Banished to the Abyss After Defying the Author-Chapter 6: Where Light Is a Crime

Noah kept moving without slowing.

Victoria was still in his arms. Light, but undeniably real.

Her breath brushed against his chest, warm against the oppressive heat that pressed in from every direction.

Hell assaulted the senses, but Noah treated it like an inconvenience rather than a threat.

After a while, she spoke.

Not afraid.

Curious.

"By the way," she said, her voice quieter now, steadier, "who is Luciferus?"

Noah didn’t look down.

"One of the Devil Lords," he said. "There are six others like him. All beneath the Devil King."

Victoria frowned. "If he’s just one of them... why meet him at all? Couldn’t you force him to take you straight to the Devil King?"

Noah exhaled.

"Things don’t obey shortcuts here," he replied. "Especially not anymore."

There was something final in his tone. She sensed it—and didn’t push further.

Devils noticed them.

They poured out of the darkness screaming—burning, twisted, desperate. Noah didn’t acknowledge them. His gaze never shifted.

They erased themselves.

One after another, they vanished mid-charge, as if existence reconsidered them and quietly decided they were unnecessary.

They reached a white barrier.

It didn’t glow.

It rejected.

Victoria opened her mouth—

"Don’t ask," Noah said softly. "Just see."

He stepped through.

Her breath caught.

Then her thoughts did.

Her consciousness collapsed inward, as if something merciful—and cruel—had flipped a switch in her mind. Her body went limp in his arms.

Noah glanced down.

"...Right," he muttered. "Forgot to warn you."

He looked up.

The sky beyond the barrier was red—not with fire, but with blood so dense it felt wet to look at. Floating within it were eyes.

Not one.

Hundreds.

Each the size of a moon. Each ringed with countless smaller eyes that moved independently, tracking him with obscene precision.

The stench was unbearable.

The eyes reacted.

Light lanced outward—not heat, not flame, but pure illumination sharp enough to cut through dimensions.

Noah stepped aside from the first beam. The second grazed past him, carving a canyon through Hell’s crust.

"Tch."

He shifted Victoria higher in his grip and kicked upward.

His foot struck one of the massive eyes.

The impact sent it tumbling across the sky, tearing through layers of Hell like paper.

Noah followed.

Another kick. Another rupture.

Then he stomped.

The eye collapsed inward, screaming without sound before being crushed into nothing.

Noah landed, shoulders tightening slightly.

"...Still weak," he muttered. "Even restrained."

He rolled his neck once. "This body really hates prolonged exertion."

His gaze sharpened.

So you sealed the town here, he realized. Shallow Hell.

Without hesitation, he folded space.

The world skipped.

Darkness.

Not shadow.

Not absence.

Prohibition.

Shallow Hell did not allow illumination—physical, magical, or conceptual. Even the idea of light was treated as a violation.

Noah stood within it, untouched.

Victoria stirred.

Her eyes opened slowly.

She saw nothing.

Except him.

His eyes burned sapphire-blue—the only visible thing in the void.

"...Where are we?" she asked weakly, a dull ache pulsing behind her eyes.

Noah lowered her to her feet. "Shallow Hell."

She looked around, panic creeping in despite herself. "There’s nothing here. How are we supposed to find my people?"

Noah tilted his head.

"We’ll make it visible."

He stepped forward.

Light existed.

Shallow Hell screamed.

The ground convulsed. The void trembled violently, like reality choking on a foreign substance.

Victoria staggered. "What’s happening?!"

Noah watched the reaction calmly.

"This place forbids light," he said. "Even thinking about it is illegal."

She swallowed. "Then what happens to someone who ignores that?"

Before he could answer—

They arrived.

Six presences tore into the space around them, each heavier than the last. Forms emerged from darkness—vast, refined by hierarchy, sculpted by cruelty.

Devil Lords.

Each wrong in a different way. Each stronger than the last.

Victoria’s breath hitched.

Noah sighed.

"Right on time."

Understanding clicked into place.

The Devil Lords attacked.

Noah stepped aside from the first strike, the blow missing him by a breath and annihilating nothingness behind him. He pivoted, kicked another across its face, sending the massive form skidding through layers.

A serpent-like Leviathene lunged.

Noah ducked beneath it and struck upward.

The Devil Lord flew.

Victoria clutched her head—not in fear, but in disbelief.

Why is this happening to me?

Noah inhaled.

"Enough."

The word fell.

Not loudly.

Not violently.

Everything stopped.

The tremors ceased. The Devil Lords froze mid-motion. Even Victoria’s thoughts locked in place, suspended in an unfinished breath.

Noah stood at the center of it all, irritation finally breaking through his restraint.

"...What an inconvenience," he said quietly. "To be chased by ants in a place that already hates existence."

He took one step forward.

And Shallow Hell obeyed.

Noah skipped across the land in a single breath.

Space folded, collapsed, and corrected itself—and then the town was there.

Suspended inside a vast golden dome.

Noah slowed and sighed.

"...That was easier than expected," he muttered. "Why do I always assume there’ll be a twist?"

He looked down at Victoria, still held against him—her body warm, her presence real, her mind frozen in perfect stasis.

"Hey," he said lightly. "You can move now. Looks like we found your town."

The stasis shattered.

Victoria gasped softly as sensation rushed back in all at once. Her thoughts scrambled, reaching for memories that weren’t there.

"...Why don’t I remember anything?" she asked, confused. "It’s like there’s a blank space."

Noah exhaled. "Because there is."

He lowered her gently to the ground.

"Your memory—your consciousness at the moment I stopped time—is still in stasis," he explained. "Everything after that happened without it."

Victoria frowned, trying to process it. "So... my mind is frozen, but I’m still moving?"

"Yes," Noah said. "I made a small edit to keep you functional."

She looked down at herself, flexed her fingers.

"...That’s disturbing."

She hesitated, then frowned again. "But I didn’t die. You said if I touched Hell’s ground, I’d die instantly."

"Well since Everything in Perfect statis," Noah said "Even the Effects like Death too."

He was already walking toward the dome.

Victoria watched him for a second—then followed, still unsettled.

She crossed the barrier.

Nothing happened.

Inside, the town was silent.

Too silent.

No voices.

No movement.

No people.

Victoria’s breath caught. "Where is everyone?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Noah stopped.

He sighed, irritation finally slipping through.

"...I should’ve expected this," he said quietly. "The Abyssal King and the Devil King."

He looked at the empty streets.

"Dragging this out. Wasting time. Wasting effort."

The golden dome hummed faintly above them.

And the absence felt intentional.