After Ten Millennia in Hell

There was a warp in the Abyss as the one-kilometer-long giant eye blinked.

'Woah.'

Oh Kang-Woo couldn't help but be surprised. He couldn't even imagine how massive the god was, considering the eye alone was a kilometer long.

'The eye doesn't seem to be their real body.'

Kang-Woo couldn't see the god's true form because the darkness of the Abyss was covering it. However, it was likely that the god was colossal—so much so that a giant mountain would just look like a toy in comparison. The size of the Demon God reminded Kang-Woo of Titans, the giant entities of mythology.

'It doesn't matter.'

Kang-Woo laughed.

It didn't matter to him how big or strong the opponent was because that wasn't important.

[You do not seem to know your place, human.]

"And are you saying that while knowing your place, Demon God?"

[What?]

Kang-Woo continued with a relaxed voice, "I don't really know your circumstances. I don't know what you're planning or how it's going, but…"

He approached the eye.

"What I do know is that your plan won't mean shit without me."

[...]

The god remained silent, but the eye trembled slightly.

[You know nothing…]

"I literally just said that I don't know about your circumstances. But… there is one thing I do know."

An enormous amount of energy was pressing down on Kang-Woo. Nevertheless, he wasn't fearful; there was no way he'd be afraid.

"You need me, don't you?"

[...]

"You said that you've been with me from the beginning, right? In that case, the reason why I fell into Hell and why I acquired the Authority of Predation must have something to do with you. There's no way you would have done things like that for no reason, right?"

Kang-Woo laughed.

"It isn't all that hard to figure out what your goal is either."

The reason why a god would be lying dormant in this endless abyss was obvious. There was no need to think about it too deeply. It was like taking an exam after memorizing the answer sheet.

"You want to get out of here, right? I'm not sure why you're stuck here, but you probably need me to get out."

[...]

There was a heavy silence.

The Demon God couldn't answer Kang-Woo.

The giant eye trembled aggressively as it exuded intense rage and colossal power that a mere mortal with no Divinity could hope to endure.

The Abyss warped as spears of demonic energy infused with an ungodly amount of power were formed. There seemed to be millions of them—a number that couldn't be easily counted. The demonic-energy spears shot toward Kang-Woo.

SLASH—!

His shoulders, arms, legs, waist—he was pierced all over.

Kang-Woo still felt immense pain even though this wasn't his real body but a fake one created by his mind. It hurt enough to make him think he'd die if a spear pierced one of his vital points.

Nevertheless…

"What? That's it?"

Kang-Woo smirked.

He stood still and looked beyond the Abyss. The spears had impaled him all over, but he paid it no mind.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue while looking at the countless spears filling the Abyss.

"What a load of shit. Do you think anything will change with this many spears?"

He smiled mockingly.

It didn't matter how powerful the Demon God was or if hundreds, thousands, or even millions of spears had formed in the Abyss. What mattered were their positions—who was more anxious and desperate.

"Right. I guess that makes it clear."

Kang-Woo laughed.

He looked across at the being that he could never hope to defeat.

He was not afraid. Rather, he was more at ease than when he had faced Mammon.

"You can't kill me."

[You...]

A voice filled with rage flowed from the direction of the giant eye.

The Demon God's black eye dilated with fury.

[Why do you not fear?] they asked, unable to understand.

Up until then, every single human who had stood before them had trembled in fear. No, it wasn't just humans. There wasn't any being who hadn't trembled before the Demon God. Even the gods of the divine realm held their breaths before the Demon God.

[Do you have any idea who I—]

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't, you numbskull?" Kang-Woo said with a frown. "I don't know who you are, nor do I care, so stop acting all important. I have absolutely no interest in the likes of you."

[...]

"Stop beating around the bush and choose."

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

"You either send me back…" he continued without hesitation, "...Or we die here together."

[...]

There was silence. The giant eye trembled.

Kang-Woo laughed.

It was easy to tell what choice the Demon God would make.

'You shouldn't have tried to use me,' Kang-Woo thought.

Countless demons had tried to use him before, but no one had succeeded. It wasn't because he was strong; he would have died before even reaching the Ninth Hell if all he had been was strong.

'Everyone that has tried to use me has died…'

Kang-Woo turned his head. He could see the Demon God was hesitating.

He licked his lips.

Kang-Woo didn't like being unsure of things, but this time, he was absolutely certain of this.

'...And so will you.'

He laughed at the anonymous god.

* * *

Kang-Woo opened his eyes.

"...I don't remember a ceiling like this."

A ceiling he'd never seen before was in front of his eyes.

He tried to get up.

"Kuh!!"

Immense pain swept through Kang-Woo. He collapsed without being able to raise himself from the bed.

"You've finally woken up, my lord demon king."

"...I told you not to call me that."

"Hoho, my apologies," Lilith said, smiling brightly.

Kang-Woo looked around and asked, "Where are we?"

"The Guardians' Chinese branch. The human Tian Wuchen prepared a private room for you."

"How many days has it been?"

"Mm... It has been a week since the war ended."

Kang-Woo frowned.

One week… He'd been asleep for quite some time.

"And the extent of the losses?" Kang-Woo asked.

"769 members of Guardians have died."

"Lower than I had expected."

Kang-Woo had thought that at least a thousand people would die.

"It was mainly because the Demon Cult had directed their forces to the branch interior midway."

"What about the outcome of the battle?"

"Very good. The… I believe it was called… level? The average level of the Players has dramatically increased. Another two World Ranker-level Players have emerged."

Kang-Woo nodded in understanding.

Demons provided massive amounts of experience points after all.

'I need them to grow even more.'

A satisfactory smile appeared on his face.

"What about you guys?"

"Balrog is severely injured. He suppressed the rampaging demonic energy with his bare body."

"Ngh. Well, it's Balrog, so he should be fine."

Balrog's innate regenerative capabilities were almost as impressive as the Authority of Regeneration. There was no need to worry as long as he wasn't dead.

"The human Kim Si-Hun still hasn't regained consciousness. Among your acquaintances, his injuries are the most severe."

"..."

Kang-Woo frowned. He forcibly tried to get up, but immense pain pushed him back down again.

'This is why I didn't want to open a Door.'

Forcing the Ten Thousand Demon Core to run wild greatly boosted his power, but the recoil was far too great.

'I saw a weird son of a bitch this time too.'

The anonymous god who was within the Abyss… If negotiations with them hadn't gone well, Kang-Woo might have never been able to wake up.

'Well, anyway…'

He lay down on the bed.

Then he slowly raised his hand. The fact that he had managed to come back was finally starting to feel real.

He had a lot to think about and a pile of things that he needed to do, but the important thing was that he had managed to return.

Additionally…

'I devoured Mammon.'

Kang-Woo was suffering from the recoil of opening a Door, so he couldn't check how much power he'd obtained after devouring Mammon.

'I should at least check my status window.'

He'd devoured a prince of Hell, so there was no way his Demonic Energy stat hadn't risen. It was only natural that he would have high hopes for a large boost since the stat had been stagnant at 130 for a very long time.

Kang-Woo was also highly interested in Mammon's Authority, which he hadn't been able to use until now.

"I have something to report, Master Kang-Woo," Lilith said.

"Hm."

Kang-Woo's hands stopped right before he could open his status window. He considered telling her to wait for a bit, but he didn't think that for long.

Ultimately, he refrained from opening his status window and turned his head to face Lilith.

'There's no point even if I check it now.'

Kang-Woo was struggling even to lift a finger because of the recoil from opening a Door. Trying to check how strong he'd become in such a state was comedy itself.

"Go ahead."

"Lucifer's forces have attacked the Demon Cult."

"Oh?"

Kang-Woo's eyes lit up.

'So, he finally took the bait.'

He had been yearning to hear this news for a while.

"How did you find out?"

"When Balrog attacked the Tibet branch, that bitch Julia had contacted another Demon Cult branch. I traced back that communication record."

"...Then Lucifer's forces attacked a different branch at the same time that we attacked the Tibet branch?"

"That is correct."

"Hah," Kang-Woo forced a laugh.

'Should I say we were lucky?'

It had not been intended, but the timing ended up being incredible.

"You traced back the communication, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you only find out the contents of the call?"

"Fufu, no."

A wide smile appeared on Lilith's face. She walked toward Kang-Woo's bed and sat down on it.

"I investigated the command center and found the location of five branches. One of them seems to be a huge branch with thousands of members, just like the Tibet branch," Lilith said.

"I see."

Kang-Woo smiled.

'She sure is capable.'

Lilith had concluded that assisting Balrog in attacking the interior of the Demon Cult branch would be inefficient and then immediately went to find clues about other Demon Cult branches. She had done her job perfectly.

Kang-Woo couldn't help but feel proud of her.

"Well done," he praised, reaching out and caressing Lilith's cheek.

Lilith let out a soft moan and clung to him.

"What should we do? Should we use the Guardians forces and attack the other branches?"

"No," Kang-Woo answered, shaking his head.

Lucifer's forces had gotten involved, so there was no need to make Guardians take action. Rather, it was the opposite.

"Make contact with Lucifer's forces," Kang-Woo ordered.

"Ah..."

"Tell them the locations of the Demon Cult branches you've discovered."

"Fufufu. Understood," Lilith replied with a broad smile. Then she placed her cheek on Kang-Woo's chest. "I was worried because you weren't waking up, my king."

"...It didn't really look like it."

"I was so very worried. I made the soldiers protecting you unconscious just so I could infiltrate your room and be by your side to protect you."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"My king…"

Lilith put her hands on his chest.

Green tentacles started to emerge from her body.

"W-Wai—urpp!"

One of the tentacles entered Kang-Woo's mouth.

He couldn't even lift a finger at the moment, so there was no way he'd be able to break free from Lilith's advances.

"This loneliness, this sorrow, this heartbreak…"

"Mmmph! Mmph!!"

Eighteen eyes appeared on Lilith's face.

"I would like them to be healed as I share this bed with you."

"Mmmmmmmph!!!"

Squelch, squelch.

Tentacles wrapped around Kang-Woo. He struggled desperately.

Night fell.

A flower petal descended to the ground.

"Mmmph!! Mm—hngh!"

'Th-The tentaclessss!'