Chapter 280 – The Triumphant Beginning  

The white spear was flying toward Gi-Gyu, and so was El. He couldn’t react because his mind was still in berserk mode, and he only had eyes for Ha Song-Su. Stabbing Ha Song-Su’s neck was like his life mission right now.

Whoosh.

As the spear got closer to Gi-Gyu, El screamed, “Master!” Suddenly, she came to a screeching halt. “No…”

It was as if time had stopped. Eden’s army around the hole, Soo-Jung’s panting, and even Gi-Gyu—who was stabbing Ha Song-Su with Lou—paused.

However, time hadn’t stopped. Everyone stopped because they had witnessed the spear piercing Gi-Gyu's chest.

El was too late. She couldn’t fly fast enough because she had expended all her power protecting others from Gi-Gyu and Ha Song-Su’s fight.

“M-Master…” A tear rolled down El’s face. She wasn’t strong enough to protect her master—she was just too weak.

“Ackkkkk!” El screamed.

Suddenly, Eden’s army began marching. The soldiers’ eyes gleamed as their emotions united and exploded.

“Save the grandmaster!” Hart roared.

Their fury connected them.

Soo-Jung, who had barely recovered, stammered, “W-what’s happening?”

There was no time to do anything about the white spear stuck in Gi-Gyu's chest. Eden was boiling with fury; a red aura filled the entire place.

Kaboom!

An explosion rang from where Gi-Gyu stood over Ha Song-Su.

“Grandmaster!”

“Master!”

Dun dun dun dun dun dun.

Eden shook even harder. A white sphere appeared from the middle of the hole, pushing away Eden’s army and rushed toward Gi-Gyu. The creatures were enraged but couldn’t break through the white sphere. The smoke cleared, and the forms inside the white sphere emerged.

One was Gi-Gyu, and the other was a woman. This woman was holding Ha Song-Su in her arms. There was also a third figure inside.

“Master!” El couldn’t move well, but she still tried to get closer to Gi-Gyu.

The woman flicked her hand, and El was pushed back helplessly. The woman looked at Ha Song-Su in her arms before looking at Gi-Gyu. After putting Ha Song-Su over her shoulder, she pulled out the white spear from Gi-Gyu’s chest.

Even though the spear had been pulled out from his chest, Gi-Gyu remained like a statue. The woman watched him for a while longer before she took to the sky with a loud bang.

Boom!

“Master!” El didn’t even bother looking at the woman. She rushed toward Gi-Gyu.

Meanwhile, Soo-Jung stared at the woman and mumbled, “Ha… Rim…” She closed her eyes for a moment before swearing, “Fuck…”

“What the hell is going on here…?” Soo-Jung whispered, remembering the 16 white wings on Ha-Rim’s back. The woman also hadn’t said a word before leaving.

-Not a chance!

Old Man Hwang’s shout rang in Eden; with that, Eden moved to trap the women who had attacked Gi-Gyu. Ha-Rim threw her white spear again, which went through Eden’s barrier to create a path for her.

Old Man Hwang stared as Ha-Rim disappeared with Ha Song-Su.

“Master!” El screamed with Gi-Gyu in her arms. The others also didn’t pay much attention to Ha-Rim, who had escaped. Gi-Gyu was rigid like a statue, still standing where he had been stabbed. He hadn’t even dropped Lou.

“Master! Master!” El continued to yell, but Gi-Gyu didn’t move.

Eden’s army remained quiet.

“He isn’t dead.”

The announcement stopped Soo-Jung from stepping up.

“Lou…?” El seemed to recognize the voice. Was Lou responding to El’s call?

Black liquid poured out from Gi-Gyu’s chest wound, slowly coagulating into a fairy-sized demon.

Lou was back.

“I think… I’m going to die, so… heal me already,” Lou muttered before collapsing.

Simultaneously, Gi-Gyu, who had been like a statue, also collapsed.

“Master!” El screamed.

***

The incredible battle was finally over. It was over, but it had left a terrible cleaning-up job in its wake.

Eden was in ruin, and so was its barrier.

“How is it?” Lim Hye-Sook walked up to Old Man Hwang and asked.

“It’s not up yet… I think it will take a while.”

At the moment, Eden was under quarantine. Even though the enemy barrier around Eden had disappeared, Old Man Hwang still put it under quarantine.

“We have too many rampant energies here, with sorcerous energy being the worst,” the elderly man explained to Lim Hye-Sook grimly. “When the barrier disappeared, sorcerous energy escaped and affected the surrounding area. I had to do this to prevent further harm.”

Just as he had said, the rampant energies, especially sorcerous, had caused much damage. Eden’s barrier wasn’t just for protection—it also prevented anything from leaving. However, the surrounding areas suffered because the enemies had destroyed the barrier.

“Rohan and Heo Sung-Hoon are running around on foot outside to prevent further harm,” Old Man Hwang added.

“I see.” Lim Hye-Sook sighed after learning about the situation.

Looking at her, Old Man Hwang asked, “Is he still unconscious?”

Lim Hye-Sook nodded quietly.

“I will finish things here and visit him soon,” Old Man Hwang stated.

Lim Hye-Sook nodded again and left the room. The blacksmith continued to work the screens tensely.

“Haa…” he sighed. Eden’s situation improved quickly, but he still couldn’t help sighing.

***

Clack.

Old Man Hwang opened the door to see Gi-Gyu. The room was already filled with many people.

Soo-Jung, Lim Hye-Sook, El, Tao Chen, and even Lou, wrapped in white bandages and in his child form, were here.

Old Man Hwang asked Lou, “Are you okay?”

“I feel like I’m dying,” Lou replied. “Because of that idiot, I am suffering like this.”

Lou shook his head in annoyance. He had saved Gi-Gyu. After finishing his own battle inside Gi-Gyu's shell, he had been resting, monitoring Gi-Gyu’s fight. Gi-Gyu's condition had been unstable, and to top it off, he let sorcerous energy take over. So, Lou had decided to monitor him.

Then, something unexpected had happened, and it wasn’t related to Ha Song-Su. Gi-Gyu had defeated Ha Song-Su, but a white spear had flown out of nowhere just when he was about to kill his opponent.

“I thought I was losing my mind,” Lou muttered. He had noticed the incoming attack first. After his battle against the hell kings in Gi-Gyu’s shell, Lou had gotten enough time to rest to restore much of his power. This was why he could reappear to save Gi-Gyu.

Old Man Hwang looked at Gi-Gyu with worry and asked Lou, “How is he?”

Gi-Gyu was sleeping like he was dead. He had faced death like this many times before, but this time, things were different.

Lou replied, “His body is actually in excellent condition, considering he just defeated Ha Song-Su.”

No one had been able to defeat Ha Song-Su. Everyone had thought he was invincible, yet Gi-Gyu had beat him.

Lou shook his head and added, “He’s just sleeping.”

Old Man Hwang turned to watch El.

She was looking over Gi-Gyu, but she didn’t look overly concerned. This had to mean Lou was telling the truth.

Suddenly curious, the elderly man asked, “But where is Yoo-Bin…?”

Gi-Gyu had collapsed, so he expected Yoo-Bin to be here. But to his surprise, she was not present in the room.

“She’s in that place,” Lim Hye-Sook answered. “She needs to be monitored after all.”

Gi-Gyu wasn’t the only problem inside Eden.

“Haa…” Old Man Hwang rubbed his forehead, aware of which place Lim Hye-Sook was referring to.

.

Lim Hye-Sook explained, “I heard someone is helping monitor her. I’m guessing he’s the monk Gi-Gyu mentioned before. Bodhidharma, right?”

“And ‘he’ is still unconscious?” asked Old Man Hwang.

Lim Hye-Sook nodded. “I think Gi-Gyu must have done something to him. Unless Gi-Gyu wakes him up himself…”

They were talking about Paimon, who was being quarantined as well. They assumed he wouldn’t regain consciousness until Gi-Gyu woke him up. Everyone was curious about Paimon, but they were also well aware of how dangerous this demon could be. Everyone was taking turns watching him to make sure he didn’t wake up to cause trouble.

Old Man Hwang pointed at Gi-Gyu and asked, “When do you think he’ll wake up?”

Gi-Gyu was sleeping like a newborn baby.

“Who knows? Thankfully, he suffered minimal physical injuries. But…”

There was no way of knowing how the battle inside his shell had affected him. They hadn’t disclosed to anyone what had happened in Gi-Gyu’s shell. Lou seemed uncertain of how it might have changed Gi-Gyu.

“Master!” El suddenly yelled.

Gi-Gyu’s eyes opened. He murmured, “I’m awake.”