The Great Road to The Underworld

In life, there is a always a type of fiend that inspires all the other fiends. The office fiend that steals the department cheese inspires all the other fiends to steal stationery and vacation time. The fiend who smuggles spirits into an underage party, inspires all the little fiends to smuggle automobiles, drugs and whatnot.

And there is a fiend among fiends. A captain, the boss, the owner of a pirate ship. The true criminal that is the bane of society. This type of fiend also inspires others fiends. This is what justifies his reign. They worship me. Thus I am.

But there is a type of fiend that does not inspire other fiends to do bad. Instead, he inspires them to do good and relinquish the path they are on. This isn because he is a buddha who preaches good.

This type of fiend is so scary that even criminals are afraid of crossing paths with him. They will turn into good people just to avoid him! If fate ever brought them into this fiends path, they will gouge out their eyes rather than meet his eyes.

Lest he be provoked…the fiend of hell. The Hell King.

That type of fiend was what Aniket was.

Five hundred years ago, during the Technological Era, a phenomenon called virgin harbour was discovered during the deep exploration of the Mariana Trench. Ideally, a virgin harbour is present in almost every deep crevice and abyss of earth. The virgin harbour can be expanded to produce great stretches of land in a new dimension.

Though empty in the beginning, the land can produce great minerals and oils over time. Thus it is called the Wine Land. Where the skies and mud are both the colour of wine. Where, with time, the fruits produced are great intoxicants to mankind.

The Wine Land caused the third set of wars in the human realm. After the wars have settled, the victors have claimed they have won the territory through dignity and justice. Thus the Wine Land had been renamed the Dignified Realm.

From great calamities come great reforms. After the War of Dimensions, humanity was spurred on to bring greater peace and greater dignity to itself. Thus occurred a series of reforms throughout the world in a collaborative effort. From this effort, the first that changed is the prison system.

While the law of the various countries cannot be merged, everyone agreed to one thing. There are criminals that cannot be reformed.

To hold the criminals that perpetuate evil in prisons and show no sign of reforming, the World Prison had been constructed.

A fully automated prison facility with the worlds most dangerous criminals, all in one place. There is not a jailer nor a guard in place. Prisoners must grow and prepare their own food. They must work to earn food, electricity, blankets and clothing. They must exercise in the yard to earn a shower, they must earn merits through various systems in order to process their lawsuits. So on, so forth.

The prison shines as a white jewel in the Dignified Realm. For thousands of kilometres, there is nary an anthill in sight. If anyone escapes, they must find their way back to the prison themselves. But survival depends on whether they can escape the automated rifles and landmines on the way back.

Not surprisingly, every day is Diwali in the prison. In the lax environment with no guards, someone is always escaping and coming back in pieces.

However, there is one event every month when there are guards. Manual inspections, frisking, the general humiliation that guards do, everything that is usual to prisons.

This is the prisoner release day.

Prisoners are released only once a month in the World Prison. This day is a rather tense day for authorities. There will be families at the prison to take them home. Normally, the prisoners in World Prison do not even get a phone call.

When there are outsiders present, there are all kinds of variables. The guards are very thorough to not let a prisoner escape.

But Raeva is an enlightened thief. He shall not be stopped by a little frisking. He pretended to be a robot and made it all the way to the gate.

The World Prison is full of prisoners who were rejected by the world. One would think theyd have no family members to care about them. However, the turnout was not only large, it was highly emotional.

Raeva kept an eye on the robots and the guards as he swiftly passed through the crowd. He was about to find a car or a shuttle to hide himself. Thats when he saw that family of three.

He noticed them because the man and woman looked very ordinary. The man was white. He had a light brown moustache and hair with greys on his temple. He was wearing a half sleeved shirt and poor, stained slacks. The woman was similarly in a dress with short sleeves and a collar, neat buttons down to her knees and simple stockings. She was brown and very dark, but not African. If not for all the grey hair and wrinkles, perhaps she couldve been pretty.

They were typical factory worker trash from the Dignified Realm. However, to make it this deep and actually reach the World Prison, one must be rich! On Earth, they can still be middle class, but the economy in the Dignified Realm is extremely poor. Only the rich can make it to this place and not become broke.

The thief found an anomaly and was curious. But curiosity kills the cat is not just a saying in his profession. He decided to walk away, but he still inadvertently chose a vehicle in the familys direction.

The back of the man who was released became closer as he walked. The old lady was immersed deeply in tears as she put her rather smooth hands on the mans cheeks.

”Why Nikki! Why! ”

The thief didn know anyone in the prison named Nikki. Must be a nobody. He quickened his pace.

”Niti, don cry…this isn such a big deal. ”

”Isn a big deal?! ” the old lady screeched. She had quite the young voice. ”You spent twenty years in the World Prison for me. How is it not a big deal Nikki! ”

The thief agreed with this statement. Twenty years in the World Prison is a survival puzzle. How come this guy didn lose an arm or leg yet?

How come his back is so ramrod straight and legs so firm and just, military like? Who is he?

Why did he go to the World Prison for an old woman? The cats itch was no longer normal. It was beyond its self control not to itch.

”Niti, please listen… ”

Who in the World Prison even talks so softly? The curious cat decided to treat its itch first and care about survival next.

The old man next to woman grimly reprimanded, ”Don call your mother by her name. ”

His tone clearly was agitated and it was clearly not about his son calling his mother by her name. However, the factory worker remained stoic and refused to say further.