hsh

by Rabbitfaster

test text please dont read or commen tor vote or whatever it is. using this format is the only way ic an make my text to speech ap wor for me.

2. Chapter 2

The Hermit's Greed for a Fellow Gamer

The Circle of Greed was covered in ruins of buildings, many of them owned by corporations that had been giants in their time. A dry, empty wind blew through the circle, creating wind tunnels between the metal behemoths. Many souls chained to the buildings pulled on the chains, struggling to keep them above ground lest they sink into the sand with their greedy legacy.

The elevator doors opened, with the party exiting onto a broken road. Izuku looked around, grimacing as he noticed several souls chained to the buildings, pulling on those chains in an attempt to save themselves from the sandpits. The building glinted with a dull golden light, perhaps adding another incentive for the souls pulling at the chains.

Izuku squinted at one of the buildings. It looked like the headquarters of an American video game company that had lost its consumer base in the early twenty-first century due to half-assed products and questionable business decisions. They had risen to power quite easily, but then they tried to sell the same game at least five times without fixing any of the issues in it. He squinted, one of the souls chained to the building looking very familiar. "Is that… Todd Howard?"

"I assume you're looking at the ruins of Bethesda?" Lucifer asked. Izuku made a noise of confirmation. "Then yes, that is Todd Howard, Mr. 'It Just Works' himself. He sealed his fate here when he tried to sell Skyrim for the fifth time."

"Ah. Lucifer-san, is this El Dorado? The buildings look like they're made of gold."

She let out a small laugh. "You aren't that far off, Midoriya. Human greed created the City of Gold, and so the circle of Greed changed to reflect that. What you are seeing now is the result of human greed, and the result of self-annihilation that follows. Every building here is a corporation that earned its consumer base in a fair and just way, before they fell to greed. Many of them delivered incomplete products, oftentimes overcharging their consumers. This, of course, sparked outrage and turned their consumer base against them, casting the company to the sands of annihilation. Bethesda, the South Sea Company, Disney… these are just a few of the corporations that have made their way down here, where the sands await them."

"O-Oh."

"It's quite tragic. I could tell the history of every company here, but you have a job to do. Find Malina. She enjoys video games, and she was last seen entering the headquarters of Electronic Arts. It's not far from here, but the buildings can confuse you if you don't know where you're going. My suggestion is to use Cerberus' tracking capabilities."

The triplets perked up, their eyes focusing on the walkie-talkie. Izuku pulled it out of their reach as they all jumped for it at once, knocking their heads together. Pandemonica sighed and went back to her coffee, summoning an ancient-looking map of the city.

"Well, this is completely worthless," she grumbled, balling up the map and throwing it as far as she could. Cerberus immediately snapped to the ball, taking off and leaving the rest of the party behind in a sand cloud. They coughed before Pandemonica scowled again. "The city has changed so much that the magic of the map has no clue as to where anything is."

"Does that mean we're lost, Pandemonica-san?"

"Not necessarily. The puzzle is just a straight shot down this road, providing that another skyscraper hasn't collapsed on it. However, we may get lost if we have to take a detour. Luckily, this isn't one of those Hells that changes the layout of itself constantly to prevent you from escaping."

"There are Hells that do that?" Izuku asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is there a circle in this Hell that does that?"

"Not a circle itself, but we did pass through one together. I seem to remember holding your hand at the time."

Izuku flashed back to the Purgatory Forest, where he had nearly been snatched up by what he could only assume to be the Soul-Eater coming after him. "Wait, Purgatory Forest changes its layout?"

"If you are not a denizen of Hell, yes," she replied, taking a sip of coffee. "It's a rather insidious place that I have the misfortune of commuting through. I'm sure you understand why."

Cerberus came bounding back from the road Pandemonica had thrown the balled map, all three triplets charging Izuku at top speed. He barely had time to react before they dogpiled him, barking excitedly and licking him, tails wagging furiously. He couldn't help but chuckle despite the pain of being crushed under three adorable dog women coursing through his body. To the side, Modeus blushed furiously as the dog women openly expressed affection to their master. How scandalous!

"Alright you three, that's enough. Off the mortal." Pandemonica scolded. They yelped and scrambled off him, and pulled their master off the ground. "Cerberus, as much as I enjoy you treating a mortal with affection rather than ripping them apart and devouring on their innards, we have a mission from Miss Morningstar. Now tell me, do you smell vodka?"

The triplets continued growling, unwilling to cooperate. Sighing, Pandemonica pinched the bridge of her nose and stood there for a good minute before she turned to Izuku, exasperated. "Can you get them to track Malina? The more time we waste here, the more likely she is to retire to her private room, which is all the way on the other side of the circle, and she will not open the door."

"Okay."

"Thank you." she said, making the motion of sitting. She summoned a floating armchair and sipped her coffee as is hovered near Izuku, reading a book on sadism. He shrugged and turned to the girls, who gave him curious looks while cocking their heads simultaneously at him.

"What does Master want us to do?" They asked.

"Find someone?" Icchan inquired.

"Do a trick?" Nicchan asked excited, her eyes sparkling.

"Mate with Master?" Sacchan questioned.

There was dead silence as the group processed what Sacchan had just said, much to Izuku's embarrassment.

"Midoriya, I didn't know you were a dog lover~."

"Lucifer-san!"

"Oh come on, why don't you give the dog a bone~."

"Lucifer-san!"

Izuku screamed internally as Lucifer laughed her ass off back in her office. She grabbed her sides, doubling over as her hand reached about on her desk for the vodka that Malina liked to partake in. It wasn't good for her as a demon of Hell to be drunk twenty-four/seven, nor was it good for her sister to be so… rebellious. That was why she had sent the mortal to go collect both of the Slavic demons.

She poured a small amount of the alcohol into a shot glass and sent what little was left to Izuku, who yelped in surprise when a bottle materialized from thin air and dropped into his hands. He nearly dropped it again trying to get the radio into his hands.

"Lucifer-san, what is this?"

"Rokita vodka. Malina partakes in this drink often. Cerberus should be able to track her using the scent."

"Oh. Icchan, heel," he commanded. Icchan sprang to his side and sniffed at the bottle of vodka, her nose wrinkling in disgust. Nicchan and Sacchan immediately began sniffing the air for trace amounts of the alcohol and locked onto the scent, darting off as Icchan grabbed Izuku's wrist and pulled him along, Pandemonica and Modeus following in the floating armchair that had apparently turned into a couch.

The triplet rushed to down the street, veering off to the left to a side road before suddenly coming to a halt. Icchan nearly bowled into her sisters along with Izuku, pointing her finger at a lopsided building with many broken windows and what looked to be fire damage. He did recognize the logo, and he gasped.

"Why would this Malina go into this forsaken place?"

"Probably because this is the only place within Hell she can go to get video games," Pandemonica answered, standing from the couch. She snapped and it disappeared, dropping Modeus unceremoniously onto the ground. She pouted and stood up, brushing herself off. "I suggest we proceed with caution. This particular structure looks like it has seen much better days."

Izuku nodded. "Icchan, Nicchan, Sacchan, lead the way please."

They nodded, leading the party inside. It was dark inside and Izuku could barely see. He fumbled around for something to hold onto, his hand wrapping around another, firming grasping it as he could not see a damn thing. He lightly squeezed the hand to show his thanks and the hand squeezed back gently. He relaxed, glad that someone was supporting him through the darkness.

Modeus was going to have to change her panties.

Her cheeks blazed with embarrassment, so red that they gave off a soft glow into the darkness, illuminating her face, torso and arms. Pandemonica turned to look at the light source, chuckling sadistically. "Handholding really turns you on like a light switch, huh?"

Modeus steamed, her cheeks growing brighter as she pouted as her fellow demon. Pandemonium said nothing and just smiled to herself, Izuku too dense to understand what he was doing to Modeus. They moved through the darkened building, eventually finding a section that was lit and someone digging through the boxes and filing cabinets laying around, some looking like they had been pried open with bare hands.

"'Battlefront 3?' Miss me with that bullshit." a new voice said, something flying across the room and shattering against the wall. "Fucking greedy EA bastards! 'How many times can we make you pay for all the content that should've been there at the start?' That's not fucking okay! That's how you lose a fanbase, you Scrooges!"

Scavenging through the ruins of EA's headquarters was a demon. Like most other demons of Hell, her skin was pale, her eyes red, her short unruly hair white and she had a pointed tail and horns. She wore an outfit similar to Cerberus, a black vest over a red dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and top button unbuttoned. Her fingernails were painted black and on her wrists, she had a few string-like bracelets. A scowl was on her face like she had just seen something that ruined her whole day.

Izuku approached her in stride, not taking into account that surprising her probably wasn't the best idea. "Malina-san-"

She moved far faster than he expected, closing the gap between them in the blink of an eye. She missed his face by mere centimeters and burying her arm up to her elbow in the wall. He yelped in surprise, falling down onto his backside as Malina's face shifted from surprise to one of apology in a matter of seconds. "Oh shit! Are you a human?!"

"Y-Yeah."

"What the Heaven, man! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that! I could've punched your skull in!" she lectured, pausing in confusion when she felt significantly less drunk and/or hungover than she had when entering the building. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I need your help figuring out how to get my arm out of this wall without bringing the entire fucking building down on us."

She scanned the room, looking for possible ways to ensure their safety while trying not to shift her arm too much. They were playing a very dangerous game of Jenga right now, and the strategy was getting to her. She ignored the feeling she felt in her core and spotted a beam that looked like it might be the solution to their problems.

"Mortal, what's your name?"

"I-Izuku Midoriya."

"Japanese. They make some really good games. Anyway, I need you to prop up that beam so that I can shift this weight off my hand."

"Can't. That beam is barely holding up a section of the roof." Izuku replied, pointing out a barely perceptible crack that stretched over a third of the room, ensuring that any tampering would bring down the roof. "If we messed with that, we'd probably become Jill Sandwiches."

"Ah, I see you're a gamer of culture as well."

"I try my best."

Malina chuckled, and for the first time in a long time, she smiled. And not a forced smile, like the kind one would do for photographs. This was a genuine smile of happiness and joy. She was happy that she could talk with someone about video games that wasn't her bitch of a sister. "It's been a while since I met someone who plays video games. I'll tell you the rest of the story later, but let's try not to get murderlized by debris. You see any weak points or anything?"

Izuku turned and looked around the room, noting how the wall Malina's fist was buried in seemed to bear a lot of the load of the roof. Cracks ran up from the spot that she had punched, and he began thinking.

"It looks like you just knocked out a support beam, Malina-san. If we can find something to replace it, then you'll be able to pull your arm out without disaster."

"Yeah, I figure. But I have an entire building roof resting on my arm here and it's starting to cut off the blood flow. You'd need to find something that wouldn't immediately collapse under the weight, like a gold statue almost as tall as me. I think there's one of a giant blocky dick in the building across the street."

"Why is there a golden statue of a dick in Hell?" Izuku asked, his face turning red. Without missing a beat, Pandemonica responded. "Minecrafters, Midoriya. Minecrafters fed up with Mircosoft treating their beloved game like another cash cow. Sure, it happened thirty years after Microsoft brought Mojang, but still. The people were angry."

"Oh."

"Does Master want us to fetch the golden penor?" Icchan asked, she and her sisters wagging their tails in excitement. Izuku sighed, really wishing he didn't have to say was he was about to, but alas, he had no choice. If the statue wasn't retrieved, then either Malina would stay stuck in the wall or the roof would crush them when she pulled her arm out. So, he bit the bullet and said the most embarrassing thing he'd ever said in his entire life.

"Yes, Cerberus. I'd like to you to… fetch the golden penor."

The triplets smiled happily and rushed out of the room, leaving Izuku with the reddest face he'd ever had in his entire life. He turned around, already seeing Pandemonica's sadistic smile and holding up a hand.

"Please don't."

"I have not uttered a word, Midoriya."

"You were about to."

"Was I?" she asked teasingly. "I think you should be more concerned about the girls handling the golden penor."

Malina couldn't help it. She burst out laughing, doubling over and nearly pulling her arm out of the wall. She caught herself and wiped a tear from her eye, her smile resuming. "Sorry, it's just- 'golden penor' is something I never thought I would hear in a thousand years."

"I-I…" Izuku sputtered, trying to put his thoughts together in a coherent fashion. Unfortunately for him, that was working about as well as a goldfish trying to put on a tuxedo for a prom date, despite the fact that goldfish are known for never being formal. Honestly, that goldfish was better off with a t-shirt and some khakis.

Luckily for him, Lucifer came back to the radio just in time to hear the words golden penor. Initially, she had been disgusted and was debating whether or not she should just obliterate Cerberus when Malina's voice came over the radio and she remembered why she had sent Izuku on a detour in the first place.

"Malina."

The Sour Demon's face immediately shifted into an expression of panic and bitterness as she realized who was on the other end of the radio. She felt the need to drink, but she figured that when you were talking to your boss, the last thing you wanted to do if you wanted to keep your job was to drink during a meeting.

"Yeah, Miss Morningstar?"

"I've gone through you personnel file, and I've noticed some complaints from souls and some of your fellow demons. I ignored the ones from your sister. Most of them were incomplete. Anywho, my reason for contacting you is simple: this is an intervention."

Malina's jaw dropped. After a few seconds, sand flew in from a broken window, getting in her mouth. She coughed violently, prompting Izuku to rush to her side. She pushed him away, indicating that she was fine and did not want to be talked to right now.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"This is an intervention."

"Oh."

"Malina, I know you're a demon and I know we're in Hell, but please, for my sake and yours, stop drinking. You're hurting yourself and you're hurting others."

"Miss Morningstar, we both know that I can't die of alcohol poisoning."

"Well, yes, but that's beside the point. You need to stop drinking or you'll do something you'll regret-"

"We need internet."

"What?"

"We need the internet down here. Heaven gets the internet, why shouldn't we?" Malina said, shifting her arm. "Do you know how many mortals put their darkest urges on the internet? They have a dark web, for crying out loud!"

"How does this have anything with your intervention?"

"You give Hell internet, I'll stop drinking."

"...are you bartering with me? Lucifer, CEO of Hell, Ruler of the Nine Circles, Princess of Darkness, Satan?"

"Yep."

"You are very ballsy for a demon with ovaries."

Malina shrugged and reached for her bottle. It disappeared in a flash of hellfire, followed by Lucifer's response.

"Luckily for you I'm curious about this internet. Pande."

Pandemonica stood immediately, clipboard at the ready. "Yes, Miss Morningstar?"

"Get me the number of Heaven's internet provider. If we can, I'd like to see if their CEO will make a wager."

"Might I suggest the 'Empty Promises' routine, ma'am?"

"Oooh. Haven't done that one in a while. You've earned yourself some more vacation time at the Fields of Punishment."

Pandemonica blushed, not believing herself worthy of such an honor. The Fields of Punishment were a sadist's wet dream. Many bad, horrible, absolutely terrible people were there, including Sisphysius, witch hunters who burned innocents at the stake and the star prize, Hitler.

But before she could persuade Lucifer otherwise, Cerberus came charging backing into the room holding a blocky golden statue of what was definitely a penis. They bounded across the room with their bizarre battering ram and presented it to Izuku, who blinked in surprise at what he was seeing.

"Master, we have acquired the golden penor!" Icchan yipped excitedly, her tail a blur behind her.

"Did we do good Master?" Nicchan asked, her face happy as well.

"We took it from green mossy explodey monsters, master!" Sacchan borked.

"That looks like it would make the best dildo."

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Modeus, who looked at them with her normal expression as if nothing she had said was wrong. She had finished the book and handed it back to Izuku, and her horny energy was starting to leak.

"What? It'd be a bit awkward, but it would fit."

"...Modeus, calm your ovaries. Now is not the time to be a size queen."

"But I'm horny!"

"And I'm the goddamn Queen of Hell. Your point?"

Modeus tried to come up with a counter-argument, but her words died in her throat when the disappointed looks of the others reached her. She looked down in shame, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Unable to see her sad, Izuku walked forward and hugged her, completely unaware of the effects that would have on her.

She was going to have to change her panties again.

But for now, she would bask in the embrace Izuku was giving her. When they inevitably separated, Modeus gave him a longing look and allowed her arms to linger around his body a bit longer than they probably should have. He didn't seem uncomfortable when she pulled away and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to contain the urge to leap upon him and partake in the degenerative activity of lovemaking.

Izuku turned around to the triplets carrying the golden statue of the Minecraft penis. He looked at the wall and analyzed how it looked like it would collapse the second Malina removed her arm. How were they going to make the damn thing fit if they couldn't get it in without killing everyone? He furrowed his brow in intense thought before the answer came to him.

"Malina-san, have you ever seen the old American movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?"

Malina thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, why?"

"You know that first scene where Indy picks up the golden idol and replaces it with the bag of sand really fast?"

She stared at him wide-eyed, not believing that was actually his plan until she considered it herself. If they replaced her arm with the statue before the wall had time to collapse, then it might actually have a chance to work. "This is a really ballsy idea. It might be crazy enough to work."

"Alright then. Icchan, Nicchan, Sacchan, on the count of three, I want you to shove the statue right where Malina-san's fist is, okay?"

"Yes, Master!" they replied as one. Izuku looked back at Malina, who gave a thumbs up to show that she was ready. He looked back at Modeus and Pandemonica who both looked understandably nervous and apprehensive, unsure if his plan would even work. No time like the present.

"Are we ready?" he asked? Malina gave another confirmation via a nod, which the triplets echoed. He took a deep breath and braced himself. This was it. Either they came out of this alive or as pancakes. He really preferred the first option.

"One!"

Malina braced herself, knowing she would have to act quickly.

"Two!"

The triplets tensed their muscles, ready to use them to shove the statue in the hole that would be left behind.

"Three!"

It all happened faster than Izuku could blink. Malina pulled her arm from the wall, the building groaning as the wall began to collapse. The triplets sprang forward and shoved the golden penor into the hole, which was not in any way sexual, and if someone thought otherwise, then they were horny on main. The wall stopped groaning, seemingly accepting the new support beam. When it didn't collapse, the group let out the breaths they didn't know they had been holding and quickly exited the building before it could collapse on them.

"Thanks for getting me out of there," Malina expressed, glad that she didn't have to dig her way out of some ruins for the rest of the afternoon. "And sorry for trying to cave your face in."

"I-It's fine," Izuku assured her. "It all worked out in the end, right?"

"I guess you're right."

"While I am glad this situation resolved itself without anyone getting hurt, I do want to implore the need to be more careful next time, Midoriya. You may have been lucky this time, but only Father knows how lucky you'll be the next time you sneak up on a demon."

Izuku nodded, looking down at the ground and feeling his confidence slowly fade. "I u-understand."

"That's not to say that your solution to the problem wasn't a good one."

He perked up at her praise. Lucifer could practically feel his joy radiating from her end of the radio and she imagined him with a wagging tail, like a dog who had just been called a good boy. She chuckled at the mental image and immediately banished all affection to a cold dark place.

"D-Don't think this changes our relationship, mortal. I'm still the CEO of Hell and you're just a boy who needs my help. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Okay, Lucifer-san. Thank you for your help and guidance."

Oh, sweet baby Jesus. He was just too sweet and sincere. It was honestly adorable. She slammed her head against the desk, realizing she had failed that task successfully. So much for not being nice to him.

"...do not mention it. The puzzle should be ahead. Radio me when you make it to the other side."

She hung up and pouted, muttering about how unfair it was for him to be that pure and adorable. What was she supposed to do against that?

Izuku walked up to the puzzle and noted that it was smaller than he thought. There were no skeletons, and only a few spikes guarding a key. It looked simple enough. All he had to do was kick a few boulders, walk over some spikes, pick up the key, unlock the lock, and he was home free. Easy.

Too easy.

He looked up and saw the number twenty-three above his head. The move count had gone down by one since the previous puzzle, but there was something odd about this puzzle. It felt like the simplicity of it was intentional, like it was trying to distract him from finding something hidden in its depths.

He gazed out unto the puzzle and noted that if he kicked the boulders in a certain way, he could get to the elevator without the need for the key. He stepped forward, kicking a boulder against the wall. He moved past it and kicked another onto the spikes, repeating the process until he essentially parted the boulders down the middle and found himself gazing at a boulder marked with what looked like an "H."

He kicked the boulder and found a stone tablet underneath, marked with arrows pointing down, up, right, and finally up again. It looked ancient, and he doubted that anyone besides Lucifer knew what it was, so he made a note to ask her about it later and put it in his bag.

The last boulder blocking his path was quickly kicked aside, allowing Cerberus to hug tackle him. Surprisingly, Izuku didn't fall over and caught the three girls as they showered affection onto him, laughing as he pet them. Modeus blushed furiously and squirmed in place while Pandemonica laughed at her pain like the sadist she was, and Malina scowled, mumbling something about those dogs being too happy.

"Master told that puzzle who's boss!" the triplets cheered, hugging Izuku as he made his way to the elevator. Modeus quickly made sure that no one was watching her and joined the hug, her heart racing as she felt his arms envelop her. Pandemonica said nothing and just smiled, sipping her coffee and enjoying the scene before her as Malina's second bottle of vodka disappeared in a flash of hellfire. She pouted, remembering the deal she had made with Lucifer and honestly wondering if she had ever agreed to it in the first place, considering where they were going right now.

"Excellent job not dying, Midoriya. You're making quite a bit of progress. Only five more circles to go, the next of which is Anger. Your mission on this circle is to find Malina's sister, Zdrada, and let me speak to her. She's been ignoring all my calls and her rent has been overdue for about a week. I suggest that you be prepared to defend yourselves. The souls on this next circle have been known to get violent, and I'd hate to see anything happen to you all."

She hung up, and that left Izuku wondering if Lucifer actually cared about him or not. It was honestly confusing at time. One minute, she was kind and praising him, the next she was cold and seemingly wanted to beat his face in for being too pure and innocent. She acted like girls in anime who were too prideful to admit their feelings to their dense crush, so they ended up being mean to them. Wait. Did Lucifer like him in a romantic way?

Nah. That was impossible. She was the Queen of Hell, and he was a Deku. She probably had better-suited people to romance.

Right?

The Would-be Death of an Angry Bitch

If one looked at the circle of Anger and thought it looked like something out of a Doom game, they wouldn't be that far off. Lava and blood rivers flowed through the circle, creating a web of intersecting orange and red lines. One half of the circle was on fire, the souls there screaming in rage while the other half was frozen solid, the souls plotting their revenge with ice-cold rage.

Anger was probably one of the most dangerous circles in Hell. Souls were known to attack each other constantly, even directing their eternal rage at the demons that supervised them. This was why the party tensed up as the elevator descended deeper, coming to a stop and letting them out.

When Izuku stepped out of the elevator, he noticed the fire everywhere and immediately started to worry. He knew Hell wasn't a nice place, but this was certainly worse than any other circle of Hell he had seen so far. A wrathful soul spotted him and screamed. It charged straight at him, but Cerberus leapt upon the threat, biting, slashing, ripping, and tearing it from limb to limb until all that remained was the spectral bones the triplets were currently fighting over.

Izuku stared with wide eyes, fighting off the urge to puke. He was glad that their bodies had blocked the vicious and honestly disturbing feast. They bounded over to him with smiles on their faces as they gnawed on the bones of the wrathful soul.

"W-What is this place?"

"Welcome to the Circle of Anger, Midoriya. Here, angry souls scream for all eternity, fighting battles in which neither of the combatants will yield until they have destroyed the other. Even then, once their fight is finished, they seek out another opponent. Most demons assigned here hardly have to do anything to keep the souls here in check. They keep destroying each other." Lucifer explained.

"Oh. But then why would you send demons here?"

"While the souls do constantly destroy each other, they need to be supervised lest they destroy this circle and the rest of Hell with it. Now, you need to find Zdrada. Her rent check is overdue and she hasn't clocked in for the past hour. This presents us with one of three scenarios: Zdrada is ignoring company policy just to spite me, she's busy fighting off wrathful souls, or she's dead. I sincerely hope that for her sake and mine that it is the second scenario. Now, she's stationed on the other side of the River Styx. I've already informed Charon of your arrival. If he causes any trouble, let me know. Stay vigilant and protect Midoriya."

"We will protect Master at all costs!" the triplets proclaimed, taking up positions that would allow them to fight off anything that came near. Malina cracked her knuckles, equipping an empty vodka bottle as her weapon of choice. Pandemonica sipped her coffee, armed with paperwork, lemon juice, and an unhealthy amount of sadism, while Modeus clasped her hands over her chest. "If anything comes close to Midoriya, I'll bash their heads in with this sledgehammer I use to break legs."

The party turned and gave her very concerned looks. "What? It's good for warding off the ones I don't want."

Pandemonica adjusted her glasses. "What happened to the brimstone your line is known for?"

A horrible screech filled the air as a wrathful soul resembling something out of the Blair Witch Project swooped down and grabbed Izuku by the shoulders, lifting him high into the air as the triplets jumped for his leg. Unfortunately, they missed their mark and Izuku was lifted farther and farther away until a blood-red laser vaporized the soul's body and bony wings, leaving him falling very quickly to the ground.

Cerberus caught him, using their arms to weave a safety net that most cheerleading squads used. Their arms would've broken had they been human, but luckily they were not. The triplets helped Izuku stand, immediately checking him for injuries. "Master, are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah," he said breathlessly, still in shock due to almost becoming dinner for something that looked like a bird made of human bones and deerskin. He pet the triplets. They whined with pleasure under his touch, Modeus blushing and looking away as she played with her hands, unsure as to where to put them. Izuku smiled at the triplets and she almost swooned. "Thank you, Cerberus. But uh, where did that laser come from?"

"You can thank Modeus for the brimstone," Pandemonica replied, causing Modeus to blush even further. She hid her face with her hands, seemingly trying to twist herself into a pretzel. Another soul charged the group, only to be met with a rain of paper daggers that pierced through it. Pandemonica sighed and began walking towards the biggest river in the circle, the party following her. "Her family, starting with her late grandfather the archdemon Asmodeus, has the ability to conjure beams of super-heated demon blood from their mouths. It's quite the sight, is it not?"

"Pandemonica!" Modeus whined, already embarrassed enough. She was sure that now Izuku knew that she could fire big fuck-off blood lasers from her mouth that she had no chance with him. He probably thought she was disgusting, just like all the Christians.

"That's so cool! Does it hurt? How often can you fire them? Do you know how you superheat the blood? Is it because you have a higher body temperature? How do you fire them? How far do they go?" Izuku asked rapidly, pulling out a fresh notebook.

She couldn't believe her ears. This mortal was not cursing her, pulling out a cross to keep her back, or throwing vials of holy water, or giving her the deportation speech in very angry Latin. No, he was looking at her with excited eyes. Eyes that wanted to know about her, and how she worked. That didn't care if she was a demon or not.

She was definitely having his babies.

"How do you gather the blood in your mouth-" Izuku started. His question was interrupted by Modeus hugging him tightly, her tail curling around both of them. He froze, unsure of what to do and looked to the others for guidance. Unfortunately, the others were too busy making sure that the wrathful souls didn't murder them all, so that left him awkwardly returning the hug.

Modeus separated from the hug, giving him a soft smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome?"

"If you two are done having a heartwarming moment, we'd like to get moving! The horde seems really ansty today! Something has them all worked up!" Pandemonica yelled over her shoulder, turning another soul into a dartboard. Malina clubbed a soul with her bottle, breaking it and stabbing another with the remnants. Cerberus worked as a team, mauling anything that came within range. Izuku and Modeus blinked and got ready to move, the party moving along the bank of the River Styx.

He looked out onto the river and noticed that the water seemed to be alive, bubbling and boiling as shapes moved around in it. However, it looked smaller than he would've originally thought, and he noticed that the normal mudbanks of the river were much higher than he would've expected them to be. In fact, the river looked as it was lower than it had been in a long time. "Uh, Lucifer-san, why does the river look like a stream?"

She sighed. Over the radio, it sounded like she was pouring herself a drink. "If I had to hazard a guess, the souls that would normally compose the River Styx are all running around and trying to murder you. As to why I am not sure."

Lucifer took a sip of her wine, savoring the fruity taste before going back to the radio.

"When you find Charon, tell him that if he doesn't get the river under control, I'm cutting off his supply of Italian silk suits."

"Will do, Miss Morningstar. Midoriya, come on!" Pandemonica yelled, leading the way down the riverbank. It seemed that the horde had learned that this particular party was lethal, and while their anger drove them to destroy, some of the smarter souls began running. The party used this to their advantage and began pushing the horde back.

It took them a good half an hour to push through, Modeus firing Brimstone and swinging her sledgehammer, Malina beating anything that came close with her fists and handy dandy empty vodka bottles, Pandemonica using her paper summons to cause agonizing pain via paper cuts and lemon juice, and Cerberus hunting with glee.

Meanwhile, Izuku decided that now would be a good time to listen to pre-quirk classical music. He took out a pair of headphones and put them over his ears, putting on Rimsky Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee in an attempt to ignore the carnage around him.

It only made the carnage funny.

Something about the high pace of the music and how frantic his companions were in keeping the demons off of him perfectly encapsulated how panicked he felt in the moment, making him suppress a chuckle as he continued following after Pandemonica's back, sketching and taking notes about her.

Pandemonica-san:

She's Hell's Secretary and works day in and day out to make sure Lucifer-san's job of keeping Hell in order is easy. She's really nice when she hasn't had coffee, and her horns are small. She almost seemed to pity me when I first arrived in Hell. However, without coffee, she's prone to passing out for sixteen-hour long naps due to overworking herself.

When Pandemonica-san is given coffee, her personality changes drastically. She becomes sadistic, reveling in the joy of inflicting pain upon others, but for whatever reason, she seems content with just teasing me. I guess I do give her enough of a reaction to satisfy her sadism. Part of me wants to know just how sadistic she is, but I'd rather not find out.

I don't know the full extent of her demonic powers, but so far she has shown more strength, speed, stamina, and durability than a normal human. She has shown the ability to summon items out of thin air, ranging from furniture to books and paperwork daggers. She is fiercely loyal to Lucifer-san and I wonder just how far that relationship goes. Further research is required.

He finished his sketch of Pandemonica, showing her sitting in an armchair reading her book on sadism. Fourteen years of watching hero broadcasts had perfected his drawing skill, as she looked almost life-like in the drawing.

Izuku looked up and noted that they were still moving through the horde at a snail's pace, and his eyes fell on Modeus using her brimstone laser to clear an entire section of the souls. He raised his pencil again and continued to follow as he wrote.

Modeus-san:

Modeus-san is the second demon I have encountered on my journey through Hell. She lived in the circle of Lust, where it was extremely hot. Therefore, she wore no clothes and tried to seduce me. Had it not been for Pandemonica-san and Lucifer-san, I'd probably still be in Lust doing all kinds of lewd things with Modeus-san.

She's quite perverted and seems to constantly be focused on anything and everything having to do with sex. Strangely enough, she thinks the concept of romance is perverted and blushes when romantic activities are mentioned, such as handholding. Lucifer-san says that demons have a twisted version of human morals, so it makes sense that she would think romance is perverted. When I held her hand once, she blushed so hard that she literally glowed in the dark. It was cute, actually.

Modeus-san has the demonic physical superiority that all demons have, but she has the ability to project a beam of her own super-heated blood from her mouth that is capable of wiping out an entire group of enemies in a matter of seconds. It's quite powerful, but from what I can tell, it takes a few seconds to charge up before it can be used. She may have other powers, but they are currently unknown. Further research is required.

He looked up again and saw that the horde was starting to peter out. Cerberus made sure he was unharmed, quickly and efficiently dealing with any soul that happened to get in his way. He decided that he would keep writing and sketching, as it was among one of the only things keeping him from panicking at the current moment.

Cerberus, aka Icchan, Nicchan, and Sacchan:

Cerberus was the third, and technically fourth and fifth demon I met. These three mischievous dog-like girls were in the circle of Gluttony, hunting the souls of the gluttonous. From what I understand, they were planning to kill me and use my flesh in a ritual that would allow them to escape to the mortal realm and wreak havoc there. But things didn't quite go to plan, and now I'm their master, apparently.

They love physical affection such as being pet and having their hair brushed, which is amplified by the fact that each of them feels what one of them does. This is due to their unique condition of sharing one soul over three bodies. Each of them has a similar personality, and I'm actually starting to tell them apart. It's odd.

Since I am their master, they seem to want my praise and affection and will fight to the death for me. Just like a loyal dog. I honestly have no idea what I did to deserve this honor, but I don't want to waste it. Their main method of fighting with their teeth and claws, but I suspect that there is more to them than meets the eye. Further research is required.

Izuku looked up one last time and saw that they were near a house on the other side of the River Styx and Malina was bashing wrathful souls left and right with her bottle. She grabbed one soul by its neck and tossed it into a group of other souls, their bones making a sound similar to bowling pins colliding. He turned the page in his charred notebook and began his entry on Malina.

Malina-san:

Malina-san is the fourth demon I met in Hell. She was stationed in the circle of Greed, where the souls of greedy executives pull on their once-glorious company headquarters to prevent them from sinking into the sands of annihilation. I accidentally surprised her when we met and she nearly took my head off with a punch.

She seems like a sour alcoholic when you first meet her, but she's actually really nice once you get to know her. She likes video games, but due to a lack of contact with the mortal realm, she's stuck playing games from the early twenty-first century. She also voiced her frustration of Hell's lack of internet with Lucifer-san, who agreed to have internet installed as long as Malina-san stopped drinking.

Malina-san seems to prefer fighting with her fists and empty vodka bottles, completely decimating her opponents with brute force and a surprising amount of speed. She's strong enough to bury her arm up the elbow in a wall of solid gold, but the limits of her strength have yet to be tested. More research is required.

Izuku finished the notes and added a few finishing touches to his drawing of Malina. He was about to put the notebook away when he noticed smoke out of the corner of his eye. He watched as it flowed under the party's legs, passing by them and gathering under a section of the horde that was regrouping. He cocked his head curiously, wondering why there was smoke when someone reached up and snatched the headphones off his head.

He whipped around to confront the thief, seeing a demon girl with pale skin, red irises, a black arrow-tipped tail, and white hair. Her hair was quite short and most it covered her right eye. Two small black horns poked out of her hair. She had white eyebrows and wore black eyeshadow, with piercings on her mouth, ears, and nose. On her arms, she black braces, the right one also covering the back of her hand. In her left hand, she had a lit cigarette. She wore a black choker, and what surprised Izuku was the fact that she was wearing a white rosary around her neck.

She popped the headphones over her ears, carefully aligning them to avoid damaging them with her horns. Her face was impassive for a few seconds, seemingly judging the music. Izuku started panicking, his mind flailing as it scrambled for a way to make the demon give back his headphones. He stopped when she snorted, breaking out into laughter. She waved her hand, and the background music of the circle shifted to Flight of the Bumblebee.

Izuku stood in shock, and then she snapped. The smoke coiling around the regrouping horde of souls exploded, throwing bits of them everywhere as the demon cackled in delight, reveling in the carnage she had created. Her enthusiasm for violence and the explosion reminded him of a certain ash-blonde bully of his, which subconsciously made his body look smaller and less of a target.

"U-um, can I h-have those b-back please?" he pleaded, trying his damndest to not piss her off. She sneered at him, an expression not unlike the one he was used to seeing every day. The demon stepped forward, her gaze piercing through him as she gave him a once over.

"Gonna cry? Piss your pants maybe?" she sneered, her eyes locking onto him like a lioness about to pounce on a defenseless gazelle. "Maybe shit and cu-"

She stopped when she noticed the charred notebook in his hands, and his terrified expression that she was all too familiar with. Her sneer disappeared, and she pulled the headphones off and handed them to him with no argument. Izuku took them with a look of confusion as the demon turned away, flicking her cigarette butt to the ground and stomping it out.

The mortal already had enough demons to deal with on Earth. He didn't need another in Hell.

"Zdrada." a familiar voice said behind her. The demon smiled and turned around, allowing her sharp, pointy teeth to show. "Malinka! I was wondering when you were going to come home!"

"I told you not to call me that!" Malina hissed, her expression rapidly souring. "Did you forget to pay the rent check again?"

"So what if I did?"

"'So what if I did-' for Satan's sake, Zdrada! Miss Morningstar will come personally for the check if you don't pay it, and she'll bring those fucking pog demons with her!"

"And?"

"'And?!' The Devil herself is threatening to come to collect our rent and your response is 'And?!'" Malina shrieked, Zdrada calmly pulling out another cigarette and lighting it with a snap of her fingers. She took a puff and blew it out, directing the smoke away from the others and snapping to destroy another part of the horde. Malina sighed and sat down. "I need a drink."

"I assume you found her?" Lucifer asked, her voice causing Zdrada to stiffen for a half-second before her normal apathetic expression returned. She turned to Izuku, who had the radio clipped to his belt. She made a fake anxious smile and decided not to piss off her boss, because she and her sister did need a place to live.

"Hey, Boss! How's it going?"

"Cut the crap, Zdrada. Your rent is overdue."

"Really? I sent it out like I usually do! Charon should've delivered it by now!" she protested before looking over at the river. "Although, the river is lower than my standards."

"I have noticed that Charon hasn't reported in since earlier this morning. The soul horde might have something to do with it."

"Yeah. Boss, I don't think I've ever actually seen the souls this ansty. Or out of the river. You'd think someone would be around to keep them in check."

"Indeed. Charon's boathouse isn't far from here. Go there and see what you can find. If you can find the ferryman, tell him to resolve the situation with the river or else. That should get him moving. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to. Stay vigilant, and try not to get yourselves killed. I'd rather not have to fish your corpses out of the river."

Lucifer closed the channel, sighing heavily as she picked up her ringing smartphone. As the Queen of Hell, she was the only demon to have upgraded from paper to electronics. She had been trying to get the rest of Hell up to speed on technology, but so far her efforts had been blocked by her Old Man. This, of course, pissed her off to no end, because with every form of paperwork she signed it only seemed to get worse. Seriously, how hard was it just to get some decent internet?!

On the third ring, she bit the bullet and answered the phone, the line connecting her with her eldest sister, the one who would be destined to fight her to the death in the Apocalypse. Like that would ever happen. The mortals would destroy the world before the horsemen even had the chance.

"Hello, Michael."

"Yes, I know it's been a while. I would visit, but I have the feeling that you'd stop me from entering the gates of Heaven even if all you wanted to do was to hug me and welcome me home after so long."

She laughed dryly. "Michael, we both know how Father feels about me. It would take a miracle for him to actually consider letting me out. Besides, I know you didn't call to catch up on the times. What will it cost me to have internet installed down here?"

Lucifer took a sip of her wine, savoring the fruity favor as her sister explained the terms. She nearly spit it out when a piece of very shocking news passed by her ear. She coughed violently, beating her chest in order to dislodge the debris in her thought as her sister panicked in her ear.

"I'm fine, Michael!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I just was surprised, is all."

"I appreciate your concern, Michael. Tell me, what is the name of this angel that you're sending down here?"

"Azazel? Father is sending the angel who's so far in the closet you need spelunking gear to get her out? I know he changed his rule on same-sex couples, but what exactly is his plan with this?"

"Michael, Father makes up the 'Great Plan' as he goes along."

"Fair enough. I'll have her delivered to the circle of Heresy. Tell Mother and our sisters that I said hello. Love you."

Lucifer hung up the phone, wondering what shenanigans an angel in Hell would cause. Not to mention that this angel was fresh out of Metatron College and planning on studying Advanced Demonology. Christ on a unicycle, what was her Father thinking?!

She could only hope that Midoriya's party was making their way to Charon without much trouble.

She flicked on the channel to check on their progress, and immediately the sound of Malina and Zdrada arguing assaulted her ears like the FBI invading the home of a person who had called a small anime girl attractive. Unfortunately, the two sisters were not as quick and efficient as several special agents doped up on adrenaline and freedom juice.

"Malinka, you really need to stop playing those games! They make you look like a huge nerd, and besides, your gaming chair can only take so much before you break it. Whether it breaks from rage or pleasure is all up to you-"

"S-Shut up! I'm tired of your bullshit Zdrada! Why can't you just not make my life torture for once?!"

"Because then it wouldn't be fun, Malinka."

"MY NAME IS NOT MALINKA!"

"I know."

"Then why- ARGHHH!" Malina screamed and grabbed at her hair, taking her anger out on some wrathful soul who happened to be in the way. Zdrada laughed, blowing more smoke and clearing the way to a house. It had a pier that stretched over the River Styx, where a boat sat, bobbing gently in the water of wrathful souls. The nearby mailbox had the name "Charon" on the side.

Izuku looked at it curiously. "I'm guessing this is the place?"

"Indeed," Pandemonica said, her lemon-imbued paper daggers painful enough to ward off the wrathful souls. "Now, he's known to be very fickle, so I would suggest that we knock on the door politely-"

"The boatman is asleep!" Cerberus interrupted, peaking into Charon's bedroom window. Pandemonica sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying not to get upset. She failed in her efforts and let out a deep sigh through her nose. "Of course he's asleep. Why does he get to sleep on the job when I haven't had a decent night's sleep in the last five hundred years?"

She sucked in a breath. "This might be the time where someone tells me to not let my anger get the better of me. To walk away, and politely knock on the door. They are right."

She opened her eyes, and they gleamed maliciously.

"But I am a demon, and I don't believe in moral high ground."

Pandemonica marched up to Charon's front door and kicked it down, startling the scrawny ferryman in his bed. He watched in fear as Pandemonica marched toward him like a Terminator. She grabbed him by his collar and threw him out the window, where he landed on the pier. Charon scrambled to the boat, threw on his cloak and grabbed his staff as she strutted through the door, eyes blazing with anger.

"That is the last time I buy coffee from you, Charon, and the last time you fall asleep on the job. Now, you're going to take all of us to the puzzle at the end of the river for free, and maybe, just maybe, I won't fill out a complaint with HR. Do you understand me?"

Charon nodded rapidly, not wanting to upset her more than he already had. "I-I'll get the river under control."

He tapped his staff against the ground, and all around the circle, the wrathful souls who made up the river found themselves drawn to the riverbank, where they melted into the violent waters and filled the river back up to its proper level. Charon wiped his brow and almost asked the party for fare, but Pandemonica's glare was more than enough to remind him.

He pushed the boat out to the middle of the river, paddling towards the end as the angry souls fought against each other in the water. Cerberus pawed at a few that got too close, and Zdrada had decided to hitch a ride. Izuku sat next to her, and his curiosity got the better of him.

"Zdrada-san, um, why are you here with us?"

"Ha! Funny question, kid," she snorted, smoke flowing out of her mouth in copious amounts. "You really think I'd miss out on the chance to be in a harem?"

Izuku's reaction was instant and loud. "A-A-A h-harem?! B-But I-I d-don't- I-I'm n-not sleeping w-with any o-of t-these p-pretty w-women!"

"Yet." Modeus added. Zdrada cackled as he turned bright red and hid his face in his hands, not talking for the rest of the trip down the river. It was actually quite peaceful, once you got past the screams of the damned and the occasional nightmare fish trying to crawl its way onto the boat.

They arrived at the puzzle, and Charon hurried away once they were on dry land. Pandemonica watched him go, making a mental note to talk to Lucifer about that man.

"I never really did like him. Anyway, Midoriya, I'm sure you know the drill by now, but these spikes are different. They stick in and out when you move. Timing here is crucial."

Izuku nodded, the girls heading to the elevator, which had upgraded to a freight elevator in order to fit them all in it. "Thank you for your advice, Lucifer-san.

He took a step, not expecting out a response from her, but was surprised when she did.

"...Midoriya?"

"Yes, Lucifer-san?"

"...good luck."

Izuku smiled, and although she couldn't see it, Lucifer felt the gratitude radiating off of him. It made her smile. He took another step forward, knocking a skeleton into the wall and kicking it to bones to make sure the spikes didn't sap his twenty-three will.

He took another step forward, the spikes rising in front of him, but as he stepped onto him, they sank into the ground. He looked ahead of him and carefully plotted out a course before making his next move, knowing that a key was around the corner and these boulders to his left needed to be kicked in a certain order.

He kicked the one to his immediate left up, grimacing as the spiked poked his feet. He took two steps forward, kicking another boulder into place and quickly moving to the key, grabbing it and moving back to the boulder he had arranged, kicking it out of the way to clear the way forward. He darted over another spike tile and grunted as his feet were poked.

Izuku unlocked the locked block, noting another boulder etched with what looked like a lowercase "n." He kicked it aside to reveal another stone tablet, this time with arrows pointing left, down, down, left. He got the feeling that this stone and the one he had found earlier were part of something bigger, but he didn't know what.

Instead, he put the tablet in his bag and walked to the elevator, where the girls welcomed him and herded into the machine, Lucifer congratulating him.

"Well done. You managed to solve the soul drought, and solved a puzzle in no time. Next circle is Heresy, and there's an angel down there that might need some help getting around, especially with other demons looking to take advantage of her curious nature."

"I'll find her, Lucifer-san."

"Thank you. Remind me to give you something when this is all over."

As the elevator descended, Izuku contemplated the events that lead up to this moment and noticed now friendly Lucifer was acting towards him. Did something between them change? Perhaps.

He was just glad to have her.

The High Priestess' Heresy

The elevator went down smoothly, arriving at Hell's sixth circle with a pleasant ding. The doors opened and the elevator's occupants stepped out, welcomed into the dark, dank depths of the cavern beyond. The circle of Heresy was a series of catacombs, where heretics burned in tombs for all eternity, the flames burning them and casting light out onto the tunnels.

Izuku felt his opinion of Hell dropping with each circle. It had started with a foggy forest and a hot Mars-like landscape where people engaged in sexual activities that ended with their annihilation, which sounded bad. But it was definitely an upgrade from dark creepy catacombs filled with the screams of burning heretics.

Cerberus sensed his unease and hugged him. They wiggled into his embrace, trying to ease the anxiety that they saw overcoming his face. He gladly welcomed their affection and scratched behind their ears, making them coo in excitement and wiggle about.

Malina scowled, as usual, and Zdrada blew an uncaring cloud of smoke into the air. Modeus glanced around as they proceeded forward, not exactly a fan of the burning human souls in their tombs. She joined the mobile group hug unit, securing Izuku's hand and glowing. Pandemonica grinned, reveling in the sound of the souls suffering. "I love the sound of heretics suffering in the afternoon."

"Lucifer-san, what is this place?" Izuku asked, passing a soul that sat in its tomb and made direct eye contact with him as it burned, making no indication that it felt any pain or the flames licking at its body. It did not stop looking at him until he was out of sight, where it resumed looking at the same part of the wall.

"Welcome to the circle of Heresy, Midoriya. I imagine that you're currently in the catacombs full of burning heretics. That's it. This circle manages to keep itself running without much need for supervision, which is why most demons consider this circle to be a place to reflect and relax, unwind if you've been assigned here. Granted, not many demons will be reflecting on anything. Most just simply do not have the patience."

"You got something you want to say to me, Boss?" Zdrada baited, trying to get a rise out of Lucifer. Thankfully, she ignored the rebel demon and continued with her explanation of the circle, recalling some pleasant memories from her youth as her Father's favorite creation.

"I put a lot of these souls in here. The ones near the top are the recent arrivals if I recall correctly. But as you go further down, the ones at the very bottom, whose bodies are not entirely human and bones are blackened with ash? I put them in there. When I was still the Morningstar, God's favorite daughter… until Adam came and ruined all of that."

Even a deaf man could detect the bitterness in her tone. She clearly held the first man in contempt, and if the stories were correct, she had been the serpent that had whispered into Eve's ear and convinced her to eat the forbidden fruit, the dominos falling to end with the two of them being kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

"But enough about reminiscing about my glory days of yore. My father, who apparently had a grand plan that he never shows to anyone, not even my mother, has decided that in exchange for Hell receiving internet, an angel is to come to Hell and observe it and its occupants. She should be around here somewhere. If you're worried about losing your way in the catacombs, just follow the souls that show more bones. The puzzle is near the older end of the tombs."

Lucifer readjusted her in her seat. Mentioning Adam had made her grumpy. Maybe she should go out for a bit and punch Judas in the dick a few more times. See how he felt for betraying her Brother. Hopefully torturing the betrayer of the one good thing that had come out of humanity (besides sharp business suits) would make her feel better.

"I'm going to go out for a few minutes. Pande, I trust that you know your way through the catacombs?"

"Yes, Miss Morningstar. I will see to it that we locate the angel and proceed to the puzzle."

"Thank you."

Without any further ado, Pandemoncia gathered the group together, leading them through dank corridors lined with tombs. Izuku kept looking at the souls burning with ethereal fire, some of them screaming in eternal pain, others sobbing as the fire ate at their essence, and others either sitting or standing, staring blankly at the walls of their tombs, unblinking.

"Pandemonica-san?"

"Yes, Midoriya?"

"When I die, am I going to go this circle and burn for all eternity?" He asked, watching in fear as a soul wailed in pain before collapsing onto the ground, unmoving. He didn't want to be down here and burn for all eternity. That looked painful and horribly inconvenient.

"It depends, Midoriya. Do you believe in Judeo-Christian rites?"

"Um, no? I'm Japanese, and I-"

"Practice a combination of Shinto and Buddhist rites." she finished, looking around the corner and orienting herself. "No, Midoriya, you are not a heretic. As much as the Almighty would like you to burn in this circle along with the other infidels, your soul is very much in the hands of the religions you practice and his tampering with it would cause issues with the other gods."

"O-Oh."

"It's quite simple. The gods don't mess with the souls of believers of other religions."

"I see." Izuku said, Zdrada saying something snide in the background that he didn't quite catch, only to hear the sound of Malina punching her in the stomach, followed by pained cackling. Modeus and Cerberus peeled off him to deal with the others arguing, the triplets saying something about getting along for their master's sake and Modeus agreeing.

"What about atheists?"

"Oh, those are fair game. Miss Morningstar loves torturing those souls."

"Absolutely. They wind up here, look at me, and panic when I say 'Welcome to Hell, mortal. I'm Satan, and you'll be staying here for all eternity.' And the best part is, they start praying to Father, but he can't hear them. HAH!"

Lucifer broke down in laughter, the sound rather angelic to Izuku's ears. He wished that he could hear her laugh more often, and wondered what might make her laugh. He turned back to the radio to ask her and froze when he saw the faces of the girls staring at him with varying expressions. It took him a moment to figure what had happened.

"...I said that all out loud, didn't I?"

"Yes. Yes, you did. That is the second time you've complimented me and compared me to an angel."

"O-Oh, sorry!"

"I never told you to stop, did I?"

"N-No…"

"Good answer. Don't do it too often. Any clues as to where the angel-"

A shrill scream echoed down the corridor. Everyone's head snapped in that direction, and Pandemonica reached out to pull Izuku behind her, but her hand met empty air. She looked up to see him running in the direction that the scream had come from, his fast pace increasing the distance between them.

"Midoriya!" she called after him, but he was already gone. "Shit."

Miss Morningstar is going to kill me.

She began to give chase, the other girls flowing suit. The triplets overtook her easily, racing after Izuku at top speed. Modeus was hot on her heels, with the Slavic sisters following close behind. He heard footsteps coming around the corner, and he sped up, already committed to helping out who had screamed.

Unfortunately for both Izuku and the unknown party, both of them were approaching the other at very high speeds with no intention of slowing down. They were on a collision course, and no force on the planet could stop them from meeting. They charged around the corner, and proceeded to immediately crash into each other, the unknown party landing on top of Izuku.

He hit his head pretty hard on the ground, grunting out in pain before two soft, cushiony objects smothered him. He groaned, the person on top of him staring down at him. She - he guessed it was a she based on the pitch of the shriek the person made before scrambling off of him.

"I-I'm sorry!" the person stammered, trying to make up for what she had done. "A s-soul startled me and I ran and I wasn't looking where I was going and I bumped into you and smothered you with my b-b-breasts-"

Izuku opened his eyes, revealing a woman with short black hair cut in a bob and blue eyes wearing a white, almost militaristic uniform, with yellow lining on her collar, sleeves, gloves, and down the middle of her shirt.. She wore a necklace under the collar of her uniform, which meets to hold a square cross with leaves protruding from under it, as well as pants with a belt, and white boots with straps on the top, with silver lining on the straps. She wore a ribbon that stretched over her head like a headband, tied into two knots just above her ears. Floating a few inches above her head was a halo that cast a soft glow, illuminating the catacombs.

This woman was an angel of God. And she had just crashed into him and accidentally smothered him with her breasts. The realization caused him to turn as red as she was, and that's when the girls came around the corner. Modeus saw the blushes on their faces and immediately assumed the worse, jealousy overtaking what little reason she had normally.

"GET AWAY FROM MY MAN!" she screamed, pouncing on the angel. They both tumbled to the ground, the angel finding herself in a similar position as Izuku had been in a few minutes prior. Modeus raised her fists to start beating her face in, pooling a Brimstone laser in her throat.

"Modeus. Stand down."

She swallowed the laser. "But Miss Morningstar-"

"I said STAND DOWN." Lucifer ordered, her tone conveying that she was not in a good mood and certainly not to be trifled with. Modeus grumbled under her breath and climbed off the angel, shooting another glare in her direction before hugging Izuku's side tightly. The angel stood and brushed herself off as the others approached, Cerberus sniffing at her curiously.

"T-Thank you," she stammered, obviously very nervous. "I just came down here to study demons and Will. I should've brought my flaming sword-"

"State your name and rank, angel." Lucifer ordered in a voice very reminiscent of a top-ranking military commander. Izuku wondered why she would sound like that, but his question was overruled by the surprise that came with the angel suddenly snapping to attention.

"P-Private Azazel, soldier of the 101st Company under General Michael, ma'am!" she replied, staring dead ahead. "I have been assigned to Hell per my request to study Demonology and Will, ma'am!"

"Former General Lucifer Morningstar, chief leader of His forces against the darkness. At ease, Azazel."

She relaxed visibly, still looking slightly anxious and shaken with all that had happened in the last five minutes. Then again, who wouldn't be after getting startled by a flaming human soul, running blindly through unfamiliar catacombs, crashing into someone, and then embarrassing yourself further by smothering the person with your… erm, assets.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to startle or upset anyone with my arrival, much less meet the Morning Star herself. I'm actually surprised that there are demons in this level. General Michael told me that this level is usually reserved for demons on vacation."

"I see my sister keeps her soldiers informed. You were told correctly, Azazel. Normally, no one would be down here, which would give you an opportunity to study Hell without much trouble. The only reason this many demons are here in this place is for whatever reason, this mortal draws demons to him like moths to a flame."

"Mortal?" Azazel asked, tilting her head in confusion before looking over at Izuku, blinking, and then the realization hit her harder than the meteor God (and the other deities of the world) had sent to wipe out the dinosaurs. "You're a mortal?! But- you're still alive! How are you in Hell?!"

"I wandered in here by accident?"

"You what?"

"I… wandered into Hell by accident?"

"How?!" Azazel whisper-shouted. "One does not simply wander into Hell!"

"Uhhh…"

"You are confusing Master with your questions, angel!" Cerberus yipped, growling angrily. Azazel glanced over to the triplets and her eyes lit up with an almost manic fascination of the demon before her, especially when she noticed that Izuku's head-scritches seemed to be affecting all three of them. She pulled out a notepad and pen, leaning in excitedly.

"Demon triplets that seem to share all physical sensations. Fascinating," she said, scribbling notes down as quickly as she could. She began muttering to herself, Izuku being the only one able to understand her motormouth. He realized she was theorizing about how the connected feelings of the triplets, and he pulled out his notebook and flipped to the page with Cerberus. "I have some notes if you'd like to see them."

Azazel looked up at him with a curious gaze, gingerly taking the notebook from him and scanning the pages with Cerberus, her eyes blazing through the information. She transcribed it so quickly that Izuku barely had time to blink before she asked him rapid-fire questions.

"You are the master of the triplets? How did that happen? Are they like normal dogs? How do they act around you?"

Izuku responded in the same rapid-fire manner, the others in the room completely lost as to what the conversation was about. Pandemonica could only catch a few words, such as "Will," "research," and strangely enough, "quirks." That was what humans called the powers they were born with. She decided to let it slide and sipped her coffee, plotting their route to the puzzle and out of the circle.

Malina groaned, muttering something about how it was getting out of hand, now there were two of them, and Zdrada actually agreed with her about something for once. They decided to pass the time by playing a quick game of poker with Modeus, who kept trying to bet pieces of clothing.

Cerberus watched curiously, their eyes bouncing back and forth between the two note-taking fiends, not understanding a single word they were saying. It may as well have been gibberish to them. But that didn't stop them from enjoying their master's excitement.

As the epic rap battle of nerdism continued, Lucifer listened to the two of them on the radio and actually found their chatter to be adorable. She decided to let them go uninterrupted just to see how long it would go one, and then they started talking about Will.

"Do you know what Will is, Midoriya?" Azazel asked, having learned his name in the conversations they had together. He shook his head slowly, not exactly sure. "Lucifer-san explained it to me briefly, but I don't completely understand it."

"Alright. Let me give you the simple version. Will is the, well, will of an individual. It's the driving force behind everyone's actions, provided that they have free will. Now, the stronger your Will is, the less you will suffer from Will draining effects, which is the only reason you're still standing here and not dead."

Izuku blinked. "I survived in Hell because I have a high Will?"

"Yes. Remember in the Purgatory Forest, where the fog rolled in and dulled your mind? Your will stepped in when you started discussing heroes with me. The same thing happened in the Hall of Pheromones. Midoriya, out of all the mortals I have in my lifetime, I have never seen a mortal with as much Will as you in a long time."

"You haven't?"

"No. The last mortal I knew with that much Will was my younger brother, Jesus."

"Your younger brother was Jesus?! Wait… yeah that actually makes sense."

"Anyway," Azazel redirected everyone's attention to the discussion at hand. "My point is, I'm doing a thesis on Advanced Demonology and the Mortal Applications of Will, and I think you're the perfect subject."

"Me? B-But I'm just a quirkless nobody-"

"Midoriya, no. Talk like that only makes you feel powerless. When you feel powerless, you want to take the power back. And when you want to take the power back, you take karate. And when you take karate, you want to use your karate. And when you want to use your karate, you become the Fist of Justice. And when you become the Fist of Justice, you run along rooftops. And when you run along rooftops, you fall into a dinner party."

Izuku and the rest of the party looked over at Azazel with very confused expressions. She continued, thinking that her next words would clarify their confusion. "Don't fall into a dinner party. Get Direct TV and save on cable now."

Zdrada's cigarette fell out of her mouth. She blinked a couple of times, lowering her hand a small amount and asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

"What the fuck does a Direct TV ad have to do with anything you were talking about?"

"Uh…, some form of encouragement?" Azazel offered, hoping that she hadn't just ruined any chance at any normality between herself and the group. Malina looked at Zdrada's now visible card hand and bristled at the ace hidden in her palm, growling at her sister. "Zdrada, you cheater!"

The rebel just laughed. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to notice, Malinka."

Malina sighed and rolled her eyes, snatching the cards back from her sister and Modeus, who pouted. Malina just scowled and packed the cards away, standing up and crossing her arms. "Can we just get going already? I'm sick of these catacombs. This isn't the Binding of Isaac."

"...the Binding of Isaac happened over four thousand years ago." Azazel responded.

"Video game, not the event, angel." Malina snapped, Pandemonica leading them through the tombs.

"There's a video game about the Binding of Isaac?" she asked, writing that down in her notebook. Mortals were more fascinating that she realized. To make video games about such an event, what had to happen to a person to make them want to do that?"

She descended into a muttering storm that would rival one of Izuku's. Malina groaned and moved faster, trying not to push Pandemonica out of the way. Cerberus followed close after, with Modeus, Azazel, and Izuku bringing up the rear.

He realized that he hadn't updated his notebook with entries regarding Zdrada and Azazel, or Lucifer for that matter. So now was the time to do so. He took out his notebook and pencil, and began to write.

Zdrada-san:

Zdrada-san is the fifth demon I met in Hell. She is the older sister of Malina-san, and she lives in their house on the circle of Anger. I first encountered her when she stole my headphones and almost threatened me, much like Kacchan does. I really don't understand why he hates me… anyway, she was going to threaten me, but then she stopped. I'm not sure why.

She smokes a lot, and her powers revolve around that smoke. She can breathe it out and control where it goes, and with a spark created by a snap of her fingers, she ignites the smoke and causes it to explode. This, of course, makes no scientific sense whatsoever, even with the existence of quirks. I'll ask about it later.

She and Malina-san do not get along. Zdrada-san seems perfectly comfortable with making people around her angry and laughs at them when she does. I assume that she says the things she says to get a rise out of people, but for what reason? What would drive her to be, for lack of a better term, a bitch? I'm not sure. Further research is required.

He flipped the page and began his section on Azazel next. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her gazing at Malina and Zdrada's asses, her face blazing with color.

Azazel-san:

Azazel-san, to my surprise, is an angel. An actual angel in Hell. I have no idea what she is capable of, but I did learn a few things about Heaven. Apparently, the angels there are soldiers, and she is a private under the command of Lucifer-san's sister, Michael. That surprised me.

She seems to be just like me. Curious and inquisitive, wanting to know everything she possibly can about the demons of Hell and Will, which is apparently the driving force in our souls. It supposedly can grant powers, like a quirk, but you have to earn it, rather than it being given to you at birth, like a quirk. Maybe if I can find out how to use my Will, I can be a hero. I'll ask Lucifer-san about that.

Azazel-san seems quite curious about demons and how their society works. I spoke with her earlier, and she would make an excellent research partner. I should swap notes with her again at some point. She might provide an insight that I may not have considered. Further research is required.

Izuku flipped the page and he was about to write down Lucifer's name when the soul he was passing suddenly slammed its body against the door to its tomb and stared at him. He screamed, Cerberus immediately rushing to his side as the line halted.

"Midoriya, what's wrong? What's happening?" Lucifer asked, her anxiety rising as she heard the raspy groans of the now flaming skeleton. "Midoriya, respond!"

Izuku stared at the soul with wide eyes, his heart pounding as he froze in fear. The souls in the other tombs nearby all turned to look at him, their gaze piercing and all-knowing.

"Lo! Man returns to Earth!" the soul rasped, pointing at him with a blazing bony finger, and spoke with a voice that whispered from the flames themselves. It suddenly fell to its knees, screaming as the fire consumed its frame and burned to ash before it could say anything further.

Izuku watched as the bones turned to ash, completely horrified and scared beyond words. He hyperventilated, breathing very rapidly as his heart pounded like a drum, adrenaline surging through his system, eyes darting around like a trapped animal.

"Midoriya."

There were too many people. He couldn't get away.

"Midoriya!"

He felt trapped, pinned against the wall with no way out. This was it. This was how he died, trapped in Hell-

"IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

He yelped again, his mind instantly latching onto the familiar voice. "L-Lucifer-san?"

"Easy, Iz-Midoriya. Deep breaths, alright? In…"

He took a deep breath in, holding it.

"...and out."

He let the breath out, feeling much calmer now. Cerberus gingerly pawed at him, and he gave a weak smile, scratching at their heads.

"Are you okay, Midoriya?"

"Y-Yeah. I-I'm okay."

"Good. What the Heaven happened?"

Izuku looked over to the pile of ash that had formerly been a flaming soul, climbing to his feet with the help of the triplets. Pandemonica stepped in to explain while he was recovering, which he was eternally grateful for.

"We were making out way to the puzzle, and when Midoriya passed a tomb in the catacombs, one of the souls suddenly jumped out at him and startled him. It pointed at him and yelled 'Lo! Man returns to Earth!'"

Pandemonica stepped away while the others tended to Izuku. She made sure she was out of earshot and whispered into the radio. "Miss Morningstar, I know that the souls here only receive knowledge of the living from the future here, but I have no idea what that soul meant. Man doesn't need to return to Earth, they've been here for the last six thousand years!"

"I share your concerns, Pande. This soul's prophecy makes no sense. Did it say anything else?"

"No. It was reduced to ash before it could."

"...I see. I'll have Justice look him over in the next circle. Can you guide him to the puzzle?"

"We are nearly there, Miss Morningstar. It is just right around the corner. I will report any new information to you as it comes up."

"Thank you, Pande."

"It is my humble duty and pleasure, Miss Morningstar."

Pandemonica called the party over and lead them to the puzzle, leading the girls to one side as Izuku took his usual place on the other side. He was still a bit frazzled from the flaming skeleton, but he could handle it.

This puzzle was mean. It incorporated boulders, skeletons, and a key block. When the number forty appeared over his head, Izuku gulped and wondered exactly would require that many moves. He made his way forward, kicking a few boulders out of his way. He kicked a boulder towards a skeleton and almost blocked his way out, but paused and thought about his next moves.

In kicking the boulders out of his way, he had knocked the key under a boulder. He'd need to grab it before making his way to the exit. There were also these spikes that rose and fell as he moved, so he'd have to be careful about those. He made a plan and executed it.

He moved the boulders and retrieved the key, stabbing his feet in the process, came back around to the skeleton and kicked it into the wall, then moved the boulders around the locked block, unlocking it and discovering another marked rock, this time with what looked like a cents sign with a dot in the middle. He kicked it aside, and found what he hoped as the last of the ancient stone tablets. This one was marked with arrows point up, down, right, and finally up again. He set it in his bag, and made it to the elevators, where the girls greeted him victoriously.

Cerberus and Modeus hugged him, Malina smiled softly, Zdrada grinned, Azazel congratulated him, and Pandemonica gave him a curt nod before they all stepped onto the elevator.

"Well done, Midoriya. Six puzzles, and not once have you died. I'm beginning to think you know more about this place than you let on. The next circle is the circle of Violence. It is not a pretty place, but then again, neither is any part of Hell. I advise that you move quickly."

Izuku took all that information and jotted it down as a mental note. He appreciated all of Lucifer's advice, but something was still bothering him. He knew that Pandemonica had said that since he didn't practice Judeo-Christian rites, he wouldn't end up in this Hell, but something told him that she was wrong.

He really did not want her to be wrong.

The Violence of Justice

The circle of Violence was where all souls that had committed acts of violence ended up. It was split into three rings based on the violence was committed in life.

If a soul committed violence against another person, they were sentenced to the river Phlegethon, where they boiled in a stream of blood and fire.

If a soul committed violence against themselves in life, they were sent to the second ring, where their bodies were transformed into trees, some gnarled and mottled, others suspended in an ungrown state, reflecting their choices in life.

And finally, if one committed violence against art, nature, and/or God, they would be sentenced to a desert of scorching sands where fire rained on them for all eternity.

But let us direct our attention to the second ring of violence. A demon was currently watering a few of the trees there, a surprising action given the typical nature of her kind. She had pale skin, a black arrow-tipped tail, and white hair worn in a short ponytail on the back of her head, tightened with a red bandana. Poking out of her hair were two small black horns that were rounded at the tips. She wore a pair of sunglasses, which masked her blind grey eyes.

She wore a black tie with two silver clips attaching it to her red shirt, and a black suit jacket unbuttoned around her shoulders like a cape. She sported red fingerless gloves with metal tags on the wrists, labeled "HPJ." Finally, she wore black pants with a belt and boots like the rest of the demons.

She finished watering a tree, patting its side and looking around for any weeds or other unwanted flora. She found none, and nodded to the tree before walking off to refill her watering can. As the demon walked away, she wiped away a tear, finding the nearby garden shed she had built a few decades back and started refilling the can.

That tree had been a good person in life. A good person who had been wronged by life so many times and left them in so much pain that it seemed that the only way to end it was to jump off a bridge. She still remembered having to torture that soul for the sin of suicide, treating it the same as she would the soul of a murderer. It still left a bad taste in her mouth to this day.

That wasn't the first suicide she had to deal with, nor was it the last. In her time as High Prosecutor, an entire grove of the forest had grown, and she had tended to every soul that had just wanted for the pain to stop. Most of those trees were quite beautiful, some flowering and letting off nice smells, offering a kind of atonement for what she felt was a sin of her own.

She hauled the now full watering can back into the forest, watering a few trees here and there when she noticed something. Unsure of what she was looking at, she bent down, revealing a small sprout. It looked like it had just come up, but the demon hadn't received any news of any new suicides coming in. She'd have to check on it later.

The demon came back an hour later and noticed that the sprout had grown into a sapling. This would alarm someone who wasn't used to this happening every other day. She sighed and watered it, hoping that the soul it was attached to would have some form of peace.

Suddenly, the sapling began to wilt, which the demon recognized as the soul the tree was bonded to generating a large amount of Will. She cheered internally, happy that someone was getting their life together. Then the wilting abruptly stopped, and the joy drained from the demon's face.

This happened several times over the next couple of hours. The demon would periodically check to see if the sapling had made any progress, and she was stunned to see a beautiful sakura tree in full bloom.

It would have been beautiful had she not known the reason why trees grow in this forest.

---

"Welcome to the circle of Violence, everyone. If you look to your right, you will see the Phlegethon River, where those who committed acts of violence against others swim in the waters of boiling blood and try in vain to avoid the rain of fire. They feel the collective pain of those they harmed for all eternity, unable to rest."

The party looked over to the right, where the screams of murderers, plunderers, and tyrants greeted their ears. Pandemonica grinned, the sound music to her ears while the others cringed. Lucifer continued her impromptu tour guide routine, guiding them along the river, pointing out the occasional prominent figure that deserved to be in there.

Izuku watched it go, wondering if Kacchan would end up in here when he died. That probably wouldn't happen, considering that he had still seen the spiky-haired ash-blonde go to both temple and shrine when the time was needed, but he still couldn't help but wonder if Yomi led into Hell. Surely, the Shinigami wouldn't mind.

"I had no idea Hell's methods of punishment were so intense," Azazel commented, scribbling down what she saw. Her thesis on Hell's mechanisms and processes would be groundbreaking in Heaven. Maybe she'd get a promotion! Oh, that would be great! Assigned as the angel watching over the bit, like Apollyon, that was a dream come true! "I'll need to review this when I write my thesis!"

"Is everyone ready to move on? Good. If you continue to follow the path, you'll see a forest up ahead. Your guide through the forest should meet you on the side. If you see her, yell. Her hearing is better than her sight. Oh, one more thing. When you're going through the forest, don't break any of the twigs. Just trust me on this one."

"Worry not, Miss Morningstar. I remember the last time I came through these woods. It was… not pleasant, even by Hell's low standards. I shall refrain from touching the trees and encourage the others to do the same." She emphasized her point with a sadistic smile before sipping her coffee.

Cerberus shuddered, hiding behind Izuku as Azazel did the same, Modeus joining because she felt jealous. Why couldn't she be physically affectionate with him? She huffed, pressing against both him and Azazel, unknowingly causing both of them to turn bright red.

Zdrada caught sight of the mess and grinned. "Getting a bit friendly, aren't we?"

Both Azazel and Izuku sputtered in protest as Zdrada cackled, Malina scowling and following Pandemonica down the path to the forest. The others joined them quickly, approaching the forest's edge and seeing a figure facing a tree, watering it.

Pandemonica recognized the figure and smiled, glad to have someone else to help manage the chaotic mess that was the Hell-traveling tour formed by Izuku Midoriya.

"Hello, Justice. It's been a while."

Justice turned around, her face curious. It lit up when she saw Pandemonica, sparkles appearing around her as she approached. "Pande, you sadistic bitch! How've you been?"

"Rather well, considering I haven't slept in around five centuries. Caffeine and the screams of the damned are the only things keeping me from Hypnos' blessed embrace." she replied, hugging Justice.

"Just like the Dark Ages all over again, huh? You really need a vacation. Just go into a coma for a week. Satan knows you deserve it."

"As much as I would love to go catatonic for a week, I cannot. Hell does not rest, and someone needs to keep track of the paperwork."

"Fair enough. So, are you going to introduce us?"

"Of course," she responded, gesturing to the group. "Our merry band of misfits includes Modeus, the granddaughter of late archdevil Asmodeus, Cerberus, the triplets grandchildren of Hades' dog, Malina and Zdrada, Slavic demons from the circle of Anger, Azazel, an angel from Heaven Studying Demonology and Will, and finally, Izuku Midoriya, a mortal who wandered into Hell from Japan."

"He wander in here from Yomi?" Justice asked, looking over at Pandemonica.

"No, actually. He's living, so I doubt that he'll be visiting Yomi anytime soon."

"Wait, he's living?" she inquired, turning her head in Izuku's direction and immediately flinching at the bright light. "Holy shit!"

While Justice could not see as a normal human or, in this case, demon could due to being blind, she could see souls. When she looked over at Pandemonica, she saw the intense sadism that practically radiated off of her. She saw the chaos that Cerberus embodied, and lust that formed Modeus. The deep emotional scars that Zdrada bore, and the "fuck off" aura that Malina generated, as well as the blinding white light that was Azazel.

But Izuku?

Izuku was the purest human soul that Justice had ever seen in her life. His soul was so bright that even with her sunglasses, Justice had to squint to see his soul without looking away. To her, it was like staring directly at the sun.

And then he smiled.

Justice hissed and looked away, her eyes tearing up. She groaned in pain, causing everyone to panic. Izuku ran to her side, helping her up.

"Justice-san, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Ow," she groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Sweet Satan, kid. If I wasn't already blind, your soul probably would've done the job. Lucy's thighs, that hurt."

"Wait, you're blind?" Izuku asked, extremely confused. He had looked around, and there were no sources of light bright enough to warrant the kind of reaction that Justice had to him. What was going on? And if she was blind, shining a bright light at her would be as effective as verbally insulting a deaf person. "But if you're blind, then why did you turn away like that?"

Justice grinned widely. "I'm glad you asked, Midoriya! I may not be able to see the same way you do, but I see your soul, which is why I'm facing this tree instead of looking at you. Your soul is so pure that I can't look at it without wincing."

"O-Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to cause you any pain."

"You're fine, kid! You didn't know I could see your soul and your deepest, darkest secrets!"

"W-What?"

"Kidding!" she exclaimed, turning around and not flinching this time. "Looks like my sunglasses finally adjusted to your abnormally bright soul. Now that I can actually see around you, let's go through the forest!"

Her face went from whimsical to serious in the fraction of a second. "This forest is where the souls of those who have committed suicide go. You are to treat the trees with utmost respect, or I will personally throw you to the Harpies. And unless you fancy being the meal to ravenous birdwomen with no respect for any lives besides their own, I suggest you follow me and don't step off the path. Are we clear?"

Everyone in the group nodded, especially the triplets, who had received a particularly nasty glare from Justice.

"Good. Follow me."

She promptly turned on her heel, watering can in hand. This forest always made her angry when people didn't respect it. She honestly felt bad for the souls here, and worse knowing that she had put some of them in here. She knew that what she was doing was only a small atonement for the damnation she felt responsible for, but at least it was something.

Izuku felt uneasy as he entered the forest. As he looked at the trees, noting how some of them looked cared for and others choked with vines and weeds, having no leaves. He wondered why that was. Maybe Justice knew the answer to that question. He opened his mouth to ask, but Azazel beat him to the punch.

"Miss Justice—"

"Please just call me Justice. 'Miss Justice' makes me feel old."

"Alright. Justice, I notice that most of these trees look very well cared for, while others are not. Do you know why that is?"

Justice sighed, stopping in the middle of the path. She turned around and took off her glasses, revealing her unseeing, tired grey eyes. They looked like she had seen so much ugliness in the world, and she was sick of it, just wanting it to end. She rubbed her face, her expression somber and full of melancholy.

"These trees… the souls here have already suffered enough. Some of them had very painful lives where it seemed that everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. For most of them, it got to the point where the only way forward was dying."

She looked over to a dogwood tree that was in full bloom, with no weeds or parasitic vines in sight. It had been the first suicide she had ever punished as the High Prosecutor, and she regretted every second of it. The soul in the tree had long since forgiven her, but Justice still felt guilty. What kind of system punished those who had suffered on Earth and taken their own lives to make the pain stop?

"So they took their own lives, believing that they had finally stopped the pain. Finally stopped the suffering they felt while alive, only to find themselves in Hell, to be tortured for ending their own suffering."

Justice clenched her fists tightly, and would have drawn blood had her gloves not prevented it.

"Their souls had scars on them. I could see the wounds that Earth had put on them, but there was nothing I could do about it. All I could do was my duty as the High Prosecutor and punish them. Some of them did deserve to be punished, but most of the souls just wanted the pain to end."

She gestured to the trees around them, blinking away unshed tears.

"So I tend to the trees. I help them now, atoning for the pain I caused them in doing my duty."

A multitude of unsettled and sorrowful expressions settled over the party as they processed Justice's words. Izuku could not even begin to imagine the guilt that came with knowing that you hurt people who were already suffering, but he felt the need to let Justice know that she was not at fault.

Lucifer felt a pang of old guilt clawing at her stomach. She resolved to radio her old friend, remembering the times they had spoken about this issue before. She still felt that if there was some way to alleviate the guilt that the High Prosecutors felt, then she would do everything in her power to do so.

Azazel looked like she wanted God Himself to smite her for the question she had asked. She tried to find the words to apologize, but none of them seemed to be appropriate. She finally managed to form a sentence in her head, almost tripping over her words as she got it out. "I'm sorry, Justice. I didn't mean to—"

"I know," she interrupted, wiping tears from her eyes with her forearm. "It's just a burden I have to work through and help my successor with. It's fine. I came to terms with it a long time ago."

She put her glasses back on, hopefully hiding the sadness that she saw in the mirror in the morning. The Awesome Demon turned back around, beckoning over her shoulder. "C'mon. Let's keep moving. Remember, don't step off the path. The Harpies are vicious and they will find and eat you."

The party followed her through the forest, silent as the grave. They all had such gloomy expressions that if one mistook them for a funeral procession, they wouldn't be that far off. Not even Cerberus, the most cheery and optimistic of them, could muster a smile as they made their way through the forest.

Izuku looked out into the forest, wondering how many of these trees were the souls of quirkless people much like himself, cut off and isolated, targeted by someone that they would've called their friend at one point. How many of them had been told that they were better off dead than a quirkless nobody?

If you're desperate for a quirk, why don't you jump off the roof and hope for one in the next life?

Maybe Kacchan was right. Maybe he was just a useless Deku after all. Maybe he was better off dead, not being a burden anymore.

Something in the woods seemed to agree with him, because he looked up all of a sudden, feeling drawn somewhere up the path. Something was calling to him. He picked up his pace, brushing past everyone else, getting brief protests.

"Hey!" Justice protested as Izuku brushed past her. "Kid, where do you think you're going?"

He didn't answer, instead following the call. Justice called after him again, but her summons fell on deaf ears. He was moving quickly like a man possessed.

"Shit. Kid, slow down!" Justice yelled, running after him as the others did the same. Izuku had a very large head start on them, and he quickly disappeared from their sight, leaving the girls in his dust. They increased their pace, Cerberus tracking their master.

They came to a spot on the path and stopped, looking off into the woods. "Master went that way!"

Justice looked in the direction he had gone in and cursed under her breath. Of all the places to go in this forest, why did he go that way? That was the worst place he could've gone!

"Shit."

"Justice, what's happening?"

"Not a good time, Lucy. Bit of a situation going on with the mortal."

"What do you mean, 'Bit of a situation going on with the mortal?!'"

"Master is running through the suicide woods!" Cerberus barked, the triplets rushing towards Izuku's location at breakneck speed.

"He's what?!"

"Like I said Lucy, not a good time." Justice reiterated. "I'll explain later—"

"The Heaven you will! Keep this channel open, I want to speak with him."

Justice accelerated her pace, bursting into a clearing that was all too familiar to her. This is where the souls of quirkless children, teenagers, and young adults who committed suicide gathered together, despite of their religions. Oak, maple, plum, peach, pine… these were just a few of the trees that lined the clearing, but the one that stood out was the newest addition, the sakura tree in full bloom.

The tree that Izuku was currently kneeling in front of, sobbing.

He turned around when he heard Justice and the others arrive, face and eyes wet from crying. He smiled, but it was broken and full of sorrow, much like a parent wearing a brave face to keep their child calm. Justice looked at his soul, and sucked in a sharp breath, frozen in place.

Izuku's soul was covered in scars. His arms, legs, torso, even his head, all marked with scars that resembled burns.

"I found it," he croaked, voice hoarse from crying. "This tree is mine, isn't it?"

The girls let out a collective gasp as their eyes went wide with shock. Izuku's broken smile slipped, and he sniffled, completely overwhelmed by his sorrow.

He opened his mouth, intending to say something, anything , yet no words came forth. His eyes widened, and he clutched his throat as his mouth moved in a mimicry of speech.

The light vanished from his eyes, and he fell prostrated on the ground. His trembling hands feebly tried to grip the ground beneath him, but any strength of his had left him.

Izuku slowly began clawing at the dirt beneath him. With each passing second, his frantic motions increased in speed until it seemed inevitable that his fingers would bleed.

Then, he stopped.

For a brief moment, he seemed frozen, suspended in time. This unnatural stillness was broken as his gaze lifted from the ground, to the tree before him, whose blossoms seemed to glimmer as he laid his eyes upon them.

He lifted his arm, and reached out to the tree.

"Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku stilled. He turned his head to meet a crimson gaze of a blurry form of turbulent winds, dust, and debris. Two sticks, stripped of their bark, twisted upwards at the sides of the figure's head, forming two white horns. Izuku's heart was filled with a primal terror, but before he could react, the figure spoke once more.

"Do not be afraid."

Almost at once, Izuku felt the terror that had so fiercely gripped him flee, as though it were a mouse before a lion. The light returned to his eyes, though weaker than before, and he knew who it was before him.

"...Lucifer-san?"

The effigy made of wind, leaves, and sticks glowered at him. Lucifer could not see him, only knowing that he was there due to the massive wave of fear, anxiety, and depression rolling off of him.

"Izuku Midoriya, you are not useless. You have proven that in the short time you have spent here in Hell."

Izuku shook his head before he could stop himself, the words spilling from his mouth like a leak from a dam.

"You're lying."

"The Lord of Lies was Belial, not me. What reason would I have to lie to you?"

"Because I'm a Deku." The words were spoken as though they were the sound of a gavel, with the authority of the highest judge.

"Midoriya. Look at me."

He looked at the ground, not wanting to meet her gaze.

"I said look at me, Izuku Midoriya!"

He tore his eyes from the grass, looking at the effigy before him. It swirled with righteous anger, determination radiating from its very being.

"You believe you are useless? If you were truly useless, none of us would be here. I would not be having this conversation with you right now. Pande would be passed out on her desk, Modeus would still be forever wandering the circle of Lust, Cerberus would not have a Master, Malina would be testing the limits of demonic alcohol resistance and burying herself in her games, Zdrada would be testing the patience of everyone in the same circle as her, and Justice would still be tending to the forest with no one to talk to."

The girls all nodded in agreement. Izuku's frown turned neutral, considering Lucifer's words.

"You have touched so many lives, Midoriya. And if the human world despises you, well, know that you are welcomed here in Hell."

"Lucy's right, Midoriya. I can tell you myself that you seem pretty awesome, even if you have some self-esteem issues," Justice said, giving Izuku a smile and a thumbs up. "Everyone has flaws, but they also have really good qualities too! And if the people on Earth can't see the good you bring to the world? Their loss."

"Master is good! We would miss Master a lot if you died! Please don't leave us!" Cerberus begged.

"Heh. You've got me all emotional, kid. I'm not really good at this kinda stuff, but you've really grown on me in the short time we've been together." Zdrada assured.

"I need someone besides my sister to be around and to play games with. Plus, when I'm around you, I don't want to drink." Malina said, her scowl slightly less deep.

"Who's going to hold my hand and give me hugs and genuinely compliment me if you're gone?" Modeus pouted.

"I'd still like to compare notes with you, Midoriya." Azazel added.

"Your coffee is the best I've ever had. It'd be a shame to lose it to a tree." Pandemonium complimented, slightly confusing Izuku.

He smiled, a single tear of joy running down his face. "Girls…"

"You see? There are people that care about you. So don't throw your life away because you have been wrongly told that you are worthless. You are worth so much more than you realize, and even if you don't believe in yourself, believe in those that believe in you."

Izuku raised an eyebrow, sniffling. "Did you just quote Gurren Lagann?"

"I might have."

They laughed, and Lucifer's effigy held out its stick hand, helping Izuku to his feet.

"Better?"

"Much," Izuku replied, facing the effigy. "Lucifer-san, everyone, thank you."

"You are welcome, Midoriya."

The rest of the girls let out several different variants of "You're welcome," and Lucifer's effigy fell apart, the paperwork that she had filled out to use it burning up. She let out a breath, the amount of concentration needed to keep that form aloft was tremendous.

Justice led the party back onto the path of through the forest, pulling her private radio to her ear. "Hey, Lucy."

"What is it, Justice?"

"Just between you and me, you need to do something before one of the other girls snap him up."

"...I have no idea as to what you speak of."

"Lucy, I may be blind, but I can tell. Don't let him slip by, not like how we fell apart."

"...fine. I'll meet you all alongside Judgement in the next circle."

"That's my girl!"

"Don't push your luck, Justice."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Lucy!"

They arrived at the puzzle, and the girl separated from Izuku, leaving him to analyze the puzzle. With thirty-two moves and the initial observation, the puzzle seemed like child's play compared to the others he had gone through. He started by kicking a boulder up, then kicked a skeleton to pieces, kicking the boulder that was behind into its proper position.

Then he crossed over some spikes, perfectly dodging their jabs. He kicked another skeleton against a wall, deciding to spare it and grabbed the key instead, moving to a sequence of boulders and kicking them to their proper places before unlocking the locked block and meeting the girls on the other side.

They all hugged him, letting him know that he was not alone in this endeavor.

"Good work, Midoriya. That was the last puzzle. The next circle is Fraud, and be warned, the High Prosecutor, Judgement is there. She takes her job very seriously and will try to put you through the Sin Machine, even if you aren't dead. Good luck, and remember, we're here for you."

Izuku nodded, feeling the hug surrounding him from all sides and sighing.

He really enjoyed this and hoped that it would never end.