"Look up there! What is that?!"
"Such a huge design! A projection?"
"It feels terrifying"
"What is that thing?!"
The clamor gradually died away,
Replaced by uncertain murmurs and a growing wave of fear.
Countless eyes stared in horror at the gigantic, evil magic circle above.
Lucifer felt the fear below risingstreams convergingand the curve of his mouth grew ever more cruel.
This was only the appetizer.
"Tremble, insects. Your terror shall be the cornerstone of my return to Heaven!"
He proclaimed.
The voice was not loud, yet like a demonic whisper in the ear,
It pierced space itself, ringing in every upturned student's heart and instantly driving panic to its peak!
"My God, someone spoke!"
"A monster! It's a monster!"
"Run!"
Screams erupted; the field was plunged into chaos.
Pleasure flashed in Lucifer's eyes.
Magic surged into his body.
Without hesitation, he slammed his raised right hand downward!
"Rain of Hellfire!"
The core of the massive circle burst into a blinding darkred light.
Countless blackflamed, lavalike fireballs howled forth.
Lucifer could already picture what would follow:
Fireballs striking earth, explosions, flames spreading panic like a plague.
Despairing screams merging into a torrent, the vast, pure energy of fear flooding into him like a river granting power enough to crush both Demon King and Hero!
Yet
Just as the dense shower of black fireballs was about to reach the air above the field
Sudden upheaval!
It was as though someone pressed a pause button on the entire space.
Every descending fireball, tails of flame and all, solidified in midair,
Like specimens embedded in a gigantic block of transparent amber.
Even the destructive energy fluctuations and shrill screams vanished, as if erased!
~~~
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Chapter 816: Jealous and Loss Kirisu
Lucifer's slit pupils contracted to their limit.
The cruel grin on his face froze at once, replaced by utter shock and disbelief.
"What?!"
The cry burst from his throat.
This was completely beyond his comprehension!
His magic had been forcibly halted?
No not halted!
It had been frozen?!
In the instant his mind reeled
A voice, calm and rippleless like a ghost's whisper, sounded a mere step behind him.
"You're very bold."
The words were quiet, yet they pierced the congealed air, an ice awl boring into Lucifer's eardrums.
"Your Demon King lives so cautiously in this world he even pays for the airconditioning in installments, never daring the slightest misstep," the voice added, laced with faint mockery.
"And you"
It paused.
A terror like the weight of the heavens crashing down enveloped Lucifer in a heartbeat.
"actually dare to stand before me and release this trash?"
Every drop of blood in Lucifer's body froze.
He jerkedalmost mechanicallytwisting his neck to face the speaker.
Less than a metre behind him, a figure in an ordinary Academy City boys' uniform hovered in midair.
Black hair, black eyes, a young, striking faceseemingly harmless.
Yet those eyes, deep as the cosmos, regarded him coolly, like a god gazing at an ant trying to shake a tree.
It wasRei Ao.
A short while earlier
A lazy, faintly suggestive hush filled the teachers' office.
Afternoon sunlight filtered through the blinds, slicing the polished floor into alternating bands of light and shadow.
Hiratsuka Shizukathe "IronFist" language teacher and studentaffairs advisor, famed for her forthright personalitywas showing a rare, feminine side.
She was pinned between her office chair and a broad, solid embrace.
Her pricey women's blazer lay casually over the chair back; two buttons of her white blouse were undone, revealing a delicate collarbone and a teasing hint of snowy skin.
Her cheeks were flushed crimson.
The sharp glint in her eyes had turned hazy.
She panted softly, lips a little swollen.
"RRei Ao"
Her voice quivered, halfscolding, halfcoquettish.
"The break is only ten minutesyyou overenergised brat"
"Heh."
Rei Ao chuckled low.
Instead of letting go, he rested his chin against her soft red hair,
drawing a deep breath.
His nose filled with the scent of her shampoo, mingled with the faint tobacco and mature feminine aroma unique to her.
"Shizukanee always smells so good."
His lazy, magnetic voice sent warm breath skimming her ear, raising goosebumps on her sensitive skin.
"Sstop that!"
Her face burned still hotter.
Her words were stern, but her body leaned back, pressing closer into his arms.
She grumbled, yet inwardly savoured the feeling of being cherished and needed.
Just as Rei Ao was about to continue, he suddenly froze.
The deep eyes that had brimmed with tenderness turned razorsharp in an instant,
his gaze piercing the office wall toward the distant sky.
A chill, unseen yet hairraising, flashed around him.
"What's wrong?"
Hiratsuka sensed the change at once, snapping out of the haze.
Rei Ao released her and straightened,
the lazy smile gone, replaced by detached scrutiny.
"A blind little bug has wandered onto my turf to make trouble."
Though his tone was calm, Hiratsuka felt invisible pressure.
She frowned. "Need help?"
Instinctively she clenched her fist.
"Just a small pest."
He waved carelesslyas trivial as shooing a fly.
Bending down, he pressed a swift, forceful kiss to her slightly swollen lips.
"Wait for me."
Before the words had faded,
his figure flickered like a glitching TV screen
then, with a soft whoosh, vanished completely.
No spatial ripple, no energy wave, as though he had never existed.
The office was left with only Hiratsuka Shizuka,
and the lingering, uniquely Rei Ao scent and a trace of heat.
She stood dazed for a few seconds,
then touched her stilltingling lips.
Feeling the warmth of that kiss, the blush that had just subsided crept back up.
Flustered, she tidied her rumpled blouse and tousled hair, trying to regain her usual authoritative look.
Just as she fastened the last button, the office door was rapped.
Knock knock!
"Hiratsuka-sensei? Are you in? It's about the venue schedule for next week's sports festival"
A clear, pleasant voice called, and the door opened.
Kirisu Mafuyu entered with a stack of documents. Her gaze habitually swept the room
and froze.
The distinctive, forceful aura lingering in the airunmistakably Rei Ao'swas not unfamiliar to her.
She could even pick out Hiratsuka's scent entwined within it.
Her eyes moved to Hiratsukathough tidied, the slightly mussed hair, excessively flushed cheeks, faintly moist lips, and the atmosphere that had not wholly dispersed
Kirisu pushed up her glasses; the glance behind the lenses was scalpelsharp, dissecting what had occurred with nearperfect accuracy.
"Ahem"
Hiratsuka coughed awkwardly,
trying to hide her discomposure.
"AhKirisu-sensei.
The sportsfestival venue files, right? Just leave them on my desk; I'll look them over later."
"Ookay"
The awkwardness thickened between them.
Kirisu placed the files silently, yet her eyes lingered on Hiratsuka, carrying a trace of inquiryand, unbeknownst to her, the faintest tinge of jealousy.
I'm a teacher too why doesn't Rei Aokun ever seek me out?
~~~
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Chapter 817: A Purple Bird that lost its wings....
Same occupation, both teachers.
Why why does he always go to Hiratsukasensei?
Yes, Hiratsukasensei is certainly attractive, and her personality is very distinctive.
KirisuMafuyu wrestled internally to find the right adjective.
But I'm I'm not lacking, am I?
Knowledge, looks, poiseMafuyu knew her own qualifications perfectly well.
Besides, when we're in bed he
A sudden, inexplicable wave of jealousy surged up.
She took a deep breath; on the "Ice Queen's" face appeared a rare hint of hesitation and embarrassment.
Yet she still worked up her courage and, in the calmest voice she could manage, asked:
"Hiratsukasensei um may I ask you something?"
HiratsukaShizuka, who had just lifted her waterglass to hide her own awkwardness, froze.
"Hm? What is it?"
A faint blush crept over Mafuyu's pale cheeks; her voice dropped even lower, tinged with a shyness she'd never shown before.
"It's about Rei Aokun. How how did you get him to notice you?"
Asking that nearly used up her lifetime allotment of courage.
She immediately bowed her head, afraid to meet Hiratsuka's eyes.
Hiratsuka: ""
She almost spit out her water, staring wideeyed at the colleague famous for her frosty selfcontrol.
What on earthwhere did this personality swap come from?!
Cut to the present moment.
Lucifer, full of smug confidence, unleashes Rain of Hellfire and prepares to harvest the flood of fear surging up from below.
In the blink of an eye, the cruel grin on his face freezes, as though trapped in ice.
His devastating spellclusters of lava fireballs wreathed in black flameplunges to within a hundred meters of the ground and slams into an invisible, utterly impassable Wall of Sighs.
Space congeals.
Time halts.
Energy is erased.
Sound is swallowed whole.
His proud magic hangs there, stuck in midair, unable to stir the faintest ripple.
Even the dazzling crimson core of the magic circle snuffs out like a candle flame.
This incomprehensible, worldshattering sight makes Lucifer's slit pupils contract to pinpoints.
A chill like never before spears up his spine.
The power he prided himself onmagic wrung from this world's very ruleshas been brushed away as casually as dust!
"Wwhat?!"
The shocked roar catches in his throat.
Then a voicecalm as dead water, yet carrying absolute authoritysounds behind him.
"You're awfully bold."
So close it feels like a whisper on his nape, every word an ice awl to the soul.
"Your Demon King tiptoes through this world, paying for an airconditioner in installments, afraid to step an inch out of line
and you"
The voice pauses.
An indescribable pressure crashes down, as though the whole heavens collapse.
Lucifer feels like an insect pinned in amber; even thought nearly freezes.
"dare stand before me and fling this trash?"
He forces his neck to turn, creaking like a rusted gear.
Reflected in his terrified pupils is a boy in an ordinary highschool uniform:
black hair, blue eyes, goodlooking, seemingly harmless.
Yet those eyes, deep as cosmic voids, regard him with cold indifferencenot anger, not bloodlust, but the detached gaze a human gives an ant.
Who is this?
How can such a monster exist?
Lucifer's mind goes blank, leaving only raw, primal terror.
Every cell screams: RUN! Escape at once, whatever it takes!
Black wings flare with his last scrap of demonic power, trying to tear space openbut the instant the thought forms, a slender, spotless hand rests lightly on his shoulder.
With that single touch, every shred of magic fueling the teleport fizzles out, frozen at absolute zero.
His vaunted spatial power can't stir a ripple; the pressure feels like it will crush his shoulder blade.
Pinned like a butterfly on a board, he can't even struggle.
Cold sweat soaks his back; for the first time his face shows naked terror and despair.
Rei Ao seems indifferent, studying Lucifer's sorry state with mild curiosity.
Smiling, he asks:
"Hey, purplefeathered birdman
you're with that broke Demon King, right? SadaoMaouSatan?"
Lucifer freezes. His brain, still reeling, instinctively wants to answer Of course I know the Demon King, I'm hisbut before he can speak, Rei Ao's smile vanishes. His eyes turn too kindly.
"Forget it."
Lucifer: "???"
Forget what?
"Doesn't matter if you know him or how you're connected"
Rei Ao raises his other hand, forming an utterly ordinarylooking fist.
"First I beat you. Then we talk."
In the next instant, reflected in Lucifer's dilated pupils, that "ordinary" fist expandstearing the air with a physical shriek (no energy flare, just sheer speed).
BOOM!
A deep, gutchurning impact.
Lucifer feels as if a falling star has smashed into his face.
Agony erupts; he hears his nose shatter, cheekbones crack.
Vision fills with blackness and sparks. Consciousness flickers like a candle in a gale.
His body rockets earthward like a kicked football.
But before he blacks out entirely, a force grabs him, halting the freefall toward the school field below.
Space splits open.
Rei Ao: "Let's go. Time to meet your Demon King."
~~~
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Chapter 818: Shameless Life of the Demon King...
"Sigh"
A heavy sigh echoed through the tiny rented room.
SadaoMaouonce the Demon King Satansat there in a cheap Tshirt emblazoned with the "MgRonald" logo, gloomily poking at the last few strands of pickled vegetables in his bowl.
"Ashiya, do you think we should hit the convenience store tomorrow and see if any expiring rice balls are on clearance?
Just pickles every daymy DemonKing stomach is about to revolt."
Alsiel, Grand General of the Demon Army, currently living under the alias Shir Ashiya, pushed his blackrimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. His face was as grave as if he were directing a campaign to decide the very fate of demonkind.
"My lord, please endure a little longer.
There are still three days until payday. I've crunched the '473' budget again: what we have left is only enough for the bareminimum carbs and salt necessary to keep us breathing."
"Discount rice balls are regrettably outside the plan."
He paused, then added, "Also, the last installment on the airconditioner is due tomorrow. If we miss it, they'll repossess the unit."
"Ahhhthe A/C!"
Sadao clutched his head in agony.
"That thing is my lifeline! I'll die without it!"
He could already picture himself shriveling into a salted fish in this steamy little room.
While the two of them stared at the empty dishes and the ominous payment notice for the A/Cand even toyed with the idea of "camping" on a park bench for a night to save electricity
BOOM!
A thunderous crash!
Something heavy slammed through the ceiling and landed hard on the tatami, shaking their entire "Demon King Castle" three times.
