Chapter 943
Episode 234: To Hell (3)
Veradin furrowed his brow.
“…What did you say?”
“You probably think you’re doing great right now. Taking down Keliak, strengthening the Ziphl as the new head of the family. Maybe some of that’s true. But in the end, you’re just being used.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You’re losing yourself, becoming a monster because of mind control. You didn’t choose to become this cold-hearted person.”
“I came here just to exchange greetings since we have to fight Jito together, not as allies, but I didn’t expect to hear nonsense like this. Has your corruption already started since you became Changseong? Watch your words, Jin Runkandel.”
“Corruption, huh? You’re in a similar state. That’s why I’m here to help. I can’t let you stay like this any longer.”
“I refuse.”
“Refusal is refusal.”
“…Are you trying to play word games with me?”
“No, I’m serious.”
Veradin was momentarily speechless and glared at Jin.
Yet, part of him found it strange that such a mild provocation could anger him. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have cared at all.
‘Strangely, the way Jin Runkandel looks at me reminds me of Elona… and that’s unsettling.’
Not long ago, when Elona had tried to release the cursed fire consuming Veradin, she glimpsed his anxiety.
It was fear of Keliak, worry for his friends. Elona had resolved that one day, Veradin would have to confront those feelings head-on. So it was only natural that Veradin now sensed something familiar in Jin’s gaze.
“Enough. Let’s drop this. Go down there and don’t get killed by Jito. It’s our Ziphl who will break you.”
“Just say you’re worried. What’s the harm in that?”
Veradin sighed deeply and returned to the Ziphl ranks.
“That guy… seems like he’s a bit better than before. Am I imagining it?”
“I felt it too, Murakan. The mind control wasn’t perfect, so there must be cracks inside him.”
“If we investigate the records of Veradin’s and Elona’s Ziphl later, we might find some clues.”
“Yeah… judging by the records left in the secret palace, Elona was probably used by the Ziphl in the past and committed massacres. But when she woke up, she tried to avoid killing and was confused about her existence. She didn’t seem like a mass murderer by nature.”
According to the secret palace’s records, Elona had struggled with her identity and tried to avoid violence upon awakening. She wasn’t inherently a destroyer of worlds.
“If Elona was used like Veradin, and if they realize the truth and rebel against the Ziphl, then the Ziphl will have no choice but to relinquish their position as the world’s strongest family.”
“That would require the failure of the Demon God Stone’s completion, too, Vale. Either way, Valeria needs to create an opportunity to examine their records. And this expedition is a perfect stage for that.”
No one knew what would happen during the battle in hell. Jin and Veradin might even be stationed far apart.
But once the Jito purge was over, days when Jin and Veradin were this close would be rare.
They’d only meet again if another common enemy appeared or if Runkandel and the Ziphl finally went to all-out war.
‘I wish Elona were here to defend the homeland. But if Veradin gets into trouble, she’ll send reinforcements to hell immediately. If luck’s on our side, maybe then we can talk or review the records.’
Just as he thought that, Orgal came to find the group.
[Jin.]
The moment Jin saw him, he recalled the ‘dream ability’ of the demon lord Pirops Bahma. Valeria shuddered inwardly, remembering how she had to check the records of the alliance’s key members every day because of that ability.
[I came to explain the passage to Grosh’s castle.]
“Go ahead, Orgal.”
[This passage leads to the dark zone of the Jinma realm. Once you enter, you’ll find a vast, pitch-black space, just as the name suggests.]
“And?”
[If you keep going north from there, you’ll reach the An family’s castle. It’s the castle of Bideluce, whom the secret palace lord killed. The battle will start there.]
“Do you know the path from An’s castle to Jito’s lair?”
Orgal nodded.
[Thanks to recovering some memories recently. But knowing the way doesn’t mean we can just go there freely. We need a key.]
“You mean this sword.”
Jin held up the sword he had taken from the golden chest.
Baskala, Paelito’s sword, remained intact on the battlefield even after his death.
[…Oh? How did you know?]
“Paelito told me.”
Paelito had died before he could share that information. It was Biceps who told Jin that Baskala was the key.
Jin already knew all the information Orgal was sharing from Biceps. He was just confirming that their accounts matched.
[Ah, that makes sense. Using the sword as a key will awaken the sealed Demon Gods all at once. It’s like a guardian.]
“Then why not just break down the door instead of using Baskala as a key?”
Vale asked, and Orgal shook his head.
[Of course, now that Jin has ascended to Changseong, there’s probably nothing in the world he can’t cut. But that door leads to another pocket dimension within the Jinma realm. If you don’t open it the right way, you’ll have to take a very long detour before reaching Jito.]
“So we have to kill all the Demon Gods sealed in Baskala to meet Jito?”
[Not only that, but there are Jinma realm armies blocking us before we even reach the door.]
The Jinma realm’s armies.
To Jin, they now looked like victims of Jito too. Like Paelito, they were brainwashed into fighting a war they didn’t want.
That’s why Jin was willing to spare their lives for now, unlike the citizens of the Holy Kingdom. Without Numerus’s will, they couldn’t be awakened as souls with self-awareness, but at least their deaths could be postponed.
“Understood, Orgal.”
Jin watched Orgal return to Kinzel’s ranks carefully.
“Jito said he wants that guy to be his successor.”
Orgal didn’t know why, but Jin had one possibility in mind.
“So maybe if things go badly, Jito might leave his power or some legacy to Orgal. If you sense anything like that, we have to stop him. Keep a close eye on him.”
“For now, he hasn’t deceived us at all. All the information matches what Biceps said, kid.”
The group slowly moved down the passage.
The path looked like a sheer cliff. From the darkness below, demonic energy was rising.
“Let’s go.”
Whoooosh!
Murakan transformed into his true form and carried the group on his back. In an instant, he sank into the darkness and vanished from the sight of the Ziphl and Kinzel.
The passage seemed endless and incredibly deep. Even after descending at full speed for over an hour, there was no sign of the bottom.
“At this rate, it’ll take quite a while for the Ziphl and Kinzel fleets to arrive. The scouts will get here faster, but we’ll already be heading north.”
[It’s not just the distance. We’re constantly crossing pocket dimensions formed by cracks in the Demon Seal Wall. It’ll probably take the fleets two days to pass through all of them, kid.]
It took two hours to reach the Jinma realm’s dark zone. But the scene there was nothing like what Orgal and Biceps had described.
“…This is something Biceps never mentioned.”
It was a vast realm of darkness.
But on top of that darkness lay mountains of Jinma corpses. Tens of millions, easily. The dark zone was filled with their bodies, piled like slaughtered livestock.
But these dead demons were not livestock—they were people.
Though they had fought Jin as enemies, it was only because they had been brainwashed by Jito. Before that, they were just people born in hell.
‘The last time I contacted Biceps was a week ago. He said he couldn’t communicate because of preparations for the final battle. So this must have happened within the last week… No, judging by the state of the corpses, that can’t be it.’
Warm energy was still rising from the bodies.
“They all died fighting each other… There’s no other record.”
[It doesn’t seem like a fight between Biceps and Jito’s forces. Biceps didn’t have that many troops to begin with.]
Jin had a hunch.
Jito had used them to strengthen his power called ‘Pain.’ The insight of Changseong faintly revealed what had happened here and the direction the demons’ restless souls had taken.
And within that, Jin felt Jito’s will. It was saying: All these demons, you killed them, not me.
“Looks like Jito’s afraid of me.”
[Kid?]
“No, otherwise he wouldn’t have driven so many demons to their deaths just to increase his power. We’ll probably have to pass through mountains of corpses like this all the way to his lair.”
Fwaaah…!
Jin formed a ball of golden energy in his palm.
Then, as if performing a ritual, he placed the energy on the ground. Suddenly, golden light spread like veins through the corpses.
If he hadn’t ascended to Changseong and gained the power of regeneration, Jin would have been overwhelmed by unbearable rage at this moment.
And naturally, that rage would have led to corruption.
But now, Jin steeled himself from within, recalling the words Ayula had spoken to him.
“So don’t let guilt crush you, Jin. You must never fall—not for those who died before, not for those who will die after. You have to bring life back to them.”
“I will take down Jito and restore your lives.”
Leaving the corpses behind, the group took flight toward the north.