“Bubble, Canary, what happened?”
Rhode knitted his brows and gazed at them dubiously. A few moments ago, the two young ladies who were in their slumber jumped up from the bed all of a sudden as though they had a nightmare. They widened their eyes in shock, gazing at him in disbelief. Before Rhode continued to speak, they suddenly pounced on him and grabbed each of his arms. Facing this bizarre reaction from them, Rhode was taken aback. As for the rest, they watched curiously and didn’t know what to say. After all, their behavior was too peculiar.
“Rhode? What are you doing here? Where is this place? Am I dreaming?”
“Leader! It’s really you, Leader!”
“What happened to you two?”
Facing the sudden inquiries, Rhode was at a total loss. As they were about to reach their destination, Rhode woke Canary and Mini Bubble Gum up to get ready. But he didn’t expect them to freeze in place after waking up as though they were cursed and now, they even pounced on him? What exactly was going on?
As Rhode felt dubious, the two young ladies stopped their actions and felt a shiver down their spines. They raised their heads with baffled and dubious expressions. After scanning the surroundings curiously, they shook their heads.
“Huh? Leader… where’s… the group of Chaos Beasts?”
“Chaos Beasts?”
Rhode felt ridiculous. He gazed at them helplessly, unable to figure out the situation. Could it be that traveling in hell for too long had given them a terrifying nightmare? After hearing his response, Mini Bubble Gum and Canary stared blankly at him. They looked around them, knitted their brows, and Mini Bubble Gum held her head in confusion.
“Huh? I recall losing my vision to the blinding light and being transported away to some ridiculous place… could it be that is just a misconception?”
“What place?”
“Oh, it looks like those ruins in sci-fi horror movies and there were so many Chaos Beasts pouncing on us. Even though I didn’t know what was going on, I fought back nonetheless… hmm? There was also a glaring beam of light…”
“I had the same dream.”
While Mini Bubble Gum was in a state of confusion, Canary said softly from beside her. She knitted her brows and lowered her gaze to her hands. There was nothing. But to Canary, the scene felt so surreal and she had even felt the sensation of the raging fire elements. That didn’t feel like a dream at all.
“I saw all sorts of machines around me. I also met Her Highness Erin and there was a mysterious black slate floating in midair. Then, before I knew it, Chaos Beasts started charging toward us and we got into a battle… I remember eliminating the Chaos Beasts, then… hmm? That’s strange. I recall a white light beam and we’re back, it seems?”
“Yes, yes. I met Her Highness Erin too and it seemed like she was really surprised to meet us. She kept asking us what happened. That’s really odd.”
“Erin?”
Rhode was caught between laughter and tears. He couldn’t imagine why Erin appeared in their dreams. If it were a man who appeared instead of her, perhaps Rhode might get a little jealous. But it was the moon princess instead… So what exactly was going on? Even both of them felt like this dream was too peculiar. They exchanged looks and saw the doubts in each other’s eyes. No matter what, it was truly a mystery as to why they had the same dream. But even though it was a dream, they felt like it was filled with unspeakable realism.
“Are you two sure that you aren’t in a daze?” Rhode asked, sizing up Mini Bubble Gum and Canary. Then, he shrugged and said, “Come to think of it, both of you have been acting really strange just now. I wanted to ask you to wake up but instead, you asked me a bunch of odd questions as though you haven’t seen me in a long time. Before I was able to answer, you returned to your senses… could it be that you’re really in a daze?”
“…”
Upon hearing Rhode’s response, Canary puckered her brows. After pondering for a few moments, she looked at him and asked.
“Just now, huh… how long did it happen for?”
“Hmm… less than a minute?”
“Was I really in a daze? I recall fighting the Chaos Beasts in that strange place for more than 10 minutes…” Upon hearing Rhode’s answer, Mini Bubble Gum puckered her brows and scratched her head in confusion. But shortly after, she shrugged and tossed this matter to the back of her head. “Forget it, it isn’t anything important, anyway. But that ridiculous dream was kinda interesting though. Frankly, I sure am curious as to what that place is all about. Perhaps I may get to meet something fun.”
“Uh… is it really just a dream? Why do I feel like something isn’t right…”
Compared to the careless Mini Bubble Gum, Canary was much more dubious of the entire situation. But after some serious thoughts, she eventually decided to leave this matter aside. Judging this odd situation, Rhode shrugged in confusion. In fact, he had also realized that something was amiss. Even though it was indeed Mini Bubble Gum and Canary sitting before him, for some unknown reason, he felt like the situation wasn’t as simple as them being in a daze. Not to mention, the chance of them having the same dream was also extremely small. The auras that they exuded seemed to be different than usual too. But as to where exactly had gone wrong, he couldn’t pinpoint it…
Forget it, now isn’t the time for this.
At this thought, Rhode focused his attention and patted their heads.
“Alright, stop thinking about this strange incident for now. We have proper things to do. We’re arriving at our destination soon, so get ready.”
Rhode spoke, lifting his head and gazing at the red land before him. At this moment, the River Styx was flowing forward in the void. As usual, the ferryman took control, rowing the ferry with both hands on the long pole. Shortly after, the ferry changed its direction steadily and turned the curve ahead.
At the next moment, the world changed.
A murky, chaotic hue of red enfolded the sky and land, making it extremely difficult for one to distinguish between heaven and earth. Lifting one’s head and gazing at the sky, the bright red, scorching sun was no longer there. One could only see vast stretches of turbid red mixed together like various paints smeared onto the land. Winds blew the sand wildly and no one could see the path ahead. This was the highest point of the innumerable planes in the Bottomless Abyss. A deserted and barren land, and also the center point of the bloodbath. Countless devils, demons, and other participants in the bloodbath arrived here like moths flying into the flame. Death was their only fate. This was the Rift Plain. The plain of bloodbaths.
The quiet-flowing River Styx was the only presence of Order. Lifting one’s head, one could see the dense black dots inking in the scarlet sky. Those were groups of devils. On the spread of land, the city flickering in a metallic shine and the pitch-black, major gap constituted the only two sceneries that remained constant on the Rift Plain.
This was also the destination of Rhode’s group.
The ferry approached the shore gradually. The ferryman extended his arm to wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead. He turned around and gazed at the passengers cautiously. As one of the ferrymen of the River Styx, this was his first time being so unfortunate. All along, intimidating passengers was a pleasure for ferrymen of the River Styx. But he didn’t expect this day where he would be terrified by someone. The powerful strength of these passengers exceeded his expectations completely. As of now, he no longer had the intention of taking advantage of them. Instead, he was secretly praying for them to not cause any more troubles for him. After all, it was a luxury for one who came to explore the underworld to have a conscience.
“Alright, everyone. This is the Rift Plain. According to our agreement, even though the journey isn’t all that smooth, I’ve brought you to your destination safely. Alright then, this is goodbye.”
After bidding farewell mechanically, the ferryman rowed the ferry and drifted down the flow of the River Styx. The ferrymen lived on the River Styx forever and would never leave this river filled with death.
After the ferryman left, everyone shifted their gaze to the land. For Rhode, Canary, and Mini Bubble Gum who had come to the abyss in the past successfully, they had no reaction at all. As for Cheryl and Celestina, they seemed rather tense. The former was an ordinary elf, while the latter resided in hell and seldom came to the abyss. Although there was a certain amount of Order here at the highest floor of the unlimited planes, the chaotic aura of the abyss made them uncomfortable. Of course, the reason for the discomfort varied between them entirely.
“Alright, let’s get going.”
Gazing at the Rift Plain, Rhode pondered in silence, before giving an order.
