Became the Slave of the Hell Archduke (1)
At the spot where a pillar of blue flames had erupted.
"It's dangerous, miss...!"
"I know."
Yurha Silverstar led the adventurers, including the White Sword Saint Esta, rushing to the scene.
"My god..."
A massive cavern. Where the pillar had shot up, everything matching its width had vanished completely.
How best to describe it? Annihilation? Deletion?
"It was definitely here..."
"According to the coordinates, this is where that colossal monster was sealed."
The monster hunter, his face wrapped tightly in bandages, answered Yurha.
"It was definitely here, and the Hapsderk Count stayed behind to evacuate his wife and us..."
No matter how they looked, there was nothing. All that remained was the floor and piles of ash from whatever enormous thing had burned away.
"...If that monster burned to death, and if some remnants were left, would it look like this?"
"I... wouldn't know. This is unprecedented. Nothing like this has ever happened before."
The adventurers exchanged uneasy glances. They had clearly awakened a tremendous monster, but was it truly something they couldn't conquer?
"It was an emergency situation, but if the White Sword Saint and five other S-rankers had responded calmly, we could have taken it down. ...Probably."
That wasn't the case. There would have been casualties, sure, but victory wouldn't have been an issue.
The real problem was the devastation before their eyes—a scene of utter destruction that neither the S-rank monster nor even a group capable of slaying it could produce.
"This level of power... it's like that legend, the 'Divine Sword'...!"
"Impossible. In adventurer terms... that'd make it SS-rank. And that blue pillar..."
"......."
Everyone eyed each other cautiously.
"Miss. Do you know anything about those blue flames...?"
"I have no guesses."
Yurha firmly shook her head at the adventurer's question from beside her.
"It's unprecedented, yes... but one thing's clear: we have to take responsibility and clean this up."
Yurha picked up a piece of metal at her feet.
"Miss, it's dangerous!"
"I grabbed it with magic. See this?"
The metal fragment, lifted by her golden mana, was covered in soot on one side, but the other gleamed a brilliant platinum.
"This... it's probably a fragment from one of those armored angels that come from the heavens."
"Th-that's...!"
"Handling it carelessly would be blasphemy. The goddess sent countless armored angels here, which means the Monster Zone of Hapsderk had incredibly dangerous monsters sealed away."
There had been no warning whatsoever. No oracle, no divine word through the saints.
Thus, the damage was immense, yet surprisingly light for such peril.
"Miss."
Esta called to Yurha in a low voice. Their eyes met, and they gave each other a subtle nod.
"Silverstar will handle the cleanup. We'll search for clues about what happened here while..."
Yurha gazed down at the site of the flame pillar, her eyes trembling faintly.
"...we look for traces of the Hapsderk family. Hoping we find something, anything."
"Yes!!"
As the adventurers cautiously descended toward the base of the pillar, no one noticed but Esta.
The word choice: not the head of the Hapsderk house, but the Hapsderk family.
If I had... stopped him. If I'd told him not to be greedy for mana stones, not to touch the seal...
Someone from the Hapsderk bloodline who might have died here—or perhaps knew something and acted.
"...Regiph. I'm counting on you. You're not dead... just gone."
Yurha clenched her fist tight.
"Our deal... isn't over yet."
She whispered so softly no one could hear, then stared ahead.
"I'll take good care of your little sister like I promised, so you have to come back. If you don't..."
Crunch.
"I'll slap on interest... like crazy...!"
* * *
Why do I feel a chill down my spine, like something terrifying is coming?
In the sensation of plummeting into the abyss, I inexplicably shivered. Or could you even call this a shiver? My body had already burned to ash in the flames—what remained was my soul, my mental essence?
So this is what the afterlife feels like.
Ordinary people die and that's it. Regiph Hapsderk was just another human who'd end after one death.
He had talents in hypnosis, brainwashing, and aphrodisiacs, but those didn't affect the soul or the afterlife.
Yet here I was, acutely aware I was a soul.
That was because in-game, there were spells to revive dead allies' bodies—and some allies were ghost-types, actual undead spirits.
So who was responsible for me becoming a soul sucked into this abyss? Not my own power.
If I had to explain from the original story—
Screeeeech—!!
It was the process of a human who'd sold their soul to a demon being dragged to hell.
"Aaaah! Save me!"
"N-no! Please let me go! I was wrong!"
From the darkness came screams of countless humans. Some had contracted demons years ago, others thousands—now collared, they writhed in the depths of the abyss.
[Heh heh heh, you sucked the sweet nectar of demonic power in life. Now you beg to be freed?]
[We warned you when you signed. Eternal torment awaits after death.]
Demons emerged one by one, yanking the collars—mana chains—on those souls.
The world, once just endless abyss, began to reveal itself fully.
"Send me back to the mortal realm! Please! I want to return to the goddess! Even as a dog or pig! I just want to reincarnate!"
[Kehahaha! From the moment you contracted a demon, the goddess cast you out! All that's left is eternal slavery to me, Sabnak!]
"N-no...! This is hell! I'm getting out of here!"
[No escape! Even the goddess you beg has slammed the door on you!]
"Aaaah!!"
The humans writhed in agony. In life, drunk on demonic power and gains, they hadn't realized.
Human lifespans were short at best. Compared to elves or dragons, a mere 60-70 years on average.
But as souls exiled to the demon realm, enslaved to their contracted demons? Eternity. Or infinity.
Until one day a dimensional gate to the mortal realm opened from the demon realm, and the Demon King—lord of this place—invaded alongside them.
In the story, that was about 10—or 13—years away.
[Huh? What's this, a new soul... Eek?!]
The demons noticed me drifting down the soul river in the abyss.
[Th-that mark?!]
Invisible to me, but the brand around my neck like a collar must resemble flames.
[Cl-clear the path! D-don't touch it!]
The demons panicked. My ethereal form gained substance, and I slowly rose from the spiraling soul river flowing downward.
Step, step.
Clearly descending in a spiral, yet it didn't feel like falling. I was walking on the river.
How? It just felt possible now.
Step, step.
I walked toward the river's end. The contracted souls drifting with me vanished one by one, and I descended deeper, ever deeper.
Finally, it looks familiar.
Passing the demon realm's entrance, midway through, familiar sights unfolded.
The battlefield.
Playthrough 1,000. When I led the protagonist and allies on a counter-invasion—infiltration—of the demon realm, these were the first areas.
No longer a river, but mana flows like tree roots branching off. At the end of one tributary stretched a magic circle.
There were seven. To players, instantly recognizable: seven-colored magic circles, each bearing a unique seal. I headed to the deepest, lowest one.
Hummm.
The circle glimmered blue. Glancing down, a similar glowing shape shimmered on my neck.
The brand. Symbol of a demon contractor, soul pawned as collateral. And mine meant total surrender: freedom, thoughts, everything.
It's fine.
This choice wasn't wrong.
Step.
The moment I stepped onto the circle—
"...Huh?"
My body shimmered, and the world changed.
Whoosh.
Blue flames filled my vision, revealing a scene all too familiar.
"Esdinas...!"
The academy. After the game logo, selecting 'Start' or 'Options'—the first screen. Esdinas Academy's main gate, the game's stage.
Where you first controlled the protagonist heading to the entrance exam, amid flashbacks of his past. The place I'd visited over a thousand times.
The game's beginning. The tutorial.
"Familiar sight, isn't it?"
Before the empty gates of Esdinas Academy.
"Should I say nice to meet you?"
A woman with blue hair in academy uniform sat on a bench in the stark white space, waiting for me.
Academy uniform. And the academy. No way—
"Before greetings, we should clarify our relationship, right?"
"......Of course."
A voice emerged. Not Regiph's.
"Would 'Master' do?"
"...Puhuhu."
My voice.
"Yes. The one who took everything—your all, your entirety—your master. Many names for me: Archduke of Hell, or Phoenix. But my core essence is..."
"Chang Yeom."
The blue flames themselves.
"Puhuhu."
Chang Yeom rose lightly from the bench and approached me.
"Welcome to my Esdinas Academy."
This was Esdinas Academy—or rather, Chang Yeom's inner world shaped like it.