Lord Seraphiel paid no attention whatsoever to the surrounding discussions.
Whether they were questioning Michael's race, or whether some among them were secretly pleased to see the Angel Race suffer such a humiliating setback, none of it mattered to him.
His attention remained solely on Aurelia.
He walked toward her and knelt beside the young angel. Without saying a word, he placed a hand upon her shoulder. A gentle azure radiance spread outward.
The fractured bones slowly shifted back into place and her internal injuries stabilized. The blood staining her armor gradually ceased flowing.
After several breaths, Aurelia's blank eyes slowly regained a trace of focus.
"…Lord Seraphiel…"
Her voice was weak. She stared blankly ahead for several moments before the events replayed within her mind.
The human. He had been too powerful. All along, when she had assumed dodging was all he could do, he had simply been playing with her.
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the undamaged Epic Grade wand.
"…I failed."
Lord Seraphiel said nothing and slowly helped her to her feet. He had experienced far too much in his life to feel anger at losing to a human.
Wasn't that female sword cultivator also a human? He didn't believe he could easily defeat her either. And she was not the only example. Over the centuries, he had encountered humans who defied every expectation their race was supposed to carry.
Fragile in body. Short in lifespan. Unremarkable in bloodline. And yet, somehow, they kept producing individuals without stop.
This was the reason they were considered top race on a grand scale if put together. Using quantity to bread quality was the way of the many human races in the universe.
It was something he had long since made peace with.
Of course, that wasn't to say he had no pride of his own. He simply understood the difference between pride and arrogance.
However Lord Seraphiel character was an anomaly in the angel race as well so most still thought like the female angel even in old age.
Though Aurelia could stand again, her aura remained noticeably weakened. Her emerald eyes unconsciously searched the horizon where Michael had disappeared.
The expression on her face was difficult to read. It wasn't fury, exactly.
For the first time since beginning her cultivation, someone of the same rank had completely outmatched her.
Lord Seraphiel noticed her gaze but said nothing. Instead, he looked once toward the empty battlefield.
"The treasure has already changed hands. There is no point remaining."
As his words fell, spatial ripples quietly spread around them. Without another glance toward the surrounding spectators, the two figures disappeared.
Not far away, Qing Yue was already gone. The Fairy Sword Immortal had vanished long before the conversation among the spectators had even begun.
Whether she intended to continue searching for opportunities, or whether she had simply lost interest in everything that had happened, no one knew. Nor did anyone particularly care.
The phoenix remained suspended in the sky for several moments longer. Its enormous golden pupils burned with unwillingness. Finally, it let out a furious cry that echoed across the Fourth Layer.
"This isn't over, human."
Its blazing body exploded into crimson flames before disappearing into the horizon. Whether it truly intended to search for Michael, or merely wished to vent its humiliation elsewhere, only it knew.
Gradually, the remaining Rank Four awakeners also began dispersing. Some headed deeper into the Fourth Layer. Others carefully searched the ruined battlefield.
A number of them quietly altered their direction, their intentions obvious to anyone paying attention, though whether they could actually find him was another matter entirely.
No one said anything aloud.
The battlefield that had gathered hundreds of Rank Four experts soon became strangely quiet once again. Only the devastated landscape remained as silent evidence of what had just taken place.
Meanwhile, somewhere within the first layer of the Origin Battlefield, a young girl, a boy of similar age, a forest wolf, and a bull-like creature stood before a transparent wall of light that seemed to stretch endlessly toward the heavens.
This was obviously Lily, her tamed beasts, and her new companion from the new world called Earth, who had introduced himself as Timi.
A great many strange things had happened to Timi during the past year.
It had begun on an ordinary Friday evening. He had just returned home after classes. Dinner had been prepared. His younger twin sisters had been arguing over something completely insignificant. Everything had been normal.
Then, without warning, towering black pillars descended from the sky. One moment there had been empty air. The next, gigantic obsidian pillars stretching beyond the clouds stood across the landscape.
Though nothing harmful happened immediately, such a supernatural phenomenon naturally caused widespread panic. Before communication networks completely collapsed, Timi had learned it wasn't just happening in his city, or just his country.
Reports flooded in from every direction. North America. South America. Europe. Africa. Asia. Australia. Even Antarctica. The pillars had appeared across every continent on Earth.
Then, just when everyone's guard had relaxed somewhat after several hours of nothing happening, the pillars opened.
And they came out.
Small red creatures poured out in overwhelming numbers. Green eyes. Twisted horns. Sharp claws. Skin the color of dried blood. They resembled the imps from countless fantasy stories almost perfectly.
Only they were real. And they enjoyed killing.
The military responded immediately. Gunfire filled the cities. Missiles destroyed entire districts. For a while, humanity believed victory was possible.
Then stronger creatures emerged. Winged monsters. Towering giants. Horned beasts whose bodies burned with crimson fire. As the weeks passed, the creatures coming from the pillars became increasingly powerful.
Although no one truly knew what demons were supposed to look like, looking at those monsters, almost everyone instinctively thought of the same place.
Hell.
That was how Earth's apocalypse began.
Timi had once belonged to a family of seven. His parents. His grandfather. His older brother. Himself. And his two younger twin sisters.
Now only three remained. Him. And the twins. The rest had died during the first month.
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