A pitch-black shadow blocked everyone's view, causing them all to look up.
But the moment they saw what it was, the expressions of everyone present, including the fallen angels, changed completely.
Of course, the two sides reacted in entirely different ways.
The humans fell into utter despair, while the fallen angels were overcome with wild delight.
Because the newcomer possessed twelve pitch-black wings!
Among all fallen angels, only one had twelve wings!
The Governor-General of the fallen angels, Azazel!
"Why?"
"Why would Azazel, the Governor-General of the fallen angels, appear here?"
The leading priest's expression also turned exceptionally grim. Although he had guessed there were fallen angels here, he had never expected even their leader to show up.
Hadn't they merely come here to eliminate a few low-class devils? Why had the fallen angels gotten involved? And why was Azazel, the Governor-General of the fallen angels, here as well?
Could it be...
The fallen angels have already joined forces with the devils?
Countless thoughts flashed through the priest's mind, but he slapped himself hard across the face.
"Now isn't the time to think about that!"
Their enemy was the mighty Governor-General of the fallen angels, a powerhouse whose name appeared in mythology!
He was not an opponent mere humans like them could possibly handle.
If they did not make a decision quickly, they would very likely all die here!
"It seems I've arrived at a bad time?"
Azazel descended from the sky with a smile. His gaze first swept over the three fallen angels nearby before turning toward the seven members of the Church surrounded by them.
Azazel sensed an extremely familiar presence from their bodies...
There could be no mistake. Most of these people were Sacred Gear possessors, genuine pillars of the Church's next generation!
"Are all the Church members here?" To prevent any unforeseen complications, Azazel questioned the three fallen angels.
The three fallen angels exchanged glances before one of them answered Azazel's question. "Governor-General, aside from these seven, three others were pulled into a barrier by Lord Luhart. We don't know the exact situation inside."
Luhart was clearly the name of the four-winged fallen angel.
Pulled into a barrier?
Upon hearing this, the Church priest and Azazel frowned almost simultaneously.
This situation seems rather bad. I need to stop that bastard immediately!
Although Azazel had neglected the management of the fallen angels for years and could not remember every fallen angel's name, Luhart was not one of those he had forgotten.
Since Azazel remembered him, it was obvious that there was something special about the man...
Whether that special trait was good or bad, however, was another matter entirely.
"I remember that bastard... Doesn't he have a particular fondness for torture?"
Fallen angels were called fallen angels precisely because they had fallen!
It was only natural for them to commit evil acts.
This is bad...
After remembering what kind of person Luhart was, Azazel clutched his head in frustration.
Azazel had only allowed people with such peculiar proclivities to participate because he lacked sufficient manpower.
Because of Luhart's special nature, Azazel had deliberately stationed him in a remote location to prevent him from encountering the Church's main force. Yet he had never expected Luhart's luck to be this terrible.
One wrong move, and the entire fallen angel race would suffer an undeserved catastrophe!
"If I don't stop that bastard immediately..."
Those young Church members will probably be tortured to death.
The instant this thought occurred to him, Azazel sprang into action. Extending his senses through the surroundings, he quickly located the barrier.
The moment he discovered it, Azazel directly manipulated a surge of tremendous energy and blasted it toward the barrier's outer shell.
As the strongest fallen angel, Azazel only needed to get slightly serious to shatter a barrier of this level instantly.
However, Azazel's expression did not look particularly good...
"Why do I keep having such a bad feeling... as though something is watching me?"
"Forget it. I can't afford any complications right now. I need to grab those four bastards and get out of here!"
Azazel's attack drew closer and closer to the barrier. Just as it was about to collide with it...
Crack, crack—!
It sounded as though something had shattered.
Azazel noticed that cracks had appeared across the barrier before his attack had even struck it.
What exactly happened inside?
The answer to that question soon appeared before Azazel, because his attack became the final straw that shattered the barrier.
Boom—!
Azazel's attack struck the cracks, and the surrounding space shattered like broken glass, scattering across the ground as the scene inside was revealed to everyone.
"What is this?!"
...
Several minutes earlier.
"Hah... Hah..."
Xenovia panted heavily. Had she not been supporting herself with her Holy Sword, she probably would have collapsed long ago.
"I never expected him to be... this strong."
After the battle just now, Xenovia was already certain that the three of them were no match for him.
But...
Xenovia turned her head slightly, and the sight of Irina and Asia lying on the ground entered her eyes.
"I'm the only one left..."
"That's right. You're the only one left!"
The four-winged fallen angel, or rather Luhart, looked down at Xenovia from above.
"Don't worry. I won't let either you or your companions off easily. Hehehe!"
Hatred and madness filled the fallen angel's expression. Even someone as slow-witted as Xenovia could tell how deeply he hated the Church.
"Even so, I will never submit to you!"
Xenovia pulled her Holy Sword from the ground, rose to her feet once more, and faced Luhart.
The hope gleaming in her eyes had never disappeared.
"Are you certain?"
Luhart merely tilted his head slightly before vanishing from Xenovia's sight.
Before Xenovia could react, however, his figure reappeared, and he was holding something...
"Asia!"
The moment Xenovia saw the person in the fallen angel's grasp, she immediately panicked.
"Are you sure you don't want to submit to me? This little girl is going to die, you know?"
"You damned fallen angel!"
Faced with this situation, Xenovia immediately swung her sword at the fallen angel without the slightest hesitation.
But just as the Holy Sword was about to fall, Asia's face appeared in its path, forcing Xenovia to halt her swing and freeze in place.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
Luhart gave her no opportunity to recover. Taking advantage of that opening, he kicked Xenovia directly in the abdomen and sent her flying far away.
"Well? Still refusing to submit?"
"Otherwise, your little companion is going to disappear forever."