Chapter 318 : White Light Flash

Why shouldn't I jump directly into that black hole?

Because it's dangerous.

Who would be safe falling from a height of hundreds of meters?

One must distinguish between courage and recklessness.

But what if there was someone who was not bound by such heights?

Then it would no longer be an obstacle for them.

Thus, this would be the reason why I jumped into the demon realm without hesitation.

Because I had the outstanding movement art of the Black Immortal Steps, which allowed me to step on air, I was not afraid of falling.

While falling, I would occasionally tap a point as if I were dancing in the air.

Because I used the Black Immortal Steps before the fall accelerated too much, the fall was not too steep.

But perhaps, that was just my personal thought.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaak!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaak!"

I landed softly on my destination and let the passengers down.

"Did you have a pleasant flight?"

But what came back were two young lady passengers who were beating me up while scattering tears.

"D-die! Die!"

"I thought my heart was going to fall out!"

"Ah, cancel! Cancel! Don't die..."

"Ugh. Ugh."

I endured their fists and kicks for a long time, curling my body up as much as possible, and then I got up with a bright smile.

"Haha, you have a lot of energy. It seems you're wide awake. See? There's nothing like a vertical drop to wake you up."

"Do you want to get hit more...?"

"No."

"Big Brother! You could have at least told me, why did you suddenly jump?"

Siri, who seemed to be sorry for hitting me so much, summoned the light and carefully healed me here and there, even though I said I wasn't hurt.

After receiving a baptism of warm light full of Siri's divine power, I announced today's tour schedule.

"Gentlemen. Today's journey is a little special. Today's destination is the 7th floor, the bottom of the demon realm."

At my words, Viola's eyes widened.

"You're going to the 7th floor...?"

"Yes."

"...Do you know what's there?"

I nodded my head.

"I heard everything from the Demon King yesterday."

"Ah..."

Viola hung her head.

I looked at Viola for a moment and then placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry too much. No one is going there to die."

Viola raised her head.

I could see her eyes, which had already become teary.

"No...?"

"Of course. That's only in the worst-case scenario. Now, do you remember who this cute, striped girl standing next to me is?"

As I said that and pointed at Siri, Viola looked at her with a dazed expression.

"A former saint who didn't believe in gods, and then finally accepted the midday sun god, Hope, and the noble midnight goddess, Ketel, and is now receiving the love of both the sun and the moon, the saint of light and darkness."

"Ahem."

Siri, who had had a long meeting with me and the Demon King the day before, crossed her arms and raised her nose and chin with a triumphant expression.

"With Siri's unprecedented power to use both the divine power of light and darkness at the same time, it was suggested that we might be able to purify that guy safely. Even though she looks like this, her divine power is said to be enough to make even the Hero of Light fold."

"R-really...?"

"Yes. So let's just go down."

Viola looked at me once, and at Siri once, with her teary eyes.

"G-guys..."

"Ahem, we don't have time for this. Don't cry."

"Okay."

Viola wiped her eyes and then bravely led the way with a determined face.

"This way...!"

We followed Viola and crossed the ancient forest area on the 3rd floor of the demon realm.

The magical beasts that were hiding behind or on top of the trees and were about to ambush us were all pierced in their vital spots by a single arrow from Viola and met their end.

It was as if a ray of light had flashed, and then their bodies fell like rain.

Viola explained, picking up a branch that was suitable for use as an arrow from the ground.

"From the 4th floor on, it's the real demon realm... Even the captain only came down to the 4th floor when he first came, and then went back up, grumbling that it smelled."

Oho. So the 3rd floor was just a taste.

This is getting exciting.

"The demonic energy will also get thicker from now on. Are you two okay for now...?"

I exchanged a glance with Siri.

"I think we're fine."

"What's on the 4th floor?"

Viola looked up at a certain large tree, and then said, walking towards it.

"The 4th floor is... the poison gas zone."

"Poison gas zone?"

Soon, we arrived in front of the large tree.

Viola went behind it and then went down a thick tree root that was heading downwards.

It was so thick that we could walk down it like stairs.

And as we went down, a foul smell of something rotting began to emanate.

While the light that had barely passed through the ancient forest area on the 3rd floor was faintly illuminating the area below, the full view of the dark and gloomy 4th floor area came into view.

"...Now it really feels like the demon realm."

I could understand why Viola had said that the real demon realm started from the 4th floor.

And why the captain had come down to the 4th floor and then retreated, grumbling that it smelled.

In the darkness, I could see what looked like the corpses of magical beasts here and there.

Unknown large bones, rotting corpses, and half-eaten corpses, as if someone had been eating them.

Siri covered her nose and said in a stuffy voice.

"Ugh... the smell is so bad."

"I know, right?"

We reached the 4th floor by going down the tree root.

"How is it? Are you not dizzy, or feeling weak, or anything like that...?"

"I don't know, except for the bad smell."

"Me too."

"...Should I say that's a relief?"

Viola picked up a broken piece of bone and then shot it behind her, continuing to speak nonchalantly.

When I focused my inner energy on my ears, I could hear the sound of a magical beast falling in the distance.

"This is the 4th floor, the poison gas zone. The corpses of the magical beasts that fall from the ancient forest on the 3rd floor have formed a tomb of rotten meat and bones..."

"How terrible."

"It's not that terrible. It becomes nutrients that sustain the ancient forest..."

Come to think of it, the tree roots that had been stretching down from above were connected all the way down here.

It seemed they were absorbing nutrients from here.

Viola explained, walking ahead.

"From here on, high-grade magical beasts sometimes appear, so be careful... Ah, and because of the environment, most of the creatures here have poison. It's better to be careful."

"Wow, Linda would go crazy if she came here."

"Linda? Who's Linda...?"

"There is. A new member. I'll introduce you when we get back."

"I-is she a girl...?"

"Yes."

"..."

Viola took the lead, and I took up the rear, with Siri in the middle.

Thanks to Linda, I also had some knowledge of poison.

As we went, I looked around and observed the poison gas zone.

There were large spider webs, and disgusting, wriggling insects.

There were also creatures that resembled lizards that were eating the corpses, and I also found the remains of a huge creature that was only bones.

I didn't know because it was dark, but now I saw that the entire floor was covered with the bones of unknown creatures.

Overall, it was gloomy and the atmosphere was eerie.

But even though it was unpleasant, no one was afraid.

Because we were also people who had gone through all sorts of hardships, seeing all sorts of things.

Viola, who was in the lead, walked comfortably as if she were walking in her own front yard, and she cleared the way by picking up pieces of bone and shooting them.

Siri, who had a weak stomach, followed behind her, retching.

And I, as if I were on a trip, looked around and then picked up some souvenirs.

[Why are you picking that up?]

"I think Linda will like it."

I picked up a colorful mushroom, a few strange-looking fruits, and I also froze insects that looked like centipedes, scorpions, and beetles with my ice art and put them in my bag.

Besides those small creatures, it seemed there were also quite dangerous magical beasts that had made their home in this toxic place, but we couldn't even see them.

Because Viola was in the lead, shooting her bow, and they were killed before we could even find them.

...It wasn't for nothing that she was the best sniper.

Since we didn't have any particular business here and were just passing through.

The 4th floor ended that quickly.

* * *

The 5th floor, which we went down by riding the corpse of a huge, unknown creature that was hanging down, was an ice and snow zone.

A cold wind was raging, and everything was frozen.

We also occasionally saw magical beasts that had frozen to death, as if they had made a misstep and fallen from the 4th floor.

"Alright...! This is the 5th floor, the ice and snow zone. From here on, the demonic energy gets thicker. Is everyone okay...?"

Sniff, sniff.

"But isn't this a smell I've smelled a lot somewhere?"

"You too, Big Brother?"

"You too?"

I smelled the subtle smell that was mixed in the cold wind, and then I realized it belatedly.

"Ah, this was the smell of home. No wonder it felt so familiar."

After falling from the cliff and wandering around in the Blake Kingdom, when I finally stepped on the soil of my hometown, the Maia Kingdom, after a long time, the smell I had smelled!

It felt like I was smelling a much thicker version of that faint smell that had been scattered in the wind.

Come to think of it, it wasn't that strange.

This was the place where the Evil God was born, and the place where the war between the Evil God and the dragons, who had advanced to the northeast, had taken place was the current location of the Maia Kingdom.

Since the magical beasts were born from the Evil God, could this smell also be considered a trace of the Evil God?

"Are you really okay...? This is a place that is known to be inaccessible to outsiders..."

Viola looked at us with a worried expression.

"Ahem, the smell of home after a long time makes me feel at ease. How about you, Siri?"

"Me too. It's the nostalgic smell I smelled when I came back to Maia with Big Brother after being in the Hilka Empire."

Siri, who had been covering her nose the whole time, took a deep breath.

"Hoo- haa! Now I feel like I can live."

"..."

Viola looked at us with a dumbfounded expression.

Anyway, I gave her a thumbs-up to show that I was fine.

Viola shook her head and then broke off a piece of frozen ice and held it in her hand, and then took the lead.

This time, I focused my inner energy on my eyes and looked far away, so that I could at least see them before Viola killed them.

In the 5th floor ice and snow zone, the magical beasts that I had only seen in the white hell of Tundra appeared.

The guys I had seen to the point of being sick of them were wandering around on the frozen ground.

...I lost interest and looked away.

Since I was a body that was not affected by cold and heat, it didn't matter, and Viola also seemed to be used to it.

And Siri also overcame the cold by summoning the warm light of Hope.

Viola picked up sharp pieces of ice or icicles and shot them here and there, finding the way.

Since it was a scene I had seen to the point of being sick of during the monster wave, I followed Viola without much emotion, chattering with Siri.

And so, we reached the path down to the 6th floor.

In front of it, Viola looked at us and said with a determined face.

"Fortunately, we didn't meet any high-grade magical beasts in the ice and snow zone... We were lucky."

"Hmm."

"But the 6th floor is different. There are few individuals living on the 6th floor, but most of them are high-grade magical beasts."

I said, shrugging.

"That's good. We can just think of it as a warm-up before going to the 7th floor."

Viola stared at me blankly.

"What are you looking at?"

Then she muttered in her characteristic, gloomy voice.

"Ashuban... I still can't believe you caught an S-rank magical beast and even beat up the Hero of Light... And why are your eyes so red like blood...? It's scary."

"...I explained it all to you."

Yesterday, I had explained it to Viola, who had been clinging to me and crying, as gently and in as much detail as possible.

It seemed she hadn't heard half of it because she was crying.

The Heavenly Demon laughed slowly.

[Seeing is believing. Show her directly.]

"Huh? What do you mean?"

[...It's better to show her once than to explain it a hundred times.]

"Aha."

As I was talking to the Heavenly Demon, I looked ahead and saw Viola whispering something to Siri.

"Why is he talking to himself...?"

"He has a master named the Heavenly Demon in his head. He sometimes talks to him like that."

"...Has he finally gone crazy?"

Tears flowed down Viola's cheeks.

"Ashubaaan..."

"Aish, get off me."

I pushed away Viola, who was clinging to me, crying again.

This slug-like girl.

"What's on the 6th floor?"

"The 6th floor is... the lava zone. There are a lot of very dangerous guys there."

"Really? Then I'll show them that I'm more dangerous."

I slid down the ice that was stretching downwards, into the black darkness.

"Hehe! The Red-Eyed Devil is coming!"

"Hey! W-wait up! It's really dangerous...!"

"Big Brother! Don't go too far ahead!"

I could hear Viola's flustered voice, and Siri's voice as she hurriedly followed.

As I slid down the ice slide, I thought of the secret techniques I had at my disposal.

'A lava zone. Then the ice art will work well.'

And so, we arrived at the 6th floor.

A hot and humid air greeted me.

In the pitch-black darkness, the red lava that was flowing down the walls was illuminating the darkness.

I could also see the lava that had come from there forming a pond, and then becoming a small river and flowing.

"Ooh. How strange."

[Fire and darkness under snow and ice. What a strange combination.]

Just as the Heavenly Demon was letting out a small exclamation.

KWAAAAA!

Suddenly, a huge magical beast that looked like a fish shot up from the lava, and then spat lava at me.

A huge lava ball the size of a person flew at a terrifying speed.

"Ashuban...!"

I could hear Viola's urgent voice.

It was almost a scream.

"Hoo."

My lips curled up.

"This guy recognizes his master."

I held the hilt of my sword and drew it diagonally.

By the time the sword was drawn, the blade was already frozen white, and the white sword energy that flowed from it instantly solidified the lava that was shot at me and split it in half.

When the lava disappeared, a large mouth with a lot of steel-like teeth was visible beyond it.

The lava was just a trick.

As expected of an A-rank magical beast. What a cunning bastard.

The smile on my lips deepened.

But if this guy was a fish that swam in the lava, then I was a monster that had come down from the dark side of the moon.

"Have you ever heard of a cold that freezes even the moonlight?"

Saaa—

A white chill and a quiet moonlight imbued the half-broken silver sword.

KWAAAAA!

The huge mouth, with red lava dripping from it, came closer as if to swallow me.

I could hear Viola's tearful voice from a distance.

"Ashuban!!"

"The pure white cold will freeze even the moonlight..."

The moment the guy fell on top of my head, I swung the sword, which was shining with a faint white light, upwards.

"White Light Flash!"

In that moment, a pure white light flashed.

Swoosh!

The magical beast that was swimming in the lava was split in half.

"...Huh?"

Viola, who had been rushing over here, nocking an arrow, had a dazed expression.

(End of Chapter)