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Chapter 180
"Look over there."
At those words, a massive dragon soared into the sky.
Though covered in wounds, it still appeared to be in good shape.
Nadia shuddered as she confirmed the presence of Leon, wrapped around the creature’s tail.
“L-Leon, my lord!”
“Leave him be. It looks like he got caught on purpose.”
“What are you talking about?! Caught on purpose? We should help him right now—”
At that moment.
The dragon, Baril, twisted its entire body, trying to shake Leon off.
However, as soon as a sword flew in and embedded itself near Leon, Baril found itself completely immobilized.
“Huh?”
And then.
As if waiting for this moment, an immense amount of divine energy spread across the entirety of Laphel, the capital of the Holy Kingdom.
A radiance they had seen before, a divinity they had witnessed before.
An archangel…
Beyond the city walls, an explosion of light erupted, followed by a pillar of light shooting up into the sky.
And then.
“My god…”
“O… O Lord.”
Despite the urgent situation, people fell to their knees and prayed.
The night sky had turned as bright as day, and amidst the light, enormous wings fluttered.
Is Luna really… an archangel?
Hearing it was one thing—half of her couldn't believe it.
But now, seeing that figure within the light, she had no choice but to believe.
To turn night into day with divine radiance alone…
It was such an intense light, yet strangely, it didn't hurt her eyes.
Instead, it felt warm.
Within this overwhelming brilliance, the silhouette of the archangel moved its hand.
And then—
BOOM!
With a tremendous roar, a pure white spear of light suddenly emerged from Baril’s abdomen.
She hadn’t even seen it fly through the air.
She hadn’t seen it pierce the dragon.
It was just there, as if it had been created in that spot.
Fwoosh.
What happened next was a sight few would ever witness in their lifetimes.
Countless feathers of pure white light scattered into the air.
A massive cross of light formed in the sky, centered on the dragon’s body.
At the same time, the black flames engulfing Baril’s body began to vanish.
The complete death of the dragon.
Ancient texts described demon dragons as beings of terror—once they appeared, even the dragons and all other races had to unite to kill them, for they were the ultimate evil.
And yet, such a dragon…
Was now vanishing under the judgment of an archangel.
At the same time, the twisted dragonspawns that had been wreaking havoc within the city also lost their forms and dissipated into smoke.
The knights and inquisitors, who had been wielding their swords to protect the citizens, stared blankly at the sky and murmured.
“A miracle… The Saint’s miracle is still with us.”
The people of Laphel believed that their Saint had summoned an archangel, and that it was because of her that the dragon had been slain.
Though Leon had played a major role in the process, the people were unaware of that fact.
They simply clasped their hands in prayer, gazing upon the light that had turned night into day.
* * *
The rumors of the Day of Radiance, which had taken place the previous night in the capital, spread like wildfire.
Of course, the fact that Luna was the one responsible or that I was involved hadn't spread, but at the very least, word had quickly spread that an archangel had descended upon the Holy Kingdom, turning the night sky as bright as day.
The phenomenon had been visible even from distant cities, so it was impossible to ignore.
Naturally, it would take time for the full truth to come to light.
“All used up.”
Luna fiddled with the nearly depleted divine bracelet, gripping it between her thumb and index finger before slipping it back onto her wrist.
Most of its divine energy had been drained, but as I recalled, the bracelet’s true purpose was as a key.
However, it seemed that Luna had no real interest in this bracelet—what she was truly seeking was something else: Fate Lord.
The Holy Kingdom would now be thrown into chaos for a while.
They would have to fill the vacancies left by the high priests.
Even though those priests had tried to exile the Saint, they had still been in charge of maintaining order.
Now, those who remained would have to take responsibility for what they had left behind.
Still, considering that a malignant tumor had been removed, the future of the Holy Kingdom wasn't entirely bleak.
Naturally, this instability was an opportunity for other nations.
The Pascalia Empire, which wielded immense influence, as well as various other nations, now had a chance to expand their foothold at the expense of the Holy Kingdom.
However, one factor kept them from moving too hastily.
As I prepared to return to Cascadia, I silently watched Luna.
Few knew the truth about the archangel’s identity.
As such, foreign nations couldn’t even determine whether or not an archangel was still present in the Holy Kingdom.
No one dared to make a reckless move, fearing they might incur the wrath of a being as powerful as an archangel.
Regardless of what was said, the current Saint remained the miracle Saint who had summoned an archangel.
“Shall we go, Archangel?”
At my teasing, she pouted her lips.
“Not Archangel.”
“Huh?”
“Call me Angel instead.”
Her strange request made me pause for a moment before I spoke.
“Angel, you look beautiful today.”
The moment I said it, she froze.
And then—
To my surprise, she wiped at her eyes, which had reddened slightly, as if lost in an old memory.
A short breath escaped her lips.
“…Some things never change.”
Then, she smiled beautifully.
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And her smile made me smile too.
“Oh, right. Can this be purified?”
I suddenly remembered the dragon heart I had taken after killing the demon dragon, Baril.
I had no use for the rest of its body, so I had discarded it, but the heart was different—it had value.
The problem was that the heart was still unprocessed, making it troublesome to use as it was.
When I took out the heart, which still pulsed with dark energy, from my dimensional storage, she recoiled, pinching her nose.
“It stinks.”
“I don’t smell anything.”
“There are scents only I can perceive. More importantly, if you purify it, it might not be processed the way you want it to be. Are you okay with that?”
“Ah. In that case, I’ll just have to do it myself.”
Luna’s divinity had no middle ground—it was all or nothing.
There was no other way.
I had hoped to save the spirit grass I got from Aurora and the highest-grade mana stone from the Gaifen Tower…
But how could I resist using a result infused with the core of a demon dragon’s heart?
Since I had no further reason to stay in the Holy Kingdom, I left a brief letter at my lodging and activated a teleportation spell.
The moment I stepped into my mansion in Cascadia, I was startled.
“Huh?”
A small child was standing there, looking around in fear.
Then our eyes met.
A child who had lost consciousness and had to be healed using the power of a saint and an angel.
A child whose mind had been shattered by a kraken’s mental assault and further scarred by long-term abuse—so deeply that ordinary methods couldn’t restore her.
Yet now, she was looking up at me.
“Arsha? Your mind…”
“Brother!!!!”
With tears welling up in her eyes, she ran toward me and threw herself into my arms.
“Brother! It’s really you, right?! It’s really you?!”
Arsha clung to me, crying.
“Brother!! Brother! Huuuaaaah!”
“Arsha!”
How much had she missed me?
How much had she longed for this moment?
And now—how relieved must she be?
As the little girl sobbed in my arms, all I could do was silently hold her and pat her back.
She had been suffering from aphasia.
But now, she seemed much better.
Though she hadn’t fully recovered from her trauma, she was in a much better state than before, and that alone was a relief.
“Arsha! Where are you?!”
Just then, Melissa’s urgent voice rang out from afar.
Could it be that she woke up and immediately started wandering around looking for her?
When I looked at Arsha with that thought in mind, she flinched, her trembling eyes darting toward me before she quickly hid behind my back.
Melissa’s voice must have startled her—it was too sharp and urgent.
Bang!
“Arsha! Are you—”
The door burst open, and Melissa, looking pale, froze mid-shout.
Then she spotted Arsha peeking out timidly from behind me.
“Oh… Sister.”
“Arsha… you’re awake?”
“I-I'm sorry…”
Smack!
Melissa rushed forward and pulled Arsha into a tight embrace, leaving the little girl wide-eyed.
Then, as Melissa started to cry, Arsha, as if the emotion was contagious, began to sniffle before finally breaking down into tears, clinging to Melissa.
For over half a year, an eleven-year-old girl had been abandoned in a cold, merciless world, desperately struggling to survive.
And now, at last, she had returned home.
* * *
“Arsha… why aren’t you eating?”
“Hic… I-I’m sorry…”
Arsha was so frightened that she apologized reflexively, unable to reach for the food in front of her, despite it being her favorite dish.
“If I eat something like this, I’ll get beaten…”
“It’s okay. Those terrible people are gone now. You can eat whatever you want, drink whatever you like. If you want to play, you can play. If you want to be spoiled, you can be spoiled as much as you want.”
At my words, Arsha trembled but carefully picked up her utensils.
And then—
As if she hadn’t eaten in days, she began shoving food into her mouth, devouring it hungrily.
She had completely forgotten the table manners she once learned.
She was simply too hungry, and now that there was food in front of her, she was eating as if she was starving.
Naturally, eating like that would make her choke.
“You’ll choke! Eat slowly, Arsha!”
“Mmmpf… mmph!”
“My god… this is…”
Melissa, unable to watch any longer, patted Arsha’s back as she struggled.
At that moment—
“Hyuaaaah!! I-I'm sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t hit me!”
The dining hall fell into an eerie silence.
“…Ah.”
“It’s okay, Arsha. No one is going to hit you.”
“N-no… I need to be punished. Arsha is a bad child…”
Her reaction was different from before.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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