Chapter 37: Relief for Hope (I)

All I can describe seeing her was joy, Anya.

She's one of Shota's pets that I met before I even got my skills, and if she's here my wish of finding Millie and the others early, can come true.

Even if this "thing" (Shota's pet) looks ugly, I can't stop smiling seeing her. Anya then went to the two of us and began to let out a small shriek, and when it ended, Sora and I saw a memory of someone else.

Upon seeing the memory, we saw the memories contain Shota, Ifrit, and Hans being chased to the eighth floor, they were hiding safely from the ghouls who were chasing them, and lastly, the last memory we both saw from Shota was him giving up on contacting Anya and fighting the ghouls with Ifrit and Hans.

"What was that!?" That is what Sora and I both said at the same time; we gasped for air from what we saw.

"They've been chased to the eighth floor, and are battling with those weird ghost creatures... Hey Sora, do you know what those things that they're fighting are?"

Upon asking that to Sora, I saw his face completely frightened. "Those are heavenly ghouls... They are fearsome creatures that the Archangel Zadkiel created, and I heard once from Satanael that those ghouls killed thousands of devils and they're the reason why some of the Archdukes are dead."

"Really?!-" No way, if what Sora's saying is true, then we need to do something about this immediately.

"Sora, let's tell this to the others no-"

"Interesting... So Millie has a hidden passage om his bedroom."

"Mammon-! What are you doing here?!"

"Nothing important really, I just want to congratulate you for not failing on that speech of yours, Haruki. And also..."

Mammon kept looking at me after that, and it feels like he's inspecting something on my body.

It felt weird when he's looking at me, so I asked him. "What are you looking at?"

"Hmm... It felt like something changed deep inside you, did something happen last night Haruki? Something like about Soul Bound perhaps?"

What did he say..? How did Mammon know about the Soul Bound battle last night? For now, I better lie to him, since Mammon is a dangerous enemy.

"What do you mean Mammon? I don't understand what you are saying-"

"Haruki, I'm actually curious about what Mammon means, and looking at your face, I know that you're lying, so tell us now!"

Sh*t! I forgot that this idiot is here.

I looked at Mammon; I saw him giving me a curious smile, and Sora was clinging to my arm and pulling it while annoyingly saying to me. "Say it. Say it."

"Jeez, Fine! *Cough* Lucifer visited me from my dream when I fell asleep at the bath last night."

"..."

"..."

"Hoy, I told the both of you two now, so why aren't you two speaking?"

"Haruki, what you're saying is Lucifer visited you when you fell asleep at my bathroom, so what did you two do? Did he try to kill you? Or not?"

"No he didn't, but in fact, he tried to help me and explain all of the things I want to ask him, well... one of my questions."

"Isn't odd if you think about it Haruki? Why would Lucifer himself visit a 'person' like you, but not people like King Jarren, Queen Xuntea, and Millie." This guy, I want to give him a high five because this is the first time he said something intellectual, but at the same time I want to slap him for insulting me, what does he mean by 'person'?

"He visited me because I'm very cool."

"-Then, you're definitely lying that he visited you."

"Joke! He said that he wanted to visit me because he wants to meet me and congratulate me for being the next Ruler of Hell."

"I see... I guess that makes sense, I think..."

"*Sigh* So Mammon? Why are you quiet?"

"*Sigh* Because that's not the answer that I wanted Haruki, it's useless because I already know that Lucifer visited you."

"Wha-! But how! I didn't tell you."

"*Giggle* It's not good to underestimate the Demon of Greed Haruki, now tell me what this is."

Seeing what he meant made me speechless and shocked.

The sword appeared from his hand, the same sword that Lucifer gave me in my dream, and the same sword that my father used in the last war to fight against the angels.

"Why do you have that Mammon?"

"Oh, this? This is Jarren's sword, right? Well, I guess it's now yours right..? Since Lucifer gave you this." He said that as he holds and inspects the sword a bit, and after inspecting, he let out a deep sigh and gave it back to me. "Here, you can have it back."

I reached out for the sword and said to Mammon. "Okay-" Bang!

When I touched the sword with my finger, it let out an explosion.

The glasses from Millie's window were all broken, and Anya was hiding beside Millie's bed when the explosion hit.

Dark smokes then came from my father's sword, and it covered the room, but good thing that the windows were broken and so the smokes that came from the sword were going outside.

"What happened?! Haruki are you okay!?" Sora said and hurriedly rushed to me and pulled me from the floor.

I was unconscious from the explosion, and my body was badly burned from the explosion."Haruki! Mammon, tell me what happened!? Why did you kill Haruki!?"

"*Cough* *Cough* I didn't do anything, I just gave him Jarren's sword which I didn't know that it's gonna explode. And *Cough*, can you stop overreacting and use your brain a bit? Look, he's still breathing."

Millie's door then burst open, and Lucas came immediately when he heard the explosion. "What happened!?"

Upon looking at Millie's bedroom, he was shocked to see that it's a mess and saw Haruki was unconscious on the floor heavily burned. "Haruki! Sora what happened here!?"

"The sword that Mammon gave exploded."

"Sh*t, I'll bring him to the others."

Lucas carried my body, and when he carried me his back started to burn from my body. "What's happening?- no need to talk, I'll go no-"

Lucas suddenly stopped talking and his eyes looked frightened at something.

"Hey, Lucas what happened?" Sora worriedly asked.

"Young Sora look over there."

Sora looked at his back where Mammon came from and where Lucas is looking at, and there he saw the same sword that Mammon gave to Haruki.

It was floating in front of them; it's letting out a loud ringing type of sound, and bright red light and aura were encircling the entire sword.

"What the hell is happening?" That is what they all said at the same time.

***

It was that exact scene again, I don't want to see it again, but for some unknown reason, I was here.

Millie and I were running in a hurry on the streets; the buildings were burning and there are scattered bodies on the streets.

Like before, Millie gave me the paper that she used her skills on, and there it is again.

"Father! Mother!" Yes, right before my own eyes... Michael was raising his sword and then. "Stop!"

"Big brother Haruki, are you okay?"

Looking at where the voice came from, I saw Talya sitting right beside me and holding some kind of rabbit doll.

I noticed that I was back in Sora's room, and almost my entire body was covered in bandages.

What happened to me? That is all I can ask myself, and why did I see that again?

"Big brother Haruki, did you have a nightmare?"

Upon looking at the curious Talya, I gave her an anxious smile and said. "Yes, it was the scariest nightmare I ever had."

"Don't worry Big brother Haruki, Talya will lay beside you so that you won't have nightmares again."

Hearing that made me very happy, so I gave her another smile and patted her head slowly. "Okay, I'll be waiting for you to protect me, Talya."

She let out a cute giggle and asked me. "But Talya also noticed that you're sad big brother Haruki, is there something in your nightmare that made you sad?"

I forgot, even if it's messed up, Talya is still the General of Melancholy, so she feels immense sadness, and maybe at the same time she can feel if someone close to her is sad.

"It's not something really sad Talya, it's just old memories that I want to forget, that's all."

"Ah-, I see..."

"Don't worry Talya, your big brother Haruki is now happy again because you said that you'll protect me from those horrible dreams, so I'm glad that you'll keep me safe."

She let out a happy smile and hugged me tightly. "Yay! I made you happy again!"

"My, my, it looks like you're getting a new little sister, Millie would be jealous if she saw her big brother being taken by someone else."

"Akemi? I didn't notice you come here."

"*Sigh*, Does your body hurt Haruki?"

"It stings... But I can handle it."

"Here drink this, it's a potion made by Faust so that it'll make the pain of your body weaker." Akemi gave me a weird concoction inside a container, it has a green color on it and it seems familiar; like I saw it before in a video game.

"A potion?" This is my first time seeing one, and it's like any potions in any fantasy video game that I played.

Slurp. "Ohh... This is bitter."

"I hope that you'll be safer Haruki, you've been injured many times, and it's always making me worried, so please stay safe Haruki."

"Okay, okay, I promise that I'm gonna try my best to not always get injured again."

Akemi with a cute pout. "Really?"

"Yes. I promise you, miss Akemi, that I'll try my best to stay safe."

Akemi laughed happily after I said that. "You better do."

"..." Me and Akemi noticed that Talya was looking at the both of us filled with curiosity.

So I asked Talya. "Is there something you want to ask us, Talya? Don't worry, your Big brother and sister will answer honestly."

"Your big brother's right Talya, is there something wrong?"

"Talya wants to know, is big brother Haruki and big sister Akemi a couple?"

Hearing that made me spew out the potion I was drinking, and Akemi started to blush from embarrassment and was speechless from the sudden question of Talya.

So Akemi instantly said to Talya embarrassingly. "No we're not Talya, me and your big brother are just friends, that's all."

Ouch! Even if it hurts hearing that from Akemi, I have to make my relationship with Akemi more clear to Talya, since Akemi and I might be embarrassed to talk to each other again. "*Cough* Yes, you're big sister is right Talya, Akemi and I are just friends."

Sh*t, it actually really hurts when I say that Akemi and I are just friends, this is completely unfair!

"But, but, you two really make a perfect couple, so are you really telling the truth to Talya and not lying to Talya?"

Ahh, Talya! Thank you for saying that, but it's hurting me that Akemi and I are not a couple!

"Of course Talya, me and your big brother are just friends, and I only really think of Haruki as the Ruler of Hell and a close friend."

Boom! An explosion has occurred in my heart, I want to die now since Akemi said that.

Why is the world cruel to me?! I'm starting to love my luck, but I guess I hate it again since I just found out that my fantasies of Akemi having a crush on me is completely a lie! I want to die right now! Goodbye cruel world!

"Too bad that you two aren't a couple... But is there a chance? Talya heard from big brother Sora and Lucas that Big brother Haruki is getting close to big sister Akemi and Luna."

"Big brother Haruki getting close with big sister Luna..?"

Akemi was looking at me intensely as she said that, and when she looked at me straight in the eyes, that's when I know that the world is not cruel to me.

Yeah, that's it. Akemi is just hiding that she has a crush on me, that's got to be it; because I know from that looks of her that she's jealous.

Akemi is jealous that I'm getting close with Luna, that's it, thank you nice world!

"*Cough* I see that big brother Haruki is close to big sister Luna, but they're just friends Talya, just like me and your big brother, because it's a rule in the 'Archdukes' rule book that they should not enter a relationship with the Rulers."

No way!? Is that true!? Is there a rule and a book like that?!

"But isn't mommy Xuntea an Archduke before she married daddy Jarren? And Talya has never heard of the 'Archdukes' rule book."

Yes! It's not real! Thank you luck!

"*Cough* let's change the topic, can we Talya?"

"Okay!"

Talya is too easy to control, but at least I get to see Akemi's blush and Talya's cute confused look, so I'll take this as a win.

Talya hugged me very tightly. "Then... Bigg brother Haruki, can I call you big brother, and become my official big brother?"

Ahh, my heart exploded from cuteness, how can my luck exceed my expectations?

First: I'm getting close with both Akemi and Luna, and now I have two little sisters? "Of course, I'll be happy too"

Bang! The door burst open and a crying Sora filled with injuries is with an angry Ruri.

They both saw me finally awake, and Sora cried hardly and jumped on me. "Haruki! Help me! That crazy b*tch over there is trying to kill me!"

"Huh?! Who are you calling a b*tch, you dirty pleb?!"

"Okay let go of me, so what happened?"

"That b*tch over there is making me as a test subject to try and get the sword that Lucifer gave you, and at first I agreed, but when I entered Millie's room I almost died! And so when I said to her that I don't want to go, she got pissed off and threatened me that she'll cut off my c*ck if I don't enter the room, and so! I almost died five times, and without Faust and Chizuru stopping that b*tch, I would've been dead!"

Hearing what Sora said, I became more frightened of Ruri. "Ahh, so you're that kind of person Ruri?" This was the only thing that I could say to Ruri safely.

"*Tsk* Anyway, so what are we gonna do with the sword that Lucifer gave you Haruki? It's lethal to anyone who got close to it, and even it might be lethal to you since it exploded when you touched it."

The sword that Lucifer gave me? I guess if Ruri and the others know that Lucifer gave it to me, then Mammon probably told the others.

"I see... So that what happened to my body, and it's deadly? Then I don't know what to do with it, since my father is the only one who knows about the sword."

"I guess since that's his sword, but why does he even have that sword anyway?! Hoy Haruki, do you know what material is the sword made from?"

"Lucifer told me that it's made of a fire spirit called the santelmo, and also the feather of a Pheonix.

Ruri and Akemi after hearing what I said made them both shouted. "What?!" at the same time.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked them nervously.

"Yes, there is Haruki! Do you know that those materials are almost impossible to get!"

"No."

"*Sigh* Then I better explain it to you then, first: The santelmo, it's a fire spirit in Philippines Mythology that's almost impossible to find, even the Gods are having a hard time. And second is the feathers, do you know who Phenex is Haruki?"

"Phenex? Yes, it's the pedophile that's attracted to Millie, we called her once to help us on the ninth floor to fight Satanael, so what's with that b*tch?"

"Good thing you know her, Phenex is actually the legendary immortal bird, the Phoenix."

"Really!" Then if she's our ally, isn't that a cheat? She's immortal and made out of fire, so she's a powerful ally to have, but if she's the phoenix, then what does Ruri mean when it's impossible to get a feather?

"Hey Ruri, then it's really easy to get a feather from her right? So what's the problem with that?"

"Phenex is indeed the true phoenix, but she's not what the stories in Greek Mythology says, because she's human-like like us, which means she has no feathers at all."

"Then that's impossible, so how do you think they got the feathers then?"

"They can get it from the 6 cardinal phoenixes, which are the bird-like phoenix that Greek Mythology describes, but the problem is that those phoenixes were sealed by Phenex a long time ago in Hell, she actually sealed them when the devils were still creating the floors of Hell, so it's really impossible to get one."

"But she sealed it right? So that means she can just unseal them and get a feather and seal them back."

"That again is impossible, because if those 6 were unsealed they can instantly kill all of the Archdukes except Phenex if they were released, and most of all, just one touch of the seal can unseal the Phoenixes, which is why it's dangerous to get a feather."

"Then that sword is indeed special."

"Haruki, I don't want to say this, but in my opinion, it's really weird how your father got one, and most of the Archdukes know that the Gods has one Phoenix captive, so I know that it's hard to say this... But in my opinion, your father and probably as well as your mother, are also teaming up with the Gods like Satanael and the others."