Chapter 369: Time to Take Off Your Masks

The white floating island above the ocean in the northernmost region of the continent, which used to be covered in radiant and beautiful light, was now covered in black smoke and piles of ashes.

"Kuh!" Uriel bit his lip from seeing the sorry state of Sant'Angelo.

He was forcibly suppressing his rage while clenching his fists.

"How devastating." Oh Kang-Woo looked around the ruins of Sant'Angelo.

The ancient demonic beasts that had attacked the island seemed to have been taken care of, but the traces of fierce battle still remained.

Kang-Woo jumped across a crumbling wall and looked around. He had come all the way to Sant'Angelo for two things; one was to obtain clues by investigating the scene of the crime like he had suggested to Michael, and the other...

"Where are the corpses of the demonic beasts that attacked Sant'Angelo?" he asked.

It was to devour all the wasteful leftovers. Although Kang-Woo had become so powerful that he could not hope for any form of growth by eating average prey, it was a different story if those prey were ancient demonic beasts.

'Even better if I eat them while I'm still digesting the Constellation of Agony.'

The Constellation of Agony's powers that Kang-Woo had devoured with the Authority of Predation had not been absorbed yet; he had lacked the time to do so because Michael had appeared right after he had eaten the Constellation of Agony. It was better to just digest everything all at once instead of dividing it into separate digestion sessions.

"Gabriel is likely gathering all the corpses in a single area," Michael answered.

"I see."

Although Kang-Woo had no idea who Gabriel was, the fact that the corpses were being gathered in a single area was good news for him. It would make things far less annoying.

"Could you take me to exactly where Lucifer attacked?" Kang-Woo asked.

Since the corpses were in the middle of being gathered, the digestion would have to wait. In the meantime, Kang-Woo would fulfill his primary goal. Kang-Woo followed Michael to the place where the Demon God's legacy had been stored.

"Here it is," Michael stated.

Kang-Woo could feel suffocatingly colossal amounts of sacred energy within the space.

"Kurgh!"

Kang-Woo crouched while clenching his chest as soon as he set foot into the dome-shaped storage space.

'What the hell?'

He felt like his entire body was burning. Demonic energy beyond his control rampaged within his blood as if it was tearing him apart from the inside. Kang-Woo grimaced.

'So this is the place where the Demon God's legacy was sealed.'

The sacred energy within this space seemed to have stimulated the dormant power of the Demon God within Kang-Woo. He could feel the Demon God, imprisoned in the Abyss, writhing.

- A-Aaaaaaaahhh!

'Shut the hell up, man.'

Kang-Woo forcibly suppressed the Demon God's rampaging energy. He felt the Demon God's voice waning after a few deep breaths.

"What's the matter?"

"What's wrong, Kang-Woo?"

Michael and Uriel turned to Kang-Woo.

"Nothing. It seems the injuries I suffered from Lucifer haven't fully healed yet," Kang-Woo replied while grimacing in pain.

Michael's expression stiffened. "... You must have been in critical condition, considering you're still hurt even after drinking the Repayment of the Dragon God."

"R-Repayment of the Dragon God?!" Uriel shouted in surprise.

Michael nodded while expressing sorrow. "I couldn't just leave Lady Gaia's retainer to die."

"Lord Michael..."

Uriel looked at Michael as his eyes glistened with ears, deeply moved. It seemed the liquid that Michael had given Kang-Woo was far more valuable than Kang-Woo had thought.

'No wonder.'

There was nothing that raised one's stats permanently other than the blessing of a god. Not just that, it had raised the quality and control of his mana, and he was even able to learn dragon tongue magic; there was no such treasure but this in the world.

'Though raising mana control does nothing for me.'

It was not because the fundamental source of his power was not mana. Whether it be demonic energy, mana or sacred power, all forms of power were fundamentally the same in the sense that they contained the user's will and properties. If one's control over mana rose, so did one's control over demonic energy naturally.

'But the fact that it didn't rise means...' Kang-Woo could only think of one reason. 'It's beyond a level that would rise with just the Repayment of the Dragon God or whatever.'

It was not difficult to understand; in the first place, one's control over energy was not quantifiable. After spending time with Han Seeol-Ah, Kang-Woo's demonic energy control had gone beyond impressive and was now straight up abnormal. Hence, it was not something that would rise just by drinking an elixir of sorts.

'Well, even so...'

It had not been without benefits. Since his stats had risen permanently by five, the amount of demonic energy that he could use rose dramatically, and so did his mana and sacred power.

'My other stats have risen as well.'

Although Kang-Woo had become so strong that stats no longer meant anything to him, he always welcomed growth.

'I'll have to research dragon tongue magic later too.'

Although it would not be of much help to him, he might find something that would be of help to Echidna.

"Fuuu. I'm completely fine now," Kang-Woo stated as he stood back up after organizing his thoughts.

Uriel's expression dyed with relief. Kang-Woo lightly patted Uriel's shoulder while smiling and looked around. He had not noticed when he first set foot into the area because of the Demon God's rampage, but traces of battle were all over the place.

'This is...'

Kang-Woo's eyes narrowed. Although not much could be gathered just from the traces, he could be sure of one thing.

'The one who stole the legacy wasn't the Constellation of Agony, at the very least.'

The Constellation of Agony was not able to make such marks. To make such marks in a place protected by so much sacred power that would even stimulate the Demon God, one would need to be...

"Hm? Why are you smiling? Did you figure something out?" Uriel asked.

Kang-Woo pulled down the corners of his mouth that had unconsciously risen and shook his head. "No, nothing."

His heart beat rapidly, and an overwhelming hunger suffocated his stomach. He felt like the saliva gathering in his mouth would flow down uncontrollably. His desire to abandon all of his plans and to find the culprit who stole the Demon God's legacy rampaged.

'I have to endure it.'

Kang-Woo took a deep breath and suppressed his boiling desire and impulse with all his might. It was obvious what would happen if he were to be blinded by his desires.

'The fact that I can't use Divinity is a massive minus.'

Kang-Woo had bridged the gap between him and the Constellation of Agony through stupidly absurd amounts of demonic energy, but he would be no match for someone who was able to make such marks on sacred power this colossal.

'I would only have three things to work with.'

Kang-Woo only had three things that would be effective against enemies with the powerful weapon known as Divinity.

'I could open the Doors.'

That was a definitive no; the risk of opening the Doors was far too great. It was better not to open them unless it was absolutely necessary.

'The other two would be to use either demonic energy from the Abyss, or Chaos skills.'

Neither one was appealing. Although Kang-Woo was able to use demonic energy from the Abyss, it was highly restrictive, and the risk associated with using Chaos skills was unreal. Power that one did not have full control over would only hurt its user.

'The best option would be for me to learn to use Divinity.'

Kang-Woo looked down at himself. It was not like he didn't possess Divinity; within the darkness of the Ten Thousand Demon Core were beings of godhood that he had devoured thus far. No, even without them, the Ten Thousand Demon Core contained the Demon God's Deific Essence, so there was no way that Kang-Woo did not possess Divinity.

'The problem is that I can't use it.'

For Kang-Woo to be able to use Divinity, he himself would need to acquire Deific Essence.

'I guess I have no choice but to complete the Road to Becoming a Demon God quest.'

There was only one condition remaining; Kang-Woo would acquire Deific Essence as long as he learned a Low-rank Chaos skill.

'But I can't just make it happen right away.'

Hence, it was not wise to chase after the Constellations of Evil who had stolen the Demon God's legacy. He needed to do what was within his capacity first.

"There doesn't seem to be any information I can get from this place," Kang-Woo stated.

"I see." Michael's expression stiffened in disappointment.

Kang-Woo turned to him and continued, "I would like to ask you something."

"Oh, of course. What is it?"

"You are able to make contact with the gods of the divine realm to an extent, right, Lord Michael?"

Michael knew about the gods of other dimensions such as Gaia, so he likely possessed a method to contact them.

"I am." Michael nodded as Kang-Woo had hoped.

"In that case, are you able to contact the high elves as well?"

"No. They do not reside in the divine realm, so I have no way of contacting them."

"I see." Kang-Woo calmly nodded.

He was not particularly disappointed since Douglas had said that there was currently no one who was able to reach out to the high elves, even if they were the leader of the angels or other gods.

'I wonder how long they can stay in hiding where no one can find them?'

Kang-Woo smiled and looked down at his hand. If they couldn't be found, he would just make them crawl out of hiding themselves. He had almost finished making the preparations for it.

'Rather, thanks to this incident...'

It had lessened the work he needed to do. The attack of Sant'Angelo, the massacre of angels, and the theft of the Demon God's legacy...

'There's no better crisis than this.'

It was a fantastic opportunity in many ways, so there was no way Kang-Woo would just leave it unused.

"If you are able to make contact with the gods of the divine realm, I would like to ask you for a favor," Kang-Woo mentioned.

"A favor?" Michael tilted his head.

Kang-Woo smiled widely.

'I don't like the fact that I'm helping them out, but...'

It couldn't be helped; it was all for framing Lucifer as the culprit.

"I would like you to..."

***

A being in a red mask was standing alone on an arid land covered in red sand. He was staring in one direction as if he could see something in thin air.

Step, step.

A woman with black squirming tentacles spewing yellow pus approached him. Her eight eyes like that of a spider were gleaming seductively.

"Did you hear? The Constellation of Agony is dead, apparently," the woman said in a sexy voice.

The woman with black tentacles licked her lips with her snake-like tongue. She was the Constellation of Lust, the being who had created demons of unparalleled beauty known as succubuses. She was Proserpine, the Succubus Queen; her beauty was on another level compared to regular succubuses... In demon standards, of course.

"I have heard," the man in the red mask replied expressionlessly.

"Hmm." Proserpine hummed in joy and turned, the fabric that was just barely covering her body fluttered down. "Michael probably killed him, right?"

"Most likely."

"Fufu. What should we do? Michael found out about us," Proserpine asked as her eyes shone.

"It matters not," the man in the red mask replied expressionlessly. He took something out from his pocket; it was a dark object squirming as if it was alive. "No, you could say that it is better for us. It was about time we revealed ourselves to the world."

"Hmm. Why? You didn't let us go anywhere as we pleased all this time."

"The situation has changed." The man in the red mask raised the squirming object. "Now... we need fear."

It was time to let others' fear of the Constellations of Evil fester. Whether it be humans, angels, or gods, they all needed to be in fear of the Demon God; they needed to tremble like infants and bow down with their heads on the ground.

"Only then will we be able to resurrect Lord Bauli."

Once the entire continent was enveloped in fear, the legacy would be completed after the negative emotion was absorbed in its entirety.

"And for that, we need fear to be directed toward us."

Fear in general was not enough; it needed to be directed toward the Demon God. Since the Constellations of Evil had once stood by the Demon God to massacre countless beings in his name, it would not be difficult for the fear to be directed toward the Demon God.

"Is that why you sacrificed the Constellation of Agony?" Proserpine asked with a wide smile. "Fufu. I know you sealed the Constellation of Agony's Deific Essence."

The man in the red mask turned around without answering.

"Kyahaha!" Proserpine burst into laughter. "Well, I never liked him anyway, so I couldn't care less. But..." She slowly walked up to the man and caressed his chest with her black tentacles. She winked with four of her eyes and remarked cutely, "I won't stand for it if you do the same to me, okay?"

The man in the red mask maintained his silence. He walked past Proserpine and stood on the widely spread red land.

"Now..." He spread his arms out in front of the red land. "Children of the Constellations."

Grrrrrrk.

The red land shook, and thousands of demonic beasts wearing red demon masks shot out from the sand. They were the Demon God's army, created during the era of myths.

The man in the red mask said to the demonic beasts, "It is time to take off your masks."

It was time to plunge the world into inescapable despair. The man in the red mask reached for his own mask and took it off, revealing a hideous diagonal slash scar across his face. He had pale skin and thick purplish dark circles under his eyes. The land of the Nine Hells under him was dyed black just from the evil energy flowing out from his entire body.

He was Tai Wuji, once known as the Heavenly Dragon, as well as one of the three heroes who had killed the Demon God alongside Gaia and Seraph. However, he was now known as the Constellation of Despair.

"How are the gods reacting?" Tai Wuji asked as he approached a boy who was staring blankly up into the sky.

Since Michael had a close relationship with the gods, he would most definitely have let the gods know that the Constellations of Evil have begun to make their move.

"The gods are..." the boy with blank eyes muttered. "... Enraged."

Tai Wuji nodded as a smile appeared on his expressionless face.

'Rage, huh?'

It was rage toward the Constellations of Evil, and by extension, the Demon God.

'But soon enough...'

That rage would become despair, and that despair would become fear, nourishing the Demon God's legacy.

"Yes. They can stay enraged while they still c—"

"The gods are... Enraged at Lucifer."

'Huh?'

"Michael told the gods... that the one who attacked Sant'Angelo and stole the legacy was Lucifer."

The gods were completely off the mark.