After Ten Millennia in Hell

After seeing that Kim Si-Hun had created a pillar of light and wiped out the demonic beasts, Kang-Woo had felt relieved, thinking that Si-Hun would be able to take care of whatever else that would happen.

But…

'What's going on?'

He'd only closed his eyes for a short while before he suddenly felt he was being sucked somewhere, causing him to open his eyes. He was then met with a situation he couldn't understand at all.

"Hmm?"

Kalgia looked at Kang-Woo in bewilderment. The man on the couch looked more like an unemployed bum than the Demon of Prophecy. He did not possess even an ounce of majesty.

"Could the summoning have failed…?"

Kalgia mumbled in confusion for a short while but shook his head.

'I did everything the Book of Hell stated.'

Kalgia had never imagined that someone lying on a couch while holding a beer and popcorn would appear, but based on his outer appearance, everything was as the Book of Hell described: a human with sharp eyes.

'That man is surely…'

The monster who had rewritten history in hell in just ten millennia and had risen to the pinnacle of demons.

The demon of demons, the Hell of Hells, the predator of predators. The master of the Demonic Sea and hundreds of Authorities, the one who had made all seven princes of Hell kneel before him.

'The Demon of Prophecy.'

Kalgia nodded.

It didn't matter how he looked…

The research that he had done on the Demon of Prophecy matched perfectly with the demon king. He had also poured the entirety of the Demon Cult's wealth and assets accumulated over several thousand years, just to track the Demonic Sea possessed by the demon king and summon him here.

'There is no way it failed.'

The summoning had been meticulously calculated for even the tiniest variables.

"Aaah!" Kalgia knelt. "O Demon of Prophecy…!!"

"What?"

Kang-Woo's eyes as Kalgia referred to him as the Demon of Prophecy.

"What the hell are you t—"

"We have been waiting all this time for your advent!!"

"The fuck d'you say?"

"I have discovered the truth! The truth that Satan had been pettily hiding all this time! Here! Please take a look at this! This book contains your true identity!"

"Wait just a fucking second."

Kang-Woo's eyes trembled.

The book Kalgia held…

It was the Book of Hell that Lilith had written and distributed to the Demon Cultists to enlighten them on the truth.

'What the actual fuck is happening?'

The situation was so complicated that he couldn't follow at all. The beer and popcorn fell from his hands.

"I have come to a realization after reading this book! You are the Demon of Prophecy feared by all the gods!"

'No.'

"The true evil that will bring about destruction to the whole world!"

'Fucking excuse me.'

"The one we needed to serve had never been Satan!"

'Stop.'

"O Demon of Prophecy!!"

'Stop, you motherfucker.'

"Please punish those ignorant humans and bring this world to ruin!!!"

'Stop, you crazy bastaaaaaaaard!!!'

Kang-Woo pulled on his hair. He finally understood what had happened.

'Lilith… you…'

Before he had met up with Lilith, she had distributed the Book of Hell within the Demon Cult. At that time, nothing much had happened. After all, from the Demon Cult's point of view, the Book of Hell was nothing but a fictional novel.

There was no way Satan, the being they served, was actually a loser, and a human had completely overthrown the power dynamic of Hell and rose to the pinnacle of all demons in just ten millennia.

No one would possibly believe such a thing.

'Or that's what I thought.'

Kang-Woo glared at Kalgia, the black mage who seemed to have lost his mind.

'For fuck's sake.'

Someone who believed in such a groundless novel had appeared. And to make things worse, the one who'd believed in it was the last remaining Aspect of Evil.

"…"

Kang-Woo turned his head in silence.

'Oh, fuck.'

He felt lots of stares directed at him—from Gaia, Si-Hun, Cha Yeon-Joo, Tian Wuchen, and many other comrades with whom he had built up trust. There were also the gazes of the Sirius Corps members, who were acquainted with him, as well as the gazes of Shalgiel and the other angels.

"H-Hyung-nim…?"

Si-Hun's face had turned pale, and his voice trembled. He was trembling as if he were looking at his worst possible nightmare.

"…"

Kang-Woo remained silent.

No, there was nothing he could do besides be silent. There was only one way to describe his current situation…

'I'm fucked.'

There was no better way to describe it than that.

Kang-Woo's expression paled.

This wasn't something that could be resolved by pulling some Warrior of Light bullshit like he had done in the incident with Balrog. He was just fucked. The situation had become so messed up that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Hm?"

Kalgia looked around. It was only obvious he would react that way since one of the retainers of Gaia, who had come to stop the ritual, had referred to the Demon of Prophecy as 'hyung-nim.'

"What is going o—"

Bash!

Kang-Woo extended his hand.

Kalgia's head exploded, splattering brain matter everywhere.

'Shut up for a second.'

Letting Kalgia talk would only make the situation worse.

"H-Hyung-nim!! What in the world is…"

"Hey!! S-Say something! Y-You're not, right? There's been some sort of mixup, right?!"

Si-Hun and Yeon-Joo shouted in confusion.

Of course, they already knew that Kang-Woo had been a demon in the past, but not the fact that he was the Demon of Prophecy, the incarnation of evil, who would bring ruin to the whole world.

"Kuh… That human… has deceived us!" Shalgiel exclaimed.

"No!" Si-Hun refuted. "There has to have been some sort of issue! There is no way hyung-nim is the Demon of Prophecy!!"

"Shut your mouth! Is it not obvious enough after what you have just seen?!" Shalgiel pointed at Kang-Woo. "Everyone here must have felt how immense and evil the demonic energy coming from the ritual was!"

It was true.

When the ritual was at its peak, a huge black Rift appeared in the air, and a breathtaking amount of demonic energy had come out of it.

"And the one that appeared from that demonic energy was that human! Even the Aspect of Evil called him the Demon of Prophecy! What more evidence do you need?!"

Shalgiel glared at Kang-Woo.

"Even Lady Gaia has said it herself!! Satan has never been the Demon of Prophecy! If that is the case, then that human must be the cause of everything! He had manipulated Satan and orchestrated everyth—"

"What the fuck are you talking about, you piece of shit?!"

Yeon-Joo stomped on the ground. Red mana burst from her body, and her chains rose into the air.

"That guy might not be the good and honest hero you think he is! But still…! Even so…!!" She shouted out, "He isn't capable of committing such atrocities!!"

If Kang-Woo was the Demon of Prophecy, it would be correct to assume that everything that Satan had done until now was at Kang-Woo's orders. Satan himself had admitted that he had relations with the Demon of Prophecy.

Then if Satan really was a subordinate of the Demon of Prophecy, it meant that Alec Osborne's death, the brutal murder of the hero Reynald, and the corruption of Ludwig had all been orchestrated by Kang-Woo.

"You have all been deceived by that demon all along!! How do you still not realize it after what you just s—"

"Shut up."

"… What?"

"I said, shut up." Si-Hun pointed his holy sword at Shalgiel. "You know nothing."

The tip of the sword trembled.

"You know nothing about Kang-Woo hyung!!!" Si-Hun shouted. "You have no right to say such things when you know nothing about what he had gone through and the weight on his shoulders!"

"And I am telling you all of that had been a lie—"

"Shut up!!" Si-Hun shouted.

However, his grimace and his voice filled with confusion and rage were enough to know that not even he was sure what was true.

"Hyung-nim! Please say something!"

Si-Hun turned his head to Kang-Woo—the one whom he admired and loved the most.

"…"

"Please… hyung-nim…" Si-Hun said drearily while on the verge of tears. He sounded like he was about to collapse at any moment.

Kang-Woo remained with his mouth shut while looking at Si-Hun. Unlike his blank expression, there was a huge storm within his mind.

'What the fuck am I supposed to say in this situation?!' he inwardly shouted.

He felt like his head was about to explode. He was surprised at how he could remain so calm on the outside.

'Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!!!'

He was truly fucked.

He was so fucked that there was absolutely nothing he could possibly do.

'What should I do?'

He needed a way to free himself from this absolute shitstorm of a situation.

'Should I claim the Demon Cult summoned me by mistake?'

That was the first thought that crossed his mind.

Kang-Woo bit his lip.

'No.'

He shook his head.

Things had gotten far too big for him to claim that it was a mistake.

People with whom he had built up a high level of trust, such as Si-Hun, Yeon-Joo and Gaia, were sure to believe him, but…

Kang-Woo looked at Shalgiel. He and the other angels were looking at him with hostility.

"Wh-What?"

"What's going on?"

"Isn't that person Captain Kim Si-Hun's sworn brother?"

"Ah! The one that had been surrounded by golden light last time!"

"Then why…"

As for the other Players, they were looking around as if they couldn't understand what was happening.

'There's no way I'll be able to deceive everyone.'

Leaving Players aside, being doubted by the angels would be the worst possible outcome. Raphael was not the only problem; behind him were the other archangels as well as the gods. It would be no different from becoming the public enemy of every world.

'Shit.'

Kang-Woo frowned.

'Think.'

He needed to find a way to resolve this demented situation—a way to flip the worst possible situation on its head.

'I'm sure there's a way.'

There's no way there wasn't a way out.

He was used to these kinds of situations, and he had always overcome them.

'A way…'

Kang-Woo's eyes widened. Shivers ran across his entire body.

'Yes.'

The ends of his mouth went up, and he clenched his fists. If he thought about it, the answer was quite simple; there had not even been a need to think so deeply about it.

'I see.'

There was one way to resolve everything.

"Hyung-nim!! Please say something!!"

Kang-Woo raised his head and looked at Si-Hun, who was screaming at him.

Tap.

He leaped forward and raised his fist.

Bash!!

"Kurgh!!"

He punched the desperately screaming Si-Hun in the face without hesitation.