An arduous struggle up until now for the protagonist's survival led him to face highly powerful beings, obtain power from demons, and discover the roots of humanity. Now, with his friends and a newfound love, they step into a zone unknown to us, where a path of despair awaits them according to the legends told: "the path of Mictlan."
Our friends, after passing through the mantle of black shadows, manage to see a highly brilliant light that forces them to close their eyes for a few moments, only to open them later and discover they are in a place with a bit of snow, withered trees, and, right in front of them, a massive mountain. This mountain was so immense that the clouds managed to shroud its summit, making it impossible to see. While they walk, our friends wonder about this vast place.
DANTE HERALDI: (while they walk) This place is immense. From what I know about this site, there are trials we must face to even get to see the god.
ELENA: Yes, in life I heard tales of Mictlan—a highly dreary place for anyone.
REX: Hmm, but what exactly is this place?
DANTE HERALDI: If I am not mistaken, that mountain is going to try to crush us when we cross it. Climbing it doesn't seem very wise; it's immense, it seems to have no end. How many millennia would we waste doing that?
MALEKIN: Let's cross. With me here, there is no problem.
Our friends have walked for hours, yet the mountain still looks exactly the same. Apparently, the mountain is larger than what meets the eye at first glance. As they keep moving forward, our friends notice something strange: up ahead is a small structure shaped like a school kiosk with metal bars for a window, but no doors at all, and inside the structure is our merchant MORS, greeting them as usual.
MORS: Hello, mortals. To think you would make it this far; it's been quite a while since I last saw you, hahaha.
ELENA: DANTE, who is this creature?
DANTE HERALDI: This animated thing is death in person, ELENA. He helps us for some shady reason.
MORS: Don't be like that, you're making me look bad in front of the lady, hehehe. You see, miss, I have a deal with the person who put your friend DANTE into this mess, so your problems became my problems—thanks for that, by the way. (he gets a little annoyed).
MALEKIN: If Sir MORS is here, it means something highly brutal awaits us. I also want to thank you for the life-saving potions; they helped me immensely.
MORS: Um... (confused). Well, I don't know what to say, usually nobody thanks death (a bit sad), and it's quite ironic, since I don't grant life, but thank you for the compliment.
DANTE HERALDI: Anyway, MORS, what did you bring us today? Anticipating your arrival, I gathered a lot of gold coins, so…
MORS: Only two things.
DANTE HERALDI: What?
MORS: Yes, only two things on top of what I already have, and let me tell you, the last one will surprise you; it took a lot of effort to get.
REX: DANTE, don't get annoyed, you know he helps us.
DANTE HERALDI: Damned creature, I hope they are good things; you always bring things two by two.
MORS: Hey! I am death, don't think I don't have things to do; I collect souls every 0.00000001 seconds in this creation, and you still have the nerve to get offended. How mean of you, even the dog has better manners than you.
DANTE HERALDI: (getting angry) What did you say?!
MALEKIN: Enough, DANTE. What do you have for us, MORS?
MORS: Well, thank you, MALEKIN. The first and simplest thing: I got an energy potion so you can refill your mana or energy, whatever you want to call it. It's like the life-saving one, but this one completely refills all your mana; it costs 5 gold. And the other useful thing is this: the angel's whistle, an instrument that allows you to summon a warrior angel to assist you. It is for single-use only and will break afterward; it costs 100 gold. Now, what do you have to say about me?
Our friends are left highly surprised by this object; it is a small whistle of approximately 10 centimeters, which has a drawing in the middle—a circle with an inverted triangle, and an eye right in the center. Everyone is shocked and left open-mouthed after such a tremendous revelation.
MORS: Additionally, I can upgrade your weapons if you'd like.
MALEKIN: This is incredible.
DANTE HERALDI: How many of those things do you have, Mors?
MORS: As for the whistle, only 1. And I have only 1 life-saving potion and 1 mana potion left, though I have plenty of the other items. I would highly recommend you save it for when you run into the big guy at the end of this path.
DANTE HERALDI: It's a shame I blew everything during training; had I known, I would have saved that other life-saving potion. Oh well, give me one of everything you have left, and 5 of each of the others.
MORS: Very well, we have a deal. Do you want me to upgrade your weapon?
DANTE HERALDI: Yeah, here. (handing him his sword)
While their friends wait for MORS to upgrade the Kusanagi sword, they sit to one side and talk a bit about the whistle.
ELENA: It is impressive that such a creature would bring us something like that.
DANTE HERALDI: Yeah, I know. This will make it much easier for me to get out of here, though it is somewhat suspicious.
REX: (wagging his tail) I think he helps us for his own benefit; remember, he loves gold. Let's give him a chance.
MALEKIN: He did help us, so I believe he is on our side. In the meantime, the real problem is his master, BELL—what could he be plotting? That whistle is highly powerful; we must guard it well.
Everyone nods in agreement, and MORS calls them over as he has finished fixing KUSANAGI.
MORS: Alright, I'm all done. This sword is much sharper now—(sighing) man, that took some effort, jaja—it consumes less energy, but its destructive power has increased. Now you will be able to unleash more "Shadow Slashes." It is also far more durable. I modified its core. (growing serious) The creator of this weapon possessed divine powers as well; it is incredible how far human free will can reach. Well, anyway, that's all. That will be 500 gold, please. (smiling)
DANTE HERALDI: Free will... wait, 500?! Why so much, you extortionist death? You didn't even take that much from me in life!
MORS: Hey, seriously, it was tough to modify it. Next time, that sword will be on par with other divine weapons, so I will charge you even more. Prepare yourself for that day, heh.
Grumbling, our friend DANTE hands over the gold and notices that out of everything he had, he is left with only half. The merchant had stripped him of a huge amount of his gold. After saying their goodbyes, our friends continue on their way. But as they move forward, DANTE looks back and, before taking another step, uses "Examine" on MORS, who is standing outside his kiosk. He realizes he can finally see his level, and is left utterly shocked as the number 999,999 appears within the frame. DANTE halts dead in his tracks, watching as MORS smiles at him and vanishes into a mist along with his small dwelling…
REX: What's wrong, DANTE?
DANTE HERALDI: (sweating) No… nothing.
After walking for two weeks, our friends arrive at the foothills of the mountain, realizing there is an entrance. Up ahead, the walls begin to violently slam against one another, as if they were orchestral cymbals, yet it is a straight path and the end can be seen. On the ground, countless human bodies form a carpet, and our friends notice that they are not dead; they are merely wounded, but can barely move. The path is not very long, but the humans lying there, groaning in pain, only manage to crawl a few centimeters…
MALEKIN: I see that this path isn't very long, but the moving walls slam into the people passing through, leaving them near death. When the next day arrives, their wounds heal and they try to move forward, but the walls smash them all over again. This repeats endlessly, which is why those people lying there can never advance.
DANTE HERALDI: What do you suggest, MALEKIN?
ELENA: This is a total nightmare; if only I could help them all.
MALEKIN: Don't despair. Just get behind me and hold onto my tunic.
Forming a line by gripping each other's clothes, our friends move forward as MALEKIN creates a purple barrier that covers everyone, stepping over the bodies strewn across the path. The walls proceed to do their job, but MALEKIN's barrier has grown highly powerful. Using "Examine," DANTE notices that MALEKIN has reached level 3,000, leaving him astonished, since he and REX are around level 2,700, while ELENA is at level 800. Thanks to this, our friends continue crossing through this place without any trouble…
Meanwhile, for the moment, we shift to another location at the very end of the entire path—inside an immense castle surrounded by abundant Aztec-looking fauna. There, at the summit, in a pitch-black room, a mysterious creature watches the progress of our heroes through a cauldron, thinking to itself…
UNKNOWN CREATURE: Hmm, these mortals are not normal. Whoever sent them before me... will I have to halt their advance? But I doubt they will even manage to pass the First Sun. I don't know, should I just kill them? Yet, this is a trial and they are performing well. I am curious... why is one of those beasts from outside my domains assisting them? (referring to Malekin) Just to be safe, I will send creatures to attack them and make these trials far more difficult for them. Something tells me that wretched BELL is involved in this, but I will stop him, or my name isn't Mictlantecuhtli.
Before us stands the most ruthless god of death in history, a being with a highly imposing yet skeletal appearance. He possesses a half-eaten corpse-like face, adorned in attire worthy of an Aztec king—the lord MICTLANTEKUTI.
Returning to our friends, they managed to pass through the path without any trouble, thus arriving at a different location. In this area, there is no longer any snow; it is a wasteland entirely devoid of plant life. Everything consisted of rocks with a highly peculiar color, known as obsidian. They stand to one side and notice that there are also several bodies of people strewn everywhere, their skin slashed and some with their throats slit, yet they are still alive. Hell is truly starting to manifest itself.
DANTE HERALDI: This place is highly dangerous, everything has an edge. That mineral is obsidian; the edge of that rock is extremely hazardous. But how did those people end up with those gashes? It's as if something had flayed their skin like a butcher.
MALEKIN: If you look up at the sky, there are monsters flying up there. DANTE, I believe they are the ones to blame.
Our friends notice that in the sky, several flying monsters are soaring. They possess the appearance of an ancient dinosaur but with grotesque protrusions erupting from their bodies—deformed to the point of disgust, a winged nightmare with highly sharpened claws.
ELENA: I could help you all with a spell I learned. It's called "Hardened Skin." For a short duration, I can make your skin as tough as metal.
DANTE HERALDI: Wow, I didn't know you could use support magic as well! You are fantastic.
ELENA: (blushing) Don't say that.
REX: (wagging his tail) You are fantastic! I have an idea: just cast that spell on me, and I will carry you all on my back using my "True Form" power. That way, you guys can fight off those flying things.
DANTE HERALDI: Great idea.
MALEKIN: Well thought, REX.
DANTE pulls a set of custom-made boots for REX out of his pouch as an extra safety measure, and ELENA proceeds to cast her "Hardened Skin" spell on him. With that, they take off at full speed to reach the next location.
Along the way, our friends notice dozens of bodies walking like zombies, trying to reach a destination. While those winged creatures sliced and slit the throats of the people walking through that jungle of blades, our friends manage to advance at high speed, defending themselves from the winged monsters. However, 50 minutes have already passed, and REX's powers are beginning to wane.
REX: Hey, guys, I think I'm hitting my limit. My magic is already running dry.
DANTE HERALDI: Dammit, I don't want to use the potion yet. Hang in there, REX!
MALEKIN: Look up ahead! There's an empty clearing; it's the only spot where I don't see those cutting rocks.
ELENA: Thank goodness... maintaining this spell is already exhausting me too.
Our friends arrive at a space completely clear of cutting rocks and collapse to the ground to rest, sweating from the sheer nerves.
MALEKIN: (panting) We made it… those rocks would have shredded us instantly if we had fallen… I've noticed that the further we advance, the more those rocks brim with power. They might not kill us, but they would do massive damage.
DANTE HERALDI: (panting) It's unbelievable… what a madhouse of a place this is… But thank goodness we made it.
MYSTERIOUS VOICE: To think that other people managed to reach this spot so easily.
Everyone bolts up instantly because they didn't recognize the voice that just echoed. Upon turning toward where the voice came from, it turns out to be a rather old human in tattered rags for clothes, raising his hand as if greeting them. Who could this human be? We will find out very soon.