The heat of the Akuma plains shimmered beneath the blinding white sun. The air was dry enough to cut skin. Dust coiled around the marching soldiers like pale smoke as Commander Yami walked ahead, his cloak fluttering in the gusts.
"But it's not possible, Commander," a soldier spoke, his tone cracking from disbelief. "What you're saying is not… but how? If it was, it should have been a part of this!"
Yami's boots pressed into the heated sand as he turned, his gaze sharp beneath his brow. "It is hard to believe," he said, voice heavy with the weight of the day. The sweat on his temple rolled, caught in the streak of sunlight that broke through the red haze. "But I want you all to understand this—Akuma is connected with a land. Though it's not a part of it, it is linked."
The soldiers exchanged uneasy looks, the whisper of the wind mixing with their murmurs.
"Though folks say what they want," Yami continued, eyes locked ahead, "the truth is—no one who has gone there has come back alive… or sane. God knows how, but it is said that if that land collapses, Akuma will too. If it burns, Akuma burns. If a storm rises there, Akuma feels its wrath. If the ground shakes there, Akuma trembles here. That land…" His words hung for a moment in the heat, "…is said to be hell."
The wind fell silent. The air itself seemed to stiffen. A few soldiers swallowed, their throats dry, their faces pale under the harsh glow.
And while Yami's words echoed through Akuma's burning sands—
—in the underground's depths below , in the land people called Hell, Rui and Lucas were facing it.
---
"Wha… what the fuck," Lucas rasped, his voice almost breaking under the dryness in his throat. He reached for his bottle, shaking hands gripping the leather tightly. He tilted it back and drank in desperate gulps—clup, clup, clup—until not a drop remained.
He gasped. "Now, it's a bit bet—" His words stopped. His eyes widened. "Wha… what the actual—my mouth—it feels like the water just evaporated inside me!"
The air was suffocating, a heavy red mist drifting through the streets of cracked stone. Heat shimmered like liquid.
Rui looked ahead, eyes calm but firm. "Look, our mission is clear," he said. "Get the identity of the man named Hem Decker… and leave. Our mission is simple. So these hurdles should not disrupt that."
Lucas wiped sweat from his brow, his patience snapping. "But Rui, I don't get it. In a place like this, how can a man operate? How can a crime empire even be built here? This is hell itself!" His voice cracked with the echo of hopelessness. "Is that man really here—or was it all just a fake-out, a piece of misinformation?"
Rui's tone deepened, his eyes shadowed by the flickering glow of red light. "But tell me—what better place to build a castle of sins than hell itself?"
Lucas stared at him, startled.
"I understand your doubts," Rui continued. "But understand this too. Though this place is unbearable for us, it can also be the safest. Because heaven, though the most beautiful place, can burn. But hell—" his gaze lifted toward the crimson horizon—"hell is already made of fire. If you can live inside it… you can survive it. So yes, I think it's possible he might be somewhere close."
---
Back in Akuma, the soldiers trudged onward through the desert wind.
"Captain Yami," one of them called, raising an arm to shield his face from the sand, "you didn't clarify. Why are we going to that place again? We were here to find the Code Crystal Stone, weren't we?"
"Exactly," Yami replied, his tone calm, unbothered by the storm beginning to build in the horizon. "But before that… we must meet that man."
"Which—?" The soldier couldn't finish. A gust of sand struck his mouth, blinding and sharp.
"Sandstorm!" Yami shouted, his voice cutting through the howl of the desert wind. "Take shield! Find cover!"
The storm roared like a beast unleashed. Sand whipped across the land in sheets, stinging their skin, tearing at their cloaks. The world turned brown and red and soundless, save the screaming wind.
They waited—minutes, or maybe hours.
Then, silence again.
The storm had passed.
Yami turned, his cloak heavy with dust. "Get moving," he ordered, his voice firm. "Before another one hits."
---
In Hell —
"Rui," Lucas pointed ahead, eyes wide, his voice dry and faint. "Look here. Isn't this the place we were finding?"
They stood before a structure that seemed impossible to exist there— a mansion, enormous and dark, rising out of the molten ground. The air shimmered around it, but unlike the rest of hell, it stood intact — almost regal, untouched by decay.
"We came here," Lucas continued, "and all we saw till now were nearly or completely destroyed houses. And now, all of a sudden, this fucking massive mansion — nearly the size of the royal castle — in a place like this?"
Rui nodded slowly. "Yes… it sure seems so. But careful. It could be a trap."
"Sure," Lucas muttered, glancing at the ground. "For safety… hmm." He bent, picking up a small stone, its surface hot. "Got it."
He hurled it at the mansion. The sound echoed — click! — stone meeting wall.
"Yeah, it's real," he said, exhaling in relief. "It hit the mansion."
"Still," Rui warned, "take the steps slowly."
They advanced, cautious and silent. Their footsteps were light but echoed through the empty space like whispers of ghosts. The massive door loomed before them, half open, its hinges creaking as a faint wind moved through.
They entered.
And immediately… the world changed.
Inside, it was quiet. The heat vanished. The air was cool, almost sacred.
"Wh— it's great here," Rui murmured, disbelief shaking his voice. "How the fuck…?" He ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "It's neither hot nor cold. It's… peaceful. A wind that doesn't give shivers or chills, no sweat, no dizziness. It feels like—" he took a breath, "—a wind from heaven. And I can say this is only a fraction of what I want to say. But what really stands out is how."
Lucas's eyes darted across the marble floors, the smooth black walls. "Really, how?" he whispered. "And here… in the hell of the earth?"
Then—
Click… click… click… click.
The sound of footsteps. Slow, deliberate. Coming from the top floor.
Both men froze.
"Hide," Rui hissed.
They rushed to a nearby cabinet — one filled with axes, shovels, and rusted tools — and crouched inside, their breathing shallow.
The footsteps grew louder. Click… click… click. Each step echoed down the stairs like a countdown.
Then, a voice. Calm. Cold. Almost… soothing.
"Come outside."
Rui's breath hitched. Lucas's eyes widened.
What? he thought, trembling. How? How is he calling us out? Did he really see us?
"No… I don't think so," Rui whispered under his breath.
The man's footsteps stopped. Silence.
Then — a sharper tone, deep and spine-chilling.
"Yes, both of you," the man said. "I know you came after me."
The sound of metal shifting in the air.
"Come out from the cabinet."
Their hearts pounded. Sweat dripped, slow and heavy. Rui's hand reached for his dagger. Lucas's fingers tightened around his hilt.
The silence stretched — too long, too heavy.
---
In Akuma, Yami's voice broke the tension.
"We are about to reach hell," he said, his voice low, commanding. "Get ready. Prepare your nerves — for it is the most crucial thing here."
A soldier swallowed, hesitant but brave enough to speak. "Commander, if I may… who were we supposed to meet? I mean—what was his name?"
Yami's eyes narrowed. The wind tugged at his cloak, and for a fleeting moment, the mark on his arm shimmered faintly beneath the fabric—glowing, yet unseen by any other eye.
"That accursed man," he said darkly. "I'll say it once, because I don't like repeating his name."
His next words came like thunder:
"His name is Hem Decker."
---
In the mansion, within the heart of hell—
The man stepped forward into the flickering light. His shadow fell long across the marble floor.
Hem Decker.
His eyes — brown, deep, and unreadable. His beard — black and medium, trimmed but rough. His mustache — ordinary, but his face bore the scars of something far beyond ordinary.
His hair, long and dark, curled slightly at the ends. His nose sharp like an avalanche's edge. And his lips—half burned, half living.
A man both living and dead.
And in that moment, as Rui and Lucas stared from the cabinet's crack, their hearts sank.
For in his gaze — there was no welcome.
Only knowledge.
Only danger.
Only hell.