Chapter 70: The Arena

  The roar of the arena, which only a moment ago had carried like a booming thunderstorm, now sounded more like distant rumbles at best. The devils' reaction could not have been more telling.

  "What is this human doing here?"

  "Is he really one of the participants?"

  "That nobleman’s outfit behind him looks like those drunks from the 66th dimension..."

  The fiends present in the stands immediately began to speculate about the details of his origin. This small storm was quite understandable—the stands were mostly filled with ordinary devils without cultivation. In summons to the human world, members of sects usually participated, and human immigrants were generally restricted to the 66th Hell.

  Justinian had not expected a better welcome, nor did he feel offended. In the 66th dimension, the reactions of the devils were far more irritating—a good example being the sacrifice of goats to him or special classes teaching about his "terrible" deeds.

  'This slight suspicion is a trifle compared to being used as a bogeyman to scare children!'

  Seeing that no insults were born from curiosity, he even concluded that it could have been much, much worse, and this was a fairly good reception. Not wanting to ruin these prospects, he fought the urge to smile—after all, fiends reacted strangely to that. Instead, he looked around the massive arena.

  Small areas marked with wooden plaques were arranged along the entire perimeter of the ellipse. Each contained numbers from 61 to 66.6—a clear indication of the zones designated for the respective hells. Where such areas were empty, the light right in front of the sign curved into a ten-meter-wide glow, flashing time and again with sudden, brilliant explosions.

  'The portals look active. The Noble Brothers should reach us shortly.'

  Quite satisfied with how things were going, he gestured for his group to head toward their designated circle. The atmosphere grew a bit more tense as the theories about his participation were confirmed, yet it ended only in crooked or curious glances.

  Walking calmly across the diagonal of the great ellipse, Justinian noticed that it wasn't just the audience watching them closely. The other participants—from dimensions 62 and 64—were also observing him intently. Seweryn, walking right behind him, noticed their gaze.

  "Those silver-haired old men are alchemists from the 62nd dimension. It is said they received an entire dimension for their magnificent services to the Lord of Hell a hundred thousand years ago."

  Justinian nodded. The average-height devils with short horns and elongated faces smiled kindly, yet he already knew that appearances in Hell could be deceiving.

  A little further away, a completely different kind of devil stared at them with an unhealthy, greedy look. They had very long eyebrows that curled in the air like snails. All of them crowded onto horses, from whose sides hung quivers with arrows glowing with a faint green light, while their animals stared blankly and submissively ahead.

  Overall—they looked very dangerous.

  "Those ruffians are the most dangerous archers in this part of Hell. Upon reaching adulthood, they devour the souls of their horses, which they treat as extensions of their own bodies from then on."

  Seweryn had a grim expression as he spoke of them. It wasn't hard to guess that the usually empathetic devil likely had some past grievance with them.

  The exception to the gazes of the residents of these two dimensions was the last of the previously arrived teams. It represented the devils from the 66.6th Hell, whom Justinian had seen in the city before. They didn't just avoid looking in his direction—they tried desperately to avoid looking at anyone at all. They were all very short and wore white robes with hoods and shimmering inscriptions.

  "Poenitentia et virtutes diabolicae?"

  The nobleman shook his head awkwardly.

  "Ever since the Lord of Hell destroyed 40% of their entire dimension, the devils there do everything they can not to cross him again. The robes and inscriptions you see are their penitent's garb."

  His companion turned pale at the mention of that deed. He didn't even want to imagine how such an event must have affected the mentality and life of an entire dimension. Their aura, full of pain and nervous behavior, made neighboring with them very awkward.

  Soon, however, something else occupied his thoughts. Shortly after they reached the area designated for the 66th, the wide portal began to shine more and more intensely. It was clear that reinforcements were approaching.

  Above the regular stands were large, rectangular honorary boxes. In one of them, located at the central width of the arena, two devils were currently present. Seated in a spot visible to the public, they conversed freely.

  "Are you sure this isn't some mistake?"

  "A human, a stout Sarmatian teenager, and a she-devil behind them. That is definitely the representation of the 66th dimension, Envidius."

  A young and handsome devil emanating a powerful aura looked at his conversationalist, Micromegas. The furrowing of his brow expressed his doubts. The latter replied with a slight nod.

  "That is exactly the information I received from the local voivode."

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  "Does this not detract from the rank of this event? Sending three people borders on a mockery."

  The bald leader of the dimension replied after a short thought.

  "According to the rules established by the Lord of Hell, the minimum number of participants is the three persons who participated in the pilgrimage, plus an appropriate representation."

  At that very moment, the portal to the 66th dimension began to emanate light, indicating the imminent arrival of guests. Micromegas took the moment to clarify his previous statement.

  "There is also an exception to this rule."

  Envidius looked at him with curiosity. This was his first trip outside his native 32nd dimension, and he treated every sacred word spoken by the King of Names and Symbols as more precious than gold.

  "The rules also allow for a single person to participate in the tournament."

  "Does that depend on the participant's level of diabolicalness?"

  The voivode shook his head.

  "It is enough for such a person to divide their soul into six parts and perform as six different entities."

  Before the young guest could reply, the portal erupted with bright light, and shadows appeared on its shimmering surface. The entire arena held its breath. Aside from the guests from the lower dimensions, it was filled mainly with local fiends who had come to see the interesting ceremony.

  It was considered good entertainment here to learn about the cultures of other dimensions and how they approached the diabolical commands of the Lord of Hell. The curiosity was even greater because their own dimension, by attacking inter-dimensional tunnels, openly deterred travelers who weren't born there. As the gathered crowds began to lean toward the portal, the first creature started to emerge!

  It was a beautiful horse of dark coat, emanating evil and snorting fire from its nostrils. On its back was a devil dressed in wide robes with a look full of pride. Not a second passed before the horse leaped from the portal and the rider shouted loudly:

  "Onward, Noble Brothers! For our magnificent dimension!"

  Watching from above, Envidius felt great interest. Unlike the pathetic adepts who had appeared earlier, the military representation was evidently splendid. Already, he felt surprising vibrations from the portal, like a concentration of the diabolical virtues promoted by the Lord of Hell.

  The reaction of the watching arena was similar.

  What’s more, this sight even sparked interest in the box located directly above where the two devils sat. It was a special, invisible box intended for the group of observers to which Envidius belonged.

  At this very moment, full of the tension of the distant warriors' appearance, someone from the stands noticed a certain detail regarding the rider.

  "Is it just me, or does that warrior look obese?"

  Before anyone could answer or discern the truth beneath the wide robes, the portal began to shine even more intensely. Then, one by one, the Noble Brothers began to ride out of it.

  Gasps of surprise echoed through the audience, and Envidius even stood up in disbelief.

  Behold: the representation that had promised so much was, in reality, full of obese drunks who could barely stay on their horses and looked as if they didn't even have the strength to shout. Many of them swayed in their saddles, unable to sit upright!

  Only a few managed a very quiet "Aye!" in response to their leader's call. Soon after them crawled their emaciated servants, leading ridiculously large wagons of equipment.

  The servants themselves were so thin one might wonder how they remained standing at all. Amidst the confusion of the entire arena, the shout of the rider who had first emerged from the portal rang out:

  "Faster, you scoundrels! You cannot ruin our grand entrance!"

  Seeing the workers begin to scramble in desperation, Envidius looked at Micromegas in disbelief.

  "Is this some kind of joke?"

  Justinian had a similar reaction on the arena floor; blushing with shame, he couldn't believe what was happening. It wasn't about the brazenness of the noble caste or the fact that they could show up drunk even to such an important ceremony. What was happening before his eyes was incredible to him for a much more mundane reason.

  'This...'

  For the first time since arriving in Hell, he was watching as massive crowds of gathered devils turned against him in a matter of seconds... without any fault of his own!

  He had seen similar audience reactions many times, but their anger had always been directed at him. Now, he felt like weeping as he watched the audience, previously skeptical, become openly hostile.

  "What are these fatlings?!"

  "This is supposed to be the representation of a dimension honoring the Lord of Hell?!"

  "Get off your horses and feed your servants, you damn lazy bums!"

  It didn't take long for the shouts to turn into terrible booing and whistling. Nothing else could be heard in the arena, and even most of the drunken Noble Brothers sobered up a bit. What’s more... the audience soon moved from insults to actions.

  Various objects, such as apples or tomatoes, began flying toward the surprised nobles. It is worth noting at this point that in Hell, tomatoes sometimes reached the size of half a meter...

  Rudnicki, who led the delegation, couldn't believe what was happening. Shielding himself with his ancestral sabre, he batted away the projectiles flying their way, his face expressing pure fury.

  "How dare you insult our noble honor?!"

  Hearing this, the audience became even more outraged, and more people joined in throwing objects. It was slowly becoming a problem, as there were many of them and the space on the arena was limited.

  At that moment, Micromegas stood up from his seat in the honorary box.

  "Silence!"

  His voice was not a shout, but rather a powerful thud against reality itself.

  A dead, ringing silence fell over the arena. Even the most agitated fiends cowered in their seats, feeling the breath of the authority that ruled this dimension on their necks.

  Seeing this, Rudnicki straightened proudly in his saddle. Though his face was purple with rage, he regained his composure almost instantly. He looked at Justinian, who was standing nearby, and waved a hand dismissively toward the stands.

  "Do you see this, my dear fellow? Low-born boorishness will always remain boorishness, even if you dress it in the finest robes!"

  Hearing this, the young man looked at the Noble Brothers lazily riding apart and didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.

  Soon, however, something else occupied his mind. For over the next few minutes, the three remaining portals lit up one by one.

  The portal of the 65th Hell opened first. With a glow of fire and a wild scream, devils emerged, similar in features to those Justinian had seen in the 66th dimension. Their horns looked as if they had been filed down, and many wore single strands of black hair on the crowns of their heads. They were equipped with narrow sabres shimmering with a cold, bluish light.

  Immediately after them, with a heavy, rhythmic thudding, the representatives of the 63rd dimension emerged. Clad in heavy, fur-lined robes, they wielded broadaxes that seemed too heavy for any living being. All of them looked with fanaticism at their voivode, who had eyes as black as death, riding at their head.

  However, it was what came out of the portal of the 61st dimension that truly made Justinian worry.

  These devils were unnaturally tall—each of them towered over the average fiend by at least half a meter. Their armor was steel-blue, and their faces—corpse-red and devoid of any emotion.

  When they arrived the young human felt someone's gaze upon him. Among the tall, silent ranks, he spotted a figure encased in steel armor. It had no helmet, and its eyes, entirely white, were staring... straight at him with hateful hostility!

  It was none other than the voivode of the 61st dimension!

  There was no time to ponder what he wanted, however. For Micromegas, seeing the arrival of all the dimensions, stood up, preparing to begin the ceremony.