An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 178: The Angel Who Receives Observation Class (1)

“Ah, this isn’t the time for this.”

Leffrey, who had been swimming in a sea of gold and silver treasures, made a flustered expression as he realized he had forgotten something.

“Really, what kind of angel am I.”

Leffrey, blushing with shame and self-loathing, brushed off the gold coins clinging to his body.

“Leffrey, what’s wrong? We’ve already defeated Ormantor.”

Hongwol, who had been poking at small ball-like treasures, tilted her head at the sight of Leffrey's flustered behavior.

“We might have defeated Ormantor, but we haven’t rescued the people trapped here yet.”

“People? Since it's a conquered dungeon now, it shouldn't be dangerous anymore. They'll find their own way out. Besides, Leffrey, that kind of sacrifice…”

“Look at Yumari talking. Even if it’s been conquered, the dungeon structure itself is incredibly dangerous for ordinary people.”

“I’ll go take a look. I just need to save anyone in danger and come back, right?”

Leffrey grabbed Hongwol's hands excitedly in response to her heroic answer.

“As expected of our hero. This angel is so happy to have a hero like Hongwol.”

Leffrey, the Smiling Angel, half-meant those words. He thought that his smile alone could now compete on a world-class level.

And Hongwol, whose hands were being held while looking at such a smile.

“Purr…! Ugh. Meow— No, why am I making these sounds….”

She could only blush like a radish in embarrassment.

And Hongwol muttered in a shrinking voice.

“If you pat my head or cheeks…”

“If I pat them?”

“T-they say cats like that. Of course, I'm absolutely not some domesticated animal like a cat.”

With those words, Hongwol instantly dashed out of the treasure vault. She moved so fast that only an afterimage remained, making it impossible to even guess her speed.

“Can't be helped. I guess I'll go save some ordinary people too and show them the greatness of black magic.”

As soon as Hongwol leaves, Soya straightens her shoulders and speaks confidently. With those words, Soya looks at Leffrey with an expectant face.

“Okay, take care.”

However, Leffrey failed to notice her hint.

“…Hmph.”

Soya took off flying with a cute 'poof' sound while pulling her hat brim down low. Her mascotified Tantalus followed beside her.

And the only ones left in the treasure vault were Leffrey and Yumari.

A moment of silence passed, then Yumari spoke.

“Saving people, it doesn't just mean rescuing the people trapped here right now, does it?”

“…As expected of Mari. You’ve noticed.”

“One of the privileges of a dungeon boss, respawn. The ability to revive creatures that died within the dungeon.”

Mari continued speaking.

“But to become a dungeon boss, you need to absorb the dungeon's essence, the dungeon core.”

“You know well. As expected of our top student, Mari.”

Looking at Leffrey who just kept smiling brightly, Yumari bit her lip.

“The dungeon’s essence is corruption itself. It's literally the essence of dark karma. Even renowned superhumans can't withstand that power, yet you, the pure white Leffrey, think you can?”

Her voice was slightly urgent.

Yumari continued speaking while furrowing her brows.

“And it’s not just any dungeon essence, but the essence of the Dragon Lord’s Nest. You know better than anyone, Leffrey, what the Dragon Lord’s Nest means to the demon army. The essence of a dungeon like that would be incomparable to other dungeons…”

As Leffrey waved his hand a few times, a corestone stained with murky colors appeared from the treasure vault floor. It was the Corestone that had become the dungeon core.

The stone was overflowing with condensed dark karma within it, the kind only seen emanating from the demon king.

“To think it would be this corrupted even after being blessed. And I used all of my remaining Angelic Power to bless it, too.”

“Don't do it. Please.”

Mari's voice grew more urgent.

Her shiny, black hair swayed with her movements.

“Leffrey!”

“Don't worry too much. How should I put it… I have my reasons for doing this.”

Leffrey scratched his head awkwardly and muttered in a small voice.

“I somehow managed to absorb the demon king's avatar last time. Well, it'll work out somehow?”

“You don't know what will happen.”

“I may not know, but!”

Truly this was, Leffrey, the ‘I don't know?’ Angel.

He knows nothing.

But there are things you have to do, even if you don’t know.

“But I made a promise. I promised that child I would find her parents for her.”

Yumari, once again, made a blank expressionless face.

Leffrey smiled at such a Yumari.

He thought of the child who was searching for her parents.

Of all those children.

“I promised that they wouldn't have to be alone in the darkness anymore.”

Leffrey looked at Yumari again.

“That's the promise I made.”

“That kind of promise…”

Leffrey slowly reached out to the black Corestone. He held back a groan at the intense pain that shot through his fingertips.

It was pain like his fingertips were being sliced away. Tears welled up, and it hurt so much he wanted to pull his hand away immediately, but Leffrey couldn't do that.

Like that, little by little, Leffrey approaches the pitch-black stained stone.

In his increasingly blurring vision, Leffrey could see.

A child who awakened as a dragon before becoming a hero, a child who had to grow up alone in the darkness, destined to have nightmares, a child whose heart hardened before she could experience the kindness of others.

That child, reaching out her hand to the dark corestone before him.

“I really hate that word. Sacrifice……”

The boy’s right hand, and the girl’s left hand, both reached out.

Children sharing the darkness between them.

“So much…”

The boy and the girl, feeling the dungeon’s essence flowing in, looked at each other.

Without opening their mouths, the boy and girl conversed through their eyes.

[Demonic power is reacting to demonic power!]

[A dark, unsalvageable heart is being revealed!]

“Sacrifice? Do you know how miserably those who sacrifice themselves for others die?”

“I do. I’ve lived in that kind of world too. A world where you get everything taken from you if you're naive. A world where you can only think about profit.”

“Me too. Seeing my mother turned into an item, what else could I have thought? All I could think was that I didn't want to die like that.”

“I didn't want to die either. That's all I could think about too.”

The two said in unison.

“So this isn’t a sacrifice…”

Yumari looked at Leffrey with tear-filled eyes while enduring the pain.

The boy and girl said the same thing to each other.

“This is to gain the power of a dungeon boss…”

“This is to gain Angelic Power by saving people…”

[You have acquired the Authority of the Dungeon Boss.]

The boy's right hand and girl's left hand stained in darkness. Holding each other's hands, the boy and girl muttered.

“That’s all this is…”

[Respawn initiated by the Dungeon Boss’s privilege. Respawn Target: Humans. Human subspecies not included in the demon army. Innocent victims.]

Crying could be heard from afar.

* * *

Soya could hear the crying from close by.

“Mommy! Daddy!”

“Ah, aah.”

“Suyeon. No, how could this happen.”

People suddenly began to reappear. And families turning into a sea of tears as they looked at each other.

The child, embraced in her parents’ arms, nuzzled her cheek against theirs. Relieved that this terrifying nightmare was finally over, she cried her eyes out.

“Those who were sacrificed and those who were killed. They’re all coming back.”

It wasn’t a bad thing.

Looking at the father sobbing while holding his young daughter, Soya vaguely recalled her own parents too.

‘I still don’t understand. Why they did that.’

And until she knew, she had no choice but to keep living.

And what was happening right now was magically inexplicable.

‘Dead people are coming back to life? Magically, all methods to reject death are priest's related, except for necromancy-related ones.’

However, she couldn’t sense any necromantic mana. And the same was true for the revived people.

An unbelievable miracle that perfectly restored those who had disappeared without a trace.

‘Perfectly reviving people? Phenomena this incomprehensible are usually related to karma. Among karma-related phenomena, what could possibly cause an anomaly like this.’

Reviving.

Without any restrictions whatsoever.

An unidentified mystery.

The demon army’s respawn.

“Respawn? Did someone become the new dungeon boss and respawn people?”

Just who could have become the dungeon boss? Unless it’s someone who has control over the dungeon's ownership and can summon the dungeon’s essence. Just who.

“Leffrey.”

Soya, who had turned pale, immediately flew towards the treasure vault.

* * *

“I will never sacrifice myself.”

A voice echoed from afar.

Soya could recognize the owner of that voice.

It was that annoying Yumari.

“Never.”

Faster, even faster. Soya spread her magic wings wider as she headed towards the treasure vault faster than the speed of sound.

“I won't become a foolish hero either, and I'll live doing everything I want to do. That's what Leffrey really wants too, right? Don’t you feel wronged?”

The whispering voice continued.

Soya hated that voice.

Even though it was objectively pleasant to hear, Soya wanted to cover her ears.

“We have things to receive from this world. Live like this with me too, Leffrey. Please stay with me.”

And what Soya could see upon reaching the treasure vault was Yumari looking unharmed and her precious Leffrey collapsed on the floor.

“Yumari! What did you do!”

“Miss Soya.”

“Answer me! What did you do!”

Soya pointed her magic wand while gathering her magic to the fullest. However, Yumari only looked at Soya with an indifferent expression.

“We just had a little chat, that's all.”

“Chat? Don’t lie. Then why is Leffrey collapsed like that?”

“You should know that reason better than anyone, shouldn't you, Miss Soya?”

Yumari said in a monotone voice.

“Leffrey sacrificed himself again. After sending you away, he absorbed the dungeon’s dark essence to respawn those people.”

“As I thought…”

“If he keeps sacrificing himself like this, Leffrey might die. Please stop him well, Miss Soya, since you at least have a working brain.”

Step step- Yumari naturally passes by Soya's side

“Until I gain enough strength to completely possess… protect Leffrey.”

Yumari was smiling far too easily.

Soya didn't like that smile.

“Until then, please protect Leffrey well.”

But she couldn't pick another fight just because she didn't like it.

‘I can feel her power. An incredible power.’

Leffrey called this power karma. He said it was the power of fate, the very driving force that weaves the fate of this world.

‘It’s dark.’

Soya could sense that power from Yumari.

A very dark power at that.

‘She’s definitely stronger than Hongwol, and maybe even stronger than me.’

That power, which may be stronger than herself and perhaps even rival the demon king's avatar.

“Fallen Hero.”

“Hero.”

Thus, the two heroes stared at each other.