After Ten Millennia in Hell

His voice was filled with rage, but his volume was quite low because he had weakened and was about to be annihilated.

'Time for you to rest.'

Kang-Woo smiled wickedly.

- Kurgh! I-I must inform Lord Michael!

'Who the hell is Michael?'

Kang-Woo frowned.

He'd heard that name before since it was quite famous in mythology. Michael was the name of one of the four great archangels, alongside Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel.

'Is Tirion related to the celestial realm somehow?'

On top of that, he had addressed Michael as if the archangel were ranked above him.

'An archangel is above a god?'

Kang-Woo couldn't understand what was going on, seeing as common sense said that angels were the henchmen of gods. He frowned at the unexpected development of events.

'I can't let him contact anyone,' Kang-Woo thought to himself.

He had known from the start that Tirion would figure out his identity once he accepted Tirion's blessing. Nevertheless, he had accepted it anyway because Tirion had resolved himself to be annihilated.

Kang-Woo couldn't let Tirion tell others about his identity.

Whirrr!

He used the Authority of Predation on the power he'd obtained from Tirion. The darkness started devouring the golden energy.

- A-Aaahhh.

Kang-Woo's use of the Authority of Predation accelerated Tirion's annihilation.

'Stop being a nuisance and just disappear.'

He was getting annoyed at Tirion.

Kang-Woo had thought that Tirion would be annihilated as soon as he accepted Tirion's power, but he was wrong.

- Kuh! N-No! I will not give my power to an evil demon! Tirion shouted, making a final effort to put up a fight.

The golden energy within Kang-Woo started to run wild.

"Kurgh!"

Kang-Woo’s face crumpled in agony as the pain spread throughout his body.

'Motherfucker!'

He bit his lip. He did his best to not lose his mind to the pain.

- Th-This must be as far as I go.

Tirion's voice was so soft that it was hard for Kang-Woo to hear him.

Then Kang-Woo's connection with Tirion was cut. It seemed like he'd been fully annihilated.

However…

"Kuurrgghh!"

Fwoooom!

Golden energy pierced through Kang-Woo's skin and burst out.

It was Tirion's final retaliation. His efforts to make his power run rampant and destroy Kang-Woo were much harder to deal with than Kang-Woo had initially expected.

'Damn.'

It was a mind-boggling pain.

Tirion's energy ran wild in Kang-Woo's body. He felt as if he was being torn apart from the inside—like he'd drunk a cup of water full of razor blades.

'Fuck, I shouldn't have scammed him.'

If Kang-Woo had known that he would feel such pain, he would've let Kim Si-Hun have the power instead. Kang-Woo was now paying the price for having scammed the God of Heroes.

'You said he would be annihilated, dammit.'

He felt resentment toward the system's message window.

"Wow!"

"Hyung-nim..."

Si-Hun and the other members of Guardians exclaimed in surprise and admiration.

From the outside, it looked like Kang-Woo was powering up after receiving the power of a god.

"As expected of Kang-Woo hyung-nim. To think you'd be able to accept the power of the God of Heroes so easily…"

'No, Si-Hun.'

"I admire you, hyung-nim."

'I’m about to die from pain.'

"Compared to you, I'm… far too lacking."

'Help me.'

Kang-Woo asked Si-Hun for help in his mind, but Si-Hun couldn't hear him.

In this situation where he couldn't either laugh or cry, Kang-Woo was about to pass out.

'It hurts so fucking much.'

He was used to enduring pain; he could even stay smiling while one of his limbs was amputated. Despite that, he was having a hard time withstanding the pain he was suffering right now. A normal person would've already died from shock after feeling such terrible pain, which was as if their entire body was being ripped into pieces.

'Dammit.'

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo couldn't just wallow in regret. He closed his eyes and tried to control Tirion’s power… but that didn't last long.

'I can't control it.'

Tirion's energy was too different from what Kang-Woo had been using up to this point. It was as if he'd poured electricity into a car that ran on gasoline. The golden energy was fundamentally too different from demonic energy, so controlling it was impossible.

'In that case…'

Kang-Woo bit his lip and clenched his hands into fists. If he couldn't control it, he had no choice but to devour it all. The demonic energy within his blood boiled.

Kang-Woo strenuously raised his head.

Even though Tirion had been annihilated, Del Lain was still wrapped in a golden light.

'Authority of Predation.'

Black energy surrounded Del Lain. The golden light strongly resisted the Authority of Predation. Nonetheless, Kang-Woo ignored those efforts. Like a predator overwhelming and devouring its struggling prey, he engulfed the energy with the Authority of Predation.

Riiing.

[Applying the Trait 'Mana-Hungry Demon.']

[Warning. There is a different form of energy mixed with the corresponding mana. Full conversion to demonic energy deemed impossible.]

[Would you still like to proceed?]

'That's not important right now.'

Kang-Woo didn't care about whether he could fully absorb the power. His body was about to explode any second. He did not have the leeway to worry about such trivial things right now.

Kang-Woo focused on using the Authority of Predation to its utmost limit.

Fwoooom!

"Kurgh."

Tirion's energy continued to run rampant in resistance, tearing apart Kang-Woo's skin. Black blood leaked from his wounds.

Upon seeing that, one of the Guardians members shouted, "Th-This is a Metamorphosis!!"

'It's not, bro,' Kang-Woo thought.

"Wow!"

'I said it's not, you sons of bitches. I'm seriously about to die over here, so don't just stand there, and come cast some healing magic on me.'

"Seeing that black blood is coming out, it looks like the body is expelling its internal waste."

'My blood is black.'

Si-Hun nodded. "It's definitely a Metamorphosis. Everyone, please watch over the surroundings. Hyung-nim could suffer irreversible damage if he were to receive even the smallest impact."

'Si-Hun, please help me.'

"Sh-Shouldn't we do something?"

'Healing magic...'

"No. Those are wounds formed through the reconstruction of his body. There is no need to use healing magic."

'Just let me have some healing magic, you son of a bitch.'

As his injuries increased, Kang-Woo wanted to be healed, but he knew he couldn't expect any help due to Si-Hun's firm beliefs.

At that moment, he resented Si-Hun.

'AARRGGHH.'

Since Kang-Woo wouldn't be receiving the aid of healing magic, he would have to absorb Tirion's energy as quickly as possible.

Riiing.

[You have successfully absorbed a portion of the energy of Tirion, God of Heroes.]

[Expelling the energy that failed to be converted.]

Rumble!!

The ground shook, and a blinding light swept over Kang-Woo's surroundings.

"Woah!" the Guardians members exclaimed in surprise after feeling the divine energy.

[Demonic Energy has risen by 4.]

[A portion of the passage leading to the deep end of the Ten Thousand Demon Core has been activated as the quality of the stat has risen.]

[All conditions of Demonic Soul must be fulfilled for complete activation.]

[You have reached the maximum stat number that can be currently reached. The stat will rise once the first condition of Demonic Soul is fulfilled or the level cap is broken.]

Kang-Woo had absorbed only a portion of the energy, but it had been the energy of a god, so even just a portion of it was incredibly powerful. His Demonic Energy stat had reached 129, and he felt immense power flowing through his body.

Tirion's sword, Del Lain, turned into dust and scattered away. The golden dust that covered their surroundings made for a spectacular view.

A brilliant light soared into the sky, dispelling the darkness.

"Huff, huff!" Kang-Woo panted heavily while bending over.

"Hyung-nim!"

"Kang-Woo!"

Gaia, Si-Hun, and the other members of Guardians went running toward him.

'Fuck.'

The pain had finally stopped. In addition to that, Kang-Woo had obtained massive rewards for having absorbed the power of a god.

'I thought I was gonna die.'

He was used to pain, but he'd struggled so much that he'd almost passed out. The shock of having experienced such pain would not dissipate so easily.

On top of that…

'You've hurt my feelings, Si-Hun.'

Kang-Woo knew why Si-Hun had said they shouldn't use healing magic on him. If Kang-Woo had been in someone else's shoes, he would've also thought that he had been going through a Metamorphosis.

He knew that, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed anyway. Human emotions were quite complex, after all.

"I'm so glad you're okay, hyung-nim."

Kang-Woo remained silent.

"Hyung-nim? Is something the matter?" Si-Hun asked, worried after seeing Kang-Woo's stiff expression.

Kang-Woo turned away and answered, "Nothing at all, man."

'How could you do this to me?' he thought.

"Wh-What's wrong, hyung-nim?"

"Nothing."

'After all I've done for you… you still don't understand how I feel?'

"Your expression says otherwise…"

Kang-Woo walked past Si-Hun without replying.

"H-Hyung-nim!"

Si-Hun hurriedly followed him.

Kang-Woo snorted. 'I'm upset with you.'

* * *

After the members of Guardians left, a small Rift formed in the Grand Canyon and exuded a gloomy aura.

Crack.

A black arm emerged from the Rift, which was black and blue.

CRACK—!!

The Rift widened, and a black figure pushed himself out.

He had two horns, bat wings, a long tail, a muscular body, and eyes that had yellow irises with vertical pupils. The figure was exuding a suffocatingly thick demonic energy.

"This must be the place called Earth that Lord Lucifer mentioned."

"Malphas, can you see anything around the area?"

"No, I don’t see anything around here."

"Hmm. Father said that there are many humans in this world."

Three identical demons appeared from the Rift and looked around the canyon.

"Well. I’m sure we will find some if we look around some more."

"Lord Lucifer would not lie."

The names of the three demons were Phenex, Malphas, and Halphas.

They turned around and bowed toward the Rift.

"Glory to Lucifer."

The three demons were bowing to their master, the Evil God Lucifer.

Then Halphas took a step forward and grabbed some sand with his hands.

"I can feel Tirion's energy," he said.

"So, it's true that Tirion was annihilated."

"Tsk. Who cares about a lower god's annihilation?"

"Yes. What matters is the being that annihilated him."

Halphas raised his head.

He recalled the command that their master Lucifer had given them, "Find him."

"Let's move," Halphas told the other two demons.

"Where should we start?"

"I heard that the retainers of Gaia reside in this world. They should have some information."

"Can we kill them?"

"She's a god of that faction. I'm sure it won't matter if we kill them."

"Isn't Gaia an upper god?"

"Hmph. Are you scared of killing the retainers of a half-dead god?"

"Of course not."

The three demons exchanged glances with one another.

"Then let's go."

They spread their wings simultaneously and soared into the darkness.

They had traveled to this faraway world on Lucifer's command for one reason…

"Tirion was a lower god... but it's still surprising that he managed to annihilate him. Impressive."

"There would be no reason for us to find him if he wasn’t impressive."

"That's true."

"I am sure he will be of great help to Lord Lucifer's plan."

The three demons let out grim laughs.

"Satan."

"Let us find him."

They had come to Earth to find the Demon of Prophecy, Satan.