"Who is... that?"
Pride, who was clearing out a patch of Angels with a magic Light Cannon, looked toward the commotion of Artoria flying over. She had felt a powerful presence just now. Turning her head, she happened to see Artoria, wearing heavy armor and holding a black spear, flying over while holding Mili. Seeing that Mili wasn't struggling, Pride wasn't a brainless fool; as long as Mili was fine, her attitude toward the other party should be softened. Perhaps the other party was a friend rather than an enemy. Thinking of this, she turned her gaze back to the rift in the sky. She could feel that Heaven still had a trump card they hadn't used. These piles of fodder were just a prelude for what was to come. Among this crowd of fodder, there were very few four-winged Angels; only two-winged Angels were attacking.
"Your ability is really suited for clearing the field, even more effective than Conqueror's Haki."
Looking at the Angels attacking her, as soon as they got close to Artoria, they instantly fell into a deep sleep. Artoria didn't even need to lift a finger. Even the spears and such thrown at Artoria became lazy under this strange power and fell directly from mid-air to the ground. The Angels fell to the ground and died instantly. Such a powerful field-clearing ability truly felt very useful to Artoria, though it was a bit indiscriminate; for instance, those few demons who accidentally entered the range were also caught in it.
"Conqueror's Haki? Forget it, let me go! I'm not a child."
The unfamiliar term from Artoria's mouth left Mili stunned. Since she had arrived at the battlefield, she intended to fight. Stretching out her two short arms, she tried to push Artoria's hands away, but with her meager strength, it was like tickling in Artoria's eyes. However, to prevent the Little guy from doing anything too drastic, Artoria let go of her body and allowed her to fly by her side so she could protect her.
"Has Heaven gone mad this time? To deploy so many troops."
Watching the two-winged Angels slowly decrease and the four-winged Angels increase, Mili felt that this offensive from Heaven was not simple. It felt like a desperate gamble, a determination to fight Hell to the death. This feeling wasn't just Mili's; the other Great Sins felt it too. Although they were happy that Mili had joined them and was safe, they had no time to worry about her in the face of such a grim situation. Liliths looked at Artoria with a strange gaze. Hadn't she been dead set against joining the battle? Why the sudden change of heart? Glancing at Mili's small, cute figure in the air and then at Artoria guarding her, she suddenly felt that it wasn't her own charm that had weakened, but rather that there was something very 'wrong' with the other's preference. It seemed the saying 'Three years is a profit, the death penalty is not a loss' was truly spoken from the heart.
"Mana Burst."
Facing the stubborn and self-reliant Little guy, Artoria didn't think the child was being willful; instead, she felt the child was quite affectionate. Since she had promised to help, Artoria didn't intend to break her word. Vast, pitch-black mana surged from Artoria's body, instantly clearing the Angels surrounding them within a hundred meters. One by one, the Angels were sent flying by the massive mana like dumplings being tossed into a pot, and the densely packed sky was no longer crowded.
"Where on earth did Sloth find this helper? She's so strong!"
Cleaving an Angel in half, Wrath's weapon was a life-sized battle-axe. The wind pressure generated by her swings blew away the lower-level demons. she looked at Artoria with a competitive gaze; such powerful mana, like a Demon King descending, made all the Great Sins take notice. Wrath really wanted to have a match with Artoria. As a demon, what she loved most was fighting. But now was not the time for sparring. Once the Angel matter was over, she would definitely pay a visit to this powerhouse and compete with her to make herself even stronger.
"I really didn't expect her strength to be this formidable."
Aside from Mili, Liliths knew the most about Artoria, but that was only from when Artoria arrived in her territory. Artoria hadn't shown much strength then, yet Liliths had still noticed her. Now that Artoria was truly using her power, she realized she had hit the jackpot. She also felt lucky she hadn't done anything excessive back then; otherwise, with Artoria's strength, crushing her would have been as easy as crushing an ant. While feeling relieved, Liliths also noticed an abnormality in the rift opened by the Angels.
"Something is coming out. Be on high alert."
Not only did Liliths notice, but the Lord of Gluttony also sensed it. Soon, everyone saw a white light shining from within the rift, looking incredibly dazzling. A hemisphere slowly descended from the rift toward the ground. Everyone was puzzled as to what it was. But Artoria became wary of this thing for no apparent reason; her intuition told her it was extremely dangerous and could even cause her severe injury. Trusting her intuition, Artoria picked up the Little guy and prepared to run, turning back to warn the Great Sins who still didn't know the cause. Although confused, Artoria's reaction prompted them to immediately issue retreat orders. If such a powerful expert was avoiding it, the thing before them was clearly nothing good. These demons were all shrewd and wouldn't be stupid enough to stand still.
"Boom~!"
They retreated very quickly. The white hemispherical object's light began to grow brighter and brighter, like a small sun rising from the ground. Blinding white lightning began to crawl across the object as massive energy radiated out. Artoria's sense of crisis grew stronger; this was no joke. The Seven Deadly Sins and their subordinates had also retreated far away, but now everyone could feel the pressure brought by this object. As the light became more chaotic, more and more energy began to gush out. Upon reaching what seemed to be a critical point, the white object instantly contracted and then released light a hundred times stronger than before. Even Artoria had to close her eyes. A massive explosion rang in their ears, and everyone realized the purpose of this thing. The huge roar and the impact of the energy sent their bodies flying backward uncontrollably.
"With such a weapon, no wonder Heaven is so fearless in wanting to take down Hell. First, use cannon fodder to lure the targets, then release a large-scale destructive skill. Are they treating us like wild mobs to farm experience!"
Holding the Little guy tightly in her arms, Artoria didn't care if the child was smothered into unconsciousness. Once the roaring subsided, Artoria slowly opened her eyes. Although still a bit unadjusted, she felt much better. She hadn't expected that even with Dragon Eyes, she would be blinded by the light. Once her eyes adjusted, Artoria saw a huge, bottomless crater on the ground. All the bodies and dwellings had vanished completely. Seeing the destructive power of this object, Artoria sucked in a breath of cold air, feeling a chill down her spine. If they hadn't retreated, she might not have died, but she certainly would have been heavily injured.
"When did Heaven acquire such a powerful weapon? Is our Hell going to lose this time?"
After the Little guy fainted, Liliths had retreated in the same direction as Artoria. She quickly flew to Artoria's side. Looking at the destruction caused by the white object, she gazed at the rift in the sky with some despair. Anyone could guess Heaven's abnormality and its determination to take down Hell from this attack. But no one had expected Heaven's foundation to be so powerful this time. They had no way of knowing when Heaven had mastered such a balance-breaking weapon, but the current situation truly made one feel despair. If not for Artoria's warning, the Great Sins would have basically all been wiped out here. Thinking of this, Liliths gave Artoria a grateful look.
"The chances of winning this battle aren't high, but we won't make it easy for the Angels either."
Single-minded people recover the fastest. Wrath quickly adjusted her state and commanded her subordinates to reform their offensive formation. Her actions made everyone feel her determination to fight to the death. Artoria couldn't help but look at Wrath; this girl's personality was very much to her liking. During the last Great Sins meeting, she had spoken too little for Artoria to notice, but indeed, one's character shows most clearly in the face of a crisis. Artoria sighed, handed Mili over to Liliths, and decided to do something big.
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