Chapter 200: Passage to Hell (1)

“Your Majesty, what do you think will happen?” Arkemis asked Karin.

“I... I’m not sure,” she replied, her voice trailing off.

In truth, even she couldn’t say. It was nearly unheard of for the Spirit God to appear in person, let alone speak. Even Karin, the contracted partner of the Spirit King, had never met Beatrice face-to-face, and now, not only had Beatrice revealed themselves—they had proposed a deal. The Spirit God was planning on making a deal with a barbarian from the White Snowfield, of all people. Karin couldn’t help feeling deeply unsettled.

“I hope everything works out without any trouble.”

The two waited in anxious silence, hoping Ketal would return soon from the Spirit Realm. Suddenly, they felt something ominous.

“...Hm?”

“What’s that?”

They rose to their feet and gazed out beyond the sacred ground walls. A wave of horror washed over them, chilling and unmistakable—a terrible, forbidden act was being committed somewhere on this land.

“Is it an attack from the dark mages?” Arkemis asked her.

“No, this feels like... something far worse.”

As they exchanged nervous glances, the world shuddered.

With a sound like space tearing, a gateway opened—large enough to rival a small mountain. Hell’s passage swallowed a section of the forest, and the shadow it cast blanketed the sacred ground.

“What the—!”

“W-wait!” Karin stared in shock. This was no time to simply wait for Ketal’s return. She sprang into motion, Arkemis hurrying after her. As they reached the outer edge of the sacred ground, they found the elves in chaos, their faces drained of color.

“What happened?” Karin demanded.

The moment they saw her, hope flickered in the elves’ eyes.

“Your Majesty!”

“The dark mages sacrificed the captives! A gateway to Hell has opened!”

“I can see that...,” Karin replied.

The gateway’s shadow stretched across the sacred ground—a vast, hellish passage unlike anything Karin had witnessed in her long life. She bit her lip in frustration.

“Did you see what sacrifices they made?” she asked the elves.

“Yes, Your Majesty! Dozens of elves, hundreds of humans, and many dark mages! I believe some of the mages were Transcendents as well!”

“What...?” Karin’s expression twisted in disbelief. “That’s all it took?”

Although it was a dreadful tally—a sacrifice more than enough to summon a powerful demon, or open a small gate to Hell, this gateway was far, far larger than that. To open a passage of this scale, one would need the entire population of a kingdom as sacrifice.

“How is this possible?” Karin muttered. For a ritual of such magnitude, the preparations had to have spanned years. Yet she had sensed nothing.

No, it’s not just me—neither gods nor spirits reacted at all!

Karin thought.

So the prophecy is truly broken!

She’d heard rumors that the world’s omens had been shattered, but for even a ritual of this scale to go undetected was something else.

On the other side of the gate, a monstrous eye continued to stare, and every time that gaze swept over the elves, they instinctively flinched.

“Y-your Majesty... Is there no way to close the passage before anything comes out?” one of the guards asked her.

“It’s already open. If we tamper with it, we might only make it worse. Our best option is to deal with whatever comes through,” Karin replied.

“I-I see...”

“And it looks like we’re out of time.” No sooner had Karin spoken than the infernal eye watching the world snapped shut. Karin clicked her tongue in frustration. “They won’t give us even a moment to prepare.”

Suddenly, the sound of flames filled the air. A humanoid figure appeared, its body wreathed in pitch-black fire.

Karin’s pupils contracted. “A vessel of hellfire?”

“Fire!” Ash shouted. The instant the creature appeared, he gave the order, and the elves loosed their arrows. Bolts of energy and arrows, bolstered by spirit magic, rained down—a barrage strong enough to shatter city walls. Several of the attackers were Transcendents, their power undeniable.

The vessel raised its hand, and a plume of black fire surged forth. The flames incinerated every attack, melting arrows and magical blasts alike. Yet, instead of fading, the vessel’s power only grew, its body swelling, the black fire spreading to blot out the sky.

At this rate, the entire sacred ground would be engulfed. Acting quickly, Karin swept her hand through the air. The wind roared to life, swirling into a vortex that gathered and compressed the black flames, sealing them tight.

The vessel strode forward. Wherever its foot fell, the grass and trees instantly turned to ash. The elves tried again to attack, but every assault was swallowed by the hellfire, only fueling it further. Ordinary attacks were not only useless—they made things worse.

“Stop!” Karin shouted. “Everyone, cease fire! That thing controls hellfire! Regular attacks will only strengthen it!”

“A-ah!”

“S-sorry!”

Hellfire, the purest flame from the deepest pits of Hell, possessed the power to burn away the very fabric of reality. No matter the attack, it would not be extinguished. If even a single spark escaped, it could reduce an entire continent to cinders. The vessel was hellfire itself, given shape—normally, such a thing could never manifest in the Mortal Realm. Yet, here it was, right in front of the elves.

“How can this be...?” Karin gritted her teeth. The flames wielded by the vessel were not just fire—they incinerated the very laws of the world. Nothing in this reality could smother them. However, Karin was no ordinary elf. She was a Hero, one capable of bending the world’s laws.

“Come.” Her voice rang out, her hair whipping in the storm she summoned. The winds of the entire forest bent to her will. The winds she summoned could not be burned—not even by hellfire. “By my will, carve a path.”

Gale-force winds swept through the forest, binding and suppressing the rampant black flames, stifling the inferno’s spread. With a gesture, Karin slammed the vessel into the ground, pinning it with the force of her command.

“Die.” She clenched her fist, intent on crushing the vessel.

Just then, a massive streak of darkness shot forth from the hellish gateway—thick as an ancient tree trunk, smashing through the forest as it barreled toward the sacred ground. Karin did not hesitate. She brought her hands together, condensing the wind.

The darkness crashed into the barrier of wind, detonating in a thunderous blast that uprooted trees and sent debris flying.

“Ohhh!”

“As expected of Her Majesty!”

The elves shouted in awe, but Karin only clicked her tongue.

I should have finished off the vessel first,

she thought.

The hellfire vessel still remained, and the colossal gate hadn’t closed. That meant more horrors were coming. She had hoped to thin their ranks, but she’d failed. Then, from within the gate, the source of the massive attack revealed itself.

“A true High Elf Queen. Had I been any later, our vessel would have perished.”

“Ha! Everything’s going according to plan! When this is over, I’ll make sure to show those dark mages some... gratitude!”

“The elves’ nest hasn’t changed, even after all this time. Nostalgic.”

Three voices rang out in unison, and Karin’s eyes widened in shock.

“Airborne fortress... Quiklon?”

Hovering above the sacred ground were three massive, fortress-sized constructs—formed of pure darkness, each as large as a royal palace. These were the legendary flying fortresses, said to empower powerful demons and amplify their strength. Karin had only ever heard of them in ancient tales of the Divine-Demonic War; never had she seen one in person.

Just one was said to be enough to destroy an entire church or order. Only the highest-ranking named demons could wield such fortresses.

However, now, three of them hovered above the world, which meant that there were three named demons of the highest Transcendent tier. It was a force reminiscent of the worst days of the Divine-Demonic War.

But how did they summon all this with only that many sacrifices?

Karin wondered.

It seemed even this was their limit, though, as the gateway to Hell had already begun to shrink—but it had not closed. The demons began to introduce themselves.

“I am Abaddon, Demon of Destruction.”

“I am Stheno, Demon of Whirl.”

“I am Bael, Demon of Ruin.”

As the gateway contracted, hellish beasts began to pour forth.

“In honor of you, who require the strength of all three of us, we shall reduce the land you protect to ruin!”

The Quiklons whirred to life, each fortress launching attacks imbued with the demons’ unique powers.

***

The vessel of hellfire unleashed flames, setting the forest ablaze. The three demons, commanding their airborne Quiklons, bombarded the sacred ground with torrents of demonic energy. On the ground, swarms of monsters surged forward. It was the very image of catastrophe.

Karin raised her voice above the chaos. “Hear me! Born from the primordial wind! Hear me! Ruler of the skies, master of the breeze! You who see the workings of the world—reveal yourself here! Spirit King of Wind! Minerva!”

As her declaration echoed, the very air grew heavy. The concept of wind itself took on form. The demons’ attacks clashed against a gentle breeze—so soft, so delicate, and yet their monstrous power was completely nullified.

“It’s been a while! I’d love to catch up, but I don’t think we have time for that!” A light, cheerful voice echoed across the battlefield. Waves of blue hair flowed behind a beautiful figure—Minerva, the Spirit King of Wind. Even as it spoke, it was clear that, despite the feminine appearance, the Spirit King was a being far beyond human concepts of gender. “What’s the plan?”

Karin hesitated. The three Transcendent demons were bombarding the sacred ground with the power of their airborne fortresses. The hellfire vessel continued to spew its flames, and monsters raced toward the walls. Not even she could handle everything at once.

She made her decision.

“Control the hellfire. Subdue the vessel. And please, protect the elves from the battle.”

The vessel was pure hellfire given form—while it would burn itself out quickly, until then, its strength was unmatched. It was vital to keep the flames from spreading, and the elves, being precious few, needed to be shielded at all costs.

“Can you do it?” Karin asked the Spirit King.

“I can. But are you sure? You’ll have to face those three alone, at least for a while.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Right... Silly me for worrying. Got it.”

Minerva leaped into action, wind howling at its heels. Though the vessel scattered hellfire wildly, it could no longer spread. Even the flames that had already consumed half the forest slowly began to fade, suppressed by the Spirit King’s power. The vessel, too, was quickly brought under control. Wind and hellfire clashed and mingled in a chaotic dance.

“Of course,” one of the three demons muttered.

They seemed utterly unsurprised. They had called forth the vessel for one reason—to tie down the Spirit King. A spirit wielder’s strength was not only their own; it came from their bond with their spirit. If the Spirit King was occupied, Karin’s power would be greatly diminished.

As if on cue, dozens of bolts of darkness rained down upon the sacred ground. If even one made it through, the city would be devastated. Karin had no choice but to intercept them all.

“You may have the power of a Hero, but without your spirit, you are not complete. How long do you think you can defend this place alone?” another demon shouted.

“For as long as I have to!” Karin shot back, a defiant grin on her lips.

She raised her hand, swirling the wind into a massive vortex, hurling it at the oncoming storm of darkness. Each attack from the fortresses was empowered by the strength of the named demons—on par with the might of Lubitra, the Demon of Twisting Threads. Dozens of attacks clashed against a single vortex.

Darkness shattered, obliterated by Karin’s magic. The vortex didn’t stop there—it surged toward the fortresses themselves.

The demons scrambled to defend themselves, but the wind tore through their barriers. One Quiklon fortress shook, chunks of infernal stone crumbling from its frame.

Karin clicked her tongue in annoyance. “So that’s all you’ve got? You’ve definitely lost your edge.”

“You...”

“What, you thought without the Spirit King you could handle me? Don’t insult me,” Karin shouted. Wind whirled around her, forming dozens of cyclones—each as powerful as the last. “For daring to threaten this place, you’ll pay. I’ll tear you apart.”

The demons rallied their power, but the winds sliced through the darkness, ripping it to shreds.