Chapter 33 - Resolve II

“I can’t do it.”

Julius’s voice rang out in the abandoned hut, monotone and emotionless. The tip of his sword slid against the wooden floor, the metal dull in the dim light. His shoulders were slumped, and black hair fell limply over his face.

Time stilled. Lazar’s senses seemed to sharpen and blur at the same time, shifting between the other seraph and the child on the cot. When he spoke, it didn’t feel like his own voice talking, but as though he was simply watching from far away.

“If you don’t do it, then his soul will fall and there will be no saving him.”

Julius closed his eyes in resignation.

“Even so,” he said quietly, “I can’t look a child in the face and kill him.”

Lazar’s fingers stung, and he realized he was squeezing the halberd. He exhaled and loosened his grip. “The punishment for this will be severe,” he said.

“I know.” Julius’s mouth was set in a grim line, and still he made no move. That defeated look was gone, replaced with a hardness that Lazar knew all too well. Nothing he said, he realized, would convince the man otherwise.

His eyes moved from the other seraph to the sleeping child and then back again. He felt the lingering dust floating in the thin air, the cold metal beneath his fingertips. He perceived the uneven rise and fall of the blankets and Julius’s deep green eyes. All of the sensations came to him with a crystal clarity, and his mind snapped into focus.

He took a step forward. The floorboards creaked beneath his feet, but he didn’t stop moving, not even when he heard Julius calling his name.

“Lazar, what’re you doing?” the other seraph hissed. Lazar ignored him and didn’t stop until he was right in front of the cot.

Standing over it, his shadow easily engulfed the small bed. He stared down at the bits of hair poking out from beneath the blanket, and without hesitation, he pulled the fabric back.

Lying on threadbare sheets, the child’s eyes were squeezed shut, oily hair matted against his skin. His breaths were sharp and ragged, and the seraph could see beads of sweat collecting along his forehead. It was more apparent than ever, in his current position, just how small and weak the boy was. He didn’t stir at all.

“Lazar.” Julius’s voice came from directly behind him, hard and low, and for a second he sounded just like his father. “I order you to stop.”

In any other situation, he would’ve halted immediately. Now, he only felt the corners of his lips curl up. Julius was always so insistent on not treating him like a servant. It had been a long time since he’d last heard him issue a direct command, and here he was, about to disobey it.

His fingers tightened around the silver halberd, and he reeled it back in a single smooth motion.

He heard Julius lunge forward behind him, but it was already too late.

The gleaming blade came swinging down.

—

Grey eyes opened to a faintly glowing ceiling. Lazar remained still, simply staring up at the patterns of stones, the cracks running along the walls and the little dents and imperfections in the glassy blue.

Slowly, he rose from the cot. Resting against the bed frame, his silver halberd shone in the light. The other bed was empty, he noted absently. Ciel must be away hunting again.

His fingers wrapped around the weapon, and he stared down at his hands. It was perfectly silent in the chamber, both Cassius and Leon likely still asleep. His eyes landed on the exit and the winding halls, recalling the path to the other parts of the mountain.

Without a second thought, Lazar slid off the cot, halberd in hand, and left for the tunnels.

—

Translucent stones shifted abruptly into glowing red. There was no gentle fade, no softening of edges, only a single harsh border dividing one side from the next.

Lazar stepped slowly down the tunnels. That red glow felt almost wrong now, even though it was perhaps the most accurate to the Abyss.

His hand gripped the halberd tightly. He felt the energy thrumming through his limbs, rising and bubbling in sharper and sharper peaks. He could practically feel the unease in his heart rate, but in contrast, his thoughts remained oddly clear and empty. As silent as the surrounding caves.

Up ahead, the tunnel turned, and the seraph slowed his steps, automatically pausing to inspect the area before moving further.

The cave system became more jagged, its previously arching ceiling dipping in uneven, crooked lumps and holes. The walls similarly grew rough, the stones losing their softer edges. In the distance, Lazar could make out alcoves and recesses in the walls, spaced out like homes lining a street.

He stopped in front of the nearest one. Lit by glowing red stones, a pile of broken rocks and wood lay strewn about a drying puddle of liquid and white bones. Stray black flower petals had hardened into the blood like little boats on a frozen lake. The seraph distantly noted the deep scratches and cracks along the walls. Ciel must have hunted here a while ago.

He turned and continued down the tunnel. How many of these alcoves had the flesh eater already cleared, he wondered. The thrumming energy didn’t dissipate at all, and he kept walking.

It soon became clear that most of the area was empty, either attacked or abandoned. Evidence of combat scattered the main tunnel just as much as the recesses themselves.

As Lazar reached a fork in the road that branched into four different directions, he distantly thought to himself that he should turn around and head back.

At the same time, he knew from his heavy heartbeat and tense muscles that he would get no sleep like this. A creeping chill in his chest seemed to beckon to him, urging him to release this strange coiled energy, and he found himself increasingly wanting to.

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He studied the tunnels, mentally placing his current location in relation to the realm gate and where the earth affinity demon had been. He turned left.

Almost immediately, the red light intensified until it nearly drowned out the texture of the stones, rendering the hall in a flat crimson. There were alcoves here as well, angular in shape and hidden more securely behind tall stalagmites and boulders.

A low groan sounded down the tunnel.

Lazar ducked behind a nearby stalagmite. Quieting his breathing, he pressed his ear against the stone.

The sound came again, a little closer, and he felt the vibrations run through the surroundings walls and stones. His grip tightened. The red light bounced strangely off the halberd, its silver blade appearing to be coated in crimson. The seraph looked away and directed his attention back to the approaching demon.

By now, he could make out clicking footsteps. It was probably large, based on the volume of its voice, but those steps were fairly fast. Probaby insectoid, he guessed, with some sort of armor to cause the clicks.

The shuffling was even closer now. A nearby rock clattered down the ceiling and rolled along the path before coming to a stop.

Lazar heard the stone snap in half, and he lunged.

Estimating the distance, he kept his stance steady and thrust the tip of the halberd forward. He felt it pierce something soft and heard the shriek just before yanking the blade out.

A round, humanoid face with wide eyes and a grinning mouth stared at him from a flat body. Its midsection resembled an insect, four clicking legs holding up its torso from the front, while two fleshy vestigial legs, perfectly human in form and appearance, jutted out and flopped around with every movement of the main body, occasionally brushing against the floor or walls.

It looked like someone had taken a human, inserted an insect’s body into its center, and then stretched its face until the mouth was permanently smiling and the eyes were always wide open.

“Fa…llen.” A creaking voice tumbled out from the open mouth, yet the smile didn’t move at all. Across its cheek, a deep gash oozed blood, having just barely missed its right eye.

The demon’s gaze gleamed red in the glow of the walls. It focused in on the seraph’s chest, landing exactly where his soul was housed. A soul eater.

The seraph thrust the halberd again, this time aiming directly at one of those round eyes. At the last second, a sharp leg blocked the blow and knocked it aside, and the demon pounced.

The stalagmite shattered. Jagged rocks flew outward as the seraph tumbled to the side. His back quickly hit the wall, and he just barely managed to jump out of the way of a second strike that dug into the length of the tunnel. Dirt flew from the gash, the slice following Lazar’s movements without sign of stopping.

The limb met the shaft of the halberd. Gritting his teeth, the seraph moved to flip the weapon around and bring the blade down on its face, but the metal hit hard rock along its path.

A second leg sliced into his arm, and he shoved the creature away with all the strength he could muster. He skidded backwards, clouds of dust rising around him. More rocks fell. He could feel warm blood trickling from the wound, but he ignored it in favor of scrutinizing the demon.

The creature was massive, easily taking up much of the tunnel, and the stalagmites further limited the available space. Among the narrow walls, his halberd’s length was becoming more of a hindrance than an asset.

The soul eater pounced, and Lazar rolled forward beneath the body. He felt rough stones digging into his back and slammed his legs back down to land on his feet. Jerking around, he cleaved the halberd blade through those two human legs, and the flopping limbs fell limply to the earth.

Deep red blood gushed out and the demon shrieked, but its movements didn’t slow. If anything, it only grew faster, a sharp leg kicking out and just barely missing his head.

“Fa…llen…soul…”

Lazar delivered a series of quick jabs with the butt of the halberd to try and force the demon back. He had to find a way to close the distance and finish things. His weapon kept getting caught on stones and stalagmites.

The demon breathed heavily, visible puffs of air escaping that wide grin. With its round face and distorted large features, it looked almost childlike as it crept forward, clicking legs quickly closing the gap between them. Those eyes never left his chest, and its insectoid body gleamed hard and solid under the red light.

Lazar exhaled, grey eyes darting between the fleshy head and neck and the sharp legs. He adjusted his grip on the halberd so that he was holding it just below the socket.

The soul eater lunged again, but this time he didn’t dodge. The seraph fell backwards, landing hard on his back. He felt the breath escape his lungs and barely managed to shift his position in time to avoid being speared by the legs.

A sharp pain radiated from just between his neck and shoulder as the edge of a limb dug deep into the flesh there. Blood squelched, and he gritted his teeth. The demon lowered its grinning face to peer straight at him, and from that smiling mouth, a long tongue whipped forward and aimed at his soul.

Before it could reach him, Lazar slammed the edge of the halberd into the creature’s neck. It shrieked and reeled backwards.

Blood gushed down as the demon thrashed. The stinging pain reached a crescendo and he felt the leg dig deeper into his flesh, but he only pressed harder on the blade.

Even though it looked like human flesh, it was much harder to cut. The seraph had to actively saw the blade through the neck in jerking, uneven motions. He felt warm blood land on his face, but he kept going.

In a final resort, wide eyes blazing with fury, that lurching tongue shot forward again.

Seconds before it reached him, Lazar yanked the blade all the way through, and the smiling head flew off.

It crashed into a stalagmite, gushing crimson from the jagged flesh of its neck, before landing on the ground with a thump. It rolled crookedly across the floor a few times before, finally, it came to a stop.

Lazar barely managed to drag himself out from under the demon before the body collapsed, landing in a heap in the center of the tunnel. The seraph’s chest heaved, his hand flying to the wound at his shoulder to press down on the flowing blood. It had gotten dangerously close to his neck, he realized now as he struggled to catch his breath.

A few feet away, the demon’s wide eyes stared up at him from a growing puddle of viscous liquid forming along the stone floor. At this angle, he could see exactly where he’d severed the neck. Sharp snapped bones jutted out from minced flesh, still oozing blood. Even its interior looked exactly the same as a human’s, even if it hadn’t been the same.

He knew, after all, what it felt like for his blade to slice through a human neck. A small frail one, many times weaker than this demon had been. His aim had been exact, the cut perfectly smooth. It had been over in an instant.

Lazar closed his eyes, counting to himself and forcing his breaths to even.

He pulled away his hand and saw that it was covered in blood, but the bleeding seemed to have slowed down at least a little. His entire body was covered in red, he realized, so much so that he almost blended into the glowing walls.

Slowly, the seraph pulled himself back up to his feet. A wave of dizziness nearly sent him stumbling, but he used his halberd to balance and focused again on the end of the tunnel.

There in the distance, he could just barely make out a hint of white light. If he’d estimated correctly, then he’d be able to see both the realm gate and the earth demon from there. He would take a moment to scope out the area, learn what he could, and then return, he told himself.

He moved forward, still using the halberd for extra balance. Lazar stopped and waited for his limbs to steady a little more before continuing.

Before he could take another step, however, a faint squelching noise sounded to his right. He jerked around, but it was too late.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder and yanked back.