Chapter 84 Eyghon, Fortress of the Earth (1)

“Eyghon?! Why has it appeared?!”

At that moment, it wasn’t just Jin and Ysabelle who felt fear coursing through their veins. Even Capella Moonreaver, the mighty Asterias that served as the spear of the Moonreaver House, couldn’t help but grimace. Her shock was so extreme that she had forgotten her duty as a bodyguard, completely ignoring the blonde-haired girl she was supposed to protect by not bringing her to safety immediately.

But Lilith didn’t mind. Rather, her eyes bulged out in fear as she added:

“Eyghon?! Is that Outer Demon really Eyghon?! The Demon Lord?!”

“There’s no doubt about it!!!”

Capella yelled, not bothering in the slightest to hide her anxiety.

Very little is known about the Outer Demons. Why did they decide to invade the planet? How did they manage to create ruptures in Spacetime to connect the two worlds together? And why haven’t they launched a full-on attack to destroy humanity?

Their motives, biology and hierarchy structure were shrouded in complete mystery, creating an unsolvable enigma that researchers had been working on for centuries.

But there was one thing for sure…

Amongst the Outer Demons, there were outliers that surpassed anything the planet could muster up. No single Human, Werewolf, Vampire, Elf, or any other sentient creature, could stand toe-to-toe with Outer Demons of this class.

Not ancient monsters like Matriarch Everwinter or the High Elders of each Guardian House. Not the top S-Class Hunters that bore the prestige of humanity’s mightiest defenders. Not the Alpha Werewolves that stood at the apex of their food chain…

None of the planet’s strongest forces could contend with the highest class of Outer Demons classifiable…

The Demon Lords.

Although there might be more, currently, humanity has only identified three of them.

Cthulhu, Matron of the Seas. An archaic monster that possessed power far beyond any sea creature in existence. Commanding legions of tentacle spawn, the ancient beast ruled the oceans, with many accounts recounting that just by peering into its infinitely chaotic eyes, one would turn insane.

First appearing in the Gate guarded by the Everwinter House, Cthulhu had become a tale of legend, and whenever the threat of it resurged, the entire world would come to a standstill to help the Everwinter House.

Baishe, Serpent of the Skies. The only Demon Lord on record with the ability to fly. Just like Cthulhu, it always appears with an army of Outer Demons. But as the monarch of the sky, it travels with a near infinite amount of flying beasts, completely decimating any air force the planet could conjure up.

Fortunately, Baishe has only appeared once in history, but it took the combined efforts of every single race to finally subdue and push it back. It was humanity’s hardest victory, and the only time every single living being on Earth banded together to defeat the common enemy.

But there was one more Demon Lord, lauded as the most impervious and mysterious Outer Demon that had ever appeared on the planet.

Eyghon, Fortress of the Earth

Eyghon was an Outer Demon the size of an entire mountain range. From afar, the Demon Lord looked like an oversized turtle, but that was hardly just that. It possessed an impregnable defence, with its thick skin and sturdy hide. Not only that, the shell on its back was made of a foreign material that was tougher than diamonds, making it impossible to crack. But the most annoying part of the Eyghon wasn’t its absurd defences… But its ability to negate all magic regardless of its caster.

To True Vampires, who primarily relied on their overwhelming magic power, Eyghon was their natural enemy. Even ancient monsters who survived dozens of bloody wars or elites that had been forged through trial by fire… Could only run away whenever they were faced with the mystical beast that was Eyghon.

That was the reason why Okarins, the lizardmen-like Outer Demons that caused the Blackburn House so much trouble, possessed anti-magic capabilities. They were spawns of Eyghon and monsters that served at its pleasure.

“Let’s run away! We don’t stand a chance against a monster like that!” Capella’s mind finally recovered from the shock, and she grabbed onto Lilith, fully intending to abandon everyone present to fulfil her bodyguard duties.

Variel nodded with a grim expression as well, grabbing onto Irina without her even noticing.

“Wait! What about Jin?!”

“Yeah! Brother! He’s still not here!”

Although Jin had teleported all of the injured Blackburns, he had yet to return with the one he wanted to save the most. As for the reason for their absence…

???

“E-Eyghon?! N-No way!!! Why is it here?!”

Ysabelle stammered and winced, not able to form a word coherently. Overcome with fear, she felt the world turn on its head and could not comprehend the situation. The immense size of the Outer Demon was one thing, but the moment the monster appeared, it seemed like all magic had been ripped from her very being.

And I felt much the same.

The moment that monster appeared, I felt my magic power being cut off. Fear overwhelmed my heart, paralysing me from the neck down. I felt my pupils dilate as sweat dripped down my face.

However, it didn’t take long for me to come to my senses. I slapped my face once and suppressed the fear with all I had. Following that, I ran straight to Ysabelle and grabbed her by the arm.

“Ysabelle! We have to go!!!”

I didn’t know if my voice could reach her now or not, but I had to try. For some reason, my magic power was being sealed, and my teleportation spells wouldn’t activate. Therefore, if we wanted to have any chance to survive, we had to run immediately. At least when this Outer Demon was still unprepared and ignorant of where we were.

“Jin! Why did you come here?!”

“Huh?”

However, contrary to my expectations, Ysabelle yelled at me with tears running down her gorgeously-coloured agate eyes. A flurry of emotions was painted on her face, completely unlike the time when she appeared as an indomitable warrior that cut down Outer Demons by the thousands.

“Why did you come?! Why did you come?! WHY DID YOU COME?!”

“Y-Ysabelle? W-What’s the matter?!”

“You shouldn’t have come to find me! Why did you come to find me?! You could have lived your life happily with the rest, and I would have been happy! Why did you come?!”

Ysabelle fell onto her knees as if she had given up all hope. She stared straight at the humongous Outer Demon that appeared, her face broken beyond belief. And with a helpless whimper, she said:

“History is going to repeat itself…”

“!!!”

Ysabelle’s words reverberated within my mind, echoing into the deepest parts of my soul. At that moment, a fragmented memory resurfaced. An image of a crying girl who was bawling her eyes out till they were red and dry. She knelt down on the ground with her arms by her side, and her back bent backwards as if all hope had been ripped away from the universe.

And lying motionless in front of her… was a boy’s mangled body.

A boy that looked no older than ten years old and whose eyes had been void of light.

“… What was that?”

The memory faded away just as quickly as it resurfaced. Possibly due to the urgency of the situation, I had suppressed it unconsciously. As much as I would love to reminisce about it, I had to save Ysabelle now, or it would be too late.

“Ysabelle! Enough moping around! We have to leave!!!”

This time, I didn’t wait for her permission. I grabbed the girl in a princess carry and instantly jumped in the opposite direction. I didn’t know why, but the Outer Demon was still not attacking us, as if it had been awakening from its slumber and was still groggy.

Fortunately, that played in our favour. Although I couldn’t use magic right now, my physical attributes were still top-tier. It wasn’t at the level of Ysabelle or the average Werewolf, but I was capable of matching a B-Ranked Hunter easily.

Which was why I could lift Ysabelle as easily as one held a feather. Leaping from rock to rock, I made great grounds in separating the distance between the ginormous Outer Demon and us. However, just as I saw a glimmer of hope that we could survive this ordeal…

The slumbering giant… woke up.

“ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!”

A soundwave as powerful as an atomic bomb detonating ruptured my eardrums and sent my body tumbling down to the ground. However, the earth wasn’t a safe place either. The moment my feet touched the ground, I felt tremors that sent vibrations up my femur and all the way to my spine. The world shook from my point of view, and the ground suspiciously started to collapse.

Without my magic or ability to walk, I could only gasp in shock as the Outer Demon, who had been dormant until now, had singled its eyes on our position.

The world froze as my eyes met with that outrageous beast. I could feel its fury and its overwhelming emotions bursting forth as it let out yet another world-ending cry.

Before I could even muster up the courage to run away… The Outer Demon opened up its mouth and lunged straight at our bodies.

It didn’t move at sound-breaking speeds, but the Outer Demon easily caught up to our position due to its size. Its lower jaw crushed the ground as if it were nothing more than cake and its upper jaw covered the heavens like an overcast sky. And before I knew it…

The world turned black.