Michael struck out in fury, his terrifying physical prowess amplified by supreme Conqueror's Haki Coating.
The attack instantly flattened the lifeless ruins of the city.
Reduced to dust along with the city were those Lunarian beasts.
Even during their period of peak defense—when their flames didn't periodically extinguish—they stood no chance against Michael's strike.
Not just them—even Kaido and Charlotte Linlin wouldn't dare take that blow head-on.
Still, the Lunarians' innate abilities were indeed extraordinary.
Despite Michael's near-full-power attack, their leader—the strongest among them—somehow survived.
Though survival was all he managed...
His breathing was already shallow and labored.
Michael descended slowly before him, those sapphire-blue eyes utterly indifferent to his fading life.
"W-what are you!? I've never heard of anyone this powerful existing! No—even if you existed, you couldn't possibly remain unknown!?"
"What are you hiding among the common people for!? Are you plotting something against the Great Kingdom and God's Nation!?"
"You... lowly... human."
"Your mouth is truly stubborn," Michael raised the Morning Star and without hesitation drove it downward, piercing through the skull and into the ground.
"The Lunarian Race... honestly, you all have really managed to... irritate me."
Even the Celestial Dragons of later generations, under the World Government's control, were never as brutal as to massacre entire towns on a whim...
In a way, this race was even more detestable than the Celestial Dragons.
At that moment, Michael suddenly froze.
Had he just directed such intense killing intent toward the Lunarian Race?
Could it be...
That this was the reason he was called the "Doomsday Archangel"?
Because at this very moment...
He had already decided to wipe out this damned race entirely?
Michael shook his head, forcing his rationality to return and freeing himself from the grip of anger.
Then he couldn't help but sigh...
"Time truly is a mysterious thing."
Michael knew that everything he had done eight hundred years ago was inevitable...
So, he didn't need to consider anything. All he had to do was follow his own heart.
...
Though the entire lifeless ruined city had been flattened, the grave of the unnamed city official remained untouched.
Michael's earlier strike had completely avoided that tomb.
Even an attack capable of annihilating a city could be controlled to such precision—proof that Michael's mastery over his abilities had reached an inhuman level.
"I won't believe your deaths were caused by my adoption of Toki... Given those beasts' cruel nature, you would have been slaughtered regardless of my involvement." Michael tore off the head of the Lunarian he had impaled and placed it before the grave.
"In the past, I would have at least asked for his name... But now, it doesn't matter. This race no longer deserves the privilege of leaving their names before me... So even if it wasn't my fault, I will bear your hatred upon my six angelic wings... I swear to you, I will deliver the Lunarian Race, God's Nation, and the Great Kingdom to their inevitable end."
After speaking these words, Michael instantly felt clarity in his thoughts.
Yes! This was the feeling!
Screw hesitation—just act!
Be a dog? A livestock to be slaughtered at the Lunarians' whim?
What a joke!
"Rebellion, huh?"
"Since when is this my first time doing this?"
...
Though Michael had cleaned everything up, the sheer force of his attack—leveling the town—still caused quite a disturbance.
Long after Michael had left, a group of people arrived before the lone grave.
The leader examined the tomb and the Lunarian head placed before it, sighing softly.
"Though I don't know who did all this..."
"That strike just now—I will remember it for the rest of my life."
"Thankfully, I'm a user of the Paramecia-type Glare-Glare Fruit. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to see everything that happened here from such a distance..."
The burly soldiers following him once again surveyed the surroundings, confirming everything was safe before stepping forward.
"Donquixote, what should we do next?"
"What should we do? Of course, we must find a way to bring this man into our ranks!" After bowing three times before the magistrate's grave, Donquixote raised his head, eyes filled with determination.
"To save the world from the shadow of the Great Kingdom, we must forsake dignity, disregard our lives, and vow to sacrifice everything to overthrow the Great Kingdom!"
"Now that we've encountered a powerful warrior who clashes so fiercely with the Lunarian Race, even if it's dangerous, we must take the risk to recruit him into our faction."
Donquixote gazed in the direction where Michael had departed, murmuring under his breath...
"What did he call himself? The Archangel of... the End?"
"How... fitting."
...
When Michael returned to the estate he shared with Toki, he found she had already awakened.
In that instant, he realized that strike had truly been...
Far too earth-shattering.
Although he had tried his best to minimize the attack's range, the commotion was still far from subtle.
Moreover, due to her past experiences of living on the streets, Toki's sleep remained light even after a full year of living with him. The slightest disturbance could wake her.
"Father… what were you doing?"
"I went… to kill someone."
Michael made no attempt to conceal his actions.
Likewise, he didn't hide the truth from Toki just because she was only six years old.
Because Michael had promised to deliver her the grandest revenge…
For a girl burdened with deep-seated hatred, he didn't believe concealment was the right choice.
"Kill someone?" Toki showed no discomfort at the word. "Who did you kill?"
"A group of the Lunarian Race… They seemed intent on wiping you out completely." Michael sighed. "By the time I noticed, everyone in Angel City had already…"
"All those people… are dead?"
"Not a single survivor was left."
"…Father, why would they kill like that?"
A trace of confusion flickered in Toki's eyes.
"Because they stand above others, so they don't see those beneath their feet as human…"
"Just like how you twisted that fox's neck to make me a scarf."
"If you don't want to be worn around someone's neck, you have to fight back."