Chương 75: [2.01] Not in Vulgrest Anymore (Part 1/2)

"Oh, wow, are you a human?!" Those energetic words finally cut through Angelica's ongoing crisis. It had likely just been a few seconds since the feeling of the raging inferno settled around her skin, leaving her only with mild discomfort from the scorching atmosphere. Since then, she'd had time to read, re-read, rub her eyes, and then read again the sign that was meant to serve as a kind greeting to all visitors, but to her, it was crashing her reality.

"Welcome to Hell." Yes, she was in Hell. Not a metaphor for a scuff-ass place or a tormented state of being. No, actual, literal Hell. There had been plenty of evidence to support that it had been real, constant references to the place in her growth system, so she had essentially accepted its existence. But knowing of a strange land and going there were two very different matters, especially when she was suddenly teleported to it without being told her destination. Not to mention the fiery reception she'd received.

I'm actually in Hell… She was finally starting to accept the situation. The place she'd been warned about in her religious studies and attending sermons, the eternal condemnation she'd been told was avoidable if she lived a righteous life, and she'd just suddenly popped into the place as if it was part of an errand she had to run. Well, Angelica did actually have an errand to run. That's why she'd been brought to this place, after all.

She had been told to get registered so that she could Evolve and heal her wounds from her fight against the giant eel Malignant. And she'd get to that, yes, after her sensibilities fully returned to her and she could fully process her thoughts once more. Honestly, a lot of the overwhelmingness of it all came from the fact that Hell really wasn't what she pictured. A large cavern-like area with walls of stone and ash dotted by suspiciously bone-looking sconces with eternal magic flames spouting out the top, check.

Giant pool of lava, yep, she could see that, too, but it was actually pretty far off in the distance, with a scenic lavafall feeding into it. Kind of mesmerizing, actually. Screams of the damned? Surprisingly missing. Not to say it was quiet, though. The area was actually rather noisy, but it was a familiar noise, akin to the hustle and bustle of the city life she knew.

Where Angelica found herself was atop of a large summoning circle, but completely different to any she'd seen so far; not in practice by other summoners, nor in her book of Demon Summoning. The markings were completely different, and not only that, it had not been painted or drawn. Instead, it was embedded into the floor itself, carved out of some ancient-looking stone that almost looked like it had been chiseled from the crystallization of evil incarnate, with the way it was radiating some dark, powerful energy.

One such enigmatic array would be enough to boggle her mind, but there were far more, a few dozen, at least, just from the girl's glossing gaze. She was at some sort of terminal nexus, where out from the other circles, Demons were popping into existence in rapid succession. Over the past month, ever since Angelica had become a Demon herself, she had seen plenty of her kind, but this blew it out of the steaming water.

And one such Demon seemed to have actually taken an interest in her, posing the question about her human appearance. It was a small thing, at least from her current perspective. They were actually probably about the same height if she were her Imp self. But in terms of appearance, there was honestly no comparison. A giant eye, that was basically the Demon's existence, for the most part, or it's certainly what drew her own eyes.

Wrapped around that eye was a ring of flesh, similar to a standard open eyelid, but from there, the skin stretched out into a cone. It sort of looked like a fleshy cornucopia with an oversized eyeball stuffed into the open end. And with that mass of flesh, the stranger was slowly inching toward her like a worm. If Angelica wasn't too used to other Demons by now, she'd say this was the sort of creepy-crawly creature that would haunt her nightmares, forever chasing her as she perilously tried to escape. But…

maybe it was the thing's small size, or the way it was moving so earnestly, giving its all, but she found the thing sort of endearing. Actually, that probably was also due to its eye. Besides perhaps feeling kinship with another big ball, the ocular appendage was also surprisingly expressive. The Demon was looking at her with genuine excitement and curiosity, not judgment, and that made her lower her guard immensely. [Scrying Eye Lv. 5] [Lucidity increased] The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. [Gnostic Attunement increased] [Demon | Alias: <unregistered> | Demon Rank: Imp Lv. 20 / 20] Oh, so it was a fellow Imp! She'd never actually interacted with one before. It was unregistered, too, which gave her a bit of relief, since now she knew for sure this was what others were seeing when they scried her instead of her censored true name.

And thanks to the level she just got, she could see the Imp's level, looking like it was set to Evolve, likely heading to the same location. A comrade!

"Okay, well, I know you're not actually a human," the cornucopic eye-worm-thing followed up. Actually, how was it speaking? There was definitely no traditional mouth, but it was enunciating rather well. Must be a Demon thing. Xinder, of all the few words he'd ever said to her, had also been good with his diction, despite basically being a bird with a beak.

"Sorry, I took a peek with my Scrying Eye, even though that's really rude to do here in our homeland. I'm always being told to mind my peeper, but I was just too curious!" the strange Imp continued. Wait, so using Scrying Eye in Hell was considered rude? Good to know, even though Angelica herself had just broken that unknown taboo, but thankfully she found out on someone who didn't seem to mind.

"Y'know, it's really weird to see a fellow Imp with Transfiguration." There was that same tired line again, but the big eye genuinely seemed in awe of her, so Angelica let it slide.

"Your human disguise is really good! … I think. Never actually seen a human properly before, only in pictures during lessons. Erm, well, sorry if this is rude, but are you alright? You look kinda… not okay. Or do humans normally look like that?" That led to a moment of self-reflection. Angelica checked her body all over, well, her fake-body, her imitation of her former human self. Despite being a magically made recreation, it sure was ragged. Her hair was a nightmare, and her manifested clothes were ratty.

It felt like they should be drenched in sweat, but that had likely all instantly evaporated since she'd just been baked in a fiery oven. Well, despite still feeling like absolute scuff, it was something she could easily fix. The Transfiguration refreshed itself, back to a well-kempt version that hadn't just been through metaphorical and literal Hell.

"Sorry," she finally spoke up, finding her voice a bit parched. Thankfully, the Hydration Rune earring she was wearing had kicked in, steadily restoring all of her liquids that had been lost.

"I thought I was going to be burned alive."

"Eh? No way!" the stranger Imp perished the thought.

"The fires of Hell can't kill us Demons. They're just to stop any intruders! I don't actually even notice it anymore, since our Heat Resistance builds up quickly. Wait, have you never been to Hell before?!" That really seemed like the kind of question that Angelica shouldn't answer honestly, but the squishy little fellow was just so genuinely curious about her and acting so friendly that it felt like she could be completely honest. And it was also nice to finally meet a Demon so open to talking to her.

Most had pretty much shunned her so far.

"Erm, not that I'm aware. I was summoned as soon as I was born, so I've never actually been here properly."

"Hmm, you still should have been in Hell, though, and gotten Heat Resistance right after you spawned," the wormy Imp pointed out, noticing the discrepancy.

"Oh, maybe you were born in one of the frozen sectors. Do you have Cold Resistance?"

"Y-yes, I do!" she clinged to it, mentally jotting down her fabricated backstory for future regurgitation.

"Ah, that totally explains it, then! You must have been through a lot. What brings you to Hell after all this time? Got work to do, or did you finally escape the evil Summoner that Bound you?"

"Uhm, work, I guess, still Bound. And my Summoner is actually really nice." Angelica felt she at least had to stand up for her Summoner identity, even if the only actual summoning she'd done was of herself.

"I'm here to get registered and Evolve." Actually, it was kind of surprising that this Demon didn't guess that. Maybe their Scrying Eye was still pretty low, no higher than Lv. 3, since they hadn't been able to see either her level or Bound status. Or… maybe they just weren't that smart. From what she understood, not much was generally expected from Imps.

"No way, me, too!" The fleshy cornucopia squinted and shook with excitement.

"Good to hear about your Summoner. I haven't had a proper one yet. Hopefully, they're nice when I do. Maybe you can refer me to one! But that'll have to come after Evolution. Say, if you're headed to the Demon Services Office, do you wanna go together?! Oh, but I'm, umm, really slow… A lot of other Demons get impatient with me and rush on ahead. All my other broodmates have long since gotten ahead of me, so I was the last Imp left for a long time. If you're in a hurry, I, umm, totally understand." Damn!

The pitiful look that the eye gave her was so sad, it honestly made Angelica want to pick up and squeeze her new Imp pal.

"Sure, I'd be happy to go with you, and that'd be a big help, because I really don't know where I'm supposed to go."

"Great, then follow me!" The worm-like demon turned around and began to inch forward, but it looked back a second later.

"I'm Gawk, by the way. Or, I will be, once I get registered! Hopefully no one has taken it since the last time I asked." Well that proved aliases had to be unique, at least. Which meant there was a slim possibility Angelica's moniker had already been taken, but she highly doubted it.

"Nice to meet you, Gawk. I'm Gelic."