Chapter 207: The Angel Who Spreads Its Wings (2)

Episode 207: The Angel Who Spreads Its Wings (2)

“The only way… to end a nightmare.”

Leffrey’s murmur melted into the darkness.

“Yes, this is the only way. The end of everything in this world.”

And there was a being in the darkness who affirmed those words. It was the master of this deep darkness, the Demon King.

The boy king who judges the world as it perishes, the Demon King, smiled and continued speaking to his only kin.

“There are wounds that can never be healed. And.”

The Demon King caressed Leffrey’s cheek, where tear stains remained.

“There are nightmares from which one can never awaken.”

He spoke.

“Those who do not understand easily say that wounds can be healed and that one can simply wake up from nightmares. That it’s all a matter of will.”

The demon king looked down at the city. To be honest, he was incredibly curious. What kind of expression would that young dragon be making as she looked at Leffrey.

What kind of face would she make as she looked at Leffrey, his once bright, sunny, golden hair now dyed black, his two hands covered in Hongwol’s blood.

Yumari, Yumari was feeling pity.

With her only remaining arm reaching out to Leffrey, trying to grasp something she couldn’t, she clawed at the air.

With a face full of sorrow, the girl bit her lip hard.

But the girl still did not give up.

“Those fools who say such things have never seen true darkness.”

The demon king shook his head a few times as if disgusted, then quietly went to Leffrey’s side and whispered dark words.

“That child has experienced such nightmares.”

Just with a single word, a few syllables, Leffrey came to know the nightmares Mari had experienced as a child.

A child losing everything to the overwhelming violence of the world, a child trembling in loneliness, a child enduring unbearable pain. A child who, with no one to save her, could only close her eyes and escape to sleep.

It was a terrible nightmare.

Perhaps she would never escape that nightmare until she died.

And so, Leffrey, no, Leffrey’s darkness made a decision.

“Now, Leffrey. I told you earlier, didn’t I? It’s time to end that child’s nightmare.”

Leffrey did not answer. He just silently drew his dagger, Flabellum. Seeing this, the Demon King said.

“It’s a pity. I wanted to end that ignorant dragon with my own hands.”

But his expression was not one of regret at all. The Demon King had a look similar to that of a child eagerly anticipating a popular hero movie just before it starts.

However, no one saw that expression. Because everyone was looking at something else.

Namely, the confrontation between the dragon and the angel.

The one who initiated this battle was, of course, Leffrey.

Leffrey, his wingless body naturally falling to the ground, used the recoil from his flame magic to elegantly twist his trajectory, aiming for Mari’s blind spot.

But Mari’s blind spots were hard to find.

Thus, Leffrey finally reached the ground.

But Mari still kept her distance, opening and closing her mouth, only showing a regretful expression.

Among the concrete buildings still standing amidst the rubble of those crushed by the pressure, Leffrey naturally hid among those buildings and once again aimed for Mari’s blind spot.

Perhaps because her emotions were shaken.

This time, Leffrey could see Mari’s blind spot.

Leffrey charged without hesitation. Thus, Leffrey had no choice but to have one arm subdued by Mari’s joint lock and press his cheek against the ground.

“Leffrey.”

Mari. The same Mari who had fought on equal footing against the Demon King. The weakness she showed was naturally a trap.

But Leffrey, caught in the trap, showed no reaction to this situation, looking up at Mari with an expressionless face like a mask.

“I know now.”

What on earth did she know? Leffrey flinched slightly, curious about those words, but he did not stop fighting.

After all, since it was a ground hold using only one arm, the dark Leffrey could easily escape from Mari’s side just by scattering darkness.

Thinking that there was no chance of winning in close combat, Leffrey’s darkness began to concentrate thick darkness into his Flabellum.

The Flabellum, once a white dagger, became a dark long sword and started to aim at Mari.

And a silent sword strike cut off a bit of Mari’s hair. Leffrey decided to subdue Mari by scattering sword strikes.

If he went for a long-range combat, his attacks would surely be read by karma, and if he went for a short-range combat, only the same situation as before would occur.

So, Leffrey thought that a mid-range combat, too fast to read and too far to counter, would be appropriate. No, what was moving Leffrey’s body now was something that was Leffrey, but not Leffrey.

What should you call that, I wonder.

Perhaps Leffrey’s darkness.

But Mari evaded those sword strikes as if they were mere gentle breezes, moving her body just slightly, precisely. She was even advancing one step at a time.

“Leffrey, you know it too.”

No, Leffrey didn’t know anything.

Leffrey right now was simply asleep.

But Yumari did not give up and looked at Leffrey again.

A boy so beautiful that it was hard to believe he was a boy. Such beauty might seem inhuman and a bit off-putting, but he always wore a foolish smile and reached out with warmth, making him more human than anyone else.

The girl still remembered that touch.

“Why didn’t you take revenge on this world, Leffrey?”

There was no answer from the boy.

The boy just kept swinging his sword. The building behind Mari was cut as if it were tofu.

“Why did you keep trying to protect this world?”

The dark Leffrey did not answer at all.

But his sword strike wavered a bit and cut through the air beside Mari.

Finally, Leffrey spoke.

“I am not Leffrey.”

The dark Leffrey spoke in a cold voice he had never used before.

“I am Leffrey’s darkness. The Leffrey you are looking for is sobbing and sleeping under the sofa.”

“I see, so that’s it.”

“You are Yumari correct? I know you.”

‘Leffrey’ said.

“The child Leffrey saved, and therefore the child Leffrey felt most sorry for.”

“Yes?”

“Leffrey was so sorry for making you live in a nightmare. So I’ll end this nightmare for you, in that child’s place.”

Before he knew it, Yumari was standing in front of Leffrey.

“In any case, no one can wake Leffrey from this nightmare.”

And Leffrey swung his sword once more. The sword strike was so massive that it went beyond Mari and reached the center of the city far away.

A red thread—

In the end, Mari’s thigh was cut by the darkened Flabellum.

“You can pretend to be happy. You can pretend nothing’s wrong. But.”

“…I know. During those times when you must sleep alone”

During those times, you can’t lie.

Yumari knew this fact better than anyone.

Leffrey’s attacks continued incessantly. Mari kept blocking those attacks and squeezed out a single sentence.

“But, there is a way to wake up from the nightmare.”

‘Leffrey,’ she called his name with a breathless voice. Even though Leffrey had lost his expression to the darkness, he eventually shed tears at the sound of the girl he wanted to protect.

“…There’s no such method.”

Leffrey’s darkness spoke.

Leffrey was still inside himself, under a sofa where no one was there and only blood flowed in, eyes closed as if light and darkness had no meaning, holding back sobs as he slept.

No one could wake this child.

No one.

But the Demon King was not as certain of the darkness as Yumari’s words.

Considering the miracles Yumari had shown until now…

“It’s not a miracle.”

No, her incredible feats. There might be another way. The Demon King wasn’t magnanimous enough to tolerate such a possibility.

“It doesn’t matter what you do. Because while Leffrey was buying time, I completed everything.”

There wasn’t just one way to destroy a world by bringing down the sky. The most basic method to destroy a world.

Was to make the earth collapse.

“Look, foolish dragon. No matter what you do, you can’t change the fate of this world.”

And the city disappeared into the deep abyss. Watching the city disappear, leaving behind white smoke, the Demon King smiled again.

And seeing the things that disappeared with the city, he frowned again.

* * *

Earth Collapse. The Demon King’s technique of summoning the abyss beneath the earth and plunging the land into eternal darkness.

Humans call this abyss Tartarus or Hell, and they say that no one, unless they are a winged angel, can escape from it.

That’s how people fell into the abyss.

“The child Leffrey wanted to protect must have escaped.”

That must be the case. No matter how much they fought for the sake of others, there’s no one who would fall into hell for the sake of people they had just met.

That child must have escaped.

“Somehow, I couldn’t escape either.”

But it didn’t matter.

That girl must have finally stopped her foolish actions. Thinking so, Leffrey’s darkness gave a bitter smile.

After all, that child was also one living in a nightmare. After escaping, she would either turn the world into hell, unable to bear such suffering alone, or take everything from those around her, claiming to forget her nightmare through pleasure.

Of course, even then, when she’s alone, the darkness of her childhood would surely peek out.

Or perhaps, like himself, she might be trying to end everything. That wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Mari was a kind child, just like that boy sobbing asleep inside himself.

The darkness simply hoped that the girl’s nightmare would finally end.

*Hic—Hic—*

From afar, the sound of a child crying could be heard. Perhaps the boy under the sofa finally couldn’t hold back his tears and started crying, exhausted from the nightmare.

Probably not, it must be the sound of a new nightmare beginning.

Some child is crying somewhere, alone.

Listening to that crying sound, the darkness slowly closed its eyes.

Now, now everything will end.

So, please wait a little longer.

But then something strange happened.

The crying was gradually fading.

“That’s impossible.”

The darkness looked towards where the child was crying.

Where the child was crying, many people were gathered.

People who were terrified, holding their breath, offering futile prayers. But those people were protecting the child.

Why do people protect the child even though they know that hell will unfold soon.

Leffrey did not want to close his eyes until he knew the reason.

In the center of the crowd, Leffrey could see a girl holding a baby. With only one arm left, she was awkwardly holding the baby, not knowing how to hold it properly.

The girl strongly resembled someone.

Someone in Leffrey’s memory.

“I, I know this scene.”

In an instant, the girl transformed into a dragon who had given birth to a baby, and the baby had cute horns.

‘Angel-nim, look. The child is so…’

The next moment, the girl seemed to have flowing brown hair and was warmly embracing Leffrey. And the woman reached under the sofa and stroked the shoulder of the trembling child.

“Now, sweetie. It’s time to wake up,” she said as she wrapped her arms around the boy’s back. As she gently stroked his back, the boy looked at his mother’s face and smiled while saying,

“I had a scary, a scary nightmare.”

The child, relieved, fell back asleep.

And Leffrey awoke.

Leffrey finally understood why Mari was fighting, why she kept trying to protect humanity despite being so hurt.

Because Mari had faith.

“…Yes, I…”

And Leffrey also knew about faith.

Because he had always lived amidst miracles.

“I’ve always believed…”

Leffrey had believed this from the start, just like how he believed he had wings on his back.

But only by believing that he could fly, would he be able to spread his wings.

“That someone would be there… to comfort a child having nightmares…”

His wings spread. Thousands of nights had passed since the last angel descended. That cold, heartless night that had turned the prayers of humanity into nothing finally bestowed a new light of salvation.