Prince of The Abyss

Bursting outside, Aether summoned and let go of Lilith as he turned to face the monster, which followed them outside. Glancing towards Freedom, the moment he saw his eyes, he realized what he needed to do.

As the monster took its first step, Aether launched his chains, wrapping them around its arms and pulling them to its chest, as Lilith dashed forward, his marks fully charged for a body shot. But as he was about to deliver it, he noticed something moving inside its stomach, so he backed away at the last second as another arm appeared.

’It can make more limbs?’ He frowned, watching as it broke his chains with a powerful pull, turning to go after Lilith.

Summoning Voidpiercer, Aether stepped in, blocking its claws with his blade, but the monster was stronger than he had expected, flinging him into the ground as he barely deflected its attack, and giving Lilith an opening that he took to punch it right in the stomach.

The monster tried attacking again after regaining its footing, but as it did, Lilith had already gotten away, wiping some sweat from his forehead while glancing at Aether, who was getting back to his feet.

...

But weirdly enough, it didn’t try to chase them; it just stood there, its feet planted into the ground... Aether tilted his head, playing with Voidpiercer in his palm out of anxiety. He had no idea what it was planning, but it couldn’t be anything good.

And neither did he want to know.

He was going to attack it without risking it by getting close to it. Summoning his bow, he loaded an arrow, aiming at it, his fingers slowly pulling at the string, but as he was about to let go, from the ground below him, three hands emerged, grabbing his legs and sinking their claws into him.

He staggered, screaming in pain. He had lost his shooting window; he was never going to be able to hit it now... but someone else would.

Desperate, Aether loaded the arrow, shooting it towards Lilith, as close as he could since he really couldn’t aim with the claws digging into his skin.

He watched in agony as Lilith rushed towards the arrow, barely avoiding another pair of arms coming from the ground. When he made contact with the arrow, his marks instantly started glowing as he threw it with all his might, making a huge hole inside and making it scream in pain.

The hands retracted into the ground, letting go of Aether, who instantly gripped his foot. Using some force to rip some cloth from his mantle, he tried to cover the wounds with it, but he couldn’t cover them all.

And neither was he going to have time.

Watching in horror as more monsters started to emerge from the ground.

Not wasting any time, Lilith dashed forward towards the head of one of the monsters, kicking it right off its neck with a powerful kick.

They had to kill as many as they could before they got out, but with his leg, would he even be able to run?

...

’Even if I’m not supposed to, I’m going to force myself to.’ He said, pushing himself off the ground as he thrust Voidpiercer into one of the monster’s heads.

Each time he thrust his blade, he heard a blast of energy somewhere around; he didn’t know where exactly, but what he did know was who it belonged to.

But as fast as they went, there were too many, as they finally started getting out.

They were going to have to switch strategies.

Locking eyes with one of the newly emerged monsters, he rushed towards it, not expecting it to spit out some kind of hot substance onto his face, blinding him. He heard it come for him, yet he had no idea where it was coming from.

...

At least that would be the case if he didn’t have Eden.

Seeing the monster approach with Eden, Aether ducked and rolled out of the way of its attack as he wrapped his chains around its neck, using some extra essence to make the part that clung to his neck spike, pushing them further and further in until the monster fell to the ground.

Wiping the substance off his face, he opened his eyes, only for his vision to be blurry and his eyes slightly swollen.

He was going to have to fight without his vision.

Sighing, he closed his eyes, relying only on his ability to sense souls and see the world through them.

As Lilith continued to fight with the minions, Aether turned his head towards the main one, watching as it just stood there, not doing anything, gripping Voidpiercer. He ran towards it, but it didn’t move once...

But something did happen; suddenly, as he got close to it, an eye appeared on its forehead, and he made eye contact with it. He felt unbelievable pain inside his mind, voices scraping at his skull. A hammer was hitting him at full power. He let go of Voidpiercer, the blade hanging from his arm, as he clutched his head, his knees growing weak.

He felt his knees as he got close to the ground... but suddenly, he felt someone push themselves off his back and into the air, and once he raised his head, he saw Lilith kicking the monster right in the face, making it stagger back once more as it screamed in his face, but as it wasted its power on something as useless as screams, Lilith continued to rampage, hitting it back continuously with kicks and punches, not even caring for his essence, or himself, as the monster slashed at his arms and legs.

As it raised its arm, trying to slash above, he dodged and jumped onto it, kicking it once more in the head... for a finishing blow, as the monster fell to the floor on its back.

Lilith sighed, putting his bloodied hands on his hips as Aether slowly approached, relieved it was over.

...

...

...

But without the Codex to confirm its death, how could they ever know it was, in fact?

...

...

Dead.

Aether chuckled as he got closer, yet the moment he blinked, he saw a giant claw through Lilith’s chest.

....

”What the fuck?”