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Chapter 447 - Shouldered Weight
Chapter 447 - Shouldered Weight
“More, more, more.”
Oh Kang-Woo’s desire was overflowing; it was blazing to the point that he wondered if anything this intense had ever happened to him.
“Haaa, haaa.”
His breathing became heavy. He clenched his chest as his vision blurred.
‘More, more...’
His sanity was being devoured. His ego and emotions were being vaporized by flames, leaving only his desire.
“Fu...ck.”
Kang-Woo crouched down and bit his lip so hard that his teeth dug into his flesh. He was thirsty. He was hungry. He was lacking.
Whoooom!
The golden barrier surrounding the area disappeared.
“M-my child!”
Kang-Woo could see the fully healed Gaia approaching him. He walked over to her naturally to devour her flesh.
“A-arghh.”
He suppressed his steps with all his might. He clenched his hair and gritted his teeth, frantically holding on to the thin thread that was his sanity.
‘This is... bad.’
No, it wasn’t bad. This was normal. He had always been like this. What was so wrong about a demon staying true to his desire?
“Haaa, haaa.”
Kang-Woo could see a black sea. An endless abyss was looking at him. It was not Bauli; it was something far more enormous. It was an infinite darkness.
‘What... the hell?’
Kang-Woo turned his head. He could see three doors of different sizes, which were keeping the darkness at bay, being drowned up by the black sea. No, that was not the right way to describe it.
‘They’re... becoming one.’
He couldn’t understand. He couldn’t think straight.
The abyss stared at him and said, - What’s wrong?
Kang-Woo could hear the laughter of an innocent child.
- This is what you desired, isn’t it?
He wanted to get stronger by eating so that he could win and protect what he cherished. He wanted to do whatever it took, whatever the cost.
‘For...ward.’
- That’s it.
‘Forward, forward, forward...’
Kang-Woo’s consciousness faded.
***
“Gasp!”
Kang-Woo sprang up. He looked around and saw white walls. He was in one of the rooms of the Hall of Protection.
“You’re up, my king.”
Kang-Woo heard Lilith’s voice. She was reading a thick pile of documents as she sat next to the bed.
“What happened?” Kang-Woo asked.
“The war ended with Odin’s death. Olympus won.”
“...”
“Gaia has remained in the divine realm to negotiate with the opposing faction. Your quick disposal of Odin resulted in minimal losses from both sides or so I’ve heard.”
“I see.”
“...”
“How long was I out for?”
“About three days.”
“...”
Kang-Woo stood up with an anxious expression. He immediately checked the amount of Divinity within him, but he could barely feel a difference compared to the amount before Ragnarok. He had not managed to achieve Transcendent-rank Deific Essence.
“...”
‘No, I probably would’ve still lost.’
It would have been a different story if Kang-Woo had let go of his sanity entirely, but he likely would not have been able to win if he kept hold of it. Besides, the end result would have been the same if he had let go of his sanity; if the Demonic Sea were to be fully unleashed... this world would without a doubt come to an end.
‘And he even managed to get his hands on the Demon God’s heart.’
Kang-Woo’s chance of victory had been reduced even more. At this rate, he would lose again.
“My king.” Lilith placed her hand on Kang-Woo’s cheek, her eyes filled with sorrow. She gently caressed his cheek. “It’s not like you have never suffered a single loss in your life.”
The Demon King’s path of conquest had not been clean of defeat; he had lost, been trampled on, and crumbled countless times. Despite that, he crawled his way up from the bottom and ultimately ended came out victorious.
“There is no need for you to be this impatient just because you lost to Bael once,” Lilith remarked as if scolding Kang-Woo.
Kang-Woo’s eyes shook. “No need... to be impatient? Just from losing once?”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ha. Haha. Haha.”
Kang-Woo burst into laughter; it was a sorrow-filled laughter as if he was wailing in tears.
“Don’t... bullshit me.”
Kang-Woo gritted his teeth and glared at Lilith fiercely. Lilith was right. He had faced defeat countless times in the Nine Hells. He overcame those defeats and came out victorious.
But...
But...
But...
Slam!
Kang-Woo punched the wall. He ignored the hunger strangling him and the thirst burning him alive. He trampled on his surging desire. Once everything disappeared, only he was left. Not the savior of the world, not the Demon King who ruled the Nine Hells, not the master of the Demonic Sea, but the human Oh Kang-Woo.
Something came bursting out. Something that he had been suppressing within him with all his might exploded.
Kang-Woo shouted, “I CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE A SINGLE TIME ANYMORE!! I BECAME STRONGER THROUGH DEFEAT? I CRAWLED MY WAY UP TO THE TOP? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY DIED IN THAT PROCESS?!”
They had died. Countless subordinates who had pledged their loyalty to him died in the most atrocious and wretched ways possible. They had died, died, died, died, died, and died again. They continued to die until their corpses made a giant hill.
“I HAVE TO FUCKING GET STRONGER! I HAVE TO KEEP WINNING!”
Forward. Forward. Forward. Forward. Forward. Forward. Forward. Forward. Forward.
He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t break. He couldn’t fall. If he were to collapse, Bael would bare his teeth at the people who followed him.
“THEY’D ALL DIE, SO WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!” Kang-Woo screamed in desperation. “DO YOU THINK NUMBERS WOULD HAVE ANY EFFECT ON HIM? HUH? OLYMPUS? ASGARD? GUARDIANS? THEY’RE ALL MEANINGLESS TO HIM!!”
Boom!
Kang-Woo stomped his foot. In the end, there was no one but him who was a match for Bael. If he fell, there was no one else.
He continued desperately, “I... have to get stronger.”
He needed to get stronger. He needed to fight and win. Running away was pointless. Even if he escaped somewhere far away from the Triad, it was only a matter of time. Bael would devour the Triad and come for him; wherever Kang-Woo was, Bael would eventually come to find him and devour everything he cherished.
“I...” Kang-Woo panted heavily and lowered his head. He mustered the words. “I... have to win.”
He could not afford to lose even once. He could not afford to let the things that happened in Hell to repeat.
Lilith remained silent.
This was the first time she had seen such a vulnerable side of Kang-Woo after all the time they had spent and the countless battles they had fought together.
‘Just how long had he been desperately holding on for? How long had he been suppressing these emotions?’
She couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“Master Kang-Woo.”
She did not address him as her king. The man in front of her was not the Demon King. He was the human Oh Kang-Woo, who had been crushed under the weight of that title.
“It must have been... so hard for you.”
Lilith took Kang-Woo’s head and embraced it tightly, patting it as if she were comforting a hurt child.
Kang-Woo remained silent.
He lowered his head as he was in her arms. He recalled the faces of countless people. They were the faces of Han Seol-Ah, Lilith, Balrog, and Kim Si-Hun. Not just them; the gazes of Cha Yeon-Joo, Echidna, Layla, Iris, Halcyon, Vaal Zahak, Uriel, and countless others were staring at him. They had a hold on him. They were the ones he was shouldering; they were the ones that he needed to shoulder.
“Yeah.”
It was hard for him. There was no way that it wasn’t. No matter how much he endured, and endured, and endured, and endured, and endured, and endured, and endured... Every time he tried to walk forward...
“It’s... so heavy.”
The weight he was shouldering was far too heavy.
“I feel like I’m... getting crushed to death,” Kang-Woo said as he wept, tears trickling down his cheeks.