Saruel, upon whom the shadow of death had rested and whose body had scattered into light, has now returned with magnificent majesty. The air around him vibrated with immense power.
Beside him stood twelve colossal beings of light that seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon. These were the leaders of the twelve tribes of the Angels of Light. The radiance each of them emitted seemed to rise from where they stood and split the sky in two.
The armor they wore shone brilliantly, as if forged from pure diamond. The divine majesty surrounding them forced Daruel's pitch-black darkness to retreat.
But Daruel did not panic. In fact, the mocking smirk on his face became even more pronounced. Slowly brushing off the dust from his shoulders, he sneered, "Oh, wow! Look at you! You returned with the twelve tribes?" His voice grated like rusting metal. "Fascinating. The spectacle just got brighter. Let's make this game beautiful!"
Before he could even finish his sentence, the angel to Saruel's right launched forward like a streak of light. His speed was supersonic. The one on the left launched his attack at the exact same moment. Both angels swung their swords of light, targeting Daruel's neck and heart.
However, with immense composure, Daruel swung his massive, black sword through the air. The vibration caused by the clash of metal turned the nearby rocks into mere dust.
Suddenly, Daruel spread his wings wide. Like a bird of prey, he engulfed and trapped the two angels within his wings. At that very instant, Daruel's skin cracked like parched earth.
Bright red, boiling magma began to pour out from the cracks. His entire body turned into molten metal. As the temperature rose to thousands of degrees, the air around him ignited into a blue flame.
The two angels trapped within his wings could not withstand the scorching heat. Their bodies of light melted away like wax. Even though they struggled, Daruel's fiery power swallowed them like a tidal wave. Finally, emitting two small sparks, they turned to smoke and scattered into the wind.
Ratuel, the mighty angel standing to Saruel's left, witnessed this brutal scene and shouted in shock and anger. "Solar flare? This is dangerous! Saruel! You go to Toram. Get her out! We will hold him here!"
Saruel looked at Ratuel questioningly. Daruel had now completely transformed into a machine of destruction and was marching toward them. Every step he took melted the earth. The air was burning, making it difficult to even breathe.
The remaining eleven angels did not hesitate for a second. Moving in perfect sync as one body, they lunged at Daruel from different directions. While one brought down an avalanche of lightning from above, another launched an attack from below, splitting the earth.
In the midst of all this chaos, Daruel stood firm as a rock. He watched the swirling storms of attacks around him slowly and carefully. He calculated each of their movements in his mind like a mathematical formula.
Once he figured out the trajectory of their attacks, Daruel raised his hands. Flickering whips of fire shot out from his palms like serpents. Tearing through the air, these whips tightly bound the wings and legs of all eleven angels. The angels hung suspended in the air, struggling violently.
On the brink of death, Ratuel displayed immense resolve. He ruthlessly chopped off his own right wing with his sword. Though his face turned pale from the agony, he managed to free himself from Daruel's fiery trap. Instantly lunging toward Saruel, he pushed his friend out of the attack range with all his might.
When Saruel rolled on the ground and stood up, his dust-covered face was filled with pure rage. As he spread his wings and was about to return to save his friends, Ratuel raised his blood-soaked hand.
"Don't even think about it!" Ratuel shouted at the top of his lungs. Though his voice held despair, it was an absolute command. "Do not look back! Go to Toram! Saving her is the ultimate goal! We have no time... hurry!"
Saruel hesitated for a fraction of a second. Even though the agonizing cries of his friends were tearing his heart apart, he knew Ratuel spoke the truth. Gritting his teeth, he flapped his wings violently and darted toward the church.
As Saruel sped away, the remaining angels began their final desperate struggle against Daruel. But Daruel, accompanied by a dark, deadly glare, unleashed his fiery hands upon them. The sky shook with a war of light and fire.
Inside the church, the sight Toram saw through the window made her heart sink. When Saruel's bright face suddenly appeared at the window, he looked not like an angel, but a terrifying predator. In shock, she stumbled backward and fell.
Toram tried to run past the wooden pews lined up inside the church. Her eyes were fixed on the main exit door. Her heart pounded in her chest like a trapped beast. Every heartbeat seemed to scream at her, "Run! Escape!" The sound of her shoes striking the floor echoed loudly in the empty hall.
Freedom was only a few steps away. Just as she was about to reach out for the door handle, the air suddenly turned freezing cold.
From nowhere, a burning blue rope of flame shot out like a snake and wrapped tightly around her waist. Toram froze in terror. As she saw the fiery whip holding her waist, her entire body was drenched in sweat. The whip did not scorch her flesh, but it possessed a massive, inescapable pulling force.
In an instant, Toram was lifted off the ground and hovered in the air. She was forcefully yanked backward. Everything around her blurred. She saw the church ceiling and walls melting away like liquid. The speed was greater than any car or airplane.
After a long, dragged-out journey, Toram hung suspended in mid-air by a massive force behind her. The moment the force holding her let go, she collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud.
Lying where she fell, Toram turned her face, trembling with absolute fear. But the one standing in front of her was not that colossal angel.
The Saruel she saw now had shrunk to the size of an ordinary human. He had a tall and slender physique, deep penetrating eyes, and white hair falling to his shoulders. His clothes looked as though they were woven from pure light. This sudden transformation confused Toram even more.
"No!... No!" Toram muttered frantically as she scrambled backward. "Escape Toram... escape!"
But as she started to run again, Saruel followed her like a shadow and appeared right in front of her. No matter how fast she tried to run, he stood before her without even taking a step.
Helpless, Toram fell to her knees. With tears streaming down her face, she pleaded, "Don't hurt me... don't hurt me! Please... please!"
But Saruel had no time for her pleas. The anxiety on his face was intense. The sound of explosions and Daruel's monstrous roaring from outside signaled that he was rapidly approaching. Saruel reached out his hand to Toram.
"Come! We don't have time!" he told her, his voice a commanding whisper like the wind.
Saruel grabbed Toram's hand firmly. With his right hand, he drew a circle in the air. Immediately, out of nowhere, an astonishing phenomenon occurred. A transparent, blue water tunnel resembling a whirlpool opened up in mid-air. The sound of the water roared like a mighty waterfall.
Holding onto Toram, Saruel leaped directly into the water vortex.
As they traveled through that tunnel made of water, it felt to Toram as though the world had turned completely upside down. She had no trouble breathing, but the force of the water spun her around wildly like a spindle.
Saruel, however, had his wings folded back, navigating through the rushing water with incredible agility. The walls of water around them displayed various images of the world; histories, lost cities, and unknown creatures flashed past in an instant.
Toram could not tell whether their journey lasted for hours or merely seconds. Suddenly, the intense force of the water pushed them forward. They broke through the wall of water and emerged.
As they landed, Saruel stepped onto the ground gracefully on his two feet. Toram, however, was violently tossed out by the force of the water and tumbled onto the ground.
The area was completely silent. The air was incredibly pure and carried a unique scent. When Toram looked up, what she saw took her breath away. The sky was purple, and two suns were visible on the horizon. The trees sparkled like glass, and their leaves seemed to be singing a melody.
They had arrived on another planet, an entirely different world. Though the war was left behind for the time being, Toram's journey was only just beginning. Saruel stepped closer to Toram, stood by her side, and gazed out into the distance.
"Welcome to your new home, Doctor Toram," Saruel said to her, his voice now a complex mixture of both triumph and deep sorrow.
To be continued…❤❤❤