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Chapter 267

Boom!!

Remiel, tightly bound in chains, made a big movement.

The sound of the chains pulling taut spread out powerfully, releasing a faint shockwave.

"You and I must never accept each other, never forgive each other. That’s our atonement for the innocent people we killed."

"True. What you said isn't wrong."

Luna looked down at the floor with a gloomy expression and nodded.

There was no need to argue over who was right.

"You're right. I was too complacent."

Luna clenched her fist, then opened it again.

Then, she pulled out a pair of black gloves from subspace and put them on.

"You and I carry sins from birth. I thought that because we share such painful memories, we could understand each other. I believed that one day we might create a better outcome."

"Hand of Fury?! Why do you have that…?"

Remiel, suspended midair and tightly bound with chains that left no gaps, turned pale.

"What a shame. I thought we could become good friends. But as you said, we shouldn't be."

They both hated the archangels.

If they couldn't relate and become friends, didn’t that mean the other was just another damn archangel bastard?

"Grind your teeth, you damn bitch. You're not the only one who gets to curse."

"Wh…what?! Don’t come closer… Stay away!! I said don’t come near me!!"

Her face pale, Remiel swung her body back and forth like a swing, screaming.

And soon, a scream echoed from the altar, where the suppression seal was located.

* * *

The sudden roar reached even Diablo and me, who were outside the sanctuary where the altar was located.

"High Priest!! What was that noise from the altar…?"

"Ah. It's nothing. Just a routine inspection. Don’t worry. The altar is made of materials strong enough to withstand a meteor strike."

"Well… if you say so…"

Since we weren’t the only ones who heard the explosion, paladins gathered around, but Diablo waved them off naturally.

Without needing to say anything, we proceeded toward the altar—and witnessed a breath-stopping chase unfold.

The pursuer was Luna, and the one desperately running in circles around the altar was Remiel.

The golden chains that had tightly bound Remiel were nowhere to be seen.

That’s an archangel?

It might’ve looked like a childish fight, but considering their circumstances, it was understandable.

Luna’s peculiar speech wasn’t just a quirk.

It was simply the result of her newly-formed identity, which she hadn’t fully adjusted to yet.

Lately, though, she didn’t seem to care much about it herself.

"Is this suppression seal really holding up?"

"The chains were just symbolic. The real suppression of Archangel Remiel’s power is extremely thorough. If it weren't, even Luna Basilin wouldn’t have been able to handle her."

"W-Wait!"

"I won’t kill her. Just gonna beat her up to blow off some steam. If she wants me to pay for my original sin, then she should come at me."

"This crazy bitch…!"

With her power suppressed to a similar level, it now came down to individual ability.

And Remiel, who was in the lower ranks when it came to combat skills, stood no chance barehanded against Luna, who was practically a war god.

It could only end in a one-sided beating.

Diablo spoke.

"The suppression seal will remain active. Even after a few days, once Remiel leaves the altar, it’ll still work."

In other words, a leash had been placed on her.

I quietly watched Diablo, who was calmly explaining it all.

He cleared his throat.

"More importantly, shouldn’t we stop this? Leon, if this continues, Luna Basilin might beat Remiel to death."

"…Just leave it."

They're not kids—I wasn’t expecting them to make up after a spat.

I had no idea what had led to this situation, but as long as Luna was safe, I honestly didn’t care what she did.

She was the one who had always ground her teeth at the very mention of archangels.

Remiel, on the other hand, seemed more focused on the individuals within the archangels than the concept itself.

In the end, if they couldn't be friends, they could only be enemies.

And that choice was theirs to make—not something I could force.

Truthfully, Remiel had a point.

Even if she had no sense of self back then, the archangels had undeniably caused immense sorrow in the name of God's will.

I wasn't a saint.

I had no intention of blaming Luna.

Luna and Remiel fought it out with all they had, and in the end, it concluded with Remiel fainting.

However, it seemed the fight left Luna with a lot on her mind.

As soon as we returned to the Cascadia domain, she vanished as if she wanted to be alone.

But knowing her usual habits, I found her easily—on the terrace under the moonlight, her favorite place.

"You okay?"

"No problem. But personally… not okay."

"Nothing in life comes easy."

"What Remiel said wasn't wrong."

Squatting with her face buried in her knees, she slowly raised her head and looked down at her palms.

"I’ve always known my hands were stained with blood."

I sat behind her, back to back.

"Just like Remiel said… trying to argue righteousness with blood on my hands…"

Maybe it would've made more sense if she had just lost her mind like Remiel, destroyed everything, and died with it.

But Luna, even now, seemed to still cling to hope—wondering if there was still something she could do.

"So what. It wasn’t even your choice to begin with."

"An assassin who kills on contract doesn’t get absolved just because they didn’t choose the target. Why… Why did I think Remiel would think kindly of me…?"

It's not like Luna had done anything differently back when she was still an archangel.

Maybe this was what a child who never had a friend looked like.

"Remiel will stay there for a while. With foreign enemies stirring, whether she likes it or not, she’s considered a major asset."

[Translator - Night]

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"……."

She didn’t answer, so I just kept talking, saying whatever came to mind.

"It’ll be fine. Lispa Elde might’ve said that, but… if she really couldn’t stand you out of hatred, she would’ve attacked you the moment she saw you—just like when she saw her own divine form."

She’s an archangel.

No matter how restrained she was, if she really wanted to tear Luna apart, there’s no way that suppression seal could’ve stopped her.

"She’s probably confused too. You’re the first case like this she’s seen."

Unlike the other archangels Remiel had met, Luna had awakened a sense of self, suffered from it, and was trying to change on her own.

That must’ve left a considerable, albeit unspoken, impression on Remiel as well.

“You can’t expect everything at once. Let’s take it slow and find the right path.”

“Okay.”

“And… they say innocent people died at your hands. But to be honest, the old archangels were nothing more than machines.”

If a murderer stabs someone with a knife, the blame lies with the murderer—not the kitchen knife.

“You’re no longer a mere tool. Ever since you gained self-awareness, you haven’t harmed anyone recklessly.”

Since her seal was broken, she hadn’t harmed anyone blindly.

And that alone was enough.

I snapped my fingers, and a light rain began to fall just around the mansion.

“It’s raining now. No one will hear a thing.”

At my joke, I could feel Luna shifting as she leaned her back against mine.

And then, I heard the faint sound of laughter.

“Pfft… Maybe you should cut back on the romance novels.”

I guess things don’t work like they do in stories.

* * *

Inside a suppression ward, Lispa Elde Remielia—better known as Archangel Remiel—gently plucked the strings of her lyre as she gazed calmly up at the night sky.

A beautiful melody flowed from the lyre, casting a peaceful aura around her.

Nearby priests of the Holy Kingdom, exhausted from overwork, stopped in their tracks as the soothing notes reached their ears.

Drawn in by the sound, they turned their heads toward the source, listening intently to her song.

The melody wasn’t long.

But it carried a strange, calming sensation that washed away the fatigue and stress that had piled up inside them.

As a result, peaceful expressions appeared on their faces.

“Your playing is as lovely as ever.”

In the center of the Holy Kingdom stood many spires, and the rooftop Remiel was sitting on now wasn’t a place most people could reach.

But the large man who approached her didn’t seem to care as he spoke casually.

“Thank you, Diablo.”

“No need to thank me.”

“It’s nice not having to look at that damn divine face.”

“He’s still the deity worshipped by the Holy Kingdom.”

“Like I care.”

It was hard to believe that this blue-haired girl making such a comment was actually an archangel.

But Diablo didn’t say anything more.

Currently, Remiel was under the effect of the suppression ward.

While she couldn’t exert her true powers, her musical talent wasn’t something that could be restrained by such a thing.

“Do you resent having your powers sealed?”

“I would have, in the past...”

Her gaze lowered.

“But now, I don’t know. I just feel... not right. A lot of things don’t feel right.”

“Because of Raphael?”

Diablo asked, his hands behind his back as he looked up at the sky.

Remiel said nothing in response.

But her silence was answer enough, and Diablo understood.

“It must be confusing. To be honest, Raphael has changed a great deal.”

“So what if one of the top three bastards suddenly changed?”

“That may be true. But out of all the archangels who’ve gained self-awareness, she’s the only one who, like you, regrets the past and defied God.”

Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raguel… and the rest of the seven archangels besides Raphael and Remiel remained unchanged.

“She’s proof that you’re not the only one who thinks the way you do.”

“I don’t care about allies. It’s not like that’ll change how I feel.”

“Fair enough. It’s your choice. I don’t really care either way. But… I do owe Luna Basilin.”

As he chuckled, Remiel gave him a sideways glare.

“What the hell are you babbling about now, you lunatic.”

“She’s the only one who might truly understand you.”

Diablo brushed the dust off his pristine white uniform.

“Personal battles are your choice. But shouldn’t we be stopping the outer gods threatening humanity first?”

“If I help the outer gods, I can bring down God.”

“And if you do, every living creature on this land you wanted to protect will be wiped out.”

Protect… or avenge.

Choose one.

Remiel pouted in frustration and then quietly looked up at the moon in the sky.

“…This sucks.”

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