novelraw Chapter 867: He Walked Quietly Alone, in Disarray
Chapter 867: He Walked Quietly Alone, in Disarray
The winged demon bared its fangs, its ferocious face enough to bring the bravest warrior to tears. The shadow of its wings loomed like a dark cloud, and unquenchable hellfire blazed along its spine.
Confronting the intruders, it let out a thunderous roar:
— Foolish invaders, you dare trespass upon the domain of the great, the mighty, the most renowned lord of Hell, Baha Vagritt! You will be burned to ashes, along with that door behind you that could have been your escape!
A sudden wave of heat radiated from Ofelia. Her body began to glow a deep crimson through the cracks in her skin, like an infernal demon with lava coursing through its veins.
— I... can't feel... it... it's... very... strong!
Shielding Lu Li, Ofelia remained on high alert.
— Or there's nothing there at all.
Lu Li stepped out from behind Ofelia, walked up to the "roaring" "lord," Baha Vagritt, and reached a hand toward its back.
Click.
The growling and roaring ceased abruptly as a mechanism clicked.Without its roar, Baha Vagritt was nothing more than a perpetually burning, motionless, and lifelike statue.
It stood before the gates of Hell, gazing down imperiously, almost blending in with the cavern walls. Had some ignorant creature stumbled upon this place, the roaring alone would have been enough to send it fleeing back through the gates of Hell.
— Why...
Ofelia's aura stopped intensifying.
Lu Li recognized Baha Vagritt. A painting of the demon, titled "Valkyrie and Baha Vagritt," had hung on a wall in the academy at Anna's old family estate in Himmfast.
It was a famous painting; copies of it, along with statues of the demon, could be found all over Himmfast.
— What's... the point?
— A deterrent against intruders, — said Lu Li.
The radio needed charging. Gades, he figured, was most likely still alive.
However, they still had to face the other challenges Gades had set up—
Ofelia reined in her aura; otherwise, the sleeping Prusius would have been roasted.
They passed Baha Vagritt and entered a deep cavern. Inside, the darkness was so profound that only the echo of their footsteps accompanied them.
— Did you deal with that guard crawler?
— Did you disregard it, thinking it was nothing?
— Do you... not realize what kind of enemy you have faced?
Whispers echoed from all around.
But now that they were certain Gades was behind all this, the whispers seemed to hold a familiar, theatrical tone.
— That was merely the first, insignificant stage... You will have to face hundreds of enemies and hundreds of trials, each more difficult than the last... After death, your souls will go to Hell, not to your world and not to your god.
— It is not too late to repent...
The disembodied voice offered no clue to its origin, and the radio remained hidden. Lu Li and Ofelia ignored the whispers and pressed on. Still, Lu Li stayed close to Ofelia, just in case.
The cavern was far larger than they had anticipated. The passage leading from the gates of Hell had been so cramped they'd had to stoop to get through.
This was a monumental undertaking, something Gades could hardly have accomplished alone, even with twenty-four years to work.
Had something changed? Or was Gades not alone?
The second stage, however, had been the final test. The third stage had never even been completed, and they had left the dungeon through a secret passage that hadn't been filled in.
As they neared the exit, Lu Li glanced at the inverted pentagram branded on the back of his hand. It hadn't grown hot or begun to glow, despite his return to Hell.
That was good news. For whatever reason, the demon that had branded him was unaware of his return.
Red and yellow were the eternal colors of Hell.
Wasteland and searing heat—this was a different world entirely.
It seemed a fortress was being built here.
The fortress was already taking shape: a circular perimeter wall enclosed an empty space a hundred meters across. It was completely barren, without a single structure inside.
Just then, a dozen or so lesser demons were quarrying stone outside the wall and hauling it inside. They wore collars around their necks and restraints on their faces that looked like protruding muzzles from a distance.
And in the center of the nearby wasteland, a figure was lounging lazily under a parasol, basking in the infernal heat and the stench of sulfur.
Far from being consumed by Hell, Gades seemed to be living quite comfortably here.
Better than most people on the surface.
— Gades.
The hot, sulfur-scented wind carried Lu Li's voice across the wasteland.
The figure under the parasol stirred, glanced around in confusion, and then spotted them. With an excited cry, he knocked over a low table and strode toward them.
Ofelia had expected a friendly reunion, but all that reached her ears were curses and complaints growing louder as the figure approached.
— You damn bastard! I hid in Hell, and you still couldn't leave my treasure alone! You'd better tell me what you took from my vault—no, no, no, no, no!
Impossible!
When Gades got closer and saw Lu Li’s still-youthful face, he let out a pained cry.
— I've been stuck in Hell for more than twenty years, and up on the surface, nothing has changed at all!
Lu Li replied calmly, "Twenty-four years have passed on the surface. My appearance is due to other reasons."
— That doesn't matter!
Covered in dust and grime, Gades lunged toward Lu Li, staring at him with bloodshot eyes. "Did you bring money?!"
Lu Li produced a 10-shilling note. Gades snatched it and greedily pressed it to his nose.
— Ah... that exquisite smell of money... I can feel my strength returning... More!
— A cult is after Prusius. We need to leave him here for a while.
Lu Li ignored Gades's greed.
Ofelia hoisted the unconscious Prusius into view.
— A slimy, wet... monster-pup. You're always dealing with this kind of creature, aren't you?
Gades flashed the ostentatious, gold-toothed grin Lu Li knew so well.
— Room and board is thirty shillings a day. Food's extra.
— Deal.
— Money first!
Lu Li handed him enough shillings to cover a month's stay, then gestured for Ofelia to set Prusius down. "His mind is unstable," Lu Li added. "Don't let your guard down."
— Now that you mention it, that'll be an extra 10 shillings.
Gades held up a single finger. He trotted back to his parasol, rummaged for a moment, and returned with a muzzle identical to the ones worn by the lesser demons. He promptly fastened it onto Prusius.
The last remaining threat he posed was neutralized.
— We'll be back in a few days.
With Prusius taken care of, Lu Li prepared to leave Hell.
— Leaving? So soon?
The emaciated, disheveled Gades looked like a mad old hermit. He seemed genuinely taken aback.
Despite the crude talk about money, he was genuinely glad Lu Li had come.
— We still have business to attend to.
They both had many questions.
But Lu Li couldn't linger. If the cultists arrived, they would be trapped in Hell.
— Fine... 1053 shillings. The rest will go toward nutritious food for the little fella. Just look how skinny he is, it's a real shame...
Lu Li left Gades to his endless muttering about money. After only a brief stay in Hell, he returned to the world above—a world where summer had given way to the harsh grip of winter.
— Hell... seems... better... than our... world...
Ofelia once again melted the cooling lava, letting it flood the cellar.
In time, the cooled lava would once again hide the gates of Hell.
— Because anomalies haven't invaded it.
Once Ofelia was finished, Lu Li took his oil lamp and stepped onto the stairs.
A symbol on the stair riser flashed into view and then vanished in the lamplight.
Lu Li recognized it. It was the mark of the Church of Shadows.
They've been here?
And... why?