Underworld

The man continued to ride away from the rampaging camel, when something suddenly appeared on Rin's shoulder.

"grunt…"

This was an incident that disgusted Rin, because the thing on his shoulders was the camel calf that the two people had kidnapped.

Ahmed, who was still laughing, stood up and jumped into the back seat, sat next to Rin and stroked the camel that was on Rin's shoulders, "Look~ this is the baby camel that we are going to sell, in the underworld."

Rin looked at Ahmed's face, "Can you take me there too...?"

There was silence from them, but the man driving the car broke the silence, "Since you helped earlier, well there's no harm in that either."

The car drove quickly through the endless desert, facing the swirling strong winds and flying sand all around them. Even though the air was hot and dry, Rin felt quite relieved sitting in the comfort of the car after the long journey across the desert.

"Where are you from bro?" Ahmed asked, "You don't look like you're from around here."

Rin nodded her head, "I come from the southeast area."

"Southeast?!" Ahmed and the man driving were shocked

The man who was focused on driving suddenly stopped the car and looked back to look at Rin.

"Dude, how did you get here?"

"I'm just here," Rin answered jokingly

The man just shook his head and continued to ride, "Trying to be a mysterious man?"

"Heh~"

Ahmed, who was still stroking the camel, immediately spoke, "You're right, what's your name? I still don't know."

"Rin."

"…it was very short, and so was he," ahmed pointed his hand towards the man driving the car, "Khiro."

Khiro nodded his head and continued his long journey

***

As the sun set, they finally saw the large entrance of Arih Cave. The car stopped ready to enter the dark and mysterious cave.

"We are already in Arih Cave," said Khiro in a soft voice. "Be careful as we proceed. The tunnels in this cave can be very tricky."

They entered a dark cave, with only the light of the car illuminating the road ahead of them. Rin felt like he had entered another world as they got deeper into this mysterious cave.

They continued their journey downwards, through a dark tunnel that seemed endless. The deeper they went, the thicker the darkness enveloped them. However, suddenly, the darkness began to fade as lights from the underworld began to illuminate the path ahead of them.

They were underground now, they could see strange races: demons with sharp claws, genies with their high levels in contrast to the low-level genies who were shiny and mysterious, as well as hybrid creatures with the characteristics of various species.

Ahmed looked out the car window enthusiastically, "Hey, look! There's a genie race with an ifrit power level! He's so tall…"

Everyone turned in the direction Ahmed pointed out, and sure enough, they saw a race of genies that was very different from ordinary genies. Ordinary genies are not like they don't have wings or horns. Ordinary genies tend to look like humans in general, but genies with ifrit level strength have wide wings and horns on the top of their heads.

"You're right..." said Khiro in an impressed voice.

The genie was surrounded by a group of people, and from their expressions, it seemed that the genie was an important figure in Arih Cave. They stood around him respectfully, and some of them even carried items that appeared to be gifts or offerings to the genie.

Rin, Ahmed, and Khiro watched this scene carefully. They realize that they have entered an underworld that has different hierarchies and powers, and the genie is clearly one of the figures who has a big influence in it.

"This underworld is truly extraordinary," Rin said in a low voice.

Ahmed nodded in agreement, "We must be careful and wise in our interactions with the population."

Khiro added, "This is a truly amazing adventure, but we must always be alert."

Instantly, the genie's head turned quickly, pointing in the direction of the car they were in, and his eyes fell on Rin.

Human...? For some reason I smell a human smell from him...

Slowly, the genie got rid of the people who were in his way and walked towards the car. His sudden presence and the strange feeling he felt made Rin, Ahmed, and Khiro panic. They weren't sure what the genie wanted or how they should react in this situation.

Of course, that made them panic, Khiro without hesitation immediately stepped on the gas and grabbed the steering wheel. The car sped away quickly, leaving the genie and the crowd behind.

They ran away very quickly, but because of panic, Khiro lost control for a moment. The car slid to the side and almost hit a shop which was busy with visitors. Everyone around screamed in panic and tried to save themselves.

Ahmed shouted, "Hold yourself together, Khiro!"

Khiro quickly controlled the car, avoiding a collision with the shop by only a few centimeters. After going through a very tense moment, they finally managed to get away from the genie and the crowd.

The car drove away from the chaos that had just occurred, and they were both relieved to be away from the genie who seemed to want to get closer.

Ahmed, who was still shocked by the incident, took a deep breath, trying to calm the tension. "What the hell..."

The camel in the car looked scared and made a "grunt" sound as a reaction to the incident they had just experienced. The atmosphere in the car remained tense.

However, their estimates were wrong, even though Khiro had pressed the gas hard, their car did not move forward. Instead, they felt the car start to lift off the ground. They were now hanging in the air, held by an invisible force.

When they looked out the window, they realized that the genie had lifted their car with his magical powers. They were flabbergasted and didn't know what to do next.

"You guys ran away in vain," said the genie

Ahmed, and Khiro felt caught off guard and didn't know how to deal with this situation. They are completely dependent on the magical powers of a genie who seems to have complete control over them and their car which is suspended in the air. In confusion and tension, they try to think of the next steps to overcome this increasingly difficult situation.

The genie lowered the car a little, so that they felt the car touch the ground again. Jin looked confused while searching for the human scent of Rin that he had smelled before. However, when he looked inside the car, he only saw Ahmed, Khiro, and a surprised camel.

"Hmm? Where is the human?" muttered the genie in a confused tone.

The tension in the car was still very high, but the genie slowly lowered the car back to the ground. The genie looked very confused because he was sure he had smelled the human at first, but now he couldn't find the human in the car.

Still feeling confused, the genie finally decided to leave the car and go. They were relieved to see the genie gone, but also curious about the reason behind his mysterious behavior.

Ahmed, and Khiro looked at each other with mixed expressions of relief and confusion.

"Hey... where's the kid?" Ahmed asked

Khiro looked into the back seat and saw only Ahmed and the baby camel, "Huh??? Where did the child go?"

On the other hand, Rin was actually already outside the car. Carefully, he stepped towards the genie who looked confused.

"I'm here!" Rin shouted at Jin

The genie was shocked and immediately turned towards Rin, his eyes emitting magical power approached him. As the two of them came face to face, Rin hoped he could explain the situation and clear up the genie's confusion.

"You..." the genie said in a pensive voice, his eyes remaining focused on Rin.

Rin smiled, "Hello," he greeted in a friendly manner, trying to establish positive contact with the genie.

The genie was still looking at Rin sharply, trying to understand the situation that was happening. After a while, he finally spoke again.

"Why are you here in this underworld? Humans rarely visit this place… not even a few people go to the Unseen World."

"I came to Arih Cave for a noble purpose."

"noble purpose?"

"Right, please help me, open the 3rd layer earth gate 'Tri Pratala'."

The genie's eyes opened wide, not believing what Rin had said. It seemed that this request really surprised him.

"You, we don't even know each other but you've asked—"

"Azazel," Rin interrupted.

Once again, the genie's eyes opened wide, but now with his senses challenged. "Oh? How did you know?" asked the genie, increasingly curious about Rin's identity and purpose.

"Azazel, you are really bad, really bad at disguising yourself, why are you disguising yourself as an ifrit level genie when you are the Demon King himself," said Rin in a firm tone.

"Hah! I'm sick of that name," said Azazel in a dismissive tone, although he seemed surprised that his identity had been revealed.

Azazel, the Demon King who fell from the seventh heaven to the seventh layer of the earth, he is a 'True Fallen Angel'. It seems now a big secret about him has been revealed.

Rin looked at him sarcastically, "You hate humans, don't you?"

"Yes, I hate your race," he replied, returning Rin's cynical gaze, "You are just made of earth and I am of fire."

"You are only made of earth and I am of fire," Rin imitated what Azazel said

Azazel was silent, "… I see, let me guess you are his follower."

Rin nodded his head, "That was a trillion years ago."

"You mean?"

"What about you, Azazel? You want to exterminate humans, don't you? You want a more noble return, right? Then, follow me," Rin held out his sign waiting for a definite answer from Azazel

Meanwhile, Azazel only paid attention to Rin's hands, then his face.

His face... he's good at acting. I know that, it's possible he just wants to manipulate me, but... I'll take the risk, in order to be nobler.

Slowly, Azazel's hand, which was very large because of his giant body, grasped Rin's hand, then shook it as a sign of agreement. Rin could feel the magical power and determination in Azazel's hand.

< Chapter 21 > To Be Continued.