Golden eyes trembled violently upon hearing that his beloved wife was harming the world simply by being alive and breathing. However, Julius lowered his head, clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and steeled his resolve.
“…Even so… I can never give up on Cecil.”
“I suppose so, because that’s the kind of man you are. It can’t be anything but a truly noble love.”
The angel shook her head and responded sarcastically to Julius’s selfish words—his refusal to abandon his wife, even if it meant inviting evil and plunging the world into chaos.
After all, only humanity could taint the purity of love.
The Angel of Love, incapable of truly understanding the depths of the emotion, made up her mind as she gazed at the heretic inquisitor, Julius Tapnel—a man willing to endanger the world for the sake of love.
‘He is dangerous. I don’t know if Tapnel will grieve, but here and now, we must destroy him along with Nirhil.’
Ziffnel’s eyes sharpened as she resolved to eliminate Julius.
Just then, an urgent woman’s voice echoed in her mind.
[Wait! Ziffnel, didn’t his words mean something different? He clearly said he would resolve the issue through discussion!]
The rare urgency in the voice of the Angel of Faith—who was usually as calm as stone—made Ziffnel curve her lips into a beautiful smile.
“Sister, I am an angel, not a devil.”
[What does that mean?!]
“I told Tapnel and Thalia that I would forgive Julius, but I never had any intention of doing so in the first place.”
A request from her dear friend, Telmere.
The clergy must punish all those wretched beings who refuse to heed the simplest command—to never succumb to the devil’s whispers.
The reflection of the strongest man on earth gleamed in the pink angel’s eyes.
Julius summoned the radiance of heaven from his golden flames, shaping it into a spear.
Long ago, an angel’s power had obliterated the highest peak of Mount Cirni in an instant and even felled the great Colossal Serpent.
Now, a mere human had grasped the Light Spear of Tapnel with his own hands.
Determined to protect his wife, Julius twisted his entire body and hurled the spear at the angel.
The spear of light tore through the endless pink petals.
No matter how divine an angel might be, if struck, even they could not withstand the overwhelming majesty of divinity.
Ziffnel watched as Julius’s Light Spear flew straight toward the center of her chest…
All strength drained from her body.
“…Damn it.”
The inquisitor rarely cursed.
A strange and incomprehensible harmony unfolded before his eyes.
It was as if her flower buds were withering, her divine energy folding in on itself. Her pink hair and eyes—once radiating boundless divine power—darkened, losing their light.
She looked like someone utterly defeated, yet the corners of her lips remained curled upward.
“The power of loving-kindness.”
[Peace]
I will not harm you, so do not harm me either.
It was the strongest shield that always protected her when she was not using her powers.
The power of love unfurled in its full might. The moment Julius’s Light Spear touched her body, it vanished without a trace.
“As expected, it’s incredible. If not for the power my father granted me, my head would have been pierced long ago. But since I’m alive and well… it’s my turn now.”
With a wry smile, Ziffnel raised her hand high.
Like petals blooming around her, pink divinity once again filled the barren land.
The power of love is…
[Infinite]
Infinite flames—flames that even Julius’s golden fire, capable of incinerating all, could not consume—began to spread around the angel.
And to bring an end to this conflict, the Angel of Love once again uttered the name of the ‘sword’ she had once favored in the distant past.
“You, who abandoned your faith in slaying the devil and feebly clung to love, could never have sung this song. But thanks to you, I was able to sever your corrupted head, and for that—I am truly overjoyed.”
A sword to destroy the devil who had crawled out of the void and devoured evil.
Julius remembered the image of the Holy Sword that had been carefully stored in the basement of the Telmere Church. A drop of cold sweat ran down his cheek.
“Come, holy sword Nerondir. Punish the foolish servant of God who had dared to choose love over the world.”
After 500 years, an angel had called the name of the Holy Sword once more.
At the call of its comrade from long ago, the holy sword Nerondir—which had been holding its breath in the basement of the church—was spontaneously pulled from the sealing stone, soared from the church’s depths, and flew with the force of splitting the sky.
Time passed in a single breath, and before the holy sword could reach the angel’s hand, Julius—who had used his flame to cut through the infinite sea of divinity in an attempt to strike her down—gritted his teeth and took his chance. He stuck his big fist in Ziffnel’s face.
“…I was sure I would have the advantage in this fight, yet you are not being pushed back at all. If it hadn’t been for weak emotions like love, you could have easily become a heavenly being. That was foolish.”
“That didn’t really matter. There was only one thing I had wished for.”
‘I wish for the happiness of my love, Cecil Lionelta.’
Ziffnel turned her hair black again and let go of all attacks.
Julius summoned all the golden flames in his heart to burn away her power, but it was too late.
Shhh… Kwaang!
Nerondir had fallen between the angel and the priest, emitting pure white light as if crossing between them.
Even though it had flown that long distance in an instant, there was no sign of redness anywhere, and the legendary holy sword—always bearing a faint chill—revealed itself by splitting the Colossal Serpent in two.
Then, the completely empty space began to break down, and the sunlight streaming into the huge serpent’s belly brightly illuminated the angel’s appearance—a fallen inquisitor standing in the shadow of the void, and an angel of love descending to earth to punish him under the sun.
As if blessing her as she approached the holy sword with a leisurely smile and a graceful, elegant gait, pink flames began to flutter once more, and she finally picked up the great sword that would put an end to this never-ending battle.
In an elegant voice, she declared victory over him.
“Now that it has come to this, it is my victory, Julius Tapnel. Together with your wife, whom you love so much, who had been destined to disrupt the world, you shall perish.”
It was a declaration of destruction uttered by a celestial being to whom he had devoted his entire life in faith. However, Julius—the man with long blond hair—corrected his disheveled posture and clothes and simply glared at the intruder who had stood in his way with a resolute expression.
“…No, I have won. Ziffnel.”
Still far away, he looked at his sister and his wife rolling on the ground for a moment and smiled. “When winter came, Leira and Cecil—I had promised to live with them. Before I became that man, as a father, I cannot lose to you.”
An angel slowly raised the holy sword and began to emit infinite divine power.
In front of that seemingly insurmountable wall stood a man.
No, a father…as he gently clenched his fist.