This was a place that no human should enter.
'This is quite foolish as well, voluntarily entering a place like hell in order to save my idiot brother that fell down here.'
Hisashi couldn't help but inwardly comment to himself as he did his best to suppress the feelings of fear and disgust within him in order to speedily regain control over his body.
"Let us review everything that Seiji warned us about," he told his sister.
Kaede nodded.
Seiji hadn't given them too many warnings, so both of them clearly remembered everything he said was important. They stood at the edge of the golden spell formation and held each other's hand as they made their final preparations for what they needed to do.
"We shall succeed in saving that idiot, and then we'll give him a really good lesson he'll never forget."
"Yeah."
"Let's have a countdown. Five… four…"
Kaede recalled Seiji's face as she listened to her brother counting down. She felt warmth in her heart as she thought about how he was waiting for her in reality.
'I'll definitely return.' She firmed her resolution.
The countdown completed.
The siblings jumped down together into the abyss.
What did it feel like to enter hell?
When Seiji asked Yomi about this, her answer was: pain.
This abyss that gathered all the evils of the world would give anyone that entered it nothing but pain.
As for why legends said that anyone that fell down to hell would have no release from their suffering, that was because anyone who fell down would constantly be tortured by pain, so it would be impossible for oneself to escape.
If the fallen helped each other to bear the burden of pain together, it was actually possible to escape.
However, the abyss of hell only possessed evil, not kindness… which meant that it was actually impossible to find a release for eternity.
Because there was only evil, it was a terrifying place.
Because there was only evil, it was a pitiful location.
Seiji fell silent as he contemplated on the female spirit's description.
Hisashi felt like he was falling down in between nightmares.
The first nightmare referred to hell. Simply being down here was like a nightmare in and of itself.
The second nightmare referred to the illusions he saw. There were various types, some hazy, some realistic. Some were clear, while others were murky.
At first, he was still able to differentiate whether these illusions stemmed from his own memories or outside sources. After a while, he was no longer able to differentiate as everything mixed together… It caused him an endless amount of pain.
The limit of what he could tolerate had long been surpassed. More than once, Hisashi felt that he was about to go insane. It was all he could manage to barely hold on to his sanity.
He felt absolutely fortunate that his younger sister was by his side.
Countless times already, Kaede had successfully saved him before he was about to completely lose his sanity or his consciousness, shouting at him and pulling on him to help him maintain his sense of self.
If Kaede hadn't come together with him, he would have failed long ago.
The reverse was also true. Hisashi had already saved Kaede many times from slipping past the brink of insanity.
No wonder Seiji said that it was too dangerous unless two people did this together… No ordinary person by themselves would be able to last more than a minute down here.
Hisashi felt that even a god would lose their mind in such a terrifying location.
He really wanted to leave instantly and return to reality, without caring about anything else.
But that was no good, because they still hadn't found the person they were looking for.
Hisashi and Kaede continued falling… falling… falling…
They followed the guidance of the blood-red line as they continued descending and searching.
'Just how long has passed already?'
'How far down have we fallen in the pits of hell?'
'Just what exactly did my idiot brother do for him to fall so far down into hell?'
'No amount of lecturing or scolding will be sufficient after I bring him back into reality…'
Suddenly, the environment changed.
Hisashi discovered that he was back at the dojo, with Zankita standing right before him.
"I've already had enough," Zankita stated coldly. "All of you always treat me like an idiot, wanting me to do this or that. Especially you, Hisashi! You're clearly so weak, but always act so clever and give me so many orders."
*Smack!*
Zankita viciously punched Hisashi, causing his eyeglasses to fall off.
Two of Hisashi's teeth were knocked out as well. It was a very painful experience, and Hisashi tasted blood in his mouth.
"See? You're just a piece of trash that can't even block a single punch from me! You're a disgusting fellow who lusts after something that only little children would watch! Ptui!" Zankita spat on top of Hisashi's head. "It's the greatest humiliation of my life to have a younger brother like you! I never want to see you ever again! Nor do I want to see that stinky old man or idiot woman again. Never!"
*Smack!!*
Zankita viciously kicked Hisashi in the gut. It hurt an incredible amount, and Hisashi felt like he had broken a rib bone.
"Garbage like you should just be thrown away in a trash bin, hmph…"
Zankita condescendingly harrumphed and turned around to leave.
Everything outside of the dojo remained pitch-black.
Zankita walked off into the darkness, getting farther and farther away.
Hisashi forcefully withstood his pain and crawled up from the ground of the dojo.
He knew that this was all just an illusion, but he also instinctively sensed that if he let Zankita go, then Zankita would truly…
"Elder Brother! Stop!!"
Hisashi loudly shouted towards the red-haired figure walking off into the distance. However, Zankita didn't respond.
"Zankita Juumonji! Stay right where you are!!"
Hisashi chased after Zankita, entering the darkness as well.
So cold!
Hisashi felt like he had entered a winterland of ice and snow while wearing only light clothing. His entire body was freezing over.
Zankita was still walking off into the distance.
Hisashi grit his teeth and forced himself to bear with the cold as he took large steps and chased after his brother.
"Zankita… Elder Brother…
"I'm not treating you like an idiot… because you really are an idiot…
"It's not that I want to care about every little thing you do… it's that you… won't grow any brains at all!
"I am indeed quite weak… I'm an otaku… I just have… my little tricks and smarts.
"If you don't want to listen to me… that's fine.
"If you want to view me as garbage… that's also fine.
"I can just stay quiet… or I can get out of your life…
"But… that's only after… you truly become strong!!"
'Not physically strong, mentally strong as well, with wisdom and spirit, in order to become an appropriate leader for the Juumonji Group, and to inherit Father's position as head of the family.
'At that time, you can do whatever you like.
'But before that… don't get so ahead of yourself! Don't even dare to escape!!
'I won't allow you to leave.'
"Elder Brother… come back here!!!"
Hisashi reached out to that figure who was getting farther and farther away from him.
Zankita's figure disappeared.
However, Hisashi felt as if he touched something.
He reflexively grabbed whatever it was tightly and forcefully dragged it to his side.
He discovered that it was a skeleton.
This skeleton didn't have any flesh at all, and its eye sockets were hollow. The bones were also pitch-black.
However, Hisashi recognized the skeleton.
This was Zankita Juumonji!
"You actually became something as strange as this… idiot…" Hisashi muttered bitterly.
The environment changed yet again.
Hisashi returned to the frightening pitch-dark abyss.
He was holding onto the skeleton, and Kaede next to him was also holding tightly onto the same skeleton.
He exchanged glances with Kaede without saying anything.
"Seiji will be able to help him recover," said Kaede.
"Yeah." Hisashi nodded.
Both of them looked above him.
There was a golden line connected to them that stretched up beyond what they could see… this was their guiding light to return.
Hisashi and Kaede carried Zankita together with them as they started moving upwards.
At this moment, many things started surging around them in the darkness!
This was the abyss of all evil and despair.
Nothing here would stop anyone from falling downwards.
However, if someone tried going up, things would be the opposite.
Although Hisashi and Kaede had mentally prepared themselves the best they could, they still felt a tremendous amount of fear when they saw countless fearsome dark shadows surging towards them.
They had already somewhat conquered their fear of the abyss from while they were descending.
However, only now did the two of them truly witness hell's nature.
Every single existence here who suffered endless pain would never allow "their own kind" to receive salvation, since these existences were unable to be saved themselves.
It wasn't hell's abyss that didn't allow for them to ever leave or find release. It was they themselves.