The Gates of Hell

All was silent; the snakes retreated.

Herpo the Foul and his minions had left this place to Tom, leaving only a chaotic gate behind.

Tom raised his leg and stepped toward The Veil.

"Tom, have you lost your mind?"

The silver coin in his pocket kept giving off violent tremors, but even that could not express one ten-thousandth of Nelson's fury.

Tom felt his pocket suddenly bulge. He lowered his head. Thin white mist was spreading inside it; the gateway Nelson had built based on Limbo was about to open. But Tom grabbed the gold coin, and the white mist was instantly sucked back into the emblem on the coin's face.

Of course he understood the danger of this journey. The portal Herpo had left here was clearly a ticket straight to hell. But he was not afraid. He needed to face Herpo directly, just as they had done two thousand years later: confront him face-to-face, find his weakness with his own eyes, and personally send this arrogant demon into history's grave.

But he could not even tell Nelson what he was thinking. The sense of being watched in the dark had not faded; instead, it had grown even stronger. Tom took a deep breath, pulled out the gold coin, carefully placed it on his thumb, and flicked it hard into the air.

In that instant, every gaze in the cavern was drawn to the spinning coin reflecting golden light. Bright spots of light danced across the walls like butterflies weaving through flowers, illuminating hidden snakes one after another. Tom reached out, wanting to slap the gold coin onto the back of his hand as he had just done, but it slipped away from him.

With a "ding," it fell to the ground, bounced a few times on the stone