Chapter 491: PTSD
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 491: PTSD
“…Luciel.”
“Don’t call me by that name.”
At that moment, Lucifer’s face twisted into a vicious snarl.
A menacing aura, as if she were about to slice off the statue’s head, washed over Gabriel.
But this wasn't Lucifer in her prime.
To Gabriel, the threat of a Lucifer who had lost nearly all her power was less intimidating than a cat puffing up its fur before a dragon.
No, objectively, it was even more pathetic than that.
In Gabriel’s memory, Lucifer had been the noblest and most powerful of the archangels.
Though they were all archangels, everyone had looked up to her.
“…”
The woman she had always revered had now been reduced to an ordinary player, the kind you could find anywhere.
Faced with that devastating reality, Gabriel was at a loss for words.
A suffocating guilt tightened its grip around her throat.
“Lu-Lucy… I…”
“I’m not here to listen to your confession, so just state your business.”
Sensing something unusual in Gabriel’s demeanor, Lucifer frowned slightly.
Gabriel had always been like this.
She was the most soft-hearted of the archangels, and just as excessively sentimental and prone to tears.
She felt guilty for every single life she failed to protect; no further explanation was needed.
If one word could symbolize Gabriel, it would undoubtedly be ‘Goodness.’
But in the current situation, that meant nothing.
“…I want to help you.”
“You? Help me?”
Pfft-
The moment she heard those words, Lucifer let out an involuntary, dry laugh.
Even now, if she closed her eyes, she could vividly recall the sensation of the spear tip piercing her body.
Although Gabriel had defied the Absolute’s command, the memory of being betrayed by those she trusted most was deeply seared into Lucifer’s heart.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a form of PTSD.
Logically, she knew Gabriel was an ally.
But her body was a different story.
It reacted on its own, lashing out at anything related to Eden. It was a pain the body remembered.
In the past, Lucifer would have firmly rejected Gabriel’s help.
“…I’ll give you five minutes. Cut the crap and get to the point.”
But now, she was not alone.
Not wanting to burden Kang Hyun-woo with everything, Lucifer managed to regain her composure.
“…Yes!”
At Lucifer’s reply, the statue’s expression shifted slightly, and a bright voice soon echoed through the cavern.
But that, too, was short-lived.
Shing-
“…Luciel?”
“But you know.”
Lucifer drew the sword hanging at her waist and slowly walked toward the statue.
Within her cool, violet eyes, a menacing killing intent quietly spread.
At the sight, Gabriel trembled faintly.
She hadn't descended in person, only sent a fragment of her consciousness. Moreover, the current Lucifer was no stronger than an ordinary player.
But the fear her body remembered easily shattered such reason.
“You bestowed a blessing on Hyun-woo, didn’t you?”
“…Hic!”
In that instant, a scene from the distant past flashed through Gabriel’s mind.
The Archangel of the Battlefield, who had single-handedly annihilated dozens of demon legions that filled the horizon.
The undisputed strongest being, truly worthy of the title ‘Eden’s ultimate weapon.’
“Kissing another woman’s man on the forehead… where did you learn such a sly trick? And you even let him touch your chest?”
Grind-
“I’ll give you a little reminder of the old days.”
“H-Hieeek?! Lu-Luciel…!! I-I was wrong-”
“Too late.”
*
While Gabriel’s screams echoed through the dungeon’s deepest level, Kang Hyun-woo was regrouping with the others.
“Hyun-woo!”
“Young Master Kang!”
Yoo Ah-rin and Wi Ryeong-ah, who were with the paladins, spotted Kang Hyun-woo and immediately ran out to meet him, like wives greeting their husbands returning from war.
But their excitement was brief.
“…Hyun-woo? Why are you walking like that?”
Lee Serin tilted her head, watching Kang Hyun-woo walk like a middle schooler who had just gotten a circumcision.
“It’s nothing. Just muscle soreness.”
“Muscle soreness…?”
The price for opening the Gate of Emancipation through Emptiness was still greater than he had imagined.
Even though he had pressed his paralysis points to numb the pain, a subtle ache he couldn’t completely suppress lingered, and the muscles throughout his body screamed in protest.
“Um… why are you carrying Ah-rin? Is she hurt… huh? Why is her face so red?”
“I-I’m fine…”
Yoo Ah-rin managed to say to Wi Ryeong-ah, who was about to touch her forehead.
But anyone could tell that her voice and demeanor were different from usual.
How to describe it?
A bit more… feminine?
It felt like seeing your kendo club little sister, who had never worn makeup in her life, suddenly show up in a skirt and full makeup, saying she had plans.
Most of all, a strange sensuality emanated from the blushing Yoo Ah-rin.
““…””
Having never seen her like this before, the two women’s gazes naturally turned to one person.
“What?”
“…Nothing.”
“…It’s nothing.”
When the most likely suspect played innocent and questioned them back, the two had no choice but to make a strategic retreat.
All they had was circumstantial evidence.
The problem was that their suspicion was extremely reasonable.
‘No way, surely not…’
‘He wouldn’t do that in a dungeon, right?’
Both wore dubious expressions, but their trust in Kang Hyun-woo was high enough to pierce the heavens, so they decided not to doubt him on this matter any further.
Unfortunately, their trust was not rewarded. In fact, it was spectacularly betrayed.
Yoo Ah-rin’s face was beet red because she had received a womb massage from Kang Hyun-woo for nearly thirty minutes under the pretext of removing demonic energy.
Of course, strictly speaking, there had been no sexual contact of the kind they feared, so you could say he had only betrayed their trust by about half.
“Serin, can you cast a heal?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah!”
Lee Serin quickly raised her staff.
「Activating exclusive skill, ‘Harmony of Life (C-).’」
♩♪♬~
A pleasant melody played as a warm light enveloped Kang Hyun-woo and Yoo Ah-rin.
Truthfully, drinking Holy Water would have been far more helpful since they weren't in combat, but this was a decision made strictly for the sake of improving Lee Serin’s skill proficiency.
‘Exclusive skills are more efficient than regular ones, so once it reaches B-rank, she’ll be on par with a healer active in the middle floors.’
It was all thanks to Lee Serin’s exclusive trait, ‘Heavenly Tone (S).’
Anyway, just as Hyun-woo was reviewing Serin’s growth plan while being healed…
Clank, clank-
“Excuse me.”
With the heavy sound of metal, a woman with a beautiful appearance approached.
It was Lianbell, the sole woman and Vice-Commander of the Celis Paladins.
Her expression was quite serious.
“I’m so glad you’re safe. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but intruders have appeared inside the dungeon.”
“Intruders… you mean the ones with horns on their foreheads and dark skin?”
“You know of them? That makes things quicker. They are players from Gehenna. With paladins being killed by them one after another, I’ve determined that continuing the dungeon raid is impossible. Of course, this isn’t a decision I can make arbitrarily, but I have the authority to decide in Commander Rusleck’s absence.”
The temporary base camp was deserted.
If Kang Hyun-woo’s party hadn’t been there, only Lianbell and two others would have remained.
“The current plan is to secure an escape route from the dungeon while regrouping with the Commander-”
“Commander Rusleck has been killed.”
When Kang Hyun-woo spoke calmly in a monotone voice, a chilling silence fell over the camp.
Everyone’s eyes, including the paladins’, turned to him.
“W-What does that…”
Lianbell asked, her face pale.
“It’s as I said. Commander Rusleck was killed by someone who appeared to be the enemy commander-”
“Stop spouting bullshit!”
At that moment, a paladin covered in bandages staggered forward.
“There’s no way the Commander would fall to those demon-worshipping bastards! Do you have any idea who he was, spouting such nonsense?!”
“That’s right! The Commander was a promising player even on the middle floors! A non-believer who just parades women around has no right to speak his name!”
Was the news simply too hard to believe?
Before Kang Hyun-woo could finish, the two paladins gathered in the camp stood up and began to berate him.
Moreover, they had already sensed the friction between Kang Hyun-woo and Rusleck, so the paladins already held a grudge against him.
Just as it seemed a fight was about to break out…
“Shut up.”
KUUUNG-!!
Kang Hyun-woo’s menacing killing intent descended heavily, threatening to crush the paladins where they stood.
“Have you all lost your damn minds? Do I look like a squire to you? The only reason I use honorifics is as a minimum courtesy to the Twilight Holy Society, not for the likes of you.”
As he had said before, not all clerics were good-natured.
This was especially true for paladins who lived and died by the sword on the front lines; there were plenty of hot-headed ones like these.
Just as the faces of the paladins who bore the full brunt of his killing intent turned deathly pale…
Ssk-
Lianbell stepped forward and bowed her head respectfully.
“…I apologize on behalf of my subordinates. Please, could you tell us exactly what happened?”
Normally, as the Vice-Commander, Lianbell should have brought the situation under control sooner, but the news of Rusleck’s death had caused her to momentarily lose her senses.
“Hoo… It’s just as I said. Commander Rusleck is dead. The one who killed him was a man named Malzark Cardies.”
“M-Malzark?!”
The moment the name left Kang Hyun-woo’s lips, Lianbell’s eyes widened.
The others were also clearly flustered.
“M-Malzark? Isn’t he the Bishop of Gehenna who contracted with a Duke?!”
“Why is that cursed thief here?!”
Malzark Cardies.
The name was unfamiliar to Kang Hyun-woo and his party, but he was an infamous player known to everyone in the Tower.
He was one of Gehenna’s bishops, a fanatic with a history of sacrificing tens of thousands of residents in the Tower’s outer regions as human offerings decades ago.
“Fortunately, he seemed to have been seriously injured in his fight with Commander Rusleck, so we barely managed to drive him off.”
It was a lie.
If the Constellations hadn't intervened, it would have been a one-sided slaughter, not even qualifying as a fight.
To avoid unnecessary scrutiny and surveillance, it was better to hide his true abilities as much as possible.
Well, if he got caught, it couldn't be helped.
Thud-
“No…”
Was the shock too great?
Lianbell collapsed to the ground.
Kang Hyun-woo extended a hand to her.
“Get up. We don’t know how many of Gehenna’s remnants are left. We need to retreat as quickly as possible. You can mourn at the funeral.”
“…”
Reminded of her responsibilities and duties, Lianbell’s expression turned pained for a moment, but she soon steeled herself and stood up.
“Hurry and prepare for retreat! We leave the dungeon as soon as we’re ready!”
““Yes!!””
No one failed to notice the moisture in the corners of her eyes, but no one mentioned it.
As the Vice-Commander and paladins hastily packed their belongings, Lee Serin cautiously approached Kang Hyun-woo.
“Hyun-woo, what about Lucy…?”
Including Kang Hyun-woo’s party, there were seven people in the camp.
Counting Lucifer, who had yet to rejoin them, a total of four people had been killed.
Considering they had taken the 8th-floor dungeon lightly, it was not a situation they could laugh off.
With Lucifer still missing, it was only natural for the party members to be worried.
“You don’t have to worry about Lucy. I asked her to do something for me.”
“Asked her…?”
Lee Serin looked up at Kang Hyun-woo, her eyes filled with worry.
Kang Hyun-woo gently stroked her head and smiled faintly.
Although he hadn't recovered Lucifer’s fragment of power yet, he wasn't particularly concerned.
He had someone he could count on.
‘Gabriel must have taken care of it.’
The fact that Gabriel hadn't sent any indirect messages for a while was proof.
Besides, even as he had scoured the labyrinth searching for Yoo Ah-rin, he hadn't sensed Lucifer’s presence anywhere.
She had clearly made contact with Gabriel, avoiding the eyes of the Constellations.
‘Gehenna, though…’
As if the Twilight Holy Society and Boundless Heaven Sect weren't enough, now Gehenna too.
Kang Hyun-woo couldn’t help but frown at his current situation of getting entangled with one major clan after another.
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed the losses would far outweigh the gains.