“Uwa-!”
As he resurfaced from sleep, Durandor let out an undignified scream as he opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw upon awakening was a multicolored sky.
Durandor was well-acquainted with that sky.
“Awake, are you?”
As he nkly gazed at the sky, a voice reached his ears, and he turned his gaze.
There sat Sim, wearing a troubled expression.
“…What happened?”
“How? You know as well as I do.”
At Sim’s words, Durandor looked at the sky with a dazed expression.
The sky bore the multicolored hues of Heaven, his homnd.
“…Am I dead?”
“Yes. Ridiculous, isn’t it?”
At Durandor’s murmured disbelief, Sim let out a deep sigh and looked off to the side, sharing in the absurdity.
Nearby, two other cherubim, Par and Curian, were staring nkly at the sky, just like them.
“…It’s only been three days since we received our power and ‘were born’, and yet we’ve died like this. How can we face the Archangels…?”
Sim closed his eyes tightly, his face twisted with torment at the thought. Still unable to grasp the situation, Durandor continued staring at the sky and opened his mouth to speak.
“…What in the world hit us?”
“I don’t know either. The only guess I have is that massive thing that appeared at thest moment and struck us.”
At Sim’s words, Durandor finally recalled thest moment.
He remembered something cleaving the sky in two before crashing into the fortress, ending everything in an instant.
‘What on earth was that-’
Durandor furrowed his brow, still unable to understand, but soon stood up and spoke.
“Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“To report to the Archangels, of course. And then we should receive permission for another ‘birth’ and return to prepare again on the mortal ne.”
Durandor’s words.
But Sim didn’t move and just stared at him before speaking.
“…I see. You’ve just woken up, so you haven’t fully grasped the situation yet.”
“…? What do you mean?”
Sim didn’t bother answering. Instead, he began gathering divine power before Durandor.
Wuuuuung-!
As the divine power resonated, it quickly expanded with Sim’s movement, projecting a scene before them.
An emptynd, with nothing but a massive crater.
“…What is this?”
Durandor looked at Sim with a puzzled expression, then nced around the empty field a few more times.
“…?”
Soon, Durandor spotted the remnants of a few buildings scattered across the emptynd.
A momentter, his expression turned to shock.
“…Could this be…my territory?”
“Yes, your territory. The one you came down to the mortal world and built seven years ago.”
“That’s insane-”
Durandor swore without realizing it, his mouth agape.
Thendscape before him was utterly barren. The only thing that indicated this was once his domain was the distant standing wall.
“……”
He gazed at the emptynd that was once his domain with a hollow expression.
“…Let’s go back and report to the Archangels first.”
For a long time, Durandor stared nkly at what was once his territory, his face devoid of emotion.
“…Let’s do that.”
With heavy steps, he began to move.
Meanwhile, Kim Hyunwoo, who hadunched a missile directly at the Eastern n Alliance, soon assessed the situation there through Shadra’s familiar and magic.
“…Wow.”
Durandor’s domain, which could essentially be called the Eastern n Alliance’s main base, hadpletely vanished, leaving behind only traces of what it once was.
Not just gone, but utterly obliterated.
‘…I didn’t think it would be this much.’
Kim Hyunwoo thought as he looked at the missile that had fallen.
Of course, he had been told by Shadra and River that this missile would be stronger than the previous one, so he had somewhat expected it to be more powerful.
But even so, he hadn’t expected it to be this devastating.
‘…I didn’t think an entire territory could be wiped out with a single missile.’
Of course, the number of Red Stones Kim Hyunwoo had invested was ridiculous.
Just the number of Red Stones used to blow up the Eastern n Alliance exceeded 20,000, not to mention the additional Stones required to make the warheads.
However, even considering all that, he hadn’t expected a single shot to turn the territory into a mere memory of what it once was. Kim Hyunwoo couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
“This is a real sess.”
“Truly!”
Beside him, Shadra and River, who had poured their energy into making the missile, exchanged smiles, pleased that their hard work hadn’t been in vain.
“Good job, both of you.”
Kim Hyunwoo praised the two.
Although destroying the Eastern n Alliance’s main domain was significant, it was just one territory in the bigger picture. Still, there was no doubt those two had aplished something huge.
“If either of you wants something, just let me know.”
“Something we want-”
“Well…?”
As soon as he said that, the two stopped looking at each other and, with their smiles fading, spoke up.
“…?”
The unusual atmosphere made Kim Hyunwoo feel slightly taken aback, but he quickly forced an awkward smile and said,
“Uh, you know, right? It has to be something within my means. If it’s beyond my abilities, I won’t be able to make it happen.”
“Hmm, something within your means, huh?”
“Hey, what exactly are the limits of that?”
As they followed up with their question, they looked curious.
“Well… I haven’t exactly set any limits…just as long as it’s something within my ability to handle, I suppose…”
When Kim Hyunwoo answered after thinking for a moment, the two exchanged meaningful nces.
“That’ll be enough!”
“Dad, we would never ask for anything impossible!”
“…Oh, okay…?”
With satisfied nods, they concluded the conversation.
After the Eastern n Alliance was blown away…
With about a week left until the Labyrinth Package ended, Kim Hyunwoo began thinking about how to capture the Necromancer of the Blue Forest.
“Master.”
“Oh, Merilda.”
“I came to report.”
Rather than entering through the office door, Merilda appeared over the terrace, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Rustle, rustle.
Wagging her tail, Merilda approached Kim Hyunwoo with a smile that clearly showed she was in a good mood. She began reporting on the issues that arose while the beastkin were building their residential district.
“And this-”
“……”
At some point, Kim Hyunwoo realized that Merilda had snuggled up next to him.
He felt her gently wagging tail wrap around his shoulders and waist in the most natural way, and he looked at her.
Recently, every time Merilda came to report, she would either wrap him with her tail like this or engage in subtle flirting.
For example,
“Master, pet me.”
After her report, she would sit down on the ground, as if waiting, and demand to be petted by Kim Hyunwoo.
“Hmm-”
And once he started petting her, she would rest her face on his thigh.
Rustle, rustle-
“?”
As he petted her for a while, she would wag her tail, letting out soft, excited sighs while gazing at him – a scene that had be all toomon.
And then-
Bite.
For some reason, just as the petting session was about to end, she would give his thigh a soft bite before standing up.
“……”
Kim Hyunwoo wasn’t sure what Merilda thought of it, but honestly, her actions always made his heart race in an endearing way.
Perhaps ever since that day, he had thought he needed to strengthen his mental fortitude, but every time, it unraveled instantly.
And while Merilda was racing ahead on her own,
on the floor directly below the office, where the heroes’ quarters were located,
“…Did you bring it?”
“Yes, Master. I have brought it.”
Loriel was handing a box to Rin.
“Is this it?”
“Yes.”
“…Hmph…”
Rin discreetly opened the box, took a nce, and then, with her once stern expression now tinged with red, quickly closed it again.
“…It’s stronger than I thought.”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, good work.”
At Rin’s words, Loriel simply bowed her head once in acknowledgment.
“Then, when will you go?”
She asked the question, and Rin, who had been staring at the box in her hand, seemed to ponder for a moment.
“…Three days from now.”
Soon, she dered her decision.
“In three days, I will settle this.”