Chapter 699 - People of Heresy

Exhausted and happy that he was finally done with this horrendous task, Eisen stared at the notification that popped up right next to him, telling him that he finished the task. He was happy that he was finally done, although the world still seemed like he was walking up an incredibly steep slope that would continue forever if Eisen were to slip down it accidentally.

"Hm... Took ya long enough." Satel said in an annoyed tone, as if they were the one having the most issues for the past couple of hours. Eisen turned toward them with a glare as he pushed himself away from the rock-surface in front of him.

Slowly, he let go of the boulder, and despite thinking that it was going to slide down that slope, it simply stayed in place. And next Eisen knew it, the world around him became normal again. The direction of his gravity changed and he was standing on a horizontal surface again.

Eisen immediately proceeded to stretch a bit, because his shoulders and back were feeling quite sore. It was an uncomfortable feeling, considering that Eisen had to keep pushing this incredibly heavy boulder forward the whole time. At some point, it seemed like the weight of the boulder increase by a few times, even. When Eisen started out, the biggest challenge was the fact that he kept slipping on the floor, and then later the fact that the ground started sloping. But for the last kilometer or so, Greed wanted to f.u.c.k over Eisen completely and added something else to the mix. Either way, it was a rather annoying task, and he would really need to have a talk with Greed about this now.

Luckily, the boulder in front of Eisen started to shatter into pieces that then started to float around, creating a rock-arch. In a bright flash, a different location became connected to this place, and Eisen could still see a glitter shine into his eyes. He stepped into the space in front of him, followed by the Guide-Devil, and soon managed to spot Greed. And annoyingly, this place was decorated with numerous precious gems and metals that were going to cost one ten fortunes to be able to afford.

Eisen kind of understood that the gods of the underworld were beings that practically followed their own name despite being the punishers for other beings that did so. In Eisen's mind, this sort of hypocrisy was more than just annoying. It was despicable, even. Although Eisen also knew that it wasn't the fault of the gods themselves, it wasn't like they made the active choice to become the gods of these specific realms. They were always meant to be the gods of these circles of hell. And they most likely had some sort of compulsion to follow the rules of their name as well, to an extent.

Hence, while Eisen was a bit bothered by this sight, he knew that he couldn't get all too angry about it. And right there, on a golden throne that was covered by even more gems and crystals sat Greed, the goddess of this circle of hell.

The old man stepped up to her and crossed his arms, "Could you possibly explain to me why the hell you gave me that sort of task? And made it nearly impossible to finish without a few extra tricks?" Eisen asked with a wry smile. The Goddess on the throne shrugged in response as she looked down at Eisen, "No particular reason. I was just quite curious about what you might do... And the thought of the 'Great Eisen' despairing at the task I gave him was an accomplishment that I couldn't let pass by me." The Goddess explained. Eisen already knew from the gut-feeling that he had when looking at the goddess in front of him that they weren't on the best terms before.

They probably weren't enemies, but Eisen doubted that they were friends either. At least that's the rough idea he got from this conversation and the things that he felt within himself.

"That's not very nice, now is it?" Eisen laughed with a wry smile, unsure what else he was supposed to say or do.

"Hm, is there any reason to be nice? I'm a Goddess of the Underworld, or 'Hell' as you call it. That has quite a few bad things connected to it already, doesn't it? We're torturing numerous monsters here in all the circles of hell. What does that have to do with being nice?" Greed asked with a soft smile on her lips. Eisen understood where she was coming from, "Is that so? Well, it was nice talking to you, could you prepare the next gate for us?" 

It seemed like Eisen's sudden question that practically meant he wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible irked Greed a little bit. That's what her expression said, at least.

"...Sure, have it your way. Good luck from here on out, or something like that." The Goddess told Eisen, who slowly nodded his head.

At this point in time, Eisen really felt like he just wanted to get back to the Mortal Realm as quickly as possible. See his friends again, and have a bit more of a relaxing time than all the things that Eisen had to do here in the Underworld. Well, at least his sword seemed happier the more Eisen made his way through the circles.

And so, he chose to try his best to finish the remaining realms today, if possible. The next realm that Eisen had to head to was the realm of Heresy, which was apparently the place where the gods imprisoned certain people. Eisen really didn't know what kind of beings they were going to be, but he figured that they were rather powerful if they managed to draw in the attention of literal gods to the extent where the found it necessary for them to be sent here.

At least, that's what Eisen thought. But when he made his way into the realm, he didn't know what to think anymore. Basically, this place was just a realm covered in numerous flaming towers. On the outside of each tower, a large number of holes were dug that the flames came out of. If Eisen was correct in remembering Dante's inferno, then the flames came from flaming tombs that those that committed 'Heresy' were trapped in.

And then, the notification that told Eisen his task in this place appeared in front of him.

[New Quest – People of Heresy]

[Description] In order to be acknowledged by the Gods of Hell, you have started to make your way through the nine circles of hell. On your first stop, you reached Limbo. On your second, you reached L.u.s.t. On your third, you reached Gluttony. On your fourth, you reached Wrath. On your fifth, you reached Greed. On your sixth, you reached Heresy – Your task in this realm is to open the tombs of ten random individuals and hear their story. Understand why they were sent to this realm.

[Conditions] Hear the story of ten heretics 0/10) 

[Rewards] Heresy's Acknowledgement

[Penalty] None

"...Well, alright then." Eisen muttered to himself. He didn't really understand the reason behind this yet, but he figured it might be something like making him realize the mistakes that others made to learn from them.

And so, Eisen quickly activated his Draconic Demon King transformation and flew toward the nearest tower, quickly dropping down onto a random platform. He looked into the hole in front of him and stepped inside. Luckily, he was resistant against this sort of heat for now.

After Eisen stepped further inside, he had to walk through a wall of flames, and once that was done, what revealed itself behind there was a chained-up individual. It was a young man that seemed to be rather normal, for the most part. There wasn't anything externally special about him.

When he raised his head, Eisen realized that maybe this man wasn't all too normal after all. Instead of eyes, he had deep, gaping holes that seemed to reach into an infinitely large space.

"Huh? Who're you?" The man asked with an annoyed voice, although his expression soon showed his interest in the old man, "...You are part of that world? But how did you come here then?" He asked confusedly, while Eisen wasn't sure what he was supposed to say in response.

"What do you mean with 'that world'?" Eisen asked.

The man, as if it was obvious, replied, "Isn't it obvious? You know what I mean. That other world, the one you are deeply connected to. I only managed to see a few glances of it, however... Numerous giant towers reaching into the sky, the metal dragons soaring through above them, and the metallic monsters underneath them... And those monsters lived together with humans as well! It was a wonderful world..." The man said with a soft smile, when Eisen finally realized what he was talking about.

This man's eyes had the ability to see Earth from here. The 'Giant Towers' were skyscr.a.p.ers, the 'metal dragons' were airplanes, and the 'metallic monsters' were simply cars, "A world in which nobody is contained by giant walls if they wish to live safely... That seems great, doesn't it?" 

"...Yeah, it does. I have a suggestion for you. You tell me your story, and I tell you a bit about that world, alright?" 

The man stared right at Eisen, with sparks flying around surrounding the man's eyes before he immediately nodded, "Please! Yes! I will do anything to find something out about that place! Even small details are fine! Anything!"

Eisen slowly nodded his head, "Alright, then you go first. Tell me why you were sent here."

With a quick nod, the man started to tell Eisen his story. At the start, he seemed to have been just a normal mage with the Spatial Element. He was a rather special one, at that. But at some point, the man happened to get a glimpse of something that was off. He managed to get a glimpse at the connection between this world and Earth.

Ever since then, he started to try and find a way to reach the other world through any means necessary. It took him centuries, which was a great dedication even for an elf, which this man clearly was. But then, finally, he managed to do it. He managed to reach out to the connection, and his eyes decayed so that he was only able to see it. And through this fact, he saw Earth.

But just before he was able to pass over... He was killed and sent here. Just for having direct knowledge and proof for the existence of Earth, he was killed and sent to suffer for eternity here in the underworld.