After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo took a glance at Kim Si-Hun, who held the holy sword with a sad expression on his face.

One couldn\'t say that Si-Hun\'s soul was completely pure.

Just taking into consideration what kind of person he was, one could say that he had a pure soul, but he was Kang-Woo\'s Familiar and was connected to him through the Authority of Subordination.

Their souls were deeply connected.

\'But it\'s at least not vomiting anymore.\'

Unlike how it was vomiting sacred power as if it were having a seizure, it now looked quite comfortable. Rather than accepting Si-Hun as its owner, it was as if it were saying that Si-Hun\'s soul was bearable.

\'Shit.\'

He thought he\'d be able to get a Mythic-grade weapon, but he had been unable to get it because the sword itself possessed an ego.

\'Well, I guess it\'s not terrible.\'

Kang-Woo glanced down at Si-Hun, who was holding the holy sword and looking down at Ludwig\'s corpse with eyes full of determination. Ever since his El Cuero Blade had been destroyed during his battle against Mammon, Si-Hun had been using a Unique-grade sword.

\'It\'s too low-grade for Si-Hun.\'

Phrases like "the quality of swords being pointless to a true swordsman" were complete shit. As one was able to control more power, a weapon durable enough to handle that power was crucial.

\'Tsk. It\'s too bad, but I guess it can\'t be helped.\'

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and turned his head. After all, he already had the Key of the Demonic Sea—a Transcendent-grade weapon. He had no reason to be so hung up over the holy sword.

\'Come to think of it, when is this thing gonna finish digesting?\'

Kang-Woo took a glance at his black ring, which wasn\'t reacting at all. It wasn\'t like he desperately needed a weapon at the moment, but not being able to use something he normally could was disappointing.

"Let\'s go back, Si-Hun."

"… Yes, hyung-nim."

Si-Hun nodded with a heavy expression on his face.

Kang-Woo turned around.

\'Angels, huh…?\'

He narrowed his eyes. He actually had no intention of going against the angels. Even in the case of Ludwig, if he had not had the power to locate the Demonic Sea, he wouldn\'t have done anything to him.

\'There\'s no reason to fight them.\'

As long as they didn\'t notice him, he had no reason to antagonize the angels… or that was what he had thought.

"Ngh."

His mind became a mess.

\'They\'re probably gonna keep coming.\'

Ludwig had died. Although Kang-Woo had no idea who had corrupted him or which demon had laid their hands on the Watchers of Light, one thing was for sure:

\'They won\'t stop here.\'

The goal of the angels was to eradicate demons from all dimensions linked to the Nine Hells. There was no way they would sit idly by after the death of a Watcher of Light, even if it had occurred in another world.

\'And there\'s no way that Raphael thinks lowly of Ludwig.\'

Although it was for an otherworldly matter, he had sent Ludwig to answer the request from the gods of Earth. No one sent the dregs of their organization or dispatched employees as diplomats. In other words, Ludwig was a very important individual to the celestial realm.

\'If that\'s the case…\'

Kang-Woo kept thinking. The more important Ludwig was to Raphael, the easier things became.

\'Of course, that\'s as long as the celestial realm doesn\'t have another item with the same capability as the holy sword Ludwig…\'

He\'d learned that there were items that could locate the Demonic Sea, which was a huge problem for Kang-Woo.

\'The chances aren\'t high.\'

No, he was sure it was close to zero.

He recalled Ludwig\'s last moments and how desperate he was to tell Raphael the truth.

\'If there were other items besides the holy sword Ludwig with such an ability…\'

Ludwig wouldn\'t have been so desperate.

If Raphael himself had the ability to locate the Demonic Sea, the truth would have been exposed even without Ludwig struggling so desperately with his life on the line.

Kang-Woo had to be careful about unexpected variables, but at this moment in time, it would be okay to think there was no other item capable of locating the Demonic Sea.

\'This is…\'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

A storyline started to be drawn in his head.

The forces of the celestial realm that would involve themselves with Earth in earnest and the Demon of Prophecy, Satan…

If he could direct both factions the way he wanted to, it wasn\'t a complicated plan to pull off.

\'Good.\'

A smile appeared on his face. Having a reliable ally was always welcome.

"Si-Hun…" Gaia was in deep sorrow after hearing Si-Hun\'s weeping. She turned her wheelchair and rolled to the source of the sound, probably to console Si-Hun.

"Gaia." Kang-Woo held Gaia\'s shoulder. "It would be best if we let Si-Hun be alone for the moment."

"Ah… B-But…"

"It\'s okay. He isn\'t one to despair because of something like this."

"…"

She lightly trembled. She seemed to be shocked that the forces of the celestial realm, which she had relied on, had been destroyed so thoroughly by a demon.

"Who could have done something so…"

"You know there is only one."

"…"

Gaia closed her mouth. She pictured a red demon mask appearing from an endless darkness.

"How many more atrocities must be committed… for him to be satisfied?" she said in a sad voice.

Kang-Woo put a bit more strength into his hand, which was over her shoulder. He lowered his head and spoke in a trembling voice that made it sound like he was suppressing his rage. "I will never forget what happened today."

"Kang-Woo…"

"I will make him pay, no matter what it takes."

The Demon of Prophecy, Satan…

There was no need to think deeply about the culprit behind Ludwig\'s corruption. The culprit of everything was the demon among demons—the absolute evil driving the world to its ruin. Satan had spread so much despair that the extent of this despair had become unfathomable.

"… You will be able to do it." Gaia nodded while holding back her tears.

Kang-Woo made a faint smile and took his hand off her shoulder.

* * *

[Hehehe. As expected of you, Master… You have brought me such wonderful material.]

It had been a week since Ludwig had been corrupted after falling for Satan\'s wicked scheme. Vaal Zahak smiled while looking at Ludwig\'s corpse, which Kang-Woo had brought him.

Kang-Woo sat on a chair inside the laboratory while making a tired expression. He had built a laboratory for Vaal Zahak inside Balrog\'s residence. It resembled a lab belonging to either a black mage or a mad scientist.

"It was extremely hard getting that, you know."

Kang-Woo sighed while leaning back in the chair. Switching Ludwig\'s corpse for a fake had been harder than initially thought.

Just as Kang-Woo had expected, the forces of the celestial realm had come to Earth soon after Ludwig\'s death. Angels like Raphael had yet to come, but a large number of Watchers of Light were busily investigating the truth behind Ludwig\'s death. Unlike Ludwig, they did not cooperate with Guardians and carried out their own investigations.

\'I get it.\'

From their point of view, Guardians members were also suspects. Even if Guardians was excluded from the list of suspects, they still couldn\'t trust Guardians.

After all, Guardians had not been able to do anything while Ludwig had been dying within a demon\'s trap.

And most of all, Si-Hun had been the one to kill Ludwig.

Even when there was footage of Ludwig\'s corruption, there was no way that they would trust the people of the world that they had sent their diplomat to.

\'This needs to be resolved, too.\'

It wasn\'t good for Guardians and the celestial realm to suspect each other. They were not enemies but comrades and allies who needed to band together against the powerful foe that was Satan.

In any case, swapping the corpse with a fake one had been extremely tiresome for Kang-Woo.

"So, how is it?" Kang-Woo asked while leaning back in the chair.

He\'d gone through all that trouble to get Ludwig\'s corpse because of the Abyss Knight, a superior form of the Death Knight that Vaal Zahak had mentioned.

[Wow. Ahh, good. Truly… phenomenal,] Vaal Zahak said as if he were high. He softly caressed Ludwig\'s corpse with his hands, which were nothing but bones.

"Is it that impressive?" Kang-Woo asked.

[Yes. I believe… we will manage to get something even more impressive than expected.]

"Oh?"

Kang-Woo\'s eyes shone. Just from Ludwig\'s battle against Balrog, Kang-Woo could tell that he was amazing. Even if Ludwig was the apostle of an archangel, being able to face Balrog was something worthy of respect.

\'But is it actually that impressive?\'

He was honestly a bit suspicious. From Kang-Woo\'s subjective point of view, the extraordinary thing had not been Ludwig himself but his holy sword. In other words, Kang-Woo thought that Ludwig\'s power, which had put him on par with Balrog, had been thanks to his equipment, not his own power.

[No, his physical body is not what is phenomenal about him.]

"Hm? Then what?"

[His vengeful soul. I can feel an enormous amount of resentment within it. I cannot even imagine how mortified he must have felt at the moment of his death.]

"…"

Kang-Woo went silent after hearing Vaal Zahak\'s words. He nodded, making a heavy expression.

\'I get it.\'

Ludwig\'s piety had been the real deal. He was so upright that he had even told the members of Guardians to run away while he was on the verge of death and his mind was being dominated by a demon. Satan had corrupted a saint of such character. It was hard to imagine what Ludwig had to suffer through when he was being corrupted.

\'I can\'t just sit here and do nothing about it.\'

He couldn\'t keep taking Satan\'s evil acts lying down.

Kang-Woo clenched his fists.

\'It\'s time to turn the tables.\'

A firm determination was imprinted in his mind.

* * *

At the end of a massive ice tunnel was a wriggling black sphere thirty meters in diameter. A portion of the black sphere had been severed as if a blade had cut through it. A woman with bandages all over her body approached the giant black sphere and knelt on one knee.

"Lord Satan."

[… What is it?]

The black sphere fluctuated.

Satan groaned as if enduring pain. Black blood poured from the place that seemed to have been cut with a blade.

"The apostles of Raphael are crossing over to Earth."

[Raphael…?] Satan asked in disbelief. [Are they chasing after Lucifer?]

"No. I am not sure of the exact circumstances, but… a demon has apparently brutally murdered one of Raphael\'s apostles."

[Hah.] Satan laughed in a mocking voice.

Raphael was one of the four archangels of the celestial realm. Satan knew the archangels very well.

[Which moronic demon decided to cross Raphael?]

Satan laughed in disbelief.