Chapter 287: [Freedom Dove] - Nerio’s part (39) - “You’re just too weak”
At this moment, Leonard’s eyes couldn’t help but show a trace of gravity.
His remaining wing lifted, like a shield protecting his comrades behind him.
Across from him, Luther suddenly opened his mouth wide: "Ha ha ha! I’m not dead! I’m not dead! The Almighty blesses me—I’m not dead!"
His eyes, like two bottomless pits, fixed on Leonard. His lips twisted into an exaggerated grin so wide that the charred flesh clinging to his face began to crumble and fall away. "The ones who should die... are you!"
As his words fell, a violent gale arose, and darkness rapidly gathered at the long fissure that split Luther’s body.
Countless shadow blades formed—long and sharp as arrows—and shot straight toward Leonard!
Leonard gently flapped his half-intact wing, raising one hand. A flaming shield instantly manifested, blocking Luther’s dark arrows.
But the fire was not gentle—it served as a shield, yet simultaneously devoured Leonard himself.
Leonard’s rank was not high enough to wield Lucian’s true power!
His expression twisted in pain; a suppressed roar escaped his throat as his feet were forced backward, the ground beneath him cracking and sinking.
"Leonard, you still have me!" a booming voice rang out. Damian pressed a hand against Leonard’s back, his eyes shining with a radiant golden light.
"O holy archangel Michael, hear the prayer of your most devoted believer! Take my soul, take my flesh, and grant me the strength to drive back the filthy darkness before us!" Damian shouted almost instinctively—repeating the words he’d once heard high believers cry out in prayer.
He wasn’t a High Believer. The archangel Michael had no high believers and only ever appeared once.
But, my lord, if you are watching us from above, please grant me the power to push back the darkness and open a light path for humanity!
"Damian!" Luis’s voice shouted out from behind him, but it didn’t matter. Damian had never felt such clarity in his life.
Light suddenly burst from Damian’s body like a colossal vortex.
A tremendous surge of energy erupted, forming a pair of angelic wings whose spread blotted out everything behind Damian and Leonard!
Finally, the wings flapped in unison, their tips curving forward, carrying with them an immense wave of energy that fused with Leonard’s flames—
forming a gigantic spear of pure energy that pierced straight through Luther’s body, shattering him into countless fragments, nearly returning him to dust!
The path before them was split clean down the middle—the ground had sunken into a straight chasm, and even the sky above bore a brilliant streak of blue light!
Damian stared wide-eyed at the heavens. At that moment, everything within his sight seemed covered in a strange, sticky shade of red.
Instinctively, he raised his hand, only to touch his own face—slick and wet with fresh blood.
They didn’t stop moving, but his mind was starting to drift, slipping into a haze. It was fine. It was all fine. He had done everything he could—he had...
Leonard reached out to catch Damian’s collapsing body, only for his own to fall with him. Pain tore through what remained of his muscles, making them spasm violently.
By now, his other wing had entirely burned to ash. His entire body had been scorched, leaving behind only charred skin and mangled flesh. Fresh blood seeped through the cracks, painting him a grotesque crimson. His face had been stripped down to bone and sinew—no trace of his former appearance remained.
Hideous to the point of agony...
A pair of hands reached from behind, gently supporting them, laying their bodies down upon the ground.
Luis stepped forward, standing as a shield before them.
Leonard stared blankly up at the sky, his eyes unfocused—as though his thoughts had drifted somewhere far away.
Damian, on the other hand, instinctively lifted his gaze. Through his blurred vision, he saw Luis’s back—tall and steady—though there was something in it he couldn’t quite understand.
Luis... why are you there? Why are you facing the danger I could never bring myself to accept?
If... if after all this, Luther still rises again... then will they all be buried here? They had fought so hard and sacrificed everything—yet, was victory still beyond reach? Luther... what the hell was he?
The humans out there... have you seen it? AnrartificialeEspernis ot the hope of humanity. They’re not...
He stared at Luis’s faint silhouette ahead, his blinking slowing... slower... until finally, he could no longer open his eyes again.
Leonard seemed to sense something. He paused slightly, slowly lifted his hand and gently patted Damian’s soft, light brown hair.
It seemed... his angel had truly come to take him home.
"Boom! Crack!"
Thunder suddenly rolled across the heavens, scarlet lightning slashing through the sky like gaping wounds about to bleed.
The encroaching darkness quickly swallowed the blue radiance that Leonard and Damian had drawn moments ago.
Fragments of Luther’s shattered body began to rise into the air, shrouded in thick black smoke. A howling gale erupted, with those fragments as its center.
Leonard gazed at the sky growing ever redder before his eyes. He narrowed his gaze slightly and murmured, "Blue... the blue..."
Hearing that, Luis’s eyes widened. Instinctively, he looked upward—and there was a faint blue dot. Tiny, almost invisible unless one focused intently, yet it was growing—larger and larger...
At last, a massive column of water crashed down from the heavens, as wide as ten grown men standing side by side, instantly engulfing the violent storm surrounding Luther’s remains!
The surge spread outward with immense force, sweeping the humans away. Yet the current did not rage wildly—it was as though countless sentient beings made of water had merged into one. The waves lifted them gently, carefully setting them down on an open patch of land. And as the water receded, their bodies were left perfectly dry.
The excellent surface of water that covered the ground suddenly stilled. Then, from its center, a powerful energy rose. Water droplets were drawn upward into the air, suspended as if frozen mid-fall.
Bare feet appeared first, slender ankles adorned with silver bells that chimed softly. Above them were knee-length trousers of deep ocean blue threaded with silver light, a slim silver chain serving as a belt, from which hung seashells and more tiny bells. The hems were embroidered with flowing wave-like patterns.
Higher still was a sleeveless short top of pale blue, fading to white along the edges in a soft ombre gradient. Sheer silken fabric, caught by the wind, drifted around the shoulders and chest, veiling the arms. On that translucent fabric shimmered patterns of rippling water, and along the hem gleamed tiny blue gemstones—like tears of the sea.
Over it was a light, translucent cloak tinged with sea-green, slit along both sides, draped over the shoulders, and flowing down to the calves, its silver tassels swaying gently.
Silver hair brushed the boy’s shoulders, the tips tinted faintly blue and fluttering in the breeze. Droplets of suspended water glimmered around him, refracting the light into rainbows that danced within his pale blue eyes.
With the boy’s arrival, the stifling heat of the dungeon seemed to vanish, replaced by a sudden, biting chill, like snowflakes falling in the height of summer.
"I’ve been gone long enough to make myself a new outfit and return... yet you still haven’t managed to kill all the humans. Haa... I clearly gave you a chance. You’re just too weak."
The childlike voice was soft and clear—yet each word was mercilessly sharp.