‘These bastards make me sick.’ Siegfried was enraged at the sight of the ongoing human sacrificial ritual. It was only natural for him to feel enraged when drugged young boys and girls were being slaughtered right before his very eyes. “How dare you step foot in here?!” Another group of high-ranking angels rushed at him, but Siegfried did not bother fighting them this time. “Go take care of those bastards, Hamchi.” “Kyuuu! Leave them to me!” Hamchi grew several times in size and swatted away the angels charging toward Siegfried. While Hamchi bought time for him, Siegfried drew out the frost energy of the Blood Frost Orb and summoned radiant aura swords. Torrential Flower Rain! The aura swords filled with frost energy raged like a fierce storm. Unsurprisingly, the aura blades skillfully avoided the drugged and unconscious young boys and girls while piercing the Illuminati members, who were busy performing human sacrifices, with lethal accuracy. At this point, Siegfried’s control over the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain had truly reached the realm of the divine. “You dare!” High Priest Apollonas, who was conducting the ritual, let out a furious roar. “You filthy lowly Adventurer! Do you intend to interfere with the opening of the Celestial Gates?!” “Interfere? Ha! Hey, you’re the ones interfering here. I already have enough on my plate, and now you want to summon those bastards into this world, too? Are you freaking kidding me?” Siegfried scoffed and said. “What did you say, you heathen?!” “I said, I’m going to kill all of you.” As soon as those words left his mouth... Embrace of Despair and Eternal Flames spread throughout the battlefield, and Siegfried shot out like an arrow, striking down his enemies en masse using his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp. The whole spectacle was nothing short of a massacre. One by one, he shattered the skulls of those guarding the altar as he made his way toward High Priest Apollonas. “Stop him! What are you standing around for?! I said stop him!” Apollonas shrieked as he watched the scene unfold in horror. The ritual was nearly complete. Just a little bit more, and the Celestial Gate would finally open, allowing the Chief Archangel, Lucifer, to descend in his true body. Just when High Priest Apollonas thought they were on the brink of completing their mission that spanned hundreds of thousands of years, a meddling Adventurer showed up from nowhere to attempt to spoil everything. However, Siegfried took it up a notch and didn't stop at spoiling things. He stretched out his hand and— The drugged boys and girls lying atop the altar floated high into the sky and drifted far, far away. The skill, Flying Sword, used mana to move physical objects without touching them, much like telekinesis. Weapons weren't the only things that could be manipulated, as moving distant objects without direct contact was possible as long as the user had ample mana. Thus, Siegfried used the Flying Sword skill to move the boys and girls to a safe place. “I-Impossibruuu!” A horrified scream erupted from High Priest Apollonas. Siegfried was showing abilities that far surpassed most people’s wildest imaginations. Not only was he slaughtering a swarm of high-ranking angels almost one-sidedly, but he was also raining down radiant aura blades like a storm. And now, he was using telekinesis as well? At this point, calling him "omnipotent" would not even be an exaggeration. “Where are the royal knights?! Where is Sir Hopkins?!” King Romanson screamed in a frenzy, calling for the most powerful knight in his kingdom. But it was all futile... A section of the wall crumbled as a figure wielding a greatsword emerged. He tossed a severed head onto the ground. “S-Sir Hopkins...!” King Romanson gasped in horror after recognizing the severed head. It was the head of Sir Hopkins, the Seneca Kingdom’s most powerful knight—well, he used to be. “Shut up. I’ll deal with you later,” Siegfried grumbled. He hurled his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp straight at King Romanson. King Romanson let out a strange cry and collapsed to the ground. ‘Time to destroy the altar.’ Without hesitation, Siegfried unleashed the Wave of Annihilation toward the altar. A powerful shockwave surged outward toward the altar. The altar crumbled helplessly. The sheer destructive force of the Wave of Annihilation obliterated it in an instant. The Celestial Gate for the Chief Archangel, Lucifer, vanished like a mirage, leaving no traces behind. [Alert: No. 13 Altar has been destroyed!] [Alert: "Shut the Celestial Gate" quest progress has increased (3/13)!] [Alert: You have leveled up!] [Alert: You have reached Level 348!] A string of notifications popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes. It was another easy level up for him. Meanwhile, Apollonas let out an anguished wail, sounding like a wounded beast. The Illuminati had been meticulously planning this ritual over the past fifty years. And yet, just like that, it had all crumbled to dust. “Siegfried...! Siegfried, you bastard!” Apollonas, blinded by rage, lost all sense of reason and lunged at Siegfried. However, as a non-combatant NPC, Apollonas was no match for Siegfried. Siegfried easily subdued him with a few punches. Then, he placed his hand over the high priest’s head and— —He injected radioactive microbes into him. Siegfried was turning High Priest Apollonas into a Radioactive Ghoul before the latter could regain his senses and take his own life. The Seneca Kingdom’s capital city, Iraxia, was reduced to utter ruin the moment the Proatine Kingdom commenced a full-scale assault. With the Iron Fleet and the Invincible Battleship of the Marchioni Empire, the Proatine Kingdom dominated the skies, and from then, the battle was practically over. Siegfried’s forces secured complete air superiority by systematically eliminating every anti-air cannon, which allowed them to rain down hell upon the Seneca Kingdom’s ground army. [Alert: You have leveled up!] [Alert: You have reached Level 349!] [Alert: You have reached Level 351!] [Alert: You have reached Level 352!] [Alert: You have reached Level 353!] The altars scattered across the city were getting destroyed, sending a wave of rewards in Siegfried’s way even though he was busy turning High Priest Apollonas into a Radioactive Ghoul. ‘Ah, this is so sweet,’ Siegfried thought, delighted that his level kept increasing when he was not even lifting a finger. High Priest Apollonas’s transformation into a Radioactive Ghoul was completed, and he knelt before his new master, Siegfried van Proa. “Go with that guy for now and wait for further instructions.” And just like that, High Priest Apollonas, who was once a high-ranking member of the Illuminati, had become Siegfried’s slave. Siegfried tasked Daytona with transferring High Priest Apollonas to a secure location, as he had to be kept under tight watch until he was safely transported to the Proatine Kingdom for thorough interrogation. Well, rather than interrogation, it was more like a question-and-answer session. High Priest Apollonas was now a Radioactive Ghoul, so he would spill every secret he knew without resistance at Siegfried’s command, making torture unnecessary. “Make sure to take care of him.” With that, Siegfried entrusted High Priest Apollonas and King Romanson, who was still unconscious, to Dayton and immediately rushed elsewhere. It was all because there were still altars left to destroy. His comrades were all over the city by now, destroying the altars one by one, but he couldn’t trust them one hundred percent. He was not doubting their abilities, but rather, it was about ensuring that not even a single Celestial Gate was left standing. A catastrophe of never-seen-before proportions would unfold if a single Celestial Gate were allowed to open, so he had to make sure to destroy the altars as quickly as possible. Some would think that he was making a big deal out of nothing, but they were dead wrong. The archangels were beings on par with demon lords. If even one Celestial Gate were allowed to open, it would be equivalent to summoning a demon lord along with an entire legion of demons. A single demon was already a handful to deal with, so having to go up against an entire legion led by a demon lord, who would descend in their true form, was nothing short of a disaster. History had already shown what happened when a demon lord descended in their true form. It was the kind of event that shook the continent so violently that entire chapters were dedicated to detail the horrors that took place at that time. Thus, if an archangel, a being on par with a demon lord, were allowed to descend, then destruction and devastation would surely follow. With his trusty companion on his shoulder, Siegfried soared away from the royal palace and flew toward the remaining altars. From then, he actively assisted his comrades in destroying the remaining altars. [Alert: You have reached Level 354!] [Alert: You have reached Level 355!] [Alert: You have reached Level 356!] [Alert: You have reached Level 357!] And with every altar destroyed, he gained a level as a reward. Things were progressing smoothly, as even the altars heavily guarded by the enemies were simply bombarded by the Iron Fleet, blasting it to oblivion. [Remaining Altar: 1 (12/13)] Thus, only one altar remained. “I think we can just bomb it, no?” Siegfried muttered while checking the last remaining altar’s location using Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance. However, the Iron Fleet circling around the skies was no longer dropping any bombs despite their air superiority. “Kyuuu! Think about it, owner punk! Our fleets can’t fire anymore!” Hamchi pointed toward the closest Iron Warship in the sky. The main cannons of the battleship were glowing red-hot from extreme heat. Thick white smoke came out from the barrels, rising into the sky like a smoke signal. The same could be said for the Marchioni Empire’s Invincible Battleship. “They still have ammo, but they can’t fire! The cannons are overheated! Kyuu!” “Oh, you’re right...” After such an intense aerial battle followed by a full-scale bombardment of the ground, it was no surprise that their cannons had reached their limit. Even if they had ammo left, the cannons were now out of commission for a while. “Hmm... Seung-Gu is heading there, though,” Siegfried said while checking the mini-map. Seung-Gu was leading a squad of Adventurers toward the last remaining altar. “Kyuu! We have to hurry, owner punk!” Hamchi exclaimed urgently. “Do you really trust Seung-Gu?! Kyuu!” “Why not? He’s really strong now, you know?” “Kyuu! Hamchi knows Seung-Gu is strong! But his luck is garbage! His luck is so rotten he always trolls when you need him the most!” “I guess you have a point...” Siegfried couldn’t argue with Hamchi’s reasoning. Seung-Gu had notoriously bad luck. His luck was so bad that Hamchi’s warning was completely reasonable. “Ugh... I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry. Let’s go, Hamchi.” “Kyuuu! Good idea, owner punk!” And with that, Siegfried flew full speed toward the final altar. Ironically, Seung-Gu proved all accusations about his luck shortly afterward. Hamchi’s eyes widened in shock after spotting something as they were flying toward the final altar. “L-Look over there! Kyuuu!” “A battleship crashed over there! Kyu!” “So what about it? It probably got shot down by our Iron Fleet or the empire’s Invincible Battleship.” “Kyuuu! Not that, owner punk! Look where it crashed!” An ominous feeling washed over Siegfried. He hurriedly checked Seung-Gu's current location using Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance. “Ah...” Siegfried muttered in disbelief. The battleship had crashed, causing widespread destruction at its crash site. It turned out Seung-Gu failed to evade the battleship and ended up getting wiped out by it along with the squad of Adventurers he led.