Chapter 207 - Grand Demon Duke Agares (7)

Chapter 207 – Grand Demon Duke Agares…

They hadn’t even shown a glimpse of themselves when the god and demon were fighting. They only appeared now that it seemed like things were over.

And they didn’t look like low ranked Guardians.

Yvlke and Lupi were there, and Yeon-woo could also recognize the other four from the diary. They were part of the 12 Zodiacs. They were the highest Guardians.

Yvlke shook his head at the stage that had become a wasteland from the light and darkness.

“Really. It can’t get worse than this. We’ll only be scolded by our higher-ups.”

The Guardians all sighed. A few of them crossed their arms and cursed. Since they had to keep the stages well maintained, things like this broke their backs.

Also, it was uncountable how many players had been sacrificed from this. They couldn’t even get an estimate.

However, Yvlke was just smiling wildly, teeth bared. Though he said this was a nuisance, he acted like he was amused.

“Restore.”

Then, he adjusted his monocle and shouted the command word. It was a system call for only the highest leveled Guardians.

Chachachak—

Like a cassette was being rewinded, the forest quickly restored itself.

The dust and ash that had been spread around went back to where they should go, filling up the holes. The color turned back to brown, and the trees stood again. Even the fruits that were gone were regrowing.

Restoring the stage with the saved data looked interesting even to Yeon-woo. It was like the power of a god.

However, there was a limit to this as well. Although the stage could be restored, the lives of the players and the damage couldn’t.

Just how many players had died from this? And how many clans had been damaged from this? The Guardians all rubbed their temples. They all began to move to restore where Agares’s vestige was still left.

And meanwhile.

Yvlke slowly approached Yeon-woo and put his adorable hand on Yeon-woo’s head.

After Yeon-woo checked that the Guardians arrived, he had been wandering around the brink of death.

He had used the Demon’s Blessing to its limit, so it was quickly spreading like poison. The Demonic Dragon was amazing because it could balance between the two blessings. If this balance was tilted in the slightest, it was extremely dangerous.

Because of that, as his Demon’s Blessing declined, his body was destroyed, and his power quickly disappeared. As his body returned to a normal human’s, the destruction was happening rapidly.

The only silver lining was that Yeon-woo’s consciousness and physical body were separated as much as possible with Time Difference.

If even that wasn’t possible, his body would’ve already been melted by the Devil Poison. However, he was still in a critical situation as his consciousness was becoming messed up.

Yeon-woo even tried to control the Demon’s Blessing that was eating up at him.

Although the Demon’s Blessing that was taken from Agares was only a bit, it was equivalent to the power of a lower-level demon.

With this, the Philosopher’s Stone could be completed. No, that wasn’t even important to Yeon-woo right now. He wanted to gather it all in one place with the thought of being able to treat Sesha.

But these were all things that were only possible when his condition was normal, with his stamina completely drained right now, that was impossible.

Yvlke had realized Yeon-woo’s condition right away and shook his head, thinking Yeon-woo really was something.

“Ohyohyohyohyo. You’re the second person to trouble me like this since the Tower was created. Shall we calculate the rewards first?”

[All trials have been completed.]

[The calculation is beginning.]

[Karma is being added.]

[You have achieved an outstanding accomplishment. Would you like to put your name on the hall of fame?]

[You have refused to register your name.]

[But even if…..]

…..

The messages that appeared every time he cleared a stage quickly flew up, and his total Karma with the amount he had earned from the 23rd floor popped up.

Yvlke’s eyes widened in astonishment. He knew that Yeon-woo hadn’t used his Karma since the 11th floor, but this was an astronomical number that a player on the lower floor couldn’t have.

But Yvlke just lifted a corner of his mouth. This much would be enough for Yeon-woo’s reward.

“It’s a bit of a shame it’s being used like this. But it won’t be bad for you either.”

According to the need, the Guardians had the ability to forcibly give a player a reward that fit them. It didn’t happen often because it could be considered overstepping their boundaries, but Yvlke didn’t care.

Chrrrk—

The total Karma started to disappear at a quick rate. At the same time, a light started to come from Yvlke’s hand, which was still on Yeon-woo’s head, and it was absorbed into him.

The Demon’s Blessing that was about to swallow Yeon-woo any moment suddenly settled down. Then, the powerless Dragon’s Blessing came to life again and the balance was fixed.

As the dark dragon scales regained their color, they shined clearly like sapphires. His injury was fixed, and his skin became clean. Only the blood around his mouth showed that he had been hurt from Devil Poison.

“Hah…..!”

Yeon-woo gasped as he woke up. Something dark came out from his mouth and scattered into the air.

He regained his strength, but his mentality hadn’t been completely healed, so he was tired.

“Drink this too.”

Yvlke tossed the thing that came from Yeon-woo’s remaining Karma.

It was a crystal bottle about the size of a hand with a clear blue liquid sloshing inside of it.

Yeon-woo gulped it down without any hesitation. A refreshing feeling spread throughout his entire body. His fatigue evaporated.

“What you just drank is an elixir called Nectar. It’s something that even the highest Guardians can’t get easily, so actually, you lacked some Karma. Well, we can just say the rest of it was a freebie. Ohyohyohyo.”

Only then was Yeon-woo able to catch his breath.

He checked the bump that was on his solar plexus.

[Agares’s Devil Core]

Category: Jewel

Rank: S~??? (Unable to be determined)

Summary: The form of the Grand Demon Duke Agares’s vestige (Demon’s Blessing). It wasn’t sturdily made, so it can become loose anytime.

Yvlke had made the Demon’s Blessing into a jewel with the Karma that Yeon-woo had.

Normally, it would’ve been impossible, but the Karma that Yeon-woo had earned until now was astronomical, and Yvlke had specially interfered in it as one of the highest Guardians.

It was more than what he would’ve gotten if he got a demon, and it would be no problem treating Sesha with this.

So he had been happy, but Yeon-woo frowned after seeing the Devil Core.

It was manufactured messily. He wouldn’t be able to send it out of his body if it was like this.

So Yeon-woo looked at Yvlke, but Yvlke just firmly shook his head.

“No more than this. Even this counts as meddling too much, since the Karma of player ### is also extremely lacking. And don’t you know that a reward is set up so it can’t be shared with other people?”

While Yeon-woo’s head was spinning, considering the different routes he could take, someone quietly landed from the red sky. It was Hermes.

Yvlke politely bowed. However, he looked more annoyed than respectful.

Hermes smirked like he was used to it, and he approached Yeon-woo. His presence was completely erased now.

“I know what you’re thinking about so urgently. But don’t rush. Then you’ll lose the things that are around you. You’re not that kind of person, right?”

Hermes covered Yeon-woo’s face with a soft stroke of his hand. Yeon-woo wanted to ask what he was doing, but as his eyes closed, his body fell forward. His mind hadn’t been able to bear any more because of his fatigue.

Then, something white was created around Yeon-woo. Its warm energy faded into Yeon-woo.

Hermes’s eyes became bigger as someone else beat him to do what he had been intending. He lightly smiled, looking up at the sky.

Athena. She had always looked at Yeon-woo with warm eyes. It was obvious what kind of face she was making.

“Ohyohyohyo. Are you leaving?’

Then, Yvlke tossed Hermes a question. His smile was creepy, but he looked like he was in a good mood.

Hermes turned back to look at Yvlke, and nodded his head. He just said a few words before returning to his boas.

“Since I don’t have the time, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Ohyohyohyo. There are so many eyes watching. Of course I’ll do a good job.”

Hermes returned to the sky with his boas. The iron door opened and closed with a boom.

And like that, the last of the great beings on the 23rd floor disappeared.

Yvlke just silently watched, and turned his head to where Yeon-woo was.

“Alright. Then shall we finish up?”

***

How much time had passed?

Yeon-woo slowly lifted his heavy eyelids. His blurry world turned clearer.

Edora was wiping his forehead with a wet towel. Edora’s eyes widened as she met his eyes, and she smiled.

“Are you up?”

Yeon-woo didn’t understand the situation for a moment. Why was he here? The Guardians had appeared, and Yvlke had helped him to settle the Demon’s Blessing. And as Hermes approached him, he fell asleep.

Thinking about it, he felt like he knew what happened. Phante and Edora, who had been safe somewhere else, had saved him.

Then what about everyone else? Sesha? Brahm? Galliard? And the other Guardians?

He couldn’t ask everything at once, so he shortened everything to just one question.

“Where are we?”

“The 24th floor.”

“The 24th?”

It was completely unexpected.

Edora nodded her head at Yeon-woo’s question.

“Yes. The air in the forest was too dark, so we immediately brought you here. This is a lodge in the start zone.”

Unlike the 23rd floor, the 24th floor was famous for its sights. It was the perfect place to recover.

“Then what about everyone else?”

“That’s…..”

Edora wasn’t able to answer right away, and paused.

Yeon-woo felt anxiety flash through his mind. He tried to force himself up, but dizziness pushed him back.

“Oraboni!”

Edora quickly supported Yeon-woo. Yeon-woo was about to raise his hand to stop her, but he brought his hand to his face. His mask wasn’t on.

Yeon-woo looked at Edora with a stiff expression. Edora just carefully gave Yeon-woo his mask like it didn’t matter.

However, Yeon-woo couldn’t accept the mask easily. Countless thoughts filled his head.

“You…..”

The reason why he had shown Sesha his face was because she was his blood. However, Phante and Edora were different. He treated them like his siblings, but it was completely separate from revealing his face to them.

His brother had thought of the Arthia members as his family as well. He had loved them too. However, Arthia had fallen from the greed of the members.

There was no guarantee that these two wouldn’t. He trusted them, but that was why he couldn’t trust them even more. The moment he took off his mask, he would be giving his everything to them. He didn’t want to do that. This could be a weakness that came back to hurt him in the future.

So Yeon-woo thought coldly to himself for a moment. How many people had seen? Two? Or everyone, when he came up from the 23th floor? No. Edora wouldn’t have been that careless, so it was probably just the two.

Then. If it was just the two. What should he do about Phante and Edora? Did he have to shut them up? It was possible they didn’t know the meaning behind his face, but it was even more likely that they did. His brother had been too famous.

No. Even if they didn’t, he didn’t want to leave any loose variables.

With thoughts like these, his head turned complicated.

There was no way Edora didn’t see that with her Insight.

However, Edora just slowly approached him. Then, she pulled Yeon-woo into her arms. He could resist, but for some reason, he didn’t, so he ended up in Edora’s arms. The scent of warm flesh wafted up.

Edora softly stroked Yeon-woo’s head. Like she understood everything. Like she was comforting him, telling him not to worry.

Yeon-woo silently closed his eyes. There weren’t any more thoughts in his head. No, he didn’t want to think. So he just stayed like that for a long time.

It was so very warm inside Edora’s arms.