The Deities of Hell

Ritsu and Pomkichi walked around in the green world.

“If we go this way, we’ll reach the stairs.”

“You know a lot. Why do you know this?”

“I don’t know why.”

“Huh? This is why idiots are annoying. Don’t tell me you don’t know why you don’t why you know about devils?”

“Yeah.”

Pomkichi knew a lot about the devils and the inside of the Sanctuary.

For some reason, Pomkichi was too stupid to transmit this to Ritsu.

“I want to go up first. If we can get up, I will manage somehow with my Devil’s Eye after that. To go up is impossible for me.”

“Devil’s Eye?”

“I’m the hero’s grandchild. The same blood is running through my veins. I can control objects to a certain degree. However, I can’t lift things. The Devil’s Eye doesn’t work on living beings either.”

“I see, I don’t get it.”

Ritsu looked at Pomkichi in the corner of his eye with an exasperated look on his face.

“It’s fine to not understand.”

“What’s with that hero? Michelle? Michelle Saienji?”

“What? Do you know my grandpa!?”

“You introduced yourself as Ritsu Saienji, so…”

“How do you know!?”

“I-I don’t know. It’s just a memory.”

“It’s important, you fool! Idiot bear!”

“What!?”

As the two of them argued, they heard footsteps further ahead.

It was the footsteps of the first devil he had met, the Pig Bastard.

“I can hear a devil coming, so should we go to the stairs?”

“There’s no way we can go there, idiot! The sound is coming from the stairs! We’ll clash into each other!”

“What do we do then?”

“We’ll hide in the water.”

Ritsu and Pomkichi reluctantly gave up on the stairs for a moment and hid in the clear water gathered by the train.

There were a lot of swimming fish, and Ritsu could successfully hide.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

“Brr."

The wooden sword and backpack sank, and he lowered himself until his shoulders were submerged while trembling because of the cold and fear.

The water was icy enough to make him want to jump around, but it was obvious he’d be discovered if he did.

“Biii.”

The Pig Bastard came closer.

Walking sluggishly with a crocodile-like body, it peered into the water where Mizuki was.

(This guy!? Did it notice me!? No, still it looks weird… anyway, quickly turn around and leave!)

Ritsu hid in a swarm of fish while clutching Pomkichi tightly.

Pomkichi didn’t feel the cold, but was still trembling.

The Pig Bastard plunged its mouth into the water.

Then it filled its mouth with the fish in the water and ate them.

The way it ate was cleaner than expected.

By swallowing the fish whole instead of getting blood on itself, it was eating them one by one thoroughly.

However, the fish fled from the Pig Bastard, and the fish Ritsu had hidden behind left to go somewhere else as well.

Being left bare, Ritsu was quite conspicuous in the clear water.

The Pig Bastard discovered him instantly.

“Biiii…”

The Pig Bastard did a double take when it saw Ritsu.

Looking at him as if observing him, it stopped chewing.

“Ha, it’s the complete opposite of me who’s the handsome champion of justice.”

“Biiiiii!”

“Ahhh!!! Run!!”

Ritsu who was trying to show off also ran away in fear when facing the Pig Bastard.

Shoving Pomkichi into the backpack, he screamed as he ran into the water.

“Biiii!!!”

“Ahhh! It’s coming! It’s coming! It’s coming! Coming–huff… huff… huff!”

Overwhelmed by terror, the tension made Ritsu weird.

To him, it was impossible to run away in a serious manner in this situation.

“I’m the Dead from Hell! Pomkichi! What is your name?”

“Biii!”

“Bi?”

Sticking out his head from the backpack, Pomkichi almost grazed the Pig Bastard’s face.

In the midst of the shaking, he spoke to the Pig Bastard standing right before him.

However, the Pig Bastard seemed to be a being of neither intelligence nor reason and only answered with a roar.

“Shut it Pomkichi! That’s Pig Bastard! No one else but that!”

“I see, though I don’t get it at all.”

Ritsu ran at a speed just fast enough to barely avoid being caught by the Pig Bastard.

Because of its big body, it destroyed the road as it ran and its wasn’t that great.

However, Ritsu’s stamina couldn’t keep up with the Pig Bastard’s.

“Damn! Didn’t we go to the opposite side of the stairs!?”

“There’s a staircase connected to the second floor here, too.”

“You should have said that earlier! Where is it!?”

“I think it’s right over there.”

Pomkichi and Ritsu were really heading in the opposite direction.

Still, Ritsu found the stairs Pomkichi was talking about.

It was a staircase above the water leading up to the second floor of the train station.

However, you couldn’t get on the stairs if you didn’t go out of the water.

If they went out of the water, it was obvious that the Pig Bastard would catch them.

“I have no choice! The basics of the basic Horizontal Bar!”

Ritsu hurled the wooden swords sideways from the direction he was heading in.

“Evil Eye Balor!”

Using the Evil Eye once again, he stopped the wooden sword in the air.

The wooden sword was fixed in place a little above them.

“Secret technique Back Hip Circle!”

Jumping up from the water, he grabbed the sword with both hands.

Then, putting as much strength in his arms as he could, he swung himself forward and pulled himself up.

Unable to stop itself in its movement, the Pig Bastard ended up passing below Ritsu.

“I did it! As expected of me!”

In the middle of the jump, Ritsu pulled himself toward the wooden sword and put his feet on the staircase.

However, the Pig Bastard hadn’t given up on chasing after him.

“It’s coming! Ritsu, it’s coming!”

“I know already!”

Coming up out of the water, the Pig Bastard rushed into the stairs Ritsu was on.