"Ahhh—!"
The man's scream shattered the silence. In an instant, every member of the Church in the village heard his agonized cry.
Boom—!
What followed was a sound like the earth itself collapsing.
"What happened? Who encountered the enemy?"
Irina whipped her head around and looked toward the source of the noise. Unfortunately, the three of them were not in a particularly good vantage point. At most, they could only see the cloud of dust rising in the distance.
But...
"Since the enemy has already begun making their move, won't we be attacked soon as well?"
Their leader had already warned them that powerful fallen angels were definitely hiding here, but they still had no idea where those fallen angels were concealed.
If they were lurking in the shadows and waiting to launch a surprise attack, the danger they posed would multiply severalfold!
"As I thought, we should regroup with the leader as soon as possible. I absolutely refuse to be captured by fallen angels!"
"Mm, understood!"
"M-Me too!"
After hearing Irina's reasoning, Xenovia and Asia immediately agreed.
There was nothing strange about that. Among the three of them, Irina was effectively the squad leader and also the smartest...
"Good. Then the three of us will..."
Just as Irina was about to lead the others away and regroup with the rest of the team, an icy voice came from nearby, instantly sending cold sweat down all three girls' faces.
"None of you are leaving this place!"
As the voice fell, the three of them could clearly sense the surrounding environment changing.
It was obviously noon. The sun had still been shining in the sky just moments ago, but now...
Why has it become as dark as night?
Have we fallen into a trap?
As the atmosphere around them changed, Asia and the other two slowly turned their heads toward the source of the voice.
A pitch-black figure stood within the shadow of a house. Everything about him was utterly black.
Jet-black hair, jet-black clothes, and a pair of pitch-black wings extending from his back!
"Wings... Four of them?"
A four-winged fallen angel?
The two swordswomen immediately assumed combat stances and drew their blades, pointing them at the fallen angel.
Even so, it did nothing to put them at ease...
That was a four-winged fallen angel!
The three of them were definitely no match for him!
Although they possessed a Holy Sword and the Sword of the King, they were currently incapable of drawing out the full power of either weapon. Defeating the enemy before them was nothing more than a fantasy.
"This is a barrier-type Sacred Gear bestowed upon me by that lord. With it, none of you Church dogs will escape this place!"
Standing before the three beautiful girls, the fallen angel spread his arms wide and laughed without the slightest concern for appearances.
"I don't know why the Governor-General previously ordered us not to kill anyone from the Church, but..."
"No one will ever find out what happened here, will they?"
What stood before the three girls was unquestionably the very evil the Church had always sworn to eradicate.
"What do we do?" Xenovia lowered her gaze and glanced at Irina beside her. "Is fighting our only option?"
"I wish I could say it wasn't, but..." Irina also stared tensely at the fallen angel in the distance. In the end, she gritted her teeth. "Yeah. It really is our only choice!"
"Asia, we're leaving the healing to you!"
"Leave it to me!" Although she was still incredibly nervous inside, under these circumstances, Asia could only agree. She had to agree.
"Xenovia, let's go!"
The two Holy Sword wielders immediately charged toward the four-winged fallen angel before them. The battle was on the verge of erupting.
...
"Cough, cough!"
"What troublesome opponents!"
The priest leading the group stared at the enemies surrounding him and his six team members, his expression extremely grim.
There are actually three more fallen angels here?
Although they were only two-winged fallen angels, they were still fallen angels!
And worse...
The leader glanced behind him. All six people had been injured. Although none of their wounds were fatal, participating in the battle was now impossible for them.
"Give up your resistance. We'll be sure to treat you well, Church dogs!"
"I've always wanted to know what a nun tastes like."
"Why are you still talking? Hurry up and finish them off!"
The three fallen angels constantly spewed filthy words, trying to disturb their opponents' composure.
The leader naturally would not be shaken by such taunts, but the team members under him were another matter. No matter how one looked at it, they were still fledgling rookies. If they could respond flawlessly to every situation, they would already be elite warriors of the Church. Why would they need to come here for training?
This situation is getting troublesome...
The leader glared coldly at the three fallen angels.
Since he had been entrusted with bringing so many young people here to train, his own strength was naturally nothing to scoff at. Even against a higher-ranking fallen angel, he was confident he could win.
The problem was...
These fallen angels seemed to know his weakness. They never chose to confront him directly.
Even when he managed to corner one of them, the other two would immediately attack the young people behind him, forcing him to protect them and lose his chance to kill the fallen angels.
I have defensive and teleportation formations on me. If we encounter a powerful enemy, I can immediately find an opportunity to escape.
But... that is precisely where the problem lies.
The leader's gaze sharpened as he began examining his surroundings, or rather, searching for the figures of three specific people...
That was right. Aside from him, there were only six people here. Three others had disappeared without a trace!
Xenovia, Irina, and Asia!
Where did those three go?
Could there be far more than three fallen angels here?
If everyone isn't gathered together, the teleportation formation will leave them behind!
"If you're looking for those pretty women, I'd advise you to give up!"
Perhaps noticing the priest's wandering gaze, one of the fallen angels slowly curled his lips into a grin.
"Our captain dragged those three into his barrier long ago. You'll never find them!"
"How does this feeling of helplessness taste? Aren't you completely desperate?"
"Put down your weapon and obediently do as we say. We might consider sparing your lives."
"Hahaha!"
The moment he finished speaking, loud laughter erupted from the side. The three fallen angels clearly had no intention of putting on an act. They had directly revealed all their information for one purpose alone—to plunge these people into despair... and then kill them!
Is this... really how it ends?
Yet at that moment, the leader felt as though something had blocked his vision.
"Reinforcements?"
He raised his head, only to be met by the blinding sunlight. Left with no choice, he lifted a hand to shield his eyes.
Then his expression changed completely.
The figure blocking the sunlight was indeed a humanoid with wings...
But those wings were not white!
And there were... so many of them that the sight was almost dazzling!
"It seems I've arrived at a bad time?"