by Tj Dixon
I almost faint as an ice dragon, its tail dripping water and its mouth wide open, swoops down on me but I don’t stop attacking. There’s nothing I can do about a dragon, other than pray. To my relief Peter skewers the dragon with his tail and a moment later the dragon melts.
“That makes five. Now that just leaves Ferdinand.” Peter says.
“Leave him to me.” Sor says with a glare at Peter.
“His soul is all yours.” Peter agrees.
“Should we stop attacking?” I ask.
“No, keep up the attacks.” Sor says and holding both hands out in front of her she creates a small but constant flicker of black lightning between her hands. She then begins to shape it into a shiny purple tinted black ball. It grows gradually at first but soon it expands rapidly into a huge ball as big as the gate cube. Only then does she throw it into the gate with a huge sadistic grin on her face.
“Did it work?” Rin asks.
“It will take a while. You can stop attacking though.” Sor says, licking her lips in glee.
“Just make sure you keep the gate cube up.” Peter warns her.
“Don’t worry. I’m not letting him escape. He killed my mother.” Sor says. I understand now why she was so determined to be the one to kill him and why she is taking her time now that she has the chance to kill him.
“Good work everyone. Let’s leave Ferdinand to Sor. Everyone else should try to get some rest again.” Peter tells us.
“What about you?” Rin asks.
“I’ll keep watch in case any other enemies invade the dome.” Peter answers.
“Just because you don’t need sleep doesn’t mean you should be doing all the work.” Rin says.
“I’m not. Sor is finishing off Ferdinand and you all just helped defeat our most dangerous enemies.” Peter says.
“You still have the Fallen Angels.” Grunti reminds Peter.
“The most dangerous enemies here, is what I meant.” Peter says.
“So what was that imp we fought? You seemed to recognise it.” Grunti asks me.
“It’s a demon I met in Contractia.” I tell him without going into the painful details.
“It’s not from this hell. It was from a lesser hell, but its presence here would suggest both hells are working together.” Peter tells us, taking the attention away from me.
“So does that mean we may have to fight another Maou?” Grunti asks.
“Maybe, but even if we do it will be weaker. With Ferdinand soon dead I suspect the lesser Maou will abandon any agreements they have. I doubt it’ll dare fight against an enemy capable of defeating Ferdinand.” Peter answers.
“Once everyone has rested and Ferdinand is dead will you be killing the rest of the demons here or will you be returning to Contractia?” Grunti asks.
“I’ll be killing the rest. I don’t want to leave Azrael any potential allies or puppets in here.” Peter answers. “Will this dome remain here after you’ve returned to Contractia and Nirvali?”
“It will remain here even if we leave. If you’re clearing out the demons here though, why not consider making this your home instead of Contractia? There won’t be many potential enemies capable of attacking you here. If you live in Contractia the Contractians may not leave you alone after the war. They’ve already attacked you once. We could move your temple here and we could expand the dome as much as you need.” Grunti suggests.
“Make our home in hell?” Cherry or Sherry asks dubiously.
“Contractia attacked the temple?” Peter asks in shock.
“Yes, but we held them off and the dwarves captured the Contractian army.” Rin says.
“Is everyone ok?” Peter asks urgently.
“Some of the Kuroneko’s monks were killed but nobody from the academy died.” Rin tells him.
“Lots of Contractian attackers were killed too.” Cherry or Sherry points out.
“We didn’t have much choice about that.” Rin protests.
“I’m not saying we did, but they still died.” She tells Rin.
“It’s sad that anyone had to die, but I’m glad you and our friends at the temple are safe. Once the demons are all dead this may be much safer than staying in Contractia, but how would we move the temple and everyone in it here?” Peter asks.
“If you can get me back to the celestial gate I can return to Nirvali and pick up my celestial gate opener. Then if you can get me back here we can open a gate between here and Nirvali. Getting everyone at the temple here would then be easy. We just take them to Nirvali and then through the gate directly here. As for the temple, we just need to shrink it and take it through the celestial gate too.” Grunti suggests.
“Assuming you really can open a celestial gate that sounds doable, assuming you have an invention capable of shrinking the temple.” Peter says.
“I don’t, but I can invent something for that.” Grunti says.
“It’s a pity we lost my dimensional bag. You could have put the whole temple in it without having to shrink it, although I’d have to have emptied it first.” Rin says.
“A dimensional bag. How does that work? Do you create a pocket dimension to store items in?” Grunti asks.
“Yes.” Rin answers.
“Maybe we should use one of these bags.” Grunti says.
“Like I said, I lost mine. It was destroyed. They’re not exactly something you can simply go out and buy either.” Rin says.
“I have one. You can use it and it will fit the entire temple in without having to empty it.” Sor says. Rin stares at Sor in bitter envy.
“I’ll have to study it to see if I can create one of my own.” Grunti says.
“If you break it I will kill you.” Sor warns him.
“Don’t worry. I won’t break it.” Grunti assures her.
“If you could see this guy, you’d definitely not break it.” Sor says with an evil grin as she points at the gate cube.
“Trust me, I won’t break it.” Grunti says.
“Actually, I think I’ll go with you just to be sure.” Sor says.
Chapter 26 (Helski)
It must have been at least a few days since we created this dome. Grunti is truly amazing to create something like this. The angel stones too! He sometimes seems a little cold to me, but I’m grateful for everything he’s done and most importantly of all for giving me the chance to save Peter.
I can’t believe we’re thinking about making our new home in hell, but this dome is at least as big as a city. We could easily make our home in here. We’ll be effectively exiled from Contractia and our families though. I won’t miss my mother, but I had hoped to one day see my brother again. It seems that will now be impossible though, so I can only pray that he is safe and happy.
As I’m lying on my bed lost in thought Sor ports in front of me and glares. It seems she wants an answer already. It feels like only a few minutes ago that she first asked. I get up quickly. Sor is probably the person I least want to anger. She may not be as powerful as Peter, but she is much less forgiving.
“So will you do it?” Sor asks impatiently.
“Why me?” I ask nervously.
“I already told you it doesn’t matter why. I need someone to take me back in their dimensional bubble.” Sor says with a glare.
“Grunti has one too and he’ll be going already.” I point out.
“Do you want to test just how strong that dimensional bubble really is? We could find out just how long it can withstand my attacks. So how about it?” Sor asks forming a fist with her right hand.
“I’ll take you!” I tell her quickly.
“If you ever again suggest that I get in a small space alone with that dwarf, I really will test your defences.” Sor warns me.
“I won’t.” I promise before she can get angry again.
“Good. Peter said it should be safe, but that he’ll fly with us just in case. Are you ready to leave?” Sor asks.
“Has he killed all the demons of hell already?” I ask in shock.
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br /> “Not all yet, but the most powerful ones are dead. What’s left shouldn’t pose much of a threat to us and can’t get through the fire barrier here.” Sor tells me.
“Peter really is a god, isn’t he?” I say in awe.
“Are you suggesting that I’m not?” Sor asks irritably.
“No! That’s not what I meant. It’s just that I forgot you were a god too.” I tell Sor.
“That makes it worse.” Sor says angrily but then she sighs and shakes her head. “So are you ready or not?”
“I’m ready.” I tell her.
“You don’t want to say goodbye to anyone?” Sor asks.
“No, I’m a bit like you. I don’t have anyone here to say goodbye to.” I tell Sor.
“Don’t assume I don’t have anyone to say goodbye to.” Sor warns me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you did.” I apologise.
“I don’t, but don’t assume.” Sor says, but then she turns to face the door where Yusa is now standing in my now open doorway.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t help catching that.” Yusa says.
“You couldn’t help gloating you mean?” I ask bitterly.
“No. I just don’t think it’s true. We don’t always get on, but we’re still friends.” Yusa says. I blink at being called a friend by Yusa of all people.
“Friends?” I ask both stunned and confused. Since when did we become friends?
“After everything we’ve all gone through, I think we’re all friends even if we haven’t said it. That includes both of you, so don’t you dare leave without saying goodbye to everyone.” Yusa tells us. Sor seems even more shocked at her attitude than I do.
“I suppose it doesn’t hurt to say goodbye.” I say.
“We’re only going to be gone for less than a day.” Sor protests.
“If anything went wrong and we didn’t see you again how do you think we’d feel if we’d let you slip away quietly without saying goodbye?” Yusa asks.
“I don’t know.” Sor admits.
“How would you feel if you didn’t say goodbye and something happened here and you didn’t see us again?” Yusa asks.
“Umm…” I say looking down at my feet unable to answer. Sor just stays silent.
“You were the one who suggested that Helski say goodbye to us. So there’s no need to find an excuse to avoid saying goodbye to us yourself.” Yusa tells Sor.
“Fine. I get it. We’ll say goodbye.” Sor tells her.
“Everyone’s gathered around the big tree.” Yusa tells us.
I look up in embarrassment at the huge branches and rich green leaves on the big tree. It was my mistake. I used a bit too much mana. Grunti told us the ground was fertile, but there’s fertile and then there’s fertile. It was fine whilst I was just growing vegetables in the ground. It doesn’t matter if they’re huge.
After we killed the enemies in here though, we decided it would be nice to have some trees too. So I tried to create a tree and we got the big tree. After that I used a lot less mana and created some fruit trees, but I controlled my mana much better for those. They’re only about ten feet tall. Lilian created some nut trees too and they’re six feet tall. I’m jealous of her control, but I will improve. Eventually I will beat her at earth magic control.
The top of the big tree almost reaches the fire barrier above us. Lilian had to seal the growth of the big tree before it reached the fire barrier and burned to ash. I tried but my control was too weak. Having to be helped out at my own element was humiliating even if nobody else seemed to mind my mistake.
“You’re not still bothered about that are you? I like the big tree. It gives us some welcome shade from the fire barrier and it makes a great meeting place.” Yusa says.
“Thanks, but for me it will always be a reminder of my mistake.” I tell Yusa.
“When we first met you’d never have told me something like that.” Yusa says.
“We didn’t like or respect each other back then, but you’ve improved a lot since then and you just said we were friends, didn’t you?” I say.
“That’s because we are, but I’m still glad you’ve accepted me as a friend.” Yusa tells me.
“It’s better than being at each other’s throats all the time.” I say.
“We’re wasting time.” Sor says. Then without another word she ports us to the big tree. Everyone really is gathered under it.
“You can port in here?” I ask Sor in surprise.
“No, but now the dimensional dampener is down to its lowest setting I can shift in here. It’s different even if it seems the same. I can’t shift past any of the barriers though, and there are about twenty barriers inside the dome. So you’ll still need to take us out of here.” Sor tells me.
“Helski’s going too?” Lilian asks in surprise.
“Yes. I don’t have an angel stone, remember? Being a god instead of a human I can’t use it.” Sor tells her.
“You can use my bubble.” Grunti tells Sor.
“Not happening.” Sor tells him with a glare.
“Ok. Let me know when you’re ready.” Grunti says.
“Goodbye everyone. Ready.” Sor says.
“Goodbye and see you again soon.” I say a little embarrassed.
“You’re both as bad as each other.” Cherry or possibly Sherry says with a laugh. Then she looks at me seriously and says. “Good luck and both of you come back safely.”
“We will do. Take care too, everyone.” I say trying like mad to hide my embarrassment.
“We will.” She says with a confident smile. “I’m sure everyone would like to say goodbye to you, but it looks to me like you’ll both die of embarrassment if we all go through our goodbyes and good lucks, so just think of mine as coming from everyone. I know we all feel the same way.”
“Then let’s go.” Sor says. Grunti forms his dimensional bubble first and rises into the air. Peter although he starts a moment later shoots up and into the barrier instantly. Perhaps he’s checking whether it’s safe to leave. I form my bubble as Sor glares impatiently at me. I check that Sor is completely inside and then follow right behind Grunti.
It’s scary entering the fiery barrier but the flames stay outside the bubble and the cool air inside the bubble stays cool. After all the terrifying enemies we’ve had to fight here it seems silly to be scared of flames that I know can’t reach me, but knowing that doesn’t take away my fear. Even in the dimensional bubbles we can only move slowly through the fiery barrier so it takes almost a minute to emerge on the other side.
Peter is calmly waiting on the other side. When he sees us he just nods and gestures straight ahead. He can’t talk because there’s no air in hell, other than the air inside the upper half of the fiery sphere we’ve made our home and inside our dimensional bubbles. It’s scary that this little bubble around me is all that’s keeping me alive.
Grunti floats in the direction that Peter gestured so I follow close behind him. Peter flies directly above us, keeping watch for enemies. Grunti slows for a moment and allows his bubble to connect with mine.
“It’s safer if we can talk.” Grunti says. Sor glares at him but then shrugs.
“How long will it take?” I ask.
“It shouldn’t take long if we’re not attacked. I’m going to speed up, so please keep up.” Grunti tells me. He then races forwards and for a few moments I fall behind, but I speed up too until I’ve caught up. I glance down and the ground is a blur. Looking up Peter seems perfectly comfortable with the speed. He waves as he notices me looking his way. I wave back a little embarrassed.
“It’s just ahead.” Sor tells us.
“Already?” I ask in surprise.
“I’m slowing down.” Grunti warns me, so I slow down too to avoid crashing into him. With the bubbles merged together they wouldn’t protect us, so I imagine crashing into him at this speed would prove fatal for both of us since we’re travelling much faster now than when we first arrived in hell. We’re soon slow enough that th
e ground below is no longer blurred and soon after that we stop completely.
“Here we are.” Grunti says. Below us is an icy gate similar to the stone one we entered hell from. There’s a constantly swirling, distorted rainbow of pale colours, mostly icy blues, greys and whites, filling the celestial gateway. I didn’t see anything like this here when we first arrived.
“Was this here before?” I ask.
“Yes, but it was hidden.” Sor answers.
“Even though it should be safe here, we should hurry.” Grunti says.
“For once we agree.” Sor says.
Grunti floats into the gateway and disappears. I follow with Sor and as we enter it we’re entirely surrounded by the constantly swirling colours. My body feels like it is being pulled on from every direction and at the same time pushed forwards.
As we move forwards the blue swirls darken and the greys and whites begin to fade. Eventually we’re entirely surrounded by dark blue. Then the blue takes on hints of purple before becoming a dark purple and blue swirling mass. As the dark purple becomes stronger the blue fades until it is entirely gone. Then the purple becomes paler and paler until we can see clearly.
There is upside down rocky ground above us and the stone gate we entered from with its swirling rainbow of metallic colours is on that ground. Far below us are greens and blues. I never looked down on the way here and now I’m glad I didn’t. Seeing just how high we were might have distracted me. There was no time because of the battles being fought around us, but the battles are over. The angels and demons are all gone.
Peter gestures for us to descend down towards the greens and blues. Grunti speeds down so I follow, but Peter doesn’t come with us. I suppose he must be going back in case our friends back at the dome are attacked. Now we’re this far we should be safe. It feels odd to think of everyone as friends.
“Don’t get distracted.” Sor warns me and a moment later I crash into the ground. Fortunately the bubble protects us, but when I recover from the shock we’re in a large crater. The ground seems to be shaking too.
“That was amazing.” Grunti says hovering just above me.