Chapter 329 - Preparations to Leave (1)
After Rakiel, the Constellation of Corruption, died, preparations to go to Aernor began at full throttle. Layla, after having recovered from the aftereffects of Deific Manifestation, worked to form a Gate that the team could pass through without any restrictions while keeping contact with Gaia. In the meantime, Oh Kang-Woo and Kim Si-Hun selected party members to go to Aernor with them.
“I’m coming with you, no matter what,” Han Seol-Ah remarked firmly while grabbing Kang-Woo’s hand as if she would not accept no for an answer.
She was exuding chilling energy as if chaos would ensue if Kang-Woo did not ask her to come with him.
“I was gonna take you with me anyway,” Kang-Woo replied while smirking.
Going to Aernor while leaving Seol-Ah behind had not even been an option for him.
‘I can’t leave behind someone with Top-rank Deific Essence.’
Although she was not able to fully wield Serah’s power, Seol-Ah’s abilities were still beyond impressive. She was not very useful in terms of combat prowess, but she possessed buffs and healing magic so exceptional that it didn’t matter in the slightest.
‘And...’
Just sleeping with Seol-Ah improved his demonic energy control severalfold compared to simple training. She was like an EXP potion that allowed one to level up automatically in terms of RPGs, so there was no way that Kang-Woo would leave her behind.
‘I mean, I don’t plan to be apart from darling even if that wasn’t the case.’
Seol-Ah had already become the most important portion of his life; he would not be apart from her, even if the world would end due to it.
“Phew,” Seol-Ah sighed in relief.
She had been slightly worried since Kang-Woo was one to frequently act on his own.
“What would you have done if I said no?” Kang-Woo asked teasingly.
“If you did...” The light in Seol-Ah’s eyes disappeared momentarily, exuding thick, chilling bloodlust. “I’m... not sure.”
“Right? I’m not sure how it would feel to be apart from you either,” Kang-Woo replied while laughing.
“No.” Seol-Ah shook her head. She continued in a low tone, “I’m not sure... What I would do.”
‘Huh? What’s happening? You’re scaring me, darling.’
“Kang-Woo,” Seol-Ah called out.
“Uhh... Yeah?”
Seol-Ah reached out to slowly caress Kang-Woo’s shoulders, neck, and thigh in order.
“Do you think limbs are necessary?”
‘I beg your pardon?’
“Just think about it. If you don’t need to use them... There’s no need to have them, is there?”
‘What are you talking about?’
“Oh my, we’ve gone off topic. If you said that you weren’t going to take me with you... I would’ve been sad. Yes, very sad.”
“I-I see.” Kang-Woo nodded in puzzlement.
He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but one thing was for sure.
‘I can’t leave darling behind.’
He felt as if something irreversible would happen if he did. Kang-Woo nodded and slowly turned his gaze toward Echidna and Halcyon, who were staring at him with sparkling eyes, fists clenched and eager to say something.
“Of course, you guys will be coming too,” said Kang-Woo.
“Hehehe, I-I knew y-you would say that!”
“Hm! Hm! I’ve been waiting for you to say that!”
Halcyon and Echidna smiled brightly.
“Echidna, you said you didn’t know much about Aernor, right?” Kang-Woo asked.
“Yeah. I’d been cooped up in my lair, so I don’t know that much.” Echidna lowered her head while flinching. “... Sorry.”
“No, it's okay.” Kang-Woo had several other people to ask about Aernor. “But are you sure?”
Seol-Ah remained silent.
“Fufu. There’s no need to worry, Seol-Ah,” Lilith said as she approached Seol-Ah, who had her head lowered.
Lilith met eyes with her and whispered something in her ear. Seol-Ah’s face reddened like a tomato.
“You’re so cute. I’ll teach you all kinds of things.” Lilith smiled as she lightly embraced Seol-Ah.
“... I-I’ll be in your care,” Seol-Ah replied in a very small voice.
Kang-Woo tilted his head in confusion, unable to follow what the two women were talking about.
‘Well, I’m sure it’s nothing.’
Although Seol-Ah’s obsession and possessive nature had gotten extreme due to the strengthening of Seraph’s influence, she did not show that side to Lilith. It was as if Seol-Ah was fine with it as long as it was Lilith, like a junior yielding to their superior. Whatever the case, there was no need to worry at all about Lilith.
“Right then, let’s all make preparations from today onward,” Kang-Woo stated as he turned around.
He took out his smartphone and called Si-Hun.
[Oh, hyung-nim?]
“Yeah. I have everyone we need.”
Kang-Woo named every single member that would be coming with them. Of course, since Si-Hun and Layla both thought that Vaal Zahak was a servant of Satan, Kang-Woo altered his name a little.
[Vernaak?]
Si-Hun tilted his head in confusion from hearing a name that he had never heard of.
“Yeah. He used to be one of my subordinates back in Hell, and he apparently knows a lot about Aernor. He’s very capable too.”
[He wasn’t at the picnic last time, though.]
“He couldn’t come back then due to circumstances.”
[He lived at Balrog’s house...? I never knew despite having gone there pretty frequently to train with Balrog.]
“He’s a bit of a hikikomori[1], so he doesn’t like to go outside.”
In actuality, Kang-Woo had ordered Vaal Zahak to stay out of Si-Hun’s sight, but Si-Hun had no way of knowing that.
“I’ll introduce him to you next time.”
[I understand.]
“Have you recruited anyone?”
[Mm. Master said that he would stay here, and the same goes for Grace. As for Tae-Soo... I don’t think it would be a good idea.]
“I guess that’s true.”
Although Kang Tae-Soo was leveling hard after having entered Guardians, he had only just entered the ranks of Ranker.
[There’s no one in particular besides me and Layla.]
“Got it.”
Since their travels to Aernor would be filled with all sorts of dangers, they couldn’t just take anyone with them. Finding sufficiently strong Players that they could trust deeply was not easy.
In the end, the members of the Aernor exploration team had ended up being mostly Kang-Woo's subordinates; it was only natural, considering the massive difference between regular Players and Kang-Woo’s subordinates. Even Echidna, the weakest of them, was now able to use dragon tongue magic of fully mature dragons.
“Let’s finalize the roster, then,” Kang-Woo said as he sent the finalized list of members to Si-Hun. “Send this to Layla.”
[Okay, hyung-nim.]
Kang-Woo hung up.
‘I guess it’s time for me to get some work done too.’
Bam! Bam!
As he turned around while thinking, someone banged on the door to the point that it would break. Kang-Woo opened the door to see a red-haired woman glaring at him while panting heavily.
“Take me with you too.”
It was Cha Yeon-Joo.
1. Hikikomori is a Japanese term referring to someone with severe tendencies of social withdrawal. ?