After Ten Millennia in Hell

Mammon frowned.

He never heard about the demon king having a brother. No, he wasn't even sure if the concept of relatives applied to Kang-Woo.

[Puhihihi. You sure experience all kinds of things after living for so long.]

It was unexpected that there was someone who claimed to be the demon king's brother.

'Not just that…'

The supposed brother was a mere human.

[Hihihi. Human, I'm honestly not in the mood for fighting. Why don't you step aside?] Mammon snickered.

He was laughing as if he were having fun, but in reality, he was extremely irritated.

'Annoying.'

Mammon still felt intense pain from his fight with the demon king.

The demon king's power had been sealed, but he was ultimately still a demon king, which was proven by his last attack. A step too late, and the attack would have frozen Mammon completely. He would have died.

Mammon had done his best to dodge the attack. However, half of his body had been frozen and torn apart, so there was no way he could just shrug it off.

'Annoying, annoying.'

He bit his lip anxiously.

Mammon hadn't fully recovered yet. Rather, the injury couldn't be healed naturally. Even if he did recover somehow, his power would be permanently reduced. That was how severe the demon king's last attack was.

[Puhi! Annoying… So annoying…]

Mammon narrowed his eyes.

He had to steal the Demonic Sea from the demon king as soon as possible to treat himself, but a lowly human was getting in his way.

[Hihi. Move, human.]

FWOOSH!

Viscous lava-like flames poured out over the ground, which had been frozen by the demon king's attack, and targeted Si-Hun.

"Fuuu."

Si-Hun raised his sword.

The heat was burning his skin, but he didn't have the time to protect his body by enveloping his body with Qi.

'Shit.'

The demon in front of him was completely different from the ones he'd faced until that point.

FWOOSH!

"Kuh!!"

The flames struck Si-Hun. He was pushed back and sent rolling on the ground.

"Kurgh! Cough! Cough!"

Black smoke emerged from his mouth as he coughed, and horrifying burns contorted his skin.

The demon's power was overwhelming. He was so strong that Si-Hun wondered if one being could hold this much power. Half of the El Cuero Blade had melted down from just one attack.

'What… is this?'

This demon was different.

The demons that Si-Hun had faced thus far had been nothing like this. No matter how strong they were, they weren't nearly as strong as Mammon. Their powers were beyond comparison.

'Shit.'

Si-Hun trembled, and fear started to overwhelm him. His face turned pale, and he was having trouble breathing.

Then, a familiar voice flowed into his mind.

"I'm sorry for…"

That voice had been etched into his brain.

It seemed to be saying that this was his limit; it was as far as he could go. That voice was the chains holding Si-Hun back.

"Shut… up," he said to the voice echoing in his mind.

Si-Hun gritted his teeth and stood up. It wasn't the time to be swayed by the voice.

He grabbed the half-melted sword.

[Hm?]

Mammon frowned.

It'd been a long time since he'd seen a human be able to remain standing even after receiving such severe burns.

[Ihihihi.]

Notes of irritation mixed in with Mammon's laughter.

Then Mammon snapped his finger. Streams of yellow flames spread from his body and engulfed Si-Hun like a net.

"Kuh!" Si-Hun grunted.

Gripping his sword with both hands, he raised it above his forehead.

Si-Hun recalled the senses that he had felt when he had received enlightenment regarding the Heavenly Dragon Flash that he had used against Halphas.

Upon seeing a faint ray of blue light in the air that should not be there, he swung his sword along it.

SLASH!!

He used the same attack that had cut Halphas's attack in half to cut the net. This created an opening, and Si-Hun leaped through it.

Mammon looked at him with great interest.

[Wow.]

He was surprised that a human could counter his attack.

"Haap!" Si-Hun yelled while charging toward Mammon.

Giant streams of flames surged toward him from both sides, but Si-Hun quickly moved to dodge them.

Tsss.

Nevertheless, his still got burned, and smoke rose from his sizzling skin.

"Shit!" he cursed.

The speed of the flames was an issue, but the biggest issue was their power.

'It's insane.'

Si-Hun couldn't find any other word to describe it. He felt as if the entire world had fallen into a blazing hell.

He moved frantically, evading the streams of flames.

[Puhihihi.]

Mammon laughed and raised his hands.

Crack.

The ground split open, and magma burning yellow surged up from the crack and poured down on Si-Hun like a tsunami.

"Gasp!"

Si-Hun drew out his Qi and created a wall of Qi as hard as steel. However, it was useless; steel was nothing before Mammon's flames.

"Kuuuurrgghh!!"

TSSS!!

Si-Hun's hand that was holding the El Cuero Blade was burned. The flames destroyed the skin and flesh, burning right down to his bones.

"A-Arrgghh."

Clatter.

The sword fell to the ground, and Si-Hun curled up into the fetal position while holding his burned hand. An immense pain that he'd never felt before spread from his hand to the rest of his body.

[Hihihi. That's why I told you to step aside.]

Mammon laughed and waddled toward Kang-Woo, who had been locked away by Greed. He slowly reached toward his delicious meal.

Tap.

[Huh…?]

Something pulled on his leg.

Mammon looked down.

"I told you… not to touch… him."

Si-Hun grabbed the half-melted El Cuero Blade with his other hand, which hadn't been burned down to the bone, and gathered blue condensed sword energy around it. He then brought the sword down onto Mammon's foot, stabbing it without hesitation.

Stab!

[H-Hihihihi!!] Mammon let out a burst of craze-filled laughter.

Si-Hun's attack hadn't done much damage, but it had been enough to irritate Mammon.

Mammon raised his injured foot.

Bash!!

"Kurgh!"

[You're a much more annoying human than I'd thought you were.]

Mammon kicked Si-Hun away and walked toward him as he rolled onto the ground.

Si-Hun's desperation had been enough to stir Mammon into taking further action.

Tap.

Mammon stepped on Si-Hun's still-functioning hand and slowly pressed his weight onto it.

Crack!

"Arrgghh!!!" Si-Hun let out a desperate cry.

Mammon's immense weight crushed Si-Hun's arm. The intense heat from Mammon burned and marred Si-Hun's skin, causing pus to leak out from it. The muscles in Si-Hun's arm turned into ash, and his blood evaporated from the heat. A horrible pain swept through him.

[Hihihi. Now you won't be able to use your sword.]

All of the nerve tissue in Si-Hun's hands had been burned away, and one of his hands was completely missing. There was no way for him to recover from his wounds unless it was with the Authority of Regeneration. No, even with the Authority of Regeneration, it would take quite a while before he could hold a sword again.

[You should have just fucked off when I gave you the chance. Puhihi.]

Mammon turned around as he mocked Si-Hun.

With this, it was finally all over. Mammon could now taste the Demonic Sea without any interference.

Just then…

Chomp.

[…]

Even with his mangled arms, Si-Hun crawled up to Mammon and bit him. Mammon looked down in disbelief at Si-Hun, who was glaring back with his jaw shut around Mammon's foot.

It wasn't that Si-Hun wasn't afraid; his eyes were full of fear, and he was trembling. However…

"You… shall not… pass."

He did not run. He did not give up.

When his right hand had been burned off, he used his left arm. When both of his arms had become unusable, he used his teeth.

It didn’t matter even if he seemed miserable, unsightly, pathetic, and idiotic…

"You won't… lay a hand… on my brother… you fucker."

[H-Hihi…]

Mammon's smile widened, and his eyes started to shine with madness as he looked down at Si-Hun.

[Puhihihihihihihi!!!]

Yellow flames burst out of Mammon. He raised his hand with a distorted expression on his face.

[Hihihihi!! I guess you just wanted to die! Why didn't you just say so?!]

Mammon had never seen such a persistent human. He couldn't ignore Si-Hun anymore.

Mammon's arm burst into flames, and he swung it down at Si-Hun.

Crack.

Bash—!

Right then, he heard something crack.

The surface of the yellow sphere was destroyed. An arm stretched out from it and grabbed Mammon's head.

[...Huh?] Mammon mumbled confusedly.

The arm pulled Mammon backward.

[Wh-What the—?!]

Mammon's eyes were full of astonishment. An incredible strength was dragging his giant body backward.

Mammon hurriedly turned his head and looked at the arm that had emerged from Greed.

His mouth fell open in shock.

[Th-The Hell Armament was destroyed?!]

That was impossible. The Hell Armaments had been materialized from millions of years’ worth of condensed demonic energy of the Ninth Hell. They symbolized the power of the princes of Hell. These transcendental weapons were powerful enough to tear apart space and time itself.

Yet, Mammon's armament, which he'd thought couldn't be destroyed, had been shattered.

Split.

The crack in Greed widened. Kang-Woo's upper body emerged from it, starting with his arm, shoulder, and then his head.

"Mammon," Kang-Woo said quietly, pulling Mammon's head closer to him. "Why did you do it?"

Kang-Woo dragged Mammon over to him until they were staring at each other face to face.

"Hm? I'm asking you why."

[Y-You damn monster…!]

"I get it for the other people. Baek Kang-Hyun, Kim Jae-Hyun, Julia… They knew nothing, so I didn't mind it."

[L-Let go of me!!]

Flames surged out from Mammon. Kang-Woo's arm took the full brunt of the flames, but Kang-Woo's grip on Mammon's head did not loosen.

"But not you."

Kang-Woo spoke as if he couldn't understand why Mammon had made such a stupid decision.

"You know who I am."

The whites of his eyes turned black.

"You know what I'm capable of."

His irises turned yellow.

"So…"

His black pupils stretched horizontally across the yellow irises.

"Why did you do it?"

While he was still holding Mammon's head, Kang-Woo placed his other hand over his chest where the Ten Thousand Demon Core was.

Rumble—!!

The entire mountain shook. The ground became warped, and a thunderous sound reverberated through the space.

"Why did you do it?"

There was no answer from Mammon. He just stared at Kang-Woo with a pale expression. He was trembling like a mischievous child who had been caught red-handed by their parents or like prey staring at a predator.

"Huh? Speak up."

Kang-Woo smiled deeply. He rotated the hand that he'd placed over the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

Ten Thousand Demon Core…

Second Door, open.

"Why did you fight me?"