Chapter 70: The Console and the Fallen Angel’s Trap

No ill omens had truly manifested during our journey.

When we finally arrived, a little over ten minutes later, Angelina bounded towards me, her eyes sparkling with excitement, and grasped my hand.

She practically dragged me along, exclaiming, “Look what I’ve discovered!”

“What is it?” I asked, a hint of bewilderment in my voice.

I couldn’t fathom her level of enthusiasm. Even if she had stumbled upon an opponent’s divine artifact, such a reaction seemed excessive—especially considering she possessed one herself.

“You’ll understand once you step inside,” Angelina declared.

Without another word, she propelled me through the entrance of the tower. Intrigued by her urgency, the others followed us in, their curiosity piqued.

Stepping into the ground-floor hall, my initial impression was one of utter plainness. The space was modest, its interior sparsely decorated, and its structure resembled a lighthouse.

Indeed, a staircase spiraled upwards along the inner wall, leading to the floors above.

However, one object stood out: a console positioned squarely in the center of the hall.

The moment I laid eyes on it, Angelina and I exchanged a knowing glance.

Even by Earth’s technological standards, it appeared remarkably futuristic, let alone in this world steeped in magic.

I felt that ‘console’ was a more fitting term than ‘table.’ With its sleek, streamlined form and metallic sheen, the object radiated an undeniable sense of modernity.

Its surface featured several triangular, raised buttons, arranged in a circle and glowing with a soft white light. At its very center, a red indicator light pulsed steadily. Yet, there was no text or any discernible information to explain its function.

However, this wasn’t the most astonishing aspect. A few glowing buttons alone hardly qualified as science fiction. The true marvel lay above the console, where a virtual holographic display shimmered.

This screen was densely packed with various terrestrial images, displayed side-by-side. Among them was a high-altitude, bird’s-eye view of the very lake region where we currently stood.

“Don’t tell me these are satellite images?” I whispered, my excitement barely contained, as I tugged at Angelina’s sleeve.

Upon seeing these visuals, I had instinctively glanced up at the sky outside, but found no flying objects overhead.

Even after several months in this world, I understood that magic could replicate surveillance effects. Yet, these high-altitude aerial views were strikingly familiar; they were precisely what I used to see when browsing satellite maps on a computer back on Earth.

“Probably not. You saw it earlier, didn’t you? This continent is perpetually shrouded in thick, dark clouds,” Angelina replied, shaking her head.

As everyone else’s attention was captivated by the screens, she pulled me aside and murmured softly, “Satellites shouldn’t be able to penetrate the cloud cover to capture images below, right? Besides, there are no obvious wires or cables in this room. We don’t even know what power source it uses. It’s most likely still magic…”

“But why would something created with magic look so technologically advanced?” I pondered aloud.

I certainly didn’t believe that the current level of magical application we’d witnessed could achieve something akin to satellite surveillance.

“That’s hard to say. After all, your magic and mine are both quite rudimentary…” Angelina conceded, displaying a rare moment of self-awareness.

She glanced at Erica and Sally, who were meticulously studying the console, then suggested to me, “Perhaps we should consult the experts?”

Without further ado, Angelina turned directly to Sally, asking, “Sally, what do you make of this console… this device? Are those images truly conjured by magic?”

I personally felt Erica’s magical prowess was superior, but Sally’s familiarity with us made her more approachable and easier to speak with.

“I don’t know,” Sally replied, shaking her head.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It doesn’t seem to be magic, but there appears to be a faint aura of fire elements within it…”

“Fire elements?” The mention of fire elements immediately brought the God of Fire to mind. Could this console be connected to him in some way?

“Are these images real-time?” Alfred, who had been intently scrutinizing the surveillance footage since entering, finally spoke.

He was particularly focused on images depicting lush, vibrant vegetation, distinct from the surrounding terrain, somewhat reminiscent of scenes within the Asante Kingdom.

Noticing birds soaring across one of the screens, he posed his question with a strange sense of urgency.

“Really?” Amos, who had been silently studying the overhead view of our lake region, suddenly spun around, his expression one of shock.

“Is something amiss?” Neither Angelina nor I found anything particularly odd. Such technology was achievable with Earth’s satellites, but its magical equivalent remained a mystery.

He bolted out the door, hurled a large stone into the lake outside, then quickly rushed back to the screen. Sure enough, the display showed tiny ripples spreading outwards from the center island into the lake.

“This is bad… we’re in danger!” Amos exclaimed, his voice laced with urgency.

He pointed to the hill in the southeast corner of the screen, where we had previously hidden. “The place we were hiding was very close to those monsters waiting for teleportation. We were clearly visible from here!

Yet, they didn’t actively pursue us. Instead, they left the entire island vacant, drawing all of us in. This is clearly a trap!”

“Then where are they? The monsters?” Angelina’s face instantly paled.

She and Alfred had thoroughly searched the entire tower earlier, and there were no other structures on this barren island. Even if the enemy intended to corner us, where could they be hiding?

“I can say with absolute certainty that there are no monsters on this island, otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed to let you come over,” Alfred stated, equally perplexed.

“No, they might not be on the island!” Amos declared, rushing back outside.

He swept his gaze across the entire small island, then said in a grave tone, “They’re in the water…”

The words had barely left his lips when a series of splashing sounds echoed through the air.

Three dark figures suddenly surged from the lake. One landed on the small path leading to the island, blocking our escape. It was a male adult Dark Elf.

The other two, however, remained airborne. One of them, a Succubus, was Camila, who had previously pursued Sally and me.

The third figure, however, left everyone present utterly astonished. Was that an angel?

Like Angelina, she had three pairs of wings, but theirs were entirely black, and even her skin was dark, much like that of a Dark Elf.

It was baffling how she emerged from the water with her wings completely dry. What was clear, however, was that she felt almost identical to a Vampire, suggesting a body composed purely of dark elements.

This was the complete antithesis of us angels. Could she be a legendary Fallen Angel?

I glanced at Sally, assuming that as a member of the Church, she would know something about Fallen Angels. Yet, I had never heard her mention them.

“How is this possible! Is that… a legendary Fallen Angel?” To my surprise, Sally was looking at me with an equally bewildered expression.

It seemed she was just as clueless. I turned back to Angelina, whose attention wasn’t on the creature’s identity. She already held her Qi-Condensed Sword, ready for battle.

“Everyone, have you seen enough?” The Fallen Angel, who appeared to be the leader of the trio, addressed us first.

“Who are you? Why do you look so much like an angel?” Alfred drew his longsword, pointing it at her.

He seemed utterly unaware of the concept of a Fallen Angel, but he could clearly discern that this was certainly not an angel.

“I am Claudia, Executive Director of the Dark Council,” the Fallen Angel announced generously.

She seemed rather proud of her identity, emphasizing her title ‘Executive Director’ with particular enunciation. I froze, realizing this was the same ‘chuuni’ organization that Bog, the Caveman, had mentioned earlier. I hadn’t expected to encounter one of its members so soon.

“As for why I resemble an angel so closely…” Claudia trailed off, glancing at Angelina and me.

“That is because I was summoned by Lord Migadi, using an Angelic Descent Array as a reference. This is all part of the preparations for the future dominion over the entire Dark Continent.”

Angelic Descent Array? Summoned? Hearing these words, a flurry of connections began to form in my mind, linking several disparate pieces of information.

“Your God of Fire isn’t also a Fallen Angel, is he?” Angelina asked, twirling her Qi-Condensed Sword.

“Why isn’t he here?”

“What is a Fallen Angel?” Claudia scoffed, sweeping her gaze across everyone present, feigning complete ignorance of the term.

“Lord Migadi is personally overseeing the battle at this very moment. She has no time to concern herself with mere trespassers like yourselves.”

She spoke unhurriedly, as if we were already caught in her grasp, completely disregarding the ‘villain talks too much’ trope. However, Camila, standing behind her, couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Lady Claudia, please act quickly! These angels and humans are cunning. If we delay too long, I fear things might change…”

“Val City has tried to capture them for a long time without success. Duke Kent went to intercept them, and there’s been no news since. He’s probably met a terrible fate!”

“What does that matter? Do you truly believe they can leave this island today?” Claudia waved her hand dismissively, confident in her ability to defeat all of us.

Such arrogance! I thought, remembering that Angelina was on our side. Just as I was secretly celebrating their overconfidence in facing only three opponents, planning to use Angelina’s Qi-Condensed Sword to catch them off guard, Amos suddenly warned from behind me:

“Look at the opposite lakeshore!”

He was pointing to the southeast, the direction from which we had come. Unbeknownst to us, a massive horde of dark creatures had gathered there, now moving in an orderly procession along the small path leading to the island.

Claudia was right! We were trapped on the island. Although the monsters were still far away, they would eventually reach us. With three formidable enemies directly before us, we would undoubtedly be annihilated here if we didn’t eliminate them quickly.

It turned out they had been deliberately stalling for time all along! We were the ones who had talked too much.

“Angelina!” I cried out, my voice laced with urgency.

Alerted by Amos’s warning, Angelina had also noticed the approaching monsters. Hearing my call, she soared into the air without hesitation, swinging her sword directly at Claudia’s head.

“You six-winged angel…” Claudia murmured, observing Angelina with a knowing smirk.

She casually extended her right hand, and with two fingers, effortlessly pinched the blade of the Qi-Condensed Sword.

“You!” Angelina’s eyes narrowed. It seemed this was the first time she had encountered someone who could withstand her blade unscathed. In mid-air, she exerted all her strength, surging forward, determined to break through the obstruction of those fingers.