After Ten Millennia in Hell

'Authority of Blaze.'

He activated the Authority and awakened Mammon's soul, which he had eaten deep within the Ten Thousand Demon Core. A blazing energy began to spread through the demonic energy that had been melted into his blood.

"…"

He felt pain as if lava, not blood, was circulating through him. Powerful flames wrapped around him, and a yellow light surrounded him. He slowly raised his right hand.

He focused his mind on the Key of the Demonic Sea, the ring on his right middle finger. The black ring burned yellow.

Sizzle!

The scent of burning skin, along with faint smoke, tickled his nose.

He ignored it.

Black blood poured from where his skin was melting.

He ignored it.

'Focus.'

He closed his eyes and gathered his mind.

The Authority of Blaze was running amok in his body. Kang-Woo tried to suppress, trample, and control the uncontrollable flames. Mammon's soul thrashed around as if it were screaming, seemingly feeling pain.

Kang-Woo paid the soul no mind; he had no leeway to heed it.

He ignored the vengeful soul's screams, and another stream of demonic energy flowed out of the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

'Authority of Blades.'

TSSSSS!!

Rumble!!

The ground he was standing on melted. It turned swamp-like, and he slowly sank into the earth.

Sweat dripped down his forehead. An immeasurable pain spread through his body. He wanted to throw up, and his consciousness was starting to blur. He wanted to let it go. He felt a chill from the fear that his body could melt down entirely, but…

Tap.

He took a step forward and stretched out his right hand in front of him. The yellow flames surrounding him began to pour down his arm and gather in his palms. He stuffed the heat into his ring.

"Kurgh."

He grunted in pain. He couldn't feel his arm. No, the only thing he could feel was pain.

The drops of sweat evaporated.

Haaa, haaa.

He panted heavily and knelt down on one knee. His heart was searing hot. He couldn't think of anything; his consciousness was hazy.

He moved his right hand, which he had extended forward. From the index finger to the middle finger and to the ring finger, little by little, he focused on moving them. Even just a millimeter was fine.

He clenched the flame that had gathered in his hand.

TSSS!!!

The floor split, and lava rose. A valley of death that made Hell seem cute spread from under his feet.

He merged the flame made with a prince's Authority with the Authority of Blades. Combining a prince's Authority with a different regular Authority… it had not been done by any demon, prince of Hell, or even god.

A miracle took shape.

He held a sword burning with yellow flames.

There was one last thing to do…

He had to give a name to the materialized miracle.

He opened his mouth, having already thought of a name.

"Inferno."

Riiing.

[You have learned the skill 'Inferno.']

[Techniques registered as skills can be used more easily and precisely.]

[You have made a great achievement that no one has ever achieved!]

[You have obtained a clue regarding the advanced quest of 'Road to Becoming a Demon God,' ???.]

'The hell is this?'

A message window appeared in front of him. He frowned while reading it.

'Road to Becoming a Demon God… has an advanced quest…?'

Road to Becoming a Demon God was likely referring to the stages like the Ultimate Demonic Body and the Demonic Soul.

'I haven't even completed them yet.'

He still hadn't achieved the Demonic Soul.

No, he wasn't even sure if 'Demonic Soul' was the final step to becoming a Demon God, but he had gotten an advanced quest for it out of nowhere.

'Is this Bleach?'

Why was there so much foreshadowing?

"Haaa."

He sighed.

He tried to click on the advanced quest that had '???' written.

"If it's as I expect…"

Riiing.

[You are not authorized to view the quest '???'.]

"I fucking knew it."

He couldn't help but frown as he recalled a vow he'd made long before.

"I'm gonna twist the head of whoever made this damn thing into a question mark."

Even a crossword puzzle gave hints, but this had no hints at all.

'Maybe the son of a bitch who made this doesn't know yet either.'

Kang-Woo couldn't help but think that the message window had just been thrown at him without much thought from whoever was managing it.

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue and turned away from the massively unfriendly message window. The advanced quest full of question marks, which looked like some failed puzzle book, was not important right now.

"Let's see…"

He raised Inferno. Although he'd moved it a little, Inferno's blade was not able to maintain proper form. It was mushy, and portions of it were evaporating.

'It's not perfect yet.'

Although it had been registered as a skill, he'd fused a skill he couldn't control well yet, so the level of perfection was disastrous.

"But still."

He jumped while clenching Inferno. He swung the sword toward the sky.

* * *

[This is the 8 o'clock news. Outbursts of lava similar to a volcanic eruption have been detected along with a sudden earthquake in the Grand Canyon of Arizona, USA. Scientists say that this is by no means a natural phenomenon, and they claim that it had to have been influenced by magic. Guardians members have been sent to investigate the incident, and an evacuation order has fallen on the entire state of Arizona. We will now get in touch with the reporter Lee Han-Seok present on the scene. Reporter Lee Han-Seok?]

[Yes! I am currently in the Grand Canyon, the scene of the incident. There is lava flowing through the canyon, and the entire area is filled with immense heat!]

[What is the scope of the abnormality?]

[The lava has currently spread out over a three hundred-meter perimeter! The heat is immense! I will check for myself how severe the heat is!]

The reporter on the screen began walking toward the lava flowing through the canyon.

[AAARRRGGGHHH!]

A heartrending scream was heard.

Beep.

The TV was turned off.

There was silence.

"Hm. The situation has blown up quite a lot, Master Kang-Woo."

"…"

Lilith walked toward Kang-Woo, who was lying on the bed with his limbs sprawled out.

"Are you able to move?"

"... No."

He shook his head.

After using Inferno, Kang-Woo had entered a state of exhaustion similar to when he'd opened a Door of the Ten Thousand Demon Core, and he had not been able to get out of bed.

Lilith sat on the bed.

"I guess you shouldn't be using that Authority recklessly."

"Ngh. I honestly didn't expect this much."

He didn't think its destructive power would be that huge and that he'd suffer such massive aftereffects. He felt like a huge piece of iron was weighing him down.

"Is everything okay in Guardians?"

"Yes. Magic items are being consistently provided, and the average level of Players has been increasing, too."

He nodded.

The magic items were being made by the mages of the Magic Tower after he'd made a fair contract with them. To get used to the powers that came with the new items, the Guardians members had been retaking South America from monsters while leveling up.

Thanks to the equipment provided and practical experience gained through monster hunting, Guardians was getting stronger each day.

"I guess I won't need to worry about that aspect, then."

Kang-Woo lay back down as if relieved.

"How's the battle between Lucifer's forces and the Demon Cult going?"

The conflict between them was more important than the growth of Guardians. He needed them to damage each other as much as possible so he could play both ends against the middle.

"They have not engaged in an all-out war yet."

"Hm."

He nodded.

'I wonder which side has the advantage.'

The Demon Cult and Lucifer's forces…

Honestly, he had no idea who would have the advantage.

'Lucifer's forces should have the overwhelming advantage at the moment.'

Leaving everything aside, Lucifer's forces had Lucifer, the third-strongest prince of Hell. Just his presence should be enough to tip the scales in his favor.

'But I can't be sure since there really isn't much I know about the Demon Cult.'

He didn't think that Mammon was their leader. There was, for sure, someone stronger than him leading the Demon Cult.

'I wonder who it is.'

There was no way for him to know. Kang-Woo shook his head after some time because recklessly guessing things that he knew nothing about would only bring about danger.

He interrupted his imagination and restricted his thoughts. The moment that he thought in favor of something, all other possibilities would be eliminated from his thoughts.

A guess turned into a prediction, and a prediction soon became a certainty.

"Has Lucifer come to Earth?" Kang-Woo asked.

That was the most important thing. He had to devour another prince of Hell to fulfill the remaining condition for the Demonic Soul. The conflict between Lucifer's forces and the Demon Cult was good and all, but it had absolutely no meaning if Lucifer himself didn't appear.

'There's not much point in devouring anything else now.'

He had grown to the point where he could no longer gain EXP from mobs. Anything other than a prince of Hell was meaningless.

"No," Lilith replied. "We have not found any trace of him, so he likely has not come yet."

"Ngh."

He frowned.

'He still hasn't shown himself even after all this?'

Kang-Woo wondered if he had not managed to goad Lucifer enough. Lucifer's forces had only made small moves for the past few months, so it was clear that they hadn't displayed all of their strength.

'He's not one to stand for such humiliation, though.'

Lucifer, Satan, and Bael… he'd fought against them for the longest.

Lucifer was most definitely not one to stand still in such situations.

'In that case…'

It probably meant that he had no leeway to take action himself.

'How troublesome.'

He needed to goad Lucifer more and make him so mad that he charged at Satan like a madman without caring about the forces of the celestial realm.

'The problem is how.'

Kang-Woo couldn't come up with any ideas.

"Shit."

It had been half a year since both sides had started feeling each other out. He felt frustrated as he watched them skirt around each other.

"Oh right, Master Kang-Woo."

"Hm?"

"Lucifer hasn't come, but a demon claiming to be Lucifer's son has."

"Son… you say?"

"Yes. I had checked the footage of the Demon Cult branch that had crumbled, and there was a demon claiming to be Lucifer's son fighting against them."

"…"

Kang-Woo's eyes shone.

'Lucifer's son?'

It was something he couldn't have imagined.

'A prince of Hell made a child?'

It was completely unprecedented. Although the princes of Hell had existed in the Nine Hells for hundreds of thousands of years, something like that had never happened before.

'I mean, Leviathan had parents.'

Leviathan was the son of the king of demonic beasts, Behemoth.

Still, Kang-Woo had never heard of a prince of Hell having a child.

"…"

There was a short silence. The tips of Kang-Woo's mouth started to go up.

"... Master Kang-Woo?"

"Lilith." He turned his head. "Would demons also care for their children?"

Kang-Woo's eyes started to shine with madness. He licked his lips as if he'd thought of something fun. There was strong bloodlust emanating from him, and viscous demonic energy was spreading slowly across the floor like tar.

Madness, bloodlust, and malice intermingled.

"... I'm sorry?" Lilith slightly flinched. She looked at Kang-Woo and trembled as she slightly opened her mouth and said, "Y-you want to have a child with me?"

"What?"

"H-Hohoho. I-I'm a bit flustered. To think you would be so assertive…"

"No, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I-I have also been thinking about it, but… i-it's a bit sudden, so I'm a bit embarrassed."

"Uhm, excuse me?"

Lilith shook her head, her palms covering her cheeks. Her face had become red, and her black hair was turning into green tentacles.

Slap, slap.

The tentacles shyly hit Kang-Woo.

'No.'

He lowered his head while looking at Lilith, who had become immersed in her fantasies. He covered his face with both hands.

'I was trying to say something cool while setting a nice mood…'

What he had said was a sick-ass line with a hint of sinister energy, a chilling line an anti-hero would say…

'Why are you doing this to me? Please, just let me be a protagonist.'