Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 231

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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231
This Dominions’ demeanor bore a striking resemblance to Jae-in’s.
However, relying solely on intuition to confirm it carried too great a risk. If I made a move against this being and it wasn’t Jae-in, the infiltration of Heaven would fail, and there would be no second chance.
Once my spiritual form recovered, my ability to perceive souls would improve, but in my current state—with my power sealed and wearing an angel’s facade—even my soul-sensing ability was severely limited.
“Is there anything else? Ah, and since you’ve been promoted now, go to the Tree of Souls and receive your instructions.”
Following the order from the Dominions I suspected to be Jae-in, I left his residence.
As I distanced myself, I glanced back to confirm the location of his workshop. For now, that angel remained my primary suspect.
I flew toward the massive Tree of Souls. When I’d visited before, I hadn’t ventured deep enough into Heaven to see it—the Tree of Souls was a colossal structure that evoked memories of the World Tree itself.
Heaven, verdant and lush, was a place of peace. Light permeated everything, and vitality overflowed. It was the complete opposite of the Demon Realm.
Yet because of my bitter history with the angels, being here left me deeply unsettled. If I died here, I might actually end up in the Demon Realm and become a demon.
“Newly promoted angels, gather here.”
Upon arriving at the World Tree, an unfamiliar Dominions issued a command.
Aside from me, who had just arrived, many Archangelus stood assembled before him.
And then I heard a melodious voice explaining the mission.
This task was to harvest the fruits of souls that were ready to descend to the Lower Realm.
On the branches of the Tree of Souls hung verdant leaves and souls in abundance.
The souls nurtured by the tree had grown more powerful than before being absorbed by it.
As the tree cultivated souls, animals and plants became spiritually more mature with each reincarnation.
The Archangelus who received the task flew upward, plucking the mature soul-fruits and placing them into large sacks on the ground.
I’d come to Heaven to pull weeds and pick fruit? My insides roiled with fury. I wanted to overturn everything, slaughter indiscriminately, and search for Jae-in with all my might.
“…If this is all, what was the point of giving me a shield and sword?”
With no one to talk to, I found myself muttering aloud. Not that anyone was listening anyway.
I plucked the fruits hanging high one by one, placed them in the sack at the base of the tree, flew back up, and repeated the process. It was inefficient beyond measure.
After making the trip back and forth several times, I grew tired of it and began placing the soul-fruits into the sack given to me by the Dominions I suspected to be Jae-in.
The sack bulged, but it still wasn’t enough, so I flipped my shield over and filled it with soul-fruits as well.
I moved in a single trip what would have required dozens of journeys.
The other angels, watching me work, showed no inclination to follow suit. Whether it was because labor was abundant or they simply lacked initiative, they continued their monotonous routine of harvesting souls one by one, descending, and placing them in sacks.
I paid them no mind and went about my work, examining both the fruits and the angels’ souls. This was better than pulling weeds. One of these souls might be Jae-in, after all.
I examined the immature souls. The regeneration and maturation of souls was a slow process—it took dozens of years in Heaven’s time. In other words, Jae-in’s soul, having died not long ago, should still be here somewhere.
I carefully inspected the immature souls with particular attention.
As many Archangelus continued harvesting, the sack quickly filled to capacity.
Before long, the Dominions I suspected to be Jae-in approached me.
“You—take this down.”
So that was why he’d come—to give me an order. Singling me out specifically. Had he grown so accustomed to commanding me in life that he still wanted to use me now?
In any case, it was good to be able to observe him up close.
I lifted the sack and poured the fruits down into a hollow depression atop a hilltop.
Beneath this lay a gateway to the Lower Realm, and whenever the Lower Realm needed souls, those contained within would descend to their proper destinations.
I thought that once I rescued Jae-in, I could descend this way as well.
“Be careful. If you fall into a world you don’t know, you can never return.”
The Dominions I suspected to be Jae-in warned me, so I abandoned the idea.
I continued my daily task of searching for Jae-in while harvesting the fruits. I confirmed the lower-tier angels and sent the harvested fruits down to the Lower Realm.
But one of the fruits from the Tree of Souls looked strangely familiar.
‘Jae-in’s soul! I found it!’
For a moment, I nearly cried out aloud.
That immature soul had a slightly different color than Jae-in’s, but that was likely due to the effects of Virtus’s scales of light erasing her memories and the Tree of Souls absorbing her soul.
The essence of the soul was identical.
I carefully plucked the fruit.
“Finally….”
This damned infiltration of the Heavenly Kingdom was over.
“Thank you.”
Dominions, whom I had suspected of being Jae-in, approached and snatched Jae-in’s soul from my hand.
Since I knew it wasn’t actually Jae-in, I reached for Dominions’s throat.
But for some reason, my hand stopped right before his neck. Not because someone stopped me, but by my own will.
Gulp.
And Dominions swallowed Jae-in’s soul.
“Do angels… eat souls?”
“Hm? It’s my soul, after all.”
“What?”
“It was my soul. You should know that when the world divides, souls divide too, right? This is my soul from the divided world. I don’t have the memories, but I can feel myself calling to me. And when I absorb souls, my power increases. Maybe someday I’ll become a Fourth Tier.”
I lowered my hand.
“But… what are you? You’re not an ordinary angel.”
Dominions—no, Jae-in—examined me from every angle. Despite my casual speech and attempt at insubordination by reaching for her throat, curiosity seemed to outweigh her anger.
Perhaps she was a mixture of both, but one thing remained unchanged: this angel was Jae-in.
“I was your friend on Earth.”
“Friend? You retain your memories?”
“Yes. I infiltrated the Heavenly Kingdom to save you.”
“A defective unit. But a defective unit with delusions—that’s a first. Once I capture and examine you, I’ll understand why.”
Jae-in created a rope of light and hurled it at me. The brainwashing of the Heavenly Kingdom was powerful, and with no memories from Earth, it was natural she wouldn’t believe me immediately.
There was no need to hide my power anymore. I grabbed the rope of light and pulled, wrapping it tightly around Jae-in’s body instead.
“Let’s go back.”
“You! How can an Archangelus move like that?!”
Even as Jae-in was bound, she was curious not about why I was restraining her, but how I had moved so quickly.
“I’ll explain once we’re down there.”
“Down there?! Where are you taking me?! Let me go! This rope is incredibly sturdy!”
Jae-in writhed, bound by the sturdy rope she herself had created.
“It won’t be difficult to take you down now. Give up.”
“Down there?! You’re a spy from the Demon Realm?! What do you plan to do by kidnapping me?!”
…Actually, I had been to the Demon Realm far more often than the Heavenly Kingdom.
“Ah! That expression! So you really did come from the Demon Realm! I knew it!”
Jae-in struggled against her restraints.
“Snap out of it! Think of Ji-hae and the children!”
I struck Jae-in’s cheek hard.
“…Ji-hae? Children? Do I have kids?”
“Yes. You haven’t even seen them born yet. They’re beautiful. Come with me.”
Dominions clutched his chest in agony.
“Something… my chest aches.”
“Come on, let’s go. The reason for that pain lies on Earth.”
“But… the will of Heaven is absolute!”
The brainwashing shook him, but Bae Na-young could undo it after we escaped. I forced the suffering Jae-in to his feet.
“Tireless, aren’t you? Coming back again. I’ve lived through eons, but you’re the first of your kind I’ve ever encountered.”
A voice from behind, and light that oppressed the very air itself, descended upon us from all directions.
Before I could even turn around, a flaming sword bisected my body horizontally.
The agony of my burning soul momentarily stunned me, but I saw Jae-in before my eyes. And I remembered my family waiting for me on Earth.
I absorbed my severed lower half and the cumbersome angelic body, simultaneously regenerating both spirit and flesh.
As I reclaimed my sealed powers from nothingness, an angel’s shell alone proved insufficient.
The very substance that composed Heaven was drawn into my body like a black hole.
It was possible because Heaven was saturated with souls everywhere. Had I done this on Earth, I might have drained the lives of those around me.
“Your cockroach-like abilities remain unchanged, I see.”
I finally regained my senses and looked at Metatron.
“Metatron… were you female?”
The one wielding the burning sword and radiating light was a young blonde woman. With a white robe draped over her form and eight pairs of wings fluttering behind her back, she resembled an angel from legend, but her true nature was a being of cold, merciless eyes.
“Female? What importance does form hold for one who follows God’s will?”
Metatron’s body wavered, shifting into an old man, then a young boy, then a girl, before returning to the woman’s form.
“True enough. Appearance isn’t everything.”
With my newfound ability to perceive souls more clearly, I could sense her power was immense—comparable to Eres or Gaff, with little to distinguish between them.
“You’ve grown, it seems. Yet you don’t flee with your meager strength, and you dare stand against me. Your intellect must have deteriorated further.”
Metatron pointed the tip of her sword at me, and a tremendous light was unleashed.
It wasn’t mere pressure. It was light that purified all things. Existence itself.
Last time, I’d somehow managed to escape, but this time Jae-in was behind me.
“Gaaahhhhh!!!”
I enlarged my body and crossed my arms to meet Metatron’s attack head-on.
Jae-in, struggling against the brainwashing, clutched his head and watched me shield him.
“Quite hardened, haven’t you.”
Metatron’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Yeah. Not because of you, but because of that bastard constantly trying to swallow my house.”
I slowly retreated backward, moving closer to Jae-in.
“Do not resist God’s providence.”
“God’s providence? Is the Manager God?”
“That wretch?”
“Then why do you serve him?”
“Help? Me?”
“Weren’t you planning to wipe out Earth entirely?”
“Your world was destined for destruction anyway. This merely accelerates the inevitable.”
“Ah, I see.”
Angels were creatures beyond reason. I hoisted Jae-in onto my back and sprinted toward the Waterfall of Souls.
The sky vanished behind a dense formation of angels blocking my path. Yet one Metatron proved far more formidable than a million angels.
A sickening sound.
As I leaped upward at the ominous sensation, everything below my right knee was severed clean away.
Losing my balance, I hurled Jae-in to safety and rolled across the ground. By the time I rose, my leg had already regenerated, but I couldn’t escape if I remained pinned like this.
“No matter how durable, you’re still human in the end.”
I attempted to flee again.
“Stop.”
“…”
At Metatron’s single word, my legs froze completely.
“I thought mental attacks wouldn’t work on me….”
When I tried to move, my body trembled violently, yet I couldn’t budge an inch.
“This is no mere mental attack. I have commanded your very soul. All righteous souls in Heaven cannot defy my orders. This is the authority the Creator bestowed upon me.”
“…My soul is righteous?”
I’d assumed I’d fall to the Demon Realm upon death—should I be grateful for this revelation?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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