"The Cursed king of Hell challenges Hell's damned Queen, who will emerge victorious I wonder…"
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Soon after Kahal walked off without waiting for the group to follow. But after some silent consideration, General Asami began to follow, and gestured for everyone to do the same.
Aside from the emotionless General who was accompanied by her supporting generals, everyone else trailed behind them while keeping their distance. Lieutenant sidra who was especially skeptical of Kahal's sudden change of heart, walked between Hinari who stared blankly ahead with her staff still clutched in front of her.
No one had the energy to break the silence as they followed behind Kahal who seemed as though he knew his way around Hell's treacherous locations.
Occasionally they ran into hordes of demons that had been traveling in packs, though Kahal simply walked past them as flowers bloomed from their bodies, instantly eating away at their deformed bodies.
Even General Asami's usually indifferent expression showed slight intrigue at the difference in power the damned man was now effortlessly exhibiting than he did back during the blood war.
After what felt like twenty minutes, Kahal led them through a foggy ghost town. Through the thin smoke, Jason could make out the silhouettes of few demons which had stopped their movements to glance over in their direction, specifically toward Jason.
Almost as if they had sensed the presence of their world's cursed king dwelling in the vessel of the young man. Noticing Jason's tensed expression, Kahal looked over his shoulder and said:
"Don't sweat it shrimp, those gentlemen won't bother you."
With that, they all entered an unstable structure which had patches in the grey stone walls. The small room was mostly shrouded in shadows that Kai seemed to be the only one to be able to see clearly through.
Everyone mostly leaned against the four walls or sat on the dusty ground. Kahal sighed, with his hands he used the support of both his knees as he sat down on a crate in the corner.
General Asami sat on a crate opposite to him and propped her long katana against the wall. Once everyone settled in, most of their time was spent with both Kahal and General Asami occasionally bickering back and forth about their past alliance during the blood war.
The silence of dark room was seemingly comforting, which gave everyone time to relax their wounded and battered bodies.
After spending some time silently trying to gauge Kahal's credibility, Selene stepped forward and broke the silence. Her pale and scarred face blacked out by the looming shadows.
"Earlier, you mentioned something about seven hell lords and their mother… can you elaborate?"
Kahal's crimson eyes which were peering through the darkness in the room met Selene's. For a second, his thoughts drifted to his wife as if seeing a resemblance in the two women's demeanor.
"After I was locked away in hell, I spent months venturing where no one else dared… those seven you say invaded your world, they each govern one of the ten circles of hell."
Lieutenant sidra's purple eyes slightly widened. She leaned against the cold stone wall and crossed her arms as she spoke.
"Ten circles?… so, the seven hell lords govern seven of the ten circles, does that mean Malum and this Azura woman govern the final three?"
Kahal shrugged.
"You're half right. As I'm sure you, Jason, have noticed… Malum's inner domain has nine layers of Hell, but when me and kesean exorcised him a thousand years back, there were ten layers as opposed to just nine."
Kahal's call to the past sent goosebumps up Jason's arms. It didn't come as a surprise that Malum wielded far more power than exhibited so far, but to think it was to such an unfathomable extent, it seemed as though Malum was closer to Godhood.
"You mean to tell me this bastard isn't even at his peak?"
Kahal simply nodded.
"That's right. But that's a story for another time… right now, I'm going to learn you all about Hell and it's inner workings."
Kahal inhaled deeply before he continued.
"You there, white hair."
Sachiko who was standing in between Jason and Selene tensed her shoulders.
"Yes, what is it?"
Kahal looked her up and down with an unreadable expression before he spoke with his usual raspy voice.
"In your time spent inside those pods at Hell's prison. You were in a suspended state between life and death… in other terms, a trial."
Asami brought her indifferent misty eyes up toward what little she could make out of Kahal's dirtied face.
"Trials?"
Kahal nodded as he gave a passing glance toward the white haired Sachiko who was standing right beside Selene. During his time inside Hell's heart, he could somehow sense the change in biology of Sachiko's body drastically morphing as she remained in her limbo state in Hell's prison.
"White hair. Do you recall anything happening to you during your time in those pods?"
Sachiko thought for a moment. Sure, her memory from the time she had first arrived in hell was hazily shrouded in a thick fog, but she could remember vividly the torturous space she had been trapped in.
"I… I was inside a black space underneath a tree. There were flower petals scattered on the ground, and I was with… Aaliyah."
The priest who was sitting on a boulder right to Kahal had glanced toward the white haired woman and nodded as he spoke in a grim voice.
"It's true… once I arrived along the generals and the black lotus unit, I had entered her mind space. Does this relate to those trials you mentioned earlier, mister?"
Kahal nodded.
"That's right. Trials are what hell put you through upon arrival… though in your case it seems to have had a different affect on you. I can sense it… your body's, mutated."
Sachiko's ghostly pale face dropped slightly. Up until now, she hadn't felt any different than how she did prior to her death and arrival to hell. But immediately, Kahal brushed it off and continued.
"Each of the ten circles have ten trials… each one more treacherous than the last. But you kids… I gotta say, you all might be screwed depending on what happens…"
Lieutenant Sidra's face paled. Stepping forward, a drop of sweat ran down her skin.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Kahal took a breath. Though everyone else had not yet noticed, he who had seen the true horrors of Hell through his own crimson eyes could see it clearly as he gazed through the shadowed room at everyone's faces…
Suddenly, everyone's faces seemed different. Particularly Selene who was standing in the far back of the small room. Her pale, scarred face now looked as if she had become a phantom. The look in her dark grey eyes now had a slight hint of black in them, as if she was a hollow shell containing a deteriorating soul.
Kahal let out a tired sigh and continued to speak. His raspy voice growing darker with each word.
"Those of you who had been hand picked by one of those seven hell lords have been selected for their trials in the seven circles that they govern…"
Jason's face, though shrouded in the darkness of the room visible tensed through the narrow rays of light that had suddenly began peering through the small holes drilled through the thick stone walls.
"What?… why?"
Kahal took a moment to look over to his fellow supreme generals. Aside from Yaku and Kaida who were both only recently appointed to the rank of supreme general, Asami and Kojiro had lowered their indifferent expressed faces.
No doubt the two of them had known the context behind Kahal's words. Kahal let out a scornful scoff as he continued.
"The seven hell lords… while they are Malum and Azura's offspring, they are embodiments of all the atrocious crimes the bloodthirsty sorcerers of the golden age committed in the warring era."
"In other words, the past came back to haunt the present. The sins of us supreme generals and our era's human nature birthed these devils."
Kahal casted a scornful glare toward General Asami who had now brought her dead eyes up to meet his crimson eyes.
"Feeling good about rewriting history and lying to these children about our sins still?"
The western tribe's dubious general Yaku stepped forward. Clearing his throat, he crossed his arms and said:
"Drop this petty bullshit between you two… right now, we need to handle business and stop fixating on the past."
Kahal for a second looked lost in thought. Vividly remembering the nature of mankind one thousand years ago, he couldn't shake off the latching shadow of guilt he felt about the never ending struggle between salvation and damnation.
He couldn't help but think of how things would've went if he hadn't made that deal with the devil that had a major part in becoming the stepping stones in what that dark world would become one thousand years after the end of the bloodiest era.
Suddenly, there was a feeling of dread in his voice as he continued.
"You all should know by now what happens to those who fail to complete their trials… eternal damnation. Anyone catch a glimpse of that red sun in the sky outside?"
"Hell's sun is what transforms all anomalies in hell into mindless monsters. Each time you expose yourselves to its light, it'll sap spirit energy from your souls and speed up the process of damnation."
There was a sudden gripping feeling of tension and fear that webbed onto the younger sorcerers hearts. Just when they had felt like they already fought their toughest battles before their arrival in hell, they realized that this threat was like no other.
And this time, they were lurking in the shadows of their enemies domain. Faced with the thought of being made to suffer the sins of their forefathers, they had to let all thoughts of morality and humanity rest in the depths of their souls if they wanted to survive.
General Asami stood up, facing all the tense faces in the room, she spoke.
"If you all heard that, you should know by now that this is a matter of survival… the stepping stone to a bleak future, if you think these devils care that your only children and want to cling onto your humanity, then you're already dead. You're not children anymore."
Kahal scoffed. Then suddenly Selene had fell to one knee, with a feeling of lightheadedness as Jason held his arm around her.
It had already begun. The pale woman let out pained whimpers as she grimaced against the cold stone wall.
Popping the stiff bones in his neck, Kahal stood up and walked toward the whimpering woman. Kneeling down and placing a heavy hand on her shoulder, Selene could feel a sparking sensation on his warm palm.
As though having a pair of eyes in the skies, Selene could suddenly feel the malevolent aura radiated from the countless flowers that had encroached Hell's grounds mere hours ago.
Suddenly, her entire body felt hotter. As she looked down toward her shoulder, flowers began sprouting from her shoulder and one side of her jet black hair.
Each flower sent a comforting buzz through her body which eviscerated all earlier discomfort she felt.
"What did you do?"
Kahal shrugged. Looking out at the red sun that had now began slowly descending as the night sky was approaching, and at the bloomed flowers which stood still in the soil of Hell's grounds.
"My sprit energy uses the same properties of flowers. The process of photosynthesis is replicated and the flowers that manifest through my spirit energy steals energy from the sun or other living things, and converts it into vitality. So I managed to slow the assimilation that's going on in your body."
Before Selene could give her gratitude, Kahal held a palm out and stopped her as he stood outside and stretched his limbs enough to make his bones make inhumane popping noises.
"There's no point in thanking me yet… i only slowed the process of assimilation, I didn't stop it entirely. But right now we're running on borrowed time, so we need to make our move while the sun's down."
Kahal was correct. After all, Hell's red sun was the very thing that was assimilating all living anomalies that existed in foreign grounds.
And what that meant was that there had only been at least a week left before the assimilation had completely processed and turned everyone into mindless demons.
***
Once the cool breeze came with the sudden night sky, the withered flowers from Hell's graveyard swayed with the gust of wind. All that sounded were scattering petals, and footsteps that approached a crimson cocoon.
Aphira's luscious pink hair was lifted by the wind as she stood in front of the translucent cocoon. With a content sigh, she pressed her palm against the cocoon.
The lust inscription which laid bare on her cleavage suddenly lit up in response to the woman who resembled a butterfly as she laid unconscious inside the cocoon.
"You're so beautiful, Aaliyah… I can't wait to have a nice long chat with you."
Closing her dark pink eyes, Aphira inhaled deeply.
The time for the first trial, had begun.
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Continued in chapter 108: Pest Extermination
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