Chapter 1022: Abyss II

Chapter 1022: Abyss II

The question of how to open the great stone doors loomed large in Leons mind. They were truly immense, heavy, and looked sturdy enough that blasting through would be a time-consuming process. However, as he and Xaphan crossed the antechamber, his boots sticking slightly to the bloody floors, avoiding the bones as best they could, the door groaned and creaked and began to swing inward.

Leon halted in place as dust fell from the stone frame around the immense doors, stained black by the omnipresent darkness. The doors moved ponderously slowly, giving him enough time to make his final preparations for whatever might lie beyond the threshold. Beside him, Xaphan did the same, summoning a horde of small fire bats to circle him, ready to fly out at a moments notice.

Taking inspiration, Leon concentrated for a moment and summoned an eagle of silver-blue lightning to fly around him. He was almost ashamed of himself that hed neglected the skill, especially as the darkness around him, chokingly thick, abated slightly by this expression of power.

Though she remained silent, the Thunderbird watched over him; he could feel her pride in his summoning of an autonomous bird using the power hed inherited from her.

The doors continued to slowly swing open, and just as Leon finished his last inspections on the ancient runes keeping the darkness at bay, they finally opened enough for him to get a good look beyond.

And his heart sank in primal fear; his instincts screamed at him to turn around and return to the surface, to get back to Mari and Tir and devote the couple remaining hours they had to getting off the damn plane.

What lay beyond the doors was an abyss so deep and dark that all light from outside was swallowed within. An intense aura like almost nothing Leon had ever sensed before washed over him, giving him a dreadful sense of vertigo; it was all he could do to remain upright, and for a moment, it felt like recovery was going to be impossible. However, as his fingers tightened around Iron Pride, the Iron Needle within zapped him with a tiny bolt of lightning, and he was able to steady himself.

Xaphan, however, was in a much worse state, as the fires that covered his body dimmed and sputtered to the point of leaving bits of his black obsidian skin visible. The demon swayed in place, his almost white-hot eyes narrowed in pain. When Leons bolt coursed through him, however, he righted himself, his fire burning with furious intensity.

The two partners shared a look, no words needed. Deep breaths were taken, fear was swallowed, and they started walking for the doors, the gap between them widening with every passing second.

Nara and Serenas screaming, so pervasive in these abyssal passages, suddenly cut out as Leon and Xaphan reached the void-like threshold. Hardly any noise escaped from it so close to passing beyond, leaving Leon feeling like hed reached the boundary between the lands of the living and the dead.

What lay beyond, he couldnt say.

But if he failed, then the universe could become like this. The Primal Devil could rampage and conquer as it pleased, leaving all it beheld consumed by this terrible darkness. He thought of his family, his friends, and his Kingdom. He let these warm thoughts fill him with strength just as his magic filled his body, and he took one more step, passing the threshold into the darkness.

Immediately, he felt like hed submerged himself in the deepest, coldest sea in existence; it felt like all the heat in his body was stolen, and with the lightning coursing through him, he typically ran hot. The darkness pushed against his defenses with new power, and his ancient runes held on by the barest thread. The barrier they projected bent and shrank, until the darkness brushed against his body, only just prevented from sinking below his skin. It felt like countless insects were crawling all over him, seeking any entrance they could find into his body.

Instinctively, Leon shut his eyes tightly, pressed his lips together so hard that he tasted blood, and clenched all other orifices that were capable of clenching.

It took a few moments for silver-blue lightning to alleviate his discomfort, but it didnt leave him entirely. He was, however, able to open his eyes and once more behold the abyss.

Before him was a vast world of darkness, a sea of thick black fog that seemingly obscured everything. Xaphans fire mightve shed some light, but the demon was clearly as affected by this darkness as Leon was, all of his fire bats having been consumed, and most of the fire of his body having died out, leaving only his eyes and heart burning. Leons summoned eagle, however, remained in play, landing on his shoulder and letting its mere presence further gird him against this strength-sapping darkness.

Feeling this, Leon concentrated hard and summoned another silver-blue eagle, letting it rest upon Xaphans shoulder. The demon remained silent, but Leon could feel his gratitude through their contracted connection. More importantly, fires once more ignited all along the demons body, though not nearly as potently as normal.

Leon summoned his courage and took another step. Instantly, something changed, causing him to assume an aggressive stance as silver-blue lightning crackled all over his body. Though it wasnt much, the darkness receded from him in response. At the same time, the darkness in his and Xaphans path thinned, revealing a corridor of stone vanishing into the distant darkness.

Come to us, KhajiYuns voice echoed through the darkness. You are welcome here

Leon remained stoic behind his helmet, but internally, he swore up a storm the likes of which wouldve impressed even his most powerful Ancestors.

And he started walking forward. With every step, he breathed, he let his lightning flood through him, and he calmed somewhat. His hand tightened on Iron Pride, and he conjured two more silver-blue eagles, though he could feel that this was his limit. These two eagles circled him and Xaphan, keeping them as safe as they could be against this overwhelming darkness at the cost of no small amount of Leons magic power.

The stone corridor stretched on for seemingly infinity, but in a surprisingly short amount of time, Leon and Xaphan found themselves at a short flight of stairs, at the bottom of which, apparently submerged in the darkness, was a huge, circular, stone altar. The altar was covered in reliefs and carvings that Leon had no context to understand, but the Thunderbird whispered into his mind, [The war that ended the Primal Age]

Indeed, with that context, Leon could see human figures casting down the quadrupedal Primal Gods and the cloud-like Primal Devils. The latter were more prominent, which Leon understood given Qo Weylekhs duty.

However, as he took in everything else, the reliefs seemed inconsequential in comparison.

Iron Pride, its blade made of Adamant, a Universe Fragment embedded in its tang, didnt even scratch the crystal.

The silver-blue eagles, their power born from Leon and the power hed inherited from the Thunderbird, didnt so much as singe the crystals surface.

Xaphans demonfire, burning with spectacular heat, didnt leave a single burn mark on the crystal.

Blow after blow Leon rained down upon the crystal, but all to no avail. The power within only grew, until it eventually exploded out of the crystal. Leon and Xaphan were thrown back. Leons eagles were swallowed by darkness and vanished, leaving only the one on Xaphans shoulder. Xaphan himself was thrown right off the ziggurat into the gap down below, while Leon just barely remained standing at the ziggurats edge.

[Leon!] the Thunderbird shouted as he righted himself and began forcing his way forward, though each step was a struggle as more and more darkness poured from the crystal. [Run!]

Leon hardly heard his Ancestor as the black abyss was filled with the sounds of screaming; all of the figures around the ziggurat belted out the most primal, skin-crawling screams that Leon had ever heard. He did his best to ignore it as he attempted to reach the crystal again, but the Thunderbird screamed in his head, [Run, Leon! Run! You cant stop this! Youre not strong enough!]

Leon began to himself scream, though his was more frustration and fear than pain. His power, the power hed inherited from the Thunderbird, and which was the bane of darkness, could do nothing against this eldritch power exploding out of the crystal. It was only a few dozen feet away, but he could barely take a step without being thrown back, while his lightning was swallowed by the darkness it was supposed to counter.

He trusted his Ancestor with his life, but he felt like he still had one option left, and he used it without hesitation.

The lightning that surged through his body vanished, replaced only the briefest of moments later by black fire. The cold that suffused this deep abyss was banished in an instant, and when Leon swung his sword, a wave of black fire erupted from the blade of Iron Pride

and was turned back by the crystal barely halfway between it and Leon. Another strike led to the same result, as did a third.

Leon roared as he was again pushed back to the edge of the ziggurat.

He couldnt stop this. He was only a tenth-tier magepowerful, but next to something like a Primal Devil, not much higher than a mortal. He hadnt even yet achieved Apotheosis, and without origin power, there was nothing more he could do.

Leon turned away from the crystal, his heart spiking as desperation took hold. If he couldnt stop this, then there was only one option left open to him, longshot though it was. He needed the Grave Wardens.

He launched himself down the stairs of the ziggurat, only one thing causing him to hesitate.

Nara and Serena were still alive.

Fortunately, they were standing right next to each other, and Leon, lightning once again surging through his body and lending him its speed, was able to grab them both and hurl himself off the edge of the ziggurat.

He felt extremely awkward carrying the two, but he pulled Iron Pride back into his soul realm to free up his right hand. Tenth-tier magic might not be able to scratch Qo Weylekhs crystal, but it was more than enough to carry two people, even if Nara still wore his heavy armor.

He met Xaphan at the top of the stairs opposite the ziggurat, the demon having retreated up them once he realized Leon was also retreating. While it mightve been easier for Leon to pull Xaphan back into his soul realm, that wouldve required stopping for a moment, and the waves of darkness pouring from the crystal were growing fiercer and fiercer, pushing further and further out from the ziggurat. They needed to move.

So, together, they fled down the stone path that cut through the abyss. It was slowly growing narrower in time with every wave of darkness, and ahead, Leon could just barely make out the stone doors.

They were closing.

Leon screamed once more in determination as he forced his body to move at the limits of his speed, Xaphan only just barely managing to keep up, and they only just barely made it before the doors slammed shut behind them.

But though the doors had shut, the darkness in the tunnels was growing deeperthe power unleashed by Qo Weylekhs crystal was not contained only to its chamber. The Primal Devils prison door was swinging open, and its power was not going to be stopped by stone.

Neither Leon nor Xaphan halted for even a moment; they fled back through the passages as quickly as they were able.

They had to get back to the arks. That was their only chance. The Primal Devil was coming, and both knew they would not survive its arrival.