Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn
Chapter 133 - 133: Two Betrayals (1)

As she was about to hit him when YuWon jolted awake. His instincts kicked in, and he grabbed her wrist, but his grip was shaky after what he had been through.

"You're awake," she said, getting off him.

YuWon heard her, but his head began pounding like someone was hammering it. He groaned, releasing Anna's hand and clutching his head instead.

"What... is going on?" he mumbled.

He returned to the cave, but his perception of reality got distorted after the flashback.

"You were hallucinating," Anna explained. "The gas leaking from the eggs caused that. I think it was a defense mechanism against intruders."

"...I see."

YuWon was fine physically, but the mental toll on him would take some time to heal. For a moment, he looked around the cave, unsure if he was back in reality.

Anna noticed his reaction and hugged him. She didn't know what he had gone through in his dream. But for him to be so shaken up, something terrible must have happened.

If it hadn't been for Anna's past life experience dealing with hallucinations, she would be in the same boat as him.

"It's alright," she whispered in his ear. "We can talk about it later. Right now, the others need our help, too."

YuWon took her hand and pulled himself to his feet. They were in the middle of a trial and there was no time to waste like that. While Anna left to wake Gina, YuWon spotted Yeji next to him.

Much like him, she was sweating buckets with her eyes shut tightly. Her face was pale, likely because of the nightmare she was experiencing. YuWon crouched down beside her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Yeji, wake up!"

When she didn't respond, YuWon had no other choice. With a snap of his finger, the slave brand activated, shocking her.

Yeji immediately sat up, looking around in a daze. But when her eyes fell on him, she immediately hugged him.

"Don't leave me, please!" she yelled. "I'll be more useful to you! I swear!"

...it's clear what she was dreaming about.

YuWon shook his head, patting her back. Across the cave, Anna was helping Gina up, while Lysandra was still lying on the ground. He walked up to her.

Meanwhile, Lucifer stood on the side. He couldn't help them anymore. He had already pushed his luck by leading them to the Hydra's nest and destroying an egg, accidentally, of course.

If he tried as much as lifting a finger to help them, he was afraid the geas in him would choke him to death.

That wasn't even the worst of it.

If his geas were to activate, it would give the gods the opportunity they wanted. They could get their minions to change the rules of the trial. If that happened, their negligible chance of survival would turn to non-existent.

Everyone slowly got to their feet. No one spoke a word, but they were shaken and not in a position to fight. Unfortunately, they won't get the time to recuperate.

A roar echoed from outside the cave. It was like the Hydra-ling's roar. Only this time, it was much louder and fiercer.

"The Hydra…" YuWon muttered.

***

After blocking another whip-like tail, Anna looked at YuWon fighting in the distance. Only ten minutes had passed, but fighting the Hydra was already tiring them out.

To make things worse, their faces revealed the mental toll of hallucinations. Moreover, they couldn't drop their guard even for a second. Not with a dozen heads staring at them.

Meanwhile, Lucifer was patiently watching them. He told them he couldn't help them, but somehow Anna felt that wasn't the case. He had helped them fight the Hydra-ling before with no problems, then why was he staying out of it now?

Yet he wasn't taking any risks. But Anna didn't get more time to think about it longer as one of the Hydra's seven tails came crashing towards her.

It was no big deal. She could dodge the tail again...

"…Uh?"

Suddenly, it felt like she was wearing weights on her ankles. No matter how much she tried, her legs won't move. She looked around at the others, but there was nothing wrong with them.

Then she saw it—the smirk on Lucifer's face.

"You bastard—!"

She screamed, but the tail came crashing down on her.

***

Sometime ago...

Fools.

That was the thought Lucifer had about the mortals. He never showed it, but every second he spent among them disgusted him. They were animals raised for slaughter, and suddenly he was one of them?

Unlike Asmodeus, who got his powers stripped away from love, Lucifer lost his wings because of pride. The power and authority of an angel got into his head and he accidentally ruined one of God's plans.

As a punishment, they took away Lucifer's wings and forced him to live the rest of his days as a mortal. That was until he received a notification.

An unknown entity was willing to restore his status. But he had to do one thing. He had to ensure YuWon and his entire group failed the trial. The entity even promised him divinity if he got them killed and dealt with YuWon.

It happened a year before the trial was scheduled. The entity's offer was why Lucifer disobeyed Asmodeus and took part in the trial.

The fool destroyed the eggs, just because I did.

Lucifer knew the gas would knock them out and, without help, they'd never wake up. His plan was perfect. He would trap YuWon in eternal sleep and leave the rest behind for the Hydra, as destroying the eggs would get her attention.

However, the plan failed when Anna woke up from her eternal dream. Back then, Lucifer was about to carry YuWon away. In the end, he had to pretend that he was helping him. But Anna pushed him away.

She had always been conscious of him. Even though she never showed it outright, Lucifer knew it. Her knowledge of the future events was a hurdle for him.

Even while fighting the Hydra, she didn't believe his words about Geas, even though all of it was true. But Lucifer didn't care about winning her trust anymore. He was already busy making plans for the future.

With divinity, I can have my revenge on those fools who banished me. But first... I should get rid of the most problematic one.

With that, he used his ability to petrify Anna. While he couldn't intervene in the trial, that was only limited to the disasters, not humans. Hence, he targeted Anna first, who was the most problematic among the bunch.