barely holding on.
Thud.
A part of the barrier that covered the entire church began to collapse.
It was a sign that it could not withstand the attack of Aronia, the archangel.
Estasia let out a weak groan as she watched the collapsing barrier.
“Ugh…”
Blood dripped from her hand as she squinted one eye.
The backlash of hastily drawing out the divine power was something that only her hands could bear.
It was perhaps a fortunate thing that she had managed to withstand the attack of the fallen angel from heaven with all her might.
Estasia, with a frown on her face, looked up at Aronia, who was still hovering above her.
Aronia, who was looking down at Estasia, had a somehow awkward expression on her face.
Estasia lifted her head and opened her mouth toward Aronia.
“Aronia, stop this nonsense…”
“—-Estasia.”
“Yes…”
Aronia also called her name when she heard Estasia’s voice.
Aronia’s eyes were still soaked with anger.
So this is what an angel looks like when she is truly angry.
It was the first time that Estasia saw such a face that made her think that.
“You didn’t have to push yourself if you were alone. But why… are you trying to protect the followers of the evil god?”
Estasia, who was facing Aronia, realized that she was asking that question sincerely.
Aronia seemed to believe that Estasia could handle her attack.
That was only true when Estasia deployed the barrier for herself alone, though.
Estasia looked at her palm that was bleeding from the aftermath of using the barrier recklessly.
Instead of staining her slender palm with blood, Estasia had protected the followers once.
She didn’t know how many more times she could block Aronia’s attacks, but what mattered to her was that she had succeeded in protecting the people right now.
That was her duty as the guardian of the order.
“The people here love angels.”
Estasia’s small voice echoed in the silent courtyard.
It was a voice that resembled her, calm and relaxed, but still full of emotion.
With that voice, Estasia shook off the blood that was dripping from her hand.
In Estasia’s eyes, which were wrinkled with pain, a clear determination rose.
She raised her hand again, which had shaken off the blood, and began to tell Aronia her thoughts.
“They always love angels, bring gifts for them, and even give me delicious strawberries every day.”
“……”
“I can’t just leave and run away from a place where there are people who love such a lacking angel so much.”
The followers of the order loved Estasia.
She received an abundance of love and lived happily every day in that affection.
Sometimes her master would appear and play cruel pranks on her, but Estasia also loved the order where she stayed.
This place was now the only paradise for Estasia.
She could not stand to see such a paradise trampled by another angel.
That’s why she decided to protect it with her own hands.
“To abandon the people who love angels and run away… that’s not very angelic of you.”
“You…”
“So I’m going to protect this place from Aronia. It doesn’t matter what you say now.”
Aronia, who had listened to Estasia’s words, bit her own lips.
She looked back and forth between the spear in her hand and Estasia, then sighed deeply and aimed the spear again.
Aronia’s mind did not change no matter what Estasia said.
She let out a short sigh and unleashed a barrage of attacks toward Estasia.
“You’re really foolish. Don’t you think they’re all just acting to lure you out?”
“It’s okay. Even if it’s all a lie, I can pretend to believe it for now.”
“There’s no choice now. If you’re going to protect them, I’ll have to deal with you and the minions of the evil god together.”
As soon as Aronia finished speaking, the divine power that was spread around began to resonate.
Woo woo woo woo!
The air trembled and Aronia’s spear absorbed the light.
She seemed to be trying to shoot the same blow as before at Estasia.
Estasia also gathered her will and pulled up the divine power in her wounded hand.
A cozy cluster of light and a barrier that covered the whole order appeared again.
“I’ll keep blocking it no matter how many times.”
“Try to block it if you can. I don’t know how long you can last, though.”
The moment Aronia’s cold voice reached Estasia’s ears.
Behind Estasia, who was facing the light-filled spear, the followers of the order stuck their heads out of the window one by one.
Their eyes were directed at Estasia, who was confronting Aronia.
Some of them looked like they had just come out while cooking, holding cooking utensils like ladles or knives in their hands.
The followers who stuck their heads out of the window started to cheer for Estasia.
“Angel! Hang in there!”
“Don’t listen to that crazy fallen angel!”
“There’s no one but the angel!”
“O great one! Please help the angel!”
Estasia’s eyes began to turn red at the voices echoing behind her.
She wanted to protect her precious people.
Responding to her feelings, the divine barrier that surrounded the order became clearer than before.
Estasia thanked the followers of the order with her eyes wet with tears.
“Thank you all…”
“You, crazy fallen angel…”
Of course, Aronia, who heard the shocking story, shook her head and gathered light.
She looked even more provoked by the followers’ words.
Aronia aimed her spear, which had enough divine power, at Estasia and the followers.
She expressed her will to pour out attacks and wipe them all out.
As the two angels simultaneously emitted bright light, Estasia spoke to Aronia in midair.
“Aronia. I’m going to protect everyone.”
“Just die cleanly together.”
The moment Aronia’s angry words ended.
Kwaaaaang!
Just like before, a fierce light burst out.
* * * * *
– You used <Weather Control: Storm>.
– You used <Weather Control: Storm>.
– You used <Weather Control: Storm>.
– You used <Weather Control: Storm>.
How long has it been since I started moving while spraying weather control skills in all directions?
After traveling for a long time in the rain, I finally arrived at the branch of the order where Estasia was.
The place where Estasia stayed was quite far away on the map.
It was so close to the edge of the continent that the sea would appear if I left the mountain range on the outskirts.
The branch was located in a place that could be called the fringe even in the empire.
“What’s going on here?”
The first thing I did when I arrived at the branch was to question the scene of the mess.
Except for where the building was, the surroundings were completely torn apart.
And in front of the order building, there was Estasia and an unknown angel facing each other.
Estasia, who took out a shield filled with light, and an unidentified angel holding a spear.
Looking at their appearance, I understood why the order had become like this.
They must have had a serious fight.
I immediately began to guess the identity of the angel who was confronting Estasia.
“I don’t remember meeting any other angels besides Estasia… Could she be a creature too?”
I had never encountered another angel in the field, except for Estasia, who I created using a skill.
It also meant that it was difficult to meet an angel in a normal way.
She wouldn’t be a character that naturally spawned in the field like other characters.
Then maybe she was an event character or a creature.
As I pondered over the angel in front of me, I stretched out my index finger toward her.
I wanted to see how she would react.
“Evil god…”
Ting!
As soon as I touched the angel on the screen with my finger, she quickly raised her spear and blocked my normal attack.
It was a common behavior of elite monsters.
Seeing the angel calling me an evil god, I realized that she was an event monster.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any character who had such a wicked way of thinking to claim that I was an evil god when they saw me.
I quickly made a decision and began to think about what to do with the angel who was facing Estasia.
“Angels are pretty rare… Can’t I capture her?”
I had never met an angel in the game, except for Estasia, who was a creature.
Just like Pluto, the progenitor of vampires, angels were also very rare characters.
Unlike fairies, which I had found in piles, there was a possibility that I would never meet an angel again if I killed her here.
Should I kill the rare character with my own hands and get karma?
Or should I try to capture her somehow and train her?
It was time to choose.
“But there’s also the problem that I don’t have enough karma to select her as an apostle right away… This is more troublesome than I thought.”
I didn’t have enough karma to make her an apostle.
And it was also difficult to earn karma right now.
The best option was to make her a fanatic by physical means, like when I first met Eutenia.
While I was wondering what to do with the angel, she was still moving diligently against Estasia.
She looked at Estasia, who was sitting on the ground, and raised a speech bubble.
“Estasia! Have you finally summoned the evil god!”
“Are you insane? What are you saying?”
– “But today, even the evil god can’t protect you!”
The angel who said that retreated and spread his wings wide.
Flap.
He lifted his spear toward the sky from among the fluttering feathers.
The angel flew up to the sky and closed his eyes, spreading a brilliant light.
Above his head, a sparkling speech bubble appeared.
– “O great goddess. Blind the eyes of the wicked one, and bestow a great miracle upon this place.”
“······Where have I seen this before?”
I felt uneasy at the sight of the speech bubble floating above the brightly shining halo, and moved my finger.
It was a familiar sight, the same pattern that the recent bosses had been using.
If I left him alone, he would surely repeat the same story as before, something like ‘Holy Proclamation’ or whatever.
It was a pattern that had given me a headache several times already.
In a state where I hadn’t even prepared a countermeasure, I couldn’t just let him finish his pattern.
I put my finger above the angel’s head, who was flapping his wings, and prepared to hit him repeatedly to break through his defense.
– “Holy Proclamation, Angelus—— Ugh!”
Tap tap tap tap!
The angel stopped his skill under my finger that kept hitting the screen.
She was rubbing her forehead with tears in her eyes, along with her spear.
But stopping the angel was only temporary.
She quickly lifted her spear again and tried to continue what she had been doing.
– “O, O great goddess. Blind the eyes of the wicked one——.”
“Ah, seriously······! Stop using that dirty pattern!”
I kept tapping on the screen every time the angel continued his speech.
It was to stop her pattern somehow.
Of course, the angel who was attacked by me didn’t stay still either.
She also tried to avoid my interference and finish casting her skill.
– “Holy—— Ow!”
Tap tap tap tap.
– “Holy Prㅍ······ Eek!”
Tap tap tap.
– “Holy—— Aaah! Wait a minute!”
Tap tap. Tap tap tap tap!
– “Ho, Holy······! Pr··· Pffft······!”
And so, the standoff between me and the angel lasted for a long time.
