“…”
Right now, I couldn’t see anyone trying to destroy the chains, though. So, is the one who called the gate not present on this battlefield?
“No!”
I quickly detected movement from the middle of their formation, right at the center of their teleportation array. The stupid prince, he’s preparing to destroy the chains!
I gritted my teeth before waving my sword once. If nobody stopped him, then I fear something bad would happen. From my gut feeling, although it sounds impossible, the beyond-God-level angel would end up coming here.
I’m not entirely sure why I was thinking that, but for some reason, I’m convinced that is what would happen. Foresight?
“Blanc! Open the barrier; I need to stop that b*stard prince from breaking the chains!”
I already lowered my stance, about to dash forward. Now, I’m only waiting for Goddess Blanc to lower the barrier so that I can head onward. .
“… That gate is bad news, right?”
She sighed, as if conflicted.
“Alright. I’ll be opening the barrier in three!”
Right after she said so, she began spreading a bigger barrier just outside. The new barrier pushed back all the tamers that were surrounding us and even neutralized any attacks that were coming for us.
“Three!”
When the count ended, I quickly kicked off the ground, watching as the barrier dissolved in an instant. As soon as I got out, I activated [Shadow Teleportation] and appeared right beside the empire’s prince.
“Stop that, you idiot!”
He had his two palms a few inches away from each other, right in front of his chest. In their middle, a glowing blue and red light was rotating rapidly, creating a beautiful display. However, no matter how beautiful it was, I couldn’t let him complete it!
With a wide swing, I tried to cut his wrist, but surprisingly, my sword was repelled, as if hitting a hard object. What sort of defense does he have?!
After my sword bounced back, the prince opened his eyes, glancing at me as his lips curled into a nasty grin.
“Heh! As expected from someone of low blood! You can’t even break through my barrier!”
“…!”
So it was a barrier! But wait, there’s no energy signature surrounding him at all. I tried to squint but was still unable to see any energy in his surroundings, to the point that it seemed unnatural.
A moment later, I finally realized why.
His barrier isn’t the same as that of Goddess Blanc, a thin spherical membrane surrounding an area, but rather a cluster of energy that’s being radiated by his clothes!
The entire space in his surroundings was covered in the same almost transparent energy, something I had never seen before, preventing any change in the physical state of the person wearing the gear.
“You do realize what will happen if you break that chain, right?!”
As I was thinking of a way to bypass his defense, I raised my voice in anger. The prince merely scoffed at me, raining insults my way.
“What, you don’t even know about the Otherside? This is why you’re a third-rate nobody! As soon as I open up this gate, the empire’s owned Beyond God level monster will flatten your country!”
“…?”
I couldn’t help but feel doubt. Owned? That angel? Do they own it? Bullsh*t!
“I don’t know where you heard that your empire controls that being, but I’ll assure you, it’s not something humans can control!”
“Hah! Just sit back then and watch as I call and command it to do my bidding!”
This is bad; the prince wasn’t listening to me at all. Well, not that I was expecting him to. But at the same time, I wasn’t able to see a gap in his defense. It was foolproof unless I launched an attack equivalent to a god-level one that concentrated all the damage on a single point.
‘But without enough time, I can’t do that!’
As I was wracking my brains for a solution, the stupid prince finished his charged attack and let it fly toward the giant gate.
In the spur of the moment, I moved before it, blocking the attack. My sword, receiving the ball of energy, cracked immediately before failing.
“Ugh!”
I wasn’t able to block it, but I managed to turn its trajectory slightly away. I watched as the ball swerved to the side… but not enough. It landed on one of the chains at the edge!
“Sh*t! Don’t break, don’t break, don’t break!”
I prayed continuously but was disappointed shortly after.
*CRACK!*
The chains had a fine crack on them after the prince’s attack landed. It was a small crack at first, but then it began to spread until the entire link was covered in the cracks. Then, with an unceremonious pop, it turned to dust and scattered with the wind.
*CLINK!*
*CLANK!* *CLINK!*
*CLINK!* *CLANK!* *CLINK!*
The chains slowly fell, pulling the rest of them as they went down. Soon enough, the chains wrapping the gate completely disappeared, crashing down on top of God Zeshion’s isolated space.
“…”
The entire field went quiet instantly. Almost everyone was starting to see the sky, watching the red gate.
*SQUEAK!* *CREEAAAAAK!*
And, with a loud sound, along with a red cloud coming from inside it, the gates finally opened up. As soon as it did, I felt goosebumps run across my skin.
‘It’s coming!’
When the gates opened completely, the prince began to laugh loudly, calling to his army.
“Look, my brave soldiers! The epitome of strength! Our empire’s greatest weapon! The beyond-god-level Angel Azrael!”
As he shouted, a pair of fair hands appeared from beyond the door, slowly pulling themselves out. After the hands, the three pairs of folded wings appeared, then an entire body, followed by a golden halo radiating a holy light.
[… Who dares to call me?]
The familiar voice echoed loudly in my mind, making me gulp with anxiety.
“It came out…”
.