After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 164 - Satellite World, Zexal (2)

Crackle, crackle!!

Oh Kang-Woo lightly stretched in front of the Rift with purple sparks flying from it. They found the Rift that headed to Zexal from Aernor without much difficulty. It was only five kilometers away from the capital of the Arnan Empire.

“Right, then.”

Cha Yeon-Joo, Han Seol-Ah, Lilith, and Echidna were standing side by side behind him. Kim Si-Hun and Layla were slightly further away, holding hands as they closely examined the Rift.

Kang-Woo remarked, “Shall we go?”

“Are you sure... this is enough people?” asked Layla incomprehensibly as Yeon-Joo had yesterday. “If you need it, we can get reinforcements from Guardians—”

“I told you, we don’t need it.”

“But...”

“Besides, we need people to look over Earth while we’re not there, right?”

Since the key members of Guardians were all leaving Earth, there needed to be forces who would protect Earth during their absence. Otherworldly invasions were bound to continue even while they were gone.

“Lady Gaia and the angels agreed to help out regarding that,” Layla answered.

“Oh, right. Them.” Kang-Woo had forgotten about them since it had been so long. “Regardless, we have everyone we need.”

Rather, he thought it was a little too excessive.

Layla sighed, giving up on arguing. “Haaa... I have no idea what you are thinking, but okay.”

“E-Excuse me!”

Kang-Woo heard a familiar voice a fair distance away from the Rift. He turned to the voice and saw a troop of fully armored knights and a woman in an extravagant dress.

“Iris?”

‘Wait, you were alive? You weren’t snapped away?’

“Why... are you staring at me like you’re seeing a ghost?” Iris asked.

“No reason.”

“Hmm,” she expressed shyly. She approached Kang-Woo and bowed courteously. “It’s been a while, Sir Kang-Woo.”

“Yeah, we’re both so busy, after all.”

Kang-Woo wasn’t wrong. Iris had become the empress at the time Kang-Woo was trapped in the Abyss for three years. She was busy reviving the empire diseased with lawlessness and corruption.

“It seems... much has happened to you in the time I haven’t seen you,” Iris remarked.

“You too.”

Iris, who had been nothing but an immature girl when Kang-Woo first met her, was now exuding gravitas. Her back was straight and her shoulders were back, exuding confidence. Her eyes no longer reflected the weak and trembling little girl she had once been. She had grown into an empress capable of leading an empire— a leader who could shoulder countless lives on her shoulders.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“Sir... Kang-Woo...”

Iiris looked at him with her blue eyes. She bit her lip as her shoulders trembled. She mustered up the courage and slowly walked toward Kang-Woo.

“I’m sorry to do this right after our reunion but we have to go. We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Oh...”

Iris stopped in her tracks and looked into Kang-Woo’s eyes. She could tell.

“I see... I understand.” Iris turned to Seol-Ah, Yeon-Joo, and Lilith. She stared at them sorrowfully and slightly lifted her dress skirt to bow courteously again. “May the path of the hero be blessed by the World Tree.”

“Thanks...”

Kang-Woo nodded. He had no reason to stay here to have a long conversation with Iris. Not only did they not have the time for it but it would be pointless. He couldn’t give her the answer she wanted.

‘I’m sure Iris understood too.’

Her reaction was proof of it.

“See you.”

Kang-Woo turned around without regrets and walked toward the Rift crackling with purple sparks.

“...” Iris silently stared at Kang-Woo’s back getting further away.

She slightly raised her hand.

Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!

The knights in formation unsheathed their swords and lifted them high one by one.

“Salute to the hero—!”

“Victory!!!” shouted the knights as they simultaneously swung their weapons down on the ground.

‘That was pretty badass.’

Kang-Woo’s emotions as a man were stirred as hundreds of knights saluted simultaneously. He gave them a thumbs up.

“Let’s go.”

He took a step toward the purple Rift so that he could attain victory as Iris wished.

***

“Urgh... I’m getting dizzy.”

Yeon-Joo frowned as she grabbed her forehead after entering the Rift. The others were also in the same state.

“Are you guys okay?” asked Kang-Woo, who had the most experience traveling through dimensions.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Seol-Ah nodded and stood up.

The others recovered one by one.

“Hmm... I don’t see anything around us.” Lilith looked around with narrowed eyes.

The Rift was surrounded by rocks. Plants were growing around the rocks but they couldn’t see any other signs of life.

“Let’s split up and search,” Kang-Woo suggested.

“Okay, hyung-nim.”

“Sounds good.”

Kang-Woo and his comrades split up and began to look around.

‘Authority of the Sky.’

Kang-Woo flew into the sky and searched. Zexal was covered in massive rocks similar to the Grand Canyon.

“Dammit...”

Kang-Woo frowned intensely.

‘Are there no beings with intelligence in this world?’

He could see a few odd-looking wild animals walking around but they did not seem to possess intelligence.

“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue.

It was not impossible; there was no guarantee that all outer worlds were inhabited by beings with intelligence. This was especially true since this was a satellite world. Its area and size were immensely smaller than those of Earth.

‘But I thought there would be beings with intelligence.’

There had not been much but records with the world’s name on it had crossed over to Aernor. According to Si-Hun, the records were engraved on rectangular iron plates as if they belonged to an ancient civilization.

‘But that’s that.’

The fact that there were records meant this world was inhabited by beings with intelligence. Hence, there should also be a city made by those beings somewhere. Just the fact that they created an iron plate alone proved they possessed intelligence.

‘Or that’s what I thought...’

He couldn’t see anything around him.

‘If there’s no one, we’d have to find the Gate which leads to Akart’s world first and go to a different world.’

Kang-Woo had other ways he could fulfill Midir’s awakening conditions but it did not change that it was a waste of time.

“My king~!”

Just then, Kang-Woo heard Lilith’s voice.

“What? Did you find something?” asked Kang-Woo as he flew down.

“Mmm... Please call the others as well. I think we should all see this together.”

“Got it.”

Kang-Woo gathered his comrades who had split up to search the surroundings. They did so without complaints, likely because they had not found anything either.

“Have you found an otherworldly being?” asked Si-Hun with shining eyes.

“Mmm... no,” Lilith remarked troublingly. She continued, “But I think you should see for yourself. Not even I know what I found either.”

“Hmm. Understood.” Si-Hun nodded and followed behind Lilith.

“This way, everyone.”

Lilith took the lead. Everyone else followed her and walked down a tall rocky terrain. She had led them to a valley between the tall rocks. The current was so strong that they couldn’t see anything under the water. Lilith turned the end of her hair into a tentacle and stuffed it into the water.

“I found this in here.”

She pulled out a mechanical device resembling a shield that would be attached to an arm.

“How... did you find this?” asked Yeon-Joo as she looked down at the rapid current in shock.

She was once again impressed by Lilith’s extraordinary searching skills.

“I wonder what this is?” Layla wondered as she lifted the device Lilith pulled out of the water.

“It looks... a bit weird to call a shield.”

“But it’s definitely something you attach to an arm.”

“It could be a weapon.”

The device looked similar to ice skating blades. On the flat portion were five square grooves. It seemed to be broken by the strong current because it was not responding no matter how many buttons they pressed.

“But the fact that there is a device like this here means...” Kang-Woo slurred.

“This world is inhabited by intelligent beings,” answered Lilith as she turned the tentacle back to black hair and smiled.

Kang-Woo nodded and looked toward the upper region of the valley. “Let’s follow up the valley.”

“Hm! Get on my back!”

Echidna changed form to a dragon and flapped her wings. Kang-Woo and the others got on her back and traveled up the valley.

“Ah, over there!!”

They were met with flatlands after flying across the canyons. They weren’t just ordinary flatlands but man-made ones.

“I knew there were intelligent beings here.”

Kang-Woo smiled and looked around. He could see square tunnels burrowing in the flatlands.

“It seems they live underground.”

“No wonder we couldn’t see them from above.” Kang-Woo patted Echidna’s black scales and remarked, “Let’s go down there.”

“Hm! Okay!”

Echidna landed near the tunnels. Kang-Woo looked around as Echidna turned back into her little girl form.

Just then, a voice echoed, “Stop.”

Someone walked out of the tunnel and toward Kang-Woo and the others.

‘He looks similar to a demon.’

The otherworldly being was three meters tall and covered in a shell like a crustacean. Spikes that could kill were sprouting from his elbows. His limbs were abnormally long and six eyes were gleaning from his face. He looked like a chimera created by a mad scientist by combining a demon, an insect, and a crustacean.

“Finally.” Kang-Woo smiled at the appearance of an intelligent being.

“Are you warriors?” asked the otherworldly chimera menacingly.

“Eh?”

‘What an odd question. Wouldn’t you normally ask who we are first?’

“Well, I guess you could call us that.”

‘Since fighting is my specialty.’

“Warriors...? You?” The chimera frowned intensely. He roared, “BULLSHIT—!!!”

Rumble!!!

The ear-splitting roar shook the earth. Purple aura surged from the chimera.

“What? Why?”

‘I only answered your question.’

“HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A WARRIOR WITHOUT EVEN A DISK?!!”

“Disk? What disk?”

Click.

The spike on the chimera’s elbows got sucked into his body and something appeared on his left arm— it was the device they had found in the valley earlier.

“If you are not a warrior, then I’ve got no use for you.” The chimera’s eyes shone as he inserted a deck of cards into the device. “I’ll finish you off with a duel.”

“Pardon?”

‘A duel?’

“DRAW—!!!”

‘What?’

Translator’s Notes:

I KNEW IT WAS A FUCKING DUEL DISK THE MOMENT I READ THE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE LMAO