Chapter 33 - Chapter thirtythree: gates to hell

Hi is called to the holy kingdom of light by the king and the pope. They meet in the castle´s main hall. Hi enters through the maingates with his invitation. Now inside the king greets him. "I´m glad you came this fast, the matter is pressing. We need your party to go investigate something, I know I can trust you." the king says. The pope from the shadows. "We need to confirm if the gates to hell exist and if the rumors of demons there are true. You and your party have proven to be strong and reliable, I trust you can do it. The tempel ritter will join in once it is confirmed." the pope says. "You´ve heard it. Here´s a mission brief." the king says handing him a letter. Hi opens it and reads it. "According to natives and workers from the badlands the gates to hell are in the face of a volcano and sealed shut, but recently there are reports of seeing and sensing demon aura, including archdemons and demon generals.". "It is indeed bad news, I´ll go and gather my party to investigate." Hi says. "So you understand. Be careful there are a lot of them, we only need you to confirm their existence and come back alive." the pope says. "No need we´ve already called for them they should be waiting outside waiting to come in." the king says gesturing to a knight to open the doors. Hi´s party comes inside. "Long time no see!" Sozin says walking up to him. "The matter is pressing let´s depart right away." Sascha says. "Let´s do that!" Hi says and everyone teleports to the badlands. They arrive in a lush jungle with black dirt. "Badlands? This doesn´t look that bad." T´chal says. "Seems nothing has changed since the last time I´ve been here." Sozin says. "Let´s find some villagers to show us which volcano to go to." Hi says. "I can faintly see some demon aura, but it´s too weak to pinpoint a location." Gale says. "My beasts haven´t picked up anything either." Yuxuan says. "Speaking of your beasts send some birds or something for reconaissance." Hi says. Yuxuan sends some small flying beasts away to gather some intel. They leave the lush forest and find large plots of farmland and a village at the foot of a mountain. "This doesn´t seem too bad to me the plants are growing and the soil is rich with minerals. There should be some jungle monsters, some that prowl on the scorched earth acclimated to this climate and some in the mountains or even in the caves causing trouble for dwarven workers." Erik says. "That hypothesis seems convincing." Magnus says. They find some locals and wave to them. The native tribes here live of the farmlands and are closely connected to nature and the mountains, their skin is tough and dark acclimated to the climate and hard work. They wear green and brown robes and most of them are bald. "What brings you travelers here to the badlands?" an older native asks. "The gates to hell, I heard it´s on some volcano here." Hi says. "The gates to hell? It should be up that volcano there, be careful there are demons and monsters prowling around." her says pointing at a jagged peak with some lava flowing there and a green forest somehow. "Thank you!" Hi says bowing. "We are the party to investigate it, we can take care of ourselves." Vernon says. "You heard him let´s get going. Sozin, T´chal, Byakuya and Gale we go ahead with the rest following closely." Hi says. "My beasts will lead the way follow them." Yuxuan says summoning some beasts as mounts. Hi and his team start running fast toward the mountain taking in the scenery. Dark, black rocky mountains with red hot lava and dark green forests with white tree trunks nestled in the black soil. They approach some ancient demonic ruins and slow down. "Let´s go off the main path to not gather any attention." Hi says steering off into the forest. "Sascha and Magnus try to hide our presence with magic and Yuxuan call of your beasts to not arouse any suspicion." Hi says. "Got it chief." Yuxuan says calling her beasts off. "Working on it." Sascha says together with Magnus channeling a spell that hides their presence and gives them a reflective layer that hides them by bending the light. They approach the demon ruins. They come close enough to see the gates to hell. "Erik get a pen and paper and write down how many there are." Hi says. "Already on it." Erik says with pen and paper in hand. "Gale how many do you see?" Hi asks him. "A total of a hundred lower demons and twelve archdemons including six demon generals." Gale says with Erik writing it down. "I see a familiar face, Yamata no Orochi somehow survived." Hi says. Exactly at that moment a demon looks at them. It´s a demon general clad in japanese metal armor with a metal hat and mask that covers his face his eyes flash read and his aura arrives at them. "We´ve been spotted let´s get out of here." Hi says. Magnus teleports everyone away. In the ancient demon ruins. "What is it Takedo?" Yamata no orochi ask the demon in armor. "I sensed a party of humans observing us, but they are gone now." he says in a deep resonant voice. "Let´s prepare for some human audience then, they can witness the true horrors of hell." he says laughing it off. "Seems you are sharper than I give you credit to you snake. Your hypothesis is correct the gate to hell will open soon and let the era of demon reign begin." Sapherion tells him. "Why don´t you tell us more?" Orochi asks. "Because it would be no fun and knowing the outcome might leave us to focus on the wrong things." Sapherion answers. They return to the castle and report back to the king and pope. "We´ve returned! We confirmed the existence of demons and the gates to hell" Hi says. "We´ve got a report." Erik says giving the king the piece of paper. "A hundred lower demons, twelve archdemons including six demon generals? That´s more than we thought." the king says. "We will meet their force by sending a hundred of out tempel ritter any more would disrupt the kingdoms protection. Lucius will lead them as a general." the pope says. "Thank you for trusting me with such a task." Lucius says. "What about you our king?" the pope asks. "I can send out fifty our elite troops including magicians, healers and frontline fighters." the king answers. "Thank you for your cooperation." the pope says. "So are we confirmed to help you?" Hi asks. "Of course , you are more than qualified." the king says. "Gather the troops!" the king says gesturing to a squire to deliver the message.