After Ten Millennia in Hell

Tears flowed down from No Dick-Chan's eyes. An unbearable pain spread through him. He couldn't return to his senses. Foam frothed at his mouth, and he couldn't stop trembling.

"Hey, get yourself together, man," Oh Kang-Woo said and slapped No Dick-Chan's cheeks a couple of times.

However, no matter how much time passed by, it didn't seem like No Dick-Chan was going to return to his senses.

'This isn't good.'

Kang-Woo put his hands on top of No Dick-Chan's head. Black demonic energy flickered in his hand.

He used Authority of Focus. It reduced pain and raised one's focus, kind of like a stimulant. Unlike the Authority of Rage, it was a buff-type Authority that only benefited the target, but in this situation, there was nothing else he could do about it.

After all, Kang-Woo couldn't interrogate No Dick-Chan if he was in that painful state.

"Huff, huff!"

No Dick-Chan came back to his senses thanks to the Authority of Focus.

He looked at Kang-Woo with fearful eyes and asked, "Wh-Who are you?! How did you defeat the Chrysalis…?"

"Hmm."

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

'I guess he has no idea who I am.'

The Demon Cultist couldn't tell who Kang-Woo was or even that he was a member of Guardians, despite his iconic Guardians' white mask.

'The Demon Cultists know about Guardians.'

Nonetheless, it was significant that the Demon Cultist couldn't identify Kang-Woo as a member of Guardians.

'He's not that high in rank.'

In other words, the Demon Cult did not treat this Demon Cultist as that important.

"Since when did the Demon Cult become active again in Korea?"

"Th-That's..." No Dick-Chan mumbled with quivering eyes.

"Ah, wait. Don't say it," Kang-Woo interjected.

Judging by No Dick-Chan’s reaction, it seemed like he would be killed if he tried to say important information about the Demon Cult.

'In that case…'

Kang-Woo placed his hand on No Dick-Chan's forehead.

'Authority of Subordination.'

The Authority of Subordination had failed against strong individuals like Anton Sidorovich and Baek Kang-Hyun, but there was a chance it would succeed with No Dick-Chan.

Riiing.

[You have successfully made Player No Dick-Chan your Familiar.]

Kang-Woo looked at the system message with tired eyes.

"I shouldn't use this rashly," he remarked.

Even if No Dick-Chan was weak, he was still a Player who had broken past the Limit of Effort. Consequently, it hadn't been an easy task for Kang-Woo to make No Dick-Chan his Familiar.

Kang-Woo stretched as fatigue weighed down on his shoulders. It was all because the Authority of Subordination had many restrictions.

'But still…'

He could feel his soul being linked to No Dick-Chan's.

Then Kang-Woo concentrated and analyzed No Dick-Chan's body. He could sense some sort of foreign murky energy within No Dick-Chan's body… to be more precise, in his soul.

'Is this the restriction?'

Kang-Woo used his energy to wipe away the murky energy in No Dick-Chan's soul.

"Cough! Huff! Huff!"

No Dick-Chan suddenly became teary-eyed. He was trembling so hard that his tendons were visible.

After a while, he gradually became calmer, and his breath normalized.

'Does this have an effect similar to the Authority of Subordination?'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes as he looked down at No Dick-Chan. He thought about it for a while but ultimately shook his head.

'It isn't as powerful as the Authority of Subordination.'

It seemed like the source of the murky energy couldn't control everything that the target did like the Authority of Subordination could. Nevertheless, just seeing that the Demon Cult could cast a restriction that influenced the soul was proof of how advanced their knowledge was.

'They're impressive.'

Kang-Woo still couldn't understand how they had managed to possess knowledge that even he didn't have despite having ruled over the Nine Hells.

"Now, tell me everything you know," Kang-Woo said.

"Ah, urgh."

After squirming for a while, No Dick-Chan unloaded all of the information he possessed.

"After Cardinal Baek Kang-Hyun died, the Demon Cult branch in Korea became vacant. The Demon Cult is paying great attention to Korea, so they have sent an Apostle of Evil to create the branch anew."

"They're paying great interest to Korea?"

That was unexpected. There wasn't an SS-rank Gate in Korea. Moreover, the country hadn't been ruined on the Day of Calamity, so the S-rank Gates were being properly maintained.

A country like Russia should be more worthy of the Demon Cult's attention. The country was practically paralyzed, and there was an SS-rank Gate located there, so it would be a far better place to be active in.

'Or maybe the Middle East or South America.'

The Middle East and South America also fit the bill. There were SS-rank Gates located in those regions, and the countries there had more or less been wiped out. There was no reason for the Demon Cult to go out of their way to act in Korea.

"I'm also not sure of the reason, but the Cult thinks of Korea as a very important country," No Dick-Chan said.

"I see. Then is that related to sticking this black stake inside a Gate?"

"No. Sowing 'Rift Seeds' has nothing to do with Korea."

Kang-Woo remained silent.

'Nothing to do with it, huh?'

The gears in his head turned quickly.

The Demon Cult thought of Korea as an important place, but that wasn't the reason why they were sowing these Rift Seeds inside the Gates. Additionally, the Gaia System had been weakening drastically recently.

'I see.'

There was only one conclusion he could reach from those two things—the Demon Cult's plan wasn't specific to Korea.

If that was the case, Kang-Woo could understand why someone as weak as No Dick-Chan had been put on his task by himself.

'There's a chance this is happening worldwide.'

The Demon Cult was sowing Rift Seeds throughout all of the gates. It didn't matter if they failed; they would just have to sow even more. As long as they made their weakest members sow the Rift Seeds with demonic beasts as protection, the depletion in their forces would be insignificant even if those members failed.

'This is the worst.'

This kind of situation was what Kang-Woo had been worried about. It wasn't an issue that Kang-Woo could resolve by himself. After all, even if a person could block the rain with their umbrella, they wouldn't be able to stop the ground from getting wet.

"Well, this is a complication."

Tsk. Kang-Woo clicked his tongue.

'I need the help of Players.'

He needed the entire world to move.

Kang-Woo could tell the difference between what he could and couldn't do alone… and he knew he didn't have enough power to move the entire world.

"At least, I don't."

Kang-Woo smiled.

He grabbed his communication orb.

'But what about Guardians?'

Guardians was a secretive organization that didn't make itself public, but it had immense power and influence. Leaving everything else aside, Guardians had First Lady Grace McCubbin, the first and strongest Player. She was someone who could make the United States, the strongest country in the world, take action.

If the USA took action, other countries would naturally follow suit. Even after the Day of Calamity, that hadn't changed. The USA was the world's hub of finance and commerce as well as the pinnacle of power.

'Also, Guardians isn't my only resource.'

Kang-Woo knew many people who could move entire countries, like Tian Wuchen, Jang Hyun-Jae, and Kurosaki Yurie.

"Where are the Rift Seeds being sown exactly?"

"I-I don't know."

"Who is the one behind the plan?"

"I don't know…"

No Dick-Chan shook his head.

Kang-Woo nodded. There was no way someone at the bottom of the ladder would know a piece of information like that.

"Then do you know who made the Rift Seeds?"

"I-I'm sorry."

"Tsk."

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and picked up the black stake.

Since he couldn't get information from him, he had no choice but to investigate.

'Authority of Insight.'

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and focused his mind. He'd failed to decipher the summoning magic circle last time, but there was no guarantee it would fail this time as well.

Riiing.

[Authority of Insight has partially succeeded. You have learned how to use the Rift Seed.]

"This is..."

Kang-Woo's eyes widened as information about the Rift Seed entered his mind.

He didn't know what the theory behind it was or how it had been made, but he had managed to learn how to use the Rift Seed.

'This seems useless.'

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue again. He had to get rid of the Rift Seeds, so learning how to use them was useless to him.

"Huh? Wait."

At that moment, he thought of an idea. Kang-Woo applied the Rift Seed's effect of weakening the system on his body.

The stake that looked like an inverse cross turned into black smoke and disappeared. It was a very slight feeling, but he could sense that the Ten Thousand Demon Core's seal was weakening, and there was demonic energy flowing out of it.

"Yes!!"

Kang-Woo clenched his hands into fists. The Rift Seed's effect was weak, but the seal had certainly gotten weaker, just like when he had activated his Trait 'Reaper of Souls.'

'Demon Cult, my bro…'

Kang-Woo had not expected that the Demon Cult's vast knowledge of controlling Rifts would become so useful to him.

'Thank you for giving me this day my daily bread.'

He couldn't even fathom how much he had benefited while hunting down the Demon Cult. At this point, he couldn't help but think that they were purposefully laying the groundwork for his growth.

'Long live the Demon Cult!'

Kang-Woo couldn't help but feel in awe of them.

He patted No Dick-Chan's shoulder.

"Okay. Thanks for the information."

"Th-Then will you be letting me l-live?"

"Of course, man."

Kang-Woo wasn't shameless enough to ignore someone's kindness. He couldn't kill someone who'd been so helpful to him.

"All right, see ya," Kang-Woo said.

"H-Haha. Oka— AAAGGGHHH!!!"

The moment Kang-Woo dismissed the Authority of Focus, a horrifying scream emerged from No Dick-Chan's mouth. He once again grabbed the area between his legs, and foam frothed at his mouth.

"Oh, my..."

Kang-Woo looked down at No Dick-Chan in worry. The latter's scream sounded desperate. Kang-Woo appeared sad while looking down at No Dick-Chan squirming and screaming in pain.

"There's nothing I can do about this."

He couldn't let his benefactor who'd given him important information suffer from such pain.

Kang-Woo bit his lip and created Gáe Bulg.

"Kurgh, cough!"

He slowly thrust Gáe Bulg, piercing No Dick-Chan's heart. No Dick-Chan died immediately.

"May you rest in peace..." Kang-Woo mumbled in a pained voice. "I won't ever forget your name, No Dick-Chan."

His eyes were tearing up.