After Ten Millennia in Hell

They were Guardians—the last hope of humanity.

Elite players from all around the world were starting to move toward what they believed to be the Demon Cult headquarters. The closer they got to the war starting, the darker their expressions became.

They recalled their last battle against the Demon Cult in Tibet.

They'd underestimated the strength of demons, so they'd suffered great despair once faced with reality.

It was true that they'd gotten stronger through the experience of recovering territories lost to monsters, but still, the war felt different.

It was obvious. After all, they were moving to fight against the Demon of Prophecy—someone who was trying to destroy the world.

Thankfully, no one had deserted.

Lots of conversations were exchanged, and everyone was feeling a huge mix of emotions, but time still went on.

"This place is…"

"The Demon Cult headquarters."

Guardians members nervously looked up at the tall mountain.

To be precise, this was not the Demon Cult headquarters; it was only the largest branch that they had witnessed. Regardless, after Satan gathered his forces at this branch, it had practically become no different from their headquarters. There were estimated to be more than ten thousand cultists within, even more if the demons that they had summoned were included.

"All forces, prepare for battle!" the young man standing in the front, Kim Si-Hun, shouted. His voice, which he had amplified through Qi, echoed throughout the mountain.

The Guardians members nervously gripped their weapons.

"D-Demons!" shouted one of the Guardians members who had a long-range vision ability.

Everyone looked toward where the member had pointed.

'There's so fucking many of them,' Kang-Woo thought.

There were huge artificial doors located all around the mountain. As those giant doors opened, an enormous number of cultists and demons appeared.

'I'd say there are about twenty thousand.'

There were more demons than expected.

Kang-Woo grimaced as he looked up at the Demon Cult forces, which had the high ground.

"GRRRRRR."

"KIIEEKK!!"

The hideous demons interspersed among the cultists let out chilling battle cries.

There was a demon with dozens of eyes, a demon with snakes for hair, and a demon whose internal organs were fully visible due to its body having been detached into two halves. It was as if they had chosen the most hideous-looking demons to stand at the forefront.

"Gasp."

"Wh-What the hell?"

"They didn't look that bad before…"

The Demon Cult's plan worked; the Guardians members faltered when they saw the hideous demons.

"Get a hold of yourselves! Do not be misled by their appearance!" Si-Hun said in a firm voice.

That was easier said than done.

Sight was the sense that humans relied on the most. It was hard to stay calm when faced with such horrifying demons. The demons' appearance alone was nauseating.

On top of that…

"Wh-What is that smell?"

"Eek!"

"Urpp, bleeeegh!"

The agitation spread across the forces like a plague. A horrible scent, carried by the wind, spread across the entire area. It was the stench of rotten pus. It was hard to withstand, even for those who were used to fighting monsters.

"Haap!" Tian Wuchen shouted while stomping on the ground.

BOOM.

The Players in chaos slightly returned to their senses.

"Focus! Do you want your last moments to be filled with vomit?!"

The players gulped at Wuchen's words.

"KIIEEKK!!"

"Wipe out the filthy servants of light!"

The cultists finally made their move. A priest wearing a black robe was directing the demons at the forefront.

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes and looked through their forces.

'The Aspects have yet to make their move.'

He could not see a single demon the level of a prince of Hell among the massive wave of demons.

Kang-Woo wasn't at the front but at the rear.

His job wasn't to command the forces but to face demons that reached the level of a prince of Hell—demons that couldn't be beaten with just numbers.

Kang-Woo looked across the battlefield.

"Gwoooooo!!"

BOOM!!

Screaming, a giant demon that was dozens of meters tall swung down its club. A magic circle shone where it swung its club, and a huge explosion blasted out.

Crack!

BOOM!

Snow cascaded down in ever-increasing amounts along with a sound of something breaking.

An avalanche.

Si-Hun raised his sword.

"Tear the scrolls!!"

While preparing for war in a snowy environment, they had already expected the possibility of an avalanche being used against them. A flame barrier was created to protect the entirety of Guardians, which was about ten thousand in number.

"Arghh!"

"Sh-Shit!"

Of course, a few members who were just barely outside the barrier's range were taken by the avalanche.

Si-Hun stomped, sparing a glance at the soldiers being swept away by the avalanche.

"Advance!"

Si-Hun's scream announced the start of the battle.

The players quickly ran up the snow-covered mountain.

The Demon Cult forces took out their weapons and charged down the mountain in response.

The war started in earnest.

Slash!

"Blue Dragon Rampage!"

Si-Hun swung his sword while shouting the technique's name on purpose—it was a tactic they had prepared beforehand.

Dozens of sword energies spread from him and cut through the demons.

The picturesque young man massacred the demons, raising the morale of Guardians.

"Kill them!!"

"Filthy bastards!"

The clash between the Players and the Demon Cult truly began.

"Servants of light."

Raphael took a step forward while glaring at the demons. He raised his hand, and light gathered around it, creating a long spear.

"Those tainted by darkness…"

BOOM.

He aggressively stomped on the ground, and his eight wings extended outward.

"Receive the judgment of light."

"Judgment of light!!!!"

The angels spread their wings and soared into the sky, rushing down toward the demons clashing with Guardians' forces.

The clash between angels and demons, the servants of light and darkness; a giant and majestic battle straight out of legends was occurring right before their very eyes.

BOOM!

Fwoosh!

"Argh!!"

"DIIEE!"

Casualties piled up on both sides.

Although the Demon Cult had the advantage in number, Guardians had individuals far stronger than the demons.

Si-Hun and the Sirius Corps swept through the Demon Cult's forces, destroying their formations.

'He's doing a great job.'

Kang-Woo smiled in satisfaction as he looked at Si-Hun.

The demons were being pushed back thanks to Si-Hun and the Sirius Corps.

'As long as we keep this up…'

He licked his lips and sharpened his gaze.

'They'll have no choice but to come out.'

Numbers didn't matter when facing a prince of Hell, but if two beings of prince level fought and one of them had an army to back them up, that changed things.

The princes of Hell were not invincible; even if the attacks were weak and could barely scratch them, they wouldn't be able to ignore it as the damage accumulated, and the side that possessed the weaker force would lose.

The princes of Hell would definitely appear before their forces were wiped out.

"Now, it's time for you guys to get off of your fat a—"

Just then, he saw something strange.

Kang-Woo frowned.

"… What the hell's up with them?"

About five hundred cultists had thrown away the black robes and were stark naked.

They raised their hands into the sky as they knelt on the ground.

"O darkness, grant us your blessing!!"

"Bring ruin to the light!!"

Their madness-filled voices spread through the battlefield, garnering the attention of Guardians' forces, and…

Crack!!

Their flesh tore apart, and their intestines spewed out of their bodies and pooled on the ground along with their brains.

It was a horrible and disgusting scene.

Their corpses blended together, and black demonic energy rose up to link the five hundred corpses, giving rise to a giant monster.

"Graaaaaaahhh!!!!"

It was a monster with red skin.

Kang-Woo frowned.

"A Barbatos."

It wasn't an ancient demonic beast like the Halcyons that possessed intelligence, but it was still a demonic beast from the Ninth Hell.

Usually, demonic beasts didn't leave their habitat, but a Barbatos was an exception—it was notorious for roaming around and attacking anything in sight, whether it be a demon or a demonic beast.

"Fuck…"

A curse left Kang-Woo's mouth.

The Barbatos had a certain characteristic.

'I'm seriously about to hurl.'

Its body was made of corpses, and every time it moved, yellow pus poured down like a waterfall.

A horrible odor filled the battlefield.

"Blegh!!!"

"Wh-What is that?"

"Urp! Bleeeeegh!!"

'Man…'

It was a bad matchup.

The Guardians members were puking from the hideous appearance and the horrific stench of the demonic beast they had never seen before.

On top of that, demonic beasts were far stronger than demons in terms of physical strength.

Kang-Woo extended his hand and pulled a golden sword from nothingness.

He couldn't afford to stand around doing nothing as it rampaged.

BOOM.

"What a disgusting monster."

Raphael stepped up with a radiant spear in his hand as if he had thought the exact same thing as Kang-Woo.

An archangel emitting a brilliant light joined the battlefield along with the apostle of the God of Heroes.

"Huh?"

"Wow!"

The Guardians members' eyes widened at the sudden appearance of light.

The expressions of the angels and Watchers of Light brightened.

"Those tainted by darkness…"

"Those tainted by darkness…"

Kang-Woo and Raphael—two heroes, one emitting a golden light and the other a pure-white light—opened their mouths together.

"Receive the judgment of light!"

Slam!!

Kang-Woo stomped on the ground.

Raphael flew into the sky.

Del Lain crushed the Barbatos's head, and the spear of light pierced its body.

The vigorous Barbatos died instantly.

[You have finally appeared.]

A black Rift appeared from the Barbatos's corpse, darkness flowing from it. A red demon mask appeared from the shroud of darkness.

"Satan."

Kang-Woo raised his sword.

"I have come to judge you."

[You son of a…! Fuuu, fuuu.]

Satan's voice trembled after he saw Kang-Woo.

He tried his best to calm down, but it was difficult.

[Raphael!] Satan shouted. [Do you know that the man standing next to you is the demon king wearing a mask of mischief?!]

Before Raphael could say anything, Kang-Woo said in a tired voice, "There you go again with your lies."

BOOM!!

He aggressively stomped on the ground and glared at Satan.

"Satan!! Your evil acts have been exposed for the whole world to see!"

[What? You son of a—]

"I have not forgotten! We have not forgotten! You killed Protector Alec and Reynald, the successor of the God of Heroes!!"

[Alec? Rey… What? Who are they?]

"You bared your teeth against other demons and used them to satiate your horrible desires to fill the Demonic Sea!!"

[No, you're the one with the Demonic S—]

"You corrupted Saint Ludwig and are trying to commit the brutality of breaking his cycle of life!!"

[You crazy bastard!! I bet you were the one who corrupted Ludwig!!] Satan screamed. [I do not know who these Alec and Reynald people are!! I had not even been aware that the Watchers of Light had been on Earth!! Listen to me, Raphael!! This was all done by him. He planned all of—]

"Shut up, Satan!"

Rumble!!!

The mountain shook from Kang-Woo's rage, and a brilliant golden light filled the area as if the sun itself had descended on Earth.

The Watchers of Light couldn't help but kneel at such a magnificent sight, tears flowing from their eyes.

After interacting with Guardians, they learned about Kang-Woo's true identity as an apostle of Tirion, God of Heroes—a light that eradicated darkness.

As if proving that, Kang-Woo was emanating light with sacred power mixed within it.

Kang-Woo raised Del Lain.

"How dare you insult me! How dare you doubt me?! How dare you judge me!!"

'I am justice!'