The thick dust cloud finally settled over the rubble. The grand cathedral was effectively gone, reduced to a crater of shattered stone, splintered pews, and ruined history.

Now it patched the overall aesthetic of the outside world of Eden.

Vlad jogged across the broken floorboards, having just dragged the unconscious bodies of Miro and Zoro safely behind a relatively intact wall near the rear exit. He stopped next to Solomon and brushed a layer of white dust from his ruined uniform.

"Have you ever actually heard of the concept of holding back?" Vlad asked, eyeing the massive trench carved through the center of the building.

Solomon leaned his weight against the greatsword, keeping his left hand clamped tightly around the hilt. "I did hold back. If I didn’t, we would currently be digging ourselves out of a much deeper grave."

Vlad sighed and pointed his thumb toward the perimeter. "We need to move the fight outside the cathedral grounds. If we stay in this spot, Miro and Zoro are going to get swept up in the crossfire, and I prefer to keep them breathing."

They turned to walk out of the ruins, but a blinding streak of golden light shot straight down from the sky, aiming directly for Solomon’s blind side. Vlad reacted instantly. He threw his shoulder forward and shoved Solomon hard out of the way.

The golden light collided squarely with the royal prince, launching Vlad straight into the air.

It was Uriel. The angel gripped Vlad tightly by the collar. Solomon pushed himself up from the dirt and immediately locked his silver eyes onto the angel’s right arm.

Flawless, pale skin and perfectly attached fingers gripped the prince’s uniform.

’He attached it back again?’ Solomon gritted his teeth, a sharp spike of genuine jealousy cutting through his thoughts. ’What a ridiculous healing factor.’

Solomon rushed out of the cathedral foundation, but his legs nearly buckled. Every step sent sharp flares of agony through his shins and spine. The merciless beating Uriel had delivered while he was unconscious still wrecked his internal balance.

Yet, a dark, burning rage hijacked his nervous system, completely overriding the physical pain and pushing his muscles forward.

He stopped in the open courtyard and looked up. Golden streaks zigzagged across the dark sky. Uriel was airborne, dragging Vlad through the air while repeatedly driving his perfectly healed fist into the prince’s face.

"You insects refuse to stay down!" Uriel roared, delivering another strike to Vlad’s jaw. "I am a flawless being! My light is eternal! A pair of filthy humans cannot even scratch the surface of my true divinity!"

Vlad coughed, spitting a glob of blood directly onto Uriel’s pristine golden armor. "I can see the horror on your face, bird. You are clearly scared of Solomon, so much so that you aren’t even getting close to him."

Infuriated by the stain, Uriel spun mid-air and hurled Vlad straight down toward the rocky earth. Instead of crashing into the dirt, Vlad flooded his boots with a bright golden aura.

He halted his downward momentum, flipped gracefully, and touched down softly on the ground right next to Solomon.

Vlad wiped his bleeding mouth and glanced at the swordsman. "The others are clear. You can go all out now."

"I wasn’t planning on holding back anyway," Solomon replied.

He stepped forward, his eyes glowing brighter. He raised Eden’s Penance with his remaining hand and flooded the heavy steel with dense energy. The blade ignited. Solomon twisted his hips and executed the first form of the Imperial Sword Arts.

A brilliant wave of silver energy tore upward through the sky, aimed dead at the hovering angel.

Uriel’s golden eyes widened. He quickly raised both hands, conjuring a thick, glowing barrier of holy magic to intercept the strike. The silver slash slammed directly into the shield.

It successfully blocked the blade, but the sheer force behind Solomon’s swing sent a web of deep cracks spidering across the barrier.

The shield held, but the crushing impact broke Uriel’s flight. The angel plummeted from the sky and slammed heavily into the dirt courtyard, coughing up a fresh mouthful of golden blood as his magic shattered into fading sparks.

Uriel pushed himself up from the dirt, coughing up another mouthful of glowing golden blood. He clutched his bruised chest and glared through the settling dust.

"Just who are you?" the angel demanded, his voice cracking with a mix of fury and disbelief. "A mortal vessel cannot possess this level of raw strength!"

Solomon did not bother opening his mouth to reply. He simply tightened his left-handed grip on the hilt and swung Eden’s Penance upward, executing the first form once again.

Uriel’s golden eyes widened at the incoming silver wave. He threw both hands forward and conjured a glowing barrier of holy magic. Learning from his previous mistake, the angel rapidly stacked two additional layers of thick light directly behind the first shield.

The vertical strike slammed into the defense. The first barrier shattered instantly like fragile glass. The silver energy bit deeply into the second layer, spiderwebbing the magic until it finally snapped.

However, the attack lost its momentum and completely dispersed against the surface of the third shield.

Solomon didn’t waste a single heartbeat. The moment the first form faded, he pivoted on his heel, dragged the heavy blade horizontally, and unleashed the second form.

A sweeping silver crescent tore across the courtyard. Uriel frantically shifted his layered shields to his flank to intercept the strike.

It did not matter. The second form sheared clean through all three barriers in a single, uninterrupted flash. The flat of the silver wave crashed directly into Uriel’s ribs. The angel’s body bent sideways at an unnatural, horrifying angle.

The sheer force launched him like a cannonball across the courtyard. He smashed straight through the outer palace walls, splintered three consecutive stone pillars, and bounced harshly across the rubble before finally coming to a halt.

Vlad stood a few paces away, watching the destruction unfold with a look of pure horror plastered across his bruised face.

He once again looked at the destruction Solomon’s attack made and then stared at Solomon.

Solomon let the tip of the greatsword rest against the dirt and glanced at the prince. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I still cannot believe how someone can exert that much destructive force with a single-handed swing," Vlad muttered, keeping his eyes on the cloud of dust where Uriel had landed. "If you still had both of your hands attached, that strike would have leveled the entire courtyard."

"That is a very big if," Solomon replied dryly, shifting his aching shoulder. He looked back toward the palace ruins. "Tell me, golden prince, do you actually know a permanent way to kill an angel? Because that bird shows zero signs of stopping, slowing down, or feeling any fatigue. We are just throwing him around."

Vlad fell silent for a moment. He slowly lowered his gaze to his own waist, his eyes locking onto the ornate, sheathed dagger resting against his hip.

"There is one way," Vlad said, his voice dropping to a serious whisper. "But it is strictly a last resort."