Chapter 10: The Start of the Holy Pilgrimage

  Crowds of devils were already waiting on the mountain. Fiends of all classes from across the infernal dimension had been invited as observers. Many of them were also set to participate in the inter-mountain games, which was an added attraction. The stands were therefore full of spectators, all awaiting the spectacle.

  This spectacle was to take place inside the mountain, which was surrounded by rows of multi-story collapsible benches, creating something akin to a grand amphitheater.

  "What are the glasses for?" Voivode Boruta asked loudly from his seat of honor, seeing Ignatius quietly scurrying nearby.

  The prodigal devil was not exuding his typical extravagance but seemed like an ordinary gray citizen; he even wore sunglasses covering his face.

  "It's because of a vision defect!" he hissed nervously through clenched teeth, looking around to see if anyone had noticed him.

  "More like defects of an empty head and a damaged reputation," Boruta laughed at his behavior.

  It was evident that Ignatius did not want to show himself to the crowds while the terrible nickname hung over him.

  "Hahaha, did I hear something about Ignatius the Empty-headed?!" another devil called out from a row slightly below Boruta's, though still a place of honor.

  His massive, muscular body took up almost two seats, and his red skin and two large, curved horns brought to mind the typical human depiction of a devil.

  "Shut up, you old fart!" the person of interest replied.

  Soon, however, he squeezed through the stands and greeted him quite affectionately. It was, after all, his old friend from the Envy and Conflagration, Greedius XXIII.

  "Long time no see, you oaf!" the burly devil greeted him. They immediately began to discuss what had happened during the two decades they hadn't seen each other. They did so so loudly that many other devils of lower status began to get indignant, but what could they do? Getting on the bad side of the lords of two mountains would be suicide for them.

  Soon, however, the good mood of the two friends faded. Completely unnoticed, in the same row they occupied, the mysterious devil from the Mountain of Swamps and Darkness appeared. This was the individual who had killed their other friend, Rokita the Elder, and appropriated his mountain.

  'He treats us like insects!' Greedius's furious gaze seemed to say as the mysterious devil didn't even greet them.

  Ignatius just shook his head, personally preferring that this terrifying being pay them no attention.

  Inside the mountain, in the competitors' locker rooms, hundreds, if not thousands, of devils from all four mountains subordinate to the Voivode were gathering. This was because it was the grand opening of the holy pilgrimage, organized mainly as games for the populace, and so the requirements for participating adepts were not very strict.

  Anyone who wanted to could participate, regardless of rank or status on their mountain.

  'How am I supposed to get tenth place here?!' Justinian fretted, feeling that Ignatius had simply mocked him. He wanted to learn his story because he felt it would help him in the cultivation of his Ledger of Transgressions and Redress and perhaps lead him to some clue regarding his revenge.

  'But now the task seems impossible...' he thought, looking at the ubiquitous adepts from other mountains. Since he had already reached one mark himself, he could sense that the vast majority of them were also at least at that level. The only consolation was that due to the low prestige of these games, there were few stronger devils at higher levels.

  'Ugh, maybe I should try networking?' he sighed internally. The problem was, it was a bit hard for him to latch onto someone. He didn't want it to look strange, so he decided to look for someone who, like him, was standing alone and try his luck there.

  Soon, his gaze fell on a girl standing alone, who seemed to be his age. She had beautiful features, a fair complexion, and pitch-black hair, which corresponded to the ideal of beauty among devils. However, due to cultural differences, no one was staring at her as would have certainly happened in the human world.

  'She looks friendly,' Justinian thought, before daring to approach and strike up a conversation. Unfortunately, before he took the first step, the girl, feeling his gaze upon her, also looked at him and, with an icy stare, gave him a clear signal to get lost.

  'Or maybe not...' the boy concluded sadly.

  The Voivode started the event with a fiery speech about great devilish virtues and importance of the pilgrimage in educating the youth.

  "Remember that after the pilgrimage ends you will become true adult devils who will be able to fully travel through infernal dimensions."

  Soon, Boruta moved on to the ceremony of assigning numbers to the competitors. Everyone could choose any number, but specific expectations and ambitions were associated with it. For example, the most popular was '13', considered in hell to be an absolute symbol of luck and an expression of the ambition to fight for the highest goals.

  Many devils, however, chose other numbers so as not to set expectations for themselves too high. After all, laziness, one of the seven deadly sins, was a virtue no less important to them than pride.

  When it was Justinian's turn, he had it all thought out.

  "I am an adept from the Mountain of Plague and Misfortune," he introduced himself briefly, mindful of the catastrophe that had occurred the last time he had spoken his name aloud.

  "And what number do you choose?" Boruta asked, intrigued. It was the first time he was meeting Ignatius's mysterious student, so he wanted to see what he would present.

  'Choose 13!' the unfortunate Emptyhead himself, who was observing the ceremony at that time, repeated in his mind.

  The young boy confidently puffed out his chest and said in a self-assured voice.

  "I want number seven!"

  As might be expected, by choosing a number considered lucky in the Kingdom of Peace, he once again unintentionally caused a real pandemonium in hell...

  The choice of number seven was so shocking to the devils that almost all the participants were now looking in his direction with their mouths wide open, and even Boruta didn't know what to say.

  For, just as it was a lucky number in the Kingdom of Peace, for devils, it was something absolutely cursed.

  It symbolized a hated, revolutionary character and the complete opposite of nature.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  What's more, the aversion to this number was so strong that if a she-devil sometimes gave birth to a seventh child, she would usually abandon it, and the whole family would forget about it!

  "As you wish," Boruta finally said when he managed to compose himself. He couldn't help but look at Ignatius with reproach for what a terrible human he had brought here.

  The devil, of course, felt the voivode's gaze on him and considered it terribly unfair:

  'How was I supposed to know the kid has a screw loose?!'

  What was worse, however... he also noticed that besides the voivode, the devil who had killed Rokita the Elder had also turned his gaze on him!

  'He's not looking at me menacingly at all... he's not looking at me menacingly at all...' Empty-headed tried to convince himself as a cold sweat drenched his back. What was worse, he felt in the gaze of this mysterious devil... a murderous intent!

  Inside the mountain, Justinian also had a headache and sadly concluded that fate was once again mocking his pure intentions.

  He tried to ignore the looks of horror thrown in his direction and only noticed one particularly unpleasant one.

  'Oh no... even her?' he shook his head pathetically.

  The beautiful she-devil from before, the one he had wanted to talk to, was looking at him with a gaze full of hostility.

  Justinian had no choice but to go and sit somewhere in a corner. He knew he wouldn't find any friends here today.

  When everyone had chosen their numbers—in many cases the same ones, which is why a second number, assigned after a decimal point, was necessary—the voivode announced the rules of the upcoming game.

  "The game is a test of the devilish arts," Boruta said. "So whoever acts in accordance with the 6.6 great virtues and causes the greatest mischief to humans will get the most points and have a chance to advance to the finals!"

  There were four main categories of the test to be drawn from, which the adepts could encounter before beginning a special soul journey. They were as follows: Seducing Witches, Inciting Blasphemy, Spreading Disease, Killing Livestock.

  The test environment itself was something of a prepared dimension with a specific scenario, where they had freedom of action and were the only living beings. Every such journey was available for the entire audience in the mountain to watch.

  When Justinian heard what the test consisted of, he didn't have very high hopes.

  'So much for learning the history of the Queen and Ignatius,' he shook his head, disconsolate. When he inhaled the green smoke that caused the soul journey, he opened his eyes on a vast, uninhabited expanse of land.

  'This looks like the legendary Hag's Mountain* from the stories...' he thought, looking around. He then realized that he had a letter in his pocket that wasn't there before. When he read it, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

  'Seduce as many women as possible to the service of the Lord of Hell. There are 100 of them in the whole area. Bonus points for putting them on the path of becoming a witch!'

  *Hag's mountain - in Polish folklore a place where sabbath took place.

  "Bets, we're taking bets! No betting on credit!"

  "I'll buy information on who the blasphemous human is!"

  "And I, a portrait of the beautiful she-devil from Greedius's mountain!"

  The devils were having a great time at the organized games, and generously washing down the viewing with alcohol, they shouted over each other about their favorites and the latest gossip.

  After the first thirty minutes, the most foolish part of the adepts had been eliminated from the competition—those who couldn't even manage to cause mischief to dim-witted peasants.

  During this time, Justinian found a village with people and was wondering how to approach the matter of seduction. Despite being 19, he had no prior experience with these matters, which made him feel ashamed to be forced into such an activity.

  In other trials, Belisara, the beautiful she-devil from Greedius's mountain whose origin no one knew, was shining and she soon rose to the very top of rankings.

  Attention of the mountain lords and Boruta however was focused on the strange behavior of the she-devil from the mysterious murderer's mountain.

  "She's supposed to bring a plague upon the animals, so why is she drawing all these signs?" Ignatius wondered.

  The other devils, except of course the owner of her mountain himself, also did not know the answer to this question.

  The answer became clear after another two hours, when the vast majority of devils had either failed their tests or finished them with a moderately satisfying result.

  "H-how could she achieve a score like this?"

  "No wonder old Rokita was beaten by that devil!"

  It turned out that by drawing the strange signs, she had created a huge magical formation that showed high skill in mastering the theory of devilish magic.

  This formation brought disease to all the animals in her test scenario, which guaranteed a perfect score and first place in the rankings, above the second Belisara.

  "You have to teach me something like that!" Greedius threw at Maleficius who was the master of her mountain.

  As everyone expected, the only answer he received was a dismissive look.

  "Does he have to be such a boor?" asked the devil, who was said to posses a distant bloodline of one of the 6.6 deadly sins—that is, in hell, great virtues—to his friend Ignatius.

  Ignatius, mindful of the look the murderer had given him earlier, had no intention of risking an offensive comment and shrugged his shoulders with a supposedly indifferent expression.

  Justinian finally devised a plan of action as well, forcing himself to overcome his shyness. Stepping out into the market of the village he was in, he decided that the only thing he could do was a sincere and direct approach.

  His sharp cheekbones and sculpted jaw reflected the rays of the setting sun as he exclaimed with a blush on his cheeks:

  "I'm looking for a woman for a little rendezvous!"

  Of course, the absurd attempt was pathetic and, even with his handsome looks, could not allow him to seduce any woman. In fact, those who heard it burst into dismissive laughter, considering his meager attempt a great joke.

  'I knew it would end like this...' he thought, turning red as a beet, while simultaneously wanting to sink into the ground.

  At the same time—he still remembered that what was at stake was learning more about the Queen and Ignatius, and also a potentially valuable entry into his Ledger of Transgressions and Redress.

  'Even if I don't succeed, at least I won't go down without a fight!' he thought, as determination flashed in his eyes, and he went to talk to one of the women in his line of sight.

  "H-hey, would you go watch the sunset with me?"

  Although his heart was pounding like a drum, his interlocutor did not look at him with irritation. Because of this, it seemed that she might agree to go on a date with him, which should give him a few points.

  'At least there won't be anything to be ashamed of in front of the devils...' he thought.

  The woman did indeed agree—the fact that in this test scenario, although the beings looked like humans, they were in reality... created based on the souls of devils helped a lot.

  She-devils, raised in a different culture, valued directness, which the infernal fiends themselves often lacked.

  Of course, this had its limits—after all, when Justinian had embarrassed himself earlier, none had gone with him, but here it worked. What's more, soon something happened that no one could have predicted.

  "Wait, wait. And where do you think you're taking that boy, you old hag?"

  Another woman entered the scene; she had heard the boy's declaration earlier and found it charming. Now, seeing her neighbor, whom she disliked, snatching him up, one of the "great virtues" of devils, namely jealousy, made itself known.

  "What did you call me, you scabby wench?" replied the woman who had agreed earlier.

  Justinian felt a little uncomfortable and didn't know what to say when he felt... another woman pulling him by the hand!

  It soon turned out that thanks to his earlier desperate attempt, all the women in the village had noticed him, and since she-devils were terribly territorial and jealous... none wanted to let him be with another.

  It wasn't long before Justinian, fearing for his own life and limb, had to hastily evacuate the village!

  The situation was, of course, being observed by the devils outside. Many of them said nothing, but in reality, they were a little jealous that an ordinary human had such success. What's more, their partners had already commented that he was charming, which only increased their dislike for him.

  "Hahaha, Ignatius, that adept of yours is a better womanizer than you are!"

  Greedius called out, commenting on the events.

  The empty-headed devil shook his head in response with a haughty expression, but a trained eye would have noticed that he, too, was evidently jealous of his protégé's success.

  "He doesn't look like a fool who would let himself be locked up for 20 years for a woman," Boruta added his two cents, which made the nearby mountain lords roar with laughter at Empty-headed's expense.

  Meanwhile, in the test, Justinian was fleeing from the pursuing crowd of women in complete desperation.

  'Why do such misfortunes always happen to me?!' he cursed his terrible bad luck in his mind, which didn't let up even in hell.

  'I just wanted to pick someone up... and now these crazy women are chasing me, treating me like their property!'

  Soon, he managed to escape to the mountain where he had appeared when he first entered the test scenario. There, terrified, he realized that he had nowhere left to run.

  The sound of the approaching she-devils was getting closer, and gritting his teeth, Justinian decided that he had to throw himself into the abyss to save himself.

  But then, something completely unexpected happened.

  To his surprise, all the women who had followed him here... disappeared!

  He felt the scroll on which the test's objective was written vibrate in his pocket.

  "Bonus conditions met - leading women to Hag's Mountain is equivalent to making them witches. Test score exceeds 100%."

  The boy and all the observing devils could only open their eyes wide when it turned out that he had completed the task with the best score among all participants and placed above terrifying Septima...