East Road Quest

Chapter 55: The Gate of Hell

Ruby approached Jade and said, “What are you doing? You know his name, just get rid of him already.”

“There’s still something I’m curious about,” Jade replied, gazing down at the head of Krauks.

Saph, sticking close behind him, added, “I agree with Ruby. Even if it’s just a head, it’s still alive. And it’s a demon. Who knows what it might do.”

“I want to know why this creature came to the summit of Black Rock Mountain,” Jade continued.

Ruby, as if it were obvious, said, “To buy time to increase its power, no doubt. It almost succeeded, too.”

“Then it should have fled further away. That would have bought it more time. If it was to gather its minions, it should have escaped to the Red Desert. Why come to a mountain peak with nowhere else to run?”

Jade, ready to use the light of annihilation at any moment, went on, “It must have come here for something. Isn’t that right, Krauks?”

The demon, now just a head, did not respond.

Ruby stood by, ready to kick it at any moment, and said, “Do you think it’ll answer just because you ask? You can’t coax it with the promise of life when it’s just a head, and torture won’t make it talk either.”

Krauks blinked up at Jade. His face was so mangled it was unrecognizable, yet it seemed as if he was mocking them.

‘Ruby’s right,’ Jade thought, then turned away.

“Keep an eye on him for a moment.”

“Where are you going?”

Jade walked over to where Krauks had been crouching. The demon had been clutching something in the darkness, and when Jade appeared, he had hidden it in a hole.

‘He said it wouldn’t open, didn’t he?’

Jade stood in front of the hole.

Sure enough, there was something there.

‘It’s not just dark; it’s black.’

It wasn’t just black; it seemed to emit darkness itself.

Suddenly, Krauks’ head shouted, “Don’t touch it with your filthy hands.”

Ignoring him, Jade knelt on one knee in front of the object in the hole.

“What is it?” Saph asked, curiosity piqued as he followed Jade.

“I’m not sure. But given the circumstances…

It was a small door model, less than five spans high and about a span thick. It seemed heavy, as if made of iron, and had no handle. It wasn’t attached to a wall leading somewhere; it was just a door.

“…This must be the Gate of Hell.”

Jade pulled it out of the hole.

“Can you make it clearer to see?”

At Jade’s request, Saph created light in his palm. The writing etched around the door became more visible.

“Can you read it?” Saph asked.

“Yes. It’s a script that ordinary humans can’t read.”

Jade pulled it closer. Saph recognized the writing.

“It’s the same script as the one in the book Father has.”

“Can you read it?”

“I can read the letters, but this is written too hastily. Maybe Father can make it out?”

“Let’s see. The first line says… ‘The Gate of Hell.'”

As soon as Jade read the first word, he fell silent.

Saph asked indifferently, “Is it blatantly stated? Is this what they call the gate to hell? It’s so small.”

“Maybe it’s just a symbol? Surely this isn’t the real Gate of Hell.”

Jade continued to read the writing around the door’s frame.

“The creator of the door is Byphel…, the owner of the door is Krauks…, the rights to the door are transferred…, Byphel to Krauks…. Roughly that’s what’s written.”

Jade groaned. A strange anxiety filled him, and Saph articulated it.

“It somehow feels real.”

“I think so too.”

“If this is real… what do we do?”

“I don’t know. But it’s probably best to destroy something like this.”

Jade raised his voice deliberately at the end. Then Krauks screamed.

“Nonsense. Even if you are a magician capable of annihilating demons, you cannot touch the Gate of Hell. Even if you could, the backlash would kill you too. You know there’s a reaction to the caster when using the light of annihilation, right?”

Jade, looking only at Saph, said, “Couldn’t we just destroy it with Ruby’s power?”

“I can destroy anything,” Ruby boasted.

Ruby stood with her foot on Krauks’s head as she responded.

Jade recalled the various myths and legends that Daniel had shared with her and said, “In the old tales, when the master perishes, so does everything else.”

“Isn’t that actually more difficult to get rid of? If Byphel is the master, right?” Saf asked.

Though unintended, her indifferent tone made Krauks anxious. Jade noticed this and deliberately mimicked her tone, speaking slowly, “It’s written that the ownership can be transferred. So now, Krauks becomes the master of this hellgate.”

Leaving the hellgate where it was, Jade turned back to Krauks. His head writhed, trying to crawl towards his body. The headless body was also inching towards where the head lay.

It was a horrific sight, but Ruby’s presence made it less frightening.

“Where do you think you’re going? Stay put. Otherwise, I’ll shove this head right up your—”

At his words, both Krauks’s head and body froze. Ruby burst into laughter.

Jade, preparing for any eventuality, stopped about five steps away and asked, “Has Byphel ever appeared before you?”

“Just kill me. See what happens to this hellgate after I’m dead,” Krauks growled.

‘He’s bluffing. But it’s hard to tell where the lies end and the bravado begins,’ Ruby thought as he rolled the head with his foot, threateningly.

“You’d better answer. Do you want me to do what I said earlier? Even a demon would want a clean death, right?”

Still, he did not respond.

“Alright, let’s see if you won’t talk even now.” As Ruby reached to pick up the head, Jade stopped him.

“That’s enough, Ruby. He won’t talk even if you do that.”

“Weren’t we supposed to learn a lot from this guy?”

“True. But even if he talks, there’s no guarantee he’s telling the truth.”

“So what now?”

“I’ve thought of another way.”

Jade opened the book.

“I was only taught that this book’s power was to annihilate demons. But that’s because I didn’t listen to more of what Father Daniel wanted to teach. He never forced his teachings on those who didn’t want to learn.”

Jade read the passage for Krauks’s annihilation and simultaneously found and read another passage. Instead of the white light that destroys demons, a golden light burst forth.

“While releasing Ruby’s shackles, I discovered that the annihilation book had other functions. You said it yourself, didn’t you? That this is magic. I’ve been ranting about not believing in gods while vaguely thinking of this book as a holy power bestowed by a deity. I unconsciously considered reading it backward or mixing the words as a sacrilege. But if I think of it as a book of magic, the story changes.”

Jade spoke with conviction about his realization.

“I could have used this power as I wished from the very beginning.”

“Did you come up with this after seeing me mix the light’s power…?” Saf inquired.

“Yes. Thanks to that, I was able to release Ruby’s shackles.”

Jade looked at Ruby’s shackles that had fallen to the ground and continued, “The power of annihilation was just the basics. While freeing Ruby, I learned that the power of binding exists too. And seeing Saf, I realized that two powers can be mixed.”

Ruby asked with curious eyes, “So what happens then?”

“If I’m correct, I can capture this creature’s soul. But I don’t know what side effects might occur during the process. So Ruby…”

Jade spoke in a significant tone.

“…if something goes wrong, cut off my wrist.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in shock.

“Cut off your wrist? Did I hear that right?”

“You have good ears.”

Jade grasped Krauks’s head with his golden-glowing hand.

Like when he used the light of annihilation, the flesh burned away, and black smoke swirled in front of Jade’s hand.

“Go ahead. Kill me. Annihilate me! I’ll curse you forever from hell…”

Soon, Krauks’s scream-like voice faded away.

Krauks’s distant body also turned golden and burned faster than the head, quickly evaporating. Unlike the head, no black vapor formed from the body.

Where the head had evaporated, black smoke swirled the size of a pumpkin. A loud wind pushed against Jade, feeling like a massive beast was charging with its head.

Fearing that the pumpkin-sized smoke would fall on him if he fell backward, he stubbornly resisted.

Seeing Jade groan, Ruby asked quickly, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Is something wrong? Should I cut the wrist? Should I cut it now?”

“No! It’s working correctly!”

Saf shouted in his stead.

“How do you know?”

“Look. The demon’s soul, evaporated by the light of annihilation, is coalescing before the priest’s hand.”

“A soul? How would I know that? It looks nothing more than wet logs burning!”

The smoke, once the size of a pumpkin, shrank to the size of an apple and, as time passed, condensed into the size of a coin. As it grew smaller, the pressure pushing it outwards intensified inversely.

Jade clenched her teeth and endured.

“Be careful, Father. If you lose your concentration, it might explode.”

Saph analyzed the situation with a cool head.

Jade was indeed worried about just that. Time was running out. It was time for the final experiment.

“I ask thee, what is thy name?” A voice bearing Kraukus’s tone answered from the black sphere.

“Kraukus.”

‘Good. Even in a state of only a soul, it can speak.’

Jade continued to question.

“Who entrusted thee with the gates of hell?”

“By Phel.”

It was assumed that in a pure soul state, complex thoughts like lying would be impossible, and so far, this had proven true. Now, all the truths Kraukus knew could be extracted.

The problem was time. The pressure was mounting.

Jade hurriedly asked.

“What is the purpose of the gates of hell?”

“To release demons.”

“Are all the demons of the Red Desert from within there?”

“Yes.”

“When did By Phel give you that?”

“Three years ago.”

“Did By Phel appear before you in person?”

“Yes.”

Jade’s eyes widened, and she glanced at Ruby and Saph before asking again.

“What did he look like?”

The round sphere, resembling a coin or a marble, began to wriggle, and the pressure transmitted to the hand intensified.

Ruby whispered as if giving a hint.

“Does that thing, even in its current state, feel repulsion to telling the truth?”

Kraukus’s voice answered.

“A woman… a beautiful woman… more akin to an angel than a demon…”

“Is there another gate of hell like the one in this mountain?”

“There is.”

The golden light flowing from Jade’s hand gradually faded. She did not know what would happen when the light disappeared.

“Where is it?”

“North.”

“Where in the north?”

Jade asked quickly. The black sphere, indifferent to Jade’s urgency, answered slowly.

“The Dark Forest.”

“The exact location?”

“I do not know.”

“Where is By Phel now?”

“I do not know.”

“How is the gate of hell destroyed?”

“By eliminating its master…”

The black sphere finally lost its spherical shape and began to bubble and reach towards Jade’s hand.

Saph shouted.

“Father, hurry. You must convert it to the light of annihilation.”

Jade hesitated.

‘No. There’s still so much to ask.’

At that moment, the black sphere opened like the maw of a beast, ready to devour Jade’s hand. Then, Ruby swiftly reached out and grasped the writhing black smoke.

“What are you hesitating for? Finish it quickly! Otherwise, I’ll cut off your hand!”

Ruby threatened.

“Father Daniel…”

Jade swallowed all her questions and instead blurted out the question she had hoped all along was a lie, that Saph was mistaken.

“…Is it true that you killed him?”

“I killed him.”

Jade glared at the sphere for a brief moment.

And then she recited the passage of annihilation.

In the very short moment when the golden light from her palm faded, the black sphere held by Ruby’s hand stretched out like sticky glue.

As white light emanated again from Jade’s hand, the black sphere completely evaporated. Not a trace of Kraukus or Yol remained in Ruby’s hand.

Rubbing her hands together, Ruby said,

“Ah, it feels like I’ve touched filth again.”