_Chapter Begins_
"How do I survive in Hell?"
The question echoed throughout the empty expanse of the Judgment Realm.
Adam stood still for a moment… before bursting into loud and clear laughter that immediately made William's face grow red from a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
"Why are you laughing at my question?! It's a perfectly reasonable question to ask in this situation!"
Adam slowly collected himself, wiping some tears in the process.
"I am… sorry, William. Your question was not dumb, but it's just funny how much knowledge you lack about everything that is happening."
As Adam chuckled to himself, William meanwhile was looking at him in slight bewilderment.
"Didn't this guy… didn't this thing proclaim just a moment ago that he represented Death?"
"If what he says is true… then why is he acting so… human?"
William slightly shivered.
"He is acting completely differently compared to the last time I saw him… when he was looking at me while I was dying, he seemed calm and thoughtful… even merciful."
William then shifted his head to look back at the current Adam, who was staring at him with a sinister smile.
"There is no way that this thing is the same being that I saw before dying… something is horribly wrong here."
William crossed his arms and looked at Adam with a serious expression.
"So, are you going to answer my question?"
Adam barely held a chuckle between his thin lips, but he still managed to answer William.
"Gain knowledge as fast as you can."
"..."
"What?!"
William was expecting Adam to talk for hours on end about the strategy to survive a place as harrowing as Hell, but Adam instead decided to give the shortest answer one could give—and also an answer that didn't help William at all.
"Wait, that's it?! That's all you're going to tell me?"
Adam lingered for a second and then nodded with a bright smile that hid a boundless amount of amusement.
William froze, not knowing what to reply with.
But he didn't need to, because Adam finally gave out some useful information.
"Well, I don't think you will need to worry about surviving Hell."
William momentarily came unfrozen and raised an eyebrow.
"And how exactly can you be sure that I will survive there?"
Adam's smile widened.
"Because you are favored by Fate. I can see it."
Then Adam disappeared without a trace.
And William was left alone in the boundless darkness, with his jaw hanging.
And then, with all the might he had, William screamed:
"Could you be any more vague, you piece of shit?!"
There was a long pause.
William fell on his back and stared up at the unchanging darkness above… and below… and basically everywhere he looked.
He closed his eyes and went into deep thought again.
"I am favored by Fate? What the hell does that even mean?"
He rubbed his eyelids.
"So, to survive Hell, I will need to gain as much knowledge as fast as I can?"
He lowered his hand.
"But… how am I supposed to survive fighting abominations in Hell with just knowledge?"
He took in a deep breath.
"I don't need knowledge… what I need is power."
He let out the deep breath he had been holding.
"But how do I exactly gain power?"
And then, as if to answer William's questi—
There suddenly appeared a purple orb that glowed brightly right in front of him.
It was as if the gods had answered his prayers… but maybe this wasn't the gods' doing at all.
William had this thought due to the fact that as soon as he looked at the purple glowing orb, he immediately remembered something.
And that certain something was the drawing he had seen inside the church.
A giant faceless demon holding in his open palm seven glowing orbs…
One of them being the color of deep purple.
_Chapter Ends_