"Stop it right now!"
Seeing that Artoria was about to finish off Raphael, the other Angels of the Seven Virtues panicked. Even if they wanted to go to the rescue, their opponents in front of them were not ones to be trifled with. Especially when the Seven Deadly Sins saw Artoria's results, they were all as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, tightly pinning down the Virtues' rescue attempts. This undoubtedly made the Virtues' emotions even more frantic. Raphael had been defeated and was about to be killed, and Gabriel had also been injured. Although she looked much better than Raphael, she wasn't much better off. If Raphael died, Gabriel would likely be next. As the leader of the God's Legion, Michael couldn't help but shout out as she saw her subordinate and friend about to die.
"How could I stop? You were the ones who started this battle, so be prepared to fall at any time, Michael."
At this moment, a contemptuous smile appeared on Pride's face. She finally saw this woman's expression change. Whenever she met and fought this person before, she always looked calm and composed, as if she didn't care about her opponent. Now, she had finally torn off that mask of composure. Pride felt as refreshed as if she had eaten a cold popsicle on a scorching summer day, and she even felt a bit of smugness. Her words caused Michael's expression to change, acknowledging Pride's statement. Holy light surged from her body in large quantities; she seemed prepared to stop holding back and wanted to end the battle quickly.
"Kill me."
Raphael, whom the Virtues were worried about, was actually the calmest one. She looked peacefully at Artoria, who was slowly walking toward her, wiped the residual blood from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were very tranquil. She was the one with the best resolve among all the Virtues, and also the most knowledgeable. She knew the truth summarized by a human: 'He who kills shall be killed.' They had already stepped onto this road of no return, so they had to bear the consequences. She didn't regret it because she had prepared herself long ago. Although she was curious about Artoria, this massive dark horse, it seemed the other party wouldn't explain her origins. With a smile of relief and liberation on her face, Raphael closed her eyes and waited for Death to come.
"Who said I was going to kill you?"
Looking at Raphael with her eyes closed, Artoria marveled at how these Angels were better 'actors' than the last, being so convincing that she didn't even know what to say. Had they really not noticed until now that Artoria hadn't fought with a hint of killing intent? Thinking about being misunderstood as a murderous demon made Artoria a bit unhappy. Were these Angels starting to play the victim because they couldn't win? Artoria reached out and patted Raphael's soft, fair cheek. Although it was a bit dusty, it didn't affect the elasticity and feel. After marveling at the feel of the cheek, Artoria spoke to Raphael helplessly.
"Eh!?"
The expected Death didn't arrive; instead, the words in her ear and the sensation on her face made her unable to resist opening her eyes. She looked doubtfully at the figure in front of her, who was entirely encased in heavy armor. In a battle between races, there was no right or wrong, nor was there such a thing as mercy; as long as there was a plan, eliminating the opponent was the most correct choice. But she hadn't expected this enemy not to kill her. What was going on? She had never heard of a demon showing mercy to an Angel, or an Angel going easy on a demon. While she was confused, Artoria opened the visor of her helmet, revealing that cold and beautiful face.
"Do you Angels still have some moves you haven't tried yet?"
Artoria looked down at Raphael and questioned her. This matter was definitely not that simple. Through Lilith, she had learned that Heaven and Hell had not had a conflict for over a thousand years. If it was about accumulating power, the strengths of Heaven and Hell were actually similar. Artoria put herself in their shoes; if she were in Heaven's position and initiated a battle under such similar strength conditions, it would definitely result in mutual destruction, with no one gaining anything. There was only one possibility: something had appeared to break the stalemate. Heaven's side should be able to partially or completely control the change. From the first moment she saw Michael, Artoria knew she was the very cautious type. Seeing her initiate an attack like this, Artoria guessed that Heaven must have a trump card; otherwise, they wouldn't have deployed all of their high-level combatants.
"I won't say."
With one sword strike, she knocked away Gabriel, who was trying to attack her. Artoria pointed the demonic sword at Raphael. She wanted to know Heaven's trump card, but Raphael just smiled slightly, closed her eyes, and spoke calmly. This stubborn attitude made Artoria frown. Since Raphael was like this, it meant Heaven did indeed have a trump card. This made Artoria feel unusually troubled and pressured, even a bit anxious. The most uncomfortable thing is the unknown; in the face of the unknown, people easily develop a fear of the future.
The reason why transmigrators often become arrogant after crossing over is because they are very knowledgeable about the future. Their status as a prophet gives them an unusually high posture. Artoria had also experienced this situation, but she restrained herself and never made a scene, only quietly changing things. Now, Artoria's foresight was completely useless in this world, and she was even embroiled in such a troublesome battle. Especially Raphael's 'I'd rather die than tell you' attitude left Artoria in a stalemate. She didn't want to kill Raphael, otherwise she would have done so long ago.
Clang~!
Just as Artoria was considering whether to give Raphael a sword strike to let her understand how uncomfortable pain could be, a sense of crisis suddenly came from her intuition. Artoria turned to meet the attack. The collision between weapons caused the black earth beneath Artoria's feet to sink half a meter. Artoria looked at the person who had ambushed her; it was Michael. Pride didn't seem to have caught up with Michael's speed, her face clearly showing surprise and tension. Artoria glanced at Pride, then looked at Michael, who was competing in strength with her. With a surge of power, she swatted Michael aside.
"Sneak attacks aren't a good habit, Archangel Michael."
Artoria spoke slowly as she watched Michael recover. But Michael didn't reply to Artoria—not because she didn't want to, but because Pride had already flown in front of her. Pride seemed very angry because of Michael's attitude. This time, she used her full power without reservation, each strike more vicious than the last, vowing to cut Michael into pieces. It made sense; a Lord of Hell, especially the one ranked first among the lords, with undeniable strength and charisma, had actually been ignored. Pride's lungs were about to burst with rage at this moment.
"What kind of scheme is your Heaven playing? If you don't speak, I'll kill you."
Michael's sneak attack gave Gabriel an opportunity to fly up with Raphael. The holy light on her hands shone as she treated Raphael. Seeing this, Artoria didn't stop her. She no longer intended to hold back; if they wanted to die, she would fulfill Raphael and Gabriel's wish, but she wanted to get the information she needed first. If it really came down to it, she didn't actually want to use the power of the Infinity Stones. If she used them, Raphael would either become a brain-dead vegetable or her soul would be directly scattered. This was no joke; she wasn't particularly skilled in using the Soul Stone yet, and damaging the soul was a certainty.
"What's going on?"
Just as Artoria was preparing to step forward and use the Infinity Stones, the entire Hell began to shake violently. It seemed like an earthquake, but Artoria knew it wasn't, because her intuition told her that space seemed to be undergoing a drastic change, twisting and compressing. Artoria looked up at the rift in the sky; it seemed something else hadn't come out yet. The Great Sins uneasily fended off the Virtues' attacks while looking at the rift in the sky. This was clearly Heaven's doing. Gabriel, who was still treating Raphael, looked toward the rift with devotion, as if welcoming the arrival of some great figure. Artoria saw this behavior—could it be that that person was coming to Hell?
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