Just as the savage howl died out a chorus of quieter howls followed. The howls of hundreds of garghounds filled the dome.

“Well, shit,” Kal grunted, they had to be after him. That feeling of being watched was enough for Kal to know that much. The black pillar still pierced the center of the dome and Kal could feel the presence still within it, but its focus had moved on to something else for now. He definitely wouldn’t have time to mess around with his skills now, so he moved off at a medium pace flanking the pillar. It was a few miles away at least so he had time to at least see what else had changed before making a decision.

As Kal reached the top of another rise, he scanned the area around the pillar again. He still couldn’t see the base of it but something else immediately caught his attention. Charging away from the pillar towards him was a gods damned horde of garghounds. There were several kinds he had never seen before.

[Garghound Stalker | Abyss Spawn 23]

[Garghound Flame seer | Abyss Spawn 22]

[Garghound Sky hunter | Abyss Spawn 24]

The stalker variants looked normal enough but he could see them fade from his vision in random intervals. The sky hunters were much the same but from their backs, they sprouted a pair of huge bat-like wings and Kal saw several of them leap into the sky and start circling the horde as they ran. The flame seers were the most different visually, the small gaps between their scales were like glowing embers and their mouths puffed with flames instead of regular breath. Ok, this isn’t good…

The majority of the horde was still the weaker base garghounds but there were at least three or four dozen of the new variants and nobles to make it seem awfully daunting. Kal stood atop the stone of the rise and watched them approach. He had gotten much stronger since entering the dome, and his attributes were certainly much higher than they should be for his level. The horde was large but Kal was starting to see the weaker garghounds simply as fuel for his wrath.

One of the flyers spotted him and let out a screeching howl, and the horde's path shifted towards his current location. They charged towards him, desperate for bloodshed, he could sense it like a foul stench on the wind that poisoned the atmosphere of the dome. But then they entered his aura and their mood changed, their desperation for battle almost vanished and most of the weaker garghounds froze in place, immediately getting trampled by those less affected. Even many of the more powerful variants seemed to freeze up for a moment in indecision. Kal let out a breath and smiled, readying his sword. He could feel his birthright calling to him but this time it did not come with its intoxicating anger and hatred. Instead, it was like the rush he had felt during his fights with Leo, it was the exhilaration of combat. A feeling that had been clouded by Kal since he had merged this place's abyssal mana with his birthright.

Kal knew that he would need to use Wrath Incarnate and the purity of the feeling would be lost, but first, he would enjoy it for what it was. He had surpassed everything he could have ever hoped for. Now it was time to see what he was truly made of.

Several of the sky hunters had recovered and dove down towards him several hundred feet in front of the main horde. The fliers were certainly faster than the base variants but apparently, they gave up most of their strength for their flight since the moment they first reached him Kal slammed his fist down onto its head and the thing crumpled to the ground. Kal didn’t have time to kill immediately as the next two arrived trying to bite down on his arms. Their teeth and claws left very minor cuts across his shoulders and arms but nothing serious enough to bother activating his regeneration yet. One of the second fliers died from a swift stab through its mouth and out the back of its head. The second died after he slammed it on top of the stunned one for the third time and Kal crushed its skull. Kal checked his wrath before killing the last of the three.

Health:

1415/1430

Stamina:

2350/2370

Wrath:

2330

He frowned when he saw it already so close to its limit, that he actually needed to use his Wrath Incarnate to prevent the skill breaking. It was either that or accept injuries and use his Wrathful Regeneration, but he didn’t think he could be so wasteful in this fight. Not with so many variants involved, so Kal sighed and tried to keep his mind steady as the horde came closer while holding the stunned sky hunter.

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The horde charged across the remaining space and the flame seers spewed balls of flame towards him. Kal let out a final confident breath and became the Slayer.

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Dalen stumbled, dropping several of his more expensive ingredients, and swore. He didn’t have much Drake’s Heart left, he had used most of it when he was running with Kal and nearly all the rest in the following two days fleeing with Leo and the cultists. Dalen looked down at his left hand, it had been savagely burned by one of those damned demons spit. He drank his strongest brew to slow the damage but it was only after the cultist Eliza cast some kind of harsh battle healing spell that it truly stopped burning away. Now it was still badly burned and would take an actual healer or some strong potions to heal. Which they didn’t have.

The camp had been overrun far too quickly for them to do anything but run. Even Leo was not strong enough to take on creatures of such strength in those great numbers. Luckily hover the tear collapsed upon itself shortly after Kal fell through. Dalen’s fist clenched as he walked. Kal was gone, he had just been given hope that he had a chance at ascending and now he was dead. Dalen had seen the blood, the bodies, or what was left of them. No one survived falling into the tears. Even one of the cultists had met that fate and from what Leo had told him their levels were at least in the seventies. He tried to instead think about what he was going to say that gods damned woman Melisia, she had allowed this all to happen. Kal should never have come out here in the first place. Perhaps Dalen should have done more to convince Kal about the dangers but even he couldn’t have imagined that what had transpired was even possible.

Now they were walking through forests to apparently meet with the cult’s leaders. Neither Leo nor Dalen were too enthused about the whole idea, but they honestly didn’t have much choice. There were still those abyss spawn everywhere. The tear might have collapsed but what was left behind stayed, and they traveled in groups too large for Leo to handle. Dalen didn’t add much to their fighting power, he had leveled a lot during the journey from Farninghold but he was still only level twenty-four and still stuck with the tavern keeper class. With such a small group it was incredibly slow to level the class. So they were stuck with the cultists.

Nyx, one of the cultists, had said that the meeting point was not far, but due to the roaming monsters, their travel time was significantly slowed. Over the two days, Dalen had gotten to know the cultists and honestly, they didn’t seem all that bad. Nothing like what the Empire had been spouting about, they were oddly depressed about Kal though for someone who hadn’t even known his friend. Later Dalen had come to realize that they were looking for him for some reason and Nyx was very passionate about it, and the most affected by his loss besides Dalen and Leo of course.

“Keep up, Dalen,” Leo called out from ahead, “Nyx says we are getting close.”

Dalen jogged to catch up to the group. He was very glad he had invested a few of his free points into Endurance or else he would never have kept up with the group for this long. But even so, Dalen had been in a constant state of exhaustion and mourning for their small group's journey.

When Dalen caught up to them all he saw that they had all stopped in a small clearing, and Kiara was standing in a circle of flowers of all things, waving her hands around. Dalen didn’t really care what they were doing anymore and just glanced around at the group. They were all looking haggard, fighting on the run for two days was difficult even for the elites but it was more the weariness of being constantly alert rather than the fighting itself. They were all high enough beside Dalen of course to recover their stamina easily enough between battles, and for the most part, their injuries were minor and they were strong enough to keep moving, even if any injury was debilitating for a lower leveled person. They had enough vitality to slowly recover on their own but it still took time.

Dalen stood around at the back of the group, he had been swapping between seething and moping and he knew it but he just couldn’t help it. He tried not to look irritated when Nyx approached him. She had started speaking to him consistently after Leo had told her he was friends with Kal.

Nyx’s face was as grim as had been since Kal died, “We must speak with the Elders first, there is still hope,” Dalen wanted to believe the words but her expression told him everything he needed to know.

“Look I don’t know who your elders are but seriously? Do you really think they have any idea about that?!” Dalen scoffed, pointing at a charm that was hanging from a bracelet on Nyx’s wrist. She had found it after their team member died, it was theirs apparently.

Nyx’s expression darkened with a mix of anger and sadness, as she was about to reply a flash of purple light startled Dalen making him miss whatever she said. Suddenly the clearing around them disappeared, revealing an elaborate camp. It wasn’t large but he could see that it was all in exquisite condition like it rarely spent much time out of a storage bracelet. A strange blurring of the surroundings dazed him for a moment and then there was a regal-looking woman standing in front of him.

“We know many things young man, but tell me Nyx where is He?”

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Kal waded through the charging garghounds each of them flinching in fear as his gaze fell upon them before they met their end on his sword or fist. The battle had been bloody from the start and he moved with more aggression and savage efficiency than he had ever before as his skill and birthright urged him forward. His anger was there in full force but at the same time, his normal thoughts remained present if not at the forefront. He had reached a precarious balance with his skill falling to the rage and disgust of the weak and back to his joy of the challenge, he knew it wouldn’t last and could already feel it slipping as more and more of his thoughts were utterly consumed by the slaughter. But while it remained he enjoyed the challenge. His wrath dropped much slower than usual due to Wrath Incarnate's passive effect greatly reducing its expense with so many enemies around.

He had taken many injuries as he hacked his way through the horde, most of the damage came from the damned flame seers. The sheer amount of base garghounds allowed him to heal through the damage, each wave of burning pain made his more rational thought fade further until finally they were gone and the Slayer was fully in control.

The Slayer cleaved three garghounds in half and felt his wrath grow again the mood of the slaughter changed as they felt his intent change. He no longer desired efficiency alone, no he desired blood and mutilation. Domination. Annihilation.