After Ten Millennia in Hell

Kang-Hyun took out the red demon mask and put it on. There was a crazed look in his eyes as he clenched his hands into fists.

Seeing that, Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes and gripped his axe even tighter.

"Let's begin," Kang-Hyun said.

"Now we’re talking," Kang-Woo replied.

There was no need to beat around the bush. Talking was pointless now that they'd confirmed that they were enemies.

Kang-Woo pulled back his arm that was holding the axe. He then stomped onto the ground with one foot and swung his arm at lightning speed.

Whish!

He threw the axe, which was covered in frigid energy. It spun incredibly fast. The moisture in the air froze along the trajectory of the axe, leaving a trail of frost in its wake.

Kang-Hyun lowered his body and tightened his fist. Demonic energy then gathered around his fist and formed a gauntlet.

The gauntlet wasn't simply demonic energy; it was materialized demonic energy. This proved that Kang-Hyun was not a madman whose mind had been eroded by demonic energy. Rather, he had perfect control over the power.

Slam!

Kang-Hyun struck the axe with an uppercut, smashing it away from him. However, doing that caused his gauntlet of demonic energy to be frozen by the frigid energy infused into the axe.

"Hmm,” Kang-Hyun murmured.

There had been more power behind Kang-Woo's axe attack than Kang-Hyun had thought.

Kang-Hyun glared at the axe warily, but Kang-Woo completely disregarded Kang-Hyun's wariness. He swung his left arm at Kang-Hyun without even giving the axe any attention. As the axe disappeared, a black blade appeared on Kang-Woo's left arm, and he swung it like it was a whip.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Loud clangs rang throughout the area as Kang-Hyun's gauntlet collided against Kang-Woo's blade constantly. Huge shockwaves swept through their surroundings whenever their weapons collided. The ground cracked as if it were glass, and cars bounced like stones skipping on water. It was no exaggeration to call this a battle between two massive monsters rather than humans.

Boom!

Kang-Hyun threw a nearby truck, which weighed several tonnes, toward Kang-Woo, but the latter swiftly lengthened his blade and split the truck in two. Then Kang-Hyun used the small opening when Kang-Woo was distracted by the truck to close the distance between them. Kang-Hyun lowered his body, pulled his right fist back, and charged forward forcefully with enormous power gathered around his fist.

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo didn't dodge.

'Skybreaker.'

He merged the Authority of Titanic Might and the Authority of Shattering Air. Just like the skill's name Skybreaker suggested, Kang-Woo was gathering power strong enough to break the sky in his fist.

Kang-Hyun and Kang-Woo's punches smashed against each other.

Rumble—!

The ground underneath them crumbled, forming a giant pit; it was as if a sinkhole had occurred.

Despite that, Kang-Hyun and Kang-Woo simply jumped out of the pit and continued their battle, which consisted of movements so swift that they were difficult to follow with the naked eye.

Slide!

Then Kang-Hyun was pushed back, destroying the concrete in the path that his feet had skidded.

"..."

Kang-Hyun looked down at his trembling hands. He recalled the moment when his fist had collided with Kang-Woo's. The impact of the collision had made him feel like his entire body was shattering.

"I get it now," Kang-Hyun said, nodding in understanding. "It wasn't Cha Yeon-Joo. It was you."

"Me?" Kang-Woo asked.

"The one who has been meddling in our plans… It's not Cha Yeon-Joo. It's you."

Cha Yeon-Joo was strong—strong enough to be one of the top Players in Korea.

'But that's all,' Kang-Hyun thought.

He had never fought against Yeon-Joo, but he knew roughly how strong she was. Yeon-Joo alone wouldn't have been able to disrupt their plans.

"Who are you really?" Kang-Hyun questioned.

He looked at Kang-Woo bewilderedly.

Kang-Hyun's first thought was that the rumor that Kang-Woo had only become a Player three months ago was a lie. It was impossible for a rookie who had only awakened three months ago to possess the power that Kang-Woo had shown him.

Based on that, there weren't many conclusions that Kang-Hyun could make. Kang-Woo had to be either a Player who had been hiding his identity for a very long time or a foreign Player who had illegally acquired a local identity as Oh Kang-Woo.

Among his conjectures, Kang-Hyun thought that the one with the highest possibility of being true was of Kang-Woo being a foreign spy.

'He doesn't seem to be a World Ranker.'

The eight Players whom the world considered to be the strongest… He didn't think any of them would do something like this.

Kang-Hyun narrowed his eyes.

'But World Rankers aren’t the only powerful Players out there.'

The World Rankers were just the most famous Players. There were others who were on the same level or even stronger than the World Rankers. For example, some of the cardinals in the Demon Cult were stronger than the World Rankers.

"Who knows?" Kang-Woo replied.

"Hmph. I wasn’t really expecting an honest answer anyway."

Kang-Hyun snorted and got back into a fighting stance. His muscles bulged like they were about to explode.

"In that case, I will force it out of you," Kang-Hyun said.

"Try it if you can," Kang-Woo responded calmly.

Kang-Hyun frowned.

Crash!!

The two monsters clashed once again, and a huge shockwave shook the surroundings like an earthquake.

The duration of the battle was extended. The equally balanced battle of power gradually tilted in favor of one of them.

Smash!

"Kurgh!" Kang-Hyun groaned as he was pushed back.

A crack appeared in his red demon mask, and he threw it aside.

"You're strong," he remarked.

Kang-Hyun had no choice but to admit that the abnormal Player Oh Kang-Woo was stronger than him.

He laughed while thinking, 'Not again.'

Kang-Hyun recalled the memory of his loss against Fujimoto Ryoma, which had plummeted him into the depths of despair. He had once again come face-to-face with the massive wall of his limits that seemed impossible to overcome.

"How fun," Kang-Hyun remarked with a wide smile.

He then turned his eyes to the Rift. Kang-Hyun felt rather lucky to have come face-to-face with the same wall during such a crucial moment. After all, he'd sacrificed so many people for the sole purpose of surpassing that wall.

"Hehehehehehe," Kang-Hyun laughed creepily. He gazed at Kang-Woo with eyes full of madness and said, "You'll be the perfect opponent for me to fight against and test out how much power I'm able to obtain."

"...?"

Kang-Woo appeared puzzled. He couldn't understand what Kang-Hyun was saying.

"Now, come! There are enough Rift Fragments!" Kang-Hyun exclaimed with his arms wide open.

The demonic crystal that was maintaining the Rift shattered, releasing a colossal amount of demonic energy. Simultaneously, black energy flowed out of the people who had turned into demonic beasts and then into the Rift. The amount of demonic energy in each person had been very small, but its cumulative amount was nothing to scoff at since there were thousands of demonic beasts.

Kang-Woo’s expression hardened.

Kang-Hyun laughed, "Hahahaha! Now, come to me!"

The result of his plan that had sacrificed thousands of lives was about to appear in front of him.

Rumble—!!

Powerful demonic energy flowed out from the Rift and entered Kang-Hyun. His crazed laughter grew louder.

Crunch!!

Kang-Hyun's bones and muscles contorted noisily as giant bat wings broke through his skin and spread open from his back. His muscles expanded unnaturally, and his skin turned red. He grew sharp teeth and a long tail.

Lastly…

Crack!

Two horns emerged from his forehead.

"Grrrrrrr," Kang-Hyun growled.

His now yellow eyes, which resembled a reptile’s, were focused on Kang-Woo.

[Excellent,] Kang-Hyun said.

He trembled, thrilled by the feeling of his boundless power. It was a formidable power that went beyond the wall—power that he could never have even dared to imagine until now.

[Kehe... Kahahahahahaha!]

Kang-Hyun laughed like a maniac once again.

He did not feel an ounce of remorse even though he had sacrificed thousands of lives to fulfill his plan. Rather, he thought that sacrificing those worthless lives had been more than worth it to obtain such limitless power.

After all, life was a survival of the fittest; the strong preyed upon the weak. This was the providence of nature and the principle of the world.

Thousands of lives were meaningless before Kang-Hyun's obsession with power.

- Where is... this place? a quiet voice rang out in Kang-Hyun's mind.

[It seems you’ve come to.]

- Who are you?

[My name is Baek Kang-Hyun. I am your host and the one that will become you.]

- What does that mean?

A smile appeared on Kang-Hyun's face.

[You will find out in due time.]

He turned to face Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo stared in disbelief at Kang-Hyun, who had turned into a demon.

"How...? Is something like this even possible?" Kang-Woo questioned.

He knew unconsciously what Kang-Hyun had done, but he never had imagined it to be possible. Kang-Woo felt as if he'd been bashed on the head multiple times.

'He summoned a demon into him,' Kang-Woo thought.

He wasn't sure if Kang-Hyun had summoned a demon’s soul or just its body. He also wasn't sure if doing either one would have the same effect as fusing with a demon.

The one thing that Kang-Woo was sure of was that Kang-Hyun had attempted something absolutely insane… and it worked.

[Now, why don’t we continue where we left off?!]

Kang-Hyun stomped on the ground and broke into a run. Powerful demonic energy surged from him. It was so dense that it made Kang-Woo tremble for a moment.

It seemed like the demon Kang-Hyun had summoned into him was quite a powerful one.

'Or maybe fusing your body with a demon makes you stronger,' Kang-Woo thought.

This was Kang-Woo's first time seeing something like that. He had never even imagined that something like that was possible, so he wasn't sure what effect it had.

'That's not important.'

Nevertheless, it wasn't important how that was possible or what effect it had…

Kang-Woo glared at Kang-Hyun, who roared while charging toward him. Then Kang-Woo stretched both of his arms out to his side and spread demonic energy throughout his body. He took a very deep breath and focused on spreading his demonic energy.

[Die!]

Kang-Hyun threw a punch at Kang-Woo. After having transformed into a demon that was almost three meters tall, Kang-Hyun's fist alone was a powerful weapon.

Kang-Woo rolled on the ground to dodge the punch and stood back up.

"Kraken's Rage."

Smash!

He punched Kang-Hyun's head with a fist full of demonic energy.