[What nonsense… are you saying?] he said in confusion.
The darkness surrounding Satan started to move.
"S-someone is impersonating you."
[Me?]
"Y-yes!" Yulia nodded with her face pale.
A breathtakingly strong pressure fell over the area.
[Who dares to impersonate me, Satan?] A voice filled with confusion and anger echoed out.
He couldn't understand it.
"I… I don't know."
[Yulia, how have you been running the Cult?]
"I… I'm sorry! It's because of the battle against Lucifer's forces…"
[Lucifer's forces?]
What nonsense was that?
"Lucifer has appeared and is attacking the Demon Cult."
[What?]
"Th-this is just a guess… I think that the person impersonating Mr. Satan caused this battle."
[…]
Satan remained silent, and he felt his body going numb.
He wanted to laugh in disbelief but couldn't do that because he was still absorbing the 'Root of Evil.'
[Just who…?]
Who was impersonating an archduke?
That wasn't possible unless you had strength comparable to one.
It wasn't that the Demon Cult members were dumb. If they'd tried to impersonate him with average demonic energy, they would've figured it out for sure.
[Don't tell me…]
A certain possibility crossed his mind.
The darkness covering Satan's body fluctuated.
[Demon King…?] he said in a fearful voice.
It was a possibility he didn't want to think of.
[No, he's dead.]
He would've shaken his head if he had one.
When he came to Earth, he felt the presence of the Demon King disappearing because of the dimensional wall.
In reality, he hadn't felt the presence of the Demon King for almost a thousand years.
Then…
There's no way he would've resurrected.
[There's no way.]
It was as if he were trying to convince himself.
"Mr. Satan…?"
Yulia was surprised.
She had served Satan for hundreds of years, but it was her first time seeing him like that.
No, it was the first time she'd seen Satan feeling 'fear.'
[What are the other Phases doing?]
"Mr. Belphegor and Mr. Bloodseeker are still absorbing the root of evil, and Mr. Kalgia…"
[Is he still investigating the Demon of Prophecy?]
"Yes."
The darkness fluctuated.
There wasn't anyone who could move.
[Hmm.]
Whoever was impersonating him wasn’t important at that moment.
Rather than finding the culprit, dissuading Lucifer was more important.
[I guess I have no other choice…]
The darkness surrounding Satan started to fluctuate.
He had no other choice.
As if he were cutting off his flesh, part of the darkness surrounding Satan fell off.
* * *
"Mr. KangWoo…"
"Yes?"
Lilith had entered the room.
KangWoo, who was checking the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea while sitting on the bed, nodded.
"The fight with the Demon Cult base in Africa has begun."
"What's the situation?"
Lilith smiled.
"Lucifer's forces are winning by an overwhelming difference… but they've also suffered great losses."
It was too bad that someone like Mamon hadn't appeared, but the strength of a Demon Cult base with almost a thousand members wasn't bad.
They were able to damage Lucifer's forces to the point he'd thought.
"And Lucifer?" he asked with expectant eyes.
The most important thing was how much Lucifer's forces had weakened because of it.
Lilith answered without hesitation.
"He clearly seems tired."
"Good."
KangWoo smiled while nodding.
It wasn't that archdukes had infinite stamina.
The more they fought, the more their health decreased and tiredness stacked in their mind.
It might have been different if he had used a strategy of attacking and backing off to recover vitality, but engaging in constant battles as someone that had lost his mind should have been tiring, even for him.
'Is his son that important?'
It was hard to believe he was the Lucifer he knew.
It seemed like Lucifer had changed after going to the Ernor continent.
'I guess it doesn't matter.'
It didn't matter if he'd changed or not.
He needed an archduke's soul, and Lucifer was tired enough that he could use his soul.
That was the important thing.
"How's Lucis doing?" he asked Lilith while licking his lips.
Lilith answered while making a mischievous smile.
"He isn't right in his mind. If I ordered it, he'd probably even give up on his life."
"That isn't enough."
KangWoo laughed.
"He should be able to give up on something more important than his life."
"Oh…"
Lilith's eyes shone.
She touched KangWoo's cheeks as if she were under the influence of drugs.
"What my King is thinking… it's probably already possible."
"Then it's okay."
Lilith wasn't exaggerating.
Lucis had probably already become her slave.
"What about the others?"
"Balrog and Balzac are preparing, but Echidna… I think that you should leave her out of this plan."
"Why?"
As he asked her, Lilith started to twist her body.
Her hair had turned into tentacles.
"How can we make such a cute kid fight?! I wish I could use my tentacles as well…"
"Please, don't do anything to my Echidna."
"Fufu. Haa, I wonder if this is how it would feel if I bore your baby…"
It seemed like Echidna was popular among both Han Seol-ah and Lilith.
'That's good.'
Echidna was probably going to be able to become the bridge between Han Seol-ah, Kim ShiHoon, and the other people he'd met on Earth and Balrog and Lilith—beings with whom he'd gotten involved with while in Hell.
It might not be necessary for the moment, but it was for the long term.
'To live as a rich unemployed!'
He had to eliminate as many factors that could cause him problems.
"Then, don't tell Echidna for the moment."
KangWoo stood up.
In reality, he didn't want to show Echidna that 'plan.'
'Don’t tell the others, either.'
That was why he hadn't made Han Seol-ah, Kim ShiHoon, Chae YeonJoo, and others participate in the plan.
They still didn't know him that well.
They weren't prepared to accept it.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Mr. KangWoo."
Click-
He opened the door.
"Ah."
He saw Han Seol-ah making a surprised expression in front of the door.
She trembled a bit while holding a tray with a cup of coffee.
"A-are you leaving already?" Han Seol-ah asked while taking a glimpse at Lilith.
He'd already explained Lilith to her, but it seemed like she still felt awkward around her.
"Fufu. Yes. I have a secret meeting with Mr. Kang—"
"Don't say nonsense."
He softly hit Lilith's head, extended his hand, grabbed the cup of coffee Han Seol-ah had prepared, and drank it in one go.
Hot coffee went down his throat.
"I'll be going."
* * *
"Ah, yes…"
She was making a lonely expression.
KangWoo thought and then remembered what Echidna had told him.
"Once this is done… Should we take Echidna and others out?"
"Ah, y-yes! I want to go!"
Han Seol-ah nodded.
Her reaction was similar to Echidna's.
KangWoo smiled and nodded.
"Hng…"
Lilith looked at Han Seol-ah with great interest.
[It seems like that human girl has fallen for the charms of the Demon King.]
[Shut up,] he replied coldly so Lilith couldn't do anything dumb.
Lilith was speaking directly into his head.
"Take care."
"Yes."
"Ah… Ms. Kurosaki, no, Lilith, you also take care.
"Fufu. Let's talk again later, Ms. Seol-ah."
They walked out of the house.
Lilith opened her mouth after looking at the door closing.
"You said wing patterns have appeared on Ms. Seol-ah's back, right?"
"Ah, yes. There were two at the beginning, but now there are 4."
The angel wing patterns that were on Seol-ah's back were becoming more visible as time passed.
"Hmm. I feel like I've heard about this from Amon before…"
"From Amon?"
"Yes. He said something about it while talking about angels… but I wasn't interested at the moment, so I don't remember very well."
To her, what other people that weren't KangWoo said wasn't something she was interested in.
"…"
He became interested since it was something related to Han Seol-ah, but he started walking again.
It wasn't time to think about her.
"Then…"
He stomped on the ground and flew.
"Let's begin."
* * *
BOOM-!!
The earth was torn apart, and a horrible scream was heard.
"S-stop him!!"
"AGH!!"
"M-monster."
A vast grassland in Africa had been torn apart in such a way that it was even embarrassing to call it Hell.
A demon with 10 black wings on his back, a horn on his forehead, and black skin was walking on top of the torn-apart and distorted land.
Although he wasn't that big, his appearance wasn't that different from a human’s.
His face was distorted like a monster’s.
The demon, his horrid face resembling a goblin’s, was walking along the ruined surface.
CRACK-!!
"AAHH!!"
As he swung his hand, a black sphere was made in the air.
Dozens of Demon Cult members were dragged in by its huge absorbing power, and the chilling sound of bones being crushed was heard.
"Haa…"
A left Lucifer’s mouth, the demon who was crushing the Demon Cult.
[Mr. L-Lucifer…]
[You should rest a bit…] The demon that was following him said in a worried voice.
Lucifer shook his head.
"I won't rest."
His son, Lucis, had been kidnapped by Satan, so there was no way he was going to take a break.
Lucifer looked at his hands.
'Is it because I came to Earth?'
His strength was lower than when he was on the Ernor Continent.
Since he'd become an Evil God, he was stronger than in the past when he was just an archduke.
As time went on, as if he were getting used to Earth, his strength started returning, but he didn't have time to wait for that at the moment.
'I guess there's nothing I can do about it.'
Even if he'd become weaker, he could exercise as much strength as he could in the past when he used to be in the Hell of Nine Skies.
He wasn't sure how strong Satan had become after absorbing the Sea of Demonic Energy from the Demon King, but there was no way to know that without fighting him.
"We're moving to the next place."
He was about to turn around…
"M-Mr. Lucifer!!"
An underling came running toward him.
Lucifer turned around and frowned.
His eyes widened.
[Mr. L-Lucis is over there. He’s unconscious!]
"What…?"
He quickly ran toward him.
His underling was definitely carrying Lucis on his back.
"Move!"
He'd endlessly fought after hearing that his son had been kidnapped, so Lucifer's patience had bottomed.
He couldn't make the correct decision and was losing his rationality.
His son was in front of him, so he couldn't think of anything else.
He hugged Lucis.
"Lucis! Come back to your senses!"
"F-father…?"
Lucis's eyes widened.
Lucifer sighed in relief.
"You stupid—"
"I… I'm sorry, father."
"Where's Sata—"
Stab-
He felt something sharp piercing his heart.
"Cough."
He vomited black blood.
Lucifer looked at Lucis in disbelief.
"Son, wh-what are you doing?"
The tips of Lucis’s mouth went up.
"Father, I'm inheriting your place."
"Cough."
He collapsed with his eyes wide open and saw a black fissure in the distance.
A demon wearing a red mask appeared from behind the black fissure.
"Sa…tan."
“Hahaha.”
He heard the sound of a demon laughing from a great distance away.
