Chapter 90: The Angel That Touches the Hearts (2)

Episode 90: The Angel That Touches the Hearts (2)

One of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings, Bethel, Queen of the Succubi.

Leffrey lay on his bed, gathering his thoughts about Bethel.

‘Bethel, a demon that roams the realm of minds, a being without a physical form.’

Since she had no physical form, she was undetectable. And since she was undetectable, her name wasn’t even known until just before the War of Annihilation.

‘She possesses an Ultimate Skill that allows her to steal others’ bodies. It’s speculated to be the Succubus Arts taken to its ultimate level, her ability to charm people.’

The name of that Ultimate Skill was ‘Bewitching Dreams’. For some reason, it was an Ultimate Skill name that sounded like something a vampire would use, but surprisingly, it was used by a succubus.

‘If a Succubus’s illusion magic is turned into an Ultimate Skill, then she probably enters their dreams to charm them and takes over their bodies.’

To enter dreams is like entering the mental realm.

Even the strongest being in the world couldn’t defeat Bethel in a mental battle. The mental realm was her domain.

‘She’s powerful and incredibly dangerous. If they’re not careful, even the professors could be in danger.’

An army is strongest when fighting on land, and a navy is strongest when fighting at sea.

So, even the professors wouldn’t stand much of a chance in a battle against Bethel in the mental realm, a realm she reigns supreme.

‘In the end, it’s all up to me.’

Ugh- Leffrey groaned.

He recalled the next piece of information.

‘When she needed to exert physical force, she would steal and use someone else’s body. She usually stole the bodies of strong female superhumans.’

Bethel would then simultaneously utilize the skills of the stolen body and her own unique skills.

When she successfully stole the body of a female hero, not even a single professor could defeat her.

‘Bethel wouldn’t die even if the stolen body was destroyed.’

Bethel has no physical form.

Therefore, having a stolen body destroyed just meant losing a toy. There would be no damage to her true self, which resided in the mental realm.

‘So, in the future I knew, eventually…’

They couldn’t defeat Bethel.

How could they possibly destroy a being without a physical form? A descending moonlight, a refreshing sea breeze, the heat of dancing air…

Just how could they destroy something like that?

‘In the end, they couldn’t even kill Bethel during the War of Annihilation. The professors couldn’t kill her, meaning there was no method to defeat her.’

Even Leffrey, who knew the future, couldn’t easily answer that question.

Just how could they defeat Bethel?

Leffrey got up from the bed and wracked his brain.

“Urgh.”

Leffrey, imitating Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ pose, continued his deep contemplation.

“Hmm.”

Leffrey, the Thinking Angel. He was definitely engaging in a serious thought about the future of this world and the mission of Heaven.

“What should I eat for breakfast tomorrow…? Ah!”

Leffrey quickly shook his head.

Shake shake-

To think about breakfast at such a critical time, what kind of angel was he?

Leffrey once again reviewed the information about Bethel.

A mental being without a physical form.

Possesses an Ultimate Skill that allows her to take over other’s bodies.

The activation condition is probably entering the victim’s dreams and seducing them directly.

If the victim succumbed to her charm,

She steals their body.

And she has never been defeated in the past future timeline.

“Haah.”

Rolling back and forth- Leffrey tossed and turned in bed.

No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t find an answer.

Just how could he possibly defeat Bethel?

‘Why aren’t you sleeping?’

His roommate asked in a grumpy voice.

He was rubbing his sleepy eyes. Although he had the same face as Leffrey, he was quite cute.

‘After falling to Earth, I’ve only acquired useless weaknesses that hinder my mission.’

Leffriel’s voice trailed off, as if ashamed.

Leffrey stared at the archangel.

‘What?’

Leffrey, looking at the archangel, casually muttered,

“Eureka.”

He took a closer look at Leffriel.

Leffriel.

First of all, he was a mental being without a physical form.

And Leffriel was also an ultimate prayer master.

‘As far as I know, prayer is one of the best methods for mental training. There are even people who reached the top by doing nothing but praying and throwing punches for several years.’

That person had probably trained his mind through prayer and honed his strength through punching.

Then…

Just how strong is Leffriel’s mental power, who had reached singularity through prayer?

“…Judgement?”

Leffriel tilted his head.

‘…He’s an archangel, so he should at least be able to defeat a succubus, right?’

Leffriel didn’t seem too reliable.

But what choice did Leffrey have?

His only hope was this spaced-out angel.

‘And there’s a saying that ‘there’s strength in numbers’, right?’

Bethel was alone, but Leffrey was two.

If Leffrey and Leffriel were to work together.

“Wouldn’t… wouldn’t it work out somehow?”

“…?”

Leffrey clenched his fists.

* * *

One day, after the afterglow of summer vacation had faded.

A boy with golden hair walked along with a girl wearing a witch’s hat.

“Leffrey.”

“….”

The girl called out again.

“Leffrey!”

“H-Huh? What’s wrong?”

“What on earth are you daydreaming about?”

Soya grumbled.

Leffrey awkwardly smiled and apologized.

“Sorry. I was thinking about something.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“…I’ll tell you later.”

Soya quietly grumbled and then, obviously offended, turned around, going ‘Hmph!’

‘Soya, I’m sorry.’

But he couldn’t tell her what he was thinking about.

‘How would Bethel infiltrate people’s minds? Perhaps as a higher mental being, she’s likely to infiltrate as a kind of memetic contamination.’

Memetic contamination, it referred to mental contamination spread through memes. Here, a ‘meme’ is defined as a self-replicating unit of information.

‘If you become aware of that information called a meme, you can say you’ve already taken the first step towards mental contamination.’

And perhaps the information about Bethel was the core meme that would allow her to infiltrate one’s mind.

That’s why Leffrey couldn’t tell Soya about Bethel. Soya might be susceptible to mental attacks if she learned about Bethel’s information.

‘But why isn’t she targeting me directly? I already practically know the core meme about Bethel.’

That was Leffrey’s concern.

Why wasn’t she targeting him immediately?

‘How can I lure Bethel into my mind before there are any more victims?’

As Leffrey’s worries deepened,

Soya opened her mouth again.

“You, lately…”

“…”

“Lately, you’ve been… you’ve been ignoring me your friend too much. Do you know that?”

“…Ah, Soya. What did you say?”

Leffrey, lost in thought, had missed Soya’s words again.

Soya, lowering the brim of her hat to hide her face,

“Wh-Why, why are you doing this? Leffrey, come back to being black magic-friendly.”

She whispered.

But Leffrey, was once again lost in his thoughts,

Couldn’t see Soya like that.

“Ugh.”

And so, they returned to the cathedral.

“Soya, is something wrong?”

The first person to notice that something was off with Soya wasn’t Leffrey or even Professor Klein.

It was Professor Hexi.

“It’s nothing.”

Soya replied curtly.

She silently stared at Leffrey’s room with damp hair.

Why isn’t he drying my hair today?

That gentle touch.

That warm touch full of affection.

That truly black magic-friendly touch.

They were gone today.

Why didn’t Leffrey dry her hair today? It was an act that always brought in Angelic Power. An act that made Leffrey dry her hair every single day, diligently trying to squeeze out even a little bit more Angelic Power.

‘Bethel, Bethel.’

It was because Leffrey was trying to summon Bethel in his mind.

Immersed in Bethel, trying to lure Bethel to his mental realm before other victims appear.

‘Bethel, Bethel.’

Therefore, Bethel could be summoned into Leffrey’s mind at any time. And at any moment, he might even lose to her and have his body taken over.

That’s why Leffrey decided to distance himself from Soya. He was sure that Professor Hexi could defend against Bethel’s attack, but Soya, who was weak in close combat.

‘It would be really dangerous. I have to keep my distance from Soya.’

So, Leffrey kept his distance from Soya.

But Soya, not knowing this…

Drip- Drip-

Water droplets fell from Soya’s gray hair.

They streamed down her cheeks, like tears.

Seeing this, Hexi, oblivious to Soya’s emotions, asked again,

“Are you really sure nothing’s wrong?”

“I said it’s nothing!”

Bang- Soya slammed her door shut. Hexi, seeing that, scolded her strictly with words like, “Mind your manners before your professor!”

Soya, rudely, didn’t apologize and roughly dried her hair with a towel before crawling into bed.

If she stayed awake any longer, she felt like she would burst into tears at any moment.

But Leffrey, not knowing any of this

‘Bethel, the Succubus Queen, Bethel. A Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings. Bethel.’

Simply mutter those words over and over again.

Naturally,

Bethel wouldn’t fall for such a simple trap.

Ding-

Soya’s black smartphone buzzed as she was about to fall asleep.

She immediately checked her phone. Could it be from her only friend, that boy? The only people she exchanged messages with were… that boy and Professor Klein. wouldn’t message at this hour to avoid controversy.

It could only be that boy.

Soya, smiling faintly.

“Wh-What? It’s late, idiot.”

She muttered such words while hastily opening the message.

But the message wasn’t from the boy. It was from a first-year in the Magical Studies Department. And the content was a bit unsettling.

===

Praise the darkness that illuminates all.

The demon king is the only true king of this world,

And I am his first apostle.

Let us worship Lady Bethel.

She is our master.

Bethel. BethelBethelBethelBethelBethel.

===

“What, wh-what is this? Is it… some kind of spam message? No, that privileged magic family golden spoon wouldn’t send spam messages…”

Soya whispered in a scared voice.

Buzz- Her smartphone buzzed again. This time it was from a senior in the magical studies department.

===

Soya, I’m so sorry for everything.

I was being a bad senior, bullying you and picking on you for no reason.

But we’re all going to become one within Bethel-nim anyway.

Why did I even bully you so much…

By the way, have you ever seen Bethel-nim?

She’s such a beautiful woman.

She has invited you.

Lady Bethel has. BethelBethelBethelBethelBethel

===

“I-I’m… not scared…”

Soya’s voice trembled.

But the messages kept coming.

“Is this mental contamination? Memetic? Just how many have been affected? What…”

Soya quickly deleted the messages.

Bethel- Bethel- Bethel-

Then she finally saw it… a name that was locked at the very bottom of her chat list.

[Mom]

[Dad]

“No…”

===

Soya, don’t look.

B E T H E L

===

“No…”

With those words, Soya fell asleep.

Into a dream, a dream she might never wake up from…

Into the dark abyss of Bethel…

Thus, the girl fell asleep.