BOOM-!
There was an explosion after Satan finished speaking, and Raphael's expression distorted.
"What's going on?"
"It… it's an ambush!"
"Is it Satan's subordinates?"
The Light Watcher nodded.
Satan's subordinates had begun appearing and were surrounding the fortress.
BOOM-!
"Ah…! A-already?!"
Magic began pouring out toward them.
Although their base was the size of a fortress, it was still in the process of being built, so there was no way it could block the magic that was pouring in from all directions.
BOOM-!
A huge crack appeared on the ceiling, and white stones began falling.
Raphael quickly spread his hand toward the ceiling, and the light from his sacred spear deflected the stones away.
"Ah…"
Despite that, a piece of debris the size of a person was flying toward Raphael's underlings.
A priestess was trembling in fear, and Raphael quickly spread his hand.
Crack-!
"Be careful."
Before Raphael could do anything, a young man with sharp eyes who was holding a golden sword pulled the priestess back.
—It was KangWoo.
The stone shattered over the floor.
"Th-thank you…"
The priestess hesitated for a short while but lowered her head.
KangWoo walked past her and looked at Kim ShiHoon.
"Yes, hyeongnim."
As if he knew what he was trying to say, Kim ShiHoon took out his holy sword.
"Ugh! When did they grow so much…!"
"Change the golem to battle mode!!"
They saw the Light Watchers and angels moving as they walked outside.
"It's an order from the Phase of Evil!"
"Wipe them away!"
The cultists were surrounding the fortress that had collapsed after being attacked with magic—they were desperately moving to find the Demon King’s clone.
"So they finally showed their true colors."
"Hyeongnim, I'll take care of the guys to the left first."
KangWoo nodded.
As if they'd decided on it beforehand, Kim ShiHoon and KangWoo each went to a different side.
'Let's see…'
He stomped on the ground and looked at the demons that were around them.
He clicked his tongue.
'Tsk, there's no one worth devouring.'
It was obvious that they had improvised because the strongest demon was barely from the 5th or 6th hell.
'It seems like they were really in a hurry.'
There was no way the Demon Cult forces were only that strong, and they probably thought they had to stop the Satan in the video before he could say anything else.
'Well, even though I haven't prepared anything else…'
KangWoo turned his head.
After Yulia died, the footage in the 'Mirror of Darkness' had ended.
Everything went on as he'd expected, better than he expected.
'I didn't know it would go so well.'
He wouldn't have even bothered showing up if he knew it would go so well.
He had only appeared to take care of the situation if Raphael reacted unexpectedly.
'I guess it wasn't necessary.'
Pre-recording the video as if they were talking wasn't hard to do.
After all, a conversation was all about flow.
It was like a third party listening to a conversation between two people with that person only being able to hear one of them.
It was similar to listening to a friend that was in the middle of a phone conversation.
One could easily guess the conversation from just hearing their friend.
'The basics of conversation is to give and take.'
He could always say things that would cause a certain reaction in the other party and force the flow of the conversation in a certain way, but the problem was the timing. Thankfully, Raphael's reaction was within what he'd expected.
'The situation improved thanks to that.'
Thanks to the incident, he'd made it clear to Raphael that 'KangWoo' and 'Satan' were two separate beings.
He'd created a perfect alibi, just like when he'd attacked the Guardian vault.
Thanks to that, Raphael wouldn't even imagine the possibility that KangWoo was Satan.
The possibility that was the case completely disappeared from his head.
'And that…'
Would increase his trust in him.
"Good."
A fishy smile appeared on his face, and he began walking.
The demons surrounded him.
Slash-!
"Cough!"
He cut the demons, and black blood poured from them.
"Stop the enemies!"
"Wipe away Satan's subordinates!"
Angels soon began attacking.
Raphael was in the middle of their formation.
He swept away the demons like an angry bull with his immense, glowing spear.
KangWoo took a glimpse at Raphael, who was fighting the demons, and frowned.
'Strong.'
An intense divine energy was pouring from Raphael.
Comparing Ludwig to him was like comparing a firefly to the sun.
'It’s not like they were gathering strength while the war of thousands of years was taking place.'
He remembered what Lucifer's subordinates had said before.
* * *
It was a giant war that had taken place in the Hell of Nine Skies.
While the war that had shaken up Hell was taking place, the angels had constantly been getting stronger.
'If it's that much…'
A faint smile appeared on his face.
'I think I might be able to stop the unexpected variables.'
If the enemy were someone with such huge power, he would've been in trouble, but the angels weren't his enemy at the moment—they were important partners and allies in the fight against Satan.
'Still, it's too bad if I consider the divine energy stat.
If he started collaborating with angels, he would have trouble stacking divine energy.
Of course, he might be able to use the Authority of Predation while no one could see him and make it seem like they were turning into dust and disappearing.
'It's too dangerous.'
He couldn't do that in front of Raphael.
He wasn't sure how strong he was at the moment, but he didn't think such a trick would work in front of him.
'What would happen if I faced him in a one-on-one fight?'
He wasn't sure what would happen.
He wasn't a martial arts master, so he couldn't tell if he could win against an enemy he had never fought against.
Either way, he was sure it wasn't going to be an easy fight.
Crack-
"Cough! Ugh, aah."
At that moment…
He was fighting the demons charging toward him while thinking about something when he heard a sound and turned toward it.
He saw a demon the size of a basketball that had four eyes and was twisting his body in pain.
"Huh?"
He tilted his head.
He hadn’t done anything to that demon yet.
"GRRR!!"
A beast-like growl emanated from the demon, and a chilling demonic energy poured from it.
KangWoo's eyes narrowed. The demonic energy felt familiar.
'Is it a Familiar Spirit of Satan?'
He smirked.
[YOOUU!!]
The demon’s voice changed as it let out an anger-filled shout.
A demon barely belonging to the 6th hell charged toward him at an incredible speed.
'But…'
In the end, it was just a Familiar Spirit.
Even if Satan's strength were incredible, he wouldn't be able to harm him from a distance while exercising his strength through a Familiar Spirit.
Crack-
He spread his hand and grabbed the demon’s neck.
The four madness-filled eyes looked at KangWoo.
[How dare you…!]
"Satan."
KangWoo smiled brightly.
"Do you think you're about to go crazy?"
[…]
"Do you think you're about to lose your rationality? Does your head hurt, are your eyes becoming blurry, and is your heart beating faster?"
[You son of a—]
"Ha, HAHAHA!!" He laughed out loud and twisted the demon that Satan was possessing.
"Remember, Satan…" he said to the Duke of Anger.
"That's Anger."
[UGH, AAAHHH!!]
Satan let out a madness-filled scream.
[I'm going to kill you, Demon King. I'll tear you apart and kill you as painfully as possible!!]
"Why don't you try?"
After all…
"You can't beat me. You know that."
He began to laugh.
"You know who I am."
Crack-
Black blood poured out.
KangWoo twisted the demon's body like he was twisting a chicken's neck, and then he turned his head.
He saw Kim ShiHoon swinging the holy sword and Raphael annihilating the demons.
Light Watchers and angels were supporting him, and the battle didn't last long.
It was an improvised squadron, so it didn't take them long to win.
'Okay, then…'
KangWoo slowly began walking.
Kim ShiHoon went running toward him and followed him from behind after wiping the demon blood from his sword.
'Are you a dog?'
He saw Kim ShiHoon looking at him with bright eyes and couldn't help but laugh at how trusting his eyes looked.
He turned his head and walked toward the destination.
"…"
He saw Raphael standing with a blank expression while holding his spear and emitting a bright light.
"Mr. Ludwig… was a good person."
"…"
"I'm sorry for not being able to protect him."
He bowed.
Raphael slowly turned his head.
"Ludwig is still in immense pain."
"…"
"Even after death, he wasn't able to go to the Heavens. His soul and body have fallen and are suffering."
He could see the sadness in Raphael's eyes.
"To be honest…"
He turned and looked at Kim ShiHoon and KangWoo.
"I don't have good emotions regarding the Guardians. I regretted having accepted to help Mr. Uranos many times."
There's no way he'd have a positive opinion because they were unable to do anything to help Ludwig.
"But…"
Raphael's body trembled.
An immense energy poured from him and devoured the surroundings.
"If it's to annihilate demons…"
The Demon of Prophecy, Satan…
If he could kill that cruel and evil demon…
"I'll do anything."
He could endure the death of his beloved apostle.
Raphael walked toward KangWoo and Kim ShiHoon.
He looked at KangWoo, who had used himself to save his apostle when there was an ambush.
Then, he looked at Kim ShiHoon.
Other than Ludwig, no one had been able to control the holy sword.
He was really angry because of Ludwig's death.
"Please…"
Raphael extended his hands.
"Lend me your strength."
There was a short silence.
KangWoo took a step forward and grabbed Raphael's hand.
"Of course."
Raphael and KangWoo…
Angels and Guardians…
Two lights joined as one.
An intensely bright light shone like it was burning, and although it was night, an intense light filled the vast wilderness.
