Chapter 192: The Angel Who Receives Observation Class (15)

Episode 192: The Angel Who Receives Observation Class (15)

The act of a being disappearing wasn’t painful.

Rather than pain, it was sad, and rather than sad, it was like a faint feeling.

Like a flower wilting at sunset.

A simple sorrow, like seeing falling petals and realizing that night has come.

There was a child who experienced something sad and went to bed to forget about it.

The name of that child is Hongwol.

A girl with shorter hair than she has now,

And a height smaller than present, a young girl.

She looked almost like a human elementary school student.

However, her twitching pink ears and sparkling pink eyes, filled with curiosity, were no different from how she is now.

“Huaaawwn…”

The girl yawned lazily, then stretched her body out on the bed while gently swishing her tail.

“So warm and cozy. Don’t want to get up…”

It was already past the time she should have gotten up.

But there were two reasons why she couldn’t bring herself to get up.

The first was the sunlight streaming in through the window.

Just like how a cat beside her would roll around following the sunlight, the girl had no choice but to roll around following the sunlight too.

Warmth was incredibly addictive, after all.

“So warm…”

And the second reason she didn’t want to get up was…

“Miss Hongwol.”

“Mmm.”

“Miss Hongwol, training preparations are complete. It’s time for you to grace us with your presence.”

“Ah. Seriously.”

…Because of training.

The training she had to undergo as the next chieftain of the Mooncat Tribe. From dangerous circus-like acrobatics to train her reflexes, to stealth techniques you’d only see in a heist movies.

And…

“Don’t want to get up.”

…Even the cruelty that she had to display as the next master of the Old Citadel.

The young Hongwol had to learn all of it.

And today’s training was about cruelty.

It was a much safer training than dodging bullet curtains or avoiding sword blades swinging from all directions while blindfolded, and much easier than raiding the treasure vaults of large guilds or magic families…

“The Chieftain will be very angry. You must get up quickly.”

But it was the training that Hongwol hated the most.

Why should she learn cruelty?

The young Hongwol had always wondered about that.

‘I didn’t want to kill.’

The adults would always say things like ‘only those who can wield killing intent are true Mooncats’ or ‘those who control killing intent control murder’ and other such chuunibyou-like answers.

But Hongwol knew it wasn’t all there was to it.

The reason why adults made her undergo cruelty training….

‘I knew.’

Hongwol, now closer to an adult, watching the young pink-haired girl with her trembling eyes which she tried to hide, bit her lip and thought.

‘Why the adults forced me to see blood. I know now.’

Step—step—Even though she dragged her feet not wanting to go, the sound could barely be heard. Some would say it’s the result of her training, and others would call it the result of abuse.

‘And the reason why Leffrey tried to find a solution on his own, without telling us, I knew it from the start.’

*Creeak*—A two-meter-tall iron door began to open, and the metallic scent made the young girl’s face wrinkle in disgust.

And tied there was a young boy.

Though he was dirty from not being able to wash and showed clear signs of starvation, he was definitely a young boy.

The small Hongwol, flustered, looked at the adults around her.

“Wh, at?”

“Go and take care of it.”

“Go and take care of what?”

No answer was needed. The adult simply placed a dagger in Hongwol’s hand without a word.

“The Chieftain is watching. Take care of it.”

Trembling eyes.

The expression of the young boy frightened at seeing her.

Her mother’s stern face showing disappointment.

The murmuring of the adults.

‘Is she wavering?’

‘The future of the Mooncat Tribe.’

‘She lacks ferocity.’

‘Then we have no choice but to choose a new candidate.’

‘Purge.’

“Hurry and take care of it. Please, show your decisiveness as the next chieftain.”

Hongwol didn’t want to die.

And Hongwol, who had grown slightly taller, now knew everything except for one thing.

‘Yes. I know everything.’

Why Leffrey tried to solve the problem alone.

If Leffrey had consulted with us about this matter, what answer would we have ultimately tried to give.

Soya and herself secretly eliminating Leffrey’s family without his knowledge.

‘He knew that’s what we would have done.’

Leffrey really hated that.

‘He didn’t want us to fall.’

Wiping away a single tear that rolled down, Hongwol saw the young girl walking towards the darkness.

There were tears pooled in the girl’s eyes.

‘But what can I do. I’ve already fallen.’

And the pink-haired girl raised her dagger.

‘And that’s why I couldn’t avoid the dark karma that the demon king spread, I was completely consumed by it, and now I’m doomed to sleep in this darkness.’

‘Nothing can stay white in a world like this anyway.’

A single tear rolled down the cheek of the girl holding the dagger.

That was when it happened.

“But even in this kind of world, I’ll still affirm you.”

It was a gentle voice.

Not overly sweet, nor flirtatious, but somehow with a high resonance that lingered strangely in the ear.

And the pink-haired girl recognized that voice.

“No matter what happens, I will believe in you.”

“Le-Leffrey? Boy? Where are you?”

Hongwol kept looking around without even trying to steady her trembling voice.

“My…”

But all she could see was the young girl holding the dagger with trembling hands.

“My hero…”

Hongwol ran. Though she knew better than anyone that this was meaningless, trying to change a past illusion that had already occurred.

She couldn’t do this in front of Leffrey.

She couldn’t do this when Leffrey said he believed in her.

Hongwol grabbed the young Hongwol who was about to stab down with the dagger and shouted.

“You fool!”

“Wh, what? Who are you?”

“You selfish bitch. Were you that afraid of the adults? Were you trying to kill that innocent kid because you were afraid of the adults?”

Just who was she saying this to.

Hongwol began spewing words, forgetting who was speaking to whom, forgetting that her own existence was being denied.

“Aren’t you afraid of the nightmares? You’ll see that child’s face every night, tormenting you. You think you can just deceive yourself by saying that there’s no helping this world, that this is how things are, and that we just have to endure it?”

“I, I.”

The young Hongwol muttered.

“I had no other choice.”

“I know.”

“But still, I, I really wanted to know that. Whether, whether I had another choice.”

The young Hongwol cried like a child.

“I really wanted to know…”

“And until you know the answer, you have no choice but to keep living.”

Hongwol still didn’t know.

Was there another option? If she had run away at that moment, would the boy have survived? Or could she have persuaded the adults?

Hongwol still didn’t know the answer.

But.

“But there’s one thing I know for certain.”

After hugging the young girl tightly, Hongwol turned around.

Behind her, her tribe members were watching her with wary expressions.

“That it’s up to the adults to answer this question.”

And Hongwol charged at them.

“That a world created by adults shouldn’t demand answers from children!”

And taking that opportunity, the young Hongwol cut the ropes that bound the boy and, using the acrobatics and stealth she had been learning, escaped outside with the boy.

Seeing that, Hongwol smiled.

Most of Hongwol’s presence had already disappeared. Though she was now at less than a tenth of her original power in the current situation.

“I, right now, am so much like a hero.”

And yet somehow Hongwol felt incredibly strong.

Strong enough to face the entire Mooncat Tribe. Although she was continuously being cut and torn, suffering severe injuries…

…Her two swords were shining with a color she had never seen before.

And so.

Hongwol gradually brightened.

* * *

“Ah, ah. This is disgusting. Demon King.”

Thus, Hongwol escaped from being ‘Smeared.’ After removing most of the dark karma clinging to her body, Hongwol smiled wickedly and said.

“What do you think you’re doing, recklessly throwing this kind of stuff at someone else’s body. Why do the demon army have no sense of hygiene at all.”

“Shut up, parasite. You’re not what’s important right now!”

Hongwol muttered while looking at the sobbing Demon King.

“Boy…”

Leffrey’s form was cracking and breaking apart. Although his form was broken and cracked, but perhaps because of that, a certain holiness remained.

“Just hold on a little longer. I’ll figure something out.”

“O-Okay.”

Leffrey smiled.

“I believe in you, my hero.”

The Demon King, seeing that, shouted once again.

“Leffrey, why are you saying those words? Uwaah! It’s all because of you after all. You humans always kill angels. You taint this world and never once reflect on your actions!”

“What’s this. Are you coping?”

(TL Note: Projecting. Or, 정신승리 (jeongsin seungri) is a Korean slang term that refers to a kind of mental gymnastics, where one claims victory despite being at a disadvantage. It’s similar to ‘coping’.)

Dark karma, once again, began to gather in the demon king’s hand.

“I won’t lose it again.”

“Me neither.”

And light karma sparkled from Hongwol’s swords.

“I won’t lose it again either.”

Thus, the hero and the demon king clashed. The demon king closed the distance in an instant and drew the True Demon Sword.

The demon king’s black claymore known as the True Demon Sword.

In some myths, it’s even called the sword of the apocalypse, a sword that can destroy the world with a single strike.

That dark sword, which greedily absorbed light without any reflection, seemed ready to cleave Hongwol’s clavicle, as if bound to cut through any other sword except holy swords.

She couldn’t win in a battle of swords.

Hongwol knew that too.

Then to win, she had to advance not to a battle between swords, but a battle between swordsmen.

Parry.

A technique to deflect the enemy’s blade and create an opening.

Especially if the one wielding the parrying dagger was as skilled as Hongwol, then.

“Strong, but your swordsmanship is second-rate at best.”

*Shunk*—

The Demon King, wounded by Hongwol’s dagger, muttered in surprise.

“You, you parried the True Demon Sword?”

“Even if it’s called the True Demon Sword, in the end, it’s just a type of sword. And you seem to be a pretty lousy swordsman.”

“Human, human…!”

And the demon king gathered his karma once again.

“A mere human swordsmanship…”

All sorts of ancient spells began casting behind the demon king. Magic of civilizations that have already perished, magic of dimensions that have already disappeared, magic of all sorts of ancient gods and their followers.

“I don’t think so.”

And with the muttering of a single girl, the casting of all those spells begins to be canceled. Some of them even had their ownership taken, and…

“Soya, the Magical Girl, has arrived.”

Who else but one girl can handle those magics while muttering something like this.

“How is this possible?”

“Aha, did you think you were the only one who could wield dark karma? Where did you learn such black magic-hating thoughts?”

Black Karma Magic.

Soya’s hero technique that allowed her to copy abilities that use dark karma.

“Assembling is the reverse of disassembling. Do you understand?”

“You disassembled my smearing?”

At the critical moment.

Soya copied the smearing, and reverse-casted it.

Thus, the two girls looked at the demon king. The demon king, who had never once been pushed to defense, finally acknowledged being on the defensive.

“Phew. It’s not easy after all.”

And the Demon King muttered.

“You humans are truly demon kings. To be such strong opponents, if it was the me from the past, I would have already been defeated.”

The demon king smiled.

“Stronger than the dragons of old that incinerated the world, stronger than the ancient gods that distorted the laws of physics. Humans who darken the world… The true demon king race…!”

And an ominous statement followed.

“But surely you didn’t think that I wouldn’t have prepared anything for dealing with you demon kings?”