After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo slightly moved away from Han Seol-Ah's arms and made a troubled expression.

It was true that he wanted to see her become jealous, but he wanted to see her become jealous cutely, not while emitting an aura that seemed to belong to a horror film.

'What's going on?'

He tilted his head in confusion at how different Seol-Ah was from usual.

"Who… did that to you?" Seol-Ah asked again while smiling. Although she was smiling, there was still a chilling bloodlust in her eyes.

Kang-Woo smiled awkwardly and said it was a joke.

"What?"

"I was just in a good mood, so I just thought of playing a prank. The plan went really well, you see."

"Aaah, I-I see."

Seol-Ah's eyes returned to normal. She put her hands on her red cheeks while mumbling, "Oh, my."

Kang-Woo sighed softly when he saw she'd returned to her usual self.

"So, uhm… What about the plan?"

"Hmm? It worked. We won't have any trouble with the angels anymore."

"No, not that." Seol-Ah shook her head and then said, "You told me that you would tell me more about yourself, Kang-Woo. I want to hear more in detail about the plan that you talked about as well."

"…"

Kang-Woo remained tight-lipped. Come to think of it, he did indeed remember telling her that after showing her his true self.

"…"

There was a heavy silence, and hesitation appeared in Kang-Woo's eyes.

Only Lilith and Balrog knew the true self hidden behind his facade. Even for Kang-Woo, no, because he was Kang-Woo, it was difficult to reveal the truth. Although not as much as Kim Si-Hun, Seol-Ah also thought of Kang-Woo as a hero who did his best for the safety of this world.

'And…'

There were also a few things that she couldn’t know, such as the fact that he had turned Si-Hun into his Familiar, that he had killed Alec Osborne and Reynald, and that he was actually the Demon of Prophecy.

'But then there's nothing for me to say.'

He grabbed his hair. After going through all that he had done after coming to Earth, they were nothing but things that he couldn't tell Seol-Ah.

'Oh, fuck.'

Regret belatedly swept over him for all the atrocities that he had committed.

"Uhh… you see…"

Kang-Woo averted Seol-Ah's gaze.

Her eyes narrowed, and she extended her hands and grabbed Kang-Woo's.

"You said… you would tell me everything."

She was emitting a weird aura that made it difficult to deny her.

"Ngh," Kang-Woo sighed.

"…"

To be honest, he was scared about how she would react when she came face to face with the true self behind his facade.

"I don't expect you to tell me everything at once, Kang-Woo. Even though I would like that… I can tell from your face how hard that is for you."

Smiling bitterly, Seol-Ah pulled Kang-Woo's hands. Kang-Woo walked to the couch as she pulled and sat down with her.

"So, explain to me this incident, at the very least. It's related to me, after all."

"…"

Kang-Woo closed his eyes.

'But this incident is no joke either.'

Raphael's screams still lingered in his ears. Leaving aside his excuse that there was nothing he could've done about it, what he had done this time had been cruel, even by his standards.

"Is that… also too hard?"

Seol-Ah teared up.

Kang-Woo felt that the light was starting to disappear from her face. He grabbed his forehead.

'Shit.'

There was no other choice. It was obvious that such a thing would happen from the moment he killed Shalgiel in front of her.

"No, it's okay. I'll explain it to you."

"Ah…!"

Seol-Ah's expression brightened.

"Okay… I explained to you before that Seraph's soul lies within you, right?"

"Yes."

"Because of that, I had no choice but to…"

Kang-Woo slowly began explaining that he had to kill Raphael by any means necessary and that the only way to kill him while avoiding a war with the angels was to make it seem like Raphael had fallen from grace. He couldn't tell her every single detail, but he told her the purpose of the plan, why it had been necessary, and as much of the process as he could possibly tell her.

"…"

Seol-Ah's mouth fell open in surprise, unable to say a word. Kang-Woo anxiously bit his lip.

'I'm sure it's hard to accept.'

To be honest, what he'd done to Raphael couldn't be excused.

Not only had Kang-Woo killed all of his subordinates and turned them into Chimeras, he'd also made it so that Uriel, the comrade-in-arms whom Raphael had spent thousands of years with, would kill him.

It was completely different from the case with Satan, who had tried to act like the victim to fool others. Raphael had truly done nothing wrong, and he had died an unjust death full of tears of blood.

'Maybe I should've toned it down a bit.'

He was swept with regret as soon as he told her the full story. He sighed after putting the facts out in the open for her to see.

Kang-Woo looked at Seol-Ah, who'd fallen into thought.

"I'm sure it's hard for you to take in, but—"

"So that angel did kiss you?"

'Hm?'

Seol-Ah's eyes narrowed, and he saw her clench her fists and tremble.

She said, "How dare that bitch…"

'He's a guy.'

Kang-Woo feigned laughter. "Uhh, are you fine with everything else besides that? It's a bit weird for me to say, but… I did a lot of scummy things."

"Ah…" Seol-Ah slurred.

What Kang-Woo had done could not be defended, no matter what she said. She honestly couldn't believe that such things had been done by the kind and gentle Kang-Woo that she knew.

"I'm… not sure." Seol-Ah opened her mouth after a while. "I don't intend to condone what you did. Even now, I think you went way too far, but I understand why you did it. It was… all to hide my existence, wasn't it?"

"Well… yeah."

"In that case, I can't speak for other people, but it's not my place to say anything to you," Seol-Ah said in a calm voice.

Kang-Woo looked at her in surprise.

'That's a bit… unexpected.'

He didn't think she was the type of person who would be okay with such a thing.

'Maybe… I don't know Seol-Ah that well.'

To be honest, he wasn't expecting her to react so calmly. He thought that she would be shocked and fall into dejection.

'I guess… she isn't just kind.'

Kang-Woo remained tight-lipped. He felt a sense of difference… that was hard to explain with words.

"Still… I'm really glad that you decided to tell me, Kang-Woo." Seol-Ah giggled. "I've been feeling sad because you never tell me anything."

"… I can't really share these kinds of things easily."

"Well… I understand."

Seol-Ah tilted her body.

"But…"

While holding Kang-Woo's hands, she gazed at him.

"From now on, I hope you won't hide anything from me and show me your true self."

She let out a hot breath and slowly reached out to grab Kang-Woo's arm. Then she touched his cheek.

"I'm ready to accept everything about you, Kang-Woo. Whatever you've done, whatever you will do in the future… I will always be on your side. Yes, always. Forever… Whatever happens, forever and ever."

"…"

Kang-Woo trembled a bit. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason, a chill ran down his back. He looked at Seol-Ah.

She was blushing and giving him a bit of a lustful look.

"Seol-Ah…? You're acting a bit w—Mmph."

Seol-Ah took him by surprise, pulling his neck in with both arms and kissing him. She ferociously slithered her tongue into his mouth and explored it. She moved without hesitation, like a starved predator that had found its prey. Not only that, but she put her hands into his clothes and touched his chest.

"Haaa."

"…"

Kang-Woo looked at Seol-Ah in surprise, his mouth agape.

She smiled at him.

"Fufu. Like I had thought… It feels good," she said, sounding high. She lustfully licked her lips.

At that moment, at least, Kang-Woo felt that Seol-Ah was sexier than Lilith, the Succubus Queen.

"Uhh… Mm."

Kang-Woo stammered as if he had been smacked in the back of the head with a hammer.

It was true that he mentioned the kiss with Uriel because he wanted his relationship with Seol-Ah to advance, but he had awakened something demonic in Seol-Ah instead.

"How was that, Kang-Woo?"

"H-Hm?"

"It was far better than… that Uriel angel, right?"

"It's not even worth a compari—"

"It was better… right?"

"Of course."

He nodded.

Seol-Ah smiled in satisfaction and rested his head on her two massive peaks.

An inexplicably soft sensation wrapped around Kang-Woo.

"You're tired, aren't you?" Seol-Ah asked.

"H-Huh?"

"Just a minute. I'll make you some kimchi stew."

Seol-Ah let him go and went to the kitchen.

Kang-Woo looked at her with a blank expression.

'I mean… I'm glad that she accepted me even after hearing that, but…'

Forget accepting, she was about to devour him.

Kang-Woo watched Seol-Ah with a blank expression.

'Lilith…?'

Yes, he felt as if he were looking at Lilith.

Kang-Woo shook his head.

'Nah, there's no way.'

He knew very well how kind and delicate a woman Seol-Ah was. She was also under the influence of the Goddess of Parental Love, Seraph, so there was no way that she would, like Lilith, show an obsession close to madness.

'She probably became confused after hearing something so shocking.'

Kang-Woo nodded and got up. Forgetting everything else, his priority was kimchi stew. If he ate Seol-Ah's kimchi stew, all of his confused emotions were bound to disappear.

Tap.

"I made a lot."

"Thanks."

Kang-Woo gulped while looking at the kimchi stew in a pot as large as a wash basin.

Slide.

Instead of sitting across from him, Seol-Ah sat next to him.

"Hm?"

Kang-Woo tilted his head.

"I just wanted to take a closer look. Seeing you eat makes me feel happy, Kang-Woo."

"Really?"

Kang-Woo paid it no mind and gulped down the kimchi stew.

It might have been because he had not taken any rest after the incident with Shalgiel, but the kimchi stew that he was having after a long time was extremely delicious.

"Good boy."

Seol-Ah patted Kang-Woo while he was eating the entire pot of kimchi stew and gave him a beautiful smile.

That night, with the excuse that she was worried about his chest wound, she asked to sleep next to him. She kindly patted his hair and back while holding his head.

Although his body didn't need to sleep, he started to feel sleepy for some reason.

Swoosh.

As he closed his eyes, he saw a beautiful sunset in the sky and heard waves in the distance. He saw Seol-Ah, who was lying in a white boat, hugging his head.

[Finally… it's just the two of us, Kang-Woo.]

Her voice echoed throughout his mind like an illusion.

'What in the world?'

Kang-Woo tilted his head.

It was surely a beautiful dream, and he should be smiling with joy, but…

For some reason…

He felt chills run down his spine.