“Report! The Gate of Purgatory is under attack!”
“Blackwater Pass is unresponsive—heretics have crossed the Akron River!”
“Archangel Hormeni is lost! The Fourth and Eighth Hymn Squads have been completely wiped out.”
“Heretics have appeared on the outskirts of the City of Sorrow. Large numbers are advancing toward the Prison Cage. We’ve received a plea for reinforcements from the Saints’ Praiseful Army—”
Inside the Central Sanctuary, an unending stream of grim news reached the ears of Legion Commander Konsei.
All his attendants stood there pale with shock; their elite troops, sent forth in full force, returned with nothing but heavy losses.
They had grown accustomed to ravaging powerless, raging heretics in days past.
But now, facing the fully armored Steel Demons, they struggled to accept this harsh reality.
Though outnumbered overwhelmingly, once they realized the enemy's weapons could strip away their strength—inflicting real pain and wounds—any repeated charges quickly shattered their fighting spirit.
Countless angels were routed by demons not even a third their number, scattering in defeat.
In just half an hour, the invading heretics had breached the outer edges of Purgatory and struck at its core, even reaching the City of Sorrow at Purgatory’s heart.