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Chapter 400
Lucifer did not answer.
Whether he was thinking—or had no intention of responding at all—was unclear.
Either way, one thing was certain: the bastard was incredibly sly.
Boom!! Boom, boom!!
All surrounding space shattered and was recreated again and again, countless tis over.
Through the cracks of the broken space, what could be seen was a vast firmant with neither ground nor the edge of the sky in sight.
A buffer zone that existed between dinsions.
Still, compared to the dinsional wall separating the Outer Dinsion from Lazarus, the walls here felt infinitely thinner and softer.
Michael and I continued to fight without pause.
Even if he had not drawn out the full power of his true body, Michael was the strongest among the archangels.
Against such an opponent, holding back even slightly was tantamount to suicide.
[9th Circle Necromancy]
[Ninety-Nine-Headed Venomous Serpent]
The surrounding space shimred, and snake-like black masses shot toward him at terrifying speed.
Imdiately after, I pulled an undead entity out from the shadows where I had stored it.
[Dagon]
A being whose brute physical power was unquestionable.
Once a servant of an Outer God—having lost even R’lyeh and his life—Dagon’s undead form collided head-on with Michael, smashing into him.
Pinned to the ground and exposed to dozens of strands of black serpent magic, Michael’s golden plate armor began to be corroded into a purplish hue.
For any ordinary lifeform, re contact would have spelled the end—but as if it were nothing, he grabbed Dagon’s massive body and hurled it away like a discarded toy.
Then he tore apart the black venomous serpents clinging to him with sheer force.
Slowly, he raised one palm toward the sky, fixed his gaze on , and clenched his fist.
Crack!!!
My body twisted under imnse pressure, severely restricting my movent.
At the sa ti, the spear in his other hand erupted in brilliant white light, shattering the ceiling as a colossal pillar of light crashed down upon .
Kuuung!!!
Losing my balance under the crushing weight, I staggered, and he flicked the tip of his spear, intensifying the pressure even further.
This wasn’t mana or aura at work.
It was pure force—overwhelming pressure imposed by his power.
Still, I didn’t stop.
I slamd my palm hard against the ground.
Crack!!
A massive energy spark erupted, spreading into a gigantic electric field that enveloped the entire area.
It wasn’t ant to deal heavy damage—just suppression.
But even that brief opening was enough.
The instant the gap appeared, I swung my sword violently through the air.
A shower of sparks burst from Michael’s armor as his divine form was knocked back.
“Insane bastard.”
Blocking a Grandmaster-level sword strike like that—with armor alone.
I wanted it badly, but given that Michael’s divine body was far larger than mine, I couldn’t expect much.
At that point, I also found myself impressed by the Phoenix Silk Garnt crafted by Lispa Elde that was still protecting .
It repaired itself when damaged, sure—but I hadn’t expected this level of defense.
After exchanging blows for a while longer, Michael and I stopped, silently facing one another.
I moved first.
I roughly slamd the spirit sword Elekstra onto the ground.
In response, Michael cast aside the spear he had been holding.
And then—
Kwaaang!!!!!
Without a word, we both charged at the sa ti, plunging into each other and driving our fists brutally into one another’s bodies.
Bang!! Bang, bang!!
Neither of us gave an inch—punches and kicks flew back and forth.
His armor was absurdly tough, putting serious strain on my hands, but the very first thing I had trained when honing my aura in the Hall of Martial Arts was protecting my own body.
In martial arts, one’s body must be both sothing to protect and a weapon to strike with.
If the weapon is weak, it’s aningless.
I reinforced myself with aura, then reflected the force inflicted upon back outward.
With my swordsmanship having reached Grandmaster level, my martial arts had effectively reached that realm as well—so this much posed no issue.
Bang!! Bang!!
My fist slamd into Michael’s helm; his fist buried itself into my abdon.
Even if I was pushed back, I did not retreat.
I continued attacking, and Michael gradually increased his strength, trading blows with .
But as he did, a problem began to erge—his growing power started to upset the balance.
I wasn’t ready to face Michael head-on yet.
More precisely, my preparation was insufficient.
After being knocked back by his punch, I spat out the blood pooling at my lips and cracked my neck as I loosened up.
Then I poured a potion I had stored in subspace straight into my mouth.
“Don’t call it cowardly. You’re the one gaining more from this right now.”
Michael said nothing.
A machine-like bastard.
Even after developing a sense of self, unlike the other archangels, he remained utterly chanical.
No wonder Lucifer hated him with such visceral fear.
I should’ve borrowed sothing like the Hand of Fury—commander-class gear—from Luna if I’d known it would co to this.
As I thought that, doping effects and buffs began to settle into my body.
I then wrapped myself in necromantic magic, applying debuffs to Michael’s body as he entered its influence.
The offensive resud.
This ti, Michael couldn’t simply tank everything—his movents began to incorporate technique.
Even a slight difference in force distribution or technique was enough to open him up to proper counters.
Though I had learned martial arts, fighting this brutishly wasn’t actually a good approach.
Muscle-brained fools say strength is everything—but in truth, both technique and power matter.
Putting all your chips on one side is sheer stupidity.
A gauntleted punch skimd past my cheek, sending a chilling gust of wind, but I didn’t retreat.
Instead, I imdiately snared his arm like a serpent, twisting and locking it.
Michael reacted instantly, wary of joint locks.
As long as the form is humanoid, joint techniques are extrely effective.
Judging by his reaction, he couldn’t ignore them entirely—even if broken bones ant little to him.
We grappled for a mont, locked in a contest of strength—then I kicked off the ground, launched myself upward, and slamd a dropkick straight into his chest, sending him flying.
“Tough as hell.”
Clicking my tongue, I watched him stride out from the rubble, utterly unfazed.
I’d landed plenty of solid hits.
Crushing-space-level force, concentrated point-impact techniques—I’d stacked everything into those strikes.
And yet, he looked fine.
“Do not resist. Do not question the will of God. Do not defy the flow.”
An idiot who couldn’t be reasoned with.
I tried to draw out my aura again—
But it stopped responding smoothly.
Michael’s authority?
That was unexpected.
I’d applied debuffs to him—why hadn’t I considered that he could do the sa?
He slowly knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
From the center of his chest, a cross-shaped halo of light spread outward once—then contracted, forming a massive circular barrier around him, like a shield enveloping his body.
To test it, I threw a punch through the air.
Thoom!!
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Despite the force behind it, my attack didn’t even halt his step.
So now he’s getting serious?
According to scripture, he still hadn’t even revealed his so-called divine spear or shield.
At this point, my only option was to create an opening and escape.
If I’d known I’d end up fighting Michael this openly, I would’ve prepared far more thoroughly.
As I was about to move—
—Hey.
A voice echoed from my necklace.
—Just once. Land a hit on his body.
At the sa ti, an unknown energy seeped subtly into .
I lowered my stance—and charged.
Trusting in his defense, Michael didn’t dodge, instead flying toward with a punch.
I didn’t retreat.
I drove my fist straight into his.
Jjeooooong!!! Jjeojeojeok!!
A massive shockwave erupted as the space where our fists t twisted, shattered, and collapsed completely.
Two overwhelming physical forces colliding at once—there was no way the surrounding space could survive.
Normally, I would’ve been the one penalized in this clash.
But—
Kuuung!! Clank… clank…
Amazingly, Michael’s body staggered.
One step. Two steps back.
For the first ti, his divine form—never before pushed back—retreated.
And that wasn’t all.
His golden plate armor began to darken, cracks spreading across it.
It was a single blow.
Even borrowing just one strike’s worth of power from an ancient archangel sealed throughout his body was enough to inflict critical damage on Michael’s flesh.
No matter how much the force had been restrained, it hadn’t limited his armor or defensive abilities.
Which ant one thing.
Even sealed, Lucifer’s power was lethally effective against Michael.
Then how terrifying must his true power be?
As that chilling thought crossed my mind, Michael silently opened and closed his hand a few tis.
Then—
“Do not resist the will of God. In the end, all things will flow as they must.”
With that, the four pairs of wings on his back beat powerfully, and his entire body dissolved into light and vanished.
Crack!!
The space he had occupied began collapsing on its own.
He’d been driven off, at least.
As I stretched my aching body, Gabriel erged through the fractured space.
“Shaless bastard.”
“Michael’s actions are beyond what we can predict. To be clear, I sympathize with his intent to a degree—but in this case, I oppose him.”
I raised my middle finger at him.
Every last one of them was selfish.
The Moon Watchers were the sa.
Angels, too.
The way they so casually sacrificed others for their own goals made sick.
Though… coming from soone who once destroyed the world for his own purpose, maybe I wasn’t one to talk.
“I’ll open a gate. Leave through here. I’ll try to persuade Michael.”
“Get your stance straight. Which side are you on?”
“I value Raphael and Michael both. But unlike Michael—who can discard everything for the greater cause—I believe that if a compromise exists, taking the long way around isn’t a problem.”
I stepped into the rift Gabriel opened.
As I did, his voice followed .
“If Michael moved like this, there’s a high chance the Archangel of Punishnt—his closest subordinate—has gone to Raphael. You should check on her, just in case.”
I didn’t reply and walked straight through the rift.
Fully returning to Lazarus, away from the center of Heaven and Lazarus, I covered my mouth and coughed lightly a couple of tis.
The blood that had burst from my mouth earlier hadn’t fully dried.
A sharp, unpleasant sting lingered inside my mouth, like split lips.
Internal injuries?
None.
Bones?
Nothing that wouldn’t heal quickly.
All things considered, no serious damage.
“Leon?! What happened?!”
“Just split my mouth a bit. Don’t worry.”
“What kind of lunatic hurt you?!”
lissa shouted in shock, but honestly, it was lucky this was all I’d suffered.
A 9th Circle caster, a Grandmaster, and a Michael who hadn’t gone all-out—this was the result.
But I didn’t have ti to dwell on that.
“Baril.”
At my call, the shadows swelled massively, squirming as a colossal draconic wraith erged.
Monts later, the enormous dragon form shot up into the skies above the Cascadia estate, ripping through the air toward the Holy Kingdom in a sonic boom.
The torn clouds left behind by Baril’s ascent streaked across the sky in a long, jagged trail.
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