After Ten Millennia in Hell

The magic circle shone. A black Rift appeared, and demonic energy sloshed out of it.

For humans, demonic energy changed their body into that of a demon. For demons, it gave them even greater power.

Of course, the presence of demonic energy in the air didn't mean that all demons possessed the ability to harness that power. If that were the case, all the demons in Hell would be able to grow infinitely stronger. A highly advanced technique was needed to use the demonic energy in the air.

The Demon Cultists began chanting, "Zazas, zazas, nasatanada zazas."

As the chant continued, the black light flowing out from the magic circle intensified.

'As expected of the knowledge given to us by the Aspects.'

Akiyama's eyes shone.

The Aspects of Evil were the almighty beings who led the Demon Cult. It was said that they'd been alive for thousands of years. The word 'knowledgeable' wasn't even adequate to describe them.

'I wonder if the demon king that Lady Lilith talks about is more powerful than them.'

Akiyama was a loyal Demon Cultist, so he couldn't help but have some doubts about it. The knowledge that the Aspects of Evil had given them was too glorious for them to simply believe what Lilith said.

How to summon a demon, how to fuse with a demon's soul by summoning it inside your body, and even how to nullify the Gaia System that had been created with the power of a god… The information on all of those things was from a plane of knowledge unreachable to humans.

'I'm sure Lady Lilith is mistaken.'

Akiyama hadn't read the Book of Hell. He'd been busy working on the ritual to return Lilith to her original form, so he'd just assisted in its distribution with the help of the Demon Cult branch in the Middle East.

'I'll read it later.'

He was curious about the contents of the book, which led Lilith to confidently claim that they would soon know who the true demon king was.

'No, that isn't what's important right now.'

Akiyama turned his head and gazed at Kurosaki Yurie—no, Lilith lying on the altar.

"Ehehehehe."

It was obvious he'd laugh like an idiot after seeing such a beauty.

'I wonder what reward she'll give me.'

He stroked his weapon, the red whip. His heart seemed to have been set alight with passion, and an exciting sensation spread to the lower part of his body. He imagined Lilith looking down at him in disgust and stepping on him with her high heels.

"That is a reward in this industry."

Akiyama licked his lips, drooling as he recalled the scenes that he had dreamed of.

Immersed in his delusion, he put more effort into casting the spell. Black demonic energy moved toward Lilith, enveloping her.

"Whoa."

Little by little, new skin was being created by the demonic energy that encompassed her. The human body of Kurosaki Yurie was slowly turning into that of a demon.

Rumble!

"Huh?!"

"C-Cardinal Akiyama! The Rift is acting strangely!"

"W-We cannot control it very well!"

Akiyama's subordinates shouted in desperation.

With a hardened expression, Akiyama yelled, "Do not falter! Get a hold of yourselves, guys!"

"Kurgh! Cough!!"

One of his subordinates who was also casting the spell suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed.

CRACK!

The size of the Rift became bigger, and even more demonic energy flowed out from it.

"Kuh!"

It was an unexpected situation.

Akiyama bit his lip.

"Y-Your Eminence! The Rift is going out of control!"

"W-We have to stop it!"

His subordinates hurriedly shouted.

The dimensional wall worked as a sort of dam—a very solid one that blocked dimensions. What Rifts did was pierce that dam for a short while.

If this Rift that they were dealing with were to run wild, a huge amount of energy from Hell might come out at once and bring about great danger to those around the Rift.

"Kuh!! Sh-Shit!"

Normally, Akiyama would stop the ritual and close the Rift.

"No! We cannot give up!" Akiyama shouted.

However, they'd been waiting for this for a very long time and had experienced the bitter taste of failure before. They couldn't just give up here.

"Guys! We will keep pushing forward!"

'Toward our dream!'

* * *

"We've found it."

Oh Kang-Woo, who had been staying in the castle and helping Ito Shinji, quickly stood up and walked over.

"Where?" he asked.

"Take a look at this footage," Shinji said and pressed a remote control.

CCTV footage appeared on the monitor, showing Akiyama getting on a boat on the coast.

"His name is Akiyama Ichiro. He officially went missing a few years ago. After conducting an open investigation, we managed to find a witness who testified that they sold him a boat."

"Sold him a boat?"

"Yes. Apparently, he bought a giant cruiser that cost billions of yen and had set sail somewhere with dozens of people."

"Did you find out where he went?"

"If we were to make a prediction based on their route, it's most likely Sapporo."

Sapporo… was a place where restoration measures had yet to begin after an SS-rank Gate appeared there.

'They must be going to where they performed the ritual the first time,' Kang-Woo thought.

There was a high chance that was the case.

In the first place, the demon they'd tried to summon there was Lilith. So, Sapporo was the ideal location for the ritual, and it likely still had all of the basic infrastructure required from the last attempt.

'I should have killed him back then.'

Kang-Woo regretted not having killed Akiyama when he had the chance.

He said, "I will go to Sapporo."

"I will have a private jet ready for—"

"No need."

Kang-Woo jumped up and levitated.

'It would be best if I could request assistance, but…'

He didn't even have time to do that. Actually, it would be better for him to go alone to stop Lilith from blabbering things about Kang-Woo being the true demon king, similar to what Balrog had done.

Before leaving, Kang-Woo made sure to reassure Shinji by saying something warrior of light-esque.

"I will rescue the princess no matter what."

"...We will trust you and wait here, Kang-Woo."

Then Kang-Woo opened a window and flew toward Sapporo with a blazing will.

'I will stop the advent of Lilith.'

BOOM!

He shot forward, breaking the sound barrier. The wind raged around him as a powerful shockwave spread out.

'Faster.'

Tokyo and Sapporo weren't that far away. Kang-Woo flew to Sapporo with all his might.

'I see it.'

He saw an island across the sea. It was Hokkaido.

Kang-Woo frowned deeply while looking at it.

"Shit!"

He could feel an enormous amount of demonic energy, even greater than when Balrog had been summoned, shake all of Sapporo.

'Something's off.'

The demonic energy was running wild.

He'd seen the Demon Cult's rituals numerous times, but this was his first time seeing one like that.

'It's not because of Lilith.'

He had no idea what would happen if the demonic energy kept running amok like that.

Kang-Woo quickly went toward where the demonic energy was leaking out from.

Rumble—!!

At the location of the ritual, a demonic energy vortex was shaking its surroundings.

"Zazas, zazas, nasatanada zazas!!!"

There, Kang-Woo saw Akiyama chanting desperately. There were other Demon Cultists as well, but they'd all died.

Kang-Woo summoned Gungnir.

'Wait.'

His hands stopped moving in midair. He realized that the one barely keeping the wild demonic energy under control was Akiyama.

'Shit.'

Closing the Rift was the priority. If it got any bigger, there was no guessing what could happen.

Kang-Woo turned to the Rift and saw a woman lying on the altar.

Squelch, squelch.

He gasped at the sight. The woman had tentacles, which wriggled around while making disgusting noises. Lilith's body was getting closer to its original form.

"A-Aaahhh!"

The nightmarish memories returned to Kang-Woo. His mouth fell open, and he trembled anxiously.

'I have to stop it.'

He had to close the Rift no matter what.

Kang-Woo approached the Rift and summoned up all of his demonic energy.

Crunch—!!

There was immense pressure on his hands.

This Rift was incomparable to the one that Lilith had been summoned through the first time. The vortex of demonic energy that was running amok was as powerful as a waterfall pouring out from a collapsed dam.

"Kurgh!"

Kang-Woo felt like he would be crushed by the flood of demonic energy. He now possessed power comparable to that of the seven princes of Hell, but blocking this colossal flood of demonic energy with just his body was too much.

"Raaaahhhh!"

Kang-Woo used the Authority of Predation, but it didn't have much effect. It was like trying to scoop water from a waterfall with a basket. The only solution was to close the entrance with immense power.

"Y-You! You're from back then!" Akiyama shouted.

“Kuurrggh!” Kang-Woo frowned and turned his head to face Akiyama. "Come help me, you crazy fucker!"

Kang-Woo was sure that Akiyama knew what would happen if the Rift ran completely out of control.

"No! I cannot do that until the ritual is over!"

"You dumb fuck!! Forget the fucking ritual. We're all gonna die at this rate!!"

"I don't care! If it's for her, I would gladly give up my life!"

"ARRGGHH!! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!"

The ritual continued. Kang-Woo saw Lilith returning to her original form as he tried to close the Rift.

Kang-Woo shouted to Akiyama with a pale expression, "You horny ass dipshit!! Stop!! Stop it!! What does the succubus queen matter if you're dead?!"

"When do you think that a man dies?"

"What?"

Akiyama continued with a passionate gaze and a firm voice, "When he loses everything but his two balls?"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!!"

"No! That is not when a man dies!!"

"STOP FUCKING AROUND AND STOP THE RITUAL!!!"

Akiyama continued with the ritual even while coughing up blood.

"A man dies when… he has everything but his two balls!!!"

BOOM. Akiyama stomped on the ground.

As he persisted with the ritual, blood spurted from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

"A horny ass dipshit, you say? A delusional perverted otaku, you say? A pathetic virgin who has never held a girl's hand, you say?!"

"I didn't go that far, dude!!" Kang-Woo interjected.

"I… will never give up!! Even if this is a delusion or a useless dream…!! I will not give up on my ideals!!!"

Akiyama raised his hands, and the demonic energy from the Rift concentrated on Lilith. That explosive amount of energy allowed dozens of tentacles to emerge from her body.

"S-STOP!! STOP IT!! L-LILITH IS—!" Kang-Woo yelled as his face turned even paler.

"Today…! My ideals…! Will surpass dimensions!!"

"STOP, YOU MOTHERFUCKERRR!!!"