Player who Returned 10,000 years Later
chapter-178

'Is it here?'

There was a small city on the sand in the middle of the desert.

Although it was referred to as a city, it was a ruin where no one lived. Monsters could be seen roaming around there with a gloomy atmosphere.

He quickly began walking to the place Lilith had told him about.

An intense sun shone over the middle-east.

"Tsk. So they were hidden in a place like this. No wonder it was so hard to find them."

He clicked his tongue.

The Demon Cult base was in a place hard to reach, even for the middle-east.

After the Cataclysmic Day, the countries on Earth that could be called countries had been reduced by half, so if they hid in a place like that, there was no way they would be found.

'Authority of Concealment.'

He hid the traces of his body and put on a mask.

His goal was to infiltrate the Demon Cult's base.

'I'm going to destroy them later on.'

It was the only base where Lilith secretly distributed the 'Book of Hell.'

There was a chance they would have a connection with other Demon Cult bases.

'I also need to check how much the Book of Hell has been spread.'

…Or maybe they could have a piece of information he could've never imagined.

Anyway, it would be too much of a loss to immediately eliminate the Demon Cult base that he'd barely been able to find.

KangWoo used the Authority of Observation to find traces of the Demon Cult.

Finding the traces by itself wasn't hard…

A base that was under the destroyed city was drawn in his head.

"I found…"

He stopped mumbling.

KangWoo's expression under the mask distorted.

He checked out the traces of demonic energy he'd just felt again.

'As expected…'

He became sure of what he was feeling and narrowed his eyes.

'There's a demon.'

He wasn't sure, but it was a demon of the 9th hell.

That being the case, it wasn't as powerful as a great demon.

It was probably in the middle in terms of strength.

Although it was from the 9th hell, it was a demon who couldn't be a match for KangWoo, who didn't lack in terms of strength compared to even archdukes.

"Hmm."

He took a deep breath.

It wasn't a problem that there was a demon inside the Demon Cult.

It wasn't that he was able to block all of the demon summonings that were taking place all over the world, after all.

'But…'

He checked the underground base again.

The image of demons and Demon Cult members was drawn inside his head.

'There's something strange.'

There were five demons.

They were all sitting inside a room. About three Demon Cult members were sitting across from them while talking about something.

'Are they in a meeting?'

That's how it looked from the outside.

Rather than demons and Demon Cult members, it looked like business partners negotiating a deal.

'Well, it isn't like demons spend the entire day fighting.'

But still, seeing five demons sitting with Demon Cult members while talking about something was weird.

'I'll have to check it out.'

He looked around.

Although it was a base located underground, there was probably an air vent since people were living inside it.

He used the Authority of Observation to analyze the structure of the base.

Finding the vent that led to the outside wasn't hard.

"Is this a shitty spy movie? To think I'd have to infiltrate through an air vent."

Even if he was using the Authority of Concealment, that didn't mean he could roam freely throughout their base.

The air vent, where one person could barely fit, was protected by a magic circle.

"Tsk."

But that wasn't a problem for KangWoo.

He flicked his finger; demonic energy spread and crushed the magic circle.

He kept moving through the ventilation shaft.

As he moved according to the structure he'd figured out through the Authority of Observation, he began hearing the voices of demons.

[I never imagined that there would be humans on this ‘Earth’ world able to use demonic energy.]

[Their level of knowledge can't be compared to the black magicians of the Ernor Continent.]

[An average demon from Hell probably can't match them.]

'What?'

He frowned.

The demons mentioned the 'Ernor Continent.'

He felt a strong sense of alienation.

'What's going on?'

He listened to their conversation.

"Not true. We're nothing compared to you, demons from the 9th hell."

[We aren't from the Hell of the Nine Skies.]

"Oh yeah. You are underlings of Archduke Lucifer, right?"

KangWoo's eyes widened after hearing the words of the Demon Cult members.

'Underlings of Lucifer?'

He was having a hard time understanding.

'Why are Lucifer’s underlings here?'

He remembered Halphas, Malphas, and Phenex, and the bait he had thrown through them.

—A bait that was capable of tempting Lucifer.

But if those demons were really underlings of Lucifer, why were they talking so relaxedly?

Lucifer's underlings. Malphas and Phenex. had died at the hands of Satan, leader of the Demon Cult.

'What's going on?'

His head was starting to feel fuzzy. KangWoo frowned and focused on the conversation.

* * *

[He isn't an archduke.]

[Mr. Lucifer has gone beyond an archduke's realm and obtained divinity.]

[Call him Evil God Lucifer.]

"Ah, sorry."

The Demon Cult members bowed their heads.

It seemed like they didn't think it was a lie.

"But why would the underlings of Lucifer, who resides on another world, come here…?"

[To make you pay the price for the crime your leader has committed.]

"Yes?"

The Demon Cult members tilted their heads in confusion.

[I've heard everything through Mr. Halphas.]

[Are you planning to act dumb?]

"I'm sorry, but we—"

SLAM-!!

The demon punched the table.

[How dare you act dumb?! Do we think we wouldn't know that your leader, Satan, killed Mr. Phenex and Mr. Malphas?!] He angrily shouted.

"Yes…?"

"Satan?"

The Demon Cult members looked at the underlings of Lucifer in confusion.

'Oh, fuck.'

KangWoo was barely able to stop a curse from escaping his mouth.

He figured out what was going on.

Just like countries sent delegations to other countries, Lucifer had sent his underlings to Earth.

'A delegation?'

He laughed in disbelief.

Although they were saying that they were going to make them pay for the crimes of Satan, the fact that he'd sent a delegation meant one thing…

'He wants to avoid going to war with Satan.'

‘He wants to talk it out and come to a solution.’

'Lucifer, you bastard…'

He narrowed his eyes.

It was a short conversation, but the information he'd been able to get was valuable.

'It seems he's in a delicate situation.'

Demons didn't have the concept of ‘let's talk and solve this situation without fighting’.

Their conversations always involved blood and flesh.

'But he sent a delegation in this situation?'

Not only that, but Lucifer was attacked by Satan first.

The fact that he'd sent a delegation to talk things out showed Lucifer's desperation.

'There are two possibilities…'

The first one was that he believed he'd never be able to win against Satan, who had the Sea of Demonic Energy.

It wasn't that demons were a dumb race without brains—they often surrendered if they were at a disadvantage.

'But…'

He thought that the probability of that being the case was low.

The Lucifer he knew wasn't someone who'd give up his desire to obtain the Sea of Demonic Energy.

'Then…'

He narrowed his eyes and thought of another possibility.

'Maybe he's in such a desperate situation that he can’t afford to worry about Satan.'

He didn't know exactly what situation he was in.

Maybe it was because of the archangels that fought against him in the past, or maybe it was because of a god.

It didn't matter either way.

That wasn't important.

'The important thing is that, although he was attacked first, he still tried to talk things out with Satan.'

The tips of his mouth went up.

"W-we aren't sure what you're talking about."

"The being we serve isn't Satan."

[What?]

The demons’ expressions distorted.

It was at that moment…

BOOM-!!

The ceiling exploded.

[Wh-what happened?!]

"Ugh! Wh-what the fu…"

The five demons inside the room and the three Demon Cult members were confused.

Tap-

The ceiling crumbled, and something fell from it.

"Huh…?"

The eyes of the Demon Cult members widened after seeing the being that fell from the ceiling.

The red mask that symbolized the Demon Cult…

There was a being wearing that mask while surrounded by pitch-black darkness.

It was as if a mask was floating in the middle of darkness.

'What?'

They had never seen or heard about a being like that.

'Is he another Demon Cult… member?'

The Demon Cult branches operated separately, so it wasn't weird that there was someone they'd never seen.

[You…]

[D-don't tell me…]

The demons trembled in fear.

The strong demonic energy pouring out from his body made them subconsciously afraid.

[I'm Satan,] the demon wearing the red mask said without hesitation.

[S-Satan!!]

[Ugh! E-everyone, back off!]

The demon that was in the middle took a step forward and knelt in front of Satan.

[Th-this lowly being, Darkin, is greeting the archduke for the first time.]

[Why are you on Earth? I think that I've made my will clear through Halphas.]

[That…]

The demon, Darkin, carefully opened his mouth.

He took out a communication crystal that was the size of a person's head.

[Mr. Lucifer wants to talk with Mr. Satan.]

[Talk?]

[That's right.]

[…]

There was silence. Satan grabbed the communication crystal Darkin gave him.

[Ha… hahaha.]

A chilly laugh leaked out from behind the mask.

[HAHAHA!!!]

[Mr. S-Satan! What are you?!]

CRACK!

Satan destroyed the communication crystal.

[Talk? Talk? HAHAHA!!! How funny! Very funny words!]

He laughed out loud and spread his hand.

'Anger,' the Hell's Equipment that was like Satan's symbol, appeared in his hand.

It was a sword that had a pitch-black blade. A sword of darkness.

He swung the sword.

PAF-!!

Darkin’s head exploded into pieces as the sword reached it.

[Demons don't talk!]

‘It's war!’