[Cough!!]
Black blood poured in all directions.
Of the five demons, four died instantly from Satan’s attacks.
[Wh-why are you doing this?!] the demon who had managed to survive Satan's attack quickly shouted.
The red mask tilted.
[Why am I doing this?]
He laughed out loud.
[Do demons need a reason to go to war?]
[Ugh…]
[Talking? Pathetic. It's something that someone as lame as Lucifer would think of.]
[Satan, don't insult Mr. Lucifer!!] he shouted while glaring at him.
Satan turned his head.
[Then prove that he isn't lame.]
He extended his hand and grabbed the neck of the three-meter-tall demon.
[We were born to kill and crave blood. Tell this to Lucifer: if you don't dare to come to this world, just stay as a coward.]
[You… don't know the situation he's in.]
[Hahaha! You're right. I don't know or care about his situation.]
The yellow eyes behind the mask looked at the demon.
[But what I know is that he's in quite a desperate situation. This might be a good opportunity I can take advantage of to get his soul.]
[This isn't time to fight among us! Don't you know that the forces of the Heavens are moving to get rid of us?!]
'As expected, it was the Heavens.'
[They’ll be here after they finish with the Ernor Continent! Do you want all of us to get killed by the Heavens while we fight against each other?!] the demon desperately shouted.
Satan started to laugh out loud.
[Heavens? Is he struggling because of such lowly beings?]
[Lowly?!]
The demon kept shouting as if he were about to have a seizure.
[They aren't lowly! You know it too, right? How much has the Hell of Nine Skies weakened because of Demon King Oh KangWoo! Because of that guy, Hell is on the edge of collapsing! During all those years of war, the Heavens were gaining strength! If we don't stick together, we won't be able to win!]
It was a straightforward speech.
He had told him about how desperate of a situation demons were in, but Satan didn't flinch.
[I killed the Demon King. I also obtained the Sea of Demonic Energy for myself. The Heavens aren't a menace to me.]
He kept talking relaxedly.
[Say this to Lucifer: stop hiding from angels and come to find me. Fight me. Take the Sea of Demonic Energy, if you can.]
[Are you really going to choose the path of mutual destruction?!]
[Destruction? Funny words.]
The red mask twisted.
[Since when did demons care about such things?]
[…]
[So he isn't only weak and a coward—he’s also shameful.]
He waved his hand.
The demon's body got pushed back by the strong impact.
[Listen well, underling of Lucifer…]
Satan laughed.
[Demons don't compromise.]
* * *
"It seems like I'm finished here."
He looked at the unconscious demon.
He had controlled his strength, so the demon would soon open his eyes, and then he'd probably return to Lucifer and tell him what had happened.
'Even if Lucifer is in a desperate situation, he probably won't be able to ignore what happened today.'
He'd made it very clear—he wasn’t a calm type of person willing to just talk.
'He's going to come here.'
He'd received an insult an archduke couldn't ignore.
Lucifer would move to kill Satan.
'And he will probably fight the forces of Satan, the Demon Cult.'
The tips of his mouth went up.
He felt that the picture drawn on his head would soon become a reality.
'But…'
He thought about what he'd heard from Lucifer's underling.
'So demons are on the edge of extinction…'
He narrowed his eyes.
It wasn't something he could just be happy about.
Demons were necessary for him to regain his strength and become even stronger.
They were like nutritious food.
Losing such nutritious food wasn't good news for him.
'If the Heavens kill all demons, I might be able to live in peace, but…'
The chances were low.
If the angels were trying to kill all demons, KangWoo would probably also be a target.
'Will I have to fight Michael?'
He couldn't help but curse.
'It isn't something that's going to happen soon.'
Lucifer's underling said that Earth would be after the Ernor Continent.
Basically, as long as Lucifer's forces survived, the angels wouldn’t go to Earth.
'And after what happened, they'll think that Satan killed Demon King Oh KangWoo.'
He didn't think he'd be able to deceive them forever, but he was probably going to be able to gain some time.
He could prepare for it.
'I'm going to increase the animosity between Lucifer's forces and the Demon Cult.'
He was after Lucifer's soul.
It wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't impossible.
'And for that plan…'
He turned his head.
"Hiic!"
He saw the fearful faces of the three Demon Cult members.
He walked toward them.
"Y-you…"
"A-are you really Satan?"
They seemed confused at the sudden appearance of Satan.
Kangoo smiled and gave a tap to the mask.
The red mask became a white one with a shield on it.
"Ah! Th-that mask!"
"A Guardian?!"
* * *
Their expressions showed that they couldn't understand what was going on.
"There are a few things I want to ask you…"
His original reason for being there was to check how much the 'Book of Hell' Lilith had written had spread.
Meeting Lucifer's underlings was just a coincidence.
Now, it was time to achieve his original goal.
"Ha! We aren't going to answer something Gaia's—"
Paf-!
One of their heads exploded.
A thick smile appeared on KangWoo's face, and he walked toward the other two Demon Cult members.
"You don't have the right to choose whether you will answer or not."
"H-Hiic!"
The two Demon Cult members looked at each other.
"Hmm, now that I think about it…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"I don't think that I'll need two mouths…" he said in a playful tone of voice.
"Who wants to speak first?"
* * *
"So… you don't know how much the Book of Hell has spread?"
The two Demon Cult members nodded.
"Y-yes. Its content was so stupid… that a few branches took copies of it to screw around with."
"Do you know where those branches are?"
"W-we don't. Even we don't know the exact locations of the other branches. We've just given the copies while meeting in the process of exchanging information or doing a summoning."
"But you probably know a place where you can make contact with them."
"Of course there is…"
The eyes of the two Demon Cult members shook.
That was answer enough.
"It seems like you'll die if you say it."
"…"
There was silence.
The two looked at each other.
"W-we can tell you the country where the secret contact is made!"
"Where is it?"
"Ch-China."
The area was too big.
It wasn't a piece of information he could use.
'At least I know that the secret connections are being made from inside China's Demon Cult.'
He needed to ask Cheon MooJin to investigate China's Demon Cult.
'First…'
He ordered his thoughts.
'There's three pieces of information I got.'
The first one was that the Heavens’ forces were attacking Lucifer.
The second one was that the Book of Hell wasn't properly being distributed, and most people thought of it as a novel, so he didn't need to worry about that.
The third one was that there was a secret place in China the Demon Cult branches used to connect with each other.
'Not bad.'
He thought that he'd obtained enough useful information there.
"How many Demon Cult members are here?"
"W-we only have about 50 members. It's a small branch!"
"We also have never taken part in a demon summoning!" the two Demon Cult members quickly shouted.
They knelt in front of KangWoo.
"W-we're going to turn ourselves in."
"We're going to receive the judgment of the law."
Although the Guardians weren’t an official governmental organization, they were a group that fought for peace.
Just like justice couldn't kill a serial killer if he turned himself in, they had to treat the Demon Cult members humanely.
Although they had sacrificed numerous people to obtain strength, they still had 'human rights.'
"Hmm."
KangWoo took a deep breath.
He couldn't easily ignore them as he did before.
'Because I'm also a Guardian.'
Since he had the title ‘warrior of light’, he couldn't ignore human rights.
KangWoo sighed and shook his head.
He thought that the best thing he could do was treat them with the most respect he could.
"Haa. I guess there's nothing I can do about it."
"Ah…"
"I'm going to let one of you two live.
"Yes?"
Their eyes widened.
"There's one more thing you guys have to do, but I don't need two people for that, so I'm going to let one of you two live."
"W-wait!"
"Didn't we surrender to a Guardian?!"
"Yes, you did."
KangWoo didn't say anything and used the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea to create two daggers and threw them at them.
"What's…?"
"Kill each other."
"Yes?"
"The one that wins will live."
"Ugh…"
Their eyes widened after hearing the horrifying condition.
"This goes against human rights…"
"How could someone called the ‘warrior of light’ ask something like this!"
"Guys…"
He flicked his finger.
A huge energy spread and applied pressure on their bodies.
KangWoo kept talking in a low voice.
"I gave you the right to choose between two options… not the right to choose between many."
"…"
There was silence.
The two Demon Cult members trembled while looking at each other.
They were moving slowly, but it was obvious that they would soon grab the daggers.
KangWoo sat on the chair and crossed his legs.
"Eek!"
"D-die!!"
They grabbed the daggers and charged toward each other.
Blood poured in all directions, and a battle to live took place.
Paf-!
"Cough!"
'You shouldn't move like that.'
"AAGGHH!!"
'Ugh, they really suck at fighting.'
"Cough!"
'Oh, nice!'
The fight was fierce and bloody.
KangWoo looked at the fight between them with great interest.
"Y-you piece of trash!!"
"How could you do something so horrifying in the name of light?!" the two Demon Cult members that were fighting shouted while crying.
KangWoo tilted his head.
'I gave them plenty of room to survive depending on their skills.'
He could've killed both, but despite that, he'd given them a way to survive depending on their will to live.
'How could I make things more humane?'
He shook his head.
After listening to their criticism, he thought about how he could have done things more humanely, but he couldn't think of a more generous way.
"How unfair."
They were criticizing him as if he were a piece of trash.
KangWoo frowned.
"If anyone listens to you, they will think I'm a piece of trash."
