War. War is something that isn’t new in the realms of Hell. Everyday a war against just and goodness is being fought. The Devils, of course want their powers to reign supreme over the good so in order to accomplish this, the Devil has selected several warriors in the 6th circle. This particular circle’s name was the Battlefield Circle for all it was made of was war and bloodshed. Warriors and innocents alike were tortured bloodily. No one was safe. All souls must suffer. You might think that this is just another variation of Yoona’s or Yuri’s circle. There was the factor of being tortured and there was the factor of being burnt. Well it’s all the same here. Hell has always been about suffering and burning. When was it ever safe?

Once again, Minho was falling from the skies, falling endlessly as it seemed. His body was covered with burns as he journeyed the inferno, going through several challenges and facing off with wrathful goddesses, losing every time. He was starting to notice a pattern. He was always losing whenever he faced off against the goddesses or the challenges. Minho never won. He never got a chance to redeem himself. It was as if Hell wanted him to be in its realms, Hell didn’t want him to leave. Hell was meant for him ad he was supposed to stay there. For eternity.
Minho fell on the hard cement ground of the bubbling and thundering inferno. He looked up and saw what he saw in the 2nd circle: weapons. Yes, weapons. New and old alike. He saw swords and daggers, katana swords, bombs, missiles, guns, tanks. It was a war scene. And there were dead bodies everywhere, scattered and skinned. Minho sat up and gazed at this terrible, horrifying sight. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t something he would want to see.
“Get up!” called a stern voice from the air. Minho sat up and looked around him, trying to source out that voice.

“Who are you?! Show yourself!!”

“Get up!” the voice commanded. It was deep and intimidating, not like a man rather like a lady leader. The leader of a battalion. Minho did as told and got up quickly, dusting himself. He was covered with wounds and burns and though he had died several times in the other circles, he managed to remain immortal for the rest of this dream. He just didn’t seem to die.
“What do you want? I’m up now!!” he said. The gray clouds swirled and down came a majestic gray horse that that one blue eye and one green eye. The horse galloped and neighed, making sounds that were louder than the thunder and thumped greater than an earthquake. The horse landed on the ground and looked at Minho. Its eyes turned blood red and its teeth turned into fangs. This freak of nature began to look like a vampire-horse.

But nothing could prepare Minho for what was coming next…

From above came a light. The sound of trumpets filled the place, trumpets that could only mean war. A battle cadence started playing as a beautiful yet tough-looking maiden descended from the clouds. Her brown hair was long, all the way to her feet and tied by a steel flower on the side. She was clad in a coffee-colored dress layered dress that was up to her knees and coffee colored pumps. On her shoulder was a bow and arrow and tied to her right leg was a gun. She looked half-modern and half-medieval. Minho looked her in the eye and noticed that she had piercing gray ones, as gray as her horse’s fur. She stepped on the ground and drew her gun.

“Woah. What are you!?!? S-“

“Did my presence shock you?” asked the goddess with her head held high.

“Soo Young? “ blurted Minho. Soo Young looked at him and fired her gun, making Minho cover his ears and cower in fright.

“Yes. It is me. Who else?” said SooYoung. She moved towards Minho, this blunt action intimidating him. Soo Young looked beautiful and very much ready for battle.

“What are you going to do to me now?!” cried Minho in exhaustion and fatigue. He was so sick and tired of being hurt over and over again. He believed that his body had suffered enough.

“Punish you, of course!” Soo Young cackled. “What else would you possibly want me to do with you here? Worship you?”

“Well, that would be nice.” Minho snickered under his breath, angering the impatient war goddess. Soo Young channeled Zeus by pulling out a thunder sword, aiming it at him and throwing it, nearly slicing Minho in half. Good thing he was able to avoid it.

“Enough with your arrogance!” Soo Young growled. “I am not convinced by words. I would rather see it for myself. I would like to see your greatness. Let us put it to the test, shall we?” Soo Young pulled out one of her lightning spears and played with the sharp tip. It was a lightning spear that had the power of real lightning. She used it to threaten Minho.

“Test? What test? Bring it on!” Soo Young couldn’t believe how Minho managed to stay so conceited despite of his situation in Hell. She absolutely hated his guts and showy enthusiasm.

“I hate your guts!” Soo Young said. “But at the same time I like it! It makes me want to put you through a challenge, just to see how great that strength of his was.

“Go ahead. Try me!” Minho said with fake confidence. Deep down inside, he was really, really, really scared. Soo Young smirked at his willingness to go through her challenge and treat it like it was just any other challenge.

“Very well. Since you are willing to go through this, I shall explain it to you. You will go through a series of physical tests, obstacles that involve weaponry.The final round is when you get the shield of Kang. The shield of Kang is the shield of strength used only by the mightiest men. If you are mighty, you deserve a way to the Kang.” Soo Young said. “It’ll also serve as your redemption. If you get the shield of Kang, you leave Hell. But if you don’t…” Soo Young rubbed the tip of her lightning bolt.

“You go further down.” with these words, Soo Young disappeared, leaving Minho in the middle of the grasslands. Out of nowhere, battle paraphernalia began to rise. There were targets, canyons, guns, swords, everything used for fighting. The obstacle course was ready and all Onew had to do was find a way to the Shield of Kang.

[song: “Can’t Nobody” by 2NE1]

“Dammit! This is just like the labyrinth.” he said. The first round was target shooting. This target shooting was quite different. Instead of bows and arrows, Minho had to use lightning bolts similar to the ones Soo Young had. There was a catch, though. There were only three trials. If Minho failed all three trails, he would have to face the Gray Devils, Soo Young’s warriors. These Gray Devils were highly skilled in the field of battle and Minho, having no weapon with him, knew he had to make this good.

He entered the first obstacle and encountered this. Wasting no time, he picked a lightning bolt up and aimed it at the target. Minho winked and tried to get a really good target and bam! He aimed the first lightning bolt and got a bullseye. The lightning bolt glowed and faded. The next lightning bolt was the same. Minho focused and aimed it, getting a bullseye once again. Soo Young watched from her throne and was impressed with his skills. It was now time for the final lightning bolt. Minho grabbed it and knelt down, trying to stay as focused as possible. He stuck his tongue out and though he was really feeling weak, he managed to give it a good throw and got a 3rd bullseye.

“Months of practicing at the bar.” he boasted. The target slowly transformed into a weapon. A real bow and arrow! Minho picked this up and hurriedly left the first area but before he could do so, 4 Robin Hood-like warriors confronted him with their bows and arrows. Having acquired new weapons, Minho smikred and teased them.

“Come on boys! What do you want?!” he jeered. The warriors on their horses dashed at him and circled around him, throwing stones at him to weaken him. Minho was hit by some stones but he made use of his bow and arrow and shot down each and every single one of them including their horses. Inhumane and cruel but he had to do it if he wanted to live.

“Sorry guys. But it’s for me.” Minho skipped and found his way to the Samurai Site or so he thought it was. The place had scarecrows that looked very scary and overly stuffed. On the ground was a golden samurai sword. The challenge looked easy but there was a different take on it.

“You are to cut those scarecrows up and find the missing golden pieces amongst the hay. Once you find them, form the Golden Scarab with these pieces in order to receive your next weapon.” said Soo Young. Minho quickly did as told and grabbed the golden samurai sword, slashing the first scarecrow. Out came tons and tons of hay as well as some golden pieces. Minho bent over and dug for the golden pieces, finding 2 in the first scarecrow. The second scarecrow was even more stuffed. Minho did the same thing, slashing it and cutting it, digging into the haystack and collecting the golden pieces. He was down to his last scarecrow so he had to make it good. Minho cut it up and opened it. Out came the hay and the golden pieces. Minho dove for the golden pieces and collected them, cowering over to a small side to assemble it, forming a scarab.

This was where Minho struggled. He knew what a scarab looks like but it was hard at this point to assemble one with the golden pieces.

“Uhh. let’s see. This goes here, and here…” Minho mumbled as he arranged the scarab. After minutes of struggling, he finally formed the scarab and presented it to the goddess by putting it in his hands and raising it. Soo Young looked down and watched as the golden scarab glowed, turning itself into another weapon.

Another samurai sword! Silver!

“You may keep this and the other sword. You will need them in battle.” Soo Young advised. Minho nodded, grateful for the goddess.

Minho moved on to the final round, a round he didn’t at all expect. There he was before the shrine of the Shield of Kang. He was so close yet so far. Why?

There was a whirlwind. A huge, powerful whirlwind around the place. It totally annihilated the plants that were around, creating an entirely different dimension. Minho stayed put, holding his weapons tight. The whirlwind made him feel dizzy and once it stopped, he took a look at what was before him. To his great surprise, he was standing on a chess board-like surface as if he was one of the key players in a game of chess.

The familiar cadence sounded. He knew that sound. It was coming from the dark, red sky.

Then, descending from an evil palace were horses with Gray Devils riding on them. The horses with their men positioned on the squares, leaving one square vacant. Minho knew who they were waiting for.

The cadence never stopped. The trumpets and drums played even louder. This signaled the coming of the Goddess of War herself, Choi Soo Young. There she was on her gray horse clad in a gray gown, with her sword and shield. Minho trembled in fright as she looked absolutely ready for the kill. Her horse landed on the square and they were all complete, ready to face Minho.

“Do you think I will make your journey to the Shield of Kang that easy? Hah! Seeing your progress made my blood boil so I decided to change the challenge a little bit. See, we’re gonna play a little variation of chess.I have my line of warriors. I have a samurai, an archer, a gunman, a soldier, and me. But let’s not delay this anymore. Let’s fight.” Soo Young said with a smirk.With a snap of her finger, her warriors charged at him. The archer used his bow and arrow to hit him but Minho countered with his golden sword. The samurai saw this and used his sword as well. Having another sword, Minho pulled it out and fought two men with two swords. Soo Young watched from behind, impressed with his fighting skills as well as thinking of a strategy to end him once and for all.

“Here’s to you!” he chopped the archer’s arms off. “And here’s to you!” he turned to the samurai, stabbed him and chopped his head off. The gunman had a gun on his back. Minho felt this and used his silver sword.

“Good luck to me!” he raised his arm and skewered the gunman’s head. Soo Young was nervous as her men proved to be no match for Minho. No matter how many they were, he was just too good!

Finally, there was only one man Minho had to face. The soldier. The soldier had a grenade in his hand, ready to aim it at Minho.

“I guess you forgot about this solider.” said the soldier. Minho looked at him and realized that he still had his bow and arrow. The soldier played with the grenade, smirking at Minho.

“Sorry boy, I didn’t!” Minho used his bow and arrow and hit the soldier straight in the heart. The soldier fell to his feet and with his mouth open and bleeding, Minho planted the grenade in his mouth and boom he went. Minho annihilated all of Soo Young’s men!

“Sorry boy, we’re not done yet!” Soo Young snapped her finger and the Gray Devils emerged. The all positioned behind Soo Young and boy were they plenty! Minho felt intimidated and scared, about to drop his weapons in defeat. He knew there was NO WAY he could defeat Soo Young and the Gray Devils.

Soo Young drew her sword and still on her gray horse, she commanded,

“CHARGE!” the Gray Devils together with their leader charged at Minho. Minho was just one man. They were an army. Minho refused to give up, though. He sliced and diced and fought with the weapons he had in his hands and though he was able to kill some, he was still no match. Soo Young struck him with her arrow, hitting him on the thigh and making him fall to his knees.

“ARGH! ARGH!” he wailed in pain. Blood was starting to pour from his thigh as Soo Young and the Gray Devils circled around the poor man. Soo Young ordered her men to take out their most dangerous weapon: The bayonet. Soo Young took hers out, too.

“On the count of three. One. Two…” Soo Young looked at him and smirked.

“Hasta la vista, baby!” she said.

“THREE!” all at the same time, they shot their bayonets, giving Minho several stab wounds, killing him in an instant. The Shield of Kang was never retrieved.

Choi Soo Young. Goddess of War.