Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: Hell - 1
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‘……I have no idea what’s going on.’
No matter how hard I tried to make sense of the situation, it was impossible. How on earth could attempting to capture the Golden Twilight Knights Captain end with me getting dragged into hell?
The Demons’ Sanctuary DLC begins with an incomplete summoning circle malfunctioning, pulling the player—who was in the midst of dealing with demon worshippers—straight into hell.
I’d never heard of anything like this happening while trying to catch the Golden Twilight Knights Captain.
‘What the hell caused it?’
Something must have influenced events to make this happen, but I had no clue what. The story had veered so far off the game’s script that pinpointing the cause was practically impossible.
“Hell……”
Kaikilia sneered.
“Ye’s thoughts align perfectly. If this horrific landscape isn’t hell, then what is it?”
I wholeheartedly agreed with her description of it as horrific.
There were hills made of human skulls, rivers flowing with human blood, and trees decorated with impaled humans. If that wasn’t horrific, what was?
“Captain of the Ebony Nocturne Knights…… Tsk, that’s too much of a mouthful. From now on, I’ll call you Delta.”
“Yes. Speak, Your Majesty.”
Kaikilia had nearly called me Captain of the Ebony Nocturne Knights, clicked her tongue softly, and switched to the new title. I’d grown completely accustomed to this name that felt like it belonged to someone wandering the abyssal city with a spear in hand.
“Do you know a way out? Or something equivalent?”
“I do. There are a few things we need to handle first, though. As far as I know, it’s the only method.”
There was no reason for me to lie now that we’d been dragged this far, and Kaikilia seemed utterly convinced I knew the way, so she nodded calmly.
Of course I knew the escape route. It just involved beating the area’s final boss and getting out. We couldn’t use the statues for fast travel, so there was no helping it.
To make progress smoother anyway, we needed Kaikilia up front. Even if it meant sacrificing some experience points, letting her handle it was far more efficient.
“Then that settles it. No need for further explanation.”
Having heard my response, Kaikilia raised her holy sword once more.
“Shall I guide you along the path?”
“What sort of servant are you, so ignorant of your sovereign’s heart? Truly a disloyal subject.”
A faint smile crept across her face. It was a smile brimming with joy, yet it carried an eerily murderous aura.
“I have awaited this day alone. This is my chance to obliterate them eternally with my own hand—why seek an exit so soon?”
“……”
So that’s what this was about.
I gazed at Kaikilia’s smile—overflowing with savage delight—lost in thought for a moment before deciding on our destination.
“Your Majesty, in that case, allow me to guide you another way.”
“Another way?”
“Yes. Even for Your Majesty, pauses for rest will be necessary amid the demon slaying. I know a place with someone who can aid us.”
Admittedly, calling it a “person” was a bit of a stretch, but it was the only non-hostile NPC here, leaving us no choice.
In the game, we could rest at the statues, but that wasn’t an option now. We needed at least some space for minimal recovery.
“Did you say ‘human’? Here in hell?”
A hint of doubt colored her voice. It was understandable. The very idea of a perfectly fine human in hell was baffling.
“You’ll see once we arrive.”
Even if the holy sword reacted, a few exchanges of conversation while I held Kaikilia back would convince her.
The imperial palace conference room was eerily silent. The suffocating atmosphere blended with the night sky where the moon had risen, dragging the already somber mood to rock bottom.
How long had the silence lingered when Minerva finally broke it with a soft sigh?
“How is the Pope of the Sun faring?”
“……She’s much more stable in body and mind. She’s offering prayers to the divine now.”
Luna bit her lip slightly as she replied.
When Luna arrived at the palace with the Heresy Inquisitor and Interrogator in tow, Floretta had been on the verge of madness.
Luna had never seen her younger sister so distraught, and the sight left her frozen in place, unable even to think of intervening.
Minerva, who had been restraining Floretta, gave a brief explanation of events. Upon hearing it, Luna immediately prayed to the Sun and Moon, receiving firm confirmation that Guibin was unharmed.
Only after repeatedly proclaiming the Sun and Moon’s assurance of Guibin’s survival did she manage to calm Floretta’s mania.
Once the mania subsided, Floretta burst into floods of tears. Luna coaxed and soothed her until she finally settled, then moved her to the Grand Cathedral of the Sun before returning to the palace and demanding a more detailed account.
The first thought that crossed Luna’s mind upon hearing everything was that Floretta’s reaction was entirely warranted.
No one could have foreseen the incident, making it hard to assign moral blame, but the fact that she’d been right there and failed to protect Guibin was enough to crush Floretta with guilt.
And if Luna had been in Floretta’s position, she would have acted the same.
“For the time being, I’ll handle Kaikilia’s duties. It won’t do for rumors of the emperor’s disappearance to spread. I’ve erased everyone else’s memories, so no need to worry.”
“Understood. A wise decision, Eternal Mage.”
With both Delta and Kaikilia confirmed alive and well, all they had to do was wait for their return.
The only issue was when that “return” would happen.
Minerva and Luna fell silent after their brief exchange. Just as silence was about to blanket the room again, one person cautiously spoke up.
“Um…… Your Holiness, Pope.”
It was Rize.
“Speak, Captain of the Silver Dawn Knights.”
“You said Delta and Her Majesty are still alive…… Do you know where they are?”
Her gaze upon Luna was filled with desperate longing. The other three captains felt the same, though they didn’t show it outwardly. All four had been utterly shocked.
“I don’t know that.”
Luna slowly shook her head.
The information from the divine was limited to Delta and Kaikilia being alive and unharmed. No answers came to any other questions.
It would have been better if They’d given Their usual ambiguous reply, but while They’d immediately confirmed “alive and well” upon being asked about Delta’s survival, there was nothing for the rest.
This was a first for Luna as well.
It left her flustered, yet strangely awed. Every entanglement with Guibin brought unprecedented events, deepening her conviction in him from the depths of her heart.
“……Understood.”
Rize bowed her head weakly. As Iris followed suit, drooping her own, Minerva posed a question.
“Iris, have you informed that child as well?”
“Yes. I sent a letter with the teleportation scroll you provided enclosed. It bears the highest-priority seal, so it should have reached the territory by now.”
The “child” Minerva referred to was Aurora. Since Minerva herself had brought Delta here, she believed Aurora needed to know what had happened.
The reaction was probably just as expected.
“……Guibin will surely return.”
Luna murmured. It was unclear whether the words were meant to reassure those present or herself.
—Kieeeek……
The demon let out a deflated wail as it lowered its head. Moments later, a blade infused with radiant sunlight cleaved its head precisely in two. Crimson-black blood poured from the severed section.
The demon’s corpse—split vertically from its solar plexus straight to the crown—flailed briefly in the air before toppling backward. Thud. Dry dust billowed up from the parched earth.
Kaikilia sheathed her holy sword and scanned the surroundings. Her face bore a refreshingly broad smile, almost a grin. I’d never seen her like this.
“Is this the last one?”
No more demons lunged at us.
“……It seems so, Your Majesty.”
The path Kaikilia and I had taken was piled with a veritable hill of demon corpses—no exaggeration. Crimson-black blood streamed from the still-fresh cuts like little brooks.
I’d taken down about twenty myself, but the vast majority were victims of Kaikilia.
I’d only pointed out a few patterns to watch for, and she’d sliced them all apart solo. As bonus, her smile grew ever more radiant with each kill. Who knew the emperor could wear such a bright expression?
Well, “bright” didn’t mean a full beam—it was just her lips curving up a bit more and her eyes softening slightly. Compared to her usual imperious face, though, it was a world-shaking change.
‘First time I’ve ever pitied demons.’
In the game, there was no morale mechanic, so allies kept charging no matter how many died. But here, after their comrades were massacred indiscriminately, quite a few demons had chosen flight.
Of course, Kaikilia had pursued and finished them all off.
A few that realized they were doomed had turned on me mid-spectatorship, but after I cut down about twenty, no one else dared approach.
“We’re here. That’s the place.”
Thanks to that, the rest of the journey had been a breeze. Even if the “rest” was just a one-minute walk.
I pointed to the tiniest crevice in the valley’s most secluded spot. Nestled there was a house built to blend seamlessly into its surroundings.
“Understood.”
Kaikilia strode toward the house I’d indicated without hesitation. She didn’t even ask who lived there. Her trust in me seemed rock-solid.
We stood before a one-story house made of gnarled, withered trees—identical to the game version, if a touch larger. She knocked. Bang bang bang—the sound echoed loudly.
The door flew open with a bang!
Within seconds, someone flung it wide and burst out.
“Are you insane? If the demons hear……”
The figure who emerged started yelling at me, then spotted the hill of demon corpses along our path and froze, speechless.
‘It’s a woman.’
The homeowner was, naturally, a woman.
She had long brown hair tied in a ponytail that reached her ankles, and healthy bronze skin tanned to perfection.
She wore a skimpy yellow bikini that left little to the imagination, and her breasts were impressively sized, but bikinis no longer fazed me.
My threshold for that sort of thing had risen far too high.
“All those demons? They’re all in that state.”
“Uh…… uh-huh…… yeah.”
“Can we come inside?”
“Huh?”
The woman, eyes wide and utterly dumbfounded, reflexively stepped aside at my request. She seemed shocked at her own action, her already round eyes turning perfectly spherical.
I stepped aside slightly and signaled to Kaikilia that it was fine to enter. Kaikilia strode confidently inside. I followed.
Alternating glances between the mountain of demon corpses outside and the two of us entering so boldly, the woman cautiously shut the door.