ARC 1: The Age of Purge

  VOL 1: A Small Rebellion

  Chapter 3: The Beginning

  Hell had not changed that day.

  Shops were open. Workers moved through narrow streets. In distant corners, minor skirmishes broke out like they always did.

  Then the sky tore open.

  A blinding light split the crimson clouds apart. The Gates of Heaven descended.

  And the massacre began.

  From the top of a high-rise building, a lone figure watched.

  “I guess… it’s time.”

  Saegusa flicked a coin into the air. It spun lazily above his head.

  Below him, MISAKI’s district was already under siege.

  Steel clashed. Wings sliced through buildings. Screams echoed.

  MISAKI stood in the middle of it all.

  In two breaths, twelve Seikan-level angels fell.

  Blood sprayed across shattered stone.

  She didn’t even look tired.

  “Saegusa,” she spoke through the comm crystal. “Move.”

  On the rooftop, Saegusa sighed.

  “I was enjoying the quiet.”

  Another explosion shook the street below.

  “If we lose this block,” Misaki continued coldly, “you lose your apartment too.”

  “…Fine.”

  He flipped the coin.

  Heads.

  His body immediately felt heavier.

  “Of course.”

  Fifteen seconds of debuff.

  He leaned forward slightly and aimed.

  A wounded angel tried to crawl toward the sky.

  Bang.

  The bullet pierced through its skull.

  Saegusa exhaled slowly.

  Even under debuff, he was precise enough.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Still breathing.”

  He flipped again.

  Tails.

  His eyes sharpened instantly.

  Another tails.

  Then another.

  By the seventh tails, the air around him changed.

  Absolute Accuracy.

  For 7 minutes and 14 seconds, every shot would land perfectly.

  He stood up.

  The massacre shifted direction.

  Bullets rained from above like cold judgment.

  Angels dropped one by one.

  No wasted motion. No hesitation.

  The battlefield suddenly fell silent.

  The lesser angels parted.

  The sky darkened.

  A massive shadow covered the district.

  Dai Tenshi.

  One slash.

  The street split open.

  MISAKI was struck across the shoulder. Blood poured down her arm.

  Saegusa’s hands trembled slightly.

  Sixteen active weak points.

  One hit in the wrong place—and he would die instantly.

  “…That was close.”

  The Dai Tenshi stepped forward.

  “Resistance is meaningless.”

  Fire erupted.

  Buildings melted.

  Stone turned liquid.

  MISAKI clenched her teeth and raised both hands.

  Stone pillars shot up from the ground, trapping the angel mid-air.

  Her injured arm trembled violently.

  “Now.”

  Saegusa didn’t speak.

  He fired.

  One shot. Two. Five. Twelve.

  Each bullet pinned the Dai Tenshi in place for three seconds.

  MISAKI expanded a suppression field.

  Pressure crushed the air.

  The angel’s wings snapped.

  Then—

  Explosion.

  The shockwave rolled across the district.

  When the smoke cleared, only charred feathers remained.

  At the foot of a shattered building—

  A child tugged at a woman’s body.

  “Mom… get up…”

  The child did not cry.

  Only waited.

  Three hours later, the purge ended.

  High above Heaven—

  ALBEDON, Dai Shireikan, listened to the report.

  “One of the Twelve Round Table has fallen.”

  Silence.

  Casualty images flickered in front of him.

  “Next time,” he said quietly, “leave nothing alive.”

  The sky above Heaven seemed darker than usual.

  In Hell, a private meeting was held.

  MISAKI.

  Saegusa.

  KUROKAMI REN.

  Aoyama Taichi.

  Misaki placed the battle report on the table.

  “You saw it. They bleed.”

  Saegusa leaned back.

  “They also kill pretty well.”

  Aoyama rubbed his forehead.

  “Get to the point.”

  Kurokami smiled faintly.

  “I have a plan.”

  “What kind?” Misaki asked.

  “One that doesn’t rely on luck.”

  Saegusa’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  Interesting.

  Later that night—

  Saegusa stood alone on the rooftop.

  No more screams.

  Only distant metal clattering in the wind.

  He flipped the coin again.

  Heads.

  Debuff activated.

  His breathing slowed.

  Below him, a dying angel still twitched.

  Saegusa raised his gun.

  “Fifteen seconds… let’s see if I’m lucky anyway.”

  Bang.

  The angel stopped moving.

  His vision blurred slightly from the debuff.

  But he smiled.

  “Ah… so this is it.”

  “The edge.”

  Elsewhere—

  My name is SELEXTIA.

  I am a soldier of Heaven.

  My mother is a Dai Shireikan.

  She always told me:

  “Rise higher.”

  I am currently Vox rank—above Min and Sui, but far from Kashi.

  To reach Tensei… I need recognition.

  I need results.

  I need glory.

  That afternoon—

  “Come outside!”

  I stepped into Hope Square.

  Heads.

  Dozens of them.

  Severed.

  Blood flowed between marble tiles.

  The Tensei had displayed them as proof of victory.

  Angels laughed as they cleaned the plaza.

  My hands brushed against one of the severed faces.

  It was still warm.

  In my mind, I saw a Hell child holding his father’s head.

  I ran.

  The bathroom door slammed shut.

  I vomited until my throat burned.

  I scrubbed my hands.

  The water stayed red.

  “Why… won’t it wash off?”

  Was this Heaven?

  Was this light?

  That evening, Mother found me.

  “What troubles you?”

  I asked her.

  “What is Heaven?”

  She stared at me for a long time.

  Then poured tea.

  “Heaven exists because we choose survival over sentiment.”

  “If we do not eliminate threats… we become the ones eliminated.”

  “And Hell is that threat?”

  “Yes.”

  She paused.

  “If we must choose between morality and survival… morality dies first.”

  I looked at her.

  At the uniform.

  At the calm in her eyes.

  And for the first time—

  I was afraid.

  Her mother stood outside her locked door later that night.

  “It is too early,” she whispered.

  Too early for her daughter to understand.