Slumping his shoulders,  he moved forward, finding a small piece of protrudingnd that gave him reprieve from the icky swamp of crimson.


    The clumps of gray soil bore no life, giving out beneath his step as he stumbled forward to catch his own bnce–


    "Woah, woah–!"


    He moved his arms around for a sense of bnce, managing to confirm his footing on the rotten, clumped-up soil.


    The small ind amidst the ocean-sized swamp was only a minimal sanctuary from the grotesque crimson as it took most of his focus just to not fall over on the peculiar terrain.


    "Huff…"


    He caught his breath, adjusting his red bandana as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, fixing his messy, hazel locks as well.


    "How am I supposed to find the others in this?...Or get back, for that matter…" He asked himself wryly, looking on at therger than life terrain.


    "I can help with that!"


    "Wha–?"


    The sudden, unknown voice caused him to jump, losing his footing as he scrambled, frantically reaching out for one of the branches of the curved, stone-gray trees–


    Crunch.


    The moment his fingers grazed the thin cedar, it crumbled away at his very touch. It faded away like dust to a gentle brush, being carried off in the wind as the helping hand he sought vanished in front of him.


    "--Huh?"


    Despite all of that, halfway through falling over towards the rotten soil–he didn''t fall.


    As he looked up, he found that he was caught by his wrist by the hand of apletely unfamiliar person–if such a title applied to the abnormal humanoid he looked at, anyway.


    "Err…" He let out nervously.


    "Careful, now! The Blood Swamps are pretty tricky to navigate–as you''ve just discovered, ha-ha!" The unknown manughed heartily.


    While he was still confused, not knowing if the pale-skinned humanoid was a friend or foe, the tall, reasonably burly man hoisted him up to his feet, straightening him out and looking at him with a smile.


    "...Thanks?" He said, still confused.


    "No problem! The name''s us," the white-skinned, horned man extended his hand to him.


    us was definitely not human, as his skin was as white as snow, and his eyes as ck as the starless night with medieval, studded leather worn on his lower half, and nothing worn on his torso.


    Protruding from his head were two,rge horns, but beside all of those inhuman features–


    He seems nice enough, he decided.


    epting the hand, he shook it lightly, still holding some hesitance but knowing it probably wouldn''t get him far to make enemies with the man, anyway.


    "...I''m Sol," he replied.


    "You got caught up by one of them, huh?" us asked.


    "Them?" He looked at the pale-skinned, horned man.<novelnext></novelnext>


    us broke off one of the branches from the brittle trees, using a mystical force to bolster it before handing it to the young man, "Here. Use this–it''ll make traversing this ce a bit easy."


    "Thanks…" He took it.


    "Anywho…"They" are the "Artificial Devils"...Humans made into devils," us exined, standing at the edge of the small ind.


    As he used the walking stick to move over the rotten soil, which the inhuman managed to casually traverse, he stood next to us, still confused.


    "Err…What''s this ce, anyway? Is this actually…?" He began to ask.


    us shook his head lightly, "This isn''t Hell, not exactly, at least."


    "Not exactly?"


    "It''s a nexus of sorts. And where all of the discarded evil goes. Below all of the Artificial Devils'' domains. In a way, it could be thought of as the Hell created by men," us exined, keeping his arms crossed against his snow-white chest.


    "What about you?...Are you a demon, or something like that?" He gave the question, not knowing the best way to put it.


    us was silent for a minute, looking off in the distance. Despite the demonic appearance of the man, there was no animosity that was given off from his form.


    "...Something like that. There''s a few like me down here. I used to be human, but, well…I don''t exactly remember anymore," us scratched his head, "Once an Artificial Devil kills us, we "reincarnate" into…whatever I am. It''s an eternity down here for the unfortunate fellows like me. But!"


    us'' mncholic expression shifted into a lighter one as he faced the young man.


    "But…?"


    "You, Mr. Sol, are not stuck down here like the rest of us! I know a way out, actually!" us exined.


    "Really? You do?" Sol looked at him with wide eyes.


    Though us seemed to regret getting his hopes up to that degree as he bashfully scratched his bald, pale-white head.


    "Well, by "a way out", I just mean from this realm, but you''ll still have to return to that Artificial Devil''s domain. That''s the gateway between this realm and yours, and the Artificial Devils hold the keys to it, anyway. So…you''ll still have to take care of that one, I suppose," us sighed out, "Sorry, kid."


    It was sour news, for sure, but looking at the crimson horizon, he felt even the prospect of being able to leave this Hell was reassuring enough for him.


    "...No, that''s plenty!" Sol assured the disappointed-seeming, former human.


    "Really?" us looked at him in surprise.


    Now it was clear to him that the snow-white, horned inhuman was in fact somebody who meant well.


    He''s just somebody who was unfortunate enough to run into something like Dae-Mon…He thought.


    "Yeah, but well…" He scratched his cheek, "I was thrown down here with two of my friends, but we were separated. Do you think…?"


    us already knew he was asking, letting out a small sigh, "I hate to break it to you, kid, but finding a single person in the Blood Swamp is an exercise in futility, But, if you all were cast down here rtively close, we''ll probably cross paths with them!"


    "Really?" He asked as his eyes lit up.


    "Sure! Anywho…About the method of returning to the Artificial Devil''s domain…" us scratched his chin, looking up.