After Ten Millennia in Hell

Kim Si-Hun was about to complain but ended up closing his mouth. He knew very well why Shalgiel had made such a decision.

"Because it is far too obvious that it is a trap," Shalgiel said firmly.

There was no need to even think about it. They were not trying to find where Oh Kang-Woo was being held and rescue him; the Demon of Prophecy had told them exactly where he was.

It was an invitation from the enemy, so there was no need to explain how dangerous it would be. Going there was like jumping into a pit of fire.

"…"

Even so…

Si-Hun closed his eyes.

'I have to go.'

Kang-Woo's life was at risk.

Whether it led to a pit of fire or the valley of death, he had to go. There was no reason not to.

'…'

The sight of Kang-Woo chained and muffling his screams came to his mind. If it were up to Si-Hun, Si-Hun would immediately use the gem to go save him.

Crunch.

He gritted his teeth. He had to resist. If he went alone, forget rescuing Kang-Woo, he himself would just die in vain.

He asked, "Was your word that you would give us your full support just lip service?"

"The situation is different. We cannot cooperate in a plan to recklessly charge into an enemy's trap."

There was nothing Shalgiel could do. They were facing the worst possible situation.

Shalgiel said, "We must at least wait until Lord Raphael recovers and the other archangels arrive."

"That will be too late."

"Even if it is too late, there is nothing we can do. Trying to save that man will just be suicide."

"Hyung-nim had thrown himself into a Rift to chase after Satan before. Do the convictions of angels not even come close to that of a human?"

"This and that are diff—"

"It is not different," Si-Hun cut Shalgiel off and showed him the black gem in his hand. "I also know that this is an enemy trap, but it is also the only way to save hyung-nim at this time."

"Give up. Just like Ludwig, he must have already been—"

"He has not been corrupted. You also saw the footage, did you not? He was just being tortured. There were no signs of him having turned into an Undead."

"We cannot be sure just because we did not see the symptoms. We do not know what happened after that either."

Suppressing his rage, Si-Hun said, "Hyung-nim is the Warrior of Light chosen by Tirion, God of Heroes. He is practically the co-leader of Guardians along with Gaia. Losing hyung-nim is like losing Guardians."

No matter what, he had to convince the angels to cooperate.

"…"

There was a heavy silence.

Shalgiel closed his eyes and fell into thought. To be more precise, he was just pretending to think; his answer was already decided.

"We cannot."

"…"

"We angels cannot take part in this rescue operation."

"I clearly said that losing him could break apart Guardians as a whole."

"Even so, we cannot take part in such a reckless act."

"Did you not say that we must kill the Demon of Prophecy?"

"We must, but now is not the time."

"What a lighthearted mindset," Si-Hun said as if mocking Shalgiel. Si-Hun looked at him with sharp eyes. "Does your conviction of eradicating demons change based on the situation?"

"… I am simply differentiating between courage and recklessness," Shalgiel replied in a low voice. He was acting completely differently from his usual self of emphasizing battling with one's life on the line.

Si-Hun clenched his fists.

"Please let me meet Lord Raphael."

"You may not."

"Fuck!!"

Slam!!

He stomped on the ground, cracking the marble floor. Si-Hun put his hand on his forehead and breathed heavily.

'Endure it.'

Although he'd already exploded without being able to hold back his rage, he could not afford to get any angrier. He knew very well that his chance of rescuing Kang-Woo would get further away if he let his emotions take over him and he got into a conflict with the angels.

'For hyung… I have to endure it.'

Even if he wanted to smash that stubborn angel's face in, he needed to suppress his rage. If he antagonized the angels here, forget rescuing Kang-Woo, all of humanity would be in danger.

"… I apologize," Si-Hun said while holding back his rage.

Shalgiel lowered his head.

"It is okay. I can understand how you feel, Protector Kim Si-Hun. We had also felt the same way when we lost Ludwig. But now is the time to suppress your feelings and prepare for the coming—"

"If you have no intention to help, I will be excusing myself."

Si-Hun cut Shalgiel off and turned away. Since he had become sure that the angels would not help them, he had no reason to continue to listen to Shalgiel's nonsense.

He walked out of the fortress; the vast wilderness of Africa appeared before him. Before he opened the gate that led to the Hall of Protection, his head went blank.

"Shit."

He clenched his fists.

"Shit, shit, shit, fuck!!!! Those fucking pigeons!"

He clenched his fists harder while cursing. He screamed like a beast while clenching his head.

"Haaa, haaa, haaa."

Si-Hun raised his head.

"I have to… save him."

Step, step.

He slowly walked. There was no time to waste. Even now, Kang-Woo was…

"…"

Si-Hun remained silent. He opened a gate leading to the Hall of Protection.

* * *

"I… see."

Gaia nodded with a heavy expression after hearing what had happened from Si-Hun. Considering she was neither surprised nor angry, it seemed she'd expected it.

"But Si-Hun, will you still…"

"I will go," he answered firmly without hesitation.

As if she had expected his answer, she said in a sad voice, "You know that it is a trap, don't y—"

"I do."

"…"

"…"

"You might not… be able to come back."

Si-Hun smiled. He grabbed Gaia's hands and said, "Hyung… is the one who saved me from hell. He's the first person who acknowledged me."

"…"

"I'll save him and come back, no matter what."

"Sniff, sniff…"

Tears dripped from her eyes.

Si-Hun scratched his cheeks in embarrassment while looking at her.

"Am I watching a drama or what?" someone said while feigning laughter.

"Yeon-Joo…?"

"When are we going? We don't have a lot of time, do we?"

"It's dangerous."

"You're talking as if I didn't know that. Stop bullshitting and tell me when we're going."

"…"

Si-Hun remained silent at her sharp words. He needed all the help he could get in a desperate situation like this.

'If only Balrog were here…'

Si-Hun bit his lip. He had tried to contact Balrog after coming back from the Middle East, but he did not pick up.

It wasn't just Balrog; Echidna and the woman named Halcyon, whom he hadn't met before, had also disappeared. According to Lilith, the four of them had seemingly been attacked by the Demon of Prophecy while hunting down Satan.

"Understood. We will be departing tonight. Please, gather as many people as you can until then."

They would lose their chance if the operation kept getting delayed.

"Tonight?" Yeon-Joo snorted. "Is there a need to wait that long?"

"… Pardon?"

"I think we already have everyone we need."

She looked toward the other passageway that Si-Hun hadn't used.

People were walking in from there.

"Haha. You're finally here. I was wondering what was taking so long. As for the angels… well, I would guess they refused, considering they're not here."

Members of the Heavenly Sword Clan were following behind Tian Wuchen.

"Wh-What in the world is going on?! You left me with all of your work, and now you tell me that Kang-Woo was kidnapped?!" Even Tian Suyan, whom he hadn't seen in a while, was here.

After Wuchen ditched his leadership position to join Guardians, Suyan had been extremely busy managing the martial artists of the Heavenly Sword Clan.

"I am sorry for being late." In the other passageway was Kurosaki Yurie—or Lilith, to be more precise. She had come with Japanese players. Although there weren't many, considering there weren't many high-level players in Japan, they'd practically brought all of their forces.

"I'm sorry for being late. I had to deal with the government making a huge fuss." Even Jang Hyun-Jae of the Hwarang Corps appeared. Behind him were also Baek Hwa-Yeon, Goo Hyun-Mo, and other famous Korean players.

"S-Si-Hun! Tell me what's going on! Was Kang-Woo hyung-nim really kidnapped…?" Even Park Deok—no, Kang Tae-Soo had come.

Not only that, but the American players led by Grace McCubbin and the force under Si-Hun's direct command, the Sirius Corps, had also come.

The Sirius Corps members snickered while looking at Si-Hun.

"Oh Kang-Woo is the one the captain talks about all the time during training, right?"

"… The hyung-nim who he talks about as if he'd fallen head over heels for?"

"Ah…" Si-Hun's eyes widened. "This is…"

"Kang-Woo seems to have made ties with many people. Oh, you have a part in it too, Si-Hun." Gaia smiled.

"Everyone…"

Si-Hun started to tear up. His sense of betrayal after the angels had cold-heartedly refused to help was being washed away.

Of course, it wasn't that the angels had betrayed Guardians. Looking at it objectively, their proposition of waiting until Raphael recovered and waiting for angel reinforcements made more sense. Everyone present had just made the stupid decision to jump into a pit of fire that was obviously a trap, just to save one person.

There was no need to curse the angels for deciding not to jump into the fire with them.

"…"

But even still…

He was happy.

To think that there were so many people who wanted to save Kang-Woo.

"Hyung…"

He raised his head and teared up even more. He couldn't help but smile.

'See, I told you it couldn't be hidden.'

Back when Kang-Woo tried to push all of his achievements to Sword Dragon Kim Si-Hun, Si-Hun remembered telling him that the world would find out sooner or later and that they would remember Kang-Woo more than him.

Tap.

Lastly, a woman with black hair walked toward him with staggering steps.

"Seol-Ah…?"

Si-Hun was shocked after looking at her.

She had dark circles under her eyes, and her skin was pale. She was trembling so much that she could barely walk. It showed how shocked she was after hearing that Kang-Woo was kidnapped.

"I'm… going too."

Her reaction was understandable.

The day Kang-Woo had disappeared, Echidna and Halcyon had also disappeared.

According to Lilith, they had been kidnapped by the Demon of Prophecy along with Balrog.

Seol-Ah had been living together with three of the four kidnapped people, so the news had likely destroyed her whole world.

"Seol-Ah…"

Si-Hun slurred his words. He knew the state Kang-Woo was in from seeing the footage. One of his eyes had been carved out, and chains had pierced his body.

He wasn't sure if it was okay to show such a sight to Kang-Woo's lover.

"You should stay h—"

"… up."

"Pardon?"

"I said, shut up."

Seol-Ah raised her head, and he felt a sense of madness in her eyes.

She grabbed Si-Hun by the collar.

"Shut up and guide me to where Kang-Woo is."

"…"

Si-Hun remained silent. He had a feeling that he shouldn't try to stop her anymore.

"I understand."

Si-Hun gripped the black gem.

All the connections Oh Kang-Woo had built through time had intertwined and gathered here.

"Let's go."

Crack.

A black Rift appeared in the air.

Si-Hun stepped in without hesitation.

Riiing.

[You have entered the SS+ rank dungeon 'Abyssal Depths shiiietyes!thisisit!adungeonsgottahaveabadassnamelikeohwaitfuck.']