Crack-

The air began to crack as if a glass pane was breaking, and a fissure was formed.

The fissure, which started small, started to get bigger.

A deep demonic energy leaked from the fissure..

'Demonic energy from Hell.'

KangWoo's expression hardened. It was demonic energy he was used to. The demonic energys light darkened.

"That..."

"Wh-what's happening?"

The voices of the Hwarang Second Squad members began to shake.

A fissure had appeared out of nowhere.

It was as if another gate had appeared inside a gate. Not only that, but you could feel ominous energy coming out of it.

"Hahaha!!! Now, being who takes the souls of the living, come forth! I beseech thee, use your strength and destroy these petty mortals!"

Yoo TaeShik shouted in a voice full of madness.

He took his hands off the summoning circle and spread arms open wide.

He didn't know what demon would come out of the summoning circle.

He just wanted the most aggressive and violent one.

[GRRRR.]

A low-pitched cry.

A giant hand emerged from the fissure.

It was a muscular arm with dark skin.

Crack-!!

The arms that came out of the fissure started to tear apart the air and widen the tear in space.

The black fissure got bigger, and a red light came out.

[Who was called me, Oriax, demon of the 7th hell?]

"Oh...!"

Yoo TaeShik fell to the ground after hearing the voice coming from the fissure.

He bowed toward the demon that was coming out from the fissure.

"Oriax, sir!! This humble mortal has called you, a being who walks the path of eternity!"

[So you were the one who summoned me?]

"Yes, my Lord."

Yoo TaeShik answered the questions of the demon who had just appeared.

Oriax looked down at Yoo TaeShik.

"Th-that's..."

"A demon...?"

The members of the Hwarang Squad became stiff after looking at the being that came out of the fissure.

It had a giant body that reached over 7 meters.

It had a muscular physique and bat wings.

They could see the madness in its eyes. On its forehead, it had two horns.

Even if they didn't know the goal of the summoning, it was obvious that the being summoned was a demon.

[Why did you summon me?]

Yoo TaeShik shouted at Oriax's question.

h ltt nd mt ulr nvl t lghtnvlubm

"I want the blood and flesh of mortals! With your strength, please guide us, your followers, toward the path of eternity! I'll swear loyalty as long as I can stop being a mortal!"

[So you want eternal life.]

Oriax looked down on Yoo TaeShik.

Since he had lived as a demon from the first time hed opened his eyes, he found the human bowing his head just to stop being a mortal pathetic.

[You want eternal life?]

"Yes!"

[You want a life with endless desires and pleasures?]

"Yes!!"

Yoo TaeShik shouted excitedly.

Bang! He hit the floor with his head. He cut his forehead, and blood came out of the wound.

"I want eternal life just like master Oriax! Eternal life and power!"

He looked at Oriax with eyes full of madness.

A demon from Hell

They were the ideal of the Demon Cult, messiahs.

'Eternal life! Infinite desires! Endless pleasures!'

The words Oriax said filled his head.

Before he became part of the Demon Cult, TaeShik was one of the few Muslim people in Korea.

Hed been expecting to live eternally by Ala's side.

But one day, he met a man who was wearing a mask.

That mans teachings had changed his ways of thinking.

* * *

- Is there a need to crave for eternal life with such an ambiguous belief? We can give you eternal life here, in the current world. The eternal life spoken of by your god is just one that's self-centered. What's the point of eternal life if you have to die to obtain it?

He was shocked by those words.

To think that you could aim for eternal life while being alive!

To think that you could live your life without fearing death!

As long as you were born on Earth, there was nothing more certain than death.

They had no reason to follow them.

Bang-!

[Hahaha! Good! I like your insatiable desire!]

Oriax could feel strong desires coming from Yoo TaeShik.

Those intense desires

[So, say it, human. Where are the offerings that will bring me the excitement of rending flesh?]

"Over there."

Yoo TaeShik pointed toward the Hwarang Squad. An intense killing intent leaked out from Oriax.

[Hahaha. Not bad as an offering for slaughter.]

The tips of Oriax's mouth went up.

The strength he could feel from the beings pointing their weapons toward him stimulated him.

He wasn't sure how useless mortals had managed to get such strength, but they were good opponents for him to fight against.

"Ugh."

"So that's a demon..."

Chae YeonJoo vigilantly glared at Oriax.

lghtnvlubm fr bttr ur rn

She touched her bracelet.

It clearly felt different from the monsters that she usually fought against.

It felt more destructive and violent.

'Everyone, get ready to fight! I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but you'll have to put strength in your asses!"

Goo HyunMo swiped up his sunglasses and took out his two shortswords, and mana began gathering on their blades..

"Oof. What a stupidly scary-looking creature."

Goo HyunMo gulped and looked at Oriax.

He was someone who didn't get nervous very often, but even he couldn't help but feel nervous in front of Oriax.

That was how strong the energy leaking from Oriax was.

"There will probably be a huge uproar if that monster gets out of the gate. We have to stop it, no matter what."

Baek HwaYeon also took out her weapon and prepared to fight.

Chae YeonJoo clicked her tongue.

"It would've been easier if I had brought my guild members..."

"There's nothing we can do about it. We have to be satisfied with the fact that we were able to get here before that monster walked out of the gate."

It would've been better if theyd been able to stop the summoning itself, but it was already too late for that.

The only option they had was to kill the demon that the Cult had summoned.

Chae YeonJoo and Baek HwaYeon gathered their mana and glared at Oriax.

"Being who walks the path of eternity! Please show your power to those filthy mortals!"

[Hahaha. Okay. Fighting and slaughtering are the forms of entertainment that I, Oriax, enjoy the most.]

Oriax stood up. His height reached almost seven meters, and he began flapping the wings that were on his back.

Crack- Crack-

His muscles swelled up, and intense demonic energy covered his body.

Oriax's eyes met the members of the Hwarang Squad.

The thought of the battle he was about to have with them made him tremble in excitement.

Oriax stomped on the ground and extended his hand. From the fissure that remained, a giant scythe appeared.

[Come! You filthy bugs!]

Oriax shouted while wielding the scythe.

The ones that moved first were the Goo HyunMo and other members of the Hwarang Second Squad.

Goo HyunMo shouted while gripping his two shortswords.

"Formation C! Let's show that muscle pig how strong we are!"

"Yes, sir!"

The members of the Hwarang Squad began moving.

It was a formation that resembled a sharp spear.

Goo HyunMo, who was at the forefront, smiled, and his body bounced forward.

Boom-! Clang!

"Ugh!"

The scythe and shortswords clashed against each other.

A short moan came out of Goo HyunMo's mouth, and his body was pushed back. As expected, the demon was very strong.

"What strength!" Goo HyunMo shouted while trying to calm down his hand.

If he were fighting 1 vs. 1 against that demon, it wouldn't have been weird if his body was split in two by the next attack.

But

h ltt nd mt ulr nvl t lghtnvlubm

"Haha! To think that I would get pushed back after speaking so confidently!"

"As expected from the leader!"

He wasn't alone.

After Goo HyunMo, all the members began attacking as well.

Most of the attacks were blocked, but the demon wasn't able to block all of them.

Marks began appearing on Oriax's body.

[Good!]

As wounds began appearing on his body, Oriax shouted in excitement.

The desire to fight grew stronger inside him.

Swing-!

He swung the giant scythe.

Following the scythe's trajectory, remnants of its demonic energy caused explosions.

"Ugh!"

"Cough!"

The Hwarang Squad members were swept away by the explosions as if they were tree leaves.

"Hahaha! Did you see that, you useless mortals? This is the power of a demon! One who has the power of immortality!"

Yoo TaeShick shouted in a voice full of madness. He became excited after seeing how powerful Oriax was.

'To think we'd summon someone so strong on our first try!'

The dimensional wall was getting weaker

That meant that they would be able to summon even stronger demons from then on.

Once that happened, they would probably be able to spread their forces.

Living in a world where he ruled without worrying about dying at all

Just imagining that made him excited.

[Hahaha! Is that all you have, humans?! Entertain me more! Make me more excited!]

Oriax shouted in excitement.

He looked around to see if there wasn't a stronger opponent.

At that moment, he saw a human standing still while looking at him from a distance.

[Huh?!]

Oriax's expression hardened after he saw KangWoo.

[Wh-what. Wh-why...?]

Oriax looked at KangWoo in fear.

He dropped the scythe that was in his hand and began trembling.

[Wh-why is that person here... No, no. There's no way.]

He began mumbling as if he'd suddenly gone crazy. Oriax looked desperate.

"Master Oriax...?"

Yoo TaeShik looked at him in surprise.

Oriax's head turned to Yoo TaeShik.

[C-cancel it, human!!]

"Yes...?"

[I TOLD YOU TO CANCEL THE SUMMONING RIGHT NOW!!]

"Wh-what do you mean..."

lghtnvlubm fr bttr ur rn

[I I'll return to Hell! Cancel the summoning and send me back! AAH! Isn't that monster approaching us right now?! Send me back to Hell right now!]

Oriax's screams spread through the cave.