Leveling with the Gods

C326

The Archangels gathered in one place.

Raphael, Uriel, Remiel, Suriel, and others...

With the Great Heaven Demon War looming, the Archangels were in confusion.

"Could I have misheard?"

Uriel hurriedly approached Raphael, his white hair fluttering.

Raphael, with his golden mane, clenched his fist and raised his head.

"I don't think so."

"Why the King...?"

"It seems like a betrayal."

"Betrayal? By Michael?"

"I don't know the exact details. But now that an order has been given, we must follow it."

The summons to the Heavenly Castle.

And the extermination of Michael.

That was Metatron's order. Following that order, Raphael called forth the army and the Archangels.

Though the order made no sense, it was the order of the Heavenly King.

The Heavens had to obey his words.

"The problem might be Kim YuWon, who's by his side."

These were the words of Suriel, who had been pondering for a long time.

Raphael and Uriel's heads turned.

"Kim YuWon?"

"We had an encounter with him to recruit him to the Guild. For some reason, since yesterday, he's been acting together with Michael."

"What has that guy done to Michael?"

"What could Michael do to him? Perhaps he has shaken his faith."

"Faith..."

That's right.

Although he had been injured by Zeus, aside from Metatron, Michael was the most skilled in the Heavens.

He was not someone who would be surpassed in ability, nor someone who could be taken advantage of through some weakness.

But if that guy called Kim YuWon whispered in his ear...

If not, Michael's betrayal would make no sense.

"However, why Michael?"

Michael's faith was as solid and unwavering as that of the other Archangels.

Even if he was deceived by words, he wouldn't be easily swayed.

There were several strange things.

"Well, Raphael, what shall we do?"

At that moment, while lost in thought, the other Archangels were already moving.

Raphael quickly snapped back to attention upon hearing the voice calling him.

"Let's go, everyone."

That's right.

They might uncover the details later.

Right now, the most important issue was that Metatron's stability was threatened by Michael's rebellion.

They would think about it later.

"First, we must subdue Michael."

The Heavenly Castle.

The place where the Heavenly King resides, the most sublime and sacred place above the clouds. A place even an ordinary Angel couldn't set foot in, and one they considered the desire of their entire life.

However, right now...

Graaaaah!!

Inside it, the wind blew fiercely.

"Aaah!"

The blade of a burning red sword slashed the wings of an Angel.

The Angel, having lost its wings, fell screaming.

The red line didn't stop.

Shoo, shooosh!

Splosh!

An Angel pouncing forward was beheaded along with its spear. Unable to even scream, its body and head fell to the ground.

Pwock!

YuWon's head turned at a dull sound.

Michael, wielding a spear, fiercely struck down the Angels approaching him.

YuWon's forehead creased.

"Why aren't you acting properly?"

Michael was taken aback by YuWon's rebuke, and his hand holding the spear trembled slightly.

The Angels controlled by Metatron.

Until now, Michael hadn't killed any Angels.

"It's not the time to be lenient."

"...I know. But..."

A silence.

Michael looked at the tip of the approaching spear.

"These are just guys manipulated by Metatron."

Clack.

Voooooom.

Michael caught the approaching spear with his hand and, along with the spear, pulled the Angel towards his lap.

Immediately after, Michael's foot struck the Angel's chest.

Pwaaah!

"Kugh!"

A clean movement like flowing water.

Michael's combat sense was excellent, even in YuWon's eyes.

However, his hands were filled with unnecessary things.

It was the same just now.

He could have cut its neck or strangled it, but Michael didn't.

That meant he was thinking and controlling his strength in his head to avoid killing his opponent.

"So, will you show compassion?"

"It's not that, but..."

A response that still seemed doubtful.

He couldn't change that in a short period of time.

Throughout his life, Michael had sacrificed himself for the Heavens. In his eyes, the reflected Angels were pitiful, victims of Metatron's hands, and no different from lambs to be protected instead of targets to be killed.

That's why, even though he knew it was time to fight, his body didn't obey him.

There was nothing he could do about it.

"Can you kill Metatron?" YuWon asked.

YuWon's question made Michael's eyes light up.

He nodded firmly.

"Of course."

"Don't hesitate this time."

Hrrk-.

A spark ignited from YuWon's fingers.

The spark rose above YuWon's head. Instead of being scattered and chaotic, this spark began to take on a defined form, shaping into the figure of a giant.

[The 'Heavenly Demon Spirit' controls the 'Holy Fire']

Hrrrr-.

The Heavenly Demon Spirit (天魔靈) was the vessel for the Holy Fire.

And the one determining its form was YuWon himself, controlling the Heavenly Demon Spirit.

And as for the image of the spark, there was a perfect figure.

'A giant wielding flames.' (YuWon)

Surt.

He was the most powerful Ranker YuWon knew, the one possessing the greatest fire.

The figure of Surt, wielding a sword of fire while battling Odin, was deeply engraved in YuWon's mind.

And that fire that Surt desired, was burning in YuWon's heart.

"Surt...?"

Michael's eyes widened upon discovering YuWon's Heavenly Demon Spirit.

Though much smaller in size, YuWon's Heavenly Demon Spirit clearly resembled Surt.

'All we need is one strike.' (YuWon)

Hrrrr-.

An enormous sword of fire formed in the hand of the Heavenly Demon Spirit.

[The 'Heart of Fire' burns]

YuWon's chest heated intensely.

The Heart of Fire was an engine so powerful that YuWon currently couldn't control it. Forcing it to operate, it was only natural for it to become unwieldy.

But if it was just one strike, it didn't matter.

YuWon's pupils directed towards Metatron, who was standing behind the Angels with their shields.

The path to reach the target Metatron.

To create that path, YuWon moved the Heavenly Demon Spirit.

Hwaaaack-!

"Retreat, fall back!"

"No, don't fall back."

"Behind is the Heavenly King..."

"We can't stop this."

The Angels overwhelmed by the Heavenly Demon Spirit hurriedly raised their spears and swords, but the results were disastrous.

Pooom-!

The Heavenly Demon Spirit's Sword descended.

The Angels were engulfed in flames, and the flames devoured their screams.

A path opened up before them.

Flap-.

Michael's wings spread wide.

In the next instant...

Stab-!

Michael lunged towards Metatron.

"Metatron-!"

The wind gathered around the tip of the spear. The sharp point of the spear aimed at Metatron's neck with more precision than any other.

At that moment...

Metatron's hand extended forward.

Tang...

Michael's spear came to a halt in midair as if it collided with an invisible wall.

Michael's eyes trembled. The spear couldn't touch Metatron's hand.

"How...?"

"Do you remember your baptism?"

"Baptism?"

Memories from long ago appeared in Michael's mind.

Thousands of years ago.

When Michael was first promoted from Angel to Archangel.

"I swear to give my life for the Heavens and be loyal to my King." (Michael)

Michael knelt and made an oath before Metatron.

Tock, tock...

Michael looked at his spear that hadn't touched Metatron.

This wasn't blocked by anything.

In the moment he threw the spear towards Metatron, his arm lost strength.

"Could it be that at that moment...?"

"I had no other choice."

Paf, paf...

Three blades pierced through Michael's back and emerged from his chest.

Additionally, both of Michael's wings were also pierced by another sword.

"Powerful Angels like you are also a threat to me."

"Since then..."

Paat, pat...

The Angels flew towards Michael with spears in hand.

Michael turned his body while gritting his teeth in indignation.

Hwaaah!

Tuhwah!

The wind blowing from the spear's tip threw the Angels off balance. And at that moment, Metatron's hand extended towards Michael's vulnerable back.

Chaaa!

A white net covered Michael. He tried to cut it by swinging his spear, but the net stretched like a resilient spider web and did not break.

"I've heard that in the tactics used by the Martial Artists of the Murim World, there's something called 'Inescapable Net'."

Inescapable Net (天羅地網). (Note: In reality, it's called: Divine Net of Heaven and Earth, but I really like Murim s, and there's another I know that calls that net, Inescapable Net, so I will use that name)

A tactic from the Murim World that means "Inescapable Net."

A net of encirclement that one can never escape from.

But after hearing about that tactic, Metatron found it frankly amusing.

"Don't you find it funny? This is the true net of Heaven."

Kak...

Metatron took a step closer to Michael.

Countless white swords emerged around him. Metatron reached out and grabbed one of them, preparing to wield the sword towards Michael trapped in the net.

Pazhi-zhi-zhik!

Chwaaeng!

Metatron's body staggered from a golden lightning that came from somewhere.

Michael, freed from the net, turned his head. At the same time, a blood-red sword flew from somewhere.

Swish, swish...

The sword didn't touch a single tip of Michael's black hair, moving dozens of times rapidly.

Even that net clinging to Michael's body was precisely cut without touching anything else.

He was truly skilled like a ghost with a sword.

-Even Heaven is nothing special.

Swoosh...

Susanoo pointed the tip of his sword towards Michael.

-Is this weakling the strongest among the Archangels?

Michael couldn't refute Susanoo's reprimand.

It was YuWon who launched that golden lightning and called Susanoo to save him.

He didn't do anything.

"You're still a nuisance."

Metatron frowned for the first time due to having let Michael escape after trapping him.

Not just Susanoo...

Arthur and Ares suddenly appeared around YuWon and were fighting against the other Angels.

Michael, recently freed from the net.

YuWon looked at Michael and opened his mouth.

"It seems I'll have to face Metatron."

Michael couldn't attack Metatron for some reason. It seemed this was also a trick that Metatron had prepared.

"You'll have to figure out what to do for yourself from now on."

"What I have to do..."

Michael met YuWon's eyes and sighed, nodding.

'I'm truly pathetic.'

What had he actually done?

He didn't have the courage to use his power and attack boldly, and although he had leaped to catch Metatron somehow, in the end, he ended up like this.

What he really had to do was being done by YuWon.

He felt so pathetic it gave him shivers.

Crack!

The wall of the Heavenly Castle broke at that moment.

YuWon, Michael, and everyone else's gaze turned to the broken wall.

"Michael-!"

A loud, grave voice.

Thud...

With fists colliding forcefully, an Angel with golden hair walked into the Heavenly Castle.

"Raphael."

A look of certainty formed on Michael's face.

The Archangels who entered the Heavenly Castle.

Michael stood up from his place and approached them.