Chapter 276: My Way (1)

"Wh-What the—!!"

Shalgiel's eyes widened as he saw his subordinate's head explode.

His vision slowed down, and everything unfolded in slow motion; he clearly saw the skull shatter, the brain burst, and the white blood pour. He quickly extended his hand, but it had been too late.

He glared at Oh Kang-Woo. Biting his lip, he shouted, "H-how dare you...!! Are you out of your mind, human?!"

Kang-Woo had done more than just kill a single angel. He'd broken the relationship between two organizations and had pushed a star to ruin.

It was as if a diplomat from a superpower had come to a weak nation after receiving a request for assistance and died there. It could even lead to a war between the angels and humans.

"What do you expect me to do?"

Despite having done something absolutely insane, Kang-Woo was calm.

No. It was as if he hadn't even hesitated.

Kang-Woo extended his hand, and the heads of the angels holding Seol-Ah also exploded.

"K-Kang-Woo?!" Seol-Ah exclaimed.

Kang-Woo pulled Seol-Ah toward him after she was freed from the angels, embracing her with one hand.

"You son of a..." Shalgiel ground his teeth at the unexpected development of events. "I see, so this is your answer."

There was no mistaking Kang-Woo's intentions—he was going to choose war for the sake of a single human. He had been blinded by emotions and had sacrificed the greater good.

It was a choice so stupid and ignorant that Shalgiel should have expected such from a human.

"I feel ashamed for the bit of hope I held for humanity."

Without hesitation, Shalgiel unsheathed his sword.

Raphael had high hopes for humans, but that wasn't the case for Shalgiel.

He remembered his time in Aernor before coming to Earth. Forget focusing on eradicating demons, they were too busy fighting for their own interests and ambitions, despite Evil God Lucifer being alive.

Earth was no different. Even if the world and cultures were different, in the end, they were humans.

"Hope, my ass," Kang-Woo said. "Big words from a guy who brought all these people."

Just the fact that Shalgiel had brought nearly a hundred subordinates proved that he had never intended to solve this peacefully.

Kang-Woo couldn't help but laugh in disbelief at Shalgiel's words. He provoked Shalgiel with a beckoning wave.

"Try to take her if you can."

A smile crept onto his face. Since he'd decided to flip the table, there was no need to put on a performance. He didn't need any complicated calculations or schemes—he could just run as wild as he wanted.

Rumble!

The buildings around them shook, and a breathtakingly dense demonic energy surged from Kang-Woo.

"What...?"

Shalgiel's eyes widened. The human was enveloped in black demonic energy.

'No.'

His body trembled—he'd never felt demonic energy this thick before.

Even Satan wasn't at this level.

"Wh-What in the world...?"

Shalgiel grabbed his head in chaos.

Kang-Woo was one of the core members of Guardians; he was the apostle who'd inherited the power of Tirion, God of Heroes. Despite that, he was able to emit such powerful demonic energy?

"N-No way."

He recalled that evil ritual and how it had summoned Kang-Woo.

"Y-You are..."

The thought that they had been deceived crossed his mind, and his mouth fell open in shock.

"Youuuuu!!"

Shalgiel gripped his sword tighter as an intense white light poured from his weapon.

'We had all been deceived.'

He, Raphael, Guardians... everyone had been dancing in that demon's hands.

'Then...'

Shalgiel looked at Seol-Ah. To be more precise, he was looking at Seraph's slumbering soul within her.

"Sh-Shit. So that was it!!" Shalgiel exclaimed.

Kang-Woo must have already known everything. He had known that Seraph's soul was inside the human woman, so he had seduced her.

Just like...

Rakiel.

"Kill that demon!!" Shalgiel cried out.

The delicate woman that the demon was holding...

He felt like he could see Seraph crying in the Demon King's grasp.

"We must save Lady Seraph from that demon at all costs!!" he desperately shouted.

Kang-Woo chuckled.

"Man, now that I think about it, this paints a funny picture."

He started to laugh out loud.

From an outside point of view, it definitely looked like an angel was being held hostage by a demon.

'How fun.'

He smiled and felt that he could use it.

"Darling. I'm sure you're confused, but just give me a few minutes."

"H-Huh? K-Kang-Woo?"

Seol-Ah was trembling as if she couldn't understand what was happening. She knew that Kang-Woo was a demon, but she never thought that he'd kill an angel so easily. After all, he had always been the one to emphasize the importance of their alliance with the angels.

'A-All for me...'

There was no need to think too deeply about why Kang-Woo was doing something so absurd.

Seol-Ah bit her lip. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't happy, but she was more worried about Kang-Woo.

'Kang-Woo.'

She started to tear up.

She couldn't understand anything about Seraph or the seal, but she could understand that Kang-Woo was trying to protect her even if that meant he had to give up on many of the things he'd worked hard for.

He didn't mind causing a war if that meant he'd be able to save her.

"Do you know why the king had declared war on the princes of Hell?

"It was because of that massive ball of muscles over there."

She finally understood what Lilith had said in the past.

Ba-dump, ba-dump.

Her heart started to beat faster, and she started to feel thirsty, her chest feeling hot. She momentarily thought that she shouldn't be feeling this way, but...

"Haaa."

She let out a breath full of yearning and looked at Kang-Woo with hazy eyes. She couldn't see it, but the wing symbols on her back flickered black for a very short moment.

Without noticing that change, Kang-Woo shouted toward the angels, "You can say goodbye to Seraph if you take one more step!"

"Kuh!"

The angels stopped moving.

Kang-Woo burst into laughter.

"Shiiiet, this actually works?"

"You wicked demon...!"

"Yes, I am a demon~"

Kekeke.

Kang-Woo burst into laughter.

Crack!!

He swung his hand horizontally. The Ruler of Demonic Energy Trait, which had risen to SSS rank, activated. A storm of black blades appeared in the air and engulfed the angels.

"Kurgh!"

"Gaaah!"

Screams echoed, and Kang-Woo hummed.

"L-Lord Shalgiel!"

"Kuh! Sh-Shit!!"

Shalgiel trembled in bewilderment. The human with Seraph's soul was being held hostage, so there was nothing they could do.

"Huehuehuehuehuehue!"

The demon king continued to laugh and move his hands. Black blades appeared wherever he gestured, and attacked the angels.

Not only would they have lost when fighting the demon king head on, he even had a hostage, hindering their actions. There was no need to wonder who would win.

"Shit! All forces, attack at once!!"

Shalgiel stomped on the ground and leaped forward. They wouldn't stand a chance just standing around as they were all killed. They had to end things quickly so that the demon king couldn't think about using the hostage.

"Haap!"

He held up his sword, which was shining with brilliant sacred power, and rose up into the air by flapping his six wings. He meant to split the demon's head in two, but...

"Are you sure you wanna do that?"

Kang-Woo grabbed Seol-Ah's neck. Of course, he had no intention of hurting her.

'But...'

"Kuh!"

Shalgiel's sword stopped, and Kang-Woo burst into laughter.

"Pfft! Kahahahah!"

It was truly ironic; the one that Kang-Woo was protecting while bearing the risk of war was being used to make his enemies powerless.

Shalgiel's face turned red.

"Y-you son of a bitch...!"

"Yeah, yeah~ I'm a son of a bitch, I'm a scumbag, I'm a filthy demon, I disgust you, blah blah blah. Say whatever you want~"

Those were all things he'd heard during the thousand-year war.

Kang-Woo slowly walked toward Shalgiel. Even while walking, he waved his hands and massacred the angels. Slowly approaching, he lightly slapped Shalgiel's cheek.

"Are you angry? Huh?"

"Y-you...!"

"If you're angry... you know what to do, right?"

Kakakaka.

Once again, he burst into laughter.

Any sign of logical thought disappeared from Shalgiel's eyes. Without even infusing sacred power into his sword, Shalgiel charged at Kang-Woo.

"Aaarrrggghhh!!!"

"Shiiiet, it worked like a charm."

Kang-Woo smirked and narrowed his eyes as he dodged.

'Authority of the Beholder.'

His senses expanded, and he saw everything around him in a bird's-eye view. He counted the remaining angels.

'Twenty-three.'

He'd really killed a lot.

Kang-Woo leisurely waved his hand again.

It wasn't enough.

He kept killing the angels who were standing still and unsure of what to do.

'It's so damn easy.'

It was so easy to the point of being boring. No wonder hostage situations were so difficult to resolve, especially since there was no way they'd be able to give up on the hostage.

"Kuh!"

He even saw a couple of angels trying to escape—they flapped their wings and rose into the air.

Kang-Woo flicked his fingers toward them.

A black spear appeared in the air and pierced through them.

Crack!

"Kurgh!"

'I can't let even a single one escape.'

Kang-Woo's eyes sank.

'Now that I've made a complete mess...'

He had to fix it however he could. His head was already hurting from how he could possibly fix this, so he couldn't leave things like this.

'We have to avoid war at all costs.'

He couldn't let the already-small Guardians forces be reduced due to this.

Kang-Woo's eyes shone sharply as he looked at Shalgiel, who was charging at him in madness.

'If I want to find a way...'

He needed more information.

"Arrgghh!! Y-You son of a biiiiiitch!!"

"Right, now that I've taken care of the rest..."

Kang-Woo let go of Seol-Ah and jumped into the air. He grabbed Shalgiel's head and rammed it into the ground.

"Kurgh!"

Shalgiel screamed.

"Y-You..."

Shalgiel looked up at Kang-Woo from the ground with eyes full of rage, resentment, and malice. His face was so distorted that it was hard to believe he was an angel.

"Alright, there are a lot of things that I want to ask you," Kang-Woo said.

"Kuh! Do you seriously believe I will answer a demon's questions?"

"I do."

Kang-Woo nodded without hesitation. He lowered his head and whispered in Shalgiel's ears, "Because, you see, if you don't answer my questions... Seraph's soul will be annihilated right here and now."

The demon smiled brightly.