“Sire, there’s only one way in hell to get out, which is the way through which the souls leave,” said Ivaan

  “I can’t go through that way, if I could, then I wouldn’t be needing you to help me,” said the lord, “the energy I radiate is way more immense than any other soul, so the gateway will detect that I’m not a soul and it wouldn’t allow me to pass.”

  “I know, that’s the thing which we’re going to stop,” he said

  “That’s not possible,” said the lord, “there’s no magic made in any of the realm which can reduce the energy I radiate, so this plan of yours won’t work.”

  “Of course, my lord, you are right,” he said with a smirk, “but that is not something we are going to do.”

  “What???!” said the lord, “Say it clearly, I don’t like riddles.”

  “Me neither, sire,” he said, “We will not reduce the energy you radiate; we will make a shield around you that will block most of the energy you radiate. It will make you look like a normal soul, and you’ll be able to pass through the gateway easily”.

  “I already told you; no magic exists in any reality that can withhold the power I radiate; your magical shield will break.”

  “I’m aware, sire,” he said, “We will make the shield strong enough to withhold the energy you radiate for a certain period of time, and in that time, sire, you will have escaped hell, and after that, even if the shield breaks, it will not matter.”

  “This is good,” said the lord, “but I doubt that your magic will be that powerful.”

  “Sire, you already know that my soul is not normal, and we are all great practitioners of magic, if I am not wrong, then that is why you have chosen us to do this work,” he said

  “Your capabilities are the only reason that I believe my plan will work. Do this for me, and I promise that you will get the reward,” said the lord

  “Thank you, sire,” said Ivaan, “I believe in you and I’m going to serve you faithfully.”

  “I expect nothing else from these souls here,” said the lord, “now you can go.”

  Ivaan bowed and walked away.

  The man who wanted to stop the lord was looking at the worms in the pits of hell, as the worms were writhing in pain. Ivaan came from behind, “This sight isn’t worth looking at, it’s disgusting.”

  “Isn’t it a fascinating way to torment and punish souls?” asked the man

  “Not so much”

  “I wonder how many days they are going to live.”

  “Not for long if they have been normal worms as they haven’t tasted the flesh of man for some days, but they are hell worms,” said Ivaan, “who can know their life span, certainly no one is going to stay in hell forever except the lords of hell.” Ivaan smirked

  “What happened? What did he say?” he asked

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  “What was your name again?”

  “Ekaksh,” said the man, “…What did he say to you?”

  “Nothing, he snapped when I questioned him about the other lord of hell.

  “Which means that something is going on between him and the other lords of hell,” he said

  “It’s obvious, why do you think he is so desperate to leave this place?”

  “So, what is going to be our next move?” he asked, “as we didn’t find out anything from him”.

  “We need to wait to let his whole plan unfold,” said Ivaan, “so that we will be able to stop him and find a way to be done with him forever”.

  He turned around, glanced at Ivaan, and then again started gazing at worms. “Do you know getting eaten to death by these worms is not worse, but what's worse is to get eaten by these worms without reaching death as your body keeps regenerating.”

  “And what do you mean by that?”

  “The longer we wait, the more we suffer.”

  “The wait will be worth it.”

  “Well, it isn’t that simple,” he said, “what if he didn’t tell you his whole plan?”

  “It doesn’t matter what he does,” Ivaan said, “We just need more time; with time, he will tell his whole plan, or else we will figure out his plan on our own.”

  “So, he doesn’t suspect you, right?” he said

  “Yeah, to some extent,”

  “What does that mean?”

  “He is the lord of hell, we are in hell, and we are known for serving ourselves first,” said Ivaan, “so he will not be that trusting of me, no matter what I do.”

  “Then how will you stop him if all of his attention is on you?”

  “You’re forgetting something,” he said, “I’m not alone, I will do exactly what he says to me so that he will consider me trustworthy, but you will do all the things which are required to stop him because his attention will not be on you.”

  “It isn’t going to make it easier for us, even if you are not in focus, there are many souls here who have seen you opposing me during my speech, many of them still think that you are against the lord of Krimsiha.”

  “They are not going to follow me around,” he said.

  “Still, we can’t take any risk,” said Ivaan, “all the time when you are with the other souls, you have to act like you have changed your mind and now you are in support of the lord of Krimisha to draw the attention away from you.”

  “Okay,” he said, “Have you devised a way to make the lord of Krimisha’s plan work?”

  “Not exactly, but I have a way which will make lord think that it will make his plan work,” Ivaan said

  A man came towards them when both of them were talking.

  “Master,” he said,

  “What is it?” asked Ivaan

  “All the souls are waiting for the direction from you,” he said, “so that they can start working.”

  “I think the lord has chosen the wrong soul to lead us,” said one man from the crowd

  “Yeah, I know he should have selected someone else to lead the command,” said another

  “Right, he should have selected you, isn’t it?” said Ivaan from within the crowd

  “Yeah, I would have been perfect for the command,” said that man while both of them turned around and found Ivaan standing behind them.

  “Indeed,” said Ivaan with a smirk, and both of them stepped back immediately.

  “Sorry, Master, we didn’t mean that,” said both of them while bowing down

  “We all know that you did mean all of that,” said Ivaan while walking through them and standing straight in front of them.

  “You are not wrong to think like this,” said Ivaan, “anyone could have been selected, but why me…anyone of you can lead. Let me present you an opportunity…provide me the best idea to make the lord’s plan work and take my position”.

  All of them looked at each other and then looked at him.

  “You don’t have to be afraid of me, I’ll silently leave this position if anyone has an idea to make the lord’s plan work…anyone??” he said, “Then shut your mouth!!! And listen to me because I have a way to make this plan work. We need to do two things. First, we have to somehow reduce the immense energy that is radiated out of the lord’s body so that his energy will not be noticed by the Yamaduta while moving out of hell.”

  “Second, we have to make an illusion around the lord, which will make him look like any other soul.”

  “Great plan, Master, great plan,” said a man from the crowd, “But how will you do all of this, if you can’t, then don’t make the story to make yourself look good.”

  “Like what you are trying to do by questioning me. Questioning me means questioning lord of Krimisha himself,” said Ivaan, “you are being able to talk because lord of Krimisha has allowed you to do so, better be thankful and do what you are told to do, and better know your place.”