The gate disappeared right after he stepped through it, and what he saw left him baffled.
It was pure chaos; skeletons, multiple-headed monstrosities, and all kinds of abominable creatures were fighting and devouring each other.
The landscape was just as bad; it was a desert; not a single piece of vegetation was in sight. There was only sand and pools of lava as far as the eye could see.
Akira stood there frozen, wondering if entering that gate on a whim was a good idea.
***
Meanwhile, in the deepest parts of hell, five figures were seated around a table in a massive castle. Surrounded by ferocious demons, much more terrifying than the ones Akira saw.
"It seems our new master has entered." A massive skeletal figure wrapped in chains that glow with molten runes said,"
His body a mass of scars and flesh, eternally burning but never consumed, with a massive warhammer standing next to him.
The creature sitting opposite to him sighed, looking at where Akira had entered. "Let's hope he's worthy; otherwise, we'll just dispose of him and perish together," she said.
"Why don't we just test him then? Makes it a lot faster for us and more fun!" A towering demon in spiked armor stated.
His crimson skin glowing as he stood up and grabbed the massive war axe dripping with blood.
Hearing that, the others looked at the only one who wasn't seated but stood next to a massive window looking absentmindedly at where Akira was standing.
His figure was rather small compared to all the others with ash gray skin; his arms and legs were chained with rather ominous runes glowing on them.
His eyes were pitch black, looking like two miniature black holes, and he had no mouth. Only three pairs of pitch-black eyes on his face.
On top of his head stood nine pitch-black horns that seemed to form an ominous crown.
The four other demons gulped, patiently waiting for its verdict.
Then they heard his hoarse voice echo in their heads.
"You can't test him yet; the person you see now is not the real him."
A beautiful humanoid woman raised an eyebrow at the grey-skinned demon. "What do you mean, reaper of souls?" she asked.
Then right after she said that, her form changed completely; gone was the beautiful woman who wore an elegant red dress.
Instead she now had obsidian black skin, with red runes moving all over it. Her earlier elegance had vanished, replaced with a savage look in her eyes. And two blood-red horns curled up on her forehead.
With four bladed wings on her back.
"Just wait, you will all see in due time; it shouldn't be long before he reverts back."
The four demons heard telepathically; they couldn't do anything about it. When it came to making decisions, they had to listen to the strongest of the five.
And the reaper of souls was the strongest; he had bested them year after year and was the only demon who had never lost his spot as one of the five rulers.
Looking at each other, they all left the large room, going back to their own domain to vent their frustrations in their own way.
***
Akira, on the other hand, felt rather uncomfortable; he had been wandering around, and whenever he came close to any of the fighting or feasting demons, they would bow their heads.
And run away right after; it left him quite puzzled as to what was going on.
"What's going on here? And aren't there any higher-level demons in this place?" he muttered.
When suddenly he felt his whole body tense up, as if someone was staring straight through his soul. And seeing all his deepest and darkest secrets.
With cold sweat running down his forehead, he frantically looked around, trying to find the source of this feeling, but he couldn't see anyone or anything.
Only sand and the occasional lava pool.
Then after a while the feeling vanished as if it had never happened in the first place. But he knew better; it had definitely happened.
"It looks like I found my answer," he stated, looking around.
"There are definitely high-ranking demons here, but they are probably deeper inside. But I don't have the time right now to stay too long."
With that, Akira summoned another gate and quietly left hell. Returning to the park he was at before he entered hell.
Taking a seat on the bench, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to calm his heartbeat.
"The one that made me feel like this is most definitely insanely strong." He muttered, balling his fist.
He had no idea why, but it felt like his whole body was screaming to go back and fight that demon. As if it were an instinct drilled into his body.
"What is this feeling? Why am I feeling like this?"
Not knowing what to do with this feeling, he returned to his hotel room; he had to wait until he got news back from Paolo.
After returning to his hotel room, he took a quick shower, and after that he jumped on his bed; it had been another exhausting day.
While he lay on his bed, he closed his eyes and quickly drifted into sleep.
***
The gray-skinned demon was still standing at the same spot, seemingly staring out the window at the place Akira had stood right before leaving.
His body hadn't moved a muscle; he just stood there staring at that spot.
Then a massive pitch-black scythe appeared in his hand, and with a single slash, it seemed to cut through something, and right after, the scythe turned into light particles and disappeared as fast as it had appeared.
Then he also left the room.
The other four leading demons each felt it. Reaper of Souls had done something; they had no idea what but knew they wouldn't be bored anytime soon.
The beautiful woman was seated on a large throne made out of demon bones, grinning sadistically.
"So he made his move, huh?" She said, while elegantly sipping her cup of blood.