Meanwhile, in one of the many shallow caves carved into Greedius's mountain.

  The devil, on the verge of the fifth mark of Ki Gathering, was yawning as he awaited the arrival of his guest. Night had fallen outside, which made it particularly dangerous.

  He wasn't afraid, however, as he had managed to build a reputation that made his very name a deterrent to attackers.

  "Hmm?" he looked up as he heard approaching footsteps.

  Soon, the face of a familiar devil he was waiting for emerged from the darkness. Though "familiar" in this case was a bit of an overstatement—after all, they were connected purely by business, and the guest himself... could change his face!

  "I hope you haven't been waiting too long?" the newcomer asked with a smile.

  "It's all good," the fiend who had been waiting simply waved his hand.

  His name was Sagitarius.

  The visitor nodded, appreciating his easy-going attitude. This was precisely why he liked doing business with him.

  "Who is it this time?" the waiting devil asked his interlocutor.

  "There are a few new candidates," the guest smiled.

  It didn't take long for him to take off his backpack, from which he pulled out a thin book. If an average devil were to see it, they would probably be intrigued—it contained high-quality portraits of devils of various ages.

  However, if someone from Greedius's mountain saw it... they would be seriously concerned. For among these portraits, a considerable number were of adepts who had disappeared from the mountain in recent months!

  "Do you recognize these new ones?" he asked Sagitarius, pointing to several portraits that were clearly made recently.

  The other devil looked at them and thought for a moment.

  "I've heard a thing or two," he nodded.

  The visitor was clearly pleased with these words.

  "As we agreed, the bonus for each subsequent one is 25% of the previous amount."

  Sagitarius looked at him and smiled back.

  This was what made him get along so well with the stranger. He didn't know who he was and didn't need to ask. What mattered was clean, profitable business, without foolish haggling and tiresome manipulations.

  "Mhm, something can definitely be done," he replied.

  The other man accepted this stance with satisfaction. Before closing his book of portraits, however, he remembered something and turned from the new ones to those made some time ago.

  "Remember, I'm particularly interested in her," he pointed his finger at one of the very detailed drawings.

  It depicted a young she-devil of distinguished beauty and an intense gaze.

  "I'm working on it," Sagitarius confirmed.

  On that portrait was none other than Belisara!

  A few kilometers away, in a well-camouflaged dugout several meters deep on Greedius's mountain.

  A young she-devil sat lost in thought. Her beautiful hair was tied up, preventing any of it from getting into the terribly bleeding wound on her shoulder. Despite this, she endured the pain without paying it any mind.

  This was Belisara, hiding from the enemies tracking her.

  'That was pretty close this time,' she thought, looking at the cut wound that hadn't begun to heal for several days.

  'I didn't expect the difference between 4 marks and the breakthrough of the 5th mark to be so huge...' she shook her head, recalling how easily she had dealt with Sagitarius before.

  Now, her opponent had reached a level close to a breakthrough in cultivation, and the advantage was clearly on his side.

  'How long can I hide here?' she sighed quietly.

  Of course, she had backup plans in case the situation worsened, but she was already in an undesirable position.

  These thoughts made her furrow her brow in concentration.

  She knew her potential and had no intention of wasting it. After all, she had sacrificed too much to get to where she was.

  Time didn't stand still on the Mountain of Darkness either.

  Deep within the rock formation, in a room created by the earlier raising of the mountain, Septima levitated in concentration.

  She was surrounded by absolute darkness—many layers of it, which seemed almost infinite and impenetrable, deeper than anything that existed in the 66th hell.

  "What are the results?" a voice full of anticipation soon asked from somewhere behind her.

  It was asked by her servant, Maleficius.

  "The curse of the king of names and symbols is as perfidious as one might expect," the she-devil smiled sadly as the surrounding gloom became slightly more transparent.

  Her hand, which she had held outstretched a moment before, was bleeding profusely from thousands of small wounds that seemed to have been... eaten away by the darkness itself.

  "If the current changes in the mountain are insufficient..."

  Septima, however, just shook her head at these words.

  "It's not certain if that would change anything. Besides, there's no need to provoke Boruta."

  Maleficius smiled faintly at the mention of the voivode, which clearly showed his opinion of the dimension's ruler.

  "We shouldn't drive him to desperation. At least, not yet."

  "As you command," the servant bowed his head, then frowned slightly. "While you were in isolation, a pilgrimage through the mountains began..."

  "Oh?" the she-devil asked, a little surprised.

  It took her a moment to remember the customs of the pilgrimage in this particular dimension. Visiting the voivode's generals before the confrontation with the dimension's spirit.

  But then, something else came to her mind.

  'The human from the starting event...'

  She still had a nagging feeling that she was supposed to remember something important in his context.

  Fragments of associations in her head unsuccessfully tried to connect, leaving the taste of an irritating feeling.

  "Perhaps it would be worthwhile for you to take part in it as well?" Maleficius asked and smiled in embarrassment.

  Septima, of course, knew what he meant.

  "Has someone appeared who obtained the power of one of the infernal virtues?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

  A palpable tension could be felt in her voice, which was absent from the conversation earlier. The devil, however, shook his head.

  "Nothing beyond what we already know."

  "And what about the human from before?" she finally asked.

  Maleficius was quite surprised.

  "He should be appearing on Greedius's mountain soon. I can..." he began, when his mistress interrupted him.

  "I'll take care of it myself."

  She still remembered what happened during the finale of the starting event and intended to erase that absurd humiliation. Before speaking her next words, she thought for a moment.

  "Besides, I've had enough of this awful place."

  On Eusebius's mountain.

  Justinian was already packed and ready to go. He met up with Aldona, who had also finished her preparations.

  "So, how did you enjoy your stay here?" the she-devil asked as they descended the mountain path.

  Her companion pondered this seemingly simple question for a moment. The truth is, his stay had oscillated between extremes—he either felt delighted with nostalgia or with the idea of bringing justice to the innocently condemned people.

  Unfortunately, it always turned out in the end that these were all just illusions, hiding either a prison with terrible conditions or the development of a delusion that humans were supposedly just beings.

  Of course, these dilemmas also influenced the development of his cultivation powers, but ultimately, he felt the only thing he could say was the following:

  "It was complicated," he finally said, forcing a smile.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "As a judge, you seemed very pleased," Aldona genuinely chuckled.

  Justinian blushed a little. He had been very engrossed in conducting the trials back then, hoping to help the innocent and unjustly accused. Those oppressed by an evil system in which they couldn't otherwise defend themselves.

  Ultimately, however, he had only made the situation worse for those people.

  He didn't feel guilty; after all, he always tried to judge cases according to his own sense of decency. But he began to wonder how his views were reflected in real-world conditions.

  'Should a man really actively strive to do good and praise justice?' was a question that appeared in his head.

  The boy believed that good and justice were desirable states, but what if such attempts were doomed to fail from the start? After all, the world was truly complicated, and without knowing all the nuances, it was difficult to judge a situation uniformly.

  'What if it ultimately just increases the chaos generated and contributes to worsening the existing conditions?'

  But what alternatives did he have? Was he supposed to give up trying to fix what he considered wrong and pretend that everything was fine? He remembered how in the orphanage of the Kingdom of Peace, his brother could only live thanks to the efforts of Sister Teresa.

  These were all difficult questions, and for now, the boy felt that the concept of an answer was beyond his comprehension of the world.

  Soon, he and Aldona began their descent from the mountain to continue their pilgrimage. The destination was the home of Greedius, where Belisara also lived.

  During the descent, Justinian's expression was exceptionally grim, and his hands, clenched into fists, trembled with accumulated anger.

  It was all because the local devils had decided to see him off.

  "The Grim Judge is finally leaving us!"

  "Let Greedius worry about that scoundrel!"

  "How can a human be so cruel?"

  Loudly shouted comments echoed around them. What was worse, the devils were in such a festive mood that they had organized a party where they celebrated getting rid of the boy with paper banners, music, and dancing.

  "Don't worry, Justin, it's just stupid talk..." Aldona said, concerned about his state. He had been very quiet and constantly reliving what had happened, especially since the discovery of the murder.

  Justinian, of course, appreciated her warm words and with a gloomy face wanted to confirm that it was nothing.

  But then his eyes widened, and he turned pale.

  "What's wrong?" the noblewoman asked, turning in the direction of his gaze.

  As soon as she did... she was rendered speechless.

  "PETITION FOR MANDATORY TEACHING ABOUT THE GRIM JUDGE'S CRUELTY IN SCHOOLS" proclaimed the title on a giant sheet of paper.

  Beneath it were hundreds, if not thousands, of devilish signatures collected by the initiators. What's more, there was a very long line of people eager to sign...

  "..." the boy took a deep breath and finally shook his head. He didn't look in that direction anymore, nor did he intend to explain his intentions and actions.

  "What's worth knowing about the Mountain of Envy and Conflagration?" he finally asked Aldona, wanting to forget about the previous topic.

  The she-devil was evidently also keen to do so and eagerly shared her knowledge.

  "You have to be careful when we get there; it's a very brutal place," she said warningly.

  Justinian frowned upon hearing these words.

  "Even compared to what we saw on this mountain?"

  The noblewoman just shook her head.

  "The Mountain of Research and Development is a very peaceful place. Mostly devils who show specific interests and whose skills allow them to pass Eusebius's test end up here."

  The boy nodded; it seemed logical to him.

  "After all, every place must have some kind of filtration system, right?" he asked. "Otherwise, there simply wouldn't be resources for everyone."

  In response, Aldona smiled sadly and looked him in the eyes.

  "In the case of the Mountain of Envy and Conflagration, there is no filtration. The place itself is simply one big filtration."

  Justinian raised his eyebrows at this. He was reminded of the words of another she-devil he had met much earlier on his path to achieving revenge.

  'It's a place where the stronger preys on the weaker,' the beautiful Belisara had told him during that starry night.

  'I wonder how she's doing...' he drifted off into his thoughts.

  They walked in silence for a while longer, until they finally reached the lowest outpost on the Mountain of Research and Development. With a conflicted face, the boy looked one last time at the place he had come from.

  'This place showed me how much I still lack to even think about revenge...' he concluded sadly.

  Starting with the meeting with Felix, through the unexpected results of the court trials, and finally the murder of the muted man—hell showed at every step that it was full of secrets and conspiracies beyond his comprehension.

  'If Maleficius doesn't allow his mountain to participate in the holy pilgrimage's destination, I'll only have Greedius's mountain left to develop before the stabilization ritual,' he thought, clenching his fists. 'I must reach the fifth mark of ki gathering there, otherwise my revenge will be just a mere delusion.'

  At that moment, he felt Aldona's worried gaze on him. The she-devil, as usual, was very empathetic, and he felt that she cared about his fate.

  'So what choice do I have but to try and protect my loved ones?' He smiled at her and shook his head.

  They said their goodbyes to the devilish guards and continued on their way.

  Sighing and concluding that he couldn't be such a downer, he asked the noblewoman traveling with him.

  "Does Greedius also have a nickname?"

  After all, Ignatius was the famous Emptyheaded, whom the devilish nobility laughed at heartily, and Eusebius was known as the Iron Guardian.

  "Yes, he is called Greedius XXIII - the Immortal," came the answer, which made Justinian almost jump.

  It did not come from Aldona, who had also turned pale at that moment, but from someone they absolutely did not expect to meet in this place. Someone they both knew and who could bring nothing good with his presence.

  Behind the two wanderers stood none other than Felix Faustus, who had previously defeated the boy with a single blow!

  Felix Faustus watched with a smile as Aldona's sudden terror turned to rage, and the human accompanying her went from surprise to a defensive stance.

  'Maybe I should say, for a joke, that we're about to have a reckoning?' the thought flashed through his mind, but he dismissed it.

  After all, what was the point in mocking the weak?

  "What do you want?!" Aldona hissed, her eyes narrowed with anger.

  'She hasn't changed a bit,' Felix smiled even wider.

  Of course, he didn't take her words seriously; after all, they had known each other for so many years that they could afford such digs. Especially after their paths began to diverge.

  'Maybe I should use this a little?'

  The representative adept of Eusebius put a finger to his lips and began to ceremonially pretend to be someone deep in thought. This, of course, was not well received by the noblewoman, who was about to lunge at him with her fists.

  Justinian had to hold her back from this intention.

  "Let it go," he told her, clearly also confused by Felix's appearance.

  The latter just laughed.

  "What do I want? I'm simply greeting my fellow holy pilgrims."

  Faustus watched with a smile at the angry Aldona and the human who was frowning suspiciously. The truth is, however, that for once, this smile masked a deep concern that had arisen this morning. That's when news of the prisoner's death reached the representative adept of the Mountain of Research and Development.

  'Murders in the prison almost never happened. Combined with what the adepts are saying about the Grim Judge's behavior, the conclusions are obvious.'

  Felix, although he mainly spent his time in seclusion, had of course heard the rumors about the terrible trials and punishments that had taken place over the past few days.

  'This human is dangerous,' thought the representative adept, who was simply worried about Aldona. They had known each other for many years, and he had never revealed what he felt for her.

  This—from a human point of view—restraint in showing affection was common in devilish culture. In hell, it was the women who showed aggression in matters of affection and often initiated relationships.

  "You're not going anywhere with us!" Aldona fumed.

  "I just said otherwise," he cut her off with a smile.

  "I don't care, I don't want you to go with us!"

  She had heard what was being said about Justinian, and remembering the last encounter between him and Felix, she was sure it would lead to trouble.

  "I don't care that you don't care. Remember that I am the representative adept here, and you should listen to someone of a higher rank," Faustus laughed.

  Aldona's eyes lit up with anger. But he was right; she really should listen to him.

  Justinian was obviously not particularly pleased with the expansion of their party—after all, this devil was much stronger than him, and his constant smile seemed suspicious. But what could he do?

  Soon, the newcomer officially, though without excessive politeness, introduced himself.

  "Felix Faustus, representative adept of the Mountain of Research and Development."

  The human thought for a moment and sighed inwardly.

  "Justinian the Just, representative adept of the Mountain of Plague and Misfortune." Of course, as soon as he uttered these words, the hellish environment around had to react. This time, a bird that was chirping on a nearby branch suddenly slipped and fell, breaking its wing.

  Aldona watched this scene with wide-open eyes. Even Felix was a little surprised, but he decided to react. He leaned down, looking gently at the lying bird, and dressed its wound. Then, as if nothing had happened, he put it in the pocket of his robe, so that only the creature's head stuck out.

  "You'll sit there for a bit, you poor little thing, and you should be better," he said with concern to the bird. It seemed to understand his words and even chirped softly in contentment.

  Interestingly, a moment later the sparrow looked towards Justinian and its gaze... might as well have been summoning lightning. It clearly blamed the boy for its misfortune.

  The young man noticed this look and could only clear his throat innocently. After all, he really hadn't intended for such an outcome.

  Shortly thereafter, the trio set off towards Greedius's mountain, a few hours' walk away.

  'Is it just me, or has this devil been watching me the whole time?' Justinian wondered as he momentarily moved away from the others to check something in the bushes. The last two hours since Felix had joined them had been very frustrating for the boy.

  It wasn't about the hidden hostility that the human sensed, but something much more prosaic. While Justinian was plagued by bad luck in his usual way, the opposite was true for the devil.

  The sun always shone on his face, stray insects didn't approach him, and when he once stumbled, it turned out he had tripped over someone's lost wallet...

  'How can someone be so lucky?!' tears welled up in Justinian's eyes at the very thought of someone living like that. 'Where has the justice of this world gone?!' he fumed.

  At the same time, he noticed that there seemed to be some unresolved conflict between Felix and Aldona, which caused the two not to get along very well.

  Although he felt quite foolish about it, he was inwardly happy about this turn of events.

  'Otherwise, I'd feel like a complete freak in this company...'

  Sighing heavily, he now focused on the goal of his journey. An hour's walk away was the mountain of the devil Greedius XXIII, who was a good friend of Ignatius the Emptyheaded the Younger. He had already learned from Aldona that different customs prevailed there than on the Mountain of Research and Development, safety might not be guaranteed, so he had better be on his guard.

  'I have one last mark of Ki Gathering to achieve. Then I can take part in the Foundation Stabilization ritual and return to the kingdom...' The rules of the 66th hell stipulated that devils, after passing through the Ki Gathering phase, had a free hand in traveling through the dimensions.

  Because of this, there wasn't much time left until he would finally be back in his own world.

  'But who should I even take revenge on?' The matter of the muted man's murder had shaken him deeply, and he had the impression that even if he found the bandits, it might only be the tip of the iceberg.

  Shaking his head, he returned to the two devils waiting for him.

  Where Eusebius's mountain had elegant guards and a checkpoint for guests, here there were... two scratched ditches.

  As soon as they crossed them, a half-meter-long rat ran across a nearby layer of stone.

  "What a charming welcome," Felix smiled.

  "And we even have company," Aldona shrugged, pointing with the tip of her nose to the figures moving on a higher level.

  Of course, they had considered that they would be expected—after all, the holy pilgrimage was a big event for devils.

  Fiends loved good fun with a hint of madness, and there would surely be those who would want to challenge the famous Grim Judge.

  At the same time, Belisara was going through a difficult period in her dugout.

  Her wound had only worsened recently, and it was clear that it was due to some kind of poison. She hadn't eaten for many days, which only exacerbated the effect.

  'The bastards are really relentless...' she shook her head.

  For several days, Sagitarius and his gang had been circling dangerously close to the entrance of her hideout. The she-devil was completely cornered and she could bet that her old spots were also being watched.

  'If I hadn't placed additional eyes beforehand, things could have been different.'

  She possessed an ability that allowed her to—at the cost of energy—look at several places at once through special spiritual markers.

  It had saved her life many times and allowed her to avoid much stronger opponents. Now, another day of waiting for an escape window to open passed. As a third-level cultivator, she needed much less food than typical devils, but that had its limits.

  'If things don't change by the end of the week... I'll have to take a risk,' she thought, disappointed. 'I wonder why he's so determined to get me...'

  Her conflict with the fourth-level devil was not a new issue, but now it seemed that Sagitarius was doubly motivated.

  'Hmm?' Something jolted her from her lethargy.

  One of the markers she had left near the entrance to the mountain showed something unusual.

  'Three richly dressed adepts, and there's a woman too,' she assessed quickly, trying not to use too much energy.

  But when she focused more, she saw an even bigger surprise.

  'Justinian?'

  Even she had heard the rumors about the grim judge who sowed chaos in hell with his demonic practices. It didn't quite fit with what she knew of him, but people change, after all.

  The beautiful she-devil considered the situation for a moment, and then... a flash of decisiveness appeared in her eyes.

  She was going to attempt an escape!

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