After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo was sure it was a done deed; he felt it with his hands. He had completely pierced Satan—or to be precise, the being who was assumed to be his fragment or clone.

Of course, Kang-Woo smiled.

'That was dangerous.'

He had almost fumbled because he had been so flustered by the situation. He'd been just as surprised when Balrog had appeared and called him the demon king.

Kang-Woo looked down at Satan, who was melting and turning into some black viscous liquid that resembled tar.

It seemed that Kang-Woo had guessed correctly that the Satan before him was just a fragment of Satan's original body. If it were Satan's main body, he wouldn't have melted.

'I managed to put out the biggest fire.'

Nevertheless, the fundamental problem would not be resolved until Kang-Woo killed the real Satan. Satan would keep claiming that he was the real Satan, and Kang-Woo would continue having headaches because of that.

'But…'

Kang-Woo smiled with bright eyes.

It turned out that Satan was actually on Earth. On top of that, he happened to be the one leading the Demon Cult from the shadows.

'If I play my cards right…'

Kang-Woo thought that he could use that to his advantage.

Just like how pus from a wound slowly accumulated, he could resolve all the crimes he had committed by blaming them on Satan as long as his main body didn't die.

Kang-Woo could make use of Satan.

'Now's not the time though.'

Kang-Woo turned while looking down at Satan's melted fragment.

The situation wasn't over just because he'd gotten rid of Satan's fragment. The main event lay elsewhere.

'Why is Lucifer so quiet all of a—'

Kang-Woo looked for Lucifer, who had suddenly disappeared during their collaboration.

"Huh?" he uttered in a confused voice.

Lucifer was nowhere to be seen.

[Lucifer!] Kang-Woo called out in Satan's voice.

He turned around to find Lucifer glaring at him with cold sunken eyes while holding Lucis.

"Let me go! I! I have given my soul to Lady Lilith!"

"Stay still."

Lucis was struggling to get free, but Lucifer knocked him out. Then Lucifer sighed and waved his hand in the air.

A blue Gate appeared.

[Shit!!]

Kang-Woo stomped on the ground and shot forward at supersonic speed, creating a sonic boom and a strong gust of wind.

'Shit!'

He bit his lip anxiously. Lucifer's escape had not been within his expectations.

Lucifer and Lucis were gradually disappearing through the gate. Kang-Woo reached out and grabbed Lucifer's arm.

[Are you running away?] Kang-Woo asked.

"I… have come back to my senses," Lucifer answered in a cold voice.

He indeed appeared different from his enraged look before.

[You are delusional if you think I will let you run away.]

Kang-Woo pulled on Lucifer's arm aggressively, pulling him out of the Gate slightly.

"Satan," Lucifer said as he glared at Kang-Woo. In a voice filled with powerful bloodlust, he declared, "I will be back."

[…]

"I will be back one day to destroy everything you have. I will make sure you regret what you have done today for the rest of eternity."

Rather than a threat, it was closer to a curse.

Kang-Woo used the Authority of Titanic Might and pulled Lucifer's arm. However, Lucifer pulled back, resulting in the severing of his arm.

Rip—!!

[Lucifer…]

Lucifer's arm was ripped off like a severed lizard's tail, and black blood poured out.

"Remember this, Satan," Lucifer said quietly, "I will be back."

With that, he completely vanished through the blue Gate.

"…"

Silence fell over the battlefield.

[U-Urghh!!]

One of the demons Lucifer had left behind charged toward Kang-Woo. Kang-Woo slowly raised his hand, grabbed the demon's horn, and crushed it.

Crack!

The demon fell to the ground and screamed. Then Kang-Woo raised his foot and stomped on the demon's head.

Crunch.

The demon's brain exploded over the ground.

"Shit, shit. Fuck!!"

Kang-Woo couldn't help but curse. He grabbed and pulled on his hair.

'I shouldn't have let him go.'

He had fumbled out of panic and had forgotten about his important objective.

'I made a mistake.'

If he had returned to his senses faster and dealt with things faster, he could've killed Lucifer right here.

It was just an excuse that he'd been confused by Satan's sudden appearance. He could have dealt with the variable and killed Lucifer at the same time.

"Damn."

However, Kang-Woo hadn't done that. Instead, he had made a mistake because he had panicked out of confusion.

Kang-Woo frowned aggressively.

'I haven't failed yet.'

As long as Lucifer was not an idiot, he would take his time to make even more thorough preparations. However, Kang-Woo did not think that his plan had been a complete failure since Lucifer wasn't aware of a critical fact.

'His rage is directed toward Satan.'

The fundamental misunderstanding hadn't been cleared up. Rather, it had deepened.

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

Satan was on Earth, and Lucifer had escaped to Aernor.

'How should I manipulate them?'

Kang-Woo was sure he'd be able to use them, but the details were not coming to him at the moment. It would be impossible to plan anything if Lucifer didn't take any action.

'He'll be back.'

Kang-Woo was sure of it. There was no way Lucifer was just going to run with his tail between his legs. He would be back after making ample preparations.

"And…"

His rage would be directed at Satan.

"...Not bad at all."

It would take more time and effort, but considering that was the consequence of Kang-Woo's mistake, it was a cheap price to pay.

"Lilith."

"Yes, Master Kang-Woo."

Once Kang-Woo called her name, Lilith appeared.

He slowly turned around and asked her, "You saw everything, right?"

"Yes," Lilith replied with a nod. "I will torture all of the cultists and find Satan's location.”

"No, you won't be able to."

The cultists had not even known that Satan was one of the Aspects of Evil, so there was no way they would know where he was.

"Then…"

"What I killed was just a fragment of Satan. His main body should be alive somewhere."

Lilith's eyes lit up. She giggled, making a wicked smile.

"He will likely make his move first, then," she remarked.

"Someone is going around impersonating him, so there's no way he would do nothing about it."

After all, Satan had been thoroughly humiliated. Kang-Woo wasn't sure why Satan couldn't move his main body, but he was sure that Satan would make some sort of move in retaliation.

"What if he does not make a move?" Lilith asked.

In that case, it was simple.

"Then we'll force him to."

It didn't matter what method they used.

Kang-Woo slowly took off the red demon mask that was covering his face. A chilling wind tickled his skin.

"How many survived?" he asked.

"About 739 Demon Cultists survived. They are all running away."

"Capture those of the cardinal rank and above and brainwash them. Be it with black magic, beauty trap, torture—it doesn't matter. Make them submit and spread them throughout the Demon Cult."

Kang-Woo needed agents inside the Demon Cult to figure out Satan's movements.

“May your will be done, my king.”

A chilling smile appeared on Lilith's face.

Kang-Woo began to walk slowly.

Boom.

Balrog approached him, knelt on one knee, and reported, [All of Lucifer's subordinates have been subdued.]

Kang-Woo looked at the demons who were behind Balrog. They had been subdued by Vaal Zahak's Undead army.

Now, they were looking up at Kang-Woo in fear.

[W-We surrender!]

[W-We swear our a-allegiance to Lord Satan!]

They desperately begged while bowing.

Kang-Woo turned and looked down at them, but he turned away soon after.

Balrog said, [As for the number of survivors—]

"No need to tell me."

Kang-Woo walked past Balrog as if he weren't interested.

It was a different story if they were Demon Cultists, but there was no need for Kang-Woo to know how many of Lucifer's subordinates had survived.

He put away the red mask in his hand and commanded, "Kill them."

[Yes, my king,] Balrog replied with a nod.

If there were a way for Kang-Woo to go to Aernor from Earth, there might be a use for them. However, he couldn't, so they were of no use to him. It was better to kill them and then turn them into Undead if he wanted to use them as soldiers.

'Those that betray once are bound to betray again.'

Crush!!

[Arrgghh!!]

[P-Please spare—!]

Lucifer's subordinates screamed.

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo ignored them.

With Lucifer's torn arm in hand, he walked over to Satan's dead fragment. There was a gloopy black liquid on the floor.

Kang-Woo sighed.

'This won't nearly be enough.'

He thought of the remaining condition for the Demonic Soul. To fulfill the condition, he needed to absorb the body of a prince of Hell with the Authority of Predation.

Kang-Woo had thought that he'd be able to fulfill that condition after eating Lucifer.

'This is the biggest disappointment.'

Painful regret swept over him once again.

His plan could be executed again as long as Lucifer still mistook him for Satan, but that was a different issue. Kang-Woo hadn't been able to fulfill the remaining condition for the Demonic Soul, which was the biggest disappointment.

"I guess the price is cheap, considering the mistake."

The mistake could have led to irreversible consequences.

Making a mistake in a battle between demons meant death, so failing to fulfill the condition for the Demonic Soul was the cheapest price he could have paid.

"Tsk," Kang-Woo clicked his tongue.

There was no point in making a fuss over spilled milk.

'I should eat these at least.'

He sighed and used the Authority of Predation.

The Authority of Predation covered Satan's fragment and Lucifer's arm.

'Fucking hell, I doubt I'll even get a single stat point from this.'

No matter how much Kang-Woo tried to forget about his mistake, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Crunch.

The Authority of Predation consumed Satan's fragment and Lucifer's torn arm.

Riiing.

[Activating the Trait 'Prince Slayer'.]

[Absorbing the soul fragments within the consumed parts of Satan's and Lucifer's bodies.]

[A weak Divinity has been detected in the two soul fragments.]

[Raising the quality of the soul fragments compared to when they were still part of the souls of the princes of Hell.]

[Attempting Predation on the soul fragments deemed SSS-rank.]

[Successful!]

'Hm?'

[The passage connected to the deep end of the Ten Thousand Demon Core has been 100% completed.]

[All conditions for Demonic Soul have been fulfilled!]

'Wha—?'

Whoooom!!!

Dense demonic energy exploded out of him.

The demonic energy from his heart enveloped his entire body.

[Commencing the Demonic Soul awakening.]

"…"

Kang-Woo's mouth fell open.

'I can't believe that worked.'