After Ten Millennia in Hell

How could the footage that was playing right now be pre-recorded? That made no sense at all.

[They are talking right now! How could that possibly be pre-recorded?!]

Satan turned his head toward the footage that was being replayed in the crystal.

Raphael certainly appeared to be talking with the fake Satan in the red demon mask, but… the priest said that everything that the fake Satan was saying was pre-recorded…?

"W-We have no idea what is going on either."

The priest wearing a black robe shook his head, just as confused as Satan. There was one way that it could be possible, but…

'There is no way that anyone could possibly…'

The priest's eyes trembled.

There was only one way to make pre-recorded footage like that work in a conversation…

"I-If he calculated the entire conversation beforehand… and recorded based on that… I-It is possible."

[...What?] Satan uttered in surprise.

What kind of nonsense was that?

[He calculated… the entire conversation with Raphael?]

“Yes. If he calculated that and spoke based on how he predicted they would react… I-It is not within the realm of impossibility.”

The priest grabbed his forehead in confusion despite having said it himself.

After all, how could someone actualize that even if it were possible in theory? How could they calculate what the other party would say and when?

Moreover, it wasn't even a simple conversation. Raphael and Fake Satan's conversation had been going on for more than five minutes.

How could he have predicted each line as well as calculated the precise time that Raphael would say it?

'Just how…?'

It was an extremely dangerous bet. If the pre-recorded line was even a second early, the plan would be completely ruined.

[U-Urghh…] Satan's voice trembled.

If it was pre-recorded footage, there was no way to stop it from the outside. However, he couldn't send soldiers into the angels' fortress either.

If he were to do that, all of his efforts to dismantle the relationship between the angels and Guardians would have been for naught. No, that might not even be the extent of it. There was even a chance that an all-out war between them and the angels might take place.

It was checkmate; Satan had lost.

[Demon king…] Satan mumbled as he watched the footage.

* * *

"This is the demonic crystal containing Lord Satan's demonic energy."

Julia Vilkova continued to kneel while she raised her hand, offering up the black crystal orb. Demonic energy flowed from it.

As Raphael slowly walked toward her…

BOOM!!

The rumble of an explosion rang out. It was not from the fortress but the Mirror of Darkness.

"Hm?"

Raphael, Kim Si-Hun, Oh Kang-Woo, and Julia shifted their gazes to the black crystal orb.

In the footage, Satan turned away.

[What happened?] he asked.

[Kuh, L-Lord Satan!!] someone quickly shouted.

Light entered the scene, which had been filled with darkness. A demon covered in green tentacles had opened the door to the room.

The clamor of things crashing rang out continuously.

"What in the…"

Raphael frowned at the unexpected development of events.

He couldn't understand what was happening over there.

[H-He has escaped!] a demon who seemed like Satan's subordinate quickly shouted.

Satan's eyes trembled behind the mask.

Crash!

The wall of the room was destroyed, and someone appeared from the destroyed wall.

"A-Aaaaahh."

[Kuh… I… will never… submit to…]

The man's skin was pale as a corpse's. He had deep, dark circles under his eyes and hollow cheeks.

The footage was showing Ludwig, who was exuding thick demonic energy.

[Hah…] Satan snickered at the absurdity of events. [I did not expect things to end up this way.]

While watching the footage, Julia felt as if she had been smacked in the back of the head.

"Lord Satan…?" she called out to Satan in panic. Then she exclaimed in confusion, "L-Lord Satan, what is happening?! Who is—"

Julia had never seen Ludwig, so she couldn't tell that the man corrupted by demonic energy in the footage was Ludwig.

"Lord Satan!!!"

[To think that I would make such a nonsensical mistake…]

Satan ignored Julia as if he couldn't hear her. His voice expressed how much of a bind he was in.

He shook his head and clicked his tongue.

[Tsk. It seems the plan has failed.]

Ludwig had appeared while Satan had been carrying out his plan to frame Guardians as the culprits for Ludwig's corruption. Now, nothing he said could amend the situation.

"Sa… tan."

Rumble—!!

Raphael glared at Satan. He radiated brilliantly, and the power of that radiance shook the fortress.

BOOM!

He stomped on the ground.

"What have you done… to Ludwig?"

Raphael's gaze quivered. He had an idea of what Satan had done.

There was a forbidden magic that could raise the dead as evil beings that went against the providence of the universe—a magic that created Undead.

Raphael was greatly shocked upon seeing that Ludwig, someone who loved and served the light more than anyone else, had been reduced to an Undead.

"SAATAANN!!!"

Raphael's scream spread throughout the whole place, his voice giving off rage that bordered on madness.

Julia's expression paled, and shouted anxiously, "Lord Satan! Wh-What are you talking about?! N-No, why is Ludwig th—"

She suddenly noticed something.

Julia's mouth fell open.

"Wait… Where is that…?"

Satan was in a cave that was covered in transparent ice and about a hundred meters wide. There was no wall to be broken.

"Wh-What in the world is…"

Julia trembled. She realized something had gone wrong. That wasn't where her master, Satan, was staying.

"Who… are you?" she asked in a shaky voice.

That demon wearing a red mask wasn't her master; it was someone else.

"Hah," Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief. He grimaced after seeing Julia's shameless attitude. "How unsightly."

It couldn't get any more unsightly than this for Satan. His scheme had failed.

From the moment Ludwig appeared as an Undead, Satan had run out of excuses he could use. His wicked machinations wouldn't work anymore.

"How… How dare you!" Raphael roared angrily.

He spread his hand, and an enormous amount of light gathered in it, forming a spear.

Raphael grabbed the spear, which was radiating light, and shouted at Satan, "How far… How far must you violate my apostles until you are satisfied?!!"

Raphael's shout shook the entire fortress.

[Hm…]

Satan pondered. He shook his head as if he were troubled by the situation. Then he reached out and grabbed Ludwig's neck.

[Kurgh!] Ludwig uttered. [L-Let me go!!]

He was struggling desperately.

Darkness flowed from Satan's body and encroached Ludwig.

[A-Aaaaahh.]

Ludwig let out a groan that sounded like it would be cut short at any moment.

He trembled so intensely that it was as if he were having a seizure. Then, he was completely dyed black by the darkness.

[Now that it has come to this… I have no choice,] Satan said, shaking his head.

His eyes were full of madness as he looked at Raphael.

Satan snickered.

[Do you feel the madness?]

"…"

[Do you feel your reason flying away from the rage? Is your head getting hot? Is your vision blurring? Is your heart beating faster?]

"You…"

[Ha, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!] Satan burst out laughing. [Do not forget that feeling, Raphael.]

Satan threw Ludwig, sending him rolling on the ground. It was as if Satan was throwing away a toy that he didn't want to play with anymore.

Raphael's eyes turned white, and rage devoured his rationality.

Satan smiled.

[That is wrath.]

"Did you… do this on purpose?" Raphael's voice trembled.

There was one thing he could conclude from Satan's actions.

Sending a servant of evil to the angels' fortress, offering a bold proposal, releasing Ludwig on purpose, and then acting as if the plan had failed... Raphael was convinced that Satan had planned all of it from the very beginning.

[HAHAHAHA!! It was only a coincidence. No, I guess 'mistake' is a better word for it.]

Satan laughed while grabbing his stomach.

Raphael's suspicions were confirmed by Satan's reaction.

"Why… Why did you do something so…"

There was no need to even ask; Satan's objective was obvious—wrath. He was trying to wrap Raphael around his finger by making him lose his mind from wrath.

Raphael's expression crumpled in anger.

"It was a nice try, Satan. However, you… will regret it."

He would make Satan regret having enraged him and turning a Watcher of Light into an Undead…

Satan smirked.

[Enough of this trivial play, Raphael.]

"…"

[Come. I will not run or hide.]

Satan stood up.

[I will declare here and now…]

Immense darkness spread like a tent in the scene of the footage.

[I will shroud all light in darkness!! I will destroy all of the worlds! Remember my name, puny beings!]

"N-No!! This isn't it!!!" Julia shouted anxiously.

She quickly reached out toward the black crystal orb, but Kang-Woo acted first and kicked her.

Bash.

"KYAA!!"

Julia was pushed back.

Kang-Woo glared at her with a sharp gaze and rebuked, "How dare you try to make excuses?"

"A-Aaaahh," Julia uttered with a pale face.

Kang-Woo raised his hand.

'Authority of Coloring.'

He created a sword that let off a brilliant golden light.

Del Lain—it was the Sword of the Sun that Tirion, God of Heroes, had left him.

"Those tainted by darkness…"

He raised the golden sword and…

"Receive the judgment of light."

He swung it down.

Slash!!

Julia's bandage-covered head was severed from her body, falling onto the floor and rolling away from her body.

"Hyung-nim… This is…."

Si-Hun walked toward him.

Kang-Woo turned around to face Si-Hun.

"I told you," he said, grabbing Si-Hun's shoulders. "The truth… will never die."

Intense, golden light enveloped Kang-Woo.

* * *

- Come. I will not run or hide.

[No… This isn't it.]

The footage was displayed in a dark cave.

Satan trembled as he watched it.

- I will declare here and now…

[What in the world…]

- I will shroud all light in darkness!! I will destroy all of the worlds! Remember my name, puny beings!

[A-Aaaahh.]

The voice that flowed out from the video belonged to a being that looked and sounded like him but wasn't him.

Satan groaned, [Stop. Stop… please.]

- I am death. I am the end. I am the father of all wrath, and I am wrath itself.

[Please, stop…]

- I am Satan.

[A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!] Satan let out a desperate scream. [Stop him!!!]

BOOM!

The giant thirty-meter-wide sphere warped, and the cave shook as if it were about to collapse.

[Stop that crazy son of a bitch right now!!!]