Gerar looked into the distance with an impassive face. He felt nothing when his ‘old friend’ greeted him. As one of the seven reincarnated angels in the human world, his power and status in Heaven were both among the top. After becoming Kael, he lost his memories and led a life in the human world as nothing but Kael.

That was until an accident: Kael left Londan to investigate a case and accidentally came into contact with a sacred artifact from Heaven, awakening Gerar’s soul. He thus recovered his memories.

He was the first to awaken among the seven angels.

After returning to Londan, Gerar immediately realized the problem with his awakening, so he sealed his memories and would only wake up when Kael was in mortal danger.

Somewhere in Londan, Gerar saw the Lord of Pride’s reincarnation altar. He tried to reassure himself, but in the end, he had to recognize the truth. Lord of Pride, head of the Seven Demon Lords and the Seven Deadly Sins, was already walking the mortal realm as a human.

Why had Pride not turned the world into Hell when he had descended? Gerar didn’t know the answer, so he stayed in Londan and observed from the dark. He wanted to know what Pride was planning, which might have something to do with Gerar’s mission in the human world.

Meanwhile, the abyss gazing back was holding two secretaries in his arms. Forest lowered his head and took a sip of his red wine. He narrowed his eyes slightly, cutting off eye contact with Gerar.

“No wonder I didn’t notice you. You already awakened...”

“As expected of you. You’ve never disappointed me.”

“However, you’re too weak now to make me remember the fun I’ve had. I’ll give you more time. Let’s play later.”

“Kekekeke—”

Forest laughed. The second reincarnated angel in Londan was found. Calculating the time, he concluded that the Papal State had found all seven reincarnated angels—no, six. The angels together might just be enough to keep him entertained for a while.

Forest’s eyes lit up with golden light. The faint projection of the Eye of Judgment emerged in the back of his eyes. “I don’t know what the seven of you have descended for, but there are only six of you now...”

“Do a good job. I hope you’ll overcome the additional difficulties I pose and complete your mission.”

The Eye of Judgment looked into the distance, zeroing in on the last angel who had yet to be found. “Who are you then? What’s your name in Heaven? Are you also an old friend of mine?”

“...”

“Fine, the wine still needs more time to ferment. When the truth is revealed, I’m sure it’ll be an interesting time for you to face yourself.”

Forest Julian, the Lord of Pride in the human world!

He had reborn himself into a pure human through his reincarnation altar. Then, through the Windsor royal family’s divine blood and the Golden Law of Angels he had acquired, he gained the evolution sequence of angels.

His goal and motivation remained unknown. For now, he was but a fun-seeking man who indulged in food, alcohol, gambling, cigarettes, and sex.

Gerar had been wise to seal himself first thing. If he hadn’t done that, Forest would’ve found him immediately, and he would’ve been the unlucky seventh angel, unable to find himself under layers upon layers of seals.

Meanwhile, Gerar stilled after the Lord of Pride stopped gazing at him. He shuddered, reverting to Kael, with his angelic self sealed.

Kael shook his head, his eyes clear and free of the burden of knowledge. He checked his watch and cursed, “Damn it, why is it so difficult to get a taxi? When has Windsor fallen so far? Traffic is an important part of civil life. Isn’t the Queen going to do something about it?”

“I hope I can get there in time...”

“I can’t be late.”

***

Study, Wayne’s residence.

In Wayne’s dark domain, Mona sat down and crossed her legs under her master’s instructions. She looked at the divine blood in Wayne’s hand with anticipation. “Didn’t you say it would take a few days, Boss? Why are you helping me evolve today?”

“Kael gave me too much emotional damage,” Wayne grumbled. “I don’t approve of an angel like him.”

Both Kael and Archibald were incredibly good-looking, which told him the kind of faces the other reincarnated angels had. Wayne realized why he was mistakenly believed to be one of them.

However, while Archibald was a qualified angel, Kael was far from it. As a fellow reincarnated angel, Kael’s standard for beauty was stuck from his time in Heaven. He had to have drunk too little from the River Lethe before his reincarnation.

Mona covered her mouth to smother a laugh, agreeing with Wayne wholeheartedly. If not for all the evidence, she wouldn’t have believed Kael to be a reincarnated angel, either.

What followers could withstand such a test to their faith? Mona wouldn’t have been able to, that was for certain. But now...

She turned to Wayne. To say something quite sacrilegious, angels weren’t as pure as the followers imagined. Kael, Archibald, and Wayne all had quite a libido.

How strange. Was it because they had been celibate back in Heaven?

“You’re thinking about something rude, aren’t you?” Wayne asked exasperatedly when he noticed her teasing smile.

Mona nodded. Then she caught herself and shook her head instead.

Wayne huffed, patting her. “I’ll be upfront with you. Evolution cannot be reversed. Once you go down the path of angelic evolution, you’ll stop being human.”

Mona nodded. “I don’t want to evolve through divine blood, Boss. Is that not possible?”

“Oh, what do you want instead?”

“Like Juno,” Mona said loyally. “As fellow angels, I wish to gain your evolution.”

Feeling a warmth bloom in his chest, Wayne said with a smile, “That won’t be wise. My evolution is too corrupted. You know me, and you know your faith. I cannot deceive you. My evolution will make it difficult for you to maintain yourself.”

Mona didn’t consider that a problem. Loyalty that wasn’t absolute was absolutely not loyalty. She had given her all to her faith, and she didn’t care if she retained herself. It made no difference to her!

“Don’t,” Wayne said. “You’re clergy. The formal angelic evolution suits you more. If you ever regret it, it won’t be too late for me to help you evolve then.”

Mona nodded. Seeing Wayne shake the vial of Blood of Heaven, prepared to begin the operation, she hurriedly stopped him with a hand raised.

“What is it now?”

Mona silently stood up and took off her clothes, folding them neatly. Wayne bought them when he took her shopping, and they meant a lot to her. She didn’t want to break the clothes during the evolution process.

Figuring out her thoughts, Wayne patted her on the bottom and kissed her once she turned to him. “Let us begin. If everything goes well, we’ll have a candlelit dinner tonight.”

Mona nodded, sitting back down and crossing her legs.

Wayne shook the vial he had created with his thoughts and disintegrated it, exposing the divine blood to the air. A few wisps of crimson liquid radiated the sacred energy of Heaven, pure and flawless, with a hint of blazing white light that was clear like crystal.

His understanding of evolution was based on the simple principles of corruption. Since his own evolution was granted through the corruption of flesh and blood, he now used the divine blood through physical contact, too.

He urged the Book of Greed to get to work. The large eyeball on the cover darted toward the small eyeball of Heaven, converting his mana to exude overwhelming holy power.

Set up the foundation first!

Mona tapped into the power of her stigma, her eyes turning a noble gold. White wings unfurled from her back as sacred light enveloped her. With Wayne’s support, the scripture of the Golden Law morphed into three tangible golden bands, which connected into circles of different circumferences, rotating around Mona at different speeds.

Wayne sent the heavenly blood over. It transformed into red threads and touched the golden stigma on the back of Mona’s hand. The moment it made contact, it didn’t corrupt her as Wayne had imagined; instead, the bands of Golden Law circling Mona reacted to the divine blood.

The two merged, and the golden bands were replaced by blindingly radiant Holy Light. The infinite light contained infinite energy and vitality, as if it could cleanse all filth in the world.

The sudden radiance made Wayne narrow his eyes. It was so bright that he almost wondered if he had tossed in white phosphorus.

He couldn’t see Mona in the burning orb of white flames. Sensing with his thoughts, he confirmed that she hadn’t been burned.

“How do you feel, Mona?”

“Warm, like Master’s embrace...”

Mona’s body floated. She crossed her arms before her chest, and the wings on her back slowly tucked in. The warm holiness made her sleepy, her eyes falling closed.

The evolution with the Blood of Heaven had begun, preventing Wayne from intervening. He collected data with his thoughts while quietly conversing with Mona, keeping her from actually falling asleep.

Whatever the case, it was better for her to stay awake.

The evolution was slower than Wayne had expected and also more complex. The holy light continued to change colors. It was at times a radiant gold, representing absolute dignity and nobility; then it would turn a pristine white like an angel’s snow-white wings, representing purity and holiness.

The changing colors seemed to reflect a rhythmic progression, penetrating the mind and cleansing the soul. The power was growing stronger. Wayne sensed something from the changes. The progression symbolized something, but he couldn’t put a finger on what it was just yet.

Perhaps it meant a particular angel. Angels each had different traits, and thus the Sacred Tomes differed. According to the scriptures, every angel had their own symbol, and the stigma on Mona’s hand was one such symbol.

Wayne speculated about the angel Mona represented now. Would she be influenced more by Saint George, or the Golden Law of the unknown angel imbuing Pride’s altar?

After some time, the progression stabilized. Wayne reached Mona with his thoughts and saw a magnificent heaven through her eyes. Sacred light rippled over like a great dragon stirring up waves as it moved through a sea of clouds. The formidable might was a sight to behold.

Where the dragon’s head would be, the pattern of a golden eye took shape. The Eye of Judgment looked down at Mona and sensed Wayne’s thoughts in her. It instantly unleashed an immeasurable authority.

Irresistible power gradually drove Wayne’s thoughts out of Mona’s body. Even the stigma on the back of her hand dimmed. After a few cracks formed, it vanished completely.

Mona was stunned. The stigma represented her connection to Wayne. Its erasure would mean the loss of not only the Golden Law she had gained from Wayne, but also the contract that the Golden Law had witnessed.

No, this is disloyalty!

Mona rejected the loss of the stigma. She tapped into her power to retain it, but then the Eye of Judgment pushed harder, erasing the contract every time she reformed it.

They reached a stalemate of repeated formation and erasure!