Season 2 Chapter 497

Season 2 Chapter 497

October 8th, before dawn.

With a rustle, Pale got out of bed.

“...”

Through her veil of messy hair, she could see the hotel room.

It was dark. It wasn’t just inside the room. The city that could be spotted through the window was still enveloped in darkness.

It was also quiet. Apart from the faint mechanical noises coming from the air purifier and thermostat, there was almost no sound.

A place that was neither hot nor cold.

A place where she could get food whenever she opened the refrigerator.

On the good side, it was peaceful, but on the bad side, she had been living an indolent life for a week.

“...”

Pale suddenly felt that she might be dreaming. And the fact that she had such a thought made her hesitate.

...Did this situation make her so happy? So much so that she could regard reality as a dream.

There was a slight shifting on the bed.

It was a red skinned girl, Butterfly. She was looking at Pale with half lidded eyes. When her eyes seemed to ask ‘what’s wrong?’, a smile naturally formed on Pale’s face.

She wasn’t sure if the reason for the smile was to conceal her inner feelings as usual or to reassure Butterfly.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

At that, Butterfly shook her head quietly before patting her stomach.

She’d woken up because she was hungry.

“You’re like me.”

When Pale said those words with a smile, Butterfly smiled as well.

“Wait here. I’ll go get something to eat.”

There was still some food in the refrigerator, but it was not enough to be breakfast for the two gluttons.

Pale got off the bed, took out her clothes, and put them on.

Recently, Lukas, Yang In-hyun and Dok Go-yun were always busy. They rarely stayed in the hotel, and even when they did stay here, they rarely came up to the room. Most of the time, they stayed in the lounge, where they had serious meetings with mountains of documents spread out.

Because of this, the two had no choice but to procure their food entirely on their own.

Butterfly also got up and grabbed her sleeve. But Pale shook her head as she put on her jacket.

“You can’t.”

They couldn’t go out together. Because in this human dominated city, a being with red skin was too foreign and noticeable.

“Gugaak.” (*: Butterfly ‘talking’)

Today, Butterfly clung to her without giving up easily. For Pale, the body temperature of Butterfly, who was leaning against her, made her ticklish.

‘...someone I have to protect.’

She’d thought that if there was ever such a being, it would be the [King] she would someday meet.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Guahuh.”

“Right. I’ll get you what you ate last time. Was it pizza?”

Butterfly was smart.

Although she couldn’t speak, she understood what Pale was trying to say. Even now, as soon as she heard the word pizza, she immediately let go of her hand and her eyes lit up.

“Ahoohuh.”

Then she bowed her head.

As if to say ‘go and come back’.

Pale finally let out a burst of laughter.

* * *

“...I was feeling that it was a nice morning.”

Pale muttered in a soft tone.

“I didn’t expect maggots to come squirming on a day like this.”

“...”

By maggot.

Was she referring to him? Gentleman’s expression stiffened for a moment, but he soon smiled and pointed towards his sleeve, which he was now used to being empty.

“Do you see this?”

“You don’t have an arm? Was it eaten?”

Gentleman wondered what that strange statement meant for a moment, but it felt like the dumb looking woman didn’t have any intelligence.

“Your companion cut off my arm.”

“Hmm.”

“I am a person who repays what I was given. Since you seem to not want to follow me obediently, I will give you an advanced warning. First, I’ll cut off one of your arms. Consider it a minor revenge.”

“Ah, okay.”

“...”

...Then what was the point of waiting till the general review meeting?

Wouldn’t it be more strategically advantageous to attack them here rather than in the uncertain variable known as the [Next Stage].

‘Those guys haven’t noticed my presence yet.’

Even if they knew, they would not have realised that they were on the verge of suffering a surprise attack. Moreover, Diablo and the Demon King didn’t know that Lukas was capable of using [void].

In other words, it wouldn’t be strange or reckless for him to carry out a surprise attack now.

However.

‘...Lucid.’

The presence of his old friend, the Black Knight, could also be felt in the hotel. Right, He would be protecting Diablo. After all, he was the King Candidate that Lucid chose. Lukas still felt that he needed to know why.

That wasn’t all.

In the Lake Hotel now, there were at least five powerful beings that even Lukas took notice of.

In all honesty, this surprised him.

It wasn’t that he had been looking down on VIP, he simply hadn’t expected them to have so many strong characters. Lukas thought the Demon King would be the strongest member of VIP, but that might not be the case.

‘If I were to attack the Lake Hotel now...?’

It would be no different from declaring war on every absolute level powerhouse staying in the hotel. That was the reason that Lukas was hesitating.

‘...it’s a shame about Yang In-hyun.’

Even if he dismissed Pale as someone he couldn’t control in the first place, if things had worked out, he might have been able to obtain Yang In-hyun’s cooperation.

Lukas felt even more bitter since he was the one who pushed the relationship to ruin, even if it wasn’t intentional.

“That...”

A cautious voice sounded.

It was Dok Go-yun, the Heavenly Demon’s proxy.

This man, of course, was a strong character who would find it difficult to find an opponent among mortals, but he would be useless if an all out war with the Lake Hotel were to begin.

Attack? Retreat?

Lukas’ indecision was probably deepened because of the fact that this was a golden opportunity.

Suddenly.

[Did you say VIP?]

The Lightning God revealed his voice after a long while.

Lukas was inwardly surprised.

The Lightning God had hardly said anything since they arrived in this city. He was silent as if he wasn’t there at all, and he didn’t respond even at the times when Lukas talked to him first, so he couldn’t help but wonder if he had really disappeared.

[I know who the founder is. Kuhaha... Be careful. He was the most powerful candidate.]

‘What?’

Lukas couldn’t help but ask back in surprise.

He knew from experience that he would never receive an answer from the Lightning God after asking again. As he expected, instead of answering, the Lightning God let out his distinctive laugh.

[You’re feeling conflicted. Let me ease your worries.]

Then, before Lukas could respond, he continued.

[Accept my power, Lukas Trowman. If my ‘Thunder’ is added to your magic, you can kill half of those absolutes with a surprise attack. Even the half that survive will suffer from extreme mental and physical paralysis for a few seconds. That means you’d gain an absolute advantage in the fight from the start...]

‘...’

[Why are you hesitating? Are you still worried about the Blue Knight? Are you afraid that her sword will be directed at you after you accept my power? I don’t understand.]

“...!”

Lukas shuddered for a moment.

He thought about from now on, the next, the future.

He had a desire to live longer, and lingering regrets.

...What did he regret?

“They’ll patrol this place soon. You should decide...”

Dok Go-yun stopped talking.

At that moment, the two men felt a chill at the same time as if cold air licked the back of their necks.

Something was coming.

Piht-

Lukas could not stop what was about to happen. No, his attempt to stop it failed.

The moment he stretched out his hand, a barrier was deployed.

Even though it was done hurriedly, the barrier was strong enough to stop even a meteor falling from the sky.

Crash!

The barrier shattered like glass.

And yet, the momentum of the projectile wasn’t reduced in the slightest and it instantly pierced its target.

“...ku-, uk.”

Dok Go-yun’s body slowly collapsed.

(TL:...well... that was a bit unexpected...)