Side Story Chapter 35 - How Did You Know?

“

Yawn

.”

A week had passed since the kidnapping incident. Oh Kang-Woo stretched as he took in the sunlight shining between the curtains.

“Good morning, my king.” Lilith, lying to his right, smiled as he caressed his head.

“Morning.” Kang-Woo nodded.

“Mrmm. Stay in bed a little longer, Kang-Woo.”

Seol-Ah, lying to his left, pulled Kang-Woo in as he was about to get out of bed. She seemed to be a little drowsy still.

Kang-Woo smirked and lightly pinched Seol-Ah’s cheek. “Why? So you can chain me to the bed again?”

“Ngh! Th-That’s...” Seol-Ah sprang up because of his teasing words and lowered her head in shame. “I’m... so sorry. I wasn’t myself back then.”

She had already apologized hundreds of times.

“Hmm. I agree you went a little too far this time, Seol-Ah. Fufu, I never expected the king’s radio silence was because of you,” Lilith expressed.

“I-I’m sorry, unnie.”

“Well, it’s fine. Rather, I’m happy since I got another cute little sister to tease because of it.” Lilith smiled as she trembled ecstatically. “I could understand why the king loves to tease her so much after trying it myself~ Her reactions are so cute!”

It was revealed after the kidnapping incident that Kang-Woo and Cha Yeon-Joo had not slept together, but the fact that Yeon-Joo confessed her love to Kang-Woo was exposed. Although the order had been reversed, Seol-Ah was put in a situation of whether or not she would approve of Yeon-Joo on top of Lilith.

Seol-Ah, who was under an immense sense of shame after misunderstanding what happened between Kang-Woo and Yeon-Joo, begged them to forgive her and that she wanted to stay with them. Si-Hun and Balrog, who were furious after finding out about Kang-Woo getting kidnapped, implored Kang-Woo to give her a thorough scolding so that she could never cross the line again.

‘But well, it all worked out in terms of results.’

Kang-Woo couldn’t lose the golden opportunity that would get Seol-Ah to instantly approve Yeon-Joo as one of Kang-Woo’s lovers. Hence, he ended up getting a third lover.

Fuck my life. I’ve never even dated a girl until I was thirty.

“That aside, is Yeon-Joo really not moving in with us?” Lilith asked.

“She got angry at me, shouting why the hell she would come live with me.”

“Mm. Isn’t she just shy?”

“I would guess so, considering her personality. I’m sure she needs time to collect her thoughts about this, so I didn’t pester her about it.”

They lived separately but could see each other at any time with one elevator ride. There was no reason to force her to move in with them when she was getting so shy about it.

‘And no matter how much I think about it...’

Kang-Woo stared at Lilith and Seol-Ah who were stuck to him left and right like magnets. They would likely not give up their spots just because Yeon-Joo moved in.

‘It’ll only breed conflict.’

He was already having enough trouble with Seol-Ah and Lilith so it would be difficult to give attention to Yeon-Joo on top of that.

“What a shame. I wanted to live with her since we’re not that close yet,” remarked Lilith as she sighed.

“It seemed like you two got pretty close lately.”

“Hohoho. Yeon-Joo is simply shy; she doesn’t dislike me.”

After Yeon-Joo became Kang-Woo’s third lover, Lilith approached her and suggested they become sisters since they were now family. Yeon-Joo allowed the female rookie members of her guild to call her

unnie

but began to avoid Lilith because she was embarrassed to call someone

unnie

herself. However, Lilith did not stand for it. She visited Yeon-Joo every day to tease her and deepen their bond.

“That’s a relief.”

Kang-Woo was happy to hear his lovers were close to one another.

“Then, Kang-Woo... why don’t you count the wrinkles on the ceiling before lunch?” Seol-Ah asked seductively.[1]

“My, that’s a good idea.” Lilith also smiled seductively as she embraced Kang-Woo.

“There aren’t any wrinkles on the ceiling.” Kang-Woo pushed them aside and got up. Once their switches were flipped, forget lunch, it would be evening by the time they were satisfied. “More importantly, Darling. Show me your wings.”

“Ah, okay.”

Seol-Ah expressed slight disappointment as she looked at Kang-Woo. She nodded and closed her eyes.

Whoooom!

Massive energy poured out of her as twelve wings sprouted from her back. They were dyed jet-black, the previous brilliant white color nowhere to be seen.

“Looks like... they haven’t returned to normal,” Kang-Woo mentioned.

“Yes. They’ve been black ever since.”

Seol-Ah’s wings had turned black ever since the kidnapping incident, meaning she had become a fallen angel like Rakiel. Kang-Woo sighed deeply as he stared at Seol-Ah’s black wings.

‘Is it weird that a demon is worried that an angel fell from grace?’

Considering the members of their home (Demon King, succubus, demonic dragon), a fallen angel was more fitting. However, it was only natural for Kang-Woo to be worried since he had no idea what problems the change would bring.

“Are you feeling fine?” he asked.

“Yes. Rather, I feel better than before I fell from grace. The... umm, obsession isn’t as bad.”

Seol-Ah lowered her head sorrowfully, recalling what she had done last week. Kang-Woo smiled and gently patted her head.

“Be careful. No one knows what negative effects come with falling from grace.”

The only thing Kang-Woo knew at this time was that the property of her sacred power had changed into that similar to demonic energy. Her kind personality had not changed nor was she running rampant in madness. Rather, as she mentioned, she seemed to be better compared to when her actions were heavily influenced by her angelic instincts.

‘The properties of her spells have also changed.’

Her spells which had been specialized for healing and buffs had changed into debuffs like curses, weakening, and restraints. She had become far stronger than before in terms of direct combat prowess, but it came at the cost of her extraordinary support capabilities.

“Okay, I’ll be careful. I’ll also practice so that I can master my new powers,” said Seol-Ah passionately with her fists clenched.

Kang-Woo was highly worried about her fall from grace but she was not in particular.

‘Being a fallen angel makes me a better match for Kang-Woo.’

Kang-Woo was a demon, so she thought that she was better off being an entity close to that.

‘And now... I can protect Kang-Woo myself.’

Seol-Ah attained power incomparable to her previous self after falling from grace. She was now more powerful than Si-Hun, the man praised to be the strongest human. She still hadn’t reached her full potential because she was having trouble being in control of her altered magic properties, but once she mastered them, she would become one of Kang-Woo’s strongest allies alongside Si-Hun and Balrog.

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” said Kang-Woo worryingly as he looked at the excited Seol-Ah.

Seol-Ah had experienced a power-up from falling from grace, becoming more powerful than Celestial Goddess Seraph.

‘How is this possible?’

Kang-Woo looked at Seol-Ah incomprehensibly. The source of her power was Seraph’s soul. Even if she fell from grace, becoming more powerful than the source of her power was logically incomprehensible.

‘Is it really because she accepted the power of a Titan?’

Not even Kang-Woo had an answer to that question.

“In any case, make sure you let me know if you feel anything strange.”

“Hoho. Don’t worry, Kang-Woo. Aren’t you checking me every night?”

Seol-Ah smiled lovingly and embraced Kang-Woo, who groaned as he scratched his head. He was conflicted because of how happy she was despite having become a fallen angel.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Just then, an alarm signal noisily rang inside the room. The token provided by Guardians was flashing red.

“This is...”

Kang-Woo’s expression hardened. It was similar to when the Parasite King invaded Earth. Guardians had called an emergency meeting.

“Let’s go.”

Kang-Woo, Seol-Ah, Lilith, and Echidna headed to the Hall of Protection with no time to wash up. Layla and Si-Hun were waiting for them in the meeting room.

“What’s going on?” asked Kang-Woo as he approached Layla.

Layla was looking down at a tablet, her hand on her forehead as if she were having a headache.

She mentioned, “I’m not sure... if I should call this an otherworldly invasion. Whatever the case, we’ve identified an abnormal Gate phenomenon.”

As Kang-Woo had expected, it had to do with outer worlds.

‘Yeah. No wonder it’s been so peaceful lately.’

He clicked his tongue. Otherworldly invasions had been continuously occurring for the past three years but one as massive as the one with the Parasite King had miraculously never occurred.

“Has Akart made his move?” Kang-Woo asked.

Layla shook her head with mixed feelings. “I’m not sure about that yet.”

Kang-Woo pulled a chair back and sighed as he sat down.

‘Otherworldly beings... Invasions from a different universe. How big are you gonna make this? Let’s see, I guess the only genre that hasn’t appeared at all would be sci-fi.’

Kang-Woo chuckled nonsensically. He turned to Layla, who was pulling on her hair, and asked, “What? Did a giant battleship appear or something?”

“Pardon...?” Layla’s eyes widened. She asked perplexedly, “H-How did you know?”

Kang-Woo pulled on his hair like Layla had done. “For fuck’s sake.”

‘It’s sci-fi for real this time?’

1. I believe this is a reference to a certain repeated line in Japanese manga; it pretty much translates to “It’ll be over before you know it once you’re counting the stains on the ceiling.” It seems to be what a man says before violating a woman... ☜