'YOU BASTARD!'
A soundless exclamation left his mouth.
Demon King Oh KangWoo…
The moment Balrog said his name, KangWoo ran out of excuses.
His head blanked as if he'd been hit with a hammer.
There was a difference between calling him the Demon King and directly calling his name.
There was a huge difference.
"How does that demon know Hyeongnim's name...?"
"Mr. K-KangWoo? What's going on?"
'Damn.'
The hero Oh KangWoo, chosen by the Hero God Tyrion, and the 9th hell's great demon, Balrog, were meeting for the first time.
It didn't matter what the truth was. For the others, it was their first time meeting.
Not only did Balrog know KangWoo's name, but he had also sworn loyalty to him.
Balrog knew his name, which shouldn’t have been possible.
The contradictions that appeared were hard to cover with trust.
"What's going on?"
Cheon MooJin and Cheon SooYeon also looked at Balrog and KangWoo in confusion.
At first, they thought it was a cheap trick of the Demon Cult.
…But seeing the reactions from the Demon Cult members and the way Balrog had killed them in the blink of an eye, that didn't seem to be the case.
"Mr. KangWoo...?
Even Han Seol-ah looked at him with trembling eyes.
His head hurt.
KangWoo turned his head.
He saw Balrog looking at him with shining eyes.
KangWoo’s mind was a mess.
It was at that moment…
"Ugh! Since things have become like this…!"
"Oh, status of evil! Give me the power to control evil!"
The members of the Demon Cult that had survived Balrog's attack started to chant.
[Hmm?]
Balrog frowned, and before he could move, a magic circle appeared on the floor with black light coming out of it.
[Ugh! Wh-what do you think you're doing?!]
The black light that poured out of the magic circle tied up Balrog's body, and he was covered in weird patterns.
'That…'
KangWoo's eyes widened.
Although the forms and sizes were different, the patterns that emerged from the magic circle were ones he remembered.
'Can’t that only control demonic monsters?'
The black magic circle that had controlled the cryshalis was emitting an ominous light and covering Balrog's body.
KangWoo frowned.
'They can control Balrog?'
That had a completely different meaning from being able to control a chrysalis.
Balrog was a demon that no one, not even his previous self, could forcibly control.
'Just how?'
He couldn't even understand who or what was leading the Demon Cult.
[You think you'll be able to control me?!]
"AAGGHH!"
"S-save me!"
"Damn! H-hurry! Keep chanting!"
Balrog struggled. The members of the Demon Cult that had been swept away by his movements were destroyed.
The surviving Demon Cult members continued to desperately try to control Balrog.
The magic circle shining with a black light covered the entirety of his body.
[AAGGHH!!!]
Balrog screamed in pain.
He swung the whip covered with black flames.
All of the remaining Demon Cult members turned to ashes and scattered away.
[Haa, Haaa…]
'Damn.'
But KangWoo's expression wasn't good.
Balrog, who had gotten rid of the rest of the Demon Cult members, was looking at him with animosity.
It seemed like he couldn't completely free himself from the control of the magic circle.
[D-demon King… P-please… Forgive...]
An impulse he couldn't control covered his mind.
He swung his whip toward KangWoo.
"Hyeongnim!"
"Back off!!"
KangWoo took a step forward.
Maybe they would have a chance against other demons, but he was the only one who could face Balrog at that moment.
He stomped on the ground.
He created a Del Lain and countered the whip covered in black flames.
CLANG-!
"Ugh!"
A huge shock spread through his arms.
Balrog, who had closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, hit him with his shoulder.
"Cough!"
His waist bent. KangWoo rolled on the ground from the impact.
'This crazy pig!'
The Monarch of Destruction, Balrog…
His power was worthy of that nickname.
KangWoo's expression hardened.
[AAGGGHH! Who… who is trying to control me?!] Balrog cried desperately.
He began twisting his body to free himself from the influence of the magic circle that had covered his body.
His red skin was cut, and black blood started coming from Balrog's eyes, nose, and ears.
"Damn," he cursed.
If things went like that, Balrog would die while trying to resist.
'Just stay still, you dumbass!!'
He anxiously ran toward Balrog.
He concentrated the Authority of Divine Power on his fist, and a huge strength spread over it.
Balrog raised his knee and countered the fist.
BOOM-!!
The ground shook. Two huge powers clashed, and the trees around them were blown away.
"Cough!"
Blood spurted out from KangWoo's mouth after his body was shaken.
Black blood wet the floor.
[Ah, aah. Wh-what have I done to the Demon King…?!]
Balrog's expression paled.
He began trembling as if he couldn't accept that he'd attacked KangWoo.
The amount of blood pouring out of him increased.
[Ugh! Rather than hurting my king…!]
Balrog raised his hand.
* * *
His hand, which was resisting the influence of the magic circle, was trembling a lot.
'That bastard…'
KangWoo's expression hardened.
He could easily guess what Balrog was trying to do.
Balrog put his hand near his head.
'Stop, you crazy bastard.'
He was thinking that he would rather die than be controlled and forced to attack his king from an outside influence.
It wasn't something you could think of with average loyalty.
…But Balgrog probably wouldn’t hesitate.
'Fuck!'
KangWoo turned his head.
People were looking at him, confused.
Balrog was trying to commit suicide.
The situation was worsening.
There was one way to solve things…
He would have to give up on Balrog.
If Balrog committed suicide, he should’ve been able to say it was a trick of the Demon Cult.
But…
"Damn! Fuck!"
He cursed.
Balrog…
They'd fought after he first reached the 9th hell, and after that, he'd supported him for more than a thousand years.
They'd fought many wars together, and he'd given him many victories.
"You idiot! You unhelpful bastard!"
He was an idiot that had stayed by his side even after he declared war on the seven archdukes and had become a target for everything in the 9th hell.
He was a stupid demon that fought against any opponent without taking into consideration how strong it was.
He was an idiot that, if KangWoo gave the order to fight, fought, and if he told him to die, he'd gladly die.
"AAGGHH!!"
He was starting to get more annoyed.
Even at that moment, Balrog was moving his hand to explode his head.
There was no way to save this situation if he moved to save him.
That would be like fully confirming in public that, rather than it being some trick of the Demon Cult, he was really connected to Balrog in some way.
'Yes, just die.'
It was obvious that such thoughts would appear.
If Balrog died…
If the source of the conflict died, he should’ve been able to solve the situation.
But…
But…
But…
"Damn! Damn! Damn!"
He stomped on the ground.
"BAALROOGG!!!" He shouted. He stepped on the ground and lifted his body.
He kicked Balrog's hand, who was trying to make his own head explode.
"You dumbass!! How many times do I have to say that you have to stop trying to commit suicide every time something bad happens?! Huh?"
[Ugh. D-Demon King.]
"That's going to disappear in just a few minutes, so stop trying to do anything and stay still!"
[But...]
KangWoo frowned and spoke in a sharp voice.
"Since when did you start to say “but” to my orders?"
[I'm sorry!] Balrog quickly answered.
A battle kept going on.
Even if Balrog was a strong demon, he wasn't strong enough, so KangWoo had to resist his attacks for a few minutes, which he wasn’t strong enough yet to do.
No, if he used a 'technique' that used demonic energy from the depths of his Sea, he should’ve been able to win.
But there was no need to do that.
[Ugh!]
"Ugh!"
Balrog wasn't giving his all.
He tried to resist the influence of the magic circle by using as little strength as possible to fight KangWoo with.
It was also the same for KangWoo.
The fight would be over once the magic circle’s strength ran out, so there was no need for him to use all of his power.
Swoosh-
Five minutes passed.
The magic circle that was covering Balrog's body turned to black fog and disappeared.
The battle stopped.
Stomp-!
[Demon King!]
Balrog knelt and slammed his forehead on the ground, breaking the earth.
[Please, cut this traitor's neck!] Balrog shouted while crying.
"Haa…" KangWoo sighed.
"H-hyeongnim…"
"Mr. KangWoo. This..."
Gaia and Kim ShiHoon were looking at him in confusion.
Other people were in a similar state.
'Fuck.'
He couldn't make any excuses anymore.
He began thinking about how he could solve the twisted situation.
'There's one possible way…'
It wasn't perfect…
It wasn't a detailed plan…
You could say that it was close to a bet that was based on the trust he'd built until that moment.
'But…'
There was no other way.
The situation had gotten too complex, and he wouldn't be able to explain everything with the sentence, 'It was all the plan of an evil demon.'
'Damn.'
He didn't like strategies like that.
If someone else heard what he was thinking of saying, they would shout ‘don't say nonsense’. And if that happened, he'd have nothing to say.
'I believe in you guys.'
He turned his head and looked at each of his partners.
No, to be honest, even if they'd trusted him a lot, there was a high probability of it failing.
'But if it works…'
Then he would have an easier time moving from then on.
'Okay. Let's do it.'
Nothing was going to be solved even if he remained silent.
Since he'd decided on the plan, the only thing left was to put it into action.
"It seems like I can't hide it anymore."
KangWoo slowly took off the mask.
He looked at his partners with sad eyes.
"I'm the Demon King of the Hell of Nine Skies."
He gulped, took a deep breath, and kept talking.
"To be more precise, I was the Demon King."
He smiled bitterly.
"That was until Satan made a rebellion."
* * *
A real lie was 99% truth and 1% lie.
This meant that distorting the truth a bit was more effective than telling a 100% lie.
KangWoo also knew that very well.
But he didn't use that strategy of distorting the truth.
'To be more precise, I didn't feel the need to do that.'
Gaia, Guardians, and all the other people he'd built a relationship with…
They didn't exactly know much about 'Hell.'
Since they didn't know anything, there was no need to distort the truth.
That was also why KangWoo had told a 100% lie until that moment.
'But…'
The situation had changed.
Because of Balrog's trolling, it was hard to keep the same lie as before.
'Thinking about it makes me angry.'
He looked at Balrog, who had his head slammed onto the ground.
He sighed.
'You idiot.'
Of course, it wasn't that he was really angry at him.
Thinking about things from his point of view, he reacted in such a way because he was really happy to see him.
There was no way Balrog would've known that would harm him.
He wished for him to grasp the situation, but Balrog wasn't someone who could do that.
A subordinate who was loyal to the point of almost looking stupid—that was Balrog.
'There also weren't many hints, either.'
There was no way Balrog would've known that, after KangWoo returned to Earth, he was hiding his identity while pretending to be a hero.
'But I must correct the way he tries to take his own life when things get too messy.'
He was angry with Balrog because he was too loyal to him.
If Balrog made a mistake, he always said things like he’d made a fatal mistake and would pay with his own life, so he gave KangWoo a lot of stress.
If someone else had said that, he'd have been able to ignore it, but in Balrog's case, he couldn't do that.
"Mr. K-KangWoo? What does that mean?"
"H-hyeongnim. You're the Demon King?"
Gaia and Kim ShiHoon were surprised at the bomb-like revelation.
'I guess it's understandable.'
They hadn't known each other for a long time.
Thanks to all of the efforts he'd made, both of them trusted him a lot.
But then, when suddenly revealed himself as the Demon King, it was understandable they'd react in such a way.
"Yes. I was, in the past, the Demon King that used to rule over the Hell of Nine Skies."
KangWoo raised his hand. He didn't use his 'Ruler of Demonic Energy' attribute, so black energy rose from his hands.
"Ho-ob!"
"D-did you deceive us all this time?"
Gaia took a step backward while trembling. Grace took out her weapon and glared at KangWoo with sharp eyes.
Kim ShiHoon and Han Seol-ah had expressions that said they couldn't believe what was happening.
'As expected…'
He knew they would react that way.
No, he thought their reactions would be worse.
'Not bad.'
He thought that things would work out perfectly if it was like that.
'Project ‘Oh KangWoo, Warrior of Light’ is about to begin!'
He clenched his fist.
