IRM Chapter 21.1

Reize accepted the bottle as if bewitched, his eyes somewhat vacant.

 

Ji Chi’s promise was extremely tempting, like a demon’s whisper, more like divine favor.

 

If it had been a day ago, he would have hesitated, would have been reluctant, would have been wary upon hearing such words, but now, he really had no other choice.

 

No matter what, he wanted the twins to atone for the villagers——

 

Even if it meant paying any price!

 

Reize drank the potion without hesitation. The icy liquid slid down his throat, and he vaguely sensed something, looking deeply at Ji Chi.

 

“Thank you.” Reize passed by Ji Chi, leaving behind heartfelt gratitude, his tone as gentle as his apology before death in the game.

 

Reize didn’t leave with the old angel, but instead turned back, walking step by step toward the front of the church, from stumbling, to fast walking, then to running——finally, he stopped before the statue of the God of Light.

 

The statue of the God of Light nodded slightly, gazing tenderly and compassionately at the wounded half-angel before it.

 

Reize clenched his fist, brilliant purple electric arcs wrapping around his trembling palm as he swung his right fist fiercely at the statue——

 

Boom—— 

 

The three-person-tall statue instantly crumbled and shattered, the smiling face of the God of Light crashed to the ground, exposing the pitch-black source of corruption within!

 

The old angel immediately sensed the dense dark elements, whipping around in disbelief to look at Reize, roaring, “Are you insane?! What do you think you’re doing?!”

 

Reize calmly met his gaze. “I’m not insane. This is my most lucid moment.”

 

He placed his hand over the source of corruption, and visible black energy, like jackals smelling blood, completely devoured Reize.

 

The sinister dark aura swirled around Reize, forming a massive black sphere, and no one could see what was happening inside.

 

The black sphere formed by condensed dark magic grew smaller and smaller, until at a certain moment it suddenly exploded.

 

Four pairs of wide black wings, dark as night, slowly unfurled. Reize opened his dark purple eyes, gazing at the twins with crazed killing intent.

 

To ensure the guilty received their due punishment, he ultimately chose to fall.

 

Having absorbed the source of corruption and completely fallen, Reize shed his previous weakness and even surpassed his former peak strength. He was now unprecedentedly powerful, with vast magical power surging and accumulating within his body, waiting for a hysterical eruption.

 

The twins felt an unprecedented chill creep into their hearts. The ominous premonition finally made them afraid as they retreated in panic, looking up at the old angel and kneeling on the ground, pleading, “Sir, we know we were wrong! We request the kingdom’s judgment! Please… please take us back!”

 

The old angel looked down at them, ultimately feeling some reluctance. He couldn’t just stand by and watch rare kinsmen be slaughtered by a fallen angel, even if they were indeed in the wrong.

 

The old angel conjured a staff embedded with a light magic stone from thin air, the smooth, shining magic stone slowly moving toward Reize’s direction.

 

But soon, that direction was blocked by several other figures. The old angel’s face darkened severely. “Does the Holy Knight Order wish to oppose the Angel Kingdom?”

 

Kael unhurriedly pulled out a summoning scroll from his chest, smiled as he tore it open, and with a clear tiger’s roar, another black magic tiger leaped out from the magic circle in mid-air.

 

One black and one white, two mighty and robust magic tigers stood guard beside Kael, their clear, cold tiger eyes staring unblinkingly at the old angel. The combined combat power of the two magic tigers might not match a single incantation from the old angel, yet they expressed the knight order’s fearless attitude!

 

Kael fearlessly met his gaze directly, “Isn’t it rather that the Angel Kingdom wishes to oppose the Saint Trilley Empire? Massacring an entire village without cause, deliberately murdering a church saintess, threatening and intimidating Magic Academy students… aren’t you truly declaring war?”

 

The old angel’s face tightened. He couldn’t refute this, as these were indeed the good deeds those two fools had done!

 

Forget it, such foolish angels wouldn’t be loved by the God of Light anyway.

 

The old angel made his decision in an instant. He withdrew his staff, ignoring the twins’ fearful and confused expressions, declaring unquestionably, “I can refrain from interfering in their battle, and neither can you! Moreover, the Angel Kingdom and fallen angels are irreconcilable enemies. Since Reize has chosen to fall, we cannot possibly let him leave alive!”

 

Kael knew this was the old angel’s final concession. His fingers clenched tightly into fists where no one could see, then loosened defeatedly. He sighed helplessly and nodded to two knights to protect the young mages.

 

Vanessa and Locke stood guard in front of the young mages, coldly leading them away from the dangerous area.

 

Soon, only three figures remained in the center of the ruined church, one side representing flawless light, the other extreme darkness, looking quite ironic.

 

The twins knew they couldn’t escape. They looked at each other, both seeing terror in the other’s eyes, but they couldn’t retreat. Once they retreated, they would certainly face death!

 

Years of understanding quickly made the twins comprehend each other’s thoughts. As fellow four-winged angels, the side with greater numbers still had a chance of victory! They needed seamless cooperation!

 

Soon, chanting echoed over the ruins, and the light elements in the surrounding air began to stir restlessly. The elements heard the call and gathered bit by bit toward the angels.

 

In this kind of high-level battle, the longer the chanting, the more powerful the magic released, just like now. The angel holding the golden staff had been chanting loudly for quite some time, and the prelude to large-scale magic began to brew.

 

Reize wasn’t an angel beloved by countless people; he was just an orphan without father or mother who had walked out of a small village. He didn’t have an ornate, exquisite staff; he only had day after day of arduous training and a heart full of intense hatred.

 

His wide black wings spread like a night curtain, with bright purple electric arcs coiling around them. Reize closed his eyes slightly, his hair floating in the chaotic airflow.

 

He suddenly opened his eyes. Without chanting or a staff, dark purple lightning spheres rapidly condensed in his palms——but he had also once been a student who made Joseph proud!

 

The palm-sized lightning spheres shot rapidly toward the chanting angel, but were intercepted halfway by a silver staff.

 

The silver-staffed angel grunted as he caught the lightning sphere, his fingers gripping the staff becoming bloody. He glared viciously at Reize. “A lowly bastard should stay cowering in your little village! That is your fate! And everything today is the price for your blasphemy against destiny!”

 

Reize waved his hand to summon a black hurricane, attacking him again while roaring, “There’s no damn destiny! There are only a group of despicable perpetrators and a cowardly self!”

 

The violent lightning elements combined with corrosive dark magic fiercely wore away the light elements in the air. The golden-staffed angel’s chanting became increasingly laborious, his face growing paler and paler, his forehead covered with beads of sweat the size of beans.

 

However, he finally reached the conclusion——

 

“My beloved God of Light, please bring down divine judgment, let the glory of light cleanse the darkness of this world!”

 

With his chanting, a point of light in the sky grew larger and brighter until it rivaled the sun, hanging side by side in the sky.

 

Gradually, the false sun elongated, forming the shape of an eye, looking down at Reize on the ground without sorrow or joy, as if judging his sins.

 

[Advanced Light Magic: Divine Light Judgment]

 

[Description: Forms a Judgment Eye in the sky that locks onto the guilty for targeted attacks, causing seven penetrating damages (damage to dark creatures is doubled)]

 

Reize was familiar with the angels’ attack methods and knew he couldn’t dodge this strike. He held nothing back, spreading his wings as dark elements around him surged, spreading across the ground into a pool of pitch-black swamp that immersed the two angels within. Then, python-like electric currents surged wildly through the dark elements’ conduction, continuously attacking the twins with violent, furious momentum.

 

The silver-staffed angel struggled desperately. He had already been contaminated by dark elements; his originally softly glowing white wings had dimmed, with hair-thin black lines coiling between the feather gaps.

 

He was now trapped in the swamp of dark elements unable to escape, while also having to constantly guard against lightning serpents that might leap out from any direction. He was exhausted, once again regretting getting involved in such trouble.

 

However, as long as he survived today, there would be no more filthy mixed-blood in the world to threaten them!

 

The silver-staffed angel destroyed another lightning serpent, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood with a “poof,” his face rapidly turning ashen. He supported himself with his staff, his failing body swaying precariously under severe injuries as he growled through blood. “Brother! Kill him——“

 

At the same time, the golden-staffed angel raised his staff high, the golden tip pointing at the Judgment Eye in the sky, shouting, “Divine Light Judgment——“

 

The light eye in the void turned, its pupil locking onto Reize on the ground, and the first sword of judgment condensed in mid-air.

 

The lock-on and penetrating damage meant Reize didn’t waste magical power on unnecessary defense. The madness in his eyes gradually settled as he stood still, opening his palm and softly reciting, “Thunder and Lightning.”

 

Beside the Judgment Eye, a patch of dark cloud sea gathered, shrouding the twins’ heads like a mirror image of the ground swamp, sandwiching the two angels in between.

 

Reize’s magical power was also running low. He smiled mockingly toward the two angels. “The lower level angel selection might as well be changed to today. Whoever survives——will be considered the noble and honored angel!”

 

Both angels’ faces were deathly pale. They couldn’t break free from the swamp and thunder clouds Reize had laid down, only able to dodge, struggle, and scream wretchedly within them, as if in purgatory.

 

Whoosh—— 

 

The Divine Judgment descended. A completely white, radiant holy sword penetrated Reize’s wing, leaving a palm-sized hole. Light elements collided with dark elements, creating continuous sizzling sounds of burning.

 

Reize’s face paled a shade. Though it was heart-piercing, bone-deep pain, he remained silent, only staring fixedly at the twins’ direction, maintaining his magical output.

 

This was only the first Divine Judgment. Ji Chi watched as nearly one-fifth of Reize’s health bar was depleted, gently closing his eyes.

 

Saintess Coralie and Evan also realized that Reize absolutely couldn’t survive seven Divine Judgments, shock and heartache flashing in their eyes.

 

“Are you insane!” Saintess Coralie couldn’t watch anymore, shouting at Reize’s hunched figure, “You’ll die! Stop attacking them! Go destroy that eye in the sky!”

 

Saintess Coralie’s judgment wasn’t wrong. As long as Reize gave up attacking the twins and expended magical power to dispel the Judgment Eye in the sky, the Divine Judgment would be terminated.

 

This was the most correct and rational combat method, but now, Reize only wanted to walk his own path.

 

The second Divine Judgment penetrated his knee. Reize fell to one knee with a “bang,” grinning. “I’ve already retreated once, and the effect wasn’t very good… so this time, I want to pay any price, including my life!”

 

Saying this, he turned his head slightly, looking toward Ji Chi’s direction, silently asking, “Everything will be alright… right?”

 

Ji Chi stood behind everyone, gently nodding, his black pupils still maintaining a calm composure that remained unperturbed by events.

 

Like an all-knowing deity, silently blessing those tormented by fate.

 

Reize curved his lips, refocusing his attention on the battlefield.

 

He felt the magical power within his body drain drop by drop toward depletion. The Divine Judgment had descended five times, his body was already riddled with holes, gurgling blood flowing down from his body, pooling at his feet.

 

On the opposite side, in the thunder cloud swamp, the screams and wails had already ceased. The angels’ pristine white wings had turned completely black, mixed with the dark elements on the ground, indistinguishable from their original appearance. The two staffs had also lost their radiance, being devoured along with their masters in the boundless darkness.

 

This was the last Divine Judgment he could endure, Reize thought calmly. Then what would happen? He would most likely die, but he had also consumed most of the magical power from the source of corruption. The remainder shouldn’t affect the villagers anymore…

 

He closed his eyes, his hands dropping slightly, the aura of darkness and lightning mixed with life force continuously seeping from his wounds.

 

“Ahhhhh——” Sorrowful, ethereal wails rose from all around the village, reverberating and shaking in everyone’s hearts.

 

Those were the grief-stricken cries of the undead.

 

At some unknown time, 132 undead from the village had gathered around the church, silently watching Reize’s bloody battle.

 

But at this moment, they realized that Reize could no longer protect them, that he would depart, leaving only their broken selves in this world.

 

The undead’s long-suppressed desire to attack erupted at this moment. Thick dark elements connected between every severed limb, and the only intact small undead, Andy, stood in the center as all dark elements and limbs began to gather and assemble around him as the core.

 

Hundreds of broken limbs gradually combined together, forming a hideous monster that blocked half the sky.

 

This should have been a terrifying, fear-inducing scene, yet it inexplicably revealed a sense of sadness and grief.

 

Seeing this, the old angel’s face suddenly became very ugly. He raised his staff, shouting sternly, “Be careful! This is no longer an ordinary undead! Don’t let them attack you!”

 

The angels behind him faced this as a great enemy, each gripping their staffs tightly in battle formation.

 

The monster formed by the undead charged straight at them, but just as the angels’ pupils contracted and they were about to attack, it suddenly shot straight toward the sky!

 

Their target was the Judgment Eye in the sky.

 

Their goal, like Reize’s, had always been to protect each other.

 

At this moment, the old angel finally understood this emotion. A trace of being moved flashed in his eyes. He slowly lowered his staff, silently watching for a long time, and finally turned around, sighing heavily to the angels, “Let’s go.”

 

One of the angels came to his senses, looking at Reize and asking in confusion, “That… that fallen angel…”

 

“Just leave it!” The old angel shook his head, “He won’t live long anyway, just… leave it…”

 

While they were speaking, the undead had already attacked the Judgment Eye hundreds of times, and the golden eyeball’s outline gradually disintegrated.

 

But at the moment the eyeball completely shattered, the sixth judgment still broke free and shot straight toward Reize.

 

The undead roared and wailed, futilely trying to block that sword of light, but the light sword still passed through them unimpeded, directly penetrating Reize’s chest.

 

His health bar hit bottom. The light in Reize’s eyes gradually extinguished as he gently collapsed onto the cold ground, his vision gradually blurring.

 

If there truly are gods, I pray to You, let everything become better… This was his first devout prayer.

 

[Last Stand (Potion)]

 

Quality: [Legendary]

 

Effect: [Resurrect upon death in this battle, restore all health, clear all debuffs, and gain five times experience bonus for this battle (Note: Limited to one use per ID)]

 

At the moment his vision completely darkened, Reize felt a warm current flow through his entire body. Every scene from the previous battle seemed etched in his mind, and he suddenly touched upon a very mysterious world.

 

The angels flapped their wings, already getting closer and closer to the entrance of the Angel Kingdom.

 

The angel who had asked earlier was still worried about having a fallen angel near the kingdom. He looked back unwillingly, and after seeing clearly what was happening on the ground, his eyes suddenly widened as he cried out in shock. “How… how is this possible!”

 

Hearing his exclamation, the old angel also turned back, his gaze suddenly freezing.

 

Reize’s lifeless corpse was lifted from the ground by wisps of gentle breeze, countless points of light flowing and surging around him, seeping into his wounds.

 

The bloody wounds were slowly healing, and not only that, the blackness on Reize’s wings also receded like a tide, his pristine white feathers shining brilliantly.

 

The old angel’s hands trembled slightly. He stared unblinkingly at Reize’s transforming body, continuously murmuring, “How could a fallen angel possibly recover?! Could it be that God… forgave him? No no… God is blessing him.”

 

When Reize’s four wings completely returned to white and his still chest began to rise and fall, his face full of vitality.

 

The angels gaped at the resurrected Reize, too shocked to speak. Just when they thought the miracle was over, Reize opened his eyes.

 

The moment his light purple eyes fully opened, whoosh——

 

Above his original wings, another pair of even more magnificent and massive wings suddenly unfurled. Six wings flowing with radiance caught the sunlight, so brilliant they made one want to weep.

 

“Six-winged angel…” The old angel could hardly believe his eyes, unable to tell whether there was more disbelief or joy in his tone.