My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 114: Artificial Hell

The group was divided into two. The main group would enter the Artificial Hell Realm, and the backup group would remain outside to cover everyone’s safe retreat.

Evelyn, Kirara, and five of Ely’s disciples would stay outside the realm’s entrance.

"We’re counting on you. We’ll be back in a few hours." Ely waved her hand with a smile.

"Yes, master. Please be extra careful, everyone." Rafaela also waved her hand in response.

The disciples who were chosen by her master to enter the Artificial Hell Realm were those with strong physical and mental endurance. She was the second in command in Apostle, but her master appointed Remiel instead.

However, she would be responsible for everyone’s emergency retreat. She and the sword maiden were the only reliable priest there. That was why she was chosen for the backup group.

"Eve, you play an important role here." Yuuki patted Evelyn’s arm.

"You can count on me. I’ll send a teleport coordinate signal from the entrance every ten minutes." Evelyn nodded in reply.

She was crucial in ensuring everyone could return to the entrance when the situation got too dangerous.

After all, everyone was well aware of it. The big evil was waiting for them inside. Nobody knows what traps or schemes await them. Therefore, they had to play it safe.

"Master... I will wait for you and guard the entrance. Please be careful and return soon." Jophiel grasped her master’s hand.

"Um, this won’t take long, Jophi-chan. Also, it’s not the real hell, but the artificial one. We’ll be fine as long as we’re careful. Do not worry." Ely gave Jophiel a head pat.

"What about me, junior sister?" Azrael pointed at his face.

"You? Don’t die." Jophiel responded curtly and no longer paid any attention to her senior brother.

Yuuki and Sylvia then held Ely’s arms from both sides. They would ensure Ely didn’t get separated from them when they entered the Artificial Hell Realm.

*Bzzt*

Ely, Sylvia, and Yuuki disappeared as soon as they passed the mirror-like wall. The little black dragon rushed in, and five selected disciples quickly followed.

"..." Kirara looked back and activated a talisman that Ely gave her.

The spiritual barrier then enveloped everyone to protect and disguise them as one with the surroundings.

The passage to this hidden cave was small, and no big bad demon would enter. The ghosts and evil spirits also didn’t dare to approach. So, they could focus on guarding the entrance and carrying out their mission.

"Rafaela, come here." Evelyn bound a magic item with a rope and stood beside the entrance.

Rafaela approached. They did a little testing, then periodically sent a signal into the fake hell.

Meanwhile, Ely and her group had just arrived in a realm where the sky was blazing fire, and the ground was hot lava. It was like a small volcanic world with a suffocating evil negative energy.

They were standing on a destroyed tower on a hot, barren hill. No living creatures could be seen as far as the eye could see, only a few ghosts and elemental fire undead.

"This realm is so hot... Everyone is here. Good. And here... there is no trap or any formation array." Yuuki checked her surroundings.

She could also detect Evelyn’s secret signal to this secret realm.

"The portal is missing. How do we get back?" Gabriella fumbled in the empty air behind everyone. She couldn’t find the realm’s portal anywhere.

"The exit is still there, but we need a little trick to get out. We are currently at the top of the destroyed sky tower. We can find the remains of the ancient civilization downstairs." Sylvia picked up a pebble, covered it with her dark energy, and threw it into the empty space above the destroyed altar.

The pebble disappeared, leaving a ripple in the air.

Another pebble was then thrown back from the outside world. Evelyn sent a reply signal. The realm’s portal was functioning properly.

"So, we need dark or evil energy to get out of here, huh..." Azrael crossed his arms over his chest.

He was the only one with the dark element among the five chosen disciples.

"Yes." Sylvia nodded slightly.

"Ancient ruins... Then, where did you find that flawed inheritance, Lady Sylvia? The big evil already knows of our arrival and is waiting for us with great malice." Uriel rubbed her hand as she was so excited to explore the ancient civilization.

"In the ruins over there. This hot, barren hill was once a demon’s city, but only the tower and temple remain." Sylvia pointed at a broken temple next to the tower.

"..." Yuuki listened to what Sylvia was saying, but her attention was drawn to Ely.

"Hmm..." Ely was surveying the surrounding with her Sacred Vision. Her eyes shone with purplish-blue light, but she stopped as she stared at the broken temple that Sylvia was pointing at.

She could see a grand gate deep within the broken temple. It was sealed in an underground hall, and Sylvia probably had yet to explore that far. To get there, anyone had to go through many traps, puzzles, mazes, and harmful mechanisms.

*Zap*

Ely’s sight suddenly darkened, but she could see a bright red provocative smile flash in the darkness.

"..." Ely covered her eyes and deactivated her Sacred Vision.

"What did you see, Ely?" Yuuki was concerned. She tried to see deep into the temple with her magical eyes but could see nothing but darkness.

"Someone let me see deep into the depths, but he immediately obscured it and gave a provocative smile as if he dared me to go there." Ely shook her head.

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s kill that big evil ghost." Sylvia squinted her eyes at the broken temple.

"We’ll be there later. We are here to find some clues about your flawed demonic arts. The ancient demonic magic is nice and convenient but will drive you insane. You will fall deeper and deeper into demonic nature every time you use it." Ely went towards the stairs. Her disciples soon followed.

"Let’s go. The big evil is waiting for us, and we need to prepare. We will follow Ely’s arrangements. Anyway, how far did you get into the temple?" Yuuki nudged Sylvia’s arm.

"It’s a hall full of inscriptions, about five hundred meters from the entrance. I spent several days studying the ancient magics from the inscriptions, relics, and obelisks. I did not go any deeper. Hey, I also took some notes about ancient magics. Would you like to study it with me?" Sylvia turned around and went to follow everyone.

"!?" Ely asked in wonder why Sylvia didn’t say that sooner. She might not need to come here if Sylvia already had the notes.

However, since they were already there, she better look at the original source in person to avoid mistakes.

"Demonic arts? At the risk of becoming insane? No thanks. I already have my own path. I need to learn and explore it further." Yuuki raised her hand in refusal.

"How convenient. It’s a perfect one at that. Evelyn has one too." Sylvia muttered softly.

"You ungrateful devil and you have super powerful mentors. Just wait for what your mentors will say. They will beat you up into a pulp when they discover what you did in recent years." Yuuki rolled her eyes.

"Oh no... It’s not entirely my fault. I’m innocent! Ely will defend and protect me..." Sylvia grasped her head. She was also worried about that but calmed down a moment later because she had thought of the best solution.

A few moments later, everyone explored the remains of an ancient civilization in that tower. They found some historical fragments from before the second world destruction.

Uriel was the most excited one. She took pictures of everything using her magic item.

This time, she carefully took every shot to avoid the blur. Afterwards, she could always re-encrypt the image for a clearer result to examine.

"Don’t take anything from here. Each item has its own darkness. It may influence you to become a demon." Sylvia reminded the nearby naughty girls. They wanted to take some broken relics.

"And you still dare to take the old book and the scroll away despite knowing about it?" Yuuki raised her eyebrows.

"I’m a devil with profound darkness element. This place was once the ancient demon nation. You demi-humans should study the remnants of ancient history in this place for knowledge purposes only." Sylvia reminded the nearby girls once again.

"..." Uriel and Remiel returned the broken relics to their original places.

What Sylvia said made sense, and they shouldn’t delve too deeply into the ancient civilization of demons. Even so, it was still ancient history, the clues about civilization before the second world destruction.

"Phew..." Ely could confirm the surrounding area within a two-hundred-meter radius was clear from any threat.

As for this tower, she could see this was once the art gallery owned by an influential ancient demon. There were several relics, artifacts, and other crafts. However, everything was broken, corrupted, evil, and cursed.

Anyone could be influenced if they were exposed to evil energy for a certain period of time. However, everyone was protected by anti-debuff talismans to ensure their safety.

The temperature in the fake hell was hot. Ely activated her artifact and stood beside Yuuki to enjoy the cold air while waiting for her disciples to inspect the remains of the demon’s ancient civilization.