'Fuck.'
KangWoo cursed while looking at Mamon. He was smiling on the outside, but his insides were burning.
'Why is Mamon here?'
Since it was a base with thousands of Demon Cult members, he thought there might be something they were keeping as a trump card.
'I never thought that ‘something’ would be an archduke.'
After learning that Lucifer had been reborn, he'd thought of the possibility of the archdukes resurrecting, but he never imagined it would be on Earth.
'Just how?'
He couldn't understand it.
There was no demonic energy on Earth, which meant there wasn't enough strength to renew an archduke’s soul.
It was as if a tree had grown in the middle of a desert where there wasn't any grass at all.
「Y-you?」
It wasn't just KangWoo who was surprised.
No. KangWoo looked calm on the outside. Unlike him, there was a demon who was trembling in fear.
[Wh-why are you here? H-how? What the…?]
Mamon was trembling in fear.
[Y-you definitely died…!!]
"What?"
KangWoo frowned.
'Why is he claiming I died?'
Him dead? What kind of nonsense was he talking about?
Mamon shouted as if he were having a seizure.
[Y-you clashed with the system!! I… I clearly saw it!! Wh-why are you still alive, you monster!!!] he shouted in a desperate voice, splashing saliva everywhere.
"…"
KangWoo remained silent.
His eyes shone sharply, and he thought about Mamon's words.
"Ah," he exclaimed.
'So that’s what happened.'
He laughed in disbelief.
What happened was very simple…
'These bastards thought that I died.'
It wasn't impossible for them to have thought that.
He clashed with the Gaia System while returning to Earth, and his Ten Thousand Demon Core was sealed.
The system protecting Earth had used all of its strength to seal it, and that seal was so powerful that he hadn't been able to unseal it completely yet.
The souls of the archdukes had moved into Hell’s Equipment, and most of their senses were blocked, so it was understandable that they might have thought that he'd died after feeling him getting weaker.
'Wait, but Lucifer thought I was still alive.'
Lucifer had definitely gone to Earth to find the 'Sea of Demonic Energy.'
"…"
He kept thinking.
It didn't take him long to find an answer.
There was one difference between the two archdukes…
'Lucifer went to the Ernor Continent, and Mamon came to Earth.'
That meant Lucifer went to the other dimension before he'd clashed with the Gaia System.
Then the situation made sense.
'This…'
The tips of KangWoo's mouth went up.
'I can use this.'
He slowly started to walk toward Mamon.
"You thought I died? Really?"
[H-hiic! D-don't come closer!!]
"Mamon, answer," he said in a cold voice from which no emotion could be felt.
'Look into his eyes.'
It was the basics of trying to deceive someone.
You couldn’t be intimidated or hesitate.
With his back straight, he talked as firmly as possible.
[Th-that…]
"I won't make it long, Mamon. Serve me."
It was too risky to fight against an archduke in that situation.
If he could use him, it would be better.
'I have no intention of really using him as an underling.'
He was different from Balrog and Lilith.
Mamon was an archduke, and an archduke couldn’t be controlled by anyone.
If he discovered his strength was sealed, his attitude would change completely.
It was comparable to hugging a bomb that could explode at any moment.
'Still, I can stall for time.'
He could earn some time while Mamon served him.
If he did it correctly, he might even be able to ambush him later on and do a huge amount of damage.
[Serve you?]
"Aren't you bored of the Hell of Nine Skies? A red sky and a deserted surface… That trashy place with its stale air."
[…]
"Compared to that, this star is beautiful. Don't you want to have it? Don’t you want to hold it, control it, and crush it?" he said in a sticky voice.
Mamon’s eyes were filled with greed.
"Mamon…"
He extended his hand.
"Don't you want to rule this world with me?"
[I…]
Mamon slurred out the last part of the sentence. His eyes were trembling.
'He fell for it.'
KangWoo was sure of it.
'I was able to—'
Boom-!!!
At that moment…
The passageway shook, and the earth split. Magma started to pour in all directions.
BOOM-!!
* * *
The ceiling of the passageway crumbled.
"Ugh!"
He raised his hand and used the Authority of Waves to turn the falling soil to dust.
There was a loud explosion, and the falling soil disappeared.
'Damn!!'
KangWoo turned his head.
He could see Mamon looking at him with his eyes that were buried under the fat.
[Hmm…?]
The tips of Mamon's mouth went up.
He felt KangWoo's strength when he turned the falling ceiling to dust.
[Puhihi. You became weaker.]
'Oh, fuck.'
He clenched his fists.
The negotiations had broken down, and on top of that, the amount of magma was increasing.
'Damn.'
KangWoo frowned.
He used the Authority of Observation to check the mountain's interior and sensed the demonic energy deep within.
'If I don't stop him, the volcano will explode.'
Guardian members and the Demon Cult were fighting outside.
It was easy to see what would happen if a volcano exploded in that situation.
'Everyone would die.'
Although they were superhumans, they were just mortals in front of natural disasters.
He was the one who'd led Guardians members to a few deaths, but he didn't intend them to be basically annihilated.
'Rather than just bleeding someone a bit, it would be closer to blowing their head away.'
KangWoo turned his head to Balrog.
"Balrog, take Lilith, Echidnas, and Balzac. Stop the demonic energy that's running amok under here."
[But…]
"I'll take care of this."
[Understood.]
Balrog hesitated a bit after hearing KangWoo would face an archduke alone, but he ended up nodding.
[Everything as the Demon King wishes.]
Balrog took Echidna and Balzac and went down.
He wasn't sure where Lilith was, but Balrog was for sure going to take care of the demonic energy.
"Fuck." An aggressive curse left his mouth.
He turned his body.
[PUHIHIHI!!!! Demon King, to think that monster became so weak!!! Yes. I didn’t see things wrong that day!!!]
Mamon laughed out loud.
His body trembled as if he couldn't hold back the laughter.
The tips of his mouth went up while dripping saliva.
[Then that means… this is the perfect opportunity to obtain the Demonic Energy Sea.]
He didn't need to wait for a hundred years.
He was going to be able to obtain a strength that couldn't be compared to the one Satan would get after absorbing the 'Root.'
[PUHIHIHIHI!!!]
He grabbed his stomach and laughed out loud.
The saliva that spurted out of his thick lips poured in all directions.
"…"
KangWoo remained silent while looking at Mamon laughing.
"Ha,” he let out a fake laugh.
He glared at Mamon with deep, sunken eyes.
"Hey, pig, stop giggling."
He lowered his hands.
The Key of the Demonic Energy Sea turned into a dark-red spear.
"Haven’t I beat you enough already?"
He was a pig who had already lost against him once. Not only that, but he’d desperately begged for his life.
He found how Mamon was laughing so confidently to be a bit funny.
BOOM-!
He stomped on the ground and shot forward, gripping his spear as he tried to stab the fat ball.
FWOOSH-!
[PUHIHI!]
Flames poured out, and his skin was burned, but he ignored it.
He used the Authority of Explosion and stabbed him, scattering Mamon’s flesh away.
BOOM-!
A blazing hand emerged from the Mamon’s shredded flesh.
KangWoo slipped to the side and dodged it.
About thirty meters of the hall started collapsing from the yellow hand’s flailing.
KangWoo clenched his right fist and used the Authority of Divine Power and the Authority of Waves.
Crack-!
Flesh exploded again when he punched Mamon, and sticky pus splashed into his skin.
Tsss. The pus burned his skin.
His cheeks melted down, and his teeth became visible. His hands melted down to the bone.
He ignored it.
He gripped Gae Bolg and, with a strong spin, a huge amount of demonic energy started to spread out.
Gungnir was created.
'Not enough.'
He added another Authority.
He mixed the Authority of Destruction and Ice and combined six different Authorities.
His abilities reached a limit, and a horrible pain spread through his head.
He gave up on making the calculations. The body that had reached the Extreme Demonic Energy Body reflexively continued doing them subconsciously.
"Longinus."
A short spear that didn't reach even a meter in length appeared.
It was a spear that was white as snow.
He pulled his arm back, twisted his body, and threw Longinus with all his strength.
BOOM-!!
The mountain broke, and thousands of pounds of soil began to pour out.
That only lasted a moment before immense chilling energy spread and froze the soil.
The climate twisted, and snow started to pour down from a clear sky.
[Pu, hi.]
Mamon trembled. Half of his body was frozen.
After throwing Longinus, KangWoo fell to the ground. He turned his head.
"Fuck…"
An aggressive curse left his mouth.
[PUHIHIHI!!!]
Mamon’s frozen skin sloughed off, and the horrible ball of fat multiplied.
His burning flesh poured over KangWoo while he let out a creepy laugh.
[PUHIHIHI!! HIHIHI!!]
His crazy laughter was full of greed.
KangWoo was burned and devoured by a red sphere.
The yellow sphere’s name was 'Greed.'
It was Mamon's Hell Equipment that devoured and burned everything.
[AAH! AAHH! The Sea of Demonic Energy! The Sea of Demonic Energy is mine!!!]
Mamon raised both arms.
BOOM-!
Someone rose from the ground with an explosion.
Strong blue energy radiated from his body.
He had a perfect appearance as if gods had carved it.
"Hyeong… nim…?"
The young man who'd come running through the crumbling mountain was trembling as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
[PUHIHI. Get out of here, human. I'm busy at the moment.]
He extended his hand toward the yellow sphere KangWoo was trapped within. With the Sea of Demonic Energy in front of him, he didn't have time to care about a human.
Slash-!
His hand fell off after being cut with a blue sword.
"How dare you."
Kim ShiHoon stood between the sphere and Mamon.
"Hey, cholesterol, how dare you try to touch my hyeongnim with those dirty hands of yours."
Blue energy poured out as if it were exploding.
