After Ten Millennia in Hell

"Yes," Lilith replied.

"Hm…"

'It should be about time they made a move.'

Lucifer or Satan. Kang-Woo had been sure that one of them would make a move soon, but unlike what he had expected, neither had.

'I need to raise my Demonic Energy stat.'

He had to reach 150 in Demonic Energy to surpass the strength he had in the Nine Hells and become a Demon God.

His growth had already reached a limit. From now on, if he wanted to raise his stat, he needed someone at the level of a prince of Hell to make their move. His irritation was soaring from the fact that things were not going according to his expectations.

'Should I attack that giant branch?'

That was an option, but after thinking about it for a while, Kang-Woo shook his head.

'Let's wait a bit more.'

Just because it was a branch with more than ten thousand members didn't mean there was necessarily someone at the level of a prince of Hell. For example, there were many cardinals in the African branch, but there wasn't anyone close to the level of a prince of Hell.

'I don't know how many of those Aspects of Evil there are in the first place.'

Mammon and Satan…

Those two were likely Aspects of Evil, but he wasn't sure if they were the only ones.

'I hope there are more.'

For Kang-Woo to get a more constant influx of demonic energy, it would be better if there were many beings at that level. Even if they weren't revived princes of Hell, as long as they were at that level, he would be able to get some Demonic Energy stat points from them.

'I'm not sure if anyone but a prince of Hell can be an Aspect of Evil, though.'

Besides gods, he had never met anyone at the level of a prince of Hell other than beings from the Nine Hells.

Kang-Woo leaned back on his chair and fell into thought.

Whoom.

The crystal orb given to elite members of Guardians lit up on his desk.

He reached out and grabbed it.

[Ah, hyung-nim!]

He heard Kim Si-Hun's voice.

"What's up?"

[I heard that Gaia just received a revelation.]

"A revelation?"

[Yes. I think that you should come.]

"I'll be right there."

Kang-Woo stood up, his eyes shining sharply.

'A revelation, huh?'

The last time Gaia had received a revelation, a goddess from another world, Benigoa, had come to their world.

'I wonder if it'll be another god?'

For the moment, Earth was like a country that had declared bankruptcy.

The gods of Earth had no way to protect Earth, so they were asking for help from wherever they could.

'Thanks to that, my stat rose by three.'

A god from a faraway world, or a god from a world closely related to Earth like Aernor or Huan… it did not matter. He would use and take whatever he could since the gods of Earth were powerless to defend the world they were in charge of.

"Tsk, useless bastards."

Although their job was to defend Earth from otherworldly forces, they were begging for help from other worlds.

He had never seen or heard of such pathetic gods.

"Will you be heading straight to the Hall of Protection?" Lilith asked.

"Yeah."

"I will accompany you."

"No, stay here."

He shook his head.

'Just in case.'

Although he was able to hide traces of Lilith's demonic energy thanks to the effects of Ruler of Demonic Energy, there was no need to push it.

"In that case, I will be standing by to move at a moment's notice."

"Let Balrog know, too."

"Yes, my king."

He put the crystal orb on the floor, and a white gate appeared.

Fwoosh.

He walked in while feeling the sensation he had long become accustomed to.

He saw Si-Hun.

"Where's Gaia?" Kang-Woo asked.

"Over here."

Si-Hun guided him while making a worried expression.

Kang-Woo followed Si-Hun, and when Kang-Woo spotted Gaia, she was looking upward and trembling in her wheelchair. She looked like a possessed shaman.

He could understand why Si-Hun had been worried.

"Aah… ahh." Gaia, who had been trembling for a while, panted heavily. "Haaa, haaa. Th-Thank you for coming."

"Of course. Did you receive a revelation from Gaia?"

"No." Gaia shook her head. "It wasn't from Lady Gaia this time either."

"Was it about a god from another world coming again?"

She shook her head once again. "No. The revelation said they would send support for the events to come, but… they are not a god, unlike before."

"Then what are they?"

"They apparently asked for support from the… Watchers of Light from the continent of Aernor."

"Watchers of Light?"

"I'm not sure who they are, either."

"…"

Kang-Woo frowned.

'If you're gonna give a revelation, at least make it more detailed.'

It seemed like they were asking for help from basically everywhere they possibly could to see what stuck. It was an irresponsible course of action that could end up causing more damage than help.

'We have to be the ones to clean up their shit.'

He once again sighed at how incompetent the gods were.

'You call this a world?'

He wasn't sure who the origin of all this chaos was, but the gods were borrowing power from other worlds seemingly at random.

He couldn't help but sigh.

"Are they coming to the Hall of Protection?" Kang-Woo asked.

"No. The, uhh… Watchers of Light have something they need to investigate on Earth, so they will be going to Africa first."

"Africa…?"

"Yes. You remember the place where we found traces of a large-scale battle, don't you?"

"Oh."

Of course he knew—it was the place where Lucifer and Satan had clashed.

"Let's go right away."

Kang-Woo turned his body without hesitation.

* * *

The grassland had been destroyed by an intense battle.

A group of five people wearing white clerical clothing with angel wings drawn on the back walked out of a blue Gate.

The blond man at the front looked around.

"This place must be…"

"Earth, I believe it was called."

"The distribution of mana is significantly lower than in Aernor."

The group wearing white clerical clothing continued their investigation with sharp eyes.

"Apostle Ludwig, have you contacted the apostles of—"

"Lord Raphael has already contacted the apostles of Earth."

"Is there a need to help them? The retainers of a broken goddess will be of no help to our quest of eradicating evil."

"Do not be like that. They also serve the light. The thicker the darkness, the more the light must illuminate one another," Ludwig said in a firm voice.

"I-I apologize."

The apostles quickly lowered their heads.

Then…

"Nice to meet you."

Three people—Kang-Woo, Si-Hun, and Gaia—appeared from a white gate.

Ludwig bowed and smiled. He behaved courteously and spoke politely. "Nice to meet you, apostles of Gaia. I am Ludwig, a Watcher of Light."

Gaia bowed and replied, "My name is Gaia."

"Oh… Have you taken the name of the goddess you serve?"

"I have abandoned my real name."

"… I am impressed." Ludwig nodded. "I have heard from Lord Raphael that Lady Gaia is currently…"

"She is currently unconscious," Gaia remarked.

"I see." Ludwig made a somber expression and sighed. He teared up. "To think that such a generous goddess would be put in such a state… As one who serves light, it is truly heartbreaking."

"Thank you for your concern, but we have many heroes who have gathered with the goal of protecting this star."

"Hahaha, how dependable."

Ludwig smiled brightly—it was as if his smile were illuminating the surroundings. The warm atmosphere he emitted melted away all forms of caution.

'Watchers of Light, huh?'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes and scanned them.

Angel wing patterns were on the backs of their clerical clothing.

'They don't seem to be angels.'

In that case, they likely served the angels.

Kang-Woo took a step forward and asked, "What is a Watcher of Light?"

"Ah, my apologies. It seems we were short on explanations. We are devotees serving Lord Raphael."

'I knew it.'

They had something to do with the angels.

Kang-Woo nodded and slowly scanned Ludwig.

'… I can't really tell.'

It was his first time seeing beings with the power of angels. He couldn't feel how strong Ludwig and the other Watchers of Light were.

'Well, I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later.'

First, he needed to be sure that they couldn't see through Ruler of Demonic Energy and feel the concealed demonic energy. If they couldn't, then it would be better to form an amicable relationship with them than to antagonize them.

Kang-Woo said, "I heard that you have come here to investigate something…"

"Ah, yes. We have been searching for traces of Lucifer."

"Lucifer?"

"Yes." Ludwig nodded. "That is the name of the evil demon currently at war with Lord Raphael. He suddenly disappeared not long ago."

"Are you saying this Lucifer is currently on Earth?"

"We are not sure, but I can definitely feel his presence here."

Gaia's and Si-Hun's expressions hardened after hearing that Lucifer, a prince of Hell, had come to Earth.

Kang-Woo was the only one who frowned in confusion.

'That son of a bitch didn't go back to Aernor?'

He narrowed his eyes and recalled that Lucifer had disappeared through a blue Gate while tearing off his own arm.

'No. I'm sure he went back.'

After that, he had likely concealed himself in a place where angels could not find him.

'Well, I guess it isn't bad news.'

He didn't mind if the angels found Lucifer. He could always make Raphael and Lucifer fight and then just take advantage of the result of that fight.

"As beings that serve the light, let us do our best to eradicate evil."

Ludwig extended his hand and smiled.

Gaia nodded and grabbed his hand.

"Thank you for caring about otherworldly matters."

"Not at all. Even if this is another world, evil must be eradicated."

"Ah… O-Of course."

For a moment, Gaia turned to Kang-Woo but then naturally nodded. She probably concluded that it would be wise not to let them find out that Kang-Woo used to be the demon king of the Nine Hells.

"We will also help the best we can," Kang-Woo said while also shaking Ludwig's hand.

'This isn't bad at all.'

As long as they weren't able to tell that he was a demon, he couldn't care less if they felt animosity toward demons.

'He also seems like a good person.'

Ludwig seemed gentlemanly. Since he was an apostle of an archangel, Kang-Woo could understand his excessive hostility toward demons.

'He could become a reliable comrade.'

"Oh, we are also investigating something else besides Lucifer's whereabouts. A being known as the Demon of Prophecy… Lord Raphael has bestowed us with a method to find the demon after collaborating with the gods of Earth."

'Nope, I guess we'll never be comrades.'

Kang-Woo had felt an unknown sense of displeasure from the moment Ludwig spoke. His smile was obviously a mask to hide his filthy and disgusting intentions. Kang-Woo couldn't even imagine how many atrocities he had likely committed in the name of eradicating demons.

'Damn follower of a fallen angel.'

Intense anger spread through his body. He clenched his fists, and his body trembled.

It was hard to contain his disgust.

'As long as I still have eyes to see with, I won't let you do as you wish!'