Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Paf-!

The Demon Cult members were decapitated and blown away by the glowing sword.

It was a horrifying scene. An angry god was standing there, covered in blood.

"How dare you…"

It was a voice filled with sadness.

The golden energy that had appeared suddenly started to die down.

The Hero God Tyrion had descended by borrowing KangWoo's body.

He was breathing heavily while feeling an anger that couldn't be resisted.

"Mr. Tyrion…"

"Gaia's child…" Tyrion whispered. He kept talking while looking really sad.

"Don't listen to what those evil demons are saying."

"I… I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't listen to demons—they're always trying to deceive you with sweet words."

"I'll remember that."

Gaia bowed after hearing advice that seemed honest.

But there was still a doubt left…

Kim ShiHoon spoke instead of Gaia.

"Mr. Tyrion, didn’t you die because of what happened before?"

The blue message which had appeared in front of them…

No, even if it weren't because of the message window, Tyrion had said he would inherit his strength while risking being extinguished.

The god they thought had died after giving his strength to KangWoo was talking through him as if nothing had happened, so it was understandable that he would have doubts.

"…"

Flinch. KangWoo's body trembled a bit.

But he hesitated only for a short while. As if he'd expected that question, he began explaining.

"That's right. To be more precise, it was my 'divinity' that died. Right now, I'm just a shell of my former self."

"Ah…"

"I probably won't be able to descend many more times, but I wanted to tell you this before things got bigger."

He spoke with an intense look in his eyes.

"Dear heroes, don't be fooled by demons. The moment you listen to their words, your minds will be contaminated."

It was a desperate voice. The golden light around them was starting to get weaker.

"When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

The light turned off.

"Haa! Haa!"

KangWoo breathed heavily while grabbing his heart.

He turned his head and looked at his surroundings.

"What just…?"

"Mr. Tyrion descended through Hyeongnim's body."

"What?"

KangWoo seemed surprised. He looked at his hands as if he couldn't see what Kim ShiHoon was saying.

"Don't you remember anything?"

"Yes… but more than that, didn’t he die?"

"He said that his divinity died, but he was still alive within you."

"Ah…"

A short exclamation left KangWoo's mouth.

He looked at his body as if he were moved.

"I see. He was still alive inside me…"

"We realized how much Mr. Tyrion cared for us."

Gaia talked with a sad tone in her voice.

"I wasn't aware of his thoughts, and I…"

"No. I know why Ms. Gaia said something like that."

KangWoo shook his head.

"I was also wondering that. Why are they trying to push the world to its extinction?"

"Mr. Tyrion said we shouldn't listen to their words."

"I see…"

He nodded.

Don't listen to what a demon says.

They were words they probably wouldn't be able to ignore easily since they had been said by Tyrion, who made a huge effort to descend.

KangWoo's expression hardened as if he'd understood the meaning behind those words.

'Oh, fuck. I almost screwed up.'

His heart beat faster.

'To think that she'd asked questions to the Demon Cult in that situation.'

He could understand Gaia's actions.

She'd lost too many times to Satan, so it would be weird if she didn't feel anxious at all.

It was amazing she had been able to resist for such a long time.

'But I survived thanks to Mr. Tyrion.'

Things could have gotten twisted because of the Demon Cult.

'Those mean bastards…'

He remembered them reacting as if they didn't follow Satan or hadn't killed Reinald or Alec.

Instead of denying, they made a detailed act while tilting their heads as if they were asking what they were talking about.

Their acting was so great that they even almost deceived him.

'Someone might have thought it really wasn't them that did it.'

Tyrion's loyal apostle…

Even he, the successor of hero Reinald, had been confused, so it wasn't hard to estimate how good their acting skills were.

KangWoo opened his mouth while shaking his head.

"This isn't the time to think about why they've done such evil things."

He turned around.

There was a huge jungle. He could feel demons approaching them through there.

‘Tyrion's right.’

‘It isn’t the time to think about why the innocent Reinald or Alec died.’

Boom! Boom!

"They're coming."

After saying those short words, KangWoo and the other Guardians took out their weapons.

[Hahaha! You dumb, Jaraxas! You asked for help because you couldn't get rid of a human?!]

[I'll show you how scary demons are!]

‘Ding ding…’

He heard voices.

'It finally arrived.'

The food delivery he'd been waiting such a long time for had finally arrived.

KangWoo gulped and raised Del Lain.

'They're here!!!'

He stomped on the ground and quickly rushed toward the demons that were leaking demonic energy.

Crack-!

[Cough!]

A demon’s head was smashed by Del Lain; blood poured in all directions.

The tips of KangWoo's mouth went up.

'I'm going to pay with a credit card!!'

The annihilation had just begun.

* * *

[Cough! Wh-what the?!]

[What the fuck?!]

Desperate shouts were heard.

It was overwhelming.

There was no other way to explain it.

Someone they wouldn't believe was a human was sweeping them away.

"Ha-ab!"

[Ugh!]

The problem wasn't just the one person who was at the forefront…

Those that were behind him weren't weak and worthless at all.

All of them had a strength that was higher than a demon from the 7th hell. No, among them, a few were even stronger than that.

[H-human, ask for more support!]

"U-understood!"

A Demon Cult member who arrived with them took out a communication crystal.

'Four that are at a world-ranker level?'

The old man with a sword, the red-haired girl with chains, the blond woman with a rapier, and the young man holding a sword that emitted a blue light…

They seemed to be world-ranking players at just a glance.

'And…'

Crack-!

[AAGGHH!]

[STOP THAT DEMON!!]

The human who was wearing a white mask and was wielding a sword that emitted golden light…

'Just what…?'

He had an overwhelming strength that couldn't be compared to a world ranker.

The members of the Demon Cult were so surprised that they couldn’t close their mouths after seeing him one-sidedly annihilate the demons from Hell. It was so one-sided that they felt bad for them.

'It's dangerous.'

If things went like that, the summoning ceremony that was the core of the plan could be interrupted.

'I cannot let that happen!'

The amount of money the Demon Cult had invested in the summoning ceremony was huge. The Apostle of Evil, no, even the higher-ups had many expectations riding on the plan.

Failure wasn't an option.

"You must resist a bit more!!" he desperately shouted.

There wasn't much time left before the main summoning would take place.

If 'that’ demon was successfully summoned, they would be able to eliminate that human easily.

Boom-!

"Resist a bit more?"

"Haa!"

The monster that was annihilating the demons approached him in an instant.

He grabbed him by the collar and spoke.

"It seems like something will happen if you resist, huh?"

"H-hiic!"

A scary energy burst forth.

A fear he had never felt while encountering numerous demons up until that point invaded his consciousness.

"Ah, aah."

His mouth fell open, and a fear he couldn't refuse invaded his mind.

The eyes he could see behind the mask…

They were too full of madness to say he was a hero fighting demons. His head became blank after seeing KangWoo’s eyes.

"Now… Say it. What are you waiting for?"

"I… I can't…"

"You entered the Demon Cult because you want eternal life, right? You wanted to become immortal, so what's the point of that if you die here?"

"…"

"Loyalty to demons? Admiration? What's the point of those things?"

It was a sweet-sounding voice.

"Don't you want to live?"

A temptation he couldn't refuse was dangled in front of him. The will of wanting to live stimulated him.

"You can't be honest. No one is going to blame you. After all, there was nothing you could do in this situation."

"There's nothing I could've done…"

"Yes. Others would have also probably fallen in a similar manner,” KangWoo said in a low whisper.

He began nodding.

'Yes. There's nothing I can do in this situation.'

He was a monster who'd annihilated those strong demons.

How could he resist such a monster?

'There's no other thing I can do…'

He nodded.

He looked at the demons and his partners that had been killed.

He was scared. He didn't want to die.

He felt that he was about to lose his mind from the fear. Somehow, he felt that, to get away from it, he had to listen to his request.

"I promise you, if you tell me the truth, I'll guarantee your life. I promise it in the name of Tyrion."

"Tyrion…?"

It was the first time he'd heard such a name.

"It's the name of the god I serve."

"…"

He remained silent. His thoughts started to race.

'As expected. He's a hero, huh?'

The cliche of the person who a god had chosen…

But thanks to that, he was able to calm down a bit.

'Now that I think about it, the Guardians also serve a god, right?'

The servants of gods that were interfering with their plans…

It seemed like the monster in front of them was one of those people.

'Then…'

The fear inside him disappeared. A smile appeared on his face.

'I can live.'

A servant of a god had made a promise in the name of the god he served.

He didn't think that someone who called himself a hero wouldn't fulfill a promise made in the name of their god.

'If I survive…'

If he survived, he could always make a comeback.

He would be able to obtain the eternal life he so desperately wanted.

"The summoning ceremony…"

The hesitation lasted for a short moment. He opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

* * *

"Summoning a demon from the 9th hell, huh?"

A smile appeared on KangWoo's face after hearing the explanation from the Demon Cult member.

The 9th hell…

It was the deepest part of Hell—a place where only the strongest demons were gathered.

'Yes. I thought you'd be able to summon.'

Devouring a demon from the 7th or 8th hell was great, but a demon from the 9th hell was on another level.

That could be seen just by the fact that he hadn't been able to fulfill the condition for the Demonic Soul even after absorbing hundreds of souls of demons, but that condition was fulfilled after he absorbed the souls of Malphas and Phenex.

'There isn't much left.'

He'd killed tens of demons but wasn't able to reach 130 stat yet.

…But he felt that there wasn't much left before he reached it.

If he killed a demon from the 9th hell and absorbed his soul, he would be easily able to reach 130 of a stat.

'Good.'

His throat burned with thirst.

KangWoo laughed. He would soon be able to get rid of that thirst.

"Thank you for the information."

He raised the sword and stabbed the Demon Cult member without hesitating.

Stab-

"Cough?!"

The Demon Cult member looked at him in confusion.

"Wh-why?"

The promise that he would let him live if told the truth…

How could he easily break a promise made in the name of a god?

"Y-you told me you would let me live."

He extended his hand, drenched with blood, toward him. He widened his eyes and shouted.

"You promised it in the name of the god you serve!!"

Cough. He vomited blood.

He couldn't understand it.

The heroes he knew, those that served a god, weren't like that.

At least they were beings who would fulfill a promise made in the name of the god they served.

'Who's this bastard?'

He hadn't even hesitated.

It was as if a promise made to a god had absolutely no meaning to him.

KangWoo opened his mouth after seeing his confused look.

"Ah. I was really about to do that, but I thought about it carefully, you see?"

He sounded serious.

"No one will know if you die, right?"

"Wh-what does that…?"

"If you die, no one will know I didn't fulfill a promise made in the name of a god."

"W-wait…"

"Why hadn't I thought of such a good way until now?"

"What nonsense…?"

KangWoo laughed at him.

He twisted the sword he'd used to stab him.

"If there isn't a witness, it's not a murder!"

It was as if a ray of light had entered his mind.

KangWoo trembled in excitement after realizing a new truth.

'EUREKA!!'