Chapter 309 - Was It Rakiel's Doing?

"Kargh... Hurgh!!"

"Lady Gaia!!"

A woman, lying down on an altar in the middle of a giant castle made in a space filled with white light, grimaced in pain. Her brown hair, wet with sweat, slid down from above the altar. The faint light flowing out of her shook greatly.

"Gather the gods immediately! Divinity... we need Divinity!" anxiously shouted Uranus, the man with red hair akin to a lion's mane.

The nearby servants lowered their heads.

"W-We apologize. All the gods from Olympus, Valhalla, Takamagahara... Their Divinities have all reached their limit. If we borrow any more Divinity from them, they will also..."

"Shit! Are you suggesting we just stand by and watch as Lady Gaia is annihilated?! This world is over as soon as she disappears!" Uranus angrily shouted.

The Earth losing its head god would mean that there would be no one left who could manage the Gaia System, a portion of the providence granted to Earth. If that were to happen, otherworldly invasions would be permitted, and the restrictions binding the gods would completely disappear. All that would await them after that was the end. Unless a being with at least the same level of Divinity as Gaia took control of the system, Earth's destruction would be inevitable.

"

Cough! Cough!

Do not... get agitated... my child."

Just then, Gaia slowly got up from the altar.

Uranus's eyes widened. "L-Lady Gaia!"

He knelt on one knee and lowered his head.

Gaia clenched her chest in agony. She said with a heavy voice, "Contact... my incarnation. There is something... I must tell my children."

* * *

"Urgh."

Oh Kang-Woo got up, feeling the rays of sunshine beaming on his face through the window.

'There's more than usual.'

Kang-Woo tilted his head as he looked at the red marks that had appeared on his body.

It had been three days since he stopped Han Seol-Ah's fall from grace. He was still sticking to her all day to give her unstable mind proper care. Of course, they also slept together.

He had first thought about avoiding sleeping with her since he didn't know how his demonic energy would influence her, but he changed his mind as soon as he noticed her extreme sorrow when he brought it up to her. He couldn't afford to take the immediate risk to avoid a risk that he wasn't even sure would happen or not.

"My demonic energy control shot up again," Kang-Woo said with a smile.

Other than the fact that he got to sleep with Seol-Ah, there were too many other benefits to it for him to give it up.

'My stamina goes down, but...'

It was an extremely easy price to pay, considering how much his demonic energy control improved with each session.

"Darling~"

"Oh, good morning, Kang-Woo."

As he came out of his room, Seol-Ah approached him with a smile. She was trotting toward him when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She lowered her head in sadness as if remembering something.

"Uhmm... I-I'm so sorry about back then. I still have no idea why I acted that way."

"Haha. How many times are you going to say that? I told you it's okay."

"But still..." Seol-Ah blushed.

She still could not understand what had come over her to bind Kang-Woo in chains.

'No matter how much I wanted to be with Kang-Woo...'

She was swept with regret for having gone too far. Kang-Woo thankfully forgave her, but if he had come to avoid her due to what had happened, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.

'But thanks to that...'

Seol-Ah touched the white ring on her left ring finger.

"Hehehe."

Although she'd touched, stroked, and licked it hundreds of times already, she couldn't help but smile every time she looked at it.

She recalled what Kang-Woo had said to her while holding her hands when they had first met.

"Three kids sounds good."

She said, "I'll do my best, Kang-Woo."

"Hm? On what?"

"I've been practicing super hard!"

"...?"

Kang-Woo tilted his head. Seol-Ah lightly kissed him and hummed as she turned around.

"Oh, right. Seol-Ah, how is it... handling that power? You haven't felt Seraph's consciousness or will or anything like that, have you?" Kang-Woo asked worryingly.

"No, nothing like that," Seol-Ah said as she slightly raised her hand.

Whoom.

An immense wave of power spread out as twelve wings appeared on her back. Although it was weaker compared to when she'd fallen, she was still emitting enough power to easily wipe out a prince of Hell.

"This is... Lady Seraph's power, right?" Seol-Ah asked.

"It is."

"I still can't believe that her soul is inside me..."

"It isn't something to be happy about. You don't know when she'll take control of your consciousness, so you need to avoid using her power as much as possible," Kang-Woo stated with worry, and Seol-Ah shook her head.

"No, I want to use this power." Her voice carried determination. "I've always been protected by you. I... don't want things to stay that way."

She smiled. "I will protect you from now on, Kang-Woo."

"..."

Kang-Woo kept his mouth shut and groaned.

The benefits of Seol-Ah being able to control Seraph's power couldn't be overstated.

'Since a god on the same level as Gaia would be added to the roster.'

Although it seemed she still had a long way to go to fully control that power, she was as strong as Balrog and Kim Si-Hun now.

'Not only that, but she's a support.'

She wouldn't be that strong if she tried to fight in the vanguard like Balrog and Si-Hun. Her power truly shone when she was giving support from the back: boosting recovery, reducing consumption of energies like mana and Qi, and giving buffs that boosted brain processing speed and hardened one's mental state. Not just that, there were no stats that she couldn't buff.

'Even Si-Hun was surprised.'

Kang-Woo had once made Si-Hun duel Balrog twice, before and after being buffed. Si-Hun had just barely lost to Balrog without being buffed but had managed to overpower Balrog in less than five minutes after being buffed.

Considering how strong Si-Hun and Balrog were, a buff making such a difference was absolutely unreal.

'Even considering the dangers of using the power, giving it up would be a waste.'

If the one with this power had been anyone else but Seo-Ah, he would have done whatever it took to make that person his Familiar. That was how valuable she was at the moment.

'Plus, it's only been three days since she managed to consciously use the power.'

There was a huge chance that her buffs would become even better. Plus...

"I feel like I get better at using this power every time I sleep with you for some reason, Kang-Woo."

Seol-Ah controlled the white light flowing out of her hand in fascination. Kang-Woo nodded. He also used to be curious about that.

"Right? I wonder why that happens when all we do is sleep?"

A weird sense of silence fell momentarily. Seol-Ah froze and smiled awkwardly.

"Ho... hoho. Your guess is as good as mine. I wonder why, when all we really do is sleep."

"... Darling?"

"Right, hurry, Kang-Woo. Breakfast is ready."

"Oh, okay."

Seol-Ah pulled him into the kitchen by the arm.

As he reached the dining table, he saw a steaming pot of kimchi stew and three sets of spoons and chopsticks.

"Hm? Are Echidna and Halcyon coming back today?"

Even then, the number didn't match.

"No. Lilith is going to be joining us in a bit."

Ding dong.

Speak of the devil, the bell rang.

"I'll be right there~"

As Seol-Ah opened the front door, Lilith entered the apartment. Just as Kang-Woo had commanded, she was in the form of Kurosaki Yurie.

'Hell yeah!'

Kang-Woo clenched his fists.

He would welcome her with open arms as long as she was in that form.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well last night, Seol-Ah?"

"Oh, yes. I was very happy."

"Hohoho. You shouldn't monopolize the king too much. From time to time, I will also..."

"Of course. Oh, but in exchange, please teach me the technique you told me about..."

"Oh my, already?"

The two women had made some kind of deal without Kang-Woo knowing. He paid it no mind and asked, "Are you here to eat?"

"Oh, right. I was planning to, but something came up."

"What happened?"

"I will explain on the way. We will have to go right now." Lilith opened a Gate that led to the Hall of Protection in the middle of the living room. "There is something off about Gaia."

* * *

A woman with brown hair was lying on a bed in a room with almost no other furniture. Anyone could tell from just looking at her that she was in terrible condition: her cheeks were hollow, her forehead was covered in cold sweat, and she was panting heavily.

"Haaa, haaa, haaa."

"Gaia..."

Next to her bed, Si-Hun held Gaia's trembling hands and lowered his head as if he were praying.

It had been 30 minutes since Gaia's condition had suddenly worsened. Si-Hun was becoming more and more anxious with each second. He raised his head to look toward the middle-aged woman across from him, Grace McCubbin. She was publicly the leader of Guardians, but she had been Gaia's caretaker since before Si-Hun had taken over that role for her.

"Grace, what should we—"

"There is nothing we can do. This... is not the first time this has happened."

"... It's happened before?"

"Yes." Grace gently swept back Gaia's hair, which was drenched with sweat. "It's exactly the same as back when... she received the revelation about the Demon of Prophecy."

The Demon of Prophecy...

Si-Hun frowned aggressively when he heard those words, and an immense bloodlust poured out of him.

Slam!

"Si-Hun!"

"... Hyung-nim."

Kang-Woo slammed the door open and entered the room.

"Hey! What happened?!"

"I came as soon as I was contacted. What's wrong?"

Cha Yeon-Joo and Tian Wuchen arrived shortly after. And...

"I heard the news. The incarnation of Lady Gaia is in a weird condition?" Uriel also entered the room.

All the super elites of Guardians and an archangel were gathered in one place. A nervous atmosphere filled the room.

"Haaa, haaa."

"Are you okay, Gaia?" Kang-Woo asked as he walked toward her.

Gaia nodded with great difficulty and tried to raise herself into a sitting position, but she collapsed to the side.

"Gaia!" Si-Hun helped support her.

"... Thank you, Protector Kim Si-Hun."

Gaia faintly smiled and sat back up.

"I received... a new revelation."

A heavy silence overtook the room.

Kang-Woo listened to her words with caution.

'Just what is it about for her expression to be this dark?'

"I do not know the exact time frame, but..."

Gaia shut her eyes tight and bit her lip. The nervousness in the room worsened.

"Lady Seraph's soul... has fallen into... the hands of darkness."

Wham!!

Kang-Woo slammed his fist down as soon as Gaia finished her sentence. He then spoke without hesitation...

"Was it Rakiel's doing?"