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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 49
"You're definitely tough, I'll give you that."
At Leon's taunt, Barva's glowing eyes flashed.
The eye that had been pierced earlier was now completely restored.
Of course, having spent a significant amount of energy in the process, Barva couldn't simply treat Leon as mere prey anymore.
Instead, he became extremely cautious, as if acknowledging Leon as a real threat.
Even as Leon's relentless waves of aura and necromantic mana surged toward him, Barva's stance remained unwavering, without even a hint of weakness on the surface.
To be precise, regardless of how much weaker he had become, the fact that Leon was holding his own against Barva—a divine beast capable of tearing apart even Sword Masters—was sheer madness.
While Leon fought, Melissa had taken Luna Basilin Raphaelia to a safe distance and was in the process of releasing her seal.
Once unsealed, she could assist Leon in battle.
"Ah, just stay still for a moment. This is hard to undo."
"Does that even make sense? How can a living being be that unbalanced?"
To Luna Basilin, the amount of necromantic mana and aura Leon possessed was anything but normal.
An overwhelming force, so vast that even she couldn't fully grasp it.
His speed and combat instincts were so exceptional that it was questionable whether he was even human.
And yet, his level and physical state were far too weak in comparison.
Or perhaps, weak wasn’t the right word.
Not exactly weak, but in contrast to the other two aspects, it was severely lacking.
It was as if an immensely powerful warrior had lost his level and had his body reset, except for his mana and aura.
However, that didn’t solve the fundamental problem.
Luna Basilin turned her head toward the rift that had served as the exit.
At first glance, it looked intact, but she soon realized that something had gone wrong.
"Damn, the entrance to the rift is already sealed. There's no time. Start unbinding this first."
Having made her decision, she gestured toward her wings.
"That part first? Hold on a second."
Melissa carefully began unfastening the chains binding Luna Basilin's wings.
One by one, the tightly wound chains crumbled like a weathered wall, making a brittle cracking sound as they fell away.
Soon, one of her gray wings spread wide.
"Good. That should be enough."
The moment she spoke, her wings burst into a brilliant white light.
At the same time, light enveloped Melissa, Luna Basilin, and Leon.
Another set of luminous chains emerged, binding Barva’s body and restricting his movements.
It was a power similar to what had been used to subdue him before.
Additionally, the strands of light extended to erase the claw marks Barva had left in the air and the blazing sacred flames.
It was as if they were healing the wounds left in the void itself.
"Do you need help?"
"I stuffed him with curses, but only a fraction remains. Still, the poison is in his system, so as long as we hold out, we can buy time. Do you have somewhere safe to hide for a while?"
In the brief lull, Leon gathered his raging energy and replied.
"There is a single safe place in this space. I'll take us there. But seriously, why did you even stay behind instead of leaving when you had the chance?"
"I can’t let him go. I have to kill him here and now."
Though not as intense as before, Leon’s sky-blue eyes gleamed with a sharp, murderous light.
It was a chilling bloodlust.
"I'm teleporting us now."
With that, Luna Basilin’s wings scattered a murky glow, and the scenery around them shifted.
They found themselves in a small, cozy cabin surrounded by breathtaking scenery.
Melissa, startled by the sudden change, looked around in awe.
"Where… is this?"
"This is the inner sanctum of the seal, a place where even Barva cannot enter. I normally wouldn’t be able to enter either, but..."
She glanced at her now unbound wing.
The fact that she could enter now meant that the lifted seal had made it possible.
"Anyway, we'll be safe here for the time being."
Completely drained, she collapsed onto the floor.
"Carry me, will you? There should be a bed inside the cabin."
Leon carefully picked her up, and she chuckled softly with her eyes closed.
"How long do we need to hold out?"
"As long as possible. His resistance is significantly weakened, so if we last at least three hours, even if Barva’s ancestors showed up, they wouldn’t be able to do much."
"Divine beasts aren’t that weak."
"He may be a 6th-circle being, but I’ve crammed 70 different curse and poison spells into him. He won’t last long."
Most 6th-circle necromancers wouldn’t be able to cast some of those spells more than once or twice.
However, Leon had a near-limitless supply of energy, making it possible for him to pull off such a feat.
"In that case, this shouldn’t be too difficult."
Barva was undoubtedly strong, but now that his weaknesses had been exploited and he was poisoned, there wasn’t much he could do.
* * *
In front of them lay a tranquil, crystal-clear lake.
Behind them, a towering mountain blanketed in white snow.
It was the perfect harmony of nature.
The cabin itself was simple, yet it radiated a strange warmth.
Leon carried the exhausted Luna Basilin into the cabin and laid her on the bed.
"Was this where you lived?"
"No. This wasn’t my home."
She spoke plainly, but there was a hint of emotion in her voice.
Was it longing?
Guilt?
It was hard to tell.
"This was where the two people I cherished most lived. Of course, this is only an illusion, reconstructed from my memories."
In other words, the entire space inside this rift was built from her recollections.
This cabin, in particular, must have been deeply embedded in her subconscious.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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The interior wasn’t spacious—just the right size for two people.
And indeed, the remnants of their lives were visible in every corner.
"Leon! Look over here! A golden apple… ah!"
Melissa, who had been exploring the area, let out a startled cry.
The golden apple she had picked up suddenly dissolved into light.
"Everything in this place is merely a memory, not real."
"I’ve never seen an apple like that before."
"That’s no ordinary fruit. Humans rarely, if ever, get to see it."
What, does she think it's the fruit of knowledge or something?
Since she was reluctant to talk more, I didn't press further.
"Too bad… Anyway, let me finish untying those chains."
Melissa calmly began to untangle the chains still wrapped around Luna Basilin's body.
All she did was carefully loosen the tangled links—there was nothing magical about it.
"Hold it right there. Your leg is injured, and you're messing around? Let's treat it first."
"Oh. Right."
Melissa suddenly seemed startled, as if she had just remembered the large wound on her leg.
But soon, she looked down at her perfectly intact leg and made a dumbfounded expression.
"Huh? Why is it fine?"
"I healed it. A simple treatment like that is nothing to me."
She spoke so nonchalantly that I grabbed her leg roughly to check for myself.
"Hey, hey! You can't just grab a lady’s leg like that!"
"Shut up. I need to check."
With a serious face, I examined whether her muscles were damaged or if there were any issues with her bones.
Surprisingly, she was completely healed.
Melissa bounced in place a few times to test it and, looking satisfied, resumed untying Luna’s chains.
Originally, I was supposed to do it, but she refused, saying she wouldn’t let me freely touch a young girl’s body.
While she worked, I decided to talk to Luna.
"What exactly are you?"
"Luna Basilin Raphaelia."
Seriously, whether it was this girl or that librarian, their ability to dodge questions was impressive.
"I asked what you are, not your name."
"Hm? You don’t know? I see. Understood. I am a fallen angel."
She spoke with complete indifference.
"A fallen angel?"
"An angel who betrayed God. My wings were originally white, but when I fell, they turned black."
She casually described herself as a fallen angel.
Well, if I thought about it that way, it made sense why her wing color and halo had a dark hue.
"Do all angels talk like that?"
I asked bluntly, without any sugarcoating.
"No. I am a unique case. It was not intentional."
She didn't seem to mind my remark at all.
"Why do you keep your eyes closed?"
"I have my reasons. But I can already see what I need to see."
She answered calmly, naturally flapping the freed wing behind her.
"So, you fell from grace and got sealed away or something?"
"Something like that."
I felt it wasn’t my place to pry further into her personal circumstances, so I didn’t ask any more questions.
"An angel, huh? I’ve never seen one before. I always thought the stories about angels from the Holy Kingdom were just rumors."
"Angels aren’t that impressive. However, the seven highest-ranking archangels are a different story. Even other angels—both common and strong—can’t meet them directly. Also, they lack individual will."
The seven archangels she mentioned were well-known figures.
The right hand of God, the angel of power.
The angel who delivers divine revelations.
The left hand of God, the angel of love and healing, and so on.
Since the Cascadia family was never particularly religious, I had only heard bits and pieces about them.
Like the story of an angel descending to a kingdom, warning of a disaster, and saving countless lives before leaving.
Then Luna spoke again.
"Now, let me ask you something. I am a fallen angel. A traitor to God. Even so, will you still break my seal?"
At that, Melissa and I exchanged glances.
Then we gave a simple answer.
"Our family isn’t exactly devoted to religion, so we don’t really care. It’s not like we blindly believe in angels anyway."
More than that, Melissa wasn’t particularly fond of God.
"If God really cared for us, He wouldn’t have let my mother, father, and Arsha die so meaninglessly."
Hearing the bitterness in her voice, Luna reached out her freed hand and gently patted Melissa’s head.
"Well done. Whether you believe in God or not, it is a choice given to living beings. Angels like us never had that choice."
In the end, she had committed some crime, fallen from grace, and was sealed away in this place.
That made me wonder.
"Then, do all fallen angels get sealed like this?"
"My crime is different from that of an ordinary fallen angel. It is a far greater sin."
"At this point, I have no choice but to ask."
I looked straight at her.
"What exactly did you do?"
At my question, she fell silent for a moment before shrugging.
"I defied the will of God. For an angel, the will of God is everything."
For beings who were created to serve God and live entirely for Him, disobeying His will must have been the greatest crime of all.
But for us?
That kind of thing wasn’t really a big deal.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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