Chương 87: [2.13] A Little Slice of Hell (Part 1/5)

Holy Vissiem! After departing the Training Grounds with Gawk, the pair were returned back to the Demon Services Office. From there, they commuted to the Terminal Nexus filled with circles where Angelica had first arrived in Hell—a much faster return trip now that her sapient eye guide could fly—and he instructed her to go to a place known as Moltocai, apparently where they were going to get food.

Angelica had been expecting to be taken to another area like the first, basically a series of tunnels with maybe a few buildings at dead-ends. But, no, it couldn't even be compared. Moltocai was not just another cavern, but a whole city. The circle they spawned on wasn't at ground level, either. Gawk had undoubtedly brought her the scenic way. It was atop a cliff, overlooking the full civilization in all of its glory.

"Amazing, right?!" The eye beamed with pride.

"What would humans say at a time like this? Oh right! Holy Vissiem!" Huh? Huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?! Did he seriously just say that? Shouldn't Demons be incapable of saying either of those words?

"By the way your eyes are glowing at me, I'm guessing you're confused about how I said that." His tone was almost cheeky, as if he'd done it on purpose just to rile her up.

"Since you've mostly been around humans, I suspected you wouldn't know. Holy's important for humans, I guess. For us, though, it's just an Attunement. Not one we can use, but Ferrul doesn't ban it like most other holy-adjacent words. And Vissiem, well… all part of the cause, right?" And just what the hell was that supposed to mean?! Damn her ignorance. Was Vissiem somehow connected to Demons? Well, if they created Hell, that'd make sense, but it still didn't line up with "the cause."

Plus, the way Gawk had said it, she was definitely supposed to know, even with her fabricated obscure birth circumstances. Maybe it was an innate instinct, or some kind of Order they were given from Ferrul when they were born, etched into their very beings. Hmm, maybe her book on Demon Summoning could provide some insight. She'd been keeping it in Second Stomach for a while, since it clearly emitted some kind of magical aura that could be detected if left out in the open.

Now that Tongues was maxed, she should be able to read the thing in full. If she wasn't half-convinced it'd burst into flames the moment it was taken out, unaware if its innate magic would protect it, she'd be tempted to excuse herself to the little Demon's room and give it a skim. Actually… Angelica wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to know what Demon toilets were like, feeling it was knowledge, if found disturbing, that she'd never be able to unlearn.

Random thoughts and potentially belief-altering revelations aside, or rather, they were forced to the back of her mind once more by the view. It was like staring down at Vulgrest from atop a skyscraper, watching the buzz of city life, just with Demons instead of humans. And they weren't stuck to the ground like the standard citizenry would be. So many of them were flying around, entering buildings from up high as well as down low.

Overall, the layout was standard for a city, perhaps further proof that such concepts really came from demonic influence. But there were a few things that innately drew the eye. First, were the giant cavernous walls around the city. Despite it being bright as day, the whole place was enclosed, as expected. Was there any sort of sky in Hell? Probably not, just from the legends she'd heard, but if there was, it definitely wasn't here.

All around the cavern, its walls were dotted with holes of various sizes, with Demons swarming in and out, almost like it was an irregular beehive.

"Is… that where they live?" Gelic made her best guess.

"Oh, yeah, those are all entrances to private homes," Gawk explained.

"What about you? Do you live in one of them?"

"Ha, no!" He perished the thought, finding the idea hilarious.

"Only well-off Demons live in those, with the wealthiest having their own buildings in the cities or other lands. A poor Puck like me? With no connections and little income, I'll be lucky to find a decent hovel in the burrows. I'd probably have to get some grotmates. There are other options, like finding a long-term Summoner to cozy up to. Even in Hell, though, there are ways to improve quality of life, but you kind of have to get lucky there, too.

"Right now, I don't actually have a home. As soon as I was given clearance, I rushed right over to the Demon Services Office to Evolve. But doing that unfortunately means giving up the temporary accommodations we're given as an Imp. That's fine, though! It's a new adventure!" Ever the optimist.

"What about that, do people live there?" Gelic pointed her claws to the middle of the city, at the other curiosity that certainly made Moltocai completely different from any human city. Up from the ground jutted a giant arm composed entirely of molten, burning rock, undoubtedly where the city got its name from. But it wasn't dripping magma like it felt it should be. Rather, the energy emitting from the limb felt like it was frozen, somehow containing the crazed dormant power that was held within.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. At the end of the arm was a taloned hand, reaching up toward the ceiling. It wasn't trying to grab at something, however. Instead, it looked like it was blocking an attack. Piercing into its palm was an arrow made of pure light. It was so bright, the object responsible for illuminating the entire space. And it hurt her eyes just looking at it, like staring at the sun. What was it that Garvin had threatened her with during her very first summons?

Some sort of Holy magic, right? Erm… Rune of Piercing Light? That sounded right. And if it was as dangerous to Demons as it implied, kind of wild that he had something so powerful. Maybe that's what she was seeing, just used on a grand scale, during some epic clash. As for what fired the thing, that had to be an Angel. If Demons were real, then it made sense for Angels to exist, too, right? Or whatever the overall holy beings were called.

She didn't dare ask, afraid she'd definitely end up using a word that should be censored. And why would they be censored at all if they were just fables?

"Err, sort of?" Gawk gave a half-answer at first. There were definitely Demons going in and out of the molten limb, with holes and doors embedded into it, so some business went on there.

"It's the headquarters of the Fitiir Cult. So the Archdemon that runs it stays there, along with probably a few of its direct subsidiary Legions. But it's definitely not housing for commonkin like us. Alright, ready to go get some food? We could take the circle down to the ground level, or just take the express way, if you want? I've, uhh, always wanted to try it, but it definitely wouldn't have ended well before this Evolution."

"And what's the express way?"

"We jump!"

"Ah…" Yeah, she probably should have guessed that.

"Okay, sure." Without further hesitation, she rushed forward and jumped off the cliff, with Gawk flapping in tow. What fear did two winged creatures have of such a great height? Probably plenty of fears, but they'd be fine! With all the other Demons soaring around, it felt right to join in. She'd bounced to heights much higher than this before, but it still felt weird letting herself freefall without the chain of Multi-Bounce or Jump Good to guide her.

When they got closer to the ground, Flutter triggered, and Gelic engaged her wings, gliding to a soft landing while taking full advantage of the free use of Bumble.

"Well, we could fly all the way there, I suppose," her friend informed her when he caught up.

"But, uhh, I'm not exactly sure what it looks like from the air. This is all definitely new to me, and thanks for going along with my whim! That was fun! Okay, we'll take a cart." Gawk flapped his way forward, stopping at something that looked kind of like a crooked streetlamp with a bunch of empty signs plastered onto it.

"Stand next to me, Gelic," he called back before addressing the object.

"Two for Parvelo's Chest." The empty light at the top of the post lit up, as did one of the signs, etching a sort of map to their destination. Of all things to happen next, Angelica was definitely not prepared for a giant stone maw to chomp out of the ground, swallowing the pair of them whole, getting flashbacks to the unpleasant experience earlier that day. Well, they didn't actually get swallowed.

Rather, the mouth morphed around them, turning into something akin to a barred cage, or sort of like a minecart with a roof. She only really likened it to the second thing because the cart started to move, at blazing speed. Gelic grabbed hold of the bars at the front with her claws, to the best of her ability, so she didn't get slammed to the back. Gawk did something similar, using his wings as an anchor—what she should have done.

It probably would just be easier for him to let himself flutter toward the rear, but he really looked like he wanted to see where they were going and enjoy the ride. The caged cart quickly weaved through the city streets, far faster than any bus or car she'd been in. It made it difficult to get any bearing of their location or enjoy the scenery as it blurred in front of them. Before she knew it, they came to a stop, and the cart crumbled around them, disintegrating to dust that slid away into the cracked ground.

Between that and the teleporting circles, it was kind of crazy how great Hell's free public transportation was. She, too, had unlimited free transport in her own city, but most had to pay some form of fee. Demon society was definitely doing it better in that regard.

"Welcome to Parvelo's. What are you feasting upon today?" A deep, gravelly voice greeted them, as if unfazed by their presence, just repeating a required line they'd said a million times. After getting herself oriented, Angelica gazed upon their host, assumedly Parvelo, in all of their splendor. They were quite large and blobby, leaning their back against a wall. Her first thought was of a seal, but they had tusks, so maybe a walrus, but, no, they were pointed the other way, like a boar's.

Regardless, they didn't look too friendly, almost dead in the eyes, like so many of the chefs she'd seen at the cheap restaurants she'd been to ever since striking it out on her own. Which meant the food was probably pretty great. Parvello's kelpy locks were actually tied up in a metallic hairnet, and they had a sort of apron draped over their blubberous body. It was leathery, maybe actually made of scales? Kind of hard to tell, since it looked so grimy.

Well, there were apparently some sort of food safety standards in Hell, though Parvello didn't appear to be a paragon in upholding them.

"Ah, sweet, there's no wait today. That's so rare!" The sorry state of the cook didn't dampen Gawk's spirits at all, and he eagerly bumbled over to the waiting accommodations. Which, admittedly, were definitely a significant step up in comparison. The chest in Parvello's Chest was a literal chest; the furniture kind, not the upper torso kind. It was quite large and rectangular, about the size of a hefty table. The whole thing was a gilded gray, with etchings highlighting the soot base.

Precious gemstones dotted it all around, some even larger than the size of her human face. When she approached the chest next to Gawk, a similar platform to the kind at the Demon Services Office raised her up, allowing her to sit comfortably at the customer side of the chest, since apparently that's what they'd be eating off of.

"You can go ahead and pick first, Gelic," her friend kindly offered.

"Whatever you want. My treat!"

"Oh, thanks. I'll have uh—" Gelic started to order unconsciously, as if she had any idea what this establishment offered. But then a bigger problem dawned on her.

"Wait. I don't have a mouth!"