Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Chapter 31: Guard of the Thousandth Circle of Hell (2)

Hellhound…

It was a monster of over five meters that looked like a dog.

It was a strong predator with incredible agility and skin that was harder than steel.

It was one of the strongest predators, even in the 1st Hell, where KangWoo had first fallen into.

'Why is a demonic monster here?'

Monsters and Demonic Monsters may look similar, but there was a big difference between the two.

Although both had demonic energy, a monster's main energy source was the mana inside the mana stone.

But demonic monsters were different.

They were a subspecies of a demon, so they moved solely by the strength of demonic energy.

"GRRRRRR."

The hellhound glared at KangWoo while roaring.

Every time the hellhound breathed, black fire spewed out of its mouth.

"What's happening?"

How did a being from 1st Hell get to Earth?

Even KangWoo, who used to rule over the Hell of Nine Skies, was barely able to cross dimensions. So there was no way that a demonic monster from the 1st Hell was able to cross there.

'Is this the doing of the Demon Cult?'

He didn't have enough clues to speculate.

"Damn it."

KangWoo extended his right hand and used the Authority of Dark Spear.

A giant spear two meters in length appeared.

'I don't have good memories of that damn fire dog.'

When he had first arrived on the 1st Hell, he’d been at the end of the food chain.

He was currently at the peak of the food chain.

Although most of his strength was sealed, there was no way he would lose against a demonic beast that belonged to the 1st Hell.

"GRRRRRR!!"

Fwosh-!!

The hellhound roared and launched black flames toward KangWoo.

Of course, it wasn't the same fire that Andras used that burned your life.

Since demonic energy was optimized for destruction, the power of the flames created with it was stronger than a normal one.

Slam-!

KangWoo rolled and dodged the attack, and then threw the spear created with demonic energy at the hellhound.

The spear that flew like an arrow pierced the thick skin of the hellhound.

Crack-!

"KRAAAAA!!"

The attack that’d killed the troll chief immediately didn't even weaken the beast. Not only that, but its movements became more violent.

The hellhound hit the ground and leaped toward KangWoo.

The ground that the hellhound jumped off of exploded, and the hellhound approached him at a frightening speed.

It targeted KangWoo with its mouth wide open—it was so wide that it could easily devour a person.

"Hmph!"

KangWoo hit the ground and jumped, and then he kicked its canine tooth.

His demonic-energy-boosted kick crushed its canine tooth, and KangWoo's body bounced back.

KangWoo turned around in the air and landed on the ground, and then he shoved his right arm to the ground.

'Authority of Earthquake.'

The demonic energy spread from his hand to the ground and shook it.

Everything around started to shake as if an earthquake was happening, and a giant hole appeared under the ground where the hellhound was.

The hellhound cried like a dog after falling into the hole, and KangWoo charged toward it.

'Authority of Dark Spear.'

KangWoo jumped into the hole and created a demonic energy spear.

He gripped the spear in both hands and stabbed through the hellhound’s head.

Crack-!

"Arf Arf Arf!"

"It still has a tenacious survivability."

Even with its head pierced, the hellhound stood up and jumped.

After coming out of the hole with a staggering step, it gained some distance from KangWoo.

It wasn't trying to escape…

Hellhound was at the top of the food chain in the 1st Hell.

—Its pride wouldn't let it escape.

"GRRRR."

The hellhound lowered its body.

The muscles of the hind legs swelled as if they were about to explode, and thick sinews sprouted all over the body while even more intense demonic energy blossomed.

The flames that came out of its mouth covered its entire body.

Slam-!

The hellhound charged toward KangWoo with the sound of an explosion.

The trees were crushed as if they’d been swept away by a tornado.

"It still doesn't know its place."

KangWoo smirked after seeing it coming at him after receiving a critical hit.

He clenched his fist and pulled it back as if he was pulling a bowstring.

'Authority of Divine Power.'

An explosive power gathered in KangWoo's body.

—It was the demon Baphomet's Authority, which was the best in terms of increasing your raw strength.

Stepping forward with his left foot, he used the elasticity of his waist to strike the hellhound's jaw.

Crack-!

* * *

"Arf Arf!"

The hellhound, which weighed well over a hundred times more than KangWoo, bounced back miserably as if it were an empty can.

The hellhound's jaw was completely destroyed, and black blood leaked from its mouth. It wriggled for a bit and then finally lost its consciousness.

"Oof. As expected, the Authority of Divine Power consumes a lot of demonic energy."

Although he had used it only for a short while, it’d consumed half of his demonic energy.

KangWoo approached the hellhound's corpse while breathing heavily.

It felt refreshing having overwhelmed the demonic monster that had made him so frightened back then when he had fallen to the 1st Hell.

'I struggled against it as much as when I hunted the Archdukes.'

In terms of strength, the beings in the 2nd and 3rd Hell were much stronger, but when he’d first arrived, he hadn’t known how to use the Authority of Predation properly. That's why, for KangWoo, the hellhound had been a nightmare.

Ting-

[You've successfully eliminated a C-rank Fissure Fragment.]

'Fissure Fragment?'

KangWoo frowned after receiving a message window different from the usual ones.

'Now that I think about it, when I returned, didn't it say Fissure's Nucleus?'

He thought they might use the word 'fissure' to refer to Hell's entities.

'How did they cross over to here?'

KangWoo's doubts deepened.

But in the end, he couldn't come up with an answer.

In the first place, he wasn't sure yet if the word “fissure” referred to those that belonged to Hell or not.

KangWoo was flooded by messages.

[You've gained experience.]

[Your level has gone up by 5.]

'Five levels…'

KangWoo's eyes widened after reading the message.

It was an amount of experience that couldn't be compared to what he’d gained after he’d killed the troll chief.

After level 30, the amount of experience you needed to level up increased a lot—that's why he probably gained a lot of experience all at once.

'I leveled up to level 34 in one go.'

It was four levels higher than the original goal.

KangWoo looked at the message window with great interest.

[You've reached level 30 and unlocked the 4th awakening.]

[You've unlocked the 4th attribute.]

'Good.'

KangWoo's goal that day was reaching the fourth awakening.

He had annihilated lots of trolls, yet he hadn't been able to level up, but after killing a hellhound, he had gained a lot more experience than expected.

Before checking out the attribute, KangWoo increased the demonic power inside his body.

"The seal has gotten a lot weaker than before."

As he awakened, the amount that was unsealed was increasing.

KangWoo smirked as the amount of demonic energy he had access to doubled.

'I won't have trouble using two Authorities simultaneously now.'

He smiled, satisfied to see that the results were better than expected.

KangWoo once again made the demonic energy flow through his body.

At that moment, he felt something he hadn't before.

'What's this?'

KangWoo tilted his head and once again made the demonic energy flow.

The demonic energy flowed out of the Ten Thousand Demon Core faster than before and spread through his body.

'The demonic energy is moving faster than before.'

Not only that, but he was able to use the demonic energy more naturally.

"Don't tell me…"

KangWoo opened the status window and checked out his new attribute.

[4th Awakening Attribute: The Ruler of Demonic Energy (Rank: A)]

Effect: You can control demonic energy faster and more naturally. You can also hide demonic energy from others completely.

"So it was because of the attribute."

As expected, he could control the demonic energy more effectively because of a new attribute.

'A-rank…'

KangWoo's eyes shone.

His new attribute was different from the ones he had obtained before.

If the attributes he had obtained before helped him gain more demonic energy, the new one let him use it more effectively.

Now that he had learned that the government was starting to investigate demon worshippers, being able to completely hide his demonic energy was going to be incredibly helpful.

'I'll be able to avoid meaningless conflicts.'

Being mistaken as a demon worshipper and being chased by the entire country would be troublesome, even for him.

Considering that, the effect of the attribute was better than the huge increase of available demonic energy.

"So leveling up was the answer, after all."

The power of the attributes was higher than he had expected.

KangWoo thought that he could use demonic energy better than anyone, but with the attribute's help, he was able to go even further beyond.

A new strength he didn't have when he used to rule over the Hell of Nine Skies…

'Once the seal of the Ten Thousand Demon Core breaks, I'll probably become a lot stronger than before!'

If the archdukes that he had devoured heard that, they would’ve panicked.

"So it doesn't have a mana stone."

KangWoo clicked his tongue after devouring the hellhound’s body.

KangWoo was about to return to the house after leaving the gate.

"Long time no see."

At that moment, he heard someone’s voice calling him.

KangWoo turned his head around.

There, he saw the red-haired girl he had seen in the internet cafe standing with her back against the wall.