The woman with eyes that were completely black, sent chills down Adhrit’s spine. His instincts sensed immense danger from her like never before. He instantly jumped away from her and placed his sword in front of him, in a defensive manner. WIth a smile that radiated strength and confidence, the woman slowly straightened her posture.
“Tell me sweet boy…How did you do it?” She asked with her smile slowly disappearing;
“I..don’t know what you me-…” As Adhrit was speaking, a gust of wind blew his hair above his forehead.
[TING…TING…TING!]
The next sound Adhrit heard was her nails hitting the blade of his sword, along with the sensation of his sword vibrating just by her finger’s strength.
“You will die here anyways…Isn’t it better having a last conversation with a beautiful woman?” She whispered in his left air, then proceeded to softly blow air on his left cheek.
Adhrit’s will to fight began draining out of him, he lowered his sword without realizing with a blank expression appearing on his face.
Meanwhile,
Yaksh kept shooting arrows surrounded in green energy, while aiming at a rapidly moving dark mass of energy around him. The ballistic energy around his arrows saw a slight decrease every time he shot one, and by his expression, it appeared he was aware of this too.
Yaksh nocked another arrow and aimed it towards the mass of dark energy, while his peripheral vision caught the sight of Adhrit’s energy getting absorbed out of him.
[BOOM!]
The aim of his bow suddenly changed and fired at the woman in front of Adhrit.
“TCH!...VASHINI!..CAN’T YOU ATLEAST TAKE CARE OF ONE?!” The woman exclaimed in an annoyed tone while she jumped away from Adhrit, who was thrown away by the impact of the explosion.
“Grr…You pathetic..” The dark mass of energy turned into a woman and lunged at Yaksh with her claws drawn out.
[SPLURT!]
Blood gushed out of Yaksh’s abdomen,
[SMACK!....THUD!]
With a kick with every spec of his strength, he smacked the woman away.
“UGH!...”
A sharp pain originated from the four holes in his abdomen, fortunately for him, he managed to avoid a fatal attack by moving himself in a split second. Yaksh gazed towards the woman, who was smiling while licking his blood off her claws.
‘I…am…losing..’
His energy constantly getting chipped off while he stood still along with a wound that refused to heal, Yaksh soon realized his position in the battle. A wave of despair and disappointment washed over his entire being, a feeling of inadequacy began sinking his heart.
[TRR!]
He ripped his shirt off and wrapped it around his lower abdomen.
“Ugh!...”With a sudden movement, he tightened the knot using both of the sleeves.
“HEHEHEHE!..I like the look on your face…” The woman said with a satisfied smile, while she triumphantly stared at his pale face;
Yaksh turned his eyes towards Adhrit and found him standing still with his energy rapidly getting absorbed.
“Tch…”
With an annoyed expression, Yaksh nocked an arrow while doing his absolute best to ignore the pain.
[SWOOP!]
The arrow rapidly moved towards her, the woman caught the arrow without flinching, as it lacked energy to create the blasts Yaksh used.
“Heh…It seems you’re out of fuel…” She said while breaking the arrow in half;
“Haah…Who said that?” Yaksh said while lowering the bow;
“Wh-..” First she appeared confused by his words, but the very next moment…a realization appeared with horror on her face.
She gazed at her hand and found steam rising from it, she flung her hand in order to throw the arrow…But her eyes widened as she saw the arrow stuck on her hand.
[BOOM!]
A powerful explosion happened right where she stood, a huge chunk of flesh flew rapidly towards Yaksh who tilted his head and dodged it.
“URGHH!!!!!” She screamed in agony, catching the attention of the other woman in front of Adhrit.
“VASHINI!!...” She moved her hand away from Adhrit and attempted to sprint towards her,
“Here..”
She heard Yaksh speaking from her back,
[SWOOP!...BOOM!]
An arrow impaled her abdomen and exploded the next second. Yaksh took the opportunity and grabbed Adhrit. He jumped away from the explosion inside a broken house.
Yaksh laid Adhrit down on the floor and rested his back on the wall. His eyes stayed on Adhrit, who appeared to slowly regain his consciousness.
“WHERE ARE YOU!!!”
[BOOM!]
An explosion blew away several houses a distance away from both Yaksh and Adhrit. Yaksh peeped through the holes of the damaged wall and found both the women rampaging while destroying the houses around them.
“Heuk!...Hooh….hooh..” Adhrit suddenly woke up and began breathing heavily, as his lungs were already drained off the air present inside him.
“What…is happening?” The first thing that caught Adhrit’s attention was Yaksh’s wound.
“We are getting in huge trouble…” Yaksh replied while turning towards Adhrit;
“.....”
“As much as I appreciate that silence, you need to speak…” Yaksh said with a blank expression,
Adhrit was surprised by his sudden words but the very next moment;
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“How did you know we were in a different dimension?” Yaksh asked while nocking an arrow on his bow;
Adhrit sat up while blankly staring out of the holes in the wall;
“I am not sure…It was just a strange feeling…now it feels obvious that it was an illusion…but during that time, I felt as if my will to even doubt the situation was being suppressed..”
“Suppressed?...I felt as if the life I lived in the real world was a dream…and I hope it was..” Yaksh’s expression suddenly darkened;
“My energy…It’s almost gone..” Adhrit said while clenching his fist;
“They are using a technique that’s hiding their presence…I can’t sense them when they attack..”
“Huh?..” Adhrit stared at Yaksh with a surprised expression, as he showed no reaction to the energy depletion..
A silence ensued as both of the warriors brainstormed the ways to battle them. Then, Adhrit’s face suddenly brightened;
“I..think they are entering different dimensions..”
Yaksh turned towards him and looked with an obvious doubtful gaze;
“...I can sense that dimension opening…if that's the case..”
Then suddenly, Yaksh’s eyes sparkled as if his brain was illuminated..
“Fine…You will detect them..and I will fight..”
“B..bu-..”
“It won’t last long, we need to be quick..” Yaksh interrupted Adhrit while standing up, he aimed his arrow towards the women.
At that moment, Adhrit caught the sight of a purplish bruise on Yaksh’s neck.
“Fine…” Adhrit stood up with a determined expression.
[SWOOP!...BOOM!]
“HEHEHE…HERE YOU ARE!!”
[WOOSH!]
Both of the women turned into dark masses of energy and disappeared.
[HUM!]
Adhrit’s sword got surrounded in a small amount of silver glow,
[SWISH!]
He slashed his sword once on Yaksh’s left, then once above him;
Yaksh shot two arrows in the both direction,
[BOOM!..]
The arrows seemed to collide with nothing and created a huge explosion;
Adhrit proudly smiled while lowering his sword;
[THUD!]
Both of the women fell on the ground with a huge chunk of their abdomen blown off, before Yaksh and Adhrit could react, both of them turned into a dark mass of energy and disappeared;
“LEFT!”
Before the word could completely escape Adhrit’s lips, another explosion of green energy blew both of the women away.
[HUM!] [WOOSH!]
Intense green energy appeared from Yaksh, he nocked two arrows on his bow and aimed at the women.
“He..he still has this much energy?” One of them said with a baffled expression while her hands send dark energy towards her wounds, healing them rapidly;
[WOOSH!]
Both of them disappeared with a dark mass of energy. Adhrit’s eyes widened, as he realized the direction of their attack.
“WHERE?!”“...R..RIGHT!”
As he spoke, Adhrit jumped towards Yaksh’s left with his sword surrounded in silver energy.
[BOOM!]
An explosion of green energy appeared on Yaksh’s right, far stronger than the ones before.
“AHH!!!!” An agonizing scream tore the woman’s vocal cords, while her mostly destroyed body fell on the ground.
“Ugh!..”
Upon hearing a soft groan, Yaksh quickly turned back and found Adhrit blocking the left hand of the other woman. While her second hand…had impaled his abdomen…
[SPLURT!]
A huge amount of blood gushed out of his wound. Adhrit’s hand lost the strength to hold the sword, while his eyes lost their glow..
[SMACK!]
Yaksh punched her away with all of his might. Adhrit fell on the ground with most of his internal organs sticking on the woman’s hand.
“RAAARGH!!” She stood up and tried to jump forward,
[WOOSH!]
A sudden appearance of dark energy around her surprised both her and Yaksh. Yaksh turned back and found the same happening with the second woman.
[SWOOSH!]
Both of them disappeared with a strong gust of wind getting blown away from them.
***
{Two hours ago}
[BHUM!]
A dense wave of dark energy brushed off Arav’s entire body, the moment he stepped inside the dark sphere. He looked around to find any resemblance of the paradise, but there was nothing but an endless room filled with darkness. The room had a sense of slight familiarity, as Pralaya had spent five centuries in a similar place.
[WOOSH!]
He sensed a disturbance in front of him, his pupils expanded to the limit..but he still failed to see anything.
“Ho?...You can still sense something..”
A voice resounded from all directions, making it near impossible to point out the source’s real location. Arav took a battle stance while his eyes alarmingly gazed around;
‘A dimension…inside a dimension…’ An uneasy feeling crept inside his heart. The dimension felt similar to the one he had fought Praitra inside, but there was something off.
[WOO…]
Something rapidly moved towards him, Arav instinctively jumped from the way. The tremors in the air made him realize that it was some kind of an energy attack.
The moment he regained his balance, the same disturbance reappeared..But this time being hundreds in number and significantly faster. Arav rapidly moved, dodged several of the attacks in seconds. He felt his ability to sense the attacks getting worse and worse, until;
[BOOM!] [BHUM!]
An attack collided directly with Arav’s back, sending him flying in nothingness…Arav rapidly moved his limbs to gain balance, but the seemingly endless fall…and the pitch black dimension refused to provide him stability. Arav finally fell on a hard surface, his fall was certainly strong..but the non existent effect on the place warned Arav.
He felt a sharp pain on his back, along with a great deal of warm blood flowing down his legs. He moved his hands towards his back, a burning sensation instantly arose on his touch.
‘..My healing ability…’
The sensation of uncovered flesh under his fingers revealed what felt as his greatest weakness in the place.
‘I can’t let this stretch out…’
[HUM!]
Yellow energy erupted out of Arav, but he still failed to see anything other than his blood soaked hands.
“HEHEHEHE!!”
A different sounding voice from the previous one echoed in all directions. The very next moment, Arav’s brilliant energy disappeared. His eyes widened with a sudden realization,
[WOOSH!]
Small amount of red flames appeared on his back, but disappeared before his terrifying aura could be summoned.
“What happened…having issues with your energy sir?..” A voice said in a mocking manner.
[WOOSH!]
As if waiting for Arav to realize this fact, two masses of dark energy appeared in front of him a distance away.
Arav couldn’t see them, but their sudden appearance changed the atmosphere in the dimension. Arav’s battle instincts made him subconsciously raise his hands forward, while his eyes continuously kept gazing at nothingness.
[BLAZE!]
Arav saw some resemblance of a light, upon gazing carefully, he found a pale skinned man with dark hair standing with a wicked smile, while both of his hands burned with colorless flames.
“I have heard that you ask for introductions before fighting someone…” He said while raising his hands up;
[SWOOSH!]
A circle of colorless burning flames was formed that enclosed both Arav and the men in front of him.
“I am called Krodh,...and he is Vish..” He continued speaking while pointing at the man beside him. He had a pale face and green eyes,..similar to the elves, but much darker and sinister..
Arav silently stared at the two demons while his mind formulated plans for the upcoming battle;
‘A place where I can’t use my energy, a circle of flames to limit my movements…The ability to suppress my healing…’
“Pratira…you have formulated quite the plan..” Arav said with a smirk,
Both of the demons standing in front were startled, their eyes shivered for a split second…enough for Arav to notice and certify his suspicion.
[WOOSH!]
Vish jumped towards Arav while he summoned green fumes around his fists.
He thrusted his punch towards Arav’s face, but in that split second, Arav avoided it by ducking;
[SMACK!]
A powerful punch made Vish’s abdomen expand, he was propelled towards the back…But the moment his movement began, as if the time was significantly slowed down for Arav…he appeared right behind his back;
[SMACK!] [SPLURT!]
Arav kicked the poison demon with all his might,
[BLAZE!!]
Krodh sent a fury of flames towards Arav. But Arav jumped away from the attack’s way and grabbed Vish, who was beginning to slowly heal himself.
[FWOOSH!]
Arav used Vish as a shield against the next wave of attack from Krodh.
“AHHH!!!!” Vish screamed in agony, Krodh quickly retracted his arm and stopped the flames. A major portion of Vish’s back had burnt to a degree of melting his flesh.
[THUM!]
Arav jumped towards Krodh, while Vish kept punching at him with green poison surrounding his hands.
Krodh’s eyes widened while reflecting an image of Arav descending towards him, the concern for his own safety overshadowed Vish’s, he stretched his hands forward and summoned his colorless flames.
[SMACK!]
The flames were sent raging towards Arav, several times greater in volume than the previous ones. But Arav again used Vish as a shield;
Krodh was flabbergasted, he hastily attempted to change the direction of his flames…Arav was much faster than him, he grabbed Krosh’s head and smacked him on the ground;
[THUD!]
“YOU!!!”
“UGH!!!”
Both of the demons summoned their techniques;
[BLAZE!] [SMACK!]
Krodh struck Arav with his flames, while Vish punched him with his hands surrounded in poison. Arav’s clothes were burnt off, along with a major portion of his skin…But the strength of his grip on Krodh’s head and Vish’s neck kept increasing..
[CRACK!]
Krosh heard his skull cracking, fear filled his heart while his hands rapidly punched Arav in desperation. Vish was nothing different, his throat was already closed off and breathing was already impossible.
The two demon’s combined strength failed to push Arav away, who was pressing both of them on the ground with his bare hands. They both struggled for their life, while Arav’s red eyes only reflected their death;
[WOOSH!]
Suddenly both of the demons turned into a mass of dark energy and disappeared. The dimension around Arav began to disappear while revealing a desolate land in the process. Arav stood up from the ground;
[HUM!]
Incredible red aura suddenly erupted out of him,
“You…are here..”Yaksh’s low voice caught Arav’s attention, he quickly turned in the direction of the sound. His eyes widened the moment his gaze fell on Adhrit lying on the ground.
[WOOSH!!]
An incredible energy suddenly appeared among the houses. Arav turned towards its direction and found a familiar being rising from the ground;
“We finally met...Pratira…” Arav whispered while his brows contracted;
“Demonic remanence”
[Chapter 30: END]