Became an Academy Self-Inflicted Blackmailer - Became an Academy Self-Inflicted Blackmailer chapter 177

177 – Devil (2)

Red sky, barren land. The air is extremely thin and the sounds that are heard are faint.

But if you listen carefully and try to hear the sound, then you will hear a scream.

Nine Heaven (九泉) was such a world.

Some people who don’t know anything call Gucheon a paradise for demons, but Yurin’s demons knew that wasn’t the case.

This world was no paradise.

In the first place, how can a prison where the majority of demons are trapped and unable to come out become paradise?

If you are satisfied with the life of the fish in the fish tank, you could call it paradise.

She wasn’t like that, at least not to her.

Because the demon of Yurin sought her freedom.

If there was a toy she wanted, she could reach for it, and she needed a space where she could play with the toy she had in her hand to her heart’s content.

In order to do that, I had to escape this terrible, isolated world of Nine Heaven at some point.

It was literally a time when I was thinking of such thoughts as always.

Quang!

[…] ….]

The Three Kings’ residence, where the devil of devastation resides, who would never be able to make such a loud noise under normal circumstances, and where only the few playthings she allows can enter.

With a noise like a door being kicked in, a bloodied demon duke appeared.

If he had committed such insolence even though it was not a particularly serious matter, the demon of Yurin would not have hesitated in punishing him, no matter how loyal he was.

Her hot-blooded nature cannot be avoided even by the devil.

[…] … My lord.]

But not now.

The demon of Yurin could not say anything despite the rudeness of her subordinate.

She just sat blankly on her throne, looking at her subordinate, her lips quivering softly, unable to form a sentence.

She thought. How on earth did things come to this?

Phew!

At that moment, a sharp spear blade pierced the heart of the demon Duke standing in front of her.

The blood on her raised spear blade splashed and wet the cheek of Yurin’s demon.

She raised her head without even thinking about wiping away the blood that was flowing down.

The demon duke who had been loyal to her all these years fell to her knees with her helpless expression on her face.

Did he not even have the strength to raise his voice?

He only twitched his lips.

-No shame.

He was not a ravaging demon who could not understand that brief word.

She instantly felt her heart sink.

And the Demon Duke held her hand with all his might.

Contact that would not normally be permitted.

But the current demon of Yurin recalled her memories from tens of thousands of years ago in the old face of the demon duke who had been by her side for many years and was her favorite.

Were you both young at the time?

Honestly, it’s a memory I might have forgotten a long time ago if it weren’t for my memory capacity beyond the standard.

The demon of Yurin trembled as she recalled the memory of her being so useless.

[…] ….]

Soon, the Demon Duke touched his forehead to the back of Yurin’s Demon’s hand for the last time and then passed away.

The body becomes dust and disperses.

It was a clean extinction.

[Treated.]

How did the demon of Yurin feel at the death of her long-time confidant and long-time friend?

Unfortunately, she was not given time to think deeply about her feelings.

Before that, a boy appeared.

Pitch black hair and red eyes at the same time.

If you look at it, her appearance was quite similar to that of a Yurin demon, but-.

At least there was no lukewarm relationship between him and her, such as her blood relationship.

The devil of devastation.

The devil of reverse heaven.

The boy and the girl were each the heads of two of the forces that divided the nine heavens into thirds.

The Three Kings of the Nine Heavens.

And at this moment, there were five demons behind the devil in the sky.

The demon of Yurin still looked at them with her eyes that had lost their light.

I looked at it as if observing, but there was no meaning. They were something she did not know.

Demon Duke or Demon Grand Duke? No. Demons at that level remember faces.

A presence, a presence in a face I have never seen before.

The demon of Yurin instinctively realized this.

Those five entities were a secret force that could overturn the power structure of the nine heavens, which the devil of the heavens had gritted his teeth and kept hidden until now.

It’s not like she doesn’t have such a presence, but she’s probably useless against them.

Look at it in reality, ‘Yeokcheon’ and the five demons who assist him.

The castle collapsed with only six enemies in total.

Her kingdom, built over eons of time, was a precious kingdom in a fishbowl overflowing with those who worshiped her.

Defeated by just six enemies.

It was a reality so terrible that her bare mind could not bear it, but unfortunately, her Three Kings mentality made it impossible for her to let go of her reason even in moments like these.

She didn’t just get up from her throne.

Quaaa!!

It just radiates energy. Faced with monsters that would have overcome all of the capital’s troops with just six people, they showed their will to resist with all their might.

And in that kind of energy, the five demons, excluding Yeokcheon, could not hide their tension.

Even if she lost all of her men, she was the Three Kings.

One of the three absolutes who reign at the top of these nine heavens.

[I will kill you, Yeokcheon.]

The demon of Yurin stretched out her arms, and the condensed evil energy that seemed as if it would run wild at any moment responded to her will and became a storm.

The momentum created by her transcendent person eventually made the devil of the reverse heaven come forward.

The boy, holding back the five subordinates, waved his hand lightly as if against the girl’s instrument, creating a storm in the same way.

What happens when the eyes of different storms meet in one place?

[If you can, try it.]

On this day, the Devil of Yurin fought a bloody battle with the Devil of Yeokcheon, losing all of his subordinates.

As a result, all of the Devil’s subordinates in the reverse sky were extinguished.

The devil himself also suffered a considerable blow from the spirit.

‘… ….’

And the demon of Yurin, who succeeded in such a fierce battle, tried to transfer her body with her last strength.

She was always developing separate magic to head to the other world called the continent.

Her magic circle, which brought together all of her last remaining power and manifested it, was no different.

It was unfinished, and the likelihood of success was less than 20%.

[…] … Ah.]

She finally woke up on the continent.

I felt the cold touch of shackles.

*****

The roaring sound and vibrations that enveloped the academy were first treated as being caused by a magic professor’s personal experiment failure.

There was no significant opposition as there was no actual damage to life or property.

Yes, external matters were handled that way…….

[Over there.]

The internal work began now.

I touched my forehead and turned my head.

Beyond the iron bars where I could feel an unusual energy, a girl whose limbs were bound with shackles and chains was calling to me in a pitiful voice.

Needless to say, he will become the devil of devastation.

[My feet hurt so much. The size of the shackles doesn’t seem to fit…….]

She looked at me and said such trivial things, but of course I chose to respond by letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Of course, I know that now she has lost most of her powers as the Three Kings.

That was confirmed by Tsumei, and there was no need to say more since it was cross-proven through Beatrice’s divine power.

So, it would not be a lie to say that it hurts because the shackles are rubbing.

Even if it were, it would be at a level that could be endured, so it would be a terrible death.

[Hey, can you give me an answer…… ? Aren’t we still good enough… ….]

I continued to remain silent, neatly ignoring her attempts at conversation.

In any case, I wasn’t the one to mix things up with her now.

Normally, Tsumei would be the one to deal with her since one of these regular entities, like her Three Kings, has fallen to her academy.

Due to her abilities and her status, she is the one with the highest status among our group.

In fact, Tsumei also stayed in this underground prison about ten hours ago to watch over the demon in front of her.

However, she had first gone up the road to calm the chaos at the academy.

I am the one who took on the role of surveillance on behalf of Tsumei.

I am at least better at responding with force in an emergency situation.

But I had no intention of just watching that ravaging demon.

The decision on her disposition will be made after consulting with Tsumei.

So, before that, now that I had a situation to talk about, I planned to call the person who would most want to hear the story of the ‘Devil of Destruction’.

Just then, footsteps were heard from beyond the stone wall.

I quietly got up from my seat and opened the door, and there was a girl standing just beyond it with serene eyes.

Her name is Aria Ten.

The moment she looked at me, she bit her lip and bowed her head briefly, then walked inside and stood right in front of her cage.

Her selection was full of my personal regrets, but she definitely deserved it.

Jihad, whose entire life was toyed with by the devil of destruction, was her death penalty.

After having a few words with her, I only felt a little anger.

In other words, should we call it compassion and anger from a moral perspective?

How can one person’s life be played with like this? The moment I found out everything the devil of Yurin had done, the disillusionment I felt was definitely there.

But that… …. At the very least, it could never be compared to Aria’s deep emotions.

So I’m trying to give her her choice.

First of all, we need to extract as much information as possible, but the moment we decide that Yurin’s evil presence will not be of any help to us any further.

Who will be the one to draw the sword of punishment against that evil devil?

If Aria doesn’t want it, she can’t help it, but if she wants to make her pay the punishment directly to the demon of Yurin.

I intended to respect that qualification.

Aria stands in front of her cage, and she keeps her mouth shut for a moment.

Soon she raised her fist, and she pounded harshly on the bars.

Kwaang!!

Not only me, but also Yurin’s devil’s expression hardened at that fierce attitude.

Soon, Aria, with a grip that threatened to crush her bars, parted her lips.

“…… Me.”

[…] ….]

“Do you know me? “The devil of devastation.”

A voice as if chewing rang through the prison.

Aria gritted her teeth fiercely.

“I’m asking if you recognize my face.”

*****

Aria had two unforgettable memories above all else.

One of them was the betrayal of the death penalty that she believed and followed when she was twelve years old.

Her executioner, Jihad, who usually did not show any such signs, began to derail as she revealed her resentment towards the Sword Saint.

She tried to kidnap Aria as a means to harm the Sword Saint.

The memory of that day itself was a huge shock to Aria.

For a while, she was so overcome with sadness that she couldn’t even hold her sword properly.

But using her shocking memories of her past as a stepping stone, she devoted herself even more to training her sword…….

At that point, I reached a level that was unparalleled among my peers.

Her second ‘unforgettable’ memory emerged around that time.

-Cheer up. To work hard.

– Let’s quickly brush aside the ugly death penalty issue.

It was the death of Jihad that left her first memory.

A truly sudden death that came when she was unable to completely erase the feeling of betrayal.

Arya still couldn’t completely forgive Jihad, but that didn’t mean she saw his death as a blessing in disguise.

There were stories that were heard after Jihad’s death.

A story about his parents, a story about his childhood.

And, she ultimately learned of the existence of the culprit who had to kill him.

The Three Kings of the Nine Heavens, the Demon of Destruction.

Aria gritted her teeth.

Because the culprit of it all was right in front of her eyes.

What should I say? What should I ask?

Actually, my thoughts weren’t organized properly, and my mind was just so complicated that I felt like I couldn’t come up with anything proper.

Still, it was a moment when I couldn’t stay still and tried to let out a desperate voice.

[Aria, Ten.]

Yurin’s devil’s lips fell.

[How could one not know the granddaughter of the Sword Saint?]

“… ….”

[But, that’s probably not the answer you want…….]

Aria frowned for a moment at her words.

What does her devil think her ‘desired answer’ is?

The answer to that meaningless question could soon be heard directly from the mouth of the devil.

[Samae of Jihad.]

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Aria reflexively clenched her fists at the soft words.

The demon of Yurin was watching her reactions one by one.

[…] … He was by his side right before he died, and he truly considered the jihadis who committed crimes against him to be his family. The girl is probably blaming me for driving him to death…….]

Continue talking without stopping. The demon of Yurin raised his head.

Aria’s eyes were bloodshot, and she was chewing her lower lip at the same time, unable to organize her dizzy state.

I met her gaze. The devil of Yurin.

And that’s what I’m saying.

[Do you want to kill me?]

Aria did not answer. Just, she immediately drew her sword.

Chaeng!

It was not the usual well-refined sword.

The sound of metal being torn apart bounced off the walls of the prison and rang throughout the space.

Aria’s cold gaze and an even colder blade were aimed at the demon of Yurin.

She softly pursed her lips.

“Of course.”

It was the answer to the devil’s question.

The devil’s eyes glowed dimly.

Also, as if in response, a faint remaining musical instrument is raised.

It was the moment when Dante, who was watching from afar, felt a flash of lightning in his hands.

[I’m sorry, but I can’t die.]

Whaaah!

The demon of Yurin released the instrument in its body as if it were exploding, and for a moment, Aria was overcome by the force of the Three Kings and was unable to move her drawn sword any further.

Her lips began to tremble. Her hand holding her sword shakes unsteadily.

Snap!

Just then, her cage was unlocked.

The demon of Yurin raised her head.

Pajik-!

A ray of lightning passed by her cheek.

[…] ….]

The demon of Yurin quietly closed her eyes.

Her attitude seemed to be that she was anticipating the shock that would follow.

Quaaang!!

The sound of the blows echoed in off-beat, almost simultaneously, and Yurin’s devil’s head turned and crashed into the wall of the prison.

Aria felt the strange experience of her body trembling for a moment.

Too-duk, to-duk.

The demon of Yurin fell down, almost destroying half of the brick, and did not say anything else.

There was not even a single moan, let alone a scream.

She simply brushed her red cheek once, then slightly turned her gaze without bothering to spit out the blood that made her cry.

Her eyes, which looked at Aria first, were filled with strange emotions, but soon her gaze returned to gaze at Dante.

She had a calm expression throughout, but Dante, who was concerned about her response and attacked her more forcefully, showed an uncomfortable look.

The reason was nothing special. This is because the violence just moments ago was induced to some extent.

Dante pursed his lips for a moment and then blurted out a word.

“Why did you do something that deserved to be beaten?”

I soon realized that the tone was a bit strange, but the meaning I was trying to convey was exactly as it was said.

Why did you do something that deserved to be beaten?

So, why did you waste what little musical instruments you had left on something like this?

It even provoked her own violent response.

Aria looked back at Dante with her embarrassed eyes, and Dante also scratched the back of her head ambiguously and refrained from speaking.

Soon, the two naturally looked at Yurin’s demon.

Was it a look to find an answer? Aria was still suspicious, but…

[…] … In my kingdom.]

At least as a demon of Yurin, I knew nothing other than this method.

[Punishment is given to the devil who committed a crime. Whether it’s primitive violence or trampling on the values the devil holds most dear.]

It was a sudden story. Dante and Aria were silent.

[There may have been quite a few problems with that extreme method……. Actually, that might not be important right now.]

The demon of Yurin raised his head with difficulty.

I could endure as much pain as I wanted.

A spirit that has been trained over a long period of time does not break down to this degree.

On the contrary, the demon of Yurin felt despair.

[Unfortunately, that seems like a meaningless form of punishment to me.]

Dante and Aria seemed to not understand what she was saying, and each glared at her with their own doubts and displeasure.

And the devil of Yurin.

[I am.]

I ‘understood’ that their views were very reasonable.

…… I came to understand.

[Until now, you have thought of humans as bugs or insignificant creatures. The attitude towards them was also not much different.]

The demon of Yurin said that without even thinking about wiping away the blood flowing down her jawline.

It felt like the words were meant to be somewhat provocative, but the intention was different.

Aria still hasn’t been able to calm down all her emotions. But for some reason, I ended up thinking that the reason why the demon of Yurin said those words was not something as obvious as provocation.

At that moment, the gazes of the two girls met beyond the iron bars.

[…] … It is true that everything I have done so far was done with malicious intent. He tried to torment the person he liked, and by tormenting him, he tried to gain pleasure from the reaction of the despairing person.]

The devil of Yurin said.

The destruction of Jihad’s life was also part of that.

One of his tricks to make jihad his own was to mess with his parents.

At those words, Aria’s arm holding her sword shook endlessly.

Looking at all the emotional turmoil and the flowing murderous intent, the demon of Yurin continued her words in a tone that had not changed from the beginning.

[Evil deed. But I couldn’t even think of the idea that it was wrong.]

“… ….”

[Because there was no need to understand their feelings. No matter what they think, I just had to play around with it as much as I wanted for my enjoyment.]

But, I did it.

In addition, the demon of Yurin smiled bitterly.

[The devil of Yeokcheon killed my old Bungwoo and destroyed the entire kingdom I had built, leaving me alone. Before I knew it, I was making the same facial expressions as them.]

She lowered her head. In a corner of the prison, a puddle of water formed from rainwater.

What shape does your face reflected there look like?

Was he smiling like always?

Or, did he burn his anger towards the devil in the sky?

It was neither.

It was an entirely distorted face.

The eyes were drooped into a shape I had never seen before, the pupils inside them were empty to say the least, and there was no smile on the corner of the mouth.

His half-open lips, unable to find anything to say, seemed as if he was clearly explaining his current situation.

To completely destroy a person’s life means giving a person more despair than the demon of the reverse heaven who destroyed her kingdom.

She has lived for eons, but she is not human.

Because the pain and despair they feel cannot be compared to that of the transcendent.

[…] … I’m sorry.]

The demon of Yurin spat out words in a trembling voice.

[I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Aria.]

Of course, I still had the awareness that I was doing something malicious.

What is the reason for not moving forward?

It was a lack of empathy.

This is because I did not try to understand their feelings. Because there was no need to understand.

Now that I have felt the same emotions as them, it does not mean that I am in the same situation.

Because the bad karma she had accumulated was too deep for that to happen.

He still does not place humans on the same level as himself, and his natural nature of pursuing light pleasure has not faded.

Now that the demon of Yurin has realized the weight of what she has done.

Understanding the emotions they felt, I was able to acknowledge the legitimacy of the revenge that the girl in front of me had towards her.

…… It was a very late awakening. It may be meaningless.

He was not shameless enough to say that he repented once again.

But even so.

She pursed her lips.

[The invasion of Yeokcheon is not far away.]

I couldn’t die now.

A little reprieve was needed.

Her watery red eyes, which had never been seen once in eons, looked at Aria.

It was the family of a young man she had ruined.

[There is a rift in our cooperative relationship with the Dragon Emperor, and we do not know his current whereabouts, but he will not back down from our plan. Since you’ve already taken me down, the next step is the continent. If there is no interruption of the ‘struggle’, all of Gucheon’s troops will become his legions.]

It’s the same feeling I have towards Yeokcheon.

She will also look at herself like that.

The demon of Yurin took a deep breath and let out a suppressed voice.

[…] … I will kill Yeokcheon.]

It is said. Her own wishes.

[After that, Aria, I will sacrifice my neck to your sword.]

I also wanted to say. Her own escape, which cannot even be called ‘atonement’.

-Sinners must pay the price for violence.

Because there were such rules in the kingdom.

In this case, the violence one must accept will be annihilated.

The demon of Yurin bowed his head.

[Please give me a moment of mercy.]

It was a plea.