Chapter 385: God of Splendor (1)

Oh Kang-Woo's limbs began to move little by little, starting from his fingertips. His joints could now move fluidly, and he did not feel any fatigue weighing him down, nor did he feel powerless.

"Hup." Kang-Woo got out of bed.

He felt light, as if he had taken a hot shower after a workout.

'I think my demonic energy control improved again.'

It could have been because he had reached the brink of death after opening a Door, or it might have been because Han Seol-Ah had driven him to the brink of death(?) afterward. In any case, Kang-Woo's demonic energy control, which had already been absurdly high, had improved even further.

'I guess it was worth it.'

High risk, high return; he had taken a massive risk, so it was only natural that he was rewarded a corresponding amount in return. Not only that, Kang-Woo had managed to reach the point that he was in because he had risked his life countless times in the past.

'Now that I think about it, I must be extremely lucky.'

Although it couldn't be explained simply by luck, he had indeed gambled with his life countless times.

"Come to think of it, I wonder how my demonic energy control would be in stat form?"

Kang-Woo was curious. His Demonic Energy stat was currently 167. Although the Demonic Energy stat partially influenced demonic energy control, it was not an exact estimate.

The Demonic Energy stat was more like a quantitative value that reflected the amount of demonic energy that Kang-Woo was able to use freely. Although he suffered from the side effects afterward, he was able to control the massive influx of demonic energy that came with opening a Door. Considering that, his demonic energy control would be far above 167 in stat form.

Riiing.

"Hm?"

Just then, Kang-Woo heard a familiar chime of a bell. A blue window appeared in front of him.

[Quantifying Player Oh Kang-Woo's demonic energy control.]

[Error. Error.]

[Quantific𝌥 of 𝌦𝌤 has fa𝌣ed.]

"The hell is this?"

Kang-Woo chuckled as he looked at the message window in front of him. The broken characters were covering the message window; they were the same characters on his status window.

'Does it mean that it can't be expressed by the System?'

It seemed like a plausible guess. Kang-Woo was not sure whether to be happy or upset by it. He was happy since he felt like he had become so strong that he had become like a glitched character in an RPG, but that also meant that he might not be able to receive privileges from the System.

'Will I be able to get my Tenth Awakening Trait?'

If Kang-Woo was not able to, he would make the face of the one who had made the System exactly like those broken characters.

Click. Lilith opened the door and entered the room. She flinched when she saw Kang-Woo out of his bed. She quickly ran toward him and grabbed his arm.

"You shouldn't be up yet. Rest for a little longer," she remarked.

"No, I'm fine now." Kang-Woo shook his head as he casually moved around.

Lilith touched his arm with a worried expression. "Are you really alright? You're not pushing yourself again, are you?"

Kang-Woo smirked and answered, "I told you, I'm fine."

Lilith sighed deeply. "Jeez... You're making my life so hard, my king. Your life isn't yours alone anymore, you know?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if you die, I'll die with you," Lilith replied calmly.

It sounded insane, but not a single ounce of madness could be heard in Lilith's voice; it was calm as if it was natural.

"That's a bit..." Kang-Woo slurred.

"Do you think Seol-Ah wouldn't?" Lilith asked.

Kang-Woo remained silent. Lilith aside, Han Seol-Ah would most definitely choose death gladly without hesitation if Kang-Woo were to die or disappear.

"I'm sure Balrog and Echidna would do the same," Lilith expressed.

"Come on, I doubt Echidna would."

"Are you sure about that?"

He was not. Kang-Woo smiled bitterly and nodded. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry."

Kang-Woo knew that he had many things on his shoulders, as well as that they would all come crumbling down if he were to die.

'But...'

Kang-Woo turned his head in sorrow. If a time came when he needed to risk his life again, what would he do? There was no need to even think about it.

'I would risk my life again.'

As he always had.

Lilith stared at Kang-Woo sadly. She sighed deeply and shook her head.

"Come to think of it, did anything in particular happen while I was in bed? How's Iris?" Kang-Woo asked.

"She hasn't awakened as an incarnation yet. As for while you were still asleep... Nothing except that Uriel and Michael came to visit."

"Really?"

"Yes. Oh, and Uriel said to tell you to call him as soon as you wake up."

"Got it."

Kang-Woo made a mental note to contact Uriel once he took care of all the urgent tasks. The signs of a high elf's manifestation had been confirmed, so he needed to release information about the Constellations of Evil to the angels to figure out what they were scheming and where.

"Any signs of the Constellations and Lucifer's movements?" Kang-Woo asked.

"None." Lilith shook her head.

Kang-Woo frowned lightly.

'Maybe I pushed them too far.'

Kang-Woo would be able to find them only if they made their move, but it was difficult to lay out his next plan since they weren't taking action at all.

"Oh. There was... an odd occurrence," Lilith mentioned.

"Odd how?" Kang-Woo tilted his head.

"Well... The streets of the empire are regaining their vitality. There are more people in the streets, and the frozen economy is beginning to go back to normal."

"Mm."

Kang-Woo frowned. The citizens of Aernor, who had been plunged into fear, regaining their vitality could not be considered strange. It was not like fear could be extended for all of time, and people forgot about such emotions when they were busy enough getting by each day.

'But...'

There was no way that Lilith wouldn't know that. If she thought that it was odd, it meant that the fear that had spread throughout the empire was disappearing at an abnormal rate.

"Would it mean that the people's trust in Si-Hun has become that strong?" Kang-Woo posed.

"It's more than possible. After all, rumors have already spread that Si-Hun had taken care of the thousands of wraiths that had appeared at the imperial palace all by himself."

Kang-Woo stroked his chin. He doubted the guess despite posing it himself.

'I mean, it doesn't matter anymore.'

The conditions for the high elf's manifestation had already been fulfilled. There was no need to amplify people's fear of Lucifer or to manipulate information anymore. As long as the operation concluded smoothly, there was no need for him to take action.

'That should be it, but...'

He felt unpleasant as if he had not wiped after taking a shit.

'Something's up.'

Kang-Woo turned to Lilith and said, "Look into that as well."

"Understood." Lilith bowed deeply. "Please don't push yourself and rest a little longer. There might still be some side effects remaining."

Lilith caressed Kang-Woo's arm worryingly before turning to leave.

Kang-Woo smiled and nodded. "Okay."

But of course, he had no intention of resting. After all, he had things to do.

"Haaa. I'll be excusing myself then, my king."

Lilith sighed and turned around. Click. The door closed. After being left alone in the room, Kang-Woo did some light stretches and closed his eyes.

'Let's see.'

He was already bursting with anticipation. He meditated to see into himself and could see the Constellation of Fear devoured within the Demonic Sea. Unlike the Constellation of Agony, he was not conscious; he was simply floating on the surface, seemingly with no intellect as if he had become a mindless wraith.

'Hopefully, I'll reach my Tenth Awakening this time.'

He had only one more level to go to reach 90 and achieve his Tenth Awakening. Even if it had become extremely difficult for him to level up, there was no way that it wouldn't rise even by one level after devouring a god.

'I'm a bit anxious because of the broken characters earlier, though.'

However, there was nothing that Kang-Woo could do about it. There was no way that he was able to interfere with the System, which had existed since the era of Titans, a past far before the era of myths.

"Now, then."

Kang-Woo concentrated. He slowly melted the Deific Essence of the Constellation of Fear.

"Haaa, aaah."

Sparks ran throughout his entire body. He could feel immense power being swallowed up by the black sea.

[You have absorbed the Constellation of Fear's Deific Essence!]

[The absorbed Deific Essence is partially lifting the System's restrictions.]

[Your level cap has risen from 89 to 93.]

[You have achieved your Tenth Awakening. A new Trait will be granted!]

'Hell yeah.'

Kang-Woo smiled. Thankfully, he had managed to avoid a scenario where he was not given a Tenth Awakening Trait. The message windows continued.

[Converting the absorbed deathly energy into demonic energy.]

[Demonic Energy has risen by 5.]

[Demonic Energy has reached 172. You can now use more of the demonic energy from the Abyss.]

"Very nice."

He had not expected his Demonic Energy stat to rise since the Constellation of Fear used a different form of energy entirely, but it had risen regardless. Kang-Woo opened and closed his fists while smiling in satisfaction. Possibly because he had risen to soaring heights, he could not feel a significant increase in power just because he had acquired more demonic energy.

'I'll still take it.'

If he was able to use more demonic energy freely, it also meant that he would be able to use more demonic energy when he needed to take risks. It was not bad at all. Not just that, a rise in his Demonic Energy stat had not been his primary goal in the first place.

"Let's see what my Tenth Awakening Tr—"

Just as he was about to open his status window excitedly, another blue window popped up in front of him.

[You have acquired the Tenth Awakening Trait 'Deific Essence Usurpation.']

[As per the Trait, you can obtain a portion of the Deific Essence you absorb.]

[You have not completed 'Road to Becoming a Demon God' yet. Downgrading the absorbed Deific Essence.]

"Hm?"

Kang-Woo's eyes widened. He had acquired a Trait that would allow him to take the Deific Essence that he had absorbed as his own. Although the Deific Essence had been downgraded because the quest Road to Becoming a Demon God had not been completed yet, the implications of the Trait were highly impactful.

'Acquiring Deific Essence means... that I'll be able to use Divinity.'

"Finally!"

Kang-Woo clenched his fists. He had experienced firsthand how unfair and illogical a battle against a being with Divinity was while he did not possess Divinity. Although he had managed to overcome the difference with his absurd amount of demonic energy, it did not change the fact that it was an extremely inefficient battle. Kang-Woo stared at the message window with shining eyes.

[You have acquired Lower Intermediate-rank Deific Essence via the Trait 'Deific Essence Usurpation.']

'Lower Intermediate, huh?'

It was insanely low, considering he had devoured three Constellations of Evil. It seemed like the penalty for not having completed the Road to Becoming a Demon God quest seemed to be higher than expected.

'Regardless...'

Considering how ignorantly he had fought gods so far without having Deific Essence, it was a massive improvement.

Whoooom!

A foreign power that Kang-Woo had never felt before filled him up. It felt familiar for some reason.

'This is...'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. It was familiar to the unknown power that had sealed his Ten Thousand Demon Core via the Gaia System.

"A power that can interfere with the providence, huh?"

Kang-Woo felt the power of Divinity circulating within him with sparkling eyes.

Slam!

"K-Kang-Woo?"

Before Kang-Woo even had a chance to test it out, Layla barged into his room. Possibly because she had been with the other party members, Seol-Ah, Kim Si-Hun, Cha Yeon-Joo, and the others were behind her.

"What was..."

She was looking at Kang-Woo in disbelief. She seemed to have felt the energy of Kang-Woo acquiring Deific Essence because she was Gaia's incarnation.

Kang-Woo turned toward Layla. Just then, another message window popped up in front of him.

[A Deific Name most apt for Player Oh Kang-Woo will be granted due to the Player's acquisition of Deific Essence.]

'Deific Name? Is it like the names Constellation of Agony and Corruption or whatever?'

Kang-Woo stared at the message with great interest.

'I wonder what I'll get? It probably won't be Demon God since I haven't completed the quest yet. God of Predation? God of the Demonic Sea?'

[Granting Player Oh Kang-Woo the Deific Name 'God of Lies.']

"What the fuck?"

God of Lies?

'What the fuck are you on about?'

Kang-Woo frowned in displeasure.

'What do you mean, God of Lies? I've never once lied in my life. What a fucking joke.'

"Kang-Woo... Did you perhaps... acquire Deific Essence?" Layla asked with a trembling voice.

Kang-Woo nodded without hesitation and replied, "Yes, I have. The system message says that I'm... the God of Splendor."

[Granting Player Oh Kang-Woo the Deific Name 'God of Lies.']

"Haha. God of Splendor... It's a bit embarrassing."

[Granting Player Oh Kang-Woo the Deific Name 'God of Lies!']

"It must be because Lady Gaia chose me as the Protector of Light."

[Granting Player Oh Kang-Woo the Deific Name 'God of Lies!!!']

Kang-Woo looked at the blinding golden light pouring out from himself as if he were in disbelief.

"I never knew... that light was so warm."

Kang-Woo smiled while lightly touching his shining gold body.