Chapter 112 - In Demon Territory

The lightning crackled, linking up and covering his front, leaving a little opening that was fast closing to trap him inside. However, at that same moment, energy flared through his body, his muscles suddenly rippling as he bolted into the air, fuelled by the power of the Sage Mode, Half Sage Mode that is.

He soared into the air and in no time, his entire form plunged into the center of the ring, completely getting submerged, much to the disappointment of the guards.

For a split second, Sunday's form rattled like as if it was being ripped apart. And then put together all at once.

Grimacing, he felt the emptiness of the Void gazing at him, his entire consciousness going bleak and blank for some seconds. 

And then everything slammed all together again. The next moment, he felt his body slam into something that suddenly sprouted in front of him, the force of it, ripping him out of the spatial energy about.

"Aaaarghhh!" Sunday growled, thudding helplessly for some meters just immediately after he popped out of the air.

He coughed, raising himself from all fours as he took in the sight of the ground. 

"Oh!" Sunday gasped, puking himself to his knees as he looked about.

The first thing that came to his mind was dark. This place was absolutely dark and nightmarish.

Various sounds rent the air, some being the occasional roar of some beast while the consistent chirping and chittering continued nonetheless, giving the place a sort of animal inhabited vibes. 

However, occasionally, the sounds would die down out of the blues, tremors suddenly sprouting and shaking the ground..

It was creepy, Sunday grimaced, but he had. a mission to do here, nonetheless.

He looked down, observing the brown-reddish crested earth and the reddish sands in cracks beneath it, it appearance having the stink of death essence.

The smell was horrible, putrid as if several corpses had been kept there to rot all day long till they turned into dust. The skies, reddish, occasional flares yellow fires bursting out here and there.

The ground had several of jutting rocks, some as huge as huge could be while some barely up to the height of Sunday which was just about 6ft tall.

Niniola did not do this place justice. Not at all. She had described it to him but definitely, she left out the tingling sensation of danger and the crawling feeling on his skin as he walked through the densely thick dark air. 

If he was not an Irunmole, he was sure he would have had so much difficulty in seeing through the intense red-tinted darkness about.

"So... this is First Heaven, eh?" Sunday said,. stream of air flowing out of his mouth at those words. He hugged himself, shaking his head in an effort to knock out the danger crawling sensation he had on him. And then, he took another step forward.

Immediately his feet landed down, the ground shook with a huge tremor so much that his form was rocked resulting in him falling down to the ground, on his bum.

"Aaagh!" Sunday grimaced as the pain hit his b.u.t.t now. "What a place! This place is..."

'Beautiful?' Bane's voice sounded in a tone of mockery. 'Yes, it is beautiful. This is where the Creator locked us beasts that he created before you Irunmoles and other Spirit beings. Oh, do not tell me you do not like it?' 

"Are you crazy? Why would I like such a hellscape?" Sunday blasted out, his voice rumbling out in rage.

"...hellscape..."

"...hellscape..."

"...hellscape..."

"...hellscape..."

"...hellscape..."

Sunday's voice echoed out for several meters. He shivered as a chill descended on him. He hugged himself immediately, his senses blaring out.

The sounds of the chirping creatures around and all suddenly died down, everywhere becoming as silent as a graveyard.

"What? What the hell?" Sunday whimpered, jumping to his feet. "Why did that happen?" 

'Oh, boy! What do you know about this place?' Bane shook his head at him. 

'This is the place of demons, beasts and of course, the dwellingplace of the Death God and he who must not be named in his confinement. There is one rule here. Only the strong make sounds and noises.'

Sounds of running feet rumbled behind Sunday and in response, he quickly jerked back only for the sounds to die down. His breathing doubled now.

'If you are strong, feel free to make the noise and sounds. If not... Get ready, Sunday. Things would take a drastic turn for bad.'

"AAAaaaarrgghhhh. ????????????????????????????!" Sunday cried out as he threw his hands into the air, turning to his front where the sounds came from.

His hands blazed, white light energy suddenly soldifying into daggers of light as his hands crossed each other before him.

A snarl erupted in his face, putrid airs blasting towards him as the weight of the dark creature rammed into his crossed arms, the force buckling him down by one knee.

He grimaced, watching the creature that attacked him with the reptilian slit pupils of yellow and a body outline of black with the form of a hound, snarling at him.

He snarled back but then gasped just as the creature suddenly grew in size, it's body vanishing away in the next second after buckling Sunday down to his bac, helplessly.

'Hell Hound!' Bane growled in the mind of Sunday. 'Hate those creatures.' 

GROOOWWWWWWLLLL...

'Behind you!' Bane roared out.

The response was instantaneous as Sunday jumped up to his feet, throwing a Chinese get up kick just as wind whistled past him as a heavy mass slammed into the ground behind him.

Sunday stood up immediately, jolting himself into a run as the Hell Hound began to double on him. 

He reached down inside, sinking into his Soul Space as he tried to reach to the energy of the Wolf. Just then, he lifted himself, throwing his weight diagonally over a slanting rock of red to the left of him.

GRRROOOWWWWLLL...

The Hell Hound growled in annoyance just as Sunday hid behind the rock, it's head turning round in 360° degrees as it searched for it's escaped prey.

Meanwhile, Sunday grimaced, failing to activate his Sage Mode.

'Why? Why can't I go to Sage Mode?' Sunday growled angrily inside of him to Bane.

Bane, the Prickled Bane Winged Wolf flapped it's wings, shaking it's head at him from behind the bars.

Just then, the rock where Sunday was hiding shattered into pieces, leaving his back exposed to the cold sniffing nose of the 9ft tall Hell Hound.

"W-what?" Sunday stammered as he turned slowly to the back, his heart thumping several times faster than normal. 

His skin tingled, the hairs on it standing upright as he stared at the head of the Hell Hound that was slowly rearing back, watching saliva dribble down it's opening jaws, the brown enameled fangs gleaming dully in the the dark atmosphere.

"Bane... Why can I not go into..."

ROAAAAAAARRRRRR...

With a sudden jerk, the head of the hound jerked forward faster than lighting, it's jaws snapping shut on where Sunday was. At the same moment, Sunday's body flared in yellow light of the Sage Mode as his Partial Sage form activated, his body suddenly gaining a momentum boost, right out of the snapping jaws of the Hell Hound.

He slid to a stop, turning round to face the hound, his feet roughing through dirt and dust, kicking up a little dust cloud at his feet. 

The Hell Hound shook its head, seemingly disappointed that Sunday evaded it's jaws. It snarled, looking at Sunday now only for it's eyes to widen in surprise.

'Oh, yes! Oh, come on, bring it on. Are you scared now?' Sunday chuckled. watching the Hell Hound whimper, it's head lowering.

Just then, Fate decided to be cruel as the energy coating Sunday began to flicker. The Hell Hound lifted it's head, appearing interested in this so much that it began to lick it's maw. 

Sunday's Sage Mode flickered on and off as he stared at his hands, all confidence vanishing.

"Come on... come on..." Sunday yelped out, grimacing as he tried to maintain Sage Mode.

'Sunday...' Bane said.

'Dont Sunday me. Help me.' 

'I cannot. The last encounter we had... Your soul cannot maintain another Sage Mode. The exchange that we made... surrendering your will... It is going to take a lot of time before you can use Sage Mode as a result of that.' Bane said with a low voice.

"Wh-hat?' Sunday stammered as the Hell Hound hurled itself into the air, it's jaws widely apart.

"oh, Now you tell me!" Sunday retorted as he tried to process what next to do.

'Easy now. I have being able to acc.u.mulate Agbara for you to use in the meantime. So, now..."

THOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

White light shivered into the air, over head, ramming into the Hound.

BOOOOOOOMMMM!

The body of the Hound blasted into several pieces immediately just as a concussion wave erupted overhead, the force of it slamming Sunday down to the ground.

"What the heck?" Sunday growled, the back of his head throbbing with ache.

"So... You agreed to bail on me, right?" A voice screamed out.

***