After Ten Millennia in Hell

The dark red spear pierced El Cuero.

The flames within the spear exploded, and the hellfire spread within El Cuero, greedily devouring the monster's life force.

'It's dead now.'

Oh Kang-Woo was sure of it. There was no way El Cuero would be able to survive that attack. He could feel the fingers of his hand that threw Gáe Bulg subtly trembling.

It felt good.

It was the first time he'd managed to create a technique from three different Authorities since returning to Earth. Although he used to do similar things in Hell as if they were nothing, being able to use it again felt good.

It felt hot and exciting.

His desire for power, which had been weathered over millennia, once again blazed within him.

'So this was the second condition for the Ultimate Demonic Body.'

Kang-Woo's eyes shone.

He wasn't sure what the Ultimate Demonic Body was and what changes it would bring, but one thing he knew for sure was that it was a completely new power that he never had in Hell.

It would be weird if he wasn't anxious to know what it was.

'I wonder what the last condition is?'

He couldn't think of anything, but since it was called Ultimate Demonic Body, it probably had something to do with demonic energy.

"Hmm."

Kang-Woo fell into thought.

"… Huh?"

While thinking, Kang-Woo felt a weird sense of danger.

He frowned. Something that should have appeared wasn't appearing.

'The message window didn't appear.'

The message window saying that they had defeated El Cuero had not appeared yet.

Kang-Woo hurriedly turned his head toward El Cuero.

"Grrrrrrrr…"

"It's… not dead?"

El Cuero's eyes were still shining chaotically despite it having had half its body blown away. Even its unique cry had changed into that of a ferocious beast. In any case, the important thing was that El Cuero hadn't died yet.

'That's impossible.'

Kang-Woo felt the sensation in the tips of his fingers. The battle experience he had accumulated for ten millennia was telling him that El Cuero was dead.

Gáe Bulg was a technique powerful enough to kill a demon of the Seventh Hell. El Cuero had taken the attack straight on, so there was no way that it was still alive.

Confused, Goo Hyun-Mo exclaimed, "Wh-What was that attack just now?! Kang-Woo, just what in the world are—no, that's not important right now. Wh-What the hell is going on?"

"I-It's still alive after that?" Cha Yeon-Joo exclaimed in confusion.

The moment Hyun-Mo and Yeon-Joo saw the dark red spear pierce El Cuero, they'd felt goosebumps. Even though El Cuero was an S-rank boss monster, they had never imagined that it'd be able to survive such an attack.

"Graaaahhhh!!"

"I-It's running away!"

The remaining half of El Cuero's body charged toward the lake.

"Dammit!"

Fwoosh!

Yeon-Joo extended her hand, covering El Cuero with red chains, but because her Strength stat wasn't very high, she was dragged by El Cuero.

Kang-Woo quickly moved. He grabbed the chain connecting Yeon-Joo and El Cuero.

"Kurgh!"

Kang-Woo's face contorted. His palms were being torn up. He wanted to use an Authority, but he had no more demonic energy remaining after he had used Gáe Bulg.

"Pull the chains!"

If El Cuero managed to escape to the lake, all their efforts would've been in vain.

Baek Hwa-Yeon and Hyun-Mo ran to them and grabbed the chains.

"Kurgh! Such power…!"

"I-Is it seriously on the verge of death?! How the hell can it still be this spry?!"

El Cuero quickly crawled toward the lake while dragging the four of them. The monster seemed stronger than when they had first faced it, and the strength it was exerting was abnormal for an aquatic monster on land.

'We're going to lose it.'

Kang-Woo felt anxious. The pain from his palms shot up his arms. Things could be different if he could use the Authority of Titanic Might, but he didn't have any other way to stop its charge.

"Hold on tight!" Yeon-Joo said.

The mana within her surged, and the chains surrounding El Cuero started to shine with a red light.

"Graaaahhhh!!"

"Holy shit!"

El Cuero twisted.

Roars of madness echoed throughout the Gate. Black energy burst forth from within the remaining half of its body.

'Demonic energy.'

Kang-Woo frowned.

The energy bursting from El Cuero was without a doubt demonic energy.

'What's going on?'

He couldn't understand what was happening. He didn't have enough time to understand.

'Are we going to lose it?'

Kang-Woo bit his lips while looking at El Cuero, who had almost reached the lake. There was no way to stop it.

[Leave it to me, Kang-Woo.]

He heard Echidna's voice in his ears.

As blue light enveloped her, she turned back into a giant dragon. She then swung her tail like a whip and hit El Cuero, pushing the monster back.

[Stay still!]

Even if she was a hatchling, Echidna was still a dragon. Returning back to her original form was more than enough for her to stop El Cuero's escape.

Boom!

After being dragged back to the surface, El Cuero twisted violently. Massive amounts of blood poured out from its body, which had been torn in half.

[Hm! Hm!]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Echidna smashed her giant tail down on El Cuero, and its body shook after being hit by the tail.

"Grrrrr."

Its aggressive screams gradually faded.

Its eyes, which had been filled with madness, turned blurry.

Ring.

[You have successfully defeated the S-rank boss monster El Cuero.]

[You have placed first in the level of contribution.]

[Additional rewards have been awarded for dealing the finishing blow.]

[Increasing EXP exponentially.]

[Your level is capped. The rewarded EXP will be accumulated.]

Blue message windows appeared in front of Kang-Woo; it was proof that El Cuero had truly died this time.

'I didn't break through the limit.'

While leaving disappointed feelings behind, Kang-Woo turned toward Yeon-Joo.

There was something more important than the level cap at the moment.

"What was that at the end?" Kang-Woo asked.

"… I'm not sure either."

Yeon-Joo shook her head.

They couldn't understand El Cuero's final desperate struggle.

It was the first time she'd seen a monster that could move after having half of its body blown away.

"Maybe it's a characteristic unique to El Cuero?" Yeon-Joo said while tilting her head. Some monsters possessed Traits that were hard to comprehend with logic. It was within the realm of possibility, considering no one had managed to kill El Cuero until now.

"No. That's probably not it." Kang-Woo shook his head without hesitation.

"Why not?"

"Because I received the additional reward for dealing the finishing blow."

If El Cuero hadn't died after being hit with Gáe Bulg, there was no way that he would have received the reward for the finishing blow. After all, El Cuero had died shortly after being smashed by Echidna's tail.

"In that case…"

"We'll have to check."

Kang-Woo looked at El Cuero's corpse.

After walking to its corpse, he searched the area from where he'd sensed demonic energy… It was where its brain was located.

"This is…"

He felt something with his hand. He grabbed it and pulled it out.

It was a black gem the size of two fingers. Inside it was demonic energy.

'What's this?'

He had never seen anything like it before. It was as if he was seeing the demonic energy equivalent of a mana stone. The main difference it had from a mana stone was that the gem looked somewhat artificially made.

'It's too refined.'

Unlike the rough surface of mana stones, the surface of the black gem was too smooth. It didn't seem like something made naturally.

'Could this be why El Cuero suddenly acted strangely?'

He felt that was probably the reason.

"What's that?" Yeon-Joo asked.

"I'm not sure."

Kang-Woo looked at the black gem while frowning.

He used the Authority of the Beholder on it but couldn't find any information on it besides that it was made of extremely dense demonic energy.

He looked at El Cuero's corpse closely once again. After checking where he'd found the black gem, Kang-Woo became sure of something.

'It wasn't there from the beginning.'

He saw traces of someone having planted it intentionally.

Kang-Woo's eyes shone. The gears in his head turned quickly.

He could guess who had planted the black gem inside El Cuero's head.

"I get it now."

"Get what?" Yeon-Joo asked.

"I'm not 100% sure, but it's highly likely that the Demon Cult did this."

"The Demon Cult?"

Yeon-Joo's eyes shone sharply. Suddenly, a ferocious bloodlust came from her body.

"… What does that mean?"

"Someone planted this black gem inside El Cuero's head. It contains demonic energy. The only one among humans who can create something containing this much demonic energy is the Demon Cult."

Unlike mana, one couldn't naturally obtain demonic energy.

There wasn't anyone on Earth who could create something like this gem besides Kang-Woo and the Demon Cult.

"Hmm…"

Kang-Woo looked at the black gem with great interest. He could feel the concentrated demonic energy through his fingertips. After staring at the gem for a long time, he used the Authority of Predation on it.

Ring.

[You have absorbed a demonic crystal.]

[Demonic Energy has risen by 3.]

He sensed that his demonic energy had grown as soon as he saw the message windows.

Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

'It rose by three?'

His Demonic Energy stat without the stat bonus of the Black Pearl Coat was 83.

He'd killed almost a hundred Giant Ogres over the past three days, yet it had not risen at all. That went to show how difficult it had become to raise his Demonic Energy stat, but it had just risen by three in an instant.

'This…'

A smile appeared on Kang-Woo's face.

The weathered desire for power that had once again bloomed within him after using Gáe Bulg… it was as if his burning throat had been quenched with cold water.

He didn't know why the Demon Cult had placed such a thing inside El Cuero, nor did he know what result placing a demonic crystal inside a monster could possibly bring.

However, there was one thing he was sure about…

'Sweet.'

The demonic energy inside the demonic crystal that the Demon Cult had created was thick enough to raise his stagnated Demonic Energy stat.

Since his level was capped at the moment, items that could increase his Demonic Energy stat were very valuable.

'I hope they don't have only one of these.'

Kang-Woo smacked his lips.

He suddenly felt that the Demon Cult—that group of lunatics—was like a restaurant that only served delicious food.