After Ten Millennia in Hell

"A-Already?" Uriel, the blue-haired boy, turned his head in surprise.

'What do you mean, "already"?'

They had scoured the Amazon jungle for traces of Rakiel for over eight hours today.

'What an absolute waste of time.'

Rakiel wasn't on Earth.

Kang-Woo was the one who'd been using his name, so he knew it better than anyone else.

They were going all around the world in search of nonexistent clues, so there was no better way to waste his time.

"Ahem. L-Let's search a bit more. Ah, how about we take a break before resuming our search? Oh, let's eat that kimchi stew thing. You brought it with you, didn't you?"

"Ngh."

Kang-Woo groaned while staring at Uriel, who was searching for a good place to eat. Since he was stuttering, Uriel also seemed to know that searching for Rakiel here for any longer was pointless.

'Why's he acting like this despite knowing it's pointless?'

Uriel had been contacting him more frequently as of late.

No, to be more precise, ever since Kang-Woo had bought him a smartphone after suggesting they take a day off while touring Seoul, Uriel had not stopped contacting him.

'Why is an angel so goddamn good at using a smartphone?'

Kang-Woo took his smartphone out and looked over all of the messages Uriel had sent him through KakaoTalk this morning.

Yuriel ❤: [What are you doing today?]

Yuriel ❤: [You finished all the Guardians work a few days ago, right?]

Yuriel ❤: [Then search for traces of Rakiel with me today.]

Yuriel ❤: [Shouldn't you be up by now? Why aren't you reading my messages?]

Yuriel ❤: [That aside, this smartphone thing is fascinating.]

Yuriel ❤: [Things you want to say can be sent immediately like a letter. It's way better than a communication orb!]

Yuriel ❤: [Things like language can be easily learned through magic.]

Yuriel ❤: [Maybe I should supply this to everyone in Sant'Angelo.]

Yuriel ❤: [But I guess it'd be difficult since there wouldn't be any… wifi, I think it was called? It's better than communication orbs in every way except this.]

Yuriel ❤: [Why is wifi so slow in Africa? I'm trying to watch videos on this MyuTube thing, but it keeps buffering.]

"…"

There were over a hundred messages like this.

'He's acting like some kid begging for attention.'

He'd thought Uriel just looked like a kid, but he also seemed to be one mentally as well.

'The characteristic of angels is "obsession," or so I've been told.'

Rather than obsession, it felt more like he was sending messages simply because he was so fascinated by a smartphone, but…

'It gets annoying when he sends them without rest.'

Uriel kept sending messages as if he were desperate for attention.

If Kang-Woo had known that something like this would happen, he wouldn't have done something as insane as giving him a smartphone.

"… I never thought he'd be able to use it so well," Kang-Woo mumbled so that Uriel wouldn't be able to hear him.

He had never expected an angel who lived in a world without even any electronic devices, let alone a smartphone, would be able to adapt to a smartphone so quickly.

'What the hell is with that ID, though?'

The addition of 'Y' could be glossed over since he could have just made a typo when typing his name, but Kang-Woo could not understand why he had added a heart mark. He had asked Uriel, but apparently that was a typo as well. He'd even taken a profile picture. Though he wasn't quite on Halcyon's level, he looked like a girl due to his androgynous looks.

'I feel like I'm texting a girl working at a shady establishment or something.'

An establishment where employees wearing angel costumes jailbaited people.

'I don't even have a profile picture.'

He laughed in disbelief. He didn't find out until later, but it seemed that the level of civilization in Aernor wasn't as low as he had expected.

Although they didn't have something like a smartphone, they had magic tools that could replace most electronic devices used on Earth. Since angels were mainly active in Aernor, angels also frequently used such magic tools.

'I mean, at least I'm getting closer to him.'

It was absolutely necessary to build good relationships with the angels. Unlike the immovable Raphael, Uriel was much easier to control. As long as he kept growing their relationship…

'He'll definitely be more helpful than Guardians.'

If Guardians was like a hound, Uriel and the other angels were like a trained tiger; taming it was extremely difficult, but once trained to the point that it could be controlled, the beast was strong enough to kill the prey all on its own.

"Haaa."

It was only obvious that training such a fierce beast would be tiresome.

Compared to Raphael, who seemed impossible to tame, the situation with Uriel was far better.

'I can at least get through to him.'

Raphael, from his manner of speech to his thought process, was way too much of a boomer, which had resulted in Kang-Woo not being able to get through to him.

"Alright, all done!" Uriel exclaimed in a bright voice.

He'd used magic to cut giant trees all around the jungle to make a table and chairs.

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly.

"You didn't have to make something this extravagant."

"Hehe. It's better to eat in comfort if possible. Besides, it wasn't that hard to make." Uriel grinned and took a seat.

Kang-Woo sat across from him and opened his magic bag, taking out a container of kimchi stew Han Seol-Ah had made. He took out a pot and poured the contents of the container into it.

"When will the other angels be coming?"

"Mm. I pushed them a bit too hard to send me here, so it'll probably take more time than I thought."

Kang-Woo frowned a bit at Uriel's answer.

'I guess I'll be doing this for a while, then.'

Uriel didn't want to be with anyone other than Kang-Woo for some reason. Kang-Woo had sent Kim Si-Hun to him once because it was a waste of time, but after Uriel had harshly rejected Si-Hun, Kang-Woo had to step up again.

'He's not some baby bird asking for his mommy.'

Not only did he have wings on his back, but he also behaved like a pigeon.

Kang-Woo put his hands on his forehead as if it hurt.

Seeing that, Uriel's eyes widened.

"Wh-What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"N-No. It's nothing."

"I noticed you've been doing that a lot lately… Are you sure you aren't hurt?"

"Haha. I assure you, I'm fine."

Kang-Woo smiled and shook his head as he looked into Uriel's worried eyes.

'It's because of you, dammit.'

There was no way Kang-Woo wouldn't be stressed from going all around the world in search of nonexistent traces of Rakiel. If not for this, he would be currently tasting paradise in his darling's arms.

'Ah, my blood pressure…'

The back of his head hurt again. Knowing the fact that it was necessary only made him more angry, just like how a person did not want to wake up on a Monday morning despite knowing that they needed to go to work.

"A-Are you sure you're okay?" Uriel gave him a worried look.

Kang-Woo had been frequently grabbing the back of his head while groaning lately, so Uriel wondered if something was wrong with him.

"I told you, I'm fine." Making a forced smile, Kang-Woo finished emptying the container of kimchi stew into the pot.

The container, infused with insulation magic, had kept the kimchi stew steaming hot. Kang-Woo salivated as he looked at the steaming kimchi stew.

"I've noticed a lot of this being in the stew lately. It didn't used to be there," Uriel said as he grabbed something that looked like a chestnut from the kimchi stew with his chopsticks. "It's called garlic, right? Is this a staple ingredient in kimchi stew?"

"No, I wouldn't say it's common."

Seol-Ah had recently started putting garlic in the kimchi stew.

Kang-Woo put garlic and kimchi above a bed of rice.

"But it's okay, since it's still delicious. Garlic is also good for restoring stamina."

"Really? It must be for nutrition purposes, then. But someone of your level doesn't really need their stamina replenished, do they?" Uriel asked while tilting his head.

The Kang-Woo he knew was stronger than Shalgiel but weaker than Raphael—about as powerful as Belphegor. Even someone far below him, Tian Wuchen, rarely expended stamina during daily life. That was also why the stronger the individual, the less sleep they needed.

"I've been experiencing a lot of energy expenditure lately."

"… Doing what?"

"Nothing worth mentioning."

It was difficult for Kang-Woo to explain to Uriel that he was expending stamina because he was going through 'casual molting' as the energy of the Demonic Sea intermingled with Seraph's energy while he was asleep.

'Because I'm not sure why it's happening either.'

He didn't know why it was happening, but he wasn't stopping it since it was of great benefit to him. Also, sleeping in Seol-Ah's embrace felt good.

"…"

Uriel bit his lip anxiously and fell into thought as he stared at Kang-Woo.

Not noticing his expression, Kang-Woo ate the kimchi stew.

"Slurp, munch."

It was as delicious as always.

* * *

"I will get going, then."

"Ah, okay."

Uriel waved his hand, a lonely expression on his face. It seemed like he wanted to stay with Kang-Woo a bit longer, but he really had to let him go now.

'I hope his subordinates arrive soon,' Kang-Woo thought.

Only then would Uriel stop chasing him around like an abandoned dog.

"Let's try investigating from Russia again in three days' time."

"Ah…! O-Okay!" Uriel nodded while making a bright expression.

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly from how blatantly excited Uriel looked. Dealing with Uriel was certainly far easier than dealing with Raphael.

'Is this what they call a blessing in disguise?'

He had gotten headaches in the past from the possibility of having to go to war against the angels, but now their relationship had become even stronger than before. Although it wasn't an alliance relationship between two organizations like it had been before, making an ally out of Uriel, who was far stronger than an army, was extremely meaningful.

"I'll text you when I get home." Uriel waved his hand.

Kang-Woo nodded and headed home to where his darling was waiting for him.

* * *

Clack.

"I'm back~"

Kang-Woo opened the front door and saw the home he'd been so dearly missing. Seol-Ah was sitting on the living room couch all by herself, staring blankly at the air. Chills went down Kang-Woo's spine due to her sitting completely still in the living room without even having the TV on.

"Ah."

Life returned to Seol-Ah's eyes when she noticed Kang-Woo. The chilling sensation quickly disappeared and was replaced by warm, comforting energy.

She approached him with a bright smile on her face. She placed her forehead on his collarbone and gently embraced him as if he were a precious treasure.

"You're late today. I was waiting for you."

"Where are Halcyon and Echidna?"

"They went to Balrog's house to train."

"They've been training hard lately."

"Fufu. I think the shock from seeing your training last time sparked their desire to train." She was probably referring to the molting. "What kind of harsh training was it exactly for them to be acting like this?"

"Oh…" Kang-Woo slurred.

Molting was actually far too brutal to call training. Echidna and Halcyon had bawled their eyes out when they saw it, so it was only obvious how Seol-Ah would react.

"It's nothing worth mentioning."

He averted his gaze while smiling awkwardly, just like he had done with Uriel.

"…"

Seol-Ah hugged him tighter in silence. Her eyes were shaking.

"I'll go take a shower."

"… Okay."

Seol-Ah sounded gloomy, likely having been hurt by the fact that Kang-Woo was hiding things from her.

'I'm sorry, darling.'

But even so, he could not tell her about molting. There was no way that he could package the process that involved his body turning inside out while pissing and shitting as harsh training.

She would obviously cry as much as Echidna had, so he just couldn't tell her.

'I might have to use it again, after all.'

Staying silent was the correct decision.

Kang-Woo entered the bathroom and turned on the hot water, filling the room with steam.

Whoom!

Just then, black light poured out of the Key of the Demonic Sea on his right middle finger.

Riiing.

[The Key of the Demonic Sea has successfully digested three Hell Armaments!]

[You have successfully acquired the first key, 'Predation'!]

Creak, creak.

The sound of gears turning was heard from the Key of the Demonic Sea. Five geometric symbols appeared on the ring's surface, and one of them shone dimly with white light.

Kang-Woo's eyes shone.

'Finally!'

The Key of the Demonic Sea had returned.

Before he even had a chance to check the new power that he had gained, another system window popped up.

[You must complete a prerequisite quest to acquire the second key of the Key of the Demonic Sea, 'Skyfall.']

'A prerequisite quest?'

['Key of the Demonic Sea' prerequisite quest - 'Beginning of Chaos.']

[Sow the 'Seed of Corruption' within a being of at least an archangel or above.]

"What the fuck is this?" Kang-Woo frowned as he looked at the message window.

He had received an absurd quest out of nowhere.

"How the fuck am I supposed to—"

Riiing.

[The prerequisite quest has been successfully achieved.]

"What?"

[You have acquired the second key of the Key of the Demonic Sea, 'Skyfall.']

"The fuck?"

It was already achieved?