After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 423 - I Will Have You Pay For Your Great Sins

'I wasn't informed about any of the Heavenly Kings taking action.'

They were all making preparations for the time of prophecy; Moab was likely the only one who had shown himself in the Triad, but...

'What the hell are these humans talking about?'

The humans have been saying incomprehensible things for a while now, about how Moab was the last remaining Heavenly King and that the others had died at the hands of heroes.

"Did you cast some sort of illusion magic, Elune?" Moab asked with a frown.

Nothing else would be able to explain what was going on, but his guess was completely wrong. Even Elune was staring at Oh Kang-Woo and Kim Si-Hun wide-eyed as if she couldn't follow the conversation.

[Saviors, what do you mean by that you have to avenge the great heroes...?]

"They were our precious comrades as well as our good friends," Kang-Woo said as he teared up. "But they were... killed at the hands of... the Four Heavenly Kings."

He lowered his head as his shoulders slightly trembled. A single tear flowed down his cheek. Just thinking about the heroes' deaths felt like his heart was being squeezed. Moab had not killed them himself, but he was still one of the Four Heavenly Kings; there was no way that he was completely uninvolved with the other Kings.

[Ah,] Elune expressed.

She was informed of many things that occurred in the physical world by the other gods while she was the guardian of the World Tree, but this was her first time hearing of this.

[I see... how unfortunate,] she remarked somberly.

She was well aware of how it felt to lose loved ones.

"I..." Kang-Woo bit his lip and clenched his fists. "I will not let their deaths be in vain."

There was no way that he would ever forget their bravery that had shone brightly until the moment of their deaths.

[Savior...]

Elune stared at Kang-Woo with shaking eyes and her entire body tingled. Kang-Woo was not crying simply because those precious to him had died; he was trying to move forward with their lives on his shoulders.

'O almighty Titans...' Elune thought as she closed her eyes. 'Your prophecy was correct. This man is... the one who will save the world from the Demon of Prophecy.'

Her heart beat rapidly. She felt like she could see a light of hope shining down on the world prophesied to fall... and the future filled with despair. Elune smiled faintly as she brought her hands together.

"What the hell have you been talking about since earlier?" Moab walked forward, unable to handle it any longer. He flicked his snake tongue and continued, "Reynald? Ludwig? I don't even know who these people a—"

"Shut up!" Kang-Woo shook with rage as uncontrollable rage filled him. "How dare you shamelessly make excuses?!"

"No, I seriously don't kn—"

"Reynald and Ludwig... Those heroes should never have died that way!" he shouted straight from the heart.

Kang-Woo recalled the deaths of the two heroes. He had not witnessed the moment of Alec Osborne's death, but he clearly remembered the moments of Reynald and Ludwig's deaths.

"You're not listening to me. I—"

"Enough of your lowly excuses, Moab!"

"I'm not making excuses, I just don't know what you talking ab—"

"I... I will never forgive you."

"Son of a bitch..."

Kang-Woo closed his eyes to look away from MNoab, who was still acting dumb.

'He's not worth talking to.'

Moab had no intention of listening, so there was no way that Kang-Woo's words would reach him. The truth meant nothing before his shamelessness.

'If words won't get through to him...'

Kang-Woo's eyes shone sharply. There was no other way but this.

"I will have you... pay for your grave sins," he said what Moab had tried to say to Elune earlier.

"Who the hell are you? Huh? You're just saying what you want to say without—"

Kang-Woo dashed toward Moab, who had been complaining with a frown.

Boom!

A ray of golden light streaked behind him. He stretched his right hand downward and the Key of the Demonic Sea turned into the form of a sword; it was Del Lain, the sword of the sun. Kang-Woo gripped the divine artifact of Tirion, the late God of Heroes, and swung it down aggressively.

Claaaang—!

Moab was pushed back along with the echoing sound of metal clashing.

"Wh-what the—?!" Moab's eyes were filled with shock. He stared at Kang-Woo in disbelief. "D-Deific Essence?"

Not only that, it was not mere Low-rank or Lower Intermediate-rank; it was at least High-rank.

'How could a human possibly...!'

Moab stared at Kang-Woo incomprehensibly. It was already shocking enough that a human possessed Deific Essence, but one of High-rank or above? He felt as if he was having a nightmare.

"... It seems you had a trick up your sleeve."

Moab's eyes shone sharply as he flicked his tongue. He fixed his stance and grabbed his sword tighter. He had lost his composure for a moment due to the unexpected variable, but that was it. He would not lose in Deific Essence since he was a former guardian deity of a world.

"Fuuu." Moab took a deep breath and unleashed his Deific Essence.

Back when he was still a guardian deity, he would have had to pay an enormous price in his Divinity to unleash his Deific Essence in the physical world. However, he had been freed from the Law of Titans after receiving that person's grace

.

"Hisssssss!!"

Moab swung down his urumi with his long arms. It coiled like a snake and then...

Swoosh!

The coiled sword straightened and shot out at incredible speed, piercing Kang-Woo's shoulder in the blink of an eye.

"Kurgh!" Kang-Woo grunted.

However, that was only for a moment. He did not jump back but rather walked forward.

"What?!"

Moab was startled by Kang-Woo's crazy behavior as if he didn't care if his arm was cut off, creating an opening for Kang-Woo to exploit. He swung Del Lain with his other arm, aiming for Moab's flank.

"What a cheap scheme!" shouted Moab and grimaced as he pulled out his urumi stabbing Kang-Woo's shoulder.

He then swung it at Del Lain being swung toward his flank.

Clang!

Del Lain was blown back. Kang-Woo used the recoil to flip backward and tried to deal a somersault kick on Moab's chin.

"Kurgh!" Moab jumped back to dodge the attack and crossed his arms.

The urumi moved elegantly as if it were dancing, pouring waves of condensed sword energy like rainfall. Kang-Woo was left completely open to the sword energy attacks after performing a large attack like a somersault kick.

'Alright!'

Moab's eyes shone, thinking that he had grasped victory. The purple condensed sword energies poured down on Kang-Woo to tear him apart, but...

Fwoosh—!

Gold and black flames resembling a black sun enveloped Kang-Woo. The purple condensed sword energies flying at him disappeared in a flash.

"... What?"

The sword energies had vanished as if they had been vaporized. No, that was not the right word to describe it. Moab looked in shock at the flames akin to a black sun. If he saw it correctly...

'They were... eaten?'

His attacks had most certainly been eaten by those raging flames.

"Urgh!" Moab quickly jumped backward as a chill ran down his back.

Kang-Woo chased after him and aimed for his flank again.

"No, you don't!" Moab swung his urumi to blow back Del Lain again.

Just then, Kang-Woo smiled unpleasantly as he let go of Del Lain without hesitation.

"...!" Moab's eyes widened.

He instinctively scrunched up after realizing that the attack had been a feint, but Kang-Woo placed his hand on Moab's solar plexus before he could.

"Chaos, Burst."

Booooom—!!

A colossal explosion engulfed Moab.

"Kurgh!"

Moab was blown back as he coughed up blood, but Kang-Woo grabbed him by the ankle.

"You will never be able to imagine...!" Kang-Woo shouted as he infused his voice with boiling rage. "For how long I— no, we have waited to take our revenge!"

"Cough! What revenge... are you talking ab—"

"We will no longer take it lying down!"

Kang-Woo glared ferociously at Moab. He turned to his party members watching the battle.

'If only...'

He imagined how happy he would have been to see Alec, Reynald, and Ludwig among them. Just imagining it brought him to tears.

'No, no!'

Kang-Woo quickly shook his head. It was not the time to be crying. The tears could wait until he had taken revenge for his precious fallen comrades.

"This is...!"

Bang!

Kang-Woo stomped his feet with Moab's ankle still in hand.

"For Alec, more righteous than anyone!"

"Kurgh!"

Kang-Woo smashed Moab down on the ground by the ankle. A god possessing Deific Essence would not take any damage just from being smashed into the ground, so Kang-Woo made a bed of spikes on the ground with the Key of the Demonic Sea.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" Moab screamed as the spikes pierced him.

"And this is...!" Kang-Woo raised his leg and kicked Moab in the face like a soccer ball. "For Reynald, more courageous than anyone!"

Moab tumbled on the ground without even being able to scream after being kicked right in the face. His vision blurred and horrible pain spread throughout his body.

"A-Arghh."

Moab stood up and grabbed his face. Any other being would have died after receiving such attacks, but his powerful Divinity was healing him at incredible speed.

"And lastly, this is...!"

"W-Wait!" yelled Moab in pallor after hearing Kang-Woo's voice.

However, Kang-Woo completely ignored his desperate pleas. He jumped as he was running at Moab and raised his arms over his head with his fingers clasped. He then swung his hands down on Moab's head like a hammer.

"For Ludwig, who loved the light more than anyone!"

Bash—!!