In the real world, Yui stood motionless, her gaze fixed toward the distant horizon.
A strange sensation crawled down her spine.
Something was approaching. And it wasn't just coming.
It was rushing, tearing through the atmosphere like a comet set ablaze.
It was dangerously fast.
A blur that seemed to rip through the very fabric of the sky.
Beside her, Hina didn't even twitch.
Her body remained frozen, her eyes vacant, as if her soul had long since checked out.
No—this wasn't ignorance.
The weight of her depression had dulled her senses completely.
That constant, crushing despair had stripped her of awareness, erasing every instinct she once had.
It was precisely because of her condition that she couldn't even feel it and couldn't sense the approaching storm.
"Haa…" Yui let out a long sigh, her tone dipped in annoyance and resignation. "Looks like it's up to me to handle everything again."
Her fingers tightened slightly, and in the next instant, a sword of pure, radiant light materialized in her hand.
It shimmered like a solidified beam from the heavens.
It was beautiful and dangerous.
And then, out of nowhere, something white streaked through the sky like a living bullet, heading straight for her with terrifying speed.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
A figure screamed, barreling down at Yui with no hesitation and no restraint at all.
It was just raw fury and momentum.
"Don't shout while you're coming at me," Yui muttered, her voice flat but with a touch of irritation. "It's embarrassing."
She raised her blade effortlessly, positioning it just in time to intercept the incoming strike.
Their blades met with a deafening clash, a shockwave erupting from the point of contact.
The surrounding snow didn't just shift—it exploded into the air, scattering in all directions like a miniature blizzard set off by divine fury.
The attacker's face came into view, and it was one Yui knew well.
"Well, look who it is. Been a long time, huh?"
She was undeniably stunning, her features sculpted like marble kissed by sunlight.
But beauty couldn't hide the pure wrath twisting her expression into something almost monstrous.
"Don't scream in my face like that. My ears are still attached, you know," Yui said flatly as she swept her sword sideways, forcing the angel to stagger back with the force of the counter.
The angel's eyes locked onto Yui, wide and seething, her pupils burning with sheer murderous rage.
And that rage—gods, it was tangible.
The very air thickened, saturated with her hatred.
Breathing felt like inhaling smoke.
The atmosphere turned suffocating, each second under her gaze pressing down like a crushing weight.
This level of wrath—so raw and so visceral—was dangerous.
It was the kind of fury that could drive an angel to fall.
But she hadn't. Not yet.
The only reason she still stood with her halo intact was because of the righteous belief fueling her rage.
To her, this wasn't vengeance. It was justice. Divine retribution.
That belief anchored her.
"You deserve to rot in hell!" the angel spat, her voice shaking with emotion.
This wasn't just any angel.
She was from the second generation—a younger class than Yui, but one that had once stood proudly.
One of the angels who had tried to end her.
Yui had almost killed her back then.
But instead, she spared her.
Not out of mercy but out of boredom.
Yui had found it entertaining to let her live, to let her fester in hatred, and to let her rage simmer until it eventually boiled over and drove her back here… ready to kill.
"You're way more vengeful than I gave you credit for," Yui said with a smirk tugging at the edge of her lips. "So… was it seeing all the angels from your generation turn to ash that pissed you off this much?"
At her words, the angel let out a sudden surge of divine power.
It erupted violently around her, crackling through the sky like a storm desperate to be unleashed.
Her divine nature trembled on the edge of collapse. Her faith in justice kept her grounded, but her rage—so deep and so overwhelming—was eroding that foundation fast.
The moment those emotions clashed hard enough, her wings would lose their shine.
It was only a matter of time before they turned gray.
"Lady Gabriel!" a voice cried out.
Another angel descended from the skies—one Yui recognized immediately. The same one she had fought in that subconscious world.
"You can't let her provoke you! She's trying to make you fall!"
Gabriel's eyes flickered, her breathing erratic. The haze of fury dimmed slightly, reason clawing its way back into her thoughts.
But the fury hadn't left. Not by a long shot.
"I'm trying to make her fall?" Yui asked, tilting her head lazily. "Mmm… I wouldn't go that far. Sure, I'm poking at her a bit, but it's nothing too serious."
She turned her head briefly to check on Hina. The girl still hadn't moved. Still trapped in her own world of misery, as if the battle raging around her didn't even exist.
Yui narrowed her eyes slightly. An idea stirred.
"You fallen angel," Gabriel suddenly snarled. "What's your intention in protecting that soul from us? You won't let us guide him to the heavens. Don't tell me… you're thinking of reviving him?"
"Oh? So you do know the method to bring someone back," Yui replied, her voice laced with a hint of amusement.
"That only applies to human mortals," Gabriel snapped. "If a mortal uses it, they become something else—they won't be mortal anymore. Don't tell me you're actually considering doing something that breaks the very laws of nature… of the universe itself?"
"Break the very laws of nature and the universe? Does something like that really exist?" Yui scoffed, her tone dripping with disbelief. "To be honest, all of that sounds like bullshit to me."
"Hah. So this is why you've fallen," Gabriel said, narrowing her eyes. "You dismiss and degrade Yesh-sama's—our creator's—words."
"Nah," Yui replied with a lazy shrug. "It was mainly just because I got bored."
She shifted her gaze to the other angel beside Gabriel—the stoic one, the same one she had fought and encountered in the subconscious world.
"Tell me, you young angel," Yui said, smirking faintly. "Did you like my power-up back in that world?"
The moment that word left Yui's mouth, Hina's head snapped upward.
She didn't know why, but she always associated that word—power-up—with Kouhei.
Her eyes immediately locked onto Yui.
"That was very powerful, wasn't it?" she said softly, her voice trembling slightly.
"As I thought…" Gabriel muttered, her tone darkening. "The soul you're protecting in that world… the one you're trying to keep from the hands of the angels... it's…"
Gabriel had suspected the truth long before descending to the mortal realm to confront the fallen angel.
The report from the stoic angel had already hinted at something too specific and too coincidental to ignore.
Yui, who possessed no mana at all because she exhausted all of it, had suddenly displayed overwhelming power.
And there was a demon near her, too.
Given those facts, it was only natural for Gabriel to arrive at the conclusion.
That the soul in question was—
"You're right with your guess," Yui said, smiling as if amused. "He's the Child of Anti-Prophecy. The one and only person who can derail Yesh-sama's divine plan… and the one destined to end her. That's who he is. The Child of Anti-Prophecy."
"Why?!" Gabriel shouted. "Why are you trying to revive someone who's destined to kill our creator?!"
Yui didn't flinch at the accusation. She simply shrugged her shoulders again, calm as ever.
"I already told you—stop screaming like that. It's bad for the ears of everyone around you," she said, rolling her eyes slightly. "And besides… don't you think I'm being fair here?"
Her gaze sharpened, voice turning cold.
"I was cast aside by Yesh-sama the moment I felt bored. Can you believe that? I served her for centuries, and the second I got even a little tired of it all—bam. Thrown away like trash. Isn't it only fair for me to want her dead now?"
Gabriel looked at Yui, her expression painted with a mixture of disbelief and disgust.
"If I kill you right now… then the soul of the Child of Anti-Prophecy would disappear along with you," she said bitterly. "If that happens, nothing would be left to stand in Yesh-sama's way."
"Then come on," Yui replied, smirking. "Try it—if you can."
Without hesitation, Gabriel and the other angel dashed forward, blades drawn, aiming straight for Yui.
But just before they could reach her—
A black sphere shot through the air, heading straight for them.
The two angels managed to dodge it just in time, halting their advance mid-air.
"I won't let you kill Kouhei," Hina said, her voice steady.
Her despair, which had clouded her earlier, now seemed to have thinned.
Just hearing the angels speak of extinguishing Kouhei had stirred something inside her.
She wouldn't allow that.
She couldn't let that happen again.