After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo opened his eyes from the ray of sunlight seeping in through the window.

"What was that?"

He thought about the previous night\'s dream.

He had dreamed about being on a boat in the ocean over the sunset, and he was being embraced by none other than Han Seol-Ah. It was a very happy dream, but his clothes were drenched in sweat as if it had been a nightmare.

\'Was I that nervous?\'

Although he wasn\'t showing it, he honestly felt very bad about what he had done this time. If their relationship with the angels collapsed, it wouldn\'t just be his problem; Guardians, Players, and the entirety of humanity would be dragged into the mess he made if it escalated to war.

"Ngh."

Kang-Woo lifted his blanket.

"…?"

His clothes were in disarray. His pants were halfway down, and his shirt was unbuttoned.

\'What\'s this?\'

He touched a red mark on his chest; there were several of them. They looked similar to when the suckers of Lilith\'s tentacles attached to him.

"… Had Lilith stopped by?"

Kang-Woo tilted his head and got up. He tidied up his clothes and was about to leave the room when…

"Hmm, something like that happened…?"

He heard Lilith\'s voice from outside.

Kang-Woo nodded. Like he had thought, Lilith had stopped by. He was just about to open the door when he stopped to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Yes. I heard… he kissed Kang-Woo."

"Hah. That fucking pigeon… Oh my, hoho. My apologies. I got a little worked up."

"No, I was thinking the same thing."

"My, my. I guess we were thinking the same thing, Seol-Ah."

"Yes. I would like to tear the wings off that damn angel Uriel, or whatever his name is, and shove them down his thr—Oh, I-I\'m sorry. I ended up saying something weird."

"No need to worry~ I did the same thing."

They were speaking very calmly to one another, but it was unsettling for some reason.

Kang-Woo\'s mouth fell open.

\'Seol-Ah and Lilith?\'

Based on the atmosphere of their conversation as well as its content, they seemed to have become very close to each other.

"So… what will you do, Seol-Ah?"

"Hoho. It had been for no other purpose than first aid, so I won\'t be doing anything."

"Oh, but your eyes tell me otherwise."

"Ah."

What was she planning on doing exactly?

"I guess you caught me," Seol-Ah remarked.

"Fufu. Didn\'t you know that I was the chief of staff in the demon king army? I have a good eye for that kind of thing."

"Actually, I\'ve been thinking of asking for your help regarding th—"

Clack!

Kang-Woo swung open the door.

"Top of the mornin\' to ya!"

"Oh, good morning, Kang-Woo."

"Hohoho. You seem to be chipper first thing in the morning, my king."

Lilith and Seol-Ah waved to Kang-Woo. Lilith got up and bowed her head.

"Congratulations on the plan\'s success. After you left, I checked on Uriel… and it seems he has been completely deceived."

"Uhh, mm."

Kang-Woo nodded in puzzlement. As he turned his head, he saw Echidna and Halcyon on the living room couch, hugging each other while trembling in fear.

\'Why the hell…\'

Echidna quickly walked toward Kang-Woo.

"Kang-Woo, Kang-Woo. Seol-Ah is acting wei—"

"My, what are you talking about?" Seol-Ah asked.

As Echidna was desperately trying to tell Kang-Woo something, Seol-Ah grabbed her hand. She then hugged Echidna and smiled.

"S-Seol-Ah."

"Come with me for a second."

Seol-Ah dragged Echidna into her room.

Echidna sent S.O.S. signals to Kang-Woo with her teared-up eyes.

"K-Kang-Woo…"

Clack.

The door closed. Nothing could be heard inside.

"…"

Kang-Woo remained silent as he stood in place. His head was in a jumble. As he staggered toward the couch and sat down, Halcyon scooted over to him.

Lilith, in the form of Kurosaki Yurie, approached Kang-Woo with elegant steps and stood across from him.

"I have come in hopes of hearing about how we will be settling this affair."

"Mm."

Kang-Woo nodded and organized his jumbled thoughts. The plan itself had been very important, but settling the chaos afterward was just as important.

\'The angels will probably be in an uproar.\'

One of the four archangels had died. Not only did the angels not know who the Demon of Prophecy was, they were also being completely made for fools by one of the Four Heavenly Kings following the Demon of Prophecy.

\'I have to make good use of this situation.\'

If he took this opportunity to consolidate their relationship with the angels, he would be able to make his moves far more easily. In the first place, if Raphael had fully trusted Guardians, he wouldn\'t have ordered Shalgiel to investigate them, and then Shalgiel wouldn\'t have learned of Seol-Ah\'s existence.

"What\'s Uriel doing?"

"He is currently gathering the corpses of Shalgiel and the other angels. He is also clearing out the rest of the Undead loose within the fortress by himself."

"I see."

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. He tapped on his thigh with his finger. Halcyon stared at Kang-Woo\'s finger with his mouth open.

"What do you personally think about the state Uriel is in?"

"Mm…"

Lilith fell into silence as if she were organizing her thoughts.

"I believe he is in severely critical condition."

"Critical?"

"Yes, he seems to have suffered considerable psychological shock. His face was as white as a sheet. Moreover, his process of clearing out the Undead is extremely temperamental."

"Are angels usually that emotional? Raphael and Shalgiel only looked like demon-killing machines."

"I am not sure either, but just as demons have desires, angels may also have some constraints that allow them to sustain their eternal life."

"Could be. They\'d all be devoid of emotions if that weren\'t the case."

Kang-Woo nodded. The bodies of demons amplified desire for a reason; like all living things, they had evolved to survive. To prevent their emotions from being worn down with the passage of time, they had no choice but to place the constraint of amplifying their desire on their bodies.

"Well… I guess it isn\'t bad news."

Kang-Woo smiled. The bigger the shock, the thinner one\'s psychological defenses became. For example, he had been able to easily make Halcyon their ally because he/she possessed deep trauma.

\'If I make good use of it…\'

His relationship with Uriel would surpass members of an alliance and become allies in the truest sense.

\'It\'s more likely than with Raphael.\'

Kang-Woo had kept his distance from Raphael because of Raphael\'s obsession with eradicating demons, but Kang-Woo did not see that same obsession in Uriel.

"I should make some time to go see him."

"What will you have us do…?"

"Making fake bodies for Vaal Zahak and Balrog takes immediate priority. Their movements will be highly restricted in their demon bodies."

"I understand."

"Also, try to figure out if there\'s a way to hide Seol-Ah\'s power."

If angels could see Seraph in Seol-Ah just by looking at her, it would be a problem to recklessly ally with the angels. A person could only be hidden for so long.

Lilith bowed.

"Haaa."

Kang-Woo leaned back on the couch. With the whole ordeal involving Shalgiel done and over with, he was finally able to take a breather, and there wasn\'t anything he had to do in a hurry at the moment.

\'If I manage to drag Uriel to my side…\'

Life on Earth would become very peaceful.

"Right, I should go."

"Are you going to Uriel?" Lilith asked.

"Yup."

Kang-Woo nodded.

Emotions were bound to be eroded by the flow of time. Just as one forgot painful memories over time, it was best to approach Uriel while his despair was at its peak.

"Keep up the good work." Kang-Woo looked at Lilith apologetically.

She was without a doubt his busiest subordinate. She was investigating how to make contact with Hell, was tasked with setting his \'stages,\' had to figure out how to hide Seol-Ah from the angels, and had many other tasks.

Not only that, but she was also in charge of gathering and distributing various pieces of information.

She was doing practically everything. Although she was technically not doing everything on her own since she had her puppets that she had seduced with her charms…

\'I\'m sure she barely has time to rest.\'

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and slowly extended his hand to stroke Lilith\'s hair.

"Thanks for everything."

"Oh my."

Lilith blushed as Kang-Woo acted differently from usual. She asked teasingly while smiling seductively, "Are you thinking of praising me with only words?"

"…"

Lilith giggled. She took a step closer to Kang-Woo and whispered, "I heard from Seol-Ah, that… an insolent angel stole your lips."

"That was purely for healing."

"Then may I ask for healing of my mind, exhausted from overwork?"

"…"

It was completely devoid of logic, but he didn\'t know how to refuse. Lilith had indeed been working a lot.

"…"

She wrapped her arms around Kang-Woo while looking at him gently. She got on her tiptoes and puckered her lips. Her lips, shining faintly red, stimulated him.

Kang-Woo gulped. He wasn\'t dumb enough to not realize what she wanted as a reward.

"Oh, right. I should return to my original f—Mmph."

Kang-Woo pulled Lilith in without hesitation. His eyes shone in desperation.

\'Before she goes back to normal…!\'

He had to calm Lilith down.

Kang-Woo hugged Lilith like a warrior whose life depended on it. Although he felt guilty about Seol-Ah, he had no other choice if he wanted to live.

"Haaa. Haaa."

He panted heavily and snuck a glance at Lilith.

"Aah…"

Her mouth was wide open in surprise. It seemed she hadn\'t imagined that Kang-Woo would act first.

She trembled in excitement.

"Fu… fufufufufu."

\'Wh-Why are you laughing like that?\'

"It seems Seol-Ah has… melted down your heart enough. Hohoho. Good, very good."

Lilith\'s eyes were shining with lust. Her black hair floated up in the air and twisted around. Sticky liquid flowed out of the ends of her hair.

Kang-Woo flinched and turned around.

"There\'s no time to waste."

"Yes, my king."

Lilith smiled.

Kang-Woo opened a gate to the Hall of Protection. Before stepping into it, he turned his head.

"Oh, come to think of it…" He tilted his head and asked, "Why did you take off my clothes at night?"

He recalled the events of this morning.

"I beg your pardon?" Lilith\'s eyes widened as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

"I… only talked with Seol-Ah as soon as I arrived."

"… What?"

Kang-Woo\'s eyes widened, and he shifted his gaze to the door of the room Seol-Ah had dragged Echidna into.

The door was still closed.

* * *

"… What in the world?"

Kang-Woo walked while scratching his head. His head was in a jumble.

\'I should ask Seol-Ah later.\'

There was no time to focus on that. He passed through the gate leading to Africa in the Hall of Protection.

"Right, then…"

He had two objectives for coming to the fortress.

First, he needed to develop a closer relationship with Uriel.

\'Second…\'