After Ten Millennia in Hell

"Fuuu."

He took a deep breath. The Qi within his dantian moved in synchronization with his breaths, to his arms, legs, and sword.

Crack.

Footsteps were engraved on the ground, and he shot forward while using the foot technique as if he were sliding.

[Interesting.]

Halphas smiled. Black spheres shot in all directions.

Si-Hun's eyes shone sharply. There were dozens of black spheres being launched toward him.

Being hit with even one would be fatal.

'I can't block them.'

He might be able to deflect a few, but there were dozens. Blocking all of them was impossible.

'Should I jump into the air?'

He shook his head. Some attacks had been launched up in the air, as if Halphas had read his possible dodge trajectories. Unless he could fly, jumping into the air to dodge the black spheres would be impossible.

'In that case…'

He lowered his body to the point that his chest almost touched the ground. He launched himself forward.

Boom!

He flew with his body low. Gravity caused him to slump to the ground while drawing a parabola.

It was at that moment…

'Azure Dragon Ascension.'

He twisted his body and swung his sword at the ground. He instantly shot up perpendicularly from the ground into the air as if inertia had disappeared.

He looked down and saw Halphas clearly astonished.

'Azure Dragon Flash.'

He swung the sword. Blue condensed sword energy surged from the blade and targeted Halphas's head.

[Good!]

The tips of Halphas's mouth went up. The fight he thought was boring had suddenly turned interesting.

He extended his left hand and created a barrier of demonic energy.

Baaaam!

A loud sound spread through the place. The shockwave raised a cloud of dust.

Halphas was pushed back a bit. He spread out both of his arms.

[Struggle some more, retainer of Gaia!]

A black sphere the size of a fist formed between his extended arms.

[Hahahaha!]

Halphas laughed out loud. An explosive amount of demonic energy burst out of his body.

The black sphere got even bigger.

From thirty centimeters to fifty, and then to a meter.

[Alright, try to block this as well!]

[Calm down, Halphas.]

[What are you going to do if the retainer dies?]

The other two demons tried to stop him, but Halphas didn't hear them.

The spark had already been lit.

The battle-crazed body of a demon had made him lose his mind.

The black sphere grew to over two meters in size.

Si-Hun felt chills. He could feel impressive destructive energy from the black sphere.

Crackle!

The black sphere shot forward, devouring everything in its path.

"Kurgh!"

Its pulling force was enormous.

A powerful gust, resembling a typhoon, pushed him from behind.

He would be absorbed by the black sphere the moment he eased up.

Si-Hun's face turned pale. He couldn't stand still and endure it either. The black sphere was approaching him quickly.

"Shit!"

He bit his lip. He subconsciously knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it.

Si-Hun clenched his sword tighter; the blue condensed sword energy surged more intensely.

"Fuuu. Fuuu."

He felt cold sweat drip down his back. He gulped. Once again, fear of death dominated his body.

'Focus.'

He infused his trembling legs with Qi and clenched his fists.

'If I can't dodge…'

Smash!

He swung his Qi-infused fists down on his knees as if he were striking nails with a hammer. His two legs were planted into the ground down to his knees.

He gripped his sword with both hands.

'I'll block it.'

He raised the sword above his head. Shimmering darkness opened its mouth toward him.

He exploded the Qi within his body. Condensed sword energy shot up.

"Fuuu."

He took a deep breath and then held it.

He relaxed his body and stared at the sphere.

He'd only have one chance; he wasn't sure if it was even possible to do it.

'That doesn't matter.'

A smile appeared on his face. Instead of feeling pressured, he felt as if the weight on his shoulders had been lifted now that he had been put in such desperate danger.

He could see someone's back.

The person who had appeared when he was about to die at Kim Yeong-Hun's hands…

'Kang-Woo hyung.'

They were not related by blood.

He didn't know who Kang-Woo was or what kind of person he used to be in the past…

But there was something he was sure about…

At that moment, Kang-Woo had saved him.

Kang-Woo had saved him from the muddy life he'd thought he'd be stuck with forever.

Crackle!!

The black sphere closed in. Si-Hun swung the sword down from above his head. It was not a fast swing; it was slow and leisurely.

Riiing.

[You have learned the Unique Skill 'Heavenly Dragon Flash.']

A message window appeared in front of Si-Hun, but he paid it no mind. The sword swung down on the black sphere.

[Huh?]

Halphas's face crumpled.

He had created that black sphere using the power bestowed on them by their master, Evil God Lucifer.

Even if Si-Hun was a retainer of Gaia, Halphas's technique wasn't something a human should've been able to counter.

But…

[Halphas!!]

[Dodge!]

He heard the other two demons scream at him.

The black sphere was split in two, and the blue energy that had split the sphere shot toward him.

Halphas instinctively twisted his body.

Slash!

[Kurgh!]

The blue energy severed his left arm. Pain spread from his arm to the rest of his body. Halphas's expression stiffened.

'That was dangerous.'

If he hadn't twisted his body at that moment, he might have been split in half. No, if he hadn't dodged, he would have died.

[A mere human!!]

He was set ablaze with fury, and his face turned red from humiliation.

To think he'd suffer such humiliation in front of his brothers!

Bam!

Si-Hun, who had split the black sphere, pulled his legs out of the ground. He leaped toward Halphas without hesitation.

Halphas frowned and raised his right arm. He'd received an attack because he'd let his guard down for a moment, but he wouldn't let such a thing happen twice.

Slash!

[Kurgh!]

Si-Hun's sword turned into a ray of light and shot out. The sword brushed along Halphas's right arm and cut his shoulder.

Halphas anxiously swung his right arm.

'I'm faster.'

Halphas was not only faster but also overwhelmingly stronger than Si-Hun. He could clearly see the trajectory of the human's slow sword; it was also so weak he could easily deflect it.

But…

Slash!

[How?!]

He wasn't able to block Si-Hun's attacks.

Even if he summoned and shot black spheres, created demonic energy barriers to block his attack, and even tried to counter, he couldn't fully dodge the human's attacks.

Halphas was gradually covered with wounds.

And…

Whoosh!

[Kuh!]

The blade wrapped in blue light targeted his neck. Halphas quickly moved back, but it was useless. The sword drew a trajectory that he couldn't understand, sticking to him.

The fear of death spread through him.

'Am I going to die at the hands of a mere human?'

That was impossible. It should be impossible. He was a demon who served Evil God Lucifer. Losing against a human was not an option.

[You dumbass!] Phenex stepped up and kicked Si-Hun, who was targeting Halphas.

Bash!

"Kurgh!"

After being kicked by Phenex, Si-Hun was blown back, and he rolled on the ground.

[What do you think you're doing against a mere human, Halphas?!]

[…]

Halphas lowered his head. He remained silent while covering the severed area of his left arm with his right hand.

Phenex walked toward Si-Hun while clicking his tongue.

[I guess he is still the retainer of an upper god, albeit a half-dead one.]

Phenex stomped Si-Hun's arm.

Crunch!

"AAARRGGHH!"

Si-Hun screamed in pain.

Phenex snapped his finger. Black spheres about the size of a fingernail poured down on Si-Hun.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

His skin was pierced. Holes about the size of a fingernail appeared on his shoulders, chest, stomach, and thighs. Blood poured out of him.

"Cough! Cough!"

Si-Hun vomited blood, and a portion of his intestines spilled out from his torn-open stomach.

A horrible pain engulfed him.

[Tsk. He'll die if I go any further. Halphas, take responsibility and figure out where Gaia's incarnation is.]

[Kuh. Okay.]

Halphas nodded while biting his lip.

"Haaa. Haaa."

Si-Hun's consciousness was blurring. A tear dropped from his eyes.

He was scared. He tried to overcome it by force, but since things had taken a turn for the worst, his body started to shake.

He could feel his consciousness blurring. He remembered the faces of his mother and party members—even Kim Yeong-Hun and Kim Jae-Hyun.

"Hyu…ng."

He desperately hoped to be saved.

He had resolved not to run away, but it had ended up like this. Now that he was on the brink of death, the growing fear was making his head go blank.

A laugh came out of Si-Hun's mouth. He looked so pathetic that even his tears stopped.

'I…'

Yet again.

Yet again.

Yet again.

'I wasn't able to do anyth—'

BOOOOM!!!

A loud sound cut his thoughts short.

Si-Hun looked in the direction of the sound.

"Ah…"

A young man in a white mask walked out of the dust cloud.

* * *

Oh Kang-Woo looked around.

The first thing he saw was Si-Hun, who had collapsed onto the ground. Si-Hun's right arm was bent in an unnatural direction, and blood was pouring out from all over him.

The wound on his stomach was so bad that his intestines could be seen.

The fact that he was a Protector aside, Si-Hun was still a human; his wounds were so bad that it was impressive he was still alive.

Step, step.

He walked toward Si-Hun and grabbed him by his collar.

"Kim Si-Hun."

He wasn't sad or furious. He couldn't feel anything while looking at Si-Hun, whose wounds were so bad it was almost weird he hadn't died yet.

"Who told you that you could fight, dammit?"

That was the extent of Si-Hun's worth to Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo had turned him into his Familiar so he could make use of him with ease. He was pretty much nothing more than a chess piece to Kang-Woo. He wasn't worth more than that.

"You told them to run away while you bought them time on your own?"

Kang-Woo wasn't soft enough to get angry just from losing a single chess piece. He rated Si-Hun's potential very highly, but Si-Hun wasn't so important that his death would critically impact his plan.

"Did you want to look cool? Huh?"

The tendons in the hand grabbing Si-Hun's collar became visible.

Demonic energy uncontrollably surged out of him.

"What? Did you get a big head after everyone around you praised you as a hero?"

Of course, Kang-Woo wasn't angry. There was no way he'd get angry because of something like this.

"Hyung… nim…"

"If you judged that you couldn't win, then you should've just run away, you fucking idiot!!!" he screamed.

Kang-Woo's breath became heavier, and his eyes turned bloodshot, his body trembling slightly.

He lifted his mask and put his thumb in his mouth. Crunch. He bit off the tip of his thumb along with the fingernail, the wound bleeding profusely. He stuffed his bleeding thumb into Si-Hun's mouth and activated the Authority of Regeneration at full throttle.

The wounds closed at a fast pace.

"You said you wanted to save people, didn't you? Huh? You told me you were going to overcome your childhood trauma. Is this how you were planning to do it? Huh? Who's gonna know whether you did or not if you just end up dy—"

[Human.] Phenex frowned and walked toward Kang-Woo. [Do not interf—]

Tap.

[Huh?]

Kang-Woo's hand, which had just been grabbing Si-Hun's collar, grabbed the back of Phenex's head. He smashed Phenex's head into the ground before Phenex could even react.

Split!

[Kurgh!]

Phenex's head got stuck in the ground. Kang-Woo raised his foot and trampled his head.

CRACK!

Phenex's head exploded.

"Can't you see that I'm talking?"

Kang-Woo turned his head. The whites of his eyes blackened, and his irises started to turn yellow.

His black eyes were sparkling with madness.

"Shut up and stay still, you motherfuckers."