BXBX NOVEL Chapter 360 - The First Circle
While Wasteland Valley was in a turmoil for the battle. Alfonso and company were currently descending to the Underworld.
"So, a small introduction first, the Underworld is the place where the souls come to rest… I would love to say that, but in reality, the souls that come here, are just food for the demons that govern each circle" Said Dante.
"Of course, there are some exceptions to the rules, for instance, I am an exception to the rule myself, I have to thanks my good friend for that… but that is a story for another day, anyway~ there are some rules to follow once we enter the circles" Said Dante.
He lifted three fingers.
"The first one; Do not tell anyone that you are alive, a living soul is too attractive to the dead souls here, if, by chance, they discover that you are alive, they will try to suck the life essence out of your body, maybe you can defend against 10 or 20, but imagine that a horde of 10000 death souls comes for you" Said Dante.
"The second one; Be careful with the reapers, the rippers are the law force as well as punishers here, they have the soul power of a champion, but their soul power is almost unlimited here"
"The third one and the most important one; Whatever you do, under any circumstances, you must not anger the monarch of the circle"
"Monarch?" Asked Alfonso.
"It\'s the archfiend that governs each circle, there are eight circles in the Underworld, there are eight monarchs, as you might imagine, the lower you go, the stronger the monarch is, as far as I know, nobody has ever seen the monarch below the third circle" Said Cerberus in his child form.
"By the way, the familiar smell that comes from your cane, it\'s on the third circle" Added Cerberus.
"Who is the monarch in the third circle?" Asked Alfonso.
"That bastard\'s name is Beelzebub" Said Cerberus.
"Beelzebub!? The lord of the flies!?" Asked Alfonso.
"You know him?" Asked Dante.
"Not in person, but I have heard a lot about him" Said Alfonso.
"Such a dangerous demon and he is only the monarch of the third level?" Alfonso couldn\'t help but ask.
"Your \'just\' is a little bit off, indeed, compared to the monarchs on the four and five circles, Beelzebub is not worth mention it, but, the monarchs aren\'t put in those place just because they are a bit strong, in fact, every thousand years, there is a carnage that congregates more than ten thousand demons, the eight strongest ones become the next monarch of each floor, Beelzebub hasn\'t moved from that floor since the beginning of time" Said Dante.
"Some even said that is not like can\'t move, but he doesn\'t want to" Added Cerberus.
"If there is some kind of benefit to be the monarch of a lower circle?" Asked Alfonso.
"Of course, the reason why you are stronger the further you go down on the circles is that the death soul power is stronger below" Said Dante.
"And… there are rumors that, from the sixth circle, you can absorb a part of the \'origin\' death soul power" Said Cerberus.
"The \'original\'?" Asked Alfonso.
"It\'s the source of death soul power, but nobody knows exactly who \'origin\' was, people say that existed before the epoch of the gods"
"But, what we know for sure is that the gods, after a fierce fight, managed to split \'original\' powers in four and each power was sealed in different places" Said Cerberus.
"Four? Wait… don\'t tell me…"
"Is as you imagine, Alfonso, the four forbidden soul powers, death, life, space and time came from \'origin\', the dead soul power was sealed here, in the underworld"
"What about the other three?" Asked Alfonso.
"Nobody knows" Said Cerberus.
"I hear that the soul power of time had the propriety of sealing the gifts of the gods, that just a rumor though" Said Dante.
"Seal the gifts of the gods? Where have I heard that from?" Though Alfonso.
"Anyway, we are about to enter the first circle of hell" Said Dante.
Alfonso, Cerberus, and Dante walked thorough the rocks and, suddenly, they saw a small light that was coming from afar.
"Okay, we are here, the first circle" Said Dante.
He turned to look at Alfonso.
"Are you ready?"
Alfonso nodded.
"Then let\'s go" Said Dante.
Alfonso walked towards the light, and, after a thousand steps, he saw a scenery that left him stunned.
"What the hell…" Said Alfonso.
In front of him, a huge ocean that didn\'t have an end could be seeing.
"Ocean?" Asked Alfonso.
"Yep" Said Cerberus.
"The first circle of hell is a fucking ocean!?" Asked Alfonso.
"What are you so angry about?" Asked Cerberus.
"Where are the flames and the demons?" Asked Alfonso.
"I don\'t know where did you get the idea of flames and demons running like kids" Said Dante.
"From your book!" Said Alfonso.
"Ahhh, that book, I am sorry to disappoint you, but my book is a novel, A N.O.V.E.L, everybody knows that novels are just fiction" Said Dante.
"…" Alfonso was speechless.
"Anyway, although this doesn\'t look that dangerous, I personally hate this circle the most" Said Dante.
"Why?" Asked Alfonso with confusion.
Dante didn\'t answer and took out a small piece of cloth from his pocket.
"Check this"
Dante threw the piece of cloth into the water.
*Tzzz*
In an instant, the cloth disappears leaving a small trace of stench.
"What?" Said Alfonso.
"Did you see that cloth? Okay, now imagine that the one in the water is you" Said Dante.
"Now you see why I hate this circle the most"
"The water is made of acid, a very, very strong acid"
"To get to the first circle, you need to swing in this acid ocean until you get to the main city"
"Which is almost at the bottom of the ocean" Said Dante.
"Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, but you cant stay on the coast either, every minute you stay here, the heat become stronger and stronger, eventually, you will be roasted alive if you don\'t enter the ocean" Said Dante.
"…" Alfonso was speechless.