Cain and Bela flew back to the fortress without looking back. A long trip awaited them. At the front gate, Zaleria, Farryn, and Hati stood, gawking at the oozing black sky.
"This place, it's creepy," Hati sighed, lifting her palm, "(I know what you mean. The ground is souled with the souls of sinners. It makes you appreciate how clean the outside world is)" Skoll replied.
Farryn looked at Hati, "The only reason we can stand here is Cain's aura. Without him, we would have died long ago."
"I know," Hati growled, "I wasn't saying anything bad about his protection. Just that I'm aware of what he is protecting us from."
"You're right," Zaleria said, standing beside the gate. KATON! Her body flashed ablaze. The flames condensed and stuck to her skin, forming a thin layer of a blazing inferno.
"What are you doing?" Farryn gasped.
"(Is she crazy?)" Skoll couldn't believe what she was seeing. Zaleria disables Cain's protection on her own and burns the hell's aura to protect herself.
Zaleria looked at her burning palm, "Mother killed Tiamat. Here she gained the power to overthrow a god." She clenched her fist, "If she could do it, so I can,"
Thud! Cain landed with Bela at the gate and stared at the flashing red woman, "What are you doing?" Cain gasped like Farryn did, glaring at Zaleria's burning body.
"You don't need me to explain." Zaleria stared back at him, smiling.
"At least tell me why?" Cain sighed, "At least keep my link active. So I can protect you in emergencies."
Zaleria blinked for a moment, "Wait? I disabled that?"
"You burned the link with magic. Since It was inside your body, I didn't put any protection, but your mana roasted it well." Cain explained. Enchanting a link inside a person is complicated and needs active concentration from Cain to stay active.
What costs more cognitive power is protection, the magical means of protecting the link. Cain spends more brain power to prevent anyone from tampering with the magic.
Only Cain and Zaleria can access the link between them, so securing it was a waste of mana since neither party would want to damage it. But Cain expects Lilia to be able to crack it since she's the one who taught him magic.
Zaleria burned the link when she attempted to disable it, which would prevent Cain from knowing her location, state, and thoughts for communication.
Cain lifted his palm, "I will reinstall it. You can protect yourself, and I will help when you need."
Thud! Morena walked from behind Cain, glaring at her sister. "What a bad girl, burning Cain's protection like that."
"I didn't mean to burn it! I just wanted to disable it for a bit," Zaleria growled.
Morena smiled, waving her hands, "That's just like you. Burn anything in your way." Morena approached Zaleria, "But Unlike me, you can't survive on your own in hell."
The two sisters glared at each other, their draconic aura slowly rising. Veins bulged on Zaleria's shoulders as flame gushed from her nose. Little green droplets of acid trailed down Morena's lips, boiling as they burned the ground upon contact.
Hati and Farryn stepped back, "Are those two about to fight?" Farryn pulled her hammer.
BAM! The two sisters slammed their palms, combing their fingers and pushing against each other. CRACK! The ground beneath their feet split in two, sending cracks across the gatehouse.
"Stop!" Cain patted their shoulders, and the two sisters stared at him, "Hemph!" Zaleria pulled her hands away. Morena glared at her with a teasing smile, "I pushed you further,"
Zaleria glared back at her, "Cain doesn't want us to fight. I'm not keeping with your games."
Cain looked at them, smiling, "We're about to leave. Are you ready?" He asked, and Zaleria nodded. "Are we riding my back?"
Morena glared at Cain, "No, we're riding my back!" She gasped.
Zaleria stared at her, "I brought it first!"
"You can't provide a decent ride, especially with your scales burning with flames!" Morena glared at Zaleria a smile.
"Said the one who doesn't even have scales! Do you want Cain to sit on your boney spine?" Zalaria mocked her.
"Well, about that," Cain said, scratching his cheek, "You will be riding me." He lifted one finger, and everyone started floating.
"It would look better if we flew in!" Zaleria stared at Cain.
"And we would attract more attention. How are we going to deal with the swarms of bugs?" Cain sighed, staring at her.
"Can't I just burn them all with a breath? Or at least a firestorm?" Zaleria replied, and Cain was about to speak. But he went silent.
"That sound like a good idea. If we can avoid hitting the ground." He stared at Zaleria, "Maladomini is already a bad enough maze. We can't just make it worse."
"We still need to find that lord. What was his name again?" Hati approached Cain. Trying to get more information about what they were about to face.
"Baalzebul. He's a slug-shaped devil of immense power. He mainly controls bugs and lightning." Cain replied.
Lolth stepped forward, "I have a bad feeling about him." She looked at Cain, "There are many different types of bugs. That means we could face anything down there."
Bela smiled, "All we need to do is freeze or burn them. As long as we stick to a plan, we can manage."
Cain nodded, "Bela is right, but leave Baalzebul to me. It's dangerous to let you fight him." Cain looked at the ground, "We don't have any information about him newer than the last hundred years. Anything could have happened. Maldomini has a second name, and that is."
"Kodoku," Lolth replied, "The curse named after it," Lolth stared at them. "We are about to step into the densest, curse-filled shit-hole in the world."
Cain nodded, "Baalzebul is the last know ruler, and he ruled for over a thousand years. I double any bug has surpassed him."
"You can never be sure." Lolth looked at Cain, "I know you can't trust me, but if something unexpected happens, let me take the lead."
"The demon spider is joining the curse challenge? Fine by me," Cain smiled, "Let's go!"
Everyone disappeared.
ZON! Cain and the girls appeared at the northern side of Malbolg beside a massive crack in the ground. "This is our way down. We can leap directly in."
Hati stared at the hole, "It's dark, and I can hear a faint noise from it,"
"That must be the bugs buzzing around, don't worry. We will take a few minutes of falling to reach the other end." Cain explained with a smile.
Cain summoned his staff, and everyone started levitating. SWOSH!
Falling across the black, Cain could feel the warm air creeping around. His skin tingled as the cursed energy in the air became denser. The last three layers of hell won't be as straightforward as the rest.
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