[Vol. 7] Chapter 283: Twilight of Fate
The little girl seemed to realize that everything was already over. She slowly stopped singing. Then, three other girls, each with snowy white wings like hers, landed from the sky and walked over to where Bernard lay unconscious.
“Hm... judging by his outfit, he should be the commander of this army,” Miss Rene said curiously, poking Bernard with her staff. She nudged him over like turning a dead pig, flipping him onto his back. The pink-haired succubus girl, who gave off a strange holy feeling, tilted her head and said with a bit of innocent confusion.
“I don’t know why. This power should only calm their anger and bad emotions, and make them listen to Eudora’s orders for a short time... Hmm, did I mess up again...?”
“No,” said the one called Wing, “this human’s condition is special. He was probably affected by some other power before this. That’s why, when the two mental forces clashed, he ended up fainting. Little one, go ask the soldiers if anyone knows more about him.”
“Okay, Sister Wing!” the succubus girl who called herself Eudora replied cheerfully. She turned to look around and spoke again in her sweet, clear voice:
“Um… excuse me, does anyone know why this uncle ended up like this?”
“I do,” came a calm answer.
The one who replied was Jerry, the vice commander who had been closest and had seen almost everything. With golden light still swirling in his eyes, he raised his head and calmly told the whole story, how Bernard had pulled out and smashed a crystal pendant. His words immediately caught the attention of the three girls.
“So it was something that helped resist Eudora’s enhanced Holy Song, and after being broken, it released a strange and unsettling aura…”
The girl named Wing looked around, quickly spotting the broken pieces of the pendant next to Bernard. She quietly knelt down and touched one of the shards with her pale fingertip. A faint light flickered as they made contact.
“There’s not much magic left in it, so it’s hard to figure out exactly what it did... but judging by its type, it’s probably a kind of special curse. This thing was likely just a trigger or a control key. The real cursed object isn’t here… but rather…”
As if suddenly realizing something, Wing stood up and turned to look at the massive city at the far end of the canyon, now hidden beneath storm clouds. A hint of worry flashed through her beautiful eyes.
"Could it be… that this is also one of the backup plans the Emperor of the Austre Empire prepared to reach his goal? A ruthless trick that harms both the enemy and himself, only triggered when the original plan fails… His ambition and schemes are truly terrifying."
Seeing that Wing looked serious and not like someone who had just succeeded, the calm and thoughtful Leila stepped forward and asked,
"Wing, what do you mean by 'ruthless trick'...?"
The angel girl, who had a far stronger and deeper presence than the two other angels nearby, nodded slightly. It was unclear why she had appeared here, but her aura clearly showed she was more powerful.
"I'm not sure about the full details yet, but judging by what’s happening now, it must be connected to the imperial royal family. I just hope the lady you trust, Violet, is strong enough to..."
“Booooom~ Booooom~ Booooom~ Booooom~ Booooom~~~~”
Before the angel girl could finish her sentence, a heavy and deafening hum suddenly echoed across the sky, layer upon layer, as if shaking the heavens. Though there was nothing visible in the air, Wing, who had stayed calm until now, suddenly lost her balance slightly. As if she had sensed something terrible was coming. Her face changed dramatically.
“Wait… this feeling… how is this even possible?!”
“What? Wing, what is that sound—?”
“Leila, Rene, hold your breath and suppress your energy!!”
With no time to explain more, Wing quickly grabbed the little succubus girl's hand and pulled her into her arms. In the next instant, a brilliant light exploded from her body.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
It felt like an invisible hand was tightly squeezing their hearts. It was also like standing right next to a massive bell that had just been struck. A terrifying pressure and humming sound came crashing down. The two angel girls felt their vision turn white and immediately fell to the ground, unable to move, their faces twisted in pain.
Worse still, inside the Iron Hammer Canyon, which was acting as a kind of anchor point, almost every living creature exploded on the spot from the overwhelming force. Only the group of soldiers, who had just received a mysterious blessing, barely survived, though all of them were bleeding from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth and had fallen unconscious.
Bernard, who hadn’t received that protection, wasn’t so lucky. Though he was already unconscious, his body was instantly blown apart, leaving nothing behind, not even bones. The angels noticed it, but they could barely take care of themselves. Even if they wanted to save him, it was already too late.
“Th-this... cough... what just happened...?!”
“Oh my gosh… what is going on…?!”
After a long while, Leila and Rene finally began to recover from the blinding white light and constant ringing in their ears. Using their weapons for support, they slowly tried to stand up.
But by now, the once clear and sunny sky over the canyon had completely changed. Countless dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, gathering quickly and blocking out the sunlight. The sky turned dim and gloomy in an instant, as if the whole world had suddenly entered an eternal twilight.
Wing, using her own body and strength to shield the more fragile Eudora in her arms from the crushing pressure coming from above, turned to look at the two girls. Even though Leila and Rene were already mythical-beings angels with great power, they were still forced to one knee by the overwhelming pressure. The ground beneath them cracked from the force, and their faces turned a little pale. Even so, Rene couldn’t help but shout in frustration.
“Hey hey! Don’t tell me this is that so-called secret trick?! The Emperor of the Austre Empire can summon something this crazy? Isn’t that way too overpowered?!”
“Wing? Leila? Rene? Are you okay? Ah—what about that uncle just now...?”
“It’s alright. Just stay close to me.”
Gently patting the head of the little light-type succubus in her arms, Wing opened a protective shield around them and slowly stood up straight. As she looked up at the terrifying scene leaking down through the cracks above the canyon, her expression turned more serious than ever before.
“This power… there’s no way any single being could summon it by will alone. Not even the Emperor could do it. His original goal must not have been to summon this… Something else must have happened in Sainz, something we don’t know about. All of it mixed together and backfired...”
“This is bad. If we don’t handle this right, the entire Sainz Plain might be completely burned to ash… No, maybe even the Holy Empire could be affected…”
The two young angel girls, still not fully grown, helped each other up unsteadily. Rene rubbed her dizzy head. Surrounded by this terrifying twilight, even someone as cheerful as her couldn’t crack a joke anymore.
“So what is that thing? Don’t tell me some evil god has just come into the world in person?!”
Wing took a deep breath.
“Hold your breath, stay strong in your heart, and… look up.”
Following their more experienced comrade’s instructions, the two younger angel girls instinctively obeyed. In the strange dark twilight, they looked up toward the sky.
And then they both froze, overwhelmed with fear.
“......!”
“No way!!!”