Chapter 289

Chapter 289

A pair of crimson eyes peer at me from within the Abyss. They're filled with the anger and killing intent of a wild beast.

I jump backward at the sight of it.

My vision is completely black and white, making this bright red gaze stand out even more to me. I can't sense any monsters nearby, but I begin to connect the dots while skidding to a halt on the desert sand a ways back from the black wall.

Expecting some horrific and bloodthirsty Demonic Creature to crawl out from the fog, I grit my teeth and deactivate my manipulation skill.

If it's anything like the Knights I fought on the 25th floor, one solid wave of mana will take it out no matter how strong it is.

To my surprise, the moment I deactivate my skill the glowing red eyes disappear from my vision.

Golden sand below and blue sky above come back into full view and the black Abyss slowly churns lifelessly in front of me.

My breathing is heavy, and my eyes shift back and forth. I'm positive what I just saw was really there, but now.. it seems to have been an illusion. I use all my mana-powered perception skills, but they do nothing for me.

There is no level that pops up, no readings on my enemy detection radar, not a single bar of text from my appraisal skill, and most importantly my All-Seeing Eye draws a blank.

I gulp, taking another step back, then reactivating my Demonic Energy Manipulation skill again.

A loud growl fills my ears and the crimson orbs stare at me from the edge of the Black Abyss yet again with unwavering resolve. The outline of a large wolf begins to form around the floating eyes. It waits patiently for me to approach, but doesn't show any signs that it will willingly walk out from the wall of darkness.

Its eyes burn red, and the vague outline of its body from behind the black wall has 10 units of raw energy swirling inside it.

My mind begins to race at the thought that the only reason it let me manipulate its energy earlier

was because it was curious to see what was greeting it from outside its domain.

With this Demonic skill activated, I can't use any of my magic. However, without it activated, I can't see or sense this creature at all.

I have no gauge of how strong Demonic Monsters are, and I'm not sure if right now is the time to find out.

It's hard to tell exactly how baldly it's been injured, but considering the ear-piercing howl it lets out I'm guessing it's pretty bad.

"Great here comes company..."

Not wanting to bite off more than I can chew, I do a quick scan of the environment to find the other creatures start running my way almost instantly.

They're fast.

I grit my teeth. Not knowing enough about the enemy is the most powerful advantage it could have on me.

The only two things keeping me from running away are the desire to see what loot this monster drops and the fact that they're potentially very easy to kill...

I've come to this conclusion because an energy blade that hardly made a dent in my cell door a few days ago managed to critically injure this beast. It must either be much weaker than I first thought, or my energy attacks have a higher effect on Demonic Monsters than regular material objects.

I'm hoping it's both.

My look of concern turns to a confident grin as the essence of raw Demonic Energy leaving its body shows up in my mind's eye. Small black wisps start to leak out from its wound as the monster attempts to crawl away into the void undetected.

"Not so fast."

With my same outreached right hand I begin to manipulate the escaping Demonic Energy and filter it through my core. There's no resistance at all and the whimpers from the creature get fainter and fainter.

It never stood a chance.

At the same time, 3 distant howls from the wolves I detected earlier ring out in reply over and over while drawing closer.

Almost half a minute goes by and the wolves only get louder.

All 10 units of the fallen monster's energy reside inside my core now and the wolf lies lifeless 15 meters away behind a wall of darkness. It's hard to make out its body, but I'm positive its red eyes go dark.

"One down, three to go."

I raise my hands and get ready for another fight. The howls stop and 6 crimson eyes appear from behind the fallen monster deep within the darkness.