Healing System

Michael stared the demon down, who was trembling in distress.

"Mate, you do know that I'm about to kill you, right?" Michael teased, shaking his mana around inside the demon's body. "But you could survive if you answer one question."

"Speak..." the blue-horned demon muttered. "I shall answer truthfully."

"Nice." Michael nodded. "Have you heard of Lila? She's an angel stationed in this world—she's a high-ranked one."

"Lila... yes, I've heard of her before," the blue-horned demon replied, tilting its head. "She's a commander at one of our posts. The demon generals have taken a liking to her after she sacrificed her sister for power... Truly a memorable experience."

"I'd like to know a little more," Michael stated, gripping the demon's core tightly.

"F-Fine." The blue-horned demon cleared its throat. "Her sister was a spy and tried infiltrating our ranks by demonizing herself. However, we nipped that attempt in the bud by capturing Lila. She refused to die, and after we left her alone in a cell, what greeted our sight upon returning was Lila holding her sister's neck and squeezing it tight."

The demon took a moment to breathe, as during the conversation, Michael had unknowingly tightened his grip over the demonic core.

"S-Safe to say, we took her in, made her join one of our branches, and as you can see, her loyalty is unwavering. If you're affiliated with her closely, I'd suggest you watch yourself, puny angel." The blue-horned demon laughed, and the moment it did, a loud crack resounded.

"W-Why!?" the demon yelled. "I thought you promised to spare me!"

"I lied," Michael stated, and with a single pull of his mana, he decimated the demon's entire body from the inside out.

At the same time, he finally disabled his Sanctuary skill, and thankfully, since it wasn't up for long, he didn't face much backlash.

Or so he thought, when suddenly, his head started spinning, and his wings retracted themselves, causing him to begin barreling down toward the ground.

However, just as he was about to make contact with the ground, he regained consciousness, and with a single flap of his wings, he shot back up into the air again.

Yeah, god fucking damn it. I thought that I could do it properly, but guess not.

He wouldn't have died from the fall; however, just falling in and of itself was pretty embarrassing.

After all, the animals and demons were still watching him.

I wonder if they liked the little performance, though... Michael turned toward the side, where, in the very distance, he saw familiar figures heading toward him.

They were demons, and a lot of them. Much more than what he had just faced.

Nonetheless, Michael didn't back down and proceeded forward, appearing right in front of them at lightning speed.

Initially, he wasn't planning to even join this fight and only watch it from a distance. However, after remembering Lila, he decided to intervene.

And now, he found out a few things. One such thing was that she was innocent.

Her sister likely made a deal with her—that at the cost of her own life, Lila would be spared.

If that really was the case, then that would also explain her loyalty, which was supposedly unwavering. Yet in reality, Lila was killing demons of her own volition.

I guess I struck a jackpot with this world, didn't I? Michael thought with a chuckle, and before the demons could even react, he struck forward with his fist at full power.

They tried their best to evade; however, the lower-tier demons were killed in an instant.

At the same time, even the stronger ones weren't spared as their injuries became obvious.

But still... A Tier 6 and a Tier 7 are here. I don't think I can kill them as easily as I'd hoped.

Nonetheless, Michael didn't give up, and after clearing out all the weaker demons, stared at the two stronger demons who were holding their shoulders.

He managed to inflict a wound on them, and due to his light affinity being quite strong, he was able to purify the spots he attacked—meaning they could no longer heal.

However, a mere shoulder slash wasn't much in the grand scheme of things.

"Well well, more of you? I wonder how valuable you are to the demonic army?" Michael asked with a chuckle. "Let me guess—since you're out here hunting me, then you're pretty fucking useless, aren't you?"

One of the demons remained silent, yet rage was present on its face.

But the same couldn't be said for the second demon—the one at Tier 6—who, upon hearing what Michael said, flew in at a rapid speed.

However, Michael was expecting such an attempt, and with a mere Dome of Light, he completely negated the demon's attack.

Sure, his dome had shattered; however, in the small moment the demon was blinded, Michael was able to summon his bow, draw three arrows, and then the moment the barrier broke, he shot them all toward the demon.

It died instantly—since, after all, he hit its demonic cores in an instant.

The moment he did, the remaining demon stared at Michael warily.

"You have the power to slay us as though we were bugs. Amusing..." the demon muttered. "You even killed Balrog, our blue-horned general. It's very impressive, angel."

"I take pride in my kills, though you shit stains aren't really that impressive if I had to say so myself," Michael said with a smirk. "But hey, look on the bright side—at least you can enjoy the last minutes of your life acting confident. In the meantime, I'm going to prepare an attack to kill you, okay?"

"You're a psychopath," the demon remarked with a frown. "Are you truly an angel? Or are you a fallen?"

"I'm an angel, though you can probably see that by my wings," Michael replied. "But enough chitchat—it won't save you from being killed at my hands."

"We'll see about that..." the demon muttered, and in the very next moment, a black energy shot out of its body.

But to Michael's surprise, instead of attacking him, it created a firm barrier around the two of them, spanning several dozen meters in diameter.

Is this Sanctuary...? Michael thought with widened eyes. Just a demonic version though. However, it seems to be as powerful, if not slightly more due to the strength difference.

Nonetheless, he didn't really have a counter to that, so Michael merely proceeded to dash toward the demon, and while it was still preoccupied with its barrier fixating, he slashed at its throat with his hand.

But just as he expected, it was to no avail.

Instead of a neck, he was met with some iron panel—one he couldn't even pierce through despite the amount of strength he had used.

Of course, there were more alternatives, such as Piercing Light, but given the proximity, he couldn't exactly use them in the current move.

Therefore, before Michael could get absolutely obliterated by the demon in front of him, he dashed backward.

Yet, the moment he reached the end of the barrier, he was met with a firm wall that wouldn't budge no matter how much strength he used to destroy it.

Better yet, Piercing Light didn't do much, and his Sword of Light was completely ineffective.

The only way he could kill this demon here was by merely shooting it with a Heavenly Judgement.

Therefore, that was exactly what Michael did.

He avoided the obvious damage that would be inflicted on the bottom by perfectly controlling the Heavenly Judgement's trajectory.

It was a difficult feat, but it wasn't impossible.

"Alright, eat this, motherfucker," Michael muttered with a grin, and under the surprised expression of the demon, he brought down a massive Heavenly Judgement, which pierced the barrier from the outside.

However, despite the barrier being pierced, it seemed like the demon still had Sanctuary-like control over the area—so the demon merely held his Heavenly Judgement suspended in the air.

"You're a little special, aren't you?" the demon remarked. "Not only can you break my Barrier of Demise, but you can also lightly injure me. Honestly, I'm still a bit surprised you managed to kill Balrog. Did he not use this ability?"

"I can't say he did," Michael replied with a grim look. "But even if he did use it, I would've killed him regardless."

"Bold words for someone who couldn't even kill me with their strongest attack," the demon chuckled. "But it's time to end these games, foolish angel—you must die."

"Well... I guess I have no choice then," Michael commented with a sigh.

Then, in the very next moment, he proceeded to release his control over the Heavenly Judgement.

And of course, the moment he did, all the mana that had been trying to enter the Heavenly Judgement a moment ago now entered it in an instant.

Michael grinned at the demon who was struggling, and he slowly began floating over. It couldn't change its targets, since if it stopped paying attention to the Heavenly Judgement, it would be killed.

Therefore, Michael finally arrived in front of the demon and gently placed his hand right above its heart.

Then, with a sly grin, he glanced into its eyes.

"Checkmate."