Chapter 27: Aftermath
After two weeks.....
The rising sun cast a golden glow across the sky, illuminating the world below.
The world, which was always in turmoil due to war and strife, has been unusually calm over the last week. Conflicts and wars around the world have seized without any warning, causing widespread confusion among the populace.
But, this was just a afterthought of many, as more were preoccupied with dealing with the aftermath of the disaster that swept the world with the appearance of the blood moon.
As the blood moon's power seeped into the world through the barrier, the spiritual world interacted with the material world.
Various unspeakable abominations and evil spirits ravaged the land on that crimson night, bringing destruction and death; it wouldn't be wrong to say that the blood of those fallen flowed into rivers across the continent under the illumination of the blood moon.
On that crimson night, almost all of the church combat force of gods was dispatched, and angels and saints who were always aloof and indifferent to worldly matters could be seen dealing with the disaster.
If this level of disaster occurred in the fifth epoch, almost everything would have been destroyed, unless the gods themselves intervened.
However, this was the age of gods, when gods walked the earth and the extraordinary was not hidden from the general populace. Most importantly, the number of beyonders worldwide vastly outnumbers the future.
To be more specific, the main combat force of any church army is demigods, not middle or low-sequence beyonders.
So, despite the fact that the disaster was catastrophic, it was eventually dealt with by the combined might of all.
When everyone expected the wars to continue, it did not, instead restoring the long-awaited peace on the land that many had not seen since the third epoch.
But those who were knowledgeable and experienced among the beyonders had a feeling that this was nothing more than false peace before the storm that would sweep the world...
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In a vast river that flowed between mountain peaks, two figures stood around a roaring black knight wielding a sword that appeared to be made of red fire.
Dark clouds obscured the sky above, with flashes of scarlet lighting.
The black knight was dressed in full body armour and a helmet visor over its head, which only showed two red eyes.
The knight was bound under the whip that seemed to be made out of the starlight itself, while he was letting out a hoarse roar in madness, as he gazed at the two figures that were trying to kill him.
"What the hell happened, Lucas?" A woman in a traditional blue robe with rimmed glasses on her eyes spoke loudly as she looked at the man in front of her, who appeared to be hesitant. "Instead of hesitating, simply throw the light spear again and try to purify it. I won't be able to keep it up for long."
"It's pointless, Diana." The man with blonde hair spoke helplessly. "Despite being dead and transformed into an evil spirit, it seemed to have endless vitality. My power can only weaken it, not purify it."
"I propose that we pray to the Lord." Finally, the blonde-haired man proposed.
"This is just a remnant evil spirit of an angel!" Diana exclaimed as soon as she heard his suggestion. "We two can handle it."
Crack!
The whip that was holding the knight down began to break down as crimson blood began to pour out of the cracks in the evil spirit's armour, falling the whip and immediately melting it.
When Lucas noticed this, he did not hesitate to throw the spear at the black knight.
"That crimson blood..." Diana's pupils constricted as she stared at the crimson blood. "It should have been influenced by the blood moon and mutated." She guessed right away.
This is a very rare situation, even during this time, because the blood moon caused the disaster to sweep the world and increased the power of spirits under its illumination, but after the blood moon disappeared, this advantage was lost. However, this knight appears to be unique.
The black knight appeared not long ago, after everything had calmed down. It caused massive damage in short of time and it was so powerful that they both had to come forward and besiege it right away.
Diana intended to use the mystical re-enactment to join the attack on it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
But then a cluster of scarlet lightning bolts descended towards her from the sky, with such force that the mountain around them collapsed as it fell.
Diana saw the black knight looking at her with those red eyes visible through the mask, and she could feel the spirit's rage and madness, which seemed completely focused on dealing with her, as if to exact revenge for what it had suffered.
So much so that the evil spirit ignored the light spear that was heading towards it, but a blaze of flames surrounded it, completely blocking the light spear.
Diana didn't waste any time and immediately used the mystical re-enactment. A golden shield appeared in her hand, with a golden sun emblem in the centre that shone brightly.
She immediately shielded herself from the crimson lightning that was falling on her.
"God says it's effective!" Lucas declared, pointing to Diana.
Under his words, the sun emblem on Diana's shield blazed with blinding light. At the time, the entire shield was strengthened.
However, just then, a divine aura descended on this location, causing the crimson lighting to stop and vanish, as if it had faded away from existence. The dark clouds then dispersed from the sky, allowing the golden sun to shine through.
Aucuces stood in the light of the sun, his hands clasped on the helmet of the black night and lifting the evil spirit from the ground.
"I remember you." With a chuckle, he said. "You were the war angel under Farubati who died under my sword." He took a brief pause, as if recalling something, before continuing with a smile. "Now, as I recall, I caught you and threw you into the dungeons, and ordered that you to be tortured. Later, I honestly forgot about you."
Aucuces hated the entire race of devils, so much so, that he didn't hesitate to wage war on Farubati in the third epoch.
"It appears that you did quite well after your death. Even grew stronger unintentionally as a result of 'Her.'" He smiled as he continued. "So, why were you here? To exact vengeance on me?"
There is one more thing he despises now, and that is 'Her.' If he becomes God Almighty in the future, he will especially to go to meet 'Her' in the crimson moon.
Aucuces looked at the black knight, and his grip on its visor tightened, causing cracks in it; he saw only fear in the evil spirit's mad eyes as it looked at him.
Actually, it indeed had a great deal of hatred for him, and even though it has become an evil spirit, the fact that it was an angel before its fall is more than enough for it to retain some of its consciousness.
However, the hatred and blood moon blinded and affected whatever was left, allowing it to attack his country without fear. But, now that it was surrounded by his divine aura, the evil spirit regained some of its consciousness.
"Please.."
A painful voice came from behind the black knight's visor.
"To be honest, I don't care what you're going to say." Aucuces spoke indifferently as his smile faded and he also noticed the red eyes of the black knight widening, which seemed to be filled with despair. "It will make no difference to your fate."
Golden flames erupted from his hands and engulfed the black knight's figure.
The evil spirit didn't even have a chance to scream in agony before it was completely turned into ashes, and even its soul was destroyed under the burning of his golden flames.