CH 114

“Here is the boss monster, Master.” El handed Gi-Gyu the griffin king’s head.

***

Suffice to say, El’s revival was a success. The process was difficult, but it was not as hard as the preparation stage. When Gi-Gyu injected Life into her sword form, the change began to occur. 

Fwoosh!

El’s sword form turned into a light ray, and its particles began fluttering in the air. At first, Gi-Gyu thought he had failed, but…

“Ahhhh!” The angels kneeled in awe as they sobbed. 

-It’s a success. 

When Lou announced confidently, Gi-Gyu’s worry disappeared. Under Old Man Hwang and Min-Su’s amazed gazes, the light particles swirled inside the basement, exuding a large amount of magic. 

“This is incredible. We should be proud of ourselves for being part of this event. Don’t you agree, Min-Su?” When Old Man Hwang asked, Min-Su replied in excitement, “Yes, Grandpa!” 

Old Man Hwang patted his grandson’s head while Min-Su wiped the snot from his nose. Everyone seemed confident that the deed was successful, but Gi-Gyu still could not help feeling a little nervous.

“El…” Gi-Gyu whispered her name. Eventually, the light particles gathered to form a tangible form; after a brief silence, the glowing figure looked straight into his eyes and whispered, “Master.”

It was El’s voice, and it carried many emotions. Before long, the light disappeared from the basement, leaving behind a familiar face in its place.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?” When Gi-Gyu heard El’s voice, he was overjoyed; suddenly, he stared at “El” in confusion. She now had a human form, but that wasn’t the problem since he had seen her human form before. 

There was another reason why he was confused and shocked. 

“Y-you look…” Gi-Gyu stammered as he stared at El. She looked like a 10-year-old girl.

***

The 10-year-old girl handed Gi-Gyu the griffin king’s head, still dripping blood. The girl had silver hair and eyes, and her skin was flawless. Someone like her holding something so gruesome was a hard sight to digest. 

“Haa…” He sighed deeply. Just what was the meaning of this? He wasn’t conflicted because he missed El’s adult body: He just found this unexpected situation confusing. 

Hamiel, Kamael, and Anael bowed deeply toward El and announced, “Thank you for your hard work, El.”

Watching these gorgeous, grown adults bowing down to a 10-year-old girl felt weird. At first, Gi-Gyu worried the angels might try to fight El to see who gets to serve him, but they accepted El without question, much to his relief. They willingly accepted that El was superior. 

“This is awkward.” When El shrugged shyly, Lou said in an angry voice.

-Lying bitch. You betrayed us, so what are you so happy about?!

El replied, “Lou, please don’t be so rude. And my betrayal… I will make up for it with my soul.” 

“That’s enough. It’s all over now, so let us stop talking about that,” Gi-Gyu begged. After El returned, she and Lou had been bickering more than ever. However, that reminded Gi-Gyu that this wasn’t a dream. The appearance and everything else did not matter because El was back.

“Now, now, are all the gate monsters gone now?” When Gi-Gyu asked, both Hamiel and Hart bowed and replied simultaneously, “Yes, that’s right, Grandmaster.”

“Of course, Grandmaster.”

Since Gi-Gyu was here just to do a bit of exercise, he let his minions take care of everything once he was done exercising. 

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Gi-Gyu announced, “Let’s go to sync.” 

It was time to make this gate his.

***

From what happened before, Gi-Gyu already knew that syncing with an exceptional gate caused a gate break. So, he used his power as a mercenary to prepare for such an event before entering the gate. He wanted to avoid the public’s panic at all costs. After all, revealing his identity to the world was different from being associated with a gate break. 

The preparation was a success because syncing with the gate went smoothly. Once he synced with this gate, Brunheart’s gate, which now had a much higher grade due to absorbing so many crystals, absorbed the new exceptional gate. 

Since then, there had been many changes in Gi-Gyu’s life. 

“I know I have been busy, but let’s just keep going. Let’s get this done while we’re at it,” Gi-Gyu decided out loud. He had already spent a long time in the basement, focusing on reviving El. He knew he had to explain his preoccupation to his family and Tae-Shik; still, he decided to finish what he had started first. 

“I haven’t spent much time with Mother lately, so I feel a bit guilty, but…” Gi-Gyu murmured. He felt reassured because he knew at least Tae-Shik was taking good care of his mother. 

In a way, Gi-Gyu saw himself as a man with a deadline: One year.

Gi-Gyu didn’t believe Lee Sun-Ho would attack him the moment this deadline arrived. However, he couldn’t help thinking about Lee Sun-Ho more frequently as time passed. After all, the amount of power and magic that man wielded was incredible. 

“I need to become so powerful that I can fight him even if he attacks me right now,” Gi-Gyu murmured. 

Learning about himself was the first he had to do to become stronger. 

What did he lack? What were his strengths and weaknesses? What did he need to work on? It was necessary to study his current state to decide how he should proceed. 

Also, Gi-Gyu had synced with a new gate, so he had to check on it and El. Having decided on his first step, Gi-Gyu walked into his gate.

***

“Gosh, so noisy!” Gi-Gyu shouted in frustration as the griffins flew around him and cried, “Kirrrk!” 

[The gate control level has increased.]

Flying, the griffin king bit off a smaller griffin, and Hart’s dark arrows pierced a few griffins. 

“Hup!” With the loud shout, bright white light darted from Hamiel and the other angels’ swords. The only thing the griffins could do was die helplessly while shrieking in pain.

[The gate control level has increased.]

Suddenly, a new type of griffin army appeared behind the griffin king. 

Rattle, rattle…

Surprisingly, skeletons armed with bows, arrows, and even bone staffs rode these griffins. 

When the new gate and Gi-Gyu’s old gate assimilated, Brunheart’s gate’s grade went up. Thanks to this, some changes, different from what happened when it was fed crystals, happened. Gi-Gyu was shocked to see that a new kind of skeleton soldier had now appeared inside the gate.

“It’s so hectic here now,” Gi-Gyu muttered. When the griffin-riding skeletons joined the battle, the gate control level increased quicker. Like what happened with Brunheart’s gate, his gate control level had to reach 100% for him to have absolute control over this gate. Absolute control had many benefits, including ownership of the regenerated griffins; that was why this battle was taking place. 

Time passed by quickly. Gi-Gyu didn’t participate in the battle and just watched as the griffins were massacred. After some time, he finally heard the announcement. 

[The gate control level has reached 100%.]

The battle finally ended, and a peaceful silence fell inside the gate.

***

“Kirrrk. Kirrrk.” The griffin king purred as it approached Gi-Gyu for a pat. It was larger than a bus, yet it acted like a newborn kitten.

“Don’t you dare!” Before the giant monster could rub against Gi-Gyu, Hamiel quickly stepped between them. The griffin king was now one of many obedient monsters that belonged to Gi-Gyu. It lay on the ground with a sad expression and showed its belly, showing its submission and asking for a belly rub. When Gi-Gyu saw this, he closed his eyes and sighed, “Haa…”

Currently, Gi-Gyu was inside the tent built for him inside the gate. Unlike the first makeshift tent the skeletons made for him, this newest version was much bigger. It was now big enough to hold all kinds of creatures, so it was very noisy inside, making Gi-Gyu rub his head. 

The outside was even more hectic. The griffins flew around just to get a glimpse of Gi-Gyu. Meanwhile, the skeletons surrounded and protected the tent as they glared warily at the griffins. 

The griffin king should have become the gate manager; since this exceptional gate was now a part of Brunheart’s gate, Hart became the one and only manager. 

And there was another change. 

[Select your assistant manager.]

The additional gate gave rise to a need for an assistant manager. The manager had incredible authority inside the gate: It could decide the direction of the growth of the gate. Moreover, the manager represented Gi-Gyu inside the gate, which was considered a great honor. 

Inside the tent, many creatures looked up to Gi-Gyu expectantly.

“Grandmaster!” Hamiel begged.

“Grandmasterrrr…!” the durahan implored.

“Kirrrk. Kirrk,” the king griffin shrieked. 

Leaning against the tent nearby, a fully-robed Hart smirked, “Hehehe.”

Since Hart managed to protect his manager position, whoever became the assistant manager would be his direct subordinate. The durahan was obedient and loyal to Hart, so Hart would be happy if he became the assistant manager. However, if one of the arrogant angels became the assistant manager, he would enjoy being their boss. 

And as for the griffin king, it wasn’t smart enough to become the assistant manager. 

“Hmm…” Gi-Gyu looked around in contemplation. He considered appointing Hamiel, but he was concerned about his aggressive nature. He was also concerned about how Hamiel would interact with the gate manager, Hart.  

The problem with selecting the durahan was that Gi-Gyu knew the angels would be completely against the idea. Moreover, he felt uncomfortable giving too much power to the undead. 

“Kirrrk.” The last candidate was the griffin king. Among all the griffins, the griffin king was the smartest one. This bird was also obedient, but Gi-Gyu could see that making it the assistant manager would be a disaster. 

‘Griffin poop will rain down from the sky.’

Gi-Gyu imagined the griffins flying around the gate and pooping all over. 

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu contemplated, having difficulty making his decision. He never had this kind of problem with the Egos directly under him.

“Do you have a problem? I could hear you sigh from outside the tent,” Old Man Hwang announced as he suddenly walked in. It seemed the sync helped Old Man Hwang feel Gi-Gyu’s emotions. This must have been why he came to visit.

“Well….” Gi-Gyu briefly explained the current situation. Before, he was worried about how others would react to seeing his skeletons; now, his gate had become an important and necessary asset, and he no longer had the issue. He planned on using his gate to its fullest in the future, and he had many ideas for doing so. 

Therefore, choosing the assistant manager was a significant event. Gi-Gyu knew Old Man Hwang’s wisdom would come in handy in this situation. 

Old Man Hwang murmured, “I can see why you are having a hard time.”

“Exactly. And it's not like this gate would stop growing, so I have no idea who would be a capable assistant manager,” Gi-Gyu replied. As the gate grew, the manager and the assistant manager roles would have more importance and responsibilities.

-Being a king is not an easy job.

When Lou said to Gi-Gyu, Gi-Gyu retorted, “I’m not a king.”

El and Brunheart added.

-Master, you’re definitely worthy of being a king.

-If you’re gonna be the king, I wanna be a princess!

“I’m telling you it’s not like that,” Gi-Gyu protested again. El had the power to take a human form, but she couldn’t maintain it for a long time. So, for now, she mostly remained in her accessory form. He suspected that she would soon be able to mostly remain in her human form.

Old Man Hwang smiled brightly and suggested, “Then why don’t you do this?”