After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 378 - You Chicken?

[You must be one of Gaia’s puppets.]

The Constellation of Fear scanned Oh Kang-Woo with dreary eyes. The Deific Essence that he had acquired as the God of Fear analyzed the power of Gaia within Kang-Woo.

‘The Protector of Light.’

It was a ridiculous title. The Constellation of Fear raised his scythe and looked around. He did not feel any other presence in the area.

‘What’s going on?’

If the human had been anticipating for him to come, he had expected for there to be a group of humans waiting to strike around the area. However, unlike his expectations, there was not a single presence within this giant garden other than Gaia’s retainer.

‘Could he be thinking of facing me by himself?’

That was absurd. The Constellation of Fear shook his head. However reckless the man was, he would never think of facing a god by himself. He should have at least brought Kim Si-Hun, the other retainer of Gaia.

‘Has he come to stall for time?’

The Constellation of Fear shook his head while frowning. If that was the case, they would have been better off just running away together; there was no reason for just one of them to stay behind.

[Where are the others?]

“Not here,” Kang-Woo replied.

[Not here?]

The Constellation of Fear chuckled at the human’s firm response.

‘They must be hiding somewhere while aiming for an opening.’

It was a pointless effort. He, who was the cluster of countless vengeful spirits, did not have such a thing as an opening.

“Dammit... I never thought only one would come,” Kang-Woo said in disappointment.

However, the Constellation of Fear could see the human’s eyes blazing.

[...?]

Only then did the Constellation of Fear realize something was wrong. The human’s reaction was far too abnormal despite being before the God of Fear. He was not trembling in fear nor plunging into despair; his fighting spirit was not blazing either.

‘What is it?’

The Constellation of Fear sensed something unknown from the human’s eyes. No, it was not unknown— he knew what it was very well. However, he couldn’t understand why the human had such eyes at this moment. The Constellation of Fear doubted his senses. If he was correct...

‘He’s elated.’

The human was elated, like a starved beast having found a prey to feast on.

‘Why...?’

How could the human be looking at him with such eyes? He could not understand. During all his life, the Constellation of Fear had never seen elation in any of the eyes of mortals that he had faced.

‘Has he gone insane?’

That was the only conclusion that the Constellation of Fear could come up with. He lowered his giant scythe. He had gone out of his way to take action himself to punish the mortals that had ruined his plan, but he had come to face a deranged human. He had lost interest.

“Where are the others?” the human asked the same question that the Constellation of Fear had asked him.

The Constellation of Fear, finding the situation stupid, answered, [Not here.]

“Not here?”

The human seemed truly disappointed. No, he was biting his lip in frustration and stomping his feet.

[Tsk.]

The human seemed to have actually gone insane. The Constellation of Fear did not wait any longer. He had too many mortals to exact divine punishment on to waste any more time on one crazy human.

[Kill him.]

The Constellation of Fear raised his scythe and pointed at the human to command the thousands of wraiths. They had been singing and dancing while looking forward to the slaughter until a few minutes ago, but they had frozen while staring at the human.

[...?]

Time passed, and the Constellation of Fear tilted his head in confusion.

‘What’s happening?’

The wraiths were not moving. They were usually thirsty for blood, but they were simply staying in place without charging at their prey.

[Ah, aaaahh.]

No, they were not just staying still. They were trembling in fear.

[What?] The Constellation of Fear widened his translucent eyes.

His purple eyes that were the only clearly visible part of his body dyed with confusion.

“Oh, come to think of it...” The human smiled as he turned to look at the wraiths all around him. “You guys know me, don’t you?”

[Ah, aaaahh.]

The wraiths trembled. They, who had been created solely for the purpose of instilling fear into humans, were the ones trembling in fear.

[It’s that human. From back then.]

[No, no. He’s not human.]

[A demon. A demon.]

[A demon mad for revenge.]

[He’ll try to kill us again.]

[He’ll try to rip us apart.]

The wraiths screamed while trembling in fear.

Kang-Woo smiled awkwardly as if he was sorry and remarked, “I mean, back then... I had my reasons.”

[We haven’t done anything.]

[We didn’t do anything to him.]

“Well... It’s hard to explain.”

Kang-Woo averted his eyes from the gazes of the victimized wraiths while scratching his head. He did indeed have a reason for mercilessly massacring the wraiths.

“It’s because...”

Kang-Woo carefully selected his words to explain himself as thoroughly as possible, in a way that would hurt the wraiths that had been massacred due to Kang-Woo’s fit of rage, as little as possible.

“You guys look... hideous.”

[...]

The wraiths fell silent. Since Lilith had let loose her tentacles because she had gotten scared of the wraiths’ hideous looks, it was technically not wrong.

‘But... I sound like a scumbag for explaining it that way. I’m feeling a bit guilty.’

[You’re so harsh, so harsh.]

[Demon! Evil demon!]

“I mean...”

‘I am indeed a demon, but...’

He did not want to hear that from wraiths that kidnapped and tortured humans.

[Hah.] The Constellation of Fear chuckled at the absurd situation. [What do you think you’re all doing?]

He exuded chilling bloodlust not at Gaia’s retainer, but his own retainers. The thousands of wraiths flinched. The Constellation of Fear drew out Divinity and swung his scythe.

[Gyaaaaaaaahh!!]

One of the wraiths was pierced by the giant scythe. It was violently compressed as it screamed, and was sucked into the scythe.

The god said furiously, [Did you not hear me telling you to kill that human?]

The garden shook from the god’s fury. The wraiths shook uncontrollably.

[I will command you again.] The Constellation of Fear pointed at Kang-Woo with his giant scythe again. [Kill the retainer of Gaia.]

However...

Once again, only silence could be heard in the vast garden.

[What?]

The Constellation of Fear’s eyes widened at the incomprehensible situation. The wraiths were not moving.

[Ah, arghh.] They were simply groaning while staying in place, not knowing what to do.

‘They’re not obeying my commands? Even after I used Divinity?’

The Constellation of Fear’s thought became jumbled. He was more confused than enraged.

‘This cannot be.’

Wraiths were beings of the Underworld, so they were more sensitive to death and fear than anything in the world. However, they were in fear of someone else more than the God of Fear himself.

‘This is... wrong.’

He could not think of it as merely a mistake. The Constellation of Fear turned around and scanned the human in front of him more thoroughly. Other than his sharp eyes and his ferocious appearance, he did not look like anything else but human. He could also feel Gaia’s power and golden mana within the human. However, he could not feel any Deific Essence, which any god would possess.

To be frank, in terms of pure power, the difference between them was overwhelming to the point that it was despairing for the human. That was how much of a difference there was between one who could wield Divinity and one who couldn’t. To make a comparison, it was like a naked human against a human with full-plate armor and powerful enchanted weapons. It could be possible with a horde of people, but it was not a gap that could be overcome by oneself.

‘But why? Why are they so afraid of him?’

[...]

There was a discrepancy between his logic and instinct. The Constellation of Fear locked eyes with the human again. The human was still staring at him like a starved predator that had found a prey to feast on.

The Constellation of Fear felt chills running down his back. It was fear, an emotion that he knew all too well.

‘This man is dangerous.’

He did not know exactly why, but his instincts were telling him so. It did not take him long to choose whether to follow those instincts or his logic.

‘There’s something about him.’

The Constellation of Fear no longer underestimated the mortal in front of him. Through the reactions of the wraiths and his own instincts, he had become sure that the human had something up his sleeve.

‘I have to avoid him.’

As long as he had no idea what that human was hiding, he could not face him. He was not idiotic enough to face someone blindly just because they did not possess Deific Essence.

‘I should go back and find out.’

The Constellation of Fear narrowed his purple eyes. He needed more information before he could fight that human. He slowly widened the distance from that human in silence.

Kang-Woo’s eyes shone. He expressed, “Wow. Dayum, you really surprised me.”

His enemies usually ran straight at him while shouting, “You lowly mortal!” around this time. It was not because they were stupid and thoughtless, but because Kang-Woo was objectively at an overwhelming disadvantage. He had been made painfully aware of how much of a disadvantage one without Deific Essence was in against one with Deific Essence.

‘But I never thought he would avoid the battle.’

The Constellations of Evil did not know who he was, what he could do, and what he had done thus far. Hence, he had been sure that the Constellation of Fear would charge at him. He thought that his enemy would find the disrespect from a lowly and weak mortal without Deific Essence unforgivable.

[Oh Kang-Woo, was it?] The Constellation of Fear continued calmly, [I will come back for your head.]

He had made the declaration while exuding as much bloodlust as possible to conceal the humiliation of running away from a mortal without Deific Essence.

Kang-Woo burst into laughter as the Constellation of Fear turned around.

“Pfft, pwehehehehehe!!”

The Constellation of Fear stopped in his tracks due to the flippant laughter.

Kang-Woo continued while wiping his tears, “Jesus, that’s some bravado you’re exuding while running with your tail between your legs. Do you seriously think that makes you any less pathetic?”

[Kuh. Y-You bastard...]

“Weren’t you the God of Fear? Huh? Are you seriously running away like a scared little mutt?”

[Silence!! I am not running away!] The Constellation of Fear shouted.

There was a slight urgency mixed into his voice. Even though he was trusting his instincts, there was nothing more humiliating than a god running away after feeling fear from a human. The Constellation of Fear tried to turn around again while suppressing his boiling rage.

“You chicken?”

Flinch. The Constellation of Fear froze. He did not know what that word meant, but it felt extremely unpleasant to hear.

[Do not forget, human. This is nothing but a—]

“You chicken?”

[Strategic retreat...]

“You chicken?”

[I am falling back at the moment, but I will come back for your head.]

“So what you’re saying is, you’re a chicken, right?”

Silence fell. The Constellation of Fear grabbed the back of his neck.

[You son of a...]

The fear he had felt from the human was slowly being eaten away by his boiling rage.

***

“Tai Wuji.”

A seductive voice filled the black space. Proserpine approached Tai Wuji, who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the thick darkness.

“What is it?” Tai Wuji responded expressionlessly.

Proserpine took out a black orb from between her well-endowed breasts.

She smiled and answered, “There’s been contact from Lucifer.”