PHASE 5 - WELCOME TO THE BOWELS OF HELL

Blood started to drip out from my trench coat to the pond of the river I’m standing in. Don’t worry, it’s not my blood. It’s the blood of that darn Eidolon I just killed.

A golden-haired angel descended. She used her eight wings to hover above the blood lake, completely preventing her from being dirty. That Erylle Fontaine a.k.a. the original Outsider, I never knew that she possesses the same power Tiara has. sure are handy at times like these.

“Hey, how are we supposed to enter the depths of hell with this blood lake?” I raised my voice.

“We’ll get flushed.” Erylle smiled innocently.

“What?”

The moment I finished my one-word sentence, a loud roar echoed around the Hall of Sinners. Those remaining wicked zombie souls looked horrified as they panicky glanced in all directions as if they are scared of a monster that appears next.

I feel that my feet are being sucked. The blood river started to swirl around, like a whirlpool. Slowly, the wicked souls got vacuumed by the pressure as they lumped together, slowly sinking on the lake of blood.

Of course, I’m in the lake of blood myself, so it’s only natural that I get sucked too.

“Wha-What the heck!” I screamed before being drowned in the sea of blood.

The bloody water went to my nose, ears, and eyes as I sunk in. I could no longer breathe or see. I don’t even know what comes next. All I can hear is a loud flushing sound, similar to those toilet bowls.

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“Kah! Kahack! Kah!”

I cried out loud. I’m trying desperately to puke out all those yucky blood that filled my lungs and stomach. That’s so gross! I almost drowned myself on that disgusting lake, got flushed like a piece of shit and found myself inside another black cavern. Now my whole body is dark red, and my clothes and underwear are soaked, sticky, and heavy.

“Hey, are you okay?” Erylle patted my back with a guilty smile on her face. For some reason, her white Valkyrie suit has not been tainted by dirt or blood at all. I want to splash some blood on her face just for being so selfish.

“I’m not okay, idiot!” I cried. “Why are your clothes still clean?”

“Ahahaha! That’s a secret.” Erylle scratched her head as she made a sorry smile. For some reason, I see some of her similarities to Tiara on some gestures. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

Erylle's right hand touched my chest, which glowed with white light.

“” She whispered. In an instant, my body was enveloped with a pure white light similar to those scanning machines. All my clothes, my skin, and my hair are now back to being pure and clean.

“, huh…” I muttered. “I have never heard of that spell before. I memorized the Kozukata Healing Spells at the shrine, and yet, I haven’t seen that one.”

“It’s because it’s a spell invented by my love~” Erylle continued to smile. “It’s one of the Romanov Secret Spells.”

Romanov. That name is the last name of the Fake Outsider, Yohan Hikari Romanov. She also said that they are lovers, but they seem to be enemies. The more I think about it, the more my brain wanted to explode. So I’ll let it be.

“So, where are we now?” I asked.

“We’re now at the entrance of the Underworld Hell,” Erylle said.

I looked around us, and I can only see endless ways and tunnels. The walls here are still made of flesh, but now it looks rotten and decaying. I can see maggots on some parts of the walls and the floor. The ceiling here is filled with stalagmites in the form of gigantic needles. At the center of the ceiling is something that looks like an anus of a chicken. I think that’s where we came from. Yuck.

“I should have hacked my way through that instead of getting flushed,” I said.

“Good solution,” Erylle said. “You should have thought of that beforehand. Anyway, quit thinking of trivial matters. Let’s go.”

Erylle started to walk at the center path of the tunnel. I have no choice but to follow her.

This girl, she’s irritating me. She acts like my childhood friend in terms of arrogance and smart-aleck reply. Now that I think of it, her name is Erylle Fontaine. Fontaine is the middle name of Amy/Jeannette. Eliseo, who is Amy’s cousin, has the last name of Fontaine. Maybe these three are related. Too bad, Amy and Eliseo are both dead, so I can’t ask them.

The way became darker as we ventured forth. Darkness everywhere. But there was a glimpse of light after thirty seconds of walking aimlessly in this zero-visibility tunnel. It looks like a way out.

After five minutes, we finally reached the source of light: An exit to this disgusting cave.

It was an open field with dark skies, gray clouds, and crimson moon, same to those of Yami. In front of us is a gargantuan black castle that came out from Hogwarts, but way lot bigger. It’s like an endless castle with thousands of floors. I feel like an ant gazing up to a big skyscraper. This is way overwhelming than I imagined.

“There are several parts of the Underworld Hell, but this is where we should find Aeternos,” Erylle said with a serious expression. “Welcome to the Underworld Prison.”

“Underworld Prison, huh?” I smiled. “Please be my tour guide.”

“You really seem to be enjoying our trip here in the Underworld,” Erylle said. “But sadly, we’ll be wasting much time if I let you see everything in here. We’ll get trapped if we stay too long. So we have to venture straight to our objective.”

The blonde Valkyrie started to walk towards the entrance of the Underworld Prison. There are big doors similar to those of a cathedral entrance, and there are dragon-like gargoyle statues that are guarding the said pathway.

As Erylle opened the doors by exerting her full force in pushing, a loud creaking noise echoed. That sound is similar to those of a horror movie.

“Those upper levels are just for wicked souls that have no powers of a Gate Guardian. Cursed Guardians like Aeternos are kept in the deeper underground of this prison, so we don’t have to waste our time checking the upper floors. Thankfully, the underground has only three floors.” Erylle explained.

As we entered the castle, I was awed with what I saw.

There are several wicked souls that are being kept inside sets of dirty cages as if this is some kind of pigpen. Behind those bars are things that I dare not describe.

You want me to describe it?

The prison is full of urine, feces, and blood. There you go. Happy dinner.

And it doesn’t end at that. Those zombie souls had their hands hung at the ceiling of the cage. Some are even chained in the corner. And some are hung upside down. Most souls had their skin infected with flesh-eating diseases, and some are even coughing endlessly that breaks the silence.

For some reason, I just noticed that there are no guards in this prison. All I see are the pitiful prisoners who got their souls corrupted.

As we ventured further, the black hollow eyes of the prisoners followed us. They started to curse and rant, and some begged for their freedom.

“Don’t stare at them for too long,” Erylle said with a painful frown. “They are no longer humans. They are Eidolon’s pupae, waiting to become a butterfly.”

I followed the instructions of the leader as we went downstairs to the underground.

This floor is still the same as above, except that the zombie souls have these crimson eyes with triangle sigils on their irises instead of hollow ones. These prisoner Cursed Guardians are endlessly crying with black blood.

I scanned through the cells, looking for the face I wanted to see. Aeternos.

Cursed Guardians. Cursed Guardians. Cursed Guardians everywhere. They no longer look like humans, and their faces have been deformed, making it hard to identify their characteristics.

But there is one person inside a cage that is different from those wicked Cursed Guardians. Violet eyes with the golden cross sigil. This person is certainly a genuine Gate Guardian.

My mind froze as I saw her face.

I'm surprised to see a Gate Guardian here in the depths of Hell, but now that I saw her, I’m more mind blown and awed.

I can’t mistake that petite childlike body similar to a twelve-year-old. She may be dirtied by disgusting dirt, but I can still see her pinkish cheeks. Her familiar golden-blonde hair is stained by blood and mud. She’s wearing tattered clothing that looks like a rag, but something on her made me certain of something.

Those white ribbons on her head… There’s only one person who comes to mind.

“I-It can’t be-!!!” My jaws shook.

I grabbed the bar of the cell as I get a closer look. Now, I’m certain that it’s her. There’s no way I could be mistaken.

“Amy?”