The angel descended and landed before them all, folding his four white wings. Those nearby felt intimidated by his towering height of 220cm.
So readied their weapons, and the angel spoke,
"I did not co here to fight, but to thee what must be said."
The angel gave a brief pause, waiting for them to calm down. Once the mood had softened, it continued,
"Said... those who go to the island to bid farewell to their loved ones, if ye choose to proceed. I shall lend mine ears to all thy questions."
With those words, a man clad in heavy armor and holding a sword stepped forward.
"Are you an enemy?"
"I would not claim to be so, yet if thou desirest it, I shall beco it."
"Right... then why did you co here?"
"We have co only to greet ye and to warn ye, for we seek an audience with your king."
The angel opened his wings once more and continued,
"I have fulfilled the purpose that brought here. It was quicker than I expected, but now I take my leave. Farewell."
With a flap of his wings, a gust of wind burst forth, and he ascended rapidly into the sky. As he rose, another beat of his wings shot him across the heavens at high speed.
The man in armor was clearly displeased by the angel’s arrogance and vague answers.
"Tsk... he ca out of nowhere, said whatever he wanted, and left as he pleased."
Spitting on the ground, he continued on toward the temple.
So followed him, while others hesitated.
Mark’s group, the Blue Dragon Claws, was divided.
Erin was the first to speak out against going.
"I’m not going... I have a terrible feeling about what that angel said."
Mark mocked her,
"Scared already? I doubt that island can handle all the rcenaries gathered here."
Erin fired back,
"You’ve never heard of angels, you are dumb?"
"Tsk. Your dad’s the dumb one." After a brief pause, he added, "They’re just monsters that should’ve gone extinct centuries ago."
She ignored the insult and said,
"So... if an angel wasn’t wiped out on that island, then what kinds of races still live there?"
Mark thought for a mont, then sighed and admitted,
"This ti, you’ve actually made a point..."
The man clad in heavy armor shouted,
"THOSE WHO TURN BACK WILL HAVE TO PAY THE MISSION WITHDRAWAL FINE!"
Mark muttered under his breath,
"That’s going to be a problem..."
Erin, hearing him, responded,
"I don’t care. Better that than losing my life."
"But our reputation’s at stake too... if the island gets conquered, we who discovered it might lose our share completely."
She crossed her arms and turned away.
"I’m not going."
Mark, frustrated, turned to the others.
"Silvia, Norkim, do you see it like she does? I’m ready to move forward."
Silvia replied,
"It’s risky, sure~, but I’d rather continue~"
"I’m going too..."
Mark nodded.
"Three against one. So? Let’s go?"
Erin, now more upset, said firmly,
"No! I’m not going."
Mark sighed heavily and raised his voice.
"DIDN’T YOU HEAR!? The majority has agreed, so we’re going!"
"No!"
"Then leave the party."
Silvia, surprised by that, said,
"My dear Mark~, don’t you think you’re going too far?~"
"No, and she’s just in the way anyway... that bitch always holds us back with her damn pessimism."
Erin remained silent.
"Let’s go. No point keeping soone who only slows us down."
No one objected. He was the leader, after all, and they figured it was within his right to remove soone hindering their progress.
Silvia gave Erin a small hug.
"I’m sorry... I couldn’t stop this... but we can still be friends when we return."
After a mont, she let go and joined the others, turning back to Erin.
"See you later, Erin~"
Erin stood there, holding her staff horizontally in both hands, head bowed.
Many adventurers walked past her—so continuing the mission, others giving up.
Staring at her feet, she clenched her teeth and thought,
That idiot...
She murmured without noticing,
"I hope you die... die, die!, DIE!!"
With fury, she threw her staff to the ground and kicked it.
After venting and slowly calming down, she picked it back up and walked toward the city.
As she walked, doubts about what to do next started creeping in.
Sighing, she kept moving.
----
In the throne room on the island, Luxian kneeled before Khan, who sat on the throne.
Khan broke the silence between them.
"How did Gabriel’s visit go?"
"It seed to go well. They asked a few questions, which ended his visit quickly, so I don’t have much to report."
Hm... That idea ca from Azathoth: answer all their questions until the reason for his visit was clear... But I’m not sure I’m happy with how fast he returned.
"So what was their response?"
"Seems like many took it as arrogance, and they kept marching forward."
"So... we can consider it an attempted invasion?"
"Precisely. I’d like to make a request, if you’ll allow ."
Khan rested his elbow on the throne, placing his cheek on his closed hand.
"Go on."
"Yes! I wish to punish them—this way, we can also better understand this world’s strength. Don’t you agree?"
Khan looked away and began to think.
Maybe she’s right... and I’ll have to satisfy that bloodlust of hers sooner or later anyway...
For a while, his mind went blank, but then sothing else surfaced.
But is this truly what I want? They are people too...
Facing that doubt, he replied to himself,
Well... I gave them all a chance to walk away... so maybe it’s not that unfair...
After thinking for a bit, he answered Luxian,
"I permit it."
Luxian seed more energized, standing up excitedly.
"I promise to put on a show you’ll love to watch!"
Luxian turned and walked toward the exit, soon disappearing as always.
Khan remained alone on the throne, thinking,
Did I make the right choice? ...Hm. I’ll only know later. At least this helps her system...
------
anwhile, the adventurer group heading for the island arrived at the forgotten temple.
The place was in ruins, with only a few pillars left holding up the ceiling. Near what seed to be a stage, there were stairs leading to the catacombs.
Descending, Mark’s party—the Blue Dragon Claws—entered the depths.
Silvia asked from behind Mark,
"Are you sure you made the right call?"
Mark replied,
"Don’t start. You know damn well having soone like her around could’ve dood us."
"Yeah... but not having anyone with ranged support might be fatal too."
Mark glanced at Silvia and sighed.
"You really got attached to that nuisance, didn’t you?"
"Hm~, maybe?~"
Knowing he wouldn’t win an argunt with Silvia, he said,
"Ahh... we’ll deal with it after we get back."
Seriously... even when she’s not around, Erin’s a headache...
As they descended further, they sensed sothing strange—what felt like a distortion. At the end of the tunnel, they climbed more stairs.
The air slled of rot. Around them, dead trees covered in white fungi filled the forest.
"This sll’s awful."
"Better than when you use the bathroom~"
Norkim gave a sideways chuckle at the joke, which so present might have believed, judging by the confused expressions of the lizardn
Mark looked at Silvia.
"That wasn’t funny... You don’t even seem over thirty."
Silvia narrowed her eyes and said in a chilling tone,
"Never ntion a woman’s age, brat."
Mark broke into a nervous sweat and looked away.
After a while, he saw why the forest was darker—above them floated a massive chunk of land.
Because of the angle, the sun still reached the forest in the morning, but by afternoon, it would be blocked.
As Mark stared at it, a question ca to his mind.,
"How are we even going to get up there?"
"Hm~, you didn’t hear?~"
Now in her info-gatherer tone, she continued,
"The king himself provided two teleportation circles~ We only need soone with wings to place one up top, and we’ll ascend from the other down here~"
"I see..."
Before they could speak further, a voice shouted,
"ATTENTION!"
Looking toward the source, Mark saw soone in full armor, a mix of gray and blue.
Once everyone focused, the person continued,
"We are beginning the first phase of the mission. Those not involved may rest. Those who are, move to the left."
Following the command, several moved to the left—mostly those with wings or flight capabilities.
"So we just sit and wait?"
Mark asked.
"Seems like it~"
They moved to a corner. Mark and Silvia sat while Norkim swung his sword.
Phase one began. A team of four owlfolk carried a tarp marked with a teleportation circle.
As they ascended, sothing dropped from above—changing size midair—and transford into a six-winged giant descending upon them.
Caught off guard, they couldn’t react. The first thing crushed were their heads.
The impact didn’t stop there: Their necks were driven inward as they were slamd down.
When they hit the ground, their bodies were no longer visible—only bits of flesh stuck under the soles of the angel’s feet.
The angel, a beautiful woman with white hair, looked down beneath her wings, which blocked the view. Her golden eyes were filled with disdain as she stared at what lay beneath her foot and muttered.
"So weak."
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