Siegfried clicked his tongue while looking at the thick fog blanketing the Altar of Resurrection. ‘Well, I guess this works in our favor,’ he thought. This magical fog worked both ways. While it was excellent at concealing the Altar of Resurrection’s location, it had a critical weakness, and it was the fact that its presence made it difficult to detect incoming threats. But what if the intruder was Siegfried, who possessed the Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance? The angels would still not know what hit them even after suffering devastating losses. “Time to unload what you’re packing.” “Kekeke! If you say so!” Just because visibility was hampered didn't mean one couldn’t fire weapons. Anyone could shoot into the fog, but their accuracy would take a big hit to the point they would be lucky if they hit anything. However, it was a whole different story if Siegfried provided the precise coordinates. “I’ll mark the targets for you.” Seung-Gu summoned his Iron Golems and lined them up. Seung-Gu would then put them into Siege Mode and adjust their aim according to the coordinates provided by Siegfried. The whole process took quite some time to complete. There were roughly three hundred angels stationed around the Altar of Resurrection, and delivering a precise artillery bombardment required careful calculations. Finally, he was done aiming... “We’re good to go, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu said. “Should I fire immediately?” Before Seung-Gu unleashed hell on the angels, Siegfried briefed the others on where they would go once the bombardment commenced. The enemy was concealed behind the thick fog, so rushing in blindly could lead to them falling victim to an ambush. Once the preparations were complete— Siegfried started the countdown. As soon as he gave the command— —Seung-Gu commanded his Iron Golems to figure. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The Iron Golems unleashed a relentless bombardment into the fog, raining down artillery shells at their target. Around the same time... “Brothers and sisters.” Archangel Auriel stood before a group of angels and commanded. “If the enemy attacks today, we must not let them escape. Hunt them down and annihilate every last one of them. Do you understand?” Auriel intended to wipe out the Adventurers attempting to reclaim Mount Anon. This was possible, as the Adventurers were exhausted from the battle of attrition in these past few days. More than five hundred of them had already perished, which was roughly a tenth of their forces. At this point, the angels could leverage their resurrection advantage to go on the offensive and overwhelm the enemy while they were exhausted. “However, the altar’s defenses must be further fortified. We cannot allow it to fall.” Auriel emphasized the importance of the Altar of Resurrection above all else. If the altar were destroyed, then their ability to resurrect would be lost. Mount Amon would surely fall into enemy hands by then. But what if they could defend it? They would remain invincible. There was nothing for them to fear if they could endlessly come back to life. “Reinforce the magic fog concealing the altar.” “Worry not, brother. No one will ever find this place.” Auriel smiled in satisfaction as he observed the dense fog surrounding them. Then, his gaze shifted toward the altar. At the very center of the altar was a newborn phoenix letting out weak, pitiful cries. “You wretched creature...” Auriel muttered. Then, his eyes glowed with pure contempt as he growled, “You dare defy the sacred cycle of life and death decreed by Father? Even an eternity of suffering will never cleanse you from your sins.” For Auriel, who believed that the angels were the most superior race, the phoenix was an abomination. Life and death were divine laws placed by the Creator, and a creature that defied this very cycle was nothing short of blasphemous. Thus, Auriel kidnapped the baby phoenix while its mother was away. He built an altar where he would slaughter the fledgling over and over again, invoking resurrection magic each time. He did not blink an eye as he carried out the horrible ritual despite the cries of the baby phoenix. ‘Fortune is smiling upon me. To think I managed to capture a baby phoenix. This creature will be a great asset in our invasion of this world if used correctly.’ Auriel even smiled while carrying out his atrocities. To him, the baby phoenix was nothing more than a tool holding immense strategic value. Utilizing a phoenix’s innate resurrection ability for themselves would push the creatures of this world to a corner. The angels could attack with reckless abandon, only to come back to life using the phoenix’s powers. On the other hand, the blasphemous mortals would slowly fall into deeper despair that would eventually force them to abandon the war entirely. ‘To use this blasphemous beast for our conquest of this corrupted world... If this isn’t Father’s will, then what is?’ Auriel thought with a grin just as twisted as his logic. Explosions tore through the air all of a sudden. The sudden bombardment flustered Auriel. Why was the Altar of Resurrection suddenly being bombarded? This could only mean one thing, and that was— ‘We’re under attack!’ Auriel was shocked after realizing that the enemy had found their way to the altar. And before he could even react— A barrage of cannon fire rained down, obliterating everything in sight. The area around the altar was swept up by destruction in mere seconds. However, the bombardment was just the beginning. “The enemy! The enemy is here!” Screams erupted from within the thick fog as one angel fell after another. Auriel clenched his teeth and growled under his breath, “Those damn heathens dare to...!” Ironically, the very fog they conjured to conceal the Altar of Resurrection from their enemies was now working against them. “You cursed bastards! I’ll burn you all to ashes! Every last one of you!” Auriel raged. Then, he gathered his flames and exclaimed, “I’m sorry, my brothers and sisters! But I have no choice!” Auriel made up his mind to unleash a vicious divine flame that would consume everything around him, friend or foe alike. It was all because safeguarding the Altar of Resurrection and keeping the baby phoenix under his control was far more important than the lives of his brothers and sisters. Besides, he could always revive his fallen kin later using the phoenix. Auriel’s divine flames grew bigger and bigger until they were mere moments away from being unleashed. “Come... to the world... of despair...” “So cold... It’s so cold here...” A swarm of fallen spirits circled him, whispering into his ears. Then, the fallen spirits formed a thick black fog that completely surrounded the archangel. “You cursed filth! Burn to cinders!” Aurial roared, summoning his flames to purge the spirits that dared to approach an archangel. No matter how hard Auriel tried, his flames refused to do his bidding. Instead, the flames died and refused to reignite no matter how much Auriel tried. Auriel continued struggling to reignite his flames, but no matter how hard he tried, the flames refused to roar back to life. It was like a lighter full of gas that couldn’t catch a spark. At that moment, Siegfried emerged from the fog. “What’s the matter? It’s not working?” he asked in a calm yet mocking voice. Siegfried’s skill, Waves of Oppression, was the reason Auriel’s flames suddenly stopped listening to his commands. “You bastard...!” Auriel growled. Then, he smirked and said, “Do you really think this will stop me? Your wife and daughter will inevitably become our—” “Shut the fuck up,” Siegfried cut him off. Then, without warning, he lunged at the archangel at terrifying speed. The third round between Siegfried and Auriel began, and their clash was intense right from the start. “Argh! You damned heathen!” Despite being covered in debuffs, Auriel displayed his might as an archangel and perfectly blocked Siegfried’s attacks. It seemed that the human vessel she had possessed this time wasn't a good match for her or held immense hidden potential. Not that it changed the fact that she looked like a wrinkled old hag. ‘He’s strong,’ Siegfried was honestly surprised. He hadn't expected that Auriel would go on the offensive and pressure him instead. Auriel wasn't possessing a strong warrior like Brunhilde. His vessel was an ordinary old woman who looked frail and weak, but the fact that he could still display this level of combat prowess within that vessel meant only one thing. ‘I need more debuffs.’ Siegfried activated Discharge and further enhanced the effects of Eternal Flames. The Eternal Flames roared to life, engulfing Auriel and drastically shredding his defenses. Using Discharge drained a considerable amount of Siegfried’s Mana and Divine Power, but it was well worth it. Siegfried spotted a gap in Auriel’s defenses. He swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp imbued with Crushing Tremor and struck Auriel’s left shoulder. An explosion erupted, engulfing the left side of her torso and arm. “Aaaargh!” Auriel screamed in agony. It was to be expected. Siegfried’s basic attack charged up with Crushing Tremor dealt a ridiculous amount of damage, and the debuff from Eternal Flames caused Auriel to take the full brunt of it. Ironically, even Siegfried was impressed by the damage he dealt. ‘Dayum! This is crazy!’ His Basic Attack dealt the same damage others would deal using skills. Siegfried continued attacking, striking Auriel three times with Skull Breaker. A skull appeared above Auriel's head. Auriel noticed the mark that appeared above his head, and he hurriedly threw himself into a desperate roll across the ground. He instinctively knew that he would die from that hit, so he did everything he could to evade Siegfried’s next attack. However, his struggle was pointless. Siegfried activated Absolute Zero as if he had been expecting this to happen. A wave of extreme frost crippled Auriel before freezing him in place. The fourth and final strike of Skull Breaker struck Auriel in the head, triggering the Mark of Death. Auriel’s head exploded, and his lifeless body collapsed to the ground. “Siegfried van Proa...!” With his vessel destroyed, Auriel's soul emerged, snarling at Siegfried. ‘Now!’ Siegfried immediately reacted the moment the archangel’s soul appeared. “I will never forget this day! You will pay for what you did to me...!” Auriel was so consumed by rage that he did not even notice that Siegfried was plotting something. Even while being forcibly recalled to the Celestial Realm, he stayed and continued to curse at Siegfried. Unfortunately, that stubbornness turned out to be a mistake that would prove extremely costly. A dark aura shot out from Siegfried like a vortex and swallowed Auriel whole before he could even react. Auriel was stunned after he was transported to an unfamiliar realm rather than the Celestial Realm. “Where am I?!” Auriel screamed in panic. “I guess you can call this... the Room of Truth[1]?” A triumphant, smug grin spread across Siegfried’s face after successfully trapping Auriel’s soul inside the World of Despair. ‘Good. The first part of my plan worked,’ he thought after the first phase of the plan he thought of all night was successful. Last night, he wondered what would happen if he stopped Auriel’s soul from returning to the Celestial Realm by trapping it in the World of Despair. Maybe, just maybe, perhaps he could destroy the archangel’s soul entirely. That was the theory he wanted to put to test, and it was time to commence the experiment. “What do you think will happen now? What do you think will happen if I kill you while we are in here?” Siegfried asked while walking toward the archangel. “H-Hiiik?!” Auriel shrieked and shrank back in horror. Right now, Siegfried looked far more terrifying than anything else the archangel had ever witnessed in his life. 1. This is from a Korean movie called The Outlaws. The Room of Truth is where the detective will take criminals to force criminals into confession... by beating it out of them. ☜