Chapter 1304
"How can a lowly gnat presume so much!"
Archangel Sariel, his face contorted in sheer disbelief, gnashed his teeth and unleashed a staggering torrent of holy energy from his palms. Spiraling vortexes of gold erupted around his form, beginning to grind the heavens and the earth into dust.
Terrrrrng!
Raon met the sight of Sariel radiating those lethal waves of power with a composed gaze, his feet shifting through the patterns of the Supreme Harmony Steps.
'The bait was taken.'
Sariel had been harboring seeds of dread, realizing the gravity of his situation after being cut down time and again.
Yet, the moment the claim was made that his secret to returning from the grave had been unraveled, the creature’s vanity regarding his celestial stature took over, forcing him to commit to a final, desperate struggle.
-That... that was a bluff to goad him?
Wrath’s jaw hung low, his expression one of utter bewilderment.
-You haven't actually cracked the code on how that Sariel worm keeps popping back up?
His lips twitched, muttering that the true master of deception was standing right here.
'No. I have a fairly solid grasp of it now.'
Raon let out a measured breath, stepping directly into the shimmering web of divine influence Sariel had cast across the battlefield.
"I shall grant you a demise from which there is no path of return!"
As Archangel Sariel slammed his hands into fists, gale-force winds of gold, capable of erasing life upon a mere graze, tore through the air toward Raon.
Chiiiiing!
Despite being caught within the luminous trap Sariel had woven, Raon sliced through the celestial winds with effortless precision.
-Is—is it actually the truth?
Wrath’s eyes went wide once more at Raon’s assertion that he understood the mystery.
'Yes. Sariel’s patterns were too peculiar; it has to be this.'
Drawing in a deep lungful of air, Raon unleashed the combined might of the Fangs of Insanity and the Blizzard Sword Art. A savage predator born of fire and a tempest of bone-chilling frost inhabited his twin blades as they shredded the veil of light.
Swaaaaaash!
Tearing through the radiant barricades and gusts Sariel had manifested, Raon lunged forward.
"Hmph!"
Archangel Sariel snorted, acting as if he had foreseen the maneuver, and generated a secondary lattice of energy to pin down the very fabric of space while launching further blasts of wind.
Any other practitioner of the Transcendent realm would have been reduced to bloody mist by such a concentrated assault, leaving nothing for a grave, but Raon was a different breed.
Whoooong!
With practiced ease, Raon parried the crushing weight of the net and the slicing winds, closing the distance until he was looming over Sariel.
"This lunatic..."
Sariel bit his lip until it bled, watching in a frenzy as Raon bypassed his holy authority with chilling indifference.
"A single touch should have unmade you! How are you doing this!"
He funneled his focus, refining the light and air with agonizing precision, yet the result remained the same: Raon was untouched.
Thuwoong!
Raon finally cleaved through the remaining barriers of glow and gale, stepping into the range where his steel could taste the skin of Sariel’s throat.
"So soon?"
The moment Archangel Sariel caught the sound of Raon’s steady respiration, he scrambled backward in a panic.
"I will reduce you to nothingness!"
In the midst of his retreat, as he attempted to summon a colossal cyclone to swallow Raon whole—
Swoooosh!
Raon’s blade glided forward as if sliding across a frozen pond, drawing a clean line across Sariel’s neck.
"Ughhhhh..."
Sariel clutched at his throat as crimson sprayed the air, falling to his knees. He stared up at Raon with wide, trembling pupils, failing to comprehend his defeat, before collapsing onto the earth.
-Hah! Calling this a one-sided slaughter wouldn't even be an exaggeration.
Wrath nodded, giving credit to Raon’s martial dominance which had utterly suppressed and broken Sariel.
-It wasn't just about defending yourself and taking a life...
The spirit slowly scanned the perimeter.
-You ensured the safety of the other mortals as well.
Wrath let out a low whistle of admiration, seeing that Raon had shielded the bystanders throughout the exchange.
'No. This isn't the end of it.'
Just as Raon gave a subtle, dissatisfied shake of his head—
Paaaaaang!
A titanic column of radiance erupted behind them. Archangel Sariel manifested once more, his severed head and torn wings perfectly restored.
"Raon Zieghart!"
Archangel Sariel bellowed the name, slamming his foot into the ground. At that furious roar, the world seemed to shudder, and the onlookers fell as if their very foundations had crumbled.
"So, that confirms it."
A thin smile pulled at the corners of Raon’s mouth as he watched Sariel’s tantrum.
"Confirms what?"
Sariel’s brow furrowed, demanding an explanation for the remark.
"Sariel. Your resurrection isn't a miracle. You've been coming back by burning through the souls of the humans you've enthralled as fuel."
Raon gestured with his chin toward the royalty and aristocrats who had been under Sariel’s spell; they were now slumped over, unable to even stir.
"To mask that reality, you produced a blinding glare every time you returned and made a show of stomping the earth to bowl everyone over."
Each time Sariel cheated death, he had released a searing light and triggered tremors.
Initially, it seemed like a mere vent for his indignation, but that wasn't the case. The creature had used those theatrical displays to shroud the mechanics of his revival.
-Huh...? Wait... Oh!
Wrath finally caught on to the trickery and clapped his hands together with a sharp crack.
-You're right! That insect kept putting on that ridiculous show every single time he rebooted!
He agreed, remembering that Sariel had performed the same routine even when he had fallen previously.
-But how did you spot it?
Wrath exhaled, feeling a bit slow for only catching on after the explanation.
'The light is one thing, but a magic-focused entity stomping his feet like a madman every time he stands up is out of character.'
Raon offered a frigid smirk.
'Because that creature isn't a warrior.'
Martial artists might stomp to anchor their weight or generate torque, but those who rely on the arcane, like Sariel, rarely have such habits.
Since the gesture was out of place, Raon had scrutinized the environment, sensing that those who worshipped the angel were wasting away and failing to recover.
"I wondered why you were so obsessed with calling others insects..."
Raon mocked the angel, watching Sariel’s features twist in fury.
"Was it because you're nothing more than a glow-worm yourself?"
He mockingly beckoned with a finger, daring the angel to keep flashing his lights.
"Vermin. Vermin! You insignificant human vermin!"
Archangel Sariel was truly incensed now, hammering his feet down and calling forth a monstrous tempest that bled golden rays.
Swaaaaaash!
Raon lashed out with the Divine Sword, which roared with fire, bisecting Sariel’s storm and incinerating the remnants.
"Haa..."
Archangel Sariel took a ragged breath as he watched his magic fail.
"Fine. I admit it. You're the fourth person to ever see through my veil. However..."
His lips curled into a predatory grin as he stared at Raon.
"Do you honestly believe that knowing the truth grants you the power to halt me!"
Archangel Sariel laughed mockingly, asserting that awareness changed nothing.
"Your blade is losing its edge, while every human in this vicinity is a battery for my life!"
He cackled like a madman, boasting that he could return indefinitely so long as there were lives to harvest.
"Is that so. In that case..."
Raon gave a slow nod, lifting the Divine Sword even as its flames began to dim.
"Perish."
He pronounced the verdict and lunged with the holy blade.
"Ha! Another attempt to pierce through space... Wait?"
As Archangel Sariel sneered, preparing to evade, the point of the Divine Sword materialized inches from his throat.
Peoooook!
The blade drove straight through Sariel’s heart before he could even register the motion, erupting into a massive inferno.
"Kaaaaaaah!"
Sariel clawed at the hilt, trying to dislodge the steel, but the sword remained anchored, cooking him from the inside out.
"I... I was prepared for this... Kuhuk!"
Sariel choked out his confusion, falling to his knees and spitting out dark blood.
"The Spatial Sword isn't a singular technique."
Raon tilted his head slightly, and the blade that had been searing Sariel’s vitals slid out, returning to his grip.
"I-is that so? I appreciate the lesson!"
Archangel Sariel forced a wicked grin, shaking his head.
"It will prove useful when I finally put an end to a gnat like you."
He smiled at Raon, fully expecting to reset and resume the hunt, before his body went limp.
Gooooooo!
The instant Sariel’s heart stuttered, Raon expanded his Soul Aura Perception to its limit.
'I have to see it now.'
He needed to track the migration of that soul.
Knowing the cost of the resurrection wasn't enough; he had yet to see the bridge between Sariel and his sacrifices. He needed that final piece of the puzzle to permanently delete this insect-obsessed freak.
'Sariel’s essence has vanished.'
Raon’s eyes narrowed as he sensed the angel’s soul flickering out like a guttering candle.
Though it seemed to sink into the abyss of death, the core of the bastard didn't actually expire; it migrated elsewhere.
'And what took its place in that husk was...'
The spirit of a common human.
In the heartbeat before Sariel truly died, his own essence departed, and the soul of a thrall was forced into the failing vessel, where it immediately burned out.
'Now it makes sense.'
It was evident that Archangel Sariel was shoving the souls of those he owned into his broken body to pay death’s toll, while he transitioned his own consciousness into a fresh host. This explained why he always reappeared in a different spot with such distracting fanfare.
-Hah...
Wrath let out a hollow sound, stunned by the revelation.
'Quite a cowardly trick for a supposedly high-ranking celestial, wouldn't you say?'
Raon agreed with Wrath’s shock.
-It is pathetic. But what truly floors me isn't that bug...
Wrath’s jaw shook as he looked toward Raon.
-It's you for catching it instantly! Even I couldn't track that spiritual transit!
He swallowed hard, frustrated that his own vast power didn't grant him the keen intuition his subordinate possessed.
'Because this requires soul perception.'
The only one capable of witnessing this was someone who had mastered the unique path of the Soul Sword. In this moment, Raon was the only being capable of truly ending Sariel.
"Keep trying! You will never, ever kill me!"
Sariel conjured yet another titanic storm of light, screaming for Raon to keep wasting his effort.
"In this existence..."
Raon offered a faint, gentle smile and shook his head.
"There is no such thing as an absolute."
He pushed off the balls of his feet, his arms extending with fluid grace.
Raon Zieghart Style Swordsmanship.
6th Form, Divine-Demonic Harmony: Invincible Azure-Red Sword.
The Divine and Demonic blades erupted with contrasting torrents of heat and frost, colliding to form a catastrophic force that split the sky-reaching storm of light in two.
Kwaaaaaaa!
The transcendent strike didn't merely dissipate the magic; it tore through the physical form of Archangel Sariel as he was weaving his next spell.
"Heok..."
Sariel’s torso was cleaved by the Invincible Azure-Red Sword, his body sliding apart.
"I told you it was pointless, didn't I? I will come back whole. And you..."
Even as he coughed up gore, his arrogance remained intact, readying for the next jump.
"You will wither and eventually kneel before my glory."
Sariel tilted his blood-streaked chin upward, insisting that he would be the one left standing when the dust settled.
Peoooook!
Raon disregarded the boast and drove Heavenly Drive, its flames now quiet and cold, deep into the angel’s chest.
"You moron. Stabbing a corpse-to-be changes nothing."
Sariel sneered, convinced that physical blades were irrelevant.
"Then again... What?"
As he attempted to eject his soul to find a new vessel—
"What—what is this! Why won't my soul move!"
Sariel’s eyes darted wildly in their sockets, his spirit pinned and immobile within the dying husk.
"I told you."
Raon tightened his hold on Heavenly Drive, which now acted as a tether for Sariel’s very essence.
"Absolutes do not exist in this world."
He stared down at the trembling, horrified angel with a smile that carried the chill of the void.
"I-impossible! This can't be! You're just a bug!"
Sariel shrieked, his bisected body thrashing as he realized his exit path was barred.
"To the archangel who claims dominion over the grave..."
Red lightning sparked in Raon’s eyes as a gold flame, darker and more intense than anything before, gathered at the tip of his sword.
"I hereby hand down your death sentence."
