To Hell

The hell of the Ark has a rather snobbish form.

According to the information Alice collected from the Enchantment of the Fallen layer, hell was more like an otherworld full of immense and chaotic energy than a hell with religious meaning.

It was similar to a dungeon in that it was an otherworld, but the Ark Central Administration distinguished it by the fact that it was bound by a contract and exchanged between each other.

However, the energy here included not only mana and life force, but also extreme and negative emotions, including human hatred, fanaticism, despair, jealousy, anger, and madness.

The materialization of emotions expressed in the form of entropy.

This was the singularity of hell in the Ark. In the Enchantment of the Fallen layer, fanaticism mediated by false gods became the most efficient way to fill this hell with energy.

And the materialized emotion was more efficient, purer, and more vicious than anything else, so many mega corps, the Energy Management Industrial Complex, the Sorcery Association, and even various organizations, including the Outer Wall Exploration Agency, used this energy.

However, as Alice said, there would be no problem even if this hell did not exist in the Ark.

It might have been different in the early days when they were barely able to avoid the calamity, but now the Ark maintains order even in the midst of chaos, and the value of hell has fallen a lot due to various magical engineering and technological developments.

However, interestingly, humans, at the corporate or governmental level, do not care about the sacrifice of a small number of humans as long as it is profitable or convenient.

And unfortunately, the Enchantment of the Fallen layer, where 30 million citizens live, belongs to the ‘minority’.

In addition, 90% of the people who come to the Enchantment of the Fallen layer are mostly those whose lives have spiraled out of control, like the people of the lower layer, and such people naturally become infected with fanaticism and become resources that provide hell energy.

Even if these many people were all destroyed by the calamity overnight, they would just pass it over, but the fact that they periodically provide pain and negative emotions from the layer of fanaticism was not so cruel from the central’s point of view.

Of course, Her Excellency Alice, the Second-class Overseer and Red Übermensch Grand Governor, did not like that.

“Um, excuse me, guest? Why aren’t I going on a pilgrimage?”

“Huh? Because you don’t have to?”

“But, but. I have to go on a pilgrimage? I know that’s the contract? If I don’t go, many people may be uncomfortable and in pain, and it’s said that they will have a harder time? I, I have to go, guest…!”

“Oh dear, do you want some ice cream?”

“Yes!”

Alice wouldn’t say anything if someone who was guilty was suffering, but when she saw this cycle of innocent and pure children receiving endless pain, Alice just felt like throwing up.

Looking at this frail living sacrifice, it seemed that memories of the past were gradually blooming.

Even if it wasn’t fully blooming and flowering, it was as if the sprouts of bad memories were wriggling and rising from the barren land and dominating Alice’s head.

‘Yes, the hero was like this too. Beneath the praised surface, they were nothing more than living sacrifices.’

She didn’t know why the hero’s memory flashed through her mind when she saw Sira’s appearance… Alice just smiled as she watched Sira eating mint chocolate ice cream with a happy expression.

She felt like she was always getting involved with children every time she went through a layer, but if she was asked whether she liked children or not, she honestly liked them. Even if the contents inside were like that, Alice’s current body was quite young, so it wasn’t that strange for young girls to be involved with each other in appearance.

Or, was it because she had gone through fusion countless times now?

She had definitely grown compared to when she first opened her eyes in the heavy metal junkyard of the Ark.

“Alice-Overseer-nim.”

“Just call me Alice in front of a child.”

“Yes-Alice-nim.”

“Alice.”

“…Location-identification-is complete-said to be.”

Location identification.

Alice knew what that meant.

Hell.

Even the executors residing here only knew some of the detailed contents of the contract, the location of hell, and its singularities, but anyway, they said they had found the location.

I didn’t need to know what process they went through.

The important thing was the result of finding hell.

“Sira, I’ll be back after going out with the uncles for a while, okay?”

“Are you going out again? Eat mint chocolate ice cream with me! This time it’s the petroleum flavor edition!”

“Gasp.”

The petroleum flavor is tempting…?

Perhaps because she had become an android beep-boop, she strangely liked the taste of electricity, petroleum, and oil.

No. There was something more important now.

“The temptation is great, but this sister is a diligent, faithful, and responsible adult! The time to be deceived by evil temptations and ruin work has passed!”

“Ooh~ Lies~ Marlang~”

Marlang, who was sticking close to Sira, said with a smile that seemed to contain ridicule.

【What is wrong with that statement is correct. Humans are neither diligent nor faithful, and are very weak to evil temptations. The word laziness, which likes to play, is the most suitable human image itself.】

No, this delinquent AI is dissing its owner without hesitation?

Geez. Seriously.

I’m only called the owner, but when I see what it does, it’s like there’s a separate master.

【That’s fine with me, Human.】

How brazen.

“Anyway, this sister has something important to do, so I’ll be back. Instead, Marlang will play with Sira!”

“Marlang~”

“Huh? What? You don’t want to play today and want to meditate and contemplate while drinking black tea?”

“Pour…”

Leaving Marlang, who was giving off a subtly negative nuance, Alice finished preparing to go out with Valet and the executor corps.

“The executor-corps-has completed-full arming.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

No one knows what’s in hell, but they know that it’s not an easy place.

It’s a place that the central administration has bound with a ‘contract’ instead of conquest or capture.

It would be a different dimension from a simple dungeon.

Alice felt pretty cool heading to hell with the executor corps following her like that.

Like becoming the godfather of the mafia?

Of course, it would only be a connection that works in this layer, and even an Overseer can’t just handle an executor, but at least here, everyone is united in wanting to save a young girl named Sira, right?

This was enough to form a reliable trust with each other regardless of position.

Alice headed to the entrance to hell that Valet had discovered.

Alice could already guess the entrance itself to some extent.

The land where the calamity [Karatkrum Obskulluzin], which accelerates the growth and birth of living things, sleeps.

Hell was hidden there.

In fact, since Sira was a priestess who had to give birth to sacrifices, it was a foregone conclusion that hell would be located near Karatkrum Obskulluzin in order to accelerate gestation.

“It’s quiet.”

“Even-insects-do not approach-this place.”

“Does hell energy stimulate the insects’ senses?”

“It is-presumed-that they feel-fear. Because it is-immense-and chaotic-energy.”

The entrance to hell was just like an ordinary forest.

However, a lush and completely deserted forest path, a mountain path where humans would never pass.

At the end of the path, which had an eerie and spine-chilling atmosphere as if ghosts or monsters would appear, there was something like a small altar.

An altar that no one had managed, old and overgrown with vines and unknown weeds.

This was the entrance to hell.

“If you step on-and cross-the altar-you will reach-hell.”

“Is that so?”

Alice loosened her body.

She had to be careful because she didn’t know what kind of mess would happen as soon as she crossed over to hell.

What she saw as soon as she crossed over to hell was a sky dyed red.

But what was strange was that nothing else had changed except that.

The scenery, forests, and mountain paths of the Enchantment of the Fallen layer were the same. Except for the ominously red sky, all objects and environments were the same as reality.

Oh, the fact that she couldn’t hear any insect sounds was also a difference.

And most of all, the difference was…

“Hey~ I can’t move my body?”

She couldn’t move her body at all.

Seeing that her mouth was opening, her head was fine, but everything below her head was completely immobile.

Everything, including electricity, mana, energy, and mechanical tendril, was completely stopped.

“I will notify-Overseer Alice.”

Then the executors, including Valet, said from behind.

“From this moment on, perform-the duty-of execution executor.”

“…Ha.”

“We will execute-the central’s order-on Second-class Overseer-Alice.”

What kind of performance is this again?

“Aha, ha. Valet, that’s too much of a joke.”

“……It’s no use trying to move. It is a eternal shackles formula from the central to execute high-ranking Awakened, including Overseers. Don’t waste your energy in vain as it is completely isolated and stopped, including space-time.”

Sudden betrayal?

No, what is this all of a sudden without any warning?

It’s so, so scary that I’m getting goosebumps.

“But you’re not panicking at all. When did you notice?”

The eyes of the executor corps, including Valet, shone fiercely.

“Notice? No, I didn’t notice. I was being deceived until just now? Gasp, the executors who I thought would be my subordinates and hands and feet are actually assassins trying to cut off my head?! Ark Central Administration, oh my. It’s so, so scary~”

Alice playfully wiggled her body and tilted her head back.

“Well, there was something strange.”

Alice’s eyes shone brightly as she tilted her neck so grotesquely that it exceeded 90 degrees and her neck bones wouldn’t be able to survive.

“How could the executor corps, who live by principles and die by orders, have such strong human sides? Family? Seeing Sira, that poor child, reminds you of family? If it’s family, that’s possible. Love and family are destructive emotions, so I thought it wasn’t that strange to make one executor strange.”

“Answer the question. If you do anything foolish, your body will be permanently incapacitated by the eternal shackles formula immediately.”

“Oh my, I heard that Overseers are positions that everyone looks up to, but seeing this, it doesn’t seem to be the case~”

In reality, Overseers are positions and existences that should be looked up to.

However, since humans are basically foolish and irrational creatures, everyone has the thought that ‘I will be different.’ In the end, it is common to face the ending of not being any different.

“In the first place, I’m not just an Overseer, but an Overseer directly under Administrator Rilstia Frostia. But an assignment came down from the central administration, and after coming to this layer, I haven’t heard from Rilstia at all?”

Rilstia is someone who contacts me whenever she has time and acts coquettishly as if asking me to play with her.

It would be strange if such a person didn’t contact me even once after coming to the Enchantment of the Fallen layer unless something happened.

“But I trusted you? I thought the heart that pitied Sira was genuine.”

“…….”

“Oh, is it true?”

It wasn’t a lie.

The executor corps, including Valet, are executors who have undergone full-body surgery.

It was half true that they were injected with memories or personalities and showed Alice their true selves.

“Aha, I see now. This Enchantment of the Fallen layer is not only a place where energy is replenished through contracts with hell by offering what the priestess gives birth to… but also a place where you guys are deployed to deal with problematic high-ranking Awakened or Overseers?”

“Stop it. Rhetorical questions are a waste.”

Valet checked the various confinement formulas again as he looked at Alice who was saying that.

Because she seemed too relaxed for someone whose life was at stake.

“But I never intended to destroy hell from the beginning.”

However, in a short moment of less than 0.001 seconds, his internal mana circuit, which had been mechanized, could tell that the eternal shackles formula was operating without any problems.

“Sira? Of course, I feel sorry for that child. I also feel pity, and my heart aches just because that young child is a pure child suffering alone in this layer. But, you guys said it, right? Is it sane to try to break the laws and rules of the layer itself for that one reason alone?”

If she had the mind to do so now, all of Alice’s body except her head would be permanently stopped, and if she showed any sign of moving her mana even a little, the mana would backfire and destroy herself.

“Ah, but I wasn’t sane, was I? Sorry. Sorry. When you go through life many times, memories and habits get mixed up to the point where there are some parts that are completely broken. I get obsessed with trivial things and suddenly go on a rampage, or I nonchalantly commit acts that try to destroy a century-long plan just because I don’t like it.”

“You can’t just do what you like in life.”

“Oh my. You’re a great adult. Does such an adult leave a child living in hell?”

“It’s for The Greater Cause.”

“I need to cut off the tongues of all the bastards who talk about The Greater Cause. They were all sons of bitches.”

Even while talking to Valet, Alice still seemed relaxed.

Even though it was clear that she couldn’t even wiggle her fingers because the formula was in operation.

‘Why does she seem so relaxed? Is it a bluff?’

If there’s a high probability, it’s a bluff.

‘She has the appearance of a young noble lady, but she’s an Overseer who has gone through thick and thin. Even if she panics, there’s no way to overcome it, so she’s trying to maintain her composure and look for an opportunity even at times like this.’

It doesn’t matter.

The eternal shackles formula is a work that the administrator directly bestowed, not the executor corps, to suppress, extradite, and execute Overseers.

No matter what Alice does, that body is perfectly bound.

“Alice-your-recklessness-and compassion-for Sira-and humanity-I express-respect-but disarm-quietly-and surrender- If so-I promise-humane-treatment.”

“Oh dear, if I fall for such words now, wouldn’t that be foolish too? You’ve stopped my whole body except my head, do you think I’ll just go along with it?”

“Either way-there is no-choice-for you.”

“Choice? Aha. Yes, that’s right. But if I just raise my hands here and declare surrender, it’s not a fun sight, is it?”

Alice looked at Valet with inorganic eyes.

Her neck was still bent.

“If it’s a novel, they say it’s not fun to surrender here, and they tell you to resist and die instead?”

“You shouldn’t-be able to distinguish-between reality and fiction. Are you trying-to buy time? Too bad, but once-the eternal shackles formula-is activated-all the energy-mana-life force-inside cannot-move-”

“Oh my, I’m so scared that the screws in my body are coming loose. Then, while we’re at it, what do you think hell is?”Isn’t the world where humans live hell itself?”

Such an answer lingered on Valet’s lips, but he couldn’t answer.

If I’m living in hell.

Then, I must be a demon.

“Stop with the useless words. Let’s stop the unnecessary consumption of each other. The moment you were caught in the confinement formula, your fate was already decided.”

“Wow-you’ve even dropped the surgeon’s unique way of speaking?”

Alice laughed in vain.

She wanted to shrug her shoulders, but she was sad that she couldn’t move below her neck.

“I’m really disappointed. I thought you guys were people who could fight against hell for the sake of one young girl… comrades who were similar to me and could burn their hearts out for something useless.”

“…….”

Apart from capturing Alice, Valet also had genuine sympathy and pity for Sira.

Maybe if Alice is extradited and goes to the central… Sira will return to her previous life.

A child who collects pain through pilgrimage, gives birth to death and insects through contracts, and offers living sacrifices.

“But what a pity. My goal is hell itself?”

At the same time as those words, Alice’s eyes flashed red.

Eerie eyes, flashing red like a machine about to murder a human.

“…!”

[Eternal Shackles Activated]

-Crackle!

At that moment, Valet instinctively activated Eternal Shackles.

He triggered the formula instinctively at the murderous intent that threatened his life, and in that instant, all of Alice’s body was crushed, except for her head, which was the only part excluded from the Shackles formula.

“…I’m sorry.”

Valet lamented inwardly, watching Alice’s head fly into the air from the impact of the Shackles.

‘From the start, the central administration’s order to capture and bring Overseer Alice was not for a good purpose. It would be better for her dignity if she died here.’

It was a short time, but frankly, Valet didn’t dislike her.

A person who devised and put into action the absurd plan of forcibly breaking the contract with hell, which the central administration had established.

Moreover, she was a person who abandoned all profit and reason and took action simply because an innocent girl was suffering.

If he were to carry out tasks with her, Valet briefly thought it might be quite interesting.

But he was an executor arranged by the central administration.

He was an executor who had undergone a painful procedure to replace even his memories and personality for that purpose, and he could not forget his duty.

Someone might be pitiable, unfortunate, and unfair things might happen, but weren’t those things happening endlessly in this hellish human world?

Of course, the problem was that the central administration had a way to save her even if they only brought her head.

“…Mission complete. Retrieve the body and send it to the central administration…”

[Fusion Initiating]

A massive mechanical sound, audible only within Alice, rang out.

A sound far rougher and louder than usual.

A sound as if a soul was being reassembled.

For some reason, Valet seemed to hear that sound clearly.

And the eyes of the executors filled with astonishment.

Valet, noticing this, turned around.

“What…!”

“Just to say it one more time….”

Alice, with only her head remaining, smiled brightly.

“My goal was hell itself!”

[Initiating Fusion with Entity ‘Hell’.]

Her face, smiling as it floated in the air as if swimming, was far more terrifying than any horror movie.