Did it just… kill itself!?
When Cirayus’ expression remained unchanged, Vir knew he was wrong. He peered deeper, leveraging both his sight and Prana Vision to see the truth of the matter.
Vir gasped, earning him a stern look from the four-armed demon.
The Wyrm hadn’t crumbled. It had split.
Millions of tiny organisms swarmed around the Ash Beasts, tearing them apart, bite by tiny bite.
Flesh, bones, everything. Only a sea of blood remained when they were done with it, staining the ash crimson. It’d taken only seconds.
The pieces moved together, reconstituting into the awe-inspiring beast that boasted a Balar Rank with far too many zeroes.
Instead of ascending back to the air, it burrowed underground, using its constituent pieces to bore a cavern-sized hole at such an alarming rate, it sent reverberations through the ash.
Explosions of soot marked its path as it snaked underground, weaving its way ever slowly toward them.
Cirayus stiffened, grabbing hold of Vir, when the Wyrm changed course away from them. Silence returned moments later.
Only then did the demon sigh, wiping off the sweat that trickled down his face.
“Didn’t think we’d see one of them out here. Never seen one so far from the core.”
“That was a Wyrm, right?”
“Aye. If we’d been any closer, we’d be goners.”
“The records at the Pagan Order said they were some of the most dangerous beasts in the Ash. That was certainly scary, but are they truly that dangerous?”
Cirayus gave him a horrified look. “Lad, those beasts aren’t merely animals. Better to think of them as natural disasters. Like a tornado or an earthquake. If it notices you, you die. Simple as that. There is no outrunning a Wyrm. Once it marks you, it won’t stop. Ever. Until you are dead.
“There’s no killing them. To do so, you’d have to annihilate every one of their constituent pieces. And there is no hiding, either. The only way to survive is to avoid their notice. As you just witnessed, it consumed a thousand Ash Beasts in the span of seconds, each strong enough to end you with a mere glance. What chance do beings like us have?”
Vir’s head reeled, trying—and failing—to wrap his mind around the being he’d just witnessed. Unlike the Prana Swarm in the Human Realm, this was the real deal. The obscene Balar Rank was fully justified. Even on the lower end, it was the deadliest beast he’d ever laid eyes on.
“No, I should correct myself,” Cirayus said. “I stand no chance.”
Vir rolled his eyes. “You hardly need to clarify. If you don’t, I might as well be dust.”
“Yes, in your current state.”
Vir frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that if Jalendra’s theories are accurate, that if you somehow unlock the full power of that,” Cirayus said, pointing to Vir’s chest, “then maybe. Just maybe you’ll be able to fight such beings on an even footing.”
Vir’s thoughts froze. Fight? With a natural disaster?
He laughed. Impossible.
Perhaps Cirayus was being generous. But even so, the only way he’d get there was by training and testing himself against difficult foes. Which gave him pause.
“Cirayus… Why haven’t we dueled yet? I’m sure I could learn so much by fighting against you.”
The giant nodded slowly. “Aye. In due time, lad. Thing is, demons fight differently from Ash Beasts. We use tactics and strategies Ash Beasts wouldn’t. For now, my primary goal is to make you strong enough to fend for yourself here in the Ash. And here, you’ll find no demons. Only beasts. There’s a saying in the Demon Realm: Train as you Fight. But fear not. Duels are coming.” The demon grinned. “In fact, by the time we exit this realm, you’ll be sick of fighting me.”
Vir nodded, wondering when he’d get to fight his next Ash Beast. As it turned out, he wouldn’t have to wait long to get his chance.
11THE ONE WHO MAKES WHOLE
This is somewhat problematic,” Cirayus remarked, lying prone as he gazed at the creatures that swarmed in the distance.
“You’re sure this is the right place?” Vir asked from beside him, growing concerned at the demon’s tone. Until now, only the Wyrm had fazed the warrior. Cirayus hadn’t shown a hint of worry as they wandered through the Ash, lost. Nor had he worried even after a week passed in this way.
Vir, on the other hand, had worried. Quite a bit.
Lingering near the edge of the Ash allowed him time to acclimate, yes, but restlessness was steadily building in his chest. A month had now passed in the Human Realm.
I could progress so much faster if we only ventured a little deeper.
Vir’s body had grown used to the surrounding prana density, and despite endless hours of casting Talents to expand his blood’s prana capacity, the gains had slowed down so much, Vir wondered if it was a pointless exercise. Meanwhile, Maiya’s time raced ahead.
Yet while Vir was ready to delve deeper, Cirayus was not. He refused to venture any farther until he’d found the Artifact he’d hidden. It had taken several more days for Cirayus to locate enough landmarks to finally know where to go.
The moment came as a relief to Vir, though the giant demon seemed as relaxed about their predicament as he’d been on the day they’d stepped into the Ash.
“Some things cannot be rushed,” he’d said.
It wasn’t so much the hours of silent travel that bothered him, as it was the apocalyptic scenery. The jagged peaks and blighted forests, the endless lightning storms that scorched the skies, and of course, the ash. It got into backpacks, clothes, lungs—everything—that was what got to him.
This was a place of death. A realm into which no mortal should ever set foot. It wasn’t built for them. It was built for hardier things, the sort that terrorized nightmares. There were no man-made structures, no cities, no people, nor even points of reference Vir could use to pinpoint his location.
In fact, the Ashen Realm was far emptier than he’d originally imagined. The stories spoke amply of terrifying beasts, and while they existed, there was so much land that Ash Beast sightings were rare. Even the weaker, more populous ones.
The terrain just kept going, forever in all directions. Or so it had seemed to Vir until Cirayus guided them to this spot. An enormous rock cavern jutted out from the otherwise flat plains, like the maw of a shark that had been frozen in time. The den of some ancient Ash Beast.
Except, there was no beast. In its place was a skeleton, nearly buried by the ash. And there were several hundred… things, lumbering around.
Humanoid figures, except demented—their limbs all the wrong size. There was no uniformity to their deformations, either. One had a thick right arm twice as large as it ought to be, while its left arm was completely normal.
One had an upper body which was more or less normal, but their legs were strangely oversized. To where Vir wondered if someone had cut off a giant’s legs and sewn them onto a human.
Most had finger and toenails that grew several paces long, and Vir wondered how they hadn’t broken off long ago.
“Can I ask you a favor, lad?” Cirayus asked, his voice tinged with hesitation. It was incredibly unlike his normally confident demeanor.
“You want me to go scout those things out, don’t you?”
“Aye. I am many things, but subtle is not one of them. I fear I’d be discovered the moment we drew close. You, however, seem built for it.”
“I can spy on them with Dance of the Shadow Demon. Unless they can use it too…”
Vir had grown so confident about the security of the Shadow Realm, the thought of anyone intruding terrified him.