After Ten Millennia in Hell

Kang-Woo didn't answer. He just used the Authority of Blades, lowered his posture, and swung his blade upward.

"Kuh!"

The Demon Cultist raised his hand, and a barrier made of demonic energy blocked the blade.

Clang.

"Whoa," Kang-Woo muttered with bright eyes.

The impact that he felt from the block was quite powerful. The Demon Cultist was stronger than he'd expected.

"You're not Fujimoto... Who are you?" the masked Demon Cultist asked, looking at Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo extended his hands. He merged two Authorities and created a long spear.

After grabbing the Bident, he said at a low volume, "Move."

"Well... I didn't expect you to answer me."

The Demon Cultist clenched his hands into fists, and a strong demonic energy flowed from them.

'I guess the Demon Cult in Japan truly is far stronger than the one in Korea,' Kang-Woo thought.

The Demon Cultist currently facing Kang-Woo didn't seem to be a cardinal like Baek Kang-Hyun, considering he wasn't participating in the summoning ritual. It meant this was the power of a regular priest, and it was completely different from that of the Demon Cult's priests in Korea.

'But…'

Kang-Woo gripped the spear tighter.

This Demon Cult priest might be stronger than the ones in Korea, but he was still just a priest. There was no way Kang-Woo was going to lose.

Whir!

The Demon Cultist raised his hands, and a strong barrier made of demonic energy blocked the tunnel.

“You shall not pass!"

Judging from his scream, it seemed like he was quite confident in his skills. However, Kang-Woo smirked, finding it funny that the man was screaming so confidently just because he had been able to block Kang-Woo's attack once.

Kang-Woo focused on his dantian. Energy flowed out of his demonic crystal and gathered around the Bident's edge. He then lowered his posture and pulled the spear back. Stepping forward, he threw the Bident at the barrier. The impact of his attack shook the entire tunnel.

"H-Huh?"

Crack!

The Demon Cultist's eyes quivered. The Bident smashed through the demonic energy barrier and flew toward him. He quickly rolled to the side. It was humiliating for him to do that, but it was the correct decision.

The Bident flew past him and made a huge explosion.

"E-Eeeek!"

The Demon Cultist stepped back while making a pale expression.

Kang-Woo walked toward him and pulled off the Demon Cultist's mask, revealing the face of a fat young man in his late twenties.

"Where is the ritual taking place?" Kang-Woo asked.

"C-Cough! H-How did you—!"

Crack!

"Arrgghh!"

"I won't ask you again," Kang-Woo stated.

The young man had a fearful gaze. He bit his lips while holding his finger that had been bent at a weird angle.

"I-I'll... never tell you!"

This was a burning conviction. He showed the resolution of a knight who was willing to lay down his life for his liege.

'What the hell?' Kang-Woo thought.

He was surprised. He'd never seen a Demon Cultist with such great loyalty to their cult. The fundamental structure of the Demon Cult should have made that impossible. The Demon Cult promised two things while gathering new devotees: immortality and power gained through demonic energy.

In the case of Baek Kang-Hyun, he cared more about having power, but most people cared more about immortality. After all, it didn't matter how much money a person had, they still couldn't bribe death to keep it away. Even if a person had billions, they'd die once they were old.

The whole reason why the Demon Cult had managed to become a global force was that they promised escape from the cycle of life. Regardless of country, race, and values, most people would crave immortality.

Ideals? Beliefs? Nothing of that sort mattered. All of those things were meaningless before what the Demon Cult could provide—immortality.

Of course, there were flaws in the Demon Cult's scheme. The cultists would not be satisfied with 'going to heaven after death,' the lure that other pseudo-religious cults used to get members. So, the level of loyalty that Demon Cultists had to their cult was extremely low in comparison.

'Or that's how it should be...'

"I choose death!" the Demon Cultist declared.

He bit his tongue and severed the artery within it, causing blood to pour out.

It was surprising that he committed suicide by biting his tongue. This wasn't something that a person could do with only an average level of conviction.

"What's up with this crazy level of loyalty…?"

Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief. He wondered if this guy was truly part of the same Demon Cult.

"Damn."

Kang-Woo threw the corpse aside and used the Authority of the Beholder to search for where the ceremony was taking place. However, the tunnel was so full of demonic energy that the location wasn't easy to find. It was like searching for a tree in the middle of a forest.

Seeing as he had no choice other than to run around to find it, that's exactly what he did.

"Who goes there?!"

"Stop him!!"

Kang-Woo kept running into Demon Cultists, and fierce battles broke out. They weren't strong enough to be a threat to him, but they were still able to slow him down. He was starting to get irritated by the pointless battles.

"Waaaaargh!"

"Huh?" Kang-Woo uttered.

He'd heard some shouts while running through the underground tunnels.

Kang-Woo then moved toward the source of the sound.

'Found them.'

He saw a small altar. A beautiful woman with long black hair was lying on the altar. There was a stream of blue light flowing out of her and into the Rift. That woman was the Miko of the Heavens, Kurosaki Yurie.

Kang-Woo created the Leviathan once again and approached the altar, where he saw a group of Demon Cultists and the person leading the summoning ritual. He had seen summoning rituals like this numerous times before.

"What the..." Kang-Woo uttered, his mouth hanging wide open.

This was a summoning ritual, but something was different. They weren't like the other Demon Cultists whom he'd seen before.

"Let's go, guys!! Just a bit more! It'll be summoned soon!"

"Yeeaaahhh!! As expected of the cardinal we trust and follow!!"

"Stay strong, Cardinal Akiyama!!"

"We will also help however we can!!"

They were hyped up like crazy. It was hard to think of them as evil beings who had accepted demonic energy and worshiped demons. Rather than a demon-summoning ritual, it was more like a sports club's dinner party.

The man referred to as Cardinal Akiyama tightened his fists. Demonic energy flowed out from him and made the Rift bigger.

"Let's go! Our goal is Lilith, the Succubus Queen!"

At Akiyama's shout, the Demon Cultists shouted in excitement as well.

"Aaah, finally! Our long-cherished wish!"

"I would have no regrets even if I died now, Your Eminence!"

'Chaotic' was the perfect word to describe this situation. Kang-Woo looked at them with a confused gaze.

'What's wrong with these guys?'

It was as if he'd returned to Hell. He couldn't understand what was going on.

Kang-Woo was flustered by the unexpected development.

'No, it would be strange to have expected something like this.'

It was so unexpected that he was disappointed by what he had expected.

The Rift wriggled and grew in size. The blue light that was flowing out from Kurosaki Yurie's body merged with the Rift.

Akiyama raised his hand and exclaimed, "The time has finally come to welcome our true god!"

"OOOH!!"

"We have no more need for Hitomi[1]! We no longer need to covet life beyond the monitor! Right here and now, our faith will surpass dimensional boundaries!"

"Urghh! Your Eminence!"

"We will follow you to the very end!!"

An enthusiastic speech ensued.

It was at this moment that…

"H-Huh?! Y-Your Eminence! There's an intruder!"

They had finally noticed Kang-Woo's presence.

The Demon Cultists stood up and took their weapons out. Kang-Woo raised one hand and stopped them.

"No. Finish what you were doing. Just... give me some time to think,” Kang-Woo said desperately.

He needed time to organize his thoughts. He wondered if he was dreaming.

Kang-Woo rubbed his eyes, but the scene before him did not change.

'These guys are Demon Cultists…?'

These men were different from the wicked, covetous, and crazed Demon Cultists that he'd encountered previously.

'Well, I guess you could say they're also wicked, covetous, and crazed in a way.'

However, it was different… There was one crucial difference.

"Hmm. I was expecting the intruder to be Fujimoto. How unexpected," Cardinal Akiyama remarked. He took a step forward and raised his red leather whip. "Tsk, I prepared this for her, but... I guess I have no choice."

"...What do you mean you prepared it for her?" Kang-Woo asked.

"Hahaha! Obviously—."

"Wait, no, I don't want to hear it," Kang-Woo interjected, shaking his head.

Cardinal Akiyama's expression hardened.

"Hmph, you were the one who asked. What do you mean you don't want to hear it?"

"…"

Kang-Woo remained silent. He didn't know how to explain the complex emotions he was feeling.

"Leave this to us, Your Eminence!"

"Please continue the summoning ritual!"

"You guys…" Cardinal Akiyama muttered, fighting back his tears. He shook his head and took a step forward. "No! I cannot stand still in this situation! Love always flourishes amid oppression and crisis! This will make it burn even stronger?!"

"Aaahh..."

"Your Eminence..."

There was a weird sense of comradery among the men.

Kang-Woo grabbed his forehead. He thought he was about to go crazy.

"You guys... Don't tell me... The reason you're trying to summon the Succubus Queen is... Don't tell me... Seriously, don't fucking tell me…"

He couldn't say it properly. He wanted so bad to not believe that his conjecture was true that he repeated 'Don't tell me' three times.

"The reason we're trying to summon her? Isn't that obvious?!" Cardinal Akiyama shouted from the depths of his soul. "Why do you think I... no, we joined the Demon Cult?!"

"I don't know. I... I really don't. What the actual fuck is up with you guys?"

"Obviously to summon the queen that we should be presenting to the modern world!"

"What's obvious about that, you dumbass?!"

"Tsk, tsk. This is why it's impossible to get through to someone who doesn't understand what it's like to have hopes and dreams."

Akiyama swung the whip.

Crack!

The whip slapped the floor.

He continued with intense eyes, "Every man dreams about succubi! Isn't that the ideal all men crave?!"

"…"

Words that Kang-Woo didn't want to believe were true had emerged from Akiyama's mouth. He couldn't believe that there were so many Demon Cultists in Japan because… they were trying to summon Lilith. Out of all the countless demons in Hell… she was the one they wanted.

Kang-Woo would've preferred to hear that they were after immortality or power. If that had been the case, he wouldn't be feeling all of this turmoil.

"Every man dreams about succubi...?" Kang-Woo said while trembling.

He was shocked, angry, and annoyed.

Succubi—Kang-Woo had had high hopes for them in the past too. He had gotten so tired of living surrounded by horrible demons in Hell that he had often thought he'd like to meet a succubus.

"Hahaha! That's right! That is our faith!"

"Do you bastards only think with the thing between your legs?" Kang-Woo questioned with a shaking voice.

Memories of the past and all the trauma were returning to Kang-Woo. He'd despaired the first time he saw Lilith. She had been far too different from what he'd imagined. Even Balrog looked more beautiful than her.

The tentacles… Kang-Woo recalled the horrible, wiggling tentacles, as well as the eighteen eyes looking at him.

"Don't underestimate Hell," Kang-Woo said.

The Bident's prongs began to twist and transform into the Gáe Bulg, the result of merging three different Authorities. It emitted an ominous aura.

Kang-Woo stated, "There are no hopes and dreams there."

1. Hitomi is a site for ‘cultured’ material used mainly in Asian countries. Not quite sure about western countries. ☜