Bang-!

With a tremendous sound, a massive pillar of water shot up into the sky.

From a distance, it was so enormous that one could mistake it for a dragon whirlpool phenomenon.

It was an explosion.

Before Choi Sungkyun could even examine the gate, it exploded.

Behind the pillar of water, a vague silhouette appeared. The silhouette was larger than the pillar of water.

Choi Sungkyun instinctively recognized the identity of the silhouette.

‘Sea Serpent…’

It was definitely the Sea Serpent.

With the appearance of the Sea Serpent, it seemed like all the team members were stunned. Especially O Seong-sik.

“O Seong-sik! Get a grip!”

“Team Leader… look, over there.”

“Pull yourself together, you idiot!”

“Look… up there!”

“What’s up there…?”

Choi Sungkyun was left speechless.

Above the Sea Serpent, a woman was looking down on them with an indifferent expression.

It was Meruths.

“Successful, huh?”

“Thanks to you, Meruths.”

“This should be enough for the celestial energy. With this level, we can expect even more in the future.”

“Really?”

“Yes. With this level of celestial energy… it’s probably equivalent to the celestial energy possessed by an S-rank Awakened, according to your terminology.”

“If research progresses further, it could increase even more, right?”

“Probably?”

“That’s a relief.”

“But are those guys here to stop this one?”

“They probably are. It’s the Sea Serpent… they’ll have a hard time.”

“Huh? Did they just notice us?”

Eisuke casually looked down below.

As Meruths had said, the Korean Awakened were staring at them with their mouths wide open.

“It won’t be a hard time.”

“Huh?”

“Might as well recover some of the celestial energy I’ve consumed.”

“I’m sorry, but last time, Lord Kabenian only allowed it for three people…”

“You and I have already been seen.”

“……”

“If we let them go like this, Lord Kabenian will be even angrier.”

Eisuke smiled bitterly.

It had been a mystery why she didn’t make her body invisible and flew above the Sea Serpent’s head, but now it seemed it was intentional.

‘Well…’

What Meruths said was right. They couldn’t just let the witnesses go free.

“Now, then.”

Meruths, with a wink, spread her wings and flew towards the Sea Serpent.

Anyone who saw it would think it was reckless. Especially to Choi Sungkyun, it seemed even more so.

But that expectation was beautifully off the mark.

Swish!

Suddenly, a huge sword appeared from the woman’s hand. A sword that glowed brilliantly.

And the moment that sword touched the Sea Serpent.

The Sea Serpent’s neck was easily and effortlessly severed.

Meruths quickly absorbed the celestial energy released from the Sea Serpent. She felt full, but it still wasn’t enough.

She turned her head sharply and looked down at Choi Sungkyun.

‘This should be enough.’

Smiling, she spread her wings and flew toward Choi Sungkyun and his team.

“Defense formation!”

Could they feel Meruths’s murderous intent?

Choi Sungkyun shouted urgently and pulled out his shield.

Even O Seong-sik, who had been frozen in place, quickly reacted to the shout and took out his massive shield.

But something felt off.

No matter how much time passed, there was no impact.

Choi Sungkyun peeked through the gap in his shield.

“…?”

Choi Sungkyun tilted his head. There was nothing visible beyond the shield.

“What’s going on?”

“I didn’t imagine that, right?”

“No, I saw it too.”

“But where did she go, that woman?”

“I don’t know either.”

The confused Choi Sungkyun and his team.

Meruths opened her eyes wide.

“How…?”

“You got me.”

“How are you here?”

Meruths asked with a trembling voice, and Seo Jun, who was gripping her neck, tightened his hand.

“Kkh.”

“That’s what I want to ask. Why are you here?”

Meruths’s eyes trembled with fear.

‘…Kadallan was right.’

How was he here?

“Answer me.”

Seo Jun asked again, his expression cold as if he was about to crush her.

Meruths, instead of answering, struggled to free herself from Seo Jun’s grip.

Of course, all her efforts were in vain.

“Meruths.”

“……”

“Why are you here?”

Meruths felt the killing intent in Seo-jun's eyes and let her wings droop. Her momentum faded, just like her drooping wings.

“……”

“I’ll ask one last time. Why are you here?”

Meruths's pupils shook.

‘He’s serious!’

It was truly the final question.

After this question, he would not ask anything further.

And with that large hand gripping her neck, he would easily snap it.

Not to mention, if it were someone else, but with him, it was more than possible.

In the time of hesitation, her neck was being gradually squeezed.

“Wait a second!”

“……”

“The celestial energy.”

“The celestial energy.”

With a look that seemed to urge her to continue, Meruths hesitated again.

“……If I reveal it, I will be destroyed.”

“You’ll be destroyed even if you don’t reveal it.”

“……”

“The celestial energy.”

Under the pressure from Seo-jun, Meruths squeezed her eyes shut.

“……The celestial energy is disappearing from the Celestial Realm. And the disappearance of the celestial energy means destruction for us.”

“Why is the celestial energy disappearing?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

The pressure on her hand increased.

“Kugh. It’s true… I really don’t know. But I have an idea.”

“What’s that?”

“It seems like we started harboring impure thoughts.”

“Impure thoughts?”

“Of course, this is just a guess.”

“So what does that have to do with Earth?”

“That is……”

“What is it?”

“By chance, we found out that Earth has conditions similar to the Celestial Realm.”

Meruths cautiously looked at Seo-jun’s face. He was expressionless, almost frighteningly so.

“So, other Celestial Deities thought that they could create artificial celestial energy on Earth. Of course, in order to do that, we needed to create the right environment.”

“And that environment is the channel and gate?”

“Yes.”

“So the Awakened Ones?”

“They too.”

Meruths nodded, and Seo-jun chuckled.

Many people had wondered.

Many people had called it another evolution of humanity.

But the real reason was that the Celestial Deities had created a hidden agenda for themselves.

Did Meruths feel fear from Seo-jun’s chuckle?

She began to speak without being asked.

“Ha, but the experiment failed.”

“Experiment?”

At Seo-jun’s question, Meruths realized her mistake, but spilled water cannot be returned to the cup.

“……At first, we tried to convert the ether of those called the Awakened into celestial energy. But that didn’t work. Absorption was possible, but we couldn’t circulate celestial energy on Earth.”

“Continue.”

“So we found another solution.”

“What was it?”

“Monsters.”

“Monsters?”

“We realized that when the evil energy they carried passed through the channel and gate, it turned into celestial energy. But capturing the monsters was difficult.”

Before Seo-jun was summoned to the Demon Realm, the Demon Realm was far weaker compared to the Celestial Realm.

While the Celestial Deities stuck together, the Demon beings were fragmented and formed their own independent groups.

But with Seo-jun’s arrival, the balance of power began to tilt. In the end, the Celestial Realm began to fear the Demon Realm’s invasion.

“……There was only one way. We had to go to the mortal world and replicate the monsters.”

“Homunculus?”

When Meruths nodded, Seo-jun finally understood everything.

Normally, the monsters would bow before him as their energy was overwhelmed.

Park Doo-shik was an example of this.

But the monsters of Earth were different. The energy was different.

But if it was a homunculus, everything made sense.

They would just be replicas, after all.

“But then, a variable came up.”

“What was the variable?”

“Humans quickly united.”

“United?”

“We thought humans would start a war, a large-scale war. Humans are a species like that, aren’t they? We thought Earth would be no different.”

“……”

“But it was different. Humans quickly united and started sealing the channels and gates. That was unexpected for us.”

Seo-jun chuckled.

The Celestial Deities he had seen were arrogant and indulgent. So, they must have thought they could control humans.

But the price of arrogance was failure.

“I assume you tried other methods?”

Meruths hesitated.

“You’ve spilled it all out now. Is there a reason to hesitate?”

“……We tried to create a gate and channel that humans couldn’t seal.”

“A gate that couldn’t be sealed?”

“Yes. If we did that, we could harvest celestial energy in the way humans expressed it.”

“Did you ever think about the people who would die in that process?”

“That’s the blood of the sacred.”

Seo-jun, still chuckling, continued.

“So, how far did the experiment go?”

“At least we saw some results. The Serpent passed through the gate without losing its evil energy. All that’s left is the sealing.”

“Sealing.”

“The key is whether humans can seal the gate like before.”

Seo-jun remained silent as he observed Meruths carefully.

“I’ve confessed everything I know. So now, you’ll let me go, right?”

“Of course.”

Just as a smile began to form on Meruths’s face, something unexpected happened.

“……!”

Seo-jun used his strength to push the struggling Meruths into the void.

‘There might be more to ask later. But more importantly…’

Seo-jun turned his head.

“Huff!”

Eisuke, who had been frozen, gasped.

The one who had incapacitated Meruths was a powerhouse.

Even he couldn’t move now, frozen by an unknown power. The source of that power was probably Seo-jun.

“P-please spare me!”

“Sure.”

Seo-jun opened the void.

Lee Myung-seop, who had been watching the video, grumbled.

“I told you this wasn’t a joke.”

The source of the video was Choi Sungkyun’s body cam.

The still image showed the giant Serpent being summoned with a tremendous roar.

And another thing.

The angel, a common figure in ancient paintings.

In the video, a woman with white wings, like the angel everyone would imagine, was looking down with a cold expression.

“And then she flew.”

“Not just flew, she took out the Serpent in an instant and flew.”

“Keep playing it.”

Clack!

Suddenly, a giant sword appeared in the woman’s hand, who had the form of an angel.

She swung the sword effortlessly, despite it being so big it seemed difficult to hold with one hand.

And when the sword touched the Serpent, its neck was easily severed.

It was so light, as if cutting through tofu.

“And then she disappeared?”

“Yes. As you can see.”

“Hmm.”

“I definitely felt murderous intent.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m certain. It was definitely murderous intent. And after she killed it, she wasn’t coming to greet us with a high five, was she?”

“Did you detect any changes or sense anything when she disappeared?”

“No. She just disappeared, like a ghost.”

Lee Myung-seop scratched his head.

With so many problems on hand, now there was a new, undetected monster species...

‘No, it’s not a monster.’

It clearly had the form of an angel.

But in terms of hostility towards humans, it was no different than a monster.

“Damn.”

“Should we report this to the international organization?”

“Of course. We have to. But…”

Lee Myung-seop sighed. Of all things, it had to be in the form of an angel.

“The fanatics will go crazy again.”