"I..."

I didn't expect to be looked down on by Judith. I could only stay silent. She had a point - with no proper paths, just the raw mountain terrain, ordinary people could easily get into trouble.

But this didn't last long, as a huge explosion suddenly rang out from above. Ron and Judith quickly came to tell me the Apostles we had lured down were now flying back up.

"They must have spotted Adrian and the others!"

Was it time for the full-scale assault after all? I didn't want the situation to escalate this quickly. Without a word, I spread my wings and grabbed the two of them, flying back up the mountain.

"Hold it! Who are you intruders, daring to enter the sacred palace grounds!"

As soon as we returned to the mountaintop, a two-winged Apostle guard confronted us.

"It's all up to you now..."

Just a two-winged Apostle, hopefully not too hard to handle. But carrying these two heavy people, I felt quite tired from the flight up. I needed to rest a bit before the coming battle.

"Haha, just a two-winged Apostle, no big deal!"

Ron laughed loudly, pulling out a thick staff and swinging it straight at the Apostle. The staff had a thick end and a pointed end - his staff techniques actually looked quite practiced. Could this be some special "staff style"?

So you're the legendary melee mage! If you grew a long beard and wore a tall hat, you could be Gandalf.

"Hehe, two wings is only about level four, maybe one person can handle it alone!"

Judith's fighting method was also unique - instead of directly engaging, she used a magic array on a scroll to summon a giant stone golem to be her proxy.

A summoner, huh?

Unfortunately, the effect wasn't great. The stone fist strikes barely damaged the Apostle, no special effects. And the Apostle's sword easily sliced off half the golem's arm, reducing it to just a clumsy kicker without arms.

But this was a 2v1, and the golem wasn't doing much anyway, with Ron there. Though his light element magic was ineffective against the two-winged Apostle, his martial arts skills were decent. With constant pressure, the Apostle couldn't even fire off a light beam before being struck down.

"Tsk, you're so violent!"

I murmured in mild surprise. I finally realized, the two-winged Apostles' base strength was actually not much different from ordinary two-winged angels. The real threat must be those light beam attacks derived from the God of Light. The four-winged Apostles were probably similar, just with more techniques.

The key to victory was to resolve the battles quickly, not giving them a chance to unleash those abilities.

"With not many Apostles left on the mountain top, let's hurry inside and regroup with them."

I could see Adrian's signal flare from below the explosion - in front of the tallest palace. They had already gone in, and the three of us attacking from the rear could reduce the pressure on them if they were exposed.

On the way, we only encountered a couple waves of Apostles, but they weren't much of a threat. With everyone rushing them, we dealt with them effortlessly. I was grateful to have Ron, as I realized his strength was actually at the sixth rank.

Not even ordinary six-winged angels necessarily reach that level!

"I wonder how far they've advanced..."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Arriving in front of the grand, ornate palace, we didn't dare linger. Glancing at the wide-open, undefended entrance, we charged in.

Inside, the halls were still completely empty, not a single Apostle - surprising us.

"Maybe Mike and the others have already cleared this area once!"

With no bodies left after Apostles die, we couldn't tell how fierce the previous battle had been. Aside from the open-air courtyard in the center, there were corridors branching off to the left and right. Ron looked around, then decisively pointed to the left.

"This way, we have to hurry and help them."

"How do you know? The other side has a path too!"

I questioned him as we ran.

"Because we agreed beforehand, if we encountered a fork, we default to the left path."

Running even faster, Ron answered without looking back. His judgment was correct - soon we heard the sounds of fighting up ahead.

There were over ten four-winged Apostles surrounding Adrian and Mike, with four in close combat using sword-like blades formed from their arms. The rest were circling outside, unable to get close since Mike's punches could easily take down an Apostle. They had to keep rotating in to replace the ones he struck down.

"Are all these Apostles using swords?"

I silently mocked. Angels had such a variety of weapons, compared to this.

"Intruders, accept the master's punishment!"

Seeing a four-winged Apostle chanting in the back, I quickly threw a "Sanctuary of Light" to block whatever divine retribution it was trying to unleash.

Good thing we arrived just in time! Since it's all light element, even divine punishment can be shielded.

"Thanks!"

Protected from the deadly attack, our sudden arrival distracted the enemies. Soon, Mike found an opening to strike, quickly taking down several.

"Let them taste the power of numbers!"

I shouted, drawing my sword and charging at the Apostles. Actually, our side's numbers were still fewer...

But the quality was completely different. With our addition, plus Mike and Adrian's stellar performance, we swiftly eliminated all those four-winged Apostles.

"This is the first time we all made it here alive. Last time, only me, Mike, and Vivianne reached this point - we couldn't defend against those light beam sneak attacks from outside at all."

Adrian sighed slightly. That was true - the Apostles' light beam prayers were too overpowered, able to pierce through the roofs from the sky. Without "Sanctuary of Light", he and Mike would have likely suffered losses, and the remaining forces would have been picked off one by one.

And through this battle, I also noticed a weakness in his battle qi. The "light shield" is a two-word technique, so he couldn't fully apply it to his arrows. But a single-word "shield" without light attribute was useless.

In the end, the traditional battle qi applications were still more practical, proven in actual combat. Look at Mike - even if he couldn't tank the hits, his speed allowed him to dodge easily. Last time he got hit was just because he was unprepared.

"Is the Saint Angel Cyra behind this door?"

After pressing forward a bit, Ron pointed to a door ahead, asking. With the four-winged Apostles down, no other enemies had rushed in yet, but that was only temporary - the reinforcements from below would arrive soon.

"I'm not sure, I've never gotten this far before. I can only guess based on those four-winged Apostles' words, but the chance is probably high..."

Adrian hesitated slightly, then firmly pushed open the doors with both hands.

"Since this is the most heavily guarded area, let me see the truth behind it!"

The doors swung open, revealing not a room, but a vast open-air courtyard.

"So you've finally come. I've been waiting a long time."

A petite figure stood in the center, back facing us. In an elegant gown, with six pristine white wings - this had to be the one we sought, Saint Angel Cyra.

"I heard there's another angel with six white wings like me nearby. I was quite curious to see them..."

So this was the legendary Cyra? Unlike the Cyra travelling with me, she was the true, original founding member of the True Church.

Although I had once suspected the Saint Angel Cyra was actually the future Cyrus who had time-traveled, that was just an unsubstantiated guess. Now the truth would be revealed before our eyes.

"I have a question - did you really know we were coming? Why wait for us here?"

Adrian raised a point we had all overlooked. Why was Cyra waiting like a final boss, when she could have easily ambushed and killed us before we reached this point?

"Because those Apostles are spiritually connected to me. They gained wisdom through me, so they could relay everything happening to me through the light element."

"But I also know you didn't come just for this question. You must be acting on someone's behalf, right? But they didn't dare face me directly!"

She sounded a bit disappointed. Then her voice suddenly rose.

"But I can forgive that. They must be resentful of my sudden betrayal! So I'll give you a chance to explain yourselves. Whether you can bring the message back, that's up to your abilities!"

"????????"

What was she talking about? We hadn't accepted any commission from anyone! Don't tell me the so-called employer was Yulanda?

I was completely baffled, and the others seemed just as confused, exchanging perplexed looks.

Who was this "they" she was referring to? And when did Saint Angel Cyra ever betray us?

"Is she referring to the betrayal of our church?"

Ron quietly confirmed with Mike.

"Probably, but it sounds a bit strange..."

Mike replied uncertainly, eyeing Cyra warily.

"What about the God of Light Beluto? We want to talk to him, mainly about how to leave this place!"