I walked slowly through Hell, dragging the pathetic leg of Kagaya, who had managed to die by falling into the lava.
There was so much to think about that my head was beginning to throb.
Actually, there isn't really that much to think about. My head is just throbbing because I'm so goddamn pissed.
You know that feeling? When you're so angry that instead of becoming calm, you just get hit with a permanent debuff called a migraine.
"Me... the progenitor of the Fifth Great Noble House?"
You might ask, 'Aren't the Five Great Noble Houses a good thing?'
Great Noble Houses, my ass. Isn't it just a fan club for the Soul King's murderers?
And why the hell is my name on that list? It's not even a name I chose.
Who gave them the right to name me whatever they wanted when I didn't even ask for one?
This is a goddamn frame-up.
It's like being put on a 'Most Wanted' poster just because a bunch of real criminals pointed at me and said, 'That guy did it too!' when I haven't done shit.
"Ha... The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get."
Should I just leave Hell right now and go wreck everything?
Should I just wipe them out? With the amount of rage I'm feeling, I could slaughter them so thoroughly they wouldn't even be able to open their mouths to beg for mercy.
"...Sigh. Forget it. What's the point in getting worked up?"
*Man proposes, Heaven disposes.*
I've done all I could. Heaven can handle the rest.
"By the way, why the hell isn't this brat waking up?"
I nudged him with my foot to see if he was just sleeping, and sure enough, he was out cold.
Sleeping in a situation like this... I can't tell if he's incredibly brave or just incredibly stupid.
* * *
Another thirty years passed after that.
Lately, my disciple has started trying to catch some shut-eye on the ground at every given opportunity.
He would even lie down right next to a lake of flowing lava to sleep.
He's a guy who could die at any second; what kind of balls does he have to pull crap like that?
"Hey. Get up, you brat."
With a heavy sigh, I nudged Kagaya, who was lying on the ground, with my foot.
I knew he'd been awake for a while, so why wasn't he saying anything?
"Get up, kid."
"...."
But Kagaya showed no sign of moving.
"Oho, so now we're acting, are we?"
I chuckled and raised my fist. Kagaya's eyelids twitched ever so slightly.
Confirming his deception, I let out a smirk and threw a punch straight toward his head.
"GUAAAGHH!!"
BOOM!!
"Impressive dodge."
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
"Tch. If you hadn't dodged, you'd be dead. Stop that creepy, shitty acting of yours."
For a split second, I really thought he was dead.
Even though in Hell, death isn't exactly the end.
"Sigh. Don't ever do that again."
I sighed deeply and shook my head.
"It's my first time actually acting like a proper master. How hollow do you think I'd feel if my disciple died some meaningless death?"
"Lord Nether King...."
"Argh! I told you not to call me by that name! Just call me 'Master,' you brat!"
Nether King? What kind of name is that?
I don't know who else was involved, but whoever among the four up there suggested the name 'Nether King,' I am definitely dragging them down to Hell one day.
...Wait, was it that Dharma bastard who named me?
Now that I think about it, he's the only one who'd have the balls to name me.
"I'll have to take a trip up to the Royal Palace eventually."
"The Royal Palace...! Perchance, do you mean the Soul King that I know?"
"Huh? Well... unless there's two of them, then yeah, it's the one you know."
"As expected of the Nether King!"
This bastard keeps pushing my buttons.
Since he kept pestering me even after I told him to stop, I gave Kagaya's solar plexus a solid thud, sending a jolt through his insides.
"Gah...?!"
"You're really grating on my nerves."
"To have one's nerves... pierced by such a person..."
Kagaya couldn't finish his sentence and collapsed onto the ground.
*Clang—*
"What was that sound?"
Did a piece of scrap metal fall from the surface without me noticing?
I flipped my unconscious disciple over, as he was face-down on the ground, and noticed a chain embedded in his chest.
"Is this... the Chain of Fate?"
Or not? It looked a bit different from what I remembered.
Since this chain manifested in Hell, is it different from a normal Chain of Fate? I recall the *Togabito* from that movie having chains as well. This must be it.
"Looking closer, the color is much darker too..."
I scratched my head, pondering as I looked at the chain.
If I could compare it directly to something, I'd know for sure, but since I can't, I have to rely on my memory.
But even my memory isn't exactly reliable.
It'd be weirder to remember every single detail after more than a thousand years.
"Sigh. Whatever."
It appeared in the original work, so I guess it's nothing out of the ordinary.
* * *
108 years had passed since Kagaya fell into Hell.
Hell was still as desolate as ever, but contrary to its name, it had become a rather comfortable place to live.
First, I made things like chairs and a desk, and since I had nothing to do, I even crafted sets for Shogi and Chess.
I even carved out a small house.
"Master. This is not a house; it is a cave."
"I carved it by hand, so it's not a cave."
"Ordinarily, when using one's hands, one says they broke, smashed, or dug it. They do not say they 'carved' it."
"You brat, are you trying to win an argument against your master more and more every day?"
"If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet the Patriarch, kill the Patriarch. If you meet an Arhat, kill the Arhat. If you meet your parents, kill your parents. Enlightenment resides within oneself. If it is one's master who obscures the vision of ultimate truth, then perhaps it must lead to 'If you meet the Master, kill the Master' as well."
How the hell did this bastard end up like this?
When he first entered Hell, he was a man who had committed the heinous crime of adultery and murder, but now he looks like someone on the verge of Nirvana.
Actually, maybe he already attained Nirvana.
He seems more like a monk than that bald bastard Dharma up there.
"Why don't you just shave your head while you're at it?"
"A change in outward appearance does not alter one's enlightenment."
"Always has an answer for everything."
I smirked and trudged back into the house. Kagaya Tsukiyama followed me inside and sat down across from me.
"Master."
"Your master is dead. He's not here."
"Are you sulking again?"
"Ugh, I don't want to hear that from a man. I was just joking, so let it go. So, what is it?"
Kagaya looked at me in silence for a moment, then gave a faint smile as he looked around the house.
It was as if he was looking back at his memories—tracing the path of the past he had walked.
"I have lived a life of much shame. I took for granted things a human should never do, and I tried to fill my hollow self-esteem and pride by putting myself on a pedestal."
"Because you were from a branch family?"
"Yes. And I was the youngest, the very edge of the furthest branch. Thus, I went out of my way to find those I deemed 'lesser' than me to hide my own inadequacies."
A 'Disqualified Human' indeed.
That is why I fell into Hell, is it not?
"At first, I felt wronged for falling into Hell. When I first met you, Master, I was terrified, and when I first experienced death, it was agonizing. But once I realized that all of it was a lesson, death itself ceased to be frightening—just as you said."
"I don't think I ever told you not to fear death."
"Did you not say that even fire feels cool if the mind is extinguished? If one casts aside fear and observes with clarity, one sees that life is merely a part of death. What is there to fear?"
He's interpreting it *that* way?
At this rate, I'm the one who should be the disciple.
"So. What are you dragging this out for? Just get to the point."
"I am dying soon."
"Right, sure... wait, what?"
He said it so calmly, as if it were nothing, that for a second I almost just moved on.
Dying? In Hell? That makes no sense.
"Do you remember when I first entered Hell? How obsessed I was with Spiritual Power?"
"The second I said I didn't have any Spiritual Power, you tried to kill me."
"Yes. Those were the days when I was no better than a beast. However, as time passed and I died over and over, I felt the Spiritual Power within me vanishing. To be precise... I felt the Spiritual Power that constitutes my being shattering into tiny pieces and scattering."
"...."
"And I filled that void with the desire to live—the obsession to not die. In a sense, I filled myself with what could be called 'grudge.' Thinking that even if this is Hell, I wanted to live bound to this land..."
*Clang—*
"These chains came to bind me."
The chains Kagaya showed me with a faint smile were slowly being ground away.
"At first, I was pleased because I felt the world was holding onto me. But as the days passed, and as I learned your teachings and gained my own enlightenment, I realized these chains are merely shackles. I realized that the grudge I used to fill the center of my chest in place of Spiritual Power was no different from the way I used to prop up my self-esteem in the past."
With a bitter smile, Kagaya lightly grasped the chain.
But with just that light motion, the chain crumbled into powder.
"Therefore, I have decided to discard my grudge. To let myself go. Before long, my flesh will remain in this place, but my spirit will vanish. These chains are the proof."
"...."
"Master. No, Nether King. Do not forgive this disciple for leaving before his master. Do not forgive this foolish disciple who, in his selfishness, has left an indelible wound upon his teacher."
Kagaya rose from his seat, stood straight before me, and then knelt, bowing so deeply his forehead touched the ground.
"I pray for your eternal health and peace. May your noble presence remain golden and serene."
My teacher.
My father.
*Clang—*
The chains that bound Kagaya vanished entirely, yet he did not lift his head.
I could not call out his name, for I feared my voice would become a new chain that bound him.
"Don't go asking for forgiveness when you haven't done anything wrong."
Idiot until the very end.
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