The phenomenon accompanying the descent of the Abyss Angel could be seen even from outside the city.
The sunlight was blotted out by the sea, and a giant whale swam through the sky.
The earth trembled, the city turned to stone, and roars capable of scattering sandstorms rang out one after another.
"...What overwhelming pressure."
Hassan muttered under his breath.
The mere attempt to raise his head and look toward Holy Spring City made him feel as if something had seized his heart.
Violent panic boiled in his blood. The fury he had brewed from hatred over many years, the resolve he had tempered through blood and suffering—under that terrifying pressure, they seemed unbelievably fragile.
"If I got any closer, I'd probably burst into tears and try to crawl away."
Hassan silently stared at the darkened sky, like a crow gazing at the moon.
His voice sounded like a dream: "So a mortal's resolve is this fragile... Without sufficient strength, one can't even stand before Him."
"It should be that way."
Hai Na's voice came from beside him.
Her voice was clear and resolute. "Just like in every Dragon Slayer's story... Those dragon slayers were all valiant warriors and peerless heroes in the past. The weak don't even have the qualifications to stand before a dragon. Or to put it another way, if a challenge had no threshold, it wouldn't be a challenge—it would merely be an assassination."
At her words, Hassan turned his gaze toward her.
He knew that this Avalon woman was the personal guard of the Benefactor of Paradise City.
Many people had seen her leave Holy Spring City that day, and many others had scrambled to report the information to Hassan.
The reason he called her a guard rather than a servant... was that Hassan had