After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo punched Baek Kang-Hyun's head with a fist full of demonic energy. The blow sent Kang-Hyun flying backward. He crashed into the concrete floor, destroying it as he slid across it.

[Kuh... You sure are full of surprises.]

Even after having acquired a powerful body through fusing with a demon, Kang-Hyun's head still rang from the force of Kang-Woo's punch. He couldn't figure out where someone as powerful as Kang-Woo had appeared from.

[I guess I'll just figure out your surprises until you have none left.]

Kang-Hyun laughed as explosive power surged from within him.

He didn't look like a human anymore, but he didn't care. Nor did he care that he had become immortal and no longer required the consumption of food and water. Kang-Hyun only cared about power—the boundless strength that having a demon's body had brought him.

"So damn sturdy," Kang-Woo remarked with a frown.

His hand was radiating in pain from the punch. It had been a clean punch, but he hadn't been able to deal much damage. That was how strong Kang-Hyun's demon body was.

'I'll have to finish this within a minute.'

His coat's special effect Kraken's Rage, which raised his demonic energy stat, only lasted for a minute. It was a bit too short for him to be able to neutralize Kang-Hyun.

"Hmmm," Kang-Woo groaned softly.

He wasn't cornered. He had a method of turning the situation to his overwhelming favor, but...

'Not yet.'

That method was far too risky, so he couldn't just use it willy-nilly.

'Anyway, I'll try to finish this within a minute for now.'

Kang-Woo lowered his posture.

If he wanted to neutralize Kang-Hyun in a minute, there was only one thing that he could do.

"Fuuu."

Kang-Woo took a deep breath, gathered his focus, and drew out his demonic energy.

"Bident."

He merged the Authority of Dark Spears and the Authority of Hellfire and created a spear that burned in black flames.

Kang-Woo infused more demonic energy into it, and the two prongs of the spear twisted, creating a winding spear tip.

'Gáe Bulg,' he called the name of the spear in his mind.

He gripped the spear that he'd made with three different Authorities. The demonic energy inside him was depleting at an alarmingly fast rate.

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo poised himself to attack.

[You're truly something else.]

Kang-Hyun's nervousness was visible in his eyes. He could instinctively tell that a fearsome amount of energy was infused within Kang-Woo's spear.

[Not bad.]

Kang-Hyun smiled. Kang-Woo was indeed the perfect opponent for him to test out his overflowing power.

[You're just perfect!] Kang-Hyun screamed madly.

He spread his arms out, and demonic energy gathered around his fists, creating gauntlets.

Boom!

The two monsters, Kang-Hyun and Kang-Woo, charged at each other once again.

"Hup!"

Kang-Woo lowered his body and swung the Gáe Bulg as if he were swiping the floor. Kang-Hyun stomped onto the ground and jumped, but Kang-Woo changed the direction of the Gáe Bulg and thrust it upward at Kang-Hyun in the air.

[How persistent!]

Kang-Hyun put his two fists together and slammed them down toward Kang-Woo. The edge of the Gáe Bulg and the gauntlets clashed, producing an immense shockwave that pushed Kang-Woo backward.

"Kurgh," Kang-Woo groaned.

He convulsed, and his sight became blurry.

"Ptooey," Kang-Woo spat out some blood.

His sight quickly returned to normal.

'I'm no match for him in strength.'

Kang-Woo wouldn't be able to handle Kang-Hyun's sheer strength without the Authority of Titanic Might. However, if he used it, he wouldn't be able to maintain the Gáe Bulg. He would lose his only way of dealing a fatal blow to Kang-Hyun.

Crash! Boom!

The breathtaking exchange of blows continued. In every passing second, each of them dealt dozens of life-threatening blows that narrowly missed the other person.

At a glance, they seemed evenly matched, but Kang-Woo would be the one at a disadvantage as more time passed.

'Five seconds left.'

There wasn't much time left. Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. It was time to make a decision.

He pulled the Gáe Bulg back, turned his body halfway, and lowered his stance. Kang-Woo took a powerful step forward and thrust the Gáe Bulg at Kang-Hyun.

[No, you don't!]

Kang-Hyun reached for Kang-Woo, but the latter extended his non-dominant arm toward Kang-Hyun's hand. Kang-Woo was hell-bent on landing this blow, even if he had to use his arm as a shield.

Kang-Hyun smiled. He grabbed Kang-Woo's arm with the demonic energy gauntlet and...

"Guh?!" Kang-Woo grunted in confusion.

His strength was leaving him at a drastic rate. The Gáe Bulg, which he had aimed at Kang-Hyun's neck, turned into black smoke and dissipated into thin air.

[Hahaha! You fell for it! I knew you would do that since you were in such a rush to attack me!]

"What... did you do?" Kang-Woo asked, frowning.

The moment that Kang-Hyun's gauntlet wrapped around Kang-Woo's arm, Kang-Woo suddenly lost control over his demonic energy. It was as if a mana restraint had been put on him. He was confused by the unexpected turn of events.

Kang-Hyun laughed in a relaxed manner.

[This is what's called a demon's Authority.]

"...Authority?"

[Yes. The power of an Authority.]

Kang-Hyun raised his gauntlet with a dazed look as if he were drunk.

[Anyone who is touched by this gauntlet that's infused with the Authority of Sealing cannot circulate their power.]

"That means..."

[Yes. You are unable to use your powers as a Player.]

Kang-Woo tried to move his demonic energy with a stiff expression, but it didn't budge. In addition to the powers he'd gained as Player, he had the power that he'd accumulated in Hell, but it seemed like that was sealed as well.

Kang-Woo was now no different from the ordinary human being he had been before falling into Hell.

Bash!

"Kurgh!"

A light kick from Kang-Hyun sent Kang-Woo tumbling pathetically to the ground. Blood spewed out from his mouth, and his sight became blurry.

[Hahahaha! Serves you right for being so arrogant as if the entire world was in your hands!]

Kang-Hyun laughed loudly and grinned as he looked down at Kang-Woo on the floor.

[Yes. Kissing the ground like that is a good look for you.]

Kang-Woo tried to force himself up, but the gauntlet wrapped around his left arm was extremely heavy. It felt as if a giant boulder was pressing down on his arm now that he couldn't use demonic energy.

'This is the worst.'

The situation was worse than when he'd first returned to Earth. At least he had been able to use demonic energy back then.

Kang-Woo turned his gaze to the gauntlet on his arm. He needed to find a way to free himself from it. He tried to pull it off with his right hand, but the gauntlet imprisoning his left arm did not budge in the slightest. Kang-Woo even used his legs, but the result was the same.

[Haha. Once on, there is no way to take it off.]

Kang-Hyun kicked Kang-Woo again while laughing. Kang-Woo rolled on the ground and coughed out more blood.

Then Kang-Hyun walked over to Kang-Woo and grabbed him by the collar and lifted him from the ground. Kang-Hyun was over three meters tall, so Kang-Woo's body was raised high into the air.

[I know arrogant pricks like you very well.]

"…"

[You morons believe the entire world is yours. You're arrogant, rude, and vulgar.]

Kang-Hyun's gaze, which was filled with anger and resentment, wasn't targeted at Kang-Woo.

[It's time for you to pay the price.]

Kang-Hyun trembled with excitement.

He recalled the name of the person who had made him experience the pathetic taste of defeat. Fujimoto Ryoma was the man who had thrown Kang-Hyun's life, which had been on a fast track to success until the World Ranker evaluation, straight into the gutter. The thought of stepping all over that man made Kang-Hyun want to dance in excitement.

Fwoosh!

Kang-Hyun threw Kang-Woo by the collar, sending him flying over to where the corpses of Players were sprawled.

[Where has that arrogant attitude of yours gone? Huh?] Kang-Hyun mocked Kang-Woo.

He felt refreshed seeing Kang-Woo roll on the ground pathetically.

[Let's end this. It was rather fun.]

"…"

Kang-Woo looked up at Kang-Hyun in silence, which just made the latter laugh.

"Kang-Woo!" Echidna called out urgently as she emerged from the smoke at that moment.

Upon seeing Kang-Woo on the floor and the demon who was looking down at him, Echidna quickly figured out what had happened.

"Get away from Kang-Woo!"

Echidna's eyes widened in anger. She tried to draw out her powers, but...

"Huh?"

Just like Kang-Woo, the demonic energy inside her did not budge. After all, the source of Echidna's power was Kang-Woo's demonic energy, so her power had been sealed along with his.

"K-Kang-Woo."

Echidna's face turned pale.

[You're the little girl who was sitting next to him.]

Kang-Hyun focused his gaze on Echidna and approached her while snickering.

"Kyaa!"

Kang-Hyun grabbed Echidna with his giant hand. She punched his hand with her little fists to no avail.

[What a cutie you are,] Kang-Hyun remarked.

He laughed at her attacks, which weren't strong enough to even tickle him. Then Kang-Hyun gradually tightened his grip around her.

[You seem to be fairly close to this girl... I wonder how you'll react from seeing her body explode in front of your very eyes.]

"Let me go! Only Kang-Woo... can touch—!"

Echidna desperately struggled against Kang-Hyun's grasp. Kang-Hyun laughed out loud once again.

Kang-Woo glared silently at Baek Kang-Hyun.

He grabbed a sword from one of the corpses sprawled on the ground.

[Hahahaha! Do you seriously think you'll be able to face me when you can't even use your powers?!] Kang-Hyun mocked Kang-Woo's struggle.

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo just ignored Kang-Hyun's words and grabbed the sword in a reverse grip.

"You asked me who I was earlier, didn't you?” Kang-Woo said.

He swung the sword, but he wasn't trying to attack Kang-Hyun. Instead, Kang-Woo swung the sword down his left arm, which was locked by the gauntlet.

However, Kang-Woo currently possessed the physical strength of an average male adult, so he wasn't able to cut his arm clean off with just one swing. Nonetheless, he didn't care.

He swung down the now broken sword as if it were an axe and cut into his left arm. Blood spewed out. The skin on his left arm was sliced open, and his red flesh was exposed. His muscles were cut, and his bones were broken.

Rather than cutting off his arm, Kang-Woo seemed to be hacking at it.

[What are you...]

Kang-Hyun's eyes widened in shock.

Kang-Woo didn't stop there.

Crack! Crack!

Glistening bits of bloody bone and flesh splattered across the ground. A horrible pain spread up Kang-Woo's arm, but he ignored it.

After being mangled, his arm was now very loose. Kang-Woo pierced through it with the broken blade and twisted his body as hard as he could. His muscles were ripped apart. Blood poured out from the mangled blood vessels, and the flesh that was still connected to the mangled region was forcibly ripped away.

Then Kang-Woo's left arm, still covered in the gauntlet, fell away from the rest of his body.

"I'll show you who I am now."

Kang-Woo smiled, baring his white teeth.