Epilogue Chapter 9 - Wedding Anniversary (7)

The Ninth Hell was the widest and most dangerous of the nine floors. Demons fought bloody battles as always over the red earth, under the crimson sky, and in the suffocatingly sweltering heat.

“Gahahahaha! I, Nergal the Mad, take charge of this territory!”

Rumble!

A purple demon swung down his ax, shattering the earth under him. Screams echoed throughout the surroundings, and the shockwave blew away the demons surrounding Nergal.

“Gehehehehe! Move, weaklings!”

Nergal swung his ax without hesitation, laughing as madly as his title claimed.

Rumble! Boom!

The earth shook like an earthquake each time he swung his ax, showing off his overwhelming power against the demons charging at him from every direction.

“WHO DARES CAUSE A COMMOTION IN FRONT OF THE DEMON KING’S CASTLE?!”

Boom!

Just then, a red demon flew toward them from afar and landed as he flapped his black wings. He was five meters tall and covered in armor-like muscles. He was the Demon King’s most loyal subordinate and the one who currently possessed the highest authority in Hell.

“Balrog...”

Nergal gulped as he stared at the red demon standing in his way. The suffocatingly overpowering aura from Balrog extinguished his blazing madness but only for a moment.

“Hah, where is this Demon King’s castle you speak of?” Nergal snorted mockingly and raised his ax. “It has been over a decade since the king left the Nine Hells. A castle with no Demon King cannot be called the Demon King’s castle!”

“Oh? So what?”

“It is time for a new overlord to take the throne!”

The demons who cowered in fear of the Demon King ambitiously coveted the Demon King’s castle one by one after his departure. Of course, the ambitious demons were slaughtered by Balrog who protected the castle.

‘But I’m different.’

Nergal had battled countless demons and grew his forces to defeat Balrog.

“Come, Army of Madness!”

Rumble—!

He swung down his ax and tens of thousands of demons crawled out of the split earth.

“Hehehe. Do you see this, Balrog?”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Nergal looked down at the army he had raised in the past decade, his eyes gleaming with madness. No matter how powerful Balrog was, he had a limit, unlike the Demon King with infinite demonic energy.

“As long as the Demon King is not here, Hell is as good as mine—”

“There you are. How’ve you been?” a voice interrupted Nergal.

“Oh, my king!” Balrog, who had been apathetically looking down at Nergal’s army, turned to the young man slowly walking toward him from afar and got down on one knee. “It has been too long, my king!”

“It sure has, man. Have you been well?”

“Hehe. I am always doing well.”

“Is that so?”

Oh Kang-Woo smiled and patted the kneeling Balrog’s shoulder.

Balrog smiled and raised his head. “Have you eaten?”

“I’ll be eating with Lilith later.”

“Kurgh! Are you planning on eating with that woman without me?”

“Dude, why would I let you join us on our wedding anniversary?”

“We can invite Yurie and eat with the four of us like a double date!”

“Forget it. Who knows how much I’ll be nagged at if I let you join without notice.”

The two demons were chatting up a storm as if they couldn’t even see the colossal army surrounding them.

“Wh-Why is the Demon King...”

Nergal stepped backward, stricken with fear.

“That aside...” Kang-Woo turned to Nergal after greeting Balrog. “Who’re you?”

“E-Eek!” Nergal flinched violently as he locked eyes with the Demon King. He smashed his head into the ground and shouted tremblingly, “I-It is an honor to meet you, my lord Demon King! My name is Nergal the M-Mad!”

“Oh, I see.”

‘He’s awfully docile with a title like that.’

“He is one of the flies aiming for your position,” Balrog remarked.

“Wow, what? There are still more?”

“Yes. I will dispose of them, so please head inside first.”

“Okay. I’ll leave you to it, then.”

Kang-Woo turned away from Balrog slowly standing up and walked leisurely toward the castle.

Rumble—! Boom! Crunch!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

He heard sounds of destruction and screams from afar soon after.

“Haaa, this place hasn’t changed after even a decade.”

Kang-Woo entered the castle as he clicked his tongue.

“Oh, you’re here, my king.”

A black-haired beauty in a black dress was waiting for him in the castle. She was Lilith, the mean heroine of the final wedding anniversary.

“Yeah. Did I make you wait long?” asked Kang-Woo.

“No, I only just finished getting ready. That aside... it’s quite noisy outside. What’s going on?”

“Oh, some flies aiming for my position are buzzing around.”

“Your position...?”

“I’ve been absent from Hell for quite a while, after all.”

It was only natural since the pivotal being that was the Demon King had vanished. Unlike Kang-Woo who wasn’t that bothered, Lilith’s eyes turned cold.

“Looks like that incompetent muscle pig will need a talking to.”

A bunch of nameless flies were flying around, not knowing their place, after Balrog had said confidently that he would take responsibility for the king’s absence. He couldn’t stop them from coveting the empty throne but Balrog was responsible for allowing them to do as they liked in front of the castle.

“Forget it. I ordered him not to deal with them until they came to invade,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“You did?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would you...?”

The most effective way to stop a rebellion was to nip any alliances in the bud before they could be made and grown. However, that was what an ordinary mind would think.

“Who has the time to go around finding all of them?”

There was no point stopping a bunch of flies that used to be scattered, from gathering together.

“...”

Such a thought could only be made by the Demon King, the absolute pinnacle of all demons, not a ruler of a single nation.

‘I see.’

Lilith smiled faintly, realizing what Kang-Woo was thinking.

‘If you want my seat, try your best to take it. Grow more powerful, gather more forces, and unleash your hidden desires to your heart’s content. It will not change the fact that I am the Demon King.’

“How like you, my king...”

“Hm? What is?”

“No, nothing.”

Lilith shook her head and approached Kang-Woo. She slowly embraced his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Shall we go?” Lilith said.

“Oh, but why did you want to meet here? Where do you want to go?”

“Fufu. You’ll see.”

Kang-Woo followed Lilith deeper into the Demon King’s castle. There was a hall that was made ridiculously large for a stupid reason like needing to show the other demons his power. At the end of the hall was an empty throne.

“Man, it sure has been a while.”

Kang-Woo expressed surprise and approached the empty throne known as the

Throne of the Overlord

, made from the broken bones of demons.

“Even now, it looks so old-fashioned.”

“Ngh... Wh-What’s so old-fashioned about it?”

‘Oh. Come to think of it, Lilith designed this throne.’

“No, I meant... you know, it really accentuates the power of the Demon King when you look at it.”

“You just said it looks old-fashioned...”

Lilith sulked as she snorted and turned her head away.

“I was just joking. Don’t get mad.”

“Hmph. I’ll forgive you this one time.”

Lilith smiled gently as if she had never been upset in the first place and hugged Kang-Woo’s arm again.

Kang-Woo touched the empty throne and asked, “Is this the place you wanted to come to?”

“Yes.”

“There isn’t much to see, though...”

The massive hall that contained the Throne of the Overlord was practically considered a sanctuary even in the Demon King’s castle. Other than the throne, not even a speck of dust was in the massive hall.

“Please take a seat.”

“Oh, okay. Sure.”

“Oh, silly me! Please wait just a second, my king!”

Lilith hurriedly stopped Kang-Woo as he was about to sit on the throne. She grabbed something from behind the throne with sparkling eyes.

“Please put this on before you sit!”

“This is...”

It was the armor he used to wear in his days as the Demon King. It was also made with the bones and teeth of demons, just like the throne.

‘But why?’

Not only was it extremely uncomfortable to wear but its design was trash. One would only see armor like this in a nineties JRPG.

‘And why are the shoulder plates so damn big?’

According to Lilith, the larger the shoulder plates, the more majestic he looked as the Demon King.

‘Screw majestic, it only makes me look like a dumbass.’

“This is a bit...”

“Y-You don’t want to wear it...?”

Lilith teared up as she pushed the armor toward Kang-Woo.

‘Oh. Come to think of it, I only wore it in the past because Lilith begged me so much to wear it.’

This stupidly designed armor was surprisingly popular among the demons to the point that other demons also made armor with similar designs.

‘I will never understand the fashion sense of demons.’

Kang-Woo had lived longer as a demon than a human, but he had never understood their abnormal beauty standards.

“If you don’t want to wear it, then...

Sniff

.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll wear it.”

“Really?!”

‘Yeah. I made Yeon-Joo wear cat ears and a tail, so wearing stupidly designed armor is no big deal.’

“There we go.”

Kang-Woo wore the armor and sat on the throne as Lilith requested.

“KYAAAAAAAAAHHH! YOU’RE SO COOL, MY KING!!” Lilith screamed like an idol fan and took pictures with a camera she had pulled out of who knows where.

She took pictures of Kang-Woo at all angles as she rotated around the throne. She placed the camera on a tripod and sat on the throne’s armrest.

“Let’s take one together this time, my king.”

Lilith seductively put one leg over the other and leaned toward Kang-Woo. He finally understood why Lilith had chosen this place as their date spot.

‘This reminds me of old times.’

They weren’t great memories for Kang-Woo but to Lilith, they were precious and irreplaceable.

‘In that case...’

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and took deep breaths. They were at the same location, on the same throne, and he was wearing the same armor as in the past, but one thing was different.

‘And it’s probably... why Lilith is scared.’

Kang-Woo recalled Cha Yeon-Joo saying she felt like Lilith was keeping her distance.

“Hm> What’s wrong, my king?”

“Lilith.” Kang-Woo steeled his resolve after taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling. “Let’s take the picture in your true form.”

“Pardon...?” Lilith was left wide-eyed and mouth agape at Kang-Woo’s shocking statement. “Wh-What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. Instead of this current form where you’re in a human shell... let’s take the picture in your true form.”

“...” Lilith’s eyes shook. “A-Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“I-Is it really okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

“You’re saying it’s okay for me to revert to my true form and... do all kinds of

squelchies

to you, right?!”

“No.”

‘That’s not okay.’