The chaos lands, 32nd astral rift, the realm of Banishment.
Allblades prepared himself before he took the ten thousandth step.
The moment he put his foot down, a gaping hole suddenly appeared underneath him, the ground vanishing into a yawning abyss stretching into darkness. He didn’t even flinch and held his hands out to the sides as he fell. His body glowed with red light and two powerful red beams shot out, hitting the edges of the hole. The force propelled him upwards, rocketing him back up. He flew himself up and over until he reached solid ground in front of the hole.
The moment he touched the surface, the air around him warped. He was suddenly somewhere else, in blackness, torchlight, and sulfur. A pair of disembodied red arms flew towards him, surrounded by hellish screams and clawed hands reaching from every direction, trying to tear him apart. He unsheathed two swords from his waist and they blurred into motion, cutting the monster arms apart in spurts of scarlet blood.
He carved through seventy limbs, wading through the wriggling, shrieking, bloodthirsty pile, until they all lay severed at his feet. The moment this passed, a vat of green acid dropped without warning from the sky. He was in somewhere like a jungle now. He rolled away and the acid dissolved the part of the floor where he had been. His armor would have protected him, but probably not that well. It would have made him vulnerable to—that. He then kicked a black flying centipede-like creature which had tried to ambush him from the side. The massive creature fell back, screeching.
Briefly, he faltered. He clutched the scar at the side of his stomach, the line glowing with blue light. Pain seared through his entire being as magic pulsed out from the scar, and he stumbled to his knees. The centipede flew back with a vengeance, its metallic wings and many legs striking him on the side. He crashed to the ground, white-hot pain shooting up his spine, and the centipede lunged for his head.
He pulled a sword from his back and stabbed it swiftly eight times, all along the centipede’s body, until the monster went still.
Allblades left the sword in the corpse—the monster was trying to heal itself with some inbuilt magic but the blade flared with red flames. It would keep it in too much pain to bother him.
That d*** scar. He hated even thinking about it. His former best friend had made it. It had gotten him almost killed seventy-three times since the start of this one walk. Of the other times when he had traveled with his assassins, he couldn’t count.
He was finally able to take one more step and reach his intended destination. The air warped and he was in a clearing on a smooth, tiled floor.
The Banishment had a portal sealed by a gate. The gate was like a massive, pure black fortress wall, made of two locked doors inscribed with angry red sigils. He had come for this portal, or rather what was behind it.
Time worked differently here. He calculated from his communications with Darkwaters the true-time had not been long. The journey had felt like months. The chaos lands, the godd*** place he had learned to overcome, was exactly as its name implied.
Every one hundred steps he trekked, almost anything could happen, and he could end up anywhere. Each realm in the lands had its own vague, bizarre, and random rules which he only uncovered through long trial and error. One wrong movement, one wrong direction, or staying too long in one place, and the lands would warp him somewhere else other than where he intended to go. Sometimes he thought of the lands as an ever-expanding jail cell, and sometimes when he was somewhere more familiar, merely a ruthless hellscape.
It was painful. It also made him difficult for even the b*** to find, and more importantly to pursue.
He spoke to what he sought behind the gate. “Kavistra. Give me a contract with you. Now.”
The gate shuddered, as if something was trying to break out of it. He tapped dark, forbidden magic inside him towards the wall, establishing a communication. Kavistra spoke, not in any human language, but with raw emotions translated into the senses of the listener. Fear, anger, despair, and utter contempt poured into his mind. It would have driven an ordinary man to madness, but the language was not foreign to him.
“You are the one they call Allblades. I smell another demon already in you. Do you wish two contracts, arrogant mortal?”
He merely answered with his own question. “How long has it been since an offering was last provided to you?”
Kavistra replied with a laugh of hatred. “My followers have not filled me with essence for decades. The Hero has left me starving.”
“I have been in contact with some of your worshippers. Surely you have sensed the change I have begun in this world. Does it tempt you?”
The demon hissed. “My followers have not done nearly enough. I want the blood of protected children.”
“Spare me the theatrics,” he said coldly. “You are a demon of chaos. Is my plan not aligned with your desires? Consider the current events a prelude of my own offering.”
Kavistra’s voice dripped with anticipation. “The chaos, the chaos you have wrought…I hunger for it. I hunger for more.”
Allblade’s crimson eyes gleamed. “Monsters, criminals, and your followers spread fear and conflict in the Anima Kingdom’s citizens. The growing division between the races brew readily, and the friction between the conquered and the remnant pour fuel into the fire. The threat to the royal family and its protectors grows by the day as I bring my forces together. We will unleash crashing waves onto this land. Do you want to miss it?”
The gate shook violently. “You know I am sealed. Why do you wish to anger me, fool?”
You are the fool, for underestimating a potential enemy, he thought. “I will free a small amount of you, in exchange for a contract.”
At this, the gate thrashed heavily and Kavistra’s voice was mocking scorn. Images and emotion pulsed to him from the gate. “You are injured. I can feel the weakness. You are a shell of your former self. A herd of gamorr-uta could threaten your life. Yet you wish to break me from a semi-divine prison?”
The icy malice in his voice echoed through the room. “One such pesky insect is now burning in hellfire, and you see I am perfectly fine, thank you very much.”
For a wild, lurid second, he realized it was the sort of quip Aurelius would have made. He crushed the thought away.
Allblades unsheathed a sword from his waist and it glowed with a bright scarlet aura. He plunged the blade into a door of the gate and the magic steel exploded in red chaos flames.
One!
He took another sword from his back and his body glowed red as he stabbed it deep into the other door.
Two!
Dancing Flames!
As both weapons surged with fire, the tainted elements twisted together, scorching the red sigils of the gate. He pulled out a knife and jammed it in the middle of the entrance. It erupted in scarlet energy.
Three!
Burning Hellfire!
He unsheathed two more swords and whirled around, then brought their blades against the gate.
Four! Five! Dark Tempest!
The red runes shuddered as the blades emitted bursts of black light.
Six! Seven! Eight! Red chaos energy burst along the length of the blades.
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Allblades spoke. “I call upon the demon of destruction within me. Make the heavens fall, and let darkness be my domain. Osmodeus!”
His body flashed with black-red energy and his red eyes glowed intensely. He raged against the gate as a pillar of magic burst from him up towards the ceiling. His demon’s familiar power merged with the blades embedded against the doors. Demonic Fury, Evernight, Consuming Flame! Blade of Destruction!
Kavistra had fallen silent as abilities rained down on the seal. The demon sensed he was close. Very close.
But it was still not enough.
Allblades slashed once more at the prison. Then he called up another ability, an old one. It was a power he hated to use, because it reminded him too much of his old partner.
Iron Wings.
A pair of metallic gray wings appeared from his back. It had once been silver and shining, with feathers of steel magic, but was now tattered and torn. It was a skeletal iron frame, more like the wings of a bat than a bird or an angel. Still, energy pulsed from it, strengthening him enough to give one more push. He yelled as he struck, an unearthly howl.
The red sigils flickered. The doors cracked open a sliver, and five black drops like liquid puddled onto the floor. Then the runes flared intensely and the gate shut.
The drops combined into a large pool and rearranged itself into a black shape, pacing the floor from side to side. First a figure of a bat, then a prowling dire wolf, then a worm-like creature with the mouth of a lamprey. Finally the demon assumed a vaguely humanoid shape.
“A very small amount of my complete self. But I am impressed,” Kavistra admitted in a hissing voice. It could speak more human-like now.
Allblades glared at Kavistra. “I am the world’s greatest assassin, and the killer of the land’s strongest Hero. My will is stronger than the gods, and I am beyond you demons. Let us sign a contract. You will provide me with your power in exchange for a stream of chaos essence. Do not be mistaken. You will serve me.”
Kavistra froze at this. For a moment, the demon regarded him. He is not a man. He is a demon to demons themselves.
Then it lowered its head. “Very well…Master.”
----------------------------------------
Vi’s eyes flickered over Alicia’s body. “You’re underfed and malnourished. Let me get you some food.”
Vi dug into her home’s fridge and started cooking. Enrique sat at the table in a corner, far from Alicia and close to Vi. He thought the seating arrangement was a little awkward.
Vi gave Enrique a steak and water, and then placed a plate of grilled fish and a glass of milk in front of Alicia. She settled down next to the cat girl. “Go ahead and eat.”
Alicia took a tentative bite. Her eyes suddenly watered. The fish was crisp and its meat was tender and juicy. This…is food? “It’s good,” she murmured before she could stop herself.
Vi was watching her closely. The cat girl ate with her hands and with incredible speed, as if expecting it to be snatched away in an instant, and that she would not have a meal for another week. “What did you eat before?”
“Lesser ice wolves. Fanged eagles. Fire lizards. Sometimes sandworms. Other things.”
Enrique made a face. “I don’t know what any of those are, but that sounds rough.”
“I lived in the wilderness for a while. When I couldn’t handle that I went towards the city. The leader of the gang didn’t give me much to eat either.”
“What the…in the wilderness?” Enrique wondered if Alicia was trying to make a bad joke.
“You need more fruits and vegetables,” Vi advised her. “I have some here…somewhere.” The fox woman dug in the fridge, but Enrique saw it was crammed with many small milk bottles.
“What’s with those?” He pointed.
“Those are for my daycares!” She smiled. “I’m going to have them delivered to the babies there!”
Enrique rolled his eyes. “And how much more debt did that cost you?”
“Oh, those are free. Don’t worry about it.”
He squinted as Vi set several on the table in a little box. “I’m even more suspicious now. Those are probably of bad quality. I wouldn’t give those to children. I thought you weren’t an idiot.”
“Huh? Enrique!” Vi waved her arms, looking highly flustered. “This is good milk! It’s delicious and high-quality! See? Even Ali likes it!”
Vi waved a hand and he saw Alicia had opened a bottle on the table and drank it.
“…What? It’s tasty.” The cat girl had a genuinely puzzled expression on her face.
He raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, Ali! You’re so sweet! You like my milk!” Vi attempted to put a tail around the assassin, who promptly shoved it away roughly with an arm.
“Get off me,” she grumbled, and chugged another bottle.
“Okay,” Vi answered happily, and finally found a salad and some fruit for Alicia. “Anyways, I think we should come up with a formal agreement so we can all be happy.”
Alicia munched an apple but looked up sharply, her green eyes fixating on Vi warily. “You want a contract?”
“It’s just an agreement.” Vi sat beside Alicia again. The cat girl shifted away slightly. “I’ll keep it simple. As long as you don’t make trouble trying to hurt people, I let you live with me and give you lots of tasty food. It’s most important to me that you don’t hurt Enrique, because we’ll be together a lot. Does that all sound good?”
Alicia spoke steadily. “The gang is still after me. They could threaten me and force me to work for them. That involves killing.”
“I’ll do my best to protect you,” Vi assured her.
Enrique added, “Yeah, we’re really good monster hunters. Even if we’re not adventurers. We can take that f***ing gang.”
No, you don’t understand. You can’t protect me from Master. One thought from him and my head is gone.
“I understand if you don’t have a choice,” Vi said with a friendly smile. “But let’s try not to get to that point, okay? Killing is bad.”
The assassin glared at Vi. How could Azurelane dare to look her in the face and talk about killing being bad?
You killed Marcus. You killed Eileen. The only two who’ve been with me through that h*** with Master.
Alicia felt a cold rage rise within her, as well as a small flicker of fear.
Enrique shifted in his seat. “By the way, Vi, I’m honestly not completely comfortable with this. Alicia is some kind of trained killer. You saw how she almost murdered me. Is it safe to have her in the house? She could stab me in my sleep for all I know.”
Vi’s ears perked up and she wagged her tails. “We could put a collar with a tracking amulet on her. Then we can know she’s not too close to you.”
“No way,” he declared. “Don’t you want to be her friend or something?”
“I’m not a pet,” Alicia muttered.
“It’s a joke, guys.” Vi put her hands up in mock surrender with a small smile.
“We should send her away, to authorities or whoever else can take care of her,” he argued.
“To be honest, I think Ali could be a lot for most people to handle,” Vi explained. “She seems skilled but also lacking some knowledge of living in society. A regular prison or orphanage wouldn’t be effective. Plus, the kingdom as a whole isn’t exactly forgiving of attempted murder.”
She turned her attention to the assassin, an apologetic expression on her face. “I know we haven’t exactly started on the best of terms. I’ve tried to kill you and you’ve tried to kill someone I care about. Why don’t we try to have a fresh start with this agreement? I’m a big believer in second chances.”
Alicia finished her salad. “I don’t understand you. Earlier today you were going to stab me through the chest without hesitation, and now you’re acting happy and energetic. Are you trying to trick me?”
Vi brushed the question aside. “I’ve always been like this. When I was a child my teachers often punished me for ‘excessive hugging’ of my classmates.”
The cat girl didn’t find this particularly insightful and cut straight to business. “You want me to make an anti-assassination contract, where I have zero targets and avoid taking any other agreements.”
“That’s right.”
“And if I break this contract?” Alicia’s green eyes focused on Vi’s blue ones.
“I don’t want to threaten you. You won’t have food or a home, but I think that’s reasonable, don’t you think? I only want to be your friend.”
Then it doesn’t matter. I can break it at any time. “How do I sign?”
Vi reached to the pouch she usually carried and took out a small blue gemstone. There was one pink and one purple orb of light circling inside, like fish swimming in a pond. “I’ll give you a gift. This is supposed to protect you, but it’s not activated yet. It’s up to you if you want to keep it on you or not.”
The cat girl glowed with black light as she inspected the gemstone. Enrique tensed and pulled his gun out, but she was merely using her senses and mana to search the object. The orbs were two spells inside. Neither certainly were locator spells. Master had made her study those intensively. The gemstone seemed too complicated to have simple shields, either. Whatever magic it had was contained in the gem, inactive and unable to interact with the outside world.
Alicia gazed at Vi cautiously. Then she took it.
The Demon smiled.