Omega (2)
Sion.
The Antarctic continent struck directly by Uriel's Ragnarok continued to tear itself apart—rifts widening, ice splitting away.
When the monks' temple collapsed, Arius scrambled out into the open.
"Grr! Rarr!"
Though his eyes had been gouged out and he could not see, the presence hanging in the air was already familiar.
"The hosts of heaven!"
The monks guarding Sion sprang into action, but there was nothing they could do.
That presence——a majestic vibration radiated from Uriel as he descended from the sky.
'An archangel. Of all times—now of all times…'
Most of the leadership, including Miro, were away; there was no way to stop an archangel in full force.
"Humans."
With a thud as his massive form hit the ground, the monks each made the sign of submission.
"Hmm."
Uriel surveyed the scene.
Steam rose as intense heat melted the ice all around.
"Where is Miro?"
A Dalma of the Immortal Community who had joined Sion stepped forward to speak for everyone.
Behind him were his disciple Hyega and Sky Wigo, once a candidate for the Ivory Tower.
"Dalma."
Though ranks between archangels and mortals were worlds apart, Uriel knew Dalma and Hyega from the Immortal Community.
"Have you betrayed us?"
"A seeker is one who pursues the right path. Those left behind may feel betrayed, but—"
A fighting spirit flared from Dalma.
"That doesn't mean we can chase after rotten vines."
Calm as ever, Uriel felt the Law's aura tightening in from every direction.
At the same moment Dalma thrust his fist forward.
'Pungnyu Geumgang Fist!'
The air compressed and struck Uriel as if a fist had been stamped from the wind, slamming into him.
"Now!"
With a hollow clang, Uriel's body was shoved dozens of meters back, and every monk amplified the Law to its fullest.
"Bind him!"
Angels born from particular concepts are weak against counter-Law. That was why Ikael had ordered Sion targeted first upon arriving on this planet.
"How pathetic."
Even the Law that once sealed spiritual domains was far too weak to stop Uriel's concept.
"No—always has been."
Adrias Miro.
"Isn't mankind a pitiful species that squeezes life out of a single existence?"
Angels had their own views, but the only human Uriel uniquely acknowledged was Miro.
"Destroy them."
Uriel's celestial instrument, the Gukrak-gon, spawned outside his elbow and spun with terrifying speed.
Kiiiiiiiiing!
Even the sound of the air ripping whiteened the monks' faces.
"Cheonbo-ryun."
A dark disc flew in and Hyega raised one arm.
'Diamond Formation!'
His body shone translucent and the air around him turned into a forty-meter-thick wall of diamond.
"Ugh!"
The instant the Cheonbo-ryun struck, Hyega's focus shook violently.
'I can't hold it.'
As his defensive barrier tilted, the Cheonbo-ryun scratched its surface and began to climb.
"Waaahhh!"
They bounced the Cheonbo-ryun away, but moments later the massive diamond began to crack with snapping noises.
"What the—?"
Despair showed plainly in Hyega's eyes as the fissure raced toward him.
"Hyega! Move!"
The instant Dalma's shout ended, Hyega's diamond body shattered into fragments.
"Hyega!"
Dalma, eyes bloodshot, lunged at Uriel like a madman, fists flying.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
As Uriel parried with the returning Gukrak-gon, Wigo attacked from the side.
'Dump!'
The templar incarnation in white armor spat cause and effect itself, and judicial blades flew in from all directions.
"Tsk—"
Uriel's irritated sound.
Seeing the ominous vibration, Wigo perceived a massive judicial halo form.
'Ragnarok.'
White electricity wrapped Uriel's body and thunder cracked.
Poooaaaarrr!
Even Dalma, whose sense of duty had been steeled by Hyega's death, stopped in his tracks.
"This cannot be—"
Wigo vanished without a trace, and along Uriel's path the ice continent vaporized.
'So that's the difference.' They knew about archangels, but even among them there were levels of power.
'This is Uriel.'
Rumors that his combat power rivaled Archangel Ikael were no exaggeration.
Dalma asked, "What do you want?"
"Destruction."
Uriel pointed at the monks.
"Those who betrayed God shall meet ruin."
"They are not our god."
"There is only one God."
Uriel was armed with a simple logic no argument could sway.
"We will fight."
The monks behind Dalma steadied themselves.
"Humans are strange."
It had been a question ever since Miro created the space-time barrier and held back heaven's army.
"You would fight a battle you cannot win?"
"You may not understand, but—"
Dalma bent his knees.
"There is no such thing as a fight humans always win."
Uriel watched Dalma and the monks rush forward.
"I see."
He remembered Miro's face when she stopped heaven's army.
"So that's why you fight."
Her face had twisted, tears falling as if she blamed something.
"Then so be it."
The monks roared.
"Waaahhh!" As the judicial halo Ragnarok spun, Uriel's body moved.
"What pitiful creatures."
White lightning shot up from the ground and pierced gray clouds across a radius of tens of kilometers.
"There—!"
Miro, riding Zulu's summon Kaidra, pointed at a lightning bolt rising from the center of the Antarctic continent.
"My God…"
Gangnan's jaw dropped.
Even before they reached land, the reversing bolts could be seen with the naked eye.
'By the size, it's already over.'
If heaven's army had taken Sion, charging straight in now would be suicide.
"Miro, change the plan—"
"No!"
Miro cut off Gangnan.
"They will live."
If there was even a chance of one survivor, she would not give up.
"I'll increase speed."
Zulu's eyes were sucked into an abyss as Kaidra let out a terrible cry.
Kyaaaaa!
They entered the Antarctic land amid gale-force winds, but the continent was already in tatters.
'Even an archangel shouldn't have this much destructive power.'
Miro sensed it.
"Uriel."
As they reached Sion, Zulu's pupils—drenched in sweat—rolled upward.
"Zulu!"
When Gangnan supported the fainting Zulu, Kaidra vanished from the air.
"Ugh!"
Pulled by enormous inertia, Gangnan slammed into the ground and braked with her thigh muscles.
She slid over the ice more than two kilometers, landing hard on her butt, then twisted her body and hurriedly stopped.
With a click she halted and took in the scene of devastation at Sion.
Monks' corpses hung ragged between sheets of bloodstained ice.
"He's here."
"Whine! Whine!"
The sole survivor, Arius, writhed in pain with Uriel's foot pressing his chest.
"Uriel."
"A woman who once came to heaven, huh."
It was surprising given the old ties between Gaold, Miro, and Gangnan.
"Did you make peace?"
"No. A temporary alliance."
Miro walked past Gangnan.
"Humans don't change that easily."
"Grrr! Grrrlll!"
At his master's arrival, Arius bared his teeth and thrashed; Uriel lifted his leg.
"Gehn! Geh!"
Arius immediately turned and rubbed his cheek against Miro's leg, and she crouched down.
"I told you to keep her safe. What is this?"
Arius said.
"Run." Even speaking human words again after so long, Miro only smiled.
"We can't win." Arius knew this because he had once probed Miro's inner world.
'The crack inside my heart.'
His feelings for Gaold had grown from a crack into a vast chasm that consumed him.
"It's all right."
Gaold had said that.
"The time to choose will simply come."
Walking within ten steps of death, Miro set her life in order.
Most things were easy to decide, but one question stubbornly remained.
'The crack inside my heart.'
Why had it formed?
'I thought I hated that man so much.'
If there had been no crack to begin with, her heart would never have opened like this.
"Miro, stop."
When Gangnan's words halted her, Uriel was suddenly right in front of them.
"I haven't sorted everything out. Could you give me a little more time?"
One of Gangnan's eyebrows rose.
"Sort things out? Now of all times—"
"No need."
Uriel cut her off and casually raised the Gukrak-gon.
"It will be destroyed anyway."
If he smashed it, the red affection toward Miro—and even her existence—would mean nothing.
"Sigh. What a pity."
Looking up at the murderous Gukrak-gon, Miro felt anxiety for the first time in her life.
'I wanted to settle this one thing.' Why did the crack form?
"Hurry and move, you idiot!"
As the Gukrak-gon burned the air and spun, Gangnan stamped the ground and shouted.
Miro exhaled.
"Sigh."
She had to accept it.
"All right, you were right."
Even as death approached, Miro turned toward where Gaold was.
"You—"
Before Gangnan could finish—
"Gaold."
Miro said with a bright smile.
"I like you, you bastard."
And then—
'Goodbye.'
The Gukrak-gon fell onto the crown of Miro's head as she closed her eyes, and Gangnan felt time slow.
'Close it.'
The heart that Gaold had shattered was being cleanly healed.
'Ahhh—'
Arius could imagine it without seeing: such a wondrous stirring.
'Erase it.'
For Miro it was pain equal to the whole world.
'I'm sorry, Gaold.'
Such pain.
It clawed at her heart so fiercely she could not keep her senses for a moment.
'Do not forgive me.'
When she suddenly opened her eyes, red tears of blood streamed down her cheeks.
As the Gukrak-gon passed, singeing the tips of her hair and making another sweep—
'Manifestation Technique.'
Thousands of arms sprouted from behind Miro and seized the Gukrak-gon.
"Huh?"
With no preparatory movement the Gukrak-gon stopped; the air snapped and spread in all directions.
'She caught the Gukrak-gon?'
The hairline fissure that had marked Miro's heart vanished as if blown away.
Thousand-Hand Kwanseum—All-Heaven Projection. Tens of thousands of arms burst from Miro's side as she turned toward Uriel.
Miro's eyes flashed with flawless sight, and the palms extended on both sides slammed into Uriel one after another.
A barrage of attacks squeezed through the split-second openings, rattling Uriel, and then the final blow landed.
"Krrrgh!"
Flung aside, Uriel scraped the ground as he passed and steadied himself.
'His halo—'
The holy light floating above his head failed to absorb the shock and trembled violently.
"Ugh!"
Kneeling on one knee, Uriel looked up as Miro dusted her hands and approached.
"Phew. Maybe it's because it's been a while."
Blood-dried tears marked her cheeks as Miro gave an arrogant smile.
"My aim's a little off."
Time would fix that anyway.