For the next couple days, Basil goes
in and out of the dungeon with Atlas while obtaining treasure. He doesn’t say
much as his mind is concentrated on his work. Atlas sees this and doesn’t
bother asking him about his indifference with his work. He just assumes that
Basil understands his reality and is dealing with it. Part of Atlas is content
with getting Basil to understand what is going on faster than he did, but on
the other hand, he feels sad that Basil is dedicating himself in seeing Julia again
and helping people if he comes across them when he could’ve left the kingdom
and dedicated his service to a different kingdom. Still, they’re bringing the
guild money so they’re living a comfortable life. That is until today’s visit
to the dungeon.
Atlas and Basil come across a
single dog-like demon in an empty hallway on the third floor. It’s been an
uneventful dungeon and they’re near the treasure room only to find this simple
demon close to it. It has a hand with a tongue sticking out of it for a head
and a head as its rear end with black hair sticking out of it like a horse. Its
most noticeable detail is the necklace around its neck. Demons don’t typically
wear jewelry or carry loot with them unless they’re on the fifth floor and
lower. This necklace and the face on the demon’s rear looks familiar as well.
Too familiar in fact to the point where Basil lets down his guard.
“It can’t be…”
Atlas realizes what’s going on and
stops Basil from inspecting the demon further.
“I’m going to need you to calm down,
Basil,” Atlas says as he holds onto his shoulder.
“Is that really…”
“It…it…”
“Tell me the truth.”
“…it is. That’s Julia.”
“How?”
“I told you that you should’ve
gotten close to her when you could so she could love something other than
herself and her own goals. When a person’s body ends up as material for a demon’s
body, it means they were sinful people who only cared about themselves. They
also feel the pain of having their bodies used and contorted in the way the demons
want until they are killed. Even then, their souls are still burning in Hell,
so you aren’t giving them much comfort.”
Basil feels a mix of rage and
sadness as he pushes away Atlas’s hand.
“I said you need to calm down.”
“I am. I’m giving her what little
comfort I can.”
Basil goes over to the demon and
breaks his new sword on it. Half of the sword is in the demon and the other half
shatters, which makes the sword that Basil spent so much time getting useless.
He switches to his regular sword and finishes off the demon. Once the body of
the demon disintegrates, Basil shatters the necklace he gave Julia by hitting
it repeatedly with his sword until Atlas grabs him to make him calm down.
“Get a hold of yourself! This is
what the demons want you to do. I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned to get
Julia to the island just because they saw a new money-hungry pretty girl. I
wouldn’t even be surprised if one of them sold that necklace to her on purpose.”
“What do you mean they planned it?!”
“The most successful people here
make deals with the devil to get ahead in this kingdom. You remember that
contract that gatekeeper offered you? That was one of them. They also make
plans to put good people in tough situations, so they give in to them. Julia
was one of them and I don’t want you to be next. Let’s just get out of here and
take the day off tomorrow. Come on, I’ll even buy dinner and a new sword for
you.”
“I don’t need a new cheaply made
sword.”
“Then I’ll help you find a better
one.”
“That’s not the point.”
Atlas and Basil collect the loot
and go back to the surface only to find Cynthia waiting for them.
“Where have you been?” Atlas asks
her.
“I assume it’s already too late,”
she says.
“What are you talking about?”
“Julia. You’ve seen her.”
“How do you know?” Basil asks.
“I knew they would put her through
the same things I went through, so I tried to save her, but I was too late. She
was too far gone by the time I met up with her and I knew they would throw her away
just like how they throw away everyone who they break the minds of.”
“What do you mean they broke her
mind?”
“Just like the demons, the people who
have ties to the demons use every part of a person’s body for their purposes. I’m
sorry I couldn’t save her and warn you ahead of time.”
Basil drops his treasure and walks
off into the kingdom.
“Basil!” Atlas says as he chases
after him.
Basil has his hand tightly gripping
the hilt of his sword with his eyes locked on the floating island above. Atlas
gets in front of him and stops him in his tracks.
“I know what you’re thinking, but
it’s a bad idea!”
“Get out of my way!”
“Stop this! You can’t fight the
entire kingdom!”
Basil unsheathes his sword and
Atlas does the same in response.
“I’d rather die trying than just
sit here and let all of this injustice continue to take place!”
With both hands on the hilt of his
sword, Basil swings his sword at Atlas, but Atlas blocks his attack and Basil’s
iron sword breaks. Atlas then knocks down Basil and retrains him.
A guard comes by and asks, “Is something
going on here?”
“No, sir,” Atlas says, “It’s just a
bit of stress getting to my subordinate here. I’ll be disciplining him back at
the guild.”
“Okay. I’ll leave you to it then.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Atlas brings Basil back to the
guild and scolds him for what he did, however, Basil doesn’t listen. He’s
caught up in so many thoughts that they deafen his ears.
“Okay, Basil. I can see that you’re
hurting and I’m the last person that you want bothering you. I get that. I’ll go
fix your iron sword for you since you like it so much. I know a guy who will
have it fixed in no time.”
After taking Basil’s broken sword
and exiting his room, Cynthia enters it.
“Basil.”
“Huh?”
Cynthia suddenly kisses him and
holds him close.
“What you did was impressive. It
was more than Atlas ever did for me. If you want to get ahead in this kingdom,
be with me.”
“What?”
“Here. Let me help you feel better.”
Cynthia kisses Basil’s face and
uses a calming spell on him. He feels willing to be with her and is about to
embrace her as well but pushes her away instead.
“I love a man of integrity, however,
you’re not going to reject me so easily.”
Cynthia then uses a binding spell
as she embraces Basil again. Basil is unable to push Cynthia away as a magical
chain connects their hearts together.
“This is a little trick I learned from
my time on the floating island. Buffing and healing spells are how I survived
there. I don’t think I could without them. This trick I found can make all but
the strong willed fall in love with you. Can you resist this feeling until I pass
out?”
Basil is silent and motionless as
he tries to concentrate on resisting Cynthia. Resisting becomes harder with
each passing minute especially with Cynthia’s hold on him and the kisses he
gives him every now and then. After a little while, Atlas comes back and is
shocked to see the way the two are. He manages to pull them apart since Cynthia’s
spell doesn’t affect him. Atlas then pulls Cynthia away and argues with her
outside of the room. Basil has been put in a somewhat sleepy state with his
head being hazy. He can only hear the two argue and not the words they’re saying.
Because of his exhaustion, Basil passes out.
He dreams of being in Julia’s embrace
for a while before she gets dragged down to Hell by demons. Julia tries to hold
onto to Basil, but he lets her go after seeing her face become demonic. Once he
wakes up, he sees that Atlas is no longer in his shining armor and is instead
wearing commoner clothes like Basil. He doesn’t even have the armor with him despite
having his sword and bags with him.
“Hey, Basil.”
“Atlas? Are you going somewhere?”
“Yes. I’m going to leave the
kingdom and go adventuring somewhere else once I clear my head. I’ve sold my
shining armor so I have enough to live on.”
“You’re leaving? What about Cynthia?”
“She wants to stay. I don’t know
what to say to her anymore. She’s going up to the floating island soon. If you
want to join her, she’s waiting for you in her room.”
“I’m not going to do that.”
“I knew you wouldn’t. I’m sorry
that I keep leaving things out to you, but here’s one that you might be
interested in. The reason that the dungeon that’s connected to Hell is below
the kingdom is not because the kingdom is keeping it contained, it’s because
Hell wants all the sinful people in it. Hell doesn’t care as much about the
people out there as it cares about the people in here who carry out its will.”
“I figured that.”
“Right, but the powers of Hell are
truly contained in a glass case that anyone can access.”
“What?”
“I’ll lead you to it.”
Atlas leads Basil to a normal looking
building that’s unguarded with no locks to any of its doors. Instead of the building
is a glass case containing a white and black flame.
“I know it’s a stretch to think this
glass case is containing Hell itself, but it does. This fire of virtue and vice
shows the nature of someone’s soul. It burns the guilty and purifies and is harmless
to the virtuous. That is why when the fire touched Julia and you, she was the
only one who suffered. If this simple glass case is broken, then the kingdom
will be swallowed up. The virtuous will remain while the sinful will be taken.”
“Why is it so easy to get to if it’s
so important?”
“For a couple of reasons. First, is
that the kingdom is constantly monitored so crazy Satanists who want to unleash
Hell are arrested, executed, or worse. Just because these people are on the
same side doesn’t mean that they won’t backstab one another. Second, is that
even if you wanted to break it, everyone who knows about this knows that if you
break the case, you are sent to Hell with everyone or at least that’s what is
rumored. There are people, like me, who came here thinking I was the brave hero
who was going to break the case but stopped just short of breaking it. I know
you’re brave enough to fight me in public so you might be the one to do it. Think
about for a bit or at least give me enough time to leave so I won’t have to
worry about escaping a crumbling kingdom. I want to be forgiven for my sins and
do penance for me. Pray for me.”
“I will.”
Atlas leaves Basil to his choice.
For a few minutes, Basil has his sword out and walks back and forth deciding whether
or not to do anything. Once the thought of good people living in and coming
into the kingdom enters his mind, his choice becomes obvious. Basil yells out
as he strikes the fragile glass case that sucks him into it. He’s now falling into
a black and white chasm with a large black hand bigger than the kingdom itself reaching
for him.
“You’re no hero,” a loud voice from
the chasm says, “You’ve damned hundreds of thousands of souls to Hell. You just
did this because you wanted fame and wanted to pretend to be a hero. God has
judged that you will go to Hell with the rest of the wicked!”
Basil’s body starts falling apart
as his legs and one of his arms turn to ash. The rest of his body starts
crumbling as well though his arm that’s holding his sword is still able to hold
onto his weapon.
“No. I did this for everyone that’s
good in the kingdom. I sacrificed my life for them. I place my soul in God’s
hands whether I go to Heaven or Hell. Let thy will be done and not mine.”
Basil then holds back his sword as
he yells out ready to strike the enormous hand is about to take him, but Basil
is taken away. He watches from a distance as the giant black hand pulls down
the floating island and the kingdom into a dark chasm along with it.
Meanwhile, Basil is rising into the
sky as he hears a voice saying, “You have made a truly selfless decision,
Basil. Your reward in Heaven will be great.”
“What about the good people still
in the kingdom?”
“They are safe. Even your friend
Atlas is a safe distance away.”
“Thank you.”
As Basil enters the light, he feels
his burden lifted from him. He finally became the hero he wanted to be even
though it didn’t go the way he thought it would, but it doesn’t matter to him.
No one knows what situations God will put them in so that His will be done,
however, Basil doesn’t mind because God’s will is done, and that’s all that
really matters because this is how things are.
The
End
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