Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 191
>Chapter Title: Am I... in Hell?
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Chenbi engraved the figure standing before him into his retinas as if entranced.
Meanwhile, Aster gazed at Mysern, whose face was visibly pale at a glance, and posed his question.
“Senior, how long can you hold out?”
“……Not long. At best, a little over a minute.”
“That’s plenty.”
With that, Aster bolted from his spot. Pajijik— a force field bloomed, enveloping his entire body. It fit like a glove.
But the flames were truly worthy of being called hellfire.
The sturdy force field shook this way and that, screaming, and every time it wavered, scorching heat seeped inward.
What a damn annoying blaze. It wasn’t as threatening as the demonic energy of a demonic realm that corrupted mana itself, but Infernal’s flames had the power to disrupt one’s energy.
Aster, slicing through that horrific inferno, finally had Infernal right before his eyes. Well, “right before his eyes” with a few meters still between them, but that distance was nothing for a single leap.
However, instead of jumping, Aster gradually slowed his pace. Getting any closer was dangerous even for him. This cursed hellfire of Infernal’s was vicious enough to tax even Aster.
Instead, what accelerated was the flow in his heart’s core. Or more precisely, the rotation of his circle.
As the circle spun, the core responded in kind, beginning its own rotation. And with that— whoosh— his sensory domain expanded.
Aster, who had gradually slowed to a stop, now stood completely still.
His spatial awareness heightened to the extreme, imprinting every object in his mind.
Tak……!
It was right then that a drop of blood fell from the tip of his outstretched index finger, pointing in a specific direction.
Normally, it should have evaporated in the flames, but the drop multiplied instead. From one to two, two to four. By the tenth multiplication.
The crimson jades, blooming like the Milky Way in all directions, sucked in the mana floating in the air. And after a short while.
Aster’s eyelids slowly closed, hiding his pupils. Then, just as slowly as they’d descended, his eyelids lifted again.
Roooar—!
Infernal’s body, igniting flames to repair its damage, came into full view. In his gray eyes, Infernal looked no different from a sinner writhing in hellfire.
It was a little later that Aster’s retinas, having etched that sight, emitted a strange glow.
Chii, tsutsutsutsu. Layer upon layer!
A bizarre sound rang out repeatedly. The intermittent noises grew denser, eventually buzzing in his ears like a swarm of bees.
At the same time—
The crimson jades vanished one by one.
Once all the crimson jades had been moved inside Infernal, Aster gently closed his eyes.
Had it worked?
‘……Perfect.’
Normally, even for Aster, it wouldn’t have been easy.
It was only possible because Damian, Chenbi, and Mysern had cornered Infernal.
Right after, Aster detonated the crimson jades.
It started faint.
Tok, tok. Tokotok—
Explosions echoed like sporadic raindrops. But the sounds grew fiercer, and soon……
Jijik, jijijik!
Cracks starting from within spread to the surface. Like a dam beginning to fracture, Infernal’s body rapidly crumbled.
And then, as beams of light burst from the widening fissures—
Kwaang—!
Unable to withstand the internal explosion, Infernal’s body shattered into fragments, scattering everywhere. Stone shards from Infernal now dominated the space, replacing the faded flames.
Soon, hududuk— the shards rained down like gravel.
As the stone rain poured, Aster turned and glanced at Chenbi and Mysern.
The two hadn’t been able to see due to the flames obscuring their view, but their eyes were filled with shock.
Some looked like they’d seen a ghost, others like they’d witnessed a miracle. Either way, it was an unbelievable sight.
Seeing those looks, Aster smiled at the dazed pair and said.
“Alright, then…….”
Suddenly, Aster started running. He hoisted Damian over his shoulder and dashed toward the hole he’d made on the way in, yelling as if screaming.
“Run awaaaaay—!”
“……?”
“……?”
A faint crease formed between Mysern’s brows. Chenbi tilted his head slightly. Amid that, Aster shouted.
“Hurry uuuup—!”
It was right then that faint popping sounds rang out.
Tok, tokok, tokotokotok!
The floating stone chunks. The fragments of Infernal scattered on the ground gathered toward the center as if magnetized.
When Chenbi realized it.
“Hup!”
Mysern was already carrying Chenbi on his back and running.
* * *
The passage Aster had carved was too narrow for Mysern. He had to hunch awkwardly as he moved, groaning all the while.
Fortunately, the distance wasn’t long.
“This is…….”
When they emerged, Mysern’s eyes beheld a space lined with countless books.
A library? The thought crossed his mind briefly, but it looked more like a study.
As he carefully surveyed the room, Aster’s voice came.
“For now, set Chenbi down and take a seat.”
“What exactly happened?”
Mysern placed Chenbi on a suitable spot on the floor and asked. He couldn’t make sense of it at all.
He’d thought for sure they were dead……
“We got lucky, that’s all.”
“Lucky……?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Aster glanced at the unconscious Chenbi and continued his explanation.
‘Lucky.’
Yeah, there was no other way to put it.
When he’d first been grabbed by Infernal’s clutches, he really thought he was done for. The flames were one thing, but that grip strength was insane.
He’d wanted to blink out, but his proficiency wasn’t high enough yet to maintain a sturdy force field while moving.
Plus, he’d already taken internal damage from those flames, making it even harder.
Still, he couldn’t just die quietly, so he risked it and blinked away……
And got pissed.
‘This damn thing…….’
So he fought.
Internal damage? Fights always came with that. Of course, it helped immensely that Lortel’s premium healing potion was safely tucked in his subspace pouch with protective spells.
Though those flames had burned away all protections by now. ……At least the subspace itself hadn’t been destroyed.
Anyway, he fought.
But…… it was ridiculously strong.
How many times had he smashed it? He’d lopped off its head somehow, only for it to…… suddenly spew flames and regenerate.
‘Is it insane?’
Who even knew such a thing existed.
Of course, the revived Infernal wasn’t as overpowering as before. The first time, it was a life-or-death struggle; after that, it was more like, “Hmm, I might actually die here?”
And so, after somehow blowing its head off a second time……
‘That’s when I knew.’
You can’t kill this thing.
That’s where his explanation wrapped up.
“You…… what exactly are you?”
“Why? Think I’m some secret weapon raised by a noble house?”
“Otherwise…… no, no. That’s not important right now. So, you ran away? But why not come this way?”
“Why do you think?”
“……Ah.”
Mysern easily grasped why Aster hadn’t rejoined them.
He’d chosen to stay behind alone to draw any potential pursuit.
Anyway.
“How are the kids doing?”
Mysern hadn’t had a chance to check their conditions amid the chaos, so he asked Aster.
“Their conditions? Oh.”
Even as they talked, Aster was checking Damian and Chenbi’s states by their wrists, then shrugged at Mysern’s question.
“Damian just overdid it a bit. Chenbi…… well. I think a specialist needs to see him.”
“……Is it serious?”
“Whether it’s ‘serious’ or not…… he won’t die, but we’ll have to watch closely.”
“Mm…….”
Mysern’s expression hardened. Aster turned away from the sight and took in Damian and Chenbi.
‘Tch, you idiots.’
What’s the point of throwing yourselves away like that?
Even if you couldn’t just shrug it off with “Oh, they died,” you could’ve treated it like a natural disaster and walked away.
‘Who asked you to avenge them?’
Especially his gaze toward Chenbi wasn’t kind. In Aster’s eyes, Chenbi had been the dumbest.
“Tch.”
Aster clicked his tongue briefly, then pulled two potions from his subspace pouch and carefully fed them to Chenbi and Damian one after another.
Gently, in case their airways were blocked.
They were the last two bottles from Lortel.
* * *
Damian opened his eyes not long after.
As his blurry vision cleared and an unfamiliar ceiling came into view, Damian blinked and rummaged through his memories.
‘Why am I…….’
The memories resurfaced vividly. Yes, up to piercing Infernal’s chest with his final strike.
It was a blow with everything he had, and it had punished its target exactly as intended.
When he thought that far.
“…….”
Damian gently closed his eyes, recalling a fact he’d momentarily forgotten.
Revenge…… yes, revenge was complete. But so what? What had changed?
The dead didn’t return, and the vengeful flames that had burned away his grief simply evaporated clean.
The unburnt remnants of emotion piled up in his chest like midnight snow, suffocating him.
“……Friend.”
A low voice slipped out unbidden.
As he tried to vomit out the snow-like emotions with that word, a voice reached his ear.
“Why’re you calling me?”
At the vividly real voice, Damian suppressed his rising emotions.
“Have fun down there.”
“What’s fun about here?”
“……Did you go to hell or something?”
“Then you died too?”
“……?”
What? It’s too vivid for a hallucination. Sensing something off, Damian cracked his eyes open.
And soon, he realized.
“……Friend?”
His eyes wavered. Like ripples spreading violently across a calm lake, his voice soon grew wet.
“Friend, is it really you? You were…… alive?”
Emotions surged. As if refusing to believe it, Damian looked at Mysern, seated across from Aster.
Mysern smiled warmly at the sight and nodded. Or tried to.
If only Aster hadn’t spoken.
“You thought I was dead?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
A brief silence.
Contempt flickered in Mysern’s eyes as Damian, grasping the situation, asked in a trembling voice.
“Am I…… in hell?”
Aster thought.
‘Damian mental training, session 101.’
Hell? The netherworld?
As he thought that.
“Really, I’m so glad.”
Seeing that bright smile, even Aster couldn’t help it.
‘……Session 1.’
……And so, a day in the ancient ruins passed.