After Ten Millennia in Hell

Shalgiel's eyes were trembling. He could see from Han Seol-Ah's reaction that she was truly in love with him. Although he himself had pressured her, she had also been willing to sacrifice herself for the human Oh Kang-Woo.

'But…'

To think that someone who claimed to be her lover would take her hostage as soon as he showed his true colors. The bloodlust coming out of Kang-Woo was telling Shalgiel that he was not lying.

He was really trying to kill that woman.

Shalgiel trembled.

'How evil…!'

He clacked his teeth. Although demons were known to be like that, he'd never seen trash like him before.

'Not even Demon God Lucifer had ever harmed the woman he loved!'

There was no line that the demon Oh Kang-Woo wouldn't cross. Kang-Woo was crazy and out of his mind. He was even more of a demon than a demon. He was a cold person who controlled the world as he pleased.

"Kuh…"

"What? Do you think I'm lying?" Kang-Woo smiled wickedly. He yanked Seol-Ah, who was standing in a daze, and embraced her.

"Play along for a bit," he whispered.

"Wh-What are you trying to do to her?!" Shalgiel quickly shouted.

Kang-Woo licked Seol-Ah's cheek.

"Now that I think about it, annihilation might not be enough. How about we try something different?"

"Wh-What?"

"Think about it. Aren't you intrigued?" He roughly grabbed Seol-Ah's well-endowed chest and smiled as filthily as he could. "What do you think would happen if Celestial Goddess Seraph conceived a demon's child?"

"Wh-Wha…!"

Shalgiel's eyes widened. Just thinking about it made him want to vomit.

Although she had not awakened yet, Seraph's soul was certainly lying dormant within that woman's body. In other words, if that woman conceived a child…

"A-Aaaahh."

Shalgiel was in so much despair that he could not even form words.

Kang-Woo smiled and took a glance at Seol-Ah.

"Ah…"

Seol-Ah's cheeks reddened, and she shyly shook her head.

"O-Oh, Kang-Woo…"

'Hm?'

"Wh-What are you saying in a place like this?"

'Uhm, excuse me? Darling?'

She jumped in embarrassment with her hands on her cheeks.

Kang-Woo felt anxious.

'What the fuck?'

Seol-Ah wasn't helping at all. Kang-Woo understood how confusing this had to all be for her, but she was not dense enough to not understand what was going on.

But despite that…

"… I-I'm fine with it."

'You're fine with what?'

It seemed she wasn't planning on playing along. He took his hand off her chest and covered her mouth. Her breaths, which were very heated for some reason, tickled his fingers.

'Fuck, I hope he hasn't realized.'

He shot Shalgiel an anxious look. Thankfully, Shalgiel still seemed to be in shock.

Kang-Woo sighed in relief.

"So… what will you do?" Kang-Woo asked subtly.

Shalgiel looked down.

"Promise… me," he said reluctantly, "that you will not lay a finger on Lady Seraph."

"Hmm~ I'm not sure if I can. She's far too beautiful for me not to do anything, you see."

"You bastard!!"

"Hahahaha! Alright. Don't get so angry. I promise. Oh, you might not be able to believe me, but I am a man of my word," he said in a half-laughing tone.

Shalgiel clenched his eyes shut and asked in a trembling voice, "What… do you want to ask?"

'Great.'

A smile appeared on Kang-Woo's face.

Shalgiel had declared his loss. All that Kang-Woo needed now was to collect evidence needed for a twist.

"First, how much does Raphael know about this incident?"

"… H-He already knows everything. He also has a notion of your true identity," Shalgiel answered while averting his gaze.

Kang-Woo smirked.

Shalgiel's voice was uneasy, his hands were trembling, and his teeth were clacking.

'Come on.'

He wouldn't be able to fool anyone like that.

Crack!!

"Aaarrrggghhh!!"

Kang-Woo grabbed one of Shalgiel's wings. He rammed Shalgiel's head into the ground with his foot and pulled on the wing, ripping it out with the sound of crushing bone. White feathers fell like snow.

"Shalgiel."

Kang-Woo grabbed his silver hair and brought his face closer to Shalgiel's.

"I said that I would keep my word, didn't I? But you're not keeping yours? Hm? What should I do with you?"

"Kurgh, urgh."

Shalgiel's body trembled, and his lips paled from the pain surging through his body.

He closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

"Lord Raphael is… currently recovering from his wounds within the Embrace of Light. Today's events are purely of my own accord."

"Good, that's better. That aside, what is the Embrace of Light?"

"It is a capsule filled with sacred power. Anyone who enters will be able to heal their wounds quickly, but…"

"It must be isolated from all contact with the outside world."

"… Correct."

Shalgiel nodded.

Kang-Woo licked his lips with great interest.

"Then, are you saying that he has been treating his wounds since our meeting?"

"… Yes."

"Shalgiel, what did I just say?"

"Kuh…!"

Shalgiel flinched.

He bit his lip and said, "He has been… researching."

"Researching?"

"He has been looking through materials on why Rakiel fell, how Demon God Bauli was able to tempt him… and how Rakiel managed to make other angels fall, among other things."

"Research, huh…?"

Kang-Woo's eyes shone. An outline of a plan was taking form in his head.

"When is Uriel coming to Earth?"

"I-I do not know that either."

Shalgiel shook his head. He didn't seem to be lying.

Kang-Woo asked him a few more questions about the angels, but not even Raphael's right arm, Shalgiel, knew much about their internal affairs.

"Well, I've heard more than enough."

Kang-Woo smiled widely. He wasn't exactly sure what he needed to do, and he didn't have a fully thought-out plan, but he had grasped on to a sliver of hope.

Considering that he'd overturned everything while being prepared to really go to war, it was an incredible achievement.

"… And what about your promise?" Shalgiel looked at Seol-Ah with trembling eyes.

Kang-Woo grabbed his shoulders. "Don't worry, man. We'll have three kids and live happily ever after."

"Th-That is not what you promised!!"

Shalgiel's eyes widened. He twisted around as if he were having a seizure.

"You bastard!! How dare you try to defile Lady Seraph with your filthy member?!"

"You motherf… It isn't dirty. I clean it every single day, just in case."

'Though nothing has happened yet.'

Kang-Woo frowned. He didn't say that last part.

"Th-That's right! It's not dirty! I've seen it before!" Seol-Ah shouted.

"Huh…?"

Suddenly, the atmosphere became chilly.

"A-Ah! U-Uhmm… I-It's not what you think. U-Uhh…!" Seol-Ah quickly began shaking her hand as if she'd only just realized what she had just said.

"When did you…"

"I-I misspoke. Please forget I said anything."

"No, wait…"

"I-It's your fault for falling so deeply asleep, r-right? You think so too, right, Kang-Woo?"

"I don't."

"Th-Things like this are bound to happen if we live together. Th-that's right. It was an accident! An accident!"

"Lifting my clothes while I was sleeping was an accident?"

"Of c-c-c-c-c-course! It was beyond my control!"

Seol-Ah furiously nodded.

"…"

There was a heavy silence.

Shalgiel looked at both of them in confusion at what the hell was going on, his mouth agape.

"Uhh… Mm."

Kang-Woo was also troubled—he felt that all his acting had been blown away at once.

'I won't ask Seol-Ah to act ever again.'

She was like a ticking time bomb.

He missed the Oscar-winning Gaia.

"Sorry, man," he said to Shalgiel apologetically. "I at least wanted to give you a cool send-off."

Kang-Woo wanted him to die while saying something cool like "Mark my words, you will receive the judgment of light one day!" or something along those lines, but things had gone awry.

Kang-Woo patted Shalgiel's shoulder as if truly sorry.

"Goodbye, man. I won't forget you."

"Wait… What in the world is—"

Stab.

He pierced Shalgiel's chest with his hand, grabbed his heart, and squeezed it so hard that it exploded.

Kang-Woo took a deep breath and activated his communication crystal orb.

- What can I do for you, Master?

"Vaal Zahak. Bring over your Undead and collect all the angel corpses here."

After giving a short command, he cut the communication.

"…"

His eyes met Seol-Ah's.

She looked around and bit her lip.

"Kang-Woo…"

It was as if she wasn't sure what to do and was surprised that Kang-Woo had acted so differently from the Kang-Woo she knew.

Kang-Woo grabbed her hands and calmly said, "Stay here for now and go back with Vaal Zahak once he arrives, okay?"

"Wh-What about you?!"

"I have something I have to do first, so I'll be heading off to do that."

"…"

"I know you don't understand what just happened. I'm sure you must be confused out of your mind."

She'd seen Kang-Woo's true face for the first time, so there was no way she wouldn't be surprised.

He said, "You said before that you wanted to know more about me, right?"

"Ah, yes! I-I do."

"Once this is over, I'll tell you. So for now, stay here and go back with Vaal Zahak."

"…"

Seol-Ah nodded.

Leaving her behind, Kang-Woo immediately opened a gate leading to the Hall of Protection.

'It's a race against time.'

He needed to move quicker than anyone else to clean up the mess he had made.

* * *

"I guess he really had brought as many forces as he possibly could."

Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief as he looked over the empty angel fortress. There were neither gatekeepers guarding the entrance nor any patrol guards within the fortress.

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue and used the Authority of Stealth. He jumped and infiltrated the fortress. Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes as he looked around and activated the Authority of the Beholder.

'I want to find Raphael, who's apparently in the Embrace of Light, but…'

There was something that he had to find before that—he went to Raphael's study. There were countless books piled up.

"Are these all related to Rakiel?"

He had expected Raphael to not have been able to research much since not much time had passed, but there were far more materials than he had thought.

He looked at Raphael's notes lying on the table. The research progress of Rakiel's fall was neatly recorded by date.

"…"

He narrowed his eyes.

'This is…'

A slow smile crept onto his face, and he felt shivers of excitement.

Just then…

Whoom.

The white crystal orb on the table shone.

[Hey! Raphael!! It's Uriel. What the hell's taking you so long to answer?]

Kang-Woo heard the clear and sonorous voice of a little boy.

[Hihi, I heard you got floored by Satan, but you actually got hurt for real? I'm curious. Turn on the feed already!]

"…"

Kang-Woo silently listened to Uriel clamoring all by himself.

[Anyway, things here are pretty much over, so I'll be heading to Earth once the portal to Earth forms in about a week. Everything's okay over there, right?]

Kang-Woo licked his lips when he heard the cheerful voice. His eyes shone.

'Come to think of it, I guess there was no need to even think about it.'

Kekeke.

A vulgar laugh left Kang-Woo's mouth.

'It would've been so simple if I'd done this from the start.'

Kang-Woo slowly extended his hand. Just like he'd said, there was no need to think or hesitate. He just had to do things his way. He would do what he did best and had always done masterfully.

Clack.

[Oh, you finally answered the call. Hey! Raphael!! What have you been doing?!]

Kang-Woo slowly opened his mouth.

"Lord… Uriel…"

[Huh? Shalgiel? Why are you picking up instead of Raphael?]

Shalgiel's voice was coming out of Kang-Woo's mouth.

"My apol… It is… already too late… for Lord Raph…"

[What? What do you mean?]

"Rakiel… has corrupted Lord Raph—Kurgh."

[Hey! Wh-What? What are you talking about?!]

"Sh-Shit! This place is already… Cough! Lord… Uriel… stay aw—"

Beep.

The communication was cut. The tips of Kang-Woo's mouth curled up.

"Now, let's set the stage."