Chapter 314: King of Demonic Beasts

It was a giant bull with arms like that of a human. Its black mane like that of a lion fluttered. The monster, which made the 30-meter Rift Core look tiny, lightly flicked Inferno's flames and snorted.

Fwoosh!

Black flames fumed from its nostrils.

"What the..."

Oh Kang-Woo grimaced. Thick demonic energy that intimidated even him poured out from the monster.

"Th-That's...!" Balrog slurred with his eyes widened.

Kang-Woo looked toward him and asked, "What is that thing?"

Balrog remained silent with his face pale. He finally muttered while looking up at the giant monster, "That is... Behemoth."

"What?"

Behemoth was the father of Leviathan, one of the seven princes of Hell, as well as the king of demonic beasts. He was so powerful that trespassing into his territory was suicide, even for the princes of Hell.

"Why is... Behemoth here?" Kang-Woo said with his eyes narrowed.

The being that should be in the Nine Hells was here for some reason.

'Come to think of it...'

He had heard before from Balrog that Behemoth had been moving beyond his territory.

'Shit.'

He had never even imagined meeting the king of demonic beasts in a place like this.

'Should I fight him?' Kang-Woo thought as he looked up at the gigantic demonic beast.

If he had been the same as his past self in the Ninth Hell, he wouldn't even have dared to think about facing Behemoth; that was how synonymous the name "Behemoth"was to death. If Behemoth did not stay within his territory, all demons in Hell would have died by his hands.

'But now...'

Kang-Woo clenched his fists. His blood boiled. His demonic instincts rampaged from the thought of battling Behemoth, who was considered a monster even within myths.

He wiped the drool off his mouth. The instinct eating at him was not a desire for battle.

'Beef is an absolute delicacy.'

Kang-Woo's eyes burned with desire. He was getting chills down his spine from the demonic energy pouring out from Behemoth, but that only stirred his desires even more.

'Hanwoo... No, not hanwoo, but still... Expensive and delicious beef...'

Kang-Woo couldn't even imagine how delicious it would be if he ate that monster whole. Since he was considered the strongest in Hell, Kang-Woo was sure that he would be satisfied at the very least.

'Even the demonic energy pouring out from him...'

Devouring Behemoth would obviously raise his Demonic Energy stat, which was stuck at 154, explosively. 160 would be a given, and he could even aim to get 170.

"M-Master Kang-Woo."

Just then, Halcyon approached Kang-Woo and grabbed his clothes.

"Yeah?" Kang-Woo answered as he turned his head toward Halcyon.

"W-We have to run," Halcyon expressed, his face pale.

He desperately pulled on Kang-Woo's clothes as if he had seen a ghost.

"R-Right now! We have to run now!" Halcyon screamed.

Kang-Woo's eyes narrowed into slits, and looked toward Behemoth. Behemoth, who had fully come out of the Rift Core, raised his head. He inhaled deeply as he looked up at the ash-colored sky. And...

"━━━━━━━━━!!!"

It was far too colossal to call sound. A roar so powerful that it could easily rupture one's eardrums shook the entire world.

"Kyaaaaaaa!" Cha Yeon-Joo screamed while blocking her ears.

"Arrgghh!!"

The others did as well. Echidna collapsed on the spot while trembling, and Kim Si-Hun and Balrog crouched while blocking their ears. The only people who were fine were Kang-Woo and Han Seol-Ah— no, they were not fine either.

"Fucking... hell."

Kang-Woo's expression hardened. The demonic energy within him boiled. It had only been for a moment, but the shock had been great enough for him to lose control over his demonic energy. Considering how powerful just his roar was, Kang-Woo could not even imagine how strong Behemoth would be in combat.

'What the fuck?'

Kang-Woo looked up at Behemoth in shock. He had been completely mistaken; he had been arrogant because he had gotten stronger than his past self.

'Forget eating him.'

He had taken the title of the king of demonic beasts far too lightly. He had forgotten one simple fact because he had become far more powerful than the princes of Hell; he was nowhere near a match for Behemoth.

"Fuck!"

'A monster like this was in Hell?'

Kang-Woo had heard countless legends regarding Behemoth, but he had never expected him to be this powerful. He was doubtful that even a god possessing Divinity would be a match for him.

The monster's gaze shifted to Kang-Woo.

"Grrrrrrr."

Behemoth's gaze was so powerful that Kang-Woo felt like he was being set ablaze just from being seen by him. The apex predator of Hell was staring Kang-Woo down.

'If I open the Doors...' Kang-Woo thought.

He would be no match for Behemoth while fighting under normal circumstances. However, if he opened the Doors of the Ten Thousand Demon Core and released the seals of the Demonic Sea...

'No.'

Kang-Woo shook his head. He recalled why he had entered this Rift in the first place. It had not been to defeat Behemoth; it was purely to close the Rift and restore the broken Gaia System.

"Run!!"

Kang-Woo made a swift decision. He grabbed the arms of Echidna and Yeon-Joo, who were both collapsed on the ground, and turned around without hesitation.

He was not above running away; he was very used to it. After all, the majority of his life in Hell had involved running away. He had been cowardly, unsightly, and desperate, which had ultimately led to his survival.

'And...'

In the end, he had won. He had trampled on and killed every single being that had made him run away.

Kang-Woo's eyes narrowed, and exchanged gazes with the king of demonic beasts. The king of demonic beasts and the king of demons each engraved the appearance of the other in their heads.

'Just you wait, beef. One day... I'll put you in my kimchi stew.'

Kang-Woo turned his head. "Run back to where we were!"

He was sure that the entrance leading to Earth would be where they had first opened their eyes in Shade.

"But hyung-nim, the Rift Core is still—"

"We don't need to care about that anymore, so just run!"

Si-Hun turned his head as if he couldn't understand what Kang-Woo was talking about.

"Ah," he shouted.

The 30-meter Rift Core had been completely destroyed after Behemoth had crawled out of it.

Boom! Rumble!

The ground was collapsing.

"Graaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!"

Behemoth charged toward Kang-Woo while roaring.

"Hurry!" Kang-Woo urged.

"Okay!"

"Wings of Brilliance!" Seol-Ah shouted while spreading out her arms.

Blinding light poured out from her and flowed into her party members. Their movements became much quicker.

"Thanks, darling!"

"Look over there, Kang-Woo!"

As they were running without even looking back, Seol-Ah pointed somewhere. Kang-Woo looked to where she pointed to see a group of demonic beasts reaching the thousands. The demonic beasts were running wild as they devoured the black shadows.

"..."

- Are you the same as them?

'So this is what the shadow meant.'

It seemed like the Shades had been under attack by the demonic beasts before Kang-Woo and his party members had come to this world.

'This world must have entered the influence of the Nine Hells.'

He could understand why Shade looked so similar to Hell.

'Shit, so this is why demonic beasts have been appearing in Gates.'

Kang-Woo finally understood what the Triad and the satellite world was.

'If the Triad is referring to Earth, Aernor and Huan...'

Satellite worlds were small worlds within its vicinity. And one of such worlds having been invaded by the Nine Hells meant... Earth would also soon become one with the Nine Hells.

'Shit.'

Kang-Woo's expression was filled with anxiety. His worst fears had become reality. His mind was turned into mush from seeing what he had only been thinking about actually happening before his very eyes.

'Thank God we came here.'

If they had not entered the Rift because they judged that the risk of temporarily halting the Gaia System was too big, a catastrophe would have been upon them soon after.

"Grrrrrrr!"

"H-Hyung-nim!"

"Kuh! Please go on ahead without me! I will stop him here!" Balrog shouted as he turned around.

Kang-Woo, who had been running while holding Yeon-Joo and Echidna, jumped into the air and kicked Balrog in the face.

Bash!

"Kurgh!"

"Don't give me that shit and run, dammit! This isn't a goddamn TV show!" Kang-Woo yelled.

Balrog stared at Kang-Woo dumbfoundedly while rubbing his cheek, and then nodded with a smirk.

"As you wish, my king."

He then also started to run from Behemoth.

"Hyung-nim, I see the Rift over there!" Si-Hun shouted.

As they got closer to where they first opened their eyes, they could see the purple Rift. Possibly because the Rift Core was destroyed, the purple Rift that had been ten meters large was growing smaller at a noticeable rate.

'Shit.'

Si-Hun's eyesight was just abnormally good; the Rift was still very far away. Kang-Woo looked behind him at Behemoth, who was charging toward him at tremendous speed. Every single step Behemoth shook the Earth as if the Big Bang was occurring.

'Motherfucker.'

Behemoth was far too fast. He was also far too big in the first place. Just like how ants could never be as fast as humans no matter how quickly they moved their legs, Behemoth, who was over a hundred meters tall, got closer to them at an alarming pace with each step.

"How the fuck did that son of a bitch even make Leviathan?!"

Kang-Woo was curious who Behemoth's partner had been. He ran for his life while cursing.

"Skreee!"

"Grrrrr!"

Just then, demonic beasts from the group stood in their way. Kang-Woo grimaced.

'We can't just run away.'

Not only were they being chased by Behemoth, but they would have zero chance of escaping if demonic beasts were blocking their path as well.

"Si-Hun! Balrog!"

"Yes, hyung-nim!"

"Please leave this to us!"

Si-Hun and Balrog charged toward the group of demonic beasts. The two warriors ran amok like starved beasts in a flock of sheep.

"Seol-Ah, focus your buffs on those two instead of me!"

"Okay, Kang-Woo!"

"Yeon-Joo, Halcyon, Echidna! You three secure a path to the Rift!"

"What about you?!" Yeon-Joo asked.

"I will..."

Kang-Woo turned around, facing the giant bull charging toward him while shaking the earth. His eyes sharpened.

"... Stop that bastard."

"A-Are you insane?!"

"This is the best chance we have, so just shut up and clear a path!"

There was still a long way to the Rift leading outside. If they did not stop Behemoth here, Behemoth's attacks would stop them from being able to reach the Rift on time.

"Grrrrrrrrr."

"Fuuu," Kang-Woo exhaled deeply.

He relaxed his body, tense from anxiety. Behemoth's ferocious roars were getting closer.

'I'll stop him, whatever it takes.'

Kang-Woo raised his right arm high. He created an axe fuming with chilling energy.

'Leviathan.'

He grabbed the axe handle, put strength into his legs, and pulled his arm back.

'Authority of Extinction.'

He used Satan's Authority. Black light formed on Leviathan's edge. He rotated his body and threw Leviathan.

Rumble—!

Space itself was torn along Leviathan's trajectory.

'It's not enough.'

Kang-Woo knew very well that this would be nowhere near enough. He barraged Behemoth with skills through the Key of the Demonic Sea. However...

Clang, claaang!

"Graaaaaaahhh!"

Nothing he could dish out was powerful enough to penetrate Behemoth's skin. Kang-Woo aggressively bit his lip.

'I don't have enough firepower.'

Behemoth's physical specs were absolutely insane. His skin had even been perfectly fine after flicking aside Inferno's flames. There was no way that Kang-Woo would be able to penetrate his defenses by just continuing to barrage him with attacks.

"Fuck." Kang-Woo grimaced.

His available choices were slowly but surely being reduced to opening the Doors.

'That's the worst choice.'

Kang-Woo was not able to retain his reason once he opened the Doors, meaning there was a chance that he would continue fighting Behemoth without passing through the shrinking Rift.

'And I'd be stuck in this world forever.'

That would be the absolute worst outcome. He shut his eyelids tight. There was no way to deal any proper damage to Behemoth using normal means.

'In the end...'

He would have to open the Doors. Conflict boiled over within his head.

'Wait.'

Just then, a thought popped up in his head.

"... Fuck."

Kang-Woo unconsciously chuckled. He did not like to make such gambles, but he could instinctively feel that there was no other way but this at the moment.

'Fucking hell, I don't really like doing shit like this.'

Kang-Woo took a deep breath and spread out his arms wide.

"Fuuu."

And then, he breathed out.

Whoooom!

White light poured out from his left hand, and black light from his right.

"Fuck it. Let's give it a shot."

Kang-Woo closed his eyes. There was no other time than now to test his uncertain hypothesis that relied purely on his senses.

'Molting.'

Kang-Woo slightly opened the Door of his Ten Thousand Demon Core. At the same time...

Crash—!

He clasped his hands together.

Riiing.

[You have completed the prerequisite quest of the Demonic Sea, 'Light-Craving Demon'.]

[You have acquired the fourth key of the Demonic Sea, 'Greed'.]

[You have learned 'Chaos - Burst', a Bottom-rank skill of 'Chaos'.]

A gray energy formed around his two clasped hands.

"Come at me, you fucking bull."

'Let's see the marbling on you.'