Chapter 337 - Legend of the High Elves (3)
“Hahaha! Quite the comrade you have here!” Douglas said as he smacked Oh Kang-Woo’s shoulder while chuckling after coming out of the tower.
Kang-Woo nodded while smiling awkwardly. He stared at Layla and Douglas with mixed feelings.
“Layla, what did you do to persuade Douglas? He seemed a bit hard to please,” Kim Si-Hun whispered as he approached Layla.
Layla giggled lightly and replied, “Douglas fortunately harbored a great deal of faith for Lady Gaia as well.”
‘Liar.’
“He lowered his suspicions as soon as I explained to him how great and benevolent Lady Gaia is.”
‘You didn’t even say a thing about Gaia.’
“Oh, then did you reveal to him that you’re Lady Gaia’s incarnation?” Si-Hun asked.
“No, I didn’t. I just... told him that I am one of Lady Gaia’s loyal devotees.”
“A bond born from serving the same goddess, huh? I can understand why he lowered his guard all of a sudden.” Si-Hun nodded with a smile.
Kang-Woo averted his gaze from Layla in silence.
‘Si-Hun... It looks like you’re gonna live your life being whipped by Layla.’
Kang-Woo lightly clicked his tongue. Although he despised lies, he could understand Layla’s circumstances of not being able to reveal the truth.
‘I guess this is what you call lying in good faith.’
It couldn’t be helped; yes, there was no other way. Anyway...
“I’m proud to have Layla as my comrade,” Kang-Woo responded to Douglas while smiling brightly.
Douglas smiled back. “Right, you wanted to know about high elves, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Kang-Woo’s eyes shone. They were finally getting into the main subject at hand.
“What do you want to know exactly?” Douglas asked.
“Their location.”
“Mmmh...” Douglas groaned as if he could not answer.
“Do you not know where they are?” Kang-Woo asked.
“I do not. To be exact, there is no way to know. However, I do know the conditions that they appear in.”
“Conditions?”
Kang-Woo’s face, which had been dyed in disappointment, brightened again. Douglas scratched his head as if he didn’t know where to begin his explanation.
“Mm. It seems I have to explain some things about high elves first.” nove(l)bi(n.)com
“Please take your time.”
“Okay.” Douglas nodded. “First, do you know the difference between elves and high elves?”
“Uhh... Mm. Aren’t they kind of like... elven nobility or royalty?”
“Not exactly.” Douglas firmly shook his head. “To make a comparison, they are actually closer to gods. According to records, high elves were beings of godhood that possess Divinity. Among them, elder high elves were of the same level of godhood as Celestial Goddess Seraph, or even higher.”
“Hah,” Kang-Woo chuckled.
He placed his hand over his forehead as if his head hurt. Kang-Woo was not the only one deep in thought; Layla had also realized the gravity of the situation and was biting her lip with a gloomy expression. The air in the study grew heavy in an instant.
“Kang-Woo...” Han Seol-Ah carefully placed her hand above the contemplating Kang-Woo’s hand. “No matter how long it takes, I’m fine with it.”
Seol-Ah smiled brightly. Echidna also trotted over and sat on Kang-Woo’s lap.
“Hm! I’m fine with it too, as long as I’m with you, Kang-Woo!”
The two of them consoled Kang-Woo to lighten the mood as much as possible. Kang-Woo smirked and patted Echidna’s head. Echidna swayed her legs while humming in joy.
“Yeah, we have to find it, no matter how long it takes.”
They needed to, even if it would take years, or even decades. It was only a matter of time until Earth would be invaded by outer worlds if they did nothing.
‘The problem is...’
Kang-Woo’s expression was as gloomy as ever despite Seol Ah and Echidna’s consolement. To be honest, he didn’t mind however long he would need to stay in Aernor for, as long as he was with his comrades. It was different from Hell, where he had nothing good to eat, drink, and enjoy.
‘It’s just that there’s a time limit.’
According to Gaia, the protections of the three stars of the Triad were dependent on each other. If they did not manage to find and eliminate the Demon God’s corpse, Earth’s protection would fall apart, and it would affect the protection of the two other stars soon after. A building was bound to collapse without its supporting structures.
‘But Gaia said that she would be able to hold on for a few years at the very least.’
But if interpreted in another way, they only had a few years until Earth’s protection collapsed.
“Haaa,” Kang-Woo sighed.
The air in the study was as heavy as ever. Kang-Woo fell into thought with his head lowered.
‘We need a way to find the Demon God’s corpse.’
However, he could not think of any, no matter how much he thought. Even Lucis, whom Kang-Woo had trusted to know where it was, did not remember; neither did the angels, and not even Gaia. The expedition team did not even have a single clue to go off of.
‘Is there no other choice... but to depend on Bauli?’
Kang-Woo thought about bringing the sleeping Bauli up from the Abyss, but shook his head. It was way too risky.
‘What should I do...?’
His mind had become a tangled mess.
“Oh.”
Just then, a thought struck his mind like a lightning bolt.
‘Yeah.’
Kang-Woo chuckled unbeknownst to himself.
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’
He almost burst into laughter from his own stupidity. It was a rather simple problem to solve, to the point that he felt pathetic for not having thought of it sooner.
‘It was right in front of me!’
There was no need to even think about it. The solution was stupidly simple. Kang-Woo recalled the legend that Douglas had mentioned.
- When this world reaches the brink of collapse, the protector of the world tree will manifest before the savior.
‘If a high elf will only appear if this world is on the brink of collapse...’
A smile filled with malice was plastered on the demon’s face. Snicker. He was unable to suppress his laughter.
‘... I just have to bring Aernor to the brink of collapse!’
Truly a 5Head moment.