Act 1: Chapter 29: Cocytus' Exit

Act 1: Chapter 29: Cocytus' Exit

「Hahaha, Kanata-sama is such a teaser.... If only you told me from the very beginning that you’re Lunaire-sama’s friend, I’ll grant you passage immediately...」

Satan said while rubbing his six hands together like an evil salesman.

His dignified aura from a few moments ago was gone. His body and his splendid horn were charred.

His throne had vanished along with the crystal scaffolding.

「Er, since you attacked me first, I ju-...」

To be honest, his excessive civility was unpleasant....

I mean, he barely survived my magic.

Well, he might’ve survived thanks to the first collision with his magic and the protection from his cane.

Since he was desperately pleading for his life, I also retracted my fighting spirit and gave him the healing medicine which I got from Lunaire.

It seemed he knew Lunaire too and according to him, the demons in 《Cocytus》 would bring unimaginable trouble to the surface world if I killed Satan.

「But, that was a really close call huh? I mean, the demons in this place will leave as soon as I die. Are you sure that Lunaire-sama never told you about me before?」

「Nope, not at all...」

She just told me that I could leave from this floor....

She just mentioned in passing that she pardoned a demon a long time ago.

If Lunaire visited this place in who knows how many hundreds of years ago, I wouldn’t find it strange that she completely forgot about Satan.

But there was a high chance that she was acquainted with Satan before since the one who taught me 《Apocalypse》 was none other than Lunaire.

「So, does Lunaire-sama have some sort of business with me for her to send you to this place? Don’t tell me... is it about this cane?」

Satan kept his cane away from me, looking at me with a reproachful look in his eyes.

T-That cane was important to you huh.

「N-No I’m not interested in your cane but...」

Satan heaved a relieved sigh when I told him so.

I mean, like hell was I going to use that huge cane.

I took out the 《Akashic Record》 from my 《Dimension Pocket》 and then flipped through its pages.

It was true that I’m not interested in that cane but, it doesn’t mean that I’m not curious about it.

Since he had a pair of wings, an aerial battle might be unavoidable too.

『What are you seeking by coming this far? Are you seeking for eternal life along with eternal youth? Do you think the god who you bastards referred so highly will help you in this place? Or else, is your purpose just to satisfy your curiosity?』

Satan did say those words to me.

Could it be that the last one of his questions was... referring to Lunaire?

Well, I guess reaching this place was just like walking in the park for her. She might’ve returned after beating the crap out of Satan.

「Wait a minute, didn’t you say that no human who challenged you managed to come out alive... Right?」

Satan fell into silence in hearing my words.

「Lunaire-sama never left《Cocytus》.」

H... How eloquent.

Did that mean that no one aside from Lunaire managed to beat him in the past?

Though he was certainly more powerful than the demons in this place, I don’t think he was strong enough to repel waves after waves of the incoming adventurers.

「W-Well then... What do you wish for from this place?」

I pointed at the 《Black Cane of Apocalypse》 in silence.

Satan made a face as if he wanted to cry.

「Y-You liar! Didn’t you say before that you’re not interested in this cane! Insane! Monster! Devil! Please anything but this, without this cane, I have no other way to control the demons in this place! I’m serious, this is no joking matter!」

「S-Sorry, I was only teasing you... I just wanted to know how you would react if I asked for that cane.」

... I thought that words like liar and devil are more suitable for Satan, but let’s not think too deeply about this.

「Then, for what reason did you come to this place, the deepest floor of 《Cocytus》? Do you have some sort of goal?」

「Since Master... I mean, Lunaire-san told me to leave this place as soon as possible and the deepest floor is the fastest route to go out...」

Satan looked at me with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

After that, he turned around and heaved a sigh, seemingly extremely exhausted.

「... There’s an exclusive transfer magic circle in the altar in the deepest part of this floor which will send you right to the entrance above ground. Since I’ll lead the way, please do not come back again to this place, ever.」

「Y-Yes.... Thanks a lot.」

I followed after Satan whose silhouette looked dejected for some reason.