Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  The sky in the underworld was grey, and it looked as if there were layers of dust and fog covering the world above it. Hence, no matter how hard one tries to see it, the main world above was as if it were invisible.

  This underworld was the very bottom of the world, and it was a land of death and finality, the end of everything. This was where all of the ghosts belonged as well.

  At the moment, all of the ghosts were standing in the underworld, looking up at the sky, yet none of them could see through the layers of fog. It was if they were looking up at the heavens from hell.

  The enormous gate to the underworld was towering in front of the Styx, and there was a constant stream of ghosts lining up there, all of them waiting to enter the Kingdom of Death. The only ones who were qualified to line up there were extraordinary in some way, or were sorcerer disciples, magical beasts, titan dragons or from other races, like fairies and sahagin.

  Only those from exceptional bloodlines or ones with special powers were deemed suitable to be among these ranks. As for the ordinary human beings, they would simply return to the origin point of the world when they died.

  “Wu Wu!”


  “Se Se!”


  The messengers of death, wearing black capes, were wandering around the Kingdom of Death, their blurry shadows following behind them. They were responsible for keeping order in the Kingdom of Death. As such, whenever a powerful ghost tried to resist going into the underworld by using its special powers, they would rush at it and harvest its soul.

  As more and more deceased beings showed up, it all became more real. The ground of the underworld was expanding, and now, outside the Kingdom of Death, a vast land existed.

  There were some strange phenomena occurring on that land because of the power of the dead. Some parts of the land were extremely bizarre, and some were even filled with horrendous monsters.

  At the center of Kingdom of Death was an enormous City of the Death. It was filled with ghosts who had lost their living memories.

  The city was akin to the cities of humans. After undergoing the judgments, ghosts that passed could restart their lives in the city. As for those who couldn’t pass the judgments, they were nailed to the wall outside the city.

  The gate to the underworld looked ordinary, but it was anything but that. This was because it was the sole entrance and the exit to the underworld. Thus, those who wanted to enter or leave all had to pass through that gate.

  Speaking of going through the gate, when Cetisius was going through the gate to the underworld and going to Kingdom of Death on the boats to the Kingdom of Death, he, unlike most, was quite calm. After all, he was a priest from the Temple of Sky, so many messengers of death had greeted him on his way. As such, he knew that he was different from the regular dead beings, as he was summoned by the Goddess of Death and was meeting the god as a human being instead of a ghost.

  As he travelled across the Styx on the Boat of the Underworld, he could see may ghosts floating on the river. Only the most special ghosts were entitled to ride on the Boat of the Underworld when travelling to the underworld.

  Some ghosts wanted to get away from the Styx, yet they were all pushed back, gradually getting sucked back on by the giant waves. No matter how hard they struggled, they could never escape.

  Other ghosts tried to get on the Boat of the Underworld, but they were driven away by the dimming fire that was on the boat. Many ghosts were yelling as they floundered in the waters of the Styx and watched the Boat of the Underworld pass them by.

  Then, as a few of them tried to get on the boat and rushed toward the ghosts relentlessly, a sailor glared at them and yelled, “Shut up! All of you!”


  His eyes were gleaming ferociously with flames and his voice was hoarse yet filled with hostility and evil. That voice alone was the epitome of hell.

  Even Cetisius was shocked by such a scene, and as he looked at that uncouth sailor, he wondered…… Who is he?

  As the sailor shook his black rope, the tremendous force of the action thrilled Cetisius. Ripples ravaged the entire Styx, and all of the ghosts bounced away like trash after being pounded by the waves. Then, the waters in the Styx started to tumble, and everyone was shocked, so they all started to exclaim at once……

  “The gate to the underworld is the first round of screening!”


  “The Styx is the second round!”


  “What’s in the front?”


  There were trees of death that were blossoming with black flowers all around the City of Death. There were some special breeds that belonged only to the underworld.

  The Styx surrounded Qiromu, and a giant bridge passed right through the abyss. There were countless bizarre snakes struggling in the abyss, as if they were trying to surge forward and swallow the ghosts on the bridge.

  The sentencing of the entire area took place at the end of the giant bridge. Herem some were thrown off the bridge as food, some were nailed on the wall of the City of Death in order to force them to repent, and the others would be allowed to enter the City of Death.

  On the giant wall that towered above the City of Death, the heads of those killed had been collected and were now strung up for all to see. The horrendous and ferocious faces were shouting at the outside from the wall, but as for the bodies that the heads had originally belonged to, they had already been integrated with the wall itself!

  “It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”


  “I’m so hungry! Come here now! I’ll eat you!”


  “I want everything! Money, women, power and glory! They’re all mine! They’re all mine!”


  “Kill him! Kill him! You deserve to die! You all deserve to die!”


  As the unsettling yells came from the wall, this wall made up of ghosts instilled a deep sense of foreboding in all who saw it. Countless heads of ghosts were bundled together, representing myriad ghosts…… Male, female, old and young.

  Some heads even belonged to human beings and a few other races. They were all shouting out and airing their grievances with the strongest emotions they had left within them!

  Resentment, greed, and anger…… All of these extreme emotions were twisted together amid the savage voices.

  Is this sentencing really fair? What is the criteria for sentencing? Are the rules for the dead even fair at all? As he traveled across the underworld and went to see the Goddess of Death, Cetisius observed the underworld closely. He was thinking about what the underworld meant to the entire world and questioning whether or not the rules in the underworld were fair, especially in regards to the sentencing of the dead.

  Each building had many levels, and none of the buildings looked ordinary. In fact, all of them looked like temples, churches, or palaces.

  They were all supported by giant pillars, and the higher the floor was, the more pillars it had. There were many dead ghosts praying in these buildings.

  There were also stone arch bridges that connected the buildings so that the ghosts could easily walk between the buildings. The buildings were so grandiose that one felt quite tiny walking among them.

  The floors of the buildings were covered with enormous slates, and each building had round domes and huge doors. Above these buildings, a staircase hovered above the clouds, leading toward the palace at the top. At any given moment, messengers of death were constantly walking up and down the stairs.

  As soon as Cetisius entered the palace of death, he finally met the legendary Goddess of Death. She was standing in the center of the cold palace on a throne that was placed at the very top of the stairs. She had on a hat and a white cape that completely covered her body. Even her face was obscured from view.

  Delmedi found this amusing, and she asked, “Cetisius, aren’t you afraid of goddesses?”


  Cetisius responded carefully, “I am a representative of the gods, and I was chosen by gods. So, why would I fear the gods or goddesses?”


  He then asked, “Why did you summon me here, my lord?”


  Delmedi stood up and responded to him with a few questions of her own, “What would you do if I asked you to rule the underworld with me? How would you keep order in the underworld? What kind of underworld would you create?”


  After asking these somewhat shocking questions, she walked down all of the stairs quickly, soon reaching the bottom and stopping right in front of Cetisius.

  She then added, “That is to say…… I want you to be my sidekick…… A side-god of sorts! So, I need to know…… What risks are you willing to take, and what are you willing to give up?”


  As Cetisius raised his head and looked at Delmedi, there was an intense vigor in his eyes. He looked as if he had just found a reason to live again!

  “Everything, my lord! I am willing to give up everything!” he exclaimed.