After Ten Millennia in Hell

All the demons' corpses turned into black smoke and dissipated. Not only that, but the Demon Cultists had also paid the price for their crimes.

There was a short silence.

Oh Kang-Woo's companions were breathing heavily after fighting against the demons.

"Wave of Light."

Han Seol-Ah opened both arms and cast magic. The symbol of angel wings on her back started to emit light, and it spread to other people.

The panting people looked at her in surprise.

"This is…"

"Amazing."

It wasn't magic that just healed wounds. They felt that the fatigue and mental stress they'd accumulated while fighting was being healed.

"Since when could you use magic like this?" Kim Si-Hun asked in surprise.

There were many healers who could heal wounds, but the number of healers who could heal accumulated fatigue was extremely low. Add mental stress to that equation, and it was no longer in the realm of healing.

"It's thanks to the Trait I obtained on my Eighth Awakening."

"That's incredible."

It was honestly a surprise. That's how special Seol-Ah's healing magic was.

'Come to think of it, the buff effect was incredible as well,' Si-Hun thought.

The reason why Si-Hun had been able to face Halphas, one of the three demons he had faced before, was thanks to the buff she'd applied to him. He had never heard about a buff that boosted one's stats by an absolute value.

"N-Not at all."

Seol-Ah blushed in shyness because of the attention. But there was a smile on her face. Not many people disliked being recognized and praised, after all.

Seol-Ah looked at Kang-Woo. She clenched her fists in excitement.

"Kang-Woo, you must be more tired than the rest, so I'll cast my magic on you one more time."

Seol-Ah trotted toward him, grabbed his hand, and used magic again.

To be honest, two out of the three demons had been defeated by Kang-Woo, so, in reality, she hadn't said anything wrong.

"Thanks," Kang-Woo said while smiling.

A smile appeared on Seol-Ah's mouth.

Kang-Woo looked down at the light flowing out of her and entering him.

'The effect is certainly incredible.'

It was as if the fatigue that had accumulated after fighting the demons disappeared.

After Kang-Woo had surpassed 120 in the Demonic Energy stat, Seol-Ah's buffs had stopped boosting his stats, just like how the Black Pearl Coat's stat boost effect no longer applied to him.

That was why he thought it would be hard for him to get help from Seol-Ah while fighting, but it seemed he'd underestimated her.

'Mm.'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

It wasn't like she'd received the soul of the Martial God like Si-Hun; she also hadn't been chosen by the Gaia System like the other Guardians members. But still, he could feel an unknown energy coming from her.

'What could it be?'

He couldn't tell.

Kang-Woo shook his head while thinking about it. There was nothing more stupid than trying to get an answer to a question he couldn't even begin to solve.

'I'll just have to keep my eye on her.'

That was all he could do for the moment. Rather than getting an answer, solving the situation at present was more important.

"That aside, is it over now?" Cha Yeon-Joo asked.

Kang-Woo nodded.

"I can't feel anything around here. It seems like it's more or less over," he calmly answered.

Actually, the Demon Cult's plan wasn't over yet. The Demon Cult was probably working fervently to summon a being from the Ninth Hell at this very second.

'I shouldn't throw a wrench in their admirable works.'

It would be ideal to attack them right after they summoned the demon of the Ninth Hell.

'I guess we could stay here for a bit and then give some sort of excuse to take action.'

He'd already been told where the summoning ritual was taking place. He thought it would be okay if they moved out once he felt a huge amount of demonic energy.

'Very good.'

Kang-Woo smiled, as everything was going according to his plans.

It was at that moment…

"Ah…"

A short exclamation left Gaia's mouth. She fumbled her hands in the air.

"What's wrong?" Si-Hun said with a worried expression.

Expression stiff, Gaia opened her mouth and said, "Lady Gaia herself has… given me a quest."

"What?"

"Just a second, please. I will share it with you all."

She waved her hand in the air, and a blue message window appeared in front of them.

Riiing.

[Commencing the S-rank unique quest.]

[Quest Details: Stop the summoning of a demon of the Ninth Hell.

Reward: None.

P.S: I'm so…rry… my chil…dren. This is the only… thing I can do… right… now.]

'What the hell is this?'

Kang-Woo frowned after reading the quest window that appeared in front of him. But he soon realized what Gaia had done.

'That fucking troll!'

He frowned.

She'd let them know through a quest that the Demon Cult's summoning plan was not over yet and that they were trying to summon a demon of the Ninth Hell.

'Motherfucker…!'

He could understand why she'd done that.

She probably couldn't stay idle while looking at her children relaxing while thinking they had defeated their enemies. The intentions were good. If he hadn't known they were trying to summon a demon of the Ninth Hell, it would have been of great help.

'But why now of all times?'

Even if her intentions had been good, if the result was an absolute cesspool, it meant nothing.

Gaia's quest was about to ruin his perfectly crafted plan.

'At least give us a reward.'

Seeing that there was no reward, it seemed as if her power to interfere with the system was also diminishing. It hurt his head watching a god waste her power over things like this.

'Think.'

The gears in his head went into overdrive.

Now that the rest had discovered that the demon summoning ritual hadn't ended, he had no choice but to find another way.

"This is…"

"It seems the summoning ritual isn't over yet." Gaia kept talking as her expression hardened. "We must stop a demon from the Ninth Hell from being summoned."

Yeon-Joo approached and asked, "I mean, do we even need to stop them, considering how strong Kang-Woo is now?"

She'd seen how he had overwhelmingly massacred dozens of demons. She'd almost felt sorry for the demons, so it was true that she didn't feel the need to stop them.

"Yes, we do," Gaia expressed.

Although they had been able to defeat the demons easily thanks to Kang-Woo's help, the situation would change if the key demon of this summoning ritual were to be summoned.

Although Kang-Woo was a hero who had earned the power of a god, they weren't sure if he'd be able to fight a demon from the deepest layer of Hell.

"Gaia is right. We must stop them as soon as possible." Kang-Woo took a step forward. He continued in a loud voice, "It's not like I'm lacking the confidence to face a demon of the Ninth Hell, but it's much more simple and surefire to prevent them from being summoned altogether."

"Kang-Woo is right," Gaia agreed with him. "In that case, we should first figure out where the summoning ritual is taking place…"

"I might have an idea of where that could be."

"You do?"

"Yes." Kang-Woo nodded. "Right after receiving the quest, I've been feeling an unpleasant energy through Lord Tirion's power."

He once again used Tirion as an excuse. It was a cheat code on the same level as Satan.

People reacted after he said he'd felt something unpleasant.

"Where?"

"Follow me."

Kang-Woo turned and began running. He took them in the opposite direction of where the summoning was taking place.

'I need to stall for time!'

That was the best option he had at the moment. He had to stall until the Demon Cult could successfully finish the summoning ritual.

'Dammit, you Demon Cultists! You'd better not fail after I'm going this far for you!'

It was a desperate mental shout.

Kang-Woo took them in a completely different direction.

'Come on!'

Ten minutes passed…

"How much further, hyung-nim?"

"We're almost there."

Twenty minutes…

"Hyung-nim, At this rate, the summoning ritual will—"

"This way! Just five more minutes!"

Thirty minutes…

"Kang-Woo, are you sure we're going the right w—"

"We're really almost there! It's literally right in front of us!"

'FUUUUUUUUUCK!'

He couldn't help but curse.

'What's taking them so fucking long?'

It was understandable that he'd be annoyed. The more they went in the direction he was guiding them, the weaker the demonic energy became, and the demonic beasts were nowhere in sight. Their trust in him was naturally plummeting.

'Please, just get it done already!'

He couldn't misguide them forever.

He was about to burst into a fit of rage from how goddamn slow the Demon Cult was.

'Please.'

BOOM!!

As if his desperate prayers had reached the heavens, a giant pillar of demonic energy soared into the sky with an explosive boom.

'Finally!'

Kang-Woo's eyes shone.

'They finally did it!!'

"O-over there!"

"Everyone, quick!"

They ran toward the massive black pillar. Kang-Woo gulped while looking at it.

'It's at least an archdemon.'

Archdemons were among the strongest in the Ninth Hell. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders and his steps became lighter; he was almost proud for being able to deceive his allies for 30 minutes.

Kang-Woo arrived at the summoning ritual with shining eyes.

"I-Intruders!"

"Kuh! So you've come this far!"

As expected from a ritual to summon an archdemon from the Ninth Hell. Unlike the other summoning ritual areas where there were five to six people at most, there were at least fifty people here.

'Nice!'

He raised his weapon while smiling.

"Your evil scheme ends here!" he shouted.

'You did it, you sons of bitches!'

Although they had been slow as hell, they'd managed to do it.

Kang-Woo's smile was hidden behind his mask.

'Now, let's see who you summoned, shall w—'

He looked at the black Rift.

And…

"Hahaha! You're too late, damn retainers of gods!!"

"Now that he has come, you will not be able to escape death!"

Step, step.

A giant, five-meter-tall demon emerged from the black Rift.

He had a muscular body with red skin, goat horns on his forehead, bat wings, and a long tail.

Just feeling his destructive energy was enough to suffocate them.

The Demon Cultists knelt.

"Bow! Bow in worship! Behold an archdemon of the Ninth Hell!"

"The Lord of Destruction, Balrog!!!"

"…"

There was silence.

The demon that had walked out of the Rift opened his mouth.

[So this is Earth?]

"It is, my lord!!"

[Who are you all?]

"We are loyal servants of demons! Mortals that yearn for immortality!"

[Hmm.]

The giant demon turned his head as if he wasn't interested.

Just then, the eyes of Kang-Woo and the demon met.

[Huh?]

"…"

Kang-Woo was wearing a mask. In other words, his disguise was only a thin piece of material covering his face. But Balrog had spent thousands of years with him, so the fact that he was wearing a mask meant nothing.

[M-My lord Demon King!]

Balrog knelt.

[Finally, I've gotten to meet you again at last! You have no idea how much I have longed to see you again after hearing the news from Doomguard!!]

Boom!

He slammed his forehead into the floor.

[My king!! I, Balrog, have come to you once again to pledge my loyalty to you!!]

"…"

There was a heavy silence.

No one said anything.

There was no way they could say anything.

Sensing everyone's eyes on him, Kang-Woo turned his head and slowly opened his mouth.

"I don't know what he's talking about."

[Aahh! My lord Demon King!]

"I really have no idea."

[Sniff! I have missed you so much!]

"I don't know who that demon is."

[My kiiiiiiiiiing!!!]

"…"

Silence fell once again.

He felt that everyone was staring at him. A curse left his mouth.

"Fuck."

He was fucked.