Chapter 26: Helliopolis City
Zaphro's POV
Seriously, what's up with this guy dragging me like I'm a sack of potatoes? One more tug and I'd probably be flung across the portal.
"Hold on a sec," I muttered as we finally stepped through the gate.
"Whoa! This must be the new map, bro!" Slicer exclaimed, wide-eyed at the new surroundings.
Compared to the first map, this one had a noticeably darker tone. The environment reeked of heat and smoke, with small volcanoes scattered across the horizon. The sky itself looked stormy—like it was always on the verge of raining fire.
From where we stood at the entrance, there was a mechanical-looking bridge connecting the safe zone to the main area of Helliopolis.
"Feels like we just walked into hell," I muttered.
"You got that right, papa. This place is hell. The mobs here? They ain't your regular garden-variety creeps—they're terrifying," Gwydox grumbled.
"Huh? Terrifying how?" Slicer asked.
Right on cue, more players started arriving in the safe zone. Reactions varied—some were awestruck, others visibly spooked, and a few acted like it was just another Tuesday. Clearly, this place wasn't meant for low-level scrubs. If they didn't have a PRO party with them, they wouldn't last five minutes.
They'd be running from the monsters before they could even say "respawn."
"Gwydox, explain this map, would you?" I asked, noticing him casually touching random objects like he was downloading data straight into his tiny, black fairy brain.
"Yeah, yeah. Fine. Listen up, meatbags," he said with a dramatic sigh. "Here's the rundown…"
Everyone went quiet to listen to the angry floating encyclopedia.
"The weakest mobs here? Level 150. You've got Lava Wolves, Tormented Souls, and Hell Spirits—these are the nameless ones. The real stars of the show have actual names. Level cap for this map is 200. But here's the kicker—there are cursed mobs with zero levels but broken, unbalanced stats. One wrong move and you're toast."
Gwydox continued rattling off a bunch more info while we soaked it all in.
"This is awesome! A brand-new adventure awaits!" Slicer—aka Black Shadow—shouted enthusiastically.
"Shut it, you're gonna wake the mobs!" Ayana snapped.
One of the first groups to take off was Andromeda's party. We followed, walking across the bridge, which was longer than it looked. It took a while before we finally touched solid ground.
The moment we stepped onto the terrain, the heat slammed into us like a wall. Thank the system for my Frost Aura passive—keeps my body cool even in this oven of a map. The surroundings were barren—no trees, no plants, just rock and dirt. In the distance, tall mountains loomed, and the land itself resembled a hellish valley with narrow paths and weird terrain. A few caves dotted the area, and I was willing to bet good loot there were monsters inside.
"Well, looks like this is where we part ways. Take care out there!" Andromeda said suddenly, and they all activated flight mode to speed off.
Other groups followed suit. Only the lowbies stayed on foot, but some high-level players chose to escort them—most of them looked like guild masters.
"Let's head east, Zaphro," Verillion suggested.
"Yeah, barely anyone's headed that way. The main village might be there," Erenir agreed.
"98% of the map's still unexplored. We've got no clue where the villages are," Aryus added.
"That just makes it more exciting!" said Slicer.
"Hell yeah!" Jin chimed in and gave Slicer a high five.
"You two are unbelievable," I muttered.
"So, let's go, guys!" Ayana rallied the team.
We flew east, everyone equipped with their flying gear. From above, we could see the freaky mobs crawling below. They looked like actual demons—nightmare fuel, to be honest. Some resembled walking corpses straight out of The Walking Dead. Others were chimera abominations—parts of different beasts stitched into one grotesque body.
"Damn, they're ugly! So ugly!" Slicer blurted.
"Admit it, you're scared," Shion teased.
"N-no, I'm not!" he stammered.
"Oh really? Then how come—" I started, but I was cut off by the sudden appearance of a flying mob zooming in fast from the distance.
"Something's coming!" I warned.
We halted mid-air as the creature stopped about twenty meters from us, glowing with a strange green light. Now that it was close, I could see it more clearly—gaunt to the point of being skeletal, draped in green rags, holding a scythe in one hand and a skull in the other.
Its name appeared:
Amaymon – Level 200
Gwydox was right—unique mobs here had names. And not just any names, this one sounded like a demon straight out of mythology.
"Papa, that thing's a nightmare. Its stats are totally busted—way off the charts," Gwydox warned.
"Uh-oh… what now?" Slicer muttered.
"We fight!" Shion said without hesitation, already shifting into full plated armor.
"Well, well… mortals and an angel, down here in my domain? Did you take a wrong turn, perhaps?" the mob suddenly spoke.
"What the—y-you can talk?" Erik stammered.
"Obviously, dumbass. I'm an AI under the monster category," Amaymon replied. "And too bad for you… you just stumbled into your worst day ever."
A beam of light shot from its hand, heading straight at us.
"INCOMING!" I shouted as we dodged quickly.
"Papa! He's charging another one!" Gwydox barked.
I was too slow to react. The beam was locked onto me—there was no time. But then—
"Ayana! Verillion!" I shouted as they leapt into action.
"Floral Bloom!" Ayana chanted, conjuring a massive lotus-shaped barrier that caught the beam.
"Wind Rush!" Verillion followed up, releasing a razor-sharp blast of wind aimed at Amaymon.
It struck—but it did nothing. Not even a scratch.
"What the hell?" I said.
"Soul Absorb, Papa. It's a passive S-rank skill. That bastard just devoured Verillion's attack like candy," Gwydox explained grimly.
"How do we fight that if it just absorbs our skills?" Jin asked.
"He can only absorb one skill at a time through the passive. He can't handle two or more at once," Gwydox added.
"You talk too much for a runt," Amaymon sneered.
"And you look like a dumpster fire stuffed in a rotting cloak," Gwydox snapped back. "Nice scythe though—shame it's wasted on an ugly freak like you."
—
To be continued