From the rubble of the rightmost building that was covered with electronic panels, he looked over as noises of something moving showed.

“Yeong-Un…?”

“Damn! He got me good!” Yeong-Un coughed out.

Jumping to his feet, covered in scratches and visibly bleeding, the wild-haired man hardly seemed hurt in how he held himself, however, stretching and looking around.

“Where the hell did he go?” Yeong-Un asked.

He raised his hand to reply, “I sorta…kicked him away.”

“Ya’ what now?” Yeong-Un raised an eyebrow.

Just then, Eunji and Moon could also be heard awakening from their unconscious state as well, and the same with Korain, who groaned out, slowly picking himself up.

“…Talk about not holding back, sheesh…” Korain complained, rubbing his back.

As the group rose to their feet, it was clear none of them were in optimal condition from the sparse display of the angel’s strength.

“You repelled him?…Nice job, kid,” Korain patted him on the shoulder, looking back at the others, “Alright–let’s regroup with the others while we still can–”

However, amidst the man’s words, a harsh reminder came:

The Destroying Angel would not be put down so easily.

The imposing, winged figure crashed down on the asphalt, arriving in the center of the group with his blinding speed as he stood there, cracking his neck side-to-side and rubbing it as he smiled sharply._.

Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth and out from his nostrils as he smiled with a certain intensity embedded in his eyes, “That was great! Seriously, what a good idea it was to come down here…It’s been so fun, and we’re just getting started! It’s been millenia since I’ve exhibited such violence–!”

Before any of them could react, his face was already gripped in the large hand of the angel, held so firmly that he couldn’t contest it no matter how much he tugged at Radueriel’s wrist.

“As a reward for your effort, I’ll take you for a ride in the sky–!” The angel smiled wide.

“Jeong-Hui!” Korain yelled out.

None of his comrades were able to come close to reaching him as a flap of the angel’s powerful, heavenly-blessed wings knocked them all back, leaving him powerless to Radueriel’s hold as he was carried upwards into the sky.

What the hell–?! He thought.

The wind whistled against his ears as he kicked his legs, feeling nothing under them as he glanced down, seeing the street become more and more distant before the air grew more thin, overtaken with a sudden cold.

“How’s it?! Can’t even catch a breath can you! Ha-ha!” Radueriel taunted him.

The angel changed his hold, letting him go for a brief second before catching him again, holding him by the blue hood of his black-and-blue coat.

“–“

He looked down, seeing just how minuscule the city looked as he was now inhabiting the air, likely tens of thousands of meters high from just moments of ascent of the angel’s wings.

“If I dropped you, I wonder what would happen? It’s true that you humans are blessed with a portion of our angel’s strength, though just a fraction…however, you don’t have our wings. Can you even call that the power of angels then? Ha-ha!” Radueriel continued to taunt him, laughing boisterously as he held the young man by only his hood.

His mind was racing; being brought to such insane heights with nothing holding him but the malicious grip of the angel, his senses went wild.

Radueriel brought his lips close to his left ear with a grin, “…Let’s find out, shall we?”

Just then–his stomach dropped. The grip on his hood was released as he began quickly plummeting downwards.

“Aaaaahh—!”

He moved his arms and legs, frantically flailing as he even tried to reach out towards the angel who stood on the air as if it were a solid foothold, watching him with his heckling smile as he fell downwards.

Shit, shit, shit–! He thought.

It was harrowing how fast he dropped, feeling the fierce winds pull at his cheeks as his ears were filled with nothing but roars of wind while he racked his mind for an answer out of this.

The highrise buildings quickly became large once more as he descended, becoming daunting as the street itself soon came back to view.

[Blink Step] wasn’t an option as he needed a proper foothold in order to use it, but that restriction brought something to mind.

…This is risky, but it’s my only bet! He thought.

“Cast: Radiant Shield–!” He yelled out at the top of his lungs, holding his left hand stretching downward.

[Spirit: -50. Remaining Spirit: 2450/3200]

The shining, golden shield manifested directly below him as he managed to turn his body around, planting his foot down on the round, magically-manifested shield as he fell directly beside one of the sky-reaching structures.

Alright–here goes! He thought.

Pushing off as he timed his jump perfectly, aided by his enhanced perception, he used a [Blink Step] by using the shield as a foothold, crashing through one of the windows of the many-floored building.

“Ghh…!”

He rolled, using his momentum to minimize the impact as he found himself in an abandoned, but well-maintained office, huffing as his heart wildly thumped inside of his chest.

“…I’m alive…” He mumbled.

As he knelt on a carpet floor that was dirtied with shattered glass, he had no time to celebrate as an ear-filling hum met his ears.

Looking back out of the large window he had crashed through from, he could see the angelic man smiling, hovering a dozen or so meters away from the building with one hand raised.

A golden light formed at the fingertip of the angel, sending a chill through his body as he could sense the malice from there.

“You’re as tenacious as a cockroach,” Radueriel said with a smile, “…It makes me wonder. Did Father create them with humans in mind, then?”

As he spoke casually, he swiped his finger forward, to an unknown effect to the young man sitting in the office on one of the highest floors.

What did he do–? He thought.

He found that question answered as after the angel swiped his glowing finger, the room suddenly shifted with loud, crashing sounds emitting throughout the buildings.

The ivory-haired angel repeated this a few times, casually waving his finger as the entirety of the skyscraper shook intensely.

He’s cutting the building?! He realized.

Being diced apart like an oversized vegetable, the skyscraper began to crumble into half-a-dozen, colossal pieces, sliding out of place as he was forced to act without knowing what to do.

“…Come on! This is just getting ridiculous!” He yelled out as the room he stood in became airborne, shifting to the side as it plummeted downward.

He ran upward against the incline, maintaining his stability through his assassin proficiency as the gyrating forces of gravity tugged at him.

The angel seemed to just watch in amusement as he hopped from piece of falling debris to another piece, though it felt pointless as he fruitlessly continued to do it.

–After one jump, the piece of rubble he aimed for was vaporized, all by the point of a finger from the smiling angel.

“Ah.”

Once again, he began falling through the air, spinning around helplessly as he planned to use the same trick as before.

“Fire-head—!”

Of all things he expected to hear while falling through the air, that nickname was at the bottom of the list.

“…Yeong-Un?!”

He turned to see an enormous, blue-feathered avian diving right towards him.

–A bird? Is this something that Moon summoned? He questioned.

Just as it passed him, the scar-faced man riding on its back grabbed him by his hood, pulling him onto the back of the creature before they curved away, avoiding the hovering angel completely.

“I gotcha’!” Yeong-Un assured him with a smile.

“Holy crap…! I owe you one!” He sat on one knee of the monstrous avian’s back, slapping his hand against his friend’s palm, “What the hell is this thing, anyway?”

“It’s one of Moon’s pets!” Yeong-Un explained.

Though as soon as the word “pet” left the scarred adolescent’s mouth, a screech left the avian’s beak as it began shifting side-to-side, forcing the two to hold tightly onto its feathers.

“Companion–I mean companion!” Yeong-Un corrected himself.

Just as he fixed the term he used, the blue-featured creature settled down, prompting a sigh of relief to leave both of their mouths.

“How’re we going to handle this guy?…He’s a freaking monster!” He asked, looking back to see the angel still simply watching with a smile; a fact that made his blood cold.

“We’re bringin’ him back to the ground level!–Whether by skill or dumbass luck, ya’ bought us the time we needed!” Yeong-Un had to yell for his voice to overtake the winds.

“Huh?!”

“Ma-Ri and Dae-Seong are here now! We’re bringin’ that bastard right to ’em!” Yeong-Un grinned.

The avian began to descend, aiming towards the war-torn street at swift speeds, but he still felt a doubt swirling in his gut.

“…Are you sure they’re going to be enough to stop this guy? He’s level fifty!–You’ve seen how it’s been so far…we’re like toddlers to him!” He asked.

“Pfft,” Yeong-Un only laughed in response, “…You ain’t never seen Ma-Ri and Dae-Seong fight then, I’ll tell ya’ that.”

For some reason, complete, unbreakable confidence was in those words, prompting him to withdraw his doubts, at least for the time being.

“Alright! Let’s stick the landin’!” Yeong-Un called out.