The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 157

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return Episode 157
157. The Combat Angel
Kallen, an ordinary angel, couldn’t hide her shock.
‘What, what did that woman just say? What did this human just say?’
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard, but looking at the human’s expression, I hadn’t.
A clear mockery.
An inferior insect of a human was smirking at me with such insolence.
[How could this wretched human’s mind work like that?]
“My mind is perfectly fine, you bitch.”
[What? Ha, ha, ha…]
Kallen, who had been laughing mechanically as if utterly dumbfounded, suddenly crumpled her expression.
[This damned human bastard! This won’t do. You must die.]
Without hesitation, Kallen unleashed [Death Gaze], a one-time special ability, at the human before her.
A privilege granted solely to work on humans and control them.
But.
[Huh? Th, this… why is this happening? What? What?]
Kallen was genuinely flustered, muttering to herself without realizing it.
[Why? Why isn’t it working?]
No matter how many times I tried, it wouldn’t work.
‘I should still have uses of Death Gaze left, shouldn’t I?’
Since receiving the ability, I had never once used it against a human.
Humans groveled even without needing to use it.
‘But why isn’t it working? Why?’
I wanted to burst that arrogant human’s head like a firecracker, but nothing happened.
‘Die! I said die! Die, you insect bastard!’
Even glaring as if to kill, even screaming internally, there was no change whatsoever.
All I heard was not the sound of a head exploding, but only the irritating laughter of the human.
“What are you doing? You said to kill you? Why? Can’t you?”
[Th, this…!]
“Of course you can’t. Death Gaze is an ability that strikes the mind.”
[How, how did you know that…]
“That doesn’t matter.”
Ryu Min approached with a demonic smile.
“What you need to know is just one thing. Who’s the master and who’s the servant.”
[Obviously I’m the master…]
“Have you ever been slapped by an insect before?”
[What?]
Ryu Min’s hand flashed.
Crack—!
The angel’s head snapped to the side, and she collapsed like a tragic heroine.
Soon, the opposite cheek flushed a deep crimson.
Ryu Min’s hand moved in rapid succession.
Crack— crack— crack—
Angel couldn’t react fast enough to even see when his arm swung.
More precisely, she couldn’t muster a response to a shock she’d never experienced in all her existence.
Who could have foreseen that after descending to answer a divine oracle, she’d be slapped across the face by the very human she’d dismissed as vermin?
Crack— crack— crack!
With each blow, Angel’s lips split and blood sprayed forth.
Without divine power, an angel was no different from an ordinary mortal.
There was no way she could withstand a Player’s strength.
On the surface, these were merciless, cold slaps, but in truth, I was pouring all my concentration into controlling my force.
After all, every stat had doubled.
It was the effect of the [First Angel Slayer] title, which boosted my stats against divine beings.
‘I can’t accidentally kill her. Just enough to wound her pride.’
After ten slaps, my hand finally stopped.
‘That should do it.’
Angel’s once-pale cheeks were now flushed like heated iron, and her split lips bled freely.
“How does it feel? Getting hit by a bug?”
[….]
“Do you understand now? Who’s in charge and who isn’t?”
Rather than answer, Kallen shot the human a venomous glare.
She attempted to use divine power once more, but failed as expected.
‘Why isn’t it working? Why not?!’
As Kallen screamed internally, her gaze suddenly caught on one human.
‘Could it be… I have no divine power against him?’
As a test, I unleashed my ability toward that human.
Splort—!
The Holy Emperor’s head behind Ryu Min burst like a firecracker.
I’d wasted my last divine power on the wrong human.
‘It worked perfectly, so why no reaction?!’
It was absurd, but I’d already spent my divine power and lost my means of counterattack.
‘No, it’s not over yet.’
The feather daggers hidden within my wings.
Perhaps with these, I could kill that damned human.
But Kallen only entertained the thought.
She had no confidence.
No certainty whatsoever.
Could a mere dagger truly subdue a human toying with her through overwhelming force?
‘I… I need to ask what this creature wants first.’
Gritting her teeth and biding her time for the next opportunity, Kallen spoke in a bitter voice.
[What exactly do you want from me, human?]
“What do I want? Obviously.”
The human spoke with a swagger like a thief, extending his hand.
“Hand over the items.”
[What?]
“I won’t make ridiculous demands like excluding me from the survival game or keeping me alive until round twenty. It seems even you Angels can’t alter the system.”
[….]
“Instead, I’ll make a reasonable request. If you have items, hand them over.”
[Ah, items?]
“You Angels created this system, didn’t you? So hand them over while I’m asking nicely. There must be a way, right? If you don’t have items, give me something else.”
The human’s demand was simple.
He wasn’t asking for something massive enough to tamper with the system itself.
He was simply asking for something beneficial.
‘There’s no way that’s possible. I’m just a ninth-rank Angel who occasionally fills in as a guide!’
Kallen’s duties consisted of receiving divine messages or occasionally substituting as a guide.
There was no way I could distribute items at will.
The system wasn’t even designed that way to begin with.
‘Not just me. No Angel, no matter how high-ranking, has the authority to give out items.’
Everything operated through the system alone.
Humans probably believed the Angels had orchestrated and dragged them into this survival game, but the reality was entirely different.
They were merely ordinary Angels serving as guides.
‘What do I do? If I tell the truth, this insane human won’t back down….’
As Kallen fell silent, Ryu Min furrowed his brow and slapped her cheek again.
Smack!
“Won’t you hand them over? Nothing to say?”
[Ugh….]
Though not as hard as before, Kallen cried out in pain.
Her cheek was already so swollen that even a light touch hurt.
‘Damn this human bastard!’
Her pride stung more than the pain itself.
The desire for revenge sparked a sudden idea in her mind.
‘That’s it—I’ll deceive this stupid human and trap him. After all, he’s an idiot who believes I can actually give out items.’
Just as Ryu Min reached to slap her cheek again, Kallen cried out urgently, concealing her true intentions.
[W-wait! I’ll give them to you, items!]
“Now we’re getting somewhere. Hand them over quickly.”
[J-just wait. I don’t have the authority, so another Angel can give them. I’ll call them here.]
“Another Angel?”
Ryu Min tilted his head, then nodded readily as if to say do as you please.
“Call them. Besides, there’s no threat in calling those winged bird-brains. But you—you can’t move a single step from here. Can you do that? Angels must have some means of communication.”
[Ah, understood. Wait just three minutes. I’ll call an Angel who can provide the compensation….]
As Ryu Min crossed his arms and waited, Kallen exhaled an inner sigh.
Simultaneously, she had to forcibly suppress a sneer threatening to escape her lips.
‘Kekeke, pathetic human insect. You’re already a dead man. How dare you mock an Angel?’
The Angel Kallen was summoning was a Combat Angel.
A being of an entirely different caliber than ordinary Angels—created solely for destruction and slaughter.
‘Once the Combat Angel arrives, you’ll be finished.’
Kallen, who had been watching the human’s reaction, transmitted a distress signal and message to her superiors.
Fortunately, the fool had no idea what she was doing.
He didn’t even know whom she was summoning.
His expression remained indifferent, as if utterly unconcerned.
‘Of course he wouldn’t know whom I’m calling. Hehehehe.’
She swallowed her inner mockery, but there were three facts unknown to the Angel.
First, her every thought was being read completely by the human before her.
Second, the human before her was strong enough to tear apart Combat Angels like paper.
And finally.
‘She was deliberately acting to lure in a Combat Angel.’
Ryu Min, who could read minds, couldn’t possibly be ignorant.
Of what scheme the Angel was orchestrating.
‘She thinks summoning a Combat Angel gives her a chance. How naive.’
From the start, Ryu Min’s objective was to kill a Combat Angel and claim the first-kill reward.
Summoning a Combat Angel was exactly what he desired.
It was precisely his intention.
‘That’s why I made those unreasonable demands and threats. This way, her pride wounded, she’ll summon a Combat Angel regardless.’
Had he directly ordered her to summon a Combat Angel from the beginning, her defiance would have prevented it.
Angels were a race with powerful pride, after all.
‘So I acted like a clueless thug extorting money instead.’
Fortunately, she was moving exactly as he’d anticipated.
Soon the Combat Angel would arrive, and he’d claim the first-kill reward.
Ryu Min glanced back at Yamtti, who was hiding behind him.
She understood his signal and concealed herself without interfering.
Unless the Fascination Rune proved ineffective, there was no need for Yamtti to intervene.
Dealing with Angels was entirely Ryu Min’s domain.
‘Come on. I’ll tear apart whoever shows up.’
With eyes gleaming like a predator’s, Ryu Min waited eagerly for his prey to arrive.
* * *
Angels are classified into nine grades, from 9 to 1.
Grades 9 to 7 are ordinary Angels.
Grades 6 to 4 are standard Combat Angels.
Grades 3 to 1 are the highest tier among Combat Angels.
And then there are the seven Archangels, classified as beyond standard ranking.
This was the hierarchy of the Heavenly Realm that any Angel knew by heart.
Once they understood the ranks, many dreamed of accumulating merits and ascending to become higher-ranking Angels.
But for Bael, a sixth-rank combat Angel, such merits were utterly irrelevant.
Right now, I was so drowsy I felt like I might lose my mind.
[Ugh. If I could just sleep for an hour, I’d ask for nothing else.]
Bael, who had pulled an all-nighter standing watch since yesterday, yawned repeatedly.
Angels, like humans, possessed physical bodies.
Though our living conditions differed, we slept the same way to recover from daily fatigue.
The only difference was the absence of hunger, so we neither ate nor excreted.
[Sleep drive in noble Angels? I don’t understand why God made us this way. Wouldn’t it be better if we were purely spiritual entities without any desires at all?]
Of course, we were still superior to humans with their endless appetites for eating, sleeping, and defecating.
[I can’t fathom how humans repeat such tedious tasks. Ah, I suppose it’s unavoidable because of their desires?]
Bael knew the truth well.
Angels were a noble race possessing power and mental fortitude incomparable to humans.
Though I was frustrated by this weak flesh that couldn’t even overcome drowsiness, I was generally satisfied.
Of course, I was far from satisfied with my current position—merely standing by for distress signals.
[This is unbearable. I wish something would happen.]
Just as I was muttering to myself, trying to fight off the sleep.
Something actually did happen.
‘Huh? A distress signal?’
A distress signal came from my assigned territory.
Immediately focusing, I heard the message transmitted by a ninth-rank Angel.
[I’m being threatened by what appears to be a Player. Please help me, combat Angel.]
‘An Angel being threatened by a pathetic human?’
It was unthinkable, yet not entirely impossible.
If captured without their Stigma, an ordinary Angel would be powerless to resist.
That’s why ordinary Angels must never approach Players.
‘Stupid fool. Why did you hide your wings?’
Bael shook my head in disdain.
The dignity of Angels was in tatters.
But contrary to my irritated tone, the corners of my mouth curved upward.
[How convenient. This is perfect timing.]
It was a rare opportunity to relieve stress.
A Player who dared defy an Angel deserved summary execution without question.
In other words, there would be no consequences for dismantling the human’s body and toying with it.
Moreover, I could even earn a small merit for it.
[Whoever this human is, they’ve made a terrible mistake. I’ll go kill them right now.]
I already knew the location from the signal transmission.
Bael vanished in a flash of light.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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