Astra had yet to react when the black shaft wreathed in red radiance pierced straight through her body.
But in the very next instant, violent green radiance spilled from her body and sent He Ao flying.
He Ao steadied himself in midair, lowered his head, and looked at Astra.
At that moment, a wound that pierced clean through her remained on the woman's body.
Yet strangely, no blood flowed from the wound, nor was any flesh visible. There was only a hazy mist, without even green radiance leaking out.
This was completely different from the wound left on Astra's chest by He Ao's earlier attack.
Seeing this, He Ao's brow furrowed deeply.
He raised his head and glanced at the flickering green radiance in the sky, as well as the limbs extending from above the mist and connecting to that radiance.
Below, Astra's pierced wound began healing at a visible speed.
"You've become aberrant," He Ao said hoarsely, watching her calmly.
"I told you long ago that the descent of the aberration cannot be stopped." Astra floated not far before He Ao. Though she was somewhat surprised that he had broken through the cyclical "game" she had designed, little emotion showed on her face.
She watched He Ao. "No matter how much Angel-class power you gather, no matter if you wield a fragmentary Gift from a god, you cannot kill me. In the end, you are neither a Pseudo-God nor a god. You are only an angel."
She looked at him calmly and lightly raised a finger. "Have you ever heard of a mortal killing an angel? Likewise, angels cannot contend against the power of a Pseudo-God. This is the origin of the world, the foundation of all rules, just as frail mortals cannot fight corporations."
Specks of green radiance