Chapter 96: The Angel Meets the Headmaster (1)

Episode 96: The Angel Meets the Headmaster (1)

It’s said that people see their life flashing before their eyes just before they die.

Then what would Leffrey see, right before he died?

‘Dying? I’m not dead yet…’

Leffrey, standing alone in a pure white space, looked at his body.

His flowing golden hair, meticulously cared for, his milky white skin.

Though short, but all the more beautiful because of it.

And so on.

‘Hmm, this sounds a bit too self-centered. I can’t bear to describe myself anymore.’

Anyway, Leffrey was fine.

Mentally, that is.

With only his mind intact, Leffrey looked around once more.

A space that stretched all the way to the horizon, filled with white. It felt surreal, almost like a video game.

If the ceiling were a blue sky with fluffy clouds, and the floor were a shimmering lake…

‘It would be a scene out of an animated movie.’

Leffrey, thinking such silly things, pondered about how he even ended up being dragged to such a place.

Bethel, appearing far sooner than she had in his past life. Leffrey, while “farming” Angelic Power using the students- no, while providing healing to students, had uncovered traces of Bethel.

‘I was really lucky. If I hadn’t been obsessed with Angelic Power, ahem, no, if I hadn’t had a good heart and a desire to help people, then I would have been done for.’

Even if Tantalus had informed him about the attack on Soya, Leffrey couldn’t have come up with a plan to take down Bethel. So they…

They would have both been caught.

‘And Soya’s mental strength was amazing. Truly a hero who protected humanity until the very end. Skills worthy of the Black Magic Princess.’

And then there was the fact that Bethel had underestimated Soya, that Soya had bought them more time through a miracle, and that Leffrey had been fully prepared to take on Bethel.

And if Leffrey hadn’t had Leffriel, if Leffrey hadn’t acquired the Inquisition Sword, and if he hadn’t realized how to combine his Angelic Abilities…

If even one of those hadn’t come to pass, then today, the world might have lost its last angel.

And if there were no angels left, then heroes would disappear as well. Eventually, the world would be destroyed.

‘All of these coincidences… It wasn’t just a matter of luck…’

All the fortunate events Leffrey had experienced.

They weren’t simple luck.

It was as if fate itself had been shifting course to prevent this world from falling into despair.

Deeds, karma.

And the power of fate.

Leffrey thought about when he was flying in the sky.

How beautiful the world had looked from above.

To think that that beautiful world was now heading towards a future where it would survive a little longer…

A sudden headache hit, making Leffrey wince and mutter,

“Ugh, where am I?”

Look around- look around-

Leffrey couldn’t figure out where he was. His body was perfectly fine, so it was definitely a mental space, but…

‘If this is a mental space, where is Leffriel?’

But Leffriel was nowhere to be seen.

If this were a mental space, then Leffriel should be huddled in a corner, sulking.

‘Don’t tell me… Because he was stabbed by the Inquisition Sword…?’

…It was a reasonable thought.

Leffrey cautiously opened his mouth,

“Leffriel?”

“Why?”

Suddenly, a voice, so similar to his own, came from behind him.

Leffrey quickly turned toward the owner of that voice.

“Leffriel!”

The boy’s voice trembled.

It couldn’t be helped.

Because his former landlord and current tenant living in his mind appeared before him in a terrible state.

His wings, tattered from the start, were completely burned and gone, and his right hand and his right cheek were scorched black.

And his left arm was limp, as if no longer functional.

“You… your… appearance…”

Leffrey’s voice shook.

Why had the archangel become like this?

Naturally, it was due to Leffrey’s reckless scheme.

Teary-eyed, Leffrey thought that he was a cold person who only valued his own gains and a selfish being who thought only about himself.

But it was far from the truth.

“I-I’m sorry. You’re-you’re Leffriel, and I never thought that the Inquisition Sword would hurt you so much…”

“…Are you crying?”

Leffriel’s scorched, blackened hand caressed Leffrey’s cheek.

“I’m just a heretic who has fallen from grace. This is how I should be.”

Leffriel continued to stroke Leffrey’s cheek and said,

“And well done. You’ve fulfilled your duty as an angel.”

“Leffriel…”

It was the first time Archangel Leffriel had praised Leffrey. The stern angel always only nagged him to return his body and fulfill his mission.

“You’re severely injured.”

“…Well, I had no other choice.”

It was a gamble he took with his own life at stake.

Being severely injured was inevitable.

“And this kind of method will work only once. Sacrificing yourself to change the world, such recklessness won’t be tolerated a second time.”

“…I know.”

“If you make such a choice again, you’ll really have to pay the price with everything.”

“I know. I told you.”

Leffriel muttered as if casually mentioning something.

“I had a strange dream.”

He continued in a calm voice, as if talking about a faraway land.

“It’s strange. Angels were never given the ability to dream. We don’t even need to sleep, let alone dream.”

Leffrey asked,

“So… what kind of dream?”

“A pleasant dream, a warm dream.”

For Leffrey, who often had nightmares and had suffered until just a moment ago… The words “pleasant dream” and “warm dream” sounded awkward.

“A dream about a child waking up from a nightmare. A dream about them being embraced warmly, after escaping that nightmare.”

“That’s really…”

“Yes, a very good dream, right?”

Leffriel smiled.

The emotionless angel looked at Leffrey, smiling so naturally.

Leffrey couldn’t describe this feeling.

And the pure white world around them shrank rapidly, eventually revealing the outside world.

A girl was waking up from her nightmare.

An expression full of terror, tear stains on her cheeks,

And a groan escaping her lips.

It was obvious that the girl had been having a nightmare.

Someone needed to comfort the girl, tell her that it was just a dream.

“It’s time to wake up now.”

Thus, Leffrey awoke from the dream.

* * *

“Leffrey!”

Soya was crying profusely, clinging to him with both arms. Leffrey hugged her back, as if comforting her.

“Soya…”

He could hear the sound of her heart beating and felt how warm another human body could be.

His embrace was a bit awkward, as if worried that his embrace was uncomfortable. Feeling unfamiliar with the other’s warmth and their breath…

A boy and a girl from different worlds looked at each other and smiled.

“I-I had a nightmare.”

Leffrey silently cast a blessing on the girl.

Connection.

The reason why people lived.

And this was.

One of the answers the wounded boy and girl had desperately sought.

And this connection was something someone else couldn’t even bear to witness.

[Ugh… Uggghhh!]

Her nightmare, Bewitching Dreams, her domain, had been completely shattered and burnt to ashes by the Inquisition Sword, and yet…

Bethel didn’t die.

“As expected of a Heavenly King…”

Bethel, emerging from Leffrey’s mind, was tiny, like a fairy, yet grotesquely ugly and incredibly weak-looking.

But this was why Leffrey had told Soya not to leave.

If a mental being couldn’t be killed, he had no choice but to feed her to a stronger mental being.

Soya, instantly sensing Bethel’s essence, silently snapped her fingers.

Then, a massive black dog appeared in Soya’s shadow.

“They say this in those works and stories.”

A massive maw opened with a *Hiss*.

Bethel, with a ‘Don’t tell me…’ look on her face, but…

“You’re dog food.”

One of the essential qualities of a Black Mage.

To read black magic–related works and be well-versed in black mage culture.

Of course, the ‘works’ mentioned here were mangas about things like darkness, death, corruption, and this “Culture” meant *chuunibyou*, in other words, ‘eighth-grader syndrome.’

One of the important pieces of etiquette among black mages was to say, “Kukukuk, darkness is engulfing me” or “I can feel the death of darkness!” when showcasing their skills.

Soya, still young, was a bit lacking in black mage culture.

‘I’m thankful for that.’

In any case, a message quickly appeared.

[Defeating Bethel, the apostle of the Fallen Archangel and Queen of the Succubi, is truly an angelic act!]

[You have gained a large amount of Angelic Power!]

Leffrey confirmed that Bethel was completely destroyed by checking the messages. He then muttered to Soya, his voice trembling,

“I-it’s… It’s finally over……”

“Leffrey?”

“Call… Professor Hexi…”

As the tension dissipated, Leffrey couldn’t endure anymore.

He had pushed himself too hard today. After recklessly using his Angelic Abilities, being subjected to Bethel’s mental contamination, and even stabbing himself with the Inquisition Sword…

‘Leffrey, the Exhausted Angel…..’

Leffrey’s current state was the very definition of exhaustion itself. It was a miracle he was still conscious, having barely held on with willpower alone.

“Hexi! Professor Hexi!”

Thus, Leffrey completely…

…passed out.

“What is his condition?”

“Serious. He overexerted his divine power, and both his body and soul are overloaded. The overload has completely twisted his central nervous system, and besides…”

Rebecca’s voice trembled.

“Besides? Why is this report so late?”

The two professors were walking. No, they were practically running, passing through the academy corridors at an unbelievable speed.

The names of these two professors were Lusa and Rebecca.

Protectors of this world, known as The Martial God to some and The Saint to others.

“In that state, he fought against some kind of mental contamination by an unknown Heavenly King, and then to eliminate that Heavenly King…”

“Ah, are you going to keep cutting off your sentences? Just spit it out damn it…”

“He used the Inquisition Sword on himself.”

“That, That sword. The one that inflicts fatal damage, the stronger the user’s divine power is.”

Lusa’s face went pale.

“…That fucking!”

Rebecca and Lusa entered the room.

Inside, Park Jin-ho had a pained expression on his face. Klein, holding Leffrey’s hand, was trembling with rage. And… in a corner was Hexi, half-despairing, rejecting reality.

Leffrey, in the middle of the room, was being healed by all sorts of magic and medicine. Each one, precious potions and rare magic that could revive even dying patients. But…

Leffrey didn’t wake up.

“Just how! How! How could a Heavenly King target our student, and we were this caught off guard?! Answer me!”

“I won’t make any excuses. It’s another… another one of our huge mistake. But Leffrey, once again… He sacrificed everything to save the other students and this world.”

“Again, again, and again! I’m sick of hearing this! Why always…”

Just as Klein, forgetting he was also a professor, tried to insult Park Jin-ho, but Lusa spoke in a daze,

“What’s this? Why didn’t you transfer him to a hospital?”

“This… is beyond the level of a superhuman hospital. We need another method.”

“Another method? Do you mean…”

Park Jin-ho nodded.

“Yes.”

He said,

“We’re going to ask the Headmaster.”

Hearing those words, the professors’ gazes wavered.