Chapter 192

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The girl was right in front of her.

The student she had been searching for so desperately was right there.

A familiar face with a familiar smile.

The gentle curve of her eyes and her well-defined lips.

But Angelica couldn’t say a word.

Though Angelica always strived to treat all her students equally, she was still human. It was inevitable that she would grow particularly attached to some students.

She didn’t show favoritism, but deep down, she couldn’t help but care more about certain ones. 

Even among the Class A students she was teaching this year, there were a few like that.

“Lucia…?”

Angelica’s voice was hollow. 

Lucia. 

The girl who had left an indelible mark on her heart. Angelica still remembered. 

It hadn’t been too long to forget, and even if it had been, the memory was too vivid to ever fade.

The field training.

The attack by the girl with the red fox mask.

Angelica, as the homeroom teacher of Class A, fought with all her might.

She fought, but in the end, she was miserably defeated and left lying on the ground.

She remembered. She couldn’t forget. How could she? The nightmare of that day, the misery of that day, had driven Angelica to the level of a captain. 

She couldn’t forget Lucia, who had begged on her knees, pleading for her teacher to be spared. 

She couldn’t forget the sight of Lucia writhing in pain as the mask was forced onto her face, or the sound of her stifled sobs in the hospital room. 

Angelica remembered every single detail. She knew she would never forget, not for as long as she lived.

“Just… why…?”

Her lips barely moved. No sound came out. Her heart pounded. Angelica let out a shallow breath and blinked weakly.

Why did she feel such an ominous aura from Lucia?

The same kind of overwhelming presence she had sensed from devils like Astaroth or Murmur.

The kind of pressure that made it feel like they could crush the entire world beneath their feet in an instant.

There’s a limit to how far a bad joke can go.

Hoping it was all a misunderstanding, she closed her eyes.

But when she opened them again, nothing had changed.

Angelica was a seasoned Hero. 

She had seen plenty of horrifying things. Bizarre, bitter, devastating, cruel, and brutal things… she had experienced so much that it was hard to count them all. 

But never before had her heart felt so constricted as it did at this moment.

She wasn’t foolish. On the contrary, she was a born genius.

That’s why she could roughly guess the truth.

The conversation between Murmur and “Lucia” was like a cheat sheet.

The answer had been shoved right in front of her face.

It would be strange not to know.

‘They took her… Lucia’s body… a devil…!’

Was kidnapping Lucia part of their plan from the very beginning?

Crack. 

The sound of her teeth grinding sent a chill down her spine. Angelica now understood what it meant to feel one’s blood boil. That was exactly how she felt right now.

She clenched her fists tightly and tried to calm herself.

Losing your composure in front of the enemy is foolish.

She still didn’t know for sure. Maybe the devil was just disguised as Lucia. There was no concrete evidence. So she had to stay calm. She couldn’t let anger consume her.

She exhaled deeply, trying to convince herself of things she didn’t even believe. Her head gradually cooled, but in contrast, her chest grew hotter. One clear fact was etched in her mind.

‘Right now, I have to get Lucia back.’

This was the only chance she had.

If what the devil, “Belial” said was true…

Lucia’s consciousness was still within her body.

That’s why she was acting like Lucia without even realizing it.

“Hmm~”

Humming a tune, “Lucia”—no, Belial—walked forward.

The smile on her face, the subtle movements…

Everything was eerily similar to Lucia.

Her gaze was fixed on a single boy.

A boy with hair as dark as obsidian, shimmering with a faint golden hue.

Belial’s lips stretched into a wide grin. The smile spread, warm yet sending shivers down the spines of those who saw it.

“Black hair… and the name Eu’gene’…”

In her mind, the image of a certain person appeared.

A fleeting encounter.

A human she had faced as an enemy.

A relationship defined by a life-and-death battle.

Belial had killed, and Jin had died.

Belial, who had lived as a devil god for eons, couldn’t even remember how long she had existed. It had been too long, spanning countless centuries.

But Belial was certain. That brief moment, that fleeting encounter, was far more valuable than all the long years she had lived.

The moment she fought Jin, the 7th Division Commander, was a turning point that completely reshaped her worldview.

“This new vessel will do just fine.”

A boy who reminded her of Jin.

He would make a fitting first opponent for the newly born Devil, Belial.

She needed to gauge the strength of the Chosen One.

Though he hadn’t fully awakened yet, he was still the Chosen One.

 

 

The sword of the Four Seasons’ plans to strike down the devil gods.

They had been repeating countless regressions because they couldn’t overcome him.

The current Chosen One’s power could bring about a significant shift in their plans.

“Everyone’s making such interesting faces.”

Their dumbfounded expressions were quite entertaining.

Chuckle. 

With a small laugh, Belial raised her pale hand.

In it, she now held a mask that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“Do you want ‘Lucia’ back?”

The girl whose body had already been taken over, who would soon become one with Belial.

Out of minimal respect, Belial hadn’t read her memories, but some things surfaced unconsciously.

The affection that overflowed from Lucia’s heart.

To Lucia, these people must have been precious.

And to them, Lucia must have been the same.

“Then now’s not the time to be standing around, is it?”

The mask was placed over Belial’s face.

Her cherry-blossom-colored eyes were hidden behind it.

The Green Wolf Mask.

Now, there was no more Lucia.

Only the 69th-ranked Demon God, Belial, remained.

“Ni-ō!!!”

Only after Lucia’s face was hidden did Angelica finally move. It was a blessing that the mask had been put on. It allowed her to stop being shaken by Lucia’s face. 

Clashing her hands together roughly, Angelica shouted.

“VAJRA WARRIOR!!!!”

The Ni-ō surged forward, breaking through the rubble of the collapsed building.

A massive shadow loomed, blocking out the sunlight.

It took barely a second for the giant, standing over ten meters tall, to reveal itself.

Though only its upper body was visible, it was significantly faster than before.

“Freeze, Yasha Warriors¹.”

In sync with Angelica, Isabella also sprang into action.

As she clasped her hands together, pillars of ice began to encroach upon the ground.

Boom. 

One by one, ice statues emerged.

The Yasha, with gleaming eyes, stood imposingly on the ground.

The golems, prepared earlier to deal with Murmur, all charged at Belial.

The Vajra Warrior and the Yashas followed closely behind.

The Vajra held in the Vajra Warrior’s thick hands let out a thunderous roar.

The sharp greatswords of the Yashas fell like guillotines, tearing through the air.

The combined assault of two god-tier supernaturals descended upon Belial. Even if she was using Lucia’s body, they showed no mercy. 

If their opponent was a devil, even going all out might not be enough. If it was Lucia, she could regenerate even if injured, so there was no reason to hesitate.

“Bloom.”

But their attacks never reached Belial.

Just as they had done, Belial lightly clasped her hands together.

“New life.”

A wave of green light flooded the area.

Sprouts broke through the solid concrete floor.

Vines grew, covering the rubble of the destroyed hospital.

Soon, an explosive growth of life engulfed the world.

Thick vines, sharp tree roots, rustling leaves—nature itself was wielded like a weapon. It was a tidal wave of life surging across the ground. The wave, crashing like a tsunami, swallowed the golems and even bent the Ni-ō. 

Crack. 

The Yasha, pierced by roots, looked like a bug pinned to a specimen board. Soon, with a snap, it shattered into pieces. The fragments of ice scattered chaotically.

“Did you really think you could overwhelm me with numbers?”

In front of me, who controls life?

How admirable, though you didn’t know.

The vast grounds of the hospital were now completely filled with plants. A forest so dense it resembled a jungle. 

Of course, this was no ordinary forest. Towering trees that seemed to touch the sky, roots that tore through concrete, fluttering leaves—even every blade of grass was imbued with Belial’s will. 

All of this was within her grasp. An extension of her body.

“Eugene cut it all down in a single strike! Even now, it sends shivers down my spine.”

The dazzling slash.

A sword strike that cut through the forest and beyond.

The ultimate severance. A strike that could even split space.

Remembering that simple yet beautiful flash of light, Belial smiled.

“What will you do?”

How will you stop this endless torrent of life?

If left unchecked, it will swallow the entire city, you know?

Belial asked, as if genuinely curious.

And the answer came immediately.

“Sun Sword.”

A red line was drawn.

In an instant, a heat so intense it could scorch the very air swept through.

Without warning, a slash faster than sound cut through the forest.

“Horizontal Slash.”

Compressed through rotation.

The Sun Sword. The first technique Eugene had perfected.

Once, Eugene’s ultimate and most powerful technique.

Now, Eugene executed it as naturally as breathing.

But its power was incomparable to before.

Swoosh.

The forest was split in half.

Like tearing a photograph, the forest tilted.

Trees that could have endured centuries toppled, and vines and roots were scorched.

The obstacles blocking their vision fell with a deafening roar.

“…I’ll take it back. That body.”

Golden light rose within Eugene’s blue eyes.

A gaze as radiant as the sun.

As if cutting through confusion, Eugene pointed his sword at the enemy.

“Ahaha.”

Belial’s shoulders trembled.

For some reason, laughter burst out.

She rarely laughed, but now it was unstoppable.

“Eu’gene’.”

She looked at the boy.

But what she saw wasn’t the boy.

Through him, she recalled the image of someone else.

“Ah, how lovely.”

Her heart pounded.

She had waited so long for a fight like this.

A reenactment of that day.

The day she would fight Jin again.

Even though Jin no longer existed.

There were still plenty of “humans” like him.

Among them, there must be one.

Another Jin. A human Hero who could succeed him.

“How nostalgic.”

It’s strange. Her heart was racing too much. 

Every time she saw those fiery blue eyes, her heart felt like it would burst. Belial tried her best to maintain her composure, even as her mind was consumed by excitement. 

Emotions. Such intense emotions. 

They were hers, but not entirely hers. Lucia’s emotions. The girl’s feelings. Did Lucia like Eugene? 

She didn’t know. She could have read her memories to find out, but she didn’t feel the need to go that far.

“Now, let’s fight.”

Let’s kill and be killed.

Chosen one.

Can you bring me…

Fear?

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Just like how certain Devils have acknowledged a human, Belial acknowledges Jin, the former captain of the 7th division.

In fact, she rated him so highly that her perception of humans had increased.

Jin is a person with great influence on Belial.

She is so obsessed with Eugene just because their name and hair color is similar.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Conveniently, powers of the same category. 

Smh.