Slapping against the flats of their palms, the old leather of the booklet glistened in the light.
'The guidebook. So far, this is the most valuable thing they have provided to us.'
'Which I'm sure there's something more to it.'
Carnage thinks to himself, flipping the book around.
From the front, anyone would think it's a normal vintage leather-wrapped notebook, but that all falls away at the sight of the pentagram burned into its back.
"A pentagram." He acknowledges it, tracing it with his finger, before turning it back around and attempting to open the book, but it doesn't budge.
「To open the guide, you must apply your blood to the pentagram.」
'As expected, there's more to it than meets the eye. A blood sacrifice, it's as if I'm forming a contract with a demon.'
'I'm already in hell. Why should that matter now? I need the information this book has.'
Without hesitation, he takes the shard of glass and pricks his index finger. "This should be enough?"
He turns to Nullen to see if he's following the conditions or not, but Nullen only stands motionless; his breathing turns rapid and uneven.
"I…I can't." He whispers, the book vibrating in his grasp before it drops to the floor.
Thud!
"No. No. No." He repeats, and Carnage notices his eyes aren't on the book but on the empty corner of the room.
"What's wrong?" Carnage steps forward, eyebrows arching.
'Is this some type of emotional breakdown?'
He shakes his head. "Oh, not again! I can't do this again!"
'Ptsd!'
It finally clicks.
"You need to calm down and take slow breaths." He urges.
'I wonder what's triggering him? The mention of blood? No, that isn't it. Either way, we don't have time to waste.'
Snapping out of his thoughts, he moves forward to Nullen, grabbing his hand as he retaliates.
"We don't have a choice. You may be a historian, but you need the information this book holds." He says sternly, the tip of the shard nearing Nullen's Palm.
'To make it out of here, I'm sure each of the participants has their own objective in this trial that is essential to completing it. And if this guidebook can help him and us pass, I don't care what fears you have, but you're not going to be the reason I am condemned to eternal suffering!'
The end of the shard digs into his palm, and he winces, yanking his hand as hard as he can, causing both of them to tumble to the floor.
"Ahh-hh, please stop!" He pleads, tears flooding his eyes. "Not again! I already told her sorry! Don't make me do it again!"
'He isn't completely here; he's dissociating his current reality from the past.'
He thinks, dragging the fallen book to him. "It's for your own good."
Placing his bleeding finger on the pentagram, the lines on the circle ignite with a bright light, and in flames, his name is inscribed under it, and with a click, the wrap's lock snaps open.
Carnage drops Nullen's arms, taken aback by his own actions, but he remains stoned face as he straightens up.
"Sorry." He apologizes as he spins around, picking up his book from the floor. "But we're no longer on earth but in hell, your fears should be no more, unless you prefer suffering?" He questions, placing his still bleeding index finger on the pentagram, and the same light illuminates the space. "I surely don't want to stay here, which means nobody's going to hold me back from passing this trail."
Click!
「Contract formed!」
"Contract?"
「Your ferryman has chosen you.」
"I knew it." Nullen's voice reaches him.
"Knew what?"
"We've formed a contract with a demon." He replies, wobbling to his feet.
Carnage only stares at the book warily, just as something pitches up into the air like a baseball.
「Ferryman's name: Elzub」
"Greetings, sinner!" A squeaky voice echoes in his head.
Flinching, his head snaps up to see a miniature ball of black flames descending to his eye level.
"H-hello?"
"I am your ferryman, well, I shall be your future ferryman if you pass the admission trail."
'A ferryman, never heard of such a thing.'
"Ferrymen are demonic guides for sinners, essential for the final circle of your conquest." It explains calmly. "Until then, we are helpers, in both combat and knowledge."
"I see." Carnage nods along, understanding it all.
"For now, the only information I can provide are the ones in the guidebook. Pay heed to all the information written in my guidebook."
"That's all I have to do? No games, no back door or hidden meanings? Just read and understand what's written in your guidebook?"
"Yes." It spirals around his body. "At your own expense, of course."
"What do you mean?"
"It's up to you if you trust the words of a demon or not. I'm not going to tell you whether my words are true or a lie. That decision is up to you."
'Right, how could I forget? I am talking to a demon. I shouldn't trust anyone unless I'm certain of them.'
He reminds himself.
'Trusting a demon from the jump is a fool's way of begging to be burned.'
"Well, that's it; let's see whether you survive or fall trying." It vanishes back into the book, its words lingering in the corners of his mind.
"Fucking demons..." Nullen grumbles as veins bulge from his forehead and neck. "I hate them."
Carnage only glances at him, then back at his book. "Nine rules of hell."
「1. It is forbidden to outwardly say any of your sins.
2. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you have willed more than you can manage, you will lose all you have received.
3. A sinner must never align themselves with angels.
4. Harm against children is forbidden unless they are sinners.
5. Harm against non-human animals is prohibited only for the sake of power or conquest.
6. Death is inevitable; if one finds oneself dead and not granted any immunities, their conquest will come to an end, and their eternal suffering shall be exacted.
7. Murder among sinners is prohibited.
8. You must complete your main quest to move to the next circle.
9. A sinner never tells truths. 」
The only thing that caught his full attention was the first and last rule. "So you can't speak it…assuming I ever remember it." He says to himself.
'Regardless, this makes things more challenging. Without knowing what others' sins are, you won't know who they truly are or what they're capable of.'
He drifts to the last rule.
'In other words…don't trust anyone.'
"W-what now?" Nullen stammers, hesitantly approaching him.
"Find the other participants and begin the search for answers."