"GASP!"
I wake up with a gasp, seeing the worried faces of Ella and Grover looming over me.
"Luis, what happened?!" Ella cries as she helps me to my feet.
"I don't know…" I answer as Grover helps me to my feet as well. "What did happen?"
"You drew your fathers sword, then slipped unconscious right after and began talking to yourself," Grover explains once I'm on my feet at last.
"What did I say?" I ask.
"I'm not sure," Ella answers. "Honestly…it was pretty difficult to follow along."
"Whatever, that doesn't matter," I reply as I turn back to face Ella. "What really matters now, is that I know how to close the portal to Hell."
Ella's eyes widen. "Really?!" She cries. "How?!"
"How did you falling asleep translate to you all of a sudden learning how to close the Portal to Hell?" Grover snarkily asks as he raises an eyebrow at me.
"Long story," I answer as I turn to face Grover, before turning back to face Ella. "First off, you and I need to enter Hell-" I begin to say, but Grover cuts me off.
"WHAT?!" He cries. "That's too dangerous!"
"For what we need to do…it's the only way," I answer. "From then on, I must use my Air Control to take control of all the Cursed Power in Hell, then shift it over to you, Ella, so that you can use your extra-powerful Demon Seal Eye to seal the Portal to Hell off for good."
"But how will we leave Hell once the portal is sealed?" Ella nervously asks.
"That's where you come in, Grover," I answer as I turn around to face Grover again with a smirk. "I know that this is a lot to ask of you…but will you enter Hell with Ella and I, so you can teleport us out of it once the portal is closed?"
An ecstatic grin spreads across Grover's face.
"DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT I WOULD SAY NO?!' Grover booms. "YOU'RE LOOKING AT ME, GROVER BRADSHAW, SLAYER MIDORI, SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SLAYER ORGANIZATION AND FUTURE CHAIRMAN, AND IT'S MY DUTY TO PROTECT ALL OF THE PRO SLAYERS AND CITIZENS UNDER ME!"
"I knew I could count on you, Grover!" I laugh in response.
"But how do you know that Grover can even teleport us out of Hell once we're inside?!" Ella cries.
"I don't," I answer as I turn to face Ella with a smirk, causing her eyes to widen.
"How do you know we won't die?!"
"I don't!"
"How do you-" Ella frantically asks, but I cut her off.
"Ella, I won't force you to do this if you don't want to," I say. "This is my job, not yours, and I'm just dragging you into this mess. If my brother was able to seal all of demonkind away in Hell without the help of the Demon Seal Eye, I'm sure that I can too."
Ella stares at the ground in silence for a moment, trembling away.
"No…" Ella then softly says, her voice shaking with fear. "You…Grover… everyone…everyone just seems so determined to fight, and become something great. But me…when the Chairman sent me to heal you, Luis, I just…froze up. If it wasn't for Grover, I don't think I ever would have even gone and you would have died. Everyone would have died. "But-" Ella then turns to face me again, a new confident expression on her face, which washes away her fear. Ella then reaches up and rips off her black eyepatch, causing me to smile. "-I'm done living like that! You need me to help close up the Portal to Hell! Sealing the Cursed Power of demons is my ability, not yours, so this is my job!"
"Alright, Ella!" I cheer as I clap my hands together. "Well then gang…shall we go?"
"Yes!"
"HELL YEAH!"
"Right…" I reply as I turn to face the Portal to Hell with a smirk. I then take a step forwards towards the Portal to Hell, as Ella takes a step forwards on my left, and Grover takes a step forwards on my right.
I take a deep breath in…then out, my entire body trembling from fear. I then feel something tenderly grab my right hand, as I turn to face Ella, who turns back to face me and flashes me a sweet smile, causing me to blush. With a newfound confidence surging through me, I turn back to face the Portal to Hell again.
"Well then, gang," I begin to say. "The three of us started off our journeys together, and now…we'll end it together."
"LET'S GO!"
"RIGHT!"
And then…Ella, Grover, and I, leap into the Portal to Hell…"
***
Open leaping through the Portal to Hell, Ella, Grover, and I then find ourselves transported into an icy tundra wasteland.
"So this is Hell…?" I ask as I look around. "I always expect it to be…hotter?"
"Well this is only one of the circles of Hell," Ella explains. "I'm sure that the other circles are much different."
"True," I reply.
"So which Circle of Hell are we at, anyway?" Grover asks.
"Judging by the strength of the Cursed Power here…I'd say the Ninth," I answer.
"So where do we need to go for this whole closing-up-the-Portal-to-Hell plan?" Grover asks.
"Right here is fine," I answer before drawing my dad's katana and stabbing it into the ground, its blade piercing the ice below us. I then grab the hilt of my dad's katana as my dark-blue Cursed Power explodes out of my body. Slowly, I open my eyes as I resume my half-demon mode. "Here goes nothing…"
"Air Control…"
"Apex Curse Master."
I begin emitting my Cursed Power into Hell's atmosphere hundreds of feet in every direction at once, extending my net of Cursed Power into each and every nook and cranny of Hell, taking control of each and every last droplet within it, just as I did the first time when I was caught up in Jay's hurricane during the IJST.
"Woah…" Ella marvels as she stares at my giant burst of Cursed Power, which begins glowing all of the colors of the rainbow as it mixes with each and every last molecule of Cursed Power in all Nine Circles of Hell.
"ELLA!" I boom. "GET OVER HERE!"
"Right!" Ella replies as she hustles over to me.
"GROVER!" I boom. "OPEN UP YOUR WORMHOLE!"
"Right!" Grover replies as he opens up a spiraling light green wormhole behind us. "Hit it, Luis!"
"Not yet…" I grunt. "I still need more Cursed Power!"
But then…we hear a series of howls come from in front of us, and I look up to see an army of demons charging towards Ella, Grover, and I.
"Oh crap!" I cry.
"Don't worry!" Grover booms as he draws his kunai knives and teleports over to the demons. "I'll take care of this!"
Grover then begins teleporting around, striking the demons with Cursed Power reinforced kicks, slashes from his knives, and bright green emissions of Cursed Power. But there are too many demons for Grover to deal with, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed.
With a roar, one demon slams its fist into Grover's face, sending the boy flying backwards as a burst of blood explodes from his nose.
"GROVER!" I cry.
"Oh no…" Ella whimpers.
"That's it, I'm helping him!" I cry as my rainbow burst of Cursed Power slowly begins to dissipate.
I begin to take a step over to Grover, but that's when grover booms: "NO," causing me to pause. "You need to focus your Cursed Power on closing the Portal to Hell. If you don't…we all die!"
"But Grover-" I begin to say, but Grover cuts me off again.
"Don't…help me…" Grover grunts as he struggles to push himself back up to his feet. "You guys closing the Portal to Hell is more important than my life, so if I have to die saving the world…so be it…that's the duty of the Pro Slayer Organization's Chairman…!"
"Grover…" I softly say. I then wipe my eyes, wiping away my look of concern as my confident expression returns. "Right!" I then focus on taking control of all of Hell's Cursed Power again, as my rainbow burst of Cursed Power intensifies.
Grover continues teleporting around, striking the demons with Cursed Power reinforced kicks, slashes from his knives, and bright green emissions of Cursed Power, but just as before, there are too many demons for Grover to deal with, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed.
A group of demons then pounces on top of Grover, who howls in pain as the demons sink their fangs and claws deep into Grover's flesh, which begins leaking blood.
"GROVER!" Ella and I cry.
"I don't suppose that you're ready yet, Luis?" Ella asks.
"No," I answer. "If we try to close the Portal to Hell with the amount of Cursed Power we have now, we'll lose our only shot at victory."
The rest of the demons then surround Ella and I and begin closing in on us, claws and fangs outstretched and ready to tear into our flesh.