Chương 134: Even the Father Came Along

His feet touched dirt. Kichan bent one knee and held. The ground had not moved, but his body pitched forward as though it had not finished coming out of the portal. Black cloth flapped wide beside him. It was Paul. The priest was going over sideways with Riphiel holding his arm. The hem of his cassock had rolled under his shoes. Kichan caught his other arm and pulled him up.

"Get your feet out first." Instead of answering, Paul opened his mouth and sucked in a rough breath. While Kichan held his arm, Riphiel lowered herself and worked the cassock hem out from under his feet. When the two of them let go at the same time, Paul staggered upright. The rosary was still in his hand. Paul looked at the rosary once, looked at his own hand, and turned slowly around. The black circle in the Vatican basement was not there. Behind him stood a tree. At first Kichan thought it was a wall.

A dark brown surface filled his view. Close up, vertical cracks split it, and black soil and moss had worked into every crack. He raised his head. The trunk had no visible end. Far above, thick branches split in several directions. Broad leaves overlapped along each branch, and the light that came down between them scattered fine across the ground. One piece of light passed over the back of Kichan's hand. Each time the wind blew, the bright spots moved.

"Father." Kichan waved a hand in front of Paul's face.

"Are you all right?" Paul's gaze was still stuck on the tree.

"This place is..." His lips moved several times and stopped.

"It is not the third basement level." Kichan said. Paul's gaze came down from the tree to Kichan.

"I know that much myself."

"If you can talk, you are fine." Paul tried to answer, then gave up. Instead he brushed off his cassock. Dirt clung to the black hem. Argaon stood a little apart from the two of them. His red eyes came down from the tree and moved slowly around the clearing. Thick roots rose above the ground. One of them climbed to the height of Paul's waist and then went down under the brush. Between them a patch of bare dirt, worn by long use, remained in a rough circle. No trace of the portal was visible.

No stone, no door, no light. Kichan pressed the ground twice with his heel. Dry leaves crunched under the hard dirt.

"We have to come back here to go home, right?" Argaon laid a palm on the bark.

"Probably."

"Probably?"

"The door closed. How would I know?" Kichan looked up at the tree. Paul was looking at the same tree. His hand tightened on the rosary.

"You did not even prepare to go back, did you, Father?" The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Paul looked down at himself. A cassock and a rosary. Paul checked his cassock pockets twice. Nothing came out.

"There is nothing."

"We did not bring much either." Kichan tugged the strap of the small bag on his shoulder. Riphiel had a sword and a small bag on her back. Argaon was still empty-handed. Kichan looked at him.

"You really have nothing."

"You said I could buy whatever I needed."

"That was in Seoul."

"There should be somewhere here that sells things too." Argaon looked toward one side of the brush. A bright gap showed between the leaves. He pushed aside a branch that rose to his waist with one hand. Wind came in from behind the leaves. Another smell mixed faintly into the smell of dry dirt. Animal smell and wet wood smell. There was also a sound of metal striking metal far off. Kichan went to the gap. He held the branch open with his shoulder and looked through. There was no path directly ahead.

Roots and low trees overlapped, and only a faint mark of someone passing remained between them.

"There is something if we go out this way." Argaon went into the brush first. Kichan followed. Thick leaves struck his face. When he pushed them aside with his hand, water beaded on the undersides smeared across his sleeve. Behind him, Riphiel was holding up the hem of Paul's robe.

"Lift your feet a little higher."

"Sorry."

"There is a root on your left." Paul stepped over the root. He held Riphiel's arm with one hand and gripped the rosary with the other. Whenever the way narrowed even slightly, his cassock caught on thorns. Ahead, Kichan broke two more branches and pushed them aside. The brush was thicker than he had expected. The outside looked bright, yet they still had to take several more steps. Small insects hid under the leaves at their feet, and two thin-winged birds flew low overhead. No human voices were audible yet.

When he pushed aside the last branch, wind struck his face. Kichan stopped walking. A dirt road ran past outside the brush. Across the road stood a city wall. At first the tree's shadow hid where the wall ended. Once Kichan stepped fully out of the brush, the length of it came clear to either side. The wall curved away into the distance as if wrapping around the lower part of the giant tree. Dark red stones were set in lines among gray ones, and tents and the shadows of people moved along the top of the wall.

The city gate stood a short distance to the right. The road before the gate was wide enough for two carts to pass side by side with room left over. Dirt was worn deep wherever wheels had passed, and murky water ran slowly down a channel in the middle. A cart loaded with goods came out of the gate. A broad-shouldered beast with short horns along its back pressed the ground with all four feet. Small metal plates hung from the leather strap under its neck. Each time it took a step, a low sound came out.

A demonkin walking beside the cart glanced once at Kichan's group. His gaze rested a long moment on Paul in his black cassock, but when the cart moved forward he turned his head away. Another cart was waiting behind it.

"So this really is the Demon Realm." Kichan said. Paul looked at the wall, the cart, and the locals in turn.

"What did you see that makes you so certain?"

"Nobody is surprised to see us." As he finished speaking, a demonkin carrying a spear walked over from the gate. He was about a head taller than Argaon. Horns curved back from both sides of his forehead, and the tip of the left one was chipped. A thin layer of dust had settled on his leather armor. Before he stood in front of them, he let a cart pass first. Once the road was clear, he swept his eyes over the four of them with the spear tip lowered.

"You came out of that brush?"

"Yes."

"Where did you come from?" Kichan looked back. Beyond the brush there was nothing but trees.

"It is a little hard for us to explain too." The guard captain's eyebrows rose.

"Then start with why you want to enter the city." Kichan started to peel a long leaf off his sleeve and stopped.

"We came to get Zadkiel." The guard captain looked at Kichan first. Then at Riphiel's sword and Argaon's red eyes. Last, he stared a long time at Paul's cassock and the rosary wound around his hand. The fingers gripping the spear moved once.

"So you will disappear too." Kichan dropped the leaf.

"Too?"

"You are not the only ones who came here saying that name."

"Where did those people go?" The guard captain glanced at the road outside the wall. Dust rose between carts coming in and carts going out.

"I saw them go in."

"And come out?"

"Did not see that." Paul's thumb moved one bead along the rosary. Kichan studied the guard captain's face. The captain did not smile. The spear tip still pointed at the ground.

"Do you know where Zadkiel is now?"

"If I knew, would I be standing guard at that gate?" The guard captain raised his spear and pointed inside the gate. Beyond the wall, the upper part of a round building was visible. Several flags waved above its tiered outer walls.

"Go to the Arena first. There might be someone there who knows him."

"Which road do we take?"

"Go in and follow the biggest road. You will not be able to miss it anyway." The guard captain turned away with only those words. A cart coming in through the gate had dropped a wheel into the rut. He tucked the spear under his arm and went to push the back of the cart. Kichan watched his back for a moment. Paul came closer and asked quietly.

"Should we not ask who came before us?"

"I do not think he knows."

"Still. Just in case."

"We will ask again on the way back." Kichan looked at the gate. The smell of roasting meat came on the wind from inside. Argaon moved first.

"Let us go."