Emerald wings. Hair the color of saffron. A million faces and a million mouths, each speaking a different tongue.
The angel of mercy and justice.
Prince of God.
Second only to Heaven's throne.
Lord of Light.
In legend, he had annihilated 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night when they marched upon Jerusalem. He had stayed Abraham's hand before Isaac could be sacrificed. He had called to Moses from the burning bush and guided the Hebrews out of Egypt. He had hunted down the ancient serpent Satan and bound him for a thousand years.
This was Michael.
One of Heaven's Four Archangels.
A Seraph standing closest to the divine.
According to scripture, he was one of the few beings capable of contending directly against Satan himself.
Holy radiance flowed across Michael's body, condensing into pure white armor. Light rippled over its surface like pale flames quietly burning in the wind.
With a spear in hand, he thrust toward Erlang Shen.
Erlang Shen blocked the strike, his gaze locking onto the golden brilliance at the spear's tip.
"The Spear of Longinus?"
"Correct."
Michael's expression remained calm.
"The legend of a weapon that slew a god and bathed in divine blood grants it absolute piercing power. Nothing is beyond its reach."
The sacred spear shone brighter.
The holy aura around him surged.
Erlang Shen gave a dry chuckle.
"Then you'd better be careful. That thing carries a curse. Lose it, have it stolen, and the owner is finished."
"Holding this spear grants authority over the world's destiny."
Michael raised the weapon.
"I cannot be defeated."
The moment those words fell, the two gods collided once more.
Very quickly, Erlang Shen realized something was wrong.
Clang!
His black sword crashed against the brilliant white spear.
A devastating shockwave erupted outward.
A streak of light tore across the heavens, splitting both dark storm clouds and holy radiance in its path.
Opposing energies clashed and devoured one another.
Within an instant, thunderous explosions rolled across the sky like mountains collapsing.
Then Erlang Shen was wounded.
The two should have been evenly matched.
Yet every strike from the Spear of Longinus seemed to inflict damage before the impact itself was even completed, as though fate had already decided the result.
Michael thrust again.
The spear tip blazed with star-like brilliance.
Erlang Shen couldn't fully defend against it.
The strike smashed through his guard.
Blood sprayed.
His body plummeted from the heavens.
At that moment, Wargod charged in.
The authority of the Lord of War collided head-on with the Spear of Longinus, barely achieving a fragile balance.
DING!
The tremendous impact froze both combatants for an instant.
Michael grunted.
The force drove him downward more than a thousand meters.
His six wings folded around him.
Holy light condensed into a miniature sun, flooding the darkened world with blinding white brilliance.
The collision unleashed chain reactions throughout the surrounding space.
Hurricanes.
Thunderstorms.
Lightning.
The fabric of reality compressed, cracked, and split apart, spewing violent energy storms from widening fissures.
Numerous gods were caught in the aftermath and injured.
Hurricane-force winds ravaged land and sea.
Dust storms swallowed the horizon.
Tidal currents churned endlessly.
Above the clouds, black and white flashes alternated across the heavens.
The sight inspired primal fear.
It looked as though Judgment Day itself had arrived.
High above the world, Wargod and Michael exchanged thousands of attacks.
Space ruptured around them again and again.
Cracks opened.
Collapsed.
Healed.
Only to tear apart once more.
Each eruption released catastrophic energy storms that swept back and forth across the battlefield.
Then Wargod noticed something peculiar.
The Spear of Longinus seemed to consist only of its tip.
Or rather, the shaft was insignificant.
The true weapon was the spearhead itself.
Realizing that, he immediately changed tactics and began targeting the spear's body.
Michael recognized his intention at once.
Holy flames exploded from his body.
Each of Heaven's Four Archangels governed one of the fundamental elements underpinning creation.
Michael's domain was fire.
In terms of authority, he stood equal to the fire gods of other pantheons.
And his flames were terrifying.
Caught off guard, Wargod was instantly scorched black from head to toe.
Michael's face twisted with savage fury as he roared.
The sacred spear transformed into a streak of white destruction.
He drove it beneath Wargod's ribs.
A beam of light pierced the sky.
It continued beyond the horizon until it resembled a distant star.
Only after the light vanished did the sea below react.
Towering waves tens of thousands of feet high erupted across the ocean.
Michael pressed his advantage relentlessly.
Wargod was driven backward step after step.
Every gesture unleashed oceans of light.
He appeared invincible.
This was the power of the Spear of Longinus.
Whoever wielded it carried the destiny of the world upon their shoulders.
Victory seemed inevitable.
Even the authorities of a War God or a Lord of Battle paled in comparison.
At this moment, Michael possessed strength sufficient to challenge a single Celestial on a universal scale.
After all, Jehovah had originally forged the Spear of Longinus with exactly that purpose in mind.
One day, it would stand against the Celestials.
At the center of Michael and Wargod's battlefield, overwhelming energy filled every inch of space.
The air itself had become as dense and solid as steel.
Seeing Michael dominate two of the Heavenly Court's most troublesome champions by himself, the Allied Gods' morale surged.
The gods of the Heavenly Court quickly reached the same conclusion.
Michael was clearly the enemy's central figure.
So they responded with a strategy they knew exceptionally well.
They jumped him.
The ink-dark sky twisted slowly.
Clouds rotated clockwise, forming a vast whirlpool like an abyssal vortex in the deepest ocean.
The cloud layer descended lower and lower.
The vortex accelerated.
Darkness swallowed heaven and earth.
Visibility vanished.
Lightning serpents raced across the storm clouds, converging toward the center along the same spiraling path.
A blinding flash illuminated the world.
Accompanied by an endless shriek of thunder, the heart of the vortex suddenly exploded with pale white light, bringing illumination back to the blackened earth below.
Yet even the Heavenly Court's coordinated assault failed to bring down Michael.
Though heavily outnumbered, he fought with astonishing ease.
Crimson light erupted from his body.
Red waves spread across the heavens.
Driven by raging winds, the flames grew ever more violent, transforming into a colossal golden-red vortex.
The vortex spun faster.
Its temperature climbed higher.
Then it began compressing inward.
Smaller.
Denser.
Hotter.
The red glow shifted through impossible shades until it became a color no mortal eye could perceive.
Any god struck by those energies suffered horrific injuries.
Limbs vanished instantly.
Entire sections of their bodies were vaporized.
The destructive power was horrifying.
Holy hymns echoed across the battlefield.
Their voices rang clear and majestic.
Deep bell tones accompanied the sacred chorus.
A radiance rivaling the brilliance of stars burst forth.
It was the light of divine life itself.
Majestic.
Untouchable.
At that moment, Michael's divine might reached its peak.
Then someone shot him out of the sky.
The Divine Archer drew back the Heaven-Shaking Bow granted to him by the Celestial Marshal.
That bow had been empowered by Drex Valen with the authority to kill anything.
A Michael at the height of his power had no chance of stopping it.
The Allied Gods froze in shock.
For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.
Fortunately for them, Michael reappeared shortly afterward.
As long as he held the Spear of Longinus, true death was nearly impossible.
But surviving did not mean emerging unscathed.
A grievous wound remained.
The Godslayer Arrow fired from the Heaven-Shaking Bow was still embedded in his chest.
Michael understood the situation perfectly.
The instant he released the sacred spear...
He would die.
His eyes fixed on the bow in the distance.
A rare trace of caution appeared on his face.
That weapon was far too dangerous.
The Heavenly Court possessed an artifact capable of threatening even him.