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A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity.
( Proverbs 17 : 17 )
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Seeing the mage confirm that the gate had closed, the party released the breaths they had been holding.
"Haaa... It's finally over," Ryker sighed in relief.
They were exhausted, worn out from fighting, from the loss of comrades, and from carrying the fate of the world. Naturally, they felt tired at the end of the battle. Now, only menial tasks remained.
"Fuuu... Let's go. We need to help Ginder and Drad," the mage exhaled.
Upon hearing his words, they noticed that the sound of the fight had resumed outside. They hurriedly picked up their weapons and tightened their armor. They still had to eliminate the residual forces of the empire and the believers of the demons.
"Let's kill them all and have a feast!" the Orc reveled in their victory.
"For once, you have said something correct," the war beast chimed in.
"Don't disturb me," the elf warned.
He knew how violent they became when they got drunk.
"Oh, come on, join in the fun! Or are you a lightweight?" the war beast teased.
The elf simply shook his head at the provocation.
"Here, take these," a voice said.
When they turned towards the voice, bottles filled with glistening liquid were thrown at them. They caught the bottles easily and looked at them. Words were written on the bottles.
[Recovery potion]
"Recovery potion?"
They turned to the mage who had thrown the bottles at them, questioning him. They had not seen this kind of potion before.
"It's a new product. It's a less effective version of Elven elixir," the mage explained his product like a salesman.
"Then why didn't you give it to us when we were fighting?" the war beast asked.
"It isn't that effective. I'm only giving it now since we have some time to recover," he explained.
They all agreed with his explanation. In the heat of battle, every second counted, so they didn't have the luxury to rest. They had also used the elixir that Fran had brought, which was instantly effective.
"Okay, get ready!" Ryker said.
He finished tightening his broken armor so it wouldn't fall off. It would have been better to discard it since it was broken, but having at least some defense was preferable.
"Okay."
"Got it."
"Let's go."
"Ready."
Each of them replied in their way. They had already reached the door as they spoke and prepared to remove the rubble to clear the path.
*Crack*
A sound similar to glass cracking faintly echoed.
Although it was faint and drowned out by the noise from the ongoing fight outside, it felt like a death knell in their ears, enough to freeze the group present in the hall.
Slowly, they turned back to where the emperor's throne had been. In the air where the dimensional crack had been, a crack had formed again.
*Crack* *Crack*
The crack began to expand slowly with the sound of cracking.
"Hey! Why is it opening again?" the war beast asked, her eyes fixed on the crack.
The hair on her body stood on end, and her body began to tense as she started her transformation.
*Crack*
"I-It shouldn't... U-Unless," the mage swallowed his words, trying not to jinx it.
Everyone trembled at the unspoken words. Most of them didn't know much about magic, but they were warriors hardened by battle and possessed numerous experiences. So, they understood that whatever was coming was trouble.
*Crack*
"Can't we close the crack?" Ryker asked.
"This crack is being opened from the other side. Even if we close it now, it can be reopened," the mage replied.
*Crack*
"Close it! We just have to buy enough time for us to recover," Ryker insisted.
"We can't," the elf interjected. "Even if we close it, it will reopen in a moment. The path has already been established between the dimensions. Now, even if we close it, the other side can reopen it again and again."
*Crack*
"Then how do we close it?" the orc asked.
The elf looked at the mage before sighing, "We have to close the door from both sides."
Everyone understood what needed to be done. They had to enter hell to close the door on the other side.
*Crack*
"Seems like we are going straight to hell," the war beast grinned, showing its fangs.
They took their stances, gripped their weapons, and got ready to fight whatever was about to pop out of the crack.
At this point, the slowly expanding crack was wide enough to fit a head in. They could feel the endless depth from the gate as their hair stood on end, cold sweat drenching their backs.
At that moment, the cracking sound coming from the crack stopped, plunging the entire hall into an eerie silence that was enough to scare an adult man. They focused their full attention on the halted crack as their bodies stiffened.
Suddenly, thick black-red fingers extended from the crack, filling the head-sized opening. It slowly gripped the sides of the crack as if it were a tangible object and widened it.
*Crack*Crack*Crack*Crack*crack*
The cracking sound of multiple glasses breaking echoed through the hall, bouncing off the tall walls. It was an irritating noise, enough to want to kill the one who caused it, but this time it didn't bring anger, but fear.
The crack, which was initially only head-sized, was forcefully opened to allow a giant to emerge.
*Boom*
With a boom, the demonic energy rushed from the other side like a tsunami, surging out as if to drown everything in its path.
Seeing the demonic energy rushing towards them, the mage and the elf hurriedly cast a shield around their group.
*Boom*
"Pfft..."
Both of them coughed, their mouths filled with blood as they suffered the backlash from the collision between their mana barrier and the wave of demonic energy. The mana barrier shook but didn't collapse, withstanding the onslaught of demonic energy.
"What's with this demonic energy? It's even more concentrated than before," the mage said, his face significantly paling.
As they struggled to maintain the barrier, the others couldn't tear their eyes away from their suffering comrades. Not that they didn't want to, but they couldn't.
A large figure was emerging from the crack, towering enough to look down at the grown orc. It had black-red skin, black armor, two red vertical pupils in each eye, and two horns growing from its head.
The towering figure emerged from the crack in a domineering manner, exuding a suppressive aura. Its eyes scanned the surroundings as if everything was beneath it, and they came to a stop when they reached the group, who stood in a daze.
Upon seeing them standing in its presence, it voiced a single word, "ʞɳʚɚɭ."
An indescribable pressure clutched every living being, forcing them to kneel. The group of heroes was no exception to this phenomenon. They found themselves kneeling as their legs gave way.
They felt an invisible claw dragging them down, compelling them to kneel. The barrier couldn't even block it as it shattered. The demonic energy surrounded them in an instant.
Black veins started to appear on their bodies as the demonic energy swept into them, corroding their beings. Their breathing became heavy as their eyes turned bloodshot.
The hope they held of defeating the demon and closing the gate, even if it meant sacrificing their lives, was crushed. They couldn't even lift their heads to look at the demon.
How could they defeat it?
All that remained in their minds was despair, despair at what was to come—the destruction of their races. They couldn't stop it, let alone buy time for their allies to escape. They felt it; their instincts screamed it. It was not a honed sense, but something primal, telling them that they stood before a predator that stood atop the food chain.
"YO!"
A cheery voice echoed in their despair-filled minds as if it were a hallucination.
"YO!"
It rang again, halting their thoughts.
Where was this voice coming from?
That single thought filled their minds. How could someone speak cheerfully in the face of such despair? Who was it?
And then, they lifted their heads to find a figure standing in front of them. They couldn't see the figure clearly; it was cloaked in deep darkness with golden specks of light within it. They stared at the figure in a daze. The deep darkness looked back at them as if to swallow them.
"Seems like you're in a bit of trouble. Need some help?" he asked them, who were drowning in despair.
At his words, hope ignited within the heroes of the rebellion. They were drowning, and all they could do now was hold onto this single ray of hope.
"Yes, please help us," Ryker voiced out, filled with hope.
"I can help you, but it comes with a price," said the darkness.
"Okay," Ryker agreed.
He couldn't let go of the glimmer of hope he had seen. He had too much to lose. He would pay anything to this person if they helped them escape this situation. He would do anything they asked.
The darkness turned back and looked toward the demon.
It was then that he noticed that everything was frozen. Ryker saw the dust before him suspended in the air, motionless. The demon stood in the same position as if it didn't notice the darkness at all.
The darkness strode forward toward the demon. With each step, it wobbled as it took the form of a human. The golden specks of light gathered together, driving away the darkness. The darkness slowly crumbled, and a golden figure emerged from it like a phoenix rising from its ashes.
The golden figure resembled a flame come to life, an ever-burning sun. With each step of the golden figure, time started to flow ever so slowly. By the time the figure stood before the demon, time flowed at a normal rate.
The demon, a bit slow to notice the golden figure, dilated its pupils as it raised its hand to strike. It was a lightning-fast attack driven by instinct, but it did not reach the golden figure. Instead, the demon's hand, as it came near, incinerated, turning into dust.
"A foot-soldier," the figure voiced.
He gently waved his hand, disintegrating the towering demon into ash. He then turned back and walked toward the group, who looked at him in a daze. They couldn't see his face; it was indiscernible. He slowly walked back to them, darkness gradually enveloping him.
When he reached them, his body was fully covered in darkness with specks of golden light resembling a night sky.
"Done!" he said as he slowly sat down.
The darkness that had filled the hall rushed to form a throne in a hurry as if offering itself for their lord to sit. The figure of darkness sat on the throne comfortably as he looked at the kneeling group.
It was then that they noticed the pressure holding them down had vanished. They warily got up, keeping an eye on the throne of darkness. It emitted an indescribable sense of fear. Fear of the unknown was the greatest fear of all.
"So, time to make the deal," the figure voiced.
It was then that they realized they couldn't recognize the language he was speaking, but they understood the content. It was inserted straight into their heads.
"What do you want?" the war beast asked warily.
"What a cute wolf," the figure voiced.
At those words, the war beast felt her hair stand on end, like a frightened cat.
The figure extended his hand forward, defying space and distance as it touched her cheek. The warbeast's senses didn't scream like before, nor did she show any retaliation. Not because there was no malice, but because they were like worms crawling on the ground. They weren't even worthy of being prey to the predator.
"Should I take you in as a pet?" the figure asked jokingly.
"I don't think I would make a good pet," the war beast spat back.
It wasn't because she didn't fear death, but because she didn't feel malice from the darkness. At the same time, she felt that the darkness was smiling at her as he withdrew his hand.
"Well, a dog too big for the house is no good," he nodded his head in agreement.
"Since I have done my part of the deal, it's your turn," he said.
"What is it that you want?" Ryker asked.
"A vessel," the darkness demanded.
"A vessel?" Ryker asked warily. He didn't want to escape the tiger only to fall into the lion's mouth.
"You don't need to know," the darkness cut him off. "For others, I haven't thought of anything. When the time comes, I will come to you."
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