61 – Angels and Demons
Ariel froze at the sight of the person in front of her, who greeted her.
White hair and purple eyes. Torn wings attached, and faint traces of radiance above the head, but the figure was clearly her own.
It wasn’t just a similar person. Those empty eyes and expression perfectly matched her own reflection she saw every morning.
Even when she tightly closed her eyes to the unbelievable sight or tapped her head a few times, she still saw a reflection of ‘me’ doing the exact same actions like a mirror.
As she walked towards her, she also walked towards herself. With the same footsteps, with the same appearance.
But the only difference would be that incredibly empty and desolate expression.
“Who… who are you?”
Ariel asked herself across the mirror. Ariel in the mirror looked at her absentmindedly and opened her mouth.
“Who am I…? You know that best.”
“….What?”
“I am… you. You are me.”
“What is this…!”
“You and I are the same Ariel. But, a little different.”
Snap!
As Ariel in the mirror flicked her finger, Ariel’s appearance slowly began to change.
Instead of faint radiance, there were horns sprouting from her head and black wings with a different aura instead of torn pure white wings.
Ariel, drenched in blood all over her body, was looking at herself.
Unconsciously, Ariel raised her hand and touched her cheek. Ariel across the mirror mimicked the action exactly.
Even when I blinked my eyes or lowered my hand, the same actions repeated exactly.
“….Me?”
“Yeah, demon. That’s what you look like.”
“……..!”
Suddenly, a sound came from the side, and when I turned my head, the angel with an empty expression was still looking at me.
With an impression that seemed dissatisfied with something, the angel with folded arms continued the conversation.
“You have a look of not understanding.”
“What… in the world is going on? You… are me? And this appearance is…”
“…Ha. So this point hasn’t come yet. Of course, you wouldn’t know.”
“What?”
As the angel muttered incomprehensible words, Ariel asked again, but the angel ignored her, snorting.
“Yeah. For now… this is the best way.”
Snap!
As the angel sighed and flicked her finger, the stagnant world began to move again. At the same time, as the world shattered, the background that was Snowfield Village transformed into Sunset Academy.
“This is… the academy.”
“Yeah. And it’s the starting point of everything.”
“What does that mean…”
“If you don’t know, just shut up and watch.”
At that moment, Venice appeared before the two Ariels. Venice, who had been talking to the distant Ariel, moved to the garden outside the academy.
“Hmm~ Hmm.”
In the beautifully arranged and refined garden, Venice touches the fresh leaves, inhaling their fragrance as he smiles.
“Wow… Look at that guy. He’s really handsome.”
“Does he have a girlfriend? Ask him once!”
“No way! You ask him!”
As if Venice heard the voices of the girls who were secretly watching him, he smiles sneakily. Upon seeing this, the girls blush and quickly run away from their spots.
Clank-
“…I don’t like it.”
The angel looks at the girls running far away and shows an uncomfortable expression. But soon, whether it’s resignation or self-blame, he sighs with a sorrowful expression.
Thump… Thud…!
“Huh? What’s that sound?”
Venice hears a certain sound and walks towards its source. Ariel, watching his figure, knows exactly where the sound is coming from.
“Scumbag… It’s him!”
“What can a lowlife like him do…!”
“Ugh… Ugh…!”
It was the sight of two strangers, whose names and faces he had never heard of, brutally attacking one person.
Even for Ariel, who usually doesn’t care much about what people do or say, it was a serious assault.
“They do this at the Academy…?”
It was a scene he had never seen before. Wasn’t the Academy supposed to be a fair and safe space for everyone?
However, Ariel’s thoughts come to a halt. He felt an unknown dark energy from the stranger who continued the assault.
And then, Venice appeared in front of them. The hoodlums try to attack him, but of course, they fall to the ground without even putting up a fight.
It’s only natural. Venice was someone who survived in the midst of battles where lives were at stake every day. The punks were no match for him.
Venice’s close combat skills were so exceptional that even Ariel was often surprised.
After dealing with the punks and getting beaten up, Venice picked up the wallet dropped by one of them and made a serious expression.
“…Why is there dark magic…”
Ariel agreed with Venice’s murmuring. Why did they feel dark magic at the academy?
As they looked at the angel with such an expression, the angel once again raised its head and flicked its finger.
The background changed from the academy’s garden to the dormitory interior. Inside the dormitory room, Venice made a determined expression and muttered quietly in Moorish.
Then, Venice’s body seemed to become translucent. When he walked out of the door and walked in front of people, no one recognized Venice.
“That’s… from Snowfield Village..”
Venice headed towards the male dormitory without being noticed by anyone. As Venice waited in front of the dormitory room door with the number 118 written on it, the punks seen earlier entered the room, cursing.
Of course, they didn’t see Venice, and Venice quietly followed them into the room.
Ariel looked at them with an expression that seemed incomprehensible.
The punks cursed and started putting on the robes and masks of the dark sorcerer that they had hidden deep in the closet.
Even the iris of Venice’s eyes behind the mask shook when he saw that. Who could imagine that there would be a dark sorcerer in the Empire’s top academy?
The punks, or rather the dark sorcerers, quietly left the room and headed somewhere. Since the curfew had passed, the only ones wandering around were the guards, but even though the guards saw the appearance of the dark sorcerer, they briefly bowed their heads and resumed their guard duties.
“Just… how long has the academy been corrupt?”
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The former dark sorcerers. Even the corruption of the guards who had the duty to protect the former sorcerers. Now, there was no trace left.
The dark sorcerers, followed by Venice, walked towards the underground of the academy. Ariel had a puzzled expression because she had heard that there was nothing in the underground except for the warehouse, but she had personally gone to check.
Creak…
When they pushed the shelves in the warehouse room aside, a secret passage was revealed.
Without any surprise, they walked through the long corridor. Venice, who had not been noticed yet, followed quietly behind.
At the end of the long corridor, there was a massive chamber. And overlooking the entire chamber was a gigantic door. The dark magic flowing through the cracks of the door was enough to send shivers down even Ariel’s spine.
The dark sorcerers who were engaged in conversation took out objects emitting dark magic, and the door began to open. Venice watched this scene from a bend in the corridor.
As the door opened, an overwhelming amount of dark magic poured out. If an ordinary person were to come into contact with that energy, they would fall ill and die in an instant.
Inside the dark space behind the door, there were massive conference tables and chairs. And several figures could be seen. The old man among them, who seemed incredibly aged at first glance, emitted an immense amount of dark magic that was incomparable to the others.
“………!”
At that moment, the old man glanced at the hidden Venice in the corridor. Venice’s translucent body flickered, and Venice was taken aback, quickly hiding behind the wall.
Venice, who was breathing heavily, glared at the sorcerers behind the closing door, then made a determined expression and left the spot.
“…What on earth is going on? Why are there sorcerers in the Academy?”
“I told you. It’s the beginning of everything. And the starting point of ‘our’ suffering.”
The angel who uttered incomprehensible words again flicked his finger and returned to the dormitory.
Venice, hiding once again, barged into the room of the sorcerer he had seen earlier, swiftly subdued them, and began to descend alone into the underground.
Although he encountered guards on the way, Venice, wearing clothes and a mask stolen from the sorcerer, did not arouse suspicion. And so, Venice headed towards the underground, opened the secret door, and walked along the long corridor.
After conversing with the sorcerer guarding the security, the sorcerer laughed heartily and opened the door.
Although he laughed, Venice, hidden behind the mask, glared at the sorcerer with an icy and hateful expression.
It was an expression that Ariel had never seen before. The sight of it filled Ariel’s heart with a chilling hatred.
Venice pretended to be a sorcerer and sat at the conference table, and shortly after, the “Gathering of Sorcerers” began. Following the pointing of the most powerful old man, the sorcerers began recounting their actions one by one.
Murder, kidnapping, cannibalism, torture, drug experiments.
Each and every one of these repulsive crimes were recounted as if they were something to be proud of.
Underneath the table, where no one could see, Venice clenched both hands tightly, trembling. The expression behind the mask also did not hide the anger and hatred.
“…………”
As Ariel watched that sight, she felt that something had gone terribly wrong, but she couldn’t speak due to her anxiety and guilt.
When the angel saw her trembling eyes as if in an earthquake, he laughed and spoke.
“…You’ve only just realized now? We haven’t even started yet. Take a good look.”
The old man spread his arms and began to talk about his plan.
Starting from the small villages in the north, he would disrupt the Academy to divert attention. And in the end, he would bring down the Sunrise Empire amidst the chaos.
And even the story went that it would all begin in the Snowfield Village.
“………!”
The space where everything was destroyed. And the space where Ariel had cherished memories, albeit brief.
After the sorcerer’s assembly ended, Venice quietly returned to his room. Blood dripped down from how tightly he had bitten his lips.
With a pained expression, Venice quietly began to call out names.
The orphans. Snowfield Village. The Academy. Kale and Freya. Frost Territory.
“…Miss Ariel.”
And even her name. Venice’s expression turned resolute, and he muttered a few words in a low voice.
“…Even if it costs me everything. I will protect them. Even if it consumes me.”
In that moment when those few words struck her ears, Ariel’s complete disbelief shattered.
Venice’s determined eyes and expression, and the look of hatred and disgust he had towards the sorcerers, were enough to break Ariel’s disbelief.
“N-No… I…”
Ariel tried to deny the confronting truth, but she crumbled under the resolute expression of Venice and the sympathetic look he gave her as he stared at the angel’s face.
Her heart was already bursting with excruciating pain, and tears streamed down from her eyes.
What have I… What have I done?
As Ariel crumbles before me, I look at her and, tears streaming down my face, place my hand on her shoulder. And then I speak.
“…You can’t crumble yet. There’s still… so much left. So…”
Face it properly. Face your mistakes and sins.
Crack!
Bang! Crash!
The world begins to shatter and rebuild. Simultaneously, an unavoidable truth rushes in, even if I try to turn away from it.