Sparks scattered in the air . Two des shed both chipping away at each other .


    “You’re not half bad!”


    “Thank you so much!”


    The battle between Fagall and Namsaar, which started before Luxuria and Avaritia’s, was continuing, in favor of Namsaar – as controlled by Avaritia’s copy .


    The room’s interior was almost unrecognizable because of the fighting .


    “Why don’t you use your full power? Are you still ying around?”


    Either he decided to only use a certain extent of power or something was limiting him . Fagall couldn’t tell by Namsaar’s slight changes in expression, but fully focused on it .


    “Defeat me and I’ll tell you . ”


    The thrust longsword was redirected by Fagall’s twin swords . Namsaar was superior to Fagall in terms of muscr power, so shing against him head on was not a smart strategy .


    Fagall considered his options . He wanted to stop Avaritia and Luxuria from fighting, but he couldn’t leave Namsaar unchecked . It was especially dangerous if his aim was the king .


    There were also other workers and soldiers in the pce . Even if he was at a disadvantage, he couldn’t simply ditch them and run .


    “It really doesn’t feel like someone else is controlling you . ”


    The swordy was just like Namsaar’s . Fagall had asked why his opponent didn’te at him with his full power, but if he had from the start, Fagall’s situation would be in a much worse now .


    The longsword, deflected by Fagall’s twin des, stopped and abruptly changed direction to a horizontal sh .


    Fagall jumped in the direction of the sh and put some distance between himself and his opponent .


    “That’s a nasty weapon you got there . ”


    “We knew that a devil wasing . We had to be prepared this much . ”


    A kind of ck smoke rose from Namsaar’s longsword, from the part that had shed against Fagall’s twin swords .


    The des Fagall was equipped with were the twin swords 『Regulus』 . They had anti-devil attributes, of course .


    He had received them from Schnee when she hade to the pce to train the soldiers . Without them, the situation would surely be much worse .


    “You and that woman too, you’re a pain in the ass with your weapons…”


    Namsaar, controlled by Avaritia, was superior in terms of fighting prowess, but Fagall had better weapons .


    Fagall thanked Shin mentally and went on the offensive .


    The right 『Regulus』 was imbued with lightning, the left 『Regulus』 with mes .


    Fagall used a different skill for each sword . It was the first and foremost advantage in using a two-sword fighting style .


    Fagall swung the thunder-d 『Regulus』 first .


    Namsaar would recover quickly thanks to the devil’s power, but his movements would at least slow down .


    He would either deflect the attack with his longsword or dodge it . So Fagall predicted, but things went differently this time . Namsaar, against all expectations, grabbed 『Regulus』 with his left hand .


    “Wow, this sure packs a punch!”


    The thunder attack ran across Namsaar’s whole body and slowed down his movements .


    The gauntlet covered hand that caught 『Regulus』 emitted a sizzling sound, like water poured over melting iron . The grasp on the de was still firm, though .


    “You, bastard!?”


    “It’s too early to stop, man . ”


    Fagall’s hesitation was punished by Namsaar’s longsword . The former managed to intercept the sh with his other sword, so he avoided being cut in half .


    He couldn’t fully block the longsword with just one of his swords, however: the left 『Regulus』 was blown away and Fagall was shoved against a wall, moaning in pain .


    “Looks like it’s time for the coup de grace . You’ve dyed me long enough . ”


    “I got to say…I’m honored to be considered so important…”


    Fagall wondered why he received such “special treatment”, then thought: at least Sherlene was free to act .


    Namsaar’s words, however, made him realize that he was wrong .


    “I’ve already dealt with her . You people would be ready to sacrifice few to save many…I can’t stop you like I did with the other guy . Besides, you’re still worth using . ”


    Namsaar readied his longsword .


    “… . I see, that’s why you’re not concerned with Lady Sherlene then…”


    Fagall let out a very faint whisper . The tone of his voice had changed .


    In the blink of an eye -a speed that could not be described any other way- Fagall moved .


    His twin swords drew two arcs in the air . One deflected Namsaar’s longsword, the other aimed for his neck .


    “Sheesh, that was close!”


    Namsaar touched the fresh wound . 『Regulus』 had undoubtedly reached his neck .


    However, Namsaar didn’t just let himself be attacked . He had twisted his body in order to limit damage to the smallest possible area .


    His neck had been sliced up to the carotid, but his magic power quickly stopped the blood loss .


    “Never seen such a technique . You didn’t even tell yourrades? You lonely bastard . ”


    Fagall’s speed was much higher than before: it was obvious for Namsaar to be wary .


    Fagall didn’t answer . He used Namsaar’s wariness to draw a deep breath .


    “!!”


    The knight then moved again . A lightning quick technique,sting a fraction of a second .


    If Avaritia wasn’t in control of his body, Namsaar’s head would be rolling on the ground .


    “Tch, you’re pretty damn fast now . ”


    Namsaar’s defense couldn’t keep up with Fagall’s speed . However, he wasn’t defeated since he avoided lethal wounds and recovered at insane speeds .


    Fagall couldn’t inflict lethal wounds, while Namsaar couldn’t keep up with his speed . Their bout continued, with neither able to break the stalemate .


    However, the first to reach his limits, was Fagall .


    Gradually, the wounds he inflicted on Namsaar were shallower and shallower, fewer and fewer . In the end he stopped, breathing heavily .


    “I see, you’ve been using your own lifeforce, reckless fool . ”


    Namsaar understood thanks to his own draining abilities . Fagall was attacking one-sidedly, but losing strength in the process .


    Fagall had used the support skill 【Overboost】 . It was a skill born from one Shin had used in the past, which provided better boosts than normal support skills, at the cost of one’s HP .


    Naturally, if used for a long time it would corner the user before the opponent .


    “Too bad you had to fight me . I guess you would have defeated anyone else with that . ”


    “…… . . ”


    Fagall didn’t answer . He was severely fatigued and had no way to recover .


    Namsaar continued talking before his weakened opponent, taunting him to try to do anything .


    “Why work so hard? Your hero buddy isn’ting to save you . You should have turned tail a long ass time ago!”


    “Too…bad…I can’t…do that…”


    Fagall felt like that was a possibility too, but he bit his lips to seal his weakness inside .


    He remembered what his subordinates said when they saw the royal soldiers, under the influence of mental skills .


    “Ifdy Sherlene cannot fight, then I must stand…”


    “You? You’re weaker than her . What can you do?”


    In terms of stats, Sherlene was superior to Fagall .


    Fagall himself was aware that, even if they wereuded as the two heroes, there was a gap in strength between them .


    “That’s easy…I…swore an oath . ”


    What was that worth, though? If one was weak, they should let the strong handle everything .


    That wasn’t the point, though . That was wrong, thought Fagall .


    “I have taken upon the sword to protect this country . Even if I am weaker, I am still its hero . I shall stand in the way of those who threaten my country, till I draw myst breath!”


    Before finishing the sentence, Fagall activated a skill and attacked .


    His HP was already in the red . If he didn’t change strategy, his HP would reach zero in a matter of minutes .


    He would either stop right before dying or just die . Fagall never tried before, so he didn’t know if it would work . In any case, he wouldn’t stop . He was ready to bring down his enemy with him .


    He could only pray that Shin and the others somehow stopped Avaritia’s main body . That was his only regret .


    “OOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!!”


    Fagall’s roar shook the very air in the room . His sh was even faster, even sharper, s it attacked Namsaar .


    “Guess I’ve got to get serious too . ”


    Seconds before the sh hit, Avaritia released his power . He had held back in order to keep using Namsaar, but if his enemy was going to self-destruct, he didn’t need to anymore .


    Namsaar’s body, with stats already equal to a hero, was further boosted by the devil’s power . Its movements even Fagall, who was consuming his own lifeforce to power himself up .


    Fagall’s shes were all blocked by Namsaar’s longsword, now fully d in ck mist . Not only that, the devil-controlled captain of the guards even aimed to strike a counter .


    Fagall wouldn’t have been able to dodge or even defend himself against Namsaar’s new speed if he hadn’t reinforced himself .


    “Just give up, you’ll feel much better . ”


    “I refuse!!”


    As he spoke, Fagall instinctively felt that the next attack would be hisst, and focused everyst ounce of his strength into it .


    “That’s a damn shame . ”


    His right de cut into Namsaar’s left side, while the left one shed him from the shoulder towards the chest .


    He failed to cut himpletely, however, because of Namsaar’s resilience and the protection provided by his armor .


    The sizzling sound of burning flesh rose from the wounds: 『Regulus』 managed to damage Namsaar’s body, but it was far from being lethal . The body was Namsaar’s, but the recovery speed was Avaritia’s . The wounds would bepletely healed soon after the swords were removed .


    “………”


    Fagall’s hands released his swords . He was not dead, but he did not have the strength to even stand anymore .


    Namsaar extended a hand towards the falling Fagall . Thetter’s life was almost spent: with the devil’s powers, it would be simple to turn him into a puppet .


    “!!!”


    Just before he could touch Fagall, Namsaar readied his sword again . The next instant, a spear emitting blinding light flew in from outside the room .


    “What the!?”


    Namsaar knocked away the spear, but the impact pushed his back to the window .


    “Looks like I barely made it . ”


    Sherlene caught the deflected spear and prepared to defend Fagall from Namsaar .


    “What the, how the hell did you regain your senses?…Ahh, no need to answer, I got it . ”


    Looking at Sherlene’s spear was enough to know the answer . The sacred aura emitted by the holy spear 『Guildern』 was clearly felt by those in the room .


    Just like Fagall’s 『Regulus』, it wasn’t just a powerful weapon .


    “Well, let’s see how long you canst, with that weight on your shoulders and all!”


    Sherlene parried Namsaar’s longsword with the hilt of her spear . He was still at full power, so a single blow was enough to force Sherlene to her knees . Fagall’s twin 『Regulus』 swords were still lodged in Namsaar’s shoulder and stomach, but there was no blood .


    “You had to dodge that, so the weight would be gone too . Or do you want to finish him off yourself? I can wait that long, go ahead . ”


    “You’re a pretty chatty fellow . ”


    Sherlene’s expression clearly showed how dire the situation was . She had used a recovery potion on Fagall without being noticed, but maybe because he had pushed his body to the limits with the power-up skill, his limbs couldn’t move yet .


    “I didn’t want to kill you off, but I guess I have no choice . ”


    Namsaar’s longsword pushed against 『Guildern』 . Even if the spear was a superior weapon, Namsaar’s own stats were higher . The jet ck sword was closer and closer to Sherlene’s face .


    “In the end you just bought some time . Why did you even attack at that timing?”


    “Just say, whatever . ”


    The de and hilt grinded against each other . It was just a matter of time—anyone would say so, but the next moment, they all felt something burst out: it struck Fagall, Sherlene and Namsaar too .


    There was no sound, but all of them felt “something” propagated throughout Erkunt .


    “What the…? Gah…GHAAAAAHHHH!!!”


    When this “something” passed through Fagall and Sherlene and reached Namsaar, the situationpletely changed . Namsaar, who was pressuring Sherlene, started screaming in pain .


    Fagall, who barely managed to stand back up, saw ck mist rising from the wounds his 『Regulus』 had inflicted on Namsaar’s body, leaking at a very high speed .


    Soon enough, the ck mist formed a sort of ck puddle next to Namsaar’s body .


    “What in the world . . ?”


    “I don’t know . But whatever just passed through our bodies seems to be on our side . ”


    Fagall walked next to Sherlene . He was feeling much better all of a sudden . Looking at the progressively disappearing mist, he felt that the devil’s power was fading away .


    Namsaar’s armor and longsword were gradually returning to normal too . Soon after, the mistpletely disappeared from Namsaar’s body . The 『Regulus』 des fell on their own, leaving no wounds behind . Namsaar’s body copsed to the floor, unscathed but powerless .


    “WhAt . . DId…yOu…”


    The mass of ck mist forced out of Namsaar’s body spoke . The two heroes did not know what it was, but readied their weapons nheless .


    They did not reply . Without a word, Sherlene thrust 『Guildern』and Fagall swung 『Regulus』 .


    The shapeless mist reduced in mass after every blow, as if blown away by the wind . The area struck by the weapons disappeared along its surroundings, so it did not take much time until the mistpletely vanished .


    “Is it…over?”


    “Possibly . Sir Namsaar’s body seems to be healed too . This time we’re always getting rescued, aren’t we…”


    Sherlene replied to a sigh to Fagall, their nerves finally rxed .


    The threat wasn’tpletely gone, but they were confident that the end was near .


    ◆◆◆◆


    The people under the devil’s influence were all freed . Shin received this message just as Luxuria had been swallowed by the 【Lifedrain Sludge】 .


    “!!!”


    The moment he understood Hmee’s message, Shin kicked the ground with all his might .


    The cocoon had already formed . Though he didn’t know how devils absorbed each other, he had no intention of giving up .


    Shin passed by Avaritia with one step and leapt towards Luxuria with the second .


    “I hope it’s not toote…haaaAAAAh!!”


    『The Ark』 sliced through the cocoon, which put up little to no resistance .


    Shin’s momentum made himnd behind Luxuria . The following instant, an explosion of light burst behind him .


    “What the!?”


    Shin got back on his feet, turned around and saw light seeping out of the cocoon . He also saw Avaritia, his arms crossed to protect his body, being pushed back . The light from the cocoon was burning his whole body .


    “The cocoon is breaking down?”


    Cracks extended all over the cocoon from the gash cut open by Shin .


    Dozens of secondster, the cocoon crumbled . Luxuria’s silhouette, as it was before the fight, was nowhere to be seen .


    “That’s…”


    Luxuria was there, but in human form . However, she was much different than what Shin remembered .


    Luxuria, floating inside white light, was wrapped in white bandages, shining as strongly as the light . A bright halo was even shining behind her .


    The shining halo was projecting a kind of pattern, as tall as Luxuria was . There were 4 of such patterns on her right and 4 on her left, looking just like wings .


    “Is that really…Luxuria?”


    The moment she appeared, a wave-like “something” expanded in the surroundings . It passed through Shin’s body, but he didn’t feel anything .


    The only one affected seemed to be Avaritia .


    “GWAAAAAHHHHHH!?!”


    Avaritia’s whole body distorted and contorted . He had to be in indescribable pain .


    “Who knew something like this could happen…”


    Pale blue and white light shone from Luxuria’s hands, the same color as her wings . She shot repeatedly spears of light, which stabbed Avaritia’s body, still in the throes of pain, openingrge holes in it .


    “Y . . yoU…thAt’s…”


    “Do you even need to ask? Any devil could tell . I was really surprised too, though . ”


    “A deVIl…tuRnIng inTo an AngEl…? GivE…me . . a…fUc…”


    Avaritia’s body then vanished into smoke . What remained was just the 『Drop of Avaritia』, proof of his defeat .


    Shin was confused by the sudden development, and Luxuria looked at him, chuckling .


    “Oh my, did I scare you?”


    Luxuria descended next to Shin and asked him a question, cocking her head to the side .


    “I’ve just never seen or heard anything like this . To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing . ”


    Before disappearing, Avaritia mentioned the word “angel” . Seeing that she had defeated a devil, it was fair to think that she would be an ally .


    However, Shin -despite his vast knowledge of THE NEW GATE’s bestiary- had never seen an angel . The game’s producers had hinted at their existence, but no yer ever reported encountering one .


    Angels were often depicted as the counterparts of devils . Just like devils, however, they were categorized as monsters . As long as they were monsters, there was the chance that they would antagonize humanity .


    “I understand where you’reing from, but I have no idea why this happened . But I do understand that I’ve turned into an angel, and still have my memories as a devil . I remember you all too, of course . ”


    “So angels really existed…”


    “I suppose they were a transformation of Deadly Sin devils . I kind of felt it after transforming, but it looks like I’m the protector of “Love” now . ”


    “The virtue opposite to the deadly sin, I guess? I heard that they aren’t officially established as opposites though…anyway, there’s no need to probe deeper into that right now, I suppose . ”


    Shin tried recalling what he had read when researching about the deadly sin devils, but did not remember much in detail .


    “Whoa, I almost forgot . Now that Avaritia’s defeated, I have to go into town . The summoned monsters are going wild . ”


    “No need to worry, that’s already taken care of . ”


    “… . what?”


    Shin was about to leave to go help Schnee, but Luxuria stopped him . ording to her, the first wave of energy thing she released – 【Saint Wave】 – erased both the magic circles influenced by devil power and the monsters they summoned .


    Shin checked the map and confirmed that the presences of monsters across town were indeed nowhere to be seen .


    “Amazing…and I thought that we had still a lot to do . ”


    “It only work against devils and their influence . Though, I could only do this thanks to you . If you didn’t cut open the cocoon, I think I would have been assimted by Avaritia . ”


    “If you have to thank someone, thank Hmee . They freed all the hostages, that’s why I could act . ”


    Shin was forced to do nothing while Luxuria was suffering Avaritia’s attacks, so he felt guilty instead .


    “Don’t say that . I could do my best because you were there . ”


    Before transforming in devil form, Luxuria had sent a message to Shin, telling him to not do anything until the hostages were freed, even if she were to lose .


    She had asked Avaritia if he would withdraw after absorbing her for the same reason . She had fought while considering her assimtion a viable option .


    “Even if I lost, Avaritia would be defeated by you . Thanks to this experience, it would be possible to prepare countermeasures against hostages in the future . That’s why my sacrifice wouldn’t have been in vain…after I realized that, I felt a weight off my chest . ”


    “You…”


    Shin was about to say that she shouldn’t even think about things like that, but Luxuria smiled and put a finger on his lips .


    “I’m free to choose who to be grateful to, so you don’t need to concern yourself with anything . Isn’t there anything you’d like me to do, instead? I’m not a devil anymore, so you can entrust your whole self to me, you know? Incidentally, I’m not wearing anything at the moment, up here or down there…so I’m a bit chilly, I would love to be warmed up, honestly . ”


    “Hey! Tell the truth, you’re still half a devil, aren’t you? Or maybe you’re an angel, but the angel of lust…”


    Luxuria’s words quickly took a turn for the “romantic” after she mentioned Shin entrusting himself to her, causing Shin to sigh in disbelief .


    Stopping Luxuria from removing her belt, he was relieved that at least one major threat was over .