Chapter 304 - Like A Zombie Movie Death Flag
"Why is... demonic energy..."
Uriel's eyes trembled, but the demonic energy could only be felt for a brief moment. Oh Kang-Woo's golden energy set the demonic energy ablaze as they clashed.
"Cough!"
Kang-Woo bent over like a bow and coughed blood. It was dark red, proving he had not been encroached upon by demonic energy and was purely human.
"A-Arghh."
Blood poured from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. So much blood to the point that it was a wonder if humans had this much blood poured on Uriel's body.
"Wh-What the..." Uriel's voice trembled.
His eyes wide open, he held the bleeding Kang-Woo.
"Sh-Shit!"
He chanted divine magic. It wasn't time to think about why demonic energy was flowing out of Kang-Woo's body. Uriel kissed Kang-Woo without hesitation even though blood was still coming out of his mouth.
Whoom!!
Radiant sacred power entered Kang-Woo's body. It was the strongest healing divine magic Uriel could use. The magic that only activated through mouth-to-mouth healed Kang-Woo, but...
"Cough!"
Once again, dark red blood spurted out of Kang-Woo's mouth.
"Wha... Wh-Why?"
Uriel's face paled.
Although it had a bothersome condition of requiring mouth-to-mouth contact, it was a highly advanced divine magic. It made no sense that it didn't have any effect.
"Kehehe, it's pointless."
A chilling laugh reached his ears, and Uriel turned his head. He saw Rakiel making a sly smile as he looked at the collapsed Kang-Woo.
Crackle!
Uriel's sky-blue hair slowly rose up, and blue lightning danced around him.
"What did you do... to Kang-Woo?" Thê ïñčëptïøn øf thïš çøntënt çån bë tråçëd tø n0v€1b¡n★
It was the second time that he had seen Kang-Woo like this. To make matters worse, demonic energy had even flowed out of him this time.
'There's no way this is a coincidence.'
Rakiel had definitely done something.
"Pfft, bwahahahaha!" Rakiel burst into laughter, and thick demonic energy burst out of him.
Rakiel swept up his silver hair and said, "Fascinating. Since when have angels cared for humans this much?"
"Rakiel..." Uriel said in rage. "I asked you what you did."
Blue lightning swept through the surroundings like a storm.
A barrier of demonic energy blocked the lightning storm.
Rakiel leisurely answered, "I didn't do anything."
"You didn't do anything...?"
Split.
Cracks formed on the ground Uriel stood on.
"If you didn't do anything, then why is this human emitting demonic energy?!" Uriel's rage-filled shout echoed throughout the mountain.
Rakiel made a sly smile. "Pfft, I guess you have a point."
"Rakiel...!"
"Jeez, don't get so angry. You're scaring me."
Rakiel hugged himself and trembled.
Uriel bit his lips. He felt that something was strange at that moment.
'What?'
Uriel bit his lip. Just then, a strange feeling passed through his mind.
'What?'
Uriel stared at Rakiel while narrowing his eyes. He was soon able to figure out what the source of his strange feeling was.
'His eyes...'
They were off. Although Rakiel was smiling, his eyes were empty. It was as if someone was controlling him.
'What in the—'
"Do you want to know why that human is acting like that?"
Uriel's thoughts didn't last long. He drew out his power again as Rakiel continued his mocking.
Rumble!!
A blue bolt of lightning shot toward Rakiel.
"Whoa!"
"RAKIEEEEEEELL!!"
Crackle!!
Uriel raised his hand in rage and quickly shot out blue bolts of lightning, but Rakiel deflected the bolts with ease.
Rakiel turned around and leisurely disappeared.
"A-Arghh."
Just when Uriel spread out his wings to chase after Rakiel, he froze after hearing Kang-Woo's groans.
"Shit, shit, shit!!!" Uriel cursed and approached Kang-Woo.
Since he had found out that Kang-Woo's symptoms were due to demonic energy encroachment, it was simple to treat.
Whoom!!
He placed his hands on Kang-Woo's chest. Pure-white light flowed into Kang-Woo's body. Uriel's sacred power was neutralizing the demonic energy.
"Ah..." Kang-Woo slowly opened his eyes.
He looked around after coming back to his senses, and then discovered the pool of blood that he had made. Kang-Woo's expression hardened.
There was a heavy silence.
Kang-Woo sighed. He averted his gaze from Uriel while making a bitter smile. "I guess it ended up like this."
"You..." Uriel looked at Kang-Woo with sharp eyes. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"..."
"Answer me." Uriel grabbed Kang-Woo's collar and screamed, "Why didn't you say anything?!!"
Kang-Woo grabbed Uriel's hands on his collar while making a fragile expression.
"I told you. That I... didn't want to lose anything else."
Uriel let go of his collar. "Is that why... you've been enduring it by yourself like an idiot?"
Uriel had never experienced demonic energy encroachment before, but after witnessing Kang-Woo in agony and spewing blood, it was not hard to tell how long Kang-Woo had suffered all by himself. Kang-Woo had gone through it all by himself, while Uriel had been forcing him to fill the void left by Raphael.
"Don't... screw with me," Uriel mumbled. Tears dripped down his cheeks.
"Lord Uriel...?"
"Don't screw with me!!" Uriel grabbed Kang-Woo's shoulders. "Who gave you the right to fuck around all by yourself?!"
It was a scream directed at himself, not Kang-Woo.
"Just you wait." Uriel bit his lip. "I won't let you become a demonic beast."
"..."
"I'll stop it! No matter what it takes!"
He thought of Raphael, his old friend whom he had killed with his own hands.
Grit.
He refused to feel the despair and failure he had felt back then ever again.
"Oh Kang-Woo," he said while looking at the young man he had known only for a few months but was already filling the space Raphael had left behind. "I'll protect you."
* * *
'Shiiiiiiiiiieet!! That was fucking awesome!!'
- I'll protect you.
'Holy crap, you're gonna make me fall for you.'
Kang-Woo cheered in his mind.
'It was perfect. Uriel completely fell for it.'
He needed to push Uriel's obsession to borderline madness to resume the Seed of Corruption's growth.
'A friend turning into a monster, and the protagonist trying to protect him...'
Just that phrase was enough to paint the whole picture in his head. It would also obviously be super effective on Uriel, who had killed Raphael with his own hands.
'Huehuehuehuehue.'
He suppressed his laughter as best he could. It was too early to celebrate.
'This is where it really begins.'
The foundation was perfect. He had built up an affinity with Uriel in the past few months, and their affinity had even skyrocketed with the serious conversation they had earlier. And now, he had managed to create a tear-jerking scene thanks to his newly acquired Rakiel Coin.
'Time to add even more spice.'
He'd already decided on what to say.
"Lord Uriel."
"...What is it?"
"If I... on the very small chance..." He grabbed Uriel's hand while crying. A single tear dripped down his face, and he made a frail smile. "I become a demonic beast..."
"..."
He tightened his grip and prepared the staple death flag of all zombie movies.
"Please kill me... with your own hands."
'Shiiiet! Hell yeah! This is it! You can't go without this line!'
His shoulders unwittingly shook in excitement.