Hell Valley (I)

When Su Yu stepped into the seventh stage, he was suddenly a little stunned.

They had actually arrived in a valley. The gray sky hung oppressively low, casting only a dim, murky light. A volcano stood in the distance between heaven and earth, lava flowing through its cracks. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur and scorched earth.

The ground was burned black everywhere. Beneath their feet, the earth had cracked into countless pieces, hot vapor rising from the fissures. Ash, gravel, and bones burned to charcoal lay scattered across the charred soil, crumbling to powder beneath their steps.

Where the hell had they been sent? Was this still Hogwarts?

The distant hillside was packed with the Hell Army. The Three-Headed Dog from the first level was here too, except it had now become the Hell Three-Headed Dog. The eyes of all three heads were blood-red, fangs protruding from the corners of its mouths and dripping saliva. Its three heads roared at Su Yu and Harry.

Behind the Three-Headed Dog were Skeleton Soldiers stretching across the hills, mixed among them were Minotaurs, each over two meters tall. Goat Demons crouched on both sides of the formation, goat-headed and human-bodied, longbows in their hands.

Imps flitted through the air. Fallen Ones stood at the rear of the army, dressed in black robes with their faces hidden beneath hoods, staffs planted in their hands. Balrogs moved slowly at the foot of the volcano, their bodies twice the size of the Minotaurs.

And Professor Quirrell stood before the Hell Army, staring at Harry.

"It's you!" Harry cried in shock.

Quirrell was smiling, but not a single muscle in his face moved.

"It was me," he said flatly. "I had wondered whether I would be able to meet you here, Potter."

"But... I thought it was Snape—"

"Snape?" Quirrell smiled again. But it was not his usual loud laugh; it was sharp and cold.

"Yes, Snape was indeed worth suspecting. Having him run around like a rat, drawing attention everywhere, was very useful. Without him, who would ever suspect p-p-poor, st-st-stuttering Professor Quirrell?"

Harry could not accept it. His mouth hung open, his eyes wide. This was not real! It could not be!

"But Snape tried to kill me!"

"No, that is wrong. I tried to kill you." Quirrell's voice became steady, devoid of emotion. "When your friend Miss Hermione set Snape on fire during that Quidditch match, she accidentally knocked me over. Snape broke my contact lenses. A few more seconds and I would have knocked you off your broom, but Snape cast a counterspell at that moment and saved you."

"Snape wanted to save me?" Harry's voice cracked.

"Of course. Why else would he referee your next match? He was making sure I had no chance to strike again. Hmph, how amusing..." Quirrell said coldly.

At that moment, Su Yu interrupted them.

"I don't mean to interrupt you," Su Yu cut in, "but can someone tell me where exactly this is? And what are those things?"

He pointed at the densely packed Hell Army on the hillside, then at the distant volcano spewing lava.

"And Harry, this is a battlefield, not a coffee shop. Were you planning to have afternoon tea with Quirrell?"

Quirrell looked at Su Yu.

Then his head began to turn.

It was not a turn of the head. His entire head rotated. The back of his head slowly turned to the front, while his face slowly turned to the back.

Voldemort's face appeared.

Su Yu's sanity plummeted.

That was way too disgusting. He did not know whether Quirrell would be willing to walk around backward in the future—if he was still alive, that was.

Voldemort spoke.

"Su... Fuli?" His voice was far deeper than Quirrell's. "Do you know Hell?"

"The demon kings of Hell cannot descend directly into the Surface World, so they joined forces to create this Otherworld. And this place is something Lord Belial, the Lord of Sloth, specially prepared for Harry."

His red eyes paused on Harry, then shifted to Su Yu.

"I do not know why they like Harry's soul so much either. But..."

Voldemort raised a hand and pointed at Su Yu.

"Kill him!"

The Hell Army moved.

The Skeleton Soldiers on the hillside charged down first. Their bone joints creaked as they ran. The army behind them surged forward in a dense tide.

Su Yu moved as well.

The Kurama Cloak instantly expanded. Golden chakra poured from his body as Susanoo's red chakra armor assembled over it piece by piece.

Su Yu stood inside Kurama's head, his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly spinning within his red pupils.

He clenched his right hand, and a red longsword condensed in Susanoo's hand. Its tip pointed toward the charging Hell Army.

He swung the sword once. Everywhere the sword light swept, Skeleton Soldiers shattered across the ground and Minotaurs were severed at the waist. Purple lightning from the Fallen Ones struck him, but did not even scratch the Kurama Cloak. He swept his sword backhandedly, and three Fallen Ones exploded at once. The Balrogs charged forward ferociously. Su Yu's sword cleaved down from one's head and emerged between its legs. The Balrog split in half and collapsed, lava gushing from the cut and burning the surrounding Skeleton Soldiers to nothing.

He slaughtered his way from one end of the hillside to the other, then back again. Everywhere he passed, only shattered bones, severed limbs, and smoking scorched earth remained.

The Three-Headed Dog pounced.

All three heads bit at Su Yu simultaneously. Su Yu blocked the middle head with his sword, the blade wedged between its fangs. The Three-Headed Dog's saliva dripped onto the sword, hissing as it smoked. The left head bit Susanoo's shoulder, but its teeth could not pierce the armor, leaving it grimacing in pain instead.

Su Yu kicked the Three-Headed Dog away with a backhanded strike.

Then he stepped onto its body and gripped the longsword in one hand with a reverse hold.

He thrust down.

The blade pierced through the upper jaw of the middle head, emerged from its chin, and nailed it into the ground. The Three-Headed Dog let out a howl, the sound leaking from its pierced throat, hoarse and broken. The left and right heads struggled wildly.

Su Yu pressed the sword deeper into the earth, pinning the Three-Headed Dog's middle head to the ground so it could not move. Its eyes remained open, Su Yu's reflection visible in those blood-red pupils, but it could no longer bite.

Su Yu crouched down and gave each of the other two heads a hard slap.

Then he turned to Voldemort.

"This is the preparation Belial spoke of?" Su Yu's voice descended from above. "This?"

Purple mist slowly began to gather above the distant volcano. The mist grew thicker and denser, forming a massive, irregular cloud atop the mountain.

A pair of huge purple horns slowly emerged from the mist.

Then came an enormous body. A man in a purple trench coat slowly appeared.

He stood taller than Kurama.

He stood atop the volcanic crater, looking down at the battlefield in the valley. The densely packed little monsters on the battlefield shouted, "Lord Belial is eternal!"

He did not move or speak. He merely looked down at everything below. Yet his existence alone was oppressive.

Su Yu raised his head and looked at the figure atop the volcano, larger even than Kurama.

"This," Su Yu said, "is a little more interesting."

A spear appeared in Su Yu's hand once more. Red chakra condensed at its tip into a dazzling light. With a kick of his foot, he and Kurama's massive body shot straight toward Belial.

Belial did not move.

He merely raised one hand, his purple trench coat billowing in the current. The spear struck his palm, its tip pressing against his skin—then stopped. It could go no farther. Su Yu frowned, driving his chakra at full force. The light at the spear tip became so bright it seemed ready to explode, yet Belial merely closed his fingers lightly and grasped the spear in his palm, as though pinching a branch.

Before Su Yu could react, an immense force traveled through the spear shaft. Belial swung one hand, sending Kurama's entire body flying. Boom! Kurama's back smashed into the distant mountains, peaks collapsing like building blocks as rubble and dust erupted dozens of meters into the air.

Su Yu lay in the enormous crater they had made and asked inwardly, Kurama, are you okay?

Kurama spat, golden chakra flashing at the corner of his mouth. "I'm fine. Again."

Su Yu did not move. He stopped Kurama, then began retracting the Kurama Cloak and Susanoo. Golden chakra and red armor peeled away from him layer by layer.

"Kurama," Su Yu said, "a girl shouldn't spit everywhere."

Kurama froze for a moment. "Is this really the time to talk about that?"

Su Yu did not answer. He pressed his hands together and closed his eyes. "Give me all your chakra."

Kurama glanced at him and did not hesitate. Golden chakra surged from his body, flowing continuously into Su Yu. Su Yu's hair was blown upward by the rushing air, his robes snapping violently in the gale.

He opened his eyes.

"Senjutsu."

Black markings spread from around his eyes, extending across his cheeks, forehead, and nose bridge, finally forming intricate patterns across his face.

He crouched down and slammed both hands onto the ground.

"Sage Art—Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands—Susanoo: Nine-Tails Resonance Form!"

The earth began to shake.

Cracks spread in all directions beneath Su Yu's palms. Loose stones rolled down the hillside, and then—a hundred-meter-tall Buddha slowly rose from underground.

The Buddha was covered in Susanoo's red armor. Behind it, the arms of its thousand hands were draped in the golden chakra of the Kurama Cloak, like a thousand burning banners.

The Buddha rose to its feet.

The several-hundred-meter-tall Thousand-Hand Buddha stood in the center of the valley, its head touching the gray sky, its shadow covering the entire battlefield. The remains of the Hell Army beneath its feet looked as tiny as ants. Belial stood at the volcanic crater, raising his head to look at the Buddha's summit, his purple trench coat billowing in the current.

Su Yu stood atop the Buddha's head, wind lifting his robes, the black Senjutsu markings clear upon his face. He looked down at Belial, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.

"Now, let's fight again."

He raised a hand.

The thousand hands behind the Buddha rose at once. A thousand arms, each wrapped in golden chakra, each covered in red armor, each palm aimed at Belial.

"Top Transformed Buddha!"