NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 123
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The berserk lightning bullets rained down with an extreme acceleration.
Bella’siel, who had been relentlessly pushing the disaster of war, faced fear for the first time.
‘Am I afraid? No way!’
Though the disaster of famine momentarily took advantage of the situation, the holy relics remained intact. As proof, the shield of Jinma took the onslaught of bullet baptism like a champion.
The lightning-laden bullets thumped against the shield one after another.
However, the barrier created by Jinma to protect Bella’siel completely blocked the lightning strikes, like an impregnable fortress.
Crack-!
The bullet aimed at the Seraph ricocheted off, unable to penetrate the shield.
Other bullets met the same fate. No gunfire could touch the Seraph.
Could mere byproducts birthed from evil challenge the divinity of a creator deity? With that thought, Bella’siel effortlessly deflected the bullet barrage, but suddenly, a look of bewilderment spread across her face.
Chook-…
Thousands of bullets had been blocked, but the shield began to thin rapidly. The energy output from Jinma’s shield was slowing down.
With a perplexed expression, Bella’siel gazed at the platinum-encased shield.
Had it been overwhelmed by too many attacks at once?
As the torrential rain of bullets fell upon her, the shield that had been escorting Bella’siel started to lose strength like it was in a groggy state. Overloading had prompted this failure due to the immense output it was struggling to maintain.
Soon enough, the shield would become useless.
Feeling a sense of crisis, Bella’siel called on the other holy relics to replace Jinma’s shield.
Swish-.
The forbidden magic whip executed flowing movements and deflected the bullets.
And Bella’siel herself swung her four pairs of wings to counter the torrential shower of bullets.
‘It’s just a momentary overload due to excessive output. If I halt for a moment and stabilize the power level, it’ll return to normal…! I just need to hold on until then!’
Thwaang!!
Facing a vicious threat while using all holy relics to block off the attacks, Bella’siel was bombarded by a hail of black lightning projectiles.
And projectiles enhanced by lightning carrying high explosive bombs too.
It was an inferno of firepower that couldn’t be compared to the bullet storm she’d resisted until now. The relentless bombardment had merely been a wasteful skirmish to remove Jinma’s shield, paving the way for a full-scale artillery siege.
– Th-This…!
A projectile armed with high explosives erupted, expelling tremendous heat. Bella’siel cleaved through the flames with the Wings of Blade Demon, but the resulting shockwave battered her entire body.
She had to buy time until the shield activated again.
But could she really hold on?
The sacred relics that had been clearing the barrage began to lose power one by one. If the attrition continued, she would surely suffer a humiliating defeat to the disaster of innocence.
Bella’siel stared with wide eyes, gritting her teeth.
– Don’t mess with me!
She clutched the Demon-Slaying Bow tightly.
Then, pulling the bowstring taut, she aimed at the countless projectiles falling like rain.
Power and finesse were not at odds.
Proving that, arrows shot like a storm formed a wall blocking the projectiles.
Thwunk!!!
The black artillery barrage packed with lightning clashed with innumerable arrows focused with the light of destruction.
A space filled with collisions and explosions turned black and white. The Seraph and the disaster engaged in a back-and-forth battle that resembled an acrobatic struggle.
The first to run out of power would lose.
Edanant and Bella’siel both knew this well.
Roars of gunfire pierced the eardrums, and blinding lights twisted their visions. Nevertheless, Edanant and Bella’siel continued to sweat profusely, thoroughly investing themselves in the attrition warfare.
Thwaang-!
The clash of brilliance and disaster.
Suddenly, a variable emerged in the unimpeded firefight.
A bullet that came flying out of nowhere, like an assassin hiding in the shadows, pierced Bella’siel’s Demon-Slaying Bow. As the bowstring snapped, the bow itself broke.
– My Demon-Slaying Bow…!
The once-invulnerable shield had become useless.
And she lost the bow that posed a threat to the disaster of innocence.
The odds turned bleak.
With all the sacred relics that handled the strongest offense and defense vanished into thin air, the Seraph faced immense danger even while surrounded.
But even in this situation, she didn’t break her spirit. Casting aside the fractured bow, Bella’siel grabbed her backup weapons—the longsword and arming sword. This was a testament to her noble will to fight until all her weapons were lost.
– I will not retreat! Even if it means facing defeat against you lowly ones, I will fight to the end!
She wasn’t simply relying on the power of the holy relics.
Her figure wielding her weapons with both hands slicing through the projectiles resembled a starving beast. Every clash with projectiles tore her wings and rapidly damaged her armor, yet she never ceased her attacks.
She knew it.
That Edanant orchestrating the artillery barrage was gradually reaching his limit.
If she can just hold on, they’d win.
Just a little longer and she could claim victory.
Her glassy eyes glimmered with the madness of victory.
– Gah!
The moon knife she wielded while soaring through the air continuously shredding the projectiles shattered into pieces.
Sharp fragments from the explosion flew toward Bella’siel.
Thwok-.
They pierced her shoulder through her armor.
With such a deep impalement, she could have screamed, but instead, she endured stoically.
Mortally wounded, Bella’siel unfurled her four pairs of wings and clasped the Holy Spear. Yet, the unrelenting shower of bullets spared not a moment for the Seraph.
The projectiles and explosive munitions erupted in succession.
With each assault, she regretfully exhausted the holy relics granted to her by the Earth Mother.
Was this sheer will to ensure she wouldn’t lose to the disaster of innocence? Swinging the Holy Spear radiating brilliant light, Bella’siel repelled the barrage. She persistently exchanged blows, all while nearly giving up on her once-glorious wings and armor.
– Haah, haah…! Damn it!!
But—.
The limit had come.
Despite her desperate resolve, she couldn’t avoid reaching the end of her stamina.
All the sacred relics that had been pushed to their limits finally ran dry. The Holy Spear she gripped with both hands dimly flickered like a dying streetlamp.
– To be defeated by the disaster of innocence…!
Dozens of projectiles approached the battered Seraph.
Bella’siel had no choice but to accept her fate.
────!!
───────!!!!
A thunderous explosion rang out.
With the high explosive bomb’s detonations scattering debris, Bella’siel met her final defeat. She fell to the ground, reduced to ruins along with her once-blackened wings.
*
The angel who lost her wings fell to the earth.
But Edanant, without the leisure to celebrate his victory, collapsed, panting.
He had overused his divine status.
Blood flowed from every opening in his face as if boiling inside him.
Having over-exerted the divine status for too long, the backlash sent him sprawling into Zebeline’s embrace like a puppet with its strings cut.
– D-Did I…?
“Yes! Of course, you won! Edanant won!”
Pain surged through him, feeling like his insides were burning away.
Nevertheless, Edanant struggled to suppress the agony and asked Zebeline about the outcome.
He had taken down Bella’siel.
The Seraph, who had boasted countless holy relics, had finally fallen.
He bit back a chuckle to express his joy of victory. However, finding it difficult to speak, only incoherent mumblings escaped his lips.
– Please, just get me up.
“Just lie there. I’ll take care of everything from here!”
The center of the Holy Sanctuary lay in complete ruins.
Wastelands and destruction filled the space.
Only the heaps of stones remained to tell that countless structures had once stood there.
It was no surprise that no witnesses lingered in this now-ruined place. Confirming this, Edanant sighed in relief and tossed aside his helmet, now trampled like an empty tin can.
“This time, I really thought I’d die.”
Had luck not been on his side until the end, the outcome would have been entirely different.
If the shield hadn’t overloaded,
If the bow hadn’t been destroyed by a stray bullet,
If countless holy relics, including the whip, had continued to withstand the onslaught—
Edanant won not only through sheer effort but also because fortune had favored him. He understood this better than anyone, leaving him in a daze as the results washed over him.
– You… How dare you…!!
Clink.
Crash-.
In an instant, the heap of stones collapsed.
And from the ruins covered in dust, the Seraph revealed herself.
Unbelievable.
She should have been completely burnt to a crisp.
How was she alive? How had she come to her senses?
Witnessing her superhuman tenacity, refusing to kneel before the disaster, he gazed at the bloodied Bella’siel with a grin.
“It’s over now, just like your shattered wings and armor.”
All four pairs of her wings had been incinerated.
Her once-mighty armor lay in a similar state.
There was no means to flip the results.
With the last of her strength and divine status depleted, Bella’siel stood weaker than an ordinary human, vulnerable to death.
– Not yet! It’s not over! I will surely annihilate you…! I have sworn it so!
With faltering steps, Bella’siel staggered toward Edanant.
Though she looked moments away from collapsing, she exhibited a superhuman tenacity, igniting her will to fight.
Swish-.
A chain forged of platinum appeared.
Unused in combat,
It was the only remaining holy relic Bella’siel possessed now.
Surely the weapon that turned the disasters of tyranny and famine into puppets of the Earth Mother. It must possess the power to completely dominate the mind and soul of its near-death opponent.
“But now it’s you in that state.”
Blast-!
Edanant drew his pistol and smashed the chain clutched in Bella’siel’s hands.
With a sharp scream from the Seraph, the chain clattered to the ground. Then, Edanant lifted the platinum chain, usurping it from its former owner.