After Ten Millennia in Hell

'This is…'

Kang-Woo slowly opened his eyes. However, he couldn't see anything. He just felt something thick and sticky pulling him down.

He couldn't think clearly. A force he couldn't resist was continuously dragging him downward.

Lassitude, lethargy, and drowsiness… Extreme fatigue was pressing down on him.

'I'm sinking.'

The sensation of sinking was the only thing that he could feel.

'I have to get out of here.'

Through his faint consciousness, his inherent instincts were telling him that he shouldn't sink any deeper.

He kicked his feet and waved his hands.

Crunch!

Kang-Woo heard the sounds of flesh being chewed and bones being crushed.

Mouths appeared in the darkness and bit his legs.

'Ah.'

He couldn't feel any pain or sensations. All he felt was his ascending body being pulled back down a bit.

'I'm in danger.'

Kang-Woo's instincts were warning him that something wasn't right.

Having sensations of pain would have given the impression that he was in less danger. Yet, he felt absolutely nothing while his flesh was being devoured, which meant this was a dangerous situation.

His sensations were fading away. It began with his sight, followed by his hearing, and then his sense of smell. His five senses were slowly but surely being erased.

Crunch.

His flesh was still being devoured, and he was being pulled down quickly.

Kang-Woo couldn't feel pain, only terrible lassitude. He even thought that maybe letting himself sink might not be so bad.

'No.'

He shook his head, rejecting the thought that had crossed his mind.

'I am…'

Kang-Woo needed to remember; he needed to recall who he was, his past, and his experiences.

A person's ego was a culmination of their countless memories and experiences. If he were to lose all of his memories, his consciousness would melt into the endless sea of darkness and vanish.

Crunch.

The countless mouths continued to consume his body.

He kicked his feet and swam up, but it was nowhere near enough. He was still being dragged back down, deeper into the sea of darkness.

Kang-Woo reached out with his hands, but he couldn't touch anything. He kicked his feet, but he was not advancing.

He just kept getting pulled deeper and deeper into the endless darkness.

"Sh… it," Kang-Woo uttered.

He could feel it.

'I'm in the deep end.'

Kang-Woo was in the area that was beyond the shallow end of the Ten Thousand Demon Core. He was still unable to use the demonic energy here in its entirety.

This was the first time he had been dragged this far down since opening its doors. His instincts were warning him constantly.

'I'm in danger.'

His body had long since been eaten away by the countless mouths. The only thing left was the consciousness of the human Oh Kang-Woo.

'It's too late.'

He couldn't go back. He'd fallen too deep to be able to go back. In time, he would melt away into the boundless Demonic Sea.

'Maybe I should've used another way.'

Regret swept over him belatedly.

Even during the ten millennia that he had spent in Hell, the only time he'd opened the Second Door of the Ten Thousand Demon Core had been when he fought against Bael. He'd had a hard time returning to the outside world then as well, but it hadn't been as difficult as what he was going through now.

'Going up on my own is impossible.'

No matter how much he struggled, it was impossible to reach the surface of the Demonic Sea in his current state.

Kang-Woo turned around. He couldn't see anything. There was only darkness.

'At this rate…'

Everything would be over for him.

He thought about how he had lived an unhappy life when he had suddenly been dragged into Hell. He had spent ten millennia there, and after immense suffering, he had finally grasped on to a sliver of happiness. However, now that he had it, he was going to die in vain.

"Screw that."

Kang-Woo frowned.

He had held on for ten millennia. He'd survived through tens of thousands of battles. Yet, he was supposed to die here like this…? There was absolutely no way.

"Let's do this."

Kang-Woo turned around. He was gradually disintegrating. His body had already been absorbed by the demonic energy of the deep end.

'I don't need it.'

Even after their bodies had disappeared, the princes of Hell survived because their souls and consciousness had been intact.

This meant that the important thing wasn't the Ten Thousand Demon Core, Kang-Woo's 666 Authorities, or his unlimited demonic energy. They were all only a fragment of his entire being.

"If I can't go up…"

Kang-Woo looked down at the deepest area of the Ten Thousand Demon Core, the unknown region that not even his past self had been able to reach—the Abyss.

"...I'll just go down."

He gave up on trying to swim up.

His consciousness was suddenly pulled downward with an enormous force like an arrow being released from a bowstring after being pulled to its utmost limit.

Gurgle—!

The forces dragging him down were bewildered by his sudden change in action. They were now trying to pull him up.

Kang-Woo laughed.

"It's too late, man."

He ignored the force pushing him up and headed even deeper.

Deeper…

Deeper…

Deeper…

And…

Gurgle!

He passed through an invisible wall. An immense power shook his body.

This area was the same as before in the sense that it was just as dark, but he could tell instinctively there was a difference.

'So, this is the Abyss.'

This was the bottom that he'd never been able to reach—the root of the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

Crack.

A giant Rift that was over a kilometer long appeared. It was bigger than any Rift he'd seen before.

The giant Rift widened, and a yellow light poured out from it.

Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

'It's not a Rift.'

He trembled. He got chills the moment that he figured out what that giant Rift-like thing actually was.

Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief.

'This is…'

It was an eye.

The eye was so massive that there was no point trying to describe its size. It had a yellow iris, and its pupil stretched horizontally.

That eye, which was the size of a World Cup stadium, looked at Kang-Woo.

[Why… have you come here already?]

A question rang out in Kang-Woo's mind.

"...What?"

Kang-Woo frowned.

'What the hell is this?'

There was a being that he'd never seen or felt before at the bottom of the Ten Thousand Demon Core, and they were looking at him.

Kang-Woo got goosebumps. He felt like he'd encountered an undefiable being. If he were to make a comparison…

'A god.'

The being was incomparable to Tirion. Their massive presence made even breathing difficult.

'Fuck.'

Kang-Woo bit his lip.

Even if he were in his optimum state before being sealed by the Gaia System, he would be no match against the being before his eyes.

'Why is such a thing inside me?'

Kang-Woo couldn't understand what was going on. His mind was in jumbles.

Why was there a being with an ego, aside from Kang-Woo, inside the Abyss of the Ten Thousand Demon Core?

[It should not yet be the time of prophecy.]

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you? Why are you inside me?"

The being was unlikely to be something ridiculous like a second ego.

'There's no way I have a split personality.'

There was no way a reasonable man with unshakeable beliefs like himself would have a split personality.

In the first place, this being of the Abyss felt far too foreign to be his split personality.

[I am the origin and the root of all that is demonic. I am the father of all demons and the creator of the Nine Hells.]

"…"

[To put it simply, you may call me the Demon God.]

'Demon God…'

Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief and put his hand on his forehead as if it hurt.

"Wait. Putting all that stuff about the origin and root aside, why are you inside me?"

It was true that Kang-Woo was taking the steps to become a Demon God. Nevertheless, he was only on the second step, and he had only fulfilled half of its conditions. So, he couldn't understand why the Demon God was inside him.

[Do you not know?]

"How could I? I've devoured countless demons, but I don't remember ever eating a god."

[Hahahaha! Of course, you would not remember.]

The giant eye moved.

[After all, I have been inside you from the very beginning, even before you fell into Hell.]

"What the hell are you talking about? Before I fell into Hell, I was—"

[Normal? Nothing?]

Keke. Kang-Woo could hear laughter.

[How could a normal human possess the Authority of Predation? Could a human that is nothing remain sane after absorbing such an enormous amount of demonic energy? Do you believe you would have been able to rule the Nine Hells in just ten millennia if you were human?]

"…"

[The answer is simple. There has only ever been one answer.]

The horizontally stretched pupil spun.

[You have never been normal.]

"…"

There was silence.

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. He didn't like that answer.

The self-proclaimed Demon God kept talking.

[Human, do you remember the face of your mother?]

"What?"

[Do you remember the being who birthed you?]

Kang-Woo shook his head.

He had been abandoned by his parents right after his birth. He'd never seen the face of his mother, nor had he tried to look at her.

The Demon God laughed.

[I will change the question. Do you truly believe you have a being known as a mother?]

"…"

[I am sure you understand how abnormal of a being you are now.]

There was no way Kang-Woo wouldn't have understood when it was being told to him so bluntly.

Kang-Woo trembled. He covered his face with his hand, and…

He laughed.

"Hahahaha! Fuck, man. That's some bullshit."

[Hm…?]

"How dare you insult my parents, you piece of shit?"

[What?]

"Why do you care if I have a mother or not?"

[That is not what I meant…]

"Aaahh. Well, I'm just kidding. I more or less get it."

Kang-Woo waved his hand as if he couldn't be bothered with any of this.

"Isn't this that thing?"

[What do you—]

"The mastermind foreshadowing—it's way too obvious, dude. You're trying to say shit like everything has been according to your plan and now trying to take over my body, right?"

[…]

"Right? I guess I was spot on since you're staying silent. I caught on from the moment you were telling me shit about the secrets of my birth."

[You…]

"What? Did you expect me to be shocked and bawl my eyes out at the fact that I didn't have parents? Should I do a retake and say something like 'I-I was a puppet all along?!' while tearing up?"

Kang-Woo snickered, "Kekeke."

He continued, "You're one twisted son of a bitch, you know that? Like fuck, man, why didn't you just do it yourself if you didn't like it? You're acting awfully high and mighty after staying put in your little hole all this time."

Kang-Woo sneered and raised his head, gazing at the god who was so massive that they didn't fully enter his field of vision.

He said to the Demon God, "Go fuck yourself."

The virginity he'd protected for ten thousand years… His body that had yet to be touched by human hands…

"How dare you covet my body?"

'I'll never give this undefiled body to you, dammit!!'