Hell Fragment

Hell Fragment

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Diya listened dumbfoundedly to the boastful self-praise, feeling rather stunned. It had been so long since he had heard anyone speak in Stephen Chow's style. He actually missed it a little.

But upon hearing the final sentence, Diya could not help frowning. "Diablo, Diablo... That sounds familiar." He subconsciously tapped his head. He seemed to have heard that name somewhere before, but could not recall it for the moment.

"Right!" Diya suddenly clapped his hands. "Diablo Diya Polo!"

"You finally remembered. You were the one who blew me up back then," the voice continued, carrying a somewhat sinister tone.

"Diya Polo, Diya Polo... Heh, we really are fated," Diya said as he sat back on **, suddenly relaxing. "Are you really Diablo Diya Polo?"

Though he asked this, Diya already believed it somewhat. The box in his hand was the Horadric Cube. Not merely because the voice claimed it was the Horadric Cube, but because Diya remembered that the Horadric Cube he had seen in the game looked like this, both in appearance and after being opened. If he had not recalled his past every day, he truly might have forgotten.

Since the Horadric Cube had appeared, there was nothing strange about an extra Diya Polo appearing as well.

Fifteen years of suffering had also brought Diya's mind to a peculiar state. He seemed incapable of being overly surprised by anything. Even if the sky fell, he would only be startled a little before carrying on as usual. Put nicely, it was remaining calm even with Mount Tai collapsing before him. In truth, he had simply become numb.

"Genuine article. I am the purest Diablo, though I'm a little incomplete right now." The voice sounded somewhat lacking in confidence, then abruptly grew louder. "But I am still the one and only Diablo! Also, you don't need to speak. We can communicate with our minds."

"Fine." Diya closed his mouth and began communicating through his thoughts, earning a small compliment from the so-called Diablo. His adaptability really was strong.

"I have many questions. Why did the Horadric Cube appear here? Why did you appear here too? Why do you give me such a familiar feeling?" Diya fired off all his questions in one breath, then waited for an answer.

"Do you remember how you transmigrated back then? You were playing Diablo when your computer exploded, and the Hell within the computer exploded along with it. Unfortunately, I was blown up too. Hell shattered into fragments, leaving only my remnant soul. I came to your world—Earth—inside the Horadric Cube," the voice said nostalgically.

"Fate was written into the rules. The Horadric Cube should have belonged to you, but before it could descend upon Earth, you were sent to another world by the explosion and crossed paths with it. You endured fifteen years of suffering in that other world, while I remained inside the Horadric Cube and passed through many hands on Earth. Though I could know what happened outside the cube, no one could make the Horadric Cube acknowledge them as its master. Until recently, the cube fell beside a terrorist preparing to become a human bomb, and so it was sent to this other world."

"Why does that sound like a myth?" Diya subconsciously shook his head, his tone full of disbelief.

"Your transmigration was a myth too," the voice sneered in rebuttal, leaving Diya speechless. Indeed, transmigration had already happened. What else could be impossible?

"You can see everything I experienced in this world, can't you?" Diya asked, abruptly changing the subject. "Can the Horadric Cube change my current fate? If not, there's no point keeping it."

"After the Horadric Cube acknowledged you as its master and entered your soul world, my soul became one with yours," the voice said after a moment of silence.

"Become one?" Diya suddenly smiled. "What an honor. My soul has become one with the soul of the famous Diablo. Can it change my current predicament?"

"You really are optimistic. Of course there are benefits, but your body cannot bear them. Your body is simply too weak," the voice said with a trace of regret. "However, your body can be changed. As long as you can endure that pain, it may recover to the level of an ordinary person afterward. You will also be able to rapidly improve your physique through training."

The first part disappointed Diya, though it also felt only natural. But the latter part greatly raised his hopes, and his breathing became hurried. "What method? Tell me quickly! What method? No matter how painful it is, I can endure it."

"Besides my remnant soul, there is also a fragment inside the Horadric Cube. It is one of the fragments created after Hell exploded, the first fragment. As long as you fuse with it, you will undergo some changes. But what kind of changes exactly, even I do not know. It depends on your luck. It may change your physique, or perhaps grant you some ability," Diablo said at length.

At Diablo's words, Diya remembered. There really was an irregular fragment. He had touched it just now, yet there had been no reaction at all.

"Fusion? How do I fuse with it?"

"You do not yet have that ability. I must act and help the fragment merge with you. All you need to do is endure the pain during the fusion process. Because your physique is abnormally weak, the process will be incomparably painful. If you cannot endure it, I will stop the fusion. Otherwise, your body will be damaged because of it," Diablo explained solemnly.

"What happens after the fusion stops? Can it be fused again later?" Diya frowned.

"No. Fragment fusion is a one-time thing. It either succeeds or fails. Once it fails, the fragment will disappear," Diablo said. "Think it through. Do you want to fuse now, or wait until later?"

Diablo's tone changed, becoming somewhat cold, which surprised Diya. It was different from before, as though he were a different person. But Diya had no time to pursue that now.

"Fuse. Even if I only have one chance, I will succeed. I've had enough of this life." Diya clenched his fists, unable to stop himself from recalling everything he had suffered over the past fifteen years. The chance to change lay right before him. Why would he refuse? Fusion might fail, but it might also succeed. If it failed, he was already miserable enough; at worst, he would become even more miserable. If it succeeded, everything would be turned around, and he would finally set foot on the path he wished to walk.

"Good." A hint of approval lay within that cold tone, as though Diablo was pleased by Diya's determination to stake everything on this. Then his tone abruptly changed, becoming cheerful. "You'd better endure it, or even I'll be dragged down with you."

"What do I need to do?" Diya asked calmly.

"Take out the fragment, then wait to endure the pain of fusion," Diablo's voice said. Diya extended his spiritual power into the Horadric Cube. With a thought, a large amount of spiritual power immediately drained away. Just as Diya began to panic slightly, the drain stopped. With a flash, the fragment had left the Horadric Cube and appeared in his hand.

The fragment was roughly the size of a bottle cap, irregular and polygonal, its surface a dull gray. Diya did not know what material it was made of. Faintly, he could sense a hidden fluctuation emanating from within it, ancient and weathered. At the same time, Diya discovered that half his spiritual power had been consumed. If it had been anyone else, they probably would have been drained dry in an instant.

"So this is a Hell Fragment?" Diya took a deep breath and muttered, pinching the fragment between his fingers.

"That's right. This is the first Hell Fragment. After Hell exploded, it shattered into thirty-nine pieces. This is the first of them. Most of the fragments formed after Hell's explosion came to this world. Perhaps that is why you and I transmigrated here. Only by gathering and fusing every Hell Fragment can Hell be fully restored."

"Restore Hell? Then wouldn't that make me the lord of Hell?" Diya joked, relaxing as the fragment spun and danced between his fingers. When hope lay before him, everything else no longer mattered.

"Correct. Every time you fuse a fragment, you will gain some benefits, and your strength will improve accordingly. Once you fuse all the fragments, you will effectively control all of Hell," Diablo said seriously. "This is not only what you must do. It is also your destiny."

"Destiny? That has nothing to do with me." Diya gave a contemptuous laugh. "As long as I can increase my strength, become stronger, and reach the peak, that is enough."

"Good. You suit my taste very well. Men should be like this. I'll make you stronger, and together we'll wreak havoc in grand fashion!" Diablo roared, making Diya's ears buzz from the inside out. He nearly fell over. Especially upon hearing the words "wreak havoc in grand fashion," he could not help sighing inwardly. This truly was the nature of a God of Destruction.

"Right, how long will fusing the fragment take?" Diya suddenly thought of something. If it took too long and Uncle Fu called him to eat later, it would be troublesome. At the very least, Diya did not want anyone to know about the changes about to occur, since everything was still unknown.

"Only a few minutes. Don't worry, it will be over quickly. Your servant won't notice anything unusual either. He's in the kitchen right now," Diablo seemed able to read Diya's thoughts.

"Hah." Taking a deep breath, Diya relaxed his entire body and pinched the fragment between his fingers. "Come on. No matter how painful it is, I can endure it. Don't mind me. You must fuse the fragment successfully."