After Ten Millennia in Hell

"Kurgh, Urgh! Urpp!"

"Right then, can you tell me who showed you that footage now?"

"I-I canno—"

Splash!

"Kurp! Gurgle! Gurgle!"

"Hahaha, you're unyielding. I like that about people."

"Kurgh!" Ian grunted in pain as he coughed up water and trembled. His eyes looking up at Oh Kang-Woo were dyed in fear. He averted his gaze from Kang-Woo and remarked, "I-I don't... k-know."

"You don't know?"

"Yes. I-I don't know who showed m—"

Kang-Woo grabbed Ian by the hair and smiled in a way devoid of malice. "In that case, I will help you remember."

"W-Wait—"

Splash!

Bubbles came up from under the water. Kang-Woo counted down slowly and then pulled Ian's head out.

"Right, did that jog your memory?"

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Ian trembled as he panted heavily.

Kang-Woo could easily tell that Ian's eyes dyed in fear were directed not only toward him.

"Cardinal Ian," Kang-Woo called.

"U-Urgh." Ian flinched.

Kang-Woo smiled gently and placed his hand softly on Ian's shoulder. "There's no need to worry."

"..."

"Nothing will happen to you as long as you answer me honestly."

"Th-that's..."

"I swear in my Deific Name of Splendor. I'm sure you know what it means for a god to pledge with their Deific Essence on the line."

"B-but..."

Ian gulped and looked up at Kang-Woo in doubt.

Kang-Woo smiled. "Oh, the footage you've seen was indeed of me. However... look at me now."

Whoooom.

Golden light poured out from Kang-Woo's hand.

"A-Aaaahh." Ian's mouth fell open from witnessing the Deific Essence of Splendor right in front of him.

He had seen Kang-Woo emitting light toward the devotees earlier, but seeing the splendid light up close was in a league of its own.

"O-O light..." Ian stuttered as he reached for the golden light.

It was warm and beautiful, on another level compared to the sacred power that he had witnessed all his life. Demon King? That was out of the question. How could the king of all evil possess such radiant light? Ian trembled.

'Maybe I was mistaken.'

How could anyone doubt that Kang-Woo was the God of Splendor after seeing this light? Ian's eyes shook; he even thought that the torture Kang-Woo had subjected him to had been for his sake.

'Yes...'

Ian placed his hand on the splendid light as he remembered the words that he had emphasized again and again during his sermons.

'Hardship and adversity.'

As long as one believed, they would be saved.

"A-Aaaahh."

Ian stared at the light in front of him in a daze, unable to close his mouth. He was sure that the God of Splendor had done all this to guide him to salvation. The light of hope filled his eyes.

'Hah.' Kang-Woo smiled faintly as he looked down at Ian. 'Humans sure are fascinating.'

He could feel trace amounts of Ian's faith in him. Ian's attitude logically did not make sense; how could someone have faith in someone who had tortured him just a few moments ago?

'Well, I guess it makes sense in this case.'

Kang-Woo laughed softly. Ian had been forced on the boundary between life and death again and again through Kang-Woo's torture. A ray of hope was placed in front of him when both his body and mind were at their limits; there was no way that he wouldn't grab hold of it, even if the chance of salvation was minuscule.

"A-Are you truly... the God of Splendor?" Ian asked.

"That's right," Kang-Woo affirmed without hesitation. "Lady Gaia already knows that I used to be the Demon King."

"Ah..." Ian's eyes widened. According to what he had heard through the Godly Pantheon, Oh Kang-Woo and Kim Si-Hun were both retainers of Gaia. "Then Lady Gaia has..."

"Yes. She has accepted me as her retainer even after knowing everything," Kang-Woo answered calmly with his hand on his chest. His voice carried faint sorrow.

"..."

Ian remained silent. He could tell why there was sorrow in Kang-Woo's voice.

'He must have felt guilty.'

Ian was sure that Kang-Woo felt guilty about the fact that he used to be the king of all that was evil.

"I... apologize. Without even knowing that, I..." Ian lowered his head.

Kang-Woo gently patted Ian's shoulder and said, "There is no need to worry, devotee of light. Anyone can stray from the path of light. So have I."

"O God of Splendor..."

"Right then, can you tell me who showed you my past?"

"Th-That's..."

"Do not worry, devotee of light. I swear in my Deific Essence of Splendor that I will protect you."

"..." Ian expressed hesitation for a while. He then clenched his fists and answered, "The one who showed me was... a hunchback old man."

"... A hunchback old man?"

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. The word hunchback reminded him of a certain demon.

'But Amon isn't a human.'

Ian had referred to the person as an old man.

"Was he human?" Kang-Woo asked.

"Pardon? Y-Yes, he was." Ian nodded in confusion, not knowing why Kang-Woo was asking such a thing.

Kang-Woo scanned Ian with deeply sunken eyes.

'He doesn't seem to be lying.'

If that was the case, it meant that the hunchback whom Ian had met was a human, not a demon.

'Or...'

He might have been a demon in human skin.

'There's a good chance that it's Amon.'

Kang-Woo could not think of anyone but Amon who possessed footage of his past in the Nine Hells and was a hunchback.

"That old man showed me the footage... and said that the time of prophecy would arrive if I didn't expose the God of Splendor's fa?ade."

"..."

Kang-Woo's eyebrows slightly flinched.

'He even knows that I'm the Demon of Prophecy?'

Kang-Wo's head hurt. He recalled Amon as he swept up his hair. Amon used to be one of Satan's subordinates and one who managed to reach extraordinary heights in black magic. He had made a Gate that led to Earth using the Hell Armaments that Kang-Woo had gathered.

Kang-Woo gathered information about Amon from his memories, but there was one thing that he remembered most of all.

'I could never figure out what was on his mind.'

Amon was unpleasant and abnormal. He had sworn his loyalty to Kang-Woo and praised his name after becoming his subordinate, but Kang-Woo knew that he had never been genuine. To Kang-Woo, Amon was more of a business partner whom he cooperated with for each of their benefit rather than a subordinate.

"..."

Kang-Woo remained silent. He thought about why Amon was acting like this and how he had managed to figure out his true identity but ceased thinking momentarily after.

'I can't figure anything out with the information I have now.'

He lacked far too much information; there was no way for him to guess Amon's goals.

'One thing I know for sure is...'

Kang-Woo smirked as he looked down at Ian.

"... Son of a bitch, he dares to taunt me?"

Amon had purposefully leaked his identity to Kang-Woo through Ian. Kang-Woo couldn't help but laugh.

"Pardon? Wh-What do you mean?" Ian asked dumbfoundedly.

Kang-Woo did not answer; he simply covered his face with one hand and suppressed his laughter. Thick and crazed bloodlust swirled around him.

'He would have easily been able to keep himself hidden.'

If Amon was able to change his form into a human, he would not have had to stay as a hunchback. There was no way that Amon was stupid enough to not realize that Kang-Woo would easily figure him out just from the facts that the culprit was a hunchback and that he possessed footage of Kang-Woo's days in Hell. If Amon kept his hunchback form, it meant that...

'He's daring me to catch him, is that it?'

Amon was blatantly taunting Kang-Woo.

"Pfft, hahahahaha!" Kang-Woo burst into laughter.

Although they had been nothing but partners, Kang-Woo couldn't help but laugh at the fact that his past subordinate was taunting him.

Rumble—!

Enormous energy poured out from Kang-Woo and shook the Church of Splendor's base— no, the entire city that it was based in.

"A-Aaaaaaahhh!" Ian screamed as he crouched.

Kang-Woo paid it no mind.

"Alright, I'll play ball."

He licked his lips as his eyes glinted. There was likely nothing he would be able to do at the moment; there was no way that a demon as clever as Amon would have left any clues for Kang-Woo to chase him with.

'I don't know where you are and what you're planning, but...'

Kang-Woo's heart beat rapidly. He had a feeling that there was something unfathomable lying dormant, waiting for him; something even greater than Tai Wuji.

"Haaah," Kang-Woo exhaled heatedly and pulled down the rising corners of his mouth with all his might.

He could feel his powerful hunger setting ablaze— no, it was becoming fire itself.

Fwoosh—!

Gold and black flames ignited, filling the barrier with intense heat.

"Kurgh, argh!" Ian struggled on the ground in pain.

Kang-Woo smirked and condensed the flames to the end of his finger. The Flames of Voracity shrunk down to the size of a candlelight and flickered on top of his finger.

"Thank you for being honest, Cardinal Ian," Kang-Woo remarked.

"Huff, huff! A-Ahem. Then..."

"Yes. There's no need to worry."

Kang-Woo nodded with a bright smile. And then...

Stab!

"Kurgh, kuh!"

He stuffed the Flames of Voracity into Ian.

"Kurgh, gaaaaaaaaahhh!" Ian screamed as he twisted and turned.

The Flames of Voracity within him was burning him from the inside.

"Wh-Why...?!" Ian looked up at Kang-Woo in shock as if he couldn't understand. "Y-You... swore on... your... Deific Essence..."

A pledge with one's Deific Essence on the line was not to be taken lightly; once a god broke a pledge after swearing on their Deific Essence, their Deific Essence would be demoted or annihilated as per the providence.

"Hahaha," Kang-Woo laughed. "Yes, I did indeed swear on my Deific Essence." His smile grew wider, turning into madness. "My Deific Essence of Splendor, that is."

Ian's eyes widened as if he had realized something. "N-No way..."

'Why... why... why...'

Ian fell into despair as that one word echoed inside his mind. He stood up using all his strength and raised his fist to punch Kang-Woo.

"Y-You bastaaaaaard!!"

"Pfft! Bwehehehe, this is why you should always read the fucking contract before signing, dipshit."

Fwoosh!

Ian was engulfed by the Flames of Voracity before he even had a chance to punch.

Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience