Chapter 23: Demon Worshipers (2)

"H-How? Wh-What…" Jo Deok-Hyun was lost for words.

The young man that Deok-Hyun had thought was a sacrifice had produced in his hand hellfire that was just like Deok-Hyun's.

'No.'

Deok-Hyun realized it wasn't the same hellfire.

Just a glimpse was enough to know that the young man's hellfire was on a totally different level compared to his.

'I can't win.'

Deok-Hyun's eyes flitted around in despair. His last hope, the Authority that he possessed, had been completely crushed. He couldn't think of a way to beat Oh Kang-Woo.

"…"

His face became pale, and he started to tremble. He stared at Kang-Woo with an agitated gaze.

'What should I do?'

It was clear that Deok-Hyun wouldn't be able to win. He could tell just by looking at the hellfire in his hand.

Cold sweat dripped down Deok-Hyun's forehead like rainfall. His internal conflict was displayed on his face.

Kang-Woo looked at Deok-Hyun with great interest.

'I wonder what he'll do?'

He was curious as to how Deok-Hyun was going to respond, considering he had just shown Deok-Hyun that it was impossible for him to win.

Kang-Woo's question was soon answered.

After thinking for a while, Deok-Hyun knelt and raised both arms. "Ohhhh!! Incarnation of the almighty Andras!!"

"Huh?"

"I've been yearning for your descent into this world for a long time!!"

"…"

Upon hearing Deok-Hyun's passionate words, Kang-Woo let out a brief laugh. Then, he sighed.

"You are our king, our god, our messiah! The rightful tyrant to rule this world!"

Deok-Hyun kept putting on his passionate performance even as Kang-Woo burst into laughter.

'This guy's pretty quick-witted,'

Kang-Woo remarked inwardly.

He couldn't believe how quickly Deok-Hyun had changed his attitude as his situation worsened. Kang-Woo had expected Deok-Hyun to do something, but he never thought the guy would kneel and worship him.

"Oh, almighty Andras! I knew it was you from the moment I laid eyes on you!"

'No, you didn't,'

Kang-Woo thought.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day to come!!"

'But you weren't.'

"

Sniff!

I, Jo Deok-Hyun, am so moved that my heart feels like it will burst at any moment!"

'Bullshit.'

Kang-Woo was astonished by Deok-Hyun's passionate performance.

"What are you doing?! All of you, kneel! He is the one who will break the cycle of life and lead us to eternal life!"

"Oh… I see."

"Now!"

Deok-Hyun was shouting at the other guild members, who were just standing there motionlessly. The other guild members looked at each other with confused looks and then kneeled hesitantly.

"…!" Kang-Woo was surprised to see Deok-Hyun kneel on the floor like that.

'Quite impressive.'

It was hard for a human to abandon his pride and kneel in such a way. Kang-Woo felt a kind of respect toward Deok-Hyun after seeing how willing he was to lower himself into such a pathetic position.

'Not bad.'?

Kang-Woo smiled while looking at Deok-Hyun.

He didn't hate pathetic people. The people he hated were the ones who even stayed pointlessly prideful even though it was obvious that they would lose. Kang-Woo preferred people who could adapt quickly based on the situation and were willing to throw away their pride for a chance of survival.

'Since he's willing to place himself in such a pathetic position, I should reply in kind.'

While feeling a weird sense of rivalry, Kang-Woo took a step forward.

Stomp!

"Hahaha! You've recognized me at last! I am Andras! The king of ten thousand demons, the Lord of Inferno, and the master of hellfire!!" Kang-Woo exclaimed while emitting demonic energy from his body.

Most of what he said was a lie. Andras wasn't strong enough to call himself king of anything. Furthermore, it was Mammon, one of the seven princes of Hell, who had been known as the Lord of Inferno. Most of all, Kang-Woo wasn't Andras. The only thing that was true among the things he'd said was that Andras was the master of hellfire.

"Long live Andras! The king of ten thousand demons! The Lord of Inferno!!"

However, there was no way Deok-Hyun knew about these things. He just bashed his head on the ground while praising Kang-Woo loudly. If someone else were to see this scene, they'd probably think that Deok-Hyun truly respected and admired Kang-Woo.

'But there's no way that's the case.'

He believed Deok-Hyun was only acting like this because he knew he couldn't win against Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo smirked and sat on the altar.

'That's not important though.'

The important thing was that Deok-Hyun had surrendered, and he had a lot of information Kang-Woo was interested in.

"There are things I need to discuss with you, so command your subordinates to leave."

"Yes, my lord!" Deok-Hyun replied.

He kept his head pressed against the floor as he shot a glance at his subordinates. They then left the hall, dragging the injured out with them.

Now left alone with Deok-Hyun, Kang-Woo said, "There are a few things I want to ask you."

"Ask me anything, oh Almighty Andr—"

"Enough of that. You know that I'm not Andras."

"…" Deok-Hyun shut his mouth and looked at Kang-Woo with a sharp gaze. Then, he asked, "Who… are you?"

"I'm the one asking the questions."

"Ugh…"

"First, tell me the details about the ritual. How are you doing it? Where did you learn to create a Rift by using the mana inside mana stones?"

The thing Kang-Woo was most curious about was how Deok-Hyun had created a Rift. It was too strange to consider the creation of Rifts as the power of a Trait.

Deok-Hyun looked around before answering cautiously, "I-I learned how to create a Rift when I experienced the e-evangelization."

"Evangelization?"

"Yes."

"What the hell is that?"

"One day, a man wearing a demon mask suddenly appeared before me and said that he'd grant us immortality if we converted to the Demon Cult."

"And you accepted that?" Kang-Woo looked at Deok-Hyun, astonished.

Who in their right mind would accept such a suspicious offer?

"U-Umm… H-He was far too strong."

"Too strong?"

"Yes. He was able to overwhelm our entire guild almost instantly. Then he told us to choose to either do as he said or die. We had no other choice!"

"So, where's that demon-mask guy now?"

"I-I don't know. I haven't seen him since that day."

"Not even once?"

"Y-Yes."

"You don't even know how to contact him?"

"I don't. Sometimes, he sends us orders via letter."

"Hmm. Despite that, you followed his orders so enthusiastically?"

"Ugh! W-Well…" Deok-Hyun trembled as he avoided Kang-Woo's gaze.

Kang-Woo glared at him.

'At some point, he probably became more motivated to do the rituals without any external pressure,'?

Kang-Woo thought.

Deok-Hyun might have been forced to do it at first, but a man like him probably couldn't resist the sweet temptation of the power that demonic energy gave him.

'Who could it be?'

Demon Cult… It was an extremely cringy name that only fanatics would come up with, but the demon-mask guy's influence and power didn't seem to be a joke. There was no way that someone who knew how to create a Rift that led to Hell could be a weakling.

Kang-Woo turned toward Deok-Hyun. "Where are those letters?"

"Here it is."

"… What the hell? Just one?"

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Y-Yes." Deok-Hyun nodded, trying to portray himself as a victim.

"Hmm. I see." Kang-Woo's eyes narrowed as he stroked his chin. "Are you the only one who was evangelized by the Demon Cult?"

Deok-Hyun shook his head while saying in a trembling voice, "I-I'm not sure. I've never met anyone else."

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue.

'There's no way he's the only one.'

It seemed that Kang-Woo had no way of finding out who was behind the Demon Cult and why they had approached Deok-Hyun. However, unless they were an idiot, they would never execute their plan just by trusting in Deok-Hyun alone.

Deok-Hyun didn't look like someone useless, but he also didn't seem capable. There was no way that someone strong enough to disrupt dimensions would leave everything to someone like this.

'I'm sure there are others.'

Kang-Woo was sure that other people the Demon Cult had influenced were hidden somewhere—demon worshipers that served an unknown evil god.

"Tsk," Kang-Woo clicked his tongue while thinking about the situation. "So, what order did that evil god give you? To accumulate demonic energy inside yourself through the ritual and become stronger?"

"N-No."

"Then what?"

"To increase the influence of the guild and turn as many people as possible into Demonoids. According to him, once that happens, he'd be able to create Hell on Earth…"

Kang-Woo's gaze sharpened.

'Using demonic energy to turn Players into demons, huh?'

He wasn't sure what those people were ultimately trying to achieve or what was the point of turning Players into demons… but there was something he was sure about…

'These fuckers dare…'?

Kang-Woo thought with a frown,

'…create Hell on Earth?'

He couldn't let them do as they pleased.