Hero of Rome

Horatius spins through the windy ring of Lust, flung around like a rag doll, cursing Cerberus for expediting his trip straight to judgment—no waiting, no excuses, just endless torment.

“What’s the plan?” Camilla said as we drew closer to the boiling river of blood. We stopped just short of the centaurs who thundered around the river, clearly enjoying themselves in punishing those trapped in the blood.

“Shall you use your insight?” Marcus said. “We will need a way to cross. And once we do, avoid those harpies there and whatever lies beyond.”

“It seems I have to,” I said. I did not look forward to the possible random time loop that I could be stuck in as a result. It wasn’t like I could kiss any of these centaurus, nor would I want to. But insight was needed here. As much as I wanted to not use my Historical Insight, I had become so dependent on it for survival. Marcus was right. That was my biggest flaw: wanting to control the uncontrollable future.

There was no other way around it, especially since Marcus was not a natural fighter and there were hundreds of centaurs all across the vast river. And not a boat was in sight.

If my memory proved me correct, Dante only crossed with the help of a centaur, since they were immune to the boiling blood.

Best to start there.

“Just follow my lead,” I said, moving towards the centaurs. Camilla and Marcus gave me nervous looks but complied. “Excuse me, centaurs?”

As soon as the words left my lips, twenty centaurs turned and fired at me. I was dead well before the last arrow struck me. This future frightened me because I respawned back at the beginning where a hungry Cerberus snapped me up in its three jaws the moment I arrived.

Not that then, I thought. The centaurs were the only safe way to cross. The futures played out simultaneously in my mind as I concentrated on one. In this one, I ran as fast as I could to avoid the centaurs.

“Use the heads like lily pads!” I yelled, ducking beneath arrows and leaping onto the nearest head that emerged from the boiling blood to breath.

Big mistake.

My foot instantly slipped upon his bloody forehead and I plunged into the blood. I was immediately consumed by pain and the overwhelming smell and taste of copper. As my head bobbed briefly to breathe, I came face to face with the last person I would have expected.

“Max?” Bulla Felix said, only for us both to receive arrows to the face.

Bulla?

The future shifted and I was again back at the beginning, frustrated by my lack of progress. Not only was it impossible to cross, but Bulla Felix of all people was trapped in the large river of scorching blood. Even if my lily pad idea had worked, there was no way I was leaving behind Bulla. He had saved me after all from a life as Elagabalus’s plaything and Cetus’s eventual snack. I shuddered at the memory of that. That had been the worst day of my life.

What do I do?

There were too many centaurs that would kill us and zero modes of transportation across the river. I paced back and forth near the giant cliff wall where Camilla and Marcus stood by next to the golden lamia’s remains.

My eyes lingered on the corpse as I thought and examined the futures. A crazy idea occurred.

“That will never work,” Marcus suggested.

“What other option do we have?” Camilla said, hoisting up the lamia’s tail. “Max, I take it you want the torso, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Just keep your cool. I’ll need your help to toss her.”

Each of us carried a part of the lamia’s long body, with me carrying the front. It was extremely uncomfortable having the gorgeous dead monster stare at me with lifeless eyes. I could have sworn I saw them move. As we neared the river, the centaurs turned in preparation for attack. However, as soon as they saw the snake-like form of the lamia, they scattered.

“Yes!” I shouted, a spark of joy finding its way into my blackened soul. “Thank you Neptune.”

“Wow, I’m surprised,” Camilla said, mirroring everyone’s thoughts.

“Max!” Bulla Felix said, seeing me for the first time in this future/present. He, like all of the other souls within our vicinity, raised their heads to breathe now that the centaurs had cleared out.

“Hold on, we’re making a way across!” I said. “You guys ready?”

“Ready,” both Camilla and Marcus said.

Together we chucked the lamia’s corpse across the boiling river of blood. Her torso landed on the dark bank while some of the souls directly beneath her tail were squashed back under the blood. The lamia’s golden body was firm enough that it would hold, but not for long.

“Quickly,” I said, having seen the dozens of souls who would swim for our makeshift bridge if we were too slow. Those were terrible futures, because the centaurs would come screaming back once the lamia’s body submerged. Fortunately, the other thousands would swim for either bank, distracting the returning centaurs on one end and the hovering harpies on the other.

Camilla gripped my hand as she gripped Marcus’s. We treaded carefully across the lamia’s back as the souls around us booked it to both shores.

“Follow us!” I yelled to Bulla, who nodded and swam in our direction. A soul tried to scramble in front of me, which would have slowed us down and gotten us killed. I had to whack him and many others away with my golden oar.

Not two seconds after we reached the other side, the souls who had been stuck in the middle of the boiling river who decided to climb aboard the lamia’s body collapsed the bridge from their weight. As soon as they did, the centaurs came roaring back, trampling over the hundreds of souls that had escaped. Before any of them could shoot us, I yanked Bulla out of the blood, burning my hand in the process. He was completely red, both from the boiling and the blood. Even his black beard was dyed from the blood.

There was no time for pleasantries. The harpies feasting on the hanging bodies from the trees now turned on us and the other souls who had chanced it on this side of the river.

“Run!” I said, keeping Camilla’s hand firmly in mine as the four of us dashed into the bleak and colorless forest.

I missed the first harpy who tore out my face when I wasn’t looking. The fiend completely destroyed my eyes, blinding me. The futures shifted until I got my swing just right, batting her ugly face aside.

Please no Chrono Loop, please please please! I thought as we weaved through the trees and corpses hanging from their branches. I would die if I had to kiss one of those revolting harpies. At least the lamia had a pleasant taste and face. These harpies reeked with rotting flesh in their teeth as they sought to destroy us.

“Good to see you again, old friend!” Bulla said to Marcus.

“It’s good to be alive again!” he replied.

The harpies screeched around us, closing in. I had to smack a few more out of the way while Camilla knifed several with her Dual Fangs.

Marcus and Bulla were not so fortunate.

Being defenseless, they were quickly devoured by the harpies that came in from behind us.

I hate these things, I thought, the futures shifting, rewinding to several seconds before that. Some of the futures I could see had me breaking off the limbs of the trees we passed by. While not much, it could help fend off the demonic bird ladies.

“Camilla, snap that limb off there and give it to Marcus,” I said, breaking the limb off of the one next to me while she obeyed.

I was immediately revolted when blood spurted out of the tree’s wound.

Item: Wailing Branch of the Forsaken (Rare)

Description: This rare limb, broken from a twisted soul transformed into a colorless tree in the 7th Ring of Hell, is stained with blood that flows from the branch as if still living. Once a person who took their own life, this limb is a reminder of eternal despair. It emanates a faint, eerie whisper as it is swung, and its twisted form makes it difficult to control, but powerful to wield. Though brittle in appearance, the limb strikes with surprising force, with the sap-like blood it oozes adding a lingering effect to the damage.

Damage: 22

Durability: 60/60

Weight: 4.5 kg

Special Effect: Upon striking an enemy, there is a 50% chance to inflict a bleed status, causing 5 damage per second for 10 seconds.

Worth: 3,800 Denarii

The bloody branch really did whisper as I tossed it to Bulla, who immediately whacked the harpy that would have killed him. I shivered as Marcus did the same. Those whispers were too creepy.

The bloody harpies seemed to get the hint that we were not messing around. Most of them flew away to pick on easier targets. Those that remained hovering around us eventually gave up, seeing us as not worth the effort. While I was glad they fled to feast on the unlucky souls behind us, their departure made the colorless forest come to life in a haunting way.

I could see more clearly now almost every tree was weeping dark, oozy blood from where the harpies had scratched. Since my heart wasn’t beating, I could hear ghostly whispers from the trees as they wailed in agony. These were the souls that had taken their lives.

Camilla’s face darkened as she looked at them. Her lover, Sporus, would have been one of these trees had she not saved him from Nero’s Golden Palace.

And it could have been me, too, if I let the overwhelming despair I felt for Cleoaptra’s fate take me over. I didn’t want to live in a world without her. I could understand why that would lead to someone such a dark path.

“Lucretia,” a chilling whisper said, drifting through the lifeless branches. It made my skin crawl.

I really hate this place, I thought.

We finally reached the end of this forsaken forest. The colorless forest suddenly ended and was replaced with a scorching desert. Fire rained from the dark clouds above and simmered in the sand below in this twisted Sahara Desert. Countless souls suffered in the burning sands. If they stood, wandered, or lied down, they burned. There was no escaping this hell for them. From what I recalled of Dante, these were the souls of those who sinned against God and nature. Since there were tons of Romans and Greeks here, that also meant any of the gods of the Roman world.

To my surprise, a familiar face wallowed in the burning torture.

Elagabalus screamed in agony as he rolled around helplessly on the fiery sand. He, like the others, were indecent, with their only covering being the sand that cooked them. I felt neither pleasure nor pity as I looked at him. He deserved entirely what he got.

“Good,” Camilla said. Marcus and Bulla both nodded in agreement.

Elagabalus, like all of the others, was too tortured to notice us.

“Elagabal!” he screamed. “Elagabal! Relive your servant!”

“How do we cross?” Camilla said.

“Only one way to find out,” I said. I took a step onto the burning sand and felt… nothing? Even the fire raining down like a storm didn’t burn me. The sand felt like normal sand and the fiery rain like water.

“It’s safe,” I said, now out of the forest. “I think it only harms them.”

The others took a hesitant step out onto the burning sand. They too were spared of pain.

Thank goodness, I thought, quenching my Historical Insight as we walked across the dune and past the tormented souls. I was not going to risk having to do something random with Elagabalus if I got stuck in another Chrono Loop. However, as we passed by, I did stop by him. The boy emperor looked up at me, his face morphing from pain to recognition

“It’s you,” he whispered through scorched lips. “IT’S—”

I slammed my golden oar into his face, sending him flying back.

“Good hit,” Camilla said.

“Thanks,” I replied, leaving him be as we continued on the burning sand. “Just had to get in one more hit.”

I could hear Bulla similarly taking out his anger on Elagabalus as we passed by. Even Marcus chuckled, only to become stoic again.

As the burning sands stretched on, I was comforted knowing there were only two more rings left.

I’m coming, Cleopatra.