Chapter 23: Demon Followers (2)

"H-how. Wh-What..."

Jo DeokHyun was lost for words.

The young man he thought was an offering had created a hellfire in his hands just like his own.

'No.'

It wasn't the same hellfire.

Just a glimpse was enough to know that the stranger's hellfire was on another level compared to his.

'I can't win.'

Jo DeokHyun's eyes rolled over.

His last hope, the Authority, had been completely crushed.

Jo DeokHyun couldn't think of a way to beat KangWoo.

"..."

His face became pale, and he started to tremble.

He couldn't hide his commotion.

'What should I do?'

It was clear that he wouldn't be able to win.

Just looking at the hellfire on his hand was enough to know it.

Cold sweat dripped through Jo DeokHyun's forehead. You could feel the doubt in his face.

KangWoo looked with great interest at the trembling Jo DeokHyun.

'What is he going to do?'

He had shown him that he wasn't going to be able to win against him, so KangWoo was wondering how he was going to react.

His question was soon answered.

After thinking about it for a while, Jo DeokHyun knelt down and raised both arms.

"Oh!! Manifestation of the great Andras!!"

"Huh...?"

"I've been waiting for you to descend for a while!!"

"..."

A short laugh came out of KangWoo's mouth after hearing Jo DeokHyun's heated words.

"Ha."

"You're our king, god, messiah! The tyrant who should rule over this world!"

While KangWoo burst into laughter, Jo DeokHyun kept performing his passionate performance.

'This fucker...'

'He's a quick-witted one, huh?'

KangWoo couldn't believe how quickly Jo DeokHyun changed his attitude as the situation worsened for him.

He knew he would react somehow, but he never thought the guy would kneel down and praise him.

"Aahh, great Andras! I've known everything from the first moment I saw you!"

'You didn't.'

"Do you know for how long I've been waiting for this day to come?!"

'You weren't.'

"Sniff! I, Jo DeokHyun, am so moved that my heart will explode!"

'Bullshit.'

KangWoo was astonished by Jo DeokHyun's performance.

"What are you doing?! Everyone, kneel down! He's the one who's going to lead us toward eternal life!"

"Ah... Yes."

"Quickly!"

Jo DeokHyun shouted to the other guild members who were just standing there.

The other guild members looked at each other with confused looks.

KangWoo let out a short exclamation after seeing Jo DeokHyun on the floor.

'Quite impressive.'

It was hard for a human to leave behind his pride and kneel in such a way.

KangWoo felt a kind of respect toward Jo DeokHyun by how willing he was to put himself in such a miserable situation.

'Not bad.'

KangWoo smiled while looking at him.

KangWoo didn't hate miserable people.

The people he hated were the ones who, even when it was obvious they would lose, didn't give up.

He preferred people who could adapt quickly based on the situation and were willing to throw away their pride for a chance of survival.

'Since he's willing to put himself in such a miserable position, I can't stay still.'

While feeling a weird sense of rivalry, he stepped a foot forward.

Stomp-!

"Hahaha! You finally recognized me! I'm Andras! King of ten thousand demons and the one who controls the hellfire. The Emperor of Fire!!"

KangWoo used the demonic energy to emit a louder sound.

Most of the words he said were a lie.

Andras wasn't strong enough to call himself king of anything. Not only that, but the one known as the Emperor of Fire was one of the seven archdukes, Mammon.

But most importantly, he wasn't Andras.

The only thing that was true among the things he'd said was that Andras was the one who controlled the hellfire.

"Long live Andras! The king of ten thousand demons! Emperor of Fire!!"

But there was no way Jo DeokHyun knew about those things—he just hit the floor with his head while praising him loudly.

If someone else saw the scene, they'd probably think that he really had respect and felt admiration toward KangWoo.

'Although, there's no way that's the case.'

The only reason why he was acting like that was that he knew he wouldn't be able to win against KangWoo.

KangWoo smirked and sat on the altar.

* * *

'That's not the important thing.'

The important thing was that Jo DeokHyun had surrendered to him, and he had a lot of information he was interested in.

"There are things I need to discuss with you, so ask your subordinates to leave."

"Understood!"

With his head against the floor, he glanced at his subordinates.

They took the injured people and left the room.

After he was left alone with Jo DeokHyun, KangWoo opened his mouth.

"There are a few things I wanted to ask you."

"Ask me anything, great And—"

"Let's stop with that. You know that I'm not Andras."

"..."

With his mouth closed, he looked at KangWoo with sharp eyes.

"Who... Are you?"

"I'm the one who's going to ask the questions."

"Ugh..."

"First, tell me the details about the ceremony. How are you doing it? From where did you learn to create a crack in the air by using the mana inside the mana stones?"

The thing he was the most curious about was how Jo DeokHyun had created a crack in space.

The power that created the crack was too weird to think it of as an attribute's effect.

"I learned how to create a crack when I received the preaching."

"Preaching?"

"Yes."

"What are you talking about?"

"One day, a man wearing a demon's mask suddenly appeared before me and said that he'd give us eternal life if we converted to the 'Demon Cult."

"And you accepted that?"

KangWoo looked at Jo DeokHyun, astonished.

Who in their right mind would accept such a suspicious proposal?

"It's... That he was too strong."

"Too strong?"

"Yes. He was able to overwhelm the entire guild almost instantly and then asked if we were going to listen to him or die. We have no other choice!"

"So, where's that demon mask guy now?"

"I... I don't know. I haven't seen him again since that day.'

"You haven't seen him even once?"

"Y-yes."

"You don't even know how to contact him?"

"I don't know. Sometimes, he sends us orders via letter."

"Hmm. Despite that, you followed his orders so enthusiastically?"

"Ugh! Th-that..."

Jo DekHyun avoided KangWoo's gaze while trembling.

KangWoo glared at him.

'Probably from a certain point, he became more motivated to do the rituals without any external pressure.'

Maybe he'd been forced to do it at first, but he probably couldn't resist the desire to get more of the sweet strength that the demonic energy gave.

'Just who is he talking about?'

Demon Cult...

It was a name that reminded him of one of those cults full of crazy fanatics, but their influence and power didn't seem to be a joke.

Firstly, there was no way that someone who knew how to create a crack that led toward Hell was a weakling.

KangWoo turned his head around toward Jo DeokHyun.

"Do you have that letter with you?"

"Here."

"Just one...?"

"Y-yes."

Jo DeokHyun acted as if he was trying to portray himself as if he were a victim and nodded.

"Hmm. I see."

With his eyes narrowed, KangWoo stroked his chin.

"Are you the only one who was preached to by the demon cult?"

"I-I'm not sure. I've never met another person."

Jo DeokHyun shook his head while saying that with a trembling voice.

KangWoo clicked his tongue.

'There's no way he's the only one.'

He had no way to know who was behind the demon cult and why they had approached Jo DeokHyun.

But unless the guy was an idiot, there was no way he would execute his plan just by trusting in Jo DeokHyun alone.

Jo DeokHyun didn't look like someone who was useless, but he also didn't seem to be someone capable.

There was no way that someone strong enough to interfere in a dimension would leave everything to a human like that.

'There are probably other people, too.'

People who worshipped an unknown evil god...

KangWoo was sure that other people the demon cult had influenced were hidden somewhere.

"Tsk."

KangWoo clicked his tongue while thinking about the situation.

"So, what order did that evil god give you? To stack demonic energy inside your body through the ceremony and become stronger?"

"N-no."

"Then?"

"To increase the influence of the guild and turn as many people as possible into fiends. According to him, once that happens, he'd be able to turn Earth into Hell..."

"..."

KangWoo's eyes shone sharply.

'Using demonic energy to turn players into demons...'

He wasn't sure what those people were ultimately trying to achieve.

He wasn't sure what meaning turning players into demons had...

But there was something he was sure about...

'These fuckers...'

KangWoo frowned.

'Create a Hell on Earth?'

—He couldn't let them do as they pleased.