After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo nodded.

Of course, Raphael's apostle Ludwig, who had suddenly appeared in their lives, was already a corrupt individual. Kang-Woo did not even have to do anything for that to be the case.

"Yup. He's already corrupt. I'm sure of it. Mhm."

He'd had a bad feeling about Ludwig ever since he heard Ludwig laugh. It sounded like the laugh of a villain masking his villainy.

It was also extremely suspicious how he quickly got along with everyone despite having appeared out of nowhere.

'How dare he get all friendly with Si-Hun?'

Ludwig was definitely trying to take advantage of Si-Hun, who was kind-hearted.

"Like I'd let you."

Kang-Woo clenched his hands into fists, and his lips trembled.

He wasn't trying to corrupt Ludwig; he was just trying to expose what was hiding beneath Ludwig's mask. His goal was to make sure everyone saw Ludwig's true face.

"Yep. Mhm."

Kang-Woo looked up at the sky through his window.

'I'm not the bad guy.'

He could swear by the heavens that he wasn't ashamed of his actions a single bit. After all, he was sure that Ludwig's true face was that of a fallen saint.

"Right, I should get ready."

The weight on Kang-Woo's shoulders felt lighter already.

Kang-Woo stood up while smiling and placed his hand over his ear as he called someone.

- Yes, my king? Lilith answered.

"I have a favor to ask you."

- Fufu, there is no need for favors. Just say the word, and I will do it.

Kang-Woo smirked and opened his mouth.

"First, can you come here right now?"

- Of course.

The call was cut. Just thirty seconds later, the door of his room opened, and Lilith appeared.

'How did she get here so fast?'

It was so fast that Kang-Woo wondered if she lived next door.

'Come to think of it, I haven't seen the gentleman who lives next door in a while.'

He narrowed his eyes and looked at Lilith suspiciously.

Meanwhile, Lilith knelt on one knee and lowered her head in greeting.

"I have done as you have commanded, my king. Fufu. What is it that you wanted to tell me? If it is for nightly service, then let us—"

"No. It's nothing like that," Kang-Woo quickly answered.

He tried to calm down while he organized his thoughts.

'How to corrupt a saint…'

He thought of a way to reveal Ludwig's true identity.

"We're gonna create a dungeon," Kang-Woo said.

"A… dungeon?"

"We have a week, and it needs to be as horrifying and large as possible."

"But…"

A week wasn't nearly enough time. They did not have a large army at their disposal like back in the Nine Hells. They could use Vaal Zahak's undead army for simple labor, but creating a large-scale dungeon in such a short time was almost impossible.

"I'll be joining in the construction."

"Ah, hohoho. That would change things, then."

Lilith smiled brightly.

If the Demon King helped, it was completely doable. He had fully recovered the power he used to have back in the Nine Hells, so it would be a completely different story if he took part in the dungeon construction.

"I will begin making the blueprint. What theme would you like it to be?" Lilith asked.

"Hmm."

Numerous thoughts crossed Kang-Woo's mind.

'This is more fun than I expected.'

He had simply wanted to set the stage to expose Ludwig's true self, but getting involved with the production process itself was quite entertaining. He felt like a kid building a castle with Legos.

'Is this why demon kings never leave their castles?'

Kang-Woo felt like he understood why demon kings never got off of their asses.

He laughed a bit and kept thinking.

A theme that just screamed 'demon king'...

'As horrifying as possible.'

A place capable of making one fall into despair and break their mind…

A dungeon that recreated the worst possible nightmare…

A place that not even the most respected saint could resist being corrupted in…

"Fufufu, take your time."

Lilith smiled mischievously and sat next to Kang-Woo. She reached for his hand and slowly caressed it.

Kang-Woo's eyes lit up.

'That's it.'

There was no need to take his time to think about it. The most terrifying and horrifying thing he could think of… a manifestation of a nightmare…

Kang-Woo began, "The theme of the dungeon will be…"

There was nothing better than this.

"Tentacles," he concluded in a firm voice.

Lilith's eyes widened.

"Oh, my king!"

She shyly shook her head with her hands on her cheeks.

* * *

"I had fun today as well. The food on Earth is quite impressive. We can use ice magic to create ice cream, but we do not have a great variety of flavors like on Earth. Was it… mint chocolate? It was very delicious," Ludwig said while smiling brightly.

"That's a flavor people on Earth can't agree on…" Kim Si-Hun remarked while giving an awkward smile.

"What? Is that so? But it was so delicious…"

Ludwig tilted his head as if he couldn't understand it.

Si-Hun smiled bitterly upon seeing Ludwig's innocent appearance.

"About your world, Mr. Ludwig—"

"Please, call me Ludwig."

"Huh?"

"Hahaha. Has it not been a week since you introduced me to Earth's civilization? Once we can figure out the location of the Demon of Prophecy through the holy sword, support will arrive from the celestial realm… and the time I can spend with all of you from Guardians will be reduced," Ludwig explained. He extended his hands and expressed, "So, I would like to make friends from Earth before then."

"Ah…"

After hesitating for a moment, Si-Hun smiled and grabbed Ludwig's hands.

"Okay. I guess this is fate, so let's get along, Ludwig."

"Yeah, let's."

Both people exchanged a firm handshake, and there was an awkward atmosphere.

Si-Hun blushed and scratched his cheeks while avoiding Ludwig's gaze.

'A friend, huh?'

It was an awkward word for Si-Hun. He had never had a friend before because his brother, Kim Yeong-Hun, had made it so. Si-Hun had always lived a lonely life.

'I wonder if hyung-nim would disapprove.'

There was a chance Kang-Woo wouldn't approve of Si-Hun hanging out with a friend like an idle middle school student when he should be using every single moment of his time to train.

"…"

Si-Hun thought about it for a while and shook his head. In the end, he didn't think Kang-Woo would get mad over something like that.

"Let's get ready to go back. Today's the day, right?" Si-Hun asked.

He didn't specify what he was talking about, but the meaning was clear.

Ludwig nodded and replied, "Yup, today. A little more time and the holy sword will completely adapt to this world.”

"Then I should gather the Guardians members and—"

"No, don't," Ludwig interjected, shaking his head. "Using the holy sword requires a lot of concentration. The fewer people there are around, the better."

"Mm…"

"And I'd rather not have this be the case, but there's a chance that there might be someone in Guardians with demonic energy. I'm planning on using the holy sword with just the Watchers of Light around me, just in case."

"…"

Si-Hun remained silent and thought of Kang-Woo, someone who had been born a human but ended up having the body of a demon for reasons that were outside of his control.

'It'll be okay.'

Kang-Woo had abandoned his power as a demon. The energy filling him now was the sacred power of Tirion, God of Heroes.

'It'll… be okay.'

Si-Hun suddenly felt uneasy.

He looked at Ludwig and asked hesitantly, "Hypothetically speaking… what will you do if there really is a demon in Guardians?"

"I'll kill them."

"Umm… What if they're not a regular demon and became one due to circumstances out of their contr—"

"Si-Hun," Ludwig said with a smile, "It doesn't matter how they became a demon. Whatever situation they're in or whatever circumstances they have, it doesn't matter. Demons need to die. They need to be torn apart and burned to death—every single one of them."

"...Even if they were forced to become a demon? You know that humans can turn into demons against their will, just from being exposed to demonic energy."

"Yeah, they could've been," Ludwig acknowledged with a nod. Then he continued without hesitation while maintaining his bright smile, "But that has nothing to do with us. Regardless of why they became a demon, they must die."

'Every single one…'

"…"

Ludwig was firm and unwavering.

Si-Hun looked at him in bewilderment.

'It's weird.'

There was something twisted about Ludwig's reasoning.

Si-Hun began, "You—"

"Oh, isn't that Kang-Woo over there?" Ludwig said and pointed toward Baskin Robbins, the ice cream shop they'd just visited.

He saw Kang-Woo entering the shop with Han Seol-Ah by his side. They were carefully holding hands.

"Oh, you're right."

"Who's the person next to him?"

"That's Ms. Han Seol-Ah. She's hyung-nim's girlfriend."

Si-Hun looked at both of them while narrowing his eyes. He felt a bit envious.

"Huh…?" Ludwig uttered, his eyes suddenly widening. "C-Could it be? No, that's impossible. H-How could someone from Earth…"

"...What's wrong?"

"H-Hahaha!! By the gods, I can't believe it!!" Ludwig exclaimed excitedly. He quickly turned around. "I'll get going."

"Huh?"

Before Si-Hun could say anything, Ludwig opened a Gate leading to the Hall of Protection and quickly woke up one of his subordinates standing by there.

"I have to contact Lord Raphael right now," Ludwig said.

He stood in front of the Gate leading to Africa with a very wide smile and then took a step forward without hesitation.

However…

"...Huh?"

Once again, a confused murmur left his mouth.

For the past week, they had been constantly using this Gate, which was connected to the battlefield that had Lucifer's traces on it, but…

"Where… are we?"

"L-Lord Ludwig! Wh-Where are we?!" the priests shouted anxiously.

Ludwig looked up. They were in a giant cave. Endless darkness enveloped them like the abyss.

"Eek!"

One of Ludwig's subordinates raised his hand, pouring white light into the cave.

Squelch.

"Huh?" Ludwig uttered with a hardened expression.

Once the cave was illuminated, they could see hundreds of thousands of tentacles.

Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!

The thousands of tentacles wiggled around, leaking yellow pus and transparent fluid. A horrifying scent flooded the noses of those present.

"A-Aah," they gasped in horror.

One of the priests collapsed, and…

"H-Huh?"

He realized the very floor they were on was made of tentacles.

"R-Run aw—kurgh!! Ugh!!"

Crack!

A tentacle shot out and entered the priest's mouth. It traveled down his esophagus and wriggled around his stomach.

Bash!

"Mmmph! Mmph!!"

The tentacle burst out of his stomach.

"Aaaaahhh!!"

"R-Run!"

Blood-curdling screams filled the cave.

Ludwig looked grimly into the darkness and muttered, "Just what is… this place?"

Riiing!

[You have entered the SS+ rank dungeon 'Lilith ♡ Demon King Love Houswhythefuckdidyounameitlikethisfuckitsalreadyset.']

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