Chapter 119: Second Floor

"...W-What the hell is this nightmarish sight?!" Nio says to Typhon while pointing at what she’s seeing. Nio’s reactions have begun to deeply frustrate Typhon.

"Nio, it’s literally Hell. Why are you surprised?" Typhon mutters, gesturing toward what Nio saw — countless bodies impaled and pierced all over by vibrant red tentacles pulsing in a strange rhythm.

Nio looks at a girl whose belly is pierced by a tentacle that exits through one side of her chest and re-enters through her throat, coming out of her eye before plunging back into her skull.

A sight repeated across hundreds of other bodies, all impaled by tentacles piercing through them at multiple points. Nio can hear pained moans from the people whose mouths aren’t being filled by tentacles.

"W-Why the hell is it like this?! I didn’t know the second floor was this way..."

"You didn’t know? I assume it’s a difference between reality and the game. For some reason, the humans of your world portray tentacles as if they’re something that gives pleasure — sex masters."

"But realistically speaking, tentacles in nature are used by animals to hunt, to hold objects, stick to surfaces, inject or transfer substances, and various other practical and versatile uses. Naturally, it’s the same with monsters."

"Well, this is the reality. Tentacles pierce bodies to drain fluids. Of course sexual fluids are on the menu, but they prefer blood, so you can’t expect pleasure — unless the person is a masochist who enjoys having their guts ripped out and their entire body pierced." Nio grows uncomfortable with what Typhon says about what tentacles really are.

"Allow me to properly introduce you. This is the second floor. It’s nicknamed Tartarus, though officially it doesn’t really have a name. It’s also an infinite expanse, but instead of flowers, the ground is made of flesh. The floor of this entire place is made of flesh and nothing else, and you can feel it pulsing with life."

"Unlike the first floor, which is quite safe, the second floor is where the weak who manage to make it here are captured by the flesh and tortured eternally, unable to escape the grip of the tentacles."

"So this sight you called nightmarish is completely normal. There are more than billions of beings in this same situation — impaled and pierced by tentacles."

"But don’t worry. The tentacles only attack what they consider weaker than themselves. Besides, since the ground is kind of alive, the biggest problem we have isn’t the tentacles — it’s the strong people who haven’t become targets. There’s also the sky... the sky is red, as you can see, and relatively often you’ll see eyes in the sky."

"I don’t recommend looking at them. They apply a petrification debuff to anyone who stares too long." Typhon starts walking while Nio follows, finding it deeply uncomfortable to hear the pained moans of the people.

"Why are only some of these people moaning in pain while others who look even worse off are quiet?" Nio asks, confused.

"...I think I get it. You don’t really know Hell. Probably in the game, things like this were limited because reality is heavier than your little game was allowed to show."

"The people who aren’t moaning in pain are the ones who’ve been here so long that simply moaning in pain no longer seems to matter."

"Likewise, if you pay attention, you’ll see some people are screaming. The ones screaming are those who’ve been here between zero and ten thousand years. The ones moaning in pain have been here between ten thousand and ten million years. And anyone who’s been here longer than that stops moaning."

"Of course, it can vary. That timeframe isn’t exact, but it’s not unrealistic."

"They stop screaming over time — not because it doesn’t hurt. Hell is a place where adapting to pain is nearly impossible. But because they’ve grown accustomed to this new normal. Those trapped in the flesh have no chance of escaping it, unless someone stronger decides to free them, which is unrealistic."

"Who would free this bunch of useless people? If they were captured, it’s because they’re weak." Typhon is cold about how to treat those trapped by the tentacles.

"...Well, it wouldn’t cost anything to free them, right?"

"It does cost something, Nio. It costs time. Besides, if they’re in Hell, it’s because they deserve it. And what would you free them for? They’d be captured again in no time unless you looked after them. Do you want to look after them, Nio? Like they’re fragile little strays you found on the street?"

"No..."

"That’s what I thought. Just ignore the sounds. If it makes you feel strange, just think that they’re horrible people who did horrible things in life thinking there’d be no consequences, and now they’re paying for their mistakes."

"I get that, but it seems disproportionate." Nio doesn’t deny that a bad person should pay for what they did, but the timeframe Typhon mentioned alone makes it seem like too long a punishment depending on what the person actually did.

"Disproportionate? Nio, this is Hell. Nothing here cares about justice or proportionality. Hell wasn’t made to punish sinners — it was made to lock them away. For some sinners, Hell is paradise."

"Immortality combined with immense power lets you literally dominate an area and treat everyone like slaves. Do you think that’s fair? The only thing that matters in Hell is being strong. If you’re weak, you’re tortured. If you’re strong, you’re the one who can torture."

"Just like you and me. We have the power to be the ones who make others suffer if we want to. Do you think that’s fair, after what I did?"

"I don’t know what you did besides going after Nioh." Nio says with a shrug.

"...Right. Well, forget it. It’ll be better for your mind. I don’t want that fragile mind of yours — the one that used to be human — to snap. Even though we’re immortal here, sanity is something that erodes with time."

"Come here. I’ll carry you so you don’t have to touch this filthy place. Would you like that?" Typhon doesn’t demand it — she simply asks politely if Nio would like to be carried.

"..." Nio looks at this disgusting ground that’s pulsing with a reddish hue like flesh and muscles without skin exposed to the sun.

"I would..." Typhon lifts Nio off the ground and seats her on her shoulders, so Nio’s thighs rest against Typhon’s shoulders and Nio’s stomach presses against the back of Typhon’s head.

"..." Nio crosses her arms atop Typhon’s head, and from this height she gets a wide view of the complete bloody, disgusting chaos of all these pierced people.

’I didn’t imagine it would be like this... Hell... is so strange.’