Chapter 183 - Summit (4)
"…"
Julia Vilkova bit her lip and glared at Oh Kang-Woo.
"It seems I was wrong about you, Kang-Woo. I thought you were a person with a strong sense of justice who worked harder than anyone else for world peace."
"Don't bullshit me." Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief. "If you were trying to seduce me, you should have hidden your intentions a little bit. You blatantly tried to use me, so there's no way I wouldn't notice."
"…"
"You should've done it in moderation. That was just too much."
"It's too bad you misinterpreted my goodwill."
"The only thing bad here is your mind," Kang-Woo mocked.
Julia frowned at the cheap taunt.
'Just how?' she wondered.
Julia knew that she'd left her intentions unconcealed. She could have taken it slow enough for it to be noticed, but she hadn't thought that there was a reason why she needed to do so.
'Why didn't the scent work?'
She bit her lip anxiously.
The scent she'd developed allowed a person to feel the desires of a demon. There was no way a human who did not have the resistance against or any experience with the urges of such desires that demons possessed would be able to resist it. That's why she'd used such a simple strategy.
'If that's the case, then…'
That meant Kang-Woo had endured those desires with sheer mental fortitude.
'That's impossible.'
Julia looked at him in disbelief. She knew best how strong a demon's desires were.
'And he resisted that?'
It was like shaking a drug in front of an addict or putting water in front of a person who had collapsed in the desert and telling them not to drink it. A demon's desires couldn't be resisted so easily.
'Damn.'
Julia's expression crumpled in frustration. She felt that her plan to disband Guardians had been destroyed.
'A guy like this is a member of Guardians?'
It was truly ironic that a person like this was a member of an organization that fought for world peace in the name of justice.
Julia clenched her hands into fists.
She considered using demonic energy to eliminate him, but she was right in the middle of enemy territory. The moment she used demonic energy, she would be surrounded by the members of Guardians and ultimately die in vain.
'What should I do?'
Her thoughts became cloudy.
Wham!
At that moment, one of the politicians kicked the table aggressively. It seemed like he had been a Player before becoming a politician. The table was split with just that one kick.
He glared at Kang-Woo and cursed, "Son of a bitch!"
The politician threw a punch filled with blue mana at Kang-Woo.
Grab.
"Huh?" the politician uttered puzzledly.
Kang-Woo easily caught the politician's fist and smirked.
He questioned, "For God's sake, were you all made in a factory or something? How are you all saying the same shit despite being from different countries and ethnicities?"
"L-Let go of me!!"
"Man, I wasn't planning on going this far, you know? It was fine with me as long as we got the support that we needed. But…"
Crack.
Kang-Woo strengthened his grip and broke the politician's bones with a loud crack.
"A-Arrgghh!!"
"Think about it," Kang-Woo said in a serious tone.
His scheme, which involved trying to control the politicians by making them drink poisoned wine, was a dangerous play that could've turned the world upside down. Nevertheless, there was a very good reason why he'd done such a thing.
Kang-Woo continued, "If I let you do as you wish even just one time, I'll have to keep lowering myself down to your level every single time afterward. You'll pull all sorts of shit whenever we try to do something. Well, I'm fine with that. After all, I'll be able to play with beautiful women and eat delicious food. But…"
Crack.
"AAGGHH!!!"
"That'd just be a waste of pages. Nameless extras like you would progressively get more lines."
"Wh-What the hell are you talking about?! L-Let go of me, you crazy son of a bitch!! You're supposed to be a member of Guardians?! A protector of world peace?! Don't screw with me! Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?! I'm—"
"See? Who gave a nameless extra like you the right to talk so much?"
Crack!
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
"This is how it ends up." Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. "If your line came up in a novel, that'd be over two hundred characters of text. Fifty more lines like that shit, and we'd get an entire chapter."
The politician's hand was badly crushed as if it had been crushed by a press. Kang-Woo let it go, and the politician slumped to the floor while clutching his crushed hand to his chest.
"That's enough of an explanation, right?" Kang-Woo said.
Everyone in the room looked at him in fear.
"...What is it that you want?" Julia asked in a trembling voice.
Kang-Woo grinned.
What he wanted was simple. From the moment they lured him into this room and tried to make him their puppet, they only had two choices…
"You either obey…" he sneered, "...or you die."
* * *
"Umm…" Emannuel Amon murmured hesitantly. He gulped and read out the contents of the paper, "Then… all forty-seven countries participating in the summit have agreed to give their full support to Guardians."
"…"
"The specifics are as follows: France will send thirty Players, who are members of the special forces Cheval de Napoléon, Italy will offer ten million euros and send seventeen members of their special forces Kaiser, the UK will send five of the Knights of the Round Table and famous chef Gordon Ramsay as the restaurant administrator…"
While wiping the sweat dripping from his forehead, Emmanuel continued, "China will send Mr. Tian Wuchen, Ms. Tian Suyan, and 217 martial artists of the Heavenly Sword Clan. Japan will send Princess Kurosaki Yurie, as well as her security team.
"Korea will send Ms. Cha Yeon-Joo and thirteen members of the Red Rose Guild, the entirety of the Hwarang Corps' Second Squadron, and web novelists Wooden Spoon[1] and JerryM[2] as analysts and strategists."
Emmanuel's speech was a summary of the aid that had been offered. However, there were a total of forty-seven countries involved, so Emannuel had been talking for five minutes.
There were some differences between each country, but it didn't change the fact that the scale of their support had been far more than what Guardians had expected.
"…"
"H-How did this…"
The mouths of Gaia, Grace McCubbin, and Kim Si-Hun gaped open in surprise.
They hadn't expected to receive such immense support. In the first place, it wasn't easy for a country to offer that much support to an external organization.
The three of them couldn't believe what was going on.
"Everyone…" Gaia teared up, as she felt that a miracle had occurred. "Thank you… very much."
She bit her lip in an attempt to hold back her tears.
All the remaining countries on Earth had joined together, leaving behind things like ideology, ethnicity, and religion. If this wasn't a miracle, what else could it be called?
Gaia's heart trembled, and tears full of emotion flowed down her cheeks.
"Thank you all so very much."
She had even thrown away her original name after becoming Gaia's incarnation. She'd done her best to protect the world from being destroyed by the Demon of Prophecy.
Numerous people had joined her, but even more had turned their backs on her. Those important to her had vanished in succession, but new people entered her life.
She'd lost her eyesight, and the world had become dark. Even her legs had stopped working. She'd felt that the world was far too big.
It was as if she'd been left alone in the middle of the sea. The burden she carried was much too heavy for a single person to shoulder.
Her shoulders trembled, and her tears continued to stream down her face.
"Gaia," Si-Hun called out.
He grabbed Gaia's hands, which looked as if they would break from the slightest touch.
Si-Hun felt that he had to say something to her at this very moment, so he did.
"You are not alone."
"Ah…" Gaia uttered, feeling Si-Hun's warmth through her hands.
To her, his energy was hotter and more reliable than anything else…
Her cheeks felt hot. The words Si-Hun had said kept echoing in her mind.
Particles of light began gathering in the darkness. Some were small, and others were big, but they seemed to be illuminating the darkness in her vision.
"Protector Kim Si-Hun…"
"Haha. This is no time to be crying."
"Ah, y-you're right." Gaia blushed while coughing and raised her head. "Once again, I thank you all for having made such a difficult decision. I will not arrogantly make a promise like guaranteeing the safety of the forces that you have decided to send, but we will make sure that none of their sacrifices will be in vain."
"…"
"The world is still in crisis, monsters still appear inside gates, and the Demon Cult and Satan are trying to destroy the world. But…"
Gaia straightened her back. A dignified yet intimidating energy emanated from the frail and slender girl.
She continued, "Not a single drop of blood that we spill will be in vain."
'Damn, what a great line,' Kang-Woo thought.
"Our drops of blood will become the light that illuminates the darkness."
'Yes! Well said, sister-in-law!!'
"The number of troops or how strong they are do not matter."
'Because you can't quantify the value of human lifeeeeeeeee!!'
"Just as little fireflies gather to illuminate the darkness, we will swim through this pitch-black darkness together."
'My god, I might end up falling for her at this rate as well, Si-Hun!!'
Clap, clap, clap!!
Thunderous applause rang throughout the room.
Kang-Woo smiled when he saw the Gaia and Si-Hun couple holding hands.
'Jeez. Well done, my children.'
Then he turned and looked at the reactions of the other people at the summit. Some were crying and trembling. It wasn't hard to see why they were reacting like that.
'I guess these sons of bitches were moved.'
Weirdly, the ones who were crying the most were the politicians he had poisoned. That was probably just a coincidence though.
'To think they'd offer so much support for world peace…'
They had offered so much support that it might even be a detriment to their respective countries. Kang-Woo couldn't help but be moved by their sacrifice.
"Huuuuuurgh," Emmanuel, the French ambassador, cried, unable to restrain himself anymore. He muttered, "Motherfucker… Absolute scum…"
"Ah," Kang-Woo uttered.
'So, he despises the Demon Cult that much…'
Upon hearing Emmanuel’s muttering increase in volume, Kang-Woo stood up and walked toward him.
"Gasp!"
"I didn't know… that you harbored such deep resentment," Kang-Woo said.
"N-No, I—"
"There is no need to worry. The world has gathered as one. If we stick together, we will surely be able to defeat the Demon Cult!"
"Y-Yes! Of course!" Emannuel quickly nodded.
Kang-Woo gripped Emmanuel's hand tightly.
"Kurgh!" Emmanuel groaned.
"Let us fight as one."
"A-Arrgghh."
"Let the light be with you."
"I-It hurts."
"I am also hurting. However, you must endure the pain. You must not let resentment devour you.”
"Kuh…"
More tears flowed down Emmanuel's cheeks.
'Shieet, my words must have moved him,' Kang-Woo thought.
Emmanuel was crying, so it seemed like Kang-Woo had managed to get through to him.
The French ambassador couldn't stop sobbing. He was groaning and squirming in pain. Nevertheless, Kang-Woo believed he had certainly touched Emmanuel's heart.
'After all, I have a talent for touching people's hearts.'
There was no doubt that Emmanuel felt moved.
'Trust me, bro.'
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