An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 203: The Angel Who Dreams (8)

The boy had never looked forward to his birthday. But he had to pretend. He had to pretend he couldn't sleep from excitement about his birthday, and had to pretend to wonder what gift he would receive. Just like normal children.

Why couldn’t he say how he truly felt? The reason was simple.

He couldn't say that he didn't like birthdays, that he hated waiting for a father who wouldn't come. No, he *could* say it, but he didn't want to see his mother's sadness that would follow.

So the boy decided to continue acting.

The robot toy he sang about wanting as a gift because it wasn't too expensive, his mother's favorite cheesecake, blowing out candles, and the somewhat awkward birthday song.

His father didn’t come during that time, but no, *because* his father didn’t come, the boy felt at peace.

But peace is something that inevitably shatters someday.

In the dimly lit room, the sound of cutting cake disappeared, buried under the beep-beep sound of the door lock opening.

The boy’s father had arrived. The boy, gripped by an indescribable unease, clutched his mother’s sleeve tightly, but.

*Please don’t let that door open.*

The boy prayed so in his heart.

But the door opened all the same.

Did he know the boy’s heart? Unable to hide her joy, the mother stepped forward warmly to greet the father. And the father, seeing her like that, smiled and struck her cheek with a slap.

“Hey, you bitch.”

A sharp, irritable voice. The kind of voice that sends chills down your spine the moment you hear it, making you want to hide somewhere. The man with that voice grabbed the mother by the collar and flung her straight to the floor.

The boy saw the tears welling up in his mother’s eyes.

“What? What’s this birthday nonsense? Who are you to tell me to come or go? Know your place.”

The man’s fist rose high into the air.

The boy could only close his eyes.

* * *

The character for magic (魔).

Who might be the being closest to this “ma”?

The sages would say this.

Ma is mystery. Therefore, the most mysterious being in this world is close to ma. Thus, the archangel, the pinnacle of myth, is ma.

Ma is history. Therefore, the oldest being in this world is close to ma. Thus, the oldest angel is ma.

Ma is knowledge. Therefore, the being who knows the most in this world is close to ma. Thus, the fallen angel who knows forbidden and lost knowledge is ma.

Therefore, Luciel was the Demon King (魔王). The being closest to magic in this world. The one who rules over magic.

(TL Note: Ma can mean both Demon or magic)

Then, what kind of magic could possibly wound the Demon King.

“It was truly a difficult problem.”

Klein’s hair began to rise slightly.

The magic circle had begun to activate.

“But I have found the answer.”

The homework Klein had researched throughout his entire life, the only magic capable of reaching the Demon King.

“Ma-sal, activate.”

Ma-sal (마살), the magic that kills magic.

(TL Note: Ma-sal can be literally translated to ‘demon killing’, bery cool.)

This was precisely Klein’s answer.

The magic was successfully activated, and as a result, Klein began to shed tears of blood. And then he started coughing up blood, his body trembling.

“What’s this. Are you committing suicide?”

When nothing happened, the Demon King couldn’t suppress a sneer. After all, Klein, who had cast the magic, was already in a state no different from a corpse.

Some might have thought that he sacrificed himself to activate some kind of curse, but the demon king casually dismissed such a thought.

Why? Because the Demon King could feel no magic whatsoever from that magic circle.

“A meaningless, mere combination of patterns.”

No magic could be felt from that magic circle.

No, it was a magic circle that didn’t even resemble magic, one that seemed to deny the very concept of magic itself. A crooked circle with what looked like a carelessly drawn star. A magic circle that would make any mage frown.

Could he perhaps be trying to complete the magic circle by using his internal body? It couldn’t be. He couldn’t feel any magic from Klein himself, either. Not a single trace of magic.

Not a single trace…

‘Wait, not a single trace of magic can be felt from Klein, the founder of humanity’s magic?’

That’s impossible.

For a being like Klein, who had reached the pinnacle of the magical path, there should naturally be at least a faint hint of some magic present. If so, then this magic.

“Dispel magic? No, even if it were dispel magic, it’s still magic. I should be able to perceive it.”

It wasn’t a simple dispel magic. The magic Klein cast was a magic that erases magic itself. That’s why the demon king couldn’t recognize Ma-sal as magic.

Because it was approaching while erasing the very concept of magic itself.

Moreover, the moment it was cast, Ma-sal transcended the framework of a mere ‘spell’ and began to move as a vengeance against all magic in this world.

The vengeance of all the world’s magic, the unavoidable consequence of one’s actions, in other words, fate. Klein didn't realize this, but Ma-sal was a technique that belonged to the realm of karma.

Ma-sal would destroy even Klein himself, the master of the human magic world, but against the Demon King, the pinnacle of Ma…

“Klein…”

The demon king, bleeding black blood, looked down at Klein. His two red eyes burned with rage.

“With this, you’ve lost your magic too. Demon King—no, since you’ve lost your magic, should I just call you King now?”

“And the same goes for you. Die.”

The Demon King, with a mere flick of his finger, unleashed a slash that could obliterate mountains. There was no way Klein, stripped of all his magic, could evade it.

However, someone intercepted that strike. A silver-glowing arrow pierced through the Demon King’s strike, aiming precisely for the center of his forehead.

“I couldn't sense the sniper.”

He couldn’t sense the sniper. That meant the sniper was targeting him from across dimensions.

“Dimensional leap arrow, Hexi.”

The demon king felt a bit troubled. Even if he dealt with all the professors here, he couldn't do anything about Hexi right now.

It was obvious she would interfere with Requiem's conducting at intervals. In the end, the Demon King sighed and had no choice but to order most of his demon army to chase after Hexi.

What humans called the Four Heavenly Kings, if his apostles were still alive, he could have just sent them, but since all the apostles were dead, he would need to mobilize his entire demon army to track and eliminate Hexi, the greatest ranger.

Or they might not be able to do it at all.

“It doesn't matter anyway.”

If the entire demon army was pursuing her, then Hexi wouldn’t be able to use her Dimensional leap arrow anymore. For now, that was enough.

Sword and shield, magic, even his demon army. Looking at the professors who were gradually chipping away at his power, the Demon King sneered.

Could they be under the delusion that they have a chance of winning. Such arrogance was truly typical of humans.

A single firework lit up the obsidian-dark sky.

And the Demon King could see the strongest of humanity. James Tarden, the world's greatest shaman and principal of the East Coast Academy. The captain of the Mariana Camp, the alchemist Rainmaker, and the head of the White family, the most powerful necromancer. Many other powerful individuals were waiting for the Demon King.

“It would have been troublesome to hunt you all down and kill you, but you've gathered here on your own?”

The Demon King slowly descended. Toward the ground where streets had burned to form a grid pattern.

“If this were some manga or superhero movie, this would be the moment where my end is determined, as the heroes gather.”

In the silent stillness, the demon king muttered.

“But this story isn't such a trite genre. This story is an absurdist drama.”

And the demon king laughed.

“That's why you’ll never understand.”

Magic? The demon army? Swords? Barriers?

To the demon king, they were all just secondary powers.

The demon king’s true power was karma.

The power of fate that guides this world.

“Martial Arts of the Archangel who Tramples Heroes.”

With the ultimate Heavenly Martial Art, he tears off the heads of those called heroes.

“Healing of the Seraphim that Heals All Creation.”

He instantly heals from any wound.

“Darkness of the Fallen Angel that Darkens All Things.”

He could even snipe beings who had fled far away and hidden on different continents.

“The blessing of the Fallen Angel who corrupts the world.”

He 'blessed' surviving humans, turning them into madmen and monsters to fight against the guilds of humanity.

The demon king was not pushed back for even a moment. Even with all his other powers sealed, he overwhelmed them all using only his Angelic Abilities.

“It's not just that he has strong power.”

Principal Tarden muttered, gritting his teeth. One of his eyes had long been crushed, and his other arm hung broken and immobile.

“His combat sense, the sense of knowing how and when to use power in what way, that level of skill is so far beyond ours…!”

Already more than half of the East Coast Academy professors had perished, and just now, another professor's life was snuffed out. All of them were among humanity's most exceptional superhumans.

Surely, surely they should have stood a chance against the demon king now that most of his powers were sealed.

Yet the Demon King, who had been wounded in the battle against the Central Superhuman Academy professors, didn't allow even a scratch at this moment, even though all his other powers were sealed.

Strength, not simply possessing power. No, beyond having mastered how to use power. Beyond that, to a level where one could say they had enlightened themselves to power.

The Demon King was an enlightened being.

That's why the Demon King could crush all of humanity's strength, excluding the Central Superhuman Academy professors, even with most of his abilities sealed.

From afar, the Cheongu Holy Sword had already worn down to half its size, and the sad loneliness closing in on Lusa made uncontrollable tears flow from her eyes. Klein, activating Ma-sal, had long had his face wet with red blood, and the rest of the professors were nowhere to be seen.

No one seemed to be able to stop the demon king. No one seemed capable of stopping the world’s destruction.

And at that moment, lightning descended from the sky.

That lightning struck the very center of the Demon King's crown as he was routing the human forces. The demon king was not flustered and tried to tear that lightning apart like he had done with other heroes before him, but it wouldn’t break so easily.

Why?

For the first time, the Demon King, who knew all things, harbored a question.

This lightning was weak. Weaker than the human heroes he’s currently crushing. And yet he couldn't destroy this lightning in one go?

So the Demon King focused all his attention on the lightning.

It’s keeping up with me? (TL Note: I’ll explain in afterword)

Its power was weak, but the combat sense was on par with his, making it an even fight. No, it was a combat sense that even surpassed him.

Could such a being exist in present-day humanity?

And beyond that, what was even more unbelievable.

The Demon King had tried to block the lightning’s path and smear it away with Darkness that Illuminates All. However, the lightning simply accepted the Smearing and made that dark karma its own power.

This meant that this being was of darkness.

“You.”

Amidst the fading afterimages.

The Demon King discovered the identity of the lightning.

“Why would a fallen hero.”

The owner of that lightning was none other than Mari.

The hero whom he had thought would despise this world more than anyone else. That was why the Demon King hadn’t even paid Mari any mind

Even after suffering such treatment from this world, she still tries to stop him, the harbinger of destruction. To block his path so she can protect those garbage-like humans?

The Demon King, who had grasped the truth, couldn’t comprehend why Mari was doing this. He simply couldn’t fathom the reason she opposed him.

Once again, black lightning struck the king.