ALL NOVEL Chapter 430
Chapter 431: The Useless Children
Bang! A blue droplet burst forth.
As the woman gestured nervously, the burst droplets reassembled. She kicked the reunited large droplet again.
After repeating this act several times, the woman panted and slumped into a chair.
But unable to suppress her anger, she kicked the innocent floor hard.
[You only succeeded in one! Just one!!]
The Demon King of Shuyo had a plan. Although she preferred to move without making plans, this time she had no choice.
Sunday had been attacked by Hwayo and met its demise, leaving her with the two worst Demon Kings remaining.
Defeating a Demon King that could destroy this world wasn’t possible with just Shuyo’s full power.
Regrettably, Shuyo fully understood the extent of the power gap between her and the two.
Thus, she sought to acquire the Earth Serpent, a being that seemed to possess power similar to that of a Demon King.
[If I can just swallow that guy, then I can turn everything upside down…!!]
Sending the demons to the Earth Hammer Gorge was a preliminary strike for that purpose.
At first, she planned to submerge some demons in a lake and create chaos centered around them when she made her move.
However, only one had succeeded at best.
Fortunately, once they successfully entered the water, it would be undetectable by the Earth Serpent, but one was far from enough.
If she tried to eat the living beings residing there to grow in size, the Earth Serpent would surely notice, so that was not an option either.
How many demons must she send to reach the originally anticipated ten units? It seemed wasteful to expend many demons just to do that.
Shuyo’s mind spiraled in confusion.
No matter how you put it, she wasn’t the type who was adept at using her head. Yet, she had to think.
Otherwise, it was clear that her life would come to an end.
Living beings would do anything when faced with a crisis. Even if it were just a fitful resistance, even if it were just meaningless thrashing about.
This was no different for the existence of a Demon King.
[I need to move a little faster….]
The woman bit her thumbnail. A liquid form of her body tore away.
Having swallowed too many humans, she was now unconsciously mimicking human behavior.
In the end, there was no choice but to deploy the demons. She had to lure the enemy into complacency and somehow seize a favorable moment.
[Damned Choi Yeon-woo…!!]
In the end, what had thrown everything off was Choi Yeon-woo, who appeared earlier than expected.
At times like these, she resented the slow pace of her subservient demons.
*
“Gooahhh.”
Yeon-woo stretched. Next to her, Shar and Tae-oh also stretched in unison. Tae-oh had reverted to his usual childlike form.
The surrounding hunters gasped at the sight of the Choi family. “So cute, look at that,” was the talk, but Yeon-woo didn’t pay much attention.
‘Being handsome sure is nice. Even when I make a noise like “Gooahhh,” it’s cute.’
Well, that was mostly thanks to the hard work of Tae-oh and Shar’s appearances. Even a gruff sound coming from an adult seems cute when emitted by a child.
Anyway, it was great that people gathered around, allowing her to rest well.
Time had flown by and it was already 4 PM, well past noon. Soon, Baek In-hwa would return. It might be a good idea to start preparing dinner in advance.
“Should I help Tae-oh and Shar with cooking?”
“If you bow your head, I might just help! But what does bowing mean?”
Shar and Tae-oh said this with faintly curious eyes. Tae-oh seemed to be using words he had heard from the media with no real understanding.
It wasn’t a particularly problematic statement, but since it seemed they didn’t know what it meant, maybe she should enlighten them.
“Please help me~.”
“Gasp! This is bowing!”
“G-get up! People are staring!”
“The only ones I kneel for are my family.”
Yeon-woo tried to sound impressive, but Shar remained embarrassed by Yeon-woo’s antics.
As Yeon-woo dusted herself off and stood up, Shar let out a sigh of relief.
“You seem confident; did you learn to cook from your mom?”
“Heh. It wouldn’t be wrong to call me a 7-star hotel chef.”
Nea was indeed an excellent cook, but whether she could match a 7-star hotel chef was questionable. After all, she had never been to a 7-star hotel.
But it was undoubtedly an adorable confidence. Even though she said she would help, with that level of confidence, it might be fine just to entrust an entire meal to her.
“Then, Chef Shar, will you cook directly? I can assist you.”
“C-can I do that!?”
“Gasp.”
Both kids widened their eyes in surprise at Yeon-woo’s words. It seemed they didn’t mind the idea.
As Yeon-woo began pulling out various items from Relin’s Warehouse, the kids’ eyes sparkled.
“What ingredients do you need? Is this equipment sufficient?”
“Meat!!”
“Is that so….”
Well, meat was indeed the right choice. Along with that, she pulled out various other ingredients that would be just about useful.
How they would use them was questionable, but eh, if worse came to worst, Yeon-woo could just step in and demonstrate.
It was uncertain how the chef would feel about the assistant meddling in the cooking, though.
Well, Baek In-hwa would likely appreciate it if the kids cooked for her. Or maybe not.
*
Time passed quickly from there. Yeon-woo briefly pondered why time had flown by so fast, concluding it was due to her increased sleeping hours.
Longer sleep time inevitably shortened the day. Ultimately, the arrival of reinforcements had been effective.
Of course, countless lazy demons had invaded during that time, but they had been easily kept at bay.
After all, nothing is as important as numbers. When trying to cover for everything alone, the chaotic numbers and range conspired; now that they increased, it was easily managed.
Even with some fatigue, no one was dying, so this must be the right approach.
However, it was clear that something was being overlooked.
Shuyo wasn’t a fool, and it was unlikely she would continue to push in forces, having never managed to approach the lake until now.
Yet, it was true that they had fended everything off perfectly up to now. At this point, where they had no idea what cards their opponent had, carelessly moving could end up exposing their weaknesses.
Shuyo would eventually throw down a card she held in her hand. With that thought, Yeon-woo fortified her defenses.
And lo and behold, that moment eventually came; something ludicrous was thrown down as if it were a card.
“…I didn’t see this coming.”
[Interesting. It seems that this Shuyo and I truly do have a bad match.]
The Earth Hammer Gorge was immensely long and vast.
Yet, it wasn’t endless. There was a river that traversed the gorge, and that river had a source.
A wave, no, a flood. The Earth Serpent, being the avatar of the Earth Hammer Gorge, would have no way of detecting if the original river was touched.
Shuyo began gathering up the lazy demons and sent them flowing along the river.
“This is becoming troublesome, isn’t it?”
[Ah, I see. If the demons are submerged in water, even I might not be able to detect them.]
It was like having one’s eyes blindfolded. The demons approaching on land were visible, while the real threat was coming through the river.
The number was unknown, but it was safe to assume that there were already demons inside the lake too. Now, the water of the lake had become the primary point of defense.
“I’ve been dealt a proper blow, haven’t I? But I can’t just do anything to the lake.”
[That feels unpleasant. Is this the kind of feeling you get when you hear that parasites live in your innards?]
That certainly was an unpleasant feeling. Fortunately, it was evident that mere demons couldn’t deal with the Earth Serpent.
However, the biggest issue was…
‘The Demon King is coming with the flood.’
The flood was caused by Shuyo’s Demon King. It was indeed fitting behavior for a Demon King that had swept away the land with water.
It should have been an expected method. Yet, the reason it hadn’t crossed her mind was probably due to the unshakeable trust that the Earth Serpent had dominion over the Earth Hammer Gorge.
Preconceived notions harden the mind. Today too, a lesson was learned.
“Is there any way to block it?”
[Well, I could try to counter it by causing a flood, but the results likely wouldn’t be favorable.]
That’s true. Since the natural flow of the river was heading this way, trying to cause a flood against that would likely yield no significant power.
Moreover, considering Shuyo’s abilities, that wasn’t a good option.
“…In the end, it means we have to figure something out ourselves.”
[For now, I’ve warned the humans who came to support us, so rest easy. If they dash in the opposite direction, they should be able to exit the gorge in time.]
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Being able to focus on stopping the flood without worrying about evacuating was a huge relief.
Since Yeon-woo could fly, she wouldn’t have to worry about being swept away by the flood.
“…You can’t freeze the flood, can you?”
“No matter what, it’s impossible to freeze that level of momentum.”
Baek In-hwa shook her head at Yeon-woo’s words.
If it was impossible for Baek In-hwa, it certainly wouldn’t make sense for Yeon-woo to try. It wouldn’t be feasible even for the Ice Palace Lord. She quickly set that dream aside.
“Then, can’t we just build a wall to block it?”
In response to Yeon-woo’s contemplation, Tae-oh suggested that. Build a wall to block the flood? How could they erect a wall capable of blocking floods in this situation?
As Yeon-woo pondered, her gaze had already shifted to Baek In-hwa.
“…I can create one, but I can’t guarantee it will be high enough to block it completely. Just doing that will leave me exhausted.”
Baek In-hwa answered first, catching on to the meaning behind Yeon-woo’s gaze. Yeon-woo’s mind began to race.
An angle began to come into view. It might not be enough, but it was worth trying.
“Alright, let’s go build a wall together. We just need to block off the lake, so it should be doable.”
“Got it. I’ll help.”
Without hesitation, Baek In-hwa nodded her head at Yeon-woo’s conclusion.
Whatever it may be, the way she believed in her was something that deeply resonated with her.
(To be continued in the next chapter)