Hell – 1

‘……I don’t know what this means.’

Even if I tried to understand the situation somehow, it was difficult. What could I have done to end up dragging the Golden Twilight Knight Commander and getting pulled into Hell?

The Sanctuary of Demons DLC begins with the player, who was dealing with demon worshippers, getting caught up in an incomplete summoning circle’s malfunction and being dragged into Hell.

I had never heard that something like this could happen when capturing the Golden Twilight Knight Commander.

‘And I don’t even know what the cause is.’

Something must have influenced it for this to happen, but what it was remained completely unknown.

It had deviated so far from the game’s story that I knew, that it was practically impossible to even guess the cause.

“Hell, you say……”

Kaikilia scoffed.

“My thoughts are the same. If this dreadful scenery is not Hell, then what is it?”

I fully agreed with the description of “dreadful scenery.”

With hills made of human skulls, rivers of human blood, and wooden stakes adorned with impaled humans, what else could this be but a dreadful sight?

“Commander of the Jet-Black Holy Night Knights…… Tsk, it’s too long to call you that every time. From now on, I shall call you Delta.”

“Yes. Please speak, Your Majesty.”

Kaikilia, who had clicked her tongue slightly after trying to call me the Commander of the Jet-Black Holy Night Knights, changed the designation. I had already become completely accustomed to a name that sounded like I should be carrying a drill in some deep-sea city.

“Do you know a way out, or a method equivalent to it?”

“I know. Although there are quite a few things that need to be dealt with before we can leave. As far as I know, this is the only way.”

There was no reason to lie after being dragged all the way here, and Kaikilia seemed confident that I would naturally know, so I calmly nodded.

Of course, I knew the way out. It was just that the way involved defeating the final boss of this place and escaping. Since I couldn’t fast travel with statues, there was no other choice.

Anyway, to make progress smoother, I also had to put Kaikilia at the forefront. Even if it meant sacrificing some experience points, it was far more efficient to let Kaikilia handle it.

“That will do. There is no need for further explanation.”

Upon hearing the answer, Kaikilia raised her holy sword again.

“Shall I guide you to the method?”

“Guide me to the method, you say? Do you not know the heart of one you serve as a subject? Truly, you are a disloyal subject.”

A faint smile appeared on her face. It was a smile full of joy, yet one that exuded a chillingly murderous aura.

“I have been waiting for this day. This is an opportunity to permanently annihilate those things with my own hands, so why should I seek a way out already?”

“……”

I wondered why she was suddenly acting like that.

I fell into thought for a moment, looking at Kaikilia, who was smiling with a terrifyingly joyful expression, then decided on our destination.

“Your Majesty, in that case, I shall guide you down a different path.”

“A different path?”

“Yes. Even for Your Majesty, you will need rest in between slaying demons. I know a place where there is someone who can help us.”

To be honest, it’s a bit ambiguous to call them a person, but since they are the only non-hostile NPC here, there was no other choice.

In the game, you can rest at statues, but that’s not possible now. We need at least a space to take minimal rest.

“Did you say human? In this Hell?”

A hint of doubt entered her voice. It was understandable. The very idea of a normal human being in Hell would be questionable.

“You will understand once we arrive.”

Even if the holy sword were to react, she would be able to fully understand after we had a few conversations while I restrained Kaikilia.

The Imperial Palace’s conference room was eerily quiet. This suffocating atmosphere, combined with the moonlit night sky, further dragged down the already gloomy mood.

After how long the silence had settled, Minerva, who let out a small sigh, spoke first.

“How is the Pope of the Sun?”

“……They say her mind and body have stabilized considerably. She is currently offering prayers to God.”

Luna replied, biting her lip slightly.

When Luna, who had prepared the Inquisitor and Interrogator, arrived at the Imperial Palace, Floreta was literally on the verge of madness.

Having never seen her younger sister so distraught, Luna froze solid the moment she saw her, unable to even think of stopping Floreta.

Minerva, who had been trying to calm Floreta down beside her, briefly explained the situation, and Luna, upon hearing the explanation, immediately offered prayers to the Sun and Moon, receiving confirmation that the Honored Guest-nim was alive and well.

Only after repeatedly proclaiming that the Sun and Moon had confirmed the Honored Guest-nim’s survival was Floreta’s frenzy finally calmed.

Once the frenzy subsided, Floreta began to weep uncontrollably. Luna, after much coaxing and comforting, finally managed to calm her down, moved her to the Grand Cathedral of the Sun, and then returned to the Imperial Palace, where she demanded a more detailed account of the circumstances.

After receiving all the explanations, Luna’s first thought was that such a reaction was understandable.

Since it was an unforeseen situation, it would be difficult to hold anyone morally responsible, but the fact that she couldn’t protect the Honored Guest-nim despite being right next to them would have been enough to crush Floreta with guilt.

And, if Luna had been in Floreta’s place, she would have acted the same way.

“For now, I have decided to take over Kaikilia’s duties. It wouldn’t be good for rumors of the Emperor’s disappearance to spread, would it? I have also erased everyone else’s memories, so do not worry.”

“I understand. That is a wise choice, Eternal Mage.”

Since both Delta and Kaikilia are alive and well, all we have to do is wait for them to return from here.

The only problem is when that ‘return’ will be.

Minerva and Luna, having finished their brief conversation, fell silent. Just before silence enveloped the conference room once more, someone cautiously spoke up.

“Um…… Your Holiness, the Pope.”

It was Rije.

“Please speak, Commander of the Silver Dawn Knights.”

“You said Delta and His Majesty the Emperor are still alive, but do you happen to know where they are?”

The look in her eyes as she gazed at Luna was very earnest. And it was the same for the other three Knight Commanders. Although they didn’t show it outwardly, all four of them were greatly shocked.

“I do not know that.”

Luna slowly shook her head.

The only information she had received from God was that Delta and Kaikilia were alive and well. She had received no answers to any other questions.

It would have been better if God had given a vague answer as always, but regarding Delta’s survival, as soon as she asked, she received a definite confirmation of ‘alive and well,’ whereas for the remaining questions, there was nothing of the sort.

This was a first for Luna.

It was both perplexing and, in a way, astonishing. Every time she became entangled with the Honored Guest-nim, new and unprecedented things happened, to the point where she could clearly feel her conviction towards the Honored Guest-nim deepening in her heart.

“……I understand.”

Rije weakly bowed her head. Towards Iris, who also lowered her head, Minerva posed a question.

“Iris, did you deliver the news to that child as well?”

“Yes. I sent a letter enclosing the teleportation scroll you gave me. I stamped it with a top-priority seal, so it should have arrived at the territory by now.”

The child Minerva referred to was Aurora. Since Minerva herself had brought Delta here, she believed Aurora also needed to know what had happened.

The reaction would likely be as expected.

“……If it’s the Honored Guest-nim, they will surely return.”

Luna murmured that. It was unclear whether her murmur was meant to reassure the people present or herself.

ㅡKieeeek…….

The demon let out a weak sound and dropped its head. Immediately after, a blade imbued with brilliant sunlight precisely split its head in half. Dark red blood streamed from the severed surface.

The demon’s corpse, vertically split in half from its solar plexus to the crown of its head, thrashed in the air for a moment before falling backward. *Kung*, and dry dust flew up.

Kaikilia, having sheathed her holy sword, looked around. A refreshing smile, almost like a wide grin, was on her face. It was the first time I had seen Kaikilia smile like that.

“Was this the last one?”

Now, there were no more of them charging at us.

“……It seems so, Your Majesty.”

On the path Kaikilia and I had taken, without exaggeration, a small hill made of demon corpses was piled up. Dark red blood flowed down from the still-fresh severed surfaces, forming small streams.

I had dealt with about twenty of them myself, but the vast majority were the corpses of those slain by Kaikilia.

After I told her just a few patterns to watch out for, Kaikilia single-handedly cut them all down. The bonus was her smile, which grew brighter the more demons she killed. I thought, ‘So even the Emperor can make such a cheerful expression.’

Well, even for a cheerful expression, it wasn’t a full-blown grin. It was just that the corners of her mouth lifted a little more and her eyes softened slightly, but compared to her usual domineering face, it was a world-changing transformation.

‘It’s the first time I’ve felt sorry for demons.’

In games, morale isn’t separately implemented, so they keep charging no matter how many allies die. But here, quite a few demons chose to flee when their comrades were indiscriminately slaughtered.

Of course, Kaikilia chased them down to the very end and killed them all.

Some of them, perhaps thinking it was hopeless, even charged at me while I was observing, but after I cut down about 20 of them, no one else dared to attack.

“We’ve arrived. It’s over there.”

Thanks to that, the rest of the journey was comfortable. Even if the ‘rest of the journey’ was barely more than a minute’s walk.

I pointed to the smallest crevice in a secluded part of the valley. Within it was a house built to blend as much as possible with its surroundings.

“I understand.”

Kaikilia walked towards the house I pointed to without hesitation. She didn’t even ask who lived there. Her trust in me seemed to have been very firmly established.

She stood in front of the single-story house, which was made of gnarled trees, identical to what I’d seen in the game but slightly larger. Then she knocked on the door. *Kwang kwang kwang*, the sound echoed loudly.

ㅡBeolkuk!

Within seconds, someone hastily flung the door open and burst out.

“Are you crazy? What if a demon hears…… you……”

The person who burst out from inside was about to scold me, but then saw the hill of demon corpses on the path we had taken, and seemed to lose their words, freezing blankly.

‘It’s a woman.’

The homeowner was, of course, a woman.

A woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail that reached her ankles, and healthy, tanned, coppery skin, as if she had been sunbathing.

She was wearing a yellow bikini that covered a remarkably small area, and her chest size was considerable, but bikinis no longer provided much stimulation.

My threshold had become too high to react to such attire every time.

“All those demons ended up like that.”

“Uh…… uh-huh…… Right.”

“Can we go inside?”

“Huh?”

The woman, who had been dumbfounded with wide eyes, instinctively moved aside at my request. Perhaps surprised by her own action, her already round eyes turned into perfect spheres.

I stepped slightly to the side and signaled to Kaikilia that it was okay to enter. Kaikilia confidently stepped inside the house. I followed next.

The woman, who had been alternately staring at the mountain of demon corpses piled outside and the two of us who had confidently entered the house, cautiously closed the door.