Chapter 16: Rumors Spread
"Pfft—"
Kouya's lungs nearly exploded with rage. (╯‵□′）╯︵┻━┻! The sheer absurdity of it all made his head pound. He could almost feel the blood rushing up from his chest, threatening to burst out of his throat.
I don't know if that idiot angel suffered massive blood loss, but damn it, I was so pissed off I almost vomited blood!
Three hundred liters of blood! Maybe even four hundred by now! Just thinking about those idiots talking nonsense behind his back made him want to flip every desk in the school.
Even if you poured all the waters of the five great lakes and the four seas over me, it still wouldn't wash away this injustice! The whole world was conspiring to make him the villain of a joke.
…
By lunchtime, Kouya had already become the hottest topic on campus. The rumors had spread like wildfire, jumping from class to class, morphing with every retelling until they sounded like a soap opera. As he walked down the hallway, countless girls blushed, whispered, and then looked away as soon as his gaze swept across them.
"Look, look, that's him!"
"He's only been here for a week, and he's already living together with the girl who sits behind him!"
"I heard that poor girl got her period, and he still bullied her. She ended up bleeding so much she couldn't even get out of bed!"
"Spotted one scumbag. Scumbag spotted."
"Oh my god, he looks so calm! So bold! The nerve of him!"
"..."
Kouya kept a blank face, ignoring all the gossiping bystanders as he bought some bread and water and headed to the rooftop. He could feel the weight of their stares on his back, like a thousand needles, but his expression didn't even twitch.
Mind control, memory alteration, slave marks... If he really wanted to punish these people, Kouya had at least a thousand ways to turn them into toys and play with them at will. He could make them confess their secrets, kneel, cry, or even dance like puppets.
But... there was no point in that. Destroying fools was easy; restraining himself was harder. It wasn't power that defined him anymore—it was control.
Why had he descended into this world?
It wasn't on a whim. He didn't come just to hide among mortals. There was purpose even in his disguise.
Even though he escaped in time after taking that final "step," his humanity had still been affected. Fragments of emotion, shards of memory—things he thought he'd discarded long ago—still lingered within him, whispering that perhaps life wasn't meant to be endless war.
To be honest, what he was seeking wasn't so-called "leisure" but the lost feelings of excitement—and the beauty of life itself. A sunrise worth watching. A smile that wasn't forced. A world that didn't bow or tremble at his name.
…
"I'm s-sorry!"
Under a blooming cherry blossom tree, the girl named Kaoru came running up to him, tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes. Her breath came out in short gasps, her small hands gripping the hem of her skirt nervously.
Because she had spoken too carelessly, she had caused Kouya so much trouble. Although everyone knew it was just a rumor—if it had really happened, Kouya would have already been called to the principal's office—the impact was still bad. Whispers could stain a reputation faster than blood could be washed from hands.
Vigne also said guiltily, "I'm sorry. We tried really hard to explain, but..." Her voice faltered, and her wings drooped just slightly.
But often, the truth didn't matter. If a rumor was more interesting, it spread much faster. People didn't crave reality—they craved drama.
To be fair, the Demon Lord had seen storms far worse than this. He didn't really care about the looks of contempt others gave him. He'd faced armies, divine punishment, and betrayal—but this? This was just noise.
Still, he had only wanted a quiet school life, but now he was suddenly famous and getting stares everywhere he went... it was annoying. He could no longer walk through the halls without hearing snippets of gossip or seeing someone hurriedly hide their phone after snapping a picture.
"I'll let it slide this time, but don't let it happen again."
"Thank you!" the girl quickly bowed in gratitude, nearly losing balance from how fast she bent forward.
Kouya waved a hand dismissively and turned to head up to the rooftop, his footsteps echoing softly on the stairwell.
At the stair landing, he ran into the red-haired little devil, Satania.
The red-haired girl was sitting on the steps with two seaweed rice balls in her hands. When she saw Kouya, her dark red eyes widened, and her lips parted to reveal a cute little fang. Her tail flicked nervously behind her, betraying her excitement.
As Kouya looked at her, Satania quickly turned her head away, but her shoulders started shaking. Her body quivered with effort as she tried to contain it.
If you listened closely, you could hear her trying to stifle giggles—"pfft, pfft."
Kouya's face darkened.
It was one thing for strangers to laugh at him—they didn't even know his name—but this idiot demon, whose combat power was lower than a stray dog's, dared to laugh at the Demon Lord himself? Truly outrageous.
"Is it that funny?" Kouya narrowed his eyes, his voice low and calm but heavy with pressure.
"N-no!" Satania hurriedly covered her mouth, peeking up at him with two big round eyes. The corners of her lips still twitched, though, betraying her.
Kouya snorted and was about to leave when that idiot demon just had to open her mouth: "That stupid Gabriel probably didn't come to school for some other reason, right? I mean, she's usually healthy..."
I think anyone else could call her an idiot—but not you. If she's an idiot, then what are you, you self-propelled stupidity generator?
A single-celled paramecium? Maybe even less.
"So... so she must be pregnant, right? That's gotta be it!"
Kouya almost blew a vein. Everyone else was stuck at the 'too weak to get out of bed' rumor, but you? You jumped straight to pregnancy!
Pregnant my ass!
Even a breeding-crazed hamster wouldn't move that fast!
The worst part was that the idiot demon didn't even notice Kouya's face darkening by the second. She just kept laughing, clutching her stomach, and soon learned what it meant to laugh too hard.
"Hahaha… Ow! Ow ow ow!"
Kouya frowned, grabbed the girl's right ear, and said, "Itchy skin, huh?"
"N-no!" Satania tilted her face up, standing on tiptoe, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Kouya-kun, s-stop! If you do that, I'll get pregnant!"
Pregnant your sister!
Last time I saw your safety shorts, you said that would make you pregnant. Now I pull your ear and you say that too. Who the hell taught your biology class!
Just then, two girls walked around the corner of the stairs—a place usually empty. They seemed to have heard only that last line—Satania's tearful cry of "I'll get pregnant!"
The two froze in place, trembling, eyes wide like frightened rabbits staring at a wolf. The silence stretched for a second that felt eternal.
Kouya felt his scalp go numb. Damn it. He was about to explain, but the girls screamed and ran off like their lives depended on it.
"Something terrible happened! Kouya-kun is trying to get a girl pregnant in the stairwell!"
"Pfft—"
Kouya saw black spots in his vision and almost fainted. His breath came out ragged. The corners of his lips twitched uncontrollably.
Damn it all!
What the hell is wrong with you girls! Would it kill you to stop taking everything out of context! At least get the full story before spreading rumors! If I weren't way calmer than before, I'd destroy this whole damn world!
The hallway was right next to several classrooms. People were eating lunch or napping, but when they heard the scream, it was like sharks smelling blood—their eyes lit up. Phones came out. Heads popped out of doors.
"Hey, hey, what was that? I think I just heard something insane."
"Oh man, he was making babies in the stairwell? Someone actually caught him!"
"They said it was Kouya, right? Isn't he the guy whose girlfriend bled out this morning and couldn't get out of bed?"
"Ugh, disgusting. His girlfriend's barely alive at home, and instead of taking care of her, he's here doing that at school."
"That poor girl must have been forced."
"What a total scumbag!"
"..."
Kouya's ear twitched as he caught every word of their gossip. His scalp tingled in fury. His teeth clenched, and his aura nearly slipped for a moment, making the air around him heavy.
Would it kill you to stop spreading rumors? Would it kill you to ask what really happened? How depraved do you think I am—doing lewd stuff with a classmate in a public hallway!
Not far from the stairwell, a few bold students peeked around the corner, whispering excitedly, one of them even recording from behind a locker door.
Then a sudden gust of wind swept through the corridor, blowing up dust that made Satania cough and cover her mouth. Her wings fluttered awkwardly, sending crumbs from her rice ball flying.
But in the eyes of those watching, that scene turned into something else entirely—
"N-no way! The girl's already having morning sickness!"
"Pfft—"
Whoever started that rumor—come here! I swear I won't kill you!
Don't think I'm stupid!
Even if I really had done something with this red-haired idiot demon, it would still take at least two months before morning sickness shows up!