Story 66. From Hell to Another Hell (4)

Chapter 113

Fatima wasn’t alone. At first, I was sure she would be coming down from the harem, but I began to think that she might have come up from the underground city. It was because, behind her, countless pale and sickly-looking men followed her, wearing worn clothes.

“T, those people are…?”

I guess I didn’t dream what I saw. Those people must really live in the underground city. I realized that my sword was safely inside my scabbard. Where did I find this? How did I lose it, to begin with? Thinking that I must be imagining things again, I rubbed my eyes, but nothing changed. These strange figures approached us, and I could hear them whispering, “The Mission… Save us… Isnilen…”

They were enormous, white, bug-like people. They were the corpses who were protecting the giant stone door. As they came closer to the metal cage, they began to look pained. White cloud-like materials, I suspected they may be their souls, escaped their bodies, and floated up.

Their physical bodies crumbled into nothingness, and the white material floated up to the cage and disappeared with a bright light.

Puff!

Suddenly, different scenes appeared in the ceiling like an illusion. Some looked too vague, while another looked like the capital in Alincha. One scene looked like a destroyed small colony. There also was a scene that looked like Hwen or a place similar to it. It was covered in snow.

These were the memories of this world.

“Carlos Isnilena!”

“Long live the goddess!”

I was about to say something about the scenes above us, but Camille covered my mouth with his hand. He explained what was happening with the white figures, “We needed someone who can take the blame for the earthquake again. My brother doesn’t want his men to be confused and fearful of this strange phenomenon. He will just tell them that it was an attack from the Hwenians again.”

“…”

“Don’t feel sad for them. These people want death. They have been dying over and over again for eternity because it is their mission, and they are in so much pain. They want a true permanent death. The kind where you get buried, and your life truly ends for real. They want to become freed from this place. That is why they are here to volunteer to take the blame…”

They looked so weak that there were only one or two who seemed strong enough to climb up the stairs. They were trembling and shaking as they seemed to lose their souls, which floated for Isnilen to absorb. The process became faster and faster.

Camille let me go, and I stared for a while before standing up.

“So are we just going to watch? We are going to let this happen?”

“What else can we do…”

“But if these people go up to Minurd, they will be executed as Hwenian intruders like the last man! The soldiers will beat them to death by the order from the warrior!”

I couldn’t stand still. I knew in my head that there was no other solution. Even if I stopped them from leaving this place… I knew what kind of life they led until now and what awaited them if they stayed. They will repeatedly die as Isnilen absorbs their essences with every death and makes him brighter.

Wasn’t this a shameful exploitation of these poor people?

There was nothing any of us could do. We had to let it happen helplessly. Thus, we watched quietly as the people followed Fatima upstairs. At least, these people looked ecstatic as if they were escaping hell.

“Ohhh… Thank you so much for this… We, the humble men with a mission, do not deserve such kindness… Thank you…”

It was the voice of an old man. He would be killed and buried, and I wondered if he was truly happy about what would happen. Camille, who has also been watching quietly, murmured, “Hawaki tried to use this world somehow.”

“Pardon?”

Before he could continue, the girl came towards us, holding a lantern and explained in his stead in a dark voice, “Meanwhile, Akarid refused to accept any explanation of this world other than his own interpretation. If things didn’t work out his way, he would become furious and lash out at everyone. How about Acamille, who just watched as a bystander and didn’t do anything to help? He was sympathetic, but he didn’t do anything. He just watched.”

“W-what are you…”

The prince looked at me sadly and answered, “Juya, I have witnessed this since I was 10 years old, but I still don’t understand… I don’t know what to do… So don’t you think it makes sense that I wouldn’t know what love is?”

Confused, I looked up and saw that the cage was burning much brighter than before with a slow pulse.

The prophet said to Camille, “Hey, Abandoned Prince? This isn’t the time to enjoy your beautiful memory of the past, right? It’s so hard to wait. Too long time… In the past, a good boy who would go to save that one person… But if you are too late, it can’t be done.” The prophet was talking nonsense again. Camille looked up and said something in Hwenian, “???”

The prophet replied in the same language, and before he was done, the boy prince began to explain, “I will tell you the gist of it. The creator made this place. He also made the souls of the saviors who could sustain this world and the priests who could maintain this secret. The people outside lived richly and comfortably with the divine power, and to make this happen, the people here were given the mission to die painful deaths.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t really understand what this all means, either. I was just told this by the prophet, that’s all. He said that if I wanted to free at least some of these people from their horrible fate, I should lead them out as soon as possible… I wanted to say goodbye to you, Juya, so I asked him to wait for a little while for me.”

I couldn’t understand why this had to be the only solution. I asked, “But if what you want is for these people to die permanently, why not just tell the people of Minurd what is happening here so the soldiers could descend and kill them all? Kill them all and bury them. It is what these people really want…”

I felt awkward talking about people’s death so carelessly, but I meant well. The Alinchan prince smiled bitterly and shook his head. The prophet said something, and the prince interpreted for me.

“Nothing is free in this world, Juya. A comfortable, abundant life in our world… It only can be maintained if these priests continue to sacrifice their lives.”

“…”

The prophet added, “Of course, you don’t have to worry. The priestess is already afraid. Blood from the neck everywhere… I let her live, and it was tough to convince her, but I did… I made it my mission to do what’s wrong, and the end of the holy land will happen slowly in the future. Isnilen is consciousness, and just destroying the consciousness wouldn’t mean immediate death… Haha…”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean?”

The prince said, “Juya… I told him I would be a bystander. Maybe someday, if I was as honorable as you believed me to be, I would be able to decide Minurd’s fate on my own, but for now…”

Camille stood up and added, “If it does happen, it will not be any time soon.”

Fatima waved at him, and Camille began to walk away from me.

“There is no time. Juya, go ahead. The soldiers will be busy for a little while executing these men, so you need to leave now. You need to get away from this place. Go as far away from here as you can.”

I stood up. Would this be the beginning of my escape?