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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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I sprinted, my body a vessel of pure instinct, ignoring the throbbing pain in every muscle.
The soreness from the sparring session lingered,
but it was irrelevant.
The author had finally made his move.
›Main Event ???
›Mission Objective: 13 minutes and 37 seconds until Yeriel’s fall
›Mission Objective 2: Prove that you are no longer a supporting character.
›Reward: The general trait ‘Supporting Character’ will be removed from ‘Lev Denec’. Real-time anonymous feedback will cease.
⚠ Time Remaining: 13 minutes and 37 seconds ⚠
Was this really… because Kaelan was being kept in check?
The reward suggested that if I survived this author-induced crisis, he would stop interfering.
Well, even if that happened, the game’s difficulty was already set to ultra-hell and beyond, and my very existence had twisted the story in unpredictable ways.
Regardless, the final quest the author had thrown at me was…
‘To prevent Yeriel’s transformation into a Fallen Angel.’
According to the fanfic, Yeriel’s forced fall wasn’t supposed to occur until Chapter 3.
After the first semester, during the break, Yeriel, misunderstanding Aria and Edwin’s relationship, would seek solitude.
It was during this time that a Fallen Angel would appear, attempting to corrupt her by manipulating her emotions.
This foreshadowed her eventual fall, hinting that acknowledging her true feelings was the trigger.
And now, thanks to the interference of Umberto, that irrelevant, floating character, the event had been moved forward.
‘Only 13 minutes remaining…’
This quest was the epitome of impossible.
The reason was simple:
Setting aside the consequences of Yeriel’s fall, I was simply out of time.
Even using the express train, reaching Seraphi Black Dormitory, tucked away in a remote corner of the academy, from here at the Arena of Strife would take at least 40 minutes.
And with the wait time for the train, especially on a crowded day like today, it was utterly hopeless.
Asking for help was out of the question.
Most of the academy staff were at the Arena for the ranking matches.
I didn’t have the time, or the audacity, to grab someone at random and try to convince them,
‘Something’s going to happen at Black Dormitory!’
“So this is how you want to play it, huh?” I muttered, glaring at the empty air, as if the author himself were standing before me.
Based on the author’s ambiguous time limit of 19 minutes, I suspected he had poured all his authority and power into this final intervention.
If he truly wanted to screw me over, he could have easily set the limit to one minute, or even one second.
This was his limit.
Well, even 19 minutes made this an insurmountable challenge…
“If I make it to the ending, you’re the first one I’m coming for,” I growled, my threat directed at the unseen author.
.
.
.
I didn’t need to waste precious seconds contemplating how to overcome this obstacle.
The answer, for a veteran like me, was obvious.
-Dash!
I sprinted towards the Evolution Chamber, my legs burning.
“She’s still here!”
Cynatis.
Cynatis, the wind monster.
She was lowering the chamber shutters, yawning.
“Professor!”
-??, ??, ?!
Her expression remained blank, but her eyes widened with surprise upon seeing me.
I took a few deep breaths, grabbed her hands, and pleaded,
“Please, give me a ride.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
-Drip.
A solitary drop of water fell from the basement ceiling in Seraphi Black Dormitory.
-Drip.
Like the precariously falling droplet,
-Tremble…
a snow-white girl, bound and restrained, trembled as if she were about to shatter.
“There’s a limit to naivete and promiscuity.”
“…”
“Did you learn it was acceptable to invite strange men into your home? Or did you learn it wasn’t?”
“…!”
Umberto, the war hero, the shaman, was gone.
He was dead.
Wearing his skin was a demon, a Fallen Angel summoned by Belial.
Tobiel.
Once a Power Angel, he had been overlooked because of his low rank.
But he had discovered his own path to power.
Deceive humans.
Manipulate them.
Exploit their base desires,
and use that as fuel for his own growth.
What an easy way to gain power.
He, too, understood humanity’s endless craving for strength, and he had chosen the path of corruption without a second thought.
And finally, he had found her.
A girl who, despite being human, possessed the qualities of a Fallen Angel.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”
“…”
Yeriel couldn’t respond, not even to his unsettling, oily words.
She was bound, not just physically, but by something else entirely.
As she lay there, eyes clenched shut, brow furrowed, Tobiel whispered in her ear,
“Yes, be a good girl and stay quiet.”
-Snap!
He snapped his fingers.
-Poof!
“!!”
Darkness swallowed Yeriel; her vision vanished.
But she was surprisingly calm.
It was just an illusion, a demonic trick.
Stay composed. An opportunity would present itself. She refused to lose hope.
Tobiel watched her silently, a sinister smile on his lips.
What was the easiest way to reveal a human’s true nature?
The fear of death?
Partially true, partially false.
Death could force honesty upon humans.
But they were masters of self-deception; some even welcomed death.
Tobiel’s method was simple:
He took away the right to die.
The Curse of the Six Senses.
He methodically blocked the target’s sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, and even their physical sensations, one by one,
plunging them into an empty void.
A black abyss where they could neither see nor hear, feel, move, nor scream.
Only their mind remained intact, forced to confront its own existence.
It wasn’t the primal fear of death;
it was the unbearable reality of being trapped in an endless world of solitude, unable to die.
‘Hehehe… show me your true self…’
This would undoubtedly reveal her true nature.
-…
Despite losing her sight, Yeriel remained still.
“Quite the stoic one, aren’t you?”
Most girls her age would be screaming hysterically by now.
He had ruined countless plans because of his impatience.
“Well, then…”
-Snap!
Next, hearing and touch.
After the sickening snap of his fingers, Yeriel’s world fell silent.
‘…!!’
-Fade…
Her limbs grew heavy, their strength slowly draining away.
No, it was as if they had never possessed any strength in the first place. Sensation vanished, starting from her extremities and creeping inward.
Trapped in a world of darkness and silence, overwhelmed by this unfamiliar, terrifying sensation…
‘Am I… scared?’
Fear seeped from the depths of her being, cold and insidious.
It felt like her very existence was fading away.
And as this terrifying thought took hold,
“Gasp… ha… ah… ah…”
unconsciously, her breaths grew rapid and shallow.
As if waiting for this precise moment, Tobiel leaned closer, his face inches from hers,
inhaling her every breath, savoring the scent.
“Ahhh… hah…”
“…”
“Top-quality goods. If only she weren’t a Fallen Angel candidate… what a shame… such a waste…”
“…”
He licked his lips, his gaze fixated on Yeriel’s trembling form.
He had been too hasty.
He should have observed her reaction before blocking her hearing.
It had been a long time since he felt this aroused by a mere human girl.
“Gasp… ha… ah…”
Her breathing grew even more rapid.
“So you want me too, right? You’re trying to drive me mad?!”
Her innocence, pure enough to be mistaken for an angel’s,
ignited a fierce desire within him to stain that pristine white with lust, to flip it like an Othello board.
“I can’t hold back any longer.”
-Slide. Slide.
His filthy hands roamed across her abdomen, where sensation still lingered.
‘Ugh…!’
Disgusted by his touch, Yeriel instinctively lifted her chin.
-Drip.
Tears welled up in her unfocused eyes, threatening to spill like the endless drip from the basement ceiling.
“Yes, cry for me, like a defiant kitten. Provoke me…”
Did she not realize her very actions were arousing him?
‘This won’t do… I need to… brand her lower abdomen with a demon mark…’
Just as Tobiel was about to enact his final, wicked act,
-Piiing!
A clean, sharp sound pierced the air, followed by a brilliant flash of light.
“…?!”
A single beam of light illuminated the basement.
“Huh…?”
It reminded him of his baptism, from back when he was still an angel.
“!…!”
By the time he registered the light and focused his mind, it was too late.
The trajectory of the light was aimed directly at his heart.
“What…? Cough!!!”
-Gurgling!!!
He coughed violently, blood erupting from his lips.
-Sizzle!!!
It felt as if his wound was being cauterized by scorching flames.
“Th-this…!!”
-Pii—ng!
The mysterious red light offered Tobiel no respite.
“Aaaaaargh!!!”
As he lurched to his feet, another beam of light pierced his head, straight through his right eye.
-Ding!
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“…”
I had exhausted all my Wind Energy in my fight against Kaelan, so I couldn’t use Afterimage Shot anymore.
Those two shots had also deactivated my ‘Hermit’ trait.
‘Cutting it close.’
My only option now was Demonization.
I had to obliterate him with it.
“Gah… Aaaaaaargh!!!”
The demon, disguised as Umberto, writhed in pain, his form contorting into its true, grotesque shape.
Hideous black wings, crimson skin.
He looked every bit the demon.
“…What is thissss?!”
He finally noticed me, howling in rage, clutching the bolt embedded in his right eye.
I ignored him and checked on Yeriel.
-Trembling…
Sadly, I couldn’t sense any life energy from her.
As in the original story, he had already cast the Curse of the Six Senses on her.
‘There’s… no chance of being caught now.’
I activated Demonization.
Unfamiliar magic energy surged through my body, corrupting it.
-Kiiiiiii!
“…!”
Perhaps because I was still recovering, the pain was more intense than I had anticipated, every fiber of my being screaming in agony.
But I forced myself to push the black magic energy surrounding me into the Ash Grey Scatter Shot, packing it to its limit.
-Brrrring!!!
.
.
.
‘This feels… awful…’
Controlling the Corruption Level was proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated.
It felt as if Leraje was behind me, and Andras in front, both waiting to devour me.
I focused my crumbling mind, aiming the crossbow at the demon.
-Click.
“W-wait!!”
“…”
The demon, like the weakest of villains, began to plead pathetically.
“This… this place is protected by a demonic illusion barrier!”
“…”
“A filthy creature like you has no right to enter, no right to judge me!”
Why were demons so fond of calling humans ‘creatures’?
“It’s okay. I’m a demon too.”
With those words, I pulled the trigger.
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Yeah he is a big bad demon as well…..until the girls get their yandere thing going on and even the gods shall tremble
Absolutely ruthless. As he deserves. Would have liked it if he suffered more. Shame