After Ten Millennia in Hell

The unfathomably colossal tree was being pulled out of the Rift. Although the giant mass of countless roots of the World Tree being squeezed out of the Rift looked like a baby being born, it was more akin to a mother dragging their child out of their room by the hair.

Rumble—!!

A thunderous sound echoed as if the sky itself was being upturned. No, the sound was so massive that it would be no exaggeration to say that it could be heard throughout Aernor.

"Aaaaaaaahhh!" the evacuating citizens screamed as they covered their bleeding ears.

"Celestial Protection!" Han Seol-Ah chanted.

Layla also quickly chanted, "O Gaia, bring down your blessing unto the powerless."

The white light that poured out from them protected the people from the ear splitting sound shaking the entire capital.

"H-hyung-nim?!" Kim Si-Hun looked at Oh Kang-Woo in surprise.

He did not think it was possible to uproot and pull out a tree dozens of kilometers tall. The colossal scale of events sent shivers down his spine.

"Focus," Balrog said to the flustered Si-Hun. He looked up at the roots of the World Tree being pulled out of the Rift and muttered, "... There is something there."

"What?"

Si-Hun looked at where Balrog was looking as well. As he had mentioned, a purple light lingered around the giant mass of roots of the World Tree.

"That's..." Si-Hun slurred.

"There is no time to waste." Balrog jumped on one of the roots and ran up.

"Ngh!" Si-Hun followed after him.

"Wh-where are you going?!" Cha Yeon-Joo shouted as she ran after Si-Hun.

"Lady Elune, this way!" Layla grabbed the collapsed Elune's hand and flew up to the sky.

Seol-Ah, Echidna, and the other party members quickly chased after Balrog and Si-Hun.

"Kang-Woo!"

Seol-Ah looked around for Kang-Woo after climbing on a tree root after Si-Hun. Kang-Woo, who had come up with the insane idea of pulling the World Tree out of the Rift by its root, was panting severely.

"Haaa, so fucking heavy," he cursed as he frowned.

His entire body was screaming in pain after squeezing out all the demonic energy he had without opening the Doors. His vision momentarily blurred; it had been a long time since he had experienced demonic energy exhaustion.

"Fuuu, haaa," Kang-Woo took deep breaths to compose himself.

He could feel the demonic energy he had used up all at once filling back up through the Ten Thousand Demon Core. He wanted to rest some more, but he knew better than anyone that it was not the time.

'Is that the black thorn?'

He looked at the area where purple light was lingering somewhat drearily. The mix of black and purple made it look inexplicably otherworldly.

"That's..."

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. He remembered seeing the purple energy around the World Tree root somewhere before.

'Was it back when I fought the Constellation of Fear?'

He recalled the god of vengeful spirits with a giant scythe, but he shook his head.

'No, it's a little different.'

He was sure that he had seen it somewhere before, but it was not coming to him.

"Tsk," Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and crouched down.

He did not have the leeway to search through his memories. He jumped, flying across the sky at extraordinary speed.

'Now, then... Let's go see who corrupted the World Tree.'

Kang-Woo raised his right fist and punched using the force generated from shooting forward.

'Skybreaker.'

He activated the skill he had not used in a very long time. The black and purple light collided with Kang-Woo's fist.

Boom—!!

The barrier was destroyed along with a massive shockwave.

"Hyung-nim!"

"Kang-Woo!"

Si-Hun and the other party members arrived after running up the World Tree root. Kang-Woo nodded at them lightly and turned to look inside the destroyed barrier.

"Gurgh, what the hell? Why did the World Tree fall all of a sudden?"

A monster was looking around with its hand on his forehead. The reason why Kang-Woo referred to him as a monster was simple.

"Hmm?"

His skin was covered in unknown mucus, his head resembled that of a snake, and transparent wings were sprouted on his head and back. His muscular arms reached his knees, making him resemble a combination of a Lizardman and an alien.

"Heh, well, well. If it isn't Lady Elune?"

The unknown monster flicked his purple tongue. His voice was rather flippant, unlike his appearance. Kang-Woo frowned as he stared at the monster he had never seen before.

'A demon?'

That was the first thought that came to his mind. Demons varied infinitely in appearance, so there would be no surprise if he was a demon, but...

'No.'

Kang-Woo denied the thought. He could not feel an ounce of demonic energy from the creature; he was simply enveloped in energy that Kang-Woo had never felt before.

'What is that?'

It was neither demonic energy nor sacred power; it was not energy derived from the power of nature like mana or Qi either. It was the first kind of energy Kang-Woo had seen as if the monster had come from an outer world.

"Oh," Kang-Woo expressed. "I remember."

He finally recalled where he had seen the purple energy lingering around the monster.

'It's the power I felt from the purple Rift we used to enter the satellite world.'

Kang-Woo recalled Shade, the satellite world that had fallen to ruin after being corrupted by the Nine Hells. Although the monster looked nothing like the shadow with the Mimicry ability, the energy around them was similar.

'But of course...'

The monster possessed far more powerful energy than the shadow.

[You are...] Elune's eyes widened as she stared at the snake-headed monster in disbelief. [H-how are you here...? The world that you lived in already...]

"Heh, yes. It fell to ruin." The snake-headed monster nodded as he flicked his tongue. His eyes were filled with chilling bloodlust. He remarked resentfully, "Because... you abandoned us."

He glared at Elune with bloodlust.

"... Who is he?" Kang-Woo asked Elune.

Elune bit her lip and replied, [He is... the guardian deity of the satellite world... Moab.]

"Was, to be more exact." The snake-headed monster aggressively clenched his fists as he snickered.

Kang-Woo stared at him with narrow eyes.

'If he's a guardian deity...'

That would put him on the same level as Seraph and Gaia, a being with the mission to protect a world and possessed a portion of the providence, the power to guard a star.

"..."

Kang-Woo remained silent. He could understand why he could feel such power from the snake-headed monster. The problem was...

"What does he mean by you abandoned them?" he asked.

[That's...] Elune slurred.

The snake-headed monster remarked before she could continue, "It means exactly as it sounds. This goddamn tree abandoned us to guard the Triad."

[That is not true! It was unavoidab—]

"Yeah, yeah, sure." The snake-headed monster nodded as it snickered. "After all, our world was nothing compared to this oh-so-important world, right? Right?"

[You're wrong! The power of the World Tree did not reach the satellite worlds due to the collapse of the Gaia Sys—]

"Well, despite all that," the snake-headed monster interjected and smiled. "It wasn't all bad."

[... Pardon?]

"I would never have met him if my world was never encroached on by the Nine Hells."

The snake-headed monster trembled as if it were in ecstasy and snapped his finger.

Rumble!

The roots of the World Tree corrupted by the purple energy squirmed as if it was in pain.

[N-No...]

Elune hurriedly reached out but collapsed as she coughed up blood due to the rampaging energy within the World Tree.

The snake-headed monster shouted, "Now! Elune! It is time for you to pay for your s—"

"Just a second," Kang-Woo interjected with his hand up.

The snake-headed monster frowned as he glared at the sudden disrupter.

"Who the hell are y—"

"I can already tell what you're gonna say next, so shut up for a second. Lemme think for a bit."

"... What did you say?"

Kang-Woo turned away from the snake-headed monster and fell into thought.

'So, to summarize...'

The balance between Gaia, Aernor, and Huan was disrupted due to the damaged Gaia System, and the World Tree focused its power on the Triad to make up for that imbalance as best it could.

'And...'

The satellite worlds fell to ruin in the process via the encroachment by the Nine Hells through the cracks formed in the protection.

'So, Shade wasn't the only one that fell to ruin.'

The situation was far more severe than he had imagined. If every satellite world had collapsed via the encroachment by the Nine Hells, the next world on the list was naturally Earth.

'Motherfucker.'

Kang-Woo frowned aggressively. In the first place, the fundamental reason why the balance among the Triad was disrupted and the World Tree was forced to give up on the satellite worlds was... because he had collided with the Gaia System.

'It's me again? Why is it always me? Why is it my fault every single time? I just wanted to live a happy life with my kimchi stew. What did I do so wrong for worlds to be ending?'

Kang-Woo pulled on his hair in frustration.

"... Hah," the snake-headed monster chuckled as he watched Kang-Woo pulling on his hair while paying no mind to him.

The monster did not know where the human came from, but he was getting angry from being blatantly ignored. He was the guardian deity who used to rule over an entire world, albeit now a collapsed one. He had even been accepted as one of the masters of the Four Heavens and obtained power far beyond his days as a god. There was no need or reason for him to endure this disrespect.

'It's not fully ready yet, but...'

The monster turned to where the black thorn he had embedded in the World Tree was. The thorn embedded in a root was absorbing the energy within the World Tree like a starved beast.

'It should be enough to make them pay for their sins.'

The monster smiled and unsheathed the sword on his waist. It was a long urumi as thin as a piece of paper. The monster flicked his arm like a whip; the long urumi aimed for Kang-Woo as it slithered like a snake.

"Hyung-nim!"

Si-Hun stood between the monster and Kang-Woo. He used Formless Sword and deflected the urumi.

Clang!

"Kurgh!" Si-Hun's hands holding the sword ripped and he was blown back. "Y-you're..."

"Oh? You are quite exceptional for a human." The snake-headed monster lowered his stance as he smiled gloomily and said, "Hear me, humans. My name is Moab. I am a god of a fallen world and one of the loyal subordinates of the Demon of Prophecy."

"... What?" Kang-Woo said with wide eyes.

'One of the loyal subordinates of the Demon of Prophecy? What the hell is he talking about? I don't remember raising someone like you.'

"And...!"

Boom!

Moab stomped on the ground and shouted as he raised his sword high, "The Fourth Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings!"

Enormous energy stormed around Moab.

Kang-Woo's eyes widened again. "Did you just say... Four Heavenly Kings?"

"Kehehe. I doubt amoebas like you who were under the protection of the World Tree have ever heard the name bef—"

"Hyung-nim! He must be the last member of the Four Heavenly Kings!" Si-Hun shouted as if he fully understood what was going on, interrupting Moab.

"Uhh, mm. Yeah..." Kang-Woo stammered with a hardened expression.

'Four Heavenly Kings? They actually exist? Why the fuck does everything I come up with become real? Huh? Why do I keep foreshadowing the plot? What fucking hole are these fuckers crawling out of? Gimme a break, dammit! Four Heavenly Kings? Get with the times! A name like that is lame as fuck! Do these motherfuckers die if they don't group up in fours? Are you the goddamn Teletubbies? Why the Four Heavenly Kings, of all names?'

"... The last member? What are you talking about?" Moab glared at Si-Hun incomprehensibly.

Si-Hun gritted his teeth and answered, "You, Satan, Rakiel, and Lucifer! Did you think I wouldn't know?!"

"What? Satan? Rakiel? Who the hell are they?"

"How dare you try to act dumb, you foul monster!"

"No, seriously, I don't know who they are—"

"How many heroes do you think... died at your filthy hands?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Alec Osborne! Reynald! Ludwig! You... You bastards killed them all!"

"You're not listening to me. Who the hell are—"

"Hyung-nim!" Si-Hun turned to Kang-Woo as if not interested in Moab's excuses.

Kang-Woo nodded as his eyes shone sharply. "Yeah, Si-Hun."

As long as Moab revealed that he was one of the Four Heavenly Kings, there was no longer any need for chatter.

'Countless heroes have lost their lives at their filthy hands.'

Their sacrifices could not be left in vain.

"It's time for us to avenge those great heroes."

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