Ronan's POV
Slash!
I cut one of the human fiends while I hurried after Elena, who had already reached the church entrance waiting for me to catch up.
I reached her side, sweat pouring from my body. I had killed ten monsters so far; she had killed twice that number but she wouldn't get tired.
"Hurry up and get in."
She shouted at me while kicking the door and entering the nave quickly.
The church was smashed inside: scattered benches on one side, there was a statue but it was broken so I couldn't identify it.
"There's a narrow stair to the right of the statue. Let's go there and force them into single combat."
Elena ordered, sending a spear of light that killed a dog that tried to pounce on us.
I ran quickly toward the stairs as she ordered and took a defensive stance.
Elena came beside me, wrapping her long sword in light, then she stabbed toward the altar, sending a destructive force that pierced the enemy ranks.
"Miss—Whitehaven, there are too many of them. It's impossible to hold."
I shouted at her as I summoned a small vortex that lifted the small monsters and scattered debris, then I hurled them toward the others.
"I know that already, but we have no other choice. Let's hope there are other students nearby too. Stop calling me 'Miss WhiteHaven ' over and over — it's annoying."
She said sharply as she threw light bombs at a group of bear-sized rats.
"Think, Ronan. Is there anything useful?"
I looked around to find anything useful. I found nothing in the hall, but the statue caught my attention.
"Hmm? Is there a covering around the statue?"
I sent a Blade of Wind toward the broken god-statue without caring whether my actions were blasphemy or not.
To my astonishment, when the statue broke a small passage appeared behind it.
"Miss Elena, this way!"
I pointed to her while I was already running toward the small passage.
Once she followed me, I turned around and destroyed the corridor to prevent them from catching up with us.
"We should be safe now."
I sighed as I looked at Elena. She wore a serious expression while gazing at the debris.
"This won't hold long. Let's get out of here as fast as possible."
She said that and turned without waiting for my reply.
A small ball of light lit the way around us. After five minutes of walking and descending stairs into the earth, we found ourselves in a wide room covered in strange drawings and writings.
"What is the point of this place? It's completely empty."
I muttered as I looked at the drawings and tried to read the old inscriptions.
[One day all the gods gathered and decided to choose a blessed one for this world to spread the gods' fame and call people to worship them.]
[The blessed one's name was Adam, known as the greatest Priest . He was an ascetic, kind-hearted man. Everyone loved him for helping the needy and his justice among people.]
[Humans lived a thousand years of peace and prosperity under Adam's supervision, who received eternal youth from the gods. One day people gathered and decided to build a special palace for Adam in honor of his efforts. They decided to call it the Silver Castle.]
[All humans exerted their abilities and built an unparalleled castle floating on an island in the sky. It seemed close to others but they couldn't reach it.]
[Humans feared for their shepherd Adam, so they built a great barrier around the castle and distorted the space around it, and created four gems as special keys leading to the castle.]
[They distributed the keys among four temples across the land, and humans pledged to protect the keys with their lives for Adam's safety.]
[But peace did not last long. After five hundred years from the castle's construction, Adam suddenly disappeared, leaving humans in confusion. They knew it was impossible for anything to happen to Adam because of the fortifications and defensive strength of the castle.]
[But doubt and fear overcame human hearts. They accused each other of betrayal, each tomb claiming the other used his key and a forbidden art to breach the castle and kill Adam.]
[This was the spark that ignited a great war among humans that lasted a hundred years. What ended the war was not humans — a white flower descended to the earth from Adam's castle itself.]
[Humans thought it a sign that Adam was alive and they cared for the flower in hope of his return, but they did not realize the pure flower was actually a very loathsome being.]
[The flower exploited the humans drawn to its beauty and controlled their minds little by little. The exhausted humans from the hundred-year war could not resist the flower; they died brutally and became vessels controlled by the flower as it wished.]
[The gods did not care for this world after Adam's disappearance. They did not answer the prayers of the faithful. The earth died and the sunlight disappeared, leaving the world in eternal darkness As if the gods were angry at the sins of humans . Facing the cursed flower and the gods' abandonment, the world's fate was death.]
"What a terrifying history. Who would think this world died because of a single monster and not because of the Abyss invasion? But why is this world in the Abyss in the first place — did the flower make a pact with the Abyss or what?"
I asked Elena hoping she would share my opinion.
"Who knows, but the goal is clear: we need to find the keys and kill the monster in the castle. That way we can escape this hell."
Her eyes gleamed coldly as she decided on the objective.
The place trembled before we could get any rest.
"Damn it — they've besieged us here. We're going to die."
I cursed, thinking of an escape.
"This is strange. The tremor doesn't seem caused by the monsters chasing us."
Elena said beside me, tilting her head in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
I asked her, puzzled by her words.
"Let's go and see."
Elena rushed toward the place we came from. I followed quickly, hoping to understand what was happening.
When we reached the rubble that blocked the path, it was still closed but we felt violent tremors from the other side.
"Ronan, use your wind and open the path."
Elena ordered, pointing her sword at the altar, ready to charge at any moment.
Although I thought it a foolish idea, I did as she wanted and opened the way before us.
We were met with the sight of torn corpses to the right and left and monsters attacking relentlessly. A boy shrouded in pitch darkness emerged; chains of shadow shot out, binding the monsters and slicing them with blades at the ends of the chains' tails.
"Nox!!"
Elena shouted With happiness beside me as she hurried to the boy whom everyone knew well.
Nox, the boy of darkness, owner of a new shard, a kid from street whose presence sparked talk especially due to his very close proximity to the academy's goddess. Many hated him for that, but the real reason no one dared approach him was because Elena once used Nox's tardiness to class to threaten everyone that she would make their lives hell if they bothered him.
To him she was a kind and decent girl but a cold demon to others.
"How the hell could he kill all these monsters and stand there calmly as if dealing with a few insects?"
Ronan did not know that darkness renews Nox's energy each time, allowing him to continue use of exhausting attacks.
...
Nox's POV
I had reached the place where I had seen Elena's light hoping to find her but I found instead hundreds of damned monsters.
"You bastards, were you bullying a little girl? Come at me and fight someone your size."
And so I ended up killing the monsters brutally. Of course, I hope no one will think I'm a mighty hero — no, these scum cut me into dozens of pieces, even one of the scythe-fiend spawn severed my head. True, I am immortal, but do you know how painful it is to have your head cut off? No, because no one survived to tell the tale.
"Well, except for me. Anyway, thanks."
I thought as I felt gratitude toward my shard, which responded to me with great prideful emotion.
I looked at Elena who had come beside me; she smiled happily at seeing me. She sighed in relief when she saw me unhurt.
I turned my gaze back to see a boy with brown hair and eyes and slightly darker skin. If I'm not mistaken his name was Ronan.
He wore a simple brown combat suit with a plain double-edged sword.
"Why does he look like a side character in an RPG game?"
I thought sarcastically about his appearance not fitting the situation.
"Hello Elena. I would have been happy to see you, but it seems these monsters will impede our reunion."
I said with a smile as I sheathed my sword and slashed the neck of a huge black cat that leaped at me attempting to tear me with its claws.
"I agree with you. Let's finish them quickly."
She said cheerfully as she pounced on a green snake trying to encircle us.
"Elena, their numbers may be many but their combat style is primitive, relying on brute force. Also target the white flowers or clusters of vines on their bodies."
I advised Elena as I ordered my chains to stab a spawn and pin it to the ground.
"Are you planning to just watch?"
I looked at Ronan with coldness that made him tremble in place, but he recovered and joined the fight quickly.
"This will be difficult. I survived because of my immortality, but I can't risk getting injured in front of them. It's good that my armor regenerates because of the darkness around us."
I thought as I summoned a dark-restrained scythe-fiend from the shadows that attacked me from behind.
"But I won't lie — this is fun."
I said with a smile as I cut the fiend in half.
...