Hodgson conjured his vitality field instantly. Holy light engulfed Wayne, dragging him into a white world of a rolling sea of clouds, similar to the Heaven Wayne had once seen.

Hodgson had signed a contract with an angel through a Sacred Tome of Golden Law, having the honor of entering Heaven. After that, he had based his vitality field on Heaven.

It wasn’t a manifestation of his ambition. That would be too far-fetched. This should be considered an homage.

Seeing Wayne standing amid the sea of clouds in confusion, Hodgson was filled with relief. While manipulating Wayne’s senses, he asked, “When is the Papal State’s army coming? How many are there? Any strong individuals with a reputation?”

“All seven angels have come for the evil gods,” Wayne said blankly. “Your ambition and goal have long been exposed.”

“Impossible. They couldn’t have realized so quickly.”

“A mole sold you out.”

“Those bastards. They swore to give the Lord of Envy their all, and they recovered their sanity because of it. Yet they betrayed milord!” Hodgson snarled in a fit of anger. Just then, two rays of red light shot toward him with scorching heat. Caught off guard, he hurriedly reorganized matter into a barrier of Holy Light with a wave of his sleeve.

Boom!!

The heat vision pierced through the barrier. Hodgson failed to get away in time, so much of his white beard ended up burned and charred. He looked pathetic.

He stared at Wayne in surprise, confused why his vitality field had failed. Even if Wayne was a legendary mage, it should’ve required him to resist with his own vitality field to stop his senses from being manipulated.

“What are you?”

“Doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is you...” Wayne’s lips curled up. “You turn out to be a follower of the Lord of Envy. What a loyal spy you are, lying low for your lord for thirty more years after thirty years. In a few years, you’ll be qualified to become the Pope.”

Hodgson’s face darkened. He said harshly, “So what? Everyone knows that you’re the demon. You’re dead!”

“Kekekeke—” Wayne guffawed, taking a half-complete Philosopher’s Stone from his chest. “As you wish. I can play a demon this time.”

Black light soared toward the sky. Black wings unfurled from Wayne’s back as his limbs elongated, his pale face scribed with the Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins from Hell.

***

Boom!

Two rays of white light collided. After a brief impasse, a figure plunged to the ground, leaving a crater in the center of the courtyard outside the cathedral.

Waves of heat rose and spread. Broken stones shot out as the ground cracked. The angel picked herself up with her Holy Light lance. At her feet, the ground had become molten matter from the intense heat, flowing slowly.

She looked up at Mona in the sky, shocked. While both of them were pulling back, Mona’s power far exceeded hers. There was also a bottomless reserve of power that Mona could tap into, allowing her to retaliate with greater power every time the angel went all in.

They were both angels descending to the human world, unable to tap into their full power because of their incomplete thoughts and the lack of their own bodies. Why was Mona this strong?

The angel came to a conclusion: Mona was an angel of a higher status, with more wings.

That didn’t make sense. A high-level angel wouldn’t easily fall under a demon’s control. Even if the demon had a Sacred Tome of Golden Law, a high-level angel would still be able to void the partnership contract through the disclaimer clause.

If, on the other hand, the high-level angel had fallen, they shouldn’t retain such incredible holy power.

The angel couldn’t figure it out. For Heaven’s glory, she conjured sacred flames around her and summoned more power by force, enveloping her armor with a layer of sacred intention. Faintly, the scripture of the Golden Law glinted.

“Umar, is that you?”

Mona looked down at the angel with a rapidly escalating aura, uttering her name from Heaven unconsciously. She didn’t know any Umar, but her instinct told her that it was the angel’s name.

Umar was even more surprised. An image flashed through her mind, and she said in horror, “Śār, you—[1]”

No, the prideful Śār wouldn’t have fallen because of the temptation of a demon. What demon would be capable of that? Was the demon the Lord of Pride?

Impossible! It couldn’t be happening from the perspective of either the Śār or the Lord of Pride.

Umar believed she was overthinking and felt ashamed for defiling the Śār with thoughts of their fall. Her golden eyes blazed with fighting spirit, her wings unfurling. Terrifying energy waves crashed through the space.

In a flash, she shot out. Her wings disturbed space as they cut through the sky. From afar, it seemed that the space of all of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral had been distorted.

Mona raised her sacred lance to draw a cross in the air—it was a special cross that resembled the crossguard of a sword or a scale. Golden light bloomed, engulfing her.

Umar came to a sudden halt. Staring at the stigma, she put away her lance and wings, placing a hand on her chest respectfully. “Śār, it is you.”

Mona nodded. “The archbishop you contracted with is a demon’s agent. That is a truth I have verified personally. You were deceived by him.”

Umar nodded in agreement. The archbishop did not matter. What truly mattered was the fact that the Śār had descended through a clergywoman, and the feelings she held for the man who had summoned her with a Sacred Tome of Golden Law were...

Adoring? Indulgent?

Umar couldn’t find an accurate description no matter how she thought about it.

Mona smiled. “Umar, my situation is a little complicated. Don’t spread the news that I’ve descended.”

“As you wish.”

As a member of the legion, Umar didn’t dare to disobey her supervisor’s order. She put what she had just seen behind, pretending that she had seen wrong. Nothing had happened. The Śār was pure.

The two folded their wings and landed. Mona’s cross stigma faded away, and so did the blinding golden light.

To the clergy members below, they only saw Mona draw a cross, and the angel on their side stopped fighting. The two shook hands and entered an armistice.

So who won? Had their angel defected?

Crack!

A spatial rift burst open. Wayne returned to the cathedral while carrying a black clump. Seeing the flat-chested angel following Mona, he raised an eyebrow in question. She looked meek like a subordinate to Mona, like she had admitted defeat. It wasn’t hard to believe. Being emotionless didn’t mean being unreasonable.

With great enough power, one could even make a defiant angel into an obedient one.

“Boss, I’ve proven my purity and resolved our misunderstanding. This descended angel now believes you’re on the side of justice,” Mona went up to him and said.

There were so many things wrong with the statement that Wayne didn’t know where to even begin. First, Mona hadn’t been pure for a long time. Second, was it that hard to believe that he was on the side of justice?

He didn’t make the comments, though. He casually tossed Hodgson to Umar, whose flesh was burned to medium doneness. “Lady Angel, he’s a follower of the Lord of Envy. You’ve signed a contract with a demon’s servant. It seems that you’ve done much work for Hell all these years!”

Umar paled. Angels’ hatred for demons was well-known. Wayne’s pointed remark hurt worse than death.

“This isn’t the time for that, Boss,” Mona said. “One of the Seven Demon Lords is involved. Have you gotten information from him?”

“Not much.”

Wayne raised his eyebrow. He had corrupted Hodgson’s thoughts and body, stealing a great amount of information from him and looting one Sacred Tome of Golden Law, four keys to the Archbishop’s warehouse, and three treasure maps. It was a real harvest.

According to the information extracted from Hodgson’s head, he had initiated contact with Hell’s faith and willingly became the demon lord’s follower, rather than being forced into doing so. There was no cheating involved. The clergyman had given himself away. It was a pure, reciprocated love.

Hodgson’s motive was simple: clergy members had access to too much information, regarding both Heaven and Hell. Driven by curiosity, he got a taste of Hell and became addicted, soon turning his back on the Church of Heavenly Father.

Wayne produced a new map from his personal storage and made a few circles. “These newly emerged cults are located in particular locations, mostly red herrings to conceal their true goal. These few cults formed an inverted pentagram with Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. A sacrificial ritual is to be held to establish a connection with Hell and open the gate, allowing the Lord of Envy’s thoughts to descend to the human world.”

At its core, demons were straightforward beings. Their goal had never changed over the past millennium.

Mona narrowed her eyes after his explanation, her expression exuding killing intent. When he looked over, she quickly concealed her reaction.

“You’ve become more and more obsessed with demons, Mona. You’re almost as bad as me now,” Wayne said with a hint of sarcasm, fishing for reassurance.

Mona remained silent, unable to play along when Umar was present. She changed the subject, “There’s no time, Boss. I’ll go after the evil gods in case something goes wrong.”

“Please, allow me,” Umar said respectfully. “I’ve mistakenly trusted a demon’s lackey and almost caused a catastrophic result. I hope you’ll give me a chance to make things right, Śār.”

Śār? Who?

Wayne turned to Mona, who met his eyes and explained telepathically. She lied that Wayne held a high status in Heaven and that after she displayed her stigma, Umar had given her full trust.

“You are an angel, Boss, and a high-ranking angel at that.”

...I’ve said this many times: it’s Pride’s stigma.

Wayne felt wronged. Seeing that Umar was still awaiting order, he rolled his eyes in annoyance and slapped Mona’s bottom hard. “Go together, you two. Try your best to capture two evil gods alive.”

Umar gaped when she heard the audible slap, shocked. When she sensed the killing intent radiating from her supervisor, she quickly lowered her head and accepted the order.

I wasn’t the one who slapped you. Why did you aim your killing intent at me?

Umar felt wronged. She wondered what the nature of the relationship between her supervisor and Wayne was and imagined a twisted romance between them.

By angels’ standards, Wayne’s human form was quite twisted, and the Śār was destined to return to Heaven. Their relationship had no future.

The two angels took their leave, vanishing into the night sky.

Wayne turned around with a vicious smirk, stepping on Hodgson’s face. That one, that one, and that one. You were the ones hurling the worst curses earlier.

If I don’t expose all the money you’ve embezzled today, I’ll be Enyaw rather than Wayne!

1. The term used here is literally 'great archangel', but the author is referring to the topmost ranking angels. Archangels, while often used for the most powerful angels, are actually the second lowest rank in Heaven's hierarchy, both in the real world and in this story. As using the more literal translation may be confusing in this ranking system, I've opted for Śār/Śārim, which is 'prince' in Hebrew and is used to refer to top angels like Michael. ☜