Chương 26: Toward the Underworld

Having finally resolved to leave Empyrean Peaks, Nerez and Cerys now stood outside the city's gigantic gates.

"At least I had enough left to buy provisions," Nerez said, holding a small leather pouch filled with what looked like some kind of nuts.

"To think, one of these can keep you going all day without food or water." [Skytree Nut] [Grows only on trees above the clouds.]"I don't want to live off those alone..." Cerys complained beside him.

"Of course we can find some kind of food along the way, but..." Both of them looked down as the stairs descending the colossal mountain disappeared into the clouds.

"I think it's going to be several days of nothing but walking down stairs..." Cerys sighed, discouraged.

"There's no helping it. I didn't have enough to buy any kind of transportation." Nerez crossed his arms.

"But I'm sure we should already be able to travel some other way!" Cerys protested, throwing her arms up.

"Some other way?"

"I don't know... But that stuck-up Selene can travel through moonlight. That's how she left, after all."

"Well, that's true, physically impossible as it may seem..." Besides, moonlight is supposed to be reflected sunlight... Well, by now I've learned not to question the logic of worlds where magic exists.

"Mumumu... But that's exactly why you should be able to do something like that too!"

"That's easier said than done..."

"If we had a ferryman, we wouldn't have these problems!" Cerys complained, stomping on the white step.

"The river of death runs through the whole world, doesn't it?" Oh, a skill like that did show up as an option once. I didn't know it could actually do that...

"Nerez, you can sense the river of death now, right?" Cerys asked.

"Can't you do something with that?"

"I repeat my previous statement: that's easier said than done... but all right, let me try." Nerez formed a mental image of the shining river running through Eryndea like the roots of a tree beneath the earth.

"Mmm... wait... what's this?" He could sense not only the river, but also small passages opening and closing in the darkness, linking it to the surface. [New Skill Acquired!]"Huh?!" The unexpected message from the Godscript made Nerez jump, startling Cerys beside him as well.

"What happened?! Did you find something?!" [Veiled Trail]"I had no idea I could acquire skills this way..."

"What skill?! What skill?!" If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Calm down a little, Cerys. I'm checking right now..."

"Tch..." [Veiled Trail] [Even souls must travel. These are the hidden passages known only to the dead.]"It looks like it's the kind of skill you wanted..."

"Really?!"

For Nerez, it turned out to be a fairly intuitive skill to use. Maybe that was because of all his travels between lives. The problem was that the moment a soul reached the river of death, the path started fading from that exit onward, so they couldn't use the skill to reach the underworld directly. On the other hand, it could take them to any trail that existed at that moment, which made it quite convenient.

"So this is a 'Veiled Trail'?" Cerys asked from behind him.

"And where exactly is it supposed to take us?" It was a dark tunnel. There was nothing there but the two of them and the thick mist all around.

"Thanks to my connection with the river of death, I can sense the entrances to the underworld. Didn't I already explain that part to you?..."

"Yes, yes, I know! I mean specifically where..."

"Well, it's not as though I know the name of any place in this world besides Empyrean Peaks. I don't even think they have names yet. The only thing I can say for sure is that we're heading toward the nearest entrance... I hope."

"You hope?"

"Well, it's not like I've used this service before... Besides, from what I understood, these tunnels only open when someone or something dies, so that's where we'll appear," Nerez explained, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"In other words, we won't arrive exactly at our destination, but rather at the death closest to that destination..."

"Hmm... Nerez, look! There's a light!" Through the fog, a tiny point of light began to appear in the distance.

"The light at the end of the tunnel, but in reverse." Besides, I think I know what the real light they're talking about is... The light kept growing larger, and it wasn't long before they passed through it. It blinded them for a few moments, but when they were finally able to open their eyes, they found themselves in wide grasslands, with the warmth of the sun, the breeze on their cheeks, and screams of suffering and horror all around them.

"Ooooh!"

"..." In front of them lay the body of a middle-aged man split in half. In the distance, people could be seen running while being chased by a group of what looked like giant two-legged reptiles. These reptiles had a sharp blade at the tip of their tails, which they used mercilessly to attack what seemed to be a group of humans. But Nerez couldn't be sure of anything, because their hair colors were quite different from what he was used to. Or rather, they looked more like what he had been getting used to lately.

Besides the usual colors, there were people with pink, green, blue hair, and more...

"Not very different from Empyrean Peaks... well, they're missing the aura its inhabitants have... and for some reason everyone in Empyrean Peaks looks like a supermodel. Life is unfair to mortals." [Human]"Ah, so they are humans after all..." A holographic window from the Godscript had answered him on its own.

"Bah! They're just monsters... and super weak... let's get out of here already." Beside him, Cerys, who for some reason had gotten excited all on her own, had now lost that enthusiasm after checking her own Godscript.

"I have absolutely no interest in getting myself into more trouble, but maybe I should do something for that group of people..." Cerys looked at him as if she had just heard the strangest thing in the universe.

"They're mortals... mortals die, don't they? Of old age, from disease, in wars, cut down by lizards with knives..."

"Lizards with knives... But weren't we the ones who brought them to this inhospitable land? I feel somewhat responsible..."

"You only connected the path back to the Silver Sea... and almost no souls return there. If you let them reincarnate, they'll do it in Eryndea."

"Me? Let them reincarnate...? I'll leave that aside for now... More importantly, I think this would leave a bad taste in my mouth too."

"When mortals die, they just go to the underworld. It's not like they disappear or anything!" Cerys pointed out, jabbing a finger toward the bloody spectacle in the distance.

"If you feel that sorry for them, make their stay there more comfortable or something!"

"Mmm..."

"You're the god of death! The more mortals die, the better! The underworld grows stronger!"

"I don't really need to become any stronger right now..."

"..."

"I've made up my mind. Those innocent humans can die as many times as they want... as long as I'm not watching."

"Grr... Ugh, do whatever you want!" Cerys let out a long sigh and crossed her arms.

"You're the master, after all."

"Look, if it ever comes to that, I'll personally lead the armies of the underworld to lay waste to Eryndea, all right? We'd just be moving them to a different neighborhood, after all."

"Okay... you'd better..." I can't even imagine what kind of situation would lead to that. I don't even know what armies I'm talking about, but if it makes her happy...

"Very well, then let's go help those poor fools." The truth was that one of the first groups of humans in Eryndea would soon find itself surrounded by something far more terrifying than reptiles with blades, on a day that would be recorded in the history of their nascent civilization.