There was a Demon Cult base that had been diligently constructed below the center of a small city built upon the desert in the middle-east.
Explosions went off consecutively within the Demon Cult’s hideout there.
BOOM-!
Rumble-!
"AAGGHH!!"
"Wh-what's going on?!"
The cultists were surprised by the sudden explosions.
They took out their weapons and began casting.
"D-don't tell me…"
"Is it something those demons did?"
It was something they were afraid was going to happen.
A few hours before, unknown demons had appeared.
They weren't demons summoned by the Demon Cult, but they had suddenly appeared on Earth through a different method.
It was hard to think of a reason behind the explosions other than that.
BOOM-!
"E-escape!"
"B-branch manager?!"
The door opened, and the branch manager appeared with wounds and blood covering his body.
He had a fearful expression on his face.
"It's an a-ambush!! Lucifer's underlings have ambushed us!!"
"Lucifer's underlings?"
"Why would they…?"
The cultists tilted their heads in confusion after hearing the name of the archduke that came out of nowhere.
The branch manager said it desperately as if it took all of the effort remaining in his body.
"It won't stop with this one attack! Escape and tell all the other members! The demons from the Ernor Continent are going to appear on Earth!!"
Cough. He vomited blood.
Blood was leaking from all parts of the branch manager's body as if he had been stabbed many times.
"It's a war! Lucifer's underlings have declared war on the Demon Cult!!" he screamed to his underlings before falling unconscious.
"…"
There was a short silence.
The cultists began looking at each other, but they soon turned their bodies and started to escape.
More explosions went off, and the Demon Cult’s underground base crumbled.
Desert sand poured into it, and the entire base shook.
"W-war!"
"It's war!!!"
The cultists thought of the branch manager’s last words and quickly escaped from the underground base.
"Haa, haa…"
The branch manager was left alone.
A young man wearing a white mask walked out from behind him.
"Well done."
"Then the promise…"
"I'm going to keep it, of course."
KangWoo nodded as if asking what the man was talking about.
The branch manager’s expression lightened.
"Th-then take me out of here," he said in a desperate voice while watching the debris and sand pouring into the crumbling base.
KangWoo crouched next to him.
"Why should I?"
"Wh-what? Y-you said you would save me…"
"Can you not tell the difference between ‘I’ll let you live’ and ‘I’ll save you?"
"A-ack!!"
The cultist’s expression distorted.
KangWoo waved his hand and walked out of the base.
The cultist was left alone.
He bit his lips.
To be honest, he thought that things might go like that.
'I can't die here.'
He took a black jewel out.
A demonic energy stone.
Thanks to the jewel created through concentrating demonic energy, he was able to obtain an explosive amount of power.
Of course, if he wasn’t careful, he could turn into a demonic monster, but he didn’t have time to worry about that.
"Oh, I haven’t seen one of those for quite some time now."
"Eek!"
The branch manager was surprised by KangWoo’s sudden reappearance.
"H-how…?"
"I didn't think you were going to just roll over and die, so I waited to see what you had up your sleeve. As expected, you had something nice."
He forcibly took the demonic energy stone from him.
"N-no!"
"Well, to be honest, I don't think it will be of help right now, but it's still better than not having one. I'll make good use of it, thanks."
He patted him.
The cultist, laying in a pool of his own blood on the floor, screamed out.
"AAGGHH! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!"
BOOM. The underground base crumbled.
* * *
Crack-
"As expected, it doesn't have much effect."
He chewed the demonic energy stone while making an expression as if it didn't have much taste.
If it were before, a demonic energy stone might have been of great help, but he had grown so much that it didn’t have much of an effect.
'As expected, I have to hunt an archduke.'
There was no other way to obtain an explosive amount of strength.
Of course, he could kill other demons and try to build his strength little-by-little.
'Lucifer's underlings weren't bad.'
Besides the one he let live, he had devoured the corpses of the other four with the Authority of Predation.
His stat didn't increase, but the passageway that led to the 'deepest' part of the Ten Thousand Demon Core had widened.
He needed to widen the passage even more to use the strength of an 'archduke' later on.
'If something goes wrong, it might explode.'
Even if he could absorb the soul of an archduke right at that moment, he wouldn't be able to use its strength immediately.
The passageway that led to the deepest part wouldn't be able to handle the pressure and would explode.
If that happened even once; it would be the end.
Just like when the fissure exploded when Lilith was summoned, the demonic energy within him would run amok, and his body would explode.
"I have no other choice but to investigate China."
He couldn't stand still and wait for Lucifer to invade Earth.
He had to keep hunting demons and finish the passageway.
According to the information he had, there was a place the Demon Cult used to talk with other branches in China.
And since there was a place that worked as a contact point, there was a chance the Demon Cult had a branch there as well.
'But it's too big…'
China was big.
Its size couldn't be compared to Korea’s.
After all, it was one of the biggest countries in the world.
Trying to find the Demon Cult’s contact point, which didn’t even constantly operate, was close to impossible.
He also couldn't bank on getting help from normal civilians.
If he used other people, an army of players would have to move.
'It doesn't seem like something Cheon MooJin can do.'
In that scenario, the entire world might have to move.
'Do the Guardians have such authority?'
Guardians were definitely well-connected with the authorities of each country…
But that didn't mean that they could use them as pawns.
He could make the USA move, but that was only because of Grace Mccarbin influence.
Guardians not only weren't able to make the world move, but they also couldn't even make a single country move without some sort of connection. That was just how things were.
'I'll have to do something about it.'
A huge organization like the Demon Cult couldn't be stopped by an organization that didn't even have 30 members.
They would have too many restrictions unless they could move the entire world.
'Even if some Guardians move as urgently as possible, they probably couldn’t match an army.'
It wasn't a matter of their capabilities; it was a matter of numbers.
It wasn't a martial arts novel where there was a Beggar Sect or something that hoarded information.
He couldn't ignore the strength of numbers.
"Good."
Since the plan was decided, there was no reason for him to hesitate.
KangWoo created a gate that led to the Hall of Protection.
As he entered the Hall of Protection through the gate, he saw a sweat-covered Kim ShiHoon walking out of the training room.
"Ah, hyeongnim! I heard it from Mr. Ito! You found Ms. Kurosaki Yurie?"
"Ah, well… yes."
"If you'd contacted me, I would've gone immediately…"
"It wasn't that hard," he said while making a forced smile.
In reality, he’d desperately needed help from Kim ShiHoon or other Guardians, but he couldn't let them meet Lilith.
"Rather than that, are you staying here now?"
"Yes. Master said that he didn't have anything more to teach me, so he said that I should focus on training alone for the moment."
'It hadn't been a year since he began teaching him, yet he doesn't have anything more to teach?'
He laughed in disbelief.
"What about your mother?"
"She's gotten better, but she said she wants to live in a quiet and calm place, so I got her a house in Chuncheon."
"Don't forget to visit her often."
Kim ShiHoon's mother was the person who'd given him trauma.
Interacting with her was probably going to help Kim ShiHoon overcome his trauma.
"Yes, hyeongnim, but what brings you here today?"
"I came here to meet Ms. Gaia," KangWoo answered and began walking toward Gaia's room.
He opened the door and told her the plan he'd thought of.
"A summit?"
Gaia tilted her head.
"Yes. Each country's representative should meet to discuss the Demon Cult."
"Hmm…"
Gaia made an expression as if it would be hard.
"The conversation probably won’t be smooth."
She sighed.
"Even if the situation is desperate, each country has its own problems, so even if a summit takes place, you shouldn't expect a big change to happen."
It wasn't easy to make the countries cooperate.
The countries were struggling to make their own territory safe, so the number of countries that had time to think about the world crisis was extremely low.
No, even if they could, you could say that no country was willing to suffer losses for world peace.
"But we can't stay still and not do anything about it. I want you to create a world summit with the US as the center, please."
"It won't be easy."
It was something beyond the capabilities of Guardian…
But she couldn't reject a proposal from the warrior of light.
Gaian nodded.
"Understood. I'll try to organize one."
"Thank you."
KangWoo nodded.
* * *
Dark pupils…
A dark entity wiggled within a deep cave of ice.
—A giant, 30-meter-diameter sphere.
A girl wearing a black robe and red mask walked toward the sphere.
"Apostle of Evil Yulia is meeting the higher-up."
[What… happened?]
A low voice was heard flowing out of the black sphere.
It was a voice that could make you feel chills just by hearing it. It was a voice filled with malice.
"Numerous big and small incidents happened within the Cult, so I came here to give a report."
[Say it…]
It was a solemn voice.
Yulia knelt in front of such a being.
"First, the higher-up of fire will awaken shortly."
[I see.]
"Should I give the order to move according to the plan?"
The black sphere wiggled.
It was agreeing.
Yulia kept talking.
"The next report… we failed to summon Balrog. To be more precise, we failed to control Balrog."
[It doesn't matter. No one can control him now that the Demon King isn't present. Just having him cause a bit of stir is enough.]
"It seems like… Balrog lost to Gaia's underlings, so I think it will be hard to get the desired effect."
[Balrog lost to Gaia's underlings?]
The black sphere was shaken for the first time.
Balrog… He was well aware of the demon.
Although they had been chosen by a god, he wasn't a monster a human could face.
[Hmm. It seems like we need to do something about it.]
"I feel like a good opportunity will soon happen. I'll go myself."
[I trust and will leave things to you. Is that the end of the report?]
Yulia shook her head.
"The base in the middle-east has been attacked."
[Is it an incident worthy of reporting?]
"I heard that the ones that attacked them were Lucifer's underlings."
[What?!]
The black sphere wiggled.
It seemed like it couldn't believe what it was hearing.
[It seems like there has been a misunderstanding. I don't believe that Lucifer would move so carelessly. If he sends a delegation, try to convince them and then send them back.]
"Yes."
Yulia bowed.
[The most important thing is waking Mamon up and proceeding with the plan.]
"Understood. I'll ask the China branch to keep working on waking up the higher-up of fire."
She stood up.
After bowing once more, she opened her mouth toward the black sphere.
"All according to Satan's wishes."
A breathtaking demonic energy flowed out of the black sphere.
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