The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance

I think we are bit too close, but I would not mind being even closer than we currently are. I blinked my eyes in confusion, lost in his.

"With that gaze, you're definitely alright." He said and gently lay me down. A moment later he stood up and casually walked towards the angel.

"..."

I was still a bit blank minded, and just absently stared at his back. I felt the feelings of loss when he put me down.

Anyway, he was going to finally kill the wretched angel. I thought after a moment.

But...

A moment later, I realized that the same 'wretched' angel, was actually staring down at its chest. Or to be precise, the hole on its chest.

"..."

"..."

Not only it, I was also surprised.

When did that happen?

I thought. My eyes hurriedly shifting towards big brother Damien who was walking casually towards the angel.

Did... did he actually..?

Oh wow. My Damien is actually so heroic. My prince charming slayed a demon, a spirit, and now an angel. All for me.

"..."

Ah, Ahem... I should have some shame.

*** Narrative ***

A few moments back, when the angel plucked out it's feather. Damien already knew what it was planning to do with it.

"..."

He did not comment, nor do anything.

Throughout the battle, the amount of times the angel set its gaze on Juliette was a lot. And from experience, Damien knew that it was trying to verify her threat level.

Juliette might have subconsciously known this, as she did not even try to make herself seem 'useful' at all. This gave out the impression that she was weak.

And the fact that she just stood at the back, and only listened to Damien, further proved that statement correct.

Hence the best choice, was to attack Juliette. Damien knew that was what the angel thought, when he put himself in its shoes.

Him using his full strength at the beginning, was an act to try and push it to the edge.

And once there, it only had two options left to save its life.

One, it either attacks Juliette when Damien was far away from her. Or two, it finds an opportunity to use its ability to deal great damage to him.

And the latter was impossible.

He made sure to make it seem so. Thus it was forced to attack Juliette. And once again, there were two attacks it could only use.

One, it could use a weapon, like the feather it just plucked out, to throw towards Juliette then switch with it. Next, would be to assassinate her.

But Damien had a plan. If it did that, he would immediately throw the spear head he obtained from the demon at it. He already had it on hand, and ready any time.

Or it could choose option two. The same one that required it to shift positions with Juliette, leaving her stranded mid air.

As for how he would respond? Damien was still going to use the spear head as an attack, but in this case, he would throw it towards Juliette before the shifting took place.

Hence when it does, the spear will instantly piece through the angel, immediately after it replaced Juliette on her position.

While he, would dash towards her rescue.

"..."

The plan was perfect. And the most important question now, was how would he know which one was it? How would he tell the difference?

Simple, really.

'If it desired to assassinate her directly, the needle would be thrown not too far away from Juliette. And directly not at her.'

'But if it desired to shift positions with her, the needle would be thrown randomly as a form of confusion. And the most plausible one, would be towards her, forcing her to dodge.'

'That way, the moment she dodges, open ups a chance for the angel to shift positions with her. Juliette would not he able to respond, and I would be forced to rush to her rescue.'

'Meanwhile, it will plan to backstab me. This thing is smart after all, and would try to outsmart us. Unfortunately for it, I've been through far too much, and could see through it like a book.'

Damien thought as he walked towards the angel.

It finally looked up at him. Then slowly knelt down in defeat, and fell face flat. Damien had no change of expression whatsoever and just stood before it.

Moments later,

[ TING!!! ]

[ You have killed the Lvl 2 Gray Marked Angel. You have obtained 16,5 units of Life Essece ]

[ Due to being a single level lower, your Life Essence has increased by ten percent ]

[ You have obtained 36,3 (36) units of Life Essence. Your partner has obtained 33 units of Life Essence. The bonus effect has already been applied ]

[ Congratulations. You've obtained the following resources: Angel Halo(Broken/Tier 1), Gray Mask(Superior) ]

[ For defeating a trial opponent, you have obtained the following rewards: Extra Ability(×1), Tier 1 Random Treasure Chest(×1), Angel Fragment(1/7) ]

"..."

Not only after the notifications did Damien sigh in relief. He then crouched down and began plucking out the feathers of the angel one by one.

Out of all wings, less than a hundred managed to be needle-like. This angel was still not a pure bred angel at the Third League, after all.

Hence this was normal. Ordinary legendary creatures have about 50% of their bodies as natural resources. Especially ones like demons and angels and especially half gods.

And he was glad about the level difference. His decision of staying at a lower level helped.

He still remembered that, every level an opponent is higher, the Life Essence obtained would be ten percent higher as well.

But every level lower, the Life Essence was not affected. And mind you, this affected mortals only, and only up to five levels.

For every Rank had five levels, and every rank higher or lower, the Life Essence obtained would either decrease in half, or double respectively.

Take the current him for example. He obtained ten percent more Life Essence due to being a level lower than the angel. Yet Juliette did not get any reduction despite being two levels higher.

Now, if Damien fought an Apprentice Ranked opponent, he would recieve double the Life Essence. And if he was an Apprentice Rank, and fought a Civilian, the Life Essence obtained would be halfed.

But there were more to this, than just that. Damien will have to uncover them from his memories as time goes by. Because for now,

"We have only a couple of seconds left again, you should level up." He said, feeling Juliette moving closer towards him from behind.

She arrived besides him, "It's, not enough." And meekly responded.

Damien slightly paused his actions, then transfered all of his Life Essence towards her again.

He still did not feel the need to Level up yet. Even against the angel, he still did not let out 100% of his full strength. But he did not hold back either.

"..."

Juliette did not comment and only leveled up once more. With both their Life Essence, she had 69 units in total. And to become a level 5, she required 50 units.

"Done." She said.

"How much to Level up again?" He asked casually, packing the feathers besides himself. While also slightly using one needle to twinkle with the halo.

It was shining a bit too chaotically right now, and gave out the impression that it could explode at any moment.

As for the amount of Life Essece, he had forgotten. It was long since he entertained the lower levels due to his power back then.

"Uhm, 70 units." Juliette responded after checking her status. Damien nodded. He knew that after a moment, she would become level six.

And could finally cultivate mana and become an Apprentice. She could also gain more enhancement to her strength, and become better developed.

"Hey."

Damien whispered lightly. His hands did not stop tinkering with the angel halo. It now gave off threatening pressure. And a dangerous presence.

"Hm?" Juliette responded.

Damien paused his actions, and stared up at her. He was still kneeling down besides the angel's corpse. And Juliette was standing up behind him.

Hence she had the rare opportunity to look down upon him. It felt nice staring at his charm from a high stand point.

"After the next threat, there will be three minutes of time before the next after that. I am sure you already realized that." Juliette nodded, and Damien continued.

"So, in other words, we would have three minutes all to ourselves." Juliette once again nodded, signifying that she understood.

"Enough time for you to gain a hint of Mana. And enough for us to discuss our next steps." Damien concluded and stood up.

Besides his foot, there was a bundle of needle feather lined up neatly. While he held a mask on his hand, and the angel halo on the other.

"Hm." She nodded, not asking much about what Mana was. He added, "You'll be able to help even more at that point."