Player who Returned 10,000 years Later - Chapter 264

The video was full of noise, and KangWoo was chained to a cross-like pillar.

It wasn’t just that he was chained to it.

Chains that seemed to have been made of demonic energy were piercing KangWoo’s skin and holding him against the pillar by his shoulders, arms, thighs, and collarbone.

Blood leaked from his pierced skin, and KangWoo’s face, which was missing an eye, was full of pain and fear.

– ShiHoon.

“Ah, aah.”

In such a horrible situation…

– Es… escape…

He kept mumbling the word ‘escape’.

“Hmm? It seems like you still haven’t come to your senses.”

The Demon of Prophecy that was pretending to be KangWoo made a fishy smile and bounced his finger.

Clack-

– Cough, ugh!

Thorns appeared from the chains that were holding KangWoo, making it seem like they were looking at a cactus.

The 10 chains that were holding him started to move, and the thorns lacerated his skiing, bringing out more blood and pus from his fresh wounds.

“Agh!”

He looked like he was desperately trying to resist the pain.

Kim ShiHoon’s mind blanked.

“STOP, YOU BASTARD!!”

He rushed forward and made his energy explode.

A scream similar to a beast’s came from his mouth.

“PFF, HAHAHA!!”

The Demon of Prophecy laughed.

It was as if the situation was fun to him

“AAAHHH!!”

Kim ShiHoon rushed toward him while trying to kill him, but his body had already reached a limit. The demon easily flicked his finger and made ShiHoon go rolling across the ground.

“Ugh, aah,” he moaned in pain.

He crawled on the ground with a desperate look on his face.

“Nice brotherly love. Haha. Really…”

The Demon of Prophecy let out a breath full of heat.

“Beautiful.”

Squeak.

Liquid dripped from somewhere.

Kim ShiHoon turned his face toward the Demon of Prophecy—his skin split as if he didn’t need to look like KangWoo anymore.

It was as if bugs were crawling beneath his skin, which shortly fell to the ground.

The demon that was pretending to be KangWoo…

“Ah, aah.”

Kim ShiHoon’s eyes widened.

He understood why Gaia had said that she didn’t know who the Demon of Prophecy was.

The horrible demon was formed of a black liquid similar to tar, an Abyss that devoured all light.

“Wh-what’s that…?”

Chae YeonJoo trembled.

A demon?

Could that be called a Demon?

It had no eyes, nose, or mouth; it was only sticky darkness.

“Y-you damn slime…”

Chae YeonJoo looked at its appearance and mocked it by calling it a slime, but her lips had turned pale.

She subconsciously knew that the monster…

Wasn’t just a slime.

[Do you want to save this human?]

“…”

Hahaha.

He pointed toward the floating screen.

There was no need to answer.

Even the Demon of Prophecy knew how important KangWoo was to ShiHoon.

Tap-

The Demon of Prophecy threw a black jewel that was about as big as two fingers and spoke with a laugh.

[If you want to save him, use that jewel. It will teleport you toward where that human is.]

“…”

[I am wondering…]

Squeak.

The black liquid moved.

[How beautifully you’ll burn.]

It was a vague question and answer.

After he said that, the wall next to them flew apart, and an angel with eight wings appeared.

It was Raphael.

“Ugh…”

Raphael was moaning in pain. It seemed like he’d forced himself to move, but that was too much of a burden on him since he still hadn’t fully recovered.

He was breathing heavily. Compared to when he fought against Satan, the light from his wings was weak.

[Oops, it’s about time I go.]

The Demon of Prophecy turned around.

“I won’t let you escape!”

BOOM-!

Raphael rushed forward and swung his arm toward the black liquid called the Demon of Prophecy.

Crack. Some of the skin on Raphael’s left shoulder was cut.

“Ugh…!”

Raphael!”

Shargiel quickly approached him.

Raphael was no different from a sick person who had gotten up from the hospital bed—it was impossible for him to fight against the Demon of Prophecy.

[Is this the extent of an archangel’s strength?]

Raphael’s eyes trembled.

He looked at the demon whose body was a black liquid.

“Who… are you? Even in the mythical records, there’s no being like you…”

[Mythical records?]

* * *

The Demon of Prophecy laughed.

[History has forgotten about many things.]

A black fissure formed behind the Demon of Prophecy, and he slowly walked toward it.

Before he entered and disappeared, the Demon of Prophecy spoke as if he were whispering.

[Human, I’ll be waiting for you.]

The Demon of Prophecy disappeared into the darkness.

“…”

With his mouth closed, Kim ShiHoon grabbed the jewel on the floor, but he’d reached a limit, so his sight was blurry.

Clang. The holy sword in his hands fell to the ground, became white dust, and scattered away.

* * *

“Haa, haa… Woah, fuck.”

KangWoo breathed out heavily after escaping through a gate he’d created by using an Authority.

“Things almost got fucked up.”

That was close.

No, it wasn’t just close. It was almost all over for him.

He was saved because of Kim ShiHoon, Chae YeonJoo, and Gaia’s trust in him.

“From now on…”

KangWoo narrowed his eyes.

It was truly about to begin.

Up until then, he’d somehow managed to solve the crisis. It was time for him to create a detailed plan.

“Haa.”

KangWoo sighed and sat on the floor.

It was something not even he was expecting, so he needed time to organize his thoughts.

‘I’m sure I’ll have some time.’

He’d given them a jewel while saying they should use it if they wanted to save him.

That jewel was something he’d created with Lilith. It was what they’d used to create the gate that led to the dungeon of Ludwig’s fall.

‘I’m sure they won’t use it immediately.’

After all, it was obvious that it was a trap.

There was also a chance they wouldn’t use it at all.

“…”

After thinking about it for a while, KangWoo shook his head.

‘They’ll come.’

He knew Kim ShiHoon.

Even if he knew it was a trap, even if it were a burning hole, he would for sure jump into it to save him.

‘That’s just how he is.’

KangWoo smirked.

He once again started to feel guilty, but he shook his head and continued thinking.

‘Let’s organize the situation first.’

His eyes shone sharply.

Leaving the process aside, the result wasn’t bad.

Considering that it had appeared out of nowhere, he’d obtained quite a lot of things.

‘The timing was also perfect.’

It was just after Gaia had appeared and trolled, saying Satan wasn’t the Demon of Prophecy.

‘It was something I needed either way.’

The value of the Satan coin had dropped at Gaia’s revelation.

He was already thinking about who would replace Satan and become the new ‘Demon of Prophecy.’

KangWoo put his hands on his forehead and thought of Gaia.

‘It doesn’t make sense to make someone else the Demon of Prophecy anymore.’

Let’s say he tried to make Lucifer the Demon of Prophecy…

There was a chance Gaia would appear again and say he wasn’t the Demon of Prophecy.

‘That useless bitch.’

Thinking about Gaia made him angry, but he could do nothing about it.

Even if he didn’t like her, she was the main god that protected Earth.

If she ended up dying, there was a chance that the world would end up collapsing.

‘If gods from other worlds appear in masses…’

There was no need to think too deeply about it.

It didn’t matter how strong he was, Earth would be destroyed.

The home he’d been craving for ten thousand years would disappear without leaving any traces behind.

“Haa…”

He sighed, shook his head, and tried to refocus.

It was time to focus on the Demon of Prophecy.

‘The Demon of Prophecy…’

It should be someone whose identity was unknown.

Just like the shadow character that appeared in detective manhwas, he had to be someone whose exact form and identity weren’t known.

At the same time…

‘I mustn’t hide him too much.’

He had to keep giving them clues that expressed that the Demon of Prophecy was someone real that existed.

Comparing it to the detective manhwa mentioned before, he had to make sure the audience knew that there was a criminal behind all of it in the end.

“How complicated…”

KangWoo grabbed his forehead.

He had to spread the evidence of the existence of the Demon of Prophecy while hiding his identity.

It was a hard task, but that was the best possible way to avoid being an object of suspicion to the gods.

‘Hiding its existence… but drop hints about it…’

He narrowed his eyes.

His head started to spin fast.

‘There’s a way.’

His eyes shone sharply.

He’d already thought of something—that’s why he’d given Kim ShiHoon the black jewel.

“First… I should contact Balrog and Lilith.”

As things became complicated, they were the first ones he’d thought of.

Whether he liked them or not, they were the ones with whom he’d been with the longest.

‘Echidna and Halcyon…

He fell into thought.

He didn’t have much experience working with them.

He’d worked together with Echidna when they’d killed Reinald.

He wasn’t sure if Halcyon was going to be capable of acting.

‘Still, I have no other choice.’

He couldn’t do everything alone.

He needed more actors.

‘Okay, then, I should gather Balzac, Halcyon, and Echidna.’

He was worried about Han Seol-ah but shook his head.

It would be better if as few people as possible knew about what was going on.

Unlike others, Han Seol-ah’s soul wasn’t directly connected to his, so hiding the truth was the correct answer.

KangWoo got up.

‘What I have to do…’

If he wanted to conduct a play, he needed a stage that matched.

He wasn’t sure when Kim ShiHoon would use the black jewel, so creating the stage from scratch wouldn’t be effective.

Thankfully, he already had one that he’d used before.

He moved toward the dungeon he’d created before.

Ting-

[You’ve entered the SS+ rank Dungeon ‘Lilith ♡ Demon King’s love houwhotoldyoutoputanamelikethisfuckitwasalreadymade.’]

“…”

There was silence.

He grabbed his head.

“Ah, fuck.”

He had to rebuild the stage.

* * *

BANG-!!

There was a huge construction that resembled a fortress.

A loud sound spread from within it.

Crack.

The table Kim ShiHoon hit was split into two.

“What do you mean…?!”

Kim ShiHoon glared at Shargiel.

Shargiel sighed.

“The angels won’t participate in this rescue mission.”

“…”

There was a heavy silence.