Chapter 283: Those Tainted By Darkness, Receive the Judgment of Light (2)

'Urgh, fuuuuuck.'

Oh Kang-Woo grimaced as he collapsed.

'That hurt like a bitch.'

He'd pierced himself with a demonic energy spear, so there was no way it wouldn't hurt. On top of that, he'd used the Authority of Coloring to change the color of his blood while controlling demonic energy from a distance, so his head was also hurting.

'It's harder than I thought.'

Using demonic energy from a distance wasn't hard to do when he'd used it on that lizard last time, but since the target was an archangel, it was really hard.

'I have to use more demonic energy than the sacred power he's emitting.'

That was the main issue.

Kang-Woo was currently coating Raphael's sacred power with demonic energy.

'It would've been dangerous if I hadn't molted.'

Kang-Woo had overwhelmingly more demonic energy compared to the amount of sacred power that Raphael possessed; it was only obvious considering he possessed the Demonic Sea, an infinite pool of demonic energy. However, simply having more demonic energy wasn't enough to pull off something like this.

One could have a water tank as massive as the sea, but if the hose was only two centimeters wide, the water could not extinguish a huge fire. If he had not raised his demonic energy control through molting, he would not have been able to fully conceal Raphael's sacred power.

'But still...'

A smile crept onto Kang-Woo's face. He slightly opened one eye and looked around; Uriel and Raphael were fighting with everything they had.

'I did it.'

He could no longer see the affection for a comrade-in-arms in Uriel's eyes as Uriel showered Raphael with lightning bolts.

'In a one-on-one... Raphael is a bit stronger.'

That was not exactly true; it was just the fundamental difference between a mage and a warrior.

A mage could exert massive firepower under the premise that they were given enough distance and time, but they could not use their power to its full potential if the warrior closed the distance.

Whatever type of magic it was, higher-tier magic required casting, so it was unavoidable.

'That's also why Amon was undervalued despite his power.'

Black magic was the worst in one-on-one battles.

Of course, if at war, Amon could exercise power beyond that of an entire army. Individual power mattered the most in Hell, so mages were not rated highly.

'But...'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

He knew a mage's advantage in large-scale battles very well because he had faced Amon back when Amon was still under Satan. He had also fought alongside Amon when they were at war with Bael's forces.

'If a mage was complemented by a wonderful vanguard who could buy them time to cast...'

They could exercise firepower unfathomable for a mere warrior.

Kang-Woo looked at his lovely little brother, who would fulfill the role of vanguard.

Si-Hun, who had been restlessly staring at Kang-Woo, clenched his sword and stepped forward.

"Shit! Yeon-Joo! We have to prioritize taking down the fallen angel instead of treating hyung-nim!"

"Wh-What?! Can't you see how serious his wound is?! We have to at least perform first aid—"

"Hyung-nim has strong regenerative abilities. Right now, our priority is to take down Raphael."

'Good.'

Kang-Woo nodded while making a satisfied expression.

'He's grown a lot.'

Si-Hun had come a long way from being nothing but a kind-hearted pushover.

"Kuh...!"

'You should kill that temper of yours a little, Yeon-Joo. A girl shouldn't have such a bullish personality...'

"... The hell? I suddenly feel unpleasant."

'You got this, Yeon-Joo noona!'

Tilting her head while frowning, Yeon-Joo also joined the fight. Tian Wuchen and Grace McCubbin soon joined them.

With Si-Hun and three World Rankers joining in, the flow of the battle changed little by little. Uriel gained more and more time to cast, and he poured powerful magic at Raphael.

"Shit! Shit!! Who is it?! Who the hell has done something like...!" Raphael shouted like a madman.

No one was listening to him anymore.

'It's about to end soon.'

Kang-Woo smiled.

"URIEEEEL!!!" Raphael screamed. He continued to say that he was innocent and was being framed, but it was pointless because he was still exuding demonic energy from all over.

Uriel furiously poured attacks on Raphael as if he had decided not to listen to him, and...

"Cough, kurgh."

The majority of Raphael's body had turned into black ash as he had been struck by around three thousand bolts of lightning.

"Uri...el..."

He lonesomely extended his hand out and stammered as if he were trying to say something.

Kang-Woo stared at him.

'This should be enough.'

He moved the demonic energy that was surrounding Raphael and covered his body. Before Raphael could say any last words, Kang-Woo used the Authority of Predation.

Crunch.

'It's a bit scary to use in front of Uriel, but...'

Now that even his Authority of Predation could be used from a distance after his molting, he was confident that he could fool even Uriel's eyes.

"Raphael..."

Thankfully, due to Uriel's shock at having killed his friend with his own hands, he didn't seem to care about Raphael's body disappearing as darkness devoured it. It looked from the outside that he was turning into dust and scattering as if a certain bald man had snapped his finger in a certain superhero film, so there was no way Uriel would think that Raphael was being eaten by someone.

Riiing.

[You have eaten Archangel Raphael.]

[Explosively raising Sacred Power.]

[Sacred Power has risen to 112.]

'Dayum, that's an archangel for you.'

His Sacred Power stat, which had been at 73, had risen to 112 in a flash.

Considering how difficult it was to increase one's stat after it surpassed 100, it truly was an explosive boost.

[You have fulfilled the primary condition of 'Chaos,' the advanced quest of 'Road to Becoming a Demon God.']

[However, the power of 'Chaos' can only be used in its entirety after fulfilling every condition of 'Road to Becoming a Demon God.' A fatal penalty will be placed on the body if used before that.]

'Eh?'

Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

The advanced quest 'Road to Becoming a Demon God,' which had been just question marks until now, had finally been revealed.

'For God's sake, I don't even know the third condition of the final step.'

It was as if he had cleared Stage 4 before Stage 3. Not just that, he couldn't enjoy the rewards given by clearing Stage 4 because he hadn't cleared the one before that yet.

'Dammit, I don't need that shit, so just give me a hint for the third condition.'

He cursed at the system, but there was no way he could expect an answer. He didn't even know what the system was in the first place.

'It doesn't seem to be Gaia's power.'

There was no way Gaia was helping him grow stronger. It was possible that it was a being above her, a being without form that existed simply as a phenomenon of nature.

'I can't really picture what that could be, though.'

Regardless, no matter how many times he had complained to the system, he had never gotten an answer. Casting aside the blue message window in front of him, he focused back on his performance.

"Cough! Cough!"

"Hyung-nim!!"

Kang-Woo vomited red blood, and Si-Hun quickly embraced him.

'Good, good.'

He felt like this was the perfect time for the play's finale.

Kang-Woo turned to look at Uriel, who was staring blankly at the empty space where Raphael had turned to dust and vanished.

'Mm.'

Kang-Woo felt both guilt for making Uriel kill his comrade-in-arms as well as joy that his plan had been a great success.

'In any case, I managed to avoid the worst-case scenario.'

He'd managed to clean up the mess he'd made. He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from rising in relief. It was only natural since he had overcome the risk of going to war with the angels after only having recently wiped out the Demon Cult.

He would have stood up and started laughing if he could.

'Calm down.'

He couldn't ruin this perfect scenario. Kang-Woo closed his eyes and acted as pained as possible.

"H-Healer! Are there any healers here?!"

"... There aren't. Let's move hyung-nim to the Hall of Protection first."

Si-Hun picked up Kang-Woo.

'Oh my.'

Kang-Woo felt like he was about to puke, but he instead coughed while desperately maintaining his act.

'And now, I just have to go back, get treated, and receive ten days of care from Seol-Ah.'

Everything was perfect. Kang-Woo smiled while crying tears of happiness.

Then...

"... Wait, human."

'Hm?'

Uriel walked toward him, and Kang-Woo flinched.

'Fuck, he didn't catch on to anything, did he?'

"Cough! Cough!"

Kang-Woo vomited more blood on purpose.

"... Put that human down."

'Fucking why? You're not trying to stab us in the back after all that, are you?'

"Lord Uriel...?"

"Healing magic isn't my specialty... but there's something I can use."

'Oh.'

Thankfully, it seemed like his worries were unfounded.

Si-Hun nodded and put Kang-Woo down.

"Um • Babra • Ariande."

Uriel cast a spell.

'Well, I was fine after receiving Seol-Ah's healing, so I'm sure it'll be fine.'

Thanks to Han Seol-Ah, Kang-Woo had found out that even healing spells using sacred power were able to heal demons.

Kang-Woo closed his eyes in comfort.

'Right, let's see how an archangel's healing magic compares—'

Tap.

A strange sensation touched his lips.

"Gasp."

Si-Hun's eyes widened, and a confused voice came out of Yeon-Joo, "Wh-What?"

'The hell?'

Kang-Woo opened his eyes just to witness that Uriel was kissing him.

Blue hair that resembled the sky, skin as white as a pearl, and long eyelashes were in view.

'Huh?'

What the fuck?

"That should be enough for first aid. Now you won't die as long as you get some good rest."

Uriel stood up, his face reflecting his mixed feelings.

"Wh-What did you j-j-j-j-just do?" Kang-Woo stammered.

"I told you, first aid. But it only activates through mouth-to-mouth contact, so it can't be helped."

Uriel wiped his mouth while frowning.

"..."

Kang-Woo remained silent and clenched his fists so hard that blood flowed down them.

Anyone else would've been able to brush it off while laughing. It was just first aid, no different from CPR. So, there was no need to pay it any mind.

'Fuck.'

If it weren't for the fact that it was his first kiss with someone other than Lilith...

'Fuuuuck.'

If only he had actually been severely hurt and was actually in real danger...

'Why... fucking why?'

He hadn't even kissed Seol-Ah yet, since he had wanted to do it in the right mood after accumulating virgin power for ten whole millennia.

"Sniff... Urgh... Fuck... Fuck my life... Shit."

The curtains closed.

It had truly been a tragic play for the leads, supporting roles, and spectators alike.

* * *

After recovering from his wounds thanks to Uriel's help, Kang-Woo refused Si-Hun's proposition to take him home and returned to his house at full speed.

"Darliiiiing!!"

Slam!

He opened the front door. Seol-Ah, who had been anxiously waiting on the living room couch because she hadn't been able to participate in his plan, sprang up.

"Wh-What's wrong, Kang-Woo?" she asked in bewilderment, seeing that Kang-Woo's eyes were wet.

"Hurgh... I'm... sorry..."

"Huh? A-About what?"

"My first..."

"...?"

His shoulders were shaking as he hugged her.

Of course, he wasn't still sulking because Uriel had kissed him to heal his wounds. No matter how much of a numbskull he was when it came to relationships, he wouldn't despair over Uriel having kissed him for first-aid purposes.

Despite that, he was acting like this for two reasons.

First was because he was still overjoyed that the Raphael incident, which he had honestly believed had a low chance of success, had succeeded. Second was that he was hoping to use this to advance his relationship with Seol-Ah, which had been stagnant so far.

To put it simply, he wanted to make her jealous.

"What do you mean by... first?"

"My first kiss was..." Kang-Woo said while making a sad expression mixed slightly with a playful smile.

"... What did you say?"

'Hm?'

But...

"Which fucking bitch—Ah, I'm sorry. Who... did something like that to you?"

'Huh?'

Kang-Woo slightly looked up to see Seol-Ah's eyes devoid of life and shining with a dreary light.

'Why's she so scary?'