Alcesto and others arrived at the hellish land of Otrov, with the help of Deces's ability. It was the land of the hellish god, Vergif Otrov. He was one of the 11 generals of Navertozwein. He was the god of poison. The land on which they entered looked was burning. It was not fire, it was some kind of magical acidic substance. The ground was hard, but completely green. Even the air at Otrov's hellish land seemed to be poisonous. Everything was of a colour formed by mixing the darkest chemicals of yellow and green colour. Even the sky was of dark yellow colour. The horizon, where a castle was situated, looked like the venom of the legendary hellish snake, the SARAPAM. The colour of the horizon completely blended with the colour of the castle. The colour of the stones used in building the castle was almost indescribable. It didn't looked like the stones' colour, it looked like the black stones were covered in the chemical colour of dark yellow and dark green mixture. There were around fifty higher demons guarding the castle. It would take atleast fifty A ranked slayer to slay all the higher demons present there.
After objecting the hellish territory of Vergif Otrov, Vanzel ordered Jae-Hyuk,
"Jae-Hyuk! Please use your Earth elemental magic to create a wide pathway from this portal to the castle gate. I am afraid that our armours, however strong the may be, they will melt in this magical acid -"
Before Vanzel could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Alcesto. Alcesto said,
"Aah! I remembered just now! Some people of our team are able to levitate, so ya needn't make the path wider. I, Schwartz and Deces can use our internal energy to freely levitate in the air. By the way, if Deces can do it, then it means that Vanzel would also be able to do it! Right, Vanzel?"
Vanzel looked deeply in Alcesto's eyes and replied,
"*Sighs* Yeah, I can levitate with the help of my demonic and godly energy, but... The air on this land is poisonous! Can't you see?! Our time limit would be ten seconds maximum! If you wanna go, you are free to go. But remember, before reaching the castle, you'll fall into that poisonous magical acid."
Alcesto and Schwartz paid attention to his words. Jae-Hyuk came forward and asked,
"So... Should I start the work?"
Schwartz interrupted him. Schwartz said,
"Please wait a moment, Jae-Hyuk." He turned to Vanzel and asked,
"Do you think that the demonic army which is guarding the castle, waiting to slaughter us, would be easily defeated? If yes, then please tell me your plan. Because I think that we won't be having an easy time encountering the huge army on the bridge, since they would definitely rush towards us."
"Don't worry, I have a plan." Vanzel said.
"So... What's that plan of yours?" Alcesto asked.
"Let Jae-Hyuk create the pathway. If the acid can melt our armour, then it will melt the ground without any difficulty. As we will keep on walking, Jae-Hyuk will keep on creating a new layer of ground, on every step. I and Alcesto will take the lead, and Jae-Hyuk would be walking in between of us. Since we are clashing with a hellish god of poison, we will be needing Jae-Hyuk with us. Upon reaching the land, I and Alcesto will fly towards the castle, holding Jae-Hyuk. This would not take much time, since we will be on the land. As you all already know that it takes one A rank slayer to slay one higher demon, you all will have no difficulty in defeating them since you all are already SS rank. That's it. Does anyone has any problems with the plan?"
Nobody had any problem with the plan, except one person, he was Jae-Hyuk. Standing between his friend circle, he slowly raised his hand and said,
"Uh, I... Have a little problem."
As everyone looked at him, Vanzel asked,
"May I know what it is?"
"Y-yes. Can I trust you guys completely? Can I trust that I won't fall mid-air and get melted in the magical acid?" Hey, hey, hey, hey! Please tell!"
That's how Jae-Hyuk's personality was. He is usually a carefree and friendly person, but he gets worked up over smallest of the things. He had a traumatic childhood.When he was just a seven years old kid, he lost his parents.
17 YEARS AGO
Jae-Hyuk's mother was a single parent. His father had passed away a few days after his birth, and as a result, he became a primary target of bullying.
"Hey, I heard that your father died after a week of your birth?"
"Hey, there are rumors about you being a cursed demon or something."
"Hey,are you truly cursed?"
"Hey-"
"Stop it! This has nothing to do with Jae-Hyuk! You guys are just preying on the weak!"
"Shit! It's Kyung-Soon! Runaway!"
While the bullies teased him by circulating nasty rumours about Jae-Hyuk being cursed, Kyung Soon always stood for him. She was his class representative, and an apartment neighbour of Jae-Hyuk. She had always been a mature woman, who had great traits of leadership. She cared for every student of her school. But, she paid extra attention to her neighbour, Jae-Hyuk. It was something that she did on a instinct. However bullied Jae-Hyuk may get, he never felt weak in his heart for even a second. It was because of his mother's love and Kyung-Soon's support.
Then, that dark night arrived. It was a quit night. Much more quiter than other nights. That day, a sudden fire broke in his apartment. It was summer vacation. Kyung-Soon had gone to visit her grandparents. In the fire, everyone at the apartment passed away, except Jae-Hyuk. He was protected by his mother. When his room started burning, his mom protected him by the falling debris. Till the firefighters arrived, it was already very late. His mother had already passed away due to a huge piece of rock falling on her spine. The cause of the fire remained unknown till this date. However, in some reports it was stated that the fire was caused by a teenage boy, who was almost an adult, but he was never caught.
After this incident, he became really weak. His heart was broken and his personality changed. He thought that he is really a cursed demon. He started thinking that what happened to his parents was his fault. He was on a path of destruction. His mind was about to break, until he was saved by Kyung-Soon. He was adopted by her mother. He started reforming after listening to the story of a brave hero, Wang Lei, by Kyung-Soon's mouth. His twisted mindset was corrected by Kyung-Soon and soon, he became a very popular student of school.
PRESENT DAY
While he was losing his mind, Alcesto assured him. Alcesto said,
"Hey! Do you have any idea what are you saying?! We have put our faith in you and that's why we took you on this deadly journey of ours. If we want to make a huge bond, then we have to trust each other!"
"I know that! I know that... But! I am asking that can I trust y'all ability?! Will y'all both be able to carry me till that creepy lookin' castle!"
"You!-"
Alcesto was interrupted by Kyung-Soon. She came in their between and said to Alcesto,
"Let me handle him."
She moved towards Jae-Hyuk, and held his shoulders with both of her hands. She looked in her eyes and said,
"Jae-Hyuk. Believe in me. If you will believe in me, you will start trusting their abilities because I trust them and their abilities. Their stories are filled with impossibilities, but they made those impossibilities come true. They have the power of making impossible, possible."
After she finished her sentence, Jae-Hyuk came to his senses. He found his previous actions guilty and apologized from them. He said,
"I'm really sorry for showin' y'all such a rude behaviour. To pay for my actions, I will start forming that pathway with my Earth elemental magic!"
____TO BE CONTINUED____