Ch 107
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 107
The fallen angels commonly depicted in novels are portrayed as beings who committed sins in the heavenly realm, were cast out, and sided with the demons, but Luciel is different.
…The chosen one, you shall obtain everything and stand tall above destruction.
The most glorious one chose the path of corruption to prevent destruction.
These two sentences, which linguists from around the world were uniquely able to interpret, are foreshadowing.
Destruction refers to the Demon King, the final boss, and the chosen one is naturally the protagonist.
If there is a chosen one, naturally there must also be one who chooses.
The one who chooses the protagonist and also the most glorious one mentioned in the other sentence who chose the path of corruption.
That is precisely Luciel.
***
I can sense someone's presence outside, and it seems to be Uriel.
"Luciel, I just heard from Gabriel that you're going to the Demon Realm. What on earth does that mean?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like. Why?"
"Are you in your right mind? You know how many angels died in the last war! We don't have the luxury of war. We shouldn't be invading; we should be preparing!"
This bastard Uriel seems to have rushed out without properly listening to Gabriel's story.
His face is quite handsome, but his personality is really too impatient.
"I know too. That we don't have the capacity. That's why I'm going."
"Are you playing games with me right now? You know that, yet you're going to the Demon Realm now... What, the best defense is offense?"
"I'm not going to wage war. I'm going to prevent war. I'm going alone."
"What? Luciel, even if you're the Archangel, how can you alone..."
"Gabriel will take over as Archangel. I was considering between you and Gabriel, but seeing you act like this now, I'm glad I didn't entrust it to you."
"What are you talking about now?"
"If you fall, you can't come to this place."
"Fall? You've finally gone insane. If you're going to side with those demon bastards, I'll kill you here with my own hands..."
"Calm down. I don't have even the slightest intention of siding with the demons."
"Then why on earth..."
"I'm going to become the Guardian of the Demon Realm Tree."
"Huh?"
"You fought directly too, so you should know. How tremendous the Demon King's power was after eating the Demon Fruit this time. Ten archangels attacked, six died, and only four of us remained. And we couldn't even kill him."
"I'm sorry... If I had just properly guarded the Divine Tree a thousand years ago..."
"I'm not trying to blame you for that. The demon bastards cleverly used their heads well. Anyway, if the next Demon King eats the Demon Fruit again in a thousand years, will we be able to stop him?"
"I understand what you mean. But if you're completely consumed by demonic energy, you too..."
"After becoming the Guardian of the Demon Realm Tree, I'll immediately separate the space to slow the erosion of demonic energy. Among the four of us, my mental strength is the best, right? I'll endure for at least ten thousand years. In that time, our Divine Tree will grow again too."
"But after ten thousand years, you'll become the enemy..."
"If it seems like I'll be completely consumed by demonic energy, I'll take my own life, so don't worry."
***
"I have no intention of becoming something like your disciple."
It's truly cruel and inexcusable to tell ugly people they're ugly.
But many handsome people laugh and brush it off when told they're ugly.
Because they know they're not actually ugly.
Luciel said I was below standard and ugly, but I absolutely don't think so.
One of the reasons I could get back up when my mental state collapsed after becoming Kang Shin-hyeok instead of the protagonist was Kang Shin-hyeok's handsome appearance.
Living as Kang Shin-hyeok, I've never once been told I'm ugly anywhere I go.
That bitch just has abnormally high standards; it's not that I'm not handsome.
However, I can't laugh and brush it off like other handsome people.
Because I wasn't handsome from the beginning.
Still, I don't think I had an appearance that disgusted people around me, since no girl cried about being paired with me during my school days.
I wasn't even a lifelong bachelor...
Of course, it would still be a stretch to say I was handsome.
Among the girlfriends I met in my previous life, not one confessed to liking me first.
If I were handsome, I wouldn't have died holed up in a corner just writing.
I even got this appearance by asking the King of Hell for it.
And yet, what?
Below standard and ugly?
Who is she to evaluate me?
My irritation surges up.
This wasn't something I blurted out in anger.
Even if Luciel had fallen head over heels for me and gladly agreed to teach me magic, I had no intention of taking Luciel as my master.
Just as there can't be two suns in the same sky, I can't serve two masters.
—Amusing fellow. I wasn't planning to take you in anyway, but do you think I'd teach magic to someone who isn't even my disciple?
If I had won favor with my appearance, I could have proceeded with the conversation more easily... That part is slightly disappointing, but I can sufficiently persuade Luciel.
I drew up my Internal Energy and dispersed it, annihilating the energies tangled in the air to dispel the magic.
First, to have a proper conversation, I need to show that I have some skill too.
—Impossible... You dispelled my magic?
It wasn't that difficult, but Luciel looked quite surprised.
"Why is it impossible? You said magic isn't even your specialty. I'll propose a deal. If you teach me magic, I'll solve your problem."
—What problem? I don't have any such thing.
"I know everything, so there's no need to forcibly hide it. The injury you received from the Demon King hasn't healed yet, has it?"
In the original work, Luciel told the protagonists that she fought the Demon King three hundred years ago and had fallen asleep to heal the injuries received then, only to awaken recently.
When she awakened with the protagonists, the treatment was almost complete, and Kim Do-hyun used Internal Energy to drive out the remaining Demon King's demonic energy to complete the healing.
—How do you, you bastard, know that...! I thought you might not be human, but you really are the Demon King's lackey!
"I have no connection to the Demon King."
—I won't be fooled! I'll just kill you and heal again anyway. A lowly human dares to say he'll help whom.
I'm slightly annoyed, but I endured it thinking of Minha.
In the original work too, Luciel was a dog wagging her tail only for Kim Do-hyun, whom she liked. She constantly bullied and ignored Lee Ji-sung, calling him a lowly human while teaching him magic.
Come to think of it, even Kim Do-hyun, whom she likes so much, is human too...
Anyway, knowing that she acts extremely difficult toward targets she dislikes, I naturally prepared an excuse when she came out like this.
"Healing yourself will take quite a while, right? Can you handle it if the Demon King comes again before then?"
Her expression is much more flustered than before.
Actually, the Demon King can't come to this place.
The Black Temple has already crossed over to Earth.
The Demon King will descend to Earth later, but even roughly calculating, there are ten years left, which means over three hundred years remain in this place's time.
The protagonists will come in sixty years anyway, and even if she heals herself, it would take about a hundred years to heal completely, but only I know this fact.
If Luciel were to leave this space and investigate, she might realize it, but that won't happen.
The Guardian of the Demon Realm Tree cannot leave the vicinity of the Demon Realm Tree.
Luciel, who knows the Demon King's abilities better than anyone, can't refuse my proposal.
"If you want, I can heal you first. We'll arrange for you to teach me magic after you recover. How about it?"
Since this bitch tried to kill me out of nowhere, there's a possibility she might stab me in the back by healing up and then pretending not to know anything, but considering Luciel's personality, that possibility is almost zero.
She's a serious face-obsessed person with a somewhat... No, quite screwed-up personality, but once she trusts someone, she believes in them to the end.
—You can heal me? You're not approaching me saying you'll heal me to pull some trick, are you?
Ah, this is really frustrating to death.
"Then what should I do? I even said I'd heal you first. Trust me a little?"
—I have a policy of not trusting the words of ugly humans. And deals should be between equals, so prove it.
"Prove what?"
—If you can defeat me in battle... No, that's an impossible condition... Right. If you can successfully attack me just three times, I'll consider trusting you.
I'm slightly flustered.
Luciel is strong.
According to the original work's setting, Luciel was the Archangel, who could be called the actual leader of the heavenly realm before falling.
Though she fell by becoming the Guardian of the Demon Realm Tree, her power actually became stronger.
Although she was injured, she made even the final boss Demon King, who was targeting the Demon Fruit, retreat.
Most importantly, her disciple and the novel's protagonist, Lee Ji-sung, never once defeated her in their sparring matches.
Not just during his second year, but even Lee Ji-sung in the latter part of the original work, after collecting all the opportunities and completing his growth, was no match for Luciel at all.
Knowing this fact, I hadn't even considered fighting Luciel and had been earnestly talking until now...
But if it's just three times, wouldn't it be possible?
"Um... Fighting and healing aren't related, are they? Besides, you're currently injured, and if your injury worsens while fighting..."
—Who's worrying about whom? An ugly, lowly human dares. Even if my body isn't in normal condition, one bastard like you isn't a problem.
"But..."
—Acting all high and mighty talking about deals. Now I see you were lying to live a little longer?
Hah... I was trying to endure as much as possible, but actually, I've been enduring since earlier, and now I've reached my limit.
I picked up a tree branch that had fallen to the ground.
Since she's been saying she'd kill me from the start, perhaps there were no other options from the beginning.
—You're going to face me with that rotten, twisted tree branch? Ah! Did you think it had some special effect because it's a branch from the Demon Realm Tree? PUHAHA, there's no way such a dried, twisted branch would have anything like that. Should I give you a sword?
I didn't expect anything like that anyway.
"I don't need it, so let's start."
As soon as I spoke, I rushed toward Luciel.
I started on my own, but I can't win fighting fair and square.
I reached Luciel and swung the tree branch toward her shoulder.
—What are you trying to do? If there's no damage, being hit doesn't count as an attack...
SLASH!
Her arm is cut and white blood pours out.
The first one was too easy.
I tried to slice through to the shoulder for a second successful attack, but there's no catching feeling.
Blink!
The severed arm remains on the ground, but since that bitch can use regeneration magic, it's not a serious wound.
I try to spread my Internal Energy to track her location, but I sense killing intent from behind.
—This bastard dares!
THUD!
It's not Luciel but Kainakan.
He brought down his giant foot where I had been, creating a crater, but I rolled forward a step ahead and avoided it.
—You use an interesting technique.
"Interesting technique my ass, don't you think 2-on-1 is cowardly?"
Though the Demon Fruit is precious, 2-on-1 really has no chance of winning, so I tried to deal with Kainakan first, but suddenly that bastard disappeared without a trace and Luciel appeared.
Hah, this is absurd.
It hasn't even been a minute since I cut her arm, but it's already healed and intact.
—Sorry, that last one was that guy's independent action. But you also started on your own.
I ignored it and rushed toward Luciel again, but the moment I arrived, she disappeared again.
Damn it.
Rather than tracking, I took a stance and prepared for a surprise attack, but my body feels heavy like before.
I tried to dispel it immediately, but sensing killing intent from the left, I rolled my body sideways to avoid it.
CRASH!
The ground where I had been was split cleanly.