After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo heard Satan's agonized scream. Ignoring it, he kept using the Authority of Predation.

Crunch. Crunch.

A giant mouth with thousands of white teeth chewed on the black sphere. Black blood poured out from its widening cracks.

The scene was grotesque enough to have been pulled straight from a horror film.

Kang-Woo, who had the role of said film's main monster, added more demonic energy to the Authority of Predation.

Crack!

The shell protecting the black sphere was completely destroyed, and a thick smile appeared on Kang-Woo's face.

He'd broken the egg's shell.

'All that's left is to devour the demonic energy the hard shell had protected.'

"Haaa, haaa." His breathing became heavier, and he felt thirst burning his throat. He was drooling.

Kang-Woo briefly froze before devouring the Demonic Origin. He narrowed his eyes.

'It's weird.'

There was something he couldn't understand.

'Why is it so easy for me to eat?'

Satan had likely wondered the same thing.

Kang-Woo remained silent and fell into thought.

'The corpse of the Demon God, was it?'

He recalled the thoughts that he did not have the time to finish while stuck in the nightmare.

'The Demon God is probably that eye monster in the Abyss.'

Kang-Woo remembered the eye confidently revealing himself as the Demon God. Even at this very moment, Kang-Woo could feel the being inside him amplifying his desires.

- Eat it.

A voice spread through his ear. His lips dried, and horrible thirst stimulated his neck.

- Eat every last bit of it!

"For fuck's sake." He frowned and clicked his tongue in disapproval. "You're so fucking noisy."

The term corpse meant that the Demon God had most likely been killed and ripped apart at someone's hands.

Kang-Woo still couldn't understand why that Demon God was inside him, and he didn't know what his goal was or what exactly he was, but…

"Don't push me. I was gonna eat it anyway."

He smirked.

It didn't matter if he had the Demon God inside him or not. He could more or less guess what the god's goal was. After all, the Demon God had probably been the one to force him into the black Rift.

'I don't like it.'

The sense of losing control of his body was extremely unpleasant.

Kang-Woo closed his eyes.

- Eat it right now!

The voice echoed in his head, and his powerful thirst was drying up all the water in his body.

'Slowly…'

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and controlled the intense desire burning inside him. The burning thirst slowly quelled.

'Good.'

The gears in his head turned quicker.

The Demon God's amplification of Kang-Woo's desire and Kang-Woo's control were weighed against each other. Although he wasn't used to it at the beginning, as time went on, he was slowly but surely regaining control. He was confident in his ability to control his desire and the rampaging demonic energy.

"Now, then…"

He raised his head. He ignored the loud voice echoing within his mind and disregarded the burning thirst and everything else. He took a deep breath and used the Authority of Predation, which devoured the interior of the black sphere after its shell had been shattered completely.

Crunch! Crunch!

There was a chilling sound, and demonic energy flowed into his body.

Riiing.

[Warning, warning.]

[This demonic energy contains 'Divinity.' You are currently unable to use it in its entirety.]

A message appeared in front of him.

He ignored it. No, to be more precise, he had no leeway to pay it any mind.

"Kuh."

He grunted and bent forward. As if water was being poured on arid land, a colossal amount of demonic energy flowed into the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

[Demonic Energy has risen to 153.]

[Demonic Energy has risen to 165.]

[Demonic Energy has risen to 172.]

Messages kept appearing, and his Demonic Energy stat was going up at an incredible pace.

'It's dangerous.'

Kang-Woo bit his lip. He couldn't be purely happy with the speed at which his stat was rising. The demonic energy locked within the Abyss, the deepest layer of the Ten Thousand Demon Core, was rampaging like crazy, and was about to flood.

'The Doors are about to shatter.'

He could feel that the three Doors protecting the entrance to the Ten Thousand Demon Core were cracking.

Kang-Woo's expression paled.

'At this rate, I'll be devoured.'

There was no need to even think about it. The moment the Doors were forcibly destroyed, he would be devoured by the demonic energy and…

'Everyone will die.'

If the Ten Thousand Demon Core was fully unleashed while his reason was not intact, there was no need to guess what would happen. His body, which would have nothing left but the desire to eat, would not stop until he devoured every single living being on this star. No, he wasn't sure if he would be able to stop even after that.

- Ha… Hahahahahaha!! Yes!! The time has finally come!!

He heard the maniacal laugh of the Demon God in his ear.

- It is still only one of the three, but… well, it is enough to let the beginning of the prophecy be known.

The Demon God kept snickering and mumbling things that Kang-Woo could not understand.

- The time of prophecy is upon us! Tremble in fear, mortals!

Kang-Woo felt something trying to rise from the Abyss with the voice.

The hand of the giant, whose body was so massive that it could not even be fathomed, stretched out from the Abyss.

- I am death. I am the end. I am…

"Fucking hell, here's another Satan."

Kang-Woo smiled widely while panting heavily.

- Oh? You are still conscious? asked the Demon God in surprise, letting out a low laugh.

- Now, your role ends here. From now on, I will take control of your b—

"Cut the bullshit."

Kang-Woo snickered.

He had expected the Demon God's goal to be something like this. It was an obvious development, and he had already thought of such a result. It had been so predictable without any twists that it couldn't get any more boring

"I told you…"

He recalled what he had said to the Demon God back in the Abyss.

"Go fuck yourself."

- …

"The time you've been waiting for will never come. Whatever that time of prophecy bullshit is, you're never getting out of there."

- Do you have any idea who I a—

"And do you know me, dipshit?"

There was no way he would know.

Considering that the Demon God was talking about Kang-Woo being a puppet and that his role was over, he likely had a plan. However, he had no idea who the man he had made into his puppet was.

The Demon God wasn't aware of what kind of person Kang-Woo was, what he had been through, or what he was capable of.

"Huh? Do you?"

The Demon God didn't.

"If you don't, then shut up and stay the fuck down."

Demonic energy was surging out of Kang-Woo. He could feel himself losing hold of his consciousness.

'If I can't accept it…'

He would abandon it.

Kang-Woo couldn't keep the rampaging demonic energy in check, but he could guide it somewhere. He put his hand over his heart and directed the flooding demonic energy of the Ten Thousand Demon Core elsewhere.

'I can't send it out.'

He wasn't sure where this place was, but if he just let it burst out, he was sure that an unimaginable disaster would occur.

'In that case…'

Kang-Woo's eyes shone. If he couldn't let it out, there was only one place he could send it…

'I'll stuff it into the deepest layer— the place where the Demon God was resting, the deepest and largest region of the Ten Thousand Demon Core.'

[Demonic Energy has lowered to 168.]

[Demonic Energy has lowered to 159.]

[Demonic Energy has lowered to 153.]

He stuffed the rampaging demonic energy in the deepest region of the Ten Thousand Demon Core. It was as if he were stepping on garbage in a trash can to compress it. It was too bad that he couldn't use that power, but he had no choice.

'It's better than dying.'

Besides, he was not throwing it away. He would be able to use it in the future once he gained access to the Abyss.

- What the…?!

The Demon God, who had been excitedly crawling up, was being sucked back into the Abyss.

- How could something like this be pos…

The Demon God's voice grew weaker.

Kang-Woo trampled on him yet again without hesitation.

- N-No!!

And again…

- Just what are y—

And for the last time, with all his might…

- …

All the demonic energy he'd absorbed with the Authority of Predation was shoved down, and the Door that led to the Abyss completely closed.

[Demonic Energy has lowered to 150.]

'This is enough.'

One of the conditions to become a Demon God was to reach 150 in the Demonic Energy stat.

There was likely a reason why it was 150.

'It must be the maximum limit that I can control at the moment.'

He likely wouldn't be able to 'perfectly' control any more than that.

Demonic energy became harmful to the wielder the moment that it couldn't be controlled.

"In any case…"

Kang-Woo stood up.

Even if it was at 150, his Demonic Energy stat used to be at 140, so it had increased by 10 points at once.

'I've also fulfilled two conditions.'

There was only one condition left to become a Demon God. He wasn't sure what it was yet, but having fulfilled two out of three was incredible.

Clack.

He picked up the pitch-black sword left in the place where the black sphere had been.

Wrath, Satan's Hell Armament.

Kang-Woo looked at the ring on his right middle finger.

"It hasn't fully digested Greed yet."

The Key of the Demonic Sea did not respond even when he infused demonic energy into it.

'Would it be okay to put more stuff into it?'

There was no way to know without trying. Just to test, he put the Key of the Demonic Sea close to Wrath.

Crunch!

The Key of the Demonic Sea suddenly reacted and devoured Wrath.

Riiing.

['Wrath' has been absorbed.]

[The time necessary for digestion has been extended.]

"I guess I should've known it would take longer."

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue. But since there were no other particular penalties other than the fact that the digestion would take longer, it didn't matter much.

'It's not like I'm in desperate need of a weapon.'

He could always create weapons by merging Authorities.

"Right, then."

Kang-Woo turned his head.

Just then…

- You…

Someone's voice spread through his head, full of despair and resentment.

It was not the Demon God.

Kang-Woo frowned.

"Satan?"

- A-Aaaah.

His voice was so low that it sounded as if it would fade at any moment.

Kang-Woo shrugged.

'I guess he hasn't been fully digested.'

It made sense; since he had fused with the corpse of the Demon God, it would be weirder if he had been digested that easily.

'Well, regardless…'

It was a matter of time. Satan's soul would be dispersed soon enough and melt into the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

- Do you… seriously believe… you will… get away… with this?

"Hm?"

- For how long… do you think… your lies will…

"What are you talking about?" Kang-Woo asked, a frown on his face.

- Everything… you have… framed me for… will be…

"What have I framed you with?"

Kang-Woo tilted his head in confusion.

- … What?

"You were the one who did it all. You killed Alec, Reynald, and even corrupted Ludwig."

- What… are you… talking… about?

"Hah," he laughed in disbelief.

'How shameless can he be?'

The truth about who was behind all those crimes had been revealed; Satan had also admitted to it.

"Don't try to blame an innocent person."

- You… son of… a…

"Fuuu. Seriously… You're unsightly to the very end, Satan. Isn't it time you admitted it?"

- You… mother… fucker…

"I guess there's no getting through to you."

Talking to someone who refused to admit his crimes would only stress him out.

"Well, then…"

Satan had died, but that didn't mean everything was over.

No. Things would only get more serious from now on.

"I might as well get out of here."

Kang-Woo turned his body and walked out of the icy cave.

- A-Aaaahh.

He could still hear Satan's voice lingering around his ear like an echo.

Satan already knew the demon king was this kind of man.

- But still, this is too…

Satan wailed while confined within an endless stretch of the sea made of demonic energy.