The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 530: The End of the Road

The base of the chess piece appeared to be engraved with an ancient book, its surface riddled with spots and marks, as if weathered by the ages.

"Do you know what this is?"

"I heard about it from that old humanoid demon back at the tavern," Ruth murmured, her eyes fixed on the figurine. "It's some kind of trinket that started mysteriously appearing in the human world not long ago, each one holding an incredible, incomprehensible power. Their abilities differ—some grant their owners unusual gifts, others carry terrible curses, and a few can even summon horrifying creatures."

"'It can elevate the weakest hungry demon to the pinnacle of Hell, yet reduce the mightiest demon to dust. A tiny thing, promising fortune and misfortune, opportunity and peril, all at once.' That's what he said," Ruth recited, imitating the humanoid demon's tone.

"What's this one called?" Lu Li studied the figurine, sensing it was somehow connected to knowledge...

Several spectral hands materialized, gently nudging Lu Li closer to the remains of the Son of the Devil—or more precisely, to the evil spirit chess piece.

"How would I know? Don't touch strange things!"

Just as Ruth cried out, Lu Li, having chosen to trust the lingering souls, had already pushed his hand through the Son of the Devil's remains and touched the figurine.

"The Book of the Apocalypse," Lu Li whispered.

"How do you know that?" Ruth stared at Lu Li's face in astonishment, trying to determine if it was really him.Ruth had indeed noticed a change in Lu Li—his soul had become nearly twice as strong as before. She wondered if the Son of the Devil had possessed him, but one thing was off: Lu Li wasn't exuding the malevolent aura characteristic of demons.

"The moment I touched it, all the information flooded into my mind," Lu Li explained, closing his hand around the evil spirit chess piece and withdrawing his arm.

The remains of the Son of the Devil didn't stir. Had he been in the outside world, possessing such power, he might not have died. But in the Valley of Sin, the weight of all his committed sins had come crashing down upon him, leaving no chance for survival.

"So, you know its power now?"

Lu Li nodded. "After the end of the world has begun, possession of the Book of the Apocalypse doubles all of one's abilities."

Physique, perception, Mind Level, soul—they all fell within its sphere of enhancement, and there were no negative side effects.

An extraordinary object, one that defied all common sense.

It was as if... it was a creation from another world entirely.

Clenching his fist, Lu Li, existing only as a soul, couldn't feel any changes to his physique or Mind Level. However, his perception and his soul had undeniably grown stronger...

His perception extended like tendrils, reaching far into the darkness at the bottom of the valley, into places the eye could not penetrate.

Silence, and yet... activity.

"No wonder that Son of the Devil seemed more arrogant than the Devil himself," Ruth remarked, a sudden realization dawning on her. "Wait... the end of the world?"

"That's why I can't return to the human world."

Lu Li had previously considered the reasons he couldn't return: either he had been noticed by something indescribable, or something had changed on the surface, blocking his path.

Now, it seemed the latter was true.

And that change was far more terrible and hopeless than he could have ever imagined.

Perhaps his body had already died, which was why he couldn't return.

Had Ruth known what Lu Li was thinking, she might have put on a brave face and laughed, but in truth, she would have offered a few words of comfort. His expression, however, remained placid from start to finish.

Michelle's skull was immense. Lu Li picked up a single bone, about the length of his forearm, from the edge of her remains. He would take it with him and bury it when he returned to the surface.

He tucked the evil spirit chess piece into an inner pocket. Finding it had been a stroke of luck, but despite its astonishing power, Lu Li had no intention of seeking out any others.

Just as the humanoid demon had said, acquiring one of these pieces didn't guarantee power—it could just as easily mean death.

After bypassing their remains, Lu Li and Ruth continued on their way.

A profound silence and tranquility enveloped the valley floor. Ruth hadn't felt anything like it in a long time, and the sensation moved her.

Half an hour later, they had crossed the Great Chasm, which spanned several miles, and reached the base of a sheer rock wall.

Following the base of the cliff for some distance, they found a path leading upward.

As they set foot on the path, they began to ascend, leaving the valley floor behind. Soon, it—along with Whitley, Michelle, and the Son of the Devil—vanished into the gloom below.

The light grew steadily brighter, and the omnipresent heat of Hell once again enveloped them. The moment they stepped back onto level ground, Ruth found herself thinking that one could settle in the Great Chasm. It was safe, and it would let her feel human again.

Then she shook her head slightly again.

"Never mind," she thought. "The valley floor is too dark and silent. It would be far too lonely..."

Lu Li gazed into the distance. Having reached the other side of the precipice, they could see that the Black Rock Volcano was still as immense as a mountain range.

His newly doubled perception vaguely warned Lu Li of some approaching danger. Fortunately, it was still a long way off.

Tearing his gaze away, Lu Li walked over to a patch of gravel. He dug two shallow pits, placed the remains of Whitley and Michelle inside, and covered them with sand.

"Life fades like a flower, and like a flower, it blooms..."

Ruth's quiet prayer drifted from behind him.

"Our fate has long been written, from birth until death... We came from dust... and to dust we shall return... Such is the destiny of all living things."

"An end is not a conclusion... All that you have done will be remembered and retold. The body decays with time, but the spirit is eternal..."

"May the souls of the departed rest in peace..."

After waiting in silence for Ruth to finish her prayer, he and she set off, heading toward the supposed location of the Sentry Post.

The vast, crimson land stretched out before them, as flat as a desert. The shimmering heat blurred the horizon.

There was no sign of anything that looked like a "passage."

"Is it really not here...?" Ruth glanced around nervously, as if haunted by a nightmare.

At that moment, a hand rested on her shoulder.

"Calm down," Lu Li said, his gaze on the blindfold covering her eyes. "A town from the human world that manifests in Hell could stretch for dozens of miles. It won't be so easy to spot on the surface."

Otherwise, the Sentry Post would have been overrun by the creatures of Hell long ago.

"How can you be so calm!" Ruth exclaimed, unable to understand why the person at the center of it all was calmer than she was.

"Panicking won't solve anything," Lu Li said, starting to walk off into the distance. "Focus on what you feel. If the passage exists, it's somewhere on this plain."

Ruth hesitated for a long moment before hurrying after Lu Li's retreating figure.

The vast wasteland looked the same in every direction. If not for the Black Rock Volcano at their backs, they would have lost their way long ago.

A few hungry demons, drawn by the new potency of Lu Li's soul, drooled from a distance, not daring to approach.

In addition to the hungry demons, they spotted a lesser demon that Ruth called a tongueless demon. It resembled a humanoid spider with four limbs, and only the stump of a tongue remained in its mouth.

They were scouts for higher-ranking demons. The moment she saw it, Ruth pulled out her pistol without hesitation and shot it dead.

Perhaps it was a stroke of luck. Not far from where the tongueless demon had fallen, a long, flat stone jutted out from the barren earth at an angle.

It was a tombstone, and on its surface, barely legible letters had been crudely carved.

[Grave of Gades]

His perpetually furrowed, expressive brows relaxed slightly.

It seemed the rumors were true after all. He would be able to return.