“Heok! Heok… Haa…”
As soon as Sa-yoon’s attack struck Noah, those who had been crushed under the angel’s Authority were released. They gasped for air, coughing as they pushed themselves up. Rolling their eyes toward the sky, they saw Sa-yoon locked in a fierce clash with the Fallen Angel. RUMBLE! KWANG! With every impact, a sonic boom erupted, and smoke billowed, obscuring the two figures. Knowing that even Sa-yoon couldn’t hold out alone forever, everyone prepared to offer support.
The Angel of the End has descended, so the world shall meekly meet its ruin. The Angel of the End has blown the trumpet, so the world shall sing its last song.
But the three small angels beside Noah sang, lunging at the Noah members, Jongsik, and Yen, preventing them from approaching the Fallen Angel. It was a cowardly move to block their support.
I was happy thinking only one came out…
“Han Geon-joo!”
Gyeongjin, grasping the situation, called out to Geon-joo, who was straightening up. Geon-joo, feeling his breath return with a cough, saw Sa-yoon facing Noah alone and leaped into the fray without a moment’s hesitation. Shadows moved sharply, grabbing the Fallen Angel’s wings. Jae-hee, riding Rai, followed closely behind.
KIEEEEEK!
Seeing the griffon in the sky breathing fire at the Fallen Angel, Gyeongjin stood up, relieved. With those two joining in, Sa-yoon would be able to hold his own.
“Let’s leave that side to Hyung-nim for now…”
The task remaining for them was to defeat the small angel in front of them, which would clearly become a nuisance if they tried to return to the Fallen Angel.
“Heup!”
Jongsik, having swapped his knuckles, swung a fist wrapped in black aura. A fierce wind blew along the direction of his punch, increasing its power. The vicious force struck the small angel squarely.
Kkaaaaaang!
“…?”
A clear ringing sound echoed, as if he had struck an empty can. The angel, completely unharmed, looked back at Jongsik. Jongsik, unsurprised thanks to his experience, calmly swung his fist once more. A terrifying sonic boom ripped through the air as his fist cut through space.
Kkaaaang!
But this time, too, the same sound rang out, and he failed to inflict even the slightest damage.
“What kind of skin is…”
Flustered, as if he had struck steel, Jongsik stammered. The small angel, staring blankly at Jongsik, blew the trumpet it was holding.
Buuuuuu.
With a sound like a boat horn, the trumpet transformed into a giant hammer. The small angel swung the hammer, which was as big as its own body, without hesitation. Boong! Startled by the hammer flying fiercely toward him, Jongsik raised both arms to block the attack. However, the hammer, carrying exactly twice the power Jongsik had struck with, sent him flying backward.
“Hyung-nim!”
Seeing Jongsik, who was over 190 cm tall, fly away in an instant, Gyeongjin called out in shock. Feeling as if two of himself were pushing him back, Jongsik raised an eyebrow and soon came up with a hypothesis. To confirm it, he flipped in mid-air, landed safely, and called Gyeongjin.
“…You’re not telling me to hit that angel, are you?”
Gyeongjin, quick on the uptake, tried to back away swiftly, but he was caught by the scruff of his neck by the more experienced Jongsik.
“I’ll catch you if you get hit, so just hit it lightly first. Then take the counterattack and tell me how it feels.”
“Take the attack? Are you crazy?”
Harsh words popped out, but Jongsik’s actions were even harsher. There was a reason people said that anyone who joined Night Rats wasn’t normal, even if they looked fine. Jongsik, having watched Sa-yoon’s rough training methods and commands for a long time, had long since unknowingly begun to mimic those behaviors.
As Jongsik threw the terrified Gyeongjin toward the angel, the flying Gyeongjin spewed curses at Jongsik.
“Crazy bastard! Kwon Sa-yoon has ruined everyone!”
It was a remark that would have earned him a smack on the head if Sa-yoon had heard it, but unfortunately, Sa-yoon was too focused on fighting the Fallen Angel to hear Gyeongjin. As he got closer to the small angel, Gyeongjin thought, ‘Screw it,’ and swung his arm.
Tuk.
Even in that moment, remembering Jongsik’s advice to hit lightly, he pulled his punch. The angel immediately spun its body and swung the giant hammer.
Fuck!
He knew it. Even at a glance, the incoming attack looked serious. Gyeongjin squeezed his eyes shut as the hammer approached his nose, cursing Jongsik inwardly.
I trusted you because it was you, Jongsik, but from now on, I’m treating you on the same level as Sa-yoon.
Without hesitation, he dragged the Vice Guild Leader’s reputation into the abyss and braced for pain. A moment later, the viciously swinging hammer struck Gyeongjin’s forehead.
Tuk.
“…Hm?”
Feeling a force akin to a finger flick, Gyeongjin opened his eyes. Wondering if he had really been hit, he looked at the angel, who was standing blankly with the hammer. Jongsik approached, dusting off his hands.
“As I thought.”
“What ‘as I thought’? What is it?”
Gyeongjin grumbled, glaring at Jongsik, who nodded as if he understood after using him as a sacrifice. Ignoring him, Jongsik fixed his gaze on the small angel and poked it with a finger. Tuk.
Buung!
The angel spun again and swung the hammer, but it didn’t inflict much damage on Jongsik.
“It seems to be immune to physical attacks and has the ability to absorb and release the impact it receives.”
At Jongsik’s certain words, Gyeongjin let out a low exclamation.
“That makes sense… Then should we trap it instead of attacking?”
“If it’s immune to physical attacks, at least it’s not an opponent favorable for us.”
“Then let’s trap it.”
Gyeongjin immediately touched the ground, trying to divide the area. However, Jongsik grabbed his hand to stop him and looked at another group fighting the angels.
“This is crazy. Why is it so fast? It’s almost Kwon Sa-yoon!”
Mi-jeong was swinging her fan in panic. Lee Han shouted as he pushed away the one rushing right in front of Mi-jeong with his sword.
“Its defense is weak proportional to its speed! We have to seize the opportunity to strike… Euk!”
Lee Han, informing the group, was struck on the head by the angel that moved in an instant and stumbled as he fell.
“That side seems to be dealing with an angel specialized in speed and attack.”
Grasping the situation, Jongsik turned his gaze and checked Yen.
“Hmm… immune to poison, huh?”
Yen clicked her tongue at the angel’s complexion, which remained perfectly fine despite being pierced by a poison-coated dagger.
“Recovery seems fast, too.”
The blood from the stabbed area stopped instantly, and the cut flesh regenerated rapidly. Confirming a regeneration power stronger than most high-ranking monsters, Jongsik nodded.
“That side seems to have recovery and poison immunity. Then it’s better to switch.”
“What?”
“Yen!”
Putting Gyeongjin’s question aside for a moment, Jongsik called Yen. Yen, who was exchanging blows with the angel, turned her head to check Jongsik and rolled her eyes.
“Ah, you want to switch?”
She asked as if she had grasped the situation on her own without much explanation. Since time was tight, Jongsik nodded immediately without adding further explanation.
“Then just the two of us switching should work. Move.”
“Uh, do I stay here?”
“Looks like that side is immune to physical attacks. Chan-hee, you only know how to use physical attacks, right?”
“Ah.”
At Yen’s point, Chan-hee, who had been assisting her by swinging his sword at the angel, looked like he’d been hit by a bullseye. Smirking, Yen told him to stay put and flew to Jongsik’s position.
“It seems to have damage reflection as well as physical immunity. Be careful, it reflects with double the power.”
“Okay, got it.”
Responding nonchalantly, Yen switched places with Jongsik and looked at the angel holding the hammer.
“If it’s physical immunity, knives won’t work…”
Tossing the handle she was holding, Yen put the dagger into her inventory and took out a gun, chains, and a few bottles of potion instead.
“Will a gun work on physical immunity?”
Gyeongjin, whose face was crumpled because his partner had changed to Yen without his consent, scolded her. Yen, eyes curving, threw the potions she took out around the angel. The angel tilted its head and watched the thrown potions. Seeing the creature waiting to be hit as if recognizing it as an attack, Yen pulled the trigger.
Tang! Tang! Tang!
Ignoring the recoil and firing rapidly, three bullets shattered the potion bottles.
RUMBLE!
The impacted green potion exploded.
“…!”
Startled, the nearby angel swung its hammer, but since there was no physical damage received, the hammer had no force to return. In the meantime, the green mist rising from the explosion seeped into the angel’s wings and skin. Hik! The angel made choking sounds, struggling. It emitted a bright light to self-heal, but couldn’t easily escape the pain due to the continuously penetrating mist.
“Mist poison?”
At Gyeongjin’s whisper, Yen smiled.
“Bingo.”
At the affirmation of Yen, an expert in assassination, poison, and disruption, Gyeongjin trembled. Looking at the angel staring back at him with wet eyes and Yen throwing another poison at such an angel, he felt troubled.
They were clearly just fighting an enemy in a Gate, but strangely, it felt like they were the villains.
In the meantime, Geon-joo, who had joined Sa-yoon, shook his hand after confirming his sword swing was blocked futilely. He really didn’t like the feeling of every attack being blocked. Just when he was wondering if now was the time to use his demigod form, Shiro, who had been flying around grasping the situation, came to Jae-hee’s side and cried Pya-pyau. Hearing the summon’s report, Jae-hee looked back at Sa-yoon with a hardened expression.
“He says the summoned small angels have characteristics of immunity to poison and physical attacks, rapid speed, and fast regeneration, so be careful as the Fallen Angel might have similar abilities.”
At that warning, Sa-yoon’s expression rotted instantly.
What kind of monster did they create?
His wavering gaze turned to Noah. The blond angel, dealing with the enemies with cloudy eyes, folded his fourth finger.