4 Chapter 3: Frozen Jealousy

A thick fog has already enveloped the entire city, and not a single spec of life can't be seen around us.

El still running around, while I'm still tied up on his back.

I'm almost on the verge of losing my sanity right now, why is El running? Actually, who is he running from? Is it really the Archdukes of Hell? But where are they?

Bang! Bang! A giant bullet made out of ice was fired in front of me.

It almost hit El, but he swiftly dodged it, despite not seeing where it was.

"What was that El?! Why are they firing at us?!" I was afraid that I might die again, if the Archduke of Hell wants me, then why are they recklessly attacking El? It doesn't make sense at all.

"They're just really desperate at taking you back, then I have to get serious at escaping." El proudly said, just by his voice and expression; El was enjoying being chased by the Archdukes.

I want to shout 'return me to them!' but El will definitely not listen to me no matter what I try.

Isn't dangerous for him if he got caught by the Archdukes? Isn't El just a civilian here in Hell? Maybe, but for him to go toe to toe to an Archduke is already proof that he's not a normal civilian here in Hell.

It's like he's actually one of the Archdukes of Hell, but if he is there's no way that the other would try and attack him right?

"Haruki, can you inspect the person chasing us."

"How would that be possible! I don't have magical powers like you!"

"Can you see now?"

The fog completely vanished from my vision, and I noticed a beautiful young maiden flying through the road chasing us.

"I see a beautiful girl." Her beauty is far superior to any humans I see back on Earth, actually, if she enters a competition, she'll win with no sweat at all.

"Girl..., what does she looks like?"

"She has long black hair, she might be the same age as me, and... Is she wearing a kimono?" That can't be right, there's no way that she's wearing a kimono. I looked at her more closely to check that I wasn't hallucinating by seeing her wear a kimono, but looks like she is wearing one. "D*mn! She's actually wearing a kimono! Hey El, she's wearing a kimono!" A devil that appreciates the culture of my country? I don't know if I should be worried or happy.

But that girl is beautiful, and she's after me, d*mmit! Why can't I just be with her instead of this old fart?

If there is a demon god, then I pray that she will successfully catch us.

"A kimono! haha, we hit a landmine." From his voice, it looks like El looks worried about her chasing us.

What is this guy talking about? Of course, we hit a landmine, she's an Archduke! That means she's powerful enough to fight a very powerful angel!

"Haruki, that girl right there is one of the strongest Archdukes of Hell, she's Akemi Leviathan, the demon representing the Sin of Envy."

Really... "Isn't that bad?! She's an Archduke and she represents one of the deadly sins; in video games, devils who represent the sins are extremely powerful!" There's no way we can keep running if she's a representative of the Sin of Envy... But El was still trying to escape from her.

"That's why I said that we hit a landmine, I expected that she would send her soldiers to us, but instead she sent herself."

This is bad... Am I really gonna die again?! I don't want to suffer from that pain again.

"Flare Blast!" A huge fireball just passed through us. "Stop right there!" The man who shot the fireball shouted

Bang! The explosion almost hit us, but El successfully dodged it again.

Another guy?! So that beautiful devil has allies huh?! we're really dead! There's no way we can actually survive this!

But to be honest though, it's really impressive to see El dodging every attack that the Archdukes are using on him.

"Ifrit! So Akemi asked him to help her, so are there others beside him?" Apparently, that other guy's name is Ifrit. I don't know who he is, but he looks incredibly powerful.

And looking at our situation now, I started to cry. "Tell me El, we're gonna die right?! I knew it, that guy is firing large flames at us." Is this my new life? I just ended up here in Hell today, and now I'm gonna die again; luck is the most shitti*st concept ever.

"Don't worry Haruki, we're enveloped in a holy barrier to protect us, so don't worry about dying."

Why can't I ever live in peace?! does God resent me? And if he can say that calmly with no fear at all of getting caught by the Archdukes, then this guy needs to go to therapy.

Actually, for some weird reason, it's started to get cold. "Huh? Why do my feet feel cold?" I looked at my feet, and I notice ices are forming from my feet and freezing them. "El! I'm being frozen! Help me!" What do I do?! I'm gonna freeze to death if the ice grew more.

I couldn't even feel my feet anymore, the ice is enveloping my entire feet at the speed of light.

"Endure it Haruki, you won't die due to the barrier, and the Archdukes are not here gonna kill you."

I'm not gonna believe a word you say! There's no way that I can survive this, I'm really gonna die! And the way he says it with a smile is making this situation worse.

I looked at my feet again and it's now near my knees. "El! I'm seriously gonna get frozen to death!" I couldn't handle it anymore, I could only scream from fear.

Since this is the first experience I got to witness what magic looks like, and by being the test subject of it, I'm confused that I should whether be happy or not.

"Be patient Haruki, I need some time to create a portal for our escape."

"Just how long have you've been preparing a portal?! We've been running for hours, and you're gonna say that now!"

Whoosh. Whoosh.

They're firing at us again! But why are they missing their shot on purpose? Is El right about the Archdukes wanting me alive?

"Hold on Haruki, I'm opening it now."

A large portal opened directly at us and transported us to an unknown ruin.

"*Phew* We escape."

"Can you untie me now El?"

"Oh, I forgot that you were tied behind my back, my apologies Haruki." El finally unties me from his back, and just by looking at what happened to me, I'm now a bit traumatized from being frozen.

This guy needs to be careful being with me, because any seconds now I'll punch him in the face. The ice on my feet is already starting to melt, which is a good thing for now, but the downside of it melting; my entire feet became numb and cold.

But really... They're the Archdukes of Hell right? So isn't hiding here a bad idea? No everywhere we hide is not good.

That female Archduke found us very quickly, so hiding instead of running would be a bad idea.

And if they call for more allies, who knows how would El escape that situation, but escaping an Archduke already is impressive for him.

It's like, he's no ordinary guy.

"Don't worry about us hiding here Haruki, this place is located on the 7th floor of Hell, so they wouldn't think of coming here."

I'm now getting creeped out by El, because for some unknown reason he can read my mind.

I seriously envy El and the Archdukes because they can use magic. I hope that El would teach me how to get one.

"We'll rest here for a bit Haruki, because there's someone I want you to meet, and he's coming here later to check on us."

So this guy also brought in allies, I don't know if he and his friends are all stupid for fighting the strongest people here in Hell. But better not judge, because it's impressive that he escaped from an Archduke of Hell.

Then time to sleep for a bit; I'm very tired and frightened from what happened a moment ago, so getting a nice sleep would soothe my mentality a lot.

But... Being with him feels lively and fun, I never had to experience something like this from my old life, except when I was with my parents and friends.

Experiencing something new like magic was surprised for me, and I never expected to see something amazing like that. 'Is starting a new life here the best?' That is what I've been asking myself ever since I came here today.

Thinking about it, the environment here in Hell is more livelier than on Earth, so thinking about living here is not bad at all.

***

[Akemi Leviathan POV]

"We failed, we failed to apprehend the Prince, that guy with his is dangerous."The way he was able to dodge and notice our magic while running is not normal for a novice. What's most shocking of all is that he can use light-based magic, which is impossible for a devil to use. The only thing that would come to mind would be the guy with the Prince is a priest when he was still human. Using light magic in Hell is very hard to obtain. To acquire one, you need to have intense training that'll take years to finish.

Not even Akemi can use it, and most of the other Archdukes are the same also, and out of all of them, Akemi only knows four that can use light-based magic, but for that guy to use one is already impressive for Akemi.

"It's better to investigate the origin of the person with the Prince, what his name, background, and the people who taught him the way to use skills..." His knowing how to use light magic is already filling my jealousy, I guess I'm really always envious of others after all. Now, I need to remove the spell that I cast out the town before one of the other Archdukes notices.

"C'mon Ifrit, let's remove the spell alread–."

Akemi and Ifrit were suddenly shocked when the spell was broken by some unknown force.

It was easily destroyed, that they didn't even have the time to react to what happened to the spell they've casted

'Who could've destroyed the spell?' That is what Akemi want to say, but she instantly knew who would do this when she saw two silhouettes walking toward them.

She and Ifrit are already prepared for consequences before putting the spell on the city.

The both of them knew in an instant who broke the spell because she's one of the only people here in Hell that would stop the Archdukes from scheming things in the city.

And in front of their eyes they see citizens appearing back on the city, and two people in front of them.

The first one was an attractive man, that'll make every woman fall for him at first glance, his name is Lucas Asmodeus, one of the Archdukes of Hell, and a member of the Demonic Generals in Hell.

Akemi and he are both Generals, and out of all the other Generals, he's the most athletic. Like Akemi he represents one of the Seven Deadly Sins, he is the Devil of Lust.

And beside him is a young petite girl, and she's the one that broke the spell they've cast.

She is known in Hell as the smartest devil, even outsmarted all of the Archdukes in Hell, but most important of all, she's the Daughter of the King and Queen, which makes her the younger sister of the Prince. "Akemi, Master, what's happening? Why are you using a seal here at the city?" The young girl asked them in anger.

Akemi knew she can't make excuses now, because when she described her as smart she is; Akemi's not lying, and one of the things she masters is lie detecting, one of the skills she mastered, so lying would not be possible.

Then that means Akemi and Ifrit gonna need to tell her the entire truth of what they have been doing in the city.

"We're doing it to catch the Prince." That is what Akemi said.

Ifrit was shocked because he didn't expect Akemi to tell the truth, while the other two especially the young girl we're both speechless of what Akemi said. "Akemi, tell me more about my brother."