Chapter 454: Chapter 454 - Who?

A boy with blank eyes was sitting on top of a giant hill made of dry red sand as darkness akin to the abyss was squirming around him. He was focusing on something with his eyes closed.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of a staff hitting the ground echoed. A hunchback demon covered in bandages everywhere except his eyes walked toward the boy.

“Lord Bael, how is the digestion of the Demon God’s heart faring?”

The boy known as Bael slowly opened his eyes. He pouted in displeasure and said, “It’s not as easy as I’d thought it would be. I think I’ll need a little more time.”

“Kekeke. There is no need to rush. You have already claimed victory from the moment that you acquired the Demon God’s heart.”

“Hihihi, right? But even so, I wanna digest it as quickly as possible.” Bael laughed as he pounded his chest, his laughter echoing. “That aside, what brings you here? Are you having a hard time rallying the demons of the Nine Hells?”

“No. There certainly are those who resist, but... things are going without a hitch.”

“Then what?” Bael asked as he stared at Amon with his head tilted.

Amon’s red eyes narrowed. He said with a voice as unpleasant as nails on a chalkboard, “It seems... a Titan has intervened.”

Bael remained silent. He smirked and continued, “Heh, what got those geezers off of their asses?”

“Most likely due to the Law of Titans.”

“Hihihi! I guess there can be no other reason.” Bael cackled as he nodded. He narrowed his eyes fiercely and asked, “So, in what way have they intervened? No, before that... which one of those fatasses was it?”

“Nostrian, the Titan of Time.”

“Hmm.”

Bael’s eyes shone, never having heard of the name.

“However, it was not a direct intervention,” Amon mentioned.

“Really?” Bael clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“He has handed a portion of his power to a human through a Gate.”

“Hihihi. Is he aiming to keep an eye on me or something?”

“I am not yet sure of his exact intentions.” Amon shook his head and continued, “But considering the situation, it seems correct to assume that it is related to the time of prophecy.”

“Hehe. True.”

Bael nodded. Most of the Titans likely couldn’t care less about what happened to the Triad, but it was a different story for a Titan who knew about the prophecy.

The corners of Bael’s mouth split, reaching his earlobes. “Because he knows that once I devour the Triad... they’re next.”

He licked the saliva around his lips. Madness filled his narrowed eyes. Seeing that, Amon cackled.

“What will you do?” Amon asked.

“About what?”

“About Nostrian’s intervention.”

“Mm.” Bael laid down on top of the hill of red sand and answered, “Leave it be.”

“Pardon?”

“Just forget about it.”

Amon blinked repeatedly, not having expected this response. “Leaving the other Titans aside, leaving Nostrian to his own devices is—”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“He might—”

“I said, it doesn’t matter.”

Bael spread his arms out and stared up at the red sky apathetically as he yawned.

“Titans, huh?” Bael snickered; he recalled someone as his eyes filled with the madness of hunger. It was the face of a human with sharp eyes. “Doesn’t it sound fun?”

His voice echoed throughout the hill of red sand.

***

A month had passed since the delegation from Aernor first arrived on Earth. Since then, Oh Kang-Woo had been busy every single moment of his day. He was forced to travel all over the world to introduce Iris to every world leader and was even made to schedule times for her to build amicable relations with Guardians members whom she had not yet met.

He had also eliminated a terrorist organization that opposed cooperation with the people of another world and spread as many extremely positive articles about Aernor as he could.

However, that did not mean he could only focus on the alliance between Aernor and Earth. He spent time with Han Seol-Ah before she exploded, helped Kim Si-Hun and Balrog train, killed monsters that came out of Gates with Cha Yeon-Joo, and many others. His free time was nonexistent during the past month, and public interest in the delegation of Aernor began to die down.

“A meeting?” Kang-Woo asked, tilting his head in confusion as he stared at Lilith.

“Yes. Layla has asked you to participate in the emergency meeting to be held this afternoon.”

“Why? We just had the general assembly a few days ago.”

They had only just had the Guardians general assembly with Iris and the world leaders three days ago. As a result, troops would be dispatched from Aernor to Earth and would be provided a space for them to live near Seoul, just like how Korea provided the US Armed Forces accommodations during the Day of Calamity.

There was much opposition from the other countries regarding Aernor’s troops only being dispatched to Seoul but it was resolved without much issue because the giant Gate that led to Aernor was close to Seoul and the troops could travel to other countries swiftly using the Gates of the Hall of Protection. Kang-Woo couldn’t believe that they were having another meeting after thinking that things would die down from now on.

“It’s apparently about something else,” Lilith mentioned.

“Mm... What is it about, then?”

“She said that there is a Player whom she wants to introduce to you.”

“A Player?”

Kang-Woo stared at Lilith in confusion. Lilith only shrugged, not having any of the details either.

“Hmm.” Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

‘An emergency meeting just to introduce a Player?’

If such a big deal was being made out of something that could be relayed over a message or a call, it was surely not about some ordinary Player.

‘I should go check it out.’

Layla was not one to make a huge deal about such things for no reason. Kang-Woo headed to the Hall of Protection immediately. Tian Wuchen, Si-Hun, and Cha Yeon-Joo were already there after hearing the news.

“Oh, hyung-nim!” Si-Hun approached Kang-Woo with a smile.

‘Son of a bitch gets more handsome with each day.’

Kang-Woo greeted Si-Hun back with a wave. Seeing that, Yeon-Joo pouted.

“Hmph, what are you, his dog?”

Si-Hun looked exactly like a puppy running to Kang-Woo, his owner.

“What do you think you’re saying to my Si-Hun?” Kang-Woo said.

“Oh? Your Si-Hun, you say?” Yeon-Joo chuckled. “That aside, have you heard anything about the Player?”

“Nope. How about you, Si-Hun, Have you heard anything from Layla?”

“No. I was so busy killing monsters lately that I barely had time to meet Layla.”

“Really?”

Kang-Woo nodded slightly and headed deeper into the Hall of Protection. Layla was sitting in the meeting room.

“Oh, thank you for coming, everyone.” She smiled as she looked at the Guardians members entering the meeting room. She stood up and bowed politely. “Thank you all for giving me a moment of your precious time.”

“I was told that you have a Player you’d like to introduce to us... Who is it?”

“Hoho. Just a moment, please.” Layla looked up and scanned the people in the meeting room. She then continued, “Before I introduce him...I’m sure you all know that there has been a massive influx of abnormal phenomena in the Gates, right?”

Kang-Woo nodded. He had been hearing of it since coming back from the divine realm.

“Mm... There is a Player who has been eliminating monsters pouring out of those Gates since a month ago.”

“Hm? Isn’t it obvious that a Player would be killing monsters?” Yeon-Joo asked with her head tilted in confusion.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue. “There’s no way Layla would gather us just because of that.”

The fact that Layla opened an emergency meeting meant that this Player had done far more than simply killing monsters.

“Yes, you’re right, Kang-Woo. This Player... has killed an enormous number of monsters rapidly growing in number lately,” Layla stated.

“How much is enormous? How many monsters have this Player killed compared to the average Player...?”

“He has probably killed more monsters than Si-Hun.”

“Pardon?”

Kang-Woo stared at Layla dumbfoundedly. Si-Hun had been entirely focused on killing the rapidly growing number of monsters while Kang-Woo had been away in the divine realm.

‘More than Si-Hun?’

It was hard to believe. Si-Hun was the strongest human that Kang-Woo knew. If Divinity was taken out of the equation, Zeus, Thor, and even Odin would be no match for Si-Hun. Only Tai Wuji was on a level that surpassed Si-Hun.

“More than me?” Si-Hun asked as well, just as shocked as Kang-Woo.

Layla nodded softly. “You two might be similar in terms of exact number, but...” She turned to Kang-Woo and continued, “In just one month, this Player has killed enough monsters to be on par with the total number that Si-Hun has killed. All in Gates that S-rank monsters appear in, no less.”

Kang-Woo remained silent. A human had killed enough monsters to be on par with Si-Hun, and they had done it all in Gates where S-rank monsters appeared in.

‘It's impossible unless they possess Deific Essence.’

No, not even Deific Essence would be able to make it easy since Deific Essence was more specialized toward defense than offense.

Kang-Woo had just one question that he was most curious about.

“How has a Player like that... not been known thus far?”

It did not make sense for a Player who could do such things to not have been under the radar.

‘It’s as if... they fell out of the sky.’

Kang-Woo stared at Layla, completely unable to understand.

Having expected the question, Layla smiled bitterly and responded, “According to him, he came across a strange fate in a dungeon that he found within a Gate one month ago.”

“A strange fate?”

“Yes. He was allegedly an ordinary Player before then.”

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. It sounded far too made-up.

‘Did they become an incarnation or something?’

That was the only possibility he could come up with.

‘But the gods of Earth’s divine realm are being kept in check by Gaia.’

If that was the case, an outer god might have approached the Player instead.

‘I’ll have to see him for myself.’

It was difficult to come to a conclusion when they had not even seen him yet. After waiting in the meeting room for a little, a young man opened the door and entered. He had light brown hair and looked fairly affable.

‘A new face.’

Kang-Woo scanned the young man with deeply sunken eyes. Just then, the young man smiled brightly as soon as he saw Kang-Woo.

“K-Kang-Woo? Is that you, Kang-Woo?!”

The young man walked up to Kang-Woo excitedly. “I-I can’t believe I got to meet you again... It is truly an honor!”

“Uhh, mm.”

‘The hell?’

“It’s me! Kim Tae-Hyun!”[1]

‘Who?’

“You saved my life a long time ago! I still haven’t forgotten the help you gave me back then. I’m always thankful to you!”

“Of course, I remember you, Tae-Hyun. It’s nice to see you again.”

“K-Kang-Woo... I-I knew you’d remember me!! I knew you’d still remember the promise we made!”[2]

‘Seriously, who the fuck is this guy?’

“How could I forget? There’s... no way I would forget about you, Tae-Hyun.”

‘I can’t remember, no matter how hard I think.’

1. This is the rogue who was with Kang Tae-Soo when they were attacked by the members of the Andras Guild, all the way back in Chapter 19. ☜

2. Refer to around the beginning of Chapter 20. ☜