“Yes, I understand.”

Flap! Flap!

Black wings flapped violently in front of my eyes.

“Is there truly no one in this world who understands me?”

Nazril lowered the two hands that had covered his face and straightened his posture.

It seemed that the attempt to feign pity was abandoned. The arrogance and stubbornness emanating from the raised chin were overwhelming.

“I no longer wish for anything in this heartless world.”

Agnes and I shared the same sentiment.

“You’re just messing around.”

You’re just messing around.

Nazril flapped his wings and soared into the air. His eyes, full of madness, glinted like wicked starlight.

“I’ll slaughter everything, I don’t need any of it! Starting with you, Holy Sword!”

At that moment, an immense gust of wind slammed into my face.

Ayleth!

Agnes’s shout pierced through the sharp sound of the wind, warning me of the danger.

The crazed fallen angel’s body was rapidly closing the distance toward me.

“Divine Inviolability.”

An unparalleled barrier, forged from the ultimate divine relic, enveloped my body. I did not evade; instead, I took the full brunt of Nazril’s impact.

Boom!

“……!”

A crushing shock spread through my body. Nazril’s force sent me soaring through the air, my body crashing through the sky without mercy.

Thud!

The moment my back slammed into the building’s outer wall, a loud crash echoed. The ground beneath surely trembled from the impact.

“Ayleth!”

“Ai!”

“Divine Inviolability!”

Worried calls echoed from a distance, but there was no time to reassure them.

Crack! Boom!

The point of collision with Nazril was on the third floor of some building.

I smashed through the outer wall, carving a long groove across the floor, and only stopped when my back hit the opposite wall.

“……The location’s impressive.”

I muttered quietly to myself as I quickly rose and readied my stance.

Divine Inviolability had fully protected my physical functions.

Even amidst the dust cloud, without a moment’s hesitation, I extended my Serpens.

Nazril twisted his head instinctively to avoid it and, to my surprise, shouted.

“To withstand this! As expected, the Holy Sword lives up to its name. Quite sturdy.”

As expected, he had a lot to say. Instead of responding, I twisted the blade’s trajectory and struck with a consecutive attack.

Having torn off his shirt, Nazril had discarded his ill-fitting cane, replacing it with a gloved fist.

Thud!

The blow, infused with demonic energy, alternated between slamming against my face and sides.

I read the trajectory of the strikes using my heightened sensory awareness and countered with precision.

The light of our attacks and the lingering traces of demonic energy constantly disturbed my vision.

Boom!

After several exchanges, Nazril’s strike veered off course, missing me entirely and embedding itself into an unsuspecting wall.

The stone and wood wall crumbled, and debris poured over Nazril.

Covered in dust, he frowned at his miserable appearance.

“Dirty place. It smells horrible too.”

For once, I responded promptly.

“Good nose you’ve got.”

Nazril narrowed his eyes, sensing something was off, but I didn’t give him time to think.

Now!

With sheer focus, I concentrated all my aura’s power into a single point.

“……!”

Nazril must have sensed something, as he quickly dove into the ground.

His body, wings folded beneath him, broke through the ceiling, and my aura blades tore through the wall and flew inside the building.

Boom!

Seven aura blades struck the spot where he had been, detonating on impact. I too made my escape to the roof.

Nazril, now a considerable distance away, bared his sharp fangs and laughed.

“Such a shame, Holy Sword. That was your sneak attack, wasn’t it?”

“No, not at all. Everything’s going according to plan.”

“What?”

Nazril, with a dazed look, froze as he finally noticed the silver wires hanging from his body and wings.

“This is……?”

I kindly explained.

“Isn’t this how you catch a bird? I set it up on the roof.”

“What……? Gah!”

I tugged on my left hand, tightening the spirit king’s harp wire.

“Ugh!”

Nazril’s body was dragged helplessly, crashing into a pillar on the roof.

He was then firmly bound, unable to move, by the wire wrapped around him.

“Ha! You really think this will work?”

Nazril, furious, struggled to free himself from the wire.

He had wings made of muscle stronger than any physical limb.

He should have easily torn the wire apart with a single flap.

But the result was not what he expected.

“Wh-why?”

Despite pouring all his strength into it, his muscles squirming disgustingly, he couldn’t break free.

Finally, he turned his neck to look at the pillar behind him.

Upon seeing the shape of the column he was tied to, Nazril’s face turned pale with shock.

“Cr-Cross?!”

That’s right. The pillar I had used to bind Nazril was no ordinary roof decoration.

It was the cross of the Saint Agnes Church.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? This is an amazing location.”

Of course, Nazril, who had been too focused on slamming me ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) into things, didn’t pay attention to the position.

Naturally, I had led him here.

The Saint Agnes Church holds the same status as the Holy Office in the Temple.

It’s practically a holy site, so it had the effect of suppressing demonic power.

My home ground’s nearby, so I had to use it.

Moreover, I had made thorough preparations ahead of time.

“You said it smelled bad earlier.”

“Y-You don’t mean…….”

“Oh, you noticed?”

I formed a small blue flame at the tip of my index finger like a lighter.

I tossed it toward Nazril’s position.

“Yeah. That’s the scent of holy oil.”

Whoosh!

The flame, touched by the oil, rapidly grew in size.

“AAAAAH!”

The blue holy fire consumed the fallen angel.

The execution had begun.

This had all been part of the plan to easily take down Nazril.