Chapter 112: 062. Angel of Death -2 (Part Two)
Haima swallowed back his dry saliva after hearing that declaration.
He had experienced many predicaments on his way to reach this point in his life. But even then, he had not come across a calamity this dangerous before.
However… what if he could somehow defeat the archangel before their eyes? He’d be forever recorded in the annals of Aslan’s history as a great hero. His descendants would be praised as the children of a hero as well.
Haima turned his head and stared at the archangel up on the altar, and then he shifted his gaze at the army of Necromancers in a cordon around the tall platform.
This combat force was put together to deal with a monster like Oscal Baldur. Meaning, there was a possibility that they could also stop the archangel today.
Haima, who went through a brief moment of internal conflict, eventually opened his mouth. “For the sake of Aslan.”
-For the sake of our glorious Aslan!
One Lich and one human took a deep breath.
“Everyone, get ready for battle!”
-Summon an undead legion of our own! We shall confront that bastard’s army!
The two of them shouted out.
-If this goes on, we will all die. Before that happens, attack him first!
Only then did the Necromancers regain their wits.
This place was the home base of the Black Order.
They had heard some reports regarding the ‘angel’. No one knew what happened to all the Necromancers who got abducted by him. But since the Order’s survivors within Humite were shivering away in pure terror, there must’ve been a good reason for that.
The Necromancers began gathering demonic energy. They summoned every creature they could call out. A dozen of them even worked together to summon a single death knight.
An undead army numbering in the thousands, which was originally meant to fight against the ‘sword king’ Oscal Baldur, now stood before the holy undeads in a tight cordon.
On one side, an army of undead permeating with divinity, while on the other, an army of undead permeating with demonic energy.
The two opposing camps were now fully prepared.
The previously-wide interior of the temple was filled up to the brim with these two armies of undead.
Nasus too summoned up all of its demonic energy.
-I shall mobilise all of my demonic energy to seal the archangel in this place.
They were unable to kill him. In that case, they should seal him in here for the time being.
As long as a single survivor could make it out of here alive, that individual would be able to report back to Aslan’s leadership. Once that happens, the kingdom would immediately start preparing the means to kill the archangel.
This is what Haima and Nasus firmly believed in their hearts.
“All of you… Advance!”
Along with Haima’s loud roar, the Necromancers swung their staves.
The undead army heeded their call and began marching forward. Skeletons, zombies, and dullanhans screeched and howled out.
“Scatter the poison around!”
“Neutralise all that holy water, now!”
Numerous Necromancers pulled out jars of poison and hurriedly poured the contents on the floor.
The temple’s floor stained by holy water had been temporarily neutralised, and the undead army marched over the now-safe ground.
-Ku-oooooh!
They roared out, the crimson glares in their eyes getting brighter as their shabby weapons were raised in the air.
The archangel on top of the altar stared at this spectacle. One could just about see that his eyes hidden behind the mountain goat’s skull were smiling away.
He lightly flicked his finger. When he did, the holy undead all moved simultaneously as if they shared the same emotions and senses with their master.
The ones at the front raised towering shields to create walls, and those behind them pointed their sharp spears.
Right behind their ranks, the banshees began pulling at the bowstrings permeating with divinity from their assigned spots.
Arrows filled with divine energy were fired. They easily pierced through the undead army, while the wall of shields prevented the tottering undead from intruding any further.
“Back line, provide support fire, now!”
The Necromancers at the back of the army gathered their demonic energy in the next moment. Magic spells of fire and ice were brought to life mid-air.
The baptism of magic attacks flew into the opposing camp of the holy undead. However, skeleton mages wielding divinity also used magic of their own to block and deflect the Necromancers’ attacks.
Explosions rang out loudly in the air and the shockwaves continuously rang out.
“What is the meaning of…!”
This was a massive-scale conflict involving thousands of undead in a chaotic melee. The battle consisted of an army of holy undead summoned by a single ‘archangel’, against the army of undead with demonic energy summoned by one hundred fifty Necromancers led by a Lich, plus over one thousand slaves who supplied them with demonic energy.
In terms of the army’s scale, the Black Order should have the upper hand here, and yet, the holy undeads displayed not even a hint of being forced back.
No, it was the exact opposite – they were in an overwhelmingly superior position. The undead operating on demonic energy couldn’t even advance an inch.
-All of you, step aside!
It was then, Nasus finally stepped forward.
As its loose-fitting robe flapped in the winds, the Lich began gathering another round of demonic energy.
‘I shall suck in the life force of the slaves!’
Magical patterns had been drawn up on the slaves imprisoned within the temple. These were the magical fetters that connected them to the Necromancers, which were manipulated by the latter group to suck the life force out from the former and bring their magic spells to life.
When Nasus slammed its staff down, flames viciously whipped up like a storm all around the Lich before gathering in one spot.
A ball of flames reminiscent of a small sun was born. Once it collided against the holy undead legion, it caused a massive explosion.
Countless bone shards flung in all directions.
Flames burned and sizzled in the middle of the enemy formation, and finally, it created some kind of an opening.
Envoy Haima’s eyes gleamed brightly. “Now!”
The undead army permeating with demonic energy dashed towards the open gap. Even Haima himself yanked his sword out and joined the fray along with Nasus in tow.
However, the holy skeleton mages chanted spells aloud, causing the shattered bone fragments to rapidly gather and regenerate back into skeletons.
Was that all? No, even more undead crawled out from the pool of holy water, their numbers matching those that got destroyed in the earlier attack.
‘He is a terrifying existence.’
Nasus thought to itself in fear. Was the human boy’s divinity reserve infinite?! Just as the Lich suspected from the very beginning, that human was simply far too dangerous to let live.
Special Envoy Haima and Nasus gradually dug into the enemy camp deeper and deeper. By receiving support from demonic energy-infused undead and other Necromancers, they were able to creep forward inch by inch.
‘Just a little bit more…!’
It was then, several new existences stopped their advance.
-After the Vampire, now it’s a Lich?
-These beings bring too much instability to the balance of this world.
Holy knights kitted out in armours of blinding light appeared. They were now blocking the duo’s path.
The muscles around Haima’s eyes uncontrollably twitched, while even Nasus was letting out a heavy groan.
-…Buy us some time!
After the Lich loudly roared out, the Necromancers quickly exhausted their demonic energy reserve. Some of them even withered and died on the spot after their lifespan finally ran out.
The death knights they managed to summon were now standing before the holy knights.
-And these bastards are…?
-They are different from us.
Holy knights, blessed with intelligence and ego, observed the death knights with some interest. And then, they pounced on each other to engage in an intense melee.
A sword permeating in divinity sliced apart the shield of a death knight. A spear cleanly stabbed through the torso of another death knight and dangled it in the air.
In the end, the death knights couldn’t even put a decent resistance. However, this was still more than enough to buy the necessary time.
-Envoy Haima, we will warp forward!
Haima grabbed Nasus’s shoulder.
Casting a warp magic without drawing rune letters first would always be accompanied by some degree of danger, but it was an emergency situation. No matter how small it was, they simply had to advance ahead while deploying every means available at their disposal.
After their bodies split apart into particles, they successfully leapt past the holy knights and reformed on the steps of the altar once more.
The aftermath of the short-distance warp caused both of them to unsteadily stagger. Haima felt insanely queasy as both of them felt their minds chaotically tumbling around.
They raised their heads and locked their fatigued glares on the archangel.
The boy was looking down at them with glowing eyes from beneath the skull. It was as if he found this whole thing rather amusing to behold. Other than holding the grimoire in one of his hands, he had not assumed any defensive postures yet.
His eyes had this seemingly dismissive glint aimed towards them.
Those eyes were the final straw that broke the back of Haima’s rationale, which was already teetering precariously from the weight of fear.
“I shall immediately strike that bastard down! Right now, when he’s using magic, it should be our best opportunity!”
He yanked out his sword again. After reinforcing his body by injecting more demonic energy in his flesh, he leaped up towards the top of the altar.
Nasus provided its support in case of an unknown danger that might appear without warning. The Lich enveloped Haima’s body with protective barriers of demonic energy, and even summoned a death knight right next to him so that the two of them could attack the archangel together.
And in that moment, the archangel finally made his move.
No, more correctly, the twelve arms sprouting out from his back like wings were moving, instead. Those hands extracted some items from the empty air and pointed them at the incoming targets.
They were twelve musket rifles.
“…What?”
[Divine Aura has been used.]
[All equipment will temporarily be improved.]
Divinity swirled violently within the muzzles of the muskets.
The Divine Aura, Amon’s skull, and the grimoire… Divinity amplified by these two relics plus the mythical ability’s effects no longer made it necessary to offer a prayer or even breathe into the loading chambers.
To load projectiles and discharge them, he only needed three seconds.
All of the muskets were aiming at the unprepared Haima.
The special envoy stared at this sight and muttered out his last words.
“…F*ck me.”
The triggers of all twelve muskets were pulled right at that moment.
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