Chapter 37: (an unknown era) 1,999,999 Years Before Zero : piling questions

Van’s scream echoed through the dark hall together with his yellow shorts that were starting to become wet and smell unpleasant.

The white deer with burning antlers even flinched and disappeared just like that, making Van stand still like a statue.

"Shit!!!!"

He finally began flying out of the dark hall, leaving behind all the mysteries he had found along with his urine-smelling pants.

Van flew upward through the stairs toward the mouth of the cave, he did not want to look back and only let himself fly as fast as possible with a mind that was no longer clear.

He no longer greeted the wind when he flew out of the cave, he immediately flew as high as possible beneath the dancing aurora that looked like it was mocking him because of the smell of urine.

But Van did not care about it, he only tried to reach the gate of hell as quickly as possible.

In the end, he fell face-first near the four demons who were frozen and unable to move, his breathing became wild and cold sweat poured all over his body until his white shirt became wet.

"What the hell was that? What did I see? It wasn’t the deer that was speaking, and there were two voices?!-"

Van’s words stopped when he heard the nauseated voices of a woman, a man, an old man, and a little child.

Van blinked several times, he looked around where the area was surrounded by a forest with strange plants, there was not even any wind touching him, but the voices could be heard in his ears.

"What is this smell...?"

"Did he wet himself? Isn’t he an adult man?"

"Young master...hold your breath."

With his heart beating rapidly, Van finally turned toward the four demons behind him, his gray eyes widening.

The voices of the demons could not be heard before Lily and Grok, who were staring at Van, spoke.

"Hey...he’s conscious."

"You are speaking the loudest, Lily."

"What should I do? Will you think an adult man wet himself?"

Van blinked several times, he tried to pick his ear, and a loud scream from an adult man finally answered Lily’s words.

"AAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

───

The sound of leaves swaying could be heard as Van walked out from the direction of the forest.

The fresh smell of perfume began reaching the noses of the four demons who were frozen like statues with every step Van took toward them.

He was now wearing gray long pants and a black shirt, with a pair of flip-flops still as his footwear.

Van crouched in front of Grok and Lily who were frozen like statues.

Van’s forehead furrowed as he rubbed his chin while looking at them, while Lily finally spoke even though her mouth, which was gritting her teeth, did not move.

"What is it, human...? Is this your first time seeing a beautiful demon, huh? What did you say earlier? Demons are supposed to be red?! Damn bastard."

Van opened and closed his mouth several times, he felt amazed and confused by what he heard and saw.

Van cleared his throat several times.

"So...so you guys can talk?"

The sound of a tongue clicking came from Lily even though she did not move.

"You already heard it yourself, right?-"

Lily’s words stopped when Van touched her stiff, unmoving hair.

"Can you also feel it when I touch you?"

Lily exploded because of her emotions, she shouted at Van who only replied with laughter.

"Of course!! Remove your hand, you perverted human!!"

Van chuckled softly, then he glanced downward to tease Lily, while Lily, realizing where Van’s gaze was directed, immediately shouted louder than before.

"Hey!! What are you looking at, perverted human?! Just see if you dare to touch me there!!"

Van chuckled, then stood up while rubbing Lily’s chin.

"Calm down...an angry demon woman isn’t my type anyway."

Lily, who was still fired up with anger, immediately felt nauseous when she felt Van’s caress on her chin.

"Remove your hand, bastard!! Dirty human who wet his pants!!"

Lily continued cursing Van with her words while a sigh could be heard from Grok beside her. Unfortunately, he could not close his ears, which were beginning to feel tired from hearing Lily’s curses.

"Hey....calm down. How could you get teased by a human? You’re a demon..."

Van snapped his fingers in agreement with Grok, then Van looked at Grok whose body was taller and bigger compared to him.

"By the way...why are you guys like statues? I mean, you can’t move...but you’re still colorful."

Grok was silent for a while, he finally spoke while accompanied by Lily’s voice cursing Van.

"Ahh...that’s because the gate of hell is closed."

Confusion was drawn on Van’s face, he scratched his ear.

"Huh? What does that mean?"

Lily laughed loudly, making Van turn toward her.

"It’s useless, you won’t understand, you pant-wetting human!!"

Grok sighed. "She’s right...you probably won’t understand, besides, isn’t there any history that recorded it?"

Van scratched his neck, becoming even more confused by what Grok said. He wanted to speak, but an old man’s voice could be heard from behind Lily and Grok.

"Young human...what happened that made you wet yourself and run like you were being chased by a demon...?"

Van glanced slightly toward Aryn, who had fallen into a sitting position while extending his hand toward the smallest demon among them.

Van swallowed, then crouched beside Aryn while pointing toward something he himself was not sure about.

"That’s right!! That....do you guys know about the white deer that spoke? Its antlers were also burning!! I mean, it could also speak with two voices...a man’s voice and a woman’s voice."

Van bit his fingernail.

"And...and...the statue that used scythes and had black wings."

Silence covered the demons after Van spoke in confusion, but afterward laughter finally broke out among them, especially from Lily, Grok, and Aryn.

"Hahaha, so he really came from the temple of the fallen angel? He only met the statue of the fallen angel and already got scared..."

"Hmm...so he still has its vessel too, huh? How long has it been, Sir Aryn? Are they still watching the surrounding area? Or watching us?"

Aryn sighed, trying to remember a span of time that he had long forgotten.

"I’m not really sure...but it should no longer be usable."

Grok chuckled softly even though his face was not smiling.

"Is the time for the gate of hell to open again getting closer? I wonder what they are doing."

The sound of a tongue clicking came from Lily.

"Why bother guessing? Just ask the human who wet himself whether the deer is still there or not."

The demons who could not move could not turn toward Van, but they could imagine that Van’s face was currently filled with confusion.

"Huh? What are you guys talking about? The deer has disappeared...as far as I remember."

Van scratched his forehead with a confused expression.

"But, what do you mean by the temple of the fallen angel? The statue of the fallen angel? I did fight it...the one with the white beard and black eyes, right? The one carrying two scythes..."

Van swallowed, biting his lip while remembering the writing he had read earlier.

"Then, I saw some writing...it said not to disturb the owner of the temple, that writing was from someone who knows me."

"Then what the hell is this about the gate of hell opening?!" Van pointed toward the gate of hell standing firmly. "I’m here to guard it, you know!! Don’t expect that gate to open!!"

The four demons remained silent and did not answer Van before finally laughing together, even Van heard laughter from the smallest demon.

Lily’s laughter was the clearest, she might even have shed tears if she were not frozen.

"So Kalael only did that? He came just to write that? Hahaha."

Grok sighed, stopping his laughter.

"He really did a lot of things..."

Van remained silent, stunned.

’Huh? What the hell is this? Do they know the old man?!’ Van swallowed. ’How much is he actually hiding, that crazy old man!! Three years!! Three years I trained but he never told me anything!! A fallen angel?! He is friends with demons?! The gate of hell might open?! What else is next?-’

Van’s curses toward the old man in his heart finally stopped when an immature voice made him turn.

Van turned toward the smallest demon among the others, their eyes did not meet each other, but Van could hear his voice clearly after the smallest demon finished laughing.

"Ahh...so you’re the human? The human sent by Kalael?"