Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

"What about the rent?"

"I'll work hard to pay it back later!"

Shirou: "Can you even work like that? If you work in the service industry, you'll get complaints from customers until you're dead!"

Metatron (Sloth): "Online, online part-time jobs...what? Oh right, stocks and forex! I heard that's very profitable!"

There must be jobs in this world that even I could do... Ah!

Shirou ignored the girl's ramblings and pulled her up.

"He is supposed to be the archangel in charge of 'sloth,' yet he can't do anything."

So, you're a complete social outcast like yourself, you might as well give up the fight—and just wallow in depravity with me.

The girl bit her lip: "Ugh... Even if you're looking at me like that, no is no..."

"What if I told you that you can use my kotatsu anytime from now on?"

"It's a word."

Shirou nodded: "Okay, it's a deal."

The red-haired boy and the angel girl clasped hands in perfect unison.

"..."

The archangel's change of expression was astonishing, leaving both Joan of Arc and Lady Avalon speechless: Is this how you conquer "Sloth"?

Actually...the two of them get along very well?

If you think about it carefully, Shirou might be the most tolerant person in the world when it comes to people like him.

Metatron (Sloth) suddenly realized: rather than letting him remain lazy, a diligent Shirou would be better able to serve him.

Thinking about this gave me a little bit of motivation, but it quickly vanished.

Ah—I'm so tired…I'm going to reward myself by going back to my room to lie down for a while.

Metatron tiptoed away, but his wrist was grabbed.

"It's almost time for the war council meeting, Miss Metatron, where would you like to go?"

"Go to the toilet."

"Please resolve this here."

Shirou handed him a Pocari Sweat bottle.

Metatron stared in disbelief: "...Are you a demon?"

"They are the guardians of angels on earth, so what's wrong?"

Shirou said with a smile.

Volume 5, Chapter 257: My Mother is a High School Girl / Ah, Joan of Arc is dead again!

"Mr. Saber...?"

Leticia's eyes widened.

what happened?

In just a moment of distraction, the reliable figure that had been protecting him vanished completely.

"What did you do to Mr. Saber?!"

Leticia felt an emptiness inside, as if a large piece was missing, and couldn't help but shout out.

Metatron said calmly, "He has already been absorbed into my body and will soon be reborn as the last human being."

The sinful savior will spend the rest of his life protecting a new humanity billions of years from now.

Leticia was speechless.

What surprised her even more than the archangel's incomprehensible plan was that even Shirou could not defy Metatron's power.

If even Shirou can't defeat Metatron, then no matter how hard everyone tries, humanity's fate of extinction cannot be changed.

Thinking of this, the girl couldn't help but feel a deep sadness.

"Why...why would you do something so outrageous...?"

Metatron frowned slightly: "Something excessive?"

The girl roared, "You are clearly an angel! You are God's agent! Why must you exterminate humanity?"

"Laetitia, do you think what I did was wrong? Come to think of it, I haven't even explained exactly what I did..."

Metatron said expressionlessly, "I will bring eternal peace to the old humanity—"

"That's just a way of glorifying death!"

"No, I am the omniscient and omnipotent divine secretary. If it were me, I could truly bring eternal peace to all mankind."

"……Varied."

Leticia's mouth dropped open.

Metatron's expression was solemn, and her words did not seem like a lie.

"The request I received from Amakusa Shiro Tokisada was 'the salvation of all humanity,' and I possess the power to keep all humanity forever asleep in a dream."

Metatron said, “I will eliminate the bodies and minds of these 60 billion humans on earth without leaving any pain, but I will preserve their souls only.”

The souls of the old humans will be under my control, forever reliving their happiest moments in dreams, experiencing those blissful instants an infinite number of times—until this planet finally comes to an end.

Leticia: "………………"

The girl's head was buzzing as if she had been hit hard with a baseball bat.

As the literal meaning suggests—

This is the greatest miracle in history that the highest angels could accomplish: sending 60 billion beings on earth to heaven.

"Laetitia...you who have become one with the saint, the girl blessed by God, allow me to ask you one more time—did I do something wrong?"

"Uh……"

Leticia's throat quickly dried up.

In an instant, she thought of more than a dozen ways to refute the archangel.

She thought of many reasons to refute statements such as "Give me liberty or give me death!" "You have no right to decide the choices of mankind!" and "Dreams are just dreams, they are not reality!"

however--

What flooded the girl's mind at that moment was a vision of the future.

Archangel Metatron showed her what the planet would look like a wasteland a hundred years from now.

A land filled with desolation, bitter cold, and death.

Humans who can no longer survive on the ground and can only huddle in underground shelters.

Bizarre new religions and infectious diseases that cause deformities...

"If I don't do something now, humanity will head down that miserable end."

Metatron stared intently at the girl with eyes similar to the saint's, and asked in return:

Do you think that humans should be content with the status quo and not care about the feelings of future generations?

Laetitia was unable to answer the question.

This is like asking a couple whether they should bring their unborn child into the world knowing that the child will be disabled.

According to Catholic doctrine, abortion is an unforgivable sin, on par with suicide.

Even so, the archangel's mercy towards humanity surpasses even the Lord's teachings—

She defied God's teachings to preserve the beauty of humanity in an eternal moment, even during the time when the old human race still had glory.

The girl suddenly understood.

The seemingly cold archangel in front of me actually loves humanity more than anyone else.

She wasn't in love with some new human form that might be a dinosaur or an octopus; she loved the old humans who were now overpopulating on the ground.

"........."

After a long, long silence that felt like a century.

Leticia loosened her tightly clenched lips.

“Lord Metatron, you are indeed a respectable angel.”

I now understand why you are God's agent, but—"

Flames swirled around her as the girl grasped the divine sword she had inherited from the Holy Sword Master.

"I still can't accept what you've done..."

Even if your approach is correct and your ruling is reasonable, I still can't just stand by and watch everyone disappear!

So I will fight! Even if I'm the only one left, I will fight you to the very end!

Metatron paused briefly.

She probably didn't expect to be rejected by a young girl.

"...I see. What a pity, it's truly a great pity."

The archangel slowly raised his hand.

"It is such a pity that I have to personally erase your body."

Above Metatron's head, magic coalesced into a massive pillar of light.

That is the second treasure held by the archangel who is not fully present in the world, "Sainte Mont Pillier".

That was the embodiment of Metatron's boundless power and glory, the manifestation of the "Pillar of Flame".

The surging torrent of light, like a raging torrent, is reminiscent of the Tower of the End (the Holy Lance Rungomminiad). Although it lacks the Tower of the End's binding power that sustains the world, its destructive power is comparable to the Holy Lance.

Even the divine sword that protects Paradise Eden could not withstand that kind of power, let alone Leticia, who was just an ordinary high school girl until half a month ago.

However, just as the girl was about to be swallowed by the archangel's light, she suddenly felt something and her body began to heat up intensely.

In various Catholic myths, things like a burning sensation in a part of the body or a fever that causes unconsciousness are seen as omens of divine intervention.

Of course, Leticia wasn't so naive as to believe that a miracle would happen to her.

She seemed to give up resisting and slowly closed her eyes.

"Don't give up, open your eyes."

A familiar—reassuring voice awakened the girl's consciousness.

At the same time, a pair of strong, powerful hands covered the back of her hand that was holding the sword.

"!"

Leticia looked over in disbelief and found the red-haired boy standing right behind her.

"Master, why..."

This is clearly magic—

Just seeing his face completely dispelled the trembling, fear, and despair in my heart.

Even though a torrent of light capable of evaporating you completely, leaving not a single cell behind, was approaching, it was so relaxing and pleasant—

"Laetitia, give me your hand."

"Ok!"

The girl obediently cooperated with the boy's actions—

Shirou and Leticia stood close together, gripping their swords tightly.

The boy was imbued with the magic of the dragon.