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Chapter 193 The Enemy, From Above the Stars
To prevent the artifacts from leaking out and causing incalculable damage, the Angel Alliance chose to collect as many as possible and store them in secret warehouses around the world. They are protected not only by angels but also by the Alliance's armed forces; unless directly at war with a nation, such security measures are virtually foolproof.

Elori was quite surprised that a demon, who was not known for its strength in direct combat, was able to breach the "fortress" guarded by the Angel Alliance.

She still didn't understand what this had to do with the extinction of demons and angels.

The governor seemed to read her mind. He released her hand, took out a metal box from his pocket, and opened it. "You should be very familiar with the things inside."

"This is... the Ring of the Soul."

"Elori said in surprise. To be more precise, it's a ring of the soul belonging to her own era. If the Second New Paris is already a century later, then this ring can be considered a century-old antique."

It was almost identical to the ring Raphael had given her: a brass band with a raised center and the Latin word "Guardian" engraved on either side. The only difference was that Raphael's ring had a copper foil cover in the center, while the ring from a century ago was actually set with crystal.

“Yes, it’s a stock piece; they’re very rare these days. A complete classic spirit ring like this can fetch 2 euros on the black market. The one I carry with me has been passed down through generations in my family.”

2 million!
Elori clicked her tongue in amazement. Back then, rings only cost around a hundred euros, so most people would get one for themselves and one for their families. If one could trade rings back and forth between the two... wouldn't that mean instant wealth?

No... Am I a fool? If I could really travel freely between the past and the future, what would be the point of money? Of course, I'd change the fate of Paris being abandoned!
The old governor extended his sharp fingernail, inserted it into the edge of the raised area, and gently pried it off. The crystal set in the center of the ring was immediately pried off.

Elori couldn't help but let out a soft "Huh?"

That's not crystal at all; it's clearly just a thin sheet.

But she was quickly drawn to what was hidden beneath the thin crystal sheet—

It was a lump of "flesh" the size of a fingernail!
In an instant, the angel felt goosebumps rise on his back!
Because the meat was still moving!
It is not a specimen, nor is it rotten. In such a small space, it maintains a rhythmic contraction, just like the heart of an immortal!

what is this! ?

Isn't the Ring of the Soul supposed to refract power through flawless crystal, thus protecting people from being tempted by demons? That's why it has a crystal embedded in it!

Elori shook her head incredulously. If every ring contained such a thing, what about the flawless crystal? What would this wondrous object, used and strictly guarded by various countries, look like?
Could it all be a colossal lie told by the Angel Alliance?

"What on earth is going on?" She pressed her forehead in disbelief. "Why would there be something like this in the ring?!"

“Child, the Angel Alliance promotes the Flawless Crystal precisely because they are worried about situations like yours—people find it hard to accept that the power protecting them comes from a deformed and twisted mass of flesh and blood,” Nymph said slowly. “However, this is the truth. The so-called Flawless Crystal is nothing more than an even larger mass of flesh and blood. They all come from the mother, ‘Lucy,’ and the demons attacked the Himalayan Ridge Temple where Lucy was kept.”

"The final Temple vault was destroyed by explosives, buried along with the Mother under rubble and snow. From then on, the demons disappeared. Gradually, the Angel Alliance also discovered that no new angels were awakening in the world. When the last batch of angels died, the old alliance became a mere shell of its former self."

Nymph paused here, "When I saw someone unfurl their wings of light again today, flying over the ruins of Paris, I couldn't believe my eyes. But it proves that you are indeed extraordinary—up until now, you haven't shown any signs of being corrupted by the contaminated crystal source, which confirms to me that angels possess power originating from the same source as the flesh and blood mother!"

Wait, wait, wait... Elori felt like her head was about to explode.

What is a contamination crystal source?
Why would angels be associated with this immortal lump of flesh?
The Wanderers aren't angels, and they haven't mutated!

“I am an angel… but I don’t think that has much to do with whether or not I’ve mutated.” She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down before carefully choosing her words. “And I still don’t understand why a demon attack on a place storing artifacts would turn Paris into what it is now?”

“Child, don’t worry, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.” The governor first put the ring back together, carefully put it away, and then clapped her hands. A holographic projection immediately appeared behind her.

The image shows the city of Paris on the ground.

However, the camera quickly zoomed out, expanding to a space perspective—at which point the Earth and Moon formed an orbital system. "The disaster didn't come suddenly; it was roughly thirty years after the demons disappeared when we suffered our first attack. Radars around the world didn't sound an alarm, and space-based surveillance satellites didn't react either, because the attack came from the Moon."

Nymph points in the direction of the moon.

The holographic image immediately magnified, making the lunar satellite the main subject of the image.

"Hiss..." Elori gasped.

Why is there a huge scar on the moon?

It's like a centipede-shaped suture wound left after surgery—it almost covers half of the moon's surface, and considering the size of the moon, the scar is frighteningly large.

"It's not a scar, look closely."

The image is zoomed in further—

"That's a worm!?"

The moment Elori saw its details clearly, her heart skipped a beat.

A worm-like object lay on the surface of the moon rock, almost completely blending into the background color—no, it truly blended in. It didn't have a distinct outline; its massive body was the continuous mountain range, and the numerous long legs on its sides were branches of the mountains. If one had to describe it, this bizarre scene was like a sculptor roughly carving a centipede onto a stone sphere. At first glance, it resembled a reptile, but it was still part of the stone sphere itself.

However, she soon realized that she was wrong.

Because the insect's back is moving.

Many dark blue crystal clusters stand on its rugged back, and these crystal clusters are growing out of the mountain little by little, so much so that they seem to be alive.

Just then, a cluster of crystals suddenly shot out like an eruption, flying into space, leaving a large, dark crater in the corresponding location of the mountain ridge. This scene reminded Elori of plucking blackheads; after plucking, such a comfortable hole was left on her skin.

However, as the camera tracked the crystal cluster's movement, she immediately regretted her absurd idea.

Because it was aiming directly at Earth!
The vast distance between the Earth and the Moon was only a few seconds to her—Elori knew this was the result of the image being sped up, and she also knew that the projection was showing history that had already happened, but her heart was still in her throat!
As the crystal cluster passed through the atmosphere, it emitted light and heat due to intense friction, leaving a long trail of flame at its tail, which looked like a meteor falling to Earth from a distance.

But it was not torn apart by high temperature and pressure.

It veered almost vertically toward the ground, landing precisely in North America.

Elori witnessed it crash into a city—which city it was, she no longer cared to think about. Because the crystal cluster itself was completely undeformable, all its kinetic energy was absorbed by the earth. The hard surface rippled like lake water, each ripple being a giant wave of rubble tens of meters high! High-rise buildings made of reinforced concrete collapsed like mahjong tiles after being swept by the giant wave, and tens of thousands of people were directly smashed into mincemeat.

The only fortunate thing is that the crystal cluster is not very large.

Its size is equivalent to a 30-story building. It is thin and long, so most of its energy is channeled underground. The shock wave generated on the surface only destroyed a small part of the city.

At that moment, the casualty figures also popped up in the lower right corner of the screen: 594 million.

(End of this chapter)