After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo bent like a bow and trembled.

"… What the hell? What's wrong with him?"

"H-Hyung-nim!!"

Kim Si-Hun quickly ran over to Kang-Woo and shook him.

Kang-Woo, who suddenly had a seizure, stood up while grimacing.

"Haaa, haaa."

"Wh-What was that, hyung-nim?"

Si-Hun grabbed Kang-Woo's arm and supported him with a worried expression on his face.

"I-I'm not sure either, but the moment I entered this place… memories of that day came back to me and…" Kang-Woo answered while making a confused expression.

"Memories of that day?"

"When I was tortured by Rakiel," Kang-Woo answered in a dark tone.

"Ah…"

Si-Hun's expression hardened.

Kang-Woo had been tortured so horribly that it had been hard to even look at him, so it wouldn't be weird for him to have developed PTSD.

"This place is… full of Rakiel's demonic energy," Kang-Woo mumbled while breathing heavily.

"… This is Rakiel's demonic energy?" Uriel asked while biting his lip.

Kang-Woo nodded.

"Shit."

Uriel made an anxious expression. There was a thick demonic energy emanating from the entire fortress. If it was Rakiel's demonic energy, then that meant a disaster had occurred.

'There's no way.'

Uriel shook his head.

It had only been a month. There was no way that Raphael had fallen in such a short period of time.

'I have to check.'

Uriel carefully strode forward.

Kang-Woo hurriedly extended his hand. "Please wait! We should figure out what happened before—"

"There's no time," Uriel immediately denied his suggestion.

They didn't know what had happened to Raphael, so they had no time to sit around while thinking of a plan.

'Raphael.'

Uriel quickened his pace.

Then…

"Grrk, grrk."

They heard staggering footsteps and growling. Something was walking toward them from the fortress's dark hallway.

"That's…"

Kang-Woo's and Si-Hun's eyes widened.

Cha Yeon-Joo squinted to take a better look. A trembling voice came out of her.

"A Ghoul?"

A monster with a horrible stench, rotten skin, and viscous pus flowing out of it was roaming and staggering through the hallway.

"W-Wait, those clothes… Isn't that the uniform of the Watchers of Light?"

Although the clothes had been discolored due to the rotten flesh, they were definitely the white ceremonial robes worn by Raphael's apostles.

Yeon-Joo extended the chains from her bracelet and whispered, "What the… Why have Raphael's apostles become Undead?"

"I don't know." Kang-Woo shook his head.

Uriel's expression hardened. He recalled what Shargiel had said.

"My apol… It is… already too late… for Lord Raph…"

"Shit… Shit…" Uriel's wings shook anxiously. He walked toward the Ghouls. "Where's Raphael?"

Although there was no way that the dead could answer, he asked anyway. As he raised his right hand, the hand crackled with fearsome lightning.

"Where the hell is Raphael?!"

"KIIEEKK!!"

Crackle!!

The blue lightning burned the Ghouls wearing ceremonial robes to the ground in the blink of an eye, leaving only black ash.

"Wha…"

The lightning's power was frightening. Raphael was impressive, but Uriel seemed to be beyond him.

'I guess there are classes even among archangels.'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. He had not seen Uriel's full power yet, but he could feel far thicker and stronger energy from Uriel than Raphael.

"Shit…" Uriel cursed while wiping out the Ghouls in the hallway.

Forget Raphael, not even a single angel was in sight.

'Where the hell are they?'

They looked all over the place, but they only came across Undead.

Kang-Woo, who was silently walking behind Uriel, opened his mouth.

"Come to think of it, I heard that Lord Raphael had been doing research on Rakiel."

"Research?"

"Yes. He had said that only by learning how Rakiel fell and how he had been tempted by Demon God Bauli would we be able to face Rakiel."

"…"

Uriel silently nodded. Considering Raphael's personality, it was perfectly possible he'd been investigating stuff like that.

'Oh, in that case…'

Uriel's eyes shone.

"Let's look for Raphael's research room first."

"Will we be able to find Lord Raphael there?"

"I'm not sure about that either, but Raphael always writes down his research records."

Uriel had seen it many times during their thousands of years together.

Uriel had a fiery personality and hated frustrating things, so he couldn't even think of writing down the plethora of research he had done on demons by hand, but Raphael always left records behind without question.

"If we find those notes, we'll be able to find out what happened in the past month."

"Okay."

Kang-Woo nodded.

Uriel and Kang-Woo looked all over the base to find Raphael's research room.

Uriel said, "If it were him…"

Raphael would most definitely have made his research room close to his office.

After reaching Raphael's office, Uriel looked around.

'I knew it.'

There was a door next to the office.

"We're going in."

Creak.

Uriel nervously opened the door.

"… This is a lot," Kang-Woo exclaimed in surprise.

The room was so full of books that it looked like a library.

"Is this all material regarding the era of myths?" Kang-Woo asked

"Probably. Rakiel was active during the war against the demon god."

"… There are a lot more books than I had expected."

"That's how the war had been. But the records themselves aren't exactly accurate. Much of it is guesswork," Uriel said while clicking his tongue.

Rather than records, they were closer to novels.

Kang-Woo nodded. He felt as if he could understand why Raphael had gathered so many materials about the era of myths.

"He must have been trying to compare all the materials to find the true record."

"Raphael is the best at that kind of stuff." After giving a short reply, Uriel started looking around the room.

Not only were there far too many records, but the books were also scattered all over the place as if a battle had taken place. Therefore, it was hard to find Raphael's notes.

Then…

"… Huh?"

Kang-Woo picked up a book lying in the corner of the room. White liquid had been splattered on its cover and had dried.

"Lord Uriel, this…"

"…"

Uriel remained silent.

The white liquid was…

'Angel blood.'

He closed his eyes, then opened the book with trembling hands.

As expected, it contained notes in Raphael's handwriting.

- Day 1 of researching Rakiel

The Constellation of Corruption has been spotted on Earth. I have decided to investigate the reason behind why Rakiel fell before I face him. I did not gain much on this first day. I focused on requesting Sant'Angelo to send me materials regarding the era of myths.

- Day 2 of researching Rakiel

I have begun researching. The only one of us who has actually witnessed the war firsthand is Lord Michael. It was truly an unfathomably large war. How could Demon God Bauli have expanded his forces?

- Day 5 of researching Rakiel

I do not understand. The Demon God desired the end of every creation designed by the Titans. In other words, he had been trying to erase all life, so why would Rakiel possibly have betrayed the angels to join the Demon God?

- Day 7 of researching Rakiel

No matter how many records I go through, I cannot figure out the reason. The past Rakiel was one of Lady Seraph's most trusted subordinates, along with Lord Michael. He was capable, powerful, and honorable. Lady Seraph herself had mentioned that Rakiel would take her place if she were to die in the war.

He had all the glory he could possibly want, so… why did he betray us?

The notes clearly showed Raphael's confusion.

Uriel frowned. He couldn't get much information from the first week of notes.

'What the hell happened, Raphael?'

He anxiously bit his lip and flipped the page. And then… his eyes widened.

- Day 10 of researching Rakiel

I found a clue. Maybe… Rakiel had betrayed us because…

"The hell?"

The page that should have contained information had been ripped out.

Uriel frowned. He quickly turned to the next page and saw that the records continued.

- Day 13 of researching Rakiel

I have figured out the reason. Just… how could this possibly… I am so shocked that my head is in a daze. What of everything that I have learned my whole life? We… we might have been believing in a false myth this whole time.

"… What?"

Uriel's hands were trembling, and his uneasy feelings were intensifying.

- Day 17 of researching Rakiel

Rakiel came to see me. I asked him if everything that I had found out was the truth. He had… already known everything from the start, and…

Once again, the page was torn.

- Day 18 of researching Rakiel

Something… has to be wrong. There is no way… This is impossible.

Aaaahh. W-We have all been deceived.

We were made for fools this entire time!!

- Day 19 of researching Rakiel

I've noticed today that my wings are turning black.

Am I losing my mind? Or am I falling like Rakiel? I do not know.

But… but…

Aaaahh, where… where did it all go wrong?

The final page…

- Day 20 of researching Rakiel

Rakiel came to see me again. No, maybe it was not him who had come to see me. I do not remember. My wings have been dyed completely black. Have I fallen? I do not know. If this is what falling feels like, I would not mind falling more and more.

My notes end here. I will now do what I have to do. What only I can do…

"…"

Uriel's hands were trembling as he gripped the book. His lips paled.

The event that he did not even want to imagine—something that could not have possibly happened—had occurred.

"No."

He quickly shook his head.

"It can't fucking be!!"

He'd read all the notes, but he still had no idea why Raphael had fallen. The section of the notes that would have detailed why had been torn out, but there was something he was sure about…

Raphael had lost his mind.

"Lord Uriel? What was written in—"

"Don't touch it!!"

Uriel knocked the book out of Kang-Woo's hands.

The pages scattered as the book fell to the ground. Uriel noticed a phrase on the final page of the notes that seemed to have been written down in a hurry.

Gaze not into the abyss, for if you do…

The abyss also gazes into you.

Kang-Woo said, "This is…"

"Shit! Shit! Something must be wrong! It… can't be true…"

Uriel grabbed his hair, closed his eyes, and thought of Raphael.

He and Raphael had been comrades-in-arms for thousands of years. Raphael was old-fashioned, but he resented demons more than anyone else. There was no way someone like him would have fallen in such a nonsensical way.

"We have to find Raphael…"

"Uhm, Lord Uriel. There seems to be a gap here," said Si-Hun, who had been searching through the research room while Uriel had been reading the notes.

As Uriel turned his head, he saw a small gap between two bookshelves.

"Move."

Uriel quickly walked toward it and pulled the bookshelves apart from each other.

Creak.

Just like a secret door that often appeared in films, the bookshelves swung backward and revealed a new space. And within it was…

"A-Aaaahh."

"Urpp!"

"Wh-What the fuck is that?!"

Uriel's exclamation and Yeon-Joo's curse were heard.

Si-Hun covered his mouth as if about to hurl.

Kang-Woo looked at it with a hardened expression.

Inside the secret space of the research room was…

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Uriel's desperate scream spread.

There were cylinders full of an unknown liquid.

Within those hundreds of cylinders…

Raphael's subordinates floated, fused with the bodies of demonic beasts. They had been turned into Chimeras.