Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Angel and Demon (6)
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Rael was flipping through the book page by page that Bella had left behind.
"Oh, here I came to your house. Even the walls named enmity couldn't block my love."
The novel's male lead went to find the female lead, defying his family's opposition. Rael paused his finger at that part.
'If it's to meet the one I love...'
He closed the book and gazed out the window.
It had already been a day since she left.
Though their meeting had been brief, her image remained vividly etched in his mind.
That expression as she looked at him with eyes full of lingering attachment.
'Let's meet again.'
Her final words overlapped with Juliet's from the novel.
Rael sprang up from his seat.
"I... I have to go find her too."
A resolution welled up in his heart.
Staying put like this wouldn't change a thing.
It would only gnaw away at his sanity.
If this feeling he harbored was truly love.
Then seeing Bella's face again would confirm it.
There was just one major problem...
How was an angel like him supposed to get to hell?
"Haa... This isn't easy."
Rael sighed.
There was no way he could know the path to hell that she had taken.
"If there were a god..."
As he clutched his head, unable to even return to heaven right now.
"Who called for me?"
Startled by the sudden voice, Rael jerked his head up.
Right in the center of his vision.
A man stood there, though he hadn't noticed him before.
With pure white wings and golden hair, he looked like something out of a myth.
Behind his back gleamed a bow radiating holy light.
'Uh...?'
Rael knew who he was.
He'd never seen him in person, but only one being carried that bow.
"Are you... Eros...?"
"Looks like you young ones call me Eros these days. I prefer the ring of Cupid myself."
With a playful expression, he fiddled with his arrows.
'Why is Eros here...? No way...?'
Rael approached him and bowed his head deeply.
"Please help me, Eros. I need your assistance."
"What kind of help exactly?"
The god feigned ignorance.
Waiting for Rael to say it aloud himself.
"Perhaps... I have someone I love."
"Hmm~ 'Perhaps,' huh? Love doesn't come with vague feelings like that. Say it again. Is it really just a 'perhaps'?"
Rael placed his hand over his chest.
Though their connection was brief, he could clearly feel the emotions for her that had already taken root in his heart.
"...I love her. The one I can no longer see."
Hearing the words he wanted, the god grinned and approached Rael.
"Shall I make a path for you?"
Rael bowed his head.
A head he'd never bowed to anyone in his life, but in this moment, it was sincere.
"I beg you, Eros..."
The god drew a golden-glowing arrow from the quiver on his back.
"But tell me, do you even know who this person you love is?"
Rael swallowed hard.
An angel in love with a demon.
He felt fear at how this god might react to hearing it, but...
"...A demon."
Rael said it.
Shhwick—
The sound of Eros sharpening an arrow above his head.
"In exchange, there's a condition."
Rael looked up at him.
What condition could it be?
It was sure to demand a tremendous price...
"Never, ever let go of that love. Even if your beloved dies, you must live your entire life thinking only of her."
Eros's eyes began to glow fiercely.
"What's your answer?"
"I will."
"Good. Very good."
Eros drew back the bowstring.
Phewing—
As he released the taut string, a long corridor passageway appeared.
"Have a safe trip. Be a little careful with the pretty puppy guarding the entrance."
As Rael stared blankly at it,
The man pushed him in.
"Bye-bye~"
He caught a glimpse of Eros's face, smiling and waving farewell.
'That face... it feels familiar somehow...'
With that thought, Rael's body was sucked into the corridor.
"Urk...!"
At the end of the long corridor.
Rael crashed onto the hard floor.
He got up and looked around.
A dark, desolate space.
The ceiling was sealed off, making the whole area feel oppressively confined.
'This is...'
As Rael's gaze turned forward, a massive door stood there.
A colossal door of black iron, its height impossible to gauge.
Carved upon it were countless skulls.
The moment Rael took a step closer.
Rumble—!
The ground beneath him shook.
Something rose up right before the door.
It took the form of a massive dog...
No, too enormous to call a dog—a three-headed monster hound, Cerberus.
"Grrrrr...!!"
"Grarr...!!"
"Grrr...!!"
Cerberus's three heads growled in unison.
A dog of monstrous size.
"So this is the 'pretty puppy' he told me to watch out for..."
Rael broke out in cold sweat as he eyed the beast before him.
Three heads, each one spewing fire and poison from the sides, while the center head belched something black.
Instinctively, Rael sensed the center one was the most dangerous.
"Grrrrr!!"
Displeased by his gaze, the left head was the first to unleash a terrifying blast of fire.
Rael spread his wings and put distance between them.
'Fast.'
Even a graze would char his wings black.
'Then before that...!'
He charged in an instant, swinging his sword at Cerberus.
Clang—!
His sword, radiating holy light, grazed Cerberus's hide.
But the wound was shallow.
"Raaargh!"
Cerberus roared and swiped at Rael with a massive claw.
Krunch—!
Unable to dodge fully, he was smashed straight into the wall.
Immediately, another head spat purple poison.
"Grrr...!!"
He barely evaded that, but the claw wound throbbed fiercely.
'Damn it...! How am I supposed to beat this thing!'
Rael landed and swung his sword again.
But even this time, it wasn't enough to pierce Cerberus's thick hide.
"Tough."
At this rate, he'd never break through that skin.
Rael took a deep breath and regripped his sword.
Holy power surged through it, igniting it in silver-white flames.
"Grooooh—!"
The center head lunged its neck at blinding speed, spewing black matter.
'Danger...!!'
Rael leaped into the air and swung his sword. A barrier of light formed along its arc, but the left head's infernal flames poured in, threatening to incinerate the whole thing.
A tiny gap opened.
In that split second, as the black matter slipped through—
Shooing—
Pang.
A holy-light arrow dispelled the dark energy.
As Cerberus faltered, turning to find the shooter—
In that brief lapse, Rael prepared a strike at the largest center head.
The right head sensed the ambush and spat deadly purple mist.
Shooo—
Once more, a golden arrow purified the poison blocking his path.
The dissipating mist spread, corroding the stone floor black.
Sizzle...
Had it hit him directly, Rael would surely be dead.
Shivering, he swallowed and offered silent thanks.
'Thank you, Lord Eros...!'
As his flame-wreathed sword arced toward Cerberus's head—
"Graaaargh!!"
Cerberus spun half around, guarding its head, then lashed out with its long tail, striking Rael.
"Guh...!"
It hit dead on.
A blow that made breathing agony.
His sword slipped powerless from his grasp, rolling away.
"...How is this a dog...?"
The three heads gathered above him.
As the monster's maws gaped, drool dripping between fangs—
From Rael's pocket, flung open by the impact, a key with a strange pattern tumbled out.
A gift he'd received, but whose purpose he didn't know.
Upon hitting the floor, it twisted grotesquely on its own, transforming into a sleek black flute.
'Wh-what...?'
As the bewildered Rael grasped the flute—
Cerberus's stance shifted.
"Hah... hah... heh... heh..."
Like a dog panting excitedly before a bone.
He brought the flute to his lips.
Fooooo—
A melody flowed from it.
Mystical, beautiful, and somehow melancholic.
As the sound filled the space—
"Gr... rr..."
Cerberus froze, all three heads perking to the tune.
Rael kept playing.
As the melody softened, Cerberus's eyes slowly closed.
"Grooo..."
Soon, its massive body thudded heavily to the ground.
Thud—!
It shook the earth, but Cerberus moved no more.
"It's... asleep...?"
Rael lowered the flute and gasped for breath.
Waving his hand before the recumbent beast's eyes yielded no reaction—only sonorous snores from deep slumber.
This flute had subdued the absurd monster in an instant.
He thought of who had given it to him, but it still didn't make sense.
'Why that boss...'
Though nothing clicked, one thing was clear.
The monster guarding hell's gate could no longer bar his way.
He approached the massive door to hell.
Pushing with both hands yielded nothing.
Examining it closely, he spotted what looked like a small keyhole.
'No way...?'
He pulled out the flute from his pocket—or rather, it had reverted to key form.
Click—
Creeeak—
With a heavy metallic groan, the door began to slowly open.
Beyond lay only impenetrable darkness.
"Phew... Bella's in there..."
Taking a small breath, he stepped forward.
Rael entered the gateway to hell.
A gaze watched him from behind.
"Not bad, you fought well."
He stroked the sleeping Cerberus's head.
"Grooong..."
Cerberus grumbled contentedly in its sleep at the touch.
"It's been a while since I saw our pup. Looks a bit different, though."
He was Eros... no, Luhan, who had fired golden arrows whenever Rael was in danger.
Luhan gazed at hell's gate.
"You'll pull it off. Show them you're Romeo from that novel too."
Smiling, he gave Cerberus's head one last pat.
"Ah, this feels nice. I want to raise one in the yard."