“Nothing’s changed,” Erinys muttered as she looked at her surroundings.
“Right.” William agreed. “It looks the same as when we left.”
When they entered the Underworld, the two found themselves inside Erinys’ house, which was located on a small island, surrounded by rivers of flames.
A small sigh escaped the doll-like beauty’s lips before looking at William with a determined expression on her face.
“Let’s go,” Erinys said as she walked towards the door. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we can return.”
William nodded, and held Maple’s and Cinnamon’s hands before following Erinys outside the house.
Erinys was a Ferryman of the Underworld, and owned her own flying ship that could cross the Domain of the Death unhindered.
Even so, she decided to play it safe and told everyone to stay in the cabin, as she controlled the ship, while sitting on the bed.
Maple and Cinnamon sat beside her, while William leaned on the wall.
Their first destination was Gluttony’s Paradise where Chiffon was currently staying. Since William had already been there before, he no longer needed to collect points in order to buy a ticket that would allow the purchaser to pass through the Third Circle of Hell, where his pink-haired wife was waiting for him.
The flying boat moved unhindered, and easily reached their destination. However, Erinys and William frowned after seeing that hundreds of armed monsters were guarding the gates of Gluttony’s Paradise, which was more than the ones they had seen in the past.
Erinys glanced at the Half-Elf, and the latter only shook his head helplessly.
“We can’t alert them,” William said. “I’m sure that the moment they raise the alarm, your Father will immediately appear and things will get messy.”
Erinys’ agreed with William’s words, but this was the only entrance that led to the palace they wanted to get into.
Knowing her father, the doll-like beauty knew that the moment a flying boat, or a Ferryman from the Underworld appeared, and tried to negotiate entry, the guards would immediately move to apprehend them.
“There has to be another way,” Erinys muttered as she narrowed her eyes.
William was also wracking his brain for another means they could use to enter the Palace, made of sweets, undetected. But, no matter how much he thought, no answer came.
Suddenly, the two heard an adorable question that came from one of the two pink-haired girls, who were currently accompanying them on their rescue operation.
“Is there some kind of problem?” Maple asked. “Why aren’t we going inside the castle?”
Erinys glanced in Maple’s direction and smiled.
pAnDa (nov)e1 “We can’t go in because there are monsters guarding the gates,” Erinys explained.
“Then, why not enter it in a different location?” Maple asked in an innocent tone.
“Because there is no other place to enter,” Erinys answered.
Cinnamon, who was busy eating gummy bears, tilted her head in confusion.
“Last time we went here, we didn’t go through the gates,” Cinnamon said before glancing at her sister. “We didn’t enter the gates, right?”
Maple firmly shook her head. “Why should we enter the gates? They don’t even look tasty.”
“Right? I don’t really like to eat steel.”
“It tastes bland, and the aftertaste doesn’t taste good either. The walls taste better. They taste like graham cake!”
William and Erinys, who had been thinking of ways to enter the Palace of Gluttony, both looked at the two little girls in shock.
They never thought that there was this method to bypass the guards, and it made them feel that they had overlooked something important.
“That’s right,” William muttered. “Almost everything in the Third Circle of the Underworld can be eaten.”
Erinys nodded and even felt embarrassed because she had overlooked such a simple thing.
The reason why she had forgotten about this matter was because she and William couldn’t eat anything in the Third Circle of Hell, especially the Half-Elf, who would be unable to leave the Underworld if he ate anything inside it.
Only those who were guilty of the sin of Gluttony would be able to stomach the extreme sweetness, bitterness, saltiness, spiciness, and other sensations that were brought by the foods that were present in the Third Circle.
Although eating through the wall sounded simple, it couldn’t be done by ordinary people, making the Half-Elf and the doll-like beauty look at the two little gluttons as if they had brought elite helpers to help them infiltrate the Third Circle of Hell.
Without wasting any time, the Flying Boat flew to the very edge of the Gates that protected the Palace of Sweets. No Flying Ships were able to fly past it because an invisible barrier had been set in place.
Only those that were given explicit permission by the God of Death could bypass these rules, and Erinys was certain that all of her rights were revoked by her father the moment she left the Underworld with the Half-Elf, who had chased the loneliness in her heart away.
“Last time it tasted like Graham Cake, now it tastes like pudding,” Maple commented as she scooped up a handful of the wall and ate it.
“Cinnamon likes pudding,” Cinnamon commented. “Can I start eating now?”
Maple nodded. “Let’s leave some room for desserts later.”
“Un!” Cinnamon agreed.
The two pink-haired girls then faced the wall and opened their mouths at the same time.
A moment later, the wall made of sweets started to break apart and fly in the direction of their mouths.
The sturdy blockade crumbled easily in the face of two gluttons, whose appetites were just as bottomless as their mother’s, who carried the Sin of Gluttony.
It just took a few seconds before a large hole appeared in front of them.
“Thank you, Maple, Cinnamon,” William said. “You can stop eating for now. You can eat more later.”
Hearing the Half-Elf’s reminder. The two girls stopped eating and gave him two innocent smiles, which made Erinys shake her head helplessly.
If she didn’t know what the two little girls were capable of, she might find it extremely hard to believe the scene that she had witnessed just now.
“Let’s go,” Erinys said. “We will be using this method as we break through the Palace. “Although it doesn’t look like it, there are Gingerbread Men that guard the hallways. One shout from them, and the others will be alerted.
“I like Gingerbread Men,” Maple commented as she walked while holding William’s hand. “They taste really good.”
“Cinnamon likes them too,” Cinnamon stated. “The last one I ate was a bit noisy. It was screaming just before it entered my mouth.”
William and Erinys pretended that they didn’t hear the two girls’ comments.
Both of them said a silent prayer for the pitiful Gingerbread Men, who would be unlucky enough to get in their way.
Fortunately, no Gingerbread Men blocked their path, so they were able to enter the Inner Palace without too much problem.
Just as the four of them were sneakily making their way to the Giant White Lotus, that floated in the River of Hell, where they believed Chiffon to currently be, a teasing voice reached their ears, making the four of them almost jump up in fright.
“About time you got here.”
William, Erinys, and the two little gluttons all turned around to see who the owner of the voice was.
A moment later, the four of them sighed in relief because the person they saw was none other than the Goddess of Gluttony, Adephagia.
The Goddess of Gluttony had almost recovered her… fatness, making the two little girls shout in joy and cling to her like two little Koalas that had found a nice tree to perch on.
“Lady Adephagia, it’s been a while,” William said as he gave the Fat Goddess a respectful bow. “I’m glad that your recovery is going well.”
Adephagia chuckled because she had indeed mostly regained her strength after eating her fill in the Third Circle of Hell.
In truth, she could have returned to the Temple of the Gods to complete her recovery, but she decided to accompany her daughter in the Underworld, while waiting for the Half-Elf to come to her rescue.
“I know that you came here for Chiffon, so it is best that you see her as soon as possible,” Adephagia said. “Thanatos has been very cranky as of late. He has even increased the number of guards at the entrance, just to make sure that you will not be able to rescue your wife without a fight.”
The Fat Goddess chuckled as she patted the heads of the two little darlings that were still clinging onto her legs like little Koalas.
“Just be careful, Will,” Adephagia advised. “He has assigned someone to always check whether Chiffon is still here in Gluttony’s Paradise or not. Fortunately, the last inspection happened yesterday. He usually comes here once every two to three days, so you have a day or two at most to finish your rescue operation. Do you understand?”
William nodded her head. “I understand. Thank you, Lady Adephagia.”
The Goddess of Gluttony smiled before grabbing Maple and Cinnamon, and lifting them up so they could sit on her shoulders.
“Follow me,” Lady Adephagia said. “I will ensure that none of the residents inside the Palace say anything. They might be living in the Underworld, but their fate lies in my hands. None of them have the guts to defy me, so you all can rest easy.”
True to her word, Adephagia escorted them to the White Lotus where Chiffon was currently resting, making the Half-Elf’s heart start to beat wildly inside his chest.
He had missed Chiffon terribly, especially after seeing Maple’s and Cinnamon’s mother, who had come to talk to him several months ago.
Although they looked the same, the Half-Elf knew that the pink-haired lady was not his “Chiffon”, and never would be, making him long to embrace his own dear wife desperately.
