Chapter 174: The Angel Who Raids a Dungeon (12)

Episode 174: The Angel Who Raids a Dungeon (12)

The twelve mid-bosses that made up Ormantor’s Nest.

The first boss, Dranic.

Already had his head smashed by the half-dragon Yumari’s fist, so there’s no need for further explanation.

The second boss, the Fairy Hatchling.

Already had its tail cut off by Hongwol, so there’s no need for further explanation.

The third boss, the Crawling Snake.

While crawling, it was crushed to death by Soya’s Black Shield, so there’s no need for further explanation.

The fourth boss, the Dragonkin General Huira.

Similarly, had his head smashed by the half-dragon Yumari, so there’s no need for further explanation.

.

.

.

Ormantor widened his eyes in disbelief as he watched his mid-bosses rapidly diminish in number.

‘The Crawling Snake is invincible while on the ground. Yet, they tricked it into thinking the flat shield was the floor and crushed it to death.’

A perfect strategy. A strategy that could only be conceived after witnessing the Crawling Snake’s battles dozens of times.

‘Not even the professors could avoid Huira’s counterattack. How did they read Huira’s counterattack so accurately?’

It was as if they knew exactly what counterattack would be used.

As Ormantor became more flustered and unable to issue commands, his forces continued to fall rapidly.

“Ormantor, do you know this?”

Leffrey smiled.

“There’s a thing called a ‘boss rush’ in some games.”

Boss rush. As the name suggests, it’s a type of battle where bosses rush at you one after another. Usually, it’s something experienced by expert players in the late game.

And a true expert player clears a boss rush without taking a single hit.

“We’re just doing a boss rush, that’s all.”

Leffrey, a hardcore angel who had already witnessed the end of the world, slowly flew up to catch Ormantor’s attention.

A massive black serpent, bleeding black blood.

Its red horns, over 1M thick, crackling with ominous black lightning, and its enormous body, larger than an apartment building, was covered entirely in scales harder than iron.

And within those scales, vitality, mana, and magic surged as if they were about to explode.

Even though he had been critically injured by Yumari’s Marman Strike, a monster is ultimately still a monster.

“Angel!”

Ormantor’s red eyes fixed on Leffrey.

“Why did you not accept the Demon King’s offer? What is your goal that makes you defy Luciel, who is both your kin and senior?”

His monstrous voice continued.

“The Demon King promised to give you everything!”

‘I’m scared.’

To be honest, he was scared.

Leffrey acknowledged that fact.

‘All I wanted was a long and ordinary, but happy life.’

Since he couldn’t live that way in his past life, he wanted to live that way this time. Then why was he risking his life, fighting a monster like this.

To live a long life, he shouldn’t be fighting monsters like this.

The odds of him dying were high.

Perhaps siding with the demon king would be closer to achieving Leffrey’s goal. The Demon King did seem fond of Leffrey.

“Judgment…”

Leffrey didn’t ponder long and uttered the word someone often repeated like a habit.

‘I gained some strange memories while crying in front of Mari.’

Strange memories.

The memory of an angel who was tasked with taking the soul of a baby’s mother. And the memory of that angel who disobeyed Heaven’s orders and was punished, becoming a boy destined to live painfully until the end of this world.

It was a faint memory, as if recalling a dream he had long ago, but…

Leffrey still remembered it.

“To judge your sins.”

Leffrey drew Flabellum. The angel’s dagger inscribed with ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo,’ the lyrics of ‘Gloria.’

(TL Note: ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’ is Latin for “Glory to God in the highest”. It is also the name of a Christian hymn.)

That dagger began to ignite as it reacted with Leffrey’s angelic power.

“The sin of deceiving others, the sin of killing others, the sin of tormenting others, and the sin of hurting others.”

Is this emotion anger.

Or is it a sense of duty.

If not those, then perhaps,

It might be an instinct that remained deep within Leffrey.

“To judge those sins.”

The instinct that remains as an angel of judgment.

There was a coincidence.

By chance, Leffrey was able to hold the existence of Leffriel within his soul. And by chance, Leffrey was able to gain even Leffriel’s memories.

Soul, memories, and body.

What are the elements that define a person? Opinions may differ, but soul, memories, and body could be said to be the three most important elements.

If someone only had a soul and a body, but no memories. Could they still be considered ‘themselves’?

Similarly, what if they have the same memories and body, but a different soul. If we say it’s the same person despite the soul being different, then all the reincarnation stories in this world would become nothing more than kindling for the fire.

And lastly, what if their memories and soul are the same, but their body was different? You could look at body swap stories, where genders change, to understand this.

A man who gains the body of a woman eventually loses himself and begins to act like a woman.

Thus, If you lose even one of these three elements: soul, memories, and body, then you are no longer yourself.

However, Leffrey now has Leffriel’s memories and soul. Then, what about the body?

‘Right, come to think of it, it was strange.’

Why was the Leffriel in his mind so similar to Leffrey?

‘This body was Leffriel’s body. That’s why I didn’t have wings, and why Leffriel appeared when I was hit by Drewmark’s Ultimate Skill.’

Thus, Leffrey had acquired all three of Leffriel’s elements: soul, memory, and body. And the world recognizes such a being as one.

[Title acquired: Angel of Judgment]

===

[Title: Angel of Judgment]

Among angels, those who become leaders are called archangels. And each of these Archangels has a different title. Light, Life, Love, Truth, and Judgment.

This title, Judgment, is one of the titles given to Archangels. The Angel of Judgment has the authority to determine right and wrong, to pass judgment, and wields special authority to judge evil.

Therefore, you are now,

The One Who Judges This World.

Title Effects:

Can transcend the limitations of ordinary angels. (Angelic Ability level cap removed)

Becomes stronger in situations requiring judgment.

Becomes stronger when facing evil beings.

Able to acquire special Angelic Abilities related to judgment.

===

[Your race has been changed to Archangel!]

[Your status window is being updated!]

===

Leffrey Lv.60

Race: Archangel

HP: 1650/1650 MP: 800/800

Strength: 79

Agility: 60

Magic: 61

Esper Ability: 10

Angelic Power: 687

Cooking Lv.10 (Master), Repair Lv.5, Cleaning Lv.5, Crafting Lv.5, Fairy Martial Arts Lv.9 (Critical Threshold Reached), True Cheongu Swordsmanship Lv.9 (Critical Threshold Reached), Klein-style Magic Lv.9 (Critical Threshold Reached)

===

Martial Arts of the Archangel who Tramples Dragons Lv.10

Healing of the Seraphim that Heals All Creation Lv.10

Blessing of the Power Angel who Graced the King Lv.10

Steps of the Fallen Angel Walking Through the Night Lv.10

Light of the Ruling Archangel that Illuminates the World Lv.10

The Breath of the Angel Blowing Seven Trumpets Lv.9

Judgment of the Archangel Who Judges This World Lv.1

===

His Angelic Abilities, which had been stuck at Lv.9 due to the limitations of the angel race, finally reached Lv.10.

‘Lv.9 and Lv.10 are on completely different levels. Just like how stats 9 and 10 are completely different.’

Lv. 10 is described as ‘mastered’ or ‘reached the ultimate level.’ But Lv.9 is described as ‘stopped at the threshold.’

Threshold, the level that has to be overcome to reach the ultimate. Lv.10 had crossed that threshold, while Lv. 9 hadn’t.

The difference between the two was truly vast.

‘It’s not just a LV.1 difference. This is…’

Leffrey got goosebumps from the newly felt power. However, the perceptive Ormantor couldn’t miss Leffrey’s goosebumps.

“How dare you get distracted?”

The colossal black serpent, a being whose mere movements could destroy a city, charged straight towards Leffrey.

It was commonly believed that snakes attacked by slithering, but when a snake truly attacks, it moves in a straight line to reach its target with maximum speed.

And a dragon’s top speed,

Naturally, surpassed the speed of sound.

It obviously surpasses the speed of sound, and might even reach the speed of the latest fighter jets.

Ormantor, boasting a size comparable to the World Serpent. Needless to say, he weighs well over several thousand tons.

And here’s a simple equation.

Speed is weight.

What happens when a being with an enormous mass exceeding several thousand tons collides with its target at a speed of 2,000 km/h?

The sonic boom alone from such an impact could tear apart the body of an ordinary superhuman.

But what if, on top of that, it’s not just a simple collision, but one enhanced by all sorts of abnormal phenomena (magic, curses)?

Perhaps it could even be compared to a meteor strike that could destroy the Earth. However…

[Angels become stronger when they do the right thing!]

[The Angel of Judgment becomes stronger in situations requiring judgment!]

[The Angel of Judgment becomes stronger when facing evil!]

“You’re too slow.”

Ormantor’s charge, which had wiped out hundreds of nearby Dragonkin with just its sonic boom, was blocked by the seemingly light hand of a young boy.

*Crash—*

Even though it was just the shockwave from being blocked, cracks appeared in this space where the Ormantor’s legion resided.

The resulting crater alone was over several meters wide.

But Leffrey, who had endured all that power, looked completely unharmed.

“Not… a single scratch?”

Ormantor muttered, unable to believe it, and Leffrey whispered.

“Martial Arts of the Archangel who Tramples Dragons.”

A heavenly martial art developed long ago to defeat the dragons that once threatened Heaven.

As a heavenly martial art, it was superior to any earthly martial art, so it could be used effectively against any opponent, not just dragons…

But against dragons, it was more than just a heavenly martial art.

“Sacrifice. Offer your blood.”

Ormantor gathered his magical power.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands of evil curses were cast around Leffrey, but.

Leffrey avoided all those spells with light movements as if dancing. It was like watching the skillful play of a veteran in a bullet hell game.

“More blood, more sacrifices!”

Leffrey dodged Ormantor’s attacks while provoking him. And Ormantor, enraged, unleashed even more magic and curses.

As time slowly ticked away.

“I said offer more blood and sacrifices!”

Something felt strange. Only his own murky voice resonated and echoed throughout this space. There were no other sounds.

Surely, the sounds of battle should have been audible.

“It’s finally over. Boy, are you unharmed?”

“That was too easy. As expected, it wasn’t a match for me at all.”

“‘As expected’? Ugh.”

And then, the figure of a young girl floated up.

Ormantor, at the sight of the girl, forgot his anger and was lost in a certain thought, a dark desire.

‘Even in this situation, she’s still so alluring.’

A beautiful girl with black hair. So unrealistically beautiful that she seemed like a being from another world.

Such an innocent, pure beauty.

And a feeling of transparency.

Lastly,

“Leffrey, leave it to us from now on.”

Even an instinct that told him that this is dangerous.