Player who Returned 10,000 years Later
chapter-364

Uriel was covered in blood. Since angel blood was white, he looked like he belonged in an R-18 game. Despite that, Oh Kang-Woo could tell that Uriel was on the verge of death.

His eight wings had all been bent violently as if someone had scrunched up wings made with origami. His left arm was hanging down as if someone had forcefully stretched it out, and his left foot was bent backward. His blood vessels were protruding out from his temple and neck, reaching all over his body like a spider web.

Uriel collapsed. Kang-Woo put his arms under his armpits and supported him.

Kang-Woo remained silent. To be more exact, he had nothing to say. He lifted Uriel up as his eyes sank. There were many things that he wanted to ask, but now was not the time.

“Yeon-Joo, go get Seol-Ah.”

“Y-Yeah! Okay!”

Cha Yeon-Joo quickly nodded and ran somewhere. Kang-Woo laid Uriel down in the hallway. He wanted to take him to the bed, but there was no time. Crunch. He bit open his finger, allowing his blood to flow.

Kang-Woo momentarily wondered if it was possible to heal an angel with the Authority of Regeneration. He thought that it made no sense to be able to heal an angel with the blood of a demon.

‘There’s no time to think about shit like that.’

Blood was nothing but the medium to activate the Authority of Regeneration; none of the people whom Kang-Woo had treated had been encroached by demonic energy nor had been influenced by it.

‘I have to try.’

He needed to administer first aid at the very least. Kang-Woo placed his bleeding finger in Uriel’s mouth and activated the Authority of Regeneration.

“Haaa, haaa,” Uriel panted.

Thankfully, it had an effect. His skin regained its healthy color, and his mangled limbs returned to normal.

‘It’s not enough.’

His ability was not specialized in healing; it was nothing more than first aid.

“Kang-Woo!”

“I brought Seol-Ah!”

Yeon-Joo brought Han Seol-Ah just in time. Seol-Ah checked the state that Uriel was in with worry and placed her hands on his chest. Whoooom! White light burst from Seol-Ah.

“Urgh… Cough! Cough!”

Uriel coughed up a fistful of blood. His expression relaxed a little, and his breathing became less labored. His bent wings went back to their normal state.

“Phew,” Seol-Ah sighed in relief. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead from having used a significant amount of power in a short period of time. “He’s out of immediate danger. If I use a little more power…”

Kang-Woo grabbed the swaying Seol-Ah’s shoulder and stated, “This is enough.”

“But…”

“I’ll take care of the rest,” he remarked as he lifted Uriel and took him to a room with a bed. Uriel was twisting and turning while sweating profusely. “Seol-Ah and Yeon-Joo, please leave the room.”

It was not good for there to be a crowd in a room with a patient in it.

“Yes, Kang-Woo,” Seol-Ah replied.

“I’ll let Layla and Si-Hun know,” said Yeon-Joo.

The two of them left the room, bringing silence to the room; the only thing that could be heard was Uriel’s arrhythmic breathing.

Kang-Woo looked down at Uriel in silence.

‘Who could it have been?’

Who could have possibly driven an archangel to the brink of death?

‘The summoning ritual in the north…’

From what he had heard, Sant’Angelo, the floating island of the angels, was located in the northernmost region of the continent.

‘Could there be a connection?’

Kang-Woo could not be sure whether there was a connection between the traces of a summoning ritual in the north and Uriel’s injury, but he was sure that it was by no means a coincidence.

“Ngh… Urgh!”

Uriel twisted and turned on the bed. Kang-Woo bit open his finger again and placed it in Uriel’s mouth. It was pointless for him to guess on his own; he would only get the full picture once Uriel was up.

“Kang… Woo?”

Uriel, who had been twisting and turning while unconscious, slightly opened his eyes. He tried to prop himself up, but…

“Urgh!”

“Please stay still. It hasn’t been long since your injuries were healed.”

Uriel lay back on the bed.

“What happened?” Kang-Woo asked.

He felt sorry about barraging someone who had only just regained consciousness with questions, but he did not have the leeway to wait until Uriel had fully recovered.

Uriel lightly bit his lip and said while trembling, “Sant’Angelo was… attacked.”

Kang-Woo nodded. He had expected it; considering where he had sent Uriel off to in order to get away from him, it was simple to guess. The problem was…

“By who?” Kang-Woo asked.

Who could have possibly attacked Sant’Angelo, the angels’ abode?

“I’m not sure.” Uriel shook his head in pallor.

Kang-Woo had not expected such an answer.

“You don’t know?”

“I’m sure that… They were demons. No, there weren’t just demons, but demonic beasts as well.”

Demons and demonic beasts… It was far too vague.

“But they weren’t like the demonic beasts I know. How should I say it…? They possessed intelligence? They followed commands perfectly… In any case, their assault on Sant’Angelo was highly organized.”

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. He finally got some useful information. Demonic beasts that possessed intelligence and were powerful enough to face beings as powerful as the princes of Hell only meant one thing.

‘Ancient demonic beasts.’ Kang-Woo aggressively frowned. ‘Why are ancient demonic beasts in Aernor?’

He couldn’t believe that those uncontrollable monsters would follow someone’s orders and work together. It was impossible to make any guesses just from the information about the appearance of ancient demonic beasts.

‘And…’

There was one more thing that Kang-Woo didn’t understand.

“Did you get injured this badly from fighting the demonic beasts?” he asked.

Uriel’s injuries were far too abnormal to have been from battle. One normally died before being injured in such ways.

‘Someone tortured him on purpose.’

There was no other way to explain Uriel’s injuries.

Uriel’s expression froze as he trembled like Iris in the past in front of Fidelio. His behavior was far off from his usual confident and prideful demeanor.

“I… don’t know.” Uriel slowly shook his head. “He had a mask on. He… wasn’t that big, smelled putrid, and was really… really strong.”

If an archangel was saying that, the opponent likely was considerably powerful.

“Hmm,” Kang-Woo expressed. “How would he be compared to Rakiel?”

“I’m not sure, since Lady Gaia had fought him with us. But in my opinion… He wasn’t as strong as Rakiel. However, he was far more difficult of an opponent.”

Kang-Woo’s eyes sank. “Why was he a more difficult opponent?”

“He had a strange ability.”

“An ability?”

“I’m not sure if it’s magic or not, but I suddenly felt pain all over my body. Because of that… I lost without even being able to put up a decent fight.”

‘Pain, huh?’

Kang-Woo nodded. He could understand what Uriel meant by the opponent being weaker than Rakiel but harder to face. Pain was not something one was able to overcome through sheer will.

“Does that mean Sant’Angelo has been destroyed by demons?” Kang-Woo asked.

“No. Lord Michael and Gabriel have likely returned to Sant’Angelo and are fighting the demons. I’m not sure if they can win, but… the blessing hasn’t been cut off, so Sant’Angelo hasn’t been destroyed.”

There seemed to have been some sort of buff placed on the place.

“I see.” Kang-Woo nodded. He had more or less figured out the situation, as well as what he needed to do now. “Get some rest.”

“W-Wait! You’re not thinking of going to Sant’Angelo, are you?”

“Of course I am.”

Angels were his precious allies. No, regardless of the angels, the enemies that he had no idea of their identity had finally shown themselves. Kang-Woo could not just let them run amok.

“I-It’s too dangerous!” Uriel hurriedly grabbed Kang-Woo’s clothes.

Kang-Woo chuckled. He slowly raised his hand and placed it on Uriel’s head.

“Go to sleep, brat.”

‘This hyung of yours will take care of it.’

Whoom. Golden light flowed out from Kang-Woo’s hand.

“What are…”

Uriel’s vision became blurry, and he passed out on the bed.

“Well, then.”

‘Let’s go check it out.’

***

Boom! Crash!

Sounds of explosions echoed throughout the dimly shining floating island, which was covered in flames.

“I guess angels are nothing much.”

Beings in red demon masks were sitting at the peak of a giant mountain under the floating island in flames. One of the beings wearing the red demon mask snickered. His entire body was radiating a smell so putrid that it would destroy the nose of anyone near him.

A female giggle leaked from another being under a mask. “Hohoho. What do you expect from a bunch of pigeons hiding under Seraph’s skirt?”

“Silence,” the being sitting in the middle stated. He sounded robotic as if he was devoid of emotions.

The putrid being turned around. “That aside, is it really okay for us to listen to what that hunchback says?”

“I’m sure he’s cooking up some sort of scheme, but it’s beneficial for us to cooperate with him in order for us to fulfill our wish.”

“Hmph, we wouldn’t have had to go through this if Rakiel didn’t go up and die like a dumbass.” The putrid being clicked his tongue.

The being with the robotic voice turned around and raised something shining black; it was wriggling around like it was a living organism. He put it in his pocket.

“We have already found what we need. Pull out.”

“Hm? What about the remaining pigeons?”

“We have no more time to waste.”

“Hah, so much for being known as the Constellation of Despair.” The putrid being snickered.

The being known as the Constellation of Despair remained silent.

“Anyway, have you still been unable to contact Lucifer?” The sexy voice of a woman flowed out from the other being in the red mask again.

The Constellation of Despair shook his head. “The Evil God seems to have no intention of joining us.”

“Hmm, what a shame. I wanted to have a taste of Lucifer.”

The putrid being snorted. “Tsk. Yeah, we know you’re horny twenty-four seven, Constellation of Lust. Weren’t you playing around with a prince of Hell before?”

“Asmodeus? I got sick of him, so I killed him.” The Constellation of Lust giggled.

Just then…

“Something’s coming.” A being of childlike stature with blank eyes turned his head and looked in a direction where nothing could be seen.

“Something?”

“The Protector of Light. Gaia’s child… is coming this way.”

“Protector of Light, huh?” The putrid being snickered. “Perfect. I’ll take this chance to eliminate one of Gaia’s retainers.”

“Do as you like,” replied the Constellation of despair in monotone and turned around.

Crack. A black Rift appeared in front of him, and he slowly walked into it.

“Hmm. I’m not that interested in Gaia’s child, so I’m leaving too~”

The Constellation of Lust waved as she went into the Rift. Beings wearing red masks walked into the Rift one after another. Only the putrid being remained at the peak of the tall mountain.

“The Protector of Light.” The being snickered. “I wonder how long you’ll shine for under unimaginable pain?”

The Constellation of Agony, the being radiating rancid smell, licked his lips in anticipation.