After Ten Millennia in Hell

"S-Satan was the weakest?"

Kim Si-Hun and Cha Yeon-Joo looked at Rakiel in disbelief.

Guardians knew better than anyone how strong Satan was after everything they had suffered at his hands. Even heroes who could've dominated an era had died at the hands of Satan.

Even leaving all his wrongdoings aside, Satan had fought against Raphael and won. Not only that, Raphael still hadn't recovered from the wounds he had suffered in that battle.

Satan had proven his power to the world to the point that it was meaningless to even think about how powerful of a demon he was, but…

"W-Wait! Th-There has to be some sort of problem!!" Yeon-Joo shouted in disbelief.

There was no way she would so easily believe that Satan had died so easily and that he had been the weakest of the four retainers serving the Demon of Prophecy.

"We don't even know what he looks like since he always wore a mask! Check again!" Yeon-Joo anxiously shouted at Si-Hun.

"…"

Si-Hun remained still with his mouth closed.

Just as she had said, it was the first time they'd seen Satan's face. His face was so ordinary that Si-Hun even wondered why Satan had worn a mask in the first place. However…

"It's… Satan."

It wasn't simple intuition. Satan had once sown a 'seed' within Si-Hun to corrupt him into a demon, and the demonic energy he had felt back then and the demonic energy he was currently feeling from the head was an exact match.

"…"

There was silence.

Rakiel crossed his arms and looked at them.

"Do you believe me now?"

"Where is… hyung-nim?"

Si-Hun threw Satan's head like it was trash.

What mattered at the moment wasn't Satan or the Four Heavenly Kings. After all, they had come here while fully knowing the Demon of Prophecy would be here. Just because a powerful enemy had appeared didn't mean they could forget their objective.

"By hyung-nim, do you mean this man?"

Rakiel smirked and snapped his finger.

The darkness surrounding them like a tent was lifted, and Kang-Woo, who was chained to a cross, appeared.

"U-Urgghh…"

"H-Hyung-nim!!"

"Gasp…"

Kang-Woo was in an extremely wretched state; his body was a complete mess from likely having been tortured all this time.

"K-Kang-Woo!!!"

Seol-Ah lost her reason and ran toward Kang-Woo.

Si-Hun grabbed her shoulder.

"Let me go!"

"Please… calm down."

"Let me go!! K-Kang-Woo… Kang-Woo is…!" Seol-Ah shouted while crying.

Si-Hun bit his lip and pulled her back. He also wanted nothing more than to rush toward Kang-Woo, but…

'Hold it in.'

Chilling bloodlust appeared in Si-Hun's eyes.

It wasn't hard to imagine what would happen if he rushed forward without being able to control himself…

They would probably lose Kang-Woo forever.

"Si… Hun."

"Hyung…"

Si-Hun clamped his eyes shut. He didn't want to see his wounded hyung.

'But…'

Si-Hun controlled his breathing and slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't sure if he could say he was glad for it, but he didn't see any signs of corruption. Neither could he feel evil demonic energy from Kang-Woo's body.

'We can still save him.'

It wasn't too late, unlike with Ludwig.

Si-Hun gripped his holy sword tighter.

Rakiel was leisurely looking at him. Si-Hun's mind was in discord.

'Will I be able to win?'

The demon had made fun of the powerful Satan, calling him weak. The chances of winning were close to zero.

"Hmm? What a surprise. I had expected you to lose your mind and charge at me."

"…"

"Or I guess he was not that important to you after all."

Rakiel burst into laughter and mocked Si-Hun.

Si-Hun ignored his taunts and raised his sword, taking a deep breath.

'Even if the chances are close to zero…'

He had no reason not to raise his sword. He recalled everything he'd gone through with Kang-Woo. He had only ever been saved by him. Now it was the time to repay that favor.

'If he saw me now…'

He would probably grab him by the collar and curse at him again.

Si-Hun smirked and opened his mouth.

"We will do as planned."

"…"

"Gulp."

The Players gripped their weapons nervously at Si-Hun's words. The goal of the mission was solely to rescue Kang-Woo—there was no need to defeat Rakiel.

"Okay, then…"

Si-Hun lowered his body.

BOOM!!

Si-Hun shot toward Rakiel by using the tension created from bending his body like a bow.

* * *

'Good.'

Kang-Woo smiled while blocking Si-Hun's attacks. He looked at the Players around him.

'I did it.'

It seemed like the angels hadn't taken part in the plan, but it didn't matter. If this many Players served as witnesses, they would have no choice but to trust it even if they were suspicious of Kang-Woo.

'And now…'

The identity of the Demon of Prophecy had fallen into the labyrinth; he had created a card known as Rakiel that would allow him to take actions comfortably, and the Warrior of Light Oh Kang-Woo had been freed from any suspicion. It was such a huge success that he wanted to cheer in delight.

'Lastly…

All he had to do was wrap up this situation.

'For fuck's sake, why did this have to happen so out of left field?'

The tiny mistake of watching the battle between Si-Hun and Kalgia with beer and popcorn in hand had brought him all the way here.

'I mean, I guess it all worked out.'

Although it had been extremely dangerous, having obtained a card that could replace Satan was satisfactory enough.

'Still…'

Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief while blocking Si-Hun's attacks as Si-Hun charged like a raging bull.

'What an absolute monster.'

He couldn't believe it while looking at the wounds that were appearing on his own body. Kang-Woo had set the dungeon's difficulty while taking Si-Hun into consideration.

Excluding himself, Si-Hun was overwhelmingly stronger than the rest, so it was obvious.

He had thought that the dungeon clearing would take three days at the very least no matter how many people entered the dungeon, but it had been cut down to eight hours due to Si-Hun.

'What's up with him?'

Kang-Woo looked at Si-Hun in disbelief.

At this point, he couldn't just laugh and brush it off while saying Si-Hun was the protagonist.

The current Si-Hun would likely be able to face a prince of Hell; no, he would even be able to beat a low-ranking prince like Mammon or Belphegor.

'How?'

It'd only been three years since Si-Hun had Awakened as a Player, yet in just three years, he'd surpassed the princes of Hell. In comparison, Kang-Woo had spent nine millennia in Hell to be able to face the princes of Hell.

Kang-Woo's assistance as well as Si-Hun's innate talent and the soul of Martial God Tian Taihuang likely played a large part in Si-Hun's growth, but this had gone beyond impressive and was now just freakishly bizarre.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of clashing metal rang out.

The white light coming out of the holy sword illuminated the surroundings.

"Fuuu, fuuu!"

Si-Hun breathed heavily. Every time he swung his sword, a recoil strong enough to shatter his entire body shook him.

"Don't hog him by yourself after all the shit we went through to get here, Si-Hun!" Yeon-Joo took part in the battle as well.

Tian Wuchen, Jang Hyun-Jae, Baek Hwa-Yeon, Goo Hyun-Mo, and many other Ranker-level Players surrounded Rakiel to attack him from all directions.

The entire dungeon shook from the clash of powerful energies.

BOOM!!

Sounds as loud as a storm echoed throughout the dungeon.

Rakiel had only received scratches when directly hit by the attacks of Players Ranker level and up, but the accumulation of such scratches would eventually turn into a large injury.

"If we keep this up…!"

After seeing that Rakiel was defending rather than attacking, hope began appearing in the Players' eyes.

"Hand over… hyung…!"

Si-Hun jumped in the air and raised both of his hands. A pillar of light came out of the holy sword that he was holding. The light was so intense that it seemed like the light would cut the world into two pieces.

"Hahahahaha!! Good, very good!!" Rakiel burst into crazed laughter. "But…"

The ends of his mouth went up. While snickering, he spread out both arms, his fallen angel wings spreading out with them.

"It is not enough."

He huddled up. Crackling sounds could be heard coming from every single feather of his ten wings.

A chillingly thick demonic energy rose from Rakiel's body.

"Watch ou—"

Si-Hun felt something had gone wrong and quickly shouted, but…

"Black Lightning."

Crackle!!

"Kurgh!"

"Kyaaa!"

Screams rang out.

As Rakiel spread his wings, black lightning spread across the surroundings. Hundreds of little streaks of lightning traveled across the ground and electrocuted the Players.

Clatter.

The Players struck by the lightning dropped their weapons and trembled. Their eyes rolled back, and bubbles frothed out of their mouths. With just one attack, half of the Players lost their ability to fight and collapsed.

"Tsk tsk. I guess insects will be insects, no matter how hard they struggle."

Rakiel clicked his tongue as if he found them pathetic.

"Shut… up…!"

Si-Hun got up while trembling.

Was it because he'd received an attack up front? His entire body was trembling.

'I should put an end to this.'

Thinking that the time had come, Rakiel smiled wickedly and continued, "But I can see why that person has taken an interest in you."

"He…?"

"Kekek, did you not see them before?"

Si-Hun's expression hardened. He recalled the endless darkness made of black mucus.

Rakiel kicked the staggering Si-Hun.

"Kurgh!"

"But it is not yet the time of prophecy."

"Time of prophecy?"

"You will come to know over time."

Rakiel smiled meaningfully.

The faces of the Players around them hardened due to his mention of 'time of prophecy.'

'To be honest, I don't know either.'

Rakiel had just said whatever random thing had come to his mind.

'Well, I'm sure saying one or two things that sound super important before going back should be enough.'

That was pretty much the essence of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Rakiel spread his wings and raised both hands.

"Keep struggling, humans! And fall into despair!"

'Fucking banger closing line.'

"The end will be upon you soon enough!"

'Yes, this is it!'

"The time of prophecy is nea—"

Fwoosh!!!

Light suddenly burst out from somewhere as he was saying his closing lines.

'Eh?'

Something was happening. Kang-Woo turned to Si-Hun, wondering if he had powered up again, but he was only coughing while collapsed on the ground; no light whatsoever was coming out of him.

"How dare you… to Kang-Woo…!"

'Darling?'

Seol-Ah was glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. The blinding light coming out of her filled the entire dungeon.

Twelve pure-white wings sprouted from her back.

Tsssss!!

'What the f…'

Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

Although the wings were so faint that one could barely make out their shape, the power within them was suffocatingly colossal.

The intense light was burning his skin, causing smoke to rise from it.

Not just that…

"This is…" Si-Hun got up.

Like when he'd drunk Kang-Woo's blood, all the wounds Rakiel had caused were healing.

He looked at Seol-Ah with a surprised expression, but that only lasted for a short while. While biting his lip, he raised his holy sword.

"Kuuuuuurghh!"

Kang-Woo twisted due to the pain of his body burning.

He couldn't return to his senses at the unexpected development of events. Si-Hun ran behind him while stepping on the weapons he had raised into the air using Sword Control. He roundhouse kicked Rakiel.

Bash!

Si-Hun's leg, infused with blue condensed Qi, smashed Rakiel's head.

"Argh, fuck!"

Rakiel rolled to the ground. He grabbed the back of his head and turned.

'That fucking hurt, motherfucker!'

He had accidentally cursed. His scream had not been an act.

His skull wouldn't have been caved in, but it would have at least cracked if he had not reflexively used the Authority of Invulnerability.

"Now!"

As Si-Hun shouted, Yeon-Joo nodded. She took out a white crystal. It wasn't just her—all of the other Players also took out white crystals. These were the crystals that Guardians had given that led to the Hall of Protection.

Dozens of crystals started to shine, and the lights intertwined in the air like a net.

"Grab hyung-nim!"

"Okay!"

Yeon-Joo spread her red chains, freed Kang-Woo from the cross, and pulled him into her arms.

"Retreat!" Si-Hun shouted.

All the Players who had been healed thanks to Seol-Ah nodded.

Without hesitation, they threw themselves into the Hall of Protection.

"…"

Si-Hun grabbed Seol-Ah, who'd lost consciousness after emitting intense light. He looked at Rakiel, who was struggling in pain.

"I'm not sure what the time of prophecy is or why that slime is interested in me, but…"

"…"

"At the very least…" An intense killing intent could be seen in Si-Hun's eyes. "I will rip out those chicken wings of yours one by one and shove them into your mouth."

After saying that, Si-Hun also jumped into the gate.

There was silence in the place where the intense fight had just happened.

"… Son of a bitch has gotten better at cursing."

Kang-Woo frowned while looking at the wounds caused by the light. They weren't healing easily.

'What the hell is this?'

What just happened felt like a dream.

His mind was in a jumble.

"Urgh. First off…"

Kang-Woo got up.

"Well, it didn't go exactly as planned, but I guess this is good enough."

At first, he was planning to say a few mysterious things and retreat, but it had gone slightly awry. However, his plan had not been hindered.

Thanks to the light that had come out of Seol-Ah, Guardians had managed to rescue Oh Kang-Woo.

"Fuuu."

Kang-Woo lay in the dungeon, which had been pretty much destroyed.

He focused his consciousness on the clone he'd created.

'Now…'

It was time to give the finishing touches.

* * *

"A-Argghh…"

"H-Hyung-nim!! Come back to your senses, hyung-nim!!"

"Hey! A-Are you okay? Healer! Bring a fucking healer right now!!"

Loud sounds could be heard all around the place.

Kang-Woo slowly opened his remaining eye and got up.

"Kuh!"

Intense pain shot through him.

"Don't try to move, and just stay still!"

Yeon-Joo reached out and embraced him.

Kang-Woo smiled faintly.

"I guess… I'm alive."

"Yeah, you're alive, you son of a bitch! So just keep your mouth shut!"

"…"

Kang-Woo slowly extended his arm. With a trembling hand, he grabbed Si-Hun's hand.

"H-Hyung…"

Si-Hun shed tears while looking at Kang-Woo's mangled body.

"Thanks… man."

"H-Hyung! Save your words! Th-The blood…!"

"Hey! Bring over a fucking healer!!"

"Ha… Haha."

Kang-Woo looked up at the sky while making a bittersweet smile.

"I guess… it wasn't a bad life."

"H-Hey!! Don't bullshit me! Hey!! Oh Kang-Woo! Keep it together, you fucking bastard!!!"

Kang-Woo closed his eyes as he listened to Yeon-Joo's screams.