After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 20 - Temple of Truth (3)

Oh Kang-Woo looked up at Eun-Hee, bawling his eyes out as he grabbed her clothes. Eun-Hee, who was about to leave Kang-Woo and Kang-Tae-Soo behind as Kim Tae-Ho said, froze.

"Ah..."

The crying pure little boy should not be here. Eun-Hee gulped, wondering why such an innocent and cute boy was sent to this hell, as well as why she tried to abandon him instead of protect him. Her expression was stained with guilt.

\'Good.\' Kang-Woo smiled in his head. \'She\'s the only one among the three who seems to have humanity, so I doubt she can leave behind a child to die.\'

And if she didn\'t leave, Tae-Ho couldn\'t either.

"Hey! C-Choi Eun-Hee!! Get the hell out of here already!!" Tae-Ho shouted.

"B-But we can\'t leave this boy here..."

"Fuck! What the hell are you talking about?! We\'re about to die!"

"W-We have to take this boy with us!"

The two of them shouted at each other, their faces getting red with anger, neither of them willing to back down.

\'Bwehehehehehehe!!\' Kang-Woo burst into laughter in his head as he witnessed the sitcom. \'This is the problem with having humanity.\'

He clicked his tongue in his head as he stared at Eun-Hee, desperately trying to protect him. Not only that, the reason she was protecting him with her life was simply because he was a child.

\'It makes no fucking sense. Your life should always come first. Why would you risk it for a brat you\'ve never met before? You sure have it hard, Tae-Ho.\'

Kang-Woo stared pitifully at Tae-Ho, whose face was getting red from fury.

\'He might die from high blood pressure. Well, whether he dies or not is none of my business.\'

"Eun-Hee noona..."

Kang-Woo hugged Eun-Hee and burst into more tears, not forgetting to tremble.

"Y-Your name is Kang-Woo, right?" Eun-Hee asked.

"Yes, noona."

"Don\'t you worry. I\'ll keep you safe."

Eun-Hee grabbed Kang-Woo\'s hands, her eyes blazing firmly. Righteousness was a tough gig.

"Son of a..." Tae-Ho\'s expression paled.

The five golden monkeys surrounded them as they were arguing.

"Kurgh." He bit his lip. Running away was no longer an option. "That fucking brat..."

Tae-Ho glared at Kang-Woo, who was in Eun-Hee\'s arms, with animosity and took a deep breath.

He declared, "All of you, stay still."

"T-Tae-Ho hyung, are you..."

Jung Hyun-Soo\'s expression hardened, having an idea of what Tae-Ho was about to do. Tae-Ho slowly walked toward the golden monkeys.

"O Almighty Ishvalda, bless unto your child the blessing of thunder."

Spark, crackle—!!

Tae-Ho\'s hair spiked up. Intense lightning sparks raged like a storm.

He, who was enveloped in blinding lightning sparks, muttered, "Ultracharge."

The lightning storm was sucked into Tae-Ho, amplifying his energy output many times over.

\'What? Pikachu is evolving!\'

Kang-Woo\'s eyes shone as he stared at Tae-Ho, exuding immense energy after using some sort of technique.

BOOM!

"Haaaaaaahhh!!"

Tae-Ho, enveloped in lightning, charged forward. Two golden monkeys leaped at him from his sides.

Crackle—!

The monkeys screeched as they burned to a crisp, being engulfed by a wave of lightning pouring out from Tae-Ho.

"DIEEEEEEE!!"

Tae-Ho crazily swung his arms, blue lightning shooting out of his hands like a laser with each swing.

\'What power!\'

Kang-Woo clapped inside his head as he witnessed the amazing destruction. However, it did not last long.

"Huff, huff, huff!"

\'Eh? The hell? It\'s over already?\'

The immense lightning wrapping Tae-Ho disappeared after only a few moments. He had used up his strength in less than three— no, two minutes.

\'What are you, a rabbit? Is that the longest you can last? Eun-Hee noona\'s not gonna like that.\'

"Cough! Cough! Kurgh...!"

"Tae-Ho hyung!" Hyun-Soo, who had kept hidden in the back, ran to the heavily panting Tae-Ho. "A-Are you okay, hyung?"

"Kurgh... are those... fucking monkeys... dead?" asked Tae-Ho as he grimaced in pain, likely as a price for using the technique he referred to as a blessing.

It had not lasted even two minutes but it was so powerful that the five golden monkeys were sprawled on the ground, charred black.

"Grrrrrr..."

"Graaaaaahhh!!"

However, two of the five monkeys stood up. They roared even more ferociously than before as they pounded on their chest.

"E-Eek! Th-They\'re still alive?!"

"Shit..."

Hyun-Soo and Tae-Ho\'s expressions paled.

"Graaaaaaaaaahhh!!"

The two monkeys charged at Hyun-Soo and Tae-Ho.

"Hiyaaaaahh!!!"

Just then, Kang Tae-Soo charged forward with his shield after getting a signal from Kang-Woo.

Thunk!

"Grrr?"

The giant monkeys\' fists smashed into the shield but nothing happened.

"Great work, my friends! I will support you for the remaining two!"

Tae-Soo raised his shield, large enough to cover his upper body, and smashed its sharp edge into one of the golden monkey\'s feet.

Crunch!

The golden monkey stumbled as it screamed.

\'Is that what true support is? Supporting the damage dealers by killing the enemies for them?\'

Kang-Woo chuckled as he watched the battle between Tae-Soo and the two golden monkeys.

\'Is it because I\'m looking from far away? Why does it look like three monkeys fighting?\'

Kang-Woo rubbed his eyes and leisurely observed the battle. He was not worried in the slightest since the monkeys were very weakened after taking Tae-Ho\'s attacks.

"Raaaaaahhh!"

Moreover, Tae-Soo was also immensely skilled.

"Screech—!"

Tae-Soo grabbed a monkey\'s ankle and swung the monkey with all his might at the other monkey\'s head. The monkeys tumbled across the ground from the sheer power.

"Allow me to display the martial arts techniques I have been honing!" shouted Tae-Soo as he charged at the collapsed monkey. "Heaven-Shattering Meteor Fist!"

He raised his shield high and smashed it down on the monkeys\' heads.

"Hundred-Eight Lotus Kick!"

He smashed their heads with his shield again.

"Asura Blood Demon Fist!"

He then split the monkeys\' heads in two with his shield.

"Fuuu." Tae-Soo wiped the sweat on his forehead and proudly turned around with his chest puffed. "How was my martial arts?"

\'Martial arts, my ass. All you did was smash their heads in with your shield. You don\'t fucking know martial arts, do you? You think adding cool names to attacks is all there is to martial arts?\'

"Hahaha! You must be so surprised that you\'re lost for words!"

\'I certainly am lost for words, you numbskull.\'

Kang-Woo grabbed his aching head.

"..."

"..."

The garden fell silent once the battle ended. Regardless of the result, the people from the outer world tried to leave Kang-Woo and Tae-Soo behind to die. Tae-Ho tread carefully around Tae-Soo as he glared at Kang-Woo, and Eun-Hee also stared intently at Tae-Ho.

"Let\'s... go," said Tae-Ho as he sighed, getting nowhere with the war of nerves between them.

He then staggered the moment he stepped forward.

"Hyung!" Hyun-Soo quickly supported Tae-Ho.

"Kurgh... Shit." Tae-Ho bit his lip.

It seemed he was still experiencing aftereffects from using the powerful technique earlier.

"Shall we take a short break?" suggested Kang-Woo as he stared at Tae-Ho with a smile.

"Shut up."

Tae-Ho glared at Kang-Woo and walked toward the temple with Hyun-Soo supporting him.

"Thank you very much, noona," said Kang-Woo as he held Eun-Hee\'s hand, following behind Tae-Ho.

"Huh...? N-Not at all. I... only did what I should have done."

Eun-Hee was staring at the staggering Tae-Ho from behind, her expression full of guilt. She likely thought it was her fault that Tae-Ho was in that state.

\'Tae-Ho, I helped you out, okay? Eun-Hee owes you one now. Who knows? This might be what triggers you two to hit it off.\'

Kang-Woo snickered by himself under the somber mood.

***

"Finally..."

After defeating a bunch more golden monkeys, the group arrived at the temple that had been far away two hours ago.

\'I wonder what we have to do to get out?\'

Kang-Woo looked around the temple. The group cautiously entered the temple.

"E-Ee—"

"Shh!"

Eun-Hee blocked Hyun-Soo\'s mouth as he was about to scream.

[OAlmightyAkartsetalightthepathforustowalkOAlmightyAkartsetalightthepathforustowalkOAlmightyAkartsetalightthepathforustowalkOAlmightyAkartsetalightthepathforustowalk.]

Inside the spacious temple was a golden monkey praying at extraordinary speed. It was different from the monkeys they came across in the garden; it was around seven to eight meters tall and was sitting cross-legged, facing away from the group.

[Ohh, truth, truth, truth, truth, truth, truth!]

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The golden monkey smashed its forehead into the wall in front of him. The impact was so powerful that it shook the temple with each head smash.

[Answer! I want to know the answer! Aaaahh! I want to see the truth!!!]

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The monkey continued to smash its head into the wall despite his forehead bleeding.

"..."

"..."

None of the five people could open their mouths as they witnessed the lunacy. They thought the same thing despite not saying a word to each other.

\'Fuuuuuck.\'

Kang-Woo\'s expression was also frozen as he witnessed the suffocating sight.

\'It looks so fucking dangerous.\'

He was getting chills as he stared at the golden monkey mumbling at extraordinary speed and smashing its head into the wall.

\'One look at it and anyone can tell the son of a bitch is the boss.\'

However, Kang-Woo was so intimidated by its madness that he couldn\'t recklessly approach it.

\'Let\'s leave it be for now and run.\'

His instincts were screaming danger at him as he looked at the monkey. Recklessly charging at it just because he was immortal would be stupid. Kang-Woo quietly turned away so that the golden monkey wouldn\'t notice.

"..."

"Gulp..."

The others also turned away from the monkey, thinking the same thing as Kang-Woo.

Crack.

\'Huh?\'

Just then, the ground Kang-Woo stepped on split out of nowhere.

Whoooom!!!

Intense golden light surged from the crack.

\'Oh, fu...\'

Kang-Woo turned his head, his expression as hard as stone.

[Who, Who, Who, Who, Who, Who, Who, Who, Who, Who, WHOOOOOOOO!!! WHO DARES DISTURB MY SACRED PURSUIT OF THE TRUTH?!!]

The monkey\'s splitting screech sent chills down Kang-Woo\'s spine.

\'Fuck.\'

He gulped before raging madness. A single mistake had led to an unavoidable battle.

\'If I can\'t run... I won\'t hesitate.\'

Kang-Woo pointed at Tae-Ho without hesitation and shouted with all his might, "IT WAS HIM!!!"

\'I never hesitate.\'