Chapter 365: I Don't Understand

Bang! Oh Kang-Woo leaped into the air and flew at supersonic speed using the Authority of the Sky. The heat generated from the friction between his skin and the air set his surroundings ablaze. Despite flying at such insane speed, he still was not able to reach the northernmost region of the continent quickly.

'It's further than I thought.'

Kang-Woo shut his mouth tight. Uriel had flown this long distance just so he could tell Kang-Woo to run away, while his body was a complete mess, no less. Kang-Woo couldn't help but chuckle.

'Dumb brat.'

Uriel was nothing but a puppet being deceived and used by Kang-Woo. The fact that his puppet had risked his life to let him know of danger was pitiably pathetic. Kang-Woo felt that Uriel was a goddamn idiot, but he was furious for some reason. Could it be because he found Uriel's moronic actions pathetic beyond belief? He did not know, nor did he have any need to know.

Boom—!!

Kang-Woo sped up even more. Once he drew out the full extent of his demonic energy, a stream of darkness tore through space like a meteor falling from the sky. He reached an endless mountain range so rugged that it did not seem habitable. Beyond it was an ocean, and atop it was a shining floating island covered in flames. And...

Someone wearing a red demon mask with his back to the floating island was staring at Kang-Woo flying in his direction. He descended from the sky and stood in front of Kang-Woo. The man smelled so foul that Kang-Woo thought his nose was going to fall off.

"You must be the Protector of Light."

The being in the red mask snickered. Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. The man knew that he was the Protector of Light.

'That means...'

Kang-Woo recalled the message window that had appeared when he had become the Protector of Light, that all beings of godhood would recognize him as a retainer of Gaia. In other words, the man in the red demon mask in front of him was a being of godhood, meaning there weren't many possibilities of who the man could be.

"Like I thought, you're a Constellation of Evil," Kang-Woo stated.

He had expected it as soon as he saw Uriel's injuries, since there weren't many beings that could drive an archangel so far into a corner. Considering who could possibly attack Sant'Angelo head-on, it narrowed down the number of possibilities even more.

'The elite guards of the Demon God.'

They were the vestiges of the era of myths; beings that possessed great power and have existed far before even the princes of Hell.

'They could be considered gods of sorts.'

Since they possessed Deific Essence, it was right to think so.

'I have no idea how they're able to use their powers freely, though.'

All gods including Gaia were not able to use their powers to their full extent due to the restrictions from the system, but the Constellations of Evil were different; they did not seem to be under any restrictions whatsoever despite possessing Deific Essence.

'Whatever the case...'

It was not the time to worry about that.

"Oh? Did you hear about us from Gaia?" The being in the mask stared at Kang-Woo in surprise. He slowly bowed while cackling. "I am the Constellation of Agony."

"What? Constellation of Agony? I thought you'd be the Constellation of Filth because you smell like shit."

Kang-Woo couldn't believe that his guess had been wrong.

'Wait.'

"Then you smell this bad because you don't wash?"

'This motherfucker doesn't have a shred of conscience.'

"Fucking wash yourself, man. What the hell do you have to do to smell this bad?"

The Constellation of Agony stared at Kang-Woo nonsensically. "I was wondering what kind of person the Protector of Light would be, but it seems you're intellectually lacking."

"The only thing lacking here is your sense of hygiene. No, but seriously, what the fuck is this smell? Be honest, you fucker. Did you wipe after you took a shit or not? No, wait. You son of a bitch, could it be..."

A horrifying thought popped into Kang-Woo's mind. A shiver ran down his spine.

"Did you... shit yourself?"

"..."

"Fuck! I fucking knew it! You disgusting fu—"

The Constellation of Agony extended his arm before Kang-Woo could finish his sentence. Black wedges that looked like giant nails pierced out from the ground, riddling the surroundings with them in an instant. Kang-Woo lightly jumped, but the wedges extended to chase after him. He created a golden shield, and the wedges collided with it.

Crash—!

The wedges went straight through the golden shield without losing any momentum and aimed for Kang-Woo. Kang-Woo twisted his body in midair to dodge the wedges.

"Tsk."

As he had thought, blocking attacks imbued with Divinity head-on was difficult. He would be able to block it if he used ridiculous amounts of demonic energy, but it was highly inefficient. It was like blocking a red-hot skewer with an extremely thick block of styrofoam.

'Divinity really makes all the difference.'

The only thing Kang-Woo could use to take Divinity head on was Chaos attacks.

'But...'

If interpreted differently, it meant Kang-Woo had a chance as long as he didn't take on his opponent in a contest of strength. Kang-Woo used the Authority of Blink and teleported short distances in succession, making it look as if he was appearing and disappearing all over the place.

"Gáe Bulg."

Kang-Woo teleported right behind the Constellation of Agony and stretched his right arm downward. The Key of the Demonic Sea on his right middle finger turned into a dark red spear. He grabbed the Key of the Demonic Sea and thrusted it forward without hesitation.

Clang—!!

A barrier of demonic energy infused with Divinity blocked the attack. The Key of the Demonic Sea was pushed back as sparks flew.

"Kuh!" The Constellation of Agony quickly turned his head.

It did not seem like he had blocked the attack consciously.

'If that's the case...'

Kang-Woo lowered his stance and used the Authority of Blink in succession while matching his movements to that of the Constellation of Agony.

Clang—! Clang!

Kang-Woo thrusted the spear on the same spot of the barrier over and over again as if he was breaking through ice with an ice pick.

"Gungnir."

Kang-Woo added one more Authority; the dark-red spear grew larger.

'Authority of Blaze.'

He then added a prince's Authority. Bright-yellow flames enveloped the spear edge, its heat melting the earth and creating lava. Kang-Woo thrust the spear.

Fwoosh—!!

"Gaaaaaaaaahh!"

The spear pierced the Constellation of Agony's back. He curled up while screaming. Kang-Woo pulled out the spear and prepared to thrust it once again. He grabbed the spear with both hands and stomped on the ground to charge forward.

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!"

Just then, the Constellation of Agony screamed ear-splittingly. A chill ran down Kang-Woo's spine. He quickly jumped back and threw the spear at the Constellation of Agony.

Black wedges spurted from the Constellation of Agony's back, making him look like a hedgehog. They flew out from his back in all directions, clashing with the spear that Kang-Woo threw.

Crash!

The collision caused a deafening explosion. The fragments of the destroyed wedges pierced Kang-Woo.

"Cough!"

Kang-Woo coughed up blood. Holes had formed all over him as if he had been hit with a grenade. He widened his distance from the Constellation of Agony while using the Authority of Regeneration.

"What in the..." The Constellation of Agony stared at Kang-Woo in shock.

Although Kang-Woo was Gaia's retainer, he was ultimately a human. The Constellation of Agony couldn't believe that he was being pushed this far by a mere mortal who did not even possess Divinity. The attack that had pierced his back was so strong that he would have most definitely died if it had contained Divinity.

"Tsk, I guess he won't die in one blow."

Kang-Woo spit blood after recovering from his injuries and narrowed his eyes. He had felt it during his battle with Rakiel, but beings of godhood were truly difficult to face. The power of Divinity was so strong to the point that it was illogical.

'But...'

Kang-Woo smiled. His heart beat rapidly as he shivered in delight. He had not gotten this feeling in a very long time.

'This is fun.'

It was so fun that he was about to go insane. It had been a while since Kang-Woo had met an opponent that even stood a chance against him. It had been a while since he had met an enemy that at least squirmed when he trampled on them.

'Were there any?'

He could not think of any among those that he had faced after regaining his power. There was Rakiel, but he had been defeated by Gaia before Kang-Woo could even get fired up.

'Oh, I guess there was Behemoth.'

However, Kang-Woo had not managed to have a proper battle with him either. Kang-Woo's demonic instincts set ablaze. His desire to battle prey, trample on them, achieve victory and devour their entire being, was boiling.

"I'll have to clean him up a bit before eating him, though."

Kang-Woo drew out his demonic energy while smiling. Since the Constellations were mistaking him for the Protector of Light, he did not forget to transform the color of his demonic energy into gold. They likely saw the energy as a mixture of mana and sacred power.

"How dare a mere mortal..."

The Constellation of Agony frowned. A lowly puppet of a god that should be worshiping the gods while on his knees was baring his teeth at him. Although there was a slight difference, he was also a god that possessed Deific Essence. The Constellation of Agony found the situation absolutely absurd.

"Kehehehe! How interesting! Very interesting!"

The Constellation of Agony burst into laughter while grabbing his stomach, and slowly raised his hand. His delight only rose the more arrogant Gaia's puppet became.

"Protector of Light."

Although the Constellation of Agony could not feel a shred of justice from Kang-Woo despite having such a grand title, it did not matter. Since the Constellation of Nightmares had said so, there was no doubt that the man in front of him was the Protector of Light.

"I'll make you feel something good," the Constellation of Agony said.

"Feel good? What the fuck?"

'The only person who can make me feel good is my darling.'

"..."

The Constellation of Agony frowned for a moment, and then spread his arms wide. He decided to pay no more mind to the demented Protector and activated his Authority that had allowed him to rise to the position of the Constellation of Agony.

"Puppet of Gaia! This is..." He brought his hands together and manifested his Authority using the power of Divinity. He linked his senses with that of the disrespectful human. "... Agony!"

Crack! Crunch!

The sound of cracking bones left the Constellation of Agony's body. His flesh was ripped apart, his bones broke, and each of his nerves were twisted. There was no way that a mere mortal would be able to endure pain of this level; even an archangel with eight wings had collapsed on the spot while crying in pain. The Constellation of Agony sent the pain that he was feeling through self-harm to Kang-Woo.

"Kahahahaha!!"

The Constellation of Agony laughed in delight. He could not stop laughing from the thought of watching in leisure as the lowly human, who had dared to be disrespectful to him, writhed in pain. All the mortals that had faced the Constellation of Agony had all died while twisting and turning on the ground, crawling in their own piss and shit.

"Feel true agony! Feel despair as your bones break, your flesh is ripped apart, and your blood vessels burn!"

The extreme pain was not one that a living organism would be able to handle. The only being that was able to laugh under such immense pain was the Constellation of Agony. He had never seen a single enemy on the battlefield that hadn't writhed under such pain.

"Do you feel it?! That very pain is the curse of life! It is living sin—"

Bash—!!

"Kurghh!!"

Kang-Woo punched the laughing Constellation of Agony right in the face. The red demon mask was shattered, and the Constellation of Agony tumbled backward.

"You're so fucking loud."

Kang-Woo frowned while shaking off the Constellation of Agony's blood from his hand. He looked down at the Constellation of Agony in confusion. The pain of breaking bones, ripping flesh, and burning blood vessels...

'What's so fucking painful about that?'

Kang-Woo couldn't understand.