Chapter 25: Time to Say Goodbye

  "Where is the prince?!"

  "Who will command now?!"

  "The fugitives are escaping!"

  A cacophony of voices echoed through the city streets as Justinian and his companions fled down a former trade artery. The deserted districts meant that even if the Ukuunians dared to try and stop them, they had very little chance of success.

  "Justinian, are you okay?!" shouted Aldona, who was running at full speed and had no idea what had happened inside.

  "Yes! Escape first, talk later!" the boy shouted back, scanning for any signs of an approaching pursuit.

  Clutching his journal, the little devil Franciscus also ran beside them, his usually calm face showing eyes red from tears.

  Running through successive intersections, they soon found themselves near the very entrance to the city, by the wall built by the Orange Prince. Justinian cast one last glance at the city, which seemed just as quiet as when they had first arrived, and left Ukuun.

  Meanwhile, chaos reigned at the ruins of the assembly building. Since Shedim Medaiash had previously held absolute power, there was now a problem finding someone to take command.

  "We must convene a national assembly to elect a director for the search effort!"

  "Who will announce its date when the prince is gone?!"

  "We can't do that! The law clearly states no more than one assembly per month!"

  The local devils argued amongst themselves.

  It took a long time before they came up with the idea of simply returning to the old structures for the duration of the search. This finally brought some semblance of order, and the focus shifted to searching for the ruler among the rubble.

  "Could that awful man have kidnapped him?!"

  "How? Surely we would have seen it!"

  The entire operation lasted for several hours—cultivators, being significantly stronger than ordinary mortals, needed that much time to look under every piece of rubble that could be hiding Shedim. To their surprise, however... the Orange Prince was nowhere to be found.

  "What has happened to our ruler?!" cried the merchants who had been exempted from tariffs and, thanks to his interventions, could monopolize the market.

  "Yesss! We are free again!" cheered the others, who had lost out because of the tariffs.

  There was also many other groups, as despite all the ado, Medaiash's acts really affected a lot of people. Often in a positive way, that was not seen from the grand city.

  Overall, it might have seemed that everything was returning to normal. In the case of Redland, however, this normal did not turn out to be very good. The polarized society soon fractured more and more and finally a war broke out.

  By the end of it state regressed by several hundred years of organic development.

  More important for present-day history however was the fact that the searchers overlooked a cleverly hidden hole within the grounds of the ruined building. It was discovered only later, when the rains caused it to partially cave in.

  Despite this, none of the later explorers knew how deep it was, or who had created it.

  Once Justinian and his companions were a safe distance from Ukuun, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, the escape had been so exhausting that they immediately set up a camouflaged camp where they could recover their strength.

  "I would like to apologize for the situation I caused." Franciscus bowed before Aldona and the human, trying to maintain his usual composure.

  "You have nothing to apologize for," Justinian replied.

  "Exactly, it's no problem!" the noblewoman waved it off.

  Seeing their attitude, the little devil trembled slightly, as if he wanted to smile but was trying to suppress the reflex. In the end, he just bowed and went to unpack his things.

  Young man followed him.

  "Is everything all right?" he asked, clearly concerned about the day's events.

  Franciscus nodded.

  "Considering I was facing death at one point—perfectly fine. Thanks to your intervention, I also managed to recover..." Here Franciscus glanced at his journal, which he had just taken out.

  Justinian noticed that this was not an easy topic of conversation for the child, so he didn't intend to press it.

  "Was everything okay in prison too?"

  "Yes, I got a few slices of dry bread and two thimbles of barley soup."

  His interlocutor's face at first seemed very interested upon hearing of this spice, unknown to him, but half a second later, the memory of pig brains apparently resurfaced.

  "I saw that you used the energy from your saber to save my property. When possible, I will ask my uncle to settle this account," the child added.

  Hearing this, the human just waved his hand.

  "It's a better use for it than losing it during training anyway."

  "But your revenge..."

  "Your life is more important. What sense would my revenge make if it created an even worse world?"

  The little devil considered these words and finally nodded. Then... he opened his notebook and began to write them down.

  Justinian smiled at the sight.

  "I still have to deal with Totius. If you need anything, I'm always available."

  Aldona, who had been stealthily eavesdropping on their conversation, sighed lightly. Memories of the past surfaced in her mind. Memories of great hopes that ultimately lay in ruins.

  This time, however, she felt different; she felt that the disappointment of the past would not be repeated.

  "May I ask you a personal question?" Franciscus stopped Justinian.

  He was quite surprised, but eventually nodded.

  "Do you think hard work can bridge the gap between a lack of talent and talent?"

  After a moment of reflection, the human replied.

  "I have no doubt that it can."

  Moving away from the camp, Justinian found himself on a small hill from which he had a good view of the area. The night, with stars under a clear, cloudless sky, was beautiful in its tranquility.

  'It seems no pursuit was sent after us,' he assessed their situation.

  It was quite logical—after all, what could the guards do against cultivators capable of fighting the strongest prince in the city?

  However, another question bothered the boy.

  'Why didn't the prince attack me after digging himself out of the rubble?'

  Justinian was in a weak position then and stood no chance in a fight against someone two lines above him. Shedim must have been aware of this, and yet, despite the fury in his eyes, he had let it go.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  No matter how long he thought about it, the young man could only connect it to one fact.

  'Could it be about that green skin?'

  As far as he knew, all devils had a complexion somewhere in the red spectrum. So where did the green come from and... why did Shedim himself forgo the opportunity to attack just to hide this oddity?

  'Maybe I'm overthinking it? That guy has been acting unpredictably from the start.'

  Ultimately, the boy could only sigh. He was sure that this was definitely not the end of his problems with Rokita's student and knew that he had made a powerful enemy.

  The situation was further worsened by the fact that he no longer even had a weapon that could help him escape from such a threat. Borowiak's saber, completely devoid of energy, was now worthless.

  'And then there's the most important problem...' he thought, grabbing the old pipe in his pocket.

  His eyes flashed decidedly as he sent some energy into it and shouted:

  "Get the hell out here!"

  Bright smoke slowly began to rise from the pipe, and soon a swath of it covered the area around Justinian. Shortly after, a sleepy, almost yawning voice spoke.

  "Hmm? You called?"

  The boy looked at the spirit of the philo-socio-meta-physico-ecologist, who had apparently been sound asleep just a moment ago, and clenching his fists, he couldn't contain his fury.

  'You got us into such a mess and you're just sleeping sweetly?!' he thought, before attacking Totius with fire in his eyes.

  "Why did you betray us!? Your testimony almost led an innocent child to be executed!"

  The spirit looked at him, slightly surprised.

  "It seems to me there has been some significant misunderstanding."

  "What misunderstanding? Weren't you testifying at the trial against us?"

  The doctor looked at him with a certain glint in his eye, as if he only now understood what Justinian was getting at. Then he sighed heavily and, with a serious gaze that seemed to pierce through the mysteries of existence, looked at the distant stars in the sky.

  "Do you still believe, young man?"

  The boy frowned but hesitated for a moment. Ever since the death of the caretaker sister, it had been clear to him that there would be no justice in the world until his revenge was complete.

  "That has no meaning here!" he retorted, clenching his hands.

  Totius, however, just shook his head.

  "Everything in the world was created for a specific purpose and has a specific meaning," he began majestically, completely ignoring his interlocutor's anger. "Chaos was created so that order could reign over it. Houses, so that one may live in them. Roads, so that one may walk on them!" he expounded on the secrets of his wondrous knowledge.

  "What..."

  "Even if small events seem unjust to us, they were created this way intentionally so that, in the grand scheme of things, justice endures!" As he spoke these words, a terrible gale kicked up, nearly knocking Justinian off the hill.

  A powerful bolt of lightning cut across the sky, preparing to strike as the dimension's patience with the spirit was exceeded!

  "Thus, in accordance with the teachings of the thirty-fifth ecumenical council, whatever happens is always just!" Totius finished loftily.

  The gale intensified, and the sky began to blaze with light.

  The young boy listened to the entire lecture with his mouth agape. Only now did it occur to him that this conversation made no sense whatsoever.

  'With logic like that, even the worst crimes will always be just...' he realized the spirit's extremism, gritting his teeth.

  What's more, the lightning bolt also seemed to notice this, for after seeming to ponder the spirit's statement... it began to fade, and the storm to retreat! Apparently, the dimension itself had decided that the nonsense of Totius's claims was quite beneficial to the Ruler of Hell.

  Justinian couldn't believe the absurdity of the scene he was part of.

  Still, the image of his friend, ridiculed by the Orange Prince, was fresh in his mind, and he had no intention of letting the matter drop so easily.

  'A different strategy is needed here...' he sighed heavily.

  "We need to discuss one more issue."

  Totius nodded understandingly. It wasn't the first time he had—in his own opinion—mercilessly outpointed someone in a theological dispute.

  "What issue?"

  "I can feel you taking my energy as we travel. It's a nuisance to me. How can you repay me?"

  The spirit looked at Justinian with an expression of some indulgence, as if he had asked a trivial question to which an answer was bound to come.

  "My dear boy, do you not perceive the payment you have received? The energy you give me is processed into pure philosophical thought. Can there be a greater reward?" His voice was smooth and melodious, each word flowing like honey, creating a logically-sounding piece of nonsense.

  Justinian was silent for a moment, processing this torrent of absurdity.

  "The books of the church say woe to him who does not pay his debts," he snarled, stepping closer and raising the pipe to the spirit's eye level.

  Totius furrowed his translucent brows at these words. It was an actual theme running through the holy books, but wasn't his very presence reward enough for the boy?

  Ultimately, he sighed lightly, noticing that for some strange reason, something was off with the boy today.

  "If you insist on such a... prosaic form of compensation, there is a certain minor skill I possess. Once a day, you may call upon me not only for spiritual encouragement but also for me to repel an attack at the level of the energy I have absorbed."

  Totius paused as if to emphasize the weight of his words.

  "However," he added quickly, seeing the glint in Justinian's eye, "if you are attacked by someone whose power is beyond your level, my shield will not be effective. Do you understand?"

  The boy thought for a moment and nodded. This was a concrete, useful ability. He still held a grudge against the spirit, but now at least the stowaway could contribute something useful with his presence.

  The next morning, the group turned their steps toward the Mountain of Research and Development. Their journey lasted several more days, but finally, after about a week, the four devilish mountains once again loomed on the horizon. The fifth, the last one, was of course shrouded in mist.

  "We should be there by tomorrow," Aldona estimated.

  Justinian, meanwhile, sighed heavily. For the past few days, he had been contemplating the case of the city of Ukuun, where the prince had come to power.

  Questions like 'Is absolute power, if it results from the will of the people, just?' or 'Is democracy a just system if it leads to distortions?' had been keeping him up at night.

  Ultimately, Ukuun, whose system differed greatly from the rebellious infernal nobility, was driven into trouble, while the nobility with their dreadful Liberum Veto reveled at feasts.

  'But can the people even know what is good without access to all the information?'

  This was a particular puzzle for him, as in the kingdom of peace where he had spent almost his entire life, the Eternally Beautiful Queen... had also ruled in an absolute manner.

  'I never thought about it before, but if the devil Ignatius is right and she was really taking his blood just to maintain her youth...' here the boy remembered the leaky roof of the orphanage and the terrible conditions, unsuitable for children. 'Wasn't she ruling the country much like the Orange Prince himself?'

  These were many thoughts, but thanks to them, by slowly clarifying his opinions on these topics, he reached the 4th mark of Ki Gathering.

  'I must use the holy pilgrimage to stabilize my formation...' he resolved, remembering the Emptyhead's information that there was someone at that level in the tomb. 'But will that even be enough?'

  Aldona and Franciscus were talking about some mundane topics when something caught the human's attention.

  "Can you come over here?" he called to his companions.

  Pointing to the mountains before them, he asked:

  "Doesn't Maleficius's mountain seem taller to you than before?"

  From the perspective of where he stood, it seemed slightly taller than the others, when they were supposed to be equal.

  "That's impossible," commented Aldona, "it's probably some strange illusion."

  Franciscus nodded, also knowing that all the mountains, except for ??czyca, were of equal height. They soon continued their journey.

  A few hours later, as the sun was setting and the companions were looking for a place to make camp, something happened that shook the infernal dimension.

  Maleficius's mountain, previously as distinct as all the others, suddenly began to... fade!

  At first, they didn't even notice, but soon Aldona spotted it and alerted the others.

  "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she asked, terrified.

  Justinian turned in the direction she was pointing and was completely stunned.

  Before his very eyes, Maleficius's mountain, at times transparent, at times completely solid, began to grow, significantly increasing its volume.

  This was accompanied by a terrible noise that was almost unbearable.

  "What is that?!" the human shouted, feeling a terrible pressure coming from that direction.

  The mountain rose, creating massive stone ledges at its very base, making entry much more difficult, if not impossible.

  The rock mass itself continued to grow.

  It wasn't long before it was clearly higher than the rest of the neighboring mountains. Only a few seconds passed before it became almost as tall as ??czyca!

  "That's..." Aldona swallowed nervously, not understanding what her eyes were showing her.

  The incredible growth continued for a moment longer until it stopped, about a meter short of the height reached by the peak of Voyvode Boruta's mountain.

  The terrible cracking sound ended, but then enormous roots began to unearth themselves from the ground, wrapping around the mountain and completely changing its landscape!

  Soon after, they disappeared, and a powerful, demonic voice pierced the air.

  "From this day on, my mountain shall be called the Mountain of Darkness."

  The owner of this voice was none other than Maleficius!

  Of course, as soon as the dark phenomenon ended, the entire dimension was abuzz with rumors. Justinian and his companions had no idea what it all meant, but both they and the rest of the devils who had witnessed the transformation had no doubt.

  "Maleficius is challenging Boruta's authority!"

  Both the simple devils—peasants—and the pot-bellied nobles and the adepts from the mountains—all looked on in confusion at a change that had no precedent in the dimension's history and wondered how the Voyvode would respond.

  "Do you think the pilgrimage will be canceled?" Justinian asked.

  "It is our most sacred tradition, established by the King of Names and Symbols. If that happens, other consequences will follow, and we could destabilize other dimensions!" Aldona stated.

  She couldn't be certain of anything, however; after all, the power that Maleficius had demonstrated was beyond all imagination. Not only she, but other devils as well, were asking themselves the question.

  "Does Boruta stand any chance against such power?"

  At the same time, while the devils were conversing loftily about these momentous events, the Mountain of Plague and Misfortune was characterized by a completely different atmosphere.

  As the rumors said, its lord had been acting terribly strange for weeks, and many suggested that the Emptyhead had finally gone truly mad.

  How much truth was there in these reports? Surprisingly... a lot.

  "This is still not it!" Ignatius hissed, turning over another volume of the Diabolical Lives, opened wide on the floor of his hermitage.

  Piles of books he had borrowed from the library on Boruta's mountain were placed around him.

  "Why can't I find this damn thing?!" the irritated devil shouted to the air.

  His pupils darted nervously from one page of the book to another, then to the shadows that naturally appeared in his room as the day progressed.

  The truth was that the time Justinian had spent on training, the lord of his mountain had spent mainly on developing his paranoia.

  His frequent visits to the library, though they had greatly pleased Boruta at first - began to worry the governor more and more over time.

  "Aren't you overdoing it a bit with the reading, Ignatius?" the old, wrinkled Voyvode would ask.

  The lord of the Mountain of Plague and Misfortune, however, paid it no mind. For he knew that he was on the verge of solving the mystery of that cursed symbol of a nail piercing three eyeballs.

  A symbol that made the hair on his back stand up more than the word "Justice."