Endless Debt

"I applied for a meeting with the minister, but the minister seemed very busy and he declined."

Uriel opened the door and said to Lebius behind the office.

They were all very concerned about the "resurrection" of Borogo Lazarus, and no one knew what the devil was planning.

Lebius put down the document. He was not surprised by the result. The affairs the Bureau of Order had to deal with were more complicated than they appeared on the surface. Busyness was the norm, not to mention people in high positions like the minister. .

"But the minister sent this. He said 'this man might be able to clear up your confusion'."

Uriel said, taking out an envelope, placing it on the desk, and then pushed it towards Lebius.

Lebius took the envelope, picked up the letter opener on the side, opened the envelope, and poured out a note, which seemed to have a line of confusing text and a red seal.

"what is that?"

Uriel asked curiously.

"It's nothing, you can go out first."

Lebius placed the note on the table and covered it with an envelope, covering Uriel's view.

Hearing this, Uriel didn't say anything more, slowly backed away, left the office, and closed the door.

The Order Bureau implements an extremely strict rank system. Before you reach that position and obtain the power you deserve, some information is absolutely closed to you.

Uriel is very aware of this. To this day, a large part of the Bureau of Order still refuses to be opened to her. You can see those white masonry blocking the road everywhere, not to mention those documents.

All employees are in a "room reclamation", and therefore are subject to the rules of "accommodation". Some important documents are even accompanied by cognitive distortions. Employees who have not obtained the corresponding permissions will not be able to access even those documents. The handwriting is illegible.

It is said that in the eyes of employees with different permissions, "housekeeping" looks completely different. Uriel doesn't know the specific situation. After all, she does not have such permission, and staff with such permission will abide by the rules and not reveal anything.

The Bureau of Order is like a tightly coupled shield wall, a precision-operated machine, efficient and powerful.

Sometimes Uriel even suspects that there are still some "unknown departments" that she is not aware of yet. They are hiding in the darkness of the Bureau of Order, in the deepest part of the "Ken Room".

After Uriel left, the atmosphere in the room froze for a few seconds, and then was broken by the sound of heavy breathing. Lebius seemed to be under some great pressure. He slowly picked up the envelope and revealed the contents of the envelope. Notes placed.

What was written above was not a scrawled text, but a ridiculous simple drawing.

A blazing sun is located in the center of the painting, and below the sun is an isolated hut, which is scorched by the scorching sun.

The painting is simple, but at the moment of observation, a magnificent and complex picture can arise in the mind, and one can even feel the heat.

It was as if Lebius was really under the scorching sun, on the desolate and withered land, heading towards the isolated hut.

The chaotic hallucination did not last long, and fine cold sweat spread all over Lebius' forehead. He looked at the corner of the note, where there was a seal. The pattern of the seal was the logo of the Bureau of Order, a chain and a sword.

Generally speaking, the logo of the Bureau of Order consists of six sword blades interspersed with chains, but when distinguishing the authority of employees, they differentiate by marking the number of sword blades.

From one sharp sword to six sharp swords, from the first level of authority to the sixth level of authority, what is now engraved on the seal is the astonishing chain and five swords. This is the highest authority except for the director of the Order Bureau. Five level permissions.

There is also a line of signature on the seal.

Nathaniel Vaole.

The signature and seal overlapped, and some extraordinary authority was temporarily given to it.

"You really trust me, Minister."

Lebius sighed, his face pale.

Nathaniel Vaole, this is the name of the Minister of Field Affairs. This name also represents another more familiar position in the Bureau of Order.

Deputy Director of the Order Bureau.

Lebius hesitated for a while, and finally picked up the note.

He could sense that there was some force exerted on him. It was the power from the "Kenshi", coming from all directions like a sea tide, squeezing Lebius' body, making him breathless.

The note in his hand began to become hot, and then a slight flame ignited from the corner of the note. It burned very slowly, so slowly that it was estimated that it would take at least a few hours to burn out.

Lebius knew very well what was going on. It was a gift from the Minister of Field Service, Nathaniel Vaole, who briefly granted Level 5 authority to Lebius, and the deadline was this note. The moment of exhaustion. He must race against time.

Picking up the crutches, Lebius stood up from the chair with difficulty, staggered, and walked out of the office.

With cold eyes, he tried his best not to look anywhere else, only focusing on the road in front of him. However, the peripheral vision of his eyes still captured things that he could not see before.

That is something that only personnel with level five authority can detect. Except for employees with this authority, their cognition will be interfered with by the "house" and they will not be able to see its shape.

Lebius seemed to have hit something.

The person, a person wearing the uniform of the Bureau of Order, was silent, his skin had a grayish white feel, his face was the same flat grayish white, and he had no facial features.

Followed by more of the same.

They seemed to be cleaners, picking up mops and rags and wiping the walls of the "Ken Room", so busy that no one paid attention to Lebius.

Lebius did not look at their faces, and tried to calm down. He held the burning note in his hand and walked as fast as possible.

Weird scenes continued one after another, and he could hear whispers lingering in his ears. It seemed that they were the "cleaners" who noticed him and cast strange glances at him.

The surrounding walls slowly squirmed, and the solid walls moved and reorganized, like a living maze.

Time passes in an instant, the white bricks and stones are slightly yellowed by time, and a thick layer of dust accumulates on the neat ground.

Lebius walked along the long memory. He came to the elevator in the central hall and pressed the elevator. The rusty elevator door slowly opened, as if he was waiting for Lebius. There was nothing inside. one person.

Walking inside, Lebius glanced at the rows of button boards. He still remembered the appearance of the elevator in his memory.

There are not many buttons in the elevator. Different permissions open to different floors, but now it has become something beyond memory. Among the familiar rows of buttons, there is an extra red button. It is located at the end of all the buttons. underneath, as if it was deliberately hidden.

Next to the button, there were many scratches and dark red stains. It seemed that someone wanted to write something on it, but in the end nothing was left.

From the scratches, Lebius vaguely saw a scene where the man collapsed and went crazy in the elevator, his nails scratching at the metal.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything. Even if his nails were broken, they would only leave shallow white marks and stains after the blood dried.

This red button leads to an unknown floor, a floor that only people with level five permissions can reach.

Fortunately, Lebius had been there seven years ago. Unfortunately, he knew very well what kind of place it was. If possible, Lebius really hoped that he would never have anything to do with it again in his life.

But he couldn't escape. When he arrived there in the seventh year, he couldn't escape. Lebius would have to return there sooner or later, but there was just one reason missing.

Now, the mystery of Borogo Lazarus gives him a reason to return to Hell.

No longer thinking about it, Lebius leaned on crutches and pressed the red button. The elevator trembled slightly, the lights flickered on and off, and then it began to move and sink.

Sinking, sinking.

Lebius didn't know exactly how long it had sunk. The only way to judge the time was the burning note in his hand.

The monitor in the corner has long been dimmed and no longer shows the specific floor. It seems that from the moment the red button is pressed, the "kenshi" banishes the elevator until it continues to sink and touches the bottom.

Touch the unknown foundation hidden in the darkness.

The foundation of the "house".

The trembling of the elevator stopped. Lebius estimated that the sinking lasted for at least a few hours. Of course, it may also be that his sense of time was also distorted. In this ghost place, anything is possible.

As for the note in his hand, most of it had burned, leaving only a corner. Lebius held it in his hand. Interestingly, there was no pain from being burned by fire, but it was very cold, as if he was holding it. A constantly melting ice crystal.

Leaning on crutches and walking tiredly, I stepped out of the elevator and found myself in a deep corridor. It was dark all around. Only the elevator behind me and the front of me had a little light.

Lebius walked towards the shimmering light and found himself in another, larger space.

"call……"

Lebius took a deep breath and was already prepared, but when he saw this majestic and weird scenery again, he still couldn't help but tremble in his heart.

Below him is an endless abyss, with huge neat cliffs running parallel to each other, standing at both ends of the abyss, turning it into a long and narrow gap.

Looking around, the black stone cliff extends to the end of the line of sight. There is no end, whether from top to bottom, or from left to right.

There are many protrusions similar to words on the surface of the black stone. Lebius cannot understand the words, but he has a premonition. The words are full of anger and hatred, as if they are sealing something.

The location where Lebius is located is a bulge on the black stone cliff, a standard rectangular bulge with sharp edges and spotless edges.

The atmosphere here is solemn and weird. There is obviously no light source, but Lebius can see everything around him clearly.

Taking a deep breath, Lebius plucked up the courage and raised the hand holding the note. From the gaps between his fingers, gilded light overflowed, like a torch.

He stepped towards the abyss in front of him.

In the thick darkness below, a pair of slender, pale arms, a hundred meters long, stretched out. The surface of the arms was covered with blue raised blood vessels, densely packed, like vines clinging to a dead tree. It lifted Using a piece of black stone as a step, he steadily caught Lebius' steps.

Stepping forward again, another pair of pale arms lifted the black stone and emerged from the darkness below.

In just a few steps, dozens of pairs of arms have risen from the darkness, squeezing each other like twisted and growing towering trees.

The weird and twisted scene was nauseating, and at the same time, endless hoarse sounds sounded from below.

"Light..."

"It's light..."

Lebius stared ahead and never looked away. He could hear those whispers, as if there were countless weird things entrenched under the darkness, staring at him with eyes full of envy and obsession.

As he stepped forward, the black stone cliff at the other end also began to change. A crack separated silently. It moved to both sides along a straight vertical line. The crack extended to the end of the line of sight above, like a god swinging a sword. Cut open the mountains.

The crack extended inwards and turned into a long and narrow rift.

Lebius stepped onto the rift valley, and the endless arms behind him returned to the darkness. What awaited him was an endless journey and a tranquility that was so quiet that it was maddening.

Finally, Lebius saw it in the vague darkness.

A door.

A lonely wooden door located at the end of the deep, its style is extremely ordinary, there is nothing weird about it, but its appearance here is the biggest weirdness in itself.

There were no useful markings on it, no chains or swords, no warning signs of "Secure Containment", nothing familiar or reassuring.

It seems that... all this does not belong to the Bureau of Order, but a certain area "bordering" the Bureau of Order.

The only identifiable information is the metal nameplate hanging on it.

Lebius looked at the door plate above. There was a line of text engraved on the metal nameplate.

House of the Rising Sun.

A rustling sound came from behind the door. Something was coming, something entrenched in the depths of darkness, guarding the door.

Lebius saw it.

Countless, jagged, pale limbs poked out from the darkness, like a monster made up of human limbs. It stretched out from every corner, and its slender palms stretched out from behind, hugging it tightly. The wooden door, his palms kept stroking the surface of the wooden door, and he used his body as a lock to close it firmly.

It did not actively attack Lebius. It seemed that it was not trying to prevent someone from entering the door, but was being careful... careful about something that was about to come out of the door.

Things that shouldn't exist...

A greedy gasp came from the darkness, like a wolf smelling blood, followed by a mixture of murmurs, as if whispering some ancient story, a vicious curse.

Lebius stood in front of the door, and soon a pale arm stretched out towards him, just like the arm he had seen in the crack before. The length of the arm was far beyond the reach of human limbs. It slowly stopped in the column. Bius stood in front of him, and then spread his palms.

Asking for something.

Raising his hand, Lebius hung his palm over the pale palm and opened it. The note in it had long been burned, and the ashes with residual warmth fell on the pale palm, and a golden luster lingered on it. The dust room.

The craggy palms held the ashes in their palms, and golden light burst out from the gaps between the fingertips.

Indistinct words echoed in the darkness.

"Pitiful……"

The arm retracted the darkness, and the sound of chewing came from the dark depths.

Not long after, another arm stretched out, holding a golden key in his hand. The golden luster was slightly dimmed, suffering from the ravages of time.

That is the "Key of the Winding Path", and Lebius knows where it leads.

The key was inserted into the wooden door and turned.

A crisp metallic sound sounded.

As the lock core was twisted, the arms wrapped around the wooden door slid towards the frame of the wooden door. Their slender nails penetrated into the gaps and used all their strength to open the wooden door.

It was obviously a thin wooden door, but under these arms, it was as heavy as a mountain. Harsh friction sounds could be heard from it, and some kind of creature burst out from the darkness, whimpering and crying with all its strength.

Lebius heard the scream of flesh and blood being torn and broken under the huge force, and he also saw the arms trying to open the wooden door tighten one by one, and the cyan blood vessels like spider webs protruded under the pale skin. The force exerted was not only The wooden door was opened little by little, and at the same time, the arms were twisted and collapsed under the force.

One arm after another was twisted, and they fell to the ground, dripping with blood. Painful whimpering came from the darkness behind the door, but soon more arms stretched out, and they dragged the severed limbs back to the darkness, and then Replacing the broken arms, he continued to open the wooden door.

Lebius heard the sound of sucking, and something was licking the flowing blood...

He tried his best to focus on the wooden door and not pay attention to anything else.

Amid blood and pain, the door opened.

A tired sigh sounded in the darkness, and brilliant golden light overflowed from the crack in the door. As the door was completely opened, it poured out like a torrent.

Endless light spilled out from behind the door, as if the door penetrated into the core of the blazing sun. The pale limbs were afraid of it and hid in the darkness. Under the only light, only Lebius was left facing it.

Stepping into the light, faint singing sounded from the wooden door, echoing in the deep silence.

The desolate voice sang.

“In the shadow of Opos, there is a house.

They called it...the 'House of the Rising Sun'. "