The "angel" facing Lion El'Jonson was similarly much larger than a regular person.
Excluding the wings on its back, the figure stood at least six meters tall.
This "angel" was equipped with high-quality heavy armor and a magnificent greatsword, looking like a high-ranking battle angel. However, there was a trace of surprise in Lion's eyes.
Because the overall aura and appearance of this angel were strikingly similar to that of his other brother, Saint Gillis.
It had an extraordinarily handsome face and golden hair, accompanied by a pair of pure white wings—hard not to make Lion think of Saint Gillis.
Most importantly, the angel's overall strength far exceeded that of the battle angels that had been blown to smithereens by explosive arrows, plasma cannons, and metal-hydrogen missiles.
"Nothing but a façade."
But Lion only stared for a moment before his expression darkened with anger. He tightened his grip on the Lion King's Greatsword and pushed the large angel back.
As soon as there was some space between them, Lion quickly extended his left hand and grabbed the angel's right ankle.
Then—
Boom! Boom~! Boom——!!!
Lion used brute force to yank the large angel from the air, swinging it from side to side, slamming its body and head repeatedly against the ground.
Lion then spun around, using the momentum to fling the angel out of the line formed by the Dark Angels, Greek Minor Gods, and Gray Knights.
Lion himself bent his knees and leaped, landing precisely where the large angel had fallen.
Boom———!!
Lion's swing, jump, and stomp immediately caused the area to explode in a thick cloud of dust, as if hit by a bombing.
.
Serene, a non-combatant unit, had been watching the confrontation through her purple-glowing eyes, observing the live battle between Lion and the large angel—better known as the archangel Michael.
The moment Michael appeared, Serene scanned it and compared it with stored data.
Golden hair, a handsome face, high-quality armor, and a massive red cross-shaped greatsword—all these features indicated that the large angel was the chief warrior under God's command.
Whether in the main universe or the "One Three" universe's Bible, there were references to him.
In the War of Seven Days against Satan, Michael fought fiercely to uphold God's divine rule and ultimately defeated Satan.
These records alone indicated that Michael's overall strength should be superior to Satan's.
His name, "Michael" (or "Mikhail"), meaning "Who is like God?", represented the protector of justice and the judge of evil.
However, according to the records, Michael was supposed to be a six-winged angel.
But the one being pummeled by Lion and nearly dying before his eyes only had a single pair of white wings.
Hmm, something's suspicious.
Serene then shifted her gaze from Lion to scan the surroundings through her electronic eyes.
Soon, she detected a faint six-winged angel silhouette about ten kilometers away in the sky.
Just as Serene was about to warn Athena to get ready to use the Spear of Victory and pierce the six-winged angel, Lion suddenly swung his Lion King's Greatsword.
Rou~———!
The greatsword howled through the air.
The next moment, in Serene's electronic vision, the six-winged angel was impaled through the chest by the sword's blade.
Immediately after, the angel's cloaking, which resembled optical camouflage, dissipated due to the injury, and it fell to the western forest of the garden.
Seeing this, Serene turned her gaze back to Lion.
Lion had already reduced the "Michael" with wings on his back to pieces, showing no mercy. He had not even left a whole corpse, especially the face and head, which looked as if they had been crushed by a single stomp.
It seemed Lion was really displeased by the "imposter" who resembled his brother, Saint Gillis.
Moreover, Lion had realized that the angel before him was merely a decoy. The real Michael was somewhere far away, watching, planning to ambush Lion or Athena when the Empire's elite focused all their attention on dealing with the "cannon fodder."
But unfortunately, though Lion was impulsive, his combat instincts and battlefield experience told him that the one facing him had a hidden agenda.
Besides, Lion's battlefield perception and intuition were among the best in all the genetic progenitors, so he naturally noticed the true position of Michael without needing Serene's reminder.
After cleaving down Michael's decoy and crushing the "imposter" with a stomp to the head, Lion activated the communication device and gave orders:
"All units maintain formation. Deal with any trash that dares enter the shooting or bombing range.
Afterwards, Athena will temporarily take command, and Ms. Serene will serve as the battlefield adviser. No matter what disturbance or anomaly occurs in the distance, ignore it."
Once the orders were given, Lion started running toward the forest where Michael's real body had fallen. In less than the blink of an eye, his figure disappeared from the sight of the others.
.
Athena, who received Lion's orders, had a slight frown on her face.
If the human Emperor had addressed her by her real name, it wouldn't have bothered her much, but being called "Athena" repeatedly by a "kid" was somewhat irritating.
However, this displeasure quickly faded from her mind.
After all, Lion had the individual strength to beat or even kill her, and he was the Emperor's highly trusted third son.
Athena then placed the Spear of Victory at her feet and retrieved the 1911 pistol the Emperor had temporarily lent her. She raised the gun and aimed it at a six-winged angel in front of her before pulling the trigger.
Ri~swoosh———!
The golden, straight projectile immediately pierced through and burned everything in its path, striking the six-winged angel, who was named "Sariel," in the chest.
But the golden radiance didn't stop there. It continued, piercing through the sky itself.
The originally clear blue sky began to fracture, revealing the void beyond.
Whoosh...whoosh—!
The sky cracked further, and fragments began falling.
As for the large angel, Sariel...
"No——!!"
Its body was incinerated by the golden flames, and Sariel's "soul" detached from its body. Realizing it was about to be "plundered" and consumed by Samuel Young from the main universe, it let out a desperate scream.
Sariel's soul struggled in vain.
In an instant, it was completely dispersed, becoming part of Samuel Young's psychic energy.
But this angel, one of the Seven Archangels alongside Michael, and possessing powerful healing abilities, had fallen without even showing its true strength.
!!!
This caused the countless "cannon fodder" angels to look toward Athena with horror.
They had thought they could overwhelm the archangels with sheer numbers, but they never expected Michael and Sariel to be eliminated so quickly.
Even more deadly was the group of knights in heavy armor (the Paladin Glory Guard), half of whom had miniature missile launchers attached to their power packs.
The missiles they fired could wipe out hundreds or even thousands of their own kind at once.
No matter how many they had or the advantage of "fighting on their home turf," they couldn't withstand such overwhelming bombardment.
They had believed that the archangels could turn the tide, but instead, they had been effortlessly wiped out.
With Heaven itself pierced by Athena's shot, how could they fight?
Unless God Himself descended, they would be annihilated, unable to approach or even shake the enemy's line.
But they were creations of God, so if God commanded them to keep dying, they could do nothing but obey His will.
Next, more "cannon fodder" angels continued to push forward, trying to breach the defense line formed by the Dark Angels, Greek Minor Gods, and Gray Knights. Their casualties kept rising.
After Athena dealt with Sariel, she holstered the Emperor's pistol and drew the Spear of Victory once more, pointing it at the shattered sky. She declared loudly:
"Soldiers fighting for the Empire and the Emperor! Clear away all filth before you!"
"For the Emperor!"
"For the Emperor!"
With Athena's rallying cry, the already emboldened soldiers responded with a unified war cry.
Some Greek Minor Gods, having exhausted all the ammo in their special explosive arrow guns, pulled out traditional bows.
As soon as they pulled the strings, arrows glowing with golden light materialized out of thin air.
Whoosh—whoosh—!
In an instant, dozens of "small" radiant arrows shot out.
These golden arrows, like ancient siege crossbow bolts, pierced through the dense ranks of cannon fodder angels.
As the force of the arrows dwindled, they triggered explosions, setting the nearby angels alight and burning them to ash.
The Greek Minor Gods wielding these bows were all elite warriors capable of using divine power (psychic energy), and their weapons, crafted by the Emperor using Mithril, were far superior to the Gray Knights born from the Emperor's genetic seeds.
The Empire's elite forces, over a thousand strong, still maintained overwhelming momentum under Athena's command, withstanding the overwhelming numbers of the heavenly army.
Without the archangels to assist, these angels, whose power was comparable to hellish creatures, could only rely on their numerical superiority to wear down the Empire's ammunition.
Once the ammunition ran out, they would engage in close combat and show their true strength.
But little did they know, the Empire's elite were waiting for that moment, when ammunition ran out, to shift to close combat.
——
Meanwhile, Lion had ventured alone from the front line into the dense forest.
He had arrived at
the spot where the six-winged angel had fallen.
There was a faint glow on the forest floor.
He looked ahead with a scowl.
A dazzling golden figure appeared on the far side of the forest clearing.
The figure wore a golden armor with six radiant wings, looking almost like a high-ranking archangel.
But its aura was still somewhat off.
After all, its wings were still incomplete.
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