After Ten Millennia in Hell

[Effect: The Player can summon demonic beasts from another dimension. The power of the summoned demonic beast will depend on the amount of demonic energy used for the summoning.

*The summoned demonic beast will recognize you as its master.

*You can summon one demonic beast every three months.]

'I can finally use this.'

Oh Kang-Woo looked at the description of his newly obtained Trait with great anticipation. It was a Trait that allowed him to summon a demonic beast. However, the true value of the Trait depended on the summoned demonic beast.

'Summoning a Buer would be more than good enough…'

A Buer was almost as strong as an average Seventh Awakening Player.

'But it would be a bit lackluster.'

Kang-Woo's eyes were full of desire. He could summon only one demonic beast every three months. Given the current situation, he needed to try summoning the strongest demonic beast that could be summoned.

"That's why I got this."

Kang-Woo touched the S-rank Gate access permit in his pocket.

There was only one reason why he hadn't immediately summoned a demonic beast and had instead waited for the S-rank Gate access permit.

'The Rift Fragments appear inside Gates.'

It wasn't just the Rift Fragments; Kang-Woo had also returned to Earth indirectly through a Gate.

'Maybe Gates are some sort of bridge that connects Earth to other dimensions.'

That was the only possible way to explain why demonic beasts appeared inside Gates and not on Earth itself.

'And the higher the Gate's rank, the stronger the demonic beast.'

That was something Kang-Woo had confirmed after killing the Buer. Of course, that didn't explain why he, the strongest being in Hell, had appeared in an E-rank Gate.

'No, maybe it does make sense.'

Kang-Woo remembered how his strength had been sealed when he crossed over to Earth. His Ten Thousand Demon Core's seal had weakened because he had leveled up and absorbed demonic energy from monsters, but he'd been extremely weak when he first returned to Earth. So, considering his level of power back then, it made sense that he had appeared in an E-rank Gate.

'In any case, it's a fact that stronger demonic beasts appear in higher-ranked Gates.'

Hence, to summon a strong demonic beast, Kang-Woo had to enter a high-ranking Gate.

"S-rank…"

Kang-Woo remembered Cha Yeon-Joo's worried face.

The S-rank Gate was the highest-ranking Gate in Korea at the moment. There were only two in Korea—one in Suwon and another one in Pohang.

'I heard there are SS-rank and above Gates in other countries.'

He wanted to enter a Gate with a ranking that was higher than SS, but that was impossible. The SS-Rank and above Gates were in other countries, and the monsters that appeared in them were so strong that even approaching the area near the Gate was highly restricted.

There was one in Hokkaido, Japan, and another one in Shanghai, China. Monsters had completely invaded those two areas, so public access was not allowed anywhere near those areas, and the government of each country was busy preventing monsters from breaking through the perimeter of the affected area and into the rest of the city.

'Realistically, the highest-ranking Gate I can access at the moment is an S-rank one in Korea.'

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo thought that he should also visit those areas in the future.

He headed to the parking lot while thinking deeply about this.

Click.

"Having a car is definitely more comfortable."

After killing the Buer, Kang-Woo asked Yeon-Joo for a car. Of course, it wasn't the super expensive foreign car that she used.

'But it's still worth a few hundred million won.'

He'd heard the explanation about which model of Mercedes Benz it was when he'd received it, but they all looked the same to him since he wasn't interested in cars.

Kang-Woo opened the car door and grabbed the steering wheel. He had learned how to drive and obtained a driver's license while waiting for the S-rank Gate access permit.

Riiing.

[Starting navigation to Suwon Hwaseo Station.]

Kang-Woo turned on the GPS and drove to the location of the S-rank Gate.

'As expected from an S-rank Gate.'

Unlike the C-rank and B-rank Gates, there weren't any Players in the area where the S-rank Gate was located. Instead of Players, many soldiers were guarding the area around the Gate.

'It appears that the 1st Squadron of the Hwarang Corps is stationed here.'

The Hwarang Corps was a group of Players owned by the government. Their 1st and 2nd Squadrons monitored the S-rank Gate, ensuring no monsters had escaped from it.

Kang-Woo showed the access permit to a member of the Hwarang Corps guarding the Gate.

"Access confirmed," the Hwarang Corps member said.

After entering the Gate, Kang-Woo exclaimed in surprise, "Wow!"

Inside the Gate, there was a huge lake and a bunch of tall rocks surrounding it. The place was so beautiful that it could be used as a vacation spot. However, that was only if S-rank monsters didn't appear in it.

"This place is huge."

The inside of the Gate was so vast that you couldn't see where it ended. Kang-Woo couldn't tell how big the area was, but it was way bigger than the spaces inside the other Gates he had been to.

'I believe she said it's as big as Seoul.'

Kang-Woo thought about the information he had heard from Yeon-Joo and used the Authority of the Beholder. He went to a place that was hidden between stone walls to avoid being seen by monsters and prepared for the summoning.

'A demonic beast…'

Kang-Woo thought of the Buer he had recently hunted.

The physical characteristics of demonic beasts were often of a higher level than those of the demons that lived in the same level of Hell. Despite their strength, demonic beasts were still inferior to demons, as they lacked the intellect that demons possessed. Similarly on Earth, humans were physically weaker than lions and tigers, but they were still the ruling species.

'In consideration of that, being able to control demonic beasts is a huge merit.'

If a demonic beast obeyed Kang-Woo's will, their fatal flaw of not having intellect would no longer be an issue.

'My goal is to get a Cerberus.'

The Cerberus was the strongest demonic beast that lived in the Third Hell. Even demons of the Fourth or Fifth Hells didn't dare to fight against it.

"Let's begin."

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and concentrated.

Whirl!!!

Powerful demonic energy began leaking out from his body. Kang-Woo pulled out all the demonic energy he could use at the moment.

"Huu, huu."

He breathed deeply as cold sweat dripped from his forehead. There was a strong wind current around him because of the demonic energy he was emitting.

Crack!!

Unable to handle the demonic energy, the ground began to crack like dry ground in a drought. A split ran right underneath Kang-Woo.

'Now!'

The moment that his demonic energy peaked, Kang-Woo used all of it to activate his Trait.

Riiing.

[Activating the Fifth Awakening Trait: Demonic Beast Summoning (Rank: S).]

[Creating a Rift for the summoning.]

As the blue message windows appeared, a Rift formed in the air, fracturing the space like glass being broken. The Rift grew in size, and finally, a blue Gate that was about twenty meters tall appeared.

"Blue…?" Kang-Woo was surprised.

Gates were usually colored white, gray, or black. He had never heard of nor seen a blue Gate before.

'Did it fail?'

Kang-Woo looked at the Gate with a frown.

However, the Gate was still absorbing his demonic energy, and he hadn't gotten a message window saying that the summoning had failed.

Riiing.

[You have successfully created a Rift necessary for summoning.]

[A deeper Rift has been created due to the influence of the Demonic Energy within the Ten Thousand Demon Core (Rank: ???).]

[A connection to another world could not be obstructed due to the impairment of the Gaia System's functions.]

[A dimensional Gate leading to the Continent of Aernor has been opened.]

"What…?"

Kang-Woo frowned.

'Where's this Continent of Aernor?'

His expression hardened after reading words he couldn't comprehend.

[Summoning a demonic beast.]

A blinding light shot out of the huge blue Gate, filling the entire area. The light gradually faded, and Kang-Woo saw the demonic beast that he'd summoned.

"What the…?" he muttered.

The demonic beast had black scales, two wings on its back, and scarlet reptilian eyes.

"A dragon?"

It was a giant dragon that was over twenty meters tall.

Riiing.

[You have successfully summoned a demonic beast!]

[The daughter of Demonic Dragon Kargath, dragon hatchling Echidna (Rank: S) has been registered as your summoned beast.]

[The summoned beast has recognized the Player Oh Kang-Woo as its master, but the summoned beast may retaliate against its master if its fidelity drops.]

"…" Kang-Woo looked at the message window with his mouth closed.

Then, he looked at the summoned beast, Echidna, and frowned. However, he wasn't frowning because a dragon hatchling had become his summoned beast but because of the dragon hatchling's current state.

[Huff, huff…]

It seemed like the hatchling was about to stop breathing at any moment. There were gaps across its scales as if they had been slashed open by a sharp blade, and in those gaps, Kang-Woo saw red flesh. Echidna, who had injuries all over its body, was bleeding profusely.

'What happened to it?'

The demonic beast that Kang-Woo had summoned was about to die.

He walked toward Echidna.

Tap, tap, tap.

At that moment, other people walked out of the Gate that Echidna had been summoned from.

"Huh…?" Kang-Woo was confused to see people appear from the Gate that he'd made.

There were five of them in total, and they were covered in dust as if they'd been fighting just moments before.

"@#@%#@^%@#%!!" The blond man leading the group waved his hands at Kang-Woo.

'What is he saying?' Kang-Woo frowned after hearing the people scream in a language that he didn't understand.

He used the Authority of Language and now understood the language that had seemed alien to him at first.

"It's dangerous! Stay away from that evil demonic dragon!"

After hearing the blond young man's scream, Kang-Woo became even more confused.

'Who are these guys?'