Chapter 67: Hellish Training: I Want To Go Home! Part 4 - Hardship at Everything

{Day 8/14}

"As I promised, I'll come back on the 8th day, and for the looks of it, something happened. Are you good Haruki?"

Looking at him, all I can think about is that how much I want to punch him in the face, because how am I good at my current condition right now? I was almost killed again, and he thinks that it's all good? "Of course not! I've almost witnessed my death many times already!" Seriously, I might get an award for the most near-death experience in history.

"Really..? Then an award for you would be astonishing isn't it?"

"Yeah it would be- can you stop reading my mind!" Day by day, this guy is getting on my nerve.

"Well, at least you're still alive and well Haruki, that's what's important, and what's amazing of all is that you didn't use your Soul Bound on that golem. Which is an amazing feat to do, because you're learning to not rely on your trump card in some dangerous circumstances."

"Well I guess, but it's mostly due to having the knowledge that I can die from Soul Bound if I overused it, which is why I don't want to use it even if that girl gave me some kind of protection from it."

"Makes sense, since doing something like fighting angels and Gods, also ruling an entire country, and especially having a power that no one has is a sudden you know? Any sane person who wasn't raised in those situations would become utterly insane, but for you to handle something like those, it's quite unexpected, honestly, I expected for you to be insane from now on."

"Yeah I guess so..." He's right, why am I sane at this point? Is it because I'm forcing myself? Is it because I don't know why? Or is it because I'm afraid of the consequences of being one?

Did something happen for me to remain calm about our situation right now? Wait no, am I even really sane right now? Everything happen all at once quickly that made me fell into despair.

Me returning here, my parents death, Hell being attacked again, everyone betraying us, Ruri's condition getting worse day by day, many of my soldiers were killed in the war, almost getting killed many times, Akemi and Shota are in a coma, and now I'm right here training to get stronger so that I'll save the world... To be honest, it's not insanity that I felt through all those days of hardships and denials, but more like fear.

"Don't you think that me talking to you right now is necessary to you Lucifer? Won't it be better if you talk to someone instead?" After all, I'm confused about why he picked someone weak like me. "There are better candidates than me? So why me?"

"Hmm... To put it simply, it's because I believe in you Haruki, and if I talked to anyone beside you, they wouldn't talk to me in a normal manner like you. Because if you were one of your friends, how could you possibly react if Lucifer is in front of you? It would be with honor and respect right? And right now, I can't say the same thing to you Haruki, you're not afraid to be what you truly are; yourself, you are you, which is why I visit and hold a conversation with you. Because you can swear in front of me and Beelzebub, and even take the initiative to tell yourself how weak and useless you are."

*Tsk* Are you just saying this to make me feel better Lucifer? You know that many people have told me that already, so why would you think that it would work on me?"

Lucifer let out a smile. "It's because I didn't particularly say it myself, but everyone did."

"Everyone? What are you talking about?" Here he goes again with his weird dramatic stuff.

"Even if they're not here Haruki, they have been watching you. Everyone who has unfortunately passed away is somewhere in this world watching you and supporting you on what you're doing because they know that you're gonna succeed on this plan of yours."

"*Sigh* If you say so... But even so, their support is too much of a handle to carry, because I might disappoint them in the end."

"You're wrong Haruki, you're just believing that it's too much of a burden to carry their wishes, but in truth, everyone who's with you is doing the same thing as you, they carry the wishes of every deceased devil with you."

"Should've known that you're gonna say that... *Sigh* Let's stop this for now because everyone might get worried since my body is still at that arena unconscious."

"I guess so... Then goodbye now Haruki, let's talk again on the 12th day."

When I opened my eyes, I saw that my body was fully healed and has no scars left from the battle, even my fractured bone and the hole that the ice spikes left on my stomach are all gone. "Thanks, everyone." That was all I can say after seeing that I'm treated.

But... after that battle with the golems, I still have that bats that Dawn tasked me to kill, so if they're farther inside the cave than the ice golems, then that means I can't underestimate them.

Now time to head of to my next task. I have to travel to 9,500m and fight the colony of bats residing in that location. "Looks like I still have the map and the guidebook with me." Good thing that It didn't get destroyed from that fight.

I look at the map to see where I'm about to head next and started to start walking. "Only about 6 hours for a new day." It looks like sleeping and talking to Lucifer took my time, but since that the 8th day is a day for rest I can use it to complete the task that I didn't complete yesterday.

Climbing on top of the wall of rocks to get out of the arena since I saw a big tunnel when I was finally on the tunnel, I saw many slimes. Seeing them I smiled in joy and ran up to them to start my buffet.

The slimes that I saw outside of the cave were color blue just like the snow, but inside the cave, their color is either black or brown. Which means it might not taste well.

I guess with the color of the slime being blue, it gave the tase of water on them, but what if it's black or brown? Would it taste like rocks or dirt? "Well... Only one way to find out." I snathed the smallest slime I can find; it's about the same size as my hand and ate it whole.

It got a watery feel to it, but what's surprising is that it's much better than the slime from above. The one above tastes like any normal sweet gelatin, but the slimes here tastes like an earthy vegetable. Is it a mushroom? No this actually tastes like a truffle, I remember one of my classmates who's crazy rich giving me a sample of what a truffle tastes like. "Now! Time for Haruki Hotaru's cooking sho-" No time for that.

If only I have Earth Manipulation I can create a wall to trap them and use Space Cutter to teleport them to me... So I'll just eat as much as I can, and stuff the small ones in the fruit bag.

"Now let's continue!" When I took a small step forward I heard a loud click on the ground. "*Sigh* Time to run!"

I started running as fast as I can to avoid the trap that was coming, but stopped when I saw the fruit bag glowing. Looking inside to see what's happening to it, I saw the small slimes that I kidnapped- I mean took glowing.

With some knowledge I got on the number of video games I played in my entire life as a neet, I knew what was about to happen, so I threw the slimes and saw all of them explode.

"*Sigh* Good thinking Haruk-" Whoosh! Bang! behind me was some kind of fireball being shot at me and when it missed, I saw it explodes like a firework in front.

Behind me is where I came from, and it's also where I ate the buffet of slimes... "Oh sh*t!" I started running in a zigzag so that I have a better chance of dodging it Whoosh! Bang! Another slime came at me like a firework but completely missed.

Whoosh! Bang! "Ha! That almost hit me!" Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Bang! Bang! Bang! "Why are there three coming?!" Of course there are three coming Haruki, are you stupid? there are about an infinite amount of slimes behind me.

Whoosh! I went left! And dodged it Bang! "Ignisvem!" I let out my wings and flew so that I wouldn't run and get hit, also I turned around while flying forward, so that while escaping I can hit the slimes coming.

Whoosh! Whoosh! When the two slimes got close I sliced up one and dodge the other one from my left. Bang! "This is easy, it's like a game." Whoosh! Whoosh! When the two slimes got close, I let out a proud smile and spun while flying and hit the two at the same time with my sword and cut the two in half.

That was cool! Now I want to try three. Whoosh! "Ha!" That was very fast, I couldn't even see it come. Bang! When it exploded behind me, the explosion hit my back and cause me to fall. "It's smarter than I expected." Even if the slimes are committing suicide, they're still smart enough to at least damage me.

With Electric Manipulation, my wings sped up from flying. And using Fire Manipulation, I created a sword of fire and dual wield so that I can easily destroy upcoming slimes

Whoosh! In a blink of an eye, the slime exploded near my chest, and I couldn't even destroy it. "It hurts!" But with fire Manipulation, using an armor made by fire gave me resistance to very hot fire.

Knowing that the armor can protect me, I looked in front so that I can concentrate on flying and escaping easily.

Whoosh! Another one came, bang! But it didn't affect me at all. "Ha! take that slimes" I proudly shouted.

I looked at the map and saw that I was near my destination, about 30 minutes more I'm there. "Good thing I can fly because this is much faster than walking and also much faster than a car."

Crack!

Cracking? Where did that come from? When I looked above I was shocked to see what was behind me. It was a giant slime that covers the entire tunnel and destroying the walls.

Even if it didn't turn into a fireball, it's catching up to me. "Is this the slimes revenge at me, because I ate his family? I feel terrible..." I flew as fast as possible and saw the tunnel end. "I'm close to my destination!"

Screech! Screech! Screech! When I got to my destination, I saw them. The bats that I was supposed to eliminate, and you know what else I saw too? There are about hundreds of them here; what's worse is that their body is about the same size as a human!

All of the bats saw me come and all of them flew to me aggressively. "Oh sh*t!" one by one, the bats scratch me, bit me, and tackled me.

The fire armor that I created wasn't hot enough for them to fear and burn them at all, so I just ran as fast as I can and tried to kill some if I can, but they can dodge my hit!

Screech! One of the bats behind me head-butted me from behind. Its head was so hard that it almost snap my spine. Screech! In front, a bat came and scratched my chest with its sharp claws.

When they started to fly, I threw the flaming sword at the bat that scratched me and killed it. "Now, about a million more!" Well, they're not exactly a million, but there's enough of them that I'd lost count.

Screech! Coming from above me, I noticed it come and severed its head. "Don't even try-" Without noticing it, I got scratched from behind. Screech! A bat came in front of me and tackled me. "*Cough* Sh*t." They're fast, smart, and cooperative.

Why would Dawn task me to kill an entire colony?! She's dangerous! Really dangerous! can't she at least send help?

Crack..! Crack..! Crack..! The moment the bats and I heard the cracks, we stopped and looked at where it's coming from. And I saw it come from where I came from before. "This is bad, it's the giant slime!"

The stone wall broke and a giant slime about the size of a giant lake came out. The bats and I were all taken by the slime and trapped inside of it.

I'm drowning, the slime is too heavy and crushing that it's hard to hold my breath I have to get out now! I tried to swim but my arm was too heavy to move.

What do I do? How can I escape? I looked around me and saw one of the bats dead, it looks like it didn't die from drowning, but more like it was being digested by the slimes because its hair is deteriorating and dissolving.

Seeing that I panicked that I'll turn into slime food. What do I do!? What do I do!? What do I do!? It's already a miracle that I'm not being digested by the slime yet. Or not! Because the slime wants to see me panic and in despair before I get eaten! Oh, I'm sorry!

It looks like that all of the bats were captured by the slime, so my tasks are complete... What am I even talking about right now?! I have to think of a way to escape now or else I'll die!

Wait... What's that burning sensation? When I looked at my body, I saw my clothes dissolving. Hah! Help me! I removed both my clothes and underwear so that I wouldn't get dissolve by the slime at the same time as my clothes.

I closed my eyes tightly and shaped my body in a fetal position. Why am I giving up now? Is there no way of escaping this? Of course not, I can't even talk to shout and use my Soul Bound.

Haha! I'm clearly dead... The moment I said that I got an image in my mind of the beautiful blonde girl who was looking at me with a beautiful and charming smile.

All I could think of when I saw her, is to say to her I'm sorry that I'm gonna die right now. But I felt like she gonna gave me a laugh if I say sorry.

And there she is saying to me. "As the King of Hell with the trust and acknowledgment of the Archdukes and my people, I can do anything. Even if the deceased are not beside me, they're still along the path that I chose. With the power of flames that the feathers of the phoenix that was bestowed upon my sword. I summon thee. Ignisvem."

The slime started to jiggle and when I look at it, the slime heated up and exploded like a water balloon.

"Haruki!"

Looking at my surroundings, I saw that I was not inside the slime anymore, and beside me were Luna, Dawn, and Ryou. "Where am I?" I asked them confusingly

"You're still inside the cave idiot, what were you even doing inside the slime for a long time Haruki? Not only I was worried, but Luna and Ryou too, if your Ignisvem hast power like that, then why didn't you do it earlier!? We went here to rescue you! You know that!"

Dawn was angry at me, but I guess she's right that I had them very worried for a sec there. If I were in her position, I would get pissed off if one of my friends pretended to be in danger.

Well, it wasn't pretended, since that girl saved me again. "I'm sorry Dawn for making you worried, I'm sorry to Luna and Ryou. I'll make sure to be careful next time."

"*Sigh* Haruki... If you want to give up, you can message me anytime, because Dawn and I went overboard by making you do the same training as us, and I'm worried that you might get severely injured-"

"No, I will not give up. I'll finish this Luna." I know that Luna is worried about my safety, but giving up now is like turning away from my plans and duty to be one day walking in equal step with them. "And no need to worry, I promise that I will not play games in any battle anymore."

Luna looked unsatisfied with my answer but she forced herself to let me do what I want. "Then... We'll continue your training then." Luna created a portal and left.

"Haruki, if you did something reckless like that again, I wouldn't forgive you."

"Sure Dawn, I promise not to do it anymore."

"*Sigh* Dawn threw a bottle filled with red liquid inside. "Drink that and you'll heal." And Dawn finally left.

"Seriously Haruki, don't worry about what they said."

"Hmm? You're not worried about me Ryou?"

"Of course I am, but I knew instantly that you're the type of guy that wouldn't easily give up, so I expected you to kill that slime successfully."

"*Sigh* Thanks Ryou for believing in me." But for now, I need to do what Luna and Dawn say and to be careful. I don't want everyone getting worried for me and thinking that I'm weak. So tomorrow I'll do my best.