After Ten Millennia in Hell

The Rift was going out of control, and Lilith was getting closer to how she looked in Hell. Meanwhile, Akiyama continued to spout unintelligible bullshit.

Kang-Woo was irritated by all of those things.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!!'

He'd felt relieved when he learned that Lilith had entered Kurosaki Yurie's body.

Kang-Woo had felt bad; he'd rejected Lilith's advances numerous times simply because of her appearance. She had been so devoted to him that he had even considered enduring it all and suggesting that they sleep together.

Despite that, he hadn't been able to take the initiative to approach her. Kang-Woo had become a demon, but his fundamental human senses and standards of beauty had not changed.

'But…!'

He felt like everything was about to turn into dust. The paradise he had pursued… His paradise garden was about to be covered in sticky tentacles.

'No way!'

Kang-Woo bit his lip and gazed at the rampaging Rift.

The Rift was over thirty meters tall. It wouldn't be weird if a dragon emerged from it, let alone Lilith.

'I'll close this Rift no matter what.'

The only way to stop both the rampaging Rift and Lilith's transformation was to close the Rift.

"Fuuu."

Kang-Woo took a deep breath. He concentrated his power in his hands, and the enormous demonic energy within his blood surged.

CRACK!!

The sound of boulders splitting open rang out.

Kang-Woo's hands were on the verge of being flung away from the Rift.

'Authority of Titanic Might.'

He applied more pressure on the Rift and activated the passage that led to the deep end of the Ten Thousand Demon Core. Dense demonic energy that was of a completely different quality from the demonic energy of the shallow end spread through his hands.

'I will stop it.'

Rumble!!

The earth shook, and a powerful repelling force shook Kang-Woo. The rampaging Rift was slowly but surely getting smaller as Kang-Woo's demonic energy suppressed it. This feat was as impressive as if someone were blocking a broken dam with the palms of their hands.

"Kuh," Kang-Woo groaned.

Black blood spurted out of his nose and flowed down to his mouth.

"What?!" Akiyama exclaimed in disbelief as he stared at Kang-Woo.

'What the hell is he?' Akiyama wondered.

Kang-Woo was closing the rampaging Rift purely with physical strength and absolutely no magic involved. It was unbelievable. Akiyama couldn't understand how Kang-Woo was doing that.

No, it was impossible. Not even a prince of Hell could close a rampaging Rift with just brute strength.

'Is he really human?' Akiyama thought.

He was starting to wonder if Kang-Woo was even a human. It didn't matter how strong a human was; they would never be able to stop a natural disaster—even more so if it was a dimensional disaster.

Akiyama gulped while looking at Kang-Woo, who had surpassed the limits of a human.

'I cannot give up.'

Nevertheless, he had to complete the ritual before the Rift was closed.

Akiyama chanted desperately. He glanced at Lilith, who was surrounded by black demonic energy, and saw something squirming inside the black demonic energy. However, he thought it was just part of the process of turning into a demon.

"Raaaahhhh!!!" he yelled.

Akiyama did his best to control the demonic energy. The ritual was almost over.

* * *

"ARRGGHH!!" Kang-Woo roared.

His blood vessels bulged all over his body. He was using his demonic energy to its utmost limit, so he felt like he was about to explode from the inside out. If the Ten Thousand Demon Core were a water tank, it would be similar to the tank being on the verge of bursting from being overfilled with water.

'But…'

Nonetheless, he couldn't give up after making it this far.

Kang-Woo looked down at the Rift that he had squashed down. It had shrunk to about three meters in height. The Rift had been reduced to a mere 10% of its original size.

Riiing.

[You have absorbed demonic energy from the Rift.]

[Warning. The quality of the demonic energy is too poor. Commencing demonic energy refinement.]

A message window appeared in front of Kang-Woo, but he didn't have the mental capacity to pay it any mind. Kang-Woo clenched his teeth and applied more pressure on the Rift.

Then…

Fwoosh.

The Rift finally closed.

"Huff! Huff!"

Kang-Woo was panting as he turned to look around him.

"Hehehe. You're too late," Akiyama said with a triumphant smile. He turned toward the altar and knelt. "Aahhh! Lady Lilith! Please, show me your true form!"

Akiyama's gaze was burning with lust.

Squelch.

Mucus dripped to the floor as Lilith stood up.

"Huh?" Akiyama uttered, his eyes widening in shock.

The demon before him had dozens of wiggling tentacles and eighteen red eyes that gazed at him as her tongue, which was as long as a snake's, licked her lips. She was a horrifying monster that wouldn't even appear in his worst nightmares.

Akiyama's mouth gaped open with surprise. The true form of the succubus queen was much too different from what he'd imagined.

"Th-The hell?"

"Fufufu. Thank you, worthless human. Thanks to you, I was able to recover my true form," Lilith said.

"Th-That's… the succubus queen's true form?"

While Akiyama trembled in distress, a wide smile appeared on Lilith's face.

"Hohoho. You seem to be lost for words by my inexplicable beauty."

"N-No…"

"Well, it's only natural since you've laid eyes upon me after only looking at filthy human women."

"What the…"

Akiyama slumped to the floor. He then turned his head to look at Kang-Woo.

"Huff, huff." Kang-Woo was looking at Lilith in despair while panting heavily. "I… told you to stop, you… son of a bitch."

"A-Aahhh…" Akiyama let out an utter that was full of despair as he looked up at Lilith with a pale expression.

Lilith's tentacle hands touched Akiyama's forehead.

"Well done, human. I would like to give you a reward, but…"

Her eyes focused on Kang-Woo, and the tips of her mouth rose all the way up to her ears.

"Gasp."

It wasn't merely a figure of speech. Lilith's lips tore and stretched up to her ears.

"…I cannot when my king is looking," she said.

Lilith oozed a suffocating aura of sexiness. Despite her horrifying appearance, she was unexpectedly alluring.

Akiyama's eyes dimmed as if he'd been possessed by a ghost.

CRACK!

Sharp tentacles pierced Akiyama's head. He died with his eyes open.

After getting rid of Akiyama, Lilith quickly walked toward Kang-Woo.

"D-Don't come any closer," Kang-Woo stammered.

"My, what are you talking about, my dear king?"

Lilith instantly approached and embraced him. Kang-Woo had used too much of his power to close the Rift, so he couldn't escape from her grasp. The dozens of tentacles that had emerged all over her body wrapped around him.

Squelch.

Transparent and sticky mucus dripped onto him and flowed downward.

"Haaa, Haaa. My… My lovely king."

"Fuck."

Kang-Woo could feel Lilith's excited breaths on him as she gazed fixedly at him with her eighteen eyes.

'Someone save me,' he thought.

He'd never felt such fear ever since returning to Earth.

Kang-Woo opened his mouth and spoke with a trembling voice, "It's… been a while."

"I'm sorry, my king. I knew you were desperately hoping to be reunited with me, but I wasn't able to come see you right away."

'I never hoped for such a thing.'

"But you can be at ease now, my king. I have been able to free myself from that disgusting appearance and return to my true form."

'Please go back to your human form.'

Kang-Woo felt a burning sensation on his lips.

"Are you no longer able to… return to human form?" he asked.

"I can."

Lilith snapped her fingers. The dozens of tentacles that had emerged all over her body retracted into her skin, and she returned to looking like Kurosaki Yurie.

'Oh!'

Kang-Woo's gaze brightened.

Lilith took a deep breath and put her hands on her cheeks.

"I'm embarrassed to show you such a filthy sight, but… I made it so that I am able to return to human form because it would be difficult to live in the world of humans in my original form."

"Yeah. Living here while looking like a demon would severely restrict your daily life," Kang-Woo replied, nodding in agreement.

Lilith, who'd taken the appearance of Kurosaki Yurie, smiled.

"Hoho. That's right. My true form is too beautiful for humans to handle, after all."

'The fuck is she talking about?'

"Haaa. It's hard being so beautiful."

'No.'

Kang-Woo's head hurt.

'Wait.'

His eyes lit up.

Regardless of the reason, Lilith was thinking of staying in human form to be able to live among humans.

'In other words…'

Most of the time, she would look like Kurosaki Yurie.

'Fuck yeah!!'

Kang-Woo clenched his hands into fists.

Lilith was able to have a human form. This was an unexpected profit that he could never have even imagined back in Hell.

Kang-Woo nodded and said, "Yeah, you're right. Humans would not be able to handle your beauty."

"You're making me blush, my king."

Lilith's cheeks turned red.

"I don't want useless flies roaming around you."

"Hoho. Are you getting jealous, my king? You're so cute."

Kang-Woo grabbed her waist and pulled her in aggressively.

"Kyaa!"

"Lilith, I don't want you to show your true form to other people."

"Aahhh, my king…"

"That's why you should always stay in your human form, at all times."

"B-But this form is far too ugly."

Lilith turned her head away while making a sad expression.

"No, Lilith, your appearance doesn't matter," Kang-Woo stated. He shook his head with a firm expression, raised his hand, and softly brushed her cheek. "What's important is that you're Lilith, not how you look."

"Aahhh…"

Tears dripped from Lilith's cheeks.

'I did it.'

The tips of Kang-Woo's lips curved upward.

"I understand. It looks ugly… but if it is what you wish, I will use this human appearance for my daily life," Lilith replied.

'Hell fucking yeah!!'

Kang-Woo wanted to raise both hands and shout in excitement.

'I… I finally did it!!'

He'd finally freed himself from Lilith's horrifying tentacles. That was the moment when his long-standing desire became a reality.

Lilith laughed lightly while looking at Kang-Woo, who felt moved.

"Fufu. Do not worry, my king."

"Hm? Worry about wh—"

"I will use my true form when I enter your chambers."

"What?"

"Oh, you. Why are you acting innocent? You know what I'm talking about."

"No, wait."

"Fufufu. I will always be in my true form when we're alone together, so please do not worry too much."

Lilith fidgeted restlessly while smiling brightly.

"I was honestly worried that the concept of beauty between humans and demons was too far apart because of the humans that kept calling me beautiful even when I was in my human form, but you seem to like my true form better. Fufufu, I knew you would, my king."

Kang-Woo felt as if he'd been struck in the back of his head. His mind was blanking out.

He quickly opened his mouth to speak. He didn't even have time to think; he blurted out his honest thoughts.

"Y-Your current form is more beautiful."

"Pardon?" Lilith uttered, looking at him in confusion.

"You're right. At least in my eyes, you look far more beautiful as a human."

"Oh, you sure love to joke, my king."

"Believe me."

"I had no idea you were such a jealous type.”

"Please…"

Lilith lightly poked Kang-Woo's nose with a broad smile and said, "You have no need to worry. I will only use my true form when we're alone together."

"Don't."

"Fufufu. Come to think of it, we're alone at the moment, so I should return to my true form."

"No, please don't fucking do that," he pleaded anxiously.

Despite his struggles, Kurosaki Yurie's skin started to split, and horrifying tentacles sprouted out of the gaps.

"Lilith, please. Listen to me. You're more beautiful as a hu—"

"Aahhh, I truly feel much better in my true form."

"You're more beautiful as a human!!"

In despair, Kang-Woo quickly let go of Lilith as her face split open and her eighteen eyes appeared.

"You're so shy, my king."

"Lilith! I'm gonna be completely honest with you! I can only see you as a disgusting monster right now!!"

"Oh, how cute you are~"

"Please, just listen to meeeeee!!" Kang-Woo roared.

His eyes teared up. He was starting to regret lying to her. He should've just told her the truth from the beginning. However, one always felt regretful only when the situation was too late to salvage.

"I love you, my king," Lilith expressed. Her face inched closer to Kang-Woo's. "Let's be together for eternity."

As if she were a shy girl, Lilith kissed Kang-Woo's cheek instead of his lips.

"Smooch~ 🖤"

The tentacles, which were constantly leaking mucus, wrapped around Kang-Woo.

Right then…

Crackle—!!

A torrent of demonic energy engulfed their surroundings. Demonic energy flooded out from Kang-Woo; it was as if a massive explosion had occurred inside of him.

"KYAA!"

Lilith was flung backward.

Riiing.

[The refinement of the demonic energy from the Rift has been completed.]

[Demonic Energy has reached 130.]

[Unlocking your Eighth Awakening Trait.]

Heroes always awakened amidst crisis.

Kang-Woo was dyed in darkness.