Chapter 209: The Angel Who Spreads Its Wings (4)

Episode 209: The Angel Who Spreads Its Wings (4)

Going all out comes with a price. It’s true for cars running at top speed, and it’s true for fighter jets performing split-second evasive maneuvers.

Overheating engines and turbines on the verge of exploding.

The Demon King was no different. This moment, resonating with all the karma he could resonate with, was no less than a gamble with his soul at every single instant.

The power of karma beyond his ability to control. Even someone like the Demon King had no way to subjugate all this power.

Hatred and resentment, emotions too great to be described with mere words like those. That vicious and sorrowful power began to rampage to destroy the Demon King’s soul.

But the Demon King wasn’t a fool. He knew full well that going all out would come with such a price.

“Now, behold.”

But the Demon King did not hesitate and paid the price. For the power he was wielding now, this near-omnipotent power, was worth obtaining even at the cost of his soul being crushed.

“Witness this unbelievable power.”

Reality itself began to crack and shatter like a glass window struck by a soccer ball. Through the cracks in reality, the source of karma seeped in, turning all sorts of possibilities into reality.

Thus, the angel with spread wings could see the possibilities of humans.

He saw the infinite possibilities of what those who could do anything did to those who could do nothing.

It was hell.

“Even after seeing this unbelievable power, you still want to fight?”

“Even so, I will fight.”

The Demon King and the angel stared at each other. The Demon King smiled and, with a mere flick of his finger, tried to rip Leffrey’s wings along with the dimension they existed in.

It could not be evaded, for it tore time itself; it could not be blocked, for it crushed reality itself. Yet the angel with spread wings did not fold them.

Leffrey fought against the Demon King.

“Because I, believe.”

What does he believe in.

The Demon King, who knows everything, could believe in nothing because he knows everything. Having realized all, the Demon King could not even grasp what Leffrey meant by saying he believed.

“Nonsense.”

Slice—The Demon King’s hand sliced horizontally through the air. Reality collapsed along the trajectory of his hand. Leffrey’s wings were unmistakably within that path.

But even as reality shattered, Leffrey’s wings remained spread wide.

“Unbelievable.”

The Demon King, seeing that, couldn’t help but mutter those words.

“In this world, in this world, there’s no such thing as a kind god who cares for humanity.”

The boy, tainted by darkness, shouted.

“Even if the girls you protect suffer, or even if they’re killed, do you think the heavens will shed a single tear?”

The wingless boy king spoke with a trembling voice.

“Absolutely, absolutely not! Leffrey, what on earth do you believe in?”

“Heaven doesn’t need to shed tears.”

Leffrey closed his eyes.

“I will cry for them instead.”

Some things become clearer when you close your eyes. That young dragon and the dragon’s daughter he wanted to protect, and the beautiful cat and the cute black mage too.

“I’ll be the one to wipe away their tears.”

Leffrey opened his eyes again and looked at the world.

“And even if it’s not me, someone will surely be there to comfort them, to wake them from their nightmares.”

Leffrey nodded gently.

“Surely, someone will do so.”

“It’s not true. There’s no basis. It’s merely a vain belief.”

The Demon King began concentrating karma in both his hands. These fists now carried the will to kill that belief if necessary, beyond mere tolerance.

The karma, so densely packed, distorted the space around his fist to the point of creating another reality. Yet even before such power, Leffrey smiled.

“Demon King.”

The smiling Leffrey said.

Leffrey could never forget the touch that had awakened him from his nightmares.

“You’ve never seen a miracle, have you.”

The Demon King could not respond to those words. For having realized everything in this world, there was nothing he could call a miracle.

So the demon king had no choice but to swing his fist instead of answering.

If even erasing reality itself couldn’t destroy those wings, then he’ll twist reality itself to tear those wings from Leffrey’s back. The Demon King, not even understanding his own rage, grabbed onto Leffrey’s wings and said.

“There are no such things as miracles in this world.”

The Demon King is a being stronger than any other, even an angel with spread wings cannot defeat him. Even a Demon King who had lost his sword, shield, magic, and minions could tear off Leffrey’s wings in mere seconds, an utterly simple task.

“I will prove that fact right now.”

An angel cannot defeat a demon king. But in this world, there existed legendary beings said to be capable of defeating him.

At the very moment Leffrey’s wings were about to be torn, black chains bound the Demon King’s hands tightly.

“Leffrey, I told you not to go off alone, didn’t I? That aside, you, your wings.”

At the sound of a terribly welcome, tearful girl’s voice, Leffrey turned his head.

“Soya…!”

“Boy, I’m here too.”

At the slurping sound, Leffrey could see someone holding Soya’s waist. It was Hongwol, a beautiful girl with her pink tail standing upright, drooling inexplicably.

“By the way, boy, you’ve got such delicious—I mean, soft wings now.”

“Uh, uh, why are your cat’s eyes getting bigger?”

“I-I’m absolutely not thinking about pouncing on Leffrey and going ‘Nya-nya-nya’ right now!”

The legendary beings said to be capable of defeating the demon king.

People called those beings heroes.

“Heroes…!”

The Demon King looked at the two bickering girls and spoke without concealing his hatred. And the two heroes, too, could not hide their contempt as they looked at the Demon King.

“Hmph, Demon King, to think that someone as pathetic as you, who bullies the weak, is the lord of darkness. Your very existence is black magic hate.”

“Hee, I can tell just by looking. You’re this angry because the boy didn’t accept your feelings, right? They call someone like you a ‘yandere’ these days, don’t they?”

“What? Me? That’s what I should be saying to you!”

And then the demon king threw a punch.

The Demon King was strong. With just a swing of his fist, he was powerful enough to collapse the reality of the heroes standing over a hundred paces away.

As soon as he saw the heroes dodging, he elegantly twisted his waist, read the angle the heroes would dodge with karma, and struck down in that direction with a long sweep through the air.

Reality began to crumble like burnt paper. But the Demon King did not cease his assault until that paper turned to ash and was reduced entirely to dust.

“Only truth exists.”

Now, he would leave not a single uncertain belief or prayer behind.

“Only the truth exists, faith is meaningless…!”

Haa- Haa- Gazing at his two hands burning with karma, the Demon King smiled. Since when had his hands been burning?

Hands that had overheated from handling karma, and beyond overheating, had begun to burn.

The hands that had been damaged by the source of karma were not easy to heal, even with the Demon King’s power.

“…It might be impossible to fully restore.”

The demon king observed himself.

He was too excited right now. There was no way he could handle the source of karma without a price. Still, for this much power, this was a cheap price to pay.

Yes, to be able to kill two heroes with just his two hands, it was a small price to pay.

However, the heroes were unharmed.

“They were illusions.”

The Demon King nodded as if it was only natural, seeing those heroes unharmed.

“This is a divine technique that couldn’t be compared to smearing, this technique collapses reality using the source of karma.”

“Doesn’t it embarrass you to talk about techniques like that yourself?”

The Demon King did not react to Hongwol’s sarcasm and continued speaking slowly.

“Those who can handle karma can dispel karma and escape smearing. And those who can read karma can sense the incoming dark karma and dodge. However…”

The Demon King’s expression was colder than ever before.

“A technique that collapses reality by using the source of karma itself cannot be read by karma. Not even I can read the complex flow of that source, so how could little chicks like you possibly do it?”

Sensing something ominous, Soya asked.

“What are you trying to say?”

“You must have read my intentions. My plan to collapse reality and destroy you, even if it meant overexerting myself.”

The demon king said.

“I told you. A technique that collapses reality itself cannot be read by karma. So how were you able to read my intentions?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

The Demon King concealed his damaged hands with gloves.

Wriggling, the Demon King’s fingers moved in a way that was visibly unnatural to anyone.

“Having read my intent, you set up illusions to provoke me. With the purpose of making me expend all my power on those illusions.”

“You pushed yourself that hard, even knowing that?”

“Yes.”

Only then did the heroes realize that reality was collapsing behind them

“Now you can’t escape.”

“Really, I told you this shoddy method wouldn’t work, Soya.”

“Th-then you should have thought of something better…”

The moment she saw the Demon King’s sinister smile, Soya hurriedly hid behind Hongwol. Feeling Soya, Hongwol muttered, ‘Damn it, still preparing?’ and held her two swords in her hands.

And the demon king also raised his hand.

“It’s over.”

At that moment, the darkness parted.

It was like a single ray of light heralding dawn, piercing the world from horizon to horizon in an instant.

The light was so blinding that even the Demon King instinctively covered his eyes with his hand.

“That was close, Saint.”

Hongwol muttered while looking at the light that covered the world like a blanket.

In this world, there existed special swords called magic swords. These swords, which served as weapons for superhuman swordsmen, were called magic swords because they were imbued with magic.

And the prototype of all those magic swords was called the True Demon Sword.

And in this world, there also existed swords imbued with divine power. Swords like the Inquisition Sword and Flabellum are exactly that.

And there was also a prototype for these swords imbued with divine power. People called that sword the holy sword.

And Professor Klein had once…

…Conceived of a missile using this holy sword.

“A magically propelled holy sword missile, is it.”

Precisely for use at this very moment.

“Hmph, with no one to wield the Holy Sword, you resort to such petty tricks, do you.”

The Demon King, brimming with mockery, instinctively called for the True Demon Sword. Since only the True Demon Sword could counter the Holy Sword, his choice wasn’t wrong.

If the True Demon Sword still existed, that is.

“Ah.”

Seeing his empty hand, the Demon King realized at that moment that the True Demon Sword had already been broken and shattered.

*Thunk*—

The sound of something piercing deeply

For the Demon King who had never allowed more than a scratch, an injury that could be healed in a single breath, a great wound had now been inflicted.

The holy sword, said to be capable of defeating the demon king.

That holy sword had pierced deep into the Demon King’s solar plexus, protruding out the other side. And immediately, the saint’s divine power contained within began to rise.

Not the divine power that had deteriorated from lost faith, but the divine power from that time when she had been called the Saint, the one chosen by Heaven.

Yes, the saint had regained her faith as well.

And all of that faith had been poured into the holy sword.

“Nooooooooooooooooo!”

The Demon King screamed as he burned in the holy flames.