Chapter 270 - Me Again? (1)
Kim ShiHoon’s eyes widened in surprise.
KangWoo’s mouth fell open, and he was at a loss for words.
‘What the…?’
His head started to hurt.
He’d created the concept of ‘Fallen Angel Rakiel’ without thinking too much about it.
He’d thought about what concept to use to create the ‘Four Kings of Hell’ and thought, ‘Oh, yeah, there should be at least one fallen angel,’ and created him in five minutes, but…
Raphael was familiar with him?
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
KangWoo’s expression paled.
Raphael made a troubled expression.
“I can’t understand it. How did Rakiel… If Seraphim’s seal was broken, then that means other fallen constellations…”
“Raphael?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Raphael raised his head.
“Who’s Rakiel?” Kim ShiHoon asked.
“…”
There was a short silence.
Raphael closed his eyes and fell into thought.
After thinking about it for a while, he sighed and kept talking.
“Talking about Rakiel isn’t usually allowed, but since you already met him, I guess there’s nothing that can be done.”
With deep sunken eyes, Raphael spoke.
“Rakiel is a fallen angel that fell into demon god Bauli’s temptations during the mythical era. Right now… he’s one of the ‘Evil Constellations’.”
“…”
The scale was so big that KangWoo wasn’t even sure where to start asking questions.
‘The mythical era? What the fuck’s going on?’
His mind turned blank.
“Your expression tells me that you need a bit more explanation…”
“There’s no way we’d know anything when you suddenly start throwing around terms like ‘demon god’ and ‘mythical era’.”
“I see. Did the titan’s records disappear from Earth? Hmm… It seems like the explanation will get longer.”
While making a troubled explanation, Raphael kept talking.
“At first, there was chaos.”
‘Checking the scale of things, yes, there should have at least been chaos.’
“And inside that chaos…”
‘Light and darkness were born?’
“Light and darkness were born.”
‘Fuck. They really were born.’
KangWoo looked at Raphael in disbelief.
It was also the same for Kim ShiHoon.
The scale had gotten so huge that he wasn’t sure how to react.
He would’ve cast it aside as nonsense if someone other than Raphael was explaining it to him.
Ignoring their reaction, Raphael kept talking calmly.
“Titans were born from that light and darkness.”
“Titans…”
“Each titan created creatures and a surface where they should live.”
“Are those angels and demons?”
“Humans, too. No, It seems like the best way to describe it would be ‘all things’. After all, Ms. Gaia and the other gods were created by the titans.”
“…”
“One of those titans is Demon God Bauli.”
KangWoo grabbed his head.
‘What’s going on?’
He’d used the Rakiel name once and stories about the ‘mythical age’ came out because of it.
KangWoo began organizing his thoughts.
Titans…
It was an unbelievable story.
‘Now that I think about it…’
He recalled a magician that was providing Guardian with all sorts of valuable magic equipment.
When he ran to console the magician struggling with his workload, he’d said something amidst his tears.
– AAHH! If this goes on, ‘Hecate’s Book’ will…!
He’d asked who Hecate was.
– In the mythical era, he was the titan standing at the peak of all magic. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all magic originated from him. Our job is to study his knowledge. We search for the true magic…
– No. Your job is to pay out your debt.
– You scammer!!
– That’s why you should’ve been more careful. Come on. It’s time to go back to work.
– AAHH!! YOU DEMON!
– I’m a demon indeed, hahaha.
‘Hmm.’
At that moment, he thought that the magician was saying nonsense, but what he said had acquired a new meaning.
There was no need to go to Hecate.
KangWoo’s eyes narrowed.
He thought of the being that was in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Demon Core.
The being that was so huge that he couldn’t even estimate its size.
‘If he’s a titan…’
To be more precise, if he was Bauli, the story made sense.
After confirming that Raphael wasn’t saying nonsense, KangWoo focused.
“Demon God Bauli felt hatred toward the creatures other titans made.”
“Was he menstruating?”
“Menstruating?”
“It’s nothing. Please, keep explaining.”
“Hmm. No one knows why the demon god began having such resentment, but a conflict started to emerge between the demon god and the strongest creatures created by the titans—the gods.”
“It seems like the scale of the story is getting too big… So, who’s Rakiel?”
“Rakiel was a being that stood on the side of the demon god and tried to destroy the world alongside him.”
“Then… those beings that stood with the demon god…”
“We call them ‘Evil Constellations’.”
“…”
KangWoo remained silent.
At that point, it didn’t surprise him anymore.
The scale was so massive that he just wanted to say, ‘Ah, really?’ and then forget about it.
“So… who won that war? Ah, there’s no need to ask.”
If Bauli had won, the world would’ve probably been destroyed.
Raphael nodded.
“Heavenly God Seraphim, Ms. Gaia, and the Celestial Dragon joined forces and managed to kill the demon god. They separated the demon god’s corpse into three pieces and placed each in a different world.”
‘And I just ate one of those three.’
He could more or less understand, but it wasn’t that he didn’t have any more questions.
“I have three questions,” KangWoo said in a sunken voice.
“Yes?”
“You said it was a war between Demon God Bauli and the other creations of the titans… but what were the other titans doing?”
Bauli was a criminal that was trying to kill their creations, so it made no sense that they didn’t do anything.
Raphael spoke in a heavy voice.
“There was an invasion from another dimension.”
“Another dimension?”
“There’s not much we know about them, but the titans… called them ‘beings of the void’.”
“Then the other titans…”
* * *
“They were fighting those void beings. Many titans died at that time. Bauli took advantage of that opportunity to move.”
‘What a piece of trash…’
KangWoo laughed in disbelief.
It was as if he’d tried to rob a burning town instead of helping to extinguish the fire.
KangWoo frowned and kept talking.
“Then… my second question.”
KangWoo swept his hair back and opened his mouth.
Since he’d heard of the mythical age, there was something he couldn’t understand.
“Why did you think that the Demon of Prophecy was Satan?”
If the angels knew about the myth, the one they should suspect was Demon God Bauli.
After all, no one matched the nickname of ‘Demon of Prophecy’ better than the demon god.
‘They didn’t suspect Bauli because he’s dead?’
Nonsense.
KangWoo shook his head.
If they were talking about the dead, Satan was also dead.
A god-like being didn’t fully die until their soul was extinguished.
Gaia, Seraphim, and the Celestial Dragon had failed to extinguish Bauli’s soul.
‘As a proof of that…’
Bauli was alive inside the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Demon Core.
He couldn’t understand why he was there, but there was one thing he was sure about:
The demon god wasn’t dead yet, and the gods should’ve been more aware of that fact than anyone.
‘Wait, then…’
KangWoo’s eyes shone.
‘The Demon of Prophecy wasn’t me but him?’
There was a good chance that was the case.
Considering the newly-obtained information, it seemed that Bauli was the Demon of Prophecy.
‘Huh… There’s something that doesn’t match up.’
Gaia had clearly said she didn’t know who the Demon of Prophecy was, but she definitely knew that Bauli’s soul hadn’t disappeared, so there was no way Gaia would’ve said something like that.
‘Don’t tell me that she doesn’t know.’
KangWoo shook his head.
Even if she didn’t know, he was the first one she should’ve suspected.
Then why…?
Why had Gaia said she didn’t know who the Demon of Prophecy was?
“Haa. That’s the most confusing thing at the moment.”
Raphael took a deep breath.
“The one who told us about the Demon of Prophecy is Uranos.”
He’d heard that name before—he was the god in charge of protecting Earth in Gaia’s place.
KangWoo nodded.
“At first, we also suspected Bauli, but from what he heard… The Demon of Prophecy is a completely separate being from Bauli.”
“…”
KangWoo’s mouth remained closed; he looked at Gaia, who was sitting in a wheelchair.
She didn’t seem that surprised, and it was as if she already knew about the mythical age.
“Is that true?”
“Yes… I remember hearing that the first moment I received a revelation.”
If Gaia’s incarnation said it, then it seemed that what Raphael knew wasn’t wrong.
KangWoo’s eyes shook.
‘It isn’t Bauli?’
Then who…
‘Ah.’
KangWoo grabbed his hair.
Assuming Bauli wasn’t the Demon of Prophecy, then there was only one choice…
‘It’s me.’
The Sea of Demonic Energy and 666 Authorities…
The only ones who matched those conditions were Bauli and him.
‘Wait, then…’
KangWoo’s eyes widened.
It felt as if he’d completed the puzzle.
‘Fuck… so that’s what happened.’
Bauli knew about the ‘prophecy’, and he was expecting Gaia and the other gods to try to kill him.
‘That’s why…’
That was why he created a puppet called ‘Oh KangWoo’ and hid inside him.
From Gaia’s point of view, it was probably really annoying.
Bauli should’ve been the Demon of Prophecy, but the Prophecy was pointing to a completely random being.
Even if both were using the same body, they were clearly different beings.
In that case, it was true that there would be a problem with the Prophecy.
It was like trying to find the way with a broken compass.
“…”
KangWoo’s mouth remained closed.
The thought of being used by another being made him annoyed.
‘Although it seems like things won’t work as he planned.’
He recalled how Bauli was trying to crawl out after saying that it was the time of the Prophecy.
The moment he absorbed his body, he planned to take control of him, but…
‘He failed.’
The puppet he’d created to hide from the Prophecy had stopped him from crawling out of the Abyss.
KangWoo closed his eyes and organized his thoughts.
It didn’t matter who the Demon of Prophecy was—what mattered was Rakiel.
“Haa. I can understand why you’re confused,” Raphael mumbled.
“If it isn’t Bauli or Satan… Even I’m not sure, but since Rakiel follows the Demon of Prophecy, it seems that Bauli is indeed the Demon of Prophecy… but that means he somehow came back to life without any clues that point to such a thing.”
“Then, last question…”
He cut Raphael’s words off and remembered what Raphael had said when he mentioned Rakiel’s name.
“What does ‘the seal has been lifted’ mean?”
Raphael’s eyes shook.
There was a hesitation in his eyes.
It was as if he were wondering if it was something he could tell him.
KangWoo opened his mouth.
“We’re on the same boat anyways. I know that you don’t fully trust us yet, but if you keep hiding information, we won’t be able to fight a strong opponent.”
“Hngh.”
Raphael sighed.
“After killing the demon god, mighty Seraphim used his Divinity as a price to seal the ‘Fallen Constellations’.”
“Then if Rakiel appeared, that means…”
“That the seal has been broken.”
“That…!”
KangWoo acted as if he were surprised.
Although he was making a serious expression, he was shouting in excitement on the inside.
‘Ah, fuck. I was worried for nothing.’
Raphael might not have known it, but Rakiel’s seal hadn’t been lifted yet.
After all, he hadn’t appeared in the first place.
That meant he could use Rakiel’s name.
‘I thought that I wouldn’t be able to use that coin anymore.’
Just like when Satan appeared, if Rakiel suddenly appeared, things would get troublesome.
He nodded.
‘It seems like I still…’
“Ugh. In the end, what Mr. Mikael was worried about…”
‘Hmm?’
“What does that mean…? He was worried?”
“Haa. That’s right. We saw indications that the seal was getting weaker.”
“Indications?”
Raphael nodded.
“A few years ago, mighty Seraphim’s strength suddenly weakened, so… we were expecting the seal to be broken.”
“I see…”
“Still, how could it happen already…? How could mighty Seraphim’s strength disappear so easily?”
KangWoo nodded.
He tried to act calm, but he wasn’t.
‘How could this be?’
What was going on?
He thought that he’d finally be able to relax, but…
Rakiel’s seal was weakening?
‘This is a coincidence?’
KangWoo shook his head. There was no way it was a coincidence.
‘Wait…’
KangWoo’s eyes widened as he thought of something.
“When did that seal suddenly begin weakening?”
“Three years ago.”
“…”
KangWoo lowered his head.
If it was three years prior, then that was when the Demon Cult suddenly became more active, and demonic monsters started appearing from the gates.
The Gaia system had been pretty screwed up, and Earth became exposed to foreign entities.
‘Once again…’
‘It was all my fault?’
It was also when a certain human had returned to Earth after ten thousand years.