Demonkin Sudden Death (1)
"But why'd you make us wait a full thirty minutes? Weren't we supposed to charge in all at once and overwhelm them with numbers?"
"That was the initial plan."
Kriel stared at the monastery gates drawing ever closer in the mountains. From within, he could feel a dark, murky energy rippling. It felt like if he just opened the soul's gate right now and accepted the Abyss's power, heavenly vitality would surge through his body.
Heavenly, my ass. More like a psych ward.
Kriel brushed off the urge from his flesh with a chuckle.
"The state inside the monastery isn't normal. It looks like the Abyss corrosion has progressed quite a bit."
"Abyss corrosion. You mean it's turned into an otherworld?"
An otherworld where laws different from the main world took effect. If sufficiently powerful supernatural forces saturated a limited space beyond a certain threshold, it would mutate into an otherworld. Of course, not all otherworlds were created by the Abyss. There were plenty independent of it, like dragon lairs or the Fairy Realm where fairies gathered.
But in this era, the power that most easily induced otherworldization was undoubtedly the Abyss. Otherworlds born from the Abyss were called naraka.
"Blindly throwing a bunch of people into a naraka is the worst option. They're all saints, so they won't get fooled by the Abyss's illusions, but while they're wandering lost in there, the culprit could slip away."
Morgina's eyebrow twitched. What Kriel had just declared was no different from saying he'd ensure the saints wouldn't wander in the naraka for the next thirty minutes.
"So, what? You were planning to smash the naraka's core all by yourself?"
"I've done similar jobs a few times. Weren't you right there with me?"
Morgina had synced up with Kriel several times on the Western Front. When the army got isolated in an otherworld trap prepared by ancient dwarf automatons, Kriel had stepped out alone and severed the machine general's head.
"You crazy knightly bastard..."
"This isn't knightly honor—it's rational division of labor. Who else is better at sniffing out Abyss traces than me?"
In Kriel's judgment, this naraka scouting mission wasn't all that dangerous. The monastery's holy power was effectively masking the Abyss's presence. Put another way, the Abyss aura was so faint that it could be hidden by the blessings of a monastery without any notable sacred relics.
If he ignored the charging monsters and beelined for the naraka's core, thirty minutes would be plenty. As he pondered how to locate the core even faster, he felt the horn dagger at his waist vibrate. The moment he drew the blade, Orishin spoke.
Orishin: [Yeah... Even I think charging into a naraka solo sounds pretty insane.]
Morgina thought it was the first sensible thing out of that motormouth's mouth.
***
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The heavy knocker on the round door clanged under firm grips. No response from inside.
Kriel gripped the knocker again and pounded assertively. Footsteps stirred within.
"Who's there?"
Morgina's eyes flicked to Kriel. He tried to mouth a signal, then remembered his helmet covered most of his face and simply raised his index finger to shush her.
"We are wandering priests of Eve Kaha, who covers the eyes of the dead with raven wings. We've come to borrow your roof for a spell."
Silence fell beyond the door.
"Be off with you. Our monastery is under quarantine. It's a special devotion period for the purest prayers. To maintain that purity, we've cut off all contact with the outside. Our apologies to a guest."
Kriel paused to think. Beyond the door, the Abyss's repulsive aura writhed. Whoever was speaking like a pure priest was no priest at all—just an Abyss monster that had devoured the priest's memories.
Tap.
Tap tap.
Morgina prodded Kriel with her fingers. She now gripped a flail wrapped in red haze.
Kriel sighed and nodded.
***
"What in the—?!"
Satranyak recoiled at the sight of the man and woman bursting through the shattered door. The corpse he'd been controlling moments ago lost its face to a flail strike, severing the link.
The monastery door had been protected by powerful spells. Half of what he'd made the priest's corpse say was true—they'd deployed a barrier using holy arts for the special devotion period to block intruders.
Yet these two wandering priests ignored the barrier, charged in without hesitation, and smashed the corpse just as swiftly. A corpse personally controlled by a demonkin like him—one indistinguishable from the living by normal means.
Then...!
His presence was exposed. Satranyak felt deep dismay. Had some of his worshippers betrayed him?
He suppressed the rising chaos. His master had bestowed excessive grace, allowing him to seize this monastery and turn it into an Abyss domain. The naraka's endless darkness would blind them, and its expanded space would weary their steps.
If these were truly saints come to slay him, they could dispel the darkness with holy power, breach the naraka, and reach the core to destroy it. But that would take time—plenty of it.
Satranyak snapped his fingers. Abyss demonic nature infused the priests' corpses. A makeshift force mostly of monsters, with few beasts or demonkin, but in the naraka's environment, it could stall even saints.
With emergency measures complete, he eyed the mummified figure with the blade embedded in it. The demonic weapon still needed time to fully absorb the corpse's soul. The lean blade was regaining its edge, suggesting about five minutes.
Just two saints so far. Far too few to escape the naraka in five minutes.
Satranyak deemed this soul worth the five-minute investment. A gamble, but one with overwhelmingly high odds. Even fifty minutes wouldn't be enough for just two to conquer the naraka.
***
"Receive Eve Kaha's blessing!"
Morgina's flail pulverized an oncoming undead's skull. So this is what I stepped up as Champion of the Duel Trial to protect. That red-glowing flail was the Eve Kaha Church's signature holy art—infusing one's blood with holy power and reshaping it into a weapon.
Ask why the current Eve Kaha Church had no champions? Just point to Morgina. How was a woman beating skulls like drums with dual flails a saintess?
"Where to next?"
Personality aside, Morgina's skills were top-notch. If I'd had to fight these Abyss monsters myself, I'd still be wrestling them now. Raw destructive power favored me over her, but this was a matchup issue.
The Abyss regenerated relentlessly unless struck by equal or superior Abyss power—or holy force—no matter how many times you smashed it. It had limits, but grinding it down to those limits was work.
That was why I'd planned to ignore the other Abyss monsters and head straight for the core. Dark Knight skills made dropping mere monsters easy, but they were best saved for one activation at the core.
But with a saintess who could splash holy power like water, no need to avoid fights. Why bother when her flail one-shots them?
Confirming all monsters fully downed, I focused my senses on the Abyss, ignoring the familiar temptations and tracing its presence. I felt the naraka's core pulsing beyond the darkness.
"Head to the left corner first. All five paths at the next fork are traps."
"Then?"
I drew my sword. Thanks to Morgina, we'd advanced easily so far—my turn to work.
"We go down. Smashing through will be faster."
***
No red aura danced along Kriel's blade like Morgina's flail. He would use pure fighting spirit.
A ghastly glow evoking bleached bones gathered on the blade—not illuminating the surroundings, but seeming to suck in the naraka's last scraps of light.
Gripping his greatsword in reverse, Kriel aimed the pale-tipped blade at the naraka floor.
And struck down.
From tip to hilt. The entire blade pierced the naraka in one thrust. Viscous darkness, thick as blood, erupted from the gash.
Kriel regripped and heaved upward in an upward slash. A massive rift scarred the naraka.
Without hesitation, Kriel plunged into the formless, rippling darkness.