Netherworld

'This feeling of bliss… It's nostalgic.'

'This is the Path—a bridge between the realms. It induces serenity within your mind to distract you from your body being ripped to shreds and formed anew.'

'R-ripped to shreds?'

'Yes. It's a gruesome process but the Path was designed to put your mind at ease through the transportation.'

'Wait? Won't I be rejected from Netherworld like I was in Leagard? Am I going to disappear?'

'Calm down, Haruki. You won't disappear. There are two types of Paths: Legal and Illegal. You were forcefully sent to Leagard through an Illegal Path, which didn't allow your body's genetic code to integrate into the realm's network. This is a Legal Path. This gory process is a means for the realm to identify and integrate our genetic code.'

'I-I see.'

Despite being ripped to shreds and restructured, Satan was right, I didn't feel any pain or discomfort. The process went by in a flash. One second all I saw was an array of purple hues streaming before my eyes, the next I was in an unknown land—Netherworld. Arid, bleak land, showing no signs of life. Pools of lava replacing the lush ocean. Volcanic ash for air, making breathing unbearable. Worst of all…

"Haruki, reinforce your mana coat. Netherworld's miasma has grown stronger."

"Grown stronger?"

"Miasma is caused by an overabundance of negative mana."

"What is negative mana?"

"Mana is life force. The feel of mana can change based on one's emotions. Positive mana feels warm and comforting. Having positive mana means you're at peace. Negative mana feels invasive and suffocating. This form of mana occurs when you have powerful negative emotions such as hate and envy."

"So, this is the demons' rage?"

"When you've been locked up for thousands of years, even you would start to hate this life. The more that time passes, the more frustrated demons become. Frustration that fuels…"

He pauses. Looking ahead at a castle in the sky. "Fuels… what?"

"Nothing. I was just mumbling. Let's go, we should find our guide soon."

"Our… guide?"

The suffocating air becomes more stifling. Behind us, a wolf-like creature howls. The parched earth cracks and trembles from the howl's pressure. I spin around and before me is a large creature with persian-blue, leather-like skin, red eyes and... Three heads?

"Satan," says the middle head, "Lucifer awaits you both."

"Haruki, this is Cerberus—the three-headed guard of Netherworld."

"Cerberus. I read about it in Ragnarök. But seeing it in person is amazing."

"Likewise, Haruki Ryu," says the right head. "We have been expecting you."

"It has been over three thousand years since we last conversed," continues the left head. "It is a shame that this would be our only meeting with the current you."

"The current me? Last meeting? What are you talking about?"

"Did Satan not tell you?" The three heads look at Satan. He shakes his head.

"Tell me? What is it that you didn't tell me, Satan?"

"Sigh, Haruki, do you remember two voices calling out to you in your fight against the Yeti?"

Two voices? Come to think about it, "Yes, I do. There was ALL tempting me... and a man's voice. He told me to fight against ALL's temptations."

"That was the True God, Saint Venus Nirvana. He's long since discarded that name, though. He goes by Kreo Supreme if I can recall."

"Kreo Supreme? That's the Progenitor God Rai mentioned. He wrote something called the Royal Scroll."

"That's not all he wrote. Many of the Grimoires used in the seven realms are his writings. As the God of Gods, he reigns above as the most powerful and influential of them all."

"He is also the most rule-obeying," interjects Cerberus' middle head.

"I am right," continues the right head. "Kreo Supreme is the most law-abiding being in existence. His personality is like that young child's, Heilder."

"King Heilder?"

"So, he is King, now? That young child was so weak. If we hadn't taken him in he would have been left as food for Leagard's mutts. Tell us, Haruki Ryu, is he a fine king?"

"He..." I think back to King Heilder's smile. I must say, it's quite infectious, Heilder. "Yes, he is a wonderful king."

"That's good."

"Quite," says the left head. "Hate breeds hate. For that cycle to end, we prayed that Heilder grew up kinder than the people who abandoned him. So he could influence the next generation of humans. For as hate breeds hate, so does love nurture love."

"Enough of this," interrupts the middle head. "Satan, we shall let Lucifer explain everything to him. You know how impatient he can get."

Satan and I get on Cerberus' back. He leaps from the ground and runs at speeds I reach in my dragon form with ease. He runs in the direction of the castle Satan stared at. As he runs, I look around. Like Leviathan said, it's a barren land with no signs of life. Slimes, goblins and trolls fighting and killing each other.

"Where's the beauty in this?" I mumble.

"Did you say something?"

I look at the demons fighting each other. Behind the magma slime are four small pools of lava. I squint my eyes and the lava pools change form. That's... Four baby slimes, disguised as lava pools. And the bigger slime must be the mother. She's protecting her young.

I place a bit of pressure on Cerberus' back. His left head turns back and says, "Haruki, this is Netherworld. Fighting for one's survival is a daily task in this harsh realm. If you aid that slime, it will only suffer longer."

Survival of the fittest. He's right. Even if I save that slime, I won't be doing it any favours. I know he's right but... "I can't just sit back and watch this happen."

"Haru—"

Before Cerberus can finish his sentence, I leap from his back and spread my wings. The trolls and goblins have the slimes surrounded. On the centre troll's command, the goblins run around the mother slime to kidnap her children. The slime, quick to react, sprays the four goblins with molten lava from her mouth. The goblins screech as their flesh tears away with the dripping lava spread over their bodies. The green skin peels off and the goblins are covered in red, yellow and orange. The three trolls look displeased. They charge the slime and a battle ensues. The slime sprays them with lava but the trolls catch the lava droplets with their metal clubs. After being outsmarted, the slime jumps in front of her young, protecting them from the charging trolls.

"Freeze," I whisper, as the tips of my feet touch the ground. The ground and everything touching the ground freezes into ice statues. The reddish-brown earth and pools of lava turn blue as they freeze over. I look up at the trolls, their distasteful grins forever frozen in place. I look back at the slimes. I made sure to freeze around the slimes as not to harm them but... The mother slime looks at me, wary. Her children shiver behind her, scared.

I spread my wings and take to the sky, soon catching up to Cerberus. "You will never survive against the True Gods if you do not steel your heart," says the middle head. The rest of the journey to the castle in the sky went by in silence.