Chapter 348 (1): Weakness and Ignorance Are Not Detrimental to Survival; Pride Is

Wayne took a step forward. After space itself rippled, the world before him suddenly changed. It was a projected mirror space—he had entered the inner world!

The mountains remained as mountains, and the rivers remained as rivers. However, the world in Wayne’s view had changed completely. The familiar feeling reminded him of his previous experience. This was no place to stay. They should retreat at once.

He took a step back, knocking into Hesione, who was right behind him. She covered her chest with her hands and shot him a glare.

There hadn’t been a day when he didn’t try to humiliate her. Couldn’t he stop already?

The humiliation was far from the level of depravity that had happened in moments of physical intimacy, though. Hesione swallowed her complaint and moved on, letting out a soft sound of surprise when she saw the changed world.

Her eyes blazed with golden light, and her expression turned steely. “It’s a mirror space projection, a trap set up by the demons.”

“Mirror space projects the inner world. You and I—no, Mona and I have entered it once.”

Wayne felt a headache brewing. The demons alone were troublesome. With the ‘Wayne’ and ‘Hesione’ of the inner world thrown into the mix, they would certainly meet a difficult fight today.

“I’m Mona, Boss!” Hesione answered reflexively. Her golden eyes scanned their surroundings. “The powerful negative feelings are luring people into falling every moment. This is a dangerous world, and it’s on the verge of collapse.”

“Have you entered the inner world?” Wayne asked.

“The inner world is a reflection of the Chosen Land and has nothing to do with Heaven or Hell, so you don’t have to worry about encountering me or any of the demons here.”

“Ha, and you insisted that you aren’t the Śār.”

Hesione pretended not to hear him. No matter what Wayne said, she wouldn’t be Hesione as long as she didn’t admit it.

The moment they stepped into the mirror space, the way back vanished. They could only leave once the projection fell apart.

Wayne had found himself in such a space before, so he had studied the countermeasures to avoid being trapped a second time. The easiest solution was to break the magic circle from the outside, but that wouldn’t work with both he and Hesione inside. The method to break it from the inside was simple, too:

The projected space was a mirror, and whoever entered it would see their other selves because of the mirror. The projections cost the magic circle energy, and the more powerful the targets of projection, the greater the cost. Once the energy ran out, the projected space would disintegrate on its own.

Of course, that came with a caveat: though the inner world was a reflection of the outer world, it followed its own trajectory. In the inner world where only negativity existed, the dark aspects of human nature were amplified to the maximum, and murder and destruction were rampant. Only the strong could survive.

If one’s self was already dead in the inner world, nothing would be projected, and there would be no way to exhaust the magic circle’s energy.

In addition to the two solutions, one done from the outside and one done from the inside, there was a third way: break the projected space with absolute power. It was the most straightforward and effective way.

Wayne was eager to give it a try and see if he could do it, but decided against it. It wasn’t a bad idea to fight in the mirror space so that the repercussions wouldn’t reach the city.

It was an act of protection, but not fully. Sir Wayne just didn’t want the target of his exploitation to be damaged. Sensing the approach of a stranger, he gave Hesione a look.

There was no place for honor when it came to fighting demons. They should attack together!

Hesione looked at the emerging figure in surprise, her expression turning grave, and then extreme disgust and disapproval.

It was a fallen angel!

The combination of a traitor and a demon aggravated the Śār. She swore to eliminate the stain on Heaven’s records.

She realized then why the alert sounded at Saint Paul’s Cathedral had been so strong. Heaven’s seal on Hell was effective on demons of all levels, including the most powerful Seven Demon Lords. An angel of Hell, on the other hand, was half an angel, and the seal had a limited effect on him. Therefore, he could descend to the human world in the most perfect form.

With black hair and golden eyes, Milne walked up to them and stopped at around ten meters away, bowing slightly with a smile on his face. He kept up a decent veneer of decorum.

Lucy and Dion weren’t present. He had used them as linchpins for the magic circle to sustain the projection of mirror space.

The two familiars were the guards that the Lord of Envy had assigned to Milne, serving also as Envy’s eyes and ears. Milne had been lost, not knowing where he was going in the future. A kind stranger had brought him an epiphany, fortunately—he was a hellish angel who would conquer this world. Why would he tolerate the humiliation?

Therefore, he immediately turned the familiars into minced meat before making two batteries out of them.

Milne bowed, recognizing Hesione underneath Mona’s skin. He said to Wayne, “I’m Milne. Nice to meet you. You must be Himbo.”

What the hell? Why did you insult me at the first meeting? Do demons always target honest people?

Wayne was going to retaliate in kind when he suddenly remembered his encounter with the demon lord. “You’re Lord of Envy’s subordinate. Why, did he feel frustrated after being banished to Hell and send you back here?”

“That was the case in the beginning, but the Lord of Envy is no longer in charge. He envies me for being more talented and extraordinary. I deserve to conquer and rule over this world...” Milne raised his hands, feeling good about himself. “I will be superior to all. I will become the new Heavenly Father!”

Wayne made a strange face. It was far from his first rodeo, and he had seen his fair share of demons. This one, however, was more prideful than any others he had encountered. Weakness and ignorance weren’t detrimental to survival; pride was.

Even someone as audacious as he was only dared to terrorize a Śār, yet Milne was going to shit on the Heavenly Father? That was beyond arrogance and veered into the realm of insanity.

Hesione’s eyes blazed with killing intent. She retrieved the Sacred Lance of Heaven and pointed it at Milne.

The lance, damaged from the previous fights and covered in cracks, could fall apart at any time. Though Hesione had reforged it with her thoughts to make it seem ninety percent new, what was broken could not be unbroken. It still wasn’t able to contain too much energy, making it unfit for higher-level battles.

“Fallen angel of Hell, you—”

Before Hesione could finish, Wayne pressed her lance down and handed her the Oath Sword when she looked over.

Thanks! But don’t interrupt me.

Hesione put the sacred lance away, pointing the Oath Sword at Milne and declaring, “Fallen angel of Hell, I’ll personally retrieve the Golden Law of Angels from your body. You’ll pay for your arrogance and ignorance.”

“So you’re Śār Hesione. Apologies for the offense.” Milne put away his arrogance and behaved himself with proper etiquette once more, nodding. “You’re right. I have fallen, but haven’t you also? Look at yourself. What gives you the right to lecture me?”

He burst out laughing.

Expression dark, Hesione tightened her grip around the Oath Sword with her teeth clenched. The harsh truth hit her like a slap to her face, making her skin burn. Even if she disregarded the facts, she couldn’t say anything.

“It’s okay,” Wayne said helpfully. “Just kill him, and you’ll still be the pure Śār you were.”

You shut up, too!

At the end of her patience, Hesione unfurled her white wings with wild killing intent, swinging the Oath Sword with full power. There was a flash of light. Then fierce attacks poured down upon Milne.

Wayne heard a booming noise before he saw infinite golden light morphing into countless energy swords, spinning and shooting in numerous layers to cut Milne to pieces.

If this was what she did to someone who had learned of the truth, wouldn’t she skin the culprit alive?

Wayne shuddered. He had to tame her as soon as he could, or he would end up just like Milne.

With a rumble, the space in the center of the battlefield came to a halt. Two powerful energies were locked in a stalemate. A gust of black gale spun and blended the countless blades of light into nothing in the blink of an eye. Amid the chaotic repercussions, darkness swarmed in waves like a tide, crushing the ground in the area and instantly tearing the air apart.

Space reverted to its original state. A flash of white light shot toward Wayne.

He caught the stunning beauty. Sensing the incredible inertia, he transformed into the Pale Knight at once with his feet firmly planted in the ground. He even had to support himself with four tentacles to avoid getting thrown off his feet along with Hesione.

He only came to a stop after raking through the ground for dozens of meters. A vertical crack formed on his featureless face. He asked in confusion, “What’s going on? Did you go easy on him?”

Hesione didn’t respond, and she didn’t have to. Once the violent tides of darkness receded, Milne’s true appearance was revealed. He was still the handsome man with black hair and golden eyes, but now with two pairs of wings unfurling from his back. The wings on the left were pitch-black, while the wings on the right were pure white. He embodied both the Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins and the scriptures of the Golden Law.

“A four-winged angel?!” Wayne was shocked. Though he had ridden a six-winged angel, it was only because Mona was there to keep Hesione under control. Moreover, their memories were still in the integration stage. Their six wings represented their status rather than their current power.

Milne was different. His two pairs of wings represented not only his identity, but also his power.

“How could he enter the human world with such power? Have the demons opened the Gate of Hell?” Wayne considered the worst.

Hesione stood on her own feet, looking at the floating Milne gravely. “It’s not as bad as you think. He only has one pair of wings. The black ones should be a gift from the Lord of Envy. It’s an addition to his power rather than a multiplication that would come from a fundamental evolution.”

Still, he’s powerful.

“Nevertheless,” Wayne said with a frown, “his power shouldn’t exist in the human world. He...”

Hesione was able to read his unvoiced question, perhaps because they had been intimate, or perhaps Mona’s memories were influencing her. She told him about the seal on Hell.

Heaven had left a back door in the seal, so it only worked on demons. As an angel falling to Hell, Milne still retained his key card and enjoyed the benefits of an angel.

Speaking of that, Hesione was put in a foul mood. If the Heavenly Father had not left, Milne wouldn’t have fallen. Even if he still ended up falling, the Heavenly Father would’ve noticed immediately and brought down judgment and punishment!

Now, though, the Heavnely Father was missing. Milne received no punishment. What about the other angels? Had any of them succumbed to a demon lord’s temptation? Had Hell gained a way to bypass the seal and descend to the mortal realm?