Chapter 109: The Angel Goes to Sea (8)

Episode 109: The Angel Goes to Sea (8)

Leffrey tasted despair, after what felt like a long time.

“So, it’s impossible to persuade the demon king…”

He muttered those words, then continued staring at the black sea, its waves crashing onto the shore.

‘Come to think of it, why did the demon king try to accept the Headmaster Iriel’s surrender, even though he showed such hatred towards humanity?’

The Demon King wanted to spare Iriel. That’s why Iriel was able to pretend to submit to him and attempt a mutual destruction attack.

‘It was because Iriel is a revived angel.’

Honestly, Leffrey didn’t really know the demon king’s true intentions. What was he after? To fulfill his sadistic desires? World domination? Or was he actually a good guy all along?

‘I thought… maybe… just maybe, I could persuade him if I tried hard enough.’

He wanted to be optimistic. After all, Leffrey’s angelic persuasion tactics had worked quite well. He saved countless people, even in the most dangerous of situations.

Maybe… just maybe even the demon king could be persuaded, just like in those mangas?

That was the hope that Leffrey, the optimistic angel, always held.

‘The demon king believes he is right.’

A fanatic, convinced of their own righteousness, could never be persuaded. Now, the only thing left for Leffrey was to fight the demon king.

‘His logic is that since humans commit sins that lead the world towards darkness, and angels sacrificed themselves to stop it, therefore humans are the true demon kings…’

Leffrey covered his face,

Biting his lip.

‘Honestly, I can’t refute that. If I can’t refute it myself, how can I persuade the Demon King to stop? I’m the one who lacks faith in the first place…’

Leffrey lacked faith.

And that’s why he was a half-baked angel without wings.

Could he even stand a chance against that crazy demon king?

“Haah…”

He gathered the fragments of the broken Inquisition Sword, clumsily putting them together to resemble a sword shape, then dismissed it. He didn’t know if the item would be restored, but Leffrey desperately hoped it would.

“To think that he shattered the sword. He really is a monster…”

They say that bad things always come in threes. He had just learned of the demon king’s true intentions, and now, his Inquisition Sword was shattered.

On top of that, the sinister sound of the Seven Trumpets echoed again. As the sound that heralds destruction filled the air, Mariana Camp became restless once again.

But Leffrey…

“But… I have to keep living…”

…Muttered those words, then continued walking.

After all, he couldn’t just give up and die.

To struggle until the very end is a living being’s instinct.

Didn’t a certain philosopher say they would plant an apple tree even if the world was about to be destroyed? (TL Note: Martin Luther.)

‘He must have really loved apples.’

As he was having such silly thoughts, another question came to his mind. Where did that avatar of the demon king even come from? There were seven systems in place to monitor the Demon Castle Gate in the Mariana Trench, two in Earth’s orbit, three at Mariana Camp, and two more in other locations and that makes seven system worldwide.

He had just dismissed it as an avatar earlier, but how could an avatar, powerful enough to handle karma and vibrate his Silver Shoes, suddenly appear without any warning?

‘And he didn’t even emerge from the sea, he just suddenly appeared before me.’

What on earth had happened? Don’t tell me… did he hide his avatar somewhere in Mariana Camp?

Leffrey, with such thoughts in mind, returned to the Central Academy’s dorm. The students, still full of fighting spirit, were diligently sharpening their weapons, muttering about avenging their humiliation during this festival.

“I’m getting first place.”

“What are you talking about? We have to at least win against those Mariana bastards.”

“Right. We have to, no matter what it takes…”

No matter what it takes…

One of the phrases Leffrey hated the most.

But he couldn’t bring himself to stop them, and Leffrey, feeling even more dejected, walked to his room.

His heavy footsteps… he hadn’t felt this dejected in a while.

“Leffrey, where have you been?”

He heard a girl’s voice. Leffrey raised his head and saw Soya, a girl with gray hair and a slightly worn-out witch’s hat.

“Hmm, just went for a walk by the beach.”

“The beach? Then, why…”

Soya asked again,

“Why does your face look so down?”

Leffrey hesitated for a moment. To explain why his face looked so gloomy, he would first have to tell her about the demon king…

‘Hmm, let’s just not say anything.’

Leffrey continued in a dejected voice,

“Something happened.”

Soya’s hands trembled a little, and she muttered in a small voice,

“Is it because… I was arguing with Yumari and Hongwol? Are you so down because of that?”

Well, that was part of it, but…

Leffrey shook his head.

“No…”

“Your expression says otherwise! You’re making the face you only ever make when you’re facing something totally black magic hate!”

As Soya raised her voice, two other future hero candidates casually appeared.

Mari, with her long, black hair and her small horns, and Hongwol, who resembled Mari but was a little taller. The two girls weren’t dressed up at all, wearing casual clothes, but they looked more radiant than ordinary people who had put in all their effort to dress up.

“Leffrey, you’re here.”

“Boy! I’ve been waiting!”

Mari, as always, greeted Leffrey with a soft smile, and Hongwol, as usual, casually tried to cling to him.

Since she was wearing revealing clothes that showed a lot of skin, Leffrey could feel Hongwol’s smooth and soft skin, so he quickly lowered his head to hide his blushed face, gently pushing her away.

“Hehe.”

Hongwol seemed to love Leffrey’s reaction so much that she couldn’t hide her broad smile and tried to cling even more.

“Hongwol, please stop.”

“Yeah, you really look cheap.”

Grrr- Rrr- The atmosphere between the three girls once again turned hostile.

Leffrey, seeing this, sighed deeply, then slumped his shoulders, exhausted.

“Guys, we have the Monster Festival tomorrow, so stop fighting.”

Then Leffrey said weakly.

“And I’m tired, so I’m going to bed early. See you tomorrow…”

The two girls immediately grabbed Leffrey by the shoulders.

“Leffrey, what happened?”

“Right! Why does your face look so gloomy? Why? What happened!”

Leffrey, just like with Soya, couldn’t explain to them why he was so dejected.

“Well…”

“Tell us. We’ll solve it for you.”

But seeing their concerned expressions, Leffrey felt he had to at least make up a reason.

‘If I just went into my room without explaining, just like Soya last time, they’ll probably stay up all night, worrying.’

He still remembered that night when he had to fight a Heavenly King in Soya’s dream. Of course, he didn’t think the other two would be that emotionally shaken…

‘Once was enough.’

Leffrey decided to tell them why he was dejected. Of course, omitting most of the truth.

“Something bad happened today.”

“What? What happened?”

“Ah, that cat is so annoying!”

Leffrey looked at the girls and said,

“First, you’re all always fighting. We’re friends, so it makes me sad when you all fight.”

“…Sorry.”

“But they started it.”

“What are you even saying, witch? And Leffrey, even if we made mistakes, there must be… something else that’s making you so sad, other than us! Quickly, just tell us!”

Future heroes, still bickering at each other. Apparently, this wasn’t enough of an explanation. Leffrey continued,

“Second, well… I met a bad person today and had a bit of an argument, that’s all.”

Of course, the demon king wasn’t human, and their conversation wasn’t just ‘a bit’ of an argument. But Leffrey couldn’t be more honest than that.

“So that’s that, right? Don’t worry too much, go to your rooms, and get some sleep. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

Leffrey tried to force a smile as if everything was okay, but he still looked sad. And the three future heroes, hearing that…

“Just who is it?! No, knowing Leffrey’s personality, he probably won’t tell us, so…”

“I’ll track them by scent. Yumari, you track them from the air using your dragon sense.”

“I’ll summon my familiar and find them. With black magic, it’s easy to handle familiars that can read psychometry and the memories left in space.”

Suddenly, they were working together, moving expertly. It was exactly the Hero Party he had imagined.

‘…A Chaos-grade stun combo?’ (TL Note: This references to something. Note to research it.)

Leffrey suddenly had a thought that sounded like it came from a video game, then he shook his head and said to the girls,

“Guys, that’s not someone you can catch. Just…”

“Don’t worry.”

Yumari said with a smile,

“We are experts in this sort of thing.”

Thus, the three girls began to quickly track down traces of whoever had argued with Leffrey, showing a flawless teamwork they had never displayed before.

Leffrey, watching this, thought to himself,

‘Wait, the Demon King Luciel’s power is still active… How can they, after making up, move so well in unison?’

Don’t tell me… these future heroes had already overcome the Archangel’s power to create war? That’s impossible. If it was an ability that could be overcome so easily, then humanity would have already won against the demon king.

‘No, this is also a kind of war.’

He could feel it with his Silver Shoes. The trumpets of karma, which only angels can hear, were still echoing. Then…

‘Hongwol, Soya, and Mari right now… are waging war against the demon king.’

Somehow, they had reversed the demon king’s ability. By setting a common enemy, they had inadvertently turned the power the demon king used to instigate a war… into a power that united the heroes.

Leffrey’s face brightened.

“I found a solution.”

They say you have to enjoy what’s inevitable. War was definitely something they had to avoid, but if they *had* to fight a war…

“If you can’t avoid the power of war… Then you should just wage war against the demon king himself.”

Leffrey smiled.

* * *

The second morning of the Monster Festival.

Boys and girls with burning eyes, their gazes just as heated, gathered on the scorching-hot, white sand. Those superpowered teenagers, full of what could be called fighting spirit at best or killing intent at worst, they looked at each other and uttered insults that would cut deep, words that would leave scars.

“A bunch of losers who failed the academy entrance exam.”

“A bunch of trash, clueless about the other world, trying to act like our superiors.”

The demon king’s ability was unavoidable.

No one could tell when this burning passion, would turn into a madness that would consume them all.

But it was only a matter of time, anyone who could wield karma, anyone who was an angel would know.

And amidst the tension, a white boy standing on the white sand stood out. He was surrounded by three exhausted girls who looked as if they had been up all night.

“Everyone, professors, captain! We have to stop the Monster Festival right now!”

But instead of cheers, boos followed. Although those boos were rare from the Central Academy students, where Leffrey was quite popular, from the Mariana Camp side, they heard blatant insults like “That little kid must be scared,” and “Hmph, are you afraid you’ll lose if we compete?”

Even the professors standing on the platform were shaking their heads, and Jeb, the captain of Mariana, looked disappointed.

“Don’t you think it’s strange? The Monster Festival is just a festival, but why are we all acting so aggressively. A festival is meant to be enjoyed, isn’t it?”

“It’s a test before it’s a festival.”

“That’s right! Be quiet and get down from there!”

Leffrey shook his head at the accusations.

“No, this situation is not normal.”

“Leffrey, do you have any proof?”

Park Jin-ho asked Leffrey, representing the other professors. If it had been any other student, they would have immediately stopped them, but they couldn’t ignore Leffrey’s words.

“Yes, I do. Proof of a dark hand, trying to make us fight each other.”

Leffrey pointed somewhere in Mariana Camp.

“The name of that dark hand is the demon king.”

The demon king’s Seven Trumpets ability.

They said that ability brings unavoidable war.

But there are many different types of war.

“An avatar of the demon king is hiding somewhere in this camp!”

Leffrey declared a holy war.