Side Story Chapter 86 - Eve (1)

"There are... four more of those monsters?" asked Lilith in shock.

"No, there may be more." Oh Kang-Woo shook his head as he took a bite of a piece of fruit Han Seol-Ah cut for him.

"More?"

"Akart called Salvatore his fifth retainer. It might be referring to the order in which he became Akart's retainer instead of a rank."

"Oh."

"In that sense, the third and fourth might be weaker than Salvatore, and the sixth might be stronger."

They wouldn't know for sure unless they faced the retainers.

"But since we won't get anywhere if we think about it that way... let's just interpret them as ranks for now. It's simpler to think there are four individuals stronger than Salvatore."

They couldn't prepare for all variables; it would be enough as long as it was to a point where they wouldn't be caught too off guard.

'And besides...'

They couldn't do much in terms of preparation anyway.

"Haaa. That aside, invading Earth by riding the light... how absurd." Lilith sighed as she clenched her forehead.

As Kang-Woo's chief intelligence officer, the ability of Akart's retainers was hard to deal with.

"This is the first time my abilities felt so useless," she expressed.

"Not at all. I don't have a way to detect something like that either," Kang-Woo consoled.

"But at least we managed to get some information about Akart."

"It was worth it just from getting the number of his retainers."

'Though we didn't manage to get anything else.'

Kang-Woo continued, "Anyway, they'll continue to crawl into this world."

He wasn't stupid enough to hope Akart would give up just because two of his retainers died.

"You said his objective was... salvation, correct?" Lilith asked.

"Yeah."

"I wonder if their souls are actually being reincarnated to a different world?"

"Who knows? I have no idea, but... if you ask me, I think they are."

Unlike the Demon Cult, the Church of Radiance did not act on malice or profit. They were madmen so transparently pure that they innocently acted on unwavering convictions they perceived as righteous. They were likely not doing something like this while knowing the souls weren't being sent to a different world.

"What kind of world do you think they're being sent to?" Lilith asked.

"No idea. There are all kinds of worlds, after all."

They were already aware of more than five different worlds.

"But that doesn't matter. What matters is they're doing as they like in my territory."

"Fufu. You're right. They all deserve death," Lilith answered, her eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

She had acclimated well to human culture but she was still a demon to the core. She couldn't care less whether their objective was salvation or anything else.

"Then what do you think that incident in Singapore was for?" she asked.

"The zombie apocalypse?"

"Yes. That was done by Akart's retainer too."

Leaving aside the Church of Radiance, the zombie apocalypse was far from the idea of salvation.

"Not sure... it's honestly so far removed from everything. It's hard to believe Akart's retainer had something to do with it."

"Even more so, considering what the Wikiholic did. It was pretty much randomly kidnapping people from various worlds and imprisoning them."

"I have an idea why for that one." Kang-Woo finished his apple and took out a can of coke from the mini fridge under his desk. "Want something to drink?"

"I'll have a McCol[1], please."

"Oh my god."

'Your taste buds are still whack.'

"We don't have McCol."

"Oh, is that so? Then I'll have a Zico[2]. I had some a while ago and it was delicious."

"That's been discontinued."

"Wh-What?"

Lilith's eyes widened in panic.

'McCol and Zico? That's a demon's taste buds for you.'

"Just have a canned coffee."

"Fufu. Could you feed it to me with your mouth, my king?"

Lilith smiled seductively and puckered her lips.

Kang-Woo brought the can to her lips and continued, "Anyway. This is just my guess, but I think the Wikiholic was looking for candidates to be Akart's retainer."

"Candidates?"

"Yeah. I saw someone who had practically become a worshiper of Akart when I was there."

Kang-Woo had a feeling there were multiple Temples of Truth.

"In that case, should we consider the matter with the Wikiholic and the two subsequent incidents as separate?" Lilith asked.

"Yeah. I mean... I still don't know what massacring people with a zombie apocalypse has to do with bringing salvation, though. Whatever the case, what matters is that they're not aiming specifically for me."

In both incidents, Akart's subordinates were not targeting Kang-Woo; they were purely targeting every human on Earth.

"In other words, Akart's subordinates are getting as many humans involved in each incident as possible."

"In that case... I will focus my investigations around abnormal events that involve large populations."

"I'll be counting on you."

"Fufu. Please leave it to me." Lilith emptied the canned coffee, softly kissed Kang-Woo, and turned around. "I'll be taking my leave, my king~"

"Okay."

"Will you be visiting Si-Hun at the hospital again?"

"No. I went yesterday, so I'm gonna get some work done today."

"Hoho. Looks like Si-Hun is going to be lonely today."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He has our sister-in-law with him."

Lilith closed the door behind her. Kang-Woo stretched after being left alone in his room.

"That aside..."

Kang-Woo looked down at himself. He had liberated the Abyss for the first time after escaping it and becoming perfectly fused with the Demonic Sea. Of course, he did not liberate it completely.

'It'd be like using a nuke to hunt a rabbit.'

He liberated just enough to endure the Light of Akart that Salvatore and the other pastors were emitting. To compare it to opening the Doors as he did in the past, it was equivalent to opening one Door. The comparison no longer applied to him since the Demonic Sea was no longer sealed behind the three Doors but it was similar enough.

"There aren't any side effects like I'd feared."

Rather, his reconstruction had hastened even more after battling Akart's retainers. His fingers had grown thicker and his muscles had become more well-defined.

"I would've used it earlier if I knew this would happen."

There was far less of a risk compared to opening the Doors. His sanity did not blow away nor was he devoured by the Abyss.

'No, no.'

Kang-Woo shook his head after much thinking. Liberating the Abyss when the Demonic Sea had yet to stabilize was like flooring the accelerator of a car with no windows, bumpers, or doors. He would use it if he had no choice but he couldn't risk being stuck in the Abyss for years just for his growth.

'Moreover, I have no idea whether my growth was thanks to liberating the Abyss or fighting against Salvatore.'

However, it was likely the latter. The Light of Akart could easily stimulate the Demonic Sea since the light could disintegrate it.

Riiing.

[Sir Guardian Deity ?(*′︶`*)? ! I have information to share with you!]

A blue message window appeared in front of Kang-Woo as he was about to get up after organizing his thoughts regarding Abyss Liberation.

"Hm? It's been a while, you."

It had been a long time since Eve messaged him.

[I couldn't get in touch with you because I've been busy overhauling the Law of Titans!]

"Overhaul...? Did you find a way to restore the Law of Titans, perhaps?"

[No. I simply maximized the functions that are still usable.]

"Tsk." Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and nodded.

If the Law of Titans could be repaired so easily, Akart wouldn't be furious about it and try to end the world in which its balance was disrupted.

"That aside, what information?"

[Thanks to the overhaul, you can now use a portion of the functions of the Law of Titans!]

[Congratulations! ?*.?(ˊ?ˋ)?.*?]

"What?"

Kang-Woo's eyes widened by the unexpected news.

[Oh, I say this, but it is but a portion. I would advise you don't expect much from the already-damaged Law.]

"Hmm. So, what sort of things can I do?"

Kang-Woo was excited to hear what kind of functions he could take advantage of since the Law of Titans was the same as the System.

[At this stage, you can awaken new Traits irrespective of level!]

"Oh?' Kang-Woo's eyes shone. The ability to awaken new Traits was certainly an amazing one. "Can I awaken Traits in others as well?"

[Yes! (?′▽`?)]

[However, the type and rank of the Trait awakened is randomized!]

"Whoooaaa," Kang-Woo expressed amazement.

Although it was random, just the fact that he could get new Traits after reaching the max level was more than welcome. Not only that but he could also grant new Traits to others.

'If I grant new Traits to Yeon-Joo and Si-Hun...'

He could help them break through their plateau phase of growth.

[However, you cannot use this function yet (?•?︿•??).]

"Why not?"

[The currently-damaged Law of Titans cannot replenish its energy independently. To awaken Traits in Players, the power of a Titan is required.]

"..."

Kang-Woo frowned. It made sense that the power of a Titan was required since they were the ones who created the Law of Titans. The problem was how to get hold of a Titan's power.

"What if I use Bauli?"

[Bauli's body and soul have been devoured by the Demonic Sea. It is impossible to bring out only his power.]

[(??﹏?)?]

"Shit."

'What a useless fucking father.'

"Then what? Does that mean I can't use the Law of Titans's functions?"

It was as useless as a remote controller with no batteries.

[Just like your Fran?ois, Sir Guardian Deity!]

"What?"

[Doing it every night and still no news of a Kang-Woo Jr...]

"I'm not making them on purpose, dammit."

He couldn't have a child when he had yet to marry his lovers. He would have more than enough time for that after the ceremony.

[A seedless watermelon... A seedless Fran?ois...]

"The fuck you say?"

[~(???~)(~???)~]

'Where the fuck are you getting those goddamn emoticons?'

[Back to the topic at hand.] The emoticon disappeared. [You can use the Law's function by using the power of Akart's subordinates you defeat.]

"Hm? Then what about when I killed Salvatore?"

[I was still in the middle of overhauling the Law at the time so it couldn't absorb the power.]

In the end, it still meant Kang-Woo couldn't use the function.

'Akart's subordinates, huh?'

Since Kang-Woo had no way of hunting them down, he was still at square one.

"Haaa," Kang-Woo sighed and shook his head. "Huh? Wait a second."

Just then, he noticed the golden balance scale necklaces he had gathered in a corner of his room.

1. McCol (??) is a Korean barley soda beverage. It's kind of like root beer; it's an acquired taste and is a very polarizing drink in Korea. ☜

2. Zico is a Korean coconut water beverage, not to be confused with the Korean rapper/singer ZICO. Like McCol, it's a very polarizing drink but much more negative than positive. ☜