Chapter 438. Going Down and Up (2)
While the commotion continued to grow like an uncontrollable fire—
Clap, clap, clap, clap… Applause could be heard among the chaotic din. It was from Alice. She stood up and was applauding alone, not towards the center stage but below. Though it was just one person, the meaning behind her action was crystal clear. Ho Lactea was showing her support towards Chi-Woo among the two brothers here. Apoline clicked her tongue. She felt like Alice had stolen her turn from her, but she followed suit and clapped. Then Emmanuel and Yeriel also joined in, and the rest of the Seven Stars members got up and began clapping as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Although it was only limited to the Celestial Lights, an absolute majority of the top leading heroes declared their support for Chi-Woo. Seeing this, the Celestial Realm heroes became fiercely conflicted. They had thought Ismile had gone a tad too far, but they hadn’t stepped forward because a part of them agreed with what Ismile said. The legend was the legend in the end. They didn’t want to see the hero they admired and trusted be pushed back and step down.
However, if the person who put the brakes on the legend was another Choi, the story changed. Even more so if it was the hero who had proved himself to be superior to anyone else on Liber and lived up to his family name. Conflicting thoughts warred in their heads longer than expected as they struggled to make up their minds. While all the heroes exchanged nervous glances with each other, something happened that made their eyes widen.
A sudden round of applause erupted from one side of the venue. It was from the League, the Kobalos tribe to be more specific. Thanks to Chi-Woo, the Kobalos tribe had been freed from their cycle of curses and obtained salvation. As a result, they supported him unconditionally. They had been watching quietly, but as soon as the opportunity arose, they stepped forward and showed their undying support. The surprising part was that it wasn’t only the League who was showing their support.
The natives also began standing up from their seats and applauding, and it wasn’t just a fraction like the League, but the majority. Philip had played a crucial part in this. Although they were briefly shaken by Chi-Hyun’s speech, Chi-Woo’s declaration evoked the same emotions they had felt that day. They didn’t know much about the Celestial Lights or how great the Choi family was, but considering the actions and actual results Chi-Woo and Seven Stars had shown so far, they thought Chi-Woo was worth trusting and following.
As a result, the situation changed a little. The applause, which had originally been buried in the loud disturbance, gradually grew in volume and became loud enough to be heard clearly among the commotion. Moreover, those who had agreed with Chi-Woo from the very beginning but had been unable to openly show their support stood up and joined, until support and disapproval were almost equal in force.
However, it was still not the same yet. There were still more people sitting still than supporting him. Those who were at a loss looked at the stage for answers, with a glimmer of hope that the legend might finally do something now. However, before long, their eyes opened wide with astonishment. Gasps could be heard all over the place because as soon as Chi-Woo took a step forward, Chi-Hyun, who had never moved before, took a step down in response—not to anywhere else, but down the stairs. The meaning behind his action was clear. The legend, who was all heroes’ idol, was admitting defeat and retreating.
“Ah…” Someone let out a sigh. It was a sight they had never wanted to see. However, they also realized now that the step Chi-Hyun had taken was the final nail on the coffin. Like this, the tide had changed. This turning flow was no longer reversible. Of course, as Chi-Hyun had his fame as the legend, he wouldn’t immediately lose all his influence at once, but it would be difficult for him to enjoy the same absolute power as before—as a result of the new rising sun in Shalyh.
Thus, Chi-Woo, who went up the stairs and Chi-Hyun, who went down the stairs, brushed past each other in the middle. Those who clearly witnessed this scene all made a decision unconsciously; though it was difficult to consciously accept the legend’s withdrawal as they had been wors.h.i.+ping and admiring him for so long…if it was another Choi, if it was someone from the same bloodline as the legend, and above all, considering Chi-Woo’s performance on Liber so far, there was sufficient reason to acknowledge and accept this new rising sun to stand on top of them all.
Those who were watching eventually made a decision and raised their hands. Then they clapped in earnest. Before anyone realized it, most of the people who had been sitting were standing up and applauding. The atmosphere in the hall was like a bomb just before the fuse burned down. Everyone stared intently at the young man who was bringing down the existing legend and becoming the new legend, as if they were never going to forget this sight till the very end of their days—no, even if they die.
‘…What’s this?’ While climbing the stairs, Chi-Woo tilted his head. When he pa.s.sed his brother, there was a subtle smile tugging Chi-Hyun’s lips. He might have just imagined it, but perhaps his brother had… Chi-Woo’s thoughts came to a halt, as before he knew it, he had arrived on top of the center stage. He was standing where his brother had been standing in the beginning. Under the light, Chi-Woo slowly looked around. All around him was the sound of applause; everyone he could see was clapping. The loud, rip-roaring applause felt like a rainstorm.
Of course, not everyone was clapping. There were still those who were sitting in their seats; that was the case for the buhguhbu tribe and the half-demon tribe. Mangil and Murumuru were both staring at Chi-Woo intently as if they were going to watch him until the very end to see what he would do. Chi-Woo hadn’t been able to understand them in the past, but now he thought he could understand why. All he had to do was show them.
“Ru Amuh,” Chi-Woo called out to Ru Amuh, then Emmanuel and Yunael. He announced, “Further strengthen the patrol of Shalyh, especially the Demon Empire’s zone. If anyone tries to commit a crime by any chance, punish them immediately, regardless of race or status.”
Chi-Woo saw Ru Amuh bow and called the next person. “Eval Sevaru.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Cooperate with the official residence to provide food and resources. We need to establish proper living conditions for the inhabitants of the Demon Empire zone as fast as possible.”
Eval Sevaru bowed politely in response.
“I command everyone.” Chi-Woo took his eyes off Eval Sevaru and looked back at the audience. “The holy city, Shalyh, humanity, and the League will—” He unconsciously clenched his fist and finished, “—accept the surrender of the Demon Empire survivors from today onwards, and accept them completely without exception.”
He declared in front of the entire League and humanity, “I’ll personally punish those who cannot accept this decision, so everyone will need to keep this in mind and pay special care to follow my order.”
A glint appeared in Mangil’s and Murumuru’s eyes. The next moment, one of the buhguhbus jumped up from his seat. It was Dangil. He applauded Chi-Woo boldly and without reservation, paying no attention to the sharp and stinging gazes of his tribe members. And Mangil, who was staring up blankly at Dalgil while biting his lower lip, soon lowered his eyes and looked down. He sighed deeply with indescribable feelings boiling inside him, and soon, he got up and began clapping. Murumuru also quickly followed suit, though they didn’t get up from their seat. Murumuru was the only half-demon who clapped for Chi-Woo. Then someone suddenly screamed.
- ━━━━━━━━!
And with this, resounding shouts from all over the place filled the hall. The applause and cheers were bigger and fiercer than the ones Chi-Hyun had received.
* * *
Shortly after the conclusion of the general a.s.sembly, Shalyh became noisier and busier than ever due to Seven Stars’ declaration. The leader of Seven Stars, Chi-Woo, once again made his stance clear that he would accept the Demon Empire into Shalyh in front of everyone. In the end, even the legend, Chi-Hyun, could not break the will of Seven Stars and resigned himself to defeat. Thus, it was only natural that Chi-Woo’s declaration would become the hot topic of conversation.
Of course, this wasn’t the only reason why the atmosphere in Shalyh became more heated than ever even through the night. Everyone was busy talking about the hero’s revelation of his ident.i.ty at today’s general a.s.sembly. While they were anxious about the legend’s diminished influence, they also felt a strange sense of antic.i.p.ation and excitement that they couldn’t understand. How should they describe it? It felt like a king who reigned as an absolute ruler for thousands of years was stepping down from his throne after being unable to beat the pa.s.sage of time. However, if the person who inherited the throne was of the same blood with the existing king, it was understandable.
Even the most beautiful flower could not last ten days in full bloom, and even the strongest authority could not reign supreme for more than ten years. Just as his son, Choi Chi-Hyun, took over the position of his father, Choi Su-Ho, it was a natural process for Choi Chi-Woo to continue the legacy, albeit there was a lingering sentiment that it felt a bit too early. Additionally, there had been conspiracy theories saying that the youngest of the Choi Family had been raised as their secret weapon.
“Maybe the legend intended this entire situation.”
“Well, I won’t be that surprised because Liber’s the perfect stage for a Choi’s debut.”
Several heroes offered their own interpretations like this. If their guess was correct, they basically just witnessed history being made. They wondered what Chi-Woo, who proudly announced that he would become the new legend, would show them in the future with Liber as his starting point. Just imagining it sparked immense antic.i.p.ation. And while the majority of heroes accepted and acknowledged Chi-Woo, this was not the case for everyone. Although Chi-Woo’s declaration definitely caused a strong stir in Shalyh, it was unreasonable to expect everyone to follow his words immediately. Still, if one looked at the meeting of the buhguhbu tribe after the general a.s.sembly, the change was clear.
“Sir, what are you planning to do?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Still, we can’t just stay still…”
“What are you going to do even if that’s the case? Should we step forward and turn everything upside down?”
Mangil responded bluntly to every question; his face looked stiff and serious, but inside, he was grinning in satisfaction. It felt sweet to see their reaction after they had screamed and made such a fuss when he relayed to them Chi-Woo’s initial request.
“Sir, I mean…who knew things would turn out like this…how could anyone expect the legend…and the Seven Stars leader…sigh…” After the general a.s.sembly today, the buhguhbu tribe’s spirit had been dampened, and they were now acting much more cautious.
“What’s up with everyone? What do you guys want me to do?” Mangil flew into a rage. “So what did I tell you? If you’d all just sucked it up for once and helped him out, we could have shown off our connection with him and been on his good side. But now…” Mangil clicked his tongue and with a shout, turned away as if he was not going to deal with this anymore since it was all their fault.
“Sir Mangil…” Then a desperate and pitiful voice called out to him from behind his back. No one knew how Shalyh would turn out under the new leaders.h.i.+p of Seven Stars, but in this situation, there was only one thing that the buhguhbus wanted—to not fall behind in the new flow of Liber.
Originally, they wouldn’t even need to worry about this matter, since the buhguhbus had maintained friendly relations with Seven Stars so far. However, with this recent incident, they had rejected Seven Stars’ request for support and thus damaging the goodwill between them. If they had accepted Chi-Woo’s request in the beginning despite their reluctance, they could have enjoyed the fruits of their relations.h.i.+p and rejoiced in celebration. However, now even the unexpected profit they had reaped from partic.i.p.ating in AI Armor’s production might all be obsolete.
Mangil sighed loudly so that everyone could hear him and said, “Hey, all of you. Of course, I understand how you all feel. Why wouldn’t I? Who knew Seven Stars would go so strong? As you all said, how could anyone have expected the situation to turn out like this?” Mangil began swaying the leaders of his tribe to his heart’s content. He stared at the now silent leaders, and all the pain and worries he had been feeling recently melted away like snow. Although he couldn’t have even brought this topic up in the past, it was okay for him to do so now. Why? Because as of today, Chi-Woo had risen to a position of that level; where he was not making a request but an order. Even the legend, who was said to be unbeatable even if the entire Shalyh gathered together and fought him, had stepped back.
Mangil simply had to create an atmosphere where it seemed like they had no choice but to follow Chi-Woo’s order. “Everyone needs to think carefully from now on. You all got a rough idea now after the general a.s.sembly, right? On who’ll lead Shalyh in the future?”
“Yes, sir…”
“Anyway, just wait for now. I’ll talk to Dalgil and go meet the Seven Stars leader soon.”
At Mangil’s words, a few of the leaders’ expressions brightened.
* * *
The situation was similar for the half-demon tribe. “As you may have all witnessed at today’s general a.s.sembly, the head of Seven Stars proclaimed his intentions to all residents of Shalyh.” After the general a.s.sembly, Murumuru gathered everyone as soon as they returned to their zone. “It’s no longer a request but an order, an order that even the legend can’t do anything about.” Murumuru continued, “I understand how you all feel, and I won’t waste my breath convincing you. I have no intention of forcing you to follow his orders either, but be warned: while you are free to do whatever you want, each of you will have to take responsibility for it.” In other words, as of this time, if they got caught by Seven Stars for their misdeeds, they needed to handle it on their own, and the half-demon tribe would not get involved even if they died.
“This is the decision I, Murumuru, made for the sake of our tribe.” With these words, Murumuru dismissed everyone. Once they were alone, Murumuru suddenly let out a burst of laughter while recalling the previous general a.s.sembly. “Ha. Yeah, he should have done this earlier. He has the right and power to do so…” It was so much easier and comfortable to simply follow his lead like this.