The Deities of Hell

On the slightly dirty boat, Mizuki and Yua were directly in front of Snakey.

Snakey had a face that seemed to be half-human, half-snake, and the long greasy hair floated in the water.

Even if they reached land, they couldn’t run away.

They were completely driven into a corner.

Meanwhile, Snakey opened its mouth to devour Yua.

“Ahhhh!!!”

However, Mizuki hit Snakey in the eye with the boat’s oar.

Snakey closed its eye and screamed, then collapsed in agony and rage.

The sea stormed violently, and the Mizuki and Yua on the boat were washed away to the steel tower.

They clung to the boat with all their might to avoid being washed away by the waves.

“Aargh!”

As Snakey rampaged, the waves became even more violent.

Opening one eye, Snakey dove and chased after Mizuki and Yua on the boat.

Its speed appeared to be enough to catch up with them.

It gave off the ridiculous feeling of a mouse being chased down by a cat.

“This is bad! It’s coming from below! It’s like it wants to swallow us whole!”

“We’ll paddle until the steel tower!”

They paddled for their dear lives.

Still, because of the waves and relentless swaying, the boat didn’t move as they wanted.

On the contrary, Snakey ended up reaching the boat.

As Snakey was about to swallow it, something appeared in the sea.

The water in the sea increased, and Snakey realized it was in danger.

“Fly!”

Before Snakey could gulp them down, Mizuki lifted Yua up.

Then, he directed his gaze at the steel tower.

“Huh?”

“Go to the steel tower! If you do, I can get there with the handcuffs!”

Mizuki said and hurled the bewildered Yua toward the steel tower.

At that moment, Snakey came out of the sea and swallowed the boat.

“Mizuki!”

The boat shattered into pieces, creating violent splashes.

Even as Yua searched for Mizuki, she swam desperately to the steel tower.

Just as she arrived, Snakey came after her.

“Nooo!!!”

Snakey grabbed the foot of the steel tower.

The steel tower tilted slightly, about to throw off Yua, who was climbing it.

However, hope filled Yua’s gaze.

Mizuki was clinging to Snakey’s hair.

And with the knife from the shoulder bag, he pierced Snakey’s eye.

“Aargh!!!”

Snakey let go of the steel tower, shut its eyes, and raged as violently as the sea.

Mizuki was clinging to Snakey’s hair the best he could.

However, because Yua pulled the handcuffs, they dragged him to her.

Mizuki flew through the air like Tarzan and was pulled all the way to the steel tower.

“Hold on!”

Yua stretched her hand out.

Mizuki collided with the tower once, but bore with the pain and grasped her hand.

The instant he did, their handcuffs fixed the range to zero.

“Come on!”

“All in one go!”

Yua pulled Mizuki up.

The two hurried up the steel tower in fear of Snakey coming back once more.

“Hurry! We’ll escape from the top! Some way or another, we have to run away!”

Yua said, but she didn’t know what to do in this situation where they had nowhere to go.

To escape to the top of the steel tower was seen as a trapped rat in Snakey’s eyes.

“Aaarrgh!!!”

Snakey’s one eye was crushed by Mizuki.

And because of that, its anger had reached maximum as he clung to the steel tower.

It was to the extent of the steel tower crumbling down, but Snakey didn’t realize that during its wrath.

It tightened its long body at the base of the steel tower and coiled itself around it.

The steel tower swayed to the point Mizuki and Yua were about to fall off.

Then, it finally went down.

“Ah!”

“Yua!”

Mizuki reached Yua’s hand with a hair’s breadth.

Yua looked down with watering eyes.

The scene below was like the cauldron of Hell with a monster waiting for them.

Gulping, she grasped the steel tower with a trembling hand.

At that moment, hit with an idea, Mizuki stared at Yua.

“I have a plan.”

“What?”

“Believe in me and fall once more.”

Mizuki gazed at her with a serene look in his eyes.

It didn’t look like he was confident, but it seemed like he had broken through his doubts.

In this hopeless situation, Yua had no choice but to go along with his plan.

“I got it.”

“Then let go.”

Yua let go of her hand holding the steel tower and the one holding onto Mizuki.

In that instant, Yua became filled with doubt and regret.

(No way… He wouldn’t be using me as a decoy, right?)

In the depth of her heart, Yua doubted Mizuki.

However, the moment she let go of his hand, she fell down the steel tower and dropped toward the sea.

“Aargh!”

When Yua came in contact with Snakley’s mouth, it froze as she was pulled by the chain.

“Pant... Pant...”

Mizuki hung similarly next to her from his handcuff.

The two of them had stabilized the steel tower with the handcuffs by hanging with their body weight on each side.

“When we hung from the chandelier… Yua did the same thing to me.”

“Mizuki…”

Yua felt guilty for having distrusted Mizuki before.

At the same time, she was grateful that he hadn’t betrayed her and was deeply moved.

“Swing left and right!”

“What?”

“Hurry!”

Yua did as Mizuki said and swung left and right.

Like Blango¹ swinging through the air, her own body started to swing like a pendulum.

Because of that, the steel tower crumbled down with deafening metal clanks.

Snakey, who was coiled around the steel tower, was hit by it falling down.

“Aaarrghh!!!”

The steel tower crushed Snakey’s body, and Mizuki and Yua fell into the sea alongside parts of the tower.

1. An ice-type monster ape from the game Monster Hunter 2. ↑