Chapter 466. Finally (3)

Chi-Woo looked calm on the outside, but he was flustered. She asked him to keep an eye on her forever. He understood what she meant, but it sounded a bit strange. Of course, even though Hawa didn’t mean it like that—

—Whoaaahhhhhhah!

Chi-Woo put his hand on his forehead as Philip made a fuss and huffed loudly. Anyway, technically she wasn’t wrong. Chi-Woo’s current class was Saint. It was a position above La Bella’s apostle and of course, a Cardinalis. In fact, he was virtually La Bella’s agent, and if he demanded the suspension of Hawa’s sponsorship with a proper basis, La Bella could not easily ignore his request. In that sense, it was true that Chi-Woo held the leash on Hawa’s neck.

Chi-Woo pondered for a while. After organizing his thoughts, he said, “I have nothing more to give you after that day.”

“…”

“No matter how hard you work and try to bloom your talent, no matter how great a performance you show and how many merits you earn, that will remain to be true. It’s like that even now. My mind won’t ever change in the future.” Chi-Woo stared at Hawa, who had her head slightly lowered.

Hawa hadn’t worked particularly hard for this matter or earned significant merits. Technically, what she did for the boy was just another trivial matter. However, it was the first time that Hawa had ever moved for the sake of another person. A girl who showed no consideration for others was trying to change herself. The fact that she was working to match Chi-Woo’s pursuit did move him a little, but even then, he hesitated.

The Power to Rule the World was truly an extraordinary ability. If this ability was known, it would attract a great deal of attention not only from Liber, but also from the Celestial Realm. It was to the extent that the moment he saw it, Chi-Hyun had cursed and called Chi-Woo insane. Chi-Hyun also repeatedly made him swear to never abuse its power.

Chi-Woo didn’t think his brother was wrong. Of course, being too stingy with it would be a problem, but overusing it would also be a problem. Thus, he only used it after going over the consequences numerous times.

‘My intuition is…quiet.’ His intuition, which alway gave him some kind of signal in a situation like this, was silent today. As a result, it was entirely up to him whether to use the power on Hawa.

“Hawa…you’ve been with me for quite a while.” They’ve been together since he entered Liber as the seventh recruits. The memory of them living closely together in a cave felt like yesterday. Chi-Woo was also human in the end, and he knew that Hawa was desperate for strength. He wanted to accept her request for old times sake as long as she was prepared to pay the appropriate price.

“I’ll give it to you, if you like.”

Hawa’s eyes opened slightly.

“However, you have to pay a price for it.”

“If it’s just a price…”

“It’s the relationship that you and I have built up so far.”

Hawa flinched. With all her shrewdness, she immediately understood what Chi-Woo meant. While Chi-Woo had put it in as gentle a way as possible, what his words meant was extremely cold and cruel.

“I can give you strength. But if you cause trouble…it would become my problem as well, since I was the one who gave you that strength.”

“…”

“If that happens, I won’t be able to forgive you. I have no choice but to finish you.” There were no second chances.

If Hawa caused a problem like last time again, her relationship with Chi-Woo would end that day. Simply put, he would have to kill her.

“I’ll give you strength if you’re ready to accept it,” Chi-Woo calmly said. They were not empty words, nor words to threaten or blackmail her. He sincerely meant everything he said, and Hawa felt it too. That day, she had clearly realized that if Chi-Woo really wanted, he could throw anyone away.

“Yes.” Hawa nodded despite knowing what she was getting into. “I’m prepared.”

“Think carefully and answer.” Chi-Woo raised his hand.

Clang, the chain on his wrist stretched out and wrapped around Hawa’s neck. The very moment Hawa unconsciously reached for the chain, it immediately began to strangle her. Chi-Woo pulled at it. “Ugh…!” Hawa made a suffocating sound, tilted her head sharply, and fell.

“You won’t be able to reverse your decision.”

Hawa collapsed on her knees and raised her head with difficulty. Her eyes trembled as she looked up at Chi-Woo, who was looking down at her like a king sitting on a throne. “I…won’t bark…” As the chains tightened around her throat, she stuttered out the words. “I’ll follow you…like a faithful dog…so…please don’t…throw me away…”

Chi-Woo let out a long breath and said, “…If that’s your choice.” He activated the Power to Rule the World. “Then endure it.”

[La Hawa- Page(1/1)]

1. Reach at least 90% in trust for ‘7 Ways to Become a Great and Respected Parent’ (Complete)

2. Be promoted to ‘Platinum’ Tier (Complete)

3. Show absolute obedience to Choi Chi-Woo, the ruler of Shalyh (Complete)

4. Use at least 3 and at most 7 points of ‘Blessed Luck’ (Incomplete)

“I also hope that—”

[The Power to Rule the World has been used.]

[Innate ability [Blessed Luck] consumed (76->69).]

“You’ll become an Eve who didn’t eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil…!”

Crackle! The chain around Hawa’s neck shone brilliantly.

[The Power to Rule the World ‘creates’ Hawa’s innate ability, ‘Masochist Reparation’.

1.[Masochist Reparation A] – a type of shamanic witchcraft from a shaman that has long served a god. The user’s body gets stronger the greater the crisis she is in and the more pain she endures. Enduring the pain of wearing ill-fitted clothes is equivalent to self-abuse. The user is willing to accept abuse with the determination to right her wrongs. Though this ability makes the user more powerful the more they endure, the user must be careful. As soon as she takes off her new clothes just because it feels a bit stuffy, everything she received in return for her resolution would come back to hit her like a boomerang.

* * *

After dealing with Hawa, Chi-Woo called everyone and delivered what he heard at the meeting. He told them to be prepared since they decided to subjugate the Abyss with Shalyh’s power alone. The members reacted to the news similarly. If they successfully subjugated the Abyss, their only enemy left would be the Sernitas. It seemed as if everyone was deeply affected because the end was finally near. Of course, thinking like this now was no different from counting their chickens before they hatched. They could probably only discuss their final plans after successfully subjugating the Abyss the soonest.

After the meeting, Chi-Woo called Evelyn separately because of Chi-Hyun’s request. Evelyn was once the top leading figure of the Abyss as one of the members of the Two Monarchs Three-Six Alliance. As such, she must know about not only the monarchs of the Abyss, but also basic information about the Seven Chasms. As the saying went, ‘If you know your enemy and yourself, you can win every battle,’ knowing their enemy and preparing in advance would be of considerable help. Evelyn readily agreed to help because there was no reason for her to decline.

“Then should I first tell you about Her Highness, the Abyss Queen, who used to rule half of Abyss?”

“If you’re talking about the Abyss Queen…wasn’t she extinguished?”

“She wasn’t extinguished, but defeated and eaten by the Abyss King.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No, it’s not. I’m saying that the king absorbed her. Why do you think the Abyss King purposely ate the Abyss Queen?” By this, Evelyn meant that the Abyss King had forcibly absorbed and combined with the Abyss Queen.

Evelyn continued, “During the great war, the Abyss King suddenly disappeared from the battlefield, right?”

“Yes, that’s what I heard.”

“He didn’t actually disappear. He went back.”

“By that…are you talking about teleportation?”

“No, I’m not talking about moving to a location.” Evelyn shook her head. “I’m talking about moving to a point in time.”

“?” “He went back in time.”

Chi-Woo was shocked. “He regressed? That makes no sense… I mean, there’s no way that’s the case, right? The fact that we won the great war hasn’t changed.” If the Abyss King had gone back in time, the great war could have proceeded more favorably and easily for his side. However, the future hadn’t changed.

“It’s not regression. He only turned back his own time.”

It took a moment for Chi-Woo to understand Evelyn’s words.

“For example, let’s suppose you suddenly received a fatal wound. What if you can return your body back to 10 minutes ago before you’re on the verge of dying? Then what do you think will happen?”

Only after hearing her explanation did Chi-Woo open his mouth in realization.

“The Abyss King can only do a little more than the example I gave. He can only turn back his own time. It’s not powerful enough to rewind the entire world’s time at once.”

If the Abyss King had the ability to invoke regression whenever he wanted, the winner of the war would definitely have been the Abyss.

“By the way, this ability was originally the Abyss Queen’s.”

It was then Chi-Woo realized what Evelyn meant when she said that the Abyss King had eaten the queen. Chi-Woo said, “It really is troublesome. If he can use that ability continuously, he basically has many extra lives.”

“I don’t know about that part, but he probably can’t use it recklessly. I can count the number of times Her Highness used that ability with one hand. In my personal opinion, I think that a heavy price needs to be paid every time that ability is used.”

“That’s a relief then.”

“Yeah, it would be a relief. If he could only turn back time to the past, that is.”

Chi-Woo furrowed his brows.

“It’s not just the past.” Evelyn cleared her throat and continued, “He can go to the future too by arbitrarily speeding up the time flowing around him.”

For example, this meant that if he used this ability on Flora, she could increase the speed of her growth dramatically, and the Flora 10 years into the future would be incomparably different from her current self.

“Of course, there will probably be many restrictions other than what I know. But still, we have to be careful. It’s a tricky ability to deal with depending on how you use it.”

“Yes, that seems to be the case.” Chi-Woo decided to etch this into his memory.

“All right, then next…”

* * *

After his conversation with Evelyn, Chi-Woo visited the official residence with a document summarizing the information she had told him.

“Good work.” Chi-Hyun glanced through the document and nodded. “We will draft a war plan based on this information. If it’s true, it would be of significant help.” He pushed the document to one side, saying that he needed to make a copy of it first and then asked Chi-Woo, who was sitting still, “What do you think of this war?”

“Huh? Well…a war that we must win?”

“Well, that’s not wrong.” Chi-Hyun nodded. “But it’s not enough to just win.” His voice suddenly quieted. “We must thoroughly overwhelm them from beginning to end. We need a complete, perfect victory so that we can subjugate the Abyss and then immediately fight the Sernitas after.”

Chi-Woo could guess what Chi-Hyun was trying to say. He was planning this war with the worst scenario in mind. If the Sernitas made their move, it was highly likely that the forces at the Cassiubia Mountain Range alone wouldn’t be able to handle it. At most, they would hold on for dear life and collapse eventually. Thus, they needed to subjugate the Abyss before the Cassiubian Mountain Range collapsed, and with their maximum power intact as well.

“There’s me, but the Seven Stars are also important. You and your members will play a central and key role in this war…?” Chi-Hyun stopped mid-sentence and glanced at Chi-Woo.

Chi-Woo was grinning even though he was in the middle of saying something important.

“…Why are you smiling?”

“No, I just thought it was a good thing that I rose to Master tier.”

“?” “Besides everything, you do keep your promise very well. In the past, you would have told me to know my place and stay holed up in Shalyh, but now, you give me important roles without hesitation.” Chi-Woo chuckled boisterously, saying that his brother had changed a lot compared to before. Thus, he didn’t see the moment Chi-Hyun’s face stiffened and continued to say, “Don’t worry. I’ve gotten pretty strong too. I don’t know about the Sernitas, but I don’t think I’ll lose against the Abyss… Maybe I’m stronger than you.” Chi-Woo prepared to make a run for it as soon as he said those last words because he thought his furious brother would immediately rush toward him.

However, for some reason, his brother didn’t show any reaction. He just looked down at the desk with a slightly blank expression. Soon after, Chi-Hyun sighed and quietly stood up.

“…Chi-Hyun?”

“I’ve got work to do. I’ll go ahead first.” Then he immediately turned around and walked towards the door.

“Uh…” With a slightly flustered look, Chi-Woo watched his brother’s back as he quietly opened the door and left.