Chapter 408: The

Having mastered the divine skill of "acting cute," Miss Hungry Dragon finally got her wish and went together with Herbert to Radiant Shengcheng.

Herbert's heart is hard as iron (self-proclaimed) — that's true, but it also depends on the situation.

Before Valentina, who had mastered the technique of softening hard drives, even refined steel could be melted into something as pliable as a finger-wrapped silk.

Although back then he had spoken with absolute resolve in front of Valentina, leaving no room for maneuver, in the end Herbert still couldn't truly harden his heart.

Under Valentina's persistent soft-and-hard tactics, he softened… his heart still softened.

Herbert finally agreed to bring Valentina along to Solantis — however, he still raised two conditions.

One of the additional conditions: all actions within Solantis must follow his command, absolutely no impulsive behavior allowed.

Although Valentina had always been obedient after being "successfully tamed," never once misbehaving, Herbert still decided to say the ugly words upfront.

In short, set the rules first — best if nothing happens, but even if something does go wrong in the end, one can say "don't say I didn't warn you."

Whether in work or life, as long as you leave traces and prepare two plans in advance, you're invincible.

You can advance to attack, and retreat to defend.

Compared to Valentina's clinginess, although Fu Leimei was equally reluctant to part with him, she had no intention of stopping Herbert.

In the mermaid Young Lady's view, a hero should not be bound by others — even if the one binding him is herself, that's not allowed.

She calmly accepted the fact that Herbert would be going out, and bestowed her blessing upon him, praying for his safety.

She would wait for her hero to return, as always.

However, this time the wait was slightly different from the past.

Fu Leimei was no longer alone.

She was no longer simply waiting in the Deep Water Prison, singing songs while fiddling with her alchemical long legs.

Now, she could also enter other floors through the "mirror shards" Herbert had sent her.

Apart from being very displeased with the scorching environment of the Lava Hell, she was still quite interested in the other floors.

Not only curious about the floors' environments, she also had considerable interest in those colleagues of hers.

Especially the two in the Lightless Prison, who gave her a natural sense of familiarity — she felt there were some intriguing commonalities between them.

The dark elf was fine, could communicate normally, and was especially quite interested in the alchemical legs she had made.

But when conversing with Sifanni, that vampire subconsciously revealed a faint hostility, as if afraid that she would steal her friend away.

The fallen angel in the Aurora Sanctuary was quite silent — though she wouldn't deliberately drive her away, she rarely responded, only occasionally letting out an "mm" to indicate she was still listening.

The most talkative, however, had to be that mirror demon.

It wasn't that Fu Leimei had never seen a chatterbox, but she had rarely seen a chatterbox with such abundant energy.

Liukaliya gave her the feeling of someone who had been holding it in for hundreds of years, never having a chance to vent, and finally finding an opportunity to release — naturally, she had to talk and talk.

Everyone's tolerance for loneliness is different.

Some things may seem utterly ordinary to others, but to certain people they are completely unacceptable.

Generally speaking, Special Bodies are all very good at enduring loneliness.

A Special Body's fate begins with loneliness from the start, and very likely ends with loneliness as well.

Those imprisoned in solitary cells within the Discipline Hall are not few — Valentina, Fu Leimei, and Luxiel are all such cases.

They each endured hundreds of years of loneliness in their own ways.

But for Liukaliya, the mirror fairy who had witnessed countless people's fates, loneliness was quite hard to bear.

She did indeed keep every recorded reflection within her mirror, as if they were still alive in her mirror world.

Countless false people spoke within Liukaliya's mind, yet she was absolutely clear that they were all fake.

One has to say, this is somewhat ironic.

The noisiest person in her mind is precisely the one most afraid of loneliness.

Liukaliya herself was well aware of this, and Herbert could vaguely see it too.

So before leaving, Herbert had the mirror demon Young Lady give him five mirror shards, which he placed in various floors, essentially helping her open up channels of communication.

After handling these matters, Herbert didn't hesitate any longer, immediately made his decision, and went straight to the Underground Sanctuary to request an audience with the Archbishop.

Yes…

He was going to file a report and submit an application.

Herbert always considered himself a very obedient child.

If he really had to, Herbert could actually pull some tricks to sneak Valentina out for a spin.

After obtaining Liukaliya's mirror teleportation ability, Herbert had already mastered a method to secretly smuggle monster girls out of the Discipline Hall.

As long as he wanted to do it, he could do it.

Then why did Herbert give up on this bold idea?

The reason was simple — because he was afraid!

Sneaking Valentina out for a stroll would be a small matter, but if someone else discovered it and the whole thing came to light, that would be a big matter.

Herbert had absolutely no desire to be settled accounts with by the old man later.

A prison break is no small matter, let alone the fact that Valentina's current strength was vastly different from before.

Smuggling out a prisoner with advanced strength… hearing this description, even Herbert himself had to reflect on what exactly he was trying to do.

Was he really going to be utterly lawless?

Although the old man now appears affable and kind, who knows what kind of abyss lies hidden beneath that benevolent exterior.

Whoever wants to test it, go ahead — Herbert had no desire to face the Archbishop's wrath.

In the end, after weighing it repeatedly and hesitating over and over, Herbert still chose to play it safe and report both matters.

One was the news that Valentina had advanced to become Epic.

The other was the application to bring her along to Radiant Shengcheng.

After "honestly" reporting the matter, Herbert waited anxiously for the Daodazhu Sect's reply.

Either of these two matters was no small thing.

Herbert had no idea what attitude the Daodazhu Sect would take toward the prisoner's advancement — indifferent? Or choosing to suppress her?

If the Daodazhu Sect really were a proper head of the monastery, he would surely attach importance to the phenomenon of "prisoner advancement" and come up with corresponding countermeasures.

Either reinforcing Valentina's cell, or choosing to imprison and suppress her, and guarding the other prisoners strictly to prevent such a thing from ever happening again.

But... Herbert felt the Daodazhu Sect wouldn't do that.

Old Deng was no ordinary person — you couldn't judge him by ordinary standards.

And the Daodazhu Sect's reaction was indeed just as Herbert had imagined — the man truly didn't care.

Possessing strength that transcended everything, the Daodazhu Sect simply didn't care about the prisoners' advancement.

In the Daodazhu Sect's eyes, Valentina had merely gone from being a small fry to a small fry who was slightly stronger.

As long as they couldn't beat him, there was essentially no difference between Legendary and Epic.

So after a brief consideration, the Daodazhu Sect cheerfully accepted Herbert's report and agreed to his request.

The whole process was considerably shorter than Herbert's estimated half hour — from Herbert entering the room and beginning his report to the Daodazhu Sect nodding in agreement, the total time was only five minutes.

After hastily brushing the matter aside, the Daodazhu Sect didn't let Herbert leave either, but instead kept pulling him along, beginning to recount his glorious achievements of years past.

Facing Herbert's expression of wanting to speak but holding back, the Daodazhu Sect waved his hand dismissively.

The dragon advanced to Epic? You want to take her and the other prisoners to the Sun Church?

Sure, no problem!

And then? Anything else?

If besides these trivial matters there's nothing else, then sit down properly and listen to me finish the story I didn't get to last time!

Old Deng declared: What you've said is all trivial — listening to me reminisce about the past (brag) is the real important matter!

So the Daodazhu Sect dragged Herbert along and told stories for a full two hours, from the Dragon-Slaying War to sweeping through the Abyss...

Dragons, devils, demons — listening to one familiar race after another in the story, Herbert's brow kept twitching.

This Old Deng — you wouldn't be using these words to hint at me, would you?

Only after Herbert repeatedly insisted he had to leave did the Daodazhu Sect finally sigh and let him go.

"Go on, go on, go busy yourself. Busy, sigh... being busy is good."

Perhaps feeling that his attitude was indeed a bit too perfunctory and indulgent, the Daodazhu Sect added one more condition before Herbert left.

"Since you want to do it, then go do it. The monastery will tacitly approve your actions and will protect you when necessary."

"As for the others... heh heh."

"Child, take your own resolve, bear the fate of others, shoulder your own responsibility."

"Only by continuing forward under heavy pressure can you truly grow."

To sum it up, the Daodazhu Sect expressed one attitude — do whatever you want to do, but at the same time, he would not provide any additional help.

The Mist Monastery would not offer any explanation or guarantee regarding Valentina and the others' identities; Herbert needed to explain to the Sun Church himself exactly what identities these monster girls had.

And if any problems arose and the Sun Church moved to purify Flora and the others, the Mist Monastery would not intervene either.

The Mist Monastery would only be responsible for Herbert's life; the others were not within the scope of protection.

In other words, Herbert needed to shoulder all the responsibility himself, bearing their lives on his back.

Without a doubt, this would be no small pressure.

After hesitating for two seconds, Herbert gently nodded and bowed to thank the Daodazhu Sect for his care.

Pressure? Responsibility? Fate?

Hadn't he known about such things from the very start?

When had he ever not borne the fate of others?

Resolve?

Herbert had long since possessed it, and had never wavered.

From the moment he became an accomplice with Valentina and the others, Herbert had already taken on their fate.

No, perhaps even earlier.

From the moment Herbert wagered his own fate as chips and reached a consensus with an unknown deity, becoming Tade Alliance, he had already taken on Tade Alliance's fate.

After bidding farewell to the Daodazhu Sect, Herbert left the underground sanctuary.

Mm, same as before, he still hadn't chatted much with the Chief Judge — the moment he opened his mouth, he was dragged away by Bishop Ash.

After some back-and-forth with Ofidia, Herbert finally completed all preparations, and the next day set off with Valentina and the others toward the teleportation array to Solantis.

However, Herbert didn't teleport directly to Solantis — that would mean facing the Sun Church head-on, and Valentina and the others' trouble would erupt immediately.

And since the Daodazhu Sect had already made it clear he wouldn't guarantee them, Herbert had no intention of putting on a bold front by borrowing the monastery's name to bluff his way through.

Relying on pulling a tiger's skin to wave a big flag, using power as a front?

That's the most lowbrow method — Herbert, this high-end talent (self-proclaimed), naturally wouldn't look down to use it.

He had his own way.

Herbert first set the teleportation array's destination to the nearest major city to Radiant Shengcheng, and with the three monster girls changed into special outfits, teleported over under the identity of cultivators.

After arriving, he didn't stop in the city at all, directly leading them out of the city, and once they wouldn't draw attention, quietly boarded Valentina-brand Flying Maiden.

Then, just when the resentful devil Young Lady thought Herbert was going to keep a low profile, he made the most high-profile move possible.

Among countless choices — borrowing momentum, enduring, playing games... — Herbert chose the simplest and most brutal one.

Kill!

Herbert had Valentina reveal her true form, and brazenly swept through the satellite cities around Radiant Shengcheng's perimeter, mercilessly purging all believers and creations of the Nieyu Sect.

He didn't have Valentina hide herself for a sneak attack at all — he completely chose the most arrogant method of fighting.

Since it couldn't be hidden, he might as well just dodge.

Young man, be a little more arrogant!

On that day, the seemingly never-ending battle between the Church of the Sun and the Nieyu Sect was forcibly interrupted by an outside force.

An uninvited guest broke into the battlefield.

A monstrous creature out of legend — a ferocious giant dragon over a hundred meters long — appeared above the battlefield, casting down a vast shadow.

As its twin wings beat, it whipped up a gale, easily shattering the divine creations it brushed past.

The terrifying giant dragon struck fear into every mortal being that laid eyes on it.

The crimson dragon soared freely, raining terrifying dragon breath over every town along its path, taking countless lives.

The believers of the Church of the Sun had no idea what was happening; they could only watch helplessly as the giant dragon, after wiping out Miss Xie Shen's minions, turned and left in style without a word.

The evenly matched grinding battle ended easily with the help of this "ally," and they didn't know whether they should chase after it to give thanks.

But the dragon left too quickly — a hurried departure, just like its hurried arrival.

With no choice, they could only stay where they were, mopping up the fish that had slipped through the net, thoroughly purifying the remaining evil.

These low-ranking warriors were lost in confusion, and the church's high-ups in the Shengcheng — when they first spotted the crimson dragon — wore expressions that weren't much better.

Huh?

What is this thing?

Do we have this among our allies?

Where… did it come from?!?

If the crimson dragon hadn't made it perfectly clear it was friend, not foe, only attacking Miss Xie Shen's minions, they would have lost their composure long ago.

But even so, they were still bewildered, unable to figure out the intruder's identity.

Some of the higher-ups even suspected this was a self-directed performance by the God of Nieyu, thinking it was some kind of self-harm ploy!

Absolutely cannot let their guard down.

Miss Xie Shen is cunning — there's no low they won't stoop to!

The Sun's believers were bewildered, and on the Nieyu believers' side… it was complete blankness.

Who am I? Where am I? What's for dinner tonight?

No, wait!

What's the deal with this dragon?

They had absolutely no idea where the Church of the Sun had found this dragon.

This isn't playing by the rules!

You Sun dogs, you shameless bastards, actually playing dirty!

Actually launching a sneak attack?!?

Although the two churches had faced off for a while and clashed several times in battles big and small, the overall conflict was still in its early stages.

In the current situation, epic-level powerhouses wouldn't step in, and even legendary ones should avoid acting rashly if possible.

Both sides' high-ups had a certain tacit understanding about maintaining this state, neither having any intention of actively escalating the battle's intensity.

No one wanted to watch their own people die in vain — this applied even to the churches of the gods.

The righteous gods were like this, and the evil gods were the same.

This had nothing to do with compassion, nor with "the gods love the world."

The gods' divine kingdoms truly needed new believers' souls to fill the gaps left by fallen heroes, making them the foundation of the entire realm.

But mortal-world rule was equally important!

And that required a large number of living believers to maintain.

If massive numbers of mortal believers died in a short time, then no matter which church it was, it would face enormous pressure.

At any moment, there was the risk of being annexed and devoured by other churches.

Even though the Church of the Sun's power was vast enough, and the Sun God stood at the pinnacle of the gods, they would not lightly give up their precious believers.

The Nieyu Sect was the same.

This was nothing but a farce; it wouldn't be long before it ended hastily.

The Church of the Sun wouldn't stake everything on "purifying evil," and they had no interest in corrupting those idiots whose heads were full of holy light.

…That was what they had firmly believed.

But these beasts of the Church of the Sun had no martial virtue, actually being the first to bring out a strategic-level trump card!

To deceive! To sneak attack!

Look at that hundred-meter body — they actually summoned an epic-level giant dragon.

Does this mean they plan to keep expanding the war?

These lunatics — do they really want to drag the other divine churches into this?

The Nieyu Sect's high-ups likewise didn't act rashly, secretly watching and thinking about how to respond later.

And so, both sides of the conflict kept guessing, not sending out high-end combat forces to back the fight or counterattack.

Thus, a bizarre situation appeared on the battlefield.

The dragon ran wild, frolicking freely across every battlefield, beating Miss Xie Shen's creations into repeated retreat, having the time of its life.

And the instigator of this entire bizarre situation — Colonel Herbert, ace pilot of the Dragon Princess — was still directing Valentina to keep up the output.

"Yes! That's the one! Breathe on it!"

"Hahaha!"

"Damned insects! Let fire purify everything!"

"Hehehehehe—"

Herbert finally understood the joy of dragon knights.

He had never imagined aerial combat could feel this exhilarating!

No fighter craft could possibly compare to the giant dragon flyer — the performance gap was far, far too vast!

Relying on the epic dragon's astonishing maneuverability and terrifying firepower, Herbert simply cut a swath through the battlefield like an unmatched warrior.

However, though he was having a blast, someone present still sensed something was off.

Miss Xie Shen caught a subtle scent from the battlefield's eerie silence, instinctively feeling something was wrong.

After enduring for quite a while, and getting no response even after signaling Flora with her eyes, Kreti finally could not hold back any longer.

"Hey! Herbert!"

The devil's whisper echoed in the dragon knight's ear, hurriedly and somewhat anxiously: "Doing this — aren't you really worried it'll cause problems!!?"

"Hmm?"

Herbert, who had been cackling wickedly, came back to himself, turned to look at Miss Xie Shen with her tightly furrowed brow, raised an eyebrow and laughed: "Haha! What problem could there possibly be? You're being too timid, aren't you?"

"You're intensifying their fighting — it'll trigger an even bigger conflict!" Miss Xie Shen deduced the most likely direction the battle would take.

In her view, Herbert's move was undoubtedly playing with fire in front of a powder keg.

He had shattered the original balance between both sides and steered the battlefield toward a far more dangerous direction.

And once balance was broken, it was very hard to fully restore!

"Oh? So you're concerned about whether they live or die?"

Herbert raised an eyebrow, asking curiously: "My dear Miss Xie Shen, since when did you become so concerned about other people?"

"... Hmph!"

Kreti shot Herbert a look, huffing: "Heh, who cares about them? I'm worried you'll drag me into it!"

"Oh?"

Herbert smiled without a word, stared at Kreti for a while, and once her gaze drifted slightly away, shrugged, smiling: "Then let's just say it's that, hehe."

A devil with a compassionate heart?

How very interesting.

Indeed, every single person inside the Precept Hall is quite the talent.

"Besides, you can rest easy — I've already thought it through, I won't drag you into it."

The moment wasn't right, so Herbert didn't continue teasing, and explained: "There are smart people among them. These self-proclaimed wise types will be extra cautious before acting — they won't make any rash moves until they've thoroughly figured out the situation. We still have time to let loose a while longer."

Cleverness backfires on the clever.

What Herbert wanted to seize was this precious window of opportunity.

Though Herbert thumped his chest and swore nothing would happen, this still failed to convince Kreti.

She shook her head, continuing to whisper: "No, you don't understand. Even granting your argument, the Church of the Gods isn't the problem — but don't forget the existence behind them!"

"Acting like this — aren't you afraid of provoking Miss Xie Shen!!?"

The true danger had never come from the Church of the Gods, but from the gods themselves!

Does the God of Sinful Desire have no temper?

Do you really not fear divine punishment descending upon you?

"Afraid?"

Herbert read Miss Xie Shen's gaze, and instead of fear, smiled — revealing an even more delighted grin — and said slowly: "What are you talking about? So what if we provoke Him?"

... Hmm?

Kreti's mind went blank for a moment, then quickly figured out the meaning behind those words.

It was disrespect toward the gods, contempt for the divine realm — it was... arrogance!

In a mortal body, he looked down upon the gods.

"You, uh, um!?"

But at this moment, more than unease, what filled Kreti's heart was incomprehension.

"You... what good does provoking the gods actually do for you?"

No — why?

No matter how you looked at it, there was nothing to gain from this!

Deliberately making himself a thorn in Miss Xie Shen's side — what meaning could that possibly hold for him?

Could it be that he wanted to use this chance to establish his authority and make a name for himself?

But Kreti also felt that the Herbert she knew was not the kind of Bai Chi hungry for grand achievements — he wouldn't push himself into a pit of fire for a little bit of fame.

The more she understood Herbert, the less she understood him.

"Good?"

Herbert was amused by Kreti's question, winked at her, and said with a teasing smile: "You really think I've done all this just for fun? Or for fame?"

"Hehe."

He shook his head, saying helplessly: "You're looking down on me too much here. Am I that kind of person?"

Nie Nasha: 【"Mm, I think you are."】

Herbert ignored the slanderous god's defamation in his ear, his expression unchanged, and let his gaze sweep across the quiet succubus's face — though Flora didn't understand, she chose to trust Herbert and had remained silent all along.

Very good.

Herbert nodded inwardly, then looked into Miss Xie Shen's eyes, which were full of incomprehension, and gave her a light smile: "I'm doing all this, of course, for your sake."

"For our sake?"

"Of course — for your sake."

Herbert stood up on the dragon's massive back as if it were flat ground, walked slowly toward Miss Xie Shen, and spread his arms wide toward her.

"To let you enter Solantis openly and honorably, I put in a great deal of effort!"

"Are we stirring up trouble? Are we wantonly creating killing karma?"

He raised his hand, caught half a chunk of a winged serpent's corpse flying past his side, and shook it: "Is this a corpse?"

"No! It's not."

"This is your pass to the Radiant Shengcheng, the reason you will not be judged."

A pass? A reason?

Wait?

Judged!!?

"Ah! You mean…"

Kreti's eyes went wide. She suddenly understood Herbert's idea, swallowed, and said with difficulty: "They—are the sins upon us?"

*Snap. *

Herbert snapped his fingers and nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, looks like you really understood."

And this was the true core of Herbert's solution—refresh the kill count!

Don't you all carry the sin of "taking the lives of others"?

Since that karmic burden cannot be cleansed in the short term, then simply… don't cleanse it.

Herbert not only did not need them to cleanse their sins, he instead had Valentina commit even greater killing karma.

Members of the Sun Church, watch closely!

Right before your eyes, I have committed a killing karma called "justice."

Well?

Is this still a sin?

I hacked my way from the South Heavenly Gate to Penglai East Road, hacking for three days and three nights without even blinking!

If you won't praise me as a bold warrior for my fine skill, are you really going to ask whether my eyes are dry?

Dry your mother's dry!

We did not kill because we love slaughter, but to answer your summons and come fight bathed in blood!

An ancient sage who has seen many hearts, Bigg·West·Kenn, once spoke a famous saying—Kill kill kill kill kill kill!

As long as you kill enough, everything ceases to be a problem.

Need to painstakingly crush them one by one?

Not that complicated—just a dragon breath to scour the land and it's done!

Blazing fire devours all filth, holy light purifies every sin.

The weak cannot withstand the dragon breath and turn to ash on the spot.

The stronger ones, even if they barely withstand the dragon breath, will have their strength sharply reduced and can be harvested by the Sun believers.

And everyone present is Herbert's witness.

Witnessing this brutal slaughter carried out "in the name of justice."

……

……

Solantis, the central Gao Ta.

The Sun Church's higher-ups discussed on and on without end.

"Everyone, where on earth did that giant dragon come from? Don't you have even a scrap of news?"

"I don't know either!"

"No record can be found! The only similar record is from several hundred years ago—a giant dragon with crimson wings destroyed an evil city-state that was secretly harboring a Miss Xie Shen church within."

"And after that?"

"Nothing. After that the giant dragon vanished completely—probably went off somewhere to sleep. It's perfectly normal for those fellows to sleep for several hundred years at a stretch."

"Also, the strength doesn't match. That dragon was probably only Legendary-rank; this one is an Epic with deep foundations—it's probably been advancing toward Epic for over a thousand years."

After discussing for a while, the crowd returned to the original topic—how exactly should we treat it?

"Are we really going to prepare to awaken the Blazing Sun Dragon Spear?"

"If it approaches the Shengcheng, should we follow usual custom and shoot it down directly? Or warn it first?"

"That seems a bit improper, doesn't it? After all, it is fighting the Miss Xie Shen church alongside us."

"But that is the rule."

"This…"

Although that giant dragon had destroyed many of the Sin-Lust God's minions and boosted their morale, the other party had shown no intention of communicating with them, leaving its exact attitude unclear.

"Everyone, there's no need to discuss further…it has already come."

Suddenly, one of the Weizhu Sect spoke up, and the rest finally noticed the change—the giant dragon that had been circling the surrounding towns had now altered its course and was charging straight toward the Shengcheng.

It had come.

And fast!

That distance of over a hundred li meant nothing before the giant dragon's wings.

It was like a blood-colored meteor, its wings slicing across the sky as it charged straight at the Shengcheng.

Boom—

And as that colossal creature drew closer, the atmosphere inside the Gao Ta grew increasingly tense.

They weren't worried about its strength—the Shengcheng could still accommodate an Epic giant dragon.

They were worried it might accidentally violate a taboo, turning what had been a friend into a foe.

The central district of Radiant Shengcheng prohibits flight; no one may fly above the Temple of Solantis.

But even other gods would show the Sun God respect, not walking above the heavens, and would descend to the ground as they approached the Shengcheng.

Yet at this moment… the crimson giant shadow charging in with a violent momentum seemed to have no intention of stopping.

Five thousand meters.

Three thousand meters.

Two thousand meters.

One thousand meters.

Closer and closer, closer and closer!

The final five hundred meters arrived in an instant!

"Prepare!"

And just as everyone thought the giant dragon was about to charge in disrespectfully, already forced to counterattack — the giant dragon suddenly made a sharp turn.

The crimson giant dragon displayed a maneuverability that didn't match its massive size; with a sudden beat of its wings, it instantly changed its direction!

At a right angle upward, it shot high into the sky, rushing toward the blazing sun hanging on high.

At the same moment, just as the dragon flew upward, a figure quietly dropped from its back.

That figure appeared without a sound, yet possessed an extremely strong presence.

No words were needed.

No need to speak.

The moment that slender figure appeared, it had already drawn everyone's gaze.

The figure draped in crimson, with crimson wings spread behind, was reflected in the eyes of all the Sun God's believers.

He floated quietly in midair, his head slightly lowered, seemingly gazing down at this heavenly kingdom on earth.

And in the Shengcheng, no one knew who spoke first.

A puzzled exclamation slipped out like a sleep-murmur.

"The Lord's angel…"

Angel?

Angel!!!

The next instant, the entire city erupted!

(End of this chapter)