LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 55
The purple spear pierced the girl’s side.
Red blood and holy water fell to the ground.
“…Why?”
Someone’s murmuring represented everyone’s confusion.
Why is red blood flowing?
The blood of a demon should be black.
The girl they were pursuing must certainly be a demon.
The first to act was Shin Woo.
Without solving the mystery, he reflexively jumped out.
All to save his childhood friend.
The lavender-haired girl casually looked at Shin Woo and pulled back the spear.
Hana collapsed weakly to the ground.
“Hana! No, no…!”
Immediately, the two girls, Yeon Hwa and Valentina, rushed over.
But there was still a girl standing dumbly in place.
“Why is the blood red?”
Si-hyun recalled the scene from earlier repeatedly.
The vivid red blood only ingrained itself deeper into his mind.
But that shouldn’t be.
He had clearly confirmed it back in the science lab.
He had seen black blood flowing with his own eyes.
Moreover, his sister had said Yu Hana was a demon.
And Yu Hana had tried to kill his sister.
So why?
“No! The wound is too deep!”
“There’s too much blood flowing! If we don’t stop the bleeding…!”
In the chaos, the girl holding the spear spoke softly.
“Red blood and holy water. She is not a demon but a saint.”
Shin Woo glared at the girl, grinding his teeth.
“If she’s not a demon, why did you stab her…?”
“I couldn’t know until after stabbing her.”
“What good does that do!? Because you stabbed her, Hana is dying!”
“I am Longinus. My spear activates only with saints. If I hadn’t stabbed her, you would have seen false blood.”
Longinus?
Why should they care about that?
Valentina, who was nursing Hana, shouted urgently.
“We can’t leave it like this!”
“I don’t understand. You judged the saint to be a demon and tried to kill her. Even if I hadn’t stabbed her, she would have eventually died by that woman’s sword.”
“……….”
Si-hyun’s pupils shook violently.
With her ears covered and head lowered, she was plainly wavering.
Si-hyun, who maintained composure in any situation, collapsed.
“I… I just wanted to kill the demon…”
Amidst the rising chaos.
Shin Woo thought only of what was most urgent.
“Is there no healer here!?”
“……….”
“Damn it. Then let’s hurry out and get treatment…!”
But it might already be too late.
Just as Shin Woo was about to pick up Hana, an earthquake rattled the entire temple.
“What the!?”
“Is it an attack from the monsters?”
“Everyone, calm down and don’t let your guard down!”
In the shaking that made it hard to take a step, everyone tensed up.
Finally, when the earthquake stopped and silence returned, another change occurred.
– Woo-woo-woo
An unidentified resonant sound continued for a while, and the angel statues lined up on either side began to open their eyes.
The once stiff stone now had life and started flapping its wings.
“Monsters! Shoot!”
The soldiers immediately returned fire, but the attacks merely bounced off harmlessly.
The angels emitted light from their eyes and gazed at one place.
Instantly, everyone charged toward one girl.
“Those things are targeting Hana!”
“Damn pigeons! Die!!”
Yeon Hwa immediately unleashed fire.
Valentina also shot lightning arrows at the angels in front of her.
Despite being burned and struck by lightning, the angels refused to give up.
Yeon Hwa, who punched one angel in the head, shouted.
“Kim Shin Woo! Hurry and take her away!”
“…Got it!”
While his friends bought him time, Shin Woo tried to get out of the temple with Hana in his arms.
The one who was blocking the angels the most was none other than Longinus.
Every time the girl’s spear swung, the angels fell down like dominoes.
It was truly overwhelming power.
Seizing that opportunity, Shin Woo didn’t miss a beat.
He picked up Hana and sprinted with all his might.
The breathing sounds coming from behind were growing weaker.
Just a little more. The gate entrance is right ahead.
♬♪♩
A melody resonated throughout the entire space.
An otherworldly tune that clashed completely with the urgent situation.
Along with a lullaby-like music.
The girl regained her senses.
“…Hana? Hana! Are you okay!?”
“You’re calling for me.”
“What? Just a moment. What do you mean?”
Hana was enveloped in pure white light.
Soon, under some unknown power, she began to float into the air and turned around.
It was too high for the boy to grab hold of.
Returning to the temple they had barely escaped from, Hana approached the archangel inside.
Whatever was happening, they couldn’t just stand by and watch.
But distance had already widened between her and Shin Woo.
Yeon Hwa, Valentina, and even Longinus couldn’t stop Hana from being pulled toward the archangel as they fought the angels.
As the two drew closer, the lullaby grew bizarre.
Now, it was no longer a beautiful melody but an unpleasant dissonance.
Gradually, the archangel opened its eyes, wearing a twisted smile.
Stretching out its arms, the archangel tried to embrace the girl.
At that moment, just before the two became one.
Si-hyun, who leaped from the statue, snatched the girl away.
“Ugh…!”
Resisting the strong pull, Si-hyun desperately pulled Hana in and shouted.
“Everyone, explain properly…! Until then, I’ll never allow you to die!!”
As the standoff elongated, all the angels charged toward them.
Ignoring attacks and interference with fierce determination, they crashed in like moths drawn to light, even if their wings were torn and legs broken.
Eventually, one angel broke through the encirclement and reached Si-hyun.
Unable to respond with Hana in her arms, she was left vulnerable to the angel’s attack.
“Ahhh!!”
A piercing scream pierced through her eardrums.
Valentina covered her mouth in horror upon witnessing the scene.
It was horrific. More brutal than any moment before.
After losing one eye, Si-hyun collapsed to the ground, losing all strength.
There was no one left to interfere. The girl entered the archangel’s embrace and became one.
The statue slowly began to crack, and the seal started to break.
The true archangel had finally awakened.
“That’s… just a monster…”
It looked nothing like the angel they commonly knew.
Three pairs of gigantic wings flapped.
Countless eyes attached to the wing joints blinked and focused.
A massive single eye occupying the center of its body gazed into the temple.
Everyone was stunned by its shocking appearance, unable to move.
The awakened archangel spoke in an incomprehensible language.
[Armageddon of judgment has come]
The power contained in its voice shook the entire temple.
From the moment the archangel awakened, all the angel statues simultaneously ceased fighting and knelt to him, singing praises.
[All the wicked of the world will perish]
Longinus slowly walked forward to the archangel.
And asked.
“Do you really want that?”
Countless eyes gazed at Longinus.
At first glance, it seemed insane to act this way.
But Shin Woo instead caught a glimpse of possibility in that act.
“Can you understand what that thing is saying?”
“It’s not that thing; it’s Yu Hana.”
“…Is that really Hana?”
He looked up at the monstrous figure.
If one didn’t feel revulsion or fear from that appearance, they would be lying.
However, if what was said was true.
Shin Woo gathered his courage and approached.
The terrifying eyes betrayed no emotion.
Yet the angel simply watched the boy’s approach silently.
“Hana. There’s something I want to say one last time.”
He didn’t know what would happen after this.
Perhaps not just himself but everyone in the temple could be torn apart mercilessly by the angel.
One thing was certain: there was no being in existence at this moment that could stand against the angel.
Not even Longinus.
So maybe this would be Shin Woo’s last words.
That’s why it was all the more necessary to say it.
“I’m sorry.”
The boy shed tears as he apologized to the girl.
“I may have secretly given up while believing you were not a demon. I just wanted to meet you one last time. And I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
The angel looked down silently without responding at all.
“It must have been tough, right? Nobody believed you and only hurt you. I wasn’t much different. In the end, I couldn’t save you until the end.”
Everyone quietly watched the boy’s confession.
Friends, soldiers, and even angels.
Si-hyun lay on the ground, clutching her missing eye, sobbing. Blood tears continued to flow down her hands.
“You said before in the park that you wanted to be happy. Back then, I vowed to make you happy…but I couldn’t. It’s all my fault.”
Shin Woo slowly stepped forward.
It was the end of the temple, so even though there was only an endless cliff under the clouds.
He kept approaching the angel hovering in the sky.
“I’m sorry for being too late. You might not believe these words. You must find it laughable. But in the next life, I’ll live only for you. Even if I have to give up the world and betray humanity. I’ll make you happy.”
As those words left his mouth and he was on the verge of falling off the cliff.
The angel responded.
[I will forgive the sinner generously. Even if seventy and seven times]
Longinus muttered upon hearing those words.
“You’ve decided to forgive everyone.”
Then suddenly, the angel let out a terrible scream and started to writhe.
In the shocking turn of events, everyone was left stunned as the angel’s body began to tear apart, spraying blood like a fountain.
From within emerged the noble Yu Hana.
“Hana!!”
Shin Woo barely managed to catch the girl who was about to fall off the cliff as the angel completely died.
In a situation where he could only grip her hand, Hana opened her eyes.
Seeing the desperate expression of the boy trying to pull her up while holding her hand tightly, Hana wore a benevolent smile like the Virgin Mary.
“Indeed. It’s hard to hate you.”
“It’s okay! Just hold on a bit longer! I’ll pull you up right away. Let’s go back to the academy…”
“The mana core broke when Gabriel died. The gate will close soon, so hurry and escape.”
Shin Woo gritted his teeth and shouted.
“What do you mean! You have to go too! If you don’t go, I’ll die here too! We have to be together!!!”
“I’m sorry. I’m too tired. I just want to rest now.”
“No… Please…”
“Goodbye.”
With a flick,
Yu Hana pushed him away.
She was slowly getting farther away.
The falling childhood friend was smiling peacefully.
“The temple is collapsing!”
“The space itself is collapsing! Hurry and run to the entrance!”
“Shin Woo!!”
“……….”
Boom!!
Shin Woo was forcibly pulled by someone and barely escaped the crumbling temple.
With an expression of despair, he looked down at the ground and discovered something.
A familiar shape. A purple-skinned candy cane.
As he picked it up, a tear dropped onto his hand.
That day,
Yu Hana died.