After Ten Millennia in Hell

'Where is…'

He raised his head and looked around.

Although the cave was pitch black, the eyes of a demon were able to see in the darkness to some extent.

Kang-Woo began walking while looking around.

"Kuh!"

A weird sensation twisted his legs. His senses were disjointed the moment he strode as usual.

'The hell?'

He finally saw the blue message windows that had appeared. He grimaced aggressively.

Divinity had forcibly interfered with the system, and…

"Level 1…"

It wasn't just his level that had gone down.

Kang-Woo opened his status window with a hardened expression.

[Status Window]

Player Name: Oh Kang-Woo

Level: 1 [First Awakening]

First Awakening Trait: Authority of Predation (Rank: ???)

Strength: 1 Dexterity: 1

Health: 1 Mana: 1

Sacred Power: 1 Demonic Energy: 1

Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1

"Fuck," he naturally cursed.

'What the fuck is this?'

All his stats had forcibly been reduced to 1.

He felt powerless.

Despite all of his stats being one, his basic physical capabilities were still far above those of a human since he had a demon body, but that was all there was to it. His body had become so weak that he was just a little stronger than the average human.

'This is… the power of Divinity?'

He knew that Divinity was able to interfere with the system, the providence of the universe, but this was excessive.

'It wasn't this bad even when I had arrived on Earth.'

Even then, all of his stats had not been as low as 1.

"… What the hell is going on?"

Not even the Gaia System, which protected the world, had been able to fully seal his power, despite using so much Divinity it was overloaded. However, all of his power had just been sealed.

'It makes no sense.'

Leaving the Primordial Darkness or whatever aside, this should not be possible.

His head was in a jumble. It was as if he were trying to put together puzzle pieces that didn't match.

Splat, splat.

Kang-Woo heard footsteps behind him. It sounded as if something had just walked out of the water.

Kang-Woo lowered his body and turned around. He saw something walking out of the darkness.

"…"

He shut his mouth. The being's head was split in half, its brain was spewing out, and black blood was flowing down its body. It was a hideous Undead that looked as if it had been made by Vaal Zahak.

"A-Arrgghh."

A hand dripping rotten pus reached out toward Kang-Woo.

It was as if… it were trying to embrace him.

"Hah," Kang-Woo feigned laughter.

It wasn't an Undead. There was no way it was an Undead. After all, the demon walking toward him had disappeared without a trace long ago.

"M-My… king," the Undead desperately called out to Kang-Woo.

"…"

The demon whose head had been split in half walked toward Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo knew the name of the demon.

"Paimon."

He used to be Kang-Woo's subordinate. Kang-Woo remembered him being very timid, unlike a demon. Paimon had been scolded by Balrog many times. Kang-Woo used to pat him on the shoulder a few times when he was dejected after Balrog's scolding, which cheered him back up.

'Though a smiling demon doesn't look cute at all.'

He recalled his memories about Paimon.

'Fucking idiot.'

When they had been on the verge of being surrounded by Satan's army, he had charged into enemy lines with a bomb to buy time. Then, he had died.

That demon, who used to be so timid, who always used to be scolded by Balrog….

"Please run away!"

"Hah…"

"Hehe. Please make sure you win the war."

"Fuck."

Splat, splat.

Kang-Woo raised his head—there was more than one set of footsteps walking toward him. He heard footsteps all around him.

"Agares."

He was a boring fellow who remained stoic no matter what. Mammon had burned him to death.

"Verdin, Kelzas."

They were boisterous as hell. They had been captured and brainwashed by Asmodeus. Kang-Woo remembered killing them with his own hands.

"My… king."

"A-Aaaahh."

The voices sounded like they were in agony. They were walking toward him, their mangled bodies dripping blood.

It was a scene that could have come straight out of a cheap B-list zombie movie.

"… I see what happened."

He sighed.

He figured out why his level and stats had been set to 1 and how Satan had been able to do something that not even the system that protected this world had been able to do when depleting the majority of its Divinity. It had only seemed like his power had been sealed.

'This place isn't reality.'

It was somewhere between an illusion and reality—a place worthy of being called a nightmare.

'So that's why the message said I had entered a nightmare.'

He felt that he had finally put the puzzle together.

Kang-Woo raised his hand and tried to use the Authority of Blades.

"Tsk."

The Authority was not manifesting, and the Ten Thousand Demon Core within his heart was silent.

'No.'

He shook his head. He couldn't feel the Ten Thousand Demon Core at all. It was as if the soul of the human Oh Kang-Woo had left his body and been trapped in a nightmare.

The only things he had were his Authority of Predation and his Demonic Energy stat, which was set to 1.

Kang-Woo sighed and bit his finger.

Crunch.

He felt pain.

'The sensation of pain is fully intact.'

If that was the case…

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

'I guess that if I die in this nightmare, I will die for real.'

It was an extreme hassle.

"Haaa." Kang-Woo sighed.

Even now, demons that used to be his subordinates were slowly walking toward him.

He looked at each of their faces and recalled the memories that they had shared together during the thousand-year war.

"Balrog…"

He saw himself sitting atop a mountain of corpses and weeping.

"I'm tired of it all."

"Fuck."

His face reddened. He shook his head at the memory.

'I was crazy.'

It was a humiliating memory, a dark past that would make him rip his blanket apart if he ever remembered it while sleeping.

"Man, I'm so fucking embarrassed."

The one who always told people to stop with the pity show had acted out the biggest pity show of them all. There was no darker past than that.

'What did Balrog say back then again?'

He couldn't quite think of it off the top of his head, but he was sure that it had been just as cringey as his line.

Step, step.

While he was trying to remember the past, he heard footsteps. Kang-Woo turned around and looked into the darkness to see a demon shrouded in darkness. The demon was wearing a red demon mask.

[How does it feel to reunite with your dead subordinates?]

A laugh came from behind the red demon mask.

Kang-Woo calmly said the demon's name, "Satan."

[It has been a while since we last spoke in private like this, demon king.]

Satan glared at Kang-Woo.

[I appreciate all the crazy deeds you committed. Thanks to you, my entire plan has crumbled.]

Satan's voice was filled with blazing rage.

[I do not know how you survived when you clashed against the dimensional wall, but… it all ends today.]

Satan raised his hand, and a pitch-black sword appeared.

"Where are we?" Kang-Woo calmly asked.

[The space that the Primordial Darkness occupies.]

"How am I supposed to understand that, dumbass?"

[…]

Satan's body trembled.

He took a deep breath to quell his rage.

[It is where the Demonic Origin… the corpse of Demon God Bauli rests.]

Demon God Bauli…

Kang-Woo naturally recalled the giant eye that had reached a kilometer in length.

'Is it the same guy?'

The unknown being that was in the Abyss of the Ten Thousand Demon Core…

He still didn't know if that was Bauli or not. He decided to stop thinking about it since it was complicating his thoughts.

'I'll leave it for later.'

It wasn't time to think about that.

First, he needed to solve the situation that was right in front of him.

Kang-Woo looked down at the dead, which were crawling toward him.

"You say that, but this place doesn't seem like it exists in reality."

[It is a place mixed with reality and illusions.]

Satan laughed.

[Although it is not completely real, your soul will be annihilated if you die here.]

Kang-Woo had more or less expected that. He nodded.

Satan frowned.

[You seem awfully calm.]

He couldn't understand it.

[You have absolutely nothing at your disposal right now. You do not have the infinite demonic energy of the Ten Thousand Demon Core, your hundreds of Authorities, or the system blessing known as Player.]

Only the soul of the human Oh Kang-Woo had been trapped here. All he had left were the Authority of Predation and the single point in his Demonic Energy stat.

[Have you accepted your defeat?]

The winner had already been decided.

The moment one stepped into this place, physical prowess meant nothing.

After the demon king had devoured his body, Satan had learned how to use his power even when he was nothing but a soul. He'd been absorbing the Demonic Origin for thousands of years while learning how to use his power within this space, which was mixed between reality and illusion.

However, this was not the case for the demon king—the source of the demon king's power was the Ten Thousand Demon Core's infinite demonic energy and the hundreds of different Authorities he possessed.

Since only his soul was left, he was more powerless than a normal human.

"…" Kang-Woo didn't answer.

Satan smirked.

[Well, fine.]

He walked slowly. He didn't intend to kill Kang-Woo quickly.

[I have suffered much because of you.]

Satan had many nightmarish memories; Kang-Woo had dirtied the title of prince of Hell, killed him gruesomely, and devoured his body. Satan had barely managed to escape with his soul.

[Even on Earth…]

Satan grabbed the back of his neck as rage overcame him. The countless agitations and fabrications had put him through hell. It was finally time to get his sweet revenge. There was only one thing he could think of as a suitable act of vengeance…

[Be devoured by your own subordinates.]

Satan snapped his fingers while smiling wide.

"A-Aaaahh."

Paimon approached Kang-Woo.

Agares, Verdin, and Kelzas also grabbed his clothes.

Paimon embraced him with arms dripping pus as tears dripped from his one remaining eye.

"A-Arrgghh. It… hurts, my… king."

"…"

"It hurts… so… much.."

"…"

Kang-Woo remained silent.

This was not the real Paimon—it was just a doll the nightmare had created to act like Paimon. It was nothing but a cheap performance to squeeze out his sorrow.

"Please… save… me."

He knew it was fake, so it could never stir his emotions.

"A-Aaaahh. My… king."

It was already in the past. His dark past was already behind him. He wouldn't feel anything from such an illusion.

"It hurts, it hurts."

"My body… is burning."

"Hot, so hot."

The hands of the dead grabbed him. The horrible stench wafting from the rotten pus stimulated his nose.

"…"

He wasn't angry or sad.

It wouldn't have been any different even if these were the real corpses of his subordinates.

He'd caused a war. Whatever the reason, he'd declared war on every single prince of Hell. It would have been weirder if no one had died. No matter how miserably, wretchedly, or gruesomely they died, soldiers died in war. Even Kang-Woo himself had killed countless demons. Demons were not emotionless beings; they had likely been precious to others.

"My… king. I-It… hurts."

So, it did not matter.

"I'm tired of it all."

Once again, he recalled the past when he had broken down and wept like a crybaby.

A dark past… a cheap pity show… a common cliche… a cringey, childish story.

But…

But…

But…

"A-Aaaahh."

The dead were grabbing him, their eyes exuding strong bloodlust.

"You, you, you…"

"Killed… us."

"If it were not for you…"

Their eyes were full of resentment. Their voices were full of malice.

Crack.

Paimon grabbed his shoulder, his sharp claws piercing Kang-Woo's skin.

"Die, die!"

Agares clenched Kang-Woo's leg tighter, ripping off the flesh from his thigh.

"It is… all because of you!"

"If only… you had not… caused the war!"

The voices of the dead grew more intense.

Verdin and Kelzas each pulled one of his arms.

Crack.

His arms twisted in an unnatural direction.

"…"

Kang-Woo expressionlessly stared at his subordinates tearing him apart.

He opened his mouth.

"I remember now."

He finally remembered what Balrog had said to him back then.

"Do you remember what you told me when we first met? You said that whatever there is in the Ninth Hell, it does not change what you have to do."

Answer evil with greater evil.

Return bloodlust with even greater bloodlust.

Keep moving forward while devouring everything in the world.

"Fuck, it's more cringe than I remember."

Kang-Woo would smack Balrog in the head once this was over.

Crack.

He opened his mouth and bit down on Paimon's neck with all his might.

Crunch.

He devoured Paimon's skin from where the rotten pus was flowing out. He used his meager one stat point of Demonic Energy to activate his Authority.

'Authority of Predation.'

Crunch.

He converted Paimon's flesh that he devoured—or the illusion created by the Demonic Origin to be more exact—into demonic energy.

Riiing.

[Demonic Energy has risen to 27.]

[You have devoured the 'Demonic Origin.']

[The second condition of the final step to becoming a Demon God has been fulfilled.]

Message windows rang noisily.

His demonic energy grew explosively.

[Hm?]

Satan frowned.

Kang-Woo was devouring the dead instead of the other way around.

[What are you…]

Crunch, crunch.

"M-My… king."

"H-Help m…"

The bodies of the dead were being quickly devoured.

[Demonic Energy has risen to 48.]

Black liquid flowed from Kang-Woo.

[Demonic Energy has risen to 87.]

It was the black mucus that possessed countless teeth.

[Demonic Energy has risen to 129.]

The sharp teeth were devouring Paimon, Agares, Verdin, and Kelzas.

[What the…]

Satan's eyes widened.

The demon king was eating the illusions made by the Demonic Origin.

[Just… how?]

The demon king had absolutely nothing at the moment. The only thing he had left was a single Demonic Energy stat point. Although he had the Authority of Predation, it was impossible to eat the Demonic Origin with a single Demonic Energy stat point.

The correlation between demonic energy and the Authority of Predation was, to put it simply, the size of the mouths. The more demonic energy one had, the more and the harder the food they could eat.

However, the demon king's Demonic Energy stat was only at 1.

'But…'

It made no sense that he could eat the Demonic Origin of all things. It was like eating a bar of gold with a toothless mouth.

"You never fucking learn."

Tsk, tsk.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue. His mangled body quickly regenerated.

[I-It cannot be, you…!]

"Or are princes of Hell just experts in making people power up? For fuck's sake, literally anyone you pathetic bastards fight will power up even if they're on the verge of death."

They always watched from the sidelines while doing nothing and went "How?" or "It cannot be!" when their opponent powered up.

At this point, he would feel bad for not powering up in such a situation.

'I mean, I wouldn't really call it a power-up.'

He wasn't Kim Si-Hun, so it wasn't like he powered up whenever there was a dangerous situation. This had simply been a mistake on Satan's part.

"You still don't know who I am after all you've been through?"

He stepped on the corpses of his subordinates and stood up. The whites of his eyes turned black, his irises turned yellow like a reptile's, and his pupils tore horizontally.

"If you wanted to kill me"—the tips of his mouth went up—"you should have made it 0."

[Demonic Energy has reached 150.]