Ch 106
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 106
―A promise is a promise…. Good. Wait a moment. I'll personally bring you the Demon Fruit.
The Demon Fruit is the fruit of the Demon Realm Tree and contains tremendous demonic energy.
Even an ordinary demon would instantly become a supreme-class demon upon eating it, and if a supreme-class or higher demon ate it, they could even aim for the position of Demon King, making it a treasure of the Demon Realm that all demons covet.
However, for humans, it's no different from extreme poison.
Human bodies cannot withstand demonic energy.
Of course, the original protagonists and I are exceptions.
Since we've learned internal energy cultivation methods.
We just need to convert the Demon Fruit's demonic energy into internal energy using internal energy cultivation methods.
"There's a Demon Fruit?"
The Demon Fruit only bears exactly one fruit every thousand years.
The protagonists come here two years from now.
When the protagonists defeat Kainakan and reach the Demon Realm Tree, the fruit has just ripened.
So naturally, I thought there wouldn't be any fruit now, but what's this?
―What do you mean by that?
"I know the Demon Fruit only bears one fruit every thousand years. It shouldn't be time for the fruit to ripen yet, should it?"
―How curious that you know even the timing. Indeed, there's still a little time left before the Demon Fruit ripens.
Don't tell me when he said to wait a moment earlier, he meant to wait two years?
No, thinking about it, it's not two years but over 60 years remaining.
This place has a different flow of time from the outside world.
One day in the outside world equals 30 days here, a 30-fold time difference.
Well, with 940 years passed and 60 years remaining, depending on perspective, it could be considered a little… like hell it could.
How is 60 years a little!
"I can't wait 60 years."
―60 years? Indeed, if there's that much time, the Demon Fruit would ripen. But didn't I say it would be just a moment earlier?
"60 years might be just a moment to you, but it's not just a moment to me."
―You seem to be misunderstanding something. 60 years isn't a time I'd call just a moment either.
"Then what do you mean?"
―I was going to give you the one that ripened last time.
"Huh?"
Last time would be 940 years ago, and the one that ripened then hasn't rotted and is still there?
―You really did misunderstand.
"That's still there?"
―If you store the Demon Fruit in a box made from the Demon Realm Tree and cover it with Demon Realm Tree leaves, it can be preserved for up to a thousand years. Didn't you know this?
…Of course I wouldn't know since it wasn't in the original work.
In the original, there was only one, so Lee Ji-sung and Kim Do-hyun had a battle of wits over it, but if they hadn't killed this guy, they would have eaten one each amicably.
It's an unexpected gain, but honestly, I'm not very excited about it.
The Demon Fruit is indeed a great elixir, but at my current level, elixirs don't help much.
My purpose in coming here wasn't the Demon Fruit in the first place.
Of course, I still don't intend to refuse what's being offered.
"Right. I didn't know that. But by any chance, is the Demon Fruit also near the Demon Realm Tree?"
―That's right. If you wait, I'll...
"Then let's go together."
―Th-that's troublesome. I'll be back quickly, so wait. Anyway, only I can retrieve the stored Demon Fruit.
"Huh? I got all three questions right, didn't I? You go get the Demon Fruit and I'll take care of my business."
―W-well, that's true, but... Business? Wasn't your purpose the Demon Fruit?
"No, it wasn't."
―What? You bastard...
The air becomes heavy and my skin stings.
This is killing intent.
Did I say something wrong?
"Why are you suddenly like this?"
―If you're willing to take the Demon Fruit nicely and return even now, I won't attack.
"Where do you get off threatening me? Keep your promise."
―Shut up! You filthy minion of the Demon King.
Minion of the Demon King? What kind of nonsense is this to say to a perfectly normal person?
"Minion of the Demon King? I am..."
―It's useless to try to deceive me now. This Kainakan will protect Lady Luciel.
THUD!
Without properly listening, he suddenly swipes with his massive front paw.
I dodged it, but my irritation flared up.
It seems I have no choice but to fight, so I just wasted time.
I didn't want to have an unnecessary fight, but if it's going to be like this, there's no choice.
THUD!
I used footwork to dodge the front paw swiping again and approached the creature.
CLANG!
I created Hand Gang and slashed at the torso, but I don't feel like I'm cutting at all.
This is ridiculous.
It's not sword energy but Hand Gang.
Originally, Ganggi is an energy that destroys anything.
Even that monstrous vice principal couldn't withstand Ganggi... What the hell is this guy?
If I fought against the second-years Lee Ji-sung and Kim Do-hyun now, I would win a hundred out of a hundred times.
Since those two guys defeated this creature, I thought this guy wouldn't be much, but...
Come to think of it, in the original work, the protagonists' attacks didn't work well either, so they caught him by continuously attacking the same spot.
―That tickles.
The creature swings its front paw again.
THUD!
It's quite fast for its size, but it's still not at a level I can't dodge.
―You demon minion bastard, you dodge around like a little mouse.
"No, I'm a hum..."
I was about to say human, but two of the three heads spew fire and ice respectively.
SIZZLE-CRACK, CRASH!
The places where ice passed froze solid, and the places where fire passed left nothing behind.
If the one idle head had also joined the attack, it would have been quite dangerous...
I know the strategy method, but continuously attacking the same spot is never an easy task.
In the original work too, Lee Ji-sung drew the creature's attention while Kim Do-hyun attacked.
TING!
I approached again and tried to slash the torso I first attacked with Hand Gang, but the creature lifted its front paw to defend.
It says it tickles but won't let me hit it properly.
As expected, using the same strategy as the protagonists while alone seems impossible.
Of course, that doesn't mean there's no answer.
If Ganggi doesn't work, I just need to make an attack stronger than Ganggi.
If it won't be cut, I'll just smash it.
THUD!
After blocking, instead of dodging the front paw swinging at me, I met it head-on with a fist enhanced by mental focus.
CRASH!
I feel a solid impact and sense the creature stagger.
It seems to have landed properly, but since the creature is so large, I don't let my guard down and throw consecutive punches.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
THUNK!
Indeed, mental focus was the right answer, as the creature couldn't withstand just three punches and collapsed.
Such a waste of size.
―St-stop...
"You threw the first punch without a word, and now you want me to stop?"
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
This time I struck each of the three heads once, and the focus disappeared from the creature's eyes.
Don't tell me it's dead?
Even if it doesn't help much, if this guy dies, I can't get the Demon Fruit.
Fortunately, looking closely, I can see the torso expanding and contracting, so it doesn't seem to be dead.
Leaving the unconscious creature behind, I headed toward the Demon Realm Tree.
In case the creature woke up again and interfered, I used divine movement technique to arrive quickly.
I thought it was big when I saw it from afar, but seeing it up close, it's really huge.
Just the tree's circumference is easily several hundred meters... No, at this size, wouldn't it be close to a kilometer?
Where is it?
From the description in the original work, it was quite large, so I thought I'd find it quickly, but the sun is purple and the tree's shadow makes visibility poor.
I infused internal energy into my eyes and looked around... Ah! Is that it?
A black sphere with a diameter of about 4 meters caught my eye.
I approached closely and peered inside, but it's opaque so I can't see inside at all.
Since it's exactly as described in the original work, this must be it.
I was about to habitually create Hand Gang, but having experienced the destructive power of a fist enhanced with mental focus earlier, I struck down with my fist infused with mental focus once more.
CRASH!
This is ridiculous.
How can it not have a single scratch after taking a punch infused with mental focus... Oh wait, it's not unscratched.
Looking closely, I can see fine cracks.
It seems like I can break it with a few more hits, so I was about to keep punching when I felt killing intent from behind.
Turning around, it's that Kainakan bastard I knocked unconscious earlier.
I thought he was a tough guy when Ganggi didn't work on him, but I didn't expect him to recover and chase after me this quickly.
Maybe I should have just finished him off even if it meant giving up the Demon Fruit.
Well, it doesn't matter.
I just need to knock him unconscious again.
He looks to be in worse condition than before, so I should be able to finish this quickly.
"You should have stayed down. I'll make you regret following me."
As soon as I spoke and tried to approach the creature, my body suddenly became heavy.
It feels like the air itself became heavy, and if I hadn't quickly drawn up my internal energy to respond, I would have collapsed to the ground.
He didn't use this kind of technique earlier, so has some kind of berserker mode activated...
I feel an enormous presence from behind.
―Stupid bastard. To wake Lady Luciel... You're dead now.
―Ho, you can withstand this? You don't seem to be a demon either.
The first voice was Kainakan's, but the following voice is completely different from Kainakan's.
It's a clear female voice, but somehow also gives a sticky feeling... Has she awakened?
―Then how about this?
I tried to turn around, but the pressure weighing me down became stronger.
I almost collapsed right there, but barely managed to endure by dropping to one knee.
With the feeling of squeezing out my dantian, I extracted internal energy and barely managed to turn my head.
Long silver-gray hair and purple eyes.
An aquiline nose that doesn't seem human and bright red lips.
A beauty wearing white cloth clothing that only covers the essential parts, as white as her skin, is looking at me.
She looks exactly like the illustration from the original novel, so I recognized her immediately.
Fallen Angel Luciel.
In the original work, the protagonists cooperated to defeat Kainakan, but they ended up in conflict over who would eat the single Demon Fruit.
Eventually, a fight broke out, and Lee Ji-sung, who had eaten ginseng like rice, gained the upper hand, but Lee Ji-sung's magic aimed at Kim Do-hyun hit the black sphere, awakening Luciel.
At first, she tried to kill them for disturbing her sleep, but...
―I increased it fivefold and you can withstand... Wow, you're handsome.
The pressure weighing down my body disappeared.
It seems her personality is exactly like the original work, which is really fortunate.
Upon seeing Kim Do-hyun, Luciel immediately withdrew her killing intent.
Not only that, she also overlooked the fact that the two had killed Kainakan, her subordinate, and persuaded Lee Ji-sung to yield the Demon Fruit to Kim Do-hyun in exchange for teaching magic, allowing Kim Do-hyun to eat the Demon Fruit.
That's right. Luciel is seriously face-obsessed.
Therefore, I thought that once I met Luciel, I could easily learn magic too.
I acknowledge that Kim Do-hyun is really handsome, but honestly, my face isn't that inferior either.
―You're human, aren't you? That's a shame. You are handsome, but you're lacking in small ways. If your eyes were a bit bigger, your nose a bit higher, and your jaw a bit more angular, you would have been my type.
Uh... Huh?
Somehow the atmosphere feels strange.
Didn't this girl just like anyone handsome?
She clearly said with her own mouth just now that I was handsome, but suddenly she's talking about preferences...
―And Kainakan says you hit our Kainakan?
The protagonists didn't just hit him but actually killed him, yet she said nothing about it...
It seems the handsome guy approach has failed.
"Um, that's because that guy didn't keep his promise first..."
―Promise? Kainakan says he promised to give you the Demon Fruit?
"I didn't come here for the Demon Fruit."
―Not for the Demon Fruit? Well, humans can't eat the Demon Fruit anyway... Then you must be working under a demon's orders.
"It's not like that."
―If not, then how did you get here... Well, whatever. Even if it wasn't Kainakan's matter, you woke me from my sleep, so you deserve to die.
As soon as Luciel finished speaking, my body became heavy again.
"I, I came here to meet you. I came here wanting to learn magic from you, Luciel..."
―You want to learn magic from me? Where does this bastard get off telling such ridiculous lies...
"It's not a lie."
―This bastard keeps going... Magic isn't my specialty.
Magic isn't her specialty?
No, then she taught Lee Ji-sung magic for Kim Do-hyun's sake even though it wasn't her specialty?
Just how face-obsessed is she...
Kim Do-hyun must have been a complete type preference hit.
Before I knew it, four gray wings appeared behind her.
The fact that she brought out her wings means she's seriously intent on killing me.
―Even if what you're saying is true, is there any reason I should teach you magic?
"No, so let's talk a bit..."
―I don't want to listen. Well, if you had been my type, I might have considered it, but you're below standard, aren't you? I don't take ugly disciples.
I tried to get through the situation amicably somehow, but communication is absolutely impossible.
I know it was because of Kim Do-hyun, but she took Lee Ji-sung just fine...
It's not like I didn't know this girl was face-obsessed, and I like pretty women too.
I can understand that I'm not her type, but below standard and ugly?
She's crossed the line, and crossed it big time.