Reincarnations, the infinite.

Chapter XII – Journey to Hell

While Eduardo went to meet his family, the Hunter decided to finish the pending task of assembling a team. One more member was needed to turn it into an elite group, as Sun Tzu taught in "The Art of War": know your enemy as you know yourself. The benevolent spirit headed to a Candomblé house, and as soon as he entered, the infamous drums of the place ceased, and everyone looked at him, even the incarnates with "supernatural powers."

The Hunter thought about how long it had been since he set foot in a place like that. Figures of saints and statues were scattered everywhere. Teachings from various doctrines mingled there. The smell of incense was strong, and the painting of the place was of a dark color, somewhat macabre for a religious site. He began to reminisce when, incarnated as a young child, his mother always took him to various places like this. Perhaps deep down, she knew she should train him for something greater in the future. Even as a young boy, he was never startled by that environment. He found everything natural and only had endless doubts and whys that were never answered.

His memories soon vanished from his mind when he felt a hostile presence in the place. The gazes of the spiritual protectors there pulverized him, so the Hunter said, "Calm down, folks, I just came to talk!"

Suddenly, he was surprised by a familiar figure. It was the same Exu he had faced with Eduardo at the party where he trained the young man to fight against spiritual vampires. He remained the same capoeirista with a skull mask, as intimidating as ever.

"How dare you enter my house? Disrespectful brat!" he exclaimed, rushing towards the intruder without waiting for any response. The Hunter blocked as best as he could, dodging three or four blows. He leaped when his opponent attempted a notorious capoeira move, the "beija-flor." Seizing the opportunity while his enemy had one hand on the ground, he kicked the supporting hand, sending him sprawling to the ground. The Hunter responded with a hint of arrogance, "Hey, friend. I've been training a lot since our last encounter. We can spend the whole day here doing this."

"Where did you learn those moves, kid?" Exu asked.

"In a movie I watched when I was incarnated!" the Hunter replied with a mischievous smile.

At that moment, Exu was convinced. Until then, he believed that this war was not his. But his opponent opened his eyes, and he decided to listen to what his "enemy" had to say. After a long debate, it was decided: Exu would be the guide who would lead the team to the depths of the abyss on a dangerous mission to recover a lost soul. Challenges are always appreciated by fighting spirits.

The Hunter and Exu headed to the Spiritist Center where everything would begin: Chico Xavier's Paths. Several days passed for Eduardo to return. He was somewhat sad, and when asked, he only said that it was not the right time to talk about it, and they should focus on the mission. Professor Carlos, Marcelo, and Nakata, now initiated into all those mystical teachings, would be the bridge for the group in the material world.

"Be careful not to have your perispirit weakened. If you suffer a severe injury, you risk reaching the ovoid stage of involution. Then only emergency reincarnations for recovery will be possible to bring you back!" Marcelo warned.

The group, consisting of Eduardo in astral projection, the Hunter, and Exu, teleported to umbraline regions. There they met Débora, the healer. Eduardo was surprised because instead of seeing an old lady as described by his mentor, in front of him was a young girl with golden blond hair, blue eyes, and skin as white as snow. The Hunter, noticing Eddie's intrigued look, replied, "When dead, the image we present is the one we liked most in life. Stop drooling and focus on the mission! She is still the little granny who wants to take care of everyone."

"Dante Alighieri was a powerful medium, and he was not crazy at all. There was much wisdom in how he described hell in his work: The Divine Comedy. I am here precisely to protect you. Especially from yourselves," Débora informed.

From there, the group had to walk as if they were incarnated. Teleportation would attract unnecessary attention, and not everyone there could perform such a feat in that gloomy environment. At the entrance to hell, the group saw Charon, the ferryman. He was a skeletal creature, half man, half boat, who took the group to the other side of the Acheron River, the river of the dead, for a basic fee of two gold pieces per head, paid by Débora at the beginning of the crossing. After getting off the boat, the four saw a gigantic gate. Sleeping peacefully was another enormous creature, the infamous three-headed dog known in mundane fantasy literature as Cerberus, the infernal dog, guardian of the gates of the underworld. Débora began to sing. Her song could calm the heart of the most devilish of men, making both the giant dog stay asleep and the group feel more motivated.

"Let's cross while she keeps the creature asleep. I don't know if it would be a good idea to face such a beast," Exu suggested.

Contrary to what many might think, the crossing went smoothly. Eduardo had already begun to praise the choice of that "lady" for the team. Fighting against humanoid beings is one thing; monsters of abyssal deformities are another... He wouldn't even know how to act, to begin with.

After some more time walking on the deserted and reddish ground of that place, they reached a gigantic building with letters Eduardo didn't understand the meaning of. The only thing he could discern was that the construction resembled the college where he had graduated in law.

"You are far from home, insects," a terrifying voice came from inside the building, belonging to a shadowy creature. From the being's head, horns could be seen sprouting like those of a bull, as it continued with its words. "Ovoids, we go from eight to eighty in moments... Is there no involution? Why are there moments when we are angels, and others, we are worms? Evolution can take leaps... However, you can always return to the abyss from whence you came! Look through the window and see the valley of the forgotten, where ovoids, plasmatic creatures resembling a living mud puddle that were once human, await the biblical arrival of Christ to return them to life! There lies the true death for the 'dead.' That will be your home if you do not return!"

"This is Minos! Demon judge of the tribunal of the dead. Hell is made up of several layers, and he decides who goes to each hellish layer from the abyss here," Exu explained.

Eduardo looked closely at the demon and then at Exu, saying, "Exu, the way you talk doesn't suit you, man. You speak all proper. How deceived we are. I always imagined you all rough and talking wrong or something. Now the guy in front of us, I get it. At first, I was a little scared

, but now I remember that all of this is pure theater. You, creatures of darkness, are nothing more than spirits like us. Just like the old lady here disguised herself as a soap opera model." At this moment, Eduardo pointed to Débora, who did not seem to like the comment. "You are also just a person. What prevents us from slipping by here and ignoring you?"

"I know it's unfair, but to prove our point, the four of us can simply brawl with him..." the Hunter added.

Minos completely changed his expression from one moment to another. That terrifying aspect changed to a frightened countenance as he said, almost stuttering, "G-gentlemen. Let's take it easy! Let's agree on something. I'll give you free passage directly to the City of Hell, without going through the Sea of Many Faces. You will be transported directly to a great infernal tavern. There, just look for the Succubus, and she will help you."

According to the guide Exu, the Sea of Many Faces was something that the group could really do without visiting on this infernal tour. Obviously, the group accepted without hesitation. The City of Hell was like a gigantic metropolis on Earth, perpetually immersed in night. Dirt and visual pollution took hold of everyone's eyes, not to mention dejected creatures that closely resembled the drugged youth Eduardo always encountered when crossing downtown São Paulo. Upon entering the infernal tavern, a beautiful girl with red hair and a sculptural body approached the Hunter. The Hunter started a warm conversation with her, while other girls brought drinks for the rest of the group. Succubus, already with her arms around the Hunter's shoulders, said to everyone, "Refusing the drink is a serious offense here, gentlemen. I recommend that you drink, then I can help you."

Débora was against it, but the Hunter, Eddie, and Exu almost instantly drank after the words of the red-haired girl. It was as if they were enchanted by the beauty of that creature. Angry looks from all sides convinced the healer to drink too. Débora felt dizzy, staggered a bit, and everything went black before her eyes. She was the last to pass out, with everyone else already sprawled on the floor.

*A man in a suit, perfectly groomed beard, with a certain metrosexual style, was the first thing the group saw when they opened their eyes. As soon as everyone was awake, he began to speak:*

"Welcome, my guests. Forgive me if the reception was not as you expected; it happens that we don't have a good policy for unannounced visitors like you. I know why you came. Because of this beautiful young lady here." Curled up in the dark corner of the room was the girl Eduardo had seen in his dreams, Amanda. She trembled as if she were cold and ignored the rest of the people in the room. "In other moments, I would be bothered by your presence. But today is a day of celebration, after all, the world, as you know it, is coming to an end. The deadline is July twentieth, two thousand and nineteen!"

"I don't believe in all this end-of-the-world nonsense. How many times has the end been predicted? Moreover, given the time and space dimensions of the universe, we are grains of sand lost in all this; what makes us so special for the world to end now? And before I passed away, there were studies saying that the Nibiru 2012 and Earth's pole reversals were nonsense... The Mayans had other dates set for the end of the world!" the Hunter replied skeptically.

"And do you really think that the higher spirits would let panic spread in your small and ignorant little world that doesn't understand the true meaning of all this? When the correct date information came out, the spirits intervened! After all, two-thirds of the Earth's population will perish practically overnight; the few who survive will form the new world. Earth will no longer be a world of expiation and trials; it will be a transformation into the new paradise. The law of nature, according to my old friend Darwin, either you evolve or die. In fact, my happiness lies in your coming, as I am interested in avoiding this end! There is a war to see who will take over the Earth; the only way the angels of light found to prevent this war from extending for another billion years was this! We couldn't even have this conversation if we weren't here in the abyss, very, very deep down, at the bottom of the pit; we couldn't even have this conversation without the Angels of Light knowing."

"And how do you know that, Mr. Smarty Pants? Have you talked to any of them? Have you talked to the Spirit of Truth, who is said to know everything?" the Hunter questioned again.

"HAHAHAHA. HE is inaccessible. The higher spirits put him in a maximum-security prison. They knew that anyone opposing the destruction of the planet Earth would go after him. A direct link to the SON of the BOSS HUAHUAHUAHA. I knew you would ask about him. "

"Look at that! You really know who he is. You're not entirely ignorant. But I still know you're the father of lies," Débora added, causing astonishment in everyone.

"You impudent worms. I am indeed known by various names; this is one of them. I ruled the abyss for thousands and thousands of years, and I know very well what you want to know," the man in the suit changed his appearance. Black horns began to sprout like shadows from his head, and his body grew to a considerable size, nearing almost three meters in height. He approached Débora, kneeling. At this moment, she spat in the demon's face. Enraged, he slapped the poor lady in the face, throwing her far away. Faced with this aggression, the other three members of the group jumped on him in a cosmic battle. While they fought, the demon continued speaking normally, explaining...

After hours of combat and explanation, the lord of darkness gave the information that the "maximum-security prison" was actually an incarnation in a completely debilitated material body. Wheelchair-bound, severe mental problems. What was known was that he was in a philanthropic institution, a center for the integration of special people. Reaching him seemed easy, provided they found where to look, but he would have to be asleep to awaken the spirit contained in that "camouflaged body." Besides, his bodyguards would probably be highly elevated spirits who could pulverize anyone's perispirit with just a glance, if it were their will. That's if they didn't send them even lower into the abyss, taking thousands of years just to get out.

Exu and the Hunter were already lying on the ground, their spiritual strength depleted from the blows they received from the embodiment of evil. Eduardo endured the worst beating of his life. It felt as if with each punch, his flesh was crushed, and his bones were shattered, even though he knew he had no flesh and bones to be torn apart. The full force of the Lord of Darkness manifested there. After a while, the pain from the blows no longer bothered him. What troubled Eddie the most was the shame. Shame for having others depending on his actions to save them, yet he could do nothing. Everyone else was unconscious, obsessed, and sprawled on the floor. The eternity of Eduardo flashed before him like lightning. Countless past reincarnations where he had been almost as cruel and brutal as the one who was now his tormentor. The young man felt he deserved such humiliation. Amidst all that suffering, he remembered the words of redemption, surrendering his soul and heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. He couldn't just end it there, not when so much was at stake. So, during a brief pause that his tormentor took, Eduardo smiled. A brilliance akin to a thousand suns filled the room...