CHAPTER 294: CHAPTER 290 – GOLDEN LIGHT IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL

The long corridor Sofia had just walked through finally ended at a wide fissure hanging over an abyss in the underworld. Dark red light brushed across her face as the scorching wind of hell curled gently through her golden hair, making it gleam in the shadows.

Sofia stood tall at the edge, her eyes tracing the scene before her jagged black stones, twisted obsidian arches like bent bones, and the remains of massive structures that once seemed inhabited by demons.

In the far distance, a castle towered.

The structure was vast, majestic... and silent.

Its walls were made of layered black glass, reflecting the crimson glow like rippling infernal water. But among that gleam were cracks. Impact marks. Deep gouges like something far greater than any demon had raked its claws across them.

Sofia stepped forward.

Each of her steps left tiny blossoms of golden light on the dark ground, blooming briefly before fading away.

"...this is where Sylvia fought before," she whispered, her fingertips brushing one of the fractures in the wall.

The lingering energy trembled softly faint purple light dancing along the crack’s surface.

"Her Nether Flame..." she murmured, voice low, filled with both awe and a trace of melancholy. "She really fought here alone..."

Her heart warmed and ached at the same time.

A tender but sharp longing blossomed in her chest, like a blade of light cutting through the dark.

She walked deeper into the black-glass castle.

Inside, only silence greeted her small remnants of rubble, shattered black stones, and the lingering pressure of spiritual energy so immense that the air itself felt heavy to breathe.

Sofia stood in the middle of the grand hall.

She could picture Sylvia here facing some massive monster, casting her black chains with that expressionless face, or perhaps simply walking through this place while muttering irritably, "This floor is so boring."

A small smile appeared on Sofia’s lips.

"...even your traces make me want to hug you," she whispered.

She took a deep breath, her gaze settling on the stone staircase descending at the end of the hall the path to the next floor.

Just as Sofia began to walk down, the air changed.

The energy around her surged like stormy water, warping the space with unseen force. The surrounding stone walls trembled, and the red light in the air shattered like cracked glass.

Sofia halted.

"Spatial... magic?" she muttered. "Something is interfering with the path."

She tried to step back, but it was too late.

ZRAAAAP!

White-blue light burst from the walls, swirling into a vortex that wrapped around Sofia and swallowed her whole.

She barely had time to close her eyes

and the world flipped upside down.

....

Lower Floor 1.

Baal, the supreme ruler of the underworld, reclined lazily on his throne carved from pure obsidian. Black crystals floated silently around him, reflecting fragments of the world in their mirrored surfaces.

His long black hair draped over his shoulders, and his golden eyes glimmered like a snake hiding venom behind its smile.

"How interesting..." he whispered, staring into a crystal in his hand that displayed a flicker of light from Floor 71 where Sofia should have appeared.

He lifted a finger.

"I dislike the presence of light-beings... but I do want to know what she brings."

He flicked the crystal.

Instantly, the flow of spatial magic around the stairs at Floor 71 twisted, rerouting the teleportation light and throwing it elsewhere.

Floor 50.

"Lose your way," Baal murmured, voice like a reversed prayer. "Let’s see, little angel... whether your wings can withstand hellfire."

He leaned back, the corner of his lips curling with wicked amusement.

"And... how your lover reacts when she finds you."

.....

The teleportation light faded.

Sofia stood on blood-red ground that pulsed like living flesh. A faint heartbeat echoed beneath her feet. The air was thick, searing, and filled with the metallic tang of raw iron.

She slowly looked around.

"...this doesn’t feel like Floor 71," she whispered.

But before she could think further

GHHHAAARGGHH !!

A layered scream like a hundred throats shrieking at once erupted from every direction. The red fog churned violently. From within it, underworld creatures crawled out, dragging their bodies from boiling pools of blood.

They had no skin.

Their bodies were red, wet, nothing but exposed muscle. Their faces were hollow pits filled with jagged, misplaced bone-like teeth. Their claws were long, bent, and rusted.

And their numbers

"...thousands," Sofia breathed, eyes widening.

Thousands of skinless, red, glistening creatures surrounded her in a massive circle.

The air filled with the stench of burnt flesh and blood.

Celes would faint instantly if she saw this, Sofia thought wryly.

The creatures bowed low, trembling violently, red fluid dripping from their jaws onto the sizzling ground.

Yet not one of them attacked.

Sofia stared, confused.

"...why are they "

One creature, larger than the rest, stepped forward. It roared and lunged at her with claws spread wide.

But the moment its claw touched the edge of the holy light surrounding Sofia

SSSSHHHAAAAAAA!!

Its body melted instantly like wax in flame.

Flesh boiled away, bones softened, and the creature dissolved completely within seconds, leaving only a faint trail of white smoke.

Sofia froze, hands covering her mouth.

"Oh no... I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean to..."

The other creatures recoiled in terror.

Horrified screams echoed across the floor.

GRAAAHHHKK!! GHHHHKKHH!!

Their cries now sounded sobbing raspy, terrified, filled with dread toward the golden light radiating from Sofia.

She stood there for several moments, unsure whether she should feel guilty or laugh at how bizarre the situation was.

"If Sylvia saw this..." she muttered, covering her face with both hands, "...she’d be so annoyed. I didn’t even fight anything."

The ground vibrated softly beneath her feet, as if the underworld itself was commenting: Yes, that is exactly what happened.

Sofia sighed, then stepped forward.

The creatures scrambled aside in panic, parting like water before a warship.

"...this really feels like being a protagonist," she whispered, half-embarrassed, half-worried.

But she continued.

One step. Two steps.

Each one left a trail of golden light on the red flesh-like ground.

Every creature fled into the blood fog.

Sofia looked up at the crimson sky above clouds rolling like burning flesh, trembling from the endless heat.

"Where are you, Sylvia..." she said softly, though her voice carried firm resolve.

"...I’m coming to find you."

And she moved forward bringing warm golden light that spread across Floor 50, illuminating the underworld that trembled at the sight of an angel walking through hell.

....

On the 68th floor, the air felt heavier than usual. Thick, dark-purple smoke rose from cracks in the ground, obscuring parts of the view. The roar of flames and monster cries echoed in the distance, reverberating between black cliffs curved like giant fangs.

Sylvia stood in the middle of the battlefield, her body wrapped in the faint glow of Death Aura that trembled softly around her. A single movement of her hand was enough to obliterate a cluster of monsters before her massive creatures with exposed bones and ember-like eyes burning in their sockets.

"You didn’t even get the chance to touch me..." she murmured quietly, her voice almost drowned out by the thunder of magical explosions.

Behind her, a Hell Treant as tall as a four-story building swung its branches like steel whips, smashing the monsters that dared approach. From the ground, black roots shot forward and coiled around the neck of a Fiend Lurker, dragging it downward and crushing it into a pulp of flesh.

Sylvia leapt onto a large root jutting from the earth, her gaze sweeping the surroundings. Dust and blood droplets scattered in the air, while the system screen before her displayed a row of numbers that continued to rise.

[Level Up!]

Level: 140

She took a long breath. "Finally. Took long enough."

But the very next moment, her skin prickled.

A cold sensation crept up her spine starkly contrasting the blistering heat of the underworld.

Sylvia slowly turned her head.

Her eyes scanned the area of stone forests, purple haze, the Hell Treant’s shifting roots, and the infernal sky swirling like a vortex of blood.

Nothing. No attacks. No signs of an enemy’s aura.

Yet the feeling lingered

sharp, pressing, and strangely... familiar.

"...Sofia?" she whispered.

But no answer came.

Only the sound of wind scraping through the ruins and the distant rumble of fire.

The Hell Treant behind her lowered itself slightly, as if it too sensed something.

One of the massive trees even let out a hoarse sound from its cracking trunk:

"Queen... the air... trembles... light... appearing below..."

Sylvia turned toward the forest shrouded in mist.

The dark aura around her began to quiver faster, reacting to its master’s unease.

"If you really are here, Sofia..." she whispered, her voice trembling between relief and dread, "...please let it not be because of something stupid."

She patted the Hell Treant’s bark-like shoulder.

"We’re moving again. But slowly."

The hell-trees moved in unison, their roots embedding into the stone walls, forming a pathway like an organic bridge leading downward. Sylvia stepped onto it, descending into the pulsing darkness.

Hot wind blew through her silver hair, and her eyes glinted sharply.

"If you did end up here, Sofia..." she muttered again, this time with a heavier tone, "...I’m going to pinch you until you come to your senses."

Then she gave a thin, soft smile.