Golden Experience

“That guy called Professor Mori Etti, did he collect and calculate the statistics alone? If so, that’s amazing.”

The sky castle appeared before me, who was waiting on the route, just as that player had predicted.

How could you calculate with such accuracy when you probably have only a rough idea of the shape of the entire continent?

The deep blue sky above is so vast that it seems like one might fall upwards. Below is a sea of clouds. Floating on that sea of clouds, a giant castle with a forest on its back was slowly moving.

No doubt about it. That’s the Sky Castle.

Due to the blazing sun and the sunlight reflecting off the sea of clouds, I am flying in my familiar attire, wrapping my entire body with my wings. I currently have [Horns], [Demonic Eyes], [Wings] and [Super Beautiful] activated. If I enter combat, I should probably accept the damage from the sunlight and activate [Sword], [Adamantite Steel] and [Armor].

As I approach the Sky Castle, numerous angelic beings emerge from various parts of the castle.

“Oh, they noticed me. Well, that’s to be expected. Approaching so boldly… And there are so many! We just wiped out all the angels scattered across the continent a while ago!”

In terms of numbers alone, the power difference between us is perhaps tenfold. The worst-case scenario I initially anticipated was encountering all the attacking angels across the continent at once, and numerically, it seems like we are currently facing that situation. Moreover, the assault force that was wiped out earlier should be in reserve. If they respawn, we will have to face twice the number.

Even if there are many ordinary angels, they won’t directly damage me with that level of attack power. Basically, no matter how many there are, it doesn’t matter. I just don’t want them interfering in the battle with the Archangel.

First, as planned, I deployed beetles and vespas as a diversion. Responding to some instructions, the angels flock to the beetle knight in the lead, and individuals that approach receive the effect of [Taunt], getting pulled in and scattered by the charge of the beetle warriors.

Seeing this, other angels also head towards the beetle knight one after another.

Vespas also form teams and similarly disrupt the angelic army, causing chaos and drawing the angels away.

In this way, the diversionary unit seems to be fulfilling its purpose.

During this time, I led Ubel and Meganeuron towards the Sky Castle.

The angels are preoccupied with the diversionary insects, and there are hardly any pursuers for my group. Even if there are some, nearby vespas and beetles attack the angels, pulling them away and dealing with them far away.

Ubel could repel them with her breath, but their group is already too conspicuous. They don’t want to attract any more attention.

Upon reaching the floating island where the Sky Castle is, I land for a moment.

It’s like ordinary ground, and even when we land, it doesn’t crumble or sink. Lush trees surround the castle.

“Why is this floating?”

If I remember correctly, the Count mentioned something like it appeared around the time of the death of the previous Spirit Lord.

If that’s the case, this Sky Castle might be some artifact created by the previous Spirit Lord. The Archangel could be using it, taking advantage of it in some way.

“Wait, the Spirit Lord. For example, if the Spirit Lord could also create homunculi…”

If the created homunculus became an angel, and that angel became the Archangel.

“Is this all the legacy of the Spirit Lord, or perhaps, like the curse of the Spirit Lord as others have experienced?”

This is a troublesome story for those living in this land. Some may be reaping what they sow, but most would probably prefer not to deal with it.

As for the parties involved, it’s probably just Deas and Sieg under me.

“Intruding with dirty shoes in this sacred land. Truly, you are nothing but beasts crawling on the ground.”

Suddenly, a voice is heard.

Looking up, a golden-haired man with the appearance of an adult human, spreading two pairs of wings from his back, like a typical angel, is floating. He wears a flashy golden outfit reminiscent of ancient Greek himation, and a halo floats above his head.

“That’s obvious. This is exposed ground. If it were all covered with proper boards, I might have taken off my shoes before entering.”

[Appraisal] has passed. No doubt. This is the Archangel.

His overall ability values are very high, especially DEX stands out. However, judging by the ease with which [Appraisal] passed, he is inferior overall to me. With these values, even without absorbing Yoroizaka-san and Queen Arthropoda, I might have barely won.

The glowing halo above the Archangel’s head seems to be a racial trait called [Halo]. Its effect is roughly similar to [Horns]. In that case, it would be impossible to use [Mental Magic] or [Subordinate] on the Archangel.

Although I would like to check other skills, there is no time to read them carefully.

“Hmph. Beasts should behave like beasts and crawl on the ground with bare feet.”

“If you’re going to introduce yourself loudly, feel free to run around.”

“…Well, whatever. In any case, killing you is inevitable. You are the first to ever climb up here, so consider it a reward that I, the Archangel, will personally dispose of you! [Genocide Arrow]!”

As he speaks, he swiftly takes out a glowing bow and arrow from nowhere, and with a flowing motion, shoots a terrifyingly fast arrow. This arrow, almost like a stream of light, precisely aims at the center of my chest as intended, pierces through the [Magic Shield], penetrates my chest, and even pierces through the [Magic Shield] behind me before disappearing somewhere.

There is no hole left in my chest, even when looking closely. It seems like that was not a normal attack.

However, the damage is real. The LP of the [Magic Shield] and my MP have decreased.

“What, your life force seems…? What kind of──”

Presumably, he’s observing my appearance with [True Eyes].

However, it was an astonishing attack. Firstly, the speed.

If I had realized it was an attack of that speed, I would have taken evasive action as soon as he held the arrow. I just mistakenly thought of it in terms of a normal arrow.

──Never expected a laser to come from a bow and arrow.

And what’s terrible is not just the speed. The power is also outstanding.

The LP of the [Magic Shield] visibly diminished. There’s no need for immediate action, but if this shield had been this reduced when I just became the Demon Lord, it would have been a significant damage.

The current [Demon Shield] floating in all directions is a specially crafted item designed to maximize performance using all available means.

After obtaining [Ars longa, vita brevis], I first tried with Abigor to destroy the already created shield. Only 4 Demon Shields can be created at a time, and to remake one, the old one must be destroyed. Although anyone could have done it, I was interested in the Gargouille’s combat capabilities and asked for its assistance.

The Demon Shield has the same LP as the MP consumed during its creation. Thanks to the effect of [Ars longa, vita brevis], if there is insufficient MP when activating skills or magic, the deficit is covered by LP. This applies even to skills with variable MP consumption, like the Demon Shield. If the declared value exceeds the total MP, and there is a shortage, the skill will fail. However, with the effect of [Ars longa, vita brevis], the deficit can be covered by consuming LP.

Taking advantage of this effect, I invested all my MP and LP until reaching the red zone to create the Demon Shield. Afterwards, I waited for my natural MP recovery in the cave of the Liebe Great Forest, using [Heal] and recovery magic to restore LP, repeating this process three more times.

Later, I destroyed the shield again and repeated the same process in an enlarged state. The current shield floating is the product of that effort.

In other words, the LP possessed by my [Demon Shield] is equivalent to the sum of the Demon Lord’s MP and LP.

Facing an opponent capable of destroying this shield in one strike implies that most characters would immediately die if hit by such an attack. In a case like this, I intended to flee immediately.

The current shot from the Archangel wasn’t exceptionally powerful, but it still had enough force to bring the newly-born Demon Lord to the brink of death. The performance might be attributed to the glowing bow or the power of the active skill, [Genocide Arrow]. Given its speed and rate of fire, it could be considered an unavoidable instant-death attack.

《Announcement from the Administration》

Suddenly, a system message appeared. Since it was the type that needed to be opened and read, it wasn’t related to the progression of the game. Ignoring it for now, I planned to deal with it after settling things with the Archangel.

“…Whether you possess some strange vitality mechanism or not doesn’t matter to me. Since there is damage, if I can shave off everything, it’s the same thing!”

The Archangel, seemingly agitated or angry, continued to unleash consecutive skills with bow-type attacks.

According to the activation keys shouted by him, in addition to the previously used [Genocide Arrow], he was now using [Penetrating Arrow], [Explode Arrow], and even an indiscriminate area attack called [Cloud Burst Arrow]. Despite the attacks being difficult to avoid, I managed to skillfully evade them with my limited visibility and superior maneuvering skills.

The Archangel’s tactics seemed poorly constructed, relying on the fact that if one attack failed, the next one might succeed. Nonetheless, I observed that his fighting style lacked finesse. Despite possessing powerful long-range attacks, he failed to capitalize on the potential for effective tactics. I considered this a weakness in his overall strategy.

Even though the Archangel was equipped with high-level AI and reasonably high INT, based on the damage received, he appeared to be on par with the pre-transformation me, or slightly below. However, if the attacks he was delivering now had hit the me from before my metamorphosis, I would have undoubtedly died long ago. The metamorphosis experiment turned out to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Nevertheless, the Archangel’s attacks lacked finesse, relying on a flawed tactical approach of “if one attack fails, try the next one”. With his vast array of powerful abilities, he could have employed numerous effective strategies. Most of his active skills appeared to have varying attack speeds, offering potential for different tactical combinations.

For instance, using the slowest [Cloud Burst Arrow] to scatter and then following it up with [Explode Arrow] before sniping the latter with [Genocide Arrow] might be possible. Given his skill level, it shouldn’t be an impossible feat. Whether [Explode Arrow] would truly explode and the detonation conditions remained unknown, so the viability of this tactic was uncertain.

It’s still unclear whether the Archangel rarely comes out of the castle.

However, one thing is certain – he is not accustomed to combat with enemies at or above his level.

“If you say there’s nothing more you can do, then it’s my turn now.”

But the Archangel shows no signs of letting up on his attacks.

“You won’t get a turn! [Genoci—”

“[Whiteout]!”

“D…guh!”

Light magic, like all light-based effects, takes effect pretty much at the speed of light. This also applies to disruptive magic. Regardless of how fast [Genocide Arrow] may be, it’s unlikely to surpass that. The comparison to a laser is just a metaphor. Besides, speed doesn’t matter if the effect is nullified before activation.

Although coordination with [Demonic Eyes] would allow for quicker activation, using it in conjunction with this magic would also blind her own field of vision. Having experienced debuffs before, I know that the duration of this magic depends on my own stats. At present, I should be able to blind the Archangel for a considerable amount of time. As long as he failed to resist, this effect should remain.

“Enough! Even if you blind me, I can still see your location! [Geno—”

This is probably the effect of [True Eyes]. Similar to [Demonic Eyes], it allows the Archangel to perceive the LP in the surroundings even with closed eyes. While he knows my location, he can’t grasp what I’m doing unless I voices my activation keys.

I open both eyes and, using [Demonic Eyes], silently cast [Dark Implosion] on the Archangel.

For this type of magic that detonates upon specified coordinates, speed is irrelevant. While bow and arrow surpass it in range, precision, and rapid fire, magic holds the advantage in speed and power. If the opponent is not as large as Ururu or Ubel, this magic should be effective.

“Gaaaaaaaah!”

Enhanced by various boost skills, the darkness attacks the Archangel. This is the first time he’s taken damage.

Whether this magic has an unusually high effectiveness due to an attribute weakness or other reasons is unknown. Nevertheless, it dealt a considerable amount of damage.

After the dissipating darkness, the Archangel floats, showing signs of being affected.

The active skills she had prepared and the bow and arrow made of light had disappeared.

I had been curious about that bow and arrow from earlier. It didn’t seem like an ordinary weapon – perhaps a fashionable item not displayed in the sheathed state, or maybe a skill. The absence of activation keys suggested it could be a passive skill. Some racial skills lack activation keys. It might be similar to my [Demonic Sword], which doesn’t require activation keys but is always in effect, possibly linked to her MP maximum. However, as it disappears each time, it doesn’t seem to be a type that is constantly active at the cost of MP.

“[Release: Sword], [Release: Adamantine], [Gatling].”

Though I don’t want to use this skill too much due to the LP cost, it serves as a convenient bridge during the cooldown of her magic. The wings, now enhanced by the new trait, gradually wear down the Archangel’s body damaged by [Dark Implosion]. He remains silent.

I intended to use it as a stopgap measure, but the newly reinforced wing swords turned out to be unexpectedly powerful. It’s the first time I activated [Adamantine], and I just noticed that not only the horns, but also the wings had turned black. Presumably, the wing swords are also made of adamas. It wouldn’t be strange if my skin and hair turned black as well, considering that, but they remained white.

“Hah… Y-You beast, this demeanor… [Genocide Arrow]!’”

Evaded. It’s still a close call, but I no longer feel like I’ll be hit.

“[Evil Smite], [Gatling].”

The newly acquired trait significantly boosts the power of the wing swords beyond my expectations. It steadily, but surely, cuts away at the Archangel’s LP, unlike magical damage. However, it seems I can push through at this rate, but perhaps I should check the skill details with [Appraisal] before that.

But it’s too late.

Right when she thought that, the Archangel, leaving behind a large and beautiful gem, disappeared.

“Darn it. I should’ve held back—”

“—[Resurrectio].” (T/N: the kanji says ‘Revival’, the furigana says ‘Resurrectio’)

“—Wait, what?”

The place where the Archangel had been floating until just now. As if time had rewound, the Archangel reappeared.

However, the crucial point is not there.

This is the first time I’ve seen it, but what just happened was probably some kind of resurrection magic.

Normally, skills like that can’t be used by the person who died. Currently, the words I heard don’t seem to be from the Archangel I was just fighting.

Turning to the slowly audible voice, an unscathed Archangel floats there.

Seeing the Archangel I was fighting until just now, then the newly appearing one, I unconsciously turned my head several times.

There was no need to turn my head, I could’ve seen with [Demonic Eyes]. It seemed that in the intensity of battle, my field of vision unintentionally narrowed.

Calmly, I checked my surroundings with [Demonic Eyes].

One by one, people with MP equal to the two Archangels were emerging from the castle.

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