Chapter 391: 369 The Angel Descends
A great battle came to a close here, at last, it could be declared over.
Reiger descended from midair, landed amidst the ruins of the "Eight Fingers" base, and then glanced towards the horizon in the direction of the royal capital.
After observing for a while, Reiger suddenly spoke out.
"Having watched for so long, it’s about time you showed yourself, isn’t it?"
His words clearly echoed through the space above the ruins.
"..."
But what answered Reiger was an indescribable silence, as if there was nothing around.
"Not planning to come out?" Reiger wasn’t surprised and continued to speak, "If that’s the case, then allow me to invite you out."
With those words, Reiger reached for the blade at his waist.
"Wait, wait a minute!"
Just as Reiger was about to reach for his blade, the young girl hiding in the shadows could no longer hold back and finally spoke up.
"I’m coming out now!"
A young girl, clad in peculiar armor, with black-and-white hair and heterochromatic eyes, jumped out from a shadow.
"You are..."
Looking at the girl with such unusual hair and eye colors, Reiger was initially taken aback, then he exclaimed in wonder,
"Absolute Death?"
Upon hearing this, Absolute Death was also stunned.
"You know me?"
The girl seemed even more astonished than Reiger.
"Of course," Reiger composed himself, returning to a calm demeanor, "As one of the Six Scriptures directly under the high priest of the Slane Theocracy, the unofficial member of the Black Scripture, esteemed as the strongest Guardian among humans, I’ve long admired your reputation."
Hearing Reiger’s words, Absolute Death’s impulse was to refute them.
"You’re lying."
It was evident.
The Black Scripture is one of the Six Scriptures of the Slane Theocracy, which is a special intelligence organization directly under the high priests; in other words, it is a secret agency, a spy organization.
The information of such a secret organization is naturally protected under strict national security. Ordinary people do not even know they exist, and it’s possible that even the citizens of the Slane Theocracy are unaware, not to mention those in other countries. Unless someone has a high-ranking position like Gejiev in the kingdom, they would not even know the name "Six Scriptures."
And even someone like Gejiev, who holds a high position in a nation, would not likely know much about the Six Scriptures.
He might recognize the Six Scriptures and know the main functions of each scripture, but to say he recognizes every person in the Six Scriptures, that’s doubtful.
For instance, during that incident in Kain Village, Gejiev knew of the existence of the Sunlight Scripture. He was aware they were a special intelligence organization directly under the high priests of the Slane Theocracy, he understood their primary purpose was to exterminate demi-human villages, and he was also aware that to join the Sunlight Scripture, one must at least be able to use third-tier magic, but he wouldn’t likely know the name of the Sunlight Scripture’s captain, Negan, nor his deeds.
If even the frequently active Sunlight Scripture is this secretive, as the most unique and strongest force within the Six Scriptures, the Black Scripture’s information confidentiality level has always been of the highest degree and would never be disclosed carelessly.
Especially for someone like Absolute Death, an awakened one who carries the bloodline of "players," if their identity is revealed, it would almost certainly provoke hostility from some ancient and powerful beings of this world, including the Dragons that once waged war against the Greed Kings.
If their information was leaked, at worst, even the True Dragon King might be compelled to act.
Therefore, the Black Scripture typically wears magical masks that can disguise their appearances during missions and act as discreetly and secretively as possible, never exposing their identities carelessly.
In other words, Reiger asserting that he had long admired the renowned unofficial member of the Black Scripture, Absolute Death, was absolutely nonsense.
If it were merely a matter of having heard the name, that would be one thing, but instantly recognizing her identity upon first sight would certainly not be due to reasons like "admiring her reputation."
However, after some thought, Absolute Death decided it was better not to sour relations with the other party over a trivial matter like this.
"Since you recognize me, then that’s good," Absolute Death revealed what she thought was a friendly smile and said, "I have no ill intentions; in fact, I came here to take down that vampire, just like you. The reason I was hiding was to find an opportunity to help you, not to do anything against you."
"Is that so?" Reiger glanced at Absolute Death and said with a hint of a smile, "That must have been tough on you, actually planning to take a shot at that vampire."
"However, considering it’s you, launching a sneak attack from the shadows, there might be a fair chance of success, right?"
Reiger’s seemingly mocking smile and his statements that appeared to see through everything, made Absolute Death feel as if her secrets were laid bare before him.
He clearly understood her well, not only knowing her appearance and existence but seemingly very aware of her strength as well.
"...Your praise is too generous," Absolute Death suppressed the slight discomfort in her heart and said, "It’s just a pity that you didn’t need my help. I never expected there to be someone as powerful as you among humans."
"The feeling is mutual," Reiger replied calmly, "It’s also difficult for most to imagine someone as powerful as you among humans. Fortunately, you arrived late; otherwise, those little girls who came with me and that certain genius Swordsman who once doubted human potential would’ve had their worldviews shattered once again."
For Reiger, this was an unusually high compliment.
But the young girl in front of him deserved such praise from Reiger.
Because, aside from those anomaly beings who had crossed over from the game in the Nasalik Underground Tomb, Absolute Death was certainly one of the very few extraordinary individuals that Reiger had seen in this native world, whom he regarded as a true power.
In the original work, this unofficial member of the Black Scripture, hailed as the Guardian of humanity, was suspected to be as high as level 88.
This level, though it didn’t reach the fully leveled NPCs of Nasalik, was still stronger than most beings in the native world.
Even among the legendary Dragon Kings, apart from a very few True Dragon Kings, the rest likely couldn’t match Absolute Death.
If she were to equip one of the six Divine Artifacts left by the gods in the Slane Theocracy, she could clash evenly with the fully leveled NPCs.
Of course, that assumes that the NPCs don’t also wear high-tier equipment like her.
Otherwise, Absolute Death would still have to GG.
From Reiger’s own perspective, if Absolute Death used the equipment of the six great gods and went all out, she would at least be a Lv.6 existence of the highest order.
As a native of this world, reaching that level was already quite an achievement.
Unaware of Reiger’s thoughts, Absolute Death felt flattered upon hearing Reiger’s praise, happy inside.
It wasn’t that she was vain; on the contrary, Absolute Death had long become accustomed to others’ flattery and paid it little mind.
Yet, receiving acknowledgment from someone stronger than herself, like Reiger, inevitably brought her joy.
"Perhaps, I could invite him to our Theocracy, to join our camp,"
thought Absolute Death,
However, as the girl fantasized about such a future, Reiger suddenly threw cold water on her dreams.
"Let’s skip the small talk, shall we? Instead of chatting with me about trivial matters, you’d better pay close attention," said Reiger to Absolute Death, speaking indifferently, "That vampire and her companions seem to be targeting your Theocracy; you better get your people out of here quickly."
What does that mean?
Absolute Death really wanted to ask that.
But at that moment, Reiger had already used the magic of "Flight" and soared into the sky.
"Wait, wait a minute!"
Absolute Death instinctively deployed the wings attached to her armor.
This set of Holy Knight armor, rumored to have once been worn by the god of wind among the six great gods, had wings that allowed the wearer to fly freely.
Absolute Death spread her angelic-like wings and pursued Reiger, flying toward the sky.
Reiger didn’t fly far before he stopped in the urban area, having left the remote location behind.
Absolute Death flew up and was about to speak when the sight before her eyes stunned her into silence.
The royal capital, although old and lacking vitality, had always been peaceful, but now, somehow it had turned into hell.
Buildings were burning.
Flames and smoke were rising.
People were screaming.
Monsters were rampaging.
Creatures that seemed otherworldly, inorganic like dolls or machines, were radiating a divine presence, flying in from all directions of the capital, invading and actively destroying it.
Some of them held glowing swords, chasing after the panicked fleeing civilians.
Others wielded scepters, unleashing beam-like magic around them, blasting buildings and streets to ruins.
Under their rampage, the entire royal capital had fallen; there was fire everywhere, blood everywhere, screams and roars everywhere.
Absolute Death could hardly believe her eyes.
Because the monsters rampaging through the capital were something she was very familiar with.
"Angels!"
Yes.
They were angels.
Countless angels.
Summoned from another realm, in many countries with deeply rooted religious beliefs, viewed as messengers of god, especially in the Slaine Theocracy, which recognized this belief as part of their faith, were now causing havoc in the capital of Riyes Tiege, either slaughtering lives or destroying objects.
"How, how can this be?"
Absolute Death exclaimed in shock.
Reiger also furrowed his brows.
"Angels, are they?"
Using angels to attack the capital?
Is this the handiwork of the Nasalik Underground Tomb? Their secret plans?
"Why?"
Reiger was puzzled.
However, as puzzled as he was, Reiger didn’t plan to stand by idly.
Seeing that on the nearest street, a large crowd of civilians was being chased by several angels, sending them into cries of alarm, Reiger instinctively reached out his hand.
But...
"I won’t let you get in the way, Lord Reiger."
A voice chimed in just right behind Reiger.
Reiger stopped his action.
Absolute Death snapped back to reality and quickly turned around.
Reiger also slowly turned to look towards the source of the voice.
There, his old friend appeared.