Glenn, Sahro, Milena, and Javier proceeded carefully, their weapons drawn and their teeth clenched. Except Javier. Javier was still as dead as usual, as emotionless as he was reliable.
"...The chants are getting stronger," Sahro warned, his fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of his sword. Glenn took Nelg out of his sheathe, running a little bit of Mana into the sword to put it into its Awaken state. The blade changed shape, ready to slice and pull any opponents. Glenn wiped his forehead, drenched in sweat. Somehow, it was even hotter in here than at the surface. The team proceeded silently, tense, to finally arrive in a room even larger than the one filled with the cages.
The first thing they all noticed right away was the giant gateway, the source of the red, ominous light. It was a massive circle, Reality bending in its center. It looked eerily like a Rift, the small one-way portals that spawned monsters, like the one Glenn was now used to dealing with, but with a much more...dangerous tone.
If Glenn had any idea, it was that this Rift wasn't going to spawn three overfed rats.
No, something much worse would come out of this thing.
Glenn glanced at a group of red-robed figures surrounding the Gate, concentrated on chanting in an unknown, rough language that seemed perfect to either summon demons or purge them. The young man couldn't tell, he wasn't knowledgeable about Latin. But it sure sounded like something similar.
The young man didn't give it another thought and held his hand forward, ready to prepare a Blackhole, when Milena hurriedly grabbed his hand and pulled him back, before pointing at the ground in front of the Gate. Glenn glanced down, paling when he saw dozens of tiny figures wrapped in red fabric and restrained with thick ropes. They were lying on the ground, barely moving.
"Shit!" Glenn cursed, closing his fist angrily. He couldn't shoot his spell without risking the safety of all the kids. He guessed they were, due to their size. Javier had his bow already strung out, an arrow ready to fire. Sahro looked at Glenn, waiting for his signal. The young man bit down on his lip, his eyes darting around the room to try and find a solution. Perhaps he could try and pull them all back with Gravity Manipulation? That was a lot of people to pull in, but he didn't have a choice, did he?
Now, just a quick use—
"Glenn!" Sahro suddenly grabbed Glenn's arm, pointing at a dark wall, "...The guys from the Church of Onnea!"
The young man followed the pointed finger, finding a dozen corpses and the double amount of survivors, all bleeding profusely, their faces resigned. They all seemed like they were waiting for their deaths, ready to join their comrades. There were priests and paladins, as their builds hinted at. The entire squadron of Onnea's Church was chained there, stuck against the wall with pale figures as if they had been drained of all blood. As he made himself the reflection, Glenn noticed the literal pool of blood in front of the Gate, realizing the kids were dipping into the said pool, like steaks marinating before getting thrown onto the grill.
"What kind of sick...?" The young man shut his mouth as he barely saw a figure chained down to the ground, right behind the Gate. Reality had let him glance at an old man, wounded and unconscious, with chains blocking him to the ground. He had a gray unkempt beard, with blood tainting it, and hair that had been half-burned away.
But Glenn recognized that old man.
"...Damn, there's Redan too!" He gritted his teeth, abandoning any notion of safety. He grunted and stabbed his sword into the ground, before using both hands to concentrate on his Gravity Manipulation. The small cloth-wrapped figures suddenly rose into the air, as the clothed figures looked on, and were dragged in Glenn's direction. Inevitably, the cultists noticed the presence of the intruders and, in one accord, chose to ignore them. Glenn blinked but was undeterred and placed all the children behind him in the cage room. At least the kids were safe from any kind of friendly fire now.
...If they were still alive. Hopefully, they were, but Glenn didn't have the time to check over them right now.
Suddenly, the chains restricting the forces of Onnea's Church fell, freeing the priests and the paladins. Glenn almost grinned at the surprising help from god, but that grin turned to dread when he realized that, far from being happy for their freedom, the liberated prisoners all bore an expression of fear. They were all stuck against the wall, terrified, muttering prayers between their teeth, when suddenly, they all went silent in a synchronized manner.
"This..." Sahro frowned, his sword covered in blue sparks of electricity. Milena gulped and took a step back, as the prisoners all took a step toward them. Their eyes were empty, emptier than Javier's. A few additional figures in red-scaled armors suddenly came out of the shadows, bearing greatswords. They stepped beside the priests and paladins, walking threateningly toward the small team.
Glenn glanced back at the kids, then at the men approaching, to finally throw a look at Redan chained behind the Gate. The cultists were still chanting, the rhythm accelerating with each passing second, their feet beating against the ground, thumping with the same sound of a beating heart.
The young man made his decision, picking his sword back up and charging Mana in his left hand.
"Fuck this shit!" He shouted, before holding his left hand forward and sending a Nitrogen Wave in their attackers" direction. The priests and paladins were all caught in it and froze into ice statues, unmoving, but the scaled armored guards avoided swiftly, before countering with Aura blades, glimmering with an ominous green.
An arrow covered in a dark Aura flew out, and an armored knight fell, holding his helmet pierced by said projectile. Another charged forward, only to run into a wall, before grabbing and clawing at his neck desperately, grunting in a foreign language. The blades of Aura were interrupted by a thunder sword, a couple of scaled knights clashing with Sahro in an electrical meeting. More knights emerged from the shadows, and more arrows flew out.
Glenn charged in the middle of this mess, his mind racing as he dodged to the side a massive, black blade, before pressing his left hand against the helmet of the knights who attacked him and unleashing a Carbon Blade. Behind him, the knight's attack carved a melting rift into the ground that Milena narrowly avoided. The upper part of the knight's helmet slid down, bleeding profusely as Glenn's opponent fell on the ground.
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"The cultists!" Milena shouted, before blocking a couple of knights assaulting her with a swift strike of her dagger and a smart usage of her magic, making the other knight attack his friend, blinding him with illusion magic. Glenn gritted his teeth and kicked an approaching knight away, his eyes widening as a giant green Aura blade flew toward him. He slashed diagonally with Nelg, infusing his attack with Mana and sending a purple Mana blade. The attacks clashed in a myriad of colors, canceling each other in a deafening explosion.
The young man gasped and used Gravity Manipulation to pull a dead knight's corpse in front of him, blocking another knight's attack. The more he killed these bastards, the more there were!
"Fucking hell, we need to get Redan and get out of here—Fuck!" Sahro cursed and flashed away in blue thunder, three knights falling to the side, carved in half. Glenn froze and pulled at the ground with Gravity Manipulation, putting it in front of him in a makeshift protection as arrows suddenly rained down from nowhere.
"They were prepared for this!" Glenn shouted, before kicking the rock away, infusing it with Sun's Touch. The Shooting Star flew out in the darkness, casting its light into the massive room. Glenn's eyes widened as he noticed balconies right above the room, with archers aiming down and more knights jumping from them.
His Shooting Star successfully destroyed one of the balconies, but there were many, many more.
'This place is an amphitheater? Weird location for a ritual,' Diamanes remarked calmly, seemingly indifferent to the mayhem his host was fighting through. Nelg remained silent, probably too concentrated to help Glenn as best he could as he was swung around, Cutting and Pulling enemies. Glenn blocked a green Aura blade with his sword, his arms ringing from the shock. The air was drawn out of his lungs, but he held on and pushed forward, heaving heavily. He jumped up using Gravity Manipulation and aimed downward with his right hand.
"BLACKHOLE!!!" He screamed, hoping it would be enough for the others to understand. A tiny, dark orb flew out of his palm, growing as it swallowed both light and darkness, pulling the blood and the corpses off the ground. The cultists suddenly accelerated their chants, and as soon as their feet left the ground, pulled a dagger and slit their throats, killing themselves as soon as they couldn't chant anymore. Glenn barely apperceived the macabre spectacle from the corner of his eyes as three knights rushed at him, greatsword raised and Auras flaring up.
A flash of thunder cut through the air and got rid of two of Glenn's attackers, while a dark arrow flew out and pinned the last one to the ceiling. Glenn landed back on the ground, rolling himself up and running as fast as he could toward the Gate. He tried to bypass the Gate to grab Redan from behind it when he realized Redan wasn't there. There were no chains, no old man, nothing!
Glenn stopped for a few seconds, heaving as he tried to understand.
"The Gate, Glenn! THE FUCKING GATE!" Nelg shouted, making his host turn toward said Gate. The young man wiped the blood off his face, mainly his enemies', and gritted his teeth. This was a Rift, or a Gate, or a portal, or whatever.
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Glenn bellowed and charged right through the unstable Gate, feeling his innards twisting and moving in unplanned ways. He stumbled on the other side, landing on burning hot sand, the thick air making it hard for him to breathe. The scent of rotten eggs and flesh became unbearable and was so powerful it made his eyes tear up. He glanced back, finding the same unstable Gate, trembling as Reality tried to close it down.
Glenn shook the nausea off and ran around the Gate, his face lighting up when he found Redan chained there to the ground.
"YES!" He blurted out, before cutting down the chains with a swift movement of his sword. Redan collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Glenn rushed to his side, pressing his fingers on the old man's throat. It was beating weakly, but it was beating. The old man was shirtless, letting Glenn gaze upon countless scars, some cauterized and others still bleeding profusely. The young man almost chose to use C.P.R., but now wasn't the time. He grabbed the old man and threw him on his shoulders.
He was as light as a feather. Glenn felt dread seize his heart as he felt the old man's life slipping away, and chose to do the only thing that wouldn't hold him back. He used the Divine Blessing on the old man, boosting him for a small amount of time. The old man's laborious breathing became a calm one, and his wounds stopped bleeding.
It wouldn't heal him, but it'd make sure he would survive for now. Glenn finally took the time to look at his surroundings, his heart stopping when he did so.
Red, everywhere. In the sky, countless moon-sized eyes, gazing down with morbid interest, moving all with their independent will. All around the gate, there were corpses, skinned corpses, and bags of meat, human meat. Glenn couldn't tell how he knew that fact, but he knew. It could only be human flesh. The ground was covered in blood, blood that came from countless children with their throats slit open, their skin ripped away and their guts pouring out.
Glenn lost his step and stumbled back, unable to breathe. There were corpses everywhere, of all ages, all skinned and drained of their blood. Their faces had all been untouched, all twisted with immense pain, blood pouring down from their empty eye-sockets.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!" Diamanes screamed, ignoring any safety to force his host to come to his senses. Glenn wanted to run away, but something stopped him from doing so. It was that same feeling he had back when he met the tentacle monster in the forest so long ago when he had just arrived in this hell of a world. He was weak, unable to defend himself. Powerless in front of death.
As the eyes in the sky moved to look at him, Glenn felt it again.
This weakness. The young man's nose began bleeding profusely, but he ignored it and forced himself to turn around. The Gate was only a few meters away, and yet, it felt like Glenn could never reach it. He pushed, one step after the other, roaring as he threw Redan into it. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of swords clashing behind him made him turn his head back. A man with the white robe of the Church of Onnea, probably a priest, was wielding a white longsword against an axe-wielding knight with burning armor and his face hidden behind a black skull mask. Glenn thought back to that priest who saved the kids and quickly made the connection. He gritted his teeth and used Nelg to stand up, his legs trembling with uncontrolled fear.
He couldn't tell what he was scared of, but it was terrifying him. In fact, he was pretty sure he had both pissed and shat himself, but he couldn't care less. His bowels could give up, his legs could shake as much as they wanted but this time...
This time, Glenn wasn't closing his eyes in front of Death.
"PRIEST!" He shouted as he dismissed Nelg back into his soul and prepared a Nitrogen Lance, "I'LL COVER YOU!! COME!!"
The priest turned around with a surprised expression and deflected one last attack from the burning knight. He pressed his hand against his chest and suddenly slipped in the light, reappearing behind Glenn.
"Thank you! See you on the other side!" The priest screamed before jumping in the Gate. Glenn grinned, blood pouring out of his every orifice, before shooting the Nitrogen Lance toward the burning knight. The latter didn't utter a word and covered his axe in black flames, slicing down at the incoming attack. Glenn pushed and pushed, feeling his Mana emptying at crazy rates, before closing his fist and jumping back toward the Gate. The burning knight dashed toward him, his axe raised high into the sky. Behind the black skull mask, two purple eyes gleamed with hate and spite.
Glenn grinned as he felt his body being pulled away, showing off his middle finger as he was transported away. His innards were probably ruptured from within, he had probably some internal bleeding due to some unknown reasons, and his Mana reserve was almost empty.
But as Glenn watched Reality fix the Gate and make it disappear, he still couldn't smile. He went to Hell and came back.
But these dead kids never will.