After Ten Millennia in Hell

Cha Yeon-Joo stomped on the ground.

Dozens of red chains whipped the ground and lifted her off the ground. Then she swung the chains down, smashing them into the head of the demonic beast leading the charge.

"KIIEEKK!"

After being hit with the chains, the demonic beast looked as if it had melted. It exploded soon after.

The mage-class Players then rained down their spells on the demonic beast army.

BOOM!!

The demonic beasts screamed, and the smell of their burnt flesh wafted over the battlefield.

A burst of hot air blew over the Players. They stepped on the corpses of the demonic beasts and leaped forward, with the Tank-class Players moving to the front.

The Chinese Players had moved into action too. They didn\'t have many mage-class Players, but they had many martial artist Players with Qi.

They swung their weapons with superhuman strength, swiftly increasing the number of demonic beast corpses.

"Raahh!! Come at me, you bastards!"

Kang Tae-Soo, who was wielding a giant shield, smashed some demonic beasts with its pointy edge. Due to his monstrous appearance and size, it looked as if a demonic beast were hunting other demonic beasts.

"We\'ll be joining the battle too, captain."

"Man~ I can’t see an end to them! Hwa-Yeon, when this war is over, how about we go get some dinner togeth—"

"Captain Goo, I will leave the right side to you!"

"Ah…"

Baek Hwa-Yeon ran while covering herself with wind. Goo Hyun-Mo followed after her in disappointment.

"Graaaahhhh!"

The battle against the demonic beasts continued. The Players had the advantage because most of the demonic beasts had come from the First Hell. Of course, there were some strong demonic beasts among them like the Cerberus, but the same went for Players.

"Bring it on, you sons of bitches!"

Yeon-Joo extended her hands, and her red chains swept over the demonic beasts.

Hwa-Yeon ran toward her.

"Yeon-Joo! I\'ve come to help you!"

"I\'m okay! Besides that, how are the Chinese doing?"

"They\'re pushing through the demonic beasts with the Heavenly Sword Clan as their core."

"Ah, they\'re going too far up ahead," Yeon-Joo mumbled anxiously.

China had many melee-class Players, so Korea couldn\'t catch up with their charging speed.

"Hwa-Yeon! Tell that fox woman to slow down their charge!"

At this rate, the Korean and Chinese Players would become isolated from each other. If that were to happen, then there would be no point in fighting together in the first place.

Hwa-Yeon nodded and took out a crystal orb.

Nevertheless, she wasn\'t contacting Tian Suyan. Hwa-Yeon had no way of contacting her, and she probably wouldn\'t listen to her anyway.

"Kang-Woo, I have a request," Hwa-Yeon said.

[Go ahead.]

"Tell Tian Suyan to make the Chinese forces slow down their march. They\'re going too fast, and we can\'t catch up."

[Got it.]

The call ended.

Hwa-Yeon swung her sword with a hardened expression, splitting a demonic beast in two.

At the moment, the Players had the momentum. If things were to continue like this, then they would be able to win easily.

\'The problem is the demons.\'

It wasn\'t just demonic beasts that had appeared from the Rift. She\'d seen demons in the video. To make things worse, there were about a hundred of them.

As more information about the Demon Cult became public, she came to understand the difference between demonic beasts and demons. In terms of pure physical prowess, demonic beasts were stronger. However, demons possessed intelligence; it was hard to predict how they would act.

\'But he should be able to deal with it.\'

Hwa-Yeon looked in the direction that Oh Kang-Woo had gone.

Kang-Woo hadn\'t entered the battlefield yet. He was in charge of getting rid of the demons that could become a wild card.

\'I\'ll trust you.\'

Hwa-Yeon stepped forward and swung her sword. Wind formed at the sword\'s edge and sliced through another demonic beast.

* * *

"Yeah. Slow down your charge."

[Okay, Kang-Woo.]

After receiving the call from Hwa-Yeon, Kang-Woo called Tian Suyan and told her to have the Chinese army slow down their charge like Hwa-Yeon had requested. Suyan accepted without hesitation.

Kang-Woo then turned around and looked at the Chinese Players. He saw them slowing down their march at Suyan\'s command.

\'Tian Wuxian apparently couldn\'t participate because of shock.\'

Kang-Woo laughed after recalling how Suyan had become the commander of the Heavenly Sword Clan.

Tian Wuxian had become ill from shock after being overwhelmed by an unknown Korean Player. He wasn’t physically ill though; it was the effect of receiving a psychological shock.

\'He\'s truly just an extra.\'

Kang-Woo had a feeling that he wouldn\'t hear about Wuxian ever again.

Then Kang-Woo stood up and glanced at Han Seol-Ah, who was taking care of the wounded Players.

"Echidna," he called out.

"Yeah?"

"Stay here and protect Seol-Ah."

"What about you, Kang-Woo?"

Kang-Woo turned and looked at the Players who were fighting against demonic beasts. He got warmed up.

"I\'m gonna join the battle."

"Didn\'t you say you were gonna wait until the demons appeared?"

"Well, they\'re not appearing at all."

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

There were many demonic beasts around, but there wasn\'t a demon in sight. He had used the Authority of the Sky and searched the battlefield from midair, but he hadn\'t seen a single one.

\'The plan has gone awry.\'

He hadn\'t expected that he wouldn\'t be able to see a single demon.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue in disappointment.

\'I miscalculated.\'

He could surmise many things just from the fact that there wasn’t a demon in sight.

\'Their goal isn\'t war.\'

If the Demon Cult\'s goal involved winning the war, then there was no reason that they wouldn\'t take part in the battle. No, if that had been their goal from the beginning, they wouldn\'t have used such a brute-force strategy.

\'These demonic beasts are probably just fodder to them.\'

It was as if they were just throwing the demonic beasts away. They wouldn\'t have wasted the demonic beasts like this if they thought that the demonic beasts were an important part of their forces.

\'The purpose of the summoning was something else.\'

They weren\'t trying to do something by summoning demonic beasts and demons. He couldn\'t help but think that the summoning itself was their goal from the beginning.

\'And they\'re throwing the useless demonic beasts away.\'

It was like they\'d made miners charge into enemy territory after making them finish mining all the minerals. For the Demon Cult, those demonic beasts were just dregs they didn\'t want to deal with.

"Tsk."

Kang-Woo didn\'t like this. The Players were just disposing of the Demon Cult\'s leftovers.

It annoyed him to have to move as the Demon Cult wanted.

\'The demons must be somewhere else entirely, then.\'

Kang-Woo wasn’t sure, but he couldn\'t see any demons among the demonic beasts. His appetite, which had grown because of how long he\'d been waiting, lingered in his mouth in vain.

"Okay. I\'ll make sure no one hurts Seol-Ah. Hmph!" Echidna snorted.

Kang-Woo patted her head gently, and the snort became louder.

"Then I\'ll leave it to you."

"Okay."

He left Echidna behind and moved toward where the fight was happening.

The demonic beasts and Players were fighting intensely. Yet, Kang-Woo walked relaxedly toward the horrible battlefield as if he were on a walk.

"KIIEEKK!"

\'Where could they be?\'

The demonic beasts charged toward him. He lightly swung his hand, and the demonic beasts that were charging toward him exploded.

Kang-Woo kept walking. His steps were relaxed, but his speed was incredibly fast. He entered the enemy lines almost instantly. All of the demonic beasts that were waiting their turn to fight charged toward him.

"KRRRR."

"Graaaahhhh!"

\'They probably aren\'t far away.\'

He flicked his finger, and the ring changed forms. The Key of the Demonic Sea transformed into a giant shield, which the demonic beasts ran into.

Crack!

"KIIKK!"

The demonic beasts\' teeth were destroyed as they tried to bite the shield. Then when they scratched the shield, their claws were ripped out of their hands, and blood poured out.

Kang-Woo took a step forward.

\'Even though the demonic beasts rushed in recklessly, they were still lumped together.\'

"Graaahhh!"

\'Seeing how they aren\'t eating each other, someone must be controlling them.\'

"KIIEEKK!"

\'Where could they be hiding?\'

"KWEEKK!"

The demonic beasts charged toward the prey that had penetrated deep into enemy lines. Long thorns appeared on the shield, and the Key of the Demonic Sea rotated fiercely.

Whirrr!

The demonic beasts were sliced apart as if they\'d been put inside a blender. Flesh splattered in all directions.

The Cerberus, who was mixed among the demonic beasts, breathed flames at Kang-Woo. Nevertheless, he just raised his right hand and smacked the flames, causing them to burn the demonic beasts instead.

"GRRRR!"

The Cerberus opened its enormous mouth, which was big enough to easily devour a person whole, and targeted Kang-Woo.

Tap.

"Whine?!"

Kang-Woo grabbed one of the Cerebus’ teeth, which was the size of a person\'s head, and pulled it out. The Cerberus cried in pain.

The Kang-Woo continued cutting and slashing through the crowd of demonic beasts. Nonetheless, it didn\'t matter how far into the horde he went. He still didn’t see any demons.

Kang-Woo was starting to get annoyed. That wasn\'t what he\'d hoped for.

\'I guess I\'ll settle for eating these guys for now.\'

He used the Authority of Predation. Black smoke spread out and covered the Cerberus.

Crunch!

Its bones were crushed, and its skin was torn apart. Its whole body was absorbed by the black smoke.

"I knew it wouldn’t work on these guys."

The effect of the Trait \'Reaper of Souls\' had not activated, and his demonic energy stat hadn\'t increased. These demonic beasts were far too low quality. It was like how a high-level Player couldn\'t gain experience points even if they massacred monsters in a low-ranking Gate.

\'I need demons.\'

Kang-Woo was getting thirsty. His lips were getting dry.

There was no way he would be satisfied with creatures like these. A hunger that he couldn\'t feel with his demonic body stimulated his desire to consume. He had come here expecting delicious food, so it angered him to find there was nothing delicious.

"GRRR."

The demonic beasts moved back. Kang-Woo could see the fear in their eyes.

He resumed walking, and the demonic beasts backed off even more.

Right then…

Swoop!

A black hand appeared out of nowhere and tried to attack him.

Kang-Woo frowned as he grabbed the black hand. None of the demonic beasts around him were capable of such an attack.

"Hmm?"

Kang-Woo realized the hand that had targeted him was holding a piece of paper.

He picked up the paper, which had a note written in Korean with terrible handwriting.

[I want to talk.]

Kang-Woo\'s eyes narrowed.

"What the hell is this?"

Was it a meal ticket?