The black robed figure's body was split in two after being hit by Michael's slash. It doesn't fall right away; Instead, it remained standing in its place stiffly.
All of the Celestials presents stared in awe, their eyes widening and their foreheads furrowing as they stared at the sight. They finally saw that a Celestial could actually kill the black-robed figure without any problems.
The black-robed figure was indeed quite a bit stronger than the ordinary monsters that had come out of the walls; but by no means strong enough to kill or even injure them - Celestials.
A moment later, the black robed figure's body which had been split in two began to dissipate into a black mist. The black mist evaporated into the air and flew back towards the black wall.
Michael looked at the black mist with an expression that was hard to read. He almost smiled, but not wide enough for anyone to notice; yet his eyes also looked sad as if he was seeing the beginning of something bad.
After that, the battlefield became silent. There were no more monsters or creatures that came out from behind the black wall. Michael sheathed his white sword back to its scabbard and then walked back toward Uriel and Gabriel.
When he returned with them he smiled, showing a calm and satisfied face. "You see that Uriel? I have avenged you."
Everyone on the battlefield already knew that it was the black-robed figure who had killed Uriel's warriors. Even if it wasn't here, even all the Celestials would already know about it.
"Thank you, Michael," Uriel said. She looked at Michael while returning his smile. She was completely satisfied with what Michael was doing; besides he had avenged her Michael had also proven something they had been worried about all this time.
Gabriel also smiled next to her.
Michael nodded, looking at the both of them. "Now you don't have to worry anymore. Those creatures are nothing compared to our power."
Uriel and Gabriel nodded. Now they can believe that too.
Michael glanced back at the black wall. His face turned back into a flat and unreadable. Several Celestials also turned towards him with looks of respect and slight admiration; though, they always try to hide it.
Anahita, who was behind Michael stared at the Archangel with a furrowed brow and self-contained astonishment. Michael seemed calmer than he should have been; yes, he is indeed a mysterious Celestial, however, Anahita has a feeling of her own that feels like a lump in her chest.
'I need to hurry back to the Fortress before this gets any bigger.'
Alerting her colleague as soon as possible was the best thing to do now. Her uneasiness just gets bigger every time she looked around.
Her other friends had spoken in a more relaxed tone now that they had seen for themselves that their master's power was still able to overpower the black-robed figure that had killed Uriel's warrior.
They don't see a problem. It might be true that the black-robed figure was slightly stronger than the other monsters but the strength of the Celestials was still stronger than it.
However, Anahita has a different opinion. If that black-robed figure ― one that was even more powerful than those strange monsters ― appeared and became a stronger figure, then there was still a possibility that other stronger monsters would appear.
Anahita feels... as if they will emerge gradually and it is not the end; because that mysterious black wall still stood firm there, waiting to unleash another of its hidden monstrosity.
She didn't know when it happened. But whenever it was, when it did, things would only get worse.
"I don't like this," Dwayne suddenly said from beside her accompanied by a shake of his head.
Anita turned around. "What do you mean?"
"The walls," said Dwayne. "It's still there. I thought something might come out of there again, Ann."
Anita sighed. 'It turns out that there is still someone who thinks the same as me.'
"I thought so too," Anahita replied.
Dwayne seemed to harden his jaw. He turned to Michael who was talking to Uriel and Gabriel. They didn't look like they were worried about anything.
Anahita saw that Dwayne seemed eager to tell Michael what he was thinking but he was also hesitant to disturb the good mood that was created among the three Archangels.
Ruby, Ren, and Hime drew closer to the two of them and then started whispering. Yes, one more person in the group is someone who is the youngest there. She is a tall girl but very shy so she always decides to say a little.
Hime had been silent since earlier because she wanted to observe more. However, that's why Hime can be one of the most observant among them. So she was also the one who realized that even when Archangel Michael had succeeded in destroying the black-robed figure the danger was not over. Maybe even just started.
"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked with sparkling eyes of curiosity.
"I thought it wasn't over yet," Anahita revised.
And then, Anahita started explaining what she was thinking to them.
Ruby, Ren, and Hime exchanged glances.
"I think so too," Hime said then licked her lips. "Did you guys see the Archangel's face just now? He doesn't look too satisfied."
Anahita stares at her. "That's what I thought too. We should tell the Archangels."
The four of them immediately turned to Dwayne. As their leader, it is his duty to convey this to the Archangel and ask for confirmation. Perhaps their master also knew what they were thinking and Dwayne could confirm it so they could receive appropriate orders.
Dwayne sighed. "Alright."
Dwayne walked up to Archangel Michael. He was reluctant to interrupt him talking to his fellow Archangel, however, he still had to ask about the restlessness of his group mates.
~~~
Clyde was still walking alone in the Ruin while the rest of his party were out hunting together. Once again he was more comfortable hunting alone when thoughts of the betrayal came back to him.
Now, Clyde has killed hundreds of small monsters and a dozen big monsters. He didn't bother to count the number he had killed and only paid attention to his Level increase.
Now he is at Level 104. Far compared to the Levels of his other party members. He also still has a lot of Stats and Skill points that he still hasn't used because everything he's facing right now is still so easy for him.
Clyde didn't even have to try too hard to kill all the monsters that appeared in front of him with all the Skills and Stats he had now.
He continued walking alone under the shadow of the corpses floating above him. All the corpses no longer bothered him. He was used to them and just thought they were a natural sight. Just like shadows of clouds or trees.
After walking for a few minutes, Clyde saw a building that looked like a castle. The castle was partially destroyed, as was everything here. But still intact enough for Clyde to imagine its former grandeur and size.
Accompanied by various questions Clyde strode towards the castle with long strides. Several of its spires were broken and floated with the corpses above them, the corpses of Elves kind.
Clyde couldn't help but think that maybe this was the castle where Leyan lived before the Selection Stage happened.
He went inside the castle. The destroyed inner building revealed another room underground.
Driven by curiosity, Clyde decides to descend, hoping to find something in there even though the chances are low; a treasure in the dungeons of the Elf kingdom should be a good treasure.
Clyde jumped down into the dungeon. He looked around where it should be dark. But because of the cracks all over the place, the sunlight managed to get in here and provided enough light for Clyde to navigate properly.
As he had expected, there would definitely be monsters guarding this place. He raised the Inferno Blade just in time before arrows coming from all directions pierced his body. He deflected the arrows with ease and then saw five figures rushing towards him from behind the darkness.
Clyde swung the Inferno Blade and spread a burst of fire around. The five figures immediately dodged agilely so none of Clyde's flames hit them.
'Elves? No, it seems they are Elves who have turned into monsters.'
Clyde channeled more Mana into the Inferno Blade and made the fire even bigger so that it lit up the whole place. He was finally able to see the forms of his five aggressors clearly; they were Elves with rotten skin and empty eyes filled with moving black mist.
Each of the Elves was holding a bow with an arrow already nocked in it.
*SWISSH!*
*SWISSH!*
*SWISSH!*
*SWISSH!*
*SWISSH!*
They simultaneously shot their arrows at Clyde again.
Clyde could see all the arrows clearly; he immediately swung the Inferno Blade and sent out a wall of fire which instantly destroyed the arrows.
~~~
