After Ten Millennia in Hell-Chapter 190Side Story - The World Without Law (10)

“Kurgh, gah!”

Oh Kang-Woo’s legs trembled and bent as if he would collapse at any second.

“Kurgh,” he grunted, holding tightly to his fading consciousness as he added strength to his shaking legs.

[You still have not given up?] asked the Titan of Light coldly.

Kang-Woo bit his lip, smiled nastily, and cursed, “Go fuck yourself.”

He added more strength to his arms. He could feel the black mucus connected to his hands getting thinner. An irreversible cataclysm would occur once this string restraining Akart snapped.

‘Rift.’

Kang-Woo organized the idea he had thought of in his head.

‘Is it possible?’

Doubts swirled in his mind but he shook his head to chase them away.

‘It’s pointless thinking about that.’

If he didn’t do it, Akart couldn’t be stopped. Hence, he had no choice but to try.

Crack! Crack!!

The Rift grew larger with each of Akart’s movements. Kang-Woo stared intently at the Rift as his consciousness flickered.

‘I’ve done it once before.’

It was so long ago that he barely remembered it. It was likely when they were in Japan, trying to stop the deranged Japanese branch of the Demon Cult from summoning Lilith.

Back then, Kang-Woo forcibly closed the Rift to stop Lilith from crossing the bridge between Earth and the Nine Hells. Although he failed to stop Lilith from crossing and she ended up possessing the body of Kurosaki Yurie, the important part was that as he was closing the Rift, he had absorbed the power maintaining it with the Authority of Predation.

‘I can devour the Rift with the Authority of Predation... but the situation is very different from back then.’

Even that was an understatement; the Rift back then was only large enough for Lilith to cross, and the Rift he needed to close right now was almost large enough for an entire planet to cross. One could drink water seeping from a hole in a cup but not water pouring from a crack in a dam— devouring the Rift with the amount of power Kang-Woo had was impossible.

‘But...’

It was not the time to nitpick over possibility or chance. Only death awaited if he didn’t do it.

‘No.’

Kang-Woo didn’t mind if it resulted only in his death. He would have done so in a heartbeat if he could save everyone at the cost of his life like in a superhero film. However, the reality wasn’t so soft— his sacrifice would only result in the deaths of his loved ones.

He needed to win. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t compromise. Once he did, he would lose everything.

Wriggle.

Kang-Woo took off a tiny portion of the mucus holding Akart and brought it to the Rift Akart was ripping open. The sharp teeth from the black mucus bit into the Rift but it exploded, unable to withstand the torrent of energy.

‘I thought so.’

It was nowhere near enough— despairingly so.

“In that case...”

Kang-Woo called back the army of the Abyss he had sent across the Rift to devour the Rift. The number of casualties on Earth from giant falling rocks would skyrocket but he had no choice. The death of his loved ones was far more of an issue than the death of random people on Earth.

[A-Arghh.]

[E-Eat...]

[Devour... it all...]

[Just like... what happened to... us.]

The millions of demons latched onto the Rift to nibble on it like an army of ants.

[Hah,] Akart chuckled at the sight. [Is this your bright idea?]

He shook his head at the foolishness.

[I told you. A Rift that has been opened cannot be closed even by a Titan.]

“Yeah, so...!” Kang-Woo bared his teeth and continued, “I’ll just... devour it... all...!”

[Do you truly think... that is possible?] Akart glared at Kang-Woo pitifully. [Devouring a passage between worlds?]

It was nonsense. Even if the Demonic Sea was darkness born from the Primordial, it couldn’t devour a Rift.

[No, even if you possessed the power to devour a Rift...]

This was on an unfathomably different level. The Rift was large enough to cover half of Earth. Even thinking about getting rid of the Rift by eating it was absurd.

[What a pitiful final struggle.]

“Shut... up...!”

Kang-Woo panted heavily as he focused, activating the Authority of Predation through the army of the Abyss stuck to the Rift like ants.

[A-Aaaahh.]

[Krrrk, krrrrrrk!]

[Gurgh!]

However, he could feel his soldiers falling apart one by one, unable to endure the Rift’s immense power.

“Kurgh...!”

Kang-Woo bit his lip and focused on accepting the power flowing into him through the Authority of Predation. However—

“KURGH! GAH! BLEEEEEEEEEGHHH!!!” he vomited black mucus.

The torrent of unfathomable energy was so powerful that he did not even have time to let it be absorbed into the Demonic Sea. A mass of power too much for even the Demonic Sea to hold tore him apart from the inside.

“A-Arghh.”

Kang-Woo’s teeth fell out due to the massive pressure scrambling his insides. Black blood poured out of his mouth, nose, and ears. He could only think of one thing.

‘It hurts.’

The feeling of something that entered from the outside rooting itself inside him and pushing everything else out was extremely unfamiliar and painful.

Plop, plop.

His eyes popped out of his sockets and rolled on the ground. His skin swelled like boiling water.

‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.’

Kang-Woo held on desperately to his sanity and suppressed his body from bursting like an overinflated balloon. The power of the Rift inside him slowly melted into the Demonic Sea, regenerating his body that broke from the overfilling of the Demonic Sea. A new torrent of power tore it apart again.

‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.’

His regenerated body fell apart again, again, and again.

“ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS.’

It hurt so much that Kang-Woo was about to lose his mind.

‘When will it stop?’

It wasn’t ending. No matter how much he devoured, the Rift wasn’t getting smaller.

‘Why, why, why, why, why, why?’

“Krrrk, grkk, krrgh, rrgh,” Kang-Woo groaned incomprehensibly.

He compared it to the pain he had gone through when he first opened a Door or when he was stuck in the Abyss.

‘No.’

It was not even worth a comparison. Pain at a level he had never experienced ran through him. It felt like every cell in his body was bursting like a balloon.

“Argh, urgh, aaaahh.”

Kang-Woo grew stronger the more the demonic Sea absorbed the Rift, which allowed him to regenerate faster and absorb more of the Rift.

Crack, crunch, bash!!

Every ten seconds, every five seconds, every second... the time taken for his body to regenerate and fall apart slowly went down. The tsunami of pain that smashed into him grew larger each time.

“KURGH! GARGH! BLEEEEEEEEEGHHH!!”

‘HOWMUCHLONGERWILLTHISGOFORI’MGOINGCRAZYSAVEMEI’MDYINGFROMPAINPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASESTOPIT’SABOUTTIMEITENDSIDEVOUREDMORETHANENOUGHWHYISN’TITCLOSINGHOWMUCHLONGERDOIHAVETOENDURETHISFORI’MDONEIDON’TNEEDANYTHINGIDON’TNEEDDARLINGORSIHUNORYEONJOOORLILITHORBALROGORECHIDNATHEYCANDIEFORALLICAREPLEASELETMEOUTOFTHISENDLESSCYCLELETTHEPAINEND.’

[King of demons...] The Titan of Light looked down at Kang-Woo sorrowfully. [Just... stop.]

He was not enticing Kang-Woo with sweet whispers. He was being sincere.

[You have done more than enough.]

He had already taken more pain than anyone could dare imagine.

[You have... done your best.]

Kang-Woo had surpassed his limits countless times and even Akart couldn’t help but respect him for it.

“Mo...re tha...n enough...?” Kang-Woo said inarticulately due to his endless cycle of regeneration and destruction.

Akart’s sweet words rooted themselves in Kang-Woo’s head.

[Yes. Albeit only one percent, you actually managed to devour the Rift.]

One percent— he was only one-hundredths of the way there.

“Ah...”

Despair filled Kang-Woo’s eyes. He had only eaten that much after all that pain and resistance from losing his sanity. He needed to endure ninety-nine percent more of this.

“A-Arghh.”

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His teeth clacked but only for a moment— the pressure from inside him pushed his teeth out and they rattled on the ground.

[King of demons... No, Mr. Oh Kang-Woo.]

The Titan of Light’s manner of speech changed. It was the same polite way he had addressed Kang-Woo before he unleashed the Primordial Light.

[You... are also aware of it, no?] he asked as if pleading.

“Aware of... what?”

[That you cannot stop Earth from its demise.]

“...”

[Of course, I intentionally opened the Rift this time. However, even if I had not...] Akart stared at Kang-Woo sorrowfully. [It would have happened eventually.]

The Law of Titans governing Earth— the shell protecting the star— was broken. A turtle with a broken shell or a beast without skin couldn’t live long.

[Do you think events of this level will cease after a few times?]

“...”

[It will keep occurring. It will never end. It will continue for eternity.]

It was not a matter of what kinds of lifeforms resided in the outer worlds. If Earth is left to be, an outer world itself would eventually collide with Earth like a meteor.

[No matter how much you try to deny it, avert your eyes from the truth, or force yourself not to believe it...]

The result would not change if things continued.

[Only demise awaits a world without Law,] Akart declared firmly. [What you are doing now is like... forcibly extending the lifespan of an old man who is ready to die by making him breathe through a respirator.]

“...”

[No matter how many sacrifices you make or struggle to overcome painful hardships, you cannot stop the inevitable demise.]

There was no way to stop a world without Law– a world in which its barrier against outer worlds was demolished— from meeting its demise. It was like forcibly extending a story with a fixed ending. No matter how many new stories were added in the middle, the epilogue was already decided.

[Why... Why do you not know?]

Kang-Woo had known all along.

[The story... is already over.]

Kang-Woo had known Akart was right. Earth would end. Even if he hadn’t created the Rift, something similar would have happened eventually. That was the only path that awaited a world with a destroyed Law of Titans.

‘Yeah, I’ve known from the beginning.’

A voice echoed inside Kang-Woo’s head. It was not Bauli’s or Akart’s— it was his.

‘Let’s just stop. It hurts, doesn’t it? The pain is so bad that I’d rather die than go through even a second more, right? I did my best. I did everything I could. I did more than enough, didn’t I? No one can criticize me. I wanted to stop it too, but what else can I do? What more am I expected to do? I can’t do this shit a hundred more times. Darling, Si-Hun, Yeon-Joo, and everyone else will understand. Rather, they’ll praise me and console me, saying I did everything I could. After all, it can’t be helped.’

“Haaa, haaa,” Kang-Woo panted heavily.

His legs shook uncontrollably. He looked up and examined the Rift in the sky. He wondered if it even had reduced by one percent; it looked the same as it did initially.

“A story... with a fixed ending?”

Kang-Woo took one step forward at a time until he reached the Rift and opened his mouth.

Crunch.

He bit into the Rift. Its immense power tore him apart. The cycle of regeneration and destruction resumed.

“If that’s the case...”

He bit into the Rift again and the tsunami of pain smashed into him.

“If that’s the fixed ending of a world without Law...”

“If only demise is waiting for us at the end of our story... then from now on... from this very moment...”

“I will become this world’s new Law.”