After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 301 - I Haven't Done Anything

"The hell is this?"

Oh Kang-Woo looked in disbelief at the Key of the Demonic Sea on his right middle finger. As if proving that the message saying that it was successful was not a lie, faint white light poured out from the second geometric symbol of the five.

Riiing.

[You have acquired the second key, 'Skyfall.']

[The status window information for 'Key of the Demonic Sea' has been updated.]

"Kuh."

Kang-Woo frowned. Great power flowed up from the black ring on his middle finger and penetrated his body.

'What's happening?'

It felt as if he were being burned alive.

Clack.

Clicks echoed within his head, as if cogs were turning or a key was turning a lock. There was no need to even think about what the Key of the Demonic Sea was connected to—the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

The Key of the Demonic Sea connected with the three giant Doors holding the Demonic Sea.

Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

Whoom!

Demonic energy surged from his body along with the sensation of the Key of the Demonic Sea linking with the Ten Thousand Demon Core. The total amount of demonic energy had not increased, but he could feel that it had become far more dense, just like when he had achieved the Ultimate Demonic Body.

"Kargh, kurgh."

He curled up as the shower head showered him with a warm stream of water. It was difficult to withstand the extreme changes occurring from the connection between the Key of the Demonic Sea and the Ten Thousand Demon Core.

Riiing.

[The third condition of the final step of 'Road to Becoming a Demon God' has been partially fulfilled.]

Yet another message appeared, and Kang-Woo's eyes shone.

'So the Key of the Demonic Sea... was the clue for the third condition.'

He'd been trying very hard to find a clue about the third condition, but there had been a reason why he hadn't made any progress.

"Haaa, haaa," Kang-Woo panted heavily.

The demonic energy within his body had become more concentrated. It hadn't become as concentrated as the demonic energy within the Abyss, the deepest layer of the Ten Thousand Demon Core, but it was at least more concentrated than the demonic energy from the deep end.

'It's about between the Abyss and the deep end.'

The more concentrated his demonic energy was, the more power he could exert with the same amount of demonic energy.

"This is... huge."

Being able to exercise more power with the same amount of demonic energy was invaluable.

There was a huge difference in power between Inferno made with demonic energy from the shallow end and Inferno made with energy from the deep end.

If demonic energy control allowed him to use more demonic energy at one time, the concentration influenced the quality of the demonic energy itself.

"That's a Transcendent-grade weapon for you."

He unconsciously smiled. No, he wondered if the Key of the Demonic Sea should be considered just Transcendent grade. After all, it had eaten three Hell Armaments of the same grade as it.

Kang-Woo mumbled while looking down at the black ring on his middle finger, "Status window."

[Equipment Information]

Equipment Name: Key of the Demonic Sea

Grade: Transcendent (Imprinted)

Type: Growth *The equipment will grow stronger whenever certain conditions are fulfilled.

First Key: Predation

Second Key: Skyfall

Basic Effect: Unique Stat +3, Indomitability, Transformation, Abyss, ??? *It has not been unlocked.

Special Effect: Predation, ??? *It has not been unlocked.

[Effect Description]

Indomitability: The equipment cannot be destroyed by any physical, magical, or spiritual attacks. However, it will be destroyed by power free from the restrictions of the 'system.'

Transformation: The equipment can transform into any weapon registered as a 'skill.' It will exert 57% capacity of weapons made using Authorities.

Predation: The equipment can absorb and digest armaments Transcendent grade and above. The capacity of 'Transformation' will rise with each successful digestion.

Abyss: The equipment raises the concentration of demonic energy. Additionally, the effect rises with the acquisition of each 'key.'

"Wow," he naturally exclaimed.

The Key of the Demonic Sea had become far stronger than when he had first acquired it.

'Especially the Transformation capacity.'

It had only been 34% when he had first acquired it, but it had risen by a bit more than 1.5 times.

Now, even if he created Inferno with the Key of Demonic Sea while using other Authorities, he would be able to use Inferno at nearly 60% capacity. Although it would be a sham, he would be able to use two prince Authorities at once.

Riiing.

He heard the chime of a bell while he was still reading intensively through the equipment status window. He cast aside the Key of the Demonic Sea's status window and saw a new message.

[You must complete a prerequisite quest to acquire the third key of the Key of the Demonic Sea, 'Abysm.']

'Another quest?'

Kang-Woo frowned.

['Key of the Demonic Sea' prerequisite quest - 'Falling Wings.']

[Make a being of an archangel or above fall from grace. The fall will be acknowledged even if it is temporary.]

"Another absurd quest."

The quests seemed as if they were being squeezed out of an author struggling from exhaustion of material. They were so absurd that it pretty much threw probability out the window.

"..."

Kang-Woo waited a bit while standing still.

He was lowkey hoping that the quest would be achieved without him doing anything like the previous one, but no additional message windows popped up.

'Meaning, I managed to sow the Seed of Corruption, but they haven't fallen yet.'

Based on the system messages, that seemed to be the case.

Kang-Woo crossed his arms and fell into thought.

'...'

He couldn't help but ask the question before commencing the quest.

'Why did the second quest succeed?'

Sowing a Seed of Corruption in a being of at least an archangel or above? He didn't even know what the Seed of Corruption was in the first place.

'I mean, I can more or less guess what it is based on its name, but...'

The problem was that he had no idea who he had sown it into or when he had even done it.

"Raphael...?"

Kang-Woo shook his head at the sudden name that came to his mind. He recalled the angel attacking his friend while screaming madly.

'It's not him.'

Kang-Woo dried his body with a towel and walked out of the bathroom. It was true that Raphael had fallen, but he was already dead. Also, the reason he had fallen was not Kang-Woo but his own crazed obsession with evil. Kang-Woo had nothing to do with it, so there was no way that it would complete the quest.

"Ah."

His eyes met Han Seol-Ah in her pajamas. Realizing he was completely nude, he quickly tried to close the door.

"You haven't fully dried yourself yet."

"Huh? Y-Yeah." He nodded like an idiot.

Seol-Ah took the towel from him and wiped off the moisture still on him as if she were used to seeing his naked body. She softly giggled and turned around.

"Put your clothes on and come to the living room. I'll dry your hair for you."

"..."

Kang-Woo stared at her with mixed feelings as if not knowing what to say, and then he came out into the living room after putting clothes on.

Holding the hair dryer with one hand, Seol-Ah lightly patted the couch, indicating Kang-Woo to sit down.

Whirrr.

"Your hair has gotten a bit long. I'll cut it for you tomorrow. I give my mother a haircut all the time, so I'm confident I can give you a nice haircut," Seol-Ah said while touching Kang-Woo's hair.

"Mm..." Kang-Woo's eyes narrowed.

He thought about the recording he'd seen a few days before—how his demonic energy became entangled with the pure-white energy from Seol-Ah.

'Could it be... Seol-Ah?'

A chilling thought passed through his mind.

Kang-Woo bit his lip.

'It might've happened because she slept with me.'

From the recording, it only looked as if Seol-Ah's energy was harassing his energy, but it did not change the fact that they had been aggressively intertwined.

It wouldn't be weird if she were influenced by his demonic energy.

'No... but still, Seol-Ah?'

Kang-Woo tilted his head in confusion. He thought of Seol-Ah's kind smile and warm energy. It was hard to believe that a woman who was the epitome of the word angel was on the verge of being corrupted.

"Seol-Ah," Kang-Woo called.

"Yes?"

"Show me your back for a moment."

"Ah... J-Just a moment, please."

After realizing what he was trying to look at, she took off her pajamas.

'Hallelujah.'

Although her back was facing him, he couldn't help but gulp from seeing the Cerberus heads that could be seen on each side.

'Fucking calm down.'

He shook his head to get a hold of himself. Now was not the time for that. Kang-Woo searched Seol-Ah's back.

'... The outward appearance seems unchanged.'

Although the symbols on her back had become far more vivid than before, that was it; the faint pure-white light showed absolutely no signs of corruption.

"I'm gonna touch it."

Kang-Woo extended his hands and touched the wing symbols on her back.

"Hngh."

Seol-Ah moaned erotically while flinching. He did his best to ignore it.

'Authority of Insight.'

He slowly closed his eyes and read the flow of sacred power coming out of her back. He hadn't noticed it before, but he could feel how colossal the energy within her was.

'So this is Seraph's power.'

He recalled the light that had burned him when he had been cosplaying as Rakiel. He could now understand why her wings back then had been so faint to the point they were transparent. Compared to the power within Seol-Ah, what she had shown then had been nothing but the tip of the iceberg.

'If I had taken it full force...'

He would most definitely have been vaporized. He got goosebumps, but he calmed his beating heart and refocused to search around Seol-Ah's energy, which was brimming with sacred power.

'... There's nothing there.'

He had not been able to find even the smallest trace of demonic energy, even with the same level of demonic energy control that had pushed Demon God Bauli back into the Abyss.

'Is the Seed of Corruption not the same as demonic energy?'

He wasn't sure because he didn't know what it was in the first place, but one thing was for sure.

'At the very least, my demonic energy hasn't influenced Seol-Ah while we were sleeping together.'

If that were the case, he would have found at least a tiny bit of demonic energy within her. It was his own demonic energy, so there was no way he wouldn't be able to find traces of it.

Kang-Woo opened his eyes narrowly.

'If my demonic energy hasn't influenced her...'

The chances of the Seed of Corruption having been sown in her would be drastically lowered.

"... It's no wonder."

There was no word more unfit for Seol-Ah, who was so kind that not even Kim Si-Hun could hold a candle to her, than corruption.

'Then who could it be?'

"..."

Kang-Woo remained silent.,

If it wasn't Raphael or Seol-Ah, then there was only one person that it could be.

'... Uriel.'

If it wasn't either of them, then the only other person he could think of was Uriel.

'It's more than likely.'

Uriel's mental state had gotten drastically more unstable after Raphael's death.

Uriel's obsession was 'affection.' Considering how Uriel had acted toward Kang-Woo recently, it was no exaggeration to say that his obsession was nearing dangerous levels.

'There's no one else but Uriel.'

The only person who was as mentally unstable as Uriel right now was Halcyon, who was currently much more stable than she had been before.

There was no more doubt in Kang-Woo's mind.

'The Seed of Corruption was sown in Uriel.'

"C-Can I put my clothes back on now, Kang-Woo?"

"Oh, yeah. It's fine."

Seol-Ah dressed back up.

Vrrrr.

Just then, Kang-Woo's smartphone vibrated. Seol-Ah picked it up to pass it to him.

"Kang-Woo, you have a te—"

Her hand stopped just as she was about to hand him his smartphone—she saw that he'd received over a hundred messages from someone with the ID 'Yuriel ?'.

She opened the chat without realizing it.

Yuriel ?: [Thanks for being with me today.]

Yuriel ?: [You said you were free in three days, right?]

Yuriel ?: [It's boring being alone.]

Yuriel ?: [What are you doing now?]

Yuriel ?: [I want to eat that kimchi stew thing again.]

Yuriel ?: [Oh, why don't I take this chance to move to Seoul? The internet connection here is way too slow.]

Yuriel ?: [Hey, answer me.]

Yuriel ?: [I miss you.]

Yuriel ?: [... It's too quiet here.]

Yuriel ?: [Yeah, I think it'd be best to live around your area. Wouldn't that be better for you too?]

"..."

Seol-Ah froze with the smartphone in hand. The light in her eyes instantly disappeared. Not noticing this, Kang-Woo was off in his thoughts.

Riiing.

"Hm?"

He heard the chime of a bell.

[The 'Seed of Corruption' has begun to bloom.]

[The prerequisite quest has successfully commenced!]

"Eh?"

What was this?

'I haven't done anything.'

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