Chereads / The Astral Dogma / Chapter 5 - Nightmare cave (2)

Chapter 5 - Nightmare cave (2)

The endless fight made him tired, and he was looking desperately for a break. Seeing a large angel statue of a male angel with long hair and a soothing face , he called up for the last energy and climbed to the top of that same statue.

Belial bumped into him perched on the gargantuan angelic statue. As quickly as he caught his fall, the beasts started scaling the statue toward him. In that instant, Belial had to quickly make his next move, as some of the monsters started climbing the statue.

He came up behind the angel's head and put his hand on it the same time his legs braced against the wall. When the pressure from his hand was not enough and the dark purple energy came to materializing into a pillar helping him, after a couple of seconds of straining his muscles Belial pushed the statue over, smashing the bulk of creatures beneath it.

Belial felt electricity pulse through him, and more than one of the darkish power swords appeared around him, taking shape and creating a deadly demeanor. Phantom sword last of the monsters had been no match for the phantom swords of Belial, as he dispatched them all effectively.

As he leaped from the statue, he became cloaked in cuts and scrapes, his garments tattered and his body fatigued. Belial became shocked from his concentration by means of a thunderous crash and a puff of smoke.

When he turned to his right, he saw a black ogre attired in armor with a long dao. It was a monster in armor. For the first time, he laid his eyes on such a spectacle. Belial stood face-to-face with the ogre.

"So, you're just gonna stand there big man? No chit-chat or monologue? Nothin' ? Well then I hope that sword is making up for something. Like your minuscule brain, maybe?" he taunted the black monster. Noticing that the monster had no type of

Belial lunged ahead, the blade of his scimitar glinting in the dim light of the cave, where the ogre stood, massive and imposing, before him, yet he felt resolved to best him.

With a short swipe, he tried to decapitate the ogre, but his attack was deflected without the creature moving its hand. Belial jumped back to recover his ground, his eyes fixed on the ogre's every move.

Without another thought, the ogre swung his hand before Belial; such a huge crushing blow landed on his chest and threw him toward the wall. He thumped it wondrously, causing quite a deep crack.

Reeling and disorientated, Belial staggered in catching his footing. His brow dripped with sweat, and his chest roared intolerably as the ogre stood ready to strike anew.

With little time to react, Belial leapt, bringing his blade up in time to interpose it between his body and those crushing downward strokes of the ogre. The tremors shook his arms but he stood firm.

Exhausted and bloodied, Xin staggered back as what had remained of the gargantuan monsters crumbled to dust before him. For a moment, he allowed himself to think that the worst be over—that he had triumphed against all odds and escaped alive. But his respite was to be short-lived.

Without any warning at all, Xin began to feel his very form being dissolved like the horrendous creatures before him. An icy terror throbbed through his body as he unleaded a horrified scream.

A strangled cry, xin felt his frame begin to dissolve.

"No, please… No more like this! I still have to find Bel! NO. Nononono please i don't want to die please PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

His voice became super-emotional as he struggled to hold on to life.

As darkness enveloped Xin, the whole world around him prepared for the end. But then it stopped, decayed but no more than before, and he gasped for air with his coronary heart pounding in his chest.

In a count of seconds, he saw himself standing in a timber-surrounded space.

" Xin breathed and feared, his voice vibrating.

"I'm alive.? I'm alive!!"

Xin howled loudly in joy and disbelief.

But as he looked around, his elation started to fade to confusion and then to fear. Belial his companion and fellow warrior, was nowhere to be seen.

"He should be done with his side by now; where is he?"

Xin muttered to himself, worry escalating by the second.

He quickly activated his hax, scanning the premises for any traces of Belial's presence. There had been nothing—no vibration, no heartbeat, no hint of Bel's presence.

Xin's voice trembled with surprise and disbelief as he gasped,

"Absolutely not…. It can't be. No- He's no longer…. Really he can't be. No no it's not- no bel's not- no he can't be… right…. Right…?"

Tears spilled down his face as he buried his head into her hands, trying to process what had just happened. With the final breaking point, he broke into sobs and his legs gave way while he sagged to his knees completely.

"Why… Why him, why not me now! It was me who got into debt why him why not me why did it have to be him!. It's my fault…. If it wasn't for me you'd still be alive… it's all my fault…. "

The full realization of Belial's death, and his own personal guilt, made his voice shrill and ragged

"No..No no no.How how could i l..It's all my fault!"

Xin thought and his heart broke into a million pieces. Belial was already gone, and he knew that it was all of his fault. He learned the meaning of his mistake and the pain he felt was horrible. He understood that such an ache would follow him the rest of his days.

Belial was on his knees on the dungeon floor, his chest pounding. Blood flowed from a multitude of cuts, pooling on the stones below him. He hissed through his teeth as he tried to lever himself up, standing once more, holding his sword before him.

The ogre glared down at him, features twisted in fury. It barreled forward, its big hand up to deliver a kill strike. Belial steeled himself, running thoughts through his head a mile a minute in the search for a hole in the thing's defenses.

He activated his 'Shadow Trigger', and a murky haze coursed through his veins, numbing his ache and bolstering his muscle tissues. Despite the danger, he had no choice. He confronted the ogre's assault by means of swiftly countering the attcks with his sword

The two had been evenly balanced, every blow of the opponent landed with equal strength. Belial had been proficiently dodging the attacks of the ogres' and parrying its strike, yet he would feel its irritation rising as its actions become more erratic and haphazard.

Belial bided his time, giving the ogre a glance at the moment before attacking. Upon closing, he seized the opportunity and unleashed his Phantom Sword, calling upon swarms of dark blades that homed in on his target with deadly precision.

With a roar, the ogre parried each simply with a clashing noise. It charged in the direction of Belial, its considerable body moving the earth under their feet. As it lifted its fist to strike, Belial saw his threat to counterstrike.

He suddenly plunged the sword forward, the glinting blade cutting through the smoky air. The weapon found its target, cutting through the ogre's flesh and bone. In a final, excruciated scream, down the beast fell.

Belial towered over the fallen ogre, his breath coming in heavy gasps that gave way to expand his chest. He taunted the creature, leering down at its useless form. "That turned into quite a war," he stated, as he knelt beside the wounded ogre.

"I must say, I was underestimating your power in the beginning. You really fought bravely."

But his victory was short-lived. As he looked on, the ogre's body began to dissolve into material, turning into soil before his very eyes. Belial staggered backward, his eyes growing wide with shock.

He hadn't in any way seen anything like it before. He looked down at his bloodied hands, and his vision started to blur. "So this is how it ends," He whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the sound of his own disintegration.