"The Demon Cult…"
Gaia mumbled that name with a worried expression.
Her body began to tremble slightly.
"What are you going to do? Should we immediately go to where the magic summoning circle is?"
"B-but Guardian Kim ShiHoon is…"
"I'm okay."
Kim ShiHoon stood up.
You couldn't say he was fully healed, but he couldn't stand still and do nothing in such a dire situation.
He grabbed his sword while putting more strength into his staggering legs.
"…"
Gaia remained silent.
She grabbed the skirt of the dress she was wearing.
"It's too dangerous."
She hesitated after seeing Kim ShiHoon's over-enthusiastic attitude.
From her point of view, it was normal to hesitate.
The Demon of Prophecy, Satan, had attacked their secret vault, and he'd taken the Fissure Seeds they'd obtained with much effort.
Not only that, but if it weren't for KangWoo, he would've definitely died.
It would be weird if she didn't hesitate in that situation.
"It would be better if we took more time, analyzed the size of their forces, received help from each country, and then…"
She spoke carefully.
It was something that made sense.
South America had turned into monster territory, so even if a large-scale summoning happened, there wouldn't be many losses.
Just like they'd done in Manchuria, it would be better if they took time, organized an army, and then moved to face the enemies.
"Ms. Gaia…"
KangWoo took a step forward.
He understood why she was hesitating, but he couldn't stay still and do nothing.
'They could try to escape after leaving the demons behind like before.'
He was able to track them down back then because they’d sent him a dinner coupon.
…But there was no way they were going to do that again.
No, considering the damage they'd received before, there was no way they'd try to use the same strategy.
If they let that 'golden time' when they'd just begun summoning the demons go, there was a chance the Demon Cult would move somewhere else.
'I cannot let that happen.'
"If we give them time now, we don't know how much more damage they could cause. We have to attack as quickly as possible."
"I… know that, but…"
"I know what you're worried about. You're afraid we would die like Mr. Reinald or Alec."
"…"
Gaia remained silent. He'd guessed correctly.
KangWoo raised the demonic energy from within his body but mixed a bit of Tyrion's energy with it.
Since he did that, unlike the usual dark energy, golden energy started to flow out from him.
The only thing that changed was the color, but the effect from the visual alone was huge.
"Ah…"
Those around them let out short exclamations.
The sight of KangWoo covered by a golden light was just like that of a warrior of light.
It was a scene that was very cliche. It appeared in numerous manhwas, novels, and games, but there was a reason for it being that way…
'The reaction is great.'
He swallowed his laugh and opened his mouth.
"We can’t win if we’re afraid."
"…"
"Of course, it isn't that I'm being blindly enthusiastic. It isn't that I became blinded by a sense of justice. It's a conclusion I reached after defeating those demons not long ago."
He took out the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea and created Del Lain, the sword Reinald had used before.
He gripped the sword and stuck it into the ground.
"The demons are clearly strong enemies, but they aren't so strong that we should be afraid of them."
'Haa, what a nice setup!'
"But still, it would be better if we took some time and—"
"The more time passes, the bigger the damage will get. Even though not many people live here, aren't they still people?"
His eyes were burning intensely.
A will that couldn't be broken was felt coming out from him.
"Even if they are a few minorities, we must protect them."
'Woah. Even though it was me who said this, that sounded incredible!'
"Numbers… aren't important while talking about people's lives."
'Oops! What if Gaia falls in love with me?! Hasn't this been too cool?'
He felt proud about the dialogue he'd just improvised.
Gaia opened her mouth slowly as if she'd been hit with something.
'Please…'
KangWoo looked at her nervously.
'Don't say that it's too cringey.'
He would probably die of shame if she laughed at him in disbelief.
He wasn't joking.
He'd done his best to look as good as possible, but if she laughed at him, there was no way to make him look good again.
"I see… I was just a coward."
'Oh, fuck. It seems like that isn't the case.'
"Mr. KangWoo is right. We're Guardians—those that protect this world. We won't be able to protect anyone if we're afraid of dying."
'Ms. Gaia, thank you for not laughing at me.'
He was moved by the fact she came over without presenting any difficulty.
He became more relaxed.
"Let's go to where the magic summoning circle has been found. Mr. Cheon MooJin, please guide us."
"Okay."
Cheon MooJin turned around and started to run. The Guardians started to follow him.
"Hey…"
Chae YeonJoo placed her hand on KangWoo's shoulder.
"I feel like throwing up," she said while frowning as if she couldn't resist anymore.
"…"
"Tsk."
The heavy fact poked at his stomach.
After saying that, Chae YeonJoo left KangWoo alone and followed Cheon MooJin.
There was a heavy silence.
He covered his face with his hands, he was starting to feel ashamed.
'I also feel like throwing up…'
The road to becoming a hero was harsh and long.
* * *
They followed Cheon MooJin to where the summoning circle was found.
Earth's lungs, the Amazon…
It was a jungle so huge that a normal person would struggle to even walk in it.
It was harder to move around in than a place like the Grand Canyon, but still, everyone gathered there was above the level of an average ranker.
Moving in conditions like that was an easy task for them.
"Kiieekk!"
Slash-!
The body of a demonic monster charging toward them was cut by Cheon MooJin.
Instead of participating in the battle, KangWoo used the Authority of Observation to look at their surroundings.
'It really is the Demon Cult.'
He'd become familiar with the traces of the Demon Cult and followed them.
'They aren't far away from us.'
The more they followed the traces, the more demonic monsters appeared.
A thick amount of demonic energy was around the area as if confirming that they were once again preparing a large-scale summoning like in Vladivostok.
'But…'
Since he could use demonic energy from the depths of the Demonic Energy Sea, it wouldn't be hard for him to find out where the demonic energy was coming from.
KangWoo pointed somewhere.
"It's over there."
"Did you find another trace?"
"No."
He'd already prepared an excuse for how he was able to find their location.
"The strength of Mr. Tyrion is pointing me there."
It was the second cheat he'd obtained after Satan.
If he used the name of the Hero God, Tyrion, he could bypass any possible conflict.
"Let's go quickly."
"We don't know what could happen if we're late."
Kim ShiHoon and Gaia agreed with his words.
Grace, who was holding Gaia, nodded and moved faster toward the place KangWoo had pointed.
"Who is it?!"
"Ugh! How did they figure out…"
'Bingo!'
As they went through the thick vines, they arrived at an open space created by cutting down the trees.
There, they saw members of the Demon Cult wearing black robes.
'Long time no see, guys!'
He couldn't help but smile after finding them.
KangWoo quickly looked around. He wasn’t really after the Demon Cult members or the demonic monsters.
[Who are they?]
[Are they the Guardians we’ve heard about?]
Demons appeared from behind the Demon Cult members.
KangWoo's eyes shone.
'Nice!'
They were on another level compared to the demons they'd summoned before. Among them, he could see a few that were from the 8th hell.
'Although the number is a bit low…'
He licked his lip. He looked at how many Demon Cult members were where the summoning ceremony was taking place.
'This probably isn't the only place where the summoning ceremony is taking place.'
Considering how widespread the demonic energy was, there were probably many summoning ceremonies happening simultaneously.
There was a chance that more demons were summoned besides the ones he was seeing right then.
'You did it, guys!'
He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise at the Demon Cult’s efforts.
'You lovely bastards!'
Although they'd weakened the Gaia System through the Fissure Fragments, it wasn't hard to imagine how much effort they had to make in order to do a large-scale summoning of demons that were above the 7th hell.
[Ha! They're still humans! Nothing will change if a couple of bugs struggle!]
A demon with four horns and six eyes took a step forward while laughing loudly.
[Mr. Jaraxas, leave those humans to us…]
[No. It's been a while since I tasted blood! I'll go personally.]
Jaraxas, a demon from the 8th hell…
Flames of Hell appeared on both of his arms while he walked forward.
The demons that looked like his underlings were hesitating.
Jaraxas's lieutenant, Ebony Mur, spoke to the other demons while shaking his head.
[Let him enjoy.]
[Ah… Yes. We'll do as ordered!]
The demons bowed.
Jaraxas stomped on the ground.
[The ruler of the Hellfire Road of the 8th hell, Jaraxas, will face you!]
He opened both arms, and hot air blew around him.
After seeing the surrounding vegetation dry up instantly, Guardians’ expressions hardened.
Jaraxas's mouth went up after seeing that.
[Come! You filthy mortals!]
KangWoo took a step forward; a golden sword appeared in his hand.
The members of the Demon Cult started to laugh after seeing KangWoo take a step forward alone.
"Hahaha! I'm not sure how you found out about this place, but it's too late now!"
He looked at Jaraxas's back cautiously.
"It's going to be different from Manchuria! Now, we have the owner of the Hellfire Road, Jaraxas!!"
CRACK-!
[Cough! Ugh! H-how…?]
The sword, covered with golden light, cut Jaraxas's body from his shoulder to his groin.
Without being able to block a single attack, his body was split into two.
"Huh?"
The Demon Cult members’ eyes widened.
The body of Jaraxas was split into two, became black fog, and scattered away.
"Wh-what? The ruler of the Hellfire, Jaraxas, was…"
"Wh-what happened?!"
‘He isn't here anymore.’
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