Side Story Chapter 5. And A Bit of a Strange Date
Gabriel treated Chi-Woo like the sky. But from Laguel’s perspective, Chi-Woo was the sky but also a human being. He was the sky who wanted to live like a human. Thus, there was no point in going on about some grand duty or principal he needed to abide by. They had to appeal to his more human sentiments to draw the response they wanted from him. Thus, Laguel carefully chose her words before she opened her mouth.
Her true intentions were essentially already revealed; Chi-Woo probably didn’t say much about it because of all the history they had shared until now. She needed to lean on this aspect. Rather than going in circles, it was best for her to emphasize the human feelings and sentiments behind their cause.
“I’m sure you remember the hero from the Afrilith family who followed you on Liber.”
“Of course I remember Apoline. But what about her?”
“She is currently on the planet she went to save. But because the enemy there is so strong, she is struggling.” What came next was obvious. The Celestial Realm sent reinforcements, but the situation didn’t change; instead, it grew worse, and Apoline was left in a terrible predicament—one so grave that her life was threatened. Laguel tried to explain the situation as briefly as possible.
“…What?” Chi-Woo’s response was exactly as she expected.
“Apoline is struggling…hm, this is surprising. Her fire magic is quite formidable. The fact that she was beaten must mean…”
In other words, Laguel was basically clutching Chi-Woo by his heels and saying: ‘Apoline is a hero who followed you wholeheartedly. Are you really going to turn away from her too?’ Laguel thought that Chi-Woo was the kind of person who avoided taking responsibility, but when he did, he saw things to the very end. This was evident by how he was maintaining his connection with the Seven Stars members even after the deal on Liber. And it was understandable that he would find it hard to believe that a hero he had given special privileges to and whose potential he had awakened with the Power to Rule the World was defeated.
Laguel cautiously surveyed Chi-Woo’s face, but he didn’t appear to be too displeased. In some ways, it could be said that Chi-Woo had been waiting for Laguel to speak her lines. It wasn’t much trouble for him to help, but he didn’t want to set a precedent for future decisions. If he was to help, he needed to do so wholly by his own choice. And since this matter wouldn’t be an official mission given by the Celestial Realm but one related to Chi-Woo personally, it changed things. Apoline was someone who had lowered her enormous pride to serve under Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo had the responsibility to respond to that display of loyalty.
Chi-Woo didn’t have to ponder for long. He didn’t even ask where the crisis was taking place before getting up. Then, he announced, “Let’s go.”
Garbriel’s eyes widened.
***
It was a wilderness where rough sandy wind blew. One woman collapsed to the ground and glared sharply at the figure before her. She was Apoline Yelodi Afrilith—the youngest daughter of the greatly esteemed Afrilith family. The figure she was glaring at was someone wearing a gray hooded robe that covered his body—he looked suspicious even at a glance. His small stature and long white beard indicated that he was an old man, and immense energy was coming from all over his body. Behind him, there was an enormous army.
“It seems that this is the end,” the old man said calmly, and Apoline grunted.
“But you really were amazing. To think you would be able to face not just me but all of us. As expected of a hero from the sky.” The old man genuinely complimented her without any sense of mockery, but Apoline clenched her teeth.
“The more I think about it, the more I believe it’ll be a waste to kill a talent like you. You should know our strengths by now. So how about it? What do you think about changing sides?” The old man suggested, and Apoline snorted. Then, her eyes sharpened even more as she opened her mouth.
“You are mentally ill.”
The old man laughed like he had expected her response. “I respect your noble decision. Then…” He raised his hand and placed it back down like there was nothing more that needed to be said. Apoline sensed what would happen soon and clenched her eyes shut.
“Huh!?” It was then she heard the old man gasp. Hearing a strange sound, Apoline raised her head again, and her eyes burst open. Then, she became as shocked as the old man. It was because a young man was grabbing the old man’s hand while hooking an arm around the old man’s shoulders.
“What…?” The old man tried to respond immediately, but his body didn’t move as he wished. It was the same for the army behind him. As if their feet were all glued to the ground, they were stuck. All they could do was murmur to themselves in puzzlement. And while this went on, Chi-Woo twisted the old man’s arms with practiced ease and smiled brightly at Apoline, who was looking up at him.
“Hey?” He greeted her and walked up to her before sitting beside her. “How have you been?” Apoline stared at him like she was frozen in place. Then, seeing Chi-Woo, tears began to trickle down her eyes. Chi-Woo flinched and blinked fast.
“Ah no, why? How come everyone who sees me seems to cry these days?”
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t want to meet you like this—"
“It’s fine, completely fine. You did well. What are you crying for? It’s nothing to cry about,” Chi-Woo comforted Apoline before turning to the old man, who was still fixed in his spot.
“Anyway…” Chi-Woo raised himself up while laughing humorlessly. “I was wondering who in the world it was…but you guys are straight-up crazy.” Without even conversing with them, Chi-Woo could clearly see the answer with his eyes. Who knew that there would be another being like the Sernitas?
‘No, that’s not it.’ They were similar yet different from the Sernitas. The Sernitas emphasized being many but one, while the being in front of Chi-Woo only emphasized oneness. Chi-Woo smacked his lips, sensing the enormous weight of beliefs connected to the old man from behind him.
‘Was he planning to be a god or something?’ Chi-Woo thought. No wonder Apoline couldn’t beat him. She probably felt as if she was fighting against infinity by herself—but of course, that wouldn’t be true infinity, but merely an imitation of it. Even though she was blessed by Chi-Woo, Apoline was still human. Thus, she had her limits.
‘Perhaps they could become like the Sernitas…no, even beyond them as individuals.’ It was very impressive that they managed to reach this state while beginning as humans, yet all that didn’t change the fact that they were still way below Chi-Woo.
“Well, as wide as the universe is, there sure are many crazy guys out there…”
“Are you calling us crazy? How insulting.” Surprisingly, the old man’s voice was calm. “But I guess it doesn’t even matter. It would be too greedy of me to expect everyone to understand my convictions.”
“Convictions my ass.” Chi-Woo snorted. “Anyway, you’re surprisingly calm about this.”
“Is there anything I need to be surprised about? It looks like you came to support that hero. You’re not the first to do just that.”
Chi-Woo recalled hearing how the Celestial Realm had sent reinforcements on their end, but he didn’t see any of them now. He didn’t even need to ask what had happened to them.
“Anyway, what are you going to do now?” Chi-Woo got to the point since he didn’t come here to just talk. “Will you take punishment while standing firm to your convictions, or will you leave peacefully? If you say you will go, I will let you go without hurting you.”
“What a foolish question,” the old man instantly replied.
“No…” Chi-Woo scratched his head like he thought the situation was getting bothersome. “Don’t you get a feeling by now? Hm?”
“What are you saying?”
“Look at how I’m acting after appearing all of a sudden. Shouldn’t you wonder why I’m so confident and if I have something backing me up?”
“Of course, I’m aware of that,” the old man said calmly. “But don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to look down on you, but…”
“But?”
“It’s because I’ve already seen countless men like you,” the old man said with a sly smile. “Each one of them acted like they were the strongest and greatest existence in the world, and there were actually some I couldn’t take lightly. However, they all met the same end.” The old man steeled his voice. “Eventually, they all succumbed to me.”
“…”
“After going through that experience many times, I began to think,” the old man cleared his throat and continued, “Am I not actually the strongest for defeating those people?” The great pride that the old man couldn’t hide radiated from him.
“Ah, is that so?”
“You said you were a hero from the Celestial Realm, right? You all are the same. Only in the beginning, there was some mystery—” The old man couldn’t continue because his vision suddenly got warped and dropped downward. The old man opened and closed his mouth, realizing that his head had fallen from his body. Not only that, but every one of the army standing behind the old man met the same fate, and their heads were falling off.
The old man doubted his own eyes as his consciousness faded away. ‘What…!’
“You aren’t imagining it, old man.” Chi-Woo picked up the old man’s head, and the old man’s fading consciousness returned instantly. “I made this happen.” All the old man’s senses recovered so that he could clearly feel his head’s connection to the body it had been detached from.
“How is it?” Chi-Woo smirked and shrugged. “Do you still think I’m the same as the others?”
The old man didn’t say anything. Chi-Woo had managed to annihilate not only him but all his army without raising a hand.
“…I’m not afraid of death.” The old man’s voice tumbled out of him while he was shocked, but he didn’t change his stance. “Thanks to you, I learned how vast the universe is. But the only thing I fear is my conviction being broken.”
Chi-Woo sighed and shook his head. He had had such a thought before, but it really was hopeless when a fool gained a conviction.
“It seems like you are misunderstanding something, going on about conviction and all that. Breaking a conviction like yours is not even a big task.”
“How interesting. How would you do something even death failed to do?”
Chi-Woo smiled blandly. “Like this. Now, give up your conviction and go back to where you came from.” He flicked his fingers, and something surprising happened.
“Yes! I will do just that, sir!” The old man not only bent his straight back, but also turned at Chi-Woo’s command. “Okay, okay, everyone! Let’s turn back! Drop this conviction of ours and return immediately! Let’s all go home, wash our feet, and just go to sleep!” The old man was ordering his followers to return when he suddenly regained his senses.
“…Huh?” He remembered what he had just said and how he had acted. He flicked his head toward Chi-Woo. “What did you do just now…!”
“Why do you even need to ask?” Chi-Woo responded carefreely. “See for yourself.” He flicked his finger one more time, and the old man made a funny face with his tongue sticking out and his arms flapping around in a silly dance.
“Lalalalala~! Lalalalala~!”
“Ha!” Apoline sounded like she was running out of breath. She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the solemn and strict old man suddenly dancing and rolling like he had lost his mind.
“It really is funny, isn’t it?” Chi-Woo pointed at the old man who was going “Ahalalala!’ and chuckled.
“Yoyoyoyoleoh~!” Now, the old man had both arms in the sky and was doing waves like one would in a seaweed dance. Then, the old man regained his senses. While flustered, he saw Chi-Woo chuckling and Apoline choking from lack of air because she was laughing so hard.
The old man’s face became beet red as he furiously shouted, “F-Fuck!”
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