Chapter 78
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"Whoa, whoa, whoa, is that angel okay? They're casually destroying the town."
Since it was clear that the angels were targeting Yuurai, she kept her distance from Lipia and the others. Also, judging it was hard to fight atop the wall, she quickly descended to the ground.
She confronted the angels on the main road leading from the gate to the central district, but the angels unleashed offensive magic with no regard for the town's destruction. It was likely holy-elemental and appeared as pillars of light.
Yuurai and Claire avoided it, but the place where they had been exploded, damaging the surrounding houses.
There must have been more than ten people in those houses, but they were caught in the collapse and died.
"......They were the ones I had immobilized, but this isn't my fault, okay?"
The angels continued their magical assault from the sky without restraint.
Yuurai tried to reduce the damage somewhat by nullifying the attacks with Absorption. However, due to poor compatibility, she couldn't absorb everything, and light scattered around her, causing damage to the surroundings.
The angels' magic couldn't injure either Yuurai or Claire, yet it continued to senselessly destroy the area.
"Yuurai. Now's not the time to worry about the surroundings. Maybe they're worn down from the attack on Grimoire—they're weaker than I imagined, but still pretty strong."
"Yeah...... For now, let's dispel the Marionette Magic around here. If anyone wants to run, let them."
As the spell was dispelled, people around them began fleeing from their homes. This would likely reduce the number of casualties somewhat.
"At this point, I don't even know who the bad guys are. I mean, how are we supposed to take that thing down?"
Yuurai and the others couldn't use flight-based magic. They were using Blade of Darkness as a sort of projectile, but it wasn't very effective. It could scratch the armor, but not cut or destroy it.
"We're nullifying their magic too, but we can't just keep this up forever. I'd love for Claire to just slash them with her sword."
"But I can't fly."
"Hmm...... Should we try using a fiend first?"
Yuurai summoned five fiends, each about five meters tall.
Fiends specialized in physical combat and weren't particularly good at ranged attacks. They were incredibly reliable in close quarters, but had a disadvantage against flying angels.
"What are you planning to do with fiends? Aren't they just big targets?"
"Well, just watch. ......Still, those angels are completely ignoring the fiends."
Claire had a point, but the angels seemed either incredibly stupid or under some strange orders—they only targeted Yuurai. Yuurai continued nullifying the light directed at her with Absorption.
"......My fiends look pretty dumb, but those angels are even dumber."
"......It feels like little kids are fighting for fun. They don't care about their surroundings, don't plan their priorities, and just recklessly go after the biggest threat......"
"Do angels have children? They look like adults."
"Who knows...... It's my first time seeing angels, so I can't say for sure."
"......I wonder if Spirit Sight will show anything?"
Out of mild curiosity, Yuurai used Spirit Sight to observe one of the angels.
Name: None (Ares)
Race: Angel
Gender: None
Age: 0 years (10 years)
Soul: Present
Status: Stained by judgment. A human soul that has been sublimated.
"......I feel like I saw something I shouldn't have."
"What do you mean?"
"Those angels might be former human children."
"......What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure either. Maybe they used human children as sacrifices to summon angels...? Or maybe it's more like... they transformed children into angels...? They were probably just born as angels, but when they were human, their name was Ares, and they were ten years old... I think."
"Ares......? Don't tell me, that Ares?"
"Who? Someone you know?"
"......There was a boy named Ares who was close to the captain's daughter."
"......Huh. Maybe he willingly became an angel to get revenge on me?"
"I don't know. I can't say it's impossible."
"......Geez. I shouldn't have looked. Now it's harder to kill them... Ah, and the other angels might also be former human children... Well, whatever the case, they're the ones who destroyed Grimoire and killed Gilka's subordinates. No matter what happened to them, they're my enemies now. ......I'll kill them."
If they had still been human children, maybe they could have been forgiven with just a fitting punishment.
But they were no longer human.
There was no need to show mercy to something that had abandoned its humanity.
"......Yuurai, could you turn those kids back into humans?"
"......I don't know. Claire, do you want me to?"
"I don't like killing kids. If they can return to being human, I want them to."
"Hmm...... My powers are more focused on destruction than salvation... Maybe if I had more time, I could find a way, but this isn't the situation for that..."
"I see...... Got it. Then we just have to kill them."
"Are you okay with that?"
"I'm okay. Even if they were once kids, they're now just pitiful angels. They're even destroying the town they were born and raised in without a second thought... If they can't go back, then I want to end it for them."
"Mm. Got it. We'll be the ones to kill them."
"Yeah."
Claire looked toward the angels and sighed deeply.
"......Hey, Yuurai. What did I used to believe in, back when I fought as a Holy Knight...?"
Her face under the helmet was surely filled with sorrow.
"......Who knows. Well, don't beat yourself up too much. I'm not sure about all of it either... but there were definitely people that you and your comrades saved, right? With the power you believed in from God, you were able to save some. That's something to be proud of."
"......You think so?"
"Yeah. Everything has good and bad sides. Seeing that doesn't mean you have to reject everything you once were. If you only see the bad and think that's all there is, you'll end up like Fia, you know?"
"......You're right. I shouldn't think in extremes."
"Exactly. ......Alright, let's try dealing with those angels attacking us for no reason using the fiends for now."
Yuurai had the fiends pick up heavy and solid objects from the surrounding rubble—large stones, columns, and the like.
"Yuurai, what are you planning?"
"It's simple. Incredibly simple. You guys... just throw whatever's lying around at the angels."