Chapter 186 - Aspect of Fire (1)
Crack!
Boom!
"Arrgghh!"
"Wh-What the—?!"
The Players' eyes widened.
A giant demon with a massive body that was over five meters tall rushed toward the Players, who were panicking.
"S-Sto—"
Bash!
Before the Player at the front could even finish his words, the giant demon kneed him in the chest. The upper body of the warrior-class Player was blown away with just one attack.
[What do you think you are doing on the sacred battlefield?] the demon questioned, frowning in displeasure.
He could tell that these humans were underestimating them, the demons.
The giant demon laughed in disbelief.
'These mere humans… To think that they let down their guard against us demons.'
The humans had behaved like a deer yawning in front of a tiger.
The demon felt insulted. These puny humans were acting like sheep with no shepherd although they wouldn't be able to defeat him even if they charged at him all at once.
[You have offended me.]
That was enough reason to kill them.
The demon took action. Explosions and screams rang out all over the battlefield.
"Wh-What's going on?!"
"W-Were d-demons meant to be this strong?"
This was when fear finally appeared in the Players' eyes.
These demons were completely different from what they'd heard in the news about the Demon Cult in Korea, China, and South America. The weak demons who had been massacred without being able to do anything were nowhere to be seen.
Boom!
A young man covered in blue energy stomped on the ground. He rushed through the battlefield and appeared in front of the demon in the blink of an eye.
The man lowered his posture and slid his left leg back. He then soared into the air while jumping with his right leg.
Slash!
[Kurgh!]
The demon who had been wiping the Players out was split in half.
"S-Sword Dragon."
"Sword Dragon! Sword Dragon is here!"
"W-We're saved!"
The surviving Players cheered.
"All of you," Kim Si-Hun said, turning to face them.
One of the Players said with a grin, "Haha! Man, I guess you didn't win against Jason by sheer lu—kurgh! Kuh!"
Si-Hun extended his hand and grabbed the Player by the collar.
He questioned the Player, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Eh…"
Boom!
"What… do you think… you're doing?"
"Kurgh! P-Please let me g-go…"
Si-Hun emitted a strong bloodlust as he glared at the Players with a fiery gaze.
"Get the fuck out of here," he told them.
"What?"
"We don't need dumbasses who don't know how to respect a formation. Get the fuck out of here right now."
"…"
Silence fell over the Players after they heard Si-Hun's aggressive words. They gulped and looked at each other nervously.
Unlike the rumors, the demons were extremely strong. These Players were currently in the middle of a battlefield, so there was no way they'd be able to get out in one piece.
"P-Please give us a chance!"
"We didn't think the demons would be this strong!"
"…"
They begged desperately, as if pleading for their lives.
Si-Hun frowned in displeasure.
"Haaa," he sighed.
If it were up to him, he would have left them alone in the middle of the battlefield, but he couldn't do that.
'It's not the time.'
He bit his lip anxiously.
Si-Hun looked around the battlefield. The situation was bad. Most of the Players were in a panic since they hadn't expected the demons and Demon Cultists to be this strong.
"Shit."
He remembered Oh Kang-Woo's words.
'Hyung-nim was right.'
Everything had been solved too smoothly because of Kang-Woo's incredible strength. The humans who had been protected like plants in a greenhouse looked pathetic.
It reminded Si-Hun of… himself.
He remained silent.
He could see himself in the Players who were bewildered by the power of demons.
'Me too.'
Si-Hun looked down at the sword he was holding. His hand was trembling. The fear that he felt was so immense it could swallow him whole.
He recalled the suffocating sensation he'd felt just from looking at the demon in the red demon mask—that scene of the mask floating in the darkness as if the demon had been born as darkness itself.
[Struggle desperately. Struggle while thinking of me.]
That quiet voice of the demon… Just remembering it was enough to throw Si-Hun's mind into chaos.
"At this rate…"
Si-Hun was no different from these Players. He laughed in disbelief at how pathetic he was.
He clenched his hand into a fist, with a thick vein bulging out.
'How long are you going to keep staying on the sidelines like a baby?' he asked himself.
Rumble!!
Si-Hun aggressively stomped on the ground, and blue energy raged, gushing out from his dantian.
"Fight as one!" he yelled, using Qi to amplify his voice.
That yell, which was loud enough to cover the entire battlefield, made all of the Players, demons, and Demon Cultists focus on Si-Hun.
He charged forward and swung his sword down on a giant and hideous demon who seemed like an impossible opponent for the humans.
Slash!
Black blood sprayed out like a fountain. Si-Hun had successfully cut down the demon with one strike.
The Players, who had been in chaos due to the unexpected strength of demons, gazed intensely at Si-Hun.
Si-Hun raised his sword, and blinding blue light shone from him.
He shouted aggressively from the bottom of his soul, "For Guardians!!!"
"Yeaaaaahhhh!!!"
The Players' screams reverberated throughout the battlefield.
* * *
The battle intensified. Demons and Players continued fighting against each other.
Kang-Woo, who was looking at the situation from the rear, turned away while tearing up.
"I was prepared for it, but it certainly is hard to stand by and watch."
"Kang-Woo…" Gaia called out to him worriedly.
Kang-Woo shook his head and turned around.
"I'm going to get some air for a bit," he said.
"Okay."
Kang-Woo walked out of the commander's tent, which was located at the rear of the battlefield.
"Fuck." Kang-Woo shook his head while slapping himself. "I almost laughed."
He knew he had to keep acting serious, but he couldn't help but grin at the constant pinging of the message windows.
Kang-Woo also felt refreshed after seeing all the new Guardians members, who hadn't taken the issue more seriously, take a beating.
'I hope they're weeded out through this incident.'
He wasn't sure if making a comparison like this was correct, but the war was, in a sense, doing the job of refining their troops. It was helping them select the Players who, despite feeling fearful of the powerful demons, were able to overcome their fear and fight until the end.
Tap.
Kang-Woo lightly jumped and rose into the air. He flew to the peak of the mountain from where he could get a clearer view of the battlefield.
The four beings whom he could call his direct subordinates were waiting for him there. It was only in front of them that he did not need to act as the Warrior of Light, as they knew the true nature of the demon Oh Kang-Woo.
He walked toward them—Echidna, Vaal Zahak, Balrog, and Lilith.
The one who ran to him first was Echidna.
She grabbed his sleeve and asked, "Where's Seol-Ah?"
"She's in the healer squadron in the rear," Kang-Woo answered.
"Kekeke. My Death Knight is secretly protecting her, so you don't need to worry about her," Vaal Zahak said, stamping the ground with his staff. He laughed creepily. "It is my greatest Death Knight, made with Reynald's corpse. No ordinary demons will be a match for it, even those of the Ninth Hell."
"Good," Kang-Woo replied with a nod.
He then sat down on a rock that gave him a full view of the battlefield.
Echidna's eyes lit up, and she tried to sit on his lap.
"Ngh."
"Fufu. Stay back for a moment, child."
However, Echidna was held back by some tentacles. She struggled to get free, but her opponent was Lilith, an archdemon capable of facing a prince of Hell.
"Let me go," Echidna demanded.
She glared at Lilith, but Lilith merely shrugged and ignored her.
Lilith approached Kang-Woo and asked in a seductive voice, "Master Kang-Woo, would you like me to brew you a cup of coffee?"
"Yes, please."
Soon after, he looked down at the battlefield while holding the cup of coffee that Lilith had given him.
'They're fighting better than I had expected.'
To begin with, the Players weren't weak… and as a collective force, they had quite an immense amount of raw power.
Kang-Woo had been worried after seeing them panic initially. However, the panic had quickly died down thanks to Si-Hun's flashy performance.
'Well done, my boy!'
Kang-Woo wanted to clap because of how proud he was of Si-Hun.
He'd been prepared to see some blood, but he didn't want the humans to be massacred by the demons. It was with Si-Hun's quick thinking that they were able to avoid the worst-case scenario.
"Right, then."
His plan to instill vigilance into the minds of Players had succeeded. He even noticed that a few Players had awakened with a burst of mana during the battle.
It was time for Kang-Woo to make his move.
"Get ready," he said quietly.
Balrog, Lilith, and Vaal Zahak knelt before their king. Echidna glanced at them and quickly followed suit.
"While they are distracted with the battle, ambush the interior of the Demon Cult branch," Kang-Woo ordered.
"What should we do with the humans still inside the base?" Balrog asked.
"Do you even need to ask?"
Kang-Woo smiled.
It was something that wasn't even worth asking. During the ten millennia that he'd spent in Hell, he'd moved according to one simple law…
"Answer to evil with greater evil," he said calmly.
Balrog grinned and finished Kang-Woo's sentence, "Return bloodlust with even greater bloodlust."
Kang-Woo stood up and looked down at the huge Demon Cult branch inside the mountain.
"Wipe them all out."
* * *
Slam!!
Boom!
"ARRGGHH!!"
Screams filled the tunnel. An intense smell of blood and horrifyingly loud noises overwhelmed the senses of those present.
There was a woman running through a tunnel, which was shaking violently as if an earthquake were in motion.
"Huff! Huff!"
She was Julia Vilkova—a very important executive of the Demon Cult who had the position of Apostle of Evil.
Julia managed to escape the crumbling tunnel.
"Shit, shit!!"
Her beautiful face crumpled in exasperation.
The Tibet Temple was one of the five most important branches of the Demon Cult, and it was now on the verge of collapse.
'Since it has come this far…'
She bit her lip anxiously.
The preparations for the next part of the Demon Cult's plan were still incomplete. The consequences would be irreversible if she messed something up by commencing it hastily.
However…
'I have no other choice.'
At this rate, the Tibet branch would be destroyed. There was nothing else she could do.
Slide.
As Julia opened the door leading to the heart of the giant mountain, she was engulfed in an intense wave of heat.
"I must… wake him up."
The Aspect of Fire… the Lord of Inferno…
Julia had to awaken Mammon, the Prince of Greed.
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