An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 194: The Angel Who Receives Observation Class (17)

“Fallen Power Angel…?”

Leffrey, covering his left eye with his right hand, his other hand outstretched in a strange, *chuunibyou*-like pose, declared,

“That’s right! I’m the Fallen Power Angel!”

“Fa-Fallen Power Angel? I’ve heard of a Fallen Angel, but this is the first time I’m hearing ‘Fallen Power Angel’…”

At last, the Demon King looked a bit flustered. He fiddled with the gray bonnet perched on his head as he stared at Leffrey in bafflement.

“A Fallen Angel is one who has fallen from grace. But a Fallen Power Angel is an angel who just uses fallen power! They haven’t actually fallen!”

“…What kind of sophistry is that?”

“It’s right here!”

And so, the two angels unleashed their darkness.

If they were in one of the academy classrooms, then the students would have been instantly swallowed up by that darkness and plunged into depravity. That’s how deep and dense it was.

However, in this space enveloped by infinite light, the darkness of the two angels seemed pathetically small.

And that infinite light,

It was embracing Leffrey.

Because of that, even if Leffrey used dark karma, he wouldn’t truly fall, and why his body wasn't destroyed by using the light karma.

And that infinite light was so infinite that it even reached out to Luciel, who was called the proxy of dark karma.

‘A power that reaches out even to those who have fallen as deep and as dark as I have?’

For the first time in ages, the Demon King felt genuine fear.

Once you fall, you’re supposed to plummet endlessly, that’s the law of dark karma. And yet, this power was strong enough to pull someone like him, who had been falling for all that time, back up?

As his red eyes began to regain their original sapphire blue color, and his pitch-black hair gradually returned to the color of the vast sky…

He realized his own form was growing brighter, and in alarm,

the Demon King gritted his teeth and let out a shout.

“This… is not, my, truth.”

Locking eyes with the Ain Soph, that infinite light, he spoke as though making a proclamation.

“I reject your truth.”

“I reject your truth too.”

Leffrey mimicked the Demon King’s words, delivering his own firm declaration.

Yet the quiver in Leffrey’s voice and the slight hunch of his shoulders gave him a pitifully vulnerable look.

‘I’m wavering. I’m really shaking right now.’

The more he wavered, the more he had to show his angelic side.

An angel who is innocent and fearless.

Leffrey forced a smile again and looked at the demon king.

“Humans are sinners, and sin can never be erased.”

“Yes, you might be right. But it’s too much to demand atonement from children. Humans are still so young. You have to wait until they become adults.”

“Wait until they become adults? What kind of sophistry is that?”

“Hey, the Middle Ages were better than Ancient times, and Modern times are better than the Middle Ages. Humans are always growing. And in the future, they’ll become even…”

“Kuk.”

The Demon King burst out laughing the moment Leffrey finished talking.

“Leffrey… that’s absolutely, absolutely not true. Look at what those once-innocent living beings did once they grasped the concept of social hierarchy in the ancient era.”

With a casual wave of his hand, the Demon King conjured a scene before Leffrey’s eyes, an ancient war. The victorious humans carried out a bloody purge, city after city. Buildings burned on the losing side, while women and children were dragged off.

“This is evil, isn’t it?”

“But…”

“Next, as humans advanced a bit more, they discovered the existence of god and clung to the concept of heresy.”

Again, entire cities went up in flames.

Those called ‘Inquisitors’ used terrifying implements, too horrible to describe, to threaten and torture people.

In the middle of a pool of blood, one fanatical voice hollered.

“Kill them all, God shall judge them Himself.”

“Then, as humans grew even further, they started recognizing the bloodline in their veins. And declared that their ancestors, who were raiders and slave owners, to be figures of pride. Do you think they’ll stop here?”

And Leffrey saw a new illusion.

An illusion of a massacre.

“Look at the language humans used. ‘Cleansing,’ ‘purification,’ ‘extermination of pests,’ ‘eradication’… They called this great sin with such terms. If I carry out the same acts, it’s just ‘purification’ or ‘cleaning up,’ right? Humans don’t have the right to question me, to judge me, do they?”

Leffrey, unable to even imagine such an unprecedented massacre, could only keep his mouth shut, rejecting this reality.

“…Such things couldn’t have happened.”

“It’s a true story. Surely, you, who can read karma, can feel that all of this is true.”

*Clap!*—The demon king clapped his hands once, startling Leffrey, who had lowered his head.

“And lastly, the grand finale.”

Leffrey had never witnessed such a sight before. A mushroom-shaped cloud blossomed in the distance, then one by one, entire cities were erased. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands perished, and such explosions broke out all across the globe.

And so the world fell to ruin.

“Wh-What is this? Such a powerful explosion. Did angels do this?”

“…It wasn’t us.”

Only thick ash remained in the world, scattering like snow.

A cold world where only darkness existed.

And in such a world, the only beings who could be called light were the angels.

“It was the work of those who call themselves human, the Demon Kings.”

“No, if the world ended up like that, then how, how is the current world even possible?”

“You already know the answer.”

“I don’t!”

The demon king looked at the illusion.

With incredibly sad eyes, an expression of having to see what he didn’t want to see.

The angels in that illusion were kneeling on the ash-covered earth of a destroyed world, offering their prayers.

“Offering up one’s entire being for the sake of the world is an act more angelic than anything an angel could ever do.”

And the angels, along with their prayer, slowly began to disappear.

Leffrey realized that he had seen something like this before.

“And because of that sacrifice, even a destroyed world can be restored.”

In a dying world,

An angel approaching him who was collapsed.

And that angel’s prayer was…

[The sacrifice of devoting one’s entire being for the world is more angelic than any other angel!]

.

.

.

[A Miracle has come true.]

The demon king, satisfied with his own hair that had once again turned black, said.

“And this is how those ‘demon kings’ destroyed the world, and we angels disappeared along with it.”

“No, I was told that Heaven fell because of a civil war.”

“Why would there have been a civil war? There has to be a reason. And that’s the reason. Those who believed Heaven had to be sacrificed to restore the world and those who didn’t, they started fighting.”

The demon king, who had been tense until now, now assuming a relaxed demeanor as if he had finally gained the upper hand,

“To say that humans are still young? How can you use such sophistry, Leffrey. You have already…”

“…Stop talking.”

“They say an angel’s wings are made of faith. But I’ve never seen your wings.”

Step, step—

With sounds like walking across snow, the demon king approached Leffrey.

“Why is that? It's because you’ve already lost faith in humanity.”

The demon king whispered.

“And that’s why you’re only spouting that kind of nonsense, that kind of sophistry.”

“No, I.”

“Your sophistry won’t work on me. Ehem, it's embarrassing to say this myself… but I’ve also realized a truth of my own.”

Leffrey was angered by the demon king, smirking smugly like that.

[

So, what are you trying to say?

I understand I can't win with words.

It's true that I can't spread my wings because I lack faith.

The darkness in my heart still hasn't disappeared, and that’s why he could even wield the demon king's powers.

Even my killing intent still remained.

But so what?

]

“So what? You attacked my friends.”

“Hmm, I'd appreciate it if you could understand that level of attack as self-defense. It's the relationship between a hero and a demon king after all.”

“Nonsense.”

Within this place that was not quite ‘space,’ the two True Demon Swords clashed.

Because the very concept of matter had yet to form in this space, no sound, no color, nothing remained behind. Only karma twisted, leaving warped sword marks behind.

‘I’m no Hongwol…!’

Even Leffrey’s pained grunts, forced out as his swordsmanship failed to keep up, dissolved into some sort of nothingness. Getting struck again and again until his cheek was finally cut.

“I have faith.”

And with those words, the demon king spread black wings.

Leffrey, looking at those wings with hatred, wiped his mouth.

“But you don’t.”

“So what.”

“Again with the ‘so what.’ You’ve been saying the same thing over and over. No comeback this time?”

Leffrey suddenly took a brutal blow of truth straight to the face.

Unable to win with words or force, Leffrey had no choice but to search for another method.

“As expected, I won’t be able to defeat you on my own.”

“Right. You just realized that now?”

“Because I’m not a hero…”

Leffrey sank into thought once again. How exactly was the Demon King summoned to this world?

‘When I tried to summon that man, the simulacrum's main body, using dark karma, the demon king stole that summoning and got himself summoned instead.’

Then the demon king was essentially Leffrey's summon.

Conceptually speaking.

“Just as I said, I’ll have to take you by force, even if it means hurting you. I really hate harming the only kin I have left…”

The Demon King’s True Demon Sword began to thin and elongate. Soon, like a sinuous serpent, the dark blade started writhing.

It was a type of snake blade.

(TL Note: 사복검 (sabokgeom) literally means “snake-belly sword.” Just search up Pacific Rim’s chain sword and that’s what it looks like.)

“It can’t be helped. It’s for educational purposes.”

“That’s one of the phrases I hate the most.”

Keeping his distance, Leffrey mulled over his strategy.

‘I have to dispel the summoning. And to dispel a summoning like that…’

He couldn’t win using dark karma.

The demon king was the proxy of dark karma itself.

Leffrey was simply borrowing a piece of that power to use

‘I guess there's no choice but that.’

When had that arrogant Demon King ever wavered?

When had Luciel, who acts like he knows everything, ever snapped and shouted that something was absurd?

It was when…

“Please, just help me one more time”

And Leffrey reached out his hand to the infinite light. Of course, the Demon King wouldn’t just watch quietly.

“Hmph, even if it's Ain Soph…”

The snake blade, flexibly extending like a snake, tried to attack Leffrey’s hand.

However, at that moment, the True Demon Sword floating in the air and the dark barrier protecting the boy's body blocked the Demon King's sword.

“The True Demon Sword and Absolute Solitude…?”

“That's right! I’m a loner angel, so when it comes to loneliness, I’m second to none!”

“More wordplay, trying to resonate with light karma while using dark karma's ability. Do you think the same miracle from earlier will happen twice?”

Looking at the flustered Demon King again, Leffrey spoke.

“The harmony of Yin and Yang. From now on, I’m the Taegeuk Angel!”

(TL Note: 태극 (Taegeuk) the yin and yang symbol in the Korean flag.)

“…Taegeuk Angel?”

“Sniff, all of a sudden, I feel this surge of patriotism in my chest. Taegeuk Angel. With a title like this, I can’t lose.”

The Demon King lowered his voice, as if frustrated at Leffrey's playful voice.

“For crying out loud! Leffrey! Are you going to keep showing how childish you are? Won't you be serious?”

But no matter how he lowered his voice, the Demon King no longer sounded terrifying.

Why is that? Sympathy? Fondness?

Perhaps both.

Either way, it was fortunate for Leffrey.

For this wavering young boy, that is.

And once again, the karma of light began to resonate with Leffrey. And Leffrey, using the karma of light, was finally able to dispel the demon king’s summoning.

“Hah, to think you’d end it in such a ridiculous way.”

“As expected of the Taegeuk Angel…! Too strong…!”

“….”

The Demon King, looking at his disappearing body, said,

“Leffrey.”

“Flap?”

“This kind of trick won’t work next time.”

“Flap.”

“And nothing has been resolved. Not your lost wings, nor the darkness in your heart.”

“Flap…!”

A dark voice whispered.

“And not even your birth father, that man.”

With those parting words, the demon king completely vanished.