Circles of Hell: I II III

Keshita's consciousness continued its journey under the watchful eye of the invader.

The priest read the prayer, the parishioners obediently repeated, except for Mikhail and the Black Rabbit. Misha's face was distorted with anger.

"It's strange, I thought that under the influence of the drug we see the world as it’s but exaggerated. Here people offer prayers to their god and… you see it completely opposite. Instead of servants of God — servants of Hell."

"Forgot about your experience at the Buddhist temple?"

"This isn't different?"

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot!"

Mikhail hit his forehead with his palm and snapped his fingers.

"I learned Japanese thanks to your brain and my ability. Now I’ve shared my knowledge of Russian with you, listen."

"Wow, what!? It's unbelievable…"

"Now listen to the priest."

Keshita concentrated on prayer.

"Lord God of hosts, God of our salvation, look with mercy upon Thy humble servants, hear and have mercy upon us: And forbid those foreign languages who wish to wage war and rise up against Holy Rus. And overthrow their plans, hoping to divide and destroy her united people. Rise up, God, to help Thy people and grant us victory by Thy power…"

"How contradictory… He considers all other nations enemies a priori and only his own country worthy of life. Somehow militant for a prayer. More like a battle cry. "

"Exactly, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. For most ministers, the priesthood is just a cover, since they’re agents of the secret services."

"Eh!? This isn't a conspiracy theory?"

Mikhail's face twisted and he looked at Keshita. It was clear from his look that he wasn't joking.

"They’ve been setting their flock up for war for many years. If their prayers speak of peace, then only of its complete enslavement. The only thing they’ve left of Christianity is fancy clothes. And in that state, I could see their true thoughts, their dreams of the future…"

Mikhail snapped his fingers again and showed the priest's thoughts. He read the text from a piece of paper like a robot, without putting his soul into it, and he himself wanted to quickly get out of this " wretched " place, get into an expensive car and rush off to his mistress at a luxurious dacha outside the city. Keshita could no longer look at the priest's thoughts.

"Even this is nothing. You can't even imagine the scale of this damned country."

“But how…” Keshita looked at the ceiling vault.

At that moment the roof cracked and the cross along with it fell on the priest.

"Oh, is that it? Just a coincidence or divine intervention."

Mikhail waved his hand as he left.

"Do you call it karma?"

"In Hinduism and Buddhism. In Shinto — harae — a rite of purification from sin - tsumi."

"Let's move on!"

They found themselves in a nightclub during a party.

"Is it evening already?"

"Yes. We started a few days before you. The first day was too hard for me. I spent half the day listening to music, wandering with the Black Rabbit around the city of Dit - a hellish version of Moscow. I always loved such peaceful walks. Although it depended on the music. With it, I always felt freer."

Keshita understood him perfectly, but the change of scenery from a temple to a nightclub seemed unusual. However, the skimpy people, the sea of alcohol and more were suitable for the next round.

"Lilith is the guardian of the second circle of Hell — lust."

"Now it's clear."

Mikhail rewound the disco to the moment when everyone suddenly stopped and started looking at him, who the succubus performer on stage was pointing at.

"She didn't seem to like my disapproving look. I like girls, entertainment, but what was happening here was like a sabbath: drugs, unprotected sex, a sea of debauchery and other violence. Lilith challenged me."

Aggressive music started playing and Lilith came down from the stage. The smoke around her created speech clouds and sound effects, just like in comics.

"Musical battle?.."

“Something like that… A priest, a musician and a comic artist met in the subconscious…”

Mikhail sped up the battle. Lilith materialized sound with smoke and light, attacking Mikhail. He learned the succubus's technique during the battle and in the counterweight turned on the howling music, forming its own territory for battle until it was able to overcome it.

“How fast… I didn’t even have time to understand anything.”

"It seems so to you. This is a common phenomenon with accelerated perception. If you turn to the subconscious, you’ll "remember" the details."

"Hmm… You're right. Learned to use inspiration and the musical impact on the brain to form your own reality within this one?"

"Spot on."

"Thoughts are material." they said at the same time.

"But in any case, it was an illusion, consisting of the drug's effect and your fantasies, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but where is the line that separates them?"

"Eh?"

"Haha, be patient."

Mikhail waved his hand and added more seriously.

"This party was also just one of many. Some of them are only available to the richest. While the naked rich kids are having fun, jingling their precious stones on their asses, their fellow citizens are freezing and dying of hunger."

The guys ended up on the top floor of a shopping mall, judging by the endless fast-food restaurants around them.

"I was very hungry after everything, so we decided to have some food."

"Let me guess, gluttony?"

Mikhail nodded.

"Here I was overcome by thoughts of the hungry and those who eat in excess, of the production of meat for which animals pay a bloody price. Thus, my space was transformed into a slaughterhouse, where I met Cerberus, the three-headed dog guardian of the third circle of Hell."

Mikhail sped up the battle. While Misha from the vision was "calmly" eating his burger with disgust from himself and the thoughts that were emerging, a large caustic saliva suddenly fell on him. When the guy raised his head, it was already in one of the dog's throats. The dog swallowed the guy and passed him through all the circles of its digestive tract. Misha didn’t want to get out of the dog the standard way. Enraged, he tried to scratch the dog's stomach from the inside with his bare hands. However, his nails weren’t enough to cope with the dense demonic tissue. Then he began to bite with his teeth and kick, which also didn’t help much.

Misha resisted desperately until his whole body was engulfed in such unbearable heat from hatred and anger and his brain realized that he was finished.

Then his nails suddenly lengthened and became harder, sharper, like real steel. Having ripped open his belly, Misha broke free and ran away from the pain-crazed Cerberus. Misha trapped him in a slaughterhouse and grabbed Cerberus's mouth with chains, which he immediately threw into an industrial waste shredder. The dog was pulled inside, and then crushed and turned into mincemeat.

"Boo-eh!"

Keshita could no longer contain himself even in his consciousness.

"And what was in 'reality'?"

"I just sat there, staring at the burger like an idiot, with a blatant hatred for myself and everything."

Mikhail clicked, showing this and the footage.

"Until suddenly my nails grew out of nowhere and pierced the damn burger."

"W-what!? Y-you transformed your body?"

Keshita I was surprised by the result that desperately strove, although I didn't fully believe that it was Maybe.

"Yes, thoughts have finally begun to materialize. Or rather, my brain has finally given in to "my" will."

"A-Amazing! Just like a cornered animal adapting in an instant to survive."

"He-he, that's a good analogy. But as we both know, evolution takes a lot longer, but here."

Mikhail pointed his finger at his head.

"…time flows faster." Keshita finished the sentence.

"Consciousness is an amazing thing."

Mikhail abruptly lowered his hand, and they were transported to the lower floors of the hellish shopping center, suspended in midair between the escalators. Bright lights were everywhere, reflected countless times in glass display cases. This created a single mirror maze.

"This scene was perfect for the next battle…"

"Greed."

"A consumer society with excessive imposed needs. But the battle took place in virtual space."

Misha pointed to his copy from the vision, which was in the gaming room with a virtual reality helmet on its head.

"There I met Plutus, the guardian of the fourth circle of Hell."

"Plutus? So that's who I saw then…"

“Yeah, then I felt other subjects all over the planet, you. Having immersed myself in the virtual space in that state, I fully felt the influence of computer networks on a person, the connection between people… »

"How so?"

"It's almost here, so be greedy for answers."

Mikhail clicked them into the game's cyberspace.

Start the game?

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