Renny arrived at the Pit, just as he had been told. The taxi driver had brought him straight to the location, pointing it out before pulling over.
The Pit was a literal pit. It lay at the outskirts of the city, in a place not unlike the one Renny had traveled through when searching for Ezraphor. It felt as though they had left behind the more refined part of Hell and stepped into something rawer, under the orange sky he was already familiar with.
Just ahead, where the taxi parked, stretched a massive hole in the ground. The Pit was so vast it looked as though it could hold an entire city of five million people.
Renny leaned forward and asked the driver how he was supposed to enter.
"Haan, sir," the driver said, nodding toward the expanse. "You just walk to the edge, sir. At every corner, there is a stair. You take any of them, and go down. Not too long of a walk only."
Renny thanked him, stepped out of the cab, and began his descent into the Pit.
It was intimidating. Walking down the stairs felt like climbing down the side of a mountain, the steps steep and narrow. Only after he had begun did Renny notice he was not alone. All along the walls, countless others were moving as well, some climbing down, others climbing back up. They were demons, and other Hell-born creatures too. The sight eased him a little, though the vastness and the height of the Pit remained overwhelming.
Nevertheless, he kept going, step by step, until the ground drew near. That was when he began to hear it. First faint, then louder with every step closer. By the time he was nearing the bottom, it was a roar. The sound of countless voices clashing together, a noise like a chaotic marketplace in some third-world country.
From his vantage, he could see it clearly. The bottom stretched wide, teeming with creatures. Some looked animal-like, some human-like, some a mixture of both, and others were things he had never seen before. It was a massive market of Hell's citizens, creatures selling and buying anything imaginable.
Stepping off the last stair and into the crowd, he began his journey forward. He had barely moved a few paces when a cluster of creatures caught his attention. They looked close enough to human, but their ears were longer, their noses sharp, their teeth pointed, and from their backs hung short tails, like the beast that had once forcefully transformed him.
One of them spotted him first.
"Wei! Demon! Yu de here for beast? Yu wan key or yu get key and wan beast? Any one, I help yu. We get good demonic weapon from any family yu wan buy. Come, come!"
The creature grabbed him lightly, tugging him into the flow of the market.
"Dun worri, we be Pitters. We help yu wit anything yu need to survive here."
He led Renny along narrow paths, winding between shops and stalls run by other Pitters. As they neared one stall, the Pitter glanced at him again.
"I can tell. Yu be demon just come, eh?"
Renny frowned. "What do you mean?"
The Pitter struggled for words, scratching his head.
"Wei! New. Yu new. New demon."
Renny nodded slowly. "Yes."
The Pitter's face broke into a grin.
"I tell. It all over yu."
By the time they reached his stall, the Pitter stretched his arm toward the market around them.
"This place, Pit Market. Buy anything yu need for beast hunt."
Renny nodded, relieved. At least here, he might find proper demonic weapons, better than the scraps strapped to his back.
But before selling anything, the Pitter leaned closer.
"First, yu must tell me, yu family. The name?"
Renny sighed. He knew what reaction was coming, but he said it anyway.
"Ezraphor."
The Pitter froze mid-step. His grin collapsed. His eyes went wide, and for a moment he looked as though the very breath had been stolen from him.
"No. No… it not fit be. I ask yu family, not lie." His voice cracked, hands trembling as if trying to push the word away.
Confused, Renny repeated firmly, "Ezraphor."
The Pitter stumbled back as though struck, knocking into the side of his own stall. His lips quivered, and fear overtook his face.
"Go! Be go from here. Go away, go away!" he shrieked, flailing his arms and shoving Renny back toward the crowd. His movements were frantic, not the performance of a conman but the terror of someone who had just touched fire.
Renny stopped, stunned. The reaction was genuine. He already knew his demonic family had gone extinct, but why would even the name alone carry such dread?
Man, there's so much I don't know, he thought bitterly, forcing himself back into the current of the market, unsure how he was supposed to move through such a hostile, watchful place.