Stripped City Adra: Angel of Judgment

The next morning.

Before dawn had even broken, everyone in Stripped City was roused from sleep. Gray rubbed her bleary eyes and instinctively looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

It was 4:33 in the morning. The sky outside had only just begun to brighten, and the color of night still lingered overhead.

"What happened?"

The castle's maids had awakened them. Seeing their expressions, Gray instinctively sensed that something bad had happened.

And sure enough, what happened next was exactly as she had expected.

Beyond the entrance hall lay the grand hall. It too was filled with angel statues and all manner of ornaments. The early morning sunlight streamed through the painted glass dome, casting a dazzling curtain of colors over the enormous angel statue before them.

The massive angel statue held a sword and scales. The design was likely inspired by the statue of Michael on Mont Saint-Michel, a form familiar to every mage present. Archangel Michael, who judged the sins of the dead with those scales and drove back serpents with that sword, was undoubtedly one of the most famous angels.

As if proclaiming victory and faith, he raised the Holy Sword high in his hand.

But at that moment, the Holy Sword had pierced through a human figure. Blood flowed down the white statue and pooled on the floor, forming a pool of blood. Yet that pool had long since dried, proving that it had once possessed fresh vitality.

Sedwick thought of something, but quickly dismissed the guess. His brother had no aptitude for magecraft and simply could not inherit that old man's legacy. Of that, he was certain.

Deng Xiang looked equally unsurprised. Having accompanied Sedwick since childhood, he naturally knew all too well about his old habit.

And for something like this to