Beyond the Red Gates that opened with a snails pace and what sounded like rusted-up hinges, the doors managed to open three quarters of the way, leaving deep gouges in the dirt. The centuries walked in, and once they had passed into the secure boundaries of the level, the grand doors closed just as loudly and just as fast as they had opened. Upon entering the place, a desolate desert was covered with destroyed Arabic-looking buildings and empty marketplace stalls; some had been broken down and lay half buried. Upside down, crosses and flayed souls were scattered throughout the desert landscape. They heard and felt a loud, rhythmic, thunderous drumbeat that shook the entire floor. Huge twenty-foot elephants that had reigns with big chains kept vast six-foot tents that housed over two hundred people on the backs of their own mammoth backs. Every soul was having uncontrollable sexual relations with demons and each other. The lustful souls who overtly embraced passion in their old lives were sent to never stop. Priests could be seen bent over in pillories and completely nude. Demons whipped and humiliated them after defiling their anal cavities. One priest was reaching out, asking for help, but Alex just turned his face. When Alex looked closer, he saw that they were not having sex, but demons would torture them and use phallus-like objects with razor-sharp metal spikes to penetrate men’s anal cavities, along with womem. The screams that would emerge would send chills down Alex’s spine. He managed to push the screaming away from his thoughts.
“Oh god, that’s foul”. Said Alex, “I think I'm going to throw up; look closely”, Pointing to the elephants now walking away in the distance. The winds had picked up.
"Yes, for there are sins on earth after lusting after the flesh”. Virgil began, “They are forced to be forever raped for their sins”.
Alex knew that if he had been able to go to hell, then this was probably the place where he would end up. He looked up and saw that Virgil was waiting for him, so he ran to catch up.
“Holy shit, hell is a foul place”. Alex said, as he was having a hard time in the sand.
"You thought hell was a picknick. Well, I'm sorry to inform you that it's a desert in another dimension". Virgil said it jokingly.
Alex and Virgil all walked on through the debris; he thought he saw small creatures lurking in the abounded shops. The darkness provided enough cover for the little demon creatures that were the size of a rat. Their green eyes faded when they reached darker areas and disappeared completely.
“Hey Virgil, what can you tell me about what lives here”? Alex asked.
“Beside the great elephants, just rats”. He replied.
“And who controls this domain of Gahanna”? Alex asked. “Can you describe the place she lives or rules from”?
“This region is under the control of Asmodeus”. He said. "If my memory serves me correctly, she is close to the mountainous border that she had her castle built into”.
Alex looked into the what looked to be rough ridges jutting from the far side of the circle. He looked at himself and back at the tiny mountains in the distance.
“So when you say we are going to a castle, we really are going hundreds of miles away”? Alex said.
"Oh, did I not mention they’re thousands of miles away”. He said it smugly.
As the elephants marched in the opposite direction, their footprints were left behind. They were deep to Alex’s waist, who stood five feet seven inches. He had white hair that was once jet black. He could decide to change the color if he wanted, but why? He had on his blue jeans and steel-toed sneakers. He asked the armorer what he wanted, and this was it. The blue athletic shirt kept his body temperature nice and cool from the hot desert sun that was never-ending. The width of the prints was five feet. They were covered more and more the further they traveled towards the now-taller mountains. They walked along the tops of the dunes. That had been flattened; they still created sink holes, but everyone stayed on high alert.
"Virgil, how come I never hear you talk about your life here in hell”. Alex asked the poet.
The tall, slender guide stopped and turned to Alex, who stood about three feet from him. Virgil just looked at him with a stern, hard face.
“Somethings are just best left unsaid”. Replied Virgil, “Even this trip, would you want to remember your journey through such a place”?
He then continued to walk and left Alex thinking. A cold chill creeped up his metallic-nodded spine. He just continued to walk along with Virgil for a while. In the distance, screams could be heard far off. Alex saw more souls, but this time they had been crucified thirty feet in the air.
“What did these souls do? Why are they crucified”? Alex asked as he looked on.
“These souls are more clergy who use their high positions to take advantage of anyone”. He said he was placing a hand on Alex’s shoulders and guiding him forward.
The small village was made up of crumbled buildings for the souls who had been on the run. They consisted mostly of five men and six women. The men were around the same height, at five feet eight. The women were more or less around the same height. They had rags that they had fashioned into loincloths. The women had covered their breasts. The materials they had looked to have demon blood on them. When the centurion had marched into the small village, the occupants had hidden themselves and set up traps.
Alex had seen two broken glass shards jump out of the sand and fly straight into his body. With the sickening suction when the glass shards drove deep into his gut, the centuries quickly formed into a square formation around Alex. Two male angels carried Alex closer to the center; he held his gut and pulled the glass out. Blood began to flow freely from the wound, and then the blood stooped and the wound began to heal. Small cells at a microscopic level began to produce at a cancer-level rate, and then when the wound was closed, the cells started to slow and grow at a slow, moderate rate. The blood vessels and internal organs did the same thing. Blood would then proceed to flow through the body.
“Who goes there”? A male figure with a stone spear in hand shouted.
This jumped the soldiers into an attack position, and Alex held a hand up and the angels held into positions.
"Yes, my name is Alex; goddamn that hurst”. He coughed and stood. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone was here”?
“Are you demons”? The male held up the spear in a defensive position. “Tell me..."
He saw the wings of the centurion behind Alex, and he dropped to his knees and began to sob.
“I’m so sorry”. He began to blabber more: "Everyone, come quickly; we have guests”.
Souls began to emerge from other hidden areas. They all came out and began to cautiously explore the group. They still held In defense positions, when Alex told them to relax but still be alert, they shifted to a more relaxed, approachable posture. After the soul stopped crying and managed to speak, he grabbed an angel's hand and held it.
“Did you come down to rescue us”? He asked hopefully, "Please, if not, then help us leave this place and go to heaven”.
Alex managed to pick himself up. He walked to the man and kneeled in front of him. He took off his hand and explained.
"Sorry, I didn’t come here to help you, but if you want to come and join me, then you’re more than welcome”. He said, "Also, you will have to pull your wait around”.
The leader had to think for a minute and look at the rest of the people now forming up behind him. He didn't surrender to his cowardly thoughts anymore; in fact, he proudly clasped his hand to Alex's and looked him in the eyes.
"Yes, we promise. To hold up our side, we have been living here for over three days. Some others have been living in the mountains in caves”. The leader continued, “Some of us have been here since the Roman era; all we want is to live here with you”.
"Well, like I said, if you are willing to help out, my angels will train you”. Alex said.
They all rested in a big building that had been used as temporary housing for the souls there. They had people keeping watch, and it appeared that light was coming from the building. When they walked closer, they could hear people chatting, singing, and celebrating the angels that had come.
“Welcome friends, this is a celebration for you”. Said the leader, "My name is Gauies Julias Ceaser".
"Well, Virgil and Arella, I think we can relax for what looks like a night”. Alex said this to both of them. "And why is there night and day here"?
"Yes, in some circles of hell, the kings and queens like the changing of time”. Arella said as they walked to sit and talk, “The souls that inhabit the circles that have day and night seem to be able to live better than those who see the same thing; they know that they are trapped”.
"Here, I thought the elephants were bad, but I do have to say that being able to see night and day is something that would give me hope”. Alex said it truthfully.
“Yes indeed, but look at it this way”. The poet expressed himself, “Is it really worth looking at a false night sky? Yes, hope is good, but it is futile because the escaped souls will be found and punished. I made that mistake a few times as well”.
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“I actually just wanted to run something by you two”. Alex asked before leaning forward and whispering, “You see, I think I might be able to give these souls a chance to live a second life”.
Alex turned around and saw the leader, who was dressed in a loincloth and dancing like a wild barbarian. Alex held his right hand and motioned for him to come over and talk. The leader danced his way to the trio; he leaped up, dropped to the floor, rolled twice, and then jumped in the air while he spun his small toothpick through the air. He landed, was three feet from the group, and sat on the ground to join.
"Yes, sir,” he said, out of breath.
"Well, I had an idea; you see, I was wondering if you had any contacts with any other souls down here”. Alex said, “Also tell them that anyone who wants to help will be freed”.
"Hmm, well, if I knew of a way to, what makes you think that they would believe you”? Gauies asked.
“The fact that I might consider bringing your souls back to life”. Alex explained, “It may take some time, but I think I can manage it”.
The Gauies was shocked; he had his eyes wide open. He couldn’t believe what he just heard.
“Are you serious? We would get a second chance at life”. The old emperor said
“Yes, but of course I will have to erase your memories”. Alex confessed, “I just want to give you a fresh start, that’s all”.
Alex told him to keep this a secret and to go back and enjoy the party. He saw the leader leave and span back to the two.
"Well, if you don’t mind, but since I’m able to experience exhaustion, I’m going to go and find a corner to sleep for a bit”. Alex got up, walked to the corner, fell to the ground with a thud, and went to sleep.
The two continued their conversation and waited until the next morning. When the simulated sun rose, Alex woke up, and the centuries broke up into groups. The souls stayed with Alex as they went to the castle. The souls led Alex and the angels through a labyrinth of tunnels in the mountains. They eventually led outside, and the souls decided to continue into the mountain. There, they would make their way through the back. Alex had also left them a contubernium to defend them.
Alex and the rest of the centuries walked about three miles to the bridge, then walked over the River Styx. A small stream that seemed to have been dug out led from the River Styx to the castle’s moat. The waters surrounding the castle seemed to go down forever. They appeared to be bottomless, but when he looked closer, he noticed souls had been standing still. Their eeriness was just unnerving to Alex. The castle was sixty feet tall and two thousand feet long, and each brick appeared to be sandblasted. The once-beautiful buildings are now dilapidated. Fifteen towers still stood, overlooking the walls of the castle and, to what seemed like Alex, the rest of the second level. The towers tops had wooden spiked roofs. Moaning could be heard within the castle. Grotesque creatures standing ten feet tall with long, eight-foot tentacles grabbed their souls and used their phalec tentacles to seduce women who used beauty as an object for profit. The windows had been large enough that the demons who were receiving pleasure from these souls had noticed someone spying from outside—a small army of angels, he said.
"Master, look! I see angels have come to join; they even bring a soul”. Said a demon.
From a dark corner, a voice spoke to the demon closets at the door. She hid her demonic form from the view of everyone.
“Bring me their leader; I want to speak with him; send him to the audience chamber”. The dark figure said this from a stone chair with two demon skulls on either side of the chair. “It would be fun to seduce an angel." She said it seductively.
A demon crawled across the ground, where its bottom half of its body was turned in the opposite direction from its top half. The legs wore skinny leather pants with red heels and two protruding green bones that were pointed three inches out from where their knee caps would be. The body was split in its chest, exposing its rib cage; tentacles reached out, extensively reaching fifty feet out. More than sixty tentacles violated male and female bodies. Over and over again. Its tiny head had a single eye that was green with a black slit. Its tongue was protruding from its razor-sharp teeth, licking and tasting a woman’s cunt.
"Yes, mistress, I will do as you command”. He finished pleasuring the women and left to go and bring Alex to the demon.
Outside the castle, Alex had Seraphina, Dina, and Elyon standing right in front of him. The three never made a noise or even moved; they appeared to be like statues. Alex stood right in front of them with a more relaxed posture.
“Ok guys, once we are escorted into the castle, I need you three to go and find Cassandra”. Alex said, “Bring her back to me if possible, unharmed, but if you have to use force, the map says she is an apprentice for the throne of the second level”.
“Yes, Sir”. All three said it in unison.
“Also, if you see the group inside, have them help take the courtyard”. Alex said fast.
The portcullis began to rise. The demon was at the gate, motioning for Alex, Virgil, and the rest of the angels to follow him. The inside of the courtyard had several demons practicing with swords and whipping enslaved souls. The demon led them to a door that was painted red and ascended a circling staircase. The steps were made of stone and echoed with each step the group took.
After ten minutes of climbing the tower, they had reached a door. The demon walked through the door, and loud moans were echoing all around them. Multiple people were having sex with demons and other souls, and a few were actually being tortured in a sexual manner.
“So you are the one who defeated King Midas”. A female voice could be heard from a stone chair. “Tell me, human, what makes you so special that you can just walk through hell”.
“For one, I didn’t defeat the King; he did that himself”. Alex’s voice echoed back to her: "Virgil and two angels did that; I was otherwise occupied with trying to heal my body”.
"Impressive; you remind me of Dante”. She teased Virgil. “Just like he was human when he came down, I sense you are mortal, hahahah”.
As the demon stood up, she walked from the darkness, and he saw her full figure. Her blond hair came down her front, covering her left face. Multiple spiked horns sprang from her head; two of them had three gold earrings, handing off each horn. Her face was pointed, with more horns coming from her forehead. Elf-like wars extend a foot out. Both have two gold rings each. She had a slender body with thick thighs, and black horn-like armor covered her D-size cups down to her naval area. Her arms were skinny, with four spiked horns coming from her shoulders. She had claw-like hands and was sipping a dark red wine-like liquid from a crystal wine glass. As she walked to Alex, his hormonal cortex began to shoot sexual messages to his brain and cock.
“So tell me, human, what makes you quiver”? She said in a seductive voice, "It looks to me that it doesn’t take much to get you aroused”. She walked in a circle to inspect his fit body.
"Listen, Asmodeus, I don’t have time to play with you,” he managed to say. “If we weren’t pressed for time, then I would show you pleasure that even a demon couldn’t fathom”. He looked her in the eyes, almost wanting to rip his clothes and show her who was in charge. A hand from behind him grabbed him by the shoulder with a gentle squeeze. His head began to clear up from the hormonal glands the demon was emitting. “What happened? I fell like my head was about to split in two”.
“It’s ok, Alex; her pheromones are clearing from your head”. The archangel Kasiel said, “Let me handle this, sir”. As he pulled Alex back. He stepped forward and pulled his broadsword from his sheath.
“Oh my, look at this little birdie," she said, laughing as she said it. She too pulled a spike from her thigh and unsheathed a long sword-like blade. The blade extended forty inches from the bone hilt. “If you insist on fighting, then I can entertain this for a while; I never got exercise”. She leaped toward Kasiel.
…..
On the other side of the castle, Seraphina and her three subordinates had flown to the bottommost tower and began to inspect every room in every tower on the southern side. They had just finished the eastern towers and were in the middle of searching them when a huge explosion was heard from the topmost tower. Debris rained down and smashed multiple towers, eventually landing in the courtyard. It had caught her off guard, and she was wondering if it was Alex or another one of her brothers or sisters. She kept her thoughts on the tasks at hand and kept searching for a soul—the map that they had gotten from the giant king. They managed to replicate five copies of the map, and unlike the original map, these showed a general sense of where in the circle a particular soul was. For the original, one only had to think of the soul, and the individual circle would glow and the exact location. Would be glowing once they were in hell.
“Silence, from here on out”. Sera commanded.
“Yes ma’am”. They said it again in unison.
Seraphina and her small group came to a wooden door; she pushed on it, and it opened. Behind the door stood three demons who were sharpening various objects that they used for the souls to skin over and over again. The concept of pain down in the underworld was not as concrete as it was on the mortal plain. The pain here lasted for several years,and yet it was just mere seconds. Flesh that had been carved or ripped off would gradually restore itself, only for the torment to continue.
“Ugh, gross, get them”. Sera ordered when she entered, to their surprise.
“To your left, sister”. One of the angels said,
She dove as one of the demons, holding a war hammer in hand, swung the massive metal cube that was decorated in black soot. The hammer was angled at a forty-degree downward angle. She jumped out of the way with the help of one massive flap of all three wings. She sent herself forward three feet, and behind her, the hammer smashed down to the concrete. Pieces of rock and debris were scattered all over the room. She dropped to the ground and used her legs to kick the demon to the ground. With a blood-curdling snap, his right femur snapped, leaving the bruiser on the ground. She swung around with a scimitar in her hand, looping off the demon's head. It fell into its lap and looked on as she continued to fight with the remaining fourth demon, while the other angels took one opponent each.
The three other angels who just finished their training were now going head-to-head with three lower-ranked demons. They had gray skin with red-shaded outlines. Their eyes glowed with a smoky purple haze. They had simple torture instruments and now launched an all-out attack at the three angels. The first angel to duck to his knees used his two wings to propel him forward and limboed down the swing sword that was meant for his gut. He kicked up with his knees once he had completely cleared the blade. He used the white wings to launch his body to flip over the demon and plunge his spear into the top of the demon's head. His body went limp and collapsed to the floor. The spear was wedged free, and he landed on his right foot. The second angel jumped into the air, spun around with the help of his wings, and threw eight shurikens at the demon, pinning him to the ground. The first angel came over and plunged the spear into the demons back, the metal tip braking two rib-like bones. They stuck out as the body fell with a thud. He used his wings to gently land with his left foot firmly in the ground. The third demon faced off with the last angel. They both began to run at each other, almost mimicking each other’s movements. When the demon would unsheathe his sword, the angel did as well, and when the demon growled, he would too. This continued until they both clashed their swords. The sharp edges slide up and down on each other's blades; they stair each other down. The angel dropped to the floor and kicked the demon's legs. The unexpected demon lost his balance and fell forward. He saw the angel's blade coming towards him. He parried the sword and twisted his body, causing him to jump and twist over his head. The demon threw a sharp torture device and ran. The angel used his wings to block the attack. By the time he moved the wings out of the way, the demon was already too far away to be chased. They all watched as their leader took down her last demon, and they caught their breath and continued to search.
……
Blood sprayed the walls of what appeared to be the dungeon tower. Bars covered the windows, and there was a worn-out stone floor that had souls cowering to the furthest wall away from the door. Elyon wiped his daggers on his thigh. Blue blood was smeared on his leather armor. Two demon bodies lay piled on top of each other.
He didn’t see the soul he was looking for; Alex had described her to them before they all went to search. He and his three men left; they looked to vanish in thin air. The door was left open, and the souls began to escape.
Elyon was running down the stairs to the main hallway. They saw multiple doors, and all of them searched each room. They left them open, and more souls ran out and escaped. Elyon came to a large door and opened it. With a loud creak from the old, rusted hinges, the doors opened. In the middle of the room stood the demon that had escorted Alex to Asmodeus.
It stood on both hands and feet like a backwards crab. Elyon entered the room with his brothers close behind him. He drew his blades, and all four of them launched themselves at it. Two angels cut down their souls, emitted blinding white light, and immediately ascended to heaven. Elyon and his closest companion, Azariel, saw the invisible stings that surrounded the demon like spider webs. The demon attacked; four more legs ripped from its sides, landing on a string. It began to crawl around like a spider, chasing its meal.
The two angels saw their situation and immediately retreated; they flipped, and Summer saluted over the strings. Elyon tried cutting a string with his dagger, but the string was so tough that the blade broke in two. He caught the broken blade and kicked it to the demon after flipping over a string. Azariel sliced a chunk of meat from his bicep when he missed calculating a jump. The string nearly took the whole arm of it; it wasn’t Elyon throwing the handle of the dagger for Azariel to kick off of.
The two angels ran out the doors, and Azariel had thrown multiple daggers at the beast that was coming close behind. The spider-like demon tucked its ass under itself and shot a crystal-like liquid back at him, hitting the daggers. They bounced off the liquid string and hit him on his right shoulder. The shoulder was covered in silver armor that melted into his skin. Letting out a scream, he turned back around and ran again.
Elyon heard Azariel screaming and fell back to attack the demon. He flipped into a backflip, drove the other blade in his right hand, and drove the blade into its back. The blade went through its front, and several tentacles began to emerge from the chest. They whipped around the demon and smacked him off his back. Elyon went flying to the door, landing and destroying the ground. The demon turned to him and began to use its tentacles to thrash his body into the ground. Loud, thunderous booms sounded off the walls, shaking them and causing the place to shake. An explosion was heard in the distance that caught the spider demon off guard and gave Azariel the chance to draw his sword and slice two of its legs off his body.
With a loud scream, the demon retreated back to the room and closed the doors with a loud bang. He picked Elyon up, and they both walked to a safe place away from the demon.
…..
Echoing, running footsteps could be heard off in the distance, as Dina was the only angel. Her sisters had all been killed; they entered the last tower when, out of nowhere, they got attacked by a mysterious woman. She had brown hair that ran down her neck; it was tied in a pigtail. She wore black leather lingerie; it had studs on her panties and on her chest. Black leather gloves covered her hands, and she had a whip in hand. Her black-heeled boots went to her thighs like stockings.
“Coming little bird, I have a nice string you can play with.” She cracked the whip and made it echo from the empty, tall hallway. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
Dina hid in the filing and dropped from the darkness, wings spread out and a weapon in hand. The mace had been pulled back when she began her descent. She slammed the mace right next to the woman. She had dodged in the nick of time and sent the whip across her face, striking her and leaving a red mark on her check. She caught sight of her and immediately recognized her; she was Alex’s friend, the soul they had been looking for.