An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 173: The Angel Who Raids a Dungeon (11)

Dragons are cunning creatures.

During the War of Annihilation, they even disguised themselves as angels to deceive humans.

“I am Uriel, the Angel of Life. I have come to show you the path to salvation.”

Ormantor was a handsome dragon.

And he was a naturally gifted actor with exceptional disguise skills.

“Follow this path, and you shall be saved.”

In a world where Heaven had fallen due to Archangel Luciel’s rebellion, where angels had vanished. Humans, who had never seen an angel before, worshiped him as an angel who had come to save them.

And by his side stood Kim Man-soo, the leader of the New Truth Church.

“Love thy neighbor. Give food to the poor. Heal and care for the sick.”

And Ormantor’s cunning.

Countless people fell for their combined lies.

“Offer your prayers to Heaven. Defeat the Demon King's underlings. Purify the unclean. The unclean are as follows: Street cleaners who collect garbage. Those with bad credit. Those who can't wash because they have no home. Those who wear vulgar clothes. Those who care for the filthy humans. Whining children, and senile elderly.”

Those who were deceived carried out mass slaughter in the name of salvation, and humanity reached a point where they could no longer trust anyone else.

“They are unclean. Therefore, purify them.”

And in this atmosphere of distrust,

Ormantor’s cunning shined brightly.

‘With deception. He destroyed entire guilds, and made humanity’s strongest fight among themselves. He made sure to keep the great powers at war with each other even in front of the Demon King, and also…’

He even deceived Yumari.

Long ago, in a now-gone future, on the day Yumari fully awakened as a dragon, destroyed the Mariana Camp, and fled to the other world.

At that moment, Mari was by Ormantor’s side.

And now, at this very moment,

Mari was once again by Ormantor’s side.

“Just as I planned…”

Ormantor was fully focused on Yumari.

“Little girl, you’ve finally opened your eyes to your dragon blood.”

He smiled wickedly.

And Yumari stared back at the dragon's smile with no change in expression, indifferently.

“So?”

“‘What do you mean ’so’, daughter of the Sky Dragon. Haven't you understood yet?”

Kkeul-kkeul-kkeul- It was a laughter like scraping metal in the dark. Literally, Leffrey felt chills run down his spine upon hearing that laughter.

“You must feel it too. That we dragons have no such thing as a conscience.”

“…”

“You no longer need to fight for that angel and those heroes. Come to us. If you join us, you can fulfill all the desires you possess.”

“The desires I possess, you say.”

As Yumari seemed to hesitate, Hongwol took a stance with an expression of deep disappointment.

“Don’t tell me she's actually, that bitch.”

“No, Wol. That’s not it.”

“What do you mean, ‘that’s not it’! She’s always been a bit strange.”

Then Hongwol tried to nuzzle her cheek against Leffrey's chest again.

“Ugh, Yumari’s scent is too strong. I can’t stand it. I have to cover it up with my scent.”

“Not now…! We’re in front of the enemy!”

“Then, boy, you're saying it's okay after the battle is over?”

With those final words, Hongwol firmed her stance.

As always, a low stance with her upper body close to the ground and her lower body raised. The difference this time was that she wasn’t touching the ground with her hands while holding two swords.

She was maintaining this posture using only the strength in her legs.

‘And yet, she looks incredibly comfortable, as if she's been practicing that stance for decades. This means she's completely mastered a new fighting style…’

She probably wouldn’t have been able to pull off such a feat last week. The feat of combining the dual sword techniques she learned at the Central Academy with the Mooncat Tribe’s fighting style.

However, in just one week. No, in just this single battle, Hongwol had developed her own unique fighting style.

‘…This is a level of talent I've never seen before. Not in my old life, and certainly not in this one.’

At that moment, Leffrey's memories surfaced.

How much effort Leffrey had to put in to create his own fighting style. And yet, Hongwol, the talented cat, had created her own fighting style in just a few days.

The girls that Leffrey was protecting were becoming stronger, much faster than he could have ever imagined.

Getting to the point where they might one day become uncontrollable.

The professors, the country, or even the entire world. And lastly, even Leffrey himself.

Might be unable to control them.

‘Why am I suddenly reminded of that person?’

The first head of the Seocheon Yu family, a hero from the previous generation. A hero known for being so powerful that he relied only on his own strength and committed all sorts of atrocities.

‘No, our kids are not like that. They’re all good kids.’

Leffrey shook his head and looked at Ormantor and Yumari again. The two resembled each other in their eerie beauty.

‘…They’re all good kids.’

And the conversation between Ormantor and Yumari continued.

“Yes, the desire you possess as a dragon is devouring you. Right now, it's crying out to you to fulfill that desire flowing in your blood. Tell this old man all about them, little girl.”

Ormantor laughed again with that unpleasant voice, casually draping his arm over Yumari's shoulder.

“You want to hear the screams of suffering children. You want to watch humans fight and tear at each other. You thirst for handsome men and beautiful women to enjoy for just one night and then discard. And you crave countless treasures to no end, don't you, little girl?”

Ormantor continued his temptation, starting his sentences with ‘You desire.’

“All sorts of pleasures that would set your nerves on fire, the thrill of wielding power capable of destroying nations with a wave of your hand, the sadistic nature you possess as a dragon. He will grant you everything.”

Tap tap-

Soya poked Leffrey with the back of her magic wand.

“Shouldn’t we stop this? I don’t think she’ll fall for it, but what if she does?”

“…No, that won't happen.”

When Yumari didn't respond, Ormantor shouted excitedly as if he had been won her over.

“Abandon your duties as a human. The moment there are no more angels left on Earth, we, the Dragon race will rule this world once again, once more!”

“…Ha.”

Yumari scoffed.

And then she unleashed the secret technique of the Seocheon Yu family.

The Marman Strike.

Every sentient being has a vital point that, if struck, will lead to certain death. It’s called a marman. And the scream one makes when their marman is struck is called danmalma (斷末魔), The Agony of Death.

(TL Note: There isn't a single perfect English equivalent for 말마 (malma), so I'll use the original Sanskrit term, Marman. 말 (mal) means 'end' or 'tip,' and 마 (ma), in this context, comes from the Sanskrit 'marman,' referring to vital points or pressure points on the body. Thus, 말마 (malma) refers to these critical points that, when struck, can cause death. The term 단말마 (danmalma) then describes the agony or scream that occurs when these vital points are fatally injured.) (PS. Just ignore this cause like… It doesn’t matter to the story but yaaa.)

When she first used this technique on the dragon's clone, she had struck three points. But now, it was over twelve.

‘Moreover, it was a technique that fell short because it couldn't kill with a single strike. But now…’

Ormantor began to scatter and disappear.

It meant that not only had the number of strikes increased, but the precision had also improved dramatically.

Just like Hongwol, Mari was also becoming stronger at an unbelievable pace.

“The desire that my blood, no, that *I* desire is only one thing.”

Yumari looked at the scattering Ormantor with a somewhat maniacal smile.

“And that's something the Demon King can't fulfill.”

Ormantor completely scattered.

And then a massive amount of black blood gushed from behind the Dragonkin army.

“Suddenly, what is this?”

As Hongwol perked up her ears to investigate the source of the blood, Soya replied nonchalantly.

“Idiot, don't you know this? It's a fractal.”

“A fractal?”

A fractal, a geometric shape where a part is identical to the whole. In a fractal structure, if a part is damaged, that damage affects the whole.

“Yeah, just like how if the main body is damaged then the clone is also damaged, if the clone is hurt then the main body is also hurt. For things that resemble each other to be connected, that’s basic mysticism.”

“No, then there’s no reason to use clones if the damage is transferred to the main body.”

Soya acknowledged that and opened her mouth again.

“Yes, normally that’s true. The damage to a clone doesn't usually transfer to the main body.”

And as she began casting a spell, she muttered.

“But maybe, just maybe, if the attacker is on a completely different level.”

Soya’s face was pale as she cast the spell.

“And if they can completely read the target’s fractal structure, then… something like this is possible.”

“She completely read Ormantor’s structure…? But Ormantor is the demon king’s third-in-command. Ah, come on, that’s impossible.”

Scenes kept flashing in Soya’s mind.

‘Mari, I love you.’

The scene where he had confessed his love to Yumari, even though it was a lie, because of the urgent situation.

‘I’ll never leave you. I mean it.’

And her precious angel, sincerely saying that he would never leave her.

*Grit*—Soya gritted her teeth, feeling indescribable dark emotions.

‘Just how, how did she get this strong?’

And the pink-haired girl standing next to her had the same thought as Soya

‘That damned snake, when did she reach such a level.’

And so, the girls came to a single thought.

‘I need to become stronger.’

And as the black blood began to stop, an enraged roar started to be heard.

“I tried to spare you for the sake of breeding, for the prosperity of dragons…”

A massive oriental dragon, like a black snake, looked down at the four below him, consumed by rage.

However, only Leffrey, the Cowardly Angel, was frightened.

The other two girls, and even Soya, were withstanding Ormantor’s Dragon Fear with indifferent expressions.

‘I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared. I can't hold on like this. I, I have to use that method.’

There was a way for the boy to overcome fear.

The method he had used to overcome the fear emanated from the professors and other scary beings.

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

Giving blessings to heroes before a battle against great evil was an angelic act.

Leffrey barely overcame his fear,

And blessed the three girls.

Only then did Ormantor’s Dragon Fear become somewhat bearable.

‘…Now I can finally breathe.’

As Leffrey caught his breath, the three girls looked at the boy with warm smiles.

‘Even his terrified appearance is cute. But…’

His appearance from just a moment ago, coming to bless them out of concern despite trembling in fear from Ormantor’s Dragon Fear.

‘My heart feels so warm, I feel invincible.’

‘Really, the only person I can call my family now is Leffrey.’

‘Leffrey, Leffrey, Leffrey…’

That warm consideration, that he valued them so preciously.

Although it was a warmth born from a misunderstanding, it was certainly helpful in the face of the battle the girls were about to face.

After all, battles weren't fought with just the body.

“I’ve seen enough of your skills. You don't stand a chance against me.”

Ormantor spewed terrifying words in a threatening voice. However, the girls weren't shaken by those words at all.

“My legion. Deal with these brats.”

Unlike other dungeons, all the mid-bosses were gathered in this space. And the legions commanded by those mid-bosses were also here.

‘From what I've assessed, each of my dungeon floor guardians (mid-bosses) is capable of taking on one of those brat heroes. And there are more than ten such floor guardians here.’

It was Ormantor’s strategy, unable to understand why other dungeons placed a boss on each floor to be defeated one by one. And with his own strength added to the mix…

‘Victory is absolute. There’s no way I can lose. I know the heroes’ abilities, and those heroes haven’t even cleared a single dungeon.’

Dungeons require strategy.

Why is that. Because dungeons are something that can never be cleared by brute force alone.

Enemies use deception and set traps, and their abilities have special gimmicks. And when facing their finishing moves, one needs to know how to counter them.

‘No matter how strong a hero may be, there is something that cannot be conquered by strength alone, and that is a dun…geon…?’

The confident expression of Ormantor faltered.

‘Dranic, the guardian of the first floor, and the fairy hatchling, the guardian of the second floor…’

“The fairy hatchling’s strength isn't in its wings but in its tail. Even though it pretends to attack with its wings, you have to be wary of its tail! And its strength is also a weakness. Wol, sever its tail now!”

And with that, the fairy Hatchling falls.

It was a formidable floor guardian, if given the chance, could have enchanted one of the heroes with its absolute charm as a baby dragon.

“And Mari! Quickly, aim for Dranic's shoulder! Just like we practiced!”

There was one thing Ormantor didn’t know.

Behind the hero girls,

…was an angel raiding this dungeon.