8th Underworld Level, Upper Block, Administrative Floors, Reincarnation Room
About a hundred spirits reincarnated every minute—exactly the same number of births and stillbirths during that period. Indeed, souls flowed into and out of Mictlan through a natural network of channels that connected the Underworld to Tellus and Aqua. This endless cycle—known to the aztecs and unknown to the humans—prevented overpopulation and made life sustainable in both worlds.
The portal connecting Mictlan to Aqua became momentarily unstable, and out of it emerged the eccentric knight and general Regulus Fidelis. The musician, who exuded charisma, strolled irreverently across the floor until he was detected with great uproar by the operators of the Spiritual Supervision Room, only to be subsequently received by guards who feared further trouble in the Underworld.
After briefly explaining the situation, Regulus was guided by two members of the security force to the God of Death’s office, where both Mictlantecuhtli X and Golgotha immediately recognized him from the uniform he was wearing.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Lord of the Underworld, do, re, mi. My name is Regulus Fidelis, and in my capacity as general and by order of His Majesty the King of Aqua, Abrahamus A. Corum IX, I come to the aid of my esteemed colleague and friend Ajax Alcestis, fa, sol, la” the man introduced himself, bowing before the Shinigami “Do not worry. We will be brief, ti, do” he added with a confident smile.
“Ah, yes… the pleasure is all mine…” Mictlan said, smiling nervously.
The vain general looked extremely proud to make an entrance. However, the Shinigami could not stand the light radiating from him and made grimaces that showed his aversion to that type of person. Golgotha sighed—the skeleton equally desirous of some peace.
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Underworld Level -7, Restricted Block, Dead Zone
Iduma refused to show weakness before Xanthus, but even the most reckless lad in Aqua could not help being nervous at the prospect of facing Yamir—or Nachash—once more, who had swept the floor with him the last time they had fought.
On the other hand, Yamir felt free from the fog that had once seeped into his mind and blurred his thoughts. Now, the young man with dark green eyes knew the truth that ordinary mortals could not glimpse and, consequently, his life’s mission.
Thus, in search of Naomi for their own reasons, the paths of Iduma and Yamir crossed once more for the rematch of one of the Restricted Block’s most intense fights.
The red-haired child activated his Spirit Mode and summoned the exuberant Anima Sancta. In response, the brown-skinned boy allowed himself to be enveloped by the dark green aura he had inherited from the Talking Serpent, making the ground tremble with his absolute and unmistakable power.
“This time, I won’t lose!” Iduma exclaimed, more serious than ever.
“You again” Yamir said in a bland tone.
The green-haired youth, who in the past would have rushed to attack him headlong, did not succumb to combat nostalgia, remaining serene. Yamir’s rather unusual behavior struck Iduma as odd as he watched him closely.
“Something’s different about him…” the child thought with a puzzled expression.
The bloodlust that was a hallmark of Nachash—which passed down to his vessels—no longer defined the teenager, suggesting that he was not possessed by the Talking Serpent. However, he was a far cry from the Yamir Iduma had initially faced and the one who had journeyed with Naomi through the depths of Mictlan.
Iduma realized there was no room to get lost in his thoughts when a horde of snakes erupted from Yamir’s back, surging toward him. The crimson-haired child manipulated his roots, intercepting the enemy’s attack as sparks flew.
Meanwhile, Martyr, Core, and Nemo—the Illuminati trio—quickened their pace upon sensing the two powerful spiritual energies. Core, in particular, recognized the teotl belonging to Iduma, the young man she had encountered in Ganeden and who felt strangely familiar to her.
They pressed on and stumbled upon a fireworks display—fitting for a clash between two Spirit Mode masters. Naturally, none of the three spectators could keep up with their movements, and both Iduma and Yamir were far too focused on their opponent to notice the presence of the Illuminati members.
“Could one of those two be our target?” Martyr asked a rhetorical question, trying to follow them with his Visibility, but to no avail.
“B-But aren’t they Full Spirit Mode users? How are we supposed to defeat a monster like that?! What on earth was Mr. Zechariah thinking?!” Nemo stammered, bringing his hands to his head in despair.
Yamir, maintaining his combat superiority, had no intention of dragging out the duel with Iduma any longer, which he considered a waste of time. The dark-skinned boy captured his opponent with one of his snakes and pinned him to a wall. The Anima Sancta fell to the black pavement, and Yamir continued forward over a swarm of snakes without looking back.
Core approached Iduma, exchanging glances with him for a moment. However, the youth ignored her and summoned his sword once again, cutting through the snake restricting his movements with immense effort. Then, Iduma stepped onto a raft made of roots and dashed in pursuit of Yamir, who was speeding toward Level -6.
“Wait!” Core shouted and activated her Spirit Mode, as she was enveloped in a turquoise aura and a moon-shaped bracelet formed on her right wrist.
The aztec ran after him, forgetting her companions pinned to the ground and the mission itself—secondary to impulses even she did not understand.
“Damn it…!” Martyr clenched his fists and cursed his powerlessness, then activated the Spirit Mode and gave chase to the girl.
Nemo, who wanted nothing more than to go home, but could not decide between staying and betting everything on his survival or opting for official desertion, allowed himself to be enveloped in his own aura and followed them against his will.
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Underworld Level -6, Restricted Block, Prison
Near the outer reaches of the Restricted Block, Naomi was speaking with one of the prisoners, the sage Elijah, who shed light on the distant past and left subtle hints between the lines regarding her role in the mysteries of the world and the lost civilization of Adam, Eve, and Nachash.
“Anyway, what would a young woman like you be doing in a place like this, all by yourself?” Elijah asked in a curious tone, never breaking his meditative posture.
“Ah, I almost forgot! I’m looking for a boy” Naomi replied with a mix of innocence and urgency.
“Hm…?” the imprisoned sage said, suddenly intrigued.
“His name is Lied. He has black hair, light green eyes, and always seems to be in a bad mood” the human described him with a hint of mockery.
“No one else has passed through this floor in recent times” Elijah said.
“I see…” Naomi murmured, lamenting her bad luck as she gazed into the darkness on the horizon.
“Someone important to you?” the old man asked her.
“I don’t know” Naomi lowered her head, placed her hand on her chest, and said with a confused look “It’s strange. I only met Lied recently; before that, we had never even spoken to each other, but I feel like our bond goes back much further” the young woman confessed.
“Ah…!” Elijah’s mouth fell open in shock, temporarily rendered speechless.
“I’m constantly thinking about him; every time I do, I feel an uncontrollable urge to see him, as if that were my life’s purpose...” Naomi said, pressing her hand against her chest.
“Could he be the ‘Adam’s Heir’…?” Elijah wondered, standing up right after “The day has come” the man said, driven by a motivation as unshakeable as his heavily muscled physique.
“Eh?” the girl said, surprised to see him abandon his usual cross-legged posture.
Elijah clasped his hands together as if in prayer and began summoning all the teotl within him. Having gathered a vast amount of spiritual energy, the old man used Expandability to successfully destroy his cell, much like Lied had done during the second trial. The explosion spread to the remaining quarters, freeing the other three inmates.
Escaping would normally be an impossible task due to the special property of the cells that nullified the power of the Spirit Mode and other abilities; nonetheless, despite frequent maintenance, that effect had weakened over the years. That said, such a feat remained unfeasible for the vast majority of Spirit Mode users. Even among those with 100% NSE, Elijah was an exception. With his monstrous strength, he could have escaped whenever he felt like it. That was no prison worthy of him.
“If you want to leave, this is your chance” Elijah said to the other prisoners with a subtle smile on his face.
They gladly accepted the freedom offered to them and, almost simultaneously, left their respective cells in silence. Ignoring Naomi, who felt like a fish out of water, each of them activated their Spirit Mode and bolted off in different directions at a dizzying speed. As for Elijah, the old man with light brown eyes remained in his normal form and slowly walked past the human.
“H-He’s huge” the girl thought, closely observing his two-meter height.
Naomi had no idea what was going on. The only certainty she had was that trouble was coming—which was nothing new for her, considering the teenager had yet to catch a real break ever since she arrived in that crazy world. Perhaps Mictlan was not a place for the living to rest at all. With the roar of the explosion, they had most likely attracted trouble, such as the dwellers of death.
Elijah bolted off. Eventually, Naomi activated her Spirit Mode and decided to follow them, believing she could take advantage of that streak of coincidences to find Lied along the steep path ahead.
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Underworld Level -4, Restricted Block, Prison
Ever since he began his journey through the Underworld, the Adam’s Heir had fought memorable battles and strengthened his spirit with the support of the various people he had encountered. Following the breath-stopping confrontation with Pantera, Lied rested for a few minutes. Before the group departed for where destiny and the remaining chosen ones awaited them, Zosimus made a point of chaining Blasius—who had meanwhile regained consciousness—to a wall. The former agent offered no resistance, and at last, they went on their way.
Lied, Susumu and Mare entered Level -3, the Animus’ “lair”, which was interconnected with the Reincarnation Room and housed its own capsule for receiving spirits.
In fact, when an animal or spiritual creature died, its spirit released itself from the body and took the form of a sphere of energy, just like humans and aztecs. It was these spheres that would later become the guards of Mictlan. The Animus (latin for “those who animate”) had no body and therefore no perispirit, being masses of teotl that operated in a semi-automatic manner. The beasts were nowhere to be seen, which was perhaps due to the commotion elsewhere in the Restricted Block.
“Hey, any acquaintance of yours around here?” Susumu asked Lied, as they both ran at a pace Mare could keep up with.
His companion’s sudden question made a bead of sweat roll down Lied’s forehead. As expected of the prodigious detective. No matter how much the Adam’s Heir tried to hide his anxiety, Susumu was able to see through that mask like few others could.
“Yeah, Zaccharias, the one I mentioned before” Mare answered for Lied.
“I didn’t imagine he was still in Mictlan…” Zosimus said, intrigued, capturing the attention of the rest of the gang.
“You know him?!” Lied immediately turned his gaze to Susumu’s silhouette and questioned the Chains Man.
“Zaccharias is that ‘old friend’ who taught me how to sew with Plasticity” Zosimus revealed.
“You’re friends…?” Lied murmured, visibly rattled.
“You really don’t remember anything, Lied” the detective’s shadow said in a condescending tone.
“All is well. In time, following God’s will, the spirit shall awaken the memory of the lost past” a solemn voice echoed off the walls of the floor, startling the group.
Lied, Susumu, and Mare quickly raised their guard, with the lass instantly positioning herself behind the boys. The owner of the voice emerged from the shadows—his hair was the color of ebony and fell slightly over his forehead, his lilac eyes like kunzite gemstones.
“You are…!” Susumu shouted out, activating his Spirit Mode and pointing the Progressus Justitiae at the newcomer.
“…Varius!!” Lied spat out the name, enveloped in a mystical aura and brandishing the Anima Sancta.
[END OF CHAPTER]
[START OF THE UNDERWORLD ESCAPE ARC]
