After Ten Millennia in Hell

Kang-Woo could hear his skeleton contort. His muscles were torn apart and made anew. Unimaginable pain spread throughout his body. It was as if his body had been torn to shreds and forcibly sewn back together again.

"…"

He remained silent and focused on the changes that were happening inside him. He had to know what the Ultimate Demonic Body was exactly.

The pain hindered him from concentrating, but it wasn't like he couldn't endure it. Kang-Woo was used to enduring pain.

'So, this is the Ultimate Demonic Body.'

He wasn't quite sure what it was yet, but he could tell the changes were purely internal. Nothing about him had changed externally.

His muscles toughened, and his bones hardened. Those were positive changes indeed, but he wasn't sure what made them so great to deserve a grandiose name like 'Ultimate Demonic Body.'

'Hm?'

While Kang-Woo was wondering that, a new change occurred. The energy inside his dantian started to melt into his blood. His muscles and bones had changed just a moment ago, and now even his blood was changing. Blood full of demonic energy circulated through every nook and cranny of his entire body.

'Whoa.'

The pain stopped, replaced by an indescribable sense of fullness.

Kang-Woo moved his finger. His body, which had had no sensation since the transformation began, moved according to his will.

He slowly got up, and message windows appeared.

Riiing.

[The transformation into the Ultimate Demonic Body has been completed.]

[All stats have risen by 5.]

[Commencing the second step to becoming a Demon God.]

"Wow."

Kang-Woo's eyes lit up.

'All stats rose by five...'

It was a satisfying number.

He really liked that his Demonic Energy, which had shown no signs of rising, had just risen by five at once to 108. Without buffs like Kraken's Rage, the stat would remain under 110, but a rise of five was a huge change. The amount of demonic energy inside him had increased as well, similar to whenever the seal of the Ten Thousand Demon Core weakened.

'But the biggest change is…'

Kang-Woo looked down at his right arm.

The blood flowing out of his shoulder, which Akiyama had injured, was black.

'The demonic energy melted into my blood.'

Kang-Woo's muscles had become thicker and his bones harder, both of which were positive changes… But the biggest change was that his demonic energy had completely melted into his blood.

Moreover, it wasn't normal demonic energy; it was highly concentrated, similar to the energy inside of the demonic crystal. In other words, the energy of the demonic crystal that had only been in his dantian had spread through his entire body. It was as if his body had become one big dantian.

"Very nice."

Kang-Woo was satisfied.

This was a level of power he hadn't achieved during his rule over the Nine Hells. The sensation of getting stronger made him excited.

'I wonder what the second step to becoming a Demon God is.'

After achieving the Ultimate Demonic Body, Kang-Woo's body changed more than he'd imagined. He'd even gotten a power that was beyond his imagination. It was no surprise that he'd be interested in what was next.

Kang-Woo opened his status window and checked the information for the second step.

[Information]

[Demonic Soul: The second step to becoming a Demon God.

*Condition 1: ???

*Condition 2: ???]

There wasn't any information except for the name 'Demonic Soul' and that he needed to fulfill two conditions.

'First was the body, and now it's the soul.'

Just like before, there wasn't any information about the power that the Demonic Soul would bring him.

Kang-Woo looked away from his status window. Since he didn't have any information about how to fulfill those conditions, there was no point in thinking about it any longer.

He then checked the Sixth Awakening Trait that he'd acquired previously. It had fully unlocked after he achieved the Ultimate Demonic Body.

[Sixth Awakening Trait: Demonic Art of Creation (Rank: SS)]

[Effect: The Player can create equipment infused with the power of Authorities. The more Authorities that are used simultaneously during the crafting process, the greater the power that the crafted equipment will possess.

However, to create equipment of the Mythic grade and above, a material of the same grade is required.

*The number of equipment that can be crafted with Demonic Art of Creation is one. The previously crafted equipment will be destroyed if any more is crafted.]

"Wow!"

Kang-Woo's eyes gleamed.

'Not bad at all.'

Being able to craft equipment infused with the power of Authorities was a huge advantage. Valuable materials of the same grade were necessary for crafting equipment of the Mythic grade or higher, but that wasn't the case for equipment of the Legendary grade or below. This was an incredibly good Trait, especially considering how much of a difference the Black Pearl Coat had made to his combat prowess.

'I'm not sure what this Trait has to do with the Ultimate Demonic Body though.'

This Trait had been unlocked after he achieved the Ultimate Demonic Body, but the two things seemed to have no relation to each other.

'Is there a different reason?'

There was no way for Kang-Woo to know for sure at this point. In any case, there was no point jumping to conclusions when he didn't even know if the Demonic Art of Creation was related to the Ultimate Demonic Body.

'Besides, it's not that important.'

The important thing was that he'd achieved the Ultimate Demonic Body and that he had risen to a higher stage thanks to it. Additionally, the Sixth Awakening Trait that he'd fully unlocked was quite useful.

Kang-Woo left his questions aside and placed his hand on his right shoulder. He used the Authority of Regeneration, and his wound healed quickly.

"I should get out of here," Kang-Woo said, turning around.

He had stopped Lilith's summoning and achieved the Ultimate Demonic Body. It seemed like his level was still capped, but two of his other problems had been solved at once. He was enjoying the current situation so much that he wanted to dance.

Kang-Woo hummed as he approached the altar.

'So, this girl is the Miko of the Heavens.'

From her appearance, the Miko of the Heavens just looked like an ordinary but elegant and beautiful girl.

Kang-Woo lifted her in his arms.

Boom!

Right when he was about to use the Authority of the Sky to return to the surface, the ceiling of the tunnel was destroyed.

"Huff, huff."

A good-looking young man was panting heavily. His blue and black odd eyes gazed at Kang-Woo.

"Wha—"

"You were a step too late," Kang-Woo stated.

"Are you saying the summoning ritual took place down here and not on the top floor?" Fujimoto Ryoma asked with sharp eyes.

Kang-Woo gestured to the altar with his chin.

"As you can see."

"...How did you know that it was taking place here?"

"Because I noticed that there were no Demon Cultists on the way up."

"Hah, you broke away from your designated area of operations without permission just because of that?”

Ryoma seemed annoyed.

Kang-Woo smirked and said, "Our role from the beginning was to cause chaos, was it not? Just because I didn't head up to the top floor doesn't mean that I broke away from the designated area of operations."

"Then you should have told m—"

"It was nothing but a guess on my end as well. Why would I call you about unverified information?"

"…"

Trembling in frustration, Ryoma could only close his mouth upon hearing Kang-Woo's smooth answers.

'I'm sure he wanted to monopolize the achievement,' Kang-Woo thought.

He'd known that from the first moment they met.

Regardless, Kang-Woo walked past Ryoma, who was glaring at him. He didn't have a reason to care about Ryoma's intentions.

"Kuh," Ryoma uttered with a frown.

He bit his lips and continued to glare at Kang-Woo, who had taken the lead.

Ryoma felt conflicted. He flapped his lips, seemingly anxious. He looked around and then lifted his walkie-talkie after having come to a decision.

[Emergency! Requesting assistance from all units! Converge on the underground tunnel!]

Kang-Woo scoffed, "Hah, how over the top."

[There was a Demon Cultist spy among the Korean Players! Requesting immediate assistance!]

Kang-Woo turned around and looked at Ryoma in disbelief, although it wasn't hard for him to imagine why Ryoma was saying something like that all of a sudden.

'This guy's insane.'

His delightful mood was instantly ruined.

Kang-Woo frowned and said, "I know what you're trying to do, but you'd better stop."

"Nonsense, you filthy Demon Cultist! Let the Miko of the Heavens go!"

"Nonsense? That's rich, coming from you. If you want to monopolize the achievement, go for it. I can't even bring myself to deal with you."

Kang-Woo tried to hand Kurosaki Yurie to him, but Ryoma stepped back and raised powerful wind currents from his hands.

"Hmph! Enough with your pathetic excuses!" Ryoma rebuked angrily.

Despite the anger in his voice, Ryoma was smiling.

"Haaa..." Kang-Woo sighed.

He could hear people running down the tunnel. It was the group of Japanese Players that had taken the role of bait in their tactic.

Strangely, Prime Minister Yamada was with them.

He asked hurriedly, "Wh-What in the world is going on?!"

"It's as you can see. As soon as I defeated the Demon Cult, that man appeared and tried to kidnap the Miko of the Heavens again!"

"…"

Fujimoto Ryoma had shouted before Kang-Woo could say anything.

Prime Minister Yamada looked at Kang-Woo and murmured, "Hmm…"

Many things that Fujimoto had said made no sense. Firstly, Fujimoto appeared too unscathed for someone who claimed to have fought against the Demon Cult, and the situation didn't seem to be very urgent despite him having called it an emergency.

The second thing was related to Kurosaki Yurie, who was in the arms of the Korean Player. Her hair wasn't disheveled, and her clothes were in a neat state; it didn't seem at all like she was being kidnapped.

"What are you doing, Prime Minister?!" Ryoma questioned.

"Oh, m-my apologies," Prime Minister Yamada replied, flinching in surprise. He then shouted at the squadron of Players, "Surround the Demon Cultist!"

Kang-Woo was quickly surrounded by the Japanese Players.

He smirked at Prime Minister Yamada and remarked, "I see you're in cahoots with him."

Prime Minister Yamada had felt that something was off. That much was obvious from his expression. Yet, his attitude changed the moment Fujimoto yelled at him.

'They must've been prepared for something like this from the beginning.'

Kang-Woo guessed that they had planned to frame a Korean Player as a Demon Cultist on the off chance that a Korean Player rescued the hostage before Ryoma could. Otherwise, there was no reason for the prime minister to be here instead of in the bunker.

'What a bright idea.'

There were no cameras installed in the tunnel, and they hadn't recorded the tactic being carried out. In a situation like this, the only way to prove the accused's innocence was through testimonies. However, if everyone present was part of the same team, then they could label anyone passing by as a member of the Demon Cult. It was a typical witch hunt.

Kang-Woo burst out laughing. He found the trap so cute that his irritation disappeared.

'Come to think of it, that eye of his is Mythic-grade equipment, isn't it?' Kang-Woo thought.

The Eye of Susanoo was Fujimoto Ryoma's globally famous trademark equipment.

'Since it's a Mythic-grade piece of equipment, I'm sure the material for it is also Mythic-grade.'

A wide smile appeared on Kang-Woo's face.

"I surrender."

He placed Kurosaki Yurie down and raised his hands.