After Ten Millennia in Hell

"I don't want to hear that from you of all people," Oh Kang-Woo replied.

He spread the energy of the demonic crystal through his body, and Demonic energy gathered at the head of the Gáe Bulg.

'Kraken's Rage.'

Kang-Woo activated the effect of the Black Pearl Coat, which boosted his Demonic Energy stat by 5. Thanks to that and Han Seol-Ah's buff, his stat reached 111.

Whoooosh!

'Whoa.'

Kang-Woo's eyes lit up.

Compared to when his Demonic Energy stat had been in the range of 100–109, there was a massive difference in the amount of demonic energy that he could use now that the stat had surpassed 110. Just like the milestones for leveling up, every increase of 10 stat points was a milestone that brought about a huge improvement in the stat's effect.

The demonic energy filled his entire body. Kang-Woo gripped the Gáe Bulg even tighter.

He felt like he’d be able to overpower Tian Wuchen at this moment with the massive wave of power circulating throughout his body. He couldn't help but get drunk on the power, even though it was a temporary result of the combined effects of Seol-Ah's buff and the Black Pearl Coat’s special effect.

Boom!

Kang-Woo stomped on the ground and thrust the Gáe Bulg forward. Akiyama's whip wrapped around the Gáe Bulg as if it were alive. Nevertheless, Kang-Woo didn't care. He just pulled his spear back as hard as he could.

"H-Huh?" Akiyama uttered.

Kang-Woo's sudden pull caused Akiyama to stumble to the ground pathetically. Then Kang-Woo thrust his spear at Akiyama.

"Your Eminence!"

A Demon Cultist stepped in between Akiyama and the spearhead, but Kang-Woo did not pull back. The spear went right through the Demon Cultist, tearing his skin apart and piercing his bones.

That gave Akiyama a bit of time to escape the fatal blow. He rolled to the side, and the spearhead brushed past his clothes.

"YOOUU!!!" Akiyama raged.

He aggressively swung the whip, which was surrounded by demonic energy. It wrapped around Kang-Woo at a frightening speed, squeezing with great power that could tear even apart steel.

Kang-Woo quickly decided on a plan of action.

'Authority of Invulnerability.'

He dropped the Gae Bolg, which dispersed into the air after the Authorities were canceled. Kang-Woo then invested all of his demonic energy within the demonic crystal into the Authority of Invulnerability. Darkness encompassed him completely like a demonic energy barrier.

"Urrrggghhh!" Akiyama groaned, his face turning red.

He was squeezing with all his might, but he couldn't break through the barrier of darkness. Then Akiyama changed his strategy. He loosened the whip’s hold on Kang-Woo and concentrated demonic energy into the cracker of the whip.

Crack!

'It worked!' Akiyama exclaimed inwardly.

The demonic energy that he'd gathered at one point managed to break through Kang-Woo's demonic energy barrier and inflict some damage on him. It took off some flesh from Kang-Woo’s right shoulder. Yet, Kang-Woo remained expressionless. No, he was smiling.

After being freed from the whip’s grip, Kang-Woo moved again. He didn't have time to use the Authority of Regeneration. Instead, he used the Authority of Haste and dealt a clean roundhouse kick to Akiyama.

Bash!

"Kurgh!"

Kang-Woo hadn't used a weapon in that attack, but he'd used the Authority of Haste to kick, making his leg the weapon.

Akiyama's body flew back with an explosive bang like that of a cannon. The wall was destroyed, and hazy smoke filled the tunnel.

At this point, Kang-Woo did not deal additional blows to Akiyama. Instead, he ran toward the widening Rift.

"Stop him!"

"Protect the Rift!"

The Demon Cultists who were surrounding the Rift ran toward Kang-Woo, and his battle against the Demon Cultists continued. They weren't strong, but it was a time-consuming battle because there were many of them. It was difficult even for Kang-Woo to face ten people at once.

'Damn.'

With a fist covered in the Authority of Waves, Kang-Woo punched a Demon Cultist who was approaching him. However, his attacks didn't stop there, as more Demon Cultists jumped at him without fear of death like moths rushing rushing into flames.

Consequently, Kang-Woo was delayed even further. The duration of Kraken's Rage was now almost over.

Akiyama was in a bad state.

"A-Aaahhh..." he groaned in despair.

He felt like his heart was being torn apart as he watched his subordinates, who shared his convictions, get killed.

'If only I were stronger…' Akiyama thought.

He clenched his hands into fists. If he were as powerful as the three cardinals who had been granted the title of Apostle of Evil, he would've been able to save his subordinates from the hands of that intruder.

Akiyama's rage and regret from being unable to save his subordinates weighed down on him.

"Run away," Akiyama said, grabbing his whip more tightly.

The other Demon Cultists turned to him.

"I will deal with him! All of you, run!"

"Y-Your Eminence...!"

"W-We can't do that!"

They cried out desperately.

Akiyama shouted with a trembling voice, "Don't worry! Even if my body dies here, our beliefs, our wishes, will last forever!"

"Aaahhh!"

"When do you think someone dies?! Is it when their heart gets pierced by a spear? No! Is it when they become a monster from losing control of their demonic energy? No! It is when we lose sight of our beliefs! That is when we die!"

Tears flowed from the eyes of the Demon Cultists, and Akiyama cried along with them.

At the sight of the incredibly moving scene, Kang-Woo said, "Cry me a river."

Upon hearing the harsh criticism, Akiyama frowned and replied, "Do not mock our beliefs!"

"Don't say those lines from anime so seriously. You're making me cringe."

"Ngh...!"

Akiyama flinched as if it were true that he'd taken the lines straight from an anime.

"If you're gonna be the villain, then just get defeated after laughing maniacally for a bit," Kang-Woo commented.

He extended his hand and merged three different Authorities to create a greatsword over two meters long.

These people were hot and passionate individuals who didn't seem like typical members of the Demon Cult. Nevertheless, Kang-Woo had no intentions of going easy on them.

After all, they were still Demon Cultists. It wasn't hard to imagine what they had done to grow their forces to the point where they could manage to summon a demon. They looked dumb, but Kang-Woo was certain that they had to have done things to instill fear and despair into others.

Kang-Woo didn't care what their beliefs were. It didn't matter at all. He had things he had to do, and time was running out.

"If your beliefs are so important, die for them," he said, raising his greatsword.

The Rift had grown so much that it almost reached the ceiling…

Kang-Woo threw the greatsword at it.

"Nooo!!" Akiyama screamed and threw himself at the greatsword.

The Gram, the greatsword, pierced him, causing his blood to spray out.

"Cough! Kurgh!"

"Your Eminence!!"

The remaining Demon Cultists screamed desperately. Nevertheless, Kang-Woo ignored them; he didn't have time to bother with them.

Then Kang-Woo approached the Rift.

"Kuh!"

The remaining Demon Cultists glared at him, but they didn't charge toward him. They just took Akiyama, who was dying, and ran away.

Kang-Woo glared as he watched them flee.

It wouldn't be hard to chase and kill them. In fact, that would be the best option to eliminate future issues.

"Fuck," he cursed.

However, the Rift had become too big for Kang-Woo to leave now. Stopping Lilith's summoning was more urgent.

He stepped closer to the Rift.

Kang-Woo didn't have Seol-Ah's buff or his coat's special effect, Kraken's Rage, anymore. He concentrated the demonic energy inside the demonic crystal in his hands and touched the Rift.

"Kuh..." he groaned.

The power of the Rift weighed down on his hands with immense pressure.

If he knew more about the demon summoning process, he would be able to close the Rift more efficiently. Nonetheless, he had no other choice but to forcefully close it at present.

It was a brainless method, but it was effective. The Rift started to shrink in size.

'Good.'

He started to have hope that he'd be able to close it.

Right then…

Squelch, squelch.

Tentacles wriggled out from the Rift. These were the tentacles that Kang-Woo was familiar with.

His face turned pale.

'No.'

The tentacles latched onto Kang-Woo. Its suction cups sucked on his skin as if savoring it.

Brrr.

The tentacles trembled in delight.

Considering the way they trembled after tasting his skin, there was no need at all for Kang-Woo to consider who they might belong to.

- I’m coming, my king...

"No! Stay away!" he screamed in despair.

The being that he didn’t want to and shouldn’t meet was trying to come to Earth.

Kang-Woo explosively raised the energy output of the demonic crystal. He was even debating whether he should unleash the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

'The Ten Thousand Demon Core...'

Then he recalled Echidna's plea and decided that he didn't need to think too deeply.

'There's no need to stop the summoning at the risk of his life.'

It was true that Kang-Woo didn't want to see Lilith again, but it wasn't to the extent that he would put his life at risk to avoid her.

'I'll just do everything that I can right now.'

It would be stupid to risk his life for something like this.

While suppressing the Rift with the energy inside the demonic crystal, he used the Authority of Predation to devour the demonic energy maintaining the Rift.

The demonic energy of the Rift flowed into him and mixed with the demonic crystal.

'Just a bit more…'

The Rift grew smaller, reaching a size where it was barely big enough for an adult human to go through.

- Aaahhh...!

Kang-Woo heard Lilith screaming in agony. Her tentacles retreated into the Rift and disappeared.

Upon seeing that, Kang-Woo's eyes lit up. He squeezed out his remaining energy and focused on suppressing the Rift once again. Simultaneously, the amount of demonic energy that he was absorbing from the Rift grew.

'There's almost nothing left of the demonic crystal.'

Was it because he'd used too much power? The demonic crystal in his dantian was almost all gone. He needed more of it; it was difficult to suppress the Rift with mere demonic energy.

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and concentrated. He recalled the Heavenly Dragon Cultivation Technique that he had learned from Kim Si-Hun. If there was almost nothing left of the demonic crystal, he just needed to make it bigger.

He used the Heavenly Dragon Cultivation Technique to its absolute limit and grew the demonic crystal with the demonic energy that he was absorbing from the Rift. Kang-Woo could feel his dantian tingle as the demonic crystal expanded.

'Almost done.'

He bit his lip tensely.

Kang-Woo was a master at controlling demonic energy, but using the Heavenly Dragon Cultivation Technique to such an extreme extent was difficult even for him. He felt like his meridians were about to burst from overuse.

'Just a bit more…!'

Tap.

The palms of his hands touched, and the Rift closed. Blue light spewed out from the Rift and flowed into Kurosaki Yurie, who lay unconscious on the altar. Her ability to summon extra-dimensional beings seemed to be returning to her.

"Huff, huff."

Kang-Woo panted and slumped to the ground, covered in sweat. The high he felt from stopping Lilith’s summoning was mixed in with the fatigue he felt from circulating demonic energy to the absolute limit.

"Fuu..."

He caught his breath.

The process had been difficult, but he had managed to stop the summoning. Kang-Woo flopped onto the ground with his arms and legs spread wide open.

Riiing.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, he heard a familiar bell chime. He slowly opened his eyes as message windows popped up in front of him.

[The demonic crystal has reached the size necessary to achieve the Ultimate Demonic Body.]

[You have fulfilled all three conditions required to achieve the Ultimate Demonic Body.]

[Commencing body transformation.]