[One of the thirteen archangels who lead the Celestial Realm.] [As the archangel who governs healing, he was once revered in ancient times for tending to the ailments of countless creatures.] [Affiliation: Celestial Realm] [Note 1: His personality has completely changed after being corrupted by anger.] [Note 2: Due to forcibly descending before the Celestial Gate's destruction, he is in a significantly weakened state.] “Archangel... Raphael...” Siegfried muttered. He could feel the tension headache slowly setting in after witnessing Archangel Raphael's descent into the world for the first time. Fortunately, the fact that Archangel Raphael had descended by force significantly weakened him, and it was definitely good news. The problem, however, was that even in his weakened state, the Archangel was still a powerful being. As evident, Archangel Raphael’s current level was a whopping Level 700. “Are you Siegfried van Proa?” Archangel Raphael asked, recognizing him at a glance. “What if I am?” Siegfried replied. “Your name is being uttered quite often in the Celestial Realm these days. They say you’ve slaughtered countless of my brothers and sisters.” “Oh? My reputation made it all the way up there? So, do you want an autograph or something?” Siegfried sneered. “Have you not considered that there would be consequences for your actions, mortal from another world?” “Hmm...Eh, not really. I never really knew I had so many fans, you know?” Siegfried said with a shrug, feigning ignorance. “So, you do seem to have a glib tongue like they say.” Unlike Archangel Auriel, Archangel Raphael seemed to have a very different temperament. Despite Siegfried’s continuous sneering and provocations, he neither cursed nor raised his voice. Instead, he merely looked at Siegfried with a cold, unreadable gaze. ‘This guy is Level 700. I’m dead if I fight him head-on,’ Siegfried thought. He was deliberately stalling for him while analyzing the situation. ‘I can’t win. I’ll die almost instantly if I recklessly charge in.’ He remained calm while objectively analyzing his opponent and tried to think of a way to beat him. At present, Siegfried was Level 368, while Archangel Raphael was Level 700. The level gap between them wasn't just vast; it was insurmountable. To begin with, a fight between them couldn’t even be considered a fair fight. However, there was one silver lining. Archangel Raphael couldn’t descend with his army of angels, as the Celestial Gate was destroyed. It would have been a catastrophe had he managed to descend with his angels. Fortunately, he was all alone. As long as he was alone, there was a chance to defeat him. Just then, Archangel Raphael pointed his spear at Siegfried and said, “The time has come for you to face judgement, Siegfried van Proa.” Siegfried shot a signal flare into the sky, and the crimson flare painted the skies above Iraxia. “EVERYONE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” he screamed at the top of his lungs before grabbing Hamchi by the scruff and running full speed. The Adventurers knocked back by the surge of energy unleashed by the Celestial Gate were stunned. Siegfried wasn't the type to run from a fight. In fact, he would always be the first to attack against powerful enemies. So why had he decided to run away now? The answer was soon revealed. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom The cannons of the battleships hovering in the skies above Iraxia roared to life one after another. It seemed that the barrels had finally cooled down, allowing the battleships to resume fire. What was the meaning of that? The battleships fired, unleashing an indiscriminate bombardment over the entire area around the archangel. Siegfried chose to annihilate Archangel Raphael at all costs, even if it meant suffering collateral damage. “R-Run! Run for your lives!” The Adventurers ran as fast as they could to avoid getting caught up by the bombardment. No one would take responsibility if they ended up getting caught up in the bombardment, so they had to run—like hell—for their lives. The Proatine Kingdom’s Iron Fleet began unleashing a relentless bombardment upon Archangel Raphael’s location. Even the Invincible Battleship fired its destructive laser with pinpoint precision, and they maintained an error margin of less than three centimeters from their target. Siegfried sharpened his senses while flying through the air, narrowly avoiding the relentless artillery barrage. He did not look back and focused on getting as far away as possible from the destruction. ‘This is how you use numbers against your enemies!’ After all, there was an old saying that even the mightiest of warriors couldn’t survive being lynched by a mob. Siegfried was not some brave fool who would engage a Level 700 enemy head-on. He had no interest in feeding his ego or fighting to the death with honor. This battle was not being waged for his personal glory, but rather, it was about protecting the world. Siegfried waited from a safe distance until the bombardment was over. ‘Please... I hope that dealt a lot of damage to him...’ he prayed earnestly while watching for any signs of movement. His eyes remained fixed on the battlefield covered in thick black smoke while tightly gripping his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp. Of course, he dared not expect that the archangel would die from this volley of attacks. He was not so foolish to think that a Level 700 NPC like Raphael could be killed with a mere bombardment. However, he hoped that it could at least wound him or wear him down. Then perhaps—perhaps he would have a fighting chance against the archangel. ‘What happened? How much damage did that do?’ Siegfried focused on the blast zone, still looking out for any sign of movement within the thick plumes of smoke and fire. The devastation caused by the bombardment was so ridiculous that even Siegfried’s sharp eyes couldn’t see through the thick, dense smoke. Everything was a chaotic blur of smoke, flames, and debris. Archangel Raphael burst through the smoke at blinding speed. Siegfried instinctively swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp with all his strength and— —It collided against Archangel Raphael’s spear. The impact blew away Siegfried, and he barely managed to stop himself from crashing into the ground. “U-Ughh...!” He groaned and grimaced as pain shot through his right hand. The clash made his fingers go numb. They only exchanged one move, but Siegfried's body was already screaming in pain. ‘C-Crazy! How the hell is he so strong?!’ Siegfried had finally experienced the might of a Level 700 NPC, but this was no time to be in awe of his enemy. He quickly regained his composure and flashed his Rune of Insight to check the archangel’s current status. Despite the devastating bombardment, Archangel Raphael only lost ten percent of his entire HP. Even the mightiest warriors on the continent couldn't escape unscathed from the bombardment just now, and most would disintegrate to dust during the first salvo. And yet, Archangel Raphael was still standing. No, he hadn't just survived the bombardment. In fact, there was barely a scratch on him. “You mortals cannot defeat me,” Raphael said calmly, yet his voice was laced with a hint of anger. Upon uttering those words, he charged forward with blinding speed once again. Clang! Clang! Clang! Baaam! Siegfried and Archangel Raphael flew at insane speeds, engaging in a fierce aerial battle. The battle between Siegfried and Archangel Raphael was a clash for the ages, and it would be remembered in history as a truly legendary duel. It was a battle between the Fallen Archangel, who had descended from the Celestial Realm, and the Hero King, Siegfried van Proa, who was wrapped in a dark, ominous debuff aura. The sight of their battle alone was enough to send chills down the spines of those witnessing it with their own eyes. “I-Is that even possible...?” “That aerial battle is on a whole nother level.” “I’ve never seen anything before!” The Adventurers could only stare in silence; they were stunned and utterly captivated by the aerial duel between Siegfried and Archangel Raphael. They could have helped Siegfried by joining the battle and attacking the archangel, yet not a single one dared to interfere. It was all because they instinctively knew that there was nothing they could do. Forget about doing anything; they couldn’t even keep up their movements, so it was highly likely they would only end up getting in Siegfried’s way if they were to join the battle recklessly. So, in the end, all they could do was watch with their mouths agape and enjoy the sheer spectacle before their eyes. In fact, some of the Adventurers had already dropped their weapons and started focusing on recording every moment of the aerial battle. Just then, Yong Seol-Hwa stepped up. “This isn’t the time for that! Healers! Buffers! Gather up!” She quickly rallied all of the Adventurers with healing and buffs. Then, she told them to cast their support skills on Siegfried. Yong Seol-Hwa instinctively knew that there was no way Siegfried could last against Archangel Raphael without any support. ‘Damn it...! He’s fucking strong...’ Meanwhile, Siegfried was feeling an immense amount of pressure. Even with Overclocking cranked up to the third stage, the archangel wasn't getting pushed back at all. Instead, Siegfried was the one getting pushed back as the battle went on. He had already lost quite a bit of HP even though he had yet to suffer any direct hit from the Archangel’s spear. Every time their weapons made contact with each other, the sheer force of the attack alone sent ripples throughout Siegfried's body, dealing damage to him regardless of whether he was hit or not. “Kyuuu! Hamchi will get off and help!” Unable to watch any longer, Hamchi leaped off Siegfried’s back and landed on the ground. Then, he summoned his magical hamster wheel and started running on it to cast buffs on Siegfried. [Alert: Your Attack Power has increased!] [Alert: Your Defense has increased!] [Alert: Your HP has been restored!] [Alert: Your Mana has been restored!] Thanks to Hamchi’s buff and the support spells from the other Adventurers, Siegfried was able to continue fighting against the Level 700 NPC, Archangel Raphael. “Coward! Do you intend to flee like a rat forever?!” Archangel Raphael was slowly getting frustrated. No matter how hard he tried to land a blow, the slippery human always managed to evade or block it. As if that was not annoying enough, Siegfried, at some point, had completely stopped engaging in direct combat and was only attacking from a distance. Simply put, his tactics were dirty and despicable. He would use his debuffs on Archangel Raphael while hurling aura blade after aura blade to keep him at bay. Through relentless kiting, he chipped away at the Archangel’s HP while completely dishing out damage one-sidedly. The Archangel’s HP was slowly going down. Realizing that the creature he considered inferior was actually toying with him, Archangel Raphael was furious. ‘Good. Keep it up,’ Siegfried thought with a smirk. He could see that the Archangel was slowly beginning to lose composure, and he knew better than anyone that anger in battle always created openings that could be exploited. “I will not let this stand! I’m going to rip you to shreds with my own hands!” Raphael roared. Blinded by fury, he shook off the debilitating slow debuff and charged at Siegfried with reckless abandon. Siegfried did not miss this opportunity. As soon as the archangel closed in, Siegfried unleashed Absolute Zero. Raphael was an archangel, so he wasn't completely frozen. However, his Movement Speed plummeted drastically. Siegfried activated Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain and unleashed a rain of aura blades upon the archangel. “Grwaaaaah!” Raphael screamed in agony for the first time. The thousands of aura blades ripped through him, shredding him like a blender. He was an archangel, but there was no way he could endure such an onslaught without crying out in agony. Siegfried maintained his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp in its hammer form and used the ultimate technique of the Sword Emperor, Betelgeuse. Heaven Splitting Slash. He knew that their difference in level was too great for him to cleave Raphael into two, so he decided to use the technique and swing his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp in a downward strike. The +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp crashed into Archangel Raphael’s skull, carrying the full brunt of Heaven Splitting Slash— Blood erupted from the archangel’s mouth, but Siegfried was not done yet. He transformed his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a stake and drove it deep into the Archangel’s abdomen. “A-Aghh!” Raphael groaned in agony, but this time, he barely made a sound. Siegfried infused his mana into the +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp, injecting Wave of Annihilation directly into the archangel’s body through the stake. As soon as he was done attacking, Siegfried immediately turned tail and ran away. He had no idea what catastrophic aftershock the powerful shockwave swirling inside the Archangel’s body would cause. Thus, he decided that retreating and observing from a distance was the best course of action.