The Last Circle-Chapter 4: The Vagrant’s Pass

Nameless walked in silence, just about wrapping up with the tutorial as his bare feet grazed against the hot surface of the charred rock beneath, an echo to the fire that once consumed everything within reach and sight.

His fiery gaze peered through every corner of the desolate, barren, and empty land, with not a single soul in sight. Under normal circumstances—or at least, if he could have been wandering alone without his quest—he would have not minded it much, but with the need to acquire Fragments of Divinity, he feared that the screaming silence of the Ninth Circle would be a bigger problem than anticipated.

He sighed, staring at the black structure that peered into the frenzied sky. 'One Seed of Corruption so far... I need to kill the creatures of Hell to get more, but where do I find them?'

Again, no matter where he looked, nothing but ashen remains of the vast land entered his sight. No creatures, not even another one like him or Satan, roamed through this circle... well, that's what it seemed like on a surface level.

Hope still remained that something would show itself, however small that hope may be, as he dreaded over the mere thought of needing to collect a million Fragments of Divinity.

'That beast dropped only one seed,' so he thought, eyes twitching at the absurdity. 'And now I can't find any of them!'

He continued walking in a straight line, with his gaze fixed on the ground, studying the grooves and erosion in the terrain, which created an uneven surface to walk on, as though part of the challenge was to not sprain his ankle.

After many several minutes, he'd slow down upon noticing that the charred rock abruptly stopped with a sharp drop that would surely plunge all into certain death far below. Slowly, he took a look over the ledge, eyes widening ever so slowly as he stared with an otherwise blank face.

Far below, deep down the ninety-degree drop—God knows how many metres—was a cracked beige land that extended in all directions, like a vast and empty desert, with no end in sight. Though what caught his eye in particular were the many cracks that seeped with an inky darkness, letting the black aura dissipate into the sky like smoke.

A small banner notification appeared before his eyes as it read:

[Location: Ninth Circle of Hell, The Vagrant's Pass]

"The Vagrant's Pass? So that's what this place is... Now how do I get down there?" he asked himself, taking a look to his east and west, seeing that there was no way to safely get down. "Right, that would be too easy for us Hell-dwellers."

With a growing reluctance that festered in his heart, he laid on his chest and reached along the ledge, trying to see if there were any stable surfaces he could use to climb down. Though, just the thought of having to climb down such a steep and tall surface was enough to evoke a sense of acrophobia that he never considered. Perhaps it was a trait of his past life.

Slowly, pushed himself back onto his knees, letting out a tremulous sigh, reconsidering if he should instead keep exploring along the ledge to see if there was a path that led down, though he decided to lay low for a bit and see if he could discern anything about the area.

Off in the distance, he took notice of none other than the same black creature that was once torturing him, running atop the surface. Now that he was further away, he could study the rest of its shape.

Just like the one torturing him, black fur covered it entirely, with several arms outstretched, though it used some of them to move around. Wherever it went, its drool—that poured from its mouthless face—stained the beige surface. Its hulking circular frame leapt across the crevices, using its other arms to launch itself, which revealed the answer to a question Nameless had:

'So I'm not paranoid... The cracks are more like ravines!'

He slammed a fist against the charred cliff. The first issue was enough to make him reconsider traversing Hell, but beyond even that, the creature running atop made him wonder just how long of a journey he was going to have, along with the real question:

"How am I going to kill those things anyway?"

It was certainly a good question. He may have had his [Gaze of the Cleansing Fire] attribute, but the system never said that it was capable of any lethality. Neither did he have a weapon, which he just confirmed by looking through his inventory, opening up the panel with the touch of his thumb and ring finger.

He drew a deep breath through his panicked snarl, the idea of searching for a safe way down resurfacing, though it was dispelled just as quickly as it appeared.

He hadn't noticed it before, but soaring through the frenzied sky was a two-legged, serpent-like creature with the head of a rooster. Its bright colours ranged from an aggressive red at the head, to an incandescent orange-red at the body, and to a green tail that waved in the air as though it had a mind of its own.

'How long has it been flying up there?' wondered Nameless, pressing his body against the charred surface, hoping it didn't see him.

And luckily, his hopes were confirmed, watching as the beast swooped straight down. Nameless traced its path with his eyes and, with brows that struggled not to fly off his face, watched as the beast snatched the black-furred creature in one talon, a testament to its grand size. Followed by its successful hunt, the beast cawed as it flew straight up, which forced Nameless to cover his ears from the sheer volume and grating sound.

He chuckled with grin, though the rest of his bewildered face said otherwise about his expression.

'Nope, I think I'll just go back,' he told himself, shaking his head. 'Ascend the Spire of the Infinite Corridor to the Eighth Circle of Hell my ass! I wasn't even given a weapon or anything to kill with!'

A ding followed and he slammed his forehead into the ground, followed by another one immediately afterward.

'What was the second one even for!?'

He looked up and read the most recent one:

[For your act of self-harm, your Sin has increased by two.]

[In accordance to your [Lightless Creature] attribute, your accrued sins have been doubled. You have gained four sins.]

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Wearing an angry snarl this time as he growled, he got up and brought himself to the edge, beginning his descent and testing for stable rocks as he went down. Some steps nearly led to his death, with rocks breaking at the touch of his feet, plummeting to the surface and in between the cracks.

Luckily, in his state of irritation, he was able to keep himself from falling off and found the courage to keep going. Perhaps all he needed was a bit of encouragement from the system that kept making his chances of reaching heaven slimmer with every increase to his tally of sins.

Whatever it was, it took him nearly half an hour of climbing down to land on one of the surfaces, leaving him with muscles that felt as though they were going to melt.

'Ugh, this thing feels terrible.'

He dragged his feet through the beige surface, hating every moment of it since it felt more like chalk than rock and left his soles coloured much the same. Though there was no wind, he was forced to cover his eyes thanks to the dusty air rushing against him, only adding fuel to his fire.

'Now what?' he asked himself, taking a look around as he covered his face.

Off to his north, east, and west, the gaps between each surface was impossible for him to jump across, meaning that travelling atop was not an option... not that he really wanted to anyway, given that the flying beast was ready to swoop down and feast on anything.

Peering through the gaps revealed a dark floor deep down, though he surmised that the a fall itself wouldn't spell certain death, but rather:

'If there's anything hiding down there, that's what will kill me.'

He pursed his lips, letting out a deep breath as he adjusted his stance, standing with his toes creeping over the ledge as he reassured himself he'd be fine:

'Come on, Nameless, you can do this... We just need to avoid whatever is down there. We've got some good attributes, they'll protect me.'

And with that, he found himself leaping down, dropping into the abyss.