After Ten Millennia in Hell

“Hm, hmm~ Hm, hm, hm.”

A boy was humming joyfully atop a hill covered in dry sand red as if it were dyed in blood. He was sitting on a giant rock and was innocently swinging his legs.

Step, tap, step, tap.

Someone slowly walked toward the boy with the sound of a staff hitting the ground between the steps.

The boy asked without looking back, “Is that you, Amon?”

“Yes, Lord Bael.” The hunchback demon wearing an old robe bowed deeply. “The World Tree has been successfully corrupted.”

“Good work.” The boy smiled brightly and nodded.

Amon rubbed his staff on the ground and remarked, “However, it is not a permanent corruption. Your tooth has been removed, so the World Tree will be restored to its original state soon.”

“Hehe. It doesn’t matter.” Bael lightly shook his head as if he didn’t care. “I already got what I wanted.”

Bael looked up into the sky and smiled widely.

The corners of Amon’s wrinkly mouth rose. “Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“May I assume that means you will be departing right away?”

“Mmm~ about that,” Bael leaned back to look at Amon. “I’m thinking of seeing someone before I go.”

“Who?”

“Lucifer.” Bael licked his lips and cackled. “Ahhh, I haven’t seen Lucifer in so long either. I wonder if he’s doing well?”

“I am sure that Lord Lucifer misses you as well.”

“Hihi! You think so too, right?”

Bael clapped his hands together with a bright smile.

Amon placed his hand on the top of his staff and asked, “But... Are you sure this is fine?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Ingrium has fallen to the Demon King’s hands.”

“Oh, ohhhh! That?” Bael smiled and continued, “It’s fine. After all, I let Moab have it so I could give the demonic sword to the Demon King.”

“...”

Amon remained silent as he looked down at the leisurely Bael. He could see an endless abyss in the innocent-looking boy.

“Hihihi,” Bael giggled as he shook his legs. He then stretched and laid down on the ground with his arms and legs spread out widely. “Nghhh~! Ah, I can’t wait.”

Bael looked up at the sky and mumbled, “I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait.”

The corners of his mouth ripped open to his earlobes and revealed sharp teeth of a beast. He licked his lips with his long tongue and saliva drooled down to his chin.

“I wanna eat...” Bael jumped up and down restlessly. “I wanna eat, I wanna eat, I wanna eat, I wanna eat, I wanna eat!!!”

Crackle!

Bael extended his arm and pulled out the Second Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“L-Lord Bael?” Peleshet, the master of the Second Heaven, twisted anxiously as Bael grabbed him by the neck.

“I’m... hungry.”

The crazed eyes of a starved beast glared at Peleshet.

“E-eek...!”

Baek’s mouth split open as wide as how snakes devoured their prey.

Crunch!

Peleshet’s head vanished into Bael’s mouth. It was horrendous to see a boy greedily chewing on a head far larger than himself.

“Munch, munch.” Bael swallowed Peleshet’s head and began to hum again. “Hmm~ hm, hm, hm~”

The bright and innocent sound of humming echoed throughout the land of the Nine Hells.

***

“O light...”

“Believe in the light!”

“Ohmen! Ohmen!”[1]

A week passed since the attack of the World Tree on the capital and Moab was killed by Kang-Woo. The Church of Splendor had been growing explosively even before this incident, but it had picked up even more speed.

Of course, the rapid expansion was majorly thanks to Lilith, who had spread the news throughout the continent that the God of Splendor saved the capital from the corrupted World Tree. She even used the immense wealth stored at the Church of Splendor’s base to restore the capital with the help of the devotees.

Not only did the God of Splendor save the capital from the Corrupted World Tree, but the Church of Splendor was even providing the funds and manpower to restore the continent; it was only natural that the church’s influence would rise. The nobles that had managed to survive Iris’s purge of corrupt nobles also used this chance to donate large sums of money to the Church of Splendor to improve public opinion.

“Haaa,” Oh Kang-Woo sighed as he looked down at the horde of people restoring the capital. “What the fuck is with the Ohmen...?”

He frowned as he heard the chant that the Church of Splendor’s devotees had recently come up with. He could not get used to it no matter how many times he heard it.

‘That aside...’

Kang-Woo frowned as he tapped on his chest. The Ten Thousand Demon Core contained the corpse of Moab that he had eaten with the Authority of Predation.

‘Eating him didn’t give me all that much.’

It might be because Moab used a form of energy different from what Kang-Woo used, or because Kang-Woo had just become too powerful. Regardless, Kang-Woo did not gain much after the digestion was complete despite having his hopes up since Moab was a god of a satellite world.

‘In any case...’

He had gained barely anything from Moab, but he had gained something. Kang-Woo slightly turned his head to the table to look at the sword with faint light pouring out through the sheath.

Whoosh!

The sword flew to his hand the moment Kang-Woo extended his arm toward it.

‘Demonic Sword Ingrium, was it?’

It was a powerful weapon made with a branch of the corrupted World Tree.

‘It doesn’t feel like it should be that much of a big deal.’

The power within the sword was not weak in the slightest; it was undeniable that Holy Sword Ludwig could not even be compared to Ingrium.

‘But...’

It did not contain power that could destroy the entire world or to the point that Kang-Woo was unable to control it.

‘It’s just a little better than a sword made with the Key of the Demonic Sea.’

Considering the Key of the Demonic Sea was a Transcendent-grade weapon, the fact that it was stronger was honestly extraordinary.

“Tsk... Am I being too greedy?”

The fundamental reason was likely Kang-Woo’s growth; he had become so strong that his weapon’s capabilities were pointless.

‘Well, at least the amount of demonic energy I can use without opening the Doors rose.’

Kang-Woo’s demonic energy was not infinite unless he opened the Doors. To be more exact, it was infinite, but it just took time to replenish it through the Ten Thousand Demon Core. If he had to make a comparison, his state without opening the Doors is like a phone unplugged from a charger.

‘Following that analogy, this thing is like a power bank.’

Kang-Woo was able to store demonic energy in Ingrium, so it was extremely useful when he did not have the Doors open. Not only that, it could store an immense amount of demonic energy.

“I would’ve liked to have given it to Si-Hun instead,” Kang-Woo mumbled as he twirled Ingrium around.

No matter how he thought about it, the weapon was more suited for Si-Hun than him since Si-Hun far surpassed him in the way of the sword.

‘I can’t give it to him though since it’s already imprinted to me.’

Kang-Woo looked down at Ingrium in disappointment. Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Kang-Woo turned to the door. “Come in.”

A blonde woman in a dress carefully opened the door and entered. It was Iris.

“How are you feeling?” Kang-Woo asked.

Elune had left Iris’s body to revive the World Tree after Moab’s death. Iris had fallen into a panic after finding out that she had been asleep for two months.

“O-oh, I’m feeling much better now, Sir Kang-Woo.” Iris carefully nodded and walked up to Kang-Woo. She looked around, searching for someone. “Umm... Is Seol-Ah here?”

“Nope. Darling left a little earlier.”

“Phew.”

Iris sighed in relief and cautiously sat next to Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo asked, “Have you been contacted by Lady Elune at all?”

“That happens to be why I’ve come to see you today.” Iris clenched her dress and lowered her head. “Lady Elune said that... she would borrow my body to manifest again soon.”

She was trembling, her eyes filled with fear. It was natural to be restless since a goddess would be borrowing her body to manifest.

“Are you scared?” Kang-Woo asked and smirked.

Iris lowered her head and tapped on the floor with the ends of her heels. She mumbled as she wept, “... Yes, I’m scared.”

Kang-Woo patted Iris’s head. “Whenever you’re scared, think back to that time.”

Iris recalled a memory filled with blood. Kang-Woo put his hand over her trembling hand.

“You can beat your fears. You can kill and overcome them. You’ve proven that yourself.”

Hearing Kang-Woo’s clear voice calmed Iris down for some reason. Her hands stopped trembling.

She smiled. “Thank you very much, Sir Kang-Woo.”

“Right then, I’ll call my party members.”

It would be better for everyone to hear Elune’s words than just himself. Kang-Woo stood up.

“S-Sir Kang-Woo!” Iris quickly grabbed his clothes.

“Hm?”

“I... ummm... S-Seol-Ah is a bit...”

Iris trembled in fear once again; she looked even more terrified than when Elune said that she would manifest by borrowing Iris’s body.

‘What? What’s so wrong about my darling? She’s kinder and more gentle than anyone.’

There were indeed times when she lost control, but that was only because she did not have full control over her angelic instincts. She was usually very kind to everyone.

‘Yup, yup. My darling is the literal epitome of an angel!’

That was not an understatement since her body was now closer to that of an angel.

Kang-Woo sternly said, “Iris. I know what my darling did to you, but I think your attitude is a bit much.”

“S-Sir Kang-Woo...”

“People would think my darling is a monster or something if they didn’t know any better.”

“I apologize.” Iris lowered her head in dejection.

“Listen carefully, Iris. My darling is more beautiful, kinder, and more gentle than anyone el—”

Clack. Han Seol-Ah entered the room.

“Oh, Kang-Woo. I see you were with Iris.”

Rip! Smash!

Kang-Woo tore his clothes that Iris was gripping without hesitation and rolled backward to widen the distance from her. He rolled back so quickly that a chair and desk in his path split in two.

“Kang-Woo?”

“Hi, darling.”

Kang-Woo smiled brightly and embraced Seol-Ah. He kissed her cheek and turned his head toward Iris.

“Anyway, do you see it now? There’s no reason at all for you to be scared of or avoid darling. Understood.”

Kang-Woo’s hands around Seol-Ah’s waist were trembling. Seeing that, Iris nodded reluctantly.

“I understand,” she answered lifelessly.

1. Koreans tend to change the first word of Amen (??) to a word that represents someone and chant that to praise them like gods. ☜

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