After Ten Millennia in Hell

“I don’t think we’re well acquainted enough to say that it’s been a while,” said Oh Kang-Woo.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the boy with blank eyes. He had black eyes and black hair and was a fairly handsome boy. He would not lose in terms of looks against Uriel— no, he might receive even more love than Uriel based on people’s preferences.

‘Why does he have balls with a face like— no, this isn’t the time.’

Kang-Woo shook his head and stared at the boy.

“Hm? Ohhh! Come to think of it, you’ve never met me in this form!” The boy giggled as he clapped. He wiped the tears that had formed from laughing too much and said, “It’s me, Bael.”

“What?” Kang-Woo’s mouth split open. “You’re Bael?”

‘What the hell is he talking about?’

The Bael that Kang-Woo knew was a monster covered in muscles like Balrog. There was no bigger twist than this.

‘Well, I guess physical form doesn’t matter much to a being as powerful as Bael, but isn’t this way too big of a change?’

“Hihi, did I surprise you?” Bael asked.

Kang-Woo remained silent.

He was certain that the boy in front of him was Bael from his childlike manner of speech and bright voice.

‘Rather, this form suits him better.’

In the past, Kang-Woo had to suppress his desire to vomit as he had to watch a muscle pig acting like a spoiled child.

“Hyung-nim, have you spoken with the Constellation of Nightmares before? And who in the world is B—?”

“M-my king. That is... Bael?” Balrog interjected Kim Si-Hun and approached Kang-Woo in pallor.

Balrog, wearing his Overlord Armor, couldn’t help but tremble at the mention of the name Bael. It was only natural since that was how much power the name itself held.

“Mmm~ Wait, huh? Are you perhaps Balrog? Wow! What’s with that black armor? Hihihi! That’s so cool!” Bael burst into laughter as he clapped after finding Balrog, who stepped back warily. “Hehe. In that case, Lilith must be somewhere around here too, right? It’s so nice to see everyone, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it’s so fucking nice that I could jump off a fucking cliff,” Kang-Woo replied as he frowned aggressively.

“Come on, there you go again with the bad words. I told you not to do that since it’ll worsen your personality, didn’t I?”

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I was born this way, so it’s not easy to fix.”

“Hehe, but since you used to be one of my underlings, I guess I could let it slide,” Bael said with a smile.

“Pardon?”

“Underling...?”

“H-hyung-nim. What is that child talking about?”

Han Seol-Ah, Cha Yeon-Joo, and Si-Hun stared at Kang-Woo in surprise. They couldn’t even imagine Kang-Woo being someone’s underling.

Bael laughed and clapped as he watched the party members’ reaction. “Hihihi! That’s right! Kang-Woo was one of my precious underlings! You have no idea how much I treasured him!”

“And then I caved your head in,” Kang-Woo replied.

“Sheesh. Thinking back on it even now, that hurt my feelings a lot. Hm? Don’t you remember what you said to me?” Bael smiled, the corners of his mouth ripping to reach his earlobes, and revealed his grotesque teeth. He stepped forward with his right foot and continued, “You don’t remember? You pledged your allegiance to me as you licked my feet.”

“What?”

“What do you...”

The party members’ mouths split open. Balrog exuded bloodlust as he grimaced. He was enraged by how Bael was trying to taunt Kang-Woo by bringing up the past.

“You bastard...” Balrog clenched his fists.

Although it had been a part of Kang-Woo’s plan to fool Bael, the fact that his king had licked the feet of the enemy was beyond humiliating.

‘My king...’

Balrog couldn’t imagine how much more humiliated Kang-Woo felt when he was feeling this much humiliation. He looked at Kang-Woo in worry.

“Hm?”

Rather than rage, Kang-Woo was smiling widely. “Oh, right. I remember.”

“H-hyung-nim?”

Kang-Woo shrugged and continued calmly, “I remember it being salty, man. You should wash your feet.”

Bael’s mouth was agape, dumbfounded by the unexpected response. “Heh... Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Not really,” Kang-Woo smirked.

It didn’t matter even if he was embarrassed by the fact that he had crawled on the ground pathetically or licked his enemy’s feet.

“Yeah, and...” He licked his lips and continued mockingly, “Who won in the end?”

“B-big words for someone who ambushed me unfairly—”

“Unfair? Jeez, I never thought I’d hear that from a demon. Unfair? So what, motherfucker? I told you back then, didn’t I? That you shouldn’t have been fooled in the first place if you have a problem with it. It’s your fault for trusting your enemy just because they licked your feet.”

“Ngh!”

Bael frowned aggressively. He was annoyed that Kang-Woo had used Bael’s tactic to humiliate Kang-Woo against him. Bael stomped his feet in irritation as he clenched his fists.

“Ts, tsk. You’re still as childish as always.” Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and smiled.

“Kang-Woo l-licked his feet?” Seol-Ah muttered, her voice subtly trembling in ecstasy. “S-such an envi— I mean, humiliating act...!”

Seol-Ah emitted bloodlust as if she were about to cut Bael apart with a saw.

‘Darling, that’s a bit...’ Kang-Woo feigned laughter and shook his head. ‘Well, anyway...’

He narrowed his eyes. There was no way that Bael was here by coincidence.

‘He must be aiming for the Demon God’s heart.’

Kang-Woo crossed his arms and fell into thought. He then recalled Ian, who had exposed Kang-Woo’s identity after infiltrating the Church of Splendor.

“Hmm.” Kang-Woo thought deeply as he tapped on his chin. He asked as a test, “Did you join forces with Amon?”

“Huh? What? How did you know?” Bael asked.

“I didn’t. I just guessed.”

‘He took the bait instantly. What a score.’

Bael remained silent.

“Then I guess it was you who corrupted the World Tree.”

“How did you know that?”

“I told you. I just guessed.”

‘He fell for it again. He acts like a child, is his brain that of a child as well?’

“Hi... hihi,” Bael giggled and shrugged. He straightened his back and said with a leisurely expression, “Well... it doesn’t really matter that you found out anyway.”

“Stop acting calm after getting your plan exposed because you acted like an idiot. It only makes you look more pathetic.”

Kang-Woo shook his head, feeling sorry for Amon for joining forces with someone like this.

Bael remained silent for a moment. He then smiled and said, “Yeah, you were... always like this.”

He recalled his memories of the thousand-year war. There had been no one who managed to grind his gears as much as the Demon King during that nightmarish war for the right to rule over the Nine Hells.

‘This is fun.’

Bael trembled ecstatically. The only one who could make him this enraged and make his bloodlust and madness run wild...

‘It’s always been you.’

Everyone but the Demon King had simply been stricken with fear or ran away just from looking at Bael. There was no one but the Demon King who was able to stand tall against him. And... And... And...

“Hi... hihi.” Bael smiled. “I can’t understand...” He glared at Kang-Woo with eyes filled with bloodlust and glinting with madness. “Why was it you? Why did it have to be you and not me?”

“What?” Kang-Woo frowned, not able to understand what Bael was saying.

“Hihihi... Hihihihi!” Bael simply laughed as his shoulders shook.

“Hyung-nim. Who is... that Bael person?” Si-Hun expressed anxiety as he clenched his sword.

“A thorn from the past.”

“Your past...”

Si-Hun flinched. Kang-Woo’s body was that of a demon before he returned to being a human with the power of light.

‘In that case...’

It meant that the child was a demon in human skin. Si-Hun bit his lip and drew out his demonic energy.

“Hehe. A thorn? You’re hurting my feelings. Weren’t we closer than that?”

Bael walked toward the party as he giggled. Each of the party members pulled out their weapons in vigilance of Bael.

“All of you, stand back,” said Kang-Woo.

“Pardon?”

“B-but...”

The party members looked at Kang-Woo in confusion.

Kang-Woo said firmly, “I have to be the one to face him.”

To be more precise, he was the only one who could. That was how powerful Bael was.

“Hurgh~! Man, I missed this feeling.” Bael stretched and looked at Kang-Woo leisurely. He asked with a smile, “Oh right, come to think of it, have you heard of something called... the World Tree’s prophecy?”

Silence fell due to Bael’s sudden question. The party members flinched. Why was Bael mentioning the prophecy that they had only heard from Elune before they came here?

“I just don’t understand that prophecy no matter how many times I repeat it in my head, wouldn’t you agree?” Bael stared at Kang-Woo with deeply sunken eyes. “Since... you’re not the Demon of Prophecy.”

“What?”

“It’s true, isn’t it?” Bael tilted his head. “The Demon of Prophecy... The pinnacle of all demons who will bring demise to this world...!!” He spread his arms wide and stomped his feet. “Is not you! It’s me!!”

He continued as if he was singing, his voice filled with madness, “Huh? Don’t you think so as well? Don’t you? You think it’s me and not you, right?”

Crack, crack.

Bael’s tilted head went beyond its normal range of motion. The crown of his head reached his chest as if his neck had been broken.

“Hihi, are you angry?” Bael asked with a smile. “Are you angry that you’re not the Demon of Prophecy, that you’re not the pinnacle of all demons? Hm? Hihi, I’m sure you are, right? You can’t hold in your rage, can you?”

Bael burst into crazed laughter and shouted, “You’re...! Nothing!! You... You... You... YOUUUUUU!!! YOU’RE NOTHING!!!!”

Giant bat wings sprouted from Bael’s back. Six black tails grew from his tailbone and cracked the ground like a whip.

“It’s not you, but me! I’m more amazing than you! I’m greater than you! Okay? Do you understand?” Bael glared at Kang-Woo in deep, blazing resentment. He shouted as if he was desperate, “Why don’t you say something? Huh? SAY SOMETHING!!”

“Yeah, okay.” Kang-Woo nodded. “Yup, you’re the Demon of Prophecy. You’re the greatest. You’re the demon who will bring this world to its end, the pinnacle of all demons, and the strongest demon of all time.”

“Huh?” Bael tilted his head in confusion, not having expected this kind of response.

‘Pfft! Bwehehehehehe!!’

Kang-Woo suppressed his laughter with all his might. This was the score of all scores.

‘Fucking hell, haha! You heard that, right? Huh? The son of a bitch said that he’s the Demon of Prophecy! Not me, but him! I fucking knew it. I should’ve known from the moment that I was being framed as the Demon of Prophecy. I would never do anything like ending the world.’

Riiing.

[The World Tree states that the Demon of Prophecy is Player Oh Ka—]

‘Hahaha! Yeah! It wasn’t me!’

[Player Oh Kang-W—]

‘It was never me!!!’

[I’m saying that it’s y—]

“Yeah, I see.” Kang-Woo glared at Bael in bloodlust. He then turned to Layla and said, “Please let Lady Gaia know. The Demon of Prophecy was... Bael.”

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