"Cough!"
Reinald vomited blood.
"Mr. K-KangWoo…?"
He looked at KangWoo in disbelief.
Reinald was horrified at the unexpected development of events.
He knelt on the ground and blood continued to pour from his mouth.
"Just why?"
He couldn't understand.
He was a member of the Guardians and had received Gaia’s trust.
Although KangWoo wasn't a Guardian chosen by a god, Reinald was sure that he was a hero. After all, he was someone who received a huge amount of support.
But the price of such trust was high.
He didn't have time to defend himself.
The dark-red spear pierced his stomach in the blink of an eye.
He received such fatal damage that it wouldn't be weird if he died at that moment. It was almost a miracle that he was still conscious.
"Ugh."
His mouth fell open, and the pain spread through his entire body.
His consciousness became blurry.
Reinald did his best to hold onto his consciousness. He couldn't die there.
"You…"
"KangWoo, can I come out now?"
He heard a girl’s voice.
Reinald turned to the source of the sound, and his eyes widened in astonishment.
"What the…?"
He saw the girl he'd tried to save while risking his life.
A frail-looking girl who was as pretty as a doll…
The girl who'd said thanks to him with tears in her eyes was looking at him with cold eyes that didn't show any emotion.
No, he could see that she felt an unpleasant feeling toward him.
"ShiHoon will soon arrive with Gaia. Leave here before that. Balzac, you too."
[Understood, master.]
"Yes. I'm going to do as you say."
Echidna and Balzac nodded.
KangWoo looked at Balzac.
"Are you hurt?"
[Hahaha. It isn't light, but I have no problem with moving.]
Balzac laughed as if he was trying to prove he was okay.
But unlike what he said, his body seemed to be in really bad shape.
His bones had cracks everywhere, and his robes were tattered.
A few ribs were broken, and his skull had been crushed.
If he wasn't a lich, he definitely would've died.
No. Such damage seemed to be huge, even for a lich. He was having a hard time maintaining his balance.
KangWoo clicked his tongue.
"Don't act as if you're okay. Get some rest. Echidna, take Balzac."
[Master…]
Balzac trembled as if those words had moved him.
Echidna nodded and went running toward KangWoo. He patted her hair.
"That guy touched me. I felt really disgusted by it."
She glared at Reinald while pulling on KangWoo's sleeves.
Reinald couldn't understand what was going on.
"What's happening… Is… is it a nightmare? Maybe I'm hallucinating…"
He couldn't believe what was going on.
To Reinald, the scene was more shocking than the spear that had pierced his body.
"It… it's dangerous. You're being deceived by an evil demon…"
He refused to believe what was happening. He extended his hand toward the girl.
Echidna snorted while kicking his hand.
"Hngh. Don't insult KangWoo. He's a way better person than you."
'It's kinda embarrassing to hear that.'
KangWoo smirked.
'Yes. I'm a good person.'
He couldn't deny Echidna's words.
Was there any other person who was trying to protect the world without wanting anything in exchange?
* * *
No one could call him evil. After all, he was trying to protect Earth from the Demon of Prophecy, Satan.
"What does…?"
Reinald was mumbling in confusion when his eyes suddenly widened.
It seemed like he'd finally understood what was going on.
"D-don't tell me… You were all one team?!"
"It took you quite some time, huh?"
KangWoo laughed at him.
It was something he should've realized as soon as he was betrayed by him.
'He probably never imagined that a frail girl would deceive someone.'
The Underdog's dogma…
It was the stereotype that made one think that the weak must always be good and the strong are probably evil.
He would've never imagined that someone who looked like a frail little girl would deceive him.
That was proof of how ancient Reinald's mentality was.
"D-don't tell me… you…"
Reinald's body trembled.
His consciousness, which was becoming blurry, cleared up as if lightning had hit him.
The only being who could control Balzac and make him use such a dirty technique…
There was only one being he knew that could do something like that.
"Sa… tan…!"
"Huh? What nonsense are you saying?"
KangWoo frowned as if he'd heard something unpleasant.
'Me, Satan?'
He couldn't believe Reinald was comparing him to the evil Demon of Prophecy, who was trying to destroy Earth.
He wondered if there was an insult more unpleasant than that.
"How dare you compare me to Satan?" KangWoo said in an angry voice.
He was okay with everything else, but he wasn't okay with someone calling him Satan.
"Don't try to act as if you aren’t. You evil demon!"
"You're quite energetic despite having a hole in your stomach. Huh?"
KangWoo grabbed Gungnir tighter and twisted it violently.
"Cough!"
The wound deepened, and a huge amount of blood poured out.
It didn’t seem like he could heal from such fatal damage, even with Tyrion's strength.
"Mr. T-Tyrion…"
He extended his hands.
He prayed to Tyrion once again, but a miracle couldn't happen twice.
Tyrion didn't have more strength to send to him.
"Cough!"
He coughed up more blood.
In the end, there was no answer from Tyrion.
"It seems like the miracle is only going to happen once."
KangWoo patted Reinald's shoulder.
"You're being taught a lesson because you've lived too comfortably until now."
If a god hadn't chosen him, he wouldn't have gone to another world.
KangWoo bent down.
He extended his hand, grabbed the mask, and took it off.
"Y-you…"
Reinald's eyes widened.
"Ah, aah."
It was a face he remembered—a face he couldn't forget.
Tears dripped from Reinald's cheeks.
He understood everything. From the moment he first came to that world, he'd been dancing in the palms of his hands.
He became desperate; the tears didn't stop.
"Well. Let me be frank. I'm sorry."
KangWoo clicked his tongue.
He wouldn't have killed Reinald if he didn't know about him.
He felt that Reinald was a bit old-fashioned and stupid, but he was someone good who wouldn't hesitate to take out his sword to save the weak.
"But still, there's nothing I could've done."
There was nothing he could've done about it. He didn't have any ill feelings toward him. The complex situation had forced him to make that decision.
"Of course, there might have been a better way. You probably would've been able to understand my situation if I had explained things to you."
It wasn't like he hadn't thought about that…
But he couldn't take the risk of all the trust he'd built until then crumbling.
"Y-you motherf…"
Reinald glared at him.
It was understandable.
He couldn't make any excuses in that situation.
KangWoo smiled bitterly and placed his hand on Reinald’s chest. The Authority of Waves concentrated in his hand.
"I'm sorry, Reinald."
CRACK-!
The Authority of Waves that was launched from point blank destroyed his ribcage and exploded his heart in an instant. Reinald died at that moment.
"I'll remember you."
Reinald stopped breathing.
There was a heavy silence. KangWoo ordered Echidna and Balzac to leave.
He'd successfully gotten rid of Reinald, but the situation wasn't over yet.
"Hyeongnim!!"
He heard Kim ShiHoon's voice, who was running toward him with Gaia in his arms.
He saw Grace and a few other Guardians he'd never seen before following ShiHoon.
"This…"
"…"
Kim ShiHoon's eyes widened after seeing Reinald, who had lost his life. KangWoo was kneeling in front of his corpse.
KangWoo lowered his head.
"I'm… sorry," He said in a low voice. He clenched his fist and hit the ground.
Crack. The hard rock cracked, and traces of the fist were left in the stone.
"Hyeongnim…"
"I was late."
It was a desperate voice. You could feel how regretful he was from the tone of it.
"Wh-what happened, Mr. KangWoo?" Gaia asked in a trembling voice.
KangWoo lowered his head as if he couldn't find the words to say.
"Ah…"
A short exclamation came out of Gaia's mouth. She could tell by his atmosphere, even if he didn't say anything…
That Reinald had already lost his life.
Her body trembled.
"How could something like this…"
She had been able to feel some hope after meeting the hero chosen by a god besides Gaia.
She thought Reinald would become a hero capable of solving their issues.
But that hope didn't last even a single day and ended up crumbling.
—Because of an evil demon.
"I'm sorry. If I hadn't said anything about sparring…"
"No. It isn't Mr. KangWoo's fault."
Gaia shook her head. It wasn't his fault.
It wasn't him who had tricked Reinald, so no one could say it was his fault.
'Yes!' KangWoo exclaimed from within.
He realized Gaia didn't suspect him.
'Yolo!'
He wanted to dance because of how well he'd dealt with the situation.
It was as if all the worries he'd felt after Reinald appeared all completely vanished.
For a moment, he felt guilty about having killed him, but there was nothing else he could've done in that situation.
'Good. Now I only have to finish things off well.'
The final touches were the most important part of anything.
"So we've lost another hero," Gaia said in a sad voice.
"Yes."
KangWoo raised his head. The sky, shining with a golden light, began to dim.
"The light… is dying."
A single tear ran down his cheek.
