After Ten Millennia in Hell

"You will be the ones to regret it."

Upon hearing that, Halphas bit his lip.

Oh Kang-Woo could see a complex mix of emotions in Halphas' expression—a sense of relief for having survived, despair for having failed in the plan, and fear of having to relay this truth to Lucifer.

[Lord Satan!]

"My will is firm. I will take my retainers, the Demon Cult, and annihilate Lucifer's forces."

[Wh-Why?! Why are you doing this all of a sudden?!] Halphas shouted in confusion.

It was an obvious reaction.

Halphas could understand Satan refusing to join forces, but why would he declare war out of the blue? It was as if Lucifer had sent an envoy to form an alliance with Satan, but Satan had suddenly decided to send an army to invade Lucifer's territory instead.

"Kehehe. You truly know nothing."

Kang-Woo hadn't declared war without thinking about it first. If Satan had obtained the Demonic Sea, that alone was reason enough to attack Lucifer.

"Tell Lucifer this. I will take your soul and Hell Armament this time for sure."

In the first place, the seven princes of Hell had never been allies. While Kang-Woo had been fighting against the princes, they had also fought against each other. In the end, they joined forces with each other to fight Kang-Woo. However, that alliance hadn't been built on trust; it had been built on desperation.

If one of the princes had obtained Kang-Woo's power, they would have had no reason to avoid waging war against the other princes. After all, they also desired to devour the other princes and acquire even greater power.

'This guy doesn't seem to know what the Ten Thousand Demon Core is, though.'

If Halphas knew about it, he wouldn't have needed to ask Kang-Woo why he was waging war on Lucifer. Nevertheless, even if Halphas didn't know, his master Lucifer definitely knew.

'He will most certainly attack Satan.'

Kang-Woo made all of the necessary preparations. If Halphas were to relay to Lucifer everything that had happened here, Lucifer would have no choice but to attack Satan.

“The Demonic Sea is already in my hands! It's only a matter of time before I absorb its power!”

Kang-Woo had said that without much detail, but the meaning behind those words was clear. He conveyed that Satan had obtained the Demonic Sea, but he hadn't been able to fully absorb it. Lucifer would easily realize the meaning behind those words and attack Satan.

Kang-Woo had blatantly thrown bait that was too hard to resist.

'He has no choice but to take the bait.'

He wasn't exactly sure about Lucifer's circumstances, nor the extent of the forces that Lucifer could send to this world.

'But it doesn't matter.'

If Lucifer wasn't able to send many forces due to the intact Gaia System, then that was fine in its own right. If he could send enough for it to be an actual threat, then that force would target the Demon Cult. Kang-Woo had to eliminate both the Demon Cult and Lucifer eventually, so there would be no better news than them wiping each other out.

'The Demon Cult and Lucifer.'

The best possible outcome was to let them fight each other while Kang-Woo watched from the sidelines and profited from it. It didn't matter which side won. Either way, Kang-Woo would benefit from it. This was the essence of divide and conquer.

"What are you waiting for? Must I rip off your other arm for you to go back?"

[Kuh.]

Halphas gulped at the chilling words. He glared at Kang-Woo before quickly throwing his body into a blue Rift.

[Satan and the Demon Cult… You will soon realize the gravity of the mistake you have made.]

'Not soon enoooough!' Kang-Woo thought.

He sent Halphas off into the blue Rift while laughing gleefully in his mind.

Halphas, who had no idea what Kang-Woo was thinking, glared at him while disappearing into the blue Rift.

Kang-Woo then took off his mask and tucked it into his clothes.

"Right, then."

Since he'd sent a message to Lucifer through Halphas, it was time to enjoy the newly obtained rewards. Kang-Woo turned to the corpses of Malphas and Phenex.

'It's too bad that I let one go.'

There was nothing he could do about it. After all, he couldn't go to Lucifer personally to send him a message.

'This is all an investment for the future.'

It would be better if he thought about it like that.

'Authority of Predation.'

Black smoke spread from his hand and shrouded Phenex and Malphas. They were devoured by the Authority of Predation. Not even Halphas' arm was left behind.

Riiing.

[Activating the Trait ‘Reaper of Souls’.]

"I wonder how much more I have left to go?" Kang-Woo mumbled while looking at the message window in front of him.

Fwoom!

Just then, black demonic energy burst out from him.

'Huh?'

His eyes widened as a blue message window appeared in front of him.

[The first condition of Demonic Soul has been fulfilled.]

[The Demonic Energy stat cap has risen to 130.]

[The power of the system restricting your level is weakening due to the fulfillment of a condition of Demonic Soul.]

[Your level cap has risen to 79.]

[You have achieved your Eighth Awakening.]

"All right!!"

Kang-Woo clenched his hands into fists.

It seemed he'd managed to fulfill the first condition because he'd absorbed the souls of demons that were as powerful as an upper demon, even within the Ninth Hell.

The message windows that followed also made him happy.

[The passage leading to the deep end of the Ten Thousand Demon Core has expanded.]

[Additional souls of demons absorbed with the 'Reaper of Souls' Trait will expand the passage even more.]

"Very nice," he said with a laugh.

The passage that led to the deep end of the Ten Thousand Demon Core had expanded, so the number of Authorities he could use had also increased.

There were a few Authorities that, unlike the Authority of Blades and the Authority of Haste, needed some preparations before he could use them. They were a sort of technique that could only be used with demonic energy from the deep end. If he could use those techniques, he would be on par with—no, he could surpass Balrog.

"Let's see… I wonder what I got for my Eighth Awakening Trait?"

He was overflowing with anticipation.

Kang-Woo opened his status window and checked the Trait.

[Eighth Awakening Trait: ??? (Rank: ???)]

[The Eighth Awakening Trait will fully unlock after reaching 130 Demonic Energy stat.]

"Oh."

Kang-Woo sighed disappointedly.

'They did the same thing with the Sixth Awakening Trait.'

He frowned at the question marks that appeared every time he was on the verge of forgetting about them. It was as if an author, who had obtained unexpected success with their novel, was doing their best to keep the readers interested.

'But unlike before, I know exactly what I have to do.'

His goal, reaching 130 stat points for the Demonic Energy stat, and the means to achieve it were clear. The method that was most likely to succeed was to continue expanding the passage to the deep end by absorbing the souls of demons using Reaper of Souls.

"And thank god the level cap was lifted."

It was already fantastic that he could break the level cap by fulfilling the conditions of Demonic Soul instead of having to kill Gaia's Protectors.

'Then I guess there are two ways.'

He could either kill Protectors to weaken the system that had sealed his power, or he could become strong enough for the system to be unable to seal his power.

"All right."

There was no need to even think about which of the two was the better option. He had no reason to do something as stupid as killing his allies to become stronger.

"First, getting 130 in my Demonic Energy stat takes priority."

Considering that the Awakening Trait was related to the condition to become a Demon God, he needed to unlock it as quickly as possible.

"It shouldn't be a problem."

The tips of his mouth curved up.

He just had to wait for Lucifer to take the bait that Halphas was bringing to him. Kang-Woo likely wouldn't need to wait very long.

'He's probably scared shitless.'

Satan had acquired the Demonic Sea that Lucifer desperately wanted. Demons always craved more power, so there was no way he'd be able to stand still and watch the situation unfold. Lucifer would surely make his move before Satan was able to fully absorb the Demonic Sea.

'If Lucifer takes action…'

There was no way the Demon Cult wouldn't take action either if that were the case. So, Kang-Woo would just wait to profit from it in the name of Guardians.

'But there's just one problem.'

He narrowed his eyes as he thought of the worst-case scenario.

'If Lucifer learns the truth…'

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo wasn't greatly worried about that possibility coming true.

'He thinks Tirion was annihilated because of Satan.'

Tirion had let others know of Satan's existence as a final form of struggle. At that moment, Tirion had thought that Satan was the holder of the Demonic Sea. There was absolutely no way Lucifer would be able to know that the Lord of the Nine Hells had annihilated Tirion while pretending to be Satan.

'Glory to fucking Tirion!'

As a loyal apostle of Tirion, the God of Heroes, Kang-Woo couldn't help but praise him. Thanks to Tirion's desperate dying words, Kang-Woo had gained the ultimate alibi that freed him from all doubts.

'As expected of Lord Tirion!'

Tirion had given Kang-Woo his power without hesitation while preparing himself for annihilation, all for Reynald to be avenged. He was a hero who had made known the existence of Satan, the Demon of Prophecy, even while he was being annihilated from excessive interference with the system!

"I will never forget… your sacrifice."

Thinking of Tirion's sacrifice made Kang-Woo tear up a bit. No one would dare call Tirion anything other than a hero. He had sacrificed his life to warn others of the existence of the Demon of Prophecy right until his dying breath.

'You are the real hero, Lord Tirion.'

Tirion had a heart that was as steadfast as a giant pillar and an indomitable will that never bent under any circumstances. He was a hero who truly mourned for his apostle Reynald and sacrificed everything for him.

"Aahh," Kang-Woo sighed.

'I realized your greatness far too late.'

He never imagined that the void Tirion left in his death would be so massive. Kang-Woo felt like his heart was being poked with a needle.

'I'm not feeling guilty.'

He had inherited Tirion's will and was trying to eliminate Satan, the Demon of Prophecy, so he had nothing to feel guilty about.

Kang-Woo stood up.

Since he had become Tirion's apostle, he couldn't just stand by as this world was laid to waste by the fierce battle between Lucifer and Satan.

'I will punish them both myself.'

He would do so in the name of light!