Chapter 314 – The Price of Corruption (2)  

‘Has it begun?’?Gi-Gyu wondered when he felt Hamiel’s energy storming nearby. He felt certain the battle had begun; he couldn’t hide his shock.

“I had no idea he had become this strong,” Gi-Gyu mumbled. As Hamiel began fighting, his power gradually came to light. Gi-Gyu knew he had completed his evolution, but he never got the chance to test the final result.

‘He’s as powerful as El was before.’?Hamiel was now as strong as the El before her evolution. No, perhaps he was even stronger than that. All in all, Hamiel’s evolution was a success. The evolution had made Hamiel a corrupt angel—the most humiliating mark of shame for an angel—but it gave him incredible powers he could use for revenge.

-I am forever indebted to you, Master.

Gi-Gyu smiled when he heard Hamiel’s telepathic message. Hamiel could now avenge the other angels, and Gi-Gyu was happy for him, but he wondered what price Hamiel would have to pay for becoming a fallen angel.

‘Good luck.’?Gi-Gyu replied to him and looked ahead. It was a fortunate thing that Hamiel had become so powerful. After all, light beams similar to the one focused on the Colosseum could now be seen all over Rome.

-It has been a while since I got to go wild.

Lou muttered.

-I will hurry so that I do not burden you, Master.

El sounded a little anxious, probably still guilty about how she couldn’t prevent the two angels’ death. They were like her followers along with Hamiel, and losing them was hard on her too. She sounded determined not to make a mistake again.

‘No, El, you need to come this way,’?Gi-Gyu ordered.

-Of course, Master.

Gi-Gyu’s massive forces moved according to his command, dutifully fighting their assigned battles. And now, it was time for Gi-Gyu to join the fray.

Gi-Gyu looked at the light beam falling from the sky. While waiting for El, he mumbled, “I’m so glad I don’t have to go out looking for the angels myself.”

The Colosseum’s light beam—the one right in front of Gi-Gyu—was the strongest of all the light beams in Rome. And it was still becoming stronger. Consequently, Gi-Gyu suspected the strongest angel of the group would descend to Rome through this beam.

“El,” Gi-Gyu called out to her when she arrived. She had sped here at an incredible speed, arriving here even before the enemy angel. She must have pushed herself because she looked a little tired.

El smiled, “I’m relieved that I am not late.”

Although Gi-Gyu felt tense, her smile made him smile as well. “I know.”

Gi-Gyu turned toward the light beam again; it was now thicker and brighter than before.

‘What an incredible amount of divine energy.’?And its power was drowning the surrounding area.

‘Thank you, Hamiel.’?Gi-Gyu was grateful because, with Hamiel’s evolution, he now had more on his side to protect the Roman citizens. Therefore, he could now focus on the fight.

When Gi-Gyu had said earlier that he didn’t have to go out looking for the angels, he didn’t mean that he would wait until they arrived. There was no need for him to be this patient.

“Let’s go,” Gi-Gyu said to El before leaping.

Just then, an angel with giant wings started descending from the light beam. Gi-Gyu smirked, seeing the confused look on the angel’s face when he saw Gi-Gyu.

“Don’t be surprised,” Gi-Gyu whispered to the angel as he plunged his hand into the male angel’s chest. The action had been so fast that the angels only got a few breaths on Earth. The angel’s face dropped; he could now see Gi-Gyu’s arm that had pierced his chest.

“It’s shocking, isn’t it?” Gi-Gyu whispered in his ear and twisted his arm to get deeper inside.

‘This is gross,’?Gi-Gyu thought in disgust. Even though his arm was lodged inside the angel’s chest, he could feel the angel’s flesh around his arm wiggling to regenerate. Was the angel’s regeneration power enhanced because this place was saturated with divine energy?

Gi-Gyu didn’t want to feel this unpleasant sensation anymore.

“I was shocked when you guys made a scene before too,” Gi-Gyu muttered.

“Master.” “Got it,” Gi-Gyu stopped insulting the angel and took out his arm.

“Khoff.” the angel coughed up a mouthful of blood. Even though Gi-Gyu’s arm was no longer inside his chest, it didn’t regenerate. Instead, black energy began enveloping him.

It was Death, which Gi-Gyu had injected into the angel when his arm was lodged inside.

“Goodbye.” Gi-Gyu lost interest in this dying angel. He looked up and took to the sky. Finding and killing the angels weren’t as difficult as he had anticipated.

El announced, “It’s challenging to hold the door open. We must hurry.”

The sweat drops on her forehead showed how hard she was working. There was no need to wait for the angels to come down from the sky. The divine energy-rich light beams were doors the angels used to enter Rome. And that was why no one could find them in Rome. The light beams were like Gi-Gyu’s gate, which he used to move to-and-fro Eden.

El and Gi-Gyu jumped into this light.

“Let’s go meet our enemies.” Leaving behind these last words, Gi-Gyu and El disappeared with the light beam.

Meanwhile, the angel with the pierced chest finally collapsed, looking like soot.

***

“Who are you?” The figure who used the name Cardinal Castro asked Hamiel. He no longer pretended to be human because his giant wings were out in the open. It appeared that he recognized Hamiel.

“You must’ve become corrupt. How disgusting.” Cardinal Castro looked at Hamiel with distaste.

Hamiel burst into laughter. “Hahaha! I can’t believe you would say that to me. How amusing.”

Hamiel’s black and Castro’s white wings flapped while they glared at each other.

“Kwerrrk.” On the ground, the politicians-turned-beasts went wild, but when Hamiel flapped his wings once, his feathers flew down like bullets and pierced the monsters.

“Kwerrk!” The beasts cried out. Their incredible regeneration quickly healed them, but they could no longer move, as something black was devouring them piece by piece.

“...” Castro’s face turned tense, recognizing the black energy.

“Is it Death…?” Castro whispered. Only one hell king held Death, the power opposite of the angels’ power. Castro knew how Hamiel earned this power.

Hamiel didn’t give Castro time to ponder. “Just as you said, I have gone corrupt. But do you truly believe that you haven’t?”

“What…?”

A dark smile appeared on Hamiel’s lips as he continued, “You killed your own and the guiltless. And you still call yourself innocent?”

“That’s not true!”

“Do you truly believe that maintaining the white wings proves you haven’t gone corrupt?”

Castro’s face turned pale.

“If it’s just the color of the wings that matters, then… I suppose you can say I’ve fallen from grace.” Hamiel’s wings turned even more black as he continued, “However, if that’s the only way to protect my faith, I am only happy to fall as low as I need.”

Boom!

Hamiel flapped his wings once and flew so fast that it sounded like a supersonic jet had passed.

“Ackkkk!” Alberto screamed, barely able to stand the huge storm Hamiel had created. Castro didn’t stand by while Hamiel made his move. He also moved his wings to receive Hamiel’s attack.

The two angels crashed into each other. The black and the white wings mingled, creating an almost art-like scene. The two angels fought so fast that their black and white feathers began clouding the sky.

Boom! Boom!

Every time they crashed, an explosion occurred. At a glance, it looked like a battle between an innocent and a corrupt angel. However, Alberto thought about what Hamiel had said. ‘Who really is the corrupt one here?’

Were dark wings the sole differentiator? Perhaps this was the case in the world of angels, but Alberto disagreed.

How could any creature not fall if they lost their friends? How could anyone forgive those who stabbed their family’s heart?

Hamiel’s reaction was understandable. It was Castro who disgusted Alberto. Castro saw humans as nothing more than bugs, and he used them. He believed that as long as his wings remained white, he could commit all kinds of atrocities.

‘He’s disgusting.’?But Alberto shook his head, knowing this wasn’t the time to contemplate. Hamiel and Castro’s battle was becoming even more vicious, and its effect was intensifying. The two angels were equally matched.

‘I must do what I can.’?Alberto bit his lips, and the smell of his blood tickled his nose. To carry out his responsibility while maintaining his focus, he had to awaken his power this way.

“Hup!” Alberto aimed his skill toward the ground. A wall rose from the ground, enveloping the Colosseum and the angels fighting. All he could do was protect the citizens from this battle. Alberto had never more resented the fact that he didn’t belong to the attack category than now.

“Kyaaa!”

Suddenly, Alberto heard a scream nearby. He turned toward the area outside the Colosseum and muttered, “What the…?!”

“Help!”

Kaboom!

Numerous explosion sounds followed the people’s screams.

“...!” Alberto realized that the evacuees outside the Colosseum were in trouble. The light beams outside the Colosseum hadn’t stopped turning the God’s Tear addicts into monsters.

Alberto whispered, “There could be… God’s Tear’s addicts outside the Colosseum as well.”

Some among the evacuees could indeed be God’s Tears addicts. God’s Tear wasn’t like other drugs, and even Gi-Gyu found it hard to detect it in someone. They had tried to separate the addicts from the rest, but they couldn’t sieve out the addicts completely.

“No…” Suddenly, Alberto realized that there weren’t enough players to control the situation. Everything had happened so fast that they didn’t have the time to gather enough reinforcements.

Under ideal conditions, they would have separated the addicts, defeated the monsters, and saved the people. But there weren’t enough players in Italy to accomplish this. Even with Eden’s help, the situation seemed uncontrollable.

-No, you mustn’t.

Albert suddenly heard Hamiel’s voice. Hamiel was continuously crashing into Castro in their intense battle, but he appeared to feel relaxed enough to talk to Alberto.

‘But…!’?Alberto protested. Hamiel could tell Alberto wanted to go out of the Colosseum to save the evacuees. It must have been obvious because of the look on Alberto’s face.

Hamiel ordered,

-Protecting you is part of my duty; therefore, I can’t let you go into danger.

Alberto turned tense. Hamiel was right. He was a support category player, so even if he went out, he wouldn’t be much help.

“Dammit!” Alberto swore loudly, unable to control his frustration.

Kaboom!

Boom!

Before long, the sky above the Colosseum and the streets of Rome were riddled with explosions.

“Dammit!” Alberto was dying inside.

-This isn’t your job.

“...?”

-Not yet…

Kaboom!

Another explosion occurred in the sky. When the smoke cleared, Alberto saw that Castro was bleeding while Hamiel looked fine.

Hamiel was now looking at Alberto as he said aloud, “Not all of our reinforcement has arrived yet.”

Hamiel looked happy, perhaps because Castro didn’t seem like a threat now. He looked unconcerned, and a smile appeared on his lips. Hamiel continued, “But now… I think they’re here.”

“...!”

Alberto stared out of the Colosseum. The wall he had created still stood, but there were holes from Hamiel and Castro’s fight. Alberto could see the blue light of Eden’s gate through these holes.

“The gate!” Alberto exclaimed.

***

Several people left the gate that had formed outside the Colosseum. A clocked individual revealed his face and announced, “I’m relieved. It looks like we aren’t too late. But I think we need to hurry.”

Another man holding a long sword ordered, “Kill all monsters! It’s time for us to repay him and prove our loyalty!”

“Yesssss!” screamed the players lined up behind him.

“Haa…” the man in the cloak sighed as if assuaged.

Tao Chen suggested to Sung-Hoon, “You should go see Branch Manager Alberto now.”

All right. Please stay safe and don’t die, Tao Chen,” Sung-Hoon replied.

With Tao Chen as their leader, the Chinese players were here to save the burning Rome.