Chapter 18
Hell was shocked beyond comprehension.
It took time. A long time. Time it had not needed in ages.
"How…?" was the only question echoing through its existence.
How could Vastro say he only remembered two names?
Out of all the beings. All the creatures. Every gate. Every opponent he had fought to reach this point.
Only two.
Hell struggled to understand whether this seemingly impressive warrior was a genius beyond measure or an absolute fool.
What hell did not know was simple.
Vastro was not stupid.
If he had known a reward like this awaited him, he would have memorized every single name carved into his path. He would have carved them into his soul if needed.
But he did not know.
And he did not care.
Throughout the hell trial, he never bothered learning names. To him, they were obstacles. Nothing more.
Except one.
Lucifer.
The most popular devil. Not the strongest, but infamous enough that his name lingered even without effort.
And the second name.
Himself.
His fake self.
His doppelganger.
The one he had defeated.
It counted.
Vastro felt something unfamiliar stir inside him as he stared at the endless list of skills that could have been his.
Guilt.
The first time he had felt it since arriving in hell.
If only he had paid attention. If only he had bothered.
He would have benefited immensely.
But what was done was done.
Regret was pointless.
He pushed the thought aside and focused on what he had chosen.
Skill Name: Acquisition
Skill Type: Conceptual
Rank: SSSSSSSSSSSS
Then the second.
Skill Name: Comprehension
Skill Type: Conceptual
Rank: SSSSSSSSSSSS
Vastro's eyes narrowed.
His interest ignited.
Of course they were on par with his achievement tier. Hell had already implied that much. But seeing them confirmed it.
Just by looking at the skills, he could feel it.
The potential was absurd.
Vastro understood immediately how terrifying they truly were.
A smile crept onto his face.
With these two skills alone, he would be nearly unmatched in any realm outside the Eternal Realm.
And even then…
He was certain.
With these abilities, reaching the Ninetieth Tier of cultivation after rebirth would not take long. His rise would be violent. Explosive. Far faster than even he had imagined.
The thought alone made excitement coil in his chest.
What he had gained was so valuable that words could not properly describe it.
He snapped out of it and looked at the hell figure.
"Well, if that's all," Vastro said calmly, "then I believe I'm good to go."
Hell, which had been frozen this entire time, finally snapped out of its stupor.
It stared at Vastro for a long moment.
A very long moment.
Then it spoke.
"You are crazy."
Vastro's eye twitched violently.
Not because he was offended.
But because he knew it was true.
Everyone who knew him knew that much.
He scoffed under his breath and ignored the comment entirely.
"I believe I'm done here," Vastro said. "Time for me to be reborn."
Based on the rules of the hell trial, whoever completed it would be reborn immediately.
That was the whole reason Vastro had chosen the hell trial in the first place.
There was no reason to linger.
He could not waste time here. The moment he was reborn, his plans would begin. He would retain his memories. That had been part of the deal from the very start.
Every second mattered.
The hell figure stared at Vastro in silence. Then it spoke, its voice calm and soothing.
"Why the rush?"
Before Vastro could respond, the voice continued.
"Before you leave, would you like me to tell you more about my goal? About you being the perfect candidate to become hellbound."
"Hellbound?" Vastro repeated.
His face remained neutral. Empty.
But the moment the word settled, he hated it.
Chains. Binding. Ownership.
He despised all of it.
Vastro was not someone who could be bound. Not by the world. Not by hell. Not by anything.
"You should hear me out before making your choice," the hell figure said, trying to sound persuasive.
Vastro scoffed.
He did not have time for this.
He had already gained enough. The two skills he obtained were more than sufficient to start his plans. That was all he needed.
He was not about to become a pawn in another entity's scheme.
Hell chuckled.
The figure's body seemed to fold and shift unnaturally before it regained its composure and looked at him again.
"Before you decide whether to listen or not," hell said,
"you should understand my plan. And how vast existence truly is."
Vastro paused.
For the first time, his attention sharpened.
He had brushed against secrets before. Hints of something greater. As a usurper, he had once believed he might break through that invisible threshold.
The one separating existence from something beyond it.
But it never happened.
Not in millions of years. Not in trillions.
That thin line remained uncrossable.
If there was any entity that possessed knowledge beyond the usurpers themselves, it would be hell. Or heaven.
However one chose to name it.
Seeing that it finally had his attention, the hell figure studied him.
Then it spoke again, calm and calculated.
"It would be good if I explained my plan," hell said. "But would it not be better if I simply showed you the future?"
The darkness within its cloak stirred.
From the endless black, a pair of red eyes glowed faintly.
At the same time, Vastro's blue cosmic-flamed eye shifted.
It turned hellish red.
Information exploded into his soul.
Not words. Not visions. Pure truth.
Streams of knowledge flooded him, forcing every detail into his very being. Every calculation. Every outcome. Every intention of the entity before him.
Hell was right.
Absolutely right.
Vastro's expression did not change.
But for the first time since his birth by that primordial mother, he was genuinely shocked.
Not counting Drakkon's betrayal.
The shock lasted only moments.
Then he regained his composure.
His eyes reflected deep contemplation.
"You are crazy," Vastro muttered.
Hell chuckled at that.
But it did not respond to the insult.
Instead, it asked a single question.
"Now," hell asked, its voice calm but heavy, "did you find the courage to become hellbound after seeing the truth? Or will you forfeit the knowledge and continue your journey instead?"
Vastro stayed silent. His eyes seemed distant, drifting through the endless pillars and void.
Hell's plan was extreme. Calling it crazy would be an understatement beyond understatement.
But then… when had Vastro ever backed down from a challenge? To think of it, this would be fun. This was exactly what he lived for.
"I agree," he said finally, his voice steady, his gaze unwavering. "I will become hellbound. But know this."
He stopped, staring straight into the unseen face of hell. "I answer to no one. And I will obey no one. Not even you."
Hell chuckled. "You will first have to attain unimaginable heights and erase my brand to do that. And I believe… you cannot."
"I will take that bet," Vastro said. "And when I get rid of the hell brand, I will come for you. Erase you entirely. You talk too much."
He continued walking, eyes scanning the floating pillars suspended in stasis, massive, silent, looming.
"Do you accept?" he asked.
Hell did not speak for a long moment. Then, finally: "Okay. Let's see how far you can go."
Vastro's lips curled into a faint smile. "Okay then."
Hell itself was now on his hit list.
As he reached the center of the enormous podiums, he was lifted from the ground. Stabilized midair between five towering pillars, the space around him pulsed with tension.
Then, at once, the pillars glowed, radiating a crimson light that engulfed Vastro entirely.
Countless chains of the same crimson hue shot from the pillars. Piercing the air. Piercing him.
But not his body.... not really. Their target was his soul.
Vastro tried to resist. Tried to hold himself together.
But he could not.
A scream tore from his throat. Heart-wrenching. Bone-shaking. Raw. Endless.
The hell figure watched from the shadows, its form calm, detached, yet impossibly amused.
Behind the darkness, in the cloaked eyes, a mouth appeared. And hell laughed.
Mischievous.
Cruel.
Absolute.
"The binding has begun," it said.
"Now, let's see if he can survive it… and what comes after."
To be continued....