"Laurent, you must die here today. We cannot allow you to live any longer."
The three archangels joined forces; golden radiance gathered in their hands and coalesced into a storm of swords that rained down on Laurent all at once.
The black mist scattered, revealing his body.
Several golden spikes pierced his limbs.
"Guhh—!"
Laurent spat blood. The golden swords held him down too effectively.
Even so, wracked by indescribable pain, he forced himself upright. Blood poured from his wounds, writhing against the blades as black mist rose in spirals.
"She's only sixteen this year… just sixteen!"
He stretched out his right hand; blood-red webs snaked toward the archangels.
They joined their power and shattered them instantly.
"A mission has nothing to do with age!"
"So that's your reason to send her to die? You force a girl who's barely lived to die for you?"
Ignoring his shattered body, Laurent tore off his own arm and let the golden light consume it. The rays suppressed his regeneration, but he didn't care.
He would pay any price. He had to survive. There was no reason to die here—and the three before him absolutely had to die.
"If you're so powerful, do it yourselves! You preach judgment but won't save a nation with your own hands? You birds sure have it easy!"
He stomped and charged at the angel on the right.
The angel saw the movement and struck.
BOOM!
A golden sword pierced Laurent's torso, scattering him into mist. His blood vaporized into dust.
The angel's pupils narrowed.
A clone? An illusion?
Before he finished the thought, something pierced his back. He tried to turn, but it was too late.
In slow motion, a hand slid through him. Blood-red webs wrapped around him instantly.
Laurent smiled.
"I'm not like you feathered bastards. I have an absolute purpose."
"Blood explosion."
His voice was cold. Blood surged from his hand and devoured the angel whole.
The two remaining angels finally showed real shock.
"He devoured him?"
Michael's brow tightened.
Laurent looked at him, mocking as he touched his own neck.
"Angels taste like shit, but their power's useful."
A faint golden glow danced along his fingertips.
The other angel stared, unbelieving.
"W-what? You absorbed his divinity?"
Laurent sneered.
"Take a guess."
He launched himself at the remaining two.
"If devouring divinity is enough to become a god, I'll pave the way for Jeanne myself—by slaughtering every last one of you feathered bastards!"
Michael raised a single finger; a golden beam gathered at its tip.
"I must reevaluate you, Laurent."
His wings spread wider.
"Anyone who takes Absolute Evil should lose all reason. Yet you retain yours. So I will take you seriously—and kill you with the same seriousness."
Laurent's right hand hardened into a crimson spear.
"Your self-righteous face disgusts me."
"Is that so?"
Michael's expression stayed calm, unshaken.
A golden ray shot toward Laurent. This time he didn't dodge. He reached out and grabbed it.
Ssszzzt—
Flesh burned; the sound cut sharp. Compared to their first clash, Laurent withstood the divine power far better.
"You're using the divinity you absorbed to blunt our power," Michael said.
"But you'll never become a god."
Laurent scoffed.
"Maybe not. But I can drag you to hell with me."
He crushed the golden ray. Blood pooled behind him and formed a pair of demonic wings far larger than any angel's.
"Michael, kill him now!" the other angel shouted. "His growth is terrifying. If we don't stop him, no one ever will."
"Indeed."
Both angels raised their right hands.
"Holy Lord, grant us the power to purify all evil!"
BOOM!
A golden beam split heaven and earth. Divine light flooded the land. Laurent, caught in the center, suffered horribly.
His flesh burned as if on fire. Without the adaptation from eating the angel, he would have died.
"This was our mistake," Michael admitted for the first time, watching Laurent consumed by the golden flames. "When we made our prophecy, we should have ordered Jeanne to kill you immediately."
"But the outcome will be the same. Jeanne's path has no place for you. She is the Holy Maiden meant to save a nation. From her birth, her fate was sealed. You're merely an obstacle."
Under that scorching, sunlike radiance, Laurent's skin charred away, leaving raw muscle and blood. Even then his scarlet eyes fixed on Michael with hatred. He clenched his teeth, voice low and animalistic.
"You worthless bastards—don't you dare speak her name!!"
In that instant, reason fled him, replaced by pure, uncontrollable rage.
Michael's composed face cracked into shock. He stepped back, staring.
That killing intent—no, not mere killing intent, but unmistakable god-slaying malice.
But how could—
Laurent vanished. When Michael regained his senses, horror hit him.
The angel who had stood by his side had been seized, swallowed by waves of black blood. His divinity, his body—everything being chewed up.
Michael looked down and realized his own left arm was missing.
Impossible. Not only had this human adapted to Absolute Evil perfectly, but within less than half an hour he'd mastered its powers—and he was still evolving.
He absolutely could not be allowed to live. Even if Michael had to die here, he would drag this man with him.
For the first time, Michael—Archangel of Absolute Justice—felt genuine fear.