After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 4 - I Am Wrath

'I'm sure he wasn't there before.'

Oh Kang-Woo didn't know why, but Satan had not been among the soldiers during his battle against Bael when he opened the Third Door and summoned the army of the Abyss. He was sure of it because he had actively looked for Satan at the time.

'There's no way I missed him.'

The army of the Abyss was unfathomably large, but he was the master of the Demonic Sea. As long as the army of the Abyss was born from the Demonic Sea, he could feel every single one of them despite their countless numbers.

"When the hell did he get in there?"

Kang-Woo tilted his head in wonder.

[A-Aaaahh... I-I am... w-wrath.]

"He's Satan for sure."

Kang-Woo checked if the demon was actually Satan, but no matter how he looked at the demon, it was Satan. Kang-Woo lightly slapped the Satan whom he summoned. Satan was on the shorter end of demons, so even the currently short Kang-Woo could reach Satan's cheek if he got on his tip-toes.

'Well, I guess it doesn't matter that much.'

He didn't care whether or not Satan was trapped in the Demonic Sea at the time.

'I didn't see him when I opened all the Doors, but it's true that I devoured him.'

Rather, it was harder to understand why Satan wasn't summoned when Kang-Woo opened all the Doors against Bael.

"S-Satan!" shouted Balrog in surprise after Satan suddenly appeared.

He stood in front of Kang-Woo to protect him.

"Oh, it's okay. I summoned him."

"You... summoned Satan?"

"Yeah."

Kang-Woo nodded and punched Satan in the stomach.

Wriggle.

Satan's stomach caved in as it turned into black mucus.

"For fuck's sake. I can't even test it out properly because of my puny demonic energy stores."

Kang-Woo wanted to test if the soldier of the Abyss that he summoned was still immortal but he couldn't deal enough damage to even test it because of how little demonic energy he had.

"Balrog, give him a good smack."

"You want me to hit Satan?"

"Yeah."

"As you command."

Balrog nodded and clenched his right fist, which had already been healed from its ragged appearance after attacking Kang-Woo.

"Huup!"

Burst!

Satan's upper body exploded with a single swing from Balrog. Black mucus splattered all over the place, but only for a moment.

Wriggle, wriggle.

The black mucus began to gather as if time was being rewound. Satan's upper body returned to normal in no time.

[A-Aaaahh.]

"As I thought, they've retained their immortality."

Kang-Woo smiled as he stared at Satan, who regenerated instantly. The main advantage of the army of the Abyss was not how strong they were but the fact that they didn't die. Kang-Woo could use them effectively as meat shields as long as they retained their immortality.

'And it's not like it consumes my demonic energy when they regenerate.'

As long as he had enough demonic energy to maintain the summon, the skill did not consume additional demonic energy, no matter how much the summons got hurt. Although strength was not the summons' strong point, it did not matter since they were far stronger than Kang-Woo's current self.

"Nice."

Kang-Woo smiled in satisfaction.

[A-Arghh. It... hurts.]

"Eh?"

Kang-Woo was left wide-eyed after hearing the words from Satan's mouth after he completely regenerated.

'It hurts?'

He had no idea that the army of the Abyss could feel pain.

"Come to think of it, it kinda looks like he has some of his consciousness remaining."

Kang-Woo examined Satan with great interest. Although extremely faint, its consciousness was intact.

"He won't defy orders or anything, would he?"

If Satan's consciousness remained, it also meant that he could do as he liked once summoned.

'I'll have to put it to the test.'

Kang-Woo fiercely glared at Satan. Satan flinched.

"Stay still, dammit," commanded Kang-Woo with a smile. Satan did not defy Kang-Woo and stood at attention. "Balrog. Beat him up until I stop you."

"Yes, my king." Balrog nodded and clenched his fists. His red muscles swelled as if they would explode. "Fuuu..."

He took a deep breath and lowered his stance.

Bash, bash, bash—!!

Balrog barraged Satan with immensely fast punches.

[A-Aaaahh. It hurts... I am... Ahh...]

"Haaaaaaaahhh!!"

Balrog continued to punch the mumbling Satan. Different parts of his body were blown away.

[A-Aaaahh.]

Satan went through a cycle of destruction and regeneration, turning into a mound of black mud.

"Hm."

Kang-Woo got fired up as he watched Balrog beat up Satan. He realized that he had no chance to let loose for the past month.

"Satan..."

Kang-Woo boiled with rage. It was only natural; although the demon in front of him was nothing but a puppet, it was still Satan. He could never forget the vile demon's atrocities.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!" yelled Kang-Woo as he madly swung his fists.

Bash! Bash!

It was nothing compared to Balrog's punches, but Satan's mudlike body burst with each of Kang-Woo's punches.

"YOU KILLED ALEC!"

The kind-hearted Alec Osborne, who hesitated to kill even his enemies, was brutally murdered by Satan.

"REYNALD...! DON'T TELL ME YOU FORGOT ABOUT HIM!!"

The brave and righteous hero, who had crossed from Aernor to Earth, met a cruel end at Satan's hands.

"AHHH, LUDWIG! LUDWIIIIIIIIG!"

The agent of the angels— the saint who resented evil more than anyone else— fell for Satan's tricks and turned into a hideous demon so malicious that he even tried to kill Kim Si-Hun, his close friend.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU KILLED THEM ALL!"

Kang-Woo felt like his mind was going blank from the surging rage. His heart ached terribly as he thought about the unfortunate heroes killed by Satan. He punched without rest as he felt his demonic energy being consumed at an alarming rate.

[N-No... it was... n-not me...]

"YOU BASTARD!"

Kang-Woo grew more furious as Satan made excuses as he stuttered.

"RAPHAEL! YES, THAT RIGHTEOUS ANGEL! YOU— Wait, was that someone else?"

'It might have been Rakiel. Oh well. They're pretty much the same, so let's just say Satan killed Raphael.'

"RAAAAAAAAHHH!!"

Kang-Woo's fury skyrocketed. He squeezed out his remaining strength and gathered it around his fist.

Bash!

He punched Satan with a fist enveloped in demonic energy. It happened to sync perfectly with Balrog's powerful strike, destroying Satan entirely and splattering him all over the place.

"Fuuu. I feel so much better now." Kang-Woo loosened his shoulders with a smile. He felt refreshed, letting loose after a month of being forced to do nothing as Han Seol-Ah took care of him. "A person's gotta move around."

Beads of sweat on his forehead shone like a gem. Kang-Woo clenched his fists, deeply moved.

'This is the value of labor!'

Kang-Woo wondered if this was the true meaning of life.

Wriggle.

Satan began to regenerate again as Kang-Woo was off in his thoughts. It was far slower compared to before, when he was regenerating almost instantly.

"They're immortal, but the times it takes to regenerate seems to slow down the more they get hurt," Balrog commented.

"Looks like it. I had no idea."

This was not the case during Kang-Woo's battle against Bael. At the time, the army of the Abyss regenerated instantly, no matter how many times they were wiped out.

'It's either the limit of Abyss Summoning or it has to do with me.'

Kang-Woo would not be surprised if it were a form of penalty because his body was in the middle of reconstruction.

[A-Aaaahh. Arghh. I... I aaaam...]

"That aside," Kang-Woo muttered as he turned away from the mumbling Satan.

The clean training room had become a mess, likely due to the extreme violence. Kang-Woo lightly nudged Balrog, who helped him regain a portion of his powers, and turned toward the door.

"Right, let's have Satan clean this up," Kang-Woo remarked.

"A great idea. Will you be heading back up?"

"Yeah, I should be getting back. Otherwise, Darling will get sad."

"Hehehe. It is good that you treasure the queen, but you should also give Lilith some attention."

"Lilith?" Kang-Woo asked as he tilted his head.

"That woman has been whining constantly about how she barely gets to meet you these days."

"Oh..."

Kang-Woo had not met others for a month because Seol-Ah kept him from going anywhere.

'I should talk to Darling about it.'

Considering Lilith's unconditional devotion and love for him, he couldn't just ignore her.

'Looks like I'll have to deal with some more shit.'

Kang-Woo had been putting off dealing with the women in his life other than Seol-Ah by making various excuses, but he couldn't postpone it any longer. He needed to make a decision.

'Whether to accept their love or reject them cleanly.'

He couldn't make a decision so important by himself since Seol-Ah was the most important woman in his life.

"Alright. I'll come back tomorrow, so I'll see you then."

"Yes, my king," Balrog replied as he bowed.

Kang-Woo left the training room and headed to the elevator.

Satan was left alone in the mess of a training room. He gripped a broom and slowly cleaned the floor as Kang-Woo ordered.

[I-I am... wrath...]

Satan mumbled as if weeping, a single tear running down his cheek.

***

Creak.

"Kang-Woooooooo!!"

"Kurgh!"

Seol-Ah ran like the wind to Kang-Woo as he opened the door and hugged him.

"Haaaahh. I've missed you so much, Kang-Woo."

Seol-Ah hugged Kang-Woo tightly and rubbed her cheeks against his hair. One would never think they had only been apart for a few hours if they didn't know any better.

"Right then, shall we have dinner?"

Seol-Ah smiled as if she were the happiest woman in the world and lifted Kang-Woo.

"Ngh," Kang-Woo groaned.

'I can't live like this anymore...!'

He had realized the true meaning of life— the value of labor. He could no longer live as a worker who was denied his freedom by the bourgeoisie.

'Rise! Rise, Proletariat! Rise, Marxists! Rise against capitalism and take hold of your freedom!!'

"Darling, I can't—"

"Fufufu. You're so cute, Kang-Woo. Oh, would you like to touch my breasts?"

"Yes, please."

'Let's take a rain check on that uprising.'