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Chapter 316 - The Goddess Opens Her Eyes

“Haaa, haaa,” Kim Si-Hun panted heavily after coming out from the Rift.

He had just barely managed to get out on time.

“Kang-Woo!” Han Seol-Ah shouted as she ran toward them with her face pale.

She put her hands over Oh Kang-Woo’s chest spewing black blood.

Whoooom!

Blinding light poured out. The injury that couldn’t be healed with the Authority of Regeneration was being quickly healed. Kang-Woo’s grimace slowly relaxed.

“Haaa,” Kang-Woo exhaled.

Seol-Ah grabbed his cheeks. “Kang-Woo!”

“I’m fine now,” he laughed softly while getting up.

He was still hurting all over, but it was nothing that he couldn’t endure. Kang-Woo held up Behemoth’s horn fragment that had been stuck in his chest.

‘A horn with god-killing powers...’

He put it in his pockets, expecting to have a use for it in the future. He looked around.

“We’re outside the Gate.”

“Yes. I think after the purple Rift swallowed the E-rank Gate whole... The Gate itself vanished,” Si-Hun expressed.

“Isn’t this the first time that a Gate has vanished?”

“Yes, that’s right,” SI-Hun replied as he nodded.

Kang-Woo thought of the Gate that had disappeared without a trace for a moment, and then took a look at the message windows in front of him.

‘I did it.’

Although Behemoth’s appearance had been completely outside of his calculations, he had successfully destroyed the Rift Core. Kang-Woo’s expression stiffened after reading the messages.

‘It’s only a partial restoration, huh?’

According to Gaia, it was only a temporary measure; it would not last forever.

‘The Rift Core...’

Kang-Woo remembered hearing that term when he first came to Earth.

‘The Rift Core that we destroyed is probably nothing but an offshoot.’

He had a feeling that it was just a byproduct that had fallen off from himself as he was being torn by the Gaia System. There was ultimately only one way for the Gaia System to be fully restored.

‘I have to die.’

Kang-Woo chuckled. He was the true Rift Core. His death would lead to the complete restoration of the Gaia System.

‘No fucking way.’

There was no need to even think about it. World peace? Saving Earth?

‘Fuck all that.’

He had held on for ten whole millennia for this opportunity, so he wouldn’t stand for his own death, even if it led to world peace.

‘I’m gonna survive....’

... Just as he had always done.

“Kang-Woo, Kang-Woo...” Echidna hugged him while bawling her eyes out.

Kang-Woo smirked and stroked her hair.

“Were you worried?”

“Yeah...”

“It’s okay now. I told you that I would never leave you behind, didn’t I?”

Echidna pouted. “You’re a liar, Kang-Woo.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You hit and yelled at Balrog for trying to stay behind, but you always try to stay behind yourself.”

“Uhh... Mm.”

Come to think of it, Kang-Woo had indeed done so many times.

“The king has always been like that, so it is nothing new, young dragon,” Balrog said as he approached them. He then continued in slight anger while helping Kang-Woo up and supporting him, “He always tells us not to do anything unnecessary but shoulders everything by himself.”

Echidna clapped her hands together. “Oh, then are you like that, Kang-Woo?”

“Like what?” Kang-Woo asked.

“The kind of person who lies with their mouth but is honest down there.”

“What? Where did you learn something like that?”

“I saw it in your external hard d—”

Wham—!

Black light shot out; Kang-Woo used the Authority of Haste and shot toward Echidna, hugging her and tumbling on the ground. He rolled for about twenty meters.

“Huff, huff,” Kang-Woo panted heavily.

Cold sweat flowed down from the back of his neck and wet his back. Echidna, who was in his arms, looked up at him with innocent eyes.

“Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You...”

She must have found his secret stash folder.

“Wh-When did you...”

There were many days that she could have found it in, since he had left his room unattended many times. Kang-Woo looked down at Echidna with a face much paler than when he had been facing Behemoth.

“Hm?” Echidna looked up at Kang-Woo while tilting her head in confusion. “Is it supposed to be a secret?”

“... No.”

“So it is.”

Hm! Echidna snorted energetically. She pulled on Kang-Woo’s clothes while smiling.

“Kang-Woo, I wanna go with you to that place in Japan called Akihabara.”

“...”

“You’ll... Come with me, won’t you? Just the two of us, of course.”

Kang-Woo bit his lip.

‘When did such a pure and innocent child become so cunning?’

Kang-Woo’s heart fell from witnessing the puberty of the five-hundred-year-old little girl.

‘I have to be stern here.’

He could not let her have her way. He needed to let her know who was on top in their relationship, and what would happen if she tried to control her master.

Kang-Woo grabbed Echidna’s shoulders and said with sunken eyes, “Echidna.”

“Or should I tell Seol-Ah and Lilith about it?”

“How does a morning flight sound?”

With a passport, of course.

***

“Kang-Woo! Did you do it?”

Uriel ran toward him as soon as they returned to the Hall of Protection. He looked at Kang-Woo in worry, and then lowered his head.

“Sorry. I headed out as soon as I was contacted, but... The Gate had already closed by the time I got there.”

“It’s okay. We’re also at fault for entering without waiting for you.”

Things would have gotten far more troublesome if Uriel had been with them.

“Was the operation a success? What happened in there?” Uriel asked.

“I will explain everything inside.”

Kang-Woo and his party members headed to the inner area of the Hall of Protection with Uriel. They were obviously headed to the room that Gaia was in. Gaia welcomed them as soon as they opened the door.

“You’ve done it!” she exclaimed, but her face stiffened soon after. “A-Are there any casualties...?”

“Kang-Woo hyung-nim had been critically injured, but he’s no longer in any danger after Seol-Ah healed him. Everyone else is safe,” Si-Hun stated.

“Ah...” Transparent tears flowed down her cheeks. “Sniff... I... trusted you all. I’m so... so relieved.”

Gaia also knew how dangerous this operation was, so she couldn’t help but cry from hearing that everyone had returned safely.

“Please don’t cry, Gaia,” Si-Hun said as he wiped her tears for her.

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly and sat next to her. “How is the condition of Earth’s protection?”

There was no question more important than this at the moment.

“It’s only temporary, but... It has been greatly restored. Lady Gaia’s power will be returned to an extent for a while, and demonic beasts will no longer appear within Gates.”

“What a relief,” Kang-Woo expressed.

It seriously was a relief. The fundamental issue had not been resolved, but they had successfully delayed the encroachment of Earth by the Nine Hells like what had happened with Shade.

“In that case, I will report everything that has happened in the Rift,” Kang-Woo said.

He explained everything without leaving anything out. Gaia was shocked from hearing about the appearance of Behemoth, but was brought to tears from hearing that Kang-Woo had stopped him by himself.

“All of you... Thank you all so much.”

As Gaia was thanking them repeatedly, she suddenly cut off her words with a blank face. She seemed to be getting another revelation.

“Lady Gaia says that she would express her gratitude to all of you at a later time since she is currently in the middle of recovery.”

“Oh, I see,” Kang-Woo replied, expressing disinclination.

‘I don’t have any words to share with a useless troll.’

However, she was still a goddess. Kang-Woo nodded while clicking his tongue. Just then...

Whoooom!

“Huh?”

“G-Gaia!”

White light poured out of Gaia’s body. It was a comforting light of a different kind from Seraph, akin to a vast expanse. And...

“Ah.”

Gaia opened her eyes.

“Gaia...?” Si-Hun called.

“H-Huh?” Gaia touched her eyes in disbelief.

She slowly stood up from the wheelchair while trembling. Her two legs stepped on the ground on their own.

Silence fell. Gaia looked down at her normally-functioning legs, and then looked at Si-Hun with her brown eyes.

“Si... Hun?”

“Gaia.”

“A-Aaaahh.”

She caressed Si-Hun’s cheeks with shaking hands. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Sniff. Sniff.” Gaia fell to her knees, unable to handle the surge of emotions. “Waaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

She bawled her eyes out. Gaia, who had been nothing but a normal girl before becoming an incarnation, had accepted the destiny of saving the world even while even abandoning her own name. And then, she lost her eyes and legs.

It was difficult to imagine the insane burden and solitude she must have felt, as well as the despair of losing her eyes and legs.

“Si-Hun,” Kang-Woo said as he put his hand on the shoulder of Si-Hun, who had been blankly looking at the crying Gaia. “We’ll go now, so console her the best you can.”

Si-Hun did not answer. Kang-Woo took everyone else out of the room.

“Sniff... Sniff.”

“Gaia.”

Si-Hun got on one knee and embraced her slender body. There was no need for conversation. He grabbed her chin and slowly raised it up.

“Ah...”

Si-Hun carefully matched lips with the flustered Gaia.

***

Three days had passed since Gaia had opened her eyes. Si-Hun had brought many things into her room so that she could adapt to normal life again. Her room had been filled with all sorts of things that Si-Hun had bought for her, such as a desk and chair, various cosmetics and even her own computer.

“Fuuu.”

Si-Hun stood in front of Gaia’s room door in the middle of the night with a small box in his hand.

‘Would it be rude to enter this late at night?’

It was getting close to midnight, but he wanted to give her this gift that he had secretly prepared, no matter what. Si-Hun carefully opened the box; inside it was a white pair of heels that would look very good on Gaia.

“A-Ahem.”

His face reddened as he looked down at the box. He once again took a deep breath.

‘Since it’s a surprise gift, the way I give it to her should also be a surprise.’

Si-Hun had gotten her many things, but they had been nothing but supplies necessary for daily life. These heels were the first gift that he would give Gaia—the exchange of gifts between lovers. His heart beat faster.

‘I should surprise her.’

Si-Hun thought about knocking, but thought against it. He carefully opened Gaia’s room door.

“Yahoo!”

There, he saw Gaia raising her arms up while staring at her computer screen in her chair. On her screen was...

“All hail Hitomi! All hail ero manga!!”

Thump.

The box in Si-Hun’s hand fell to the floor. Gaia quickly turned to where the sound came from.

“Huh?” her face paled. “S-Si-Hun?”