Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 62 — The Big Bad Ugly Pt. 2

Vix looked up at them in surprise, struggling against Shadow, but the wolf kept her pinned to the ground. “How did you—“ her eyes went to Snow, realization following a moment later. She noted the lack of a collar on the girl’s neck. Even with her appearance vastly changed, it was difficult not to recognize her with the distinct horns, and the giant void wolf standing next to her.

“You,” Vix growled in anger. “I gave you a home, I fed you, I took care of you. And this is how you repay me?”

“Don’t even try that,” Noah spat. “She was your slave. Whatever you did was for your own benefit. Do not try to make it look like a favor. You took a girl and made her fight day in and day out, treating her like a disposable object.”

“It’s okay, Noah, you don’t have to stand up for me here,” Snow said, walking closer to Vix. She leaned closer. For a long moment, Snow stood there, waiting to see if she felt anything. “I did repay you, Vix. I repaid you by telling Shadow not to tear you limb from limb the moment he set his eyes on you.”

The wolf growled in response to Snow’s words, bringing its face closer to the woman’s neck.

“I have repaid you by being more merciful than you ever were towards me. So don’t try to make it seem like you did me a favor,” Snow said, leaning back from Vix. “You are better than the cultists, I will admit, but you were better in the same way Poison is better than Rot. Ultimately, both kill you one way or another,” Snow said, magic swirling in her eyes as she looked down upon her tormentor, her former master, and found herself truly free.

“Who put you up to this?” Aurelia asked. “Was it Lord Krios?”

Vix snorted. “You can prove nothing.. I don’t know how you broke her chains, but this girl’s words mean nothing.”

“But yours will,” Noah said, grinning cheekily. “I have a friend in the guild. Her name is Nae. And I’m sure she’d love to make you talk.”

Vix looked up at Noah, before her growl shifted into a smile. “You’re an idiot,” she spat as her body dissipated into mist.

“Seriously?” Noah groaned. “You’re really going to use the same trick we used?”

Mist rose in the arena, filling the chambers. “You may think you're smart to get through the trap. But you're still stuck here. And I intend to finish what I started,” Vix said, her voice echoing through the chamber.

“Reinforcements!” Erwest warned, raising his blade.

Bun Bun crackled with lightning, sensing the presence of enemies around as well. The mist continued to flow, quickly drowning the arena in a thick fog that even Noah’s senses struggled to pierce.

Chants echoed from around the arena, voices of the cultists mingling together as a spell began to form.

“I’ll handle the cultists. Make sure Vix cannot escape,” Aurelia said, smacking her gauntlets together as fire and ash circled around her.

“Bun Bun, you help her as well,” Noah said, as the dragonspawn followed behind the woman.

“You are fools,” Vix's voice echoed through the chamber. “And I'll make sure you don’t step out of this place.”

Noah's senses warned him of incoming attacks as he teleported, jagged daggers flying past where he had stood. The mist moved around him, figures in the fog dancing as they lashed at him with shifting weapons, solidifying for just a moment and striking from different directions.

The fog swirled, drowning his senses, blinding him, and slowly pulling him away from the rest of the members. Noah continued to move, trying to focus on Erwest and Snow, but found himself drifting away like a log being carried by the torrents of a river.

Magic swirled around the arena, distant flashes of fire and lightning piercing the fog for moments before fading away. Noah could hear the cacophony of dying screams from the cultists. Vix's voice hummed through the fog, a gloomy song playing through the mists, as they began to dance to its tune.

You hear the [Gravesong].

You’ve become [Disoriented].

You’ve become [Hopeless].

All attributes reduced by 25%.

Noah felt the magic filling his mind, coursing despair into him. Shadows moved, monstrously forming like a twisted nightmarescape, and began to attack Noah and his body, drowning the arena in its effects.

Noah's senses warned him of every shadow that moved, the things that lurked at the edge of his perceptions, as he jumped and ran and twisted, dodging unseen attacks that faded into mist as they had come.

My senses are working against me.

Noah tried closing his eyes, yet the attacks only worsened, scratches and cuts of knives digging into his skin. He felt the poison within them, felt it coursing through his body. But his resistances stood strong. Though they would not last forever.

“You should have just died. All your presence has ever done is bring suffering,” Vix's voice came from within the song, like a haunting echo in his mind. “All those people in Heartillia will die now because of you.”

“Shut your damn mouth. I am not the one killing anybody,” Noah said, before clamping his mouth shut. She was trying to anger him. And he was falling for her tricks.

Noah closed his eyes again, letting meditation kick in as his focus sharpened like a honed blade. He let out a breath, listening to the song play. The attacks increased in intensity, like a flowing tide the misty struck him, drawing blood. He felt the poison now, strong enough that it bypassed his resistances, chipping away at his health. Yet Noah did not move. He simply listened to that haunting music playing in the background.

There was a rhythm. The music would rise, reaching a high, like a growing tide, and the mist would follow, before it would slow, beats stilling, as a chilling sensation ran through Noah's mind. He found it now, found what made him blind. And he pushed back against it.

You have resisted the [Gravesong].

Noah found the rhythm and waited for the tides of the mist to rise. As stated, he let his mana flow freely. He could feel the others now, within the mist. And they could feel him. As the fog grew denser, Noah waited for the song to pause for that one brief moment.

Now.

He struck, spear in hand, thrusting his weapon through the fog, in a distant corner, away from all of them. After all, with a fighting style like hers, she would not remain close to them.

The spear struck as he felt the song shake. There was no voice, no screams of pain, but he could tell he had hit her. He’d heard through her mist. And now she knew that he could find her. Noah recalled the spear back to his hand, seeing the blood on its edge. He smiled.

The song changed now, growing more frantic. The monsters became frenzied, as Noah continued to pierce his way through them. Dark tendrils rose from the ground, trying to tie him down and impale his body, but Noah broke through them within seconds. He could tell now, distantly, that Aurelia and Bun Bun were almost done. The cultists had not stood a chance.

Closing his eyes once more, Noah focused yet again to hear the music. It was harder now, the song shifting, new rhythms flowing into one and changing between each other. Tension shivered in his mind, sharpening his focus, as Noah waited for the moment once again.

Sharp strikes rushed out, piercing the fog once more, as his weapon struck true. The song shook this time, the mists growing weaker.

He was not the only one now, he sensed Erwest sending blades of light towards the woman, cornering her.

As a burst of fire and lightning crackled once more, the last cultist screamed in death, before Aurelia and Bun Bun shifted their focus. They were closing in now, all five of them, and Vix had nowhere to run.

Noah sensed something move behind him and he turned, parrying the attack. The blades bounced off of his claws, when he stopped. One blade pressed against his throat, Vix’s hand clutched around his neck as she pulled, splitting it.

Stumbling backward, Noah clutched his throat, feeling blood filling his mouth. Stabs came once more, burying themselves into his gut, the poison seeping in through them as the woman swirled and slashed across him.

A blast of magic struck her, throwing her across the arena with a golden flash. Shadow leapt out through the mist, his jaw clamping upon Vix’s body, but she faded back into the mist before he could finish.

Noah stumbled back, clutching his throat, as another set of daggers struck him. Vix’s figures moved through the mist, a misty blade piercing his chest. “You may get me here,” she whispered. “But I’ll take you down with me at the very least.”

Blood sprayed freely from Noah’s body, as Vix pulled out her blade. More attacks followed, but the woman melted back into the mists. Noah felt his injuries, burning, blood pooled in his lungs now, threatening to drown him, as he struggled to breathe.

Notifications came, his health dipping below one third of his total. Lifeblood pulsed, as his injuries quickly began to repair themselves, yet Vix did not even give him time to rest. The mist faded now, away from the entire arena, and focused solely around him. Noah’s eyes widened, as he felt the world outside disconnect from him.

His party tab shifted, one by one, losing all its members, until only he was left. Blood stained his clothes, Noah clutched his neck, feeling at his throat, a pink gash of fresh flesh covering the injury.

If not for my resistances, I would have died.

Noah clutched his spear, focusing inwards. Tony shivered, begging to be released with Metamorphosis, but Noah kept it in check. He had a feeling that Vix had not yet shown all her cards.

“You are incredibly frustrating, Noah. Any other E ranker would have died already,” Vix said, dancing through the mist, as misty figures struck at him from multiple directions at once.

Noah teleported but found his ability interrupted by Vix as his sense of space began to warp.

“I had so many contingencies. So many safeguards. Yet somehow you’re still here. Standing in front of me. Just what makes you so special? Is it the shard? Is it the fact that you are an Outerworlder? Or is it that Pact you made with the void?” Vix asked.

Noah did not reply. He knew any talk here was meaningless. And if she was talking, it meant she was trying to stall for something. The misty figures continued to attack, growing stronger and stronger with each passing second. With her attention focused solely on him, Noah could feel himself being pushed back. She was stronger, they both knew that. Yet, he still had a chance. All he needed was one good strike.

A plan began to form in Noah's mind. A risky one, but if it worked, it would have the strike he needed. Slowly but surely, Noah began to gather his mana. There was a pattern to it, a rhythm to the attacks. He could not teleport, but to attack him, she needed to appear physically. Attacks from the mists were not strong enough to injure him enough. And she knew that too. All she was waiting for was a chance.

And he would give her one. But he could not be too obvious about it. Noah used blink again, finding his ability refusing to work as it should. Space was warped around him, tied into the mist, separating them from reality. Yet even so, he continued to pour mana, blinding blue light flowing into him, as he disappeared, appearing at a different portion of the fog arena.

“Running is pointless,” Vix said. “You cannot run from here.”

Noah ignored her, trying one more time. He poured mana into blink, letting the ability vibrate with power as he tried to push through her mist. Foggy figures struck at him, slashing at his chest, blood continued to drip, yet Noah pushed through.

“It’s pointless. You cannot break through my ability,” Vix said, but there was an edge to her voice now.

Noah continued undeterred, using nearly all his mana, as the blinding light flashed around him. The mist swirled around Noah, multiple figures striking at him as his ability began to activate.

For the briefest of moments, he saw Vix’s figure appear from the mist, manifesting physically, as she struck with her blade. Noah did not dodge, letting the blade sink into his belly, as he grabbed the woman by the throat, drained, blood dripping from his mouth.

“Finally,” he spoke, as Blink activated.

With a blinding flash, Noah vanished alongside Vix, breaking through the fog as he reappeared beside his party.

Vix thrashed, pushing her sword further into Noah’s body, but he simply held her tight, keeping her clasped in his arms, as the runic chains around his elbows wrapped around her neck.

His friends descended upon her immediately, Erwest placing his blade above the woman, while Aurelia grabbed Noah’s chest, trying to make sure he was alright. Noah ignored her concern, his eyes focused on Vix.

“I know you won’t speak so easily. But here’s something funny. You see, I have just learned that breaking slave collars requires magic very similar to what’s involved in making them,” Noah said, as Vix’s eyes widened. For the first time, he saw genuine fear reflected in the woman’s eyes.

Void mana pulsed, Tony spreading through his body to patch the worst of his injuries. He could see his health dipping below 10%, but he kept a hold on the woman. Lifeblood was keeping him alive, even if just barely.

The chains wrapped around Vix’s neck, the magic flowing into her. “Who do you work for?” Noah asked.

The woman opened her mouth, her eyes bulging as if they would pop out. Her hands continued trying to pull away from Noah's chains.

“Speak,” Noah commanded, putting the weight of his will behind his voice.

“You…” Vix groaned, tears welling in her eyes. “You… don’t understand… I could have…”

“Speak,” Noah commanded, with everything he had.

“I was… following… the orders of…” Runes flashed around the woman’s neck, her body jerking, tensing as if something was trying to rip her apart. She shuddered, shaking for a long moment, before her body turned limp.

You have killed [Grave-song Illusionist (Epic) - Lvl 217].

[Exsanguinator] has reached Level 100.

[Astralwalker] has reached Level 100.

[Void Hunter] has reached Level 100.

You can rank up.

Noah ignored the notifications, feeling disgusted at the woman. He spat, a bitter taste filling his mouth as he stepped back from the woman’s corpse.

“What in the world…” Aurelia said, watching the now-dead woman.

“Some kind of spell. Likely what the cultists were also under. And if so, she must have known that she would die. It’s likely why she was so scared to speak,” Erwest said.

“What should we tell the guild now?” Aurelia asked.

“We'll just tell them what we found out,” Erwest said. “Let’s get out of here first.”

“Wait. The shard is still within that pillar of light,” Noah said. “I need to figure out a way to get it out. Zax should know a way.”

Before Noah could try to reach the dragon, he felt a shiver run through the castle arena. A moment later, the dragon’s voice spoke in their heads.

“What happened? Something just initiated the blood ritual,” Zax asked them telepathically.

The ground continued to shake, shivering as mana began to gather. Dark runes lit up around the arena, the bodies of the cultists alongside Vix floating up in the air.

“Shit,” Noah cursed, dashing towards the Shard.

A blinding light flashed, magic grander than any they had ever seen before activating, as the spell tied to the entire astral realm began to pour mana into this location. The world shook around them, sending Noah stumbling, as dark light permeated from the ground. From beneath the shard, the ground turned black, a rift into the abyss opening up.

“We need to get out of here,” Erwest shouted.

But before any of them could move, the pillar of light shattered. The tendrils moved, grabbing the corpses floating around the arena along with the shard. Noah blinked, teleporting closer to try and wrestle the shard free, but one of the tendrils struck him, slamming him back onto the ground, leaving only a sliver of health left.

A giant creature crawled its way from beneath, rising through the rift, its body long, with giant teeth lining its mouth. Yet, the real mouth opened from beneath its belly, showing a gaping maw lined with rows of teeth from where the tendrils came. In a single tug, the creature devoured every corpse nearby, including the shard as it pulled its way out, filling half of the arena just with its body.

Noah pulled himself up, drinking one of the potions, as he felt his injuries begin to heal. Slowly he looked up at the giant creature and found himself laughing as he used Identify. “You can’t be serious.”

[Abyssal Maw (Legendary) - ???]

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