After Ten Millennia in Hell

Shortly before she vanished, she looked at Oh Kang-Woo and said, "Be careful."

Before Kang-Woo could ask what she was telling him to be careful of, she said, "If Gaia's condition continues to worsen, outer gods will descend on this world."

"…"

"I helped you because I owed a debt to Gaia, but you'd better not expect that from them."

Kang-Woo already suspected as much.

He nodded. "I will keep that in mind."

Honestly, nothing would change even if he knew that outer gods would descend if Gaia worsened. After all, there was no way to resolve the issue at its core. No, there was a way to solve it all, but he couldn't do it because he was the Demon of Prophecy, the origin of the problem.

'I can't offer my life to save the world.'

There were all sorts of people in the world, and some heroes would probably be willing to risk their lives to save everyone.

'But…'

At the very least, he was not one of them.

Even when he had fallen into Hell, he had fought relentlessly, desperately, and miserably, all for the sake of survival. Was he supposed to sacrifice himself to save the world after everything he'd gone through?

'Not a chance.'

He was going to try to survive, no matter what.

It was a simple issue. If the problem was that beings from other worlds were crossing dimensions because of him, he would just need to kill them all.

"In that case… I'll leave this world in your hands. I'm not sure if we will ever meet again, but I will pray for you."

Benigoa turned fully transparent and disappeared.

Kang-Woo smirked. It seemed a little ironic for a god to pray.

'I guess real gods are different from the concept that we have of gods.'

One true almighty god had not established the providence of the universe. Rather, there were numerous gods categorized by rank, and conflicts existed between them. Each god had their own individual characteristics.

'They aren't perfect.'

In that case, they can be fought and killed.

No…

'They can be eaten.'

Kang-Woo smiled and looked down at his hands. He closed his eyes and felt the power the goddess from another world had given him.

'Not bad.'

To be honest, it did not meet his expectations of what he thought a god's gift would be. His Demonic Energy stat hadn't gone up much either because it was so high, but a gift was a gift.

It hadn't required effort on his part, so he couldn't complain.

'I mean, it's actually a pretty sick gift.'

After hunting Mammon, his Demonic Energy stat had only increased by five points.

Considering that the higher one's stat became, the harder it was to raise it, he wasn't sure if his Demonic Energy would rise by five if he ate another prince of Hell.

'It's not like the other stats are useless either.'

An absolute rise of ten points was no different than equipping a bunch of Legendary-grade equipment.

Kang-Woo turned around with a smile. He could feel everyone staring at him as he was bathed in light.

"Thanks, guys."

He had received Benigoa's gift thanks to Kim Si-Hun and his other comrades.

'It sure is important to be on the straight and narrow.'

No one had lied to Benigoa. It did not seem that every god could detect lies, but Benigoa most surely would have noticed if anyone had told her a poor lie. She hadn't suspected him because she had felt how much everyone present trusted Kang-Woo.

'To be honest, I'm a bit moved.'

It wasn't enough to make him shed tears, but he felt a warmth in his heart.

It had only been a little over a year since he had returned to Earth, but the relationships he'd built in that short period of time couldn't compare to the ones he'd made in Hell.

In Hell, he had many subordinates with unconditional trust in him, but there was a limit to their emotional bonding.

Each of his comrades said something.

"No. Even if we hadn't done anything, I'm sure she would have figured out your true nature, hyung-nim."

'She shouldn't.'

"The goddess surely realized how much of a warm person you are, Kang-Woo."

'I don't think she did.'

"It would have been great if she could have helped us defeat the Demon of Prophecy…"

'Darling, if she'd done that, I would've been done for.'

"Haha! This is all thanks to your good deeds, hyung-nim!"

'Of course, I worked my fucking ass off.'

The scene was so moving it could have been straight out of a movie, but Kang-Woo couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.

'Shouldn't the ending credits appear at this point?'

If so, things would've been just right. He sighed and turned around.

"I'll be back in a bit."

"Where are you going, Kang-Woo?" Echidna asked.

"I want to test out the power that I just received."

"I wanna go too," Echidna said while grabbing his sleeve.

Kang-Woo nodded and held her hand.

"…"

He could feel Si-Hun staring at his back.

Si-Hun looked down at his hands with a dark expression.

'Oh boy, Si-Hun.'

It was easy to guess why he was making such an expression.

'You must be going through a severe inner struggle.'

A swordsman who couldn't hold a sword…

It was hard to imagine the disabling feeling Si-Hun was experiencing. And while he was struggling, the hyung-nim he respected so much had received the power of a god.

'He's probably thinking that I'm getting further and further from him.'

It was an undeniable truth. Kang-Woo was becoming stronger at a faster pace than he had expected, and he would soon be able to surpass his old self.

No matter how talented Si-Hun was, it was ultimately in a relative sense. His sense of deprivation had likely reached a severe level.

'I need to do something about it.'

Kang-Woo couldn't stay still and do nothing. He didn't think it would make Si-Hun crumble, but he still had to give him a slight push forward.

"Let's go."

He turned with Echidna. He couldn't push Si-Hun immediately.

'Once a bit more time passes…'

Once Si-Hun became more desperate and got to the point of complete despair…

'I'll take advantage of that moment.'

* * *

[Huff, huff.]

Clenching his chest, Balrog breathed heavily. The ground around him and Kang-Woo had melted down, and an intense wave of heat had wiped out everything around them along with the smoke. Balrog collapsed to the ground, trembling in excitement.

[H-Hehehe.]

He could see yellow flames surrounding Kang-Woo.

[As expected of the Demon King.]

"Mm…"

Despite Balrog's praise, Kang-Woo expressed dissatisfaction. He looked at the yellow flames burning in the palms of his hands.

'It's a bit of a letdown.'

He was not thinking that the Authority of Blaze was a letdown; he was disappointed in himself.

'To think it would be so hard to control.'

He had never used a prince's Authority before, and he wasn't a genius—he didn't have the capability to memorize things just by looking at them once like Si-Hun. Although Kang-Woo could theoretically use 666 Authorities, there was a reason why he only used the ones he was familiar with.

[Hmm? Is there something bothering you?]

"I didn't like it. I never thought Mammon's Authority would be so difficult to control."

[But from our battle just now—]

"You didn't go all out, did you?"

[…]

He hit the nail in the coffin.

Balrog sighed and nodded.

"Be honest. How was it?"

[I felt that you were weaker than your usual self. Of course, the demonic energy itself was as thick as what you had back in Hell, but…]

"It was clumsy, is what you're trying to say?"

[Yes.] Balrog continued, [My wounds have not been fully healed, so I cannot give you an exact answer, but I can say that it was weaker than Mammon.]

"I see."

Kang-Woo nodded.

There was no reason to be disappointed. Mammon had used the Authority of Blaze for tens of thousands of years, so there was no way Kang-Woo would be able to use the Authority better than him.

"I'm gonna have you practice with me for a while."

Until now, there was no point in Kang-Woo training since he had far surpassed the realm of getting better through practice. However, the situation had changed.

He might never get to Mammon's level, but he needed to be able to control the Authority of Blaze well enough to use it in combat.

[As you command, my king.] Balrog smiled.

"That aside, how are your injuries?"

[They have gotten much better. I will be fully healed in a few days.]

Kang-Woo bit his thumb. His flesh split, and black blood dripped.

"Drink."

[… There is no need for you to use the Authority of Regeneration. I will heal naturally over ti—]

"Bullshit. It was obvious you were hurting when you were making intense movements."

[…]

Balrog remained silent. He sniffled and then, looking as if he was about to cry, hugged Kang-Woo tightly.

[MY KIINNGG!!!]

"Kurgh! G-Get off me, man!!"

A five-meter-tall giant was hugging him tightly. Kang-Woo could handle Balrog's strength since he was just as strong, but he couldn't stop the smell from penetrating his nose. It was a horrible smell that poured out of Balrog's muscles, covering him.

[Hahahahaha!! It is truly my life's honor to be serving you, my king!]

"No fair, Balrog. Me too." Echidna, who had been silently watching, also hugged Kang-Woo.

'So this must be Heaven and Hell.'

Kang-Woo closed his eyes while feeling the difference in texture on both sides.

Time passed.

* * *

Clatter!

"Pant! Pant!"

Si-Hun's sword fell out of his hand. He collapsed. Tears dripped down from his eyes.

"I'm sorry for…"

The voice. He could hear that sickening voice. He clasped his mouth as nausea surged. The red demon mask was laughing at him mockingly.

"U-Urgghh," he groaned.

It had been three months since he had been absorbed in his training to wield a sword again. He had barely slept. Nothing had changed, and he hadn't improved at all. He still couldn't properly hold a sword.

"Aaarrrggghhh!!!!"

He cried in despair. He slammed his head down on the floor along with his fists.

Kang-Woo's back, which he could vaguely see, was getting even farther. He could no longer see his back; all he saw was darkness.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!"

BOOM. BOOM.

He shouted while clenching his head. He grabbed his sword as he bit his lip so hard that it bled.

Clatter.

The sword dropped onto the floor again.

* * *

"It's about time."

Kang-Woo's eyes shone as he looked through the training room wall and watched Si-Hun cry.

'It's time to power up.'

If a hero was born from despair…

"I'll just have to make that despair."

Kang-Woo smiled.