After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 519 - King of the Demonic Sea

He carefully said his name and wrapped his arms around his head. His consciousness was fortunately more vivid compared to when he first entered the Abyss, but it was still only to the point that his name was all he could remember.

"This is... enough," Kang-Woo stammered and smiled.

It was more than enough. He continued to walk through the darkness.

[Grrrrrrr.]

Kang-Woo heard a low growl. He turned to see a black dog large enough to easily swallow a human whole.

'A Hellhound.'

Kang-Woo recalled the monster; it was the first demonic beast he encountered when he fell into the First Hell.

"I have to start over from the beginning, is it?"

Kang-Woo chuckled and approached the Hellhound, who was baring its fangs at him ferociously, without hesitation. He had run away like a coward when he first fell into Hell, but he no longer had a reason to. After all, he was the one and only predator.

[GRAAAAAAAAAHHH!]

The Hellhound roared and charged at Kang-Woo. Its sharp fangs were still gleaming within the darkness.

"Hup!"

Kang-Woo also moved in response. He could not use his hundreds of Authorities inside the Abyss of the Demonic Sea— a space made by his consciousness. He did not have his Transcendent-rank Deific Essence or the Flames of Voracity that burned with Chaos as its fuel either. There was only one thing left to him.

Kang-Woo dodged the Hellhound, grabbed its neck fur, and got on top of the demonic beast.

Crunch!

[Whine!]

He opened his mouth wide and took a bite out of the Hellhound.

[Grrrrrr!]

However, the injury was only the size of his mouth; it was but a scratch for a three-meter-tall Hellhound.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

[Whine!]

Kang-Woo stuck to the Hellhound and continued to take bites out of it. He activated the Authority of Predation, and the demonic energy flowing in the Hellhound was absorbed into Kang-Woo. To be more exact, it was not the Hellhound's demonic energy but the demonic energy of the Demonic Sea itself.

"Haaa," Kang-Woo exhaled.

He stepped on the Hellhound's corpse, which had become mush, and looked up at the endless darkness. All he had left at the moment was the Authority of Predation.

"Well, I guess it's better than the first time I fell into Hell."

Kang-Woo chuckled. He could feel his consciousness becoming more vivid after devouring one Hellhound. He looked down at himself. He could feel the demonic energy of the Demonic Sea, which he could only store inside the Ten Thousand Demon Core in the past, permeating throughout his body.

'I can absorb it.'

Kang-Woo could make the boundless Demonic Sea his own.

"Now, then."

Kang-Woo smiled and raised his head as he turned around.

[Grrrrrrrrr.]

In front of him was an endless crowd of demonic beasts and demons he had devoured until now. It was the army of the Abyss that had appeared from the black sun the moment Kang-Woo opened the Third Door. They had followed Kang-Woo's commands and attacked Bael before, but now they were lined up to tear apart his consciousness.

"Hah," Kang-Woo chuckled because he saw a familiar face among the army of the Abyss. "Bael."

[A-Aaaahh. O-Oh Kang-Woo...] The half-melted Bael crawled on the ground as he glared at Kang-Woo from below. He muttered as if cursing him, [I-I'll... kill you...]

Kang-Woo smiled brightly. "What a relief. I thought it was a bit of a shame that I killed you in such an anticlimactic way."

Kang-Woo walked toward the army of evil numbering millions without hesitation.

[Y-You...] Bael glared at Kang-Woo resentfully. [You will never... escape from... here.]

Kang-Woo had opened the Third Door— he destroyed himself as a vessel and unleashed the Abyss. One who stepped foot in the Abyss could never escape.

[Y-You will be... stuck with me... in this Abyss...] Bael smiled. [And slowly... break.]

There was no such thing as death in a world made of one's consciousness. The fight would never end until the consciousness of the entity known as Oh Kang-Woo melted into the Abyss and disappeared. There was no other end for Kang-Woo other than to slowly break down in this perpetual Hell for all of time.

"I wonder about that?" mentioned Kang-Woo. He did not falter even when he was faced with despair. He said leisurely, "I'd rather not hang out with a brat like you."

Bael stared blankly at Kang-Woo, unable to understand. [How can you... be like that?]

Even under such despair and facing inevitable demise.

[How can you... never stop?] Bael asked, slightly fearful.

Kang-Woo shrugged and stepped forward slowly, one foot at a time. He could see Bael gritting his teeth anxiously.

[It's pointless... no matter how much you resist.]

Bael had only realized after being devoured by the Abyss how absurd his notion of getting his hands on the Demonic Sea— the Primordial Darkness.

[You will... fail. This battle... will never end.]

"No." Kang-Woo shook his head. "This isn't a battle."

He was not about to engage in a desperate and heroic battle against these millions of demonic beasts and demons.

"You don't call devouring prey a battle, do you?"

There was a perfect term to describe this situation.

"Now then, it's time for a feast."

Kang-Woo opened his arms wide and charged at the army of the Abyss.

***

Crunch, crunch.

Sharp teeth bit into flesh. Muscles were torn apart, and bones were crushed.

Crunch, crunch.

Kang-Woo couldn't remember how long he had been in this boundless darkness, shoving every single demon he devoured into his stomach. He gave up on keeping time after fifteen years had passed. An immensely long time passed since he gave up; it might have been a century— no, a millennium.

'No.'

It could have even been ten millennia. More time than what it took for him to become the Demon King after falling into Hell could have passed.

'I guess I should be thankful... this is a space made by my consciousness.'

If he was stuck in a place where the flow of time was not different from reality, the Earth that he knew would no longer be there even if he managed to get out of this darkness.

Crunch, crunch.

Time continued to pass. His legs shook with each step he took, and so did his jaws as he bit into flesh.

Even after more time that felt like an eternity passed, darkness was all that surrounded Kang-Woo.

"Haaa, haaa," he panted heavily.

The willpower that Kang-Woo thought would never waver was reaching its limit. He wondered if it would ever end, or if there was even an end.

"A-Arghh."

No matter how much he ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, ate, and ate again, darkness remained. The sea of demonic energy did not disappear.

'This is insane.'

It was as if he were trying to drink all the seawater that existed on Earth. Bael was right— it did not matter how much he resisted. He would never be able to escape from the endless darkness.

Kang-Woo swayed and fell to his knees.

[Grrrrrr!]

The army of the Abyss charged at him.

He had no strength or willpower left to devour them.

'Let's just give up. I've lasted long enough. A millennium? No, more like over ten millennia. I can't... go on anymore.'

He was stupid to think he could devour the boundless sea of darkness and make it his own.

"I..."

He lost all strength as he stared at the army of evil charging at him.

Crunch!

He could feel sharp teeth and claws tearing him apart.

'Yeah. Just like that...'

He would just...

Give up...

Kang-Woo gritted his teeth.

- Wait for me.

He recalled the words he said in the past that he couldn't even remember anymore before he plunged himself into the Abyss.

- I'll be back after I win.

Those words engraved themselves into his soul.

"Fuck..." Kang-Woo cursed.

Crunch!

He grabbed the horns of one of the demons biting him and ripped them out. He opened his mouth wide and bit into the demon.

'Not yet.'

He could still move.

'Not yet.'

He could still stand.

'Not yet.'

He could still advance.

"I am..."

He was the king of demons, the predator of predators.

"The Demon King."

He was the king of the Demonic Sea.

Rumble—!!

The Abyss shook.

[A-Aaaahh.]

[S-Save... u-us.]

Something changed. The army of the Abyss that had been charging at him began to feel fear— no, it could be that the Demonic Sea itself was afraid of him.

"Now then... let's start again."

Kang-Woo stood up and smiled. He bared his teeth and slowly walked toward the army of the Abyss. And with that, perpetual time resumed.

***

Fwoosh.

A black sun was blazing above a desolate land with not even a blade of grass in sight.

A gentle-looking woman with dark purple hair was staring blankly at the black sun. Three years ago, Seoul was leveled during the war against Bael and his army. The citizens of Seoul who returned to Earth after being evacuated to Aernor either moved to other cities of Korea or immigrated to other countries with the full support of Guardians.

It was not just citizens of Seoul, who lost their homes, who moved to southern regions of Korea. It was not just because Busan became the new capital of South Korea.

"Kang-Woo," Han Seol-Ah, the woman with dark purple hair, called in sorrow.

It was mainly because of the black sun blazing above Seoul. Countless people moved to the south to get away from the ominous sun but the woman still lived near the desolate land, waiting for a certain someone to return.

"You're here again," said a red-haired woman as she approached Seol-Ah, who was looking up blankly at the black sun.

"Oh, Yeon-Joo. You're back."

"Yeah. I was in Busan for a few days because of business with my guild," remarked Cha Yeon-Joo as she held up a plastic bag. "I bought some beer."

"I'm fine."

"Fine, my ass. You've been coming here every day for the past three years. I know you've been barely eating."

Seol-Ah smiled bitterly. "I don't even need to eat anymore."

Her body had become closer to that of an angel; the need for sustenance had vanished.

"But you still have a sense of taste," Yeon-Joo said.

"That's true, but—"

"Then drink. I bought some fried chicken too." Yeon-Joo sat next to Seol-Ah. Her hair, which had grown to her waist level, fluttered in the wind. She looked up at the black sun and asked, "Anything new?"

Seol-Ah did not even need to ask who Yeon-Joo was referring to.

Seol-Ah shook her head with a heavy expression.

Nothing about the black sun blazing above Seoul had changed since Kang-Woo was sucked into it three years ago.

"Haaa. I've just about reached my limit stopping that son of a bitch Kim Si-Hun from jumping in there..."

Yeon-Joo sighed deeply and shook her head.

Fwoosh!

"Huh?" Yeon-Joo's eyes widened. She pointed at the black sun and said, "Didn't that... shrink a little?"

"It... shrunk?"

Seol-Ah quickly looked up at the black sun. As Yeon-Joo said, the black sun was slowly shrinking in size.

"Huh...? H-Huh?!"

Even now, it was shrinking at extraordinary speed.

"Wh-What the hell?! What's happening?!" Yeon-Joo looked around in confusion.

"Ah..." Seol-Ah trembled as he stared at the black sun.

She could see someone coming out of the shrinking black sun. No, that wasn't the right word to use; the black sun was being absorbed into someone.

"Kang-Woo..."

Tears welled up around Seol-Ah's eyes. She clasped her hands together and looked up at the man at the center of the black sun.

Fwoosh—!

The black sun was fully absorbed and disappeared, and the man whom she had longed for all this time walked out.

"You've... come back," said Seol-Ah as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Yeah. I'm back." Kang-Woo nodded as he stared at Seol-Ah. "Let's get married."

"Three kids sounds good." Kang-Woo smiled as he extended his hand toward Seol-Ah.

"Okay." Seol-Ah embraced Kang-Woo as she cried.

Yeon-Joo stared at them in silence. "Get a fucking room, dammit."

She spat on the ground and raised her middle finger at the couple.