Chapter 19

1

"The Winged Punishment is a punishment of The Demon Realm. You must be the first Angel to be punished in The Divine Realm."

I stood on the high platform with Nofice locked behind me, facing away from the "Execution Gate." The guards, judges, executioners on the platform, as well as the bloodthirsty killers and protesters below, all stood frozen. Everything in my memory seemed illusory, except for the weak and pitiful Nofice. The sadness and loneliness on her face were truly heart-wrenching. The cold-hearted Nofice, the joyful Nofice, I had seen both sides of her often. Perhaps Nofice lost her emotions here.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Your master."

"Master?" Nofice chuckled bitterly as if expecting me to kick her while she was down.

I sat cross-legged in front of her, out of place with everyone else. "Dreams are just dreams, pain is just the past. To be obsessed with the past without considering the future, is the wisdom of the eighteen wings merely a decoration?"

"Dreams? No..." Nofice suddenly realized a change, and all the Angels and godly beings became clearer to her.

"It's hard to deceive oneself, isn't it?" Nofice ignored my words, but I continued, "Tell me if there's anything you don't understand. Seems like you're still reminiscing about the pain of losing your wings. I know that growing them back will be even more painful. But in fact, you have already grown new wings, half white, half black..."

“Why does The Divine Realm fall into the hands of hypocritical godly beings? Why do those who should defend true justice end up in slaughtering? Why did our teacher turn his back on us at a critical moment?”

Following Nofice's gaze, the judge who stood before everyone with a white cloak, the proud proof of a judge on his head was the shiny silver ring.

"The prototype of an angel without virtue, he will be ashamed of his sins, and because of his transgressions, he will be condemned."

"As judges, we should not have sins. We must remain fair and just without any wavering. Without us, there will be no fair judgment, no functioning law. Despite what the teacher said, I have always adhered to it. I never expected that the one to break it would also be the teacher."

I waved my hand and invaded Nofice's memory with my mental strength, clearing out all irrelevant people. The scenes of slaughter were too glaring, and the psychological implications for Nofice were too strong.

"Let me tell you about history. Long, long ago, primitive animals were born in The Human Realm, while in the realm of gods and demons, there were only the Sacred and the Demon Dragons. The Demon Dragon, with a volatile and lively nature, captured a hundred primitive humans to The Demon Realm. There he taught them magic and battle techniques to make them kill each other. In the end, only ten people remained, with the celestial demons unable to determine the ultimate victor. The Demon Dragon then made them the first generation of ten demon kings, while humans continued to proliferate and became the rulers of The Human Realm. Periodically, the Demon Dragon would capture humans to fill the gap left by the hundred people. The Sacred Dragon, full of a sense of justice, couldn't bear to watch this. He intervened, and in their memories, the Sacred and Demon Dragons met for the first time and simultaneously harbored resentment towards each other. After all, no one can fight evenly for a lifetime. Once, the Demon Dragon had the sudden idea to let the ten demon kings invade the empty Divine Realm. When they returned, only five of them came back."

"They died in battle?"

"Die? Has the Divine Dragon ever let anyone die? Besides, those five individuals stayed in The Divine Realm to repent for their past. They are the origins of the divine race, resembling both gods and demons, as they represent the ultimate indulgence and extreme restraint of humanity. When they lost their direction, gods turned into demons, and demons could also become gods. This 'direction' is the Divine Dragon and Demon Dragon."

Nofice was skeptical. The divine race prided themselves on being supremely pure, but she had stopped believing in their origins from some era onwards. The Divine Dragon respected the divine race's choices and never mentioned it again since.

"Do you think the divine race must make mistakes to repent and correct themselves? But to differentiate between right and wrong, there must be a benchmark," Nofice was wise. She believed that the divine race no longer had a standard for right or wrong.

"Then you be the benchmark."

"What ability do I have left? All my strength was exhausted in this movement, but... I was defeated."

"You only lost once," my mental force invaded once again, wiping out everything in the dream, including Nofice's bloodied back, continuing, "Dreams must come to an end, Nofice. Do you remember me?"

Everything in Nofice's eyes vanished rapidly. In the empty space, there were only her and me. She began to detach herself from her dream, "You are... the 'direction' from the past!"

I felt helpless, "Then what do you usually call me?"

"Master!"

I looked into Nofice's eyes. Slowly, hope and emotion began to surface in her eyes.

"Arise, Judge Nofice. It is time to restore justice." I extended my hand to Nofice, waiting for her to reach out slowly.

"Master, do you not want to know what happened back then?"

"I have a rough idea. But even if it was convoluted, what pierced your heart was not those incidents but the collapse of your beliefs, turning you into an emotionless shell. So, please trust that I can guide the divine race back in the right direction!"

"My admired teacher, let the trial begin!"

2

I abruptly opened my eyes, took a deep breath, and directed the projection in the command room to show the battle in front of the aircraft carrier. Qin Ying had successfully launched a surprise attack, disrupting the divine race's formation, albeit at a high cost, with a third of the forces casualties.

"Qin Yang, Nofice, she..." Elena exclaimed as the shape-shifting energy object lodged in the body of the Fallen Angel from afar was pulled out. Simultaneously, Nofice flew out behind the Fallen Angel, unfurling eighteen wings. While absorbing the energy spheres, she emitted a highly divine light centered on Nofice, warming and purifying all with benevolence.

"She is awakening. Who can decide the fall or rise of an Angel is not just a single blockade."

Before all the Angel legions, an unprecedented transformation unfolded.

The Fallen Angel regained a hint of sanity and said, "Angel Ascend! This is impossible!"

Although the square-shaped injury on the body was minimal, the Fallen Angel suffered almost no pain.

Behind Nofice, her black wings gradually turned white one by one, shining as new under the pure white wings. Nofice retrieved her staff, and a silver ring with a blue gem on her forehead suddenly lit up.

I believed that beyond the shock of the Angel legions and the gods peeking from The Divine Realm, witnessing the Fallen Angel ascending to an Angel, there was Nofice's blue sapphire silver ring. The ring was the badge of an Angel Judge. The blue sapphire represented the Divine Dragon’s special emblem. It was widely known that in the battle between the Divine Dragon and the Demon Dragon thirteen million years ago, there would never again be a blue sapphire silver ring. Even during the Divine Dragon's return, no new judge was ever appointed, and an Angel who had fallen two thousand years ago would not be bestowed such an item.

Nofice regaining his status as an Angel, a burst of energy erupted into a seven-colored light, wandering through the borders of Othrie. The marks left by the soldiers previously now formed seven bright stars, shining even under the sun. One star rose faster than the others, and lightning struck all over Othrie, aiming at the invading Angel legion. These seven stars formed the complete posture of the "Seven Star" Magic Array that disappeared from Othrie, which was the strongest defense Magic arranged by Nofice according to my command.

"I will address you as my teacher one more time. From now on, I am the judge who will pass judgment on you," Nofice floated above the head of the Fallen Angel, his radiant wings causing the Fallen Angel to lose all desire to fight. Even the Angel legion lost their will to fight upon seeing the light, with none spared wherever the light reached.

"Nofice..."

"My teacher has already apologized to me before, so now it is time to pass judgment on your crime—betrayal," Nofice declared.

The Fallen Angel suddenly burst into tears and, regaining some sanity under the light, uttered, "I broke the oath of being a judge before, bearing a false accusation in order to continue as a judge in the new covenant era in The Divine Realm, causing the death of thirty thousand Angel brethren..."

The massacre of thirty thousand Angels seemed to be the one Nofice remembered.

"I sentence you to fall from grace in the name of a judge—becoming a Fallen Angel."

"Fall...fall from grace? Can I, already a Fallen Angel, fall further?"

Raising his staff, Nofice summoned a triple-headed dragon magic formation over the Fallen Angel. The grotesque appearance of the Fallen Angel gradually melted away, revealing a humanoid figure wearing a silver ring.

The Fallen Angel gazed at his hands, now slowly becoming distinct, after being a Fallen Angel for over a thousand years. Seeing his complete hands, he was almost unable to believe it.

"Ah..." the Fallen Angel cried out, as eighteen pitch-black wings spread from his back. Falling from grace without the "execution gate," only the Holy Dragon who created Angels could achieve this.

"Only by falling from grace can you find redemption—teacher, become a Fallen Angel," Nofice stated.

"Can...can we be together again? Nofice," he immediately expressed his thoughts after truly becoming a Fallen Angel.

"It's impossible. From now on, I, Nofice, will only choose to be with my master once again."

"You actually have a master? Huh? Is it raining?" A drop of liquid fell on his forehead.

I was on the aircraft carrier, suddenly looking up at the sky and softly saying, "He's coming."

The sky split open, and a drop of red liquid appeared in the crack, tearing apart Nofice's holy light ability and hitting the Fallen Angel right on the forehead.

The Fallen Angel's body inexplicably filled with veins, ugly bone spurs grew on his hands, his body swelled back, wings fell out one by one, fingers closing in... hope shattered in an instant.

"Darn it... Marutian!" I immediately turned to Elena, then we exchanged glances and left the command room, taking the elevator to reach the aircraft carrier's launch pad and opened the carrier's hatch.

Elena stood beside me, facing the roaring wind, and said, "I will definitely be by your side."

"Qin Yang, where are you all headed?" Qin Ying's image appeared at the hatch, clearly worried as she noticed us leaving without a word.

"Qin Ying, there's something we've been putting off that we finally need to do." Elena dragged me by the hand in front of Qin Ying, a hint of smugness appearing on her face.

"Don't be silly, it'll be difficult if we miss the right time." Elena and I jumped off the aircraft carrier, and I heard Qin Ying mutter, "Stupid fat sheep!"

I knew there was something between Qin Ying and Elena, and I was just waiting for the right moment. If we missed it, we would have to spend even more time.