123. The Earth and Demonic Realm Are Both Busy
In a flash, the mood in the living room became cold.
We had expected convincing her to be a difficult task.
However, we had no idea that she would be this opposed to the idea.
As an Awakened and as a person, we all knew that this was a situation that could only be overcome with the sacrifices.
It was expected that if that sacrifice was to be their lover, the person in question might go into denial.
How could anyone label such a natural reaction as selfish and blame them for it.
If I was in So-Hyeon"s place, I would have been far angrier, not less.
As if he was. .h.i.t on the head with a hammer, Jong Ho blankly stared at So-Hyeon.
His expression was one that I"d lightheartedly poke fun of if the situation was like the usual.
However, that expression didn"t feel too far from the one I might be making soon myself.
The thought that came to my mind was that I might have an expression just like that, or worse.
I felt once more just how dire the situation was, and how difficult convincing others of our decision would be.
If mother heard of this?
The situation would be the equivalent of a mother sending her two sons into the battlefields of war.
Regaining his composure, Jong Ho spoke.
"Hm….. It"s a reaction I expected at least to some degree."
"Of course. In the entire world, who would agree so easily if they were in my shoes?"
"Yes. If you said that you were going to the demonic realm, I would have done the same. No. I would have been far more opposed to it."
"……"
"However, you already know that somebody has to do it."
"I"m an Awakened too. I know. I know better than anyone else, but…… This isn"t easy to accept even though I know in my head that it"s necessary. I thought that I had control over my own body and mind, but turns out that isn"t the case. Seems I"m making a fool of myself today. Funny."
"……."
"It"s true that I"m wondering why it has to be you that must go there. But the bigger reason is that…… why am I not able to go there. The real reason is that I"m unable to answer why I"m unable to help you. This might be just me throwing a tantrum despite knowing that it"s impossible."
"I know how you feel."
Jong Ho looked at me as he said that.
After all, in the past, Jong Ho could only look at me as a bystander while I carried all the burdens myself.
He must have felt guilt that could not be suppressed multiple times, not being strong enough to help the brother that he cared about.
That was probably the reason why he knew how exactly So-Hyeon felt.
So-Hyeon didn"t speak.
She just listened to Jong Ho in silence.
"That"s precisely why you should send me off while pretending it"s ok. It"s for the person who is leaving. It"s also in consideration for the person who"s staying behind. That"s the best thing to do in a situation where we don"t have any other choice."
"……"
"I did the same thing too. Thankfully, the results were always ok. It"ll be the same this time as well. Believe it."
"……."
"So-Hyeon. I understand how you feel. However, this situation will decide humanity"s survival. I know that it"s not a easy decision to make, but there isn"t any other way….. If there is anyone to blame, please direct your anger towards my incompetence."
The conversation to convince her went on for a long time.
She had a resolved look as if she had finished gathering her thoughts.
Seeing her expression, Jong Ho thought that she had changed her mind and went to hold her in his arms.
Up to that point, this would have not only seemed natural, but a beautiful gesture to everyone else.
However, the scene of love and soul turned into love and war in a split moment.
"Move your hand."
"Hm?"
"I will kill you if you don"t."
"Ok….."
"I still haven"t agreed to this completely. Also I"m a government worker. I"m ready to fight anyone with my life on the line. I"m angry enough to beat the s.h.i.t of the demon king himself. So leave me alone."
"……"
So-Hyeon gave an embarra.s.sed smile.
The rest of us had a hard time containing our laughter at the sudden change in atmosphere.
We were all looking at the floor and doing our best to hide it.
If anyone else saw how her emotions were leaking out, plain as day on her face, they would burst out laughing.
It was then that mother came out of the kitchen.
"Guess you were all talking about work?"
"Haha. Yes. Work and love. Love and work."
"Pfft! That"s quite the burn!"
"Hoho. Dinner is ready. You"re all famished, right?"
"No worries. Then…."
"Yes, please come and get seated before the soup grows cold."
"Karin……."
"Yes! Magnificent sir Berdan."
Unlike usual, Karin was shaking in fear.
Right now, he could feel the killing intent that Berdan was letting out.
He could only think about how his body was going to be torn apart, each fearful speculation leading to his death.
He was nearly at the verge of fainting or losing his mind.
Berdan was shattering the armrest of his seat.
"Is there no way to get the Gate connected quicker….."
"Yes, sir Berdan. That is impossible…."
"Kuhuu….."
"It might be possible if you use your Authority. Currently all the magical energy of this territory is being funneled to form the Gate. That"s why……"
"I will ask you again. I won"t be asking anymore after that. Is there no way to hasten the formation of the Gate?!"
"Keruu! Maybe a couple more days at best, but if you wish for it, it"s not impossible!"
"Half a month. Get it done in 15 days."
"Kell! Sir Berdan. That"s not…!"
Berdan shot something out that flew right over Karin"s head.
The force of the impact caused debris to fly around the room.
Purple blood ran down Karin"s wrinkly bald head.
"AHH! I shall get it in the next 15 days! Kemuruk…"
"Exactly 15 days from now. Karin, it will be in your best interest to not disappoint me."
"Yes sir! I understand."
"Begone."
Karin ran as fast as he could.
Just like how a penguin acts after seeing the treats the trainer brought, he waddled his chubby body out of the castle in an attempt to survive.
Karin headed for the far end of the Keruoh territory where the Gate was being formed.
The Gate was a similar size to the portals that formed on Earth.
Since it wasn"t completely formed yet, the portal looked transparent.
Monsters of great sizes were lines up in front of it.
At the end of that line, in front of the gate, stood a Butcherer, 2m in size.
The arm of the Butcherer was a weapon in itself.
The arm didn"t have a spec of flesh on it, and instead had a bone like hard pair of scissor-like appendages.
Its appearance resembled that of a monster that appeared in Incheon when I was fighting against Dark Lady, which had dealt ma.s.sive damage to the surrounding areas by self destructing.
Its body had tears all over it and was rotting away, and it seemed that its body was bloated up to the point of exploding at any given moment.
Karin rand towards them madly.
Even as he ran, the Butcherer continued to butcher away.
The heads of the monsters that lined up were cleanly being severed by the Butcherer.
Next to Karin were other goblins without intelligence, diligently carrying the corpses away.
The reason why the Butcherer was butchering away next to the Gate was to gather magical energy needed to power the Gate.
One might ask why the monsters aren"t just hurling their bodies against the gate.
They might wonder, why go through all the trouble of gathering the magical energy in the Butcherer.
It"s to be expected.
As explained before, monsters have their rank chosen from birth.
Depending on the rank, they are born with innate Authority or abilities.
But that"s not the end of it.
The ranking of the monster also determines how much maximum magical energy they can hold.
Any extra magical energy going over the amount the monster can handle won"t be absorbed.
One thing that was interesting was that humans did not have a limit on how much magical energy they could absorb.
By killing the monsters, they could absorb magical energy without limit.
However, they did not know how to use that magical energy freely.
Karin had to pour in magical energy far more condensed than what was currently being poured in.
That was the only way that he could hasten the Gate"s connection.
It would be the only way that he could continue to survive.
It didn"t take long for him to arrive in front of the Butcherer.
Around that time, a Butcherer that had obtained the maximum mana it could absorb jumped into the Gate, disappearing into smoke.
"Kerut! You filthy lower cla.s.s monsters! We need a bigger bowl!"
"KUWUH!"
"KWUH!"
"Tsk tsk. Stop what you"re doing right now and get me some Sand Hounds! Right now!"
"Kururu."
"There"s no time to waste. It"ll be the death of me at this rate. Keruk."
"Whew! Thank you for the meal."
"I wonder if I"ve lived this long to taste such a wonderful meal, hoho."
"Ah, I"m most glad. How was…. I"m not sure if it was to young So-Hyeon"s tastes….."
"Mother, I think I"ll need another bowl."
"Hohoho. Even your speech is so pretty. Hand the bowl over to me."
"Yes!"
While my mother went to the kitchen with the bowl, I quietly spoke to those gathered at the table.
"I really don"t want to ruin this atmosphere…… but I think I won"t be able to tell her if I don"t go for it right now."
"It"s better to get the hard stuff done first and out of the way."
Jong Ho agreed with what I said.
Perhaps because So-Hyeon had comes to term with the news already, she also nodded with a softer expression.
Unlike them, the members of the a.s.sociation had cloudy expressions.
This situation was the equivalent of handing over a task to that they could not do on to me.
It must be tough for them to bring it up.
Mother came back with a bowl of rice.
"Here you go. Please let me know if you want more if you finish eating."
"Yes! Thank you, mother!"
"My my. How sweet you are…."
It was then.
The commander spoke up.
"Um…. Madam……"
"Do what you must."
"……."
"……."
"These two sons are my only family. How could a parent not know of the worries their children carries? On top of that, they"re too simple natured to hide their expressions properly."
"Mom….."
"Mother….."
"You two idiots. How long are you going to make me wait before you speak up!"
Mother lightly gave us knuckle sandwiches on the top of our heads.
As if my brain had been frozen, my mind went blank.
It wasn"t because of the impact of mother striking down my head.
It was because I was shocked at her reaction to the news.
Mother continued.
"The son that I gave birth to, as well as the son I never had, both are my babies, so how could I not be worried? However…. My boys have never disappointed me once all this time. They always made the right choice and followed the right path."
"….."
"If it"s something that they hid and weren"t able to bring it up…. They must"ve have been struggling a long time to find their answers. That"s enough for me. I have faith that my boys have found the right answer. I am sure of it…."
"Thank you, madam……. I am ashamed that I can only show you not of our heroics, but embarra.s.sing moments."
"Not at all."
"It must have been a hard decision, and I thank you for it."
"Mom…."
"Take care of yourself. Jong Ho, be careful at least for the sake of your fiancee. Don"t forget to eat, and if…. if you can contact me, do as much as you can….."
"……"
"……"
Pretending as if she was okay, she continued to cut an apple for us.
Our hearts were filled with strong emotions, but we all did our best to suppress it.
And like that, dinner ended.
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