The sky went black.
Not night.
Not clouds.
Black.
For a single second, the entire country of Japan felt something squeeze their lungs.
Birds dropped mid-flight.
Car alarms died.
The wind stopped breathing.
And in the center of Tokyo, standing on shattered concrete soaked in blood—
Miyazawa Suzuki raised her trembling hand.
Her arm was already gone.
Her left leg barely attached by torn muscle.
Blood mixed with rainwater beneath her.
Across from her stood something that looked like a man — dark skin glowing beneath divine radiance, golden eyes burning with superiority.
Gabi.
The Angel of Light.
He tilted his head slightly, studying her like an insect that had somehow learned to speak.
"You are at your limit, human," he said calmly. "Why continue?"
Miyazawa's vision blurred.
Mateo's body lay behind her in pieces.
Takai's aura was approaching — she could feel it — wild, unstable.
Good… he's coming…
Darkness crawled up her neck like ink spreading through water.
She had never let it go this far.
Never.
"I told you…" she whispered, coughing blood. "Humans can do anything… to protect what they love."
Gabi's expression didn't change.
But he stepped forward.
And that was enough.
Her thumb slid across her teeth.
She bit down.
Blood.
Her own blood.
She pressed it to her forehead.
Her eyes lost their warmth.
"Free Will…"
The ground trembled.
Takai, still kilometers away, dropped to his knees.
Pearson froze mid-sprint.
Jessica felt her shadow recoil.
Even the angels above the clouds felt it.
"—Dark Whispers."
The world shattered.
No explosion.
No light.
Just silence.
And then—
Darkness bloomed outward like a second sky swallowing the first.
Gabi's golden aura flickered.
For the first time since descending to Earth…
He felt pressure.
Within the domain, everything became muted — as if submerged underwater.
Black particles drifted through the air like ash.
Miyazawa stood upright now.
Her missing limbs were not healed.
But shadows formed the outline of what she lost.
Her eyes were no longer kind.
They were endless.
Gabi exhaled slowly.
"So this… is human evolution."
She moved.
He didn't see it.
Didn't sense it.
Only felt something brush against his left arm.
A thin black line appeared.
Then—
His arm fell.
Cleanly severed.
Golden blood sprayed across the darkened world.
For the first time in centuries—
Gabi took a step back.
"How?"
Miyazawa's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.
"You marked yourself when you blocked me earlier."
His eyes widened.
She had planned that?
While dying?
Impossible.
"I told you…" her voice softened slightly, almost sad. "Humans can be terrifying."
Gabi's aura exploded outward in response, burning through layers of shadow.
"Heavenly Light Age."
The domain cracked.
Light flooded in violently.
Miyazawa's shadow-formed limbs trembled.
Her breathing faltered.
I can't hold it much longer…
She felt her consciousness slipping.
Takai… please make it in time…
The darkness began collapsing.
Gabi reformed his body from pure light, though weaker now.
He approached her slowly.
"You were extraordinary."
He raised a blade of condensed radiance.
"In another life, you could have stood among angels."
She laughed softly.
Blood ran down her chin.
"In another life… maybe angels would learn to be human."
The blade descended—
And the chapter shattered.
Years Earlier
Petroda — The Angel Realm
Light did not shine in Petroda.
It obeyed.
The realm floated beyond sky, beyond time — a place sculpted from divine order itself. Rivers of glowing energy flowed like veins across marble-white landscapes. Towers formed from solidified radiance pierced a horizon that never darkened.
No shadows existed unless permitted.
No sound existed without purpose.
And no angel questioned.
Because angels did not have doubt.
They did not have desire.
They did not have choice.
Nyambe's will was law.
And law was absolute.
At the center of the realm stood seven figures.
The Seven Light.
Gabi stood with arms folded — tall, muscular, skin dark as polished obsidian, golden aura radiating faintly from his shoulders. His eyes scanned everything like a commander inspecting soldiers.
Kuka yawned beside him, small and blonde, shadows clinging lazily to his feet.
Sheka stretched her arms, fire swirling playfully around her fingers.
Melissi hummed while shaping a floating orb of water.
Uris stood straight, elegant and composed, wind circling his ankles gently.
Michelo leaned against a pillar, scratching beneath his eye patch while staring at nothing in particular.
And slightly apart from them—
Kuro.
White hair.
Red eyes.
Calm expression.
He looked like silence given form.
"Training session," Gabi announced.
The air tightened instantly.
Uri's lips curved slightly. "Who is paired with whom?"
Gabi's golden eyes shifted.
"Kuro."
A faint pause.
"With Uris."
Melissi blinked.
Sheka tilted her head.
Kuka stopped yawning.
Michelo smirked.
Uris stepped forward without complaint.
"Understood."
Kuro smiled faintly.
"Try not to go easy on me."
Gabi narrowed his eyes slightly at that.
Angels did not joke.
But Kuro sometimes… did.
The arena formed instantly — a circular platform of condensed light floating above an endless drop of radiance.
Below them, lesser angels gathered to watch.
Kuro stepped into position.
Uris opposite him.
Wind stirred gently.
"Begin," Gabi commanded.
Uris vanished.
Wind compressed violently behind Kuro.
A blade of air sliced downward.
Kuro pivoted, barely blocking with an imperfect construct of light.
The impact shattered it.
Uris didn't stop.
Strike after strike.
Precise.
Relentless.
Kuro exhaled slowly.
He's faster than last era.
Uris condensed air around Kuro's arm and twisted.
The pressure forced him backward.
Then—
Uris caught Kuro's discarded light blade mid-air.
Compressed wind around it.
And flung it back.
"Here is your light," Uris said calmly.
"With interest."
The blade screamed toward Kuro's face.
Too fast.
Too close.
How do I dodge this?
Something inside him… shifted.
The world paused.
Silence.
Absolute.
Uris froze mid-motion.
Wind halted.
Light particles suspended in air.
Kuro blinked.
What…?
Brownish-gold aura flickered faintly around him.
Time.
He stepped aside instinctively.
The blade resumed motion—
Grazing his cheek instead of piercing his skull.
Time restarted.
Everyone stared.
Uris' eyes widened.
"…Did you just…"
Gabi's jaw tightened.
Michelo straightened.
Melissi's hands trembled.
Kuka whispered, "That's not possible…"
Uris stepped back slowly.
"Time…?"
Kuro touched his cheek.
Blood.
Red.
Warm.
The scent hit him.
And something deeper woke.
The blood did not fall.
It hovered.
Then solidified.
Crimson aura erupted violently from his body.
"What's happening?" Sheka stepped forward.
Kuro's breathing changed.
Heavy.
Uneven.
The blood along his cheek spread — crawling across his skin like living armor.
His pupils dilated.
Uris took one cautious step back.
"Kuro?"
Kuro vanished.
Reappeared behind Uris.
Crimson blade formed from his own blood.
And stabbed forward.
The arena gasped.
Gabi moved instantly—
Intercepting.
Two strikes.
Precise.
Efficient.
Kuro crashed into the arena floor.
Unconscious.
Silence swallowed Petroda.
No angel had ever awakened three abilities.
Light.
Death.
Time.
And now blood.
Gabi stared down at him.
"…This is a problem."
High above the arena, beyond sight—
Mika watched.
And far beyond even her—
Something else watched too.