After Ten Millennia in Hell

The ground shook like there was an earthquake, and a huge crack ran through the terrain.

Crack.

A chilling sound echoed from the warped terrain. The split ground rose to about thirty meters.

Hundreds of pillars appeared. They were so immensely tall that one had to look straight up to see where they ended.

"What the…"

Anton Sidorovich looked around while making a confused expression.

This place had undoubtedly been a plain—one so flat that the horizon was visible from it. Yet, that plain had suddenly turned into a mountainous terrain with unique rock formations.

'He changed the terrain?'

It was utterly absurd. People often said that the terrain would change in a battle between those of World Ranker-level powers. However, that was a figure of speech. In reality, no one could change a plain into a mountainous terrain… no one except for the monster in front of him.

'Just what kind of Trait does he have…?'

Antoon looked at Oh Kang-Woo cautiously.

Seeing how the terrain itself had suddenly changed, there was a high chance that Kang-Woo's Trait was related to controlling the forces of nature.

'And among them, earth.’

As Anton opened his book, he looked at the demons with sharp eyes.

"What are you doing? It's time for the battle that you've been desiring so much. Kill that man!" Anton screamed like a madman.

The demons, who had also been distracted by how the terrain had suddenly changed, raised their weapons.

Anton cast magic and glared at Kang-Woo.

'The only thing that has changed is the terrain.'

There was no big difference. It was incredible that Kang-Woo could warp the terrain, but it wouldn't do much to change the outcome.

'It does nothing but make for a decent little show.'

There was no need to feel overwhelmed or intimidated. Kang-Woo couldn't win the battle just by changing the terrain. The only difference was that the stage where Kang-Woo would die had changed.

"Zazas, zazas, nasatanada zazas."

Anton focused on his chant as if to erase his heavy feelings of uneasiness.

* * *

[Hahahah! It's finally time for slaughter!]

[Die, human!]

As the demons charged toward him, Kang-Woo slowly raised his head. They stepped on the unique rock formations all over the terrain, using the steep mountainous terrain to their advantage.

"Haha," Kang-Woo let out a short laugh. Then he raised his hand and uttered, "Well, well."

Hundreds of demons were charging toward him, and Anton was casting a spell. Based on Anton’s command, Kang-Woo could guess what Anton was thinking. Anton probably thought that Kang-Woo had done nothing but change the terrain, which was just a meaningless demonstration of his powers that wouldn't affect the battle in any way.

"However, there's no way that's all it is," Kang-Woo said.

The tips of Kang-Woo's mouth curved up.

It was impossible that his actions could be meaningless. After all, he wouldn't have changed the terrain if it was pointless. Moreover, changing the terrain hadn’t been his main intention.

"Ignite."

Fwoosh!

A pillar of black flames burst out from the cracks on the ground. It devoured the two demons that were charging toward Kang-Woo.

Then he raised his right hand and swung it from right to left.

Rumble!

A tall rock split and then crumbled, releasing flames as viscous as lava.

[Gaaaaahhhhh!!!] a half-disintegrated demon screamed as he squirmed in pain.

[Move, weaklings!] a demon with four arms yelled.

He pushed aside the squirming demon and jumped. His one eye, which was the size of a basketball, focused on Kang-Woo.

[Hahaha! I, Rakum of the Sixth Hell, can use four weapons masterfully with my four arms—]

Slash.

There was a flash of black light as Kang-Woo wielded the Key of the Demonic Sea in sword form.

Another two demons walked past the one that had just been split in two.

[I am the almighty—]

[I am Scarta, the overlord of the Sixth He—]

Crack!

Kang-Woo flicked his finger. The Authority of Waves spread out and shattered the two demons' bodies into smithereens.

"KIIEEKK!"

"KRRRR!"

Even demonic beasts had emerged out of nowhere to assist in the battle. They weren't low-ranking demonic beasts from the First Hell; these were the ones that resided in the Third Hell and above.

It seemed Anton had previously set aside these demonic beasts that were too valuable to expend through war.

"Fuuu." Kang-Woo took a deep breath.

He held the hilt of the Key of the Demonic Sea, currently in sword form, in reverse and drew out all of the demonic energy flowing in his blood.

Kang-Woo took another deep breath and merged four Authorities.

The core Authority was the Authority of Blades. It was the Authority of the demon Sabnak and was considered the most useless of the Authorities. Nevertheless, even that useless Authority could become more powerful than any other Authority when Kang-Woo used it.

Crack!

He stabbed the ground with the sword, forming a Rift on the collapsed ground. Kang-Woo poured his explosive demonic energy into the Rift.

Crack—!

[Gaaahhh!]

[Wh-What the—?!!]

A shadow spread out from the Rift. It looked as if the night sky was being reflected on the ground. Sharp blades rose from within the shadow and ripped the demons apart. Hundreds of thousands of blades adorned the shadow like stars in the night sky.

As the ground became covered in blades, many demons flew up to avoid them. Upon seeing that, Kang-Woo pulled his sword out from the ground. The Rift disappeared, and the sharp blades turned into black smoke and dissipated.

He turned around.

'There are about half of them left.'

About half of the demons had not been able to fly and were skewered by the blades. The other half had dodged the attacks and were flying away.

Kang-Woo pointed the sword upward at those demons. Demonic energy flowed out of his body like a falling tide, and he felt dizzy for a moment.

'It's okay.'

He was not experiencing demonic energy exhaustion, nor had the Ten Thousand Demon Core gone out of control. His brain had simply been overloaded for a moment due to it having exceeded its processing capacity. Kang-Woo was used to this. He had experienced it so many times that it bored him.

[Run!]

[Wh-What the— What the hell is that monsteeeer?!]

[W-Wait...]

A demon that was trying to escape suddenly turned pale. He turned around while making an expression that showed he'd realized something.

[N-No way…]

The demon had heard of the battles between a human and the seven princes of Hell. In particular, he recalled the tale of the demon king who had annihilated Prince Belphegor’s forces in an instant. A tall mountain, a shadow that covered the earth, and thousands of blades—everything here matched the tale that he had heard of through rumors.

[Th-That's impossible.]

The demon tried to deny it. It was something that couldn't possibly be happening. There was no way that the demon king, the almighty symbol of Hell, would be here.

Kang-Woo slowly swung the sword, which he'd pointed at the sky, downward.

Simultaneously, rocks that were over thirty meters tall shook, and an overwhelming wave of demonic energy filled the entire area.

"Sunset," Kang-Woo muttered, his voice reverberating like thunder.

The rocks exploded, and black lava erupted from them, shooting into the sky.

[A-Aaahhh!] the demon gasped.

He looked around, but he couldn't see the sun anymore.

The world had been devoured by darkness.

* * *

Bubble.

The land was covered in boiling hot black lava. The vegetation that grew on the plain had all burnt into ashes. The ground was further distorted by the scorching lava.

The Ninth Hell was the deepest hell where the strongest demons gathered, and now, the Manchurian Plain looked just like it.

"H-Huff, huff!"

An old man, Anton, ran through that distorted landscape.

He couldn't understand what was going on. It seemed like he was having a terrible nightmare.

Anton tossed the Book of Nightmares, half of which had been turned to ashes. Half of his right arm had also been burned off, and there was a gash in his side. Even so, he ran to get away from the predator walking toward him.

Thump.

Anton did not get far until he slumped to the ground. Dark red blood flowed out from his wounds. He turned his head with trembling eyes and saw a demon standing beside him.

"A-Aaahhh..." Anton shrieked.

"I told you not to act as if you know me," the demon said.

He reached out to Anton and grabbed the back of his head.

Then the demon looked at Anton with eyes full of madness and asked, "So, do you still think you know who I am?"

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Who are..."

Anton couldn't speak properly. Immense pressure weighed down on him like he'd come face to face with an absolute being. It felt as if a deep, bottomless Abyss was surrounding him.

He had felt this sense of awe before when he met the Aspects in person.

'No.'

Anton shook his head. He recalled that time and compared the energy that he felt from the demon in front of him to what he'd felt that day.

His face turned pale. He had not experienced fear like this, which was as vast as an endless sea, even when he met the Aspects.

"Who… are you?" Anton asked.

"What's it to you?"

Black smoke flowed out from the demon's hand that was holding the back of Anton's head and shrouded him. However, it didn't stop there; the smoke spread throughout the scorched and distorted landscape as well.

"Will knowing who I am change anything? Do you think you can die without regrets if I tell you? This isn't the time to be saying stuff like that, buddy."

"…"

Anton remained silent. He couldn't deny those words.

There was only one thing he should be saying…

"S-Spare... me," Anton pleaded while trembling.

He was filled with a desire to live and the desperation to survive. He had painstakingly obtained immortality after sacrificing countless people. Anton didn't want to die in vain in a desolate plain.

"Yes, that's it. That's what you should be saying." The demon nodded in satisfaction. "But haven't you also heard those very words quite a lot? You've probably killed a ton of people to get so much demonic energy."

"…"

Anton couldn't say anything. He recalled the memories of people begging him for mercy… He had indeed often heard such desperate words. Anton even had quite a lot of fun hearing the screams of the sacrifices begging for mercy before he killed them.

The demon laughed while looking down at him.

On the demon's face was a smile similar to Anton's those times when he had gazed cruelly at the sacrifices.

"What did you do back then? Oh, I'm just asking this as a courtesy. I already know what you did," the demon said.

Anton looked at him with a pale expression.

"Have you spared anyone even once?" the demon asked.

"…"

No, there was no way that had been the case. To Anton, the sacrifices had merely been food that he'd used to gain more demonic energy. It was much like how a lion wouldn't hesitate to kill a crying deer.

"A-Aaahhh..." Anton cried, pleading and reaching out his hands in desperation for mercy.

The demon smiled and grabbed Anton's hand.

"Haha. I can't believe I'd resonate with you over something like this. Right, you said earlier that you and I are the same, right? I'll have to somewhat agree with you on that."

Anton heard a bit of shyness in the demon's voice.

The demon scratched his head sheepishly and stated, "Because I've never spared anyone either."

Crunch!

The black smoke crushed and swallowed Anton.