Speaking of which, I have always felt that the records of the main world about Demons, such as descriptions of being inherently cruel and aggressive, are biased. In an environment like Devildom, you have to be tough and aggressive, the law of the jungle prevails, and that's the social form that should exist. Any race left there for a thousand years would inevitably transform into Demons.
Yuan lay basking in the sun on the wide airbag top of the steel-framed platform of the airship, but barely lasted two minutes before scrambling to his feet and propping up a large umbrella to apply sunburn ointment and sunscreen to exposed parts of his body.
"Tsk, I overlooked the issue of solar radiation despite considering high-altitude air pressure and atmospheric composition… I thought Heaven would have at least set up some kind of barrier with a similar effect. Are Angels immune to sunlight after all?"
Hmm, it seems to make sense, considering they can summon holy light at will and enchant swords with solar flames. It would be pointless if they lacked resistance to something like this.
Behind him, Angelo also held up a similar umbrella and looked helplessly at Yuan.
While mentioning not being thorough about sunproof preparations, he had already prepared umbrellas capable of withstanding high-altitude sunlight in advance. Mr. Yuan is indeed once again engaging in performance art. With a physique that can survive any kind of behavior, there is really no need to worry about such matters.
"Even if you can resurrect, it still hurts, you know."
Yuan tapped on the perforated metal plate beside him, his face a mix of red and white looking somewhat comical. "By the way, how do you feel about Heaven?"
"Very magnificent, like a scene that only appears in dreams... that's all.”
Angelo replied after some thought.
The various floating islands had different forms—a small one was just the size of a courtyard, a big one like an independent town, and some even had rushing streams cascading down into the clouds.
"Hmph, so Vera really missed out. Such a place is something ordinary people may never come to in their entire lives.” Yuan snorted as though he were challenging Vera to a virtual duel or something.
After several modifications and blessings of magic seals by Yuan, this human-made airship gained the ability to soar to heights exceeding thirty thousand meters. At this altitude, it had already surpassed the normal physical limits, but in a world with Magic, it could be taken further.
Of course, even in theory, raising the altitude higher wouldn't enable them to reach Heaven. Similar to Devildom, as a semi-nested plane within the main world, reaching Heaven also required the ability for spatial jumps. However, the conditions needed were not as strict as reaching a completely different world. Strictly speaking, the spatial laws at Holy Rank level would be sufficient.
"Excited? Thrilled? Come on, let's have an interview. As someone who was once from the church, do you feel a sense of pilgrimage seeing this scene?"
"I don't even have faith in the Goddess, how could I?" Angelo shook his head while holding the umbrella. "But there is still a sense of awe, considering that, compared to Devildom with a history of aggression towards the human world, Angels are somewhat allied with humans."
Reflecting on the time in the city of Milt when facing off against the demon legion and the powerful display of the Angel army, Angelo added, still somewhat trembling with fear.
"The same side..." Yuan repeated, giggling. "About that, it's not necessarily true."
"What you see now are basically most of Heaven's regions. Even though it's on par with Devildom, in terms of stability and vastness, Heaven pales in comparison. The Angel population is also quite limited... with a population of this scale, they simply cannot withstand the Demon onslaught without the cooperation of races from the main world."
Yuan pointed below towards the glowing lights rising from the sea of clouds. "See those? They come from human beliefs, the Goddess of the Light receives vast amounts of belief from the entire human world. However, apart from reinforcing her own Godrealm, a significant portion is used to sustain Heaven."
"In other words, the Goddess uses human beliefs to provide Angels with a homeland. Under the Goddess's call, Angels stand with humans in a rather pure exchange—well, most humans prefer to believe that Angels are protectors of humanity by birthright."
In contrast to the cruelty and worship of the strong in Demon society, Angels place a strong emphasis on faith. To some extent, their power is linked to the steadfastness of their beliefs. Even before Goddess of the Light became their primary faith, Angels had a variety of beliefs, ranging from actual entities to abstract concepts.
"When you were in the church, you should have come across some descriptions of Angels, right? Concepts like justice, sincerity, purity... maybe thousands of years ago, those were the beliefs of an Angel, who knows."
Yuan chuckled before lying back under the sunshade.
Angelo gazed at the distant islands and asked, "So, why are we here for, then?"
"For vacation."
The statement almost choked Angelo.
Seeing Angelo's perplexed expression, Yuan had to sit up and gesture with his hand, "I really just wanted to take a look. I've been around for quite some time, but I've never been to Heaven before. I scoured ancient texts for a long time to figure out the method of spatial jumping to enter Heaven. My brain cells have died several times over. It's not like you can expect me to have the energy to indulge your mischievous mood, right?"
"I wasn't trying to cause trouble..."
Angelo felt quite frustrated. Starting from Milt until now, who was the one always thinking about causing trouble or spectating for entertainment? Clearly, he was just following along and cheering on the sidelines.
"Anyway, since we're here, let's enjoy a rare holiday without getting into trouble."
"A holiday..."
That seemed somewhat distant for him—a person who was involved in activities every day and had no relation with the idea of vacation.
"More importantly, Mr. Yuan, are we really okay just sitting here openly like this?"
"Relax, this location is on the outskirts, so we shouldn’t attract attention." Yuan reassured, with a look of having everything under control, waving his hand casually.
Meanwhile, on the nearest floating island to the airship:
"Sister, sister, what's that suddenly appearing thing?"
"Little sister, I think it's probably a whale."
"But whales live in the sea, don't they?"
"Isn't a sea of clouds still a kind of sea... maybe?"
"Don't be silly, sister. It can't possibly be a whale. We are not kids anymore; we should be more mature."
"...Hey, I only said that to go along with you!"
"So... should we inform the council?"
With their wings flapping, two figures passed through the clouds and disappeared into the cluster of islands.