They were Milko, the God of the Dead who had died in Water-Drawing City, and Baal, the God of Slaughter.
Because of death, Milko had instead been freed from that rat's body, appearing as the soul form of the necromancer "Demoncry" from his former days.
Baal was in a rather miserable state. Back then, he had only escaped Garvin's hunt in Unlimited Heaven with half a head, so upon returning to the Lower Planes, he still had only half a head left.
And as they drew ever closer to the Fugue Plane, the connection between souls had allowed Baal to gradually sense the terrifying pain of the remnant body left behind in that "hell."
Merely catching an occasional glimpse of those cruel memory fragments was enough to make his already taut nerves tremble uncontrollably.
Driven to the brink of despair, he could only turn into a "mad dog," constantly gnawing at Milko, hoping to drain the other's soul power and escape this damned place.
Just as they fought without end, carrying on the disputes of interest from their lives like ordinary mortals, a suddenly appearing chain dragged them ashore and dropped them onto a bustling wasteland.
"Is that... Bane's voice?!"
Cautious by nature, Milko did not even dare cast a second glance toward Bane, who had been surrounded so tightly by countless Cavens Ratmen and dead souls that not even water could pass through. No longer caring about Baal, who was clamped onto his skull like a leech and refusing to let go, he turned and bolted toward the more desolate edge of the Destruction Wasteland.
But before he could take more than a few steps, there came a soft pfft, and Milko felt an agony so intense it made him question his very existence spread through his body from