Chapter 178 - Demon Delegates

'This should be the place.'

There was a small city on a sandy plain in the middle of a desolate desert. Despite being referred to as a city, this place was now a dreary ruin where no one lived. Only monsters could be seen roaming around.

An intense sun shone over this area of the Middle East as Oh Kang-Woo walked to the location Lilith had told him about.

He clicked his tongue.

"Tsk. So, they were hidden in a place like this. No wonder it was so hard to find them."

The Demon Cult branch was in an area that was considered extremely remote even in the Middle East.

After the Day of Calamity, only half of Earth's countries remained, with the rest having been reduced to ruins. So, if the Demon Cult hid in a place like that, there was no way they would be found.

'Authority of Stealth.'

Kang-Woo hid his presence and put on a mask. His goal was to infiltrate this branch of the Demon Cult.

'I'll destroy it later.'

It was the only base where Lilith had secretly distributed the Book of Hell. There was a chance they had a connection with the other Demon Cult branches.

'I also need to check how far the Book of Hell has been spread.'

Perhaps they could even have information he could've never imagined. In any case, it would be too much of a loss to immediately eliminate the Demon Cult base that he'd finally found after so much searching.

Kang-Woo used the Authority of the Beholder and easily found traces of the Demon Cult. An image of a base hidden under the ruined city appeared in his mind.

"Found—"

He cut himself off mid-speech, and his face suddenly crumpled with seriousness. Kang-Woo then rechecked the traces of demonic energy he'd just felt.

'I knew it.'

He narrowed his eyes as he became sure of what he was feeling.

'There's a demon.'

Kang-Woo wasn't sure who it was, but he knew the demon was from the Ninth Hell. However, it wasn't as powerful as an archdemon; it was a demon of a level somewhere between the intermediate and lower levels at best.

Despite being from the Ninth Hell, the demon was no match for Kang-Woo. It wouldn't even be a good warmup for his battle against the princes of Hell.

"Hm," Kang-Woo murmured.

It wasn't a problem that there was a demon inside the Demon Cult. After all, he couldn't stop them from summoning demons all over the world.

'But…'

He searched the underground base again with the Authority of the Beholder. An image of demons and Demon Cultists appeared in his mind.

'Something's off.'

There were five demons, and they were all sitting inside a room. Sitting across from them were three Demon Cultists, and they were talking about something.

'Are they in a meeting?'

From the outside, it could almost pass off as a fairly normal scene of business partners negotiating a deal, rather than demons and Demon Cultists.

'Well, it isn't like demons spend the entire day fighting.'

Still, the scene of five demons sitting and talking with Demon Cultists made for a strange sight.

'I'll have to check it out.'

Kang-Woo looked around.

The base was located underground, but there was probably an air vent since people were living inside it. He used the Authority of the Beholder to analyze the structure of the base and easily found a vent leading outside.

"Is this some '80s spy film? To think I'd have to infiltrate through an air vent," Kang-Woo complained.

Nevertheless, there was no better way in. He was using the Authority of Stealth, but that didn't mean he could roam freely throughout their base.

The air vent, which barely fit one person, was protected by some sort of magic contraption.

"Tsk."

That wasn't a problem for Kang-Woo though.

With a snap of his fingers, his demonic energy spread and crushed the magic circle. He made his way through the air vent, using a route based on what he'd seen of the base's structure with the Authority of the Beholder.

At some point, he heard the voices of demons.

[I never imagined that there would be humans on Earth capable of using demonic energy.]

[Their level of demonic energy control is miles above the black mages of Aernor.]

[An average demon from Hell would be no match for them.]

'What?'

Kang-Woo frowned.

Upon hearing the demons mention Aernor, he had a strong feeling that something wasn't right.

'What's going on?'

Kang-Woo continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Not at all. We are nothing but a bunch of flies compared to the demons of the Ninth Hell."

[We are not of the Ninth Hell.]

"Oh, right. I believe you said you were the retainers of Prince Lucifer."

Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

'Lucifer's retainers?'

He was having a hard time understanding what was going on.

'Why the fuck are Lucifer's retainers here?'

Then he was reminded of Halphas, Malphas, and Phenex. He'd used them to throw bait to catch the massive fish that was Lucifer.

However, if these demons Kang-Woo was eavesdropping on were truly Lucifer's retainers, then why were they talking so relaxedly with the Demon Cultists? It didn't make sense, especially since Lucifer's retainers Malphas and Phenex had died at the hands of Satan, the leader of the Demon Cult.

'What the hell is going on?'

Kang-Woo's thoughts were in a jumble. He frowned and focused on the conversation.

[He is not a prince.]

[Lord Lucifer has gone beyond the realm of a mere prince of Hell and has obtained Divinity.]

[Call him Evil God Lucifer.]

"Aahh, my apologies."

The Demon Cultists bowed their heads.

It seemed like they didn't think it was a lie.

"But why would the retainers of Lord Lucifer, who resides in another world, come here…?"

[We are here to hold you all accountable for the sin that your leader has committed.]

"I beg your pardon?"

The Demon Cultists tilted their heads in confusion.

[We have heard everything through Lord Halphas.]

[Are you planning to act dumb?]

"I apologize, but we—"

SLAM!!

The demon slammed his fist down on the table.

[How dare you try to make excuses?! Did you think we would not know that your leader, Satan, killed Lord Phenex and Lord Malphas?!] he angrily shouted.

"...I'm sorry?"

"Satan?"

The Demon Cultists looked at the retainers of Lucifer in confusion.

'Oh, fuck.'

Kang-Woo was barely able to suppress a curse from escaping his mouth.

He figured out what was going on. Just like how countries sent delegates to other countries, Lucifer had sent his retainers to Earth as delegates.

'Delegates?'

Kang-Woo laughed silently in disbelief.

Lucifer's retainers said that they were going to hold the Demon Cult accountable for the crimes of Satan. However, the fact that Lucifer had sent delegates meant something else…

'He wants to avoid war against Satan.'

Lucifer was trying to resolve the situation by talking it out.

'Lucifer, you bastard…'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

It was a short conversation, but he'd been able to get valuable information.

'He must be in quite a predicament.'

Demons didn't have the concept of talking things over instead of fighting. Their conversations always involved blood and flesh.

'Yet, he sent delegates in this situation?'

Moreover, Satan had attacked Lucifer first, so the fact that Lucifer had sent delegates to talk things out showed his desperation.

'There are two possibilities why he did that.'

The first one was that he judged that he would not be able to win against Satan, who possessed the Demonic Sea. Demons didn't have shit for brains after all. In fact, they often surrendered if they were at a disadvantage.

'But…'

Kang-Woo thought that the probability of that being the case was low. The Lucifer he knew wasn't a demon who'd give up his desire to obtain the Demonic Sea.

'In that case…'

He narrowed his eyes and thought of the other possibility.

'Maybe he's in such a predicament that he can't afford to worry about Satan.'

Kang-Woo didn't know what situation Lucifer was in exactly. Perhaps he was desperate because of the archangels that he had fought in the past, or maybe it was because of a god. Either way, It didn't matter to Kang-Woo.

'What's important is that he's desperate enough to try and talk things over with Satan despite having been attacked first.'

Kang-Woo smiled.

"W-We are not sure what you all are talking about."

"The being we serve is not Satan."

[What?]

The demons' faces crumpled with shock.

Right then…

BOOOOM—!!

The ceiling exploded.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

[Wh-What just happened?!]

"Kuh! Wh-What in the…”

The five demons inside the room and the three Demon Cultists were thrown into chaos.

Tap.

As the ceiling crumbled, something dropped down from it.

"Huh…?"

The eyes of the Demon Cultists widened when they saw a being enter the room from the ceiling.

The being, who was shrouded in pitch-black darkness, was wearing the red demon mask that symbolized the Demon Cult. It was as if the mask was floating in the darkness.

'Who is that?' the Demon Cultists wondered.

They had never seen or heard about a being like the one standing before them.

'Perhaps… another Demon Cultist?'

The Demon Cult branches operated separately, so it wasn't weird for them to not know the other Demon Cultists despite being in the same organization.

[You are…]

[N-No way.]

The demons trembled in fear. The powerful demonic energy pouring out from being in the red mask made them afraid.

[I am Satan,] the red-masked demon said without hesitation.

[S-Satan!!]

[Kuh! G-Get back, all of you!] the demon standing in the middle of the group of five demons told the others. Then he took a step forward and knelt on one knee in front of Satan. [Th-This lowly being greets the prince of Hell. I am Darkin, one of Lucifer's retainers.]

[Why are you on Earth? I believe I made myself perfectly clear through Halphas.]

[That is…] the demon, Darkin, began cautiously. He took out a crystal orb the size of a person's head. [Lord Lucifer would like to talk with you, Lord Satan.]

[Talk?]

[That is correct.]

[…]

There was silence.

Then Satan slowly extended his hand toward the crystal orb that Darkin handed to him.

[Ke… Kekeke.] A chilling laugh leaked out from behind the mask. [KAHAHAHAHAHA!!!]

[L-Lord Satan! What is—!!]

CRACK!

Satan destroyed the crystal orb.

[Talk? Talk, you say? KAHAHAHAHAHA!!! How funny! How very funny!]

He roared with laughter and casually extended his hand.

Wrath, the Hell Armament that was akin to the symbol of Satan, showed itself. It was a sword that had a pitch-black blade—a sword of darkness.

Satan swung the sword.

Bash!!

Darkin's head exploded and shattered into pieces as soon as Wrath's edge touched it.

[Demons do not talk!]

It was time for war!