The inhospitable lands of Mictlan, filled with misery and death so that the soul may eventually rest, are now being traversed by our friends. Having already arrived at a highly dangerous location, they encounter a mysterious man along the way. Who could this individual be—an ally or an enemy?
Our friends come across a rather thin man with a white beard and hair, covered in tattered rags for clothes, and they stand there staring at him.
DANTE HERALDI: ( He uses his power to "examine" and says nothing.) Um, hello, sir. Who are you?
MYSTERIOUS MAN: Hello, kids. Who are you?
MALEKIN: (looking at DANTE) It seems he ignored you.
DANTE HERALDI: I can see that. Sir, excuse the bother, but how did you get here?
MYSTERIOUS MAN: Um, it's a beautiful day, don't you think? Truthfully, I'd like to run, but I can't because of those rocks, hahaha. And you guys, how did you get here?
MALEKIN: (looking at DANTE) Hey, he ignored you again.
DANTE HERALDI: (annoyed) Yeah… I noticed.
Everyone looks at him, thinking he seems rather naive. It appears this old man is somewhat senile and cannot communicate well, so Elena tries talking to him.
ELENA: (tugging at his clothes) Sir, excuse me, what is your name?
The old man looks her up and down and smiles at her.
MYSTERIOUS MAN: Oh, wait, is that you, MARTA? Long time no see! I believe your husband died, is that true?
ELENA: No, sir, my name is ELENA. What is your name?
MYSTERIOUS MAN: Um… My name? My name… let me, wait, if I can just remember it, I know I know it… Ah, I remember now! Yes, my name is GIORGIUS. Yes, that is my name. A pleasure, and who are you all?
DANTE HERALDI: Sir, hello, my name is DANTE. How did you get here? Do you know anything about this place?
GIORGIUS: (looking at REX and MALEKIN)… I like the dog, he looks familiar to me, and I don't know who this big guy is, but he seems like a good person. Could you tell me where we are?
MALEKIN: (looking at DANTE) Hey, it's like he ignored you yet again.
DANTE HERALDI: (pissed off) Damned old man, what is your deal with me? I haven't done anything to him!
Dante grabs him by his clothes and shakes him, demanding an explanation for why he keeps ignoring him.
GIORGIUS: (ashamed) Sorry, sorry! I mistook you for someone else, I thought you were another person.
After things calm down, they talk about this location. The old man does not remember how he arrived at this place and mentions that he was always just wandering around…
GIORGIUS: Yes, truthfully, I don't know how I got to this site. The last thing I remember was that I was walking through a place where it was raining arrows, and now I'm here, hehe. Apparently, I suffer from memory loss. And you guys, where are you heading?
REX: We are trying to escape from this place to reach where the king of this land resides.
GIORGIUS: (rubbing his eyes) Hehe, I am getting very senile, excuse me. The dog just spoke.
Everyone nods in agreement.
GIORGIUS: WHAT?! But dogs don't speak! Where the hell am I? Wait, I think they do speak... I don't know. This subject seems highly familiar to me.
DANTE HERALDI: Sir, you are not aware of where you are. You are in hell; you died.
GIORGIUS stares at DANTE for a few seconds and then turns directly to MALEKIN.
GIORGIUS: Sir, do you know where we are? (MALEKIN feels bad because the old man ignored Dante yet again).
DANTE HERALDI: (in his mind) Damned old man, I'm going to kill him.
MALEKIN: You see, sir, you—well, I think you died, because we are currently in hell. We are looking for a way out. To be honest, I am a demon (lowering his bandana and pulling it back up), and this dog can speak because this place allows it.
GIORGIUS: (shocked) I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Wait, my oldest memory… Let's see, if I was alive, umm, I'd swear I was taking a stroll through a forest. Well, anyway, how do we get out of here, boys?
Everyone is left astonished, and they are even more surprised by how easily the old man accepted his fate. After some time, our friends recover their energy and decide to take the old man along with them, as they didn't want to just leave him stranded in that place. The old man thanks them, and they proceed with the same plan as before—everyone riding on REX's back. Along the way, while defending themselves from the flying creatures, the old man shares something interesting with them.
GIORGIUS: It is incredible how the dog can grow so big, haha! But those flying things look interesting to me. I think that completely apart from those things, there is something else we should watch out for; I can feel its presence.
DANTE HERALDI: Um, wait a second, you're right.
DANTE senses a power coursing through the field and uses "Location" to pinpoint the enemy. When he spots it, he realizes this thing was running close to them, and they are horrified by its appearance: it was like a small dinosaur, resembling a velociraptor, but made of human skin. It had large blades instead of hands, and its head belonged to a grotesque, deformed monster with a massive mouth full of shark-like teeth. Our friends have no choice but to try and fend the creature off. DANTE proceeds to draw his katana and unleashes "Shadow cut" to kill it, but the creature was highly fast and dodged with great ease.
The old man stands up and speaks a few words.
GIORGIUS: Now that I think about it, I am a mage and I know a few tricks. Let's see… Let me remember.
While the old man racks his brain, everyone notices he's not wearing any clothes and is shocked by this fact.
DANTE HERALDI: (shocked) HEY, YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN, WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES?!
GIORGIUS: HAHAHA! I have absolutely no idea. Wait, I just remembered something.
The old man raises his hands, his eyes turn stark white, and a sort of magical circle forms around his wrists, radiating a highly powerful aura. Right as the creature leaps fiercely to ambush them, a type of portal teleports the creature far out of our friends' sight, leaving everyone astonished. Our old man returns to normal, laughing.
GIORGIUS: JAJAJA! Thank goodness I remembered that spell. Hey, dog, remember the word "Exil"; for me, that word is the key to this spell, since I always tend to forget it.
REX: Alright, but where did you send it?
GIORGIUS: Truthfully, I have no idea, but it worked, didn't it? Oh, boy... why did it suddenly get so cold?
DANTE HERALDI: Hey, old man, take this—(Dante pulls some ancient-style clothes out of his pouch)—don't you dare take them off again.
GIORGIUS: Um, thank you.
DANTE HERALDI: And by the way, what was that tho...?
GIORGIUS: Hey, dog, thanks for your great stability.
MALEKIN: (He looks at Dante, embarrassed.) It seems he ignored you again.
DANTE HERALDI: (pissed off) Damned old man...
ELENA: Look, friends, I can see the end!
Our friends approach the exit of this location. In the distance, a sort of cave entrance can be seen as they rush to reach the end. We now head to a year in history entirely separate from the current events of this story, in order to witness the whereabouts of the vanished beast…
Finland, 1942, in the mountainous regions of Ivalo. At the height of World War II, a group of Soviet soldiers was traversing the area, gripped by a certain dread due to the terrible tales told by the locals. Moving deeper into the mountains, the small platoon decides to set up camp. After a while, all the tents are pitched, and they proceed to sleep. Inside the camp's main tent, a conversation is taking place; a table in the center shows three people talking.
CAPTAIN: This place gives me a bad feeling.
SOLDIER 1: (sighing) Aside from the cold, I've got the chills from everything those villagers told us.
SOLDIER 2: It's just nonsense; I don't believe a word those villagers say. Though, some legends speak of a monster named SURMA. It's interesting, but far-fetched in my opinion. This is real life, not fairy tales.
CAPTAIN: I know, this isn't child's play, but we must not underestimate nature, soldier. We need to set up a watch. This world holds highly interesting things, I tell you.
After a while, at 3:00 in the morning, a strange portal opens in the forest near the military camp—a bizarre portal, yet familiar to us. From it emerges the creature that the old man had sent to another dimension. Apparently, he had not only shifted it across dimensions, but also through time.
A few seconds passed before blood-curdling screams of horror echoed through the early dawn. The following morning, a group of Finnish soldiers, noticing a column of smoke rising from the forest, headed to the coordinate and stumbled upon a macabre discovery: all the Soviet soldiers were mutilated and had their throats slit; some were missing limbs, and a human skin hung from the branches of a tree. This incident became known as "the monster of Ivalo" or the mutilating thing; the rest is history, and nothing more was ever heard of the creature.
Returning to our protagonists, they find themselves at the entrance to the next trial of Mictlan. Upon entering the cave, everything turns blindingly bright, and as it clears, they now find themselves in an immense location constructed from Aztec-style stone blocks. It was like a room, but colossal. The walls, floors, and ceiling were entirely composed of rocks, and there were holes everywhere. Out of nowhere, countless arrows shoot out from the holes, soaring into the air and raining down as if it were a downpour. MALEKIN, in a rapid movement, activates a red barrier, but it begins to shatter piece by piece, leaving our friend with no choice but to deploy his strongest shield—the purple barrier.
MALEKIN: What a highly annoying place; I am burning through power continuously, and there's no sign of it stopping.
REX: If it weren't for you, we would be dead right now; that would be the most probable outcome.
ELENA: I don't think that's the case. Look around you; there are people here too. They are lying on the ground, pierced by the arrows, yet none of them are dead. MALEKIN, will you be able to hold the barrier until we reach the end?
MALEKIN: I don't know, I think so, but for the moment I am doing fine.
GIORGIUS: WAIT!
Everyone is taken by surprise by the old man's unexpected outburst.
GIORGIUS: Yes! Now that I remember, I can help. If you feel tired, just tell me so I can restore your strength; I believe I have a spell for that.
MALEKIN: Seriously? Thank you. I'll let you know when I feel fatigued, but you better remember the spell before it's too late, alright?
Our friends walk through the area protected by MALEKIN's shields, advancing steadily along the path. Along the way, the old man steps out of MALEKIN's shield multiple times, and the arrows shred his clothes, leaving him buck-naked, forcing DANTE to rescue him. The old man thanks him but leaves him hanging mid-sentence as usual, which pisses DANTE off. After walking for several hours, they reach a sort of house made of stone and quickly head inside.
DANTE HERALDI: I find it weird that there's a house in the middle of this hell of arrows. It feels like this marks the halfway point of our journey through this place; it's just like back in the other site. What do you guys think?
REX: Yeah, it seems weird.
ELENA: Somewhat suspicious, but quite lucky, don't you think? (smiling).
MALEKIN: True, quite lucky. sir GIORGIUS, could you use that ability you mentioned to restore energy?
GIORGIUS: What ability?
MALEKIN: (ashamed) The one… you said you had to restore energy.
DANTE HERALDI: You senile old man! The thing you mentioned a while ago to recover energy!
GIORGIUS: (looking at Dante with narrowed eyes) Hmm… and who are you?
DANTE HERALDI: (pissed off) You are doing this on purpose, aren't you?!
REX: Sir GIORGIUS, you told us something about an energy restoration ability, just like the word you gave me, "Exil."
GIORGIUS: HAAAA… you should have said so earlier! Yes, I remember now. Let's see, MALEKIN, come over here.
The old man mutters the word "Cuas," and a blue aura manifests around MALEKIN, restoring all of his energy within seconds.
MALEKIN: This is incredible; (in his mind) just who could this old man be?
After resting for a bit, they proceed to continue on their way. Following hours of advancing through the area without any complications, they finally encounter another cave to pass through. But just as they are about to step inside, a giant serpent appears, and our friends are forced to fight it. The battle doesn't last long, and we see that the old man is once again left without his clothes. ELENA covers her eyes, and DANTE hurls another change of clothes—identical to the previous one—straight at his face.
GIORGIUS: Hahaha! Thank you for finding my clothes; I thought you were a bad person, but I see you're not.
DANTE HERALDI: (sighing) Old man, I don't know who you are mistaking me for, but I am your ally for the moment, of course, and…
GIORGIUS: Hey, dog, do you have anything to eat?
REX: (awkwardly) Uh… no, sir GIORGIUS.
MALEKIN: (looking at Dante) He did it again.
DANTE HERALDI: (annoyed and sighing) That miserable old man.
Our friends venture into the cave once more, and upon exiting this time, they feel an immense cold. A freezing blizzard howls in front of them, halting their advance. MALEKIN envelops everyone within his purple barrier, and DANTE pulls winter gear out of his pouch to distribute to everyone, allowing them to forge ahead. After walking for a while, they manage to spot a small cave and decide to seek shelter inside. Upon entering, they discover it is a colossal cavern and are left astonished.
DANTE HERALDI: What a massive place. Wait, look up ahead.
Our friends notice that inside the cave there is a deep well. When they peer down into the depths, they spot a person crying out for help.
MYSTERIOUS PERSON: HELLO?! Is anyone up there? Could you help me get out?
Our friends exchange looks, deep in thought about whether they should help him or not. Who could this individual be? We will find out very soon.