Toulif is going to kill this demon, or die trying.
Eva and Tiffany had just left with Geltor, leaving Toulif alone with the abomination. Despite that, Toulif seems completely unbothered. In fact, he is grateful that he is now alone with this beast.
He was going to kill Abatu with one attack, and probably die in the process.
Dark Demonic Departure is not a single skill. It is four skills tied together with advanced chanting. First is Dark March, a class skill that greatly increases his speed for a single moment. This skill doesn’t use mana, and he received it when he underwent his class advancement.
Second is Dark Arc, a simple class skill that uses mana to launch a wave of dark energy at an opponent. It serves as a base for the entire spell.
Third is Faux Demonic Essence, a class skill that can double or even triple his physical strength and power in magical attacks. Though not as potent as true demonic essence, it is still an extremely powerful skill. He can use this skill along with Dark March to extend Dark Marches duration.
Fourth and finally is Vitalik Pool, the most important skill that ties this spell together. This skill essentially treats your lifespan as a separate pool of mana. Using lifespan instead of mana for a spell, greatly amplifies the strength of that spell. And since lifespan isn’t mana, you can use as much as you want without destabilizing said spell.
With that, Dark Demonic Departure is truly a trump card, only to be used against the strongest opponents. But it is nowhere near enough to stop the demon king before him.
Abatu licks his teeth as he stares at Toulif. Unbeknownst to him, the abomination knows exactly what’s about to happen.
Toulif places a hand on his chest as he feels his pool of mana bubble.
Toulif got his hands on a skill, a rare skill. It’s not rare because it is a good skill, but because its uses are very limited and it is difficult to learn. It’s called Mana Loading. It essentially allows him to place pre-casted spells within his pool of mana. It doesn’t even need to be his own spells. He can load any kind of spell with the help of others.
It sounds powerful on paper, but the skill only allows weaker spells to be loaded. Previously, he had a minor healing spell loaded, but that got used in his fight with Tiffany.
But right now he doesn’t have a spell loaded, Toulif has something else- “I call upon the amputated hands of the first devil-”
Abatu grins at his ‘father.’ “Oh? Are you sure that is a good idea?”
“I beseech thee, supreme dark one-”
The waking head cackles to itself. “Alright then! I’ll trust your judgement!” The abomination rises to his feet and stands towering over the table.
Toulif grips onto his chest as he looks defiantly at the abominable demon before him. “Annihilate the foul creature before me!”
Toulif pulls his hand back behind him and a sword formed from true demonic essence suddenly extends from his palm. He grabs the hilt of the rocky blade and swings upward at the abomination.
“Dark Demonic Departure!”
The table explodes into thousands of splinters as the blade travels upward at the awake head. Abatu flinches at the sight of the sword, and the sleeping head's eyes snap open.
Abatu’s grabs onto the blade mid-swing and the dark soul-sword warps into a blackened spiral before vanishing into his hand. “What-” Toulif is cut off as a hand grabs onto his neck and he is lifted into the air. He thrashes around to no avail.
The world fades to blackness before returning to the rocky landscape of the cube. The heads of the demonic abomination speak in unison. “That was a solid attempt, father-”
---
I stand completely stunned at the situation in front of me. Abatu holds Toulif by the neck as he continues to try and kick him. Did he really think that attacking him would work?!
Toulif’s an idiot-
The ground beneath me explodes as I launch myself at the abomination. I manipulate my aura to my left arm and swing at the head closest to me. I stop just inches away from his face and the wind pushes his hair back from the momentum of my strike. I look down to see the tail still wrapped around my ankle, holding me back.
The head with white eyes sneers at me. “T- The sister h- had the gull to a- attack her own b- brother!” The head with black eyes scoffs, “She is our sister only in relation to our class.”
Toulif swings at Abatu with his hand and black energy flies out and strikes the abomination's faces. The energy splashes off him, not even fazing the demon. One head frowns while the other smiles.
“T- That was p- pathetic.” “Your last attack managed to fully wake me up. Although, something that strong means you can only do it once.”
Toulif grits his teeth, “Eva!-”
Abatu tightens his grip and a loud snap echoes through the room. Toulif arms fall limply to his sides. The abomination lets go of him and he crashes to his knees then lifelessly crumples to the floor.
A deadly silence fills the room as I look down at Toulifs corpse. I couldn’t process what just happened. The details of reality fades away as primal fear fills me. I stop thinking entirely-
I Instant Position above Abatu and I hear Eva call out to her brother. My sense of dread blocks out what exactly she said, but I could tell that there was pain.
I swing with my right and he easily grabs onto my forearm. I blow Frost Breath at his heads and it only manages to ruffle his hair. I kick at him and I use Soul Conjuration to extend a blade out of the tip of my foot. The blade helplessly breaks as soon as it strikes his chest.
I fully manifest my aura and activate Obscene Presence-
The heads flinch as they see my aura. The one with black eyes tilts his head.
“Cute.”
All my senses disappear. I didn’t find myself in darkness, but in nothing. The last thing that went through my head is a notification.
Objective Failed (Escape The Dungeon)
Name (Tiffany Day) / Age (23) / Race (Human) / Title (Titan’s End)
Alignment (Chaotic Neutral)
Class (Excessive Monk) / Level (48)
Stats / Stat Points (15)
Strength (126)(+30)
Durability (181)(+30)
Agility (63)(+10)
Endurance (63)(+10)
Intellect (63)(+10)
Soul (126)(+20)
Intrinsic Status
Vitality (0%)
Stamina (63%)
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Sanity (79%)
Mana (88%)
Traits
(Interloper)
(Serial Killer)
(Ydri’s Jester)
(Sadistic)
Skills
(Pain Ignorance) level 1
(Observe) level 4
(Mana Cycling) level 9
(Instant Thought) level 2
Class Skills
(Obscene Presence) level 2
(Magical Aura Perception) level 10
(Magical Aura Manipulation) level 10
(Frost Breath) level 10
(Instant Position) level 8
(Aura of Constitution) level 7
(Soul Conjuration) level 6
(Excessive Momentum) level 5
(Terrifying Presence) level 3
Title skills
(Titanic Presence)
---
Tiffany didn’t see what had happened to her and neither did Eva. She was grabbing onto her brother trying desperately to shake him awake. Her surge of emotion had saved her however since she didn’t catch a glimpse of Tiffany’s Obscene Presence.
Eva, to her own surprise, cried over her brother’s body.
And the abomination towered over her-
“W- Wait, d- didn’t that human h- have demonic essence?” “Yes, I wonder why she didn’t use it until the last possible moment… Didn’t we meet someone like that before?” “I- I can’t r- remember brother.” “We have been here too long.”
Eva grits her teeth and looks up at the abominable demon king. He playfully drops what's left of Tiffany’s right arm next to the elf. Eva follows the amputated hand with her eyes as it falls to the ground.
She blinks as she notices the cracks running through the ground. With her eyes glazed over, she looks over to the massive crater in the wall. Tiffany’s bloodied body hangs limply as she rests with a part of her body embedded into the wall.
A large dent sits in her chest.
Abatu ignores Eva as she stares helplessly at Tiffany’s destroyed body. The head with black eyes sighs, “You’ve gone and gotten rid of our toys again.” “It’s n- not my f- fault they attacked us!” “Yes, but we could have been more graceful with our methods of dispatching them.” “I- I guess.”
Eva was lost. Everyone around her was now dead and she was left alone with this monster. Eva’s eyes left Tiffany’s corpse and returned to her brother. His neck sat bent at an odd angle and his mask covered whatever expression he might have had in death.
Eva had felt that she hated her brother. She should be glad that he is now dead, and now can’t tell their father about her shortened lifespan.
Eva wanted to be relieved-
She wasn’t.
The brother that hated her and wanted her to suffer had died, and it hurt Eva. It didn’t even make sense to her. Why was seeing her lifeless brother's body so unbelievably painful.
Eva did not love her brother. He was her tormentor, abuser, one of the most vile siblings she knew. Toulif didn’t love Eva.
But she wanted him to. Eva wanted her brother to love her. She wanted to love her brother. She didn’t want Toulif to die, Eva wanted him to care about her.
Aren’t they family?
Abatu stands over the emotionally broken elf woman. His inane musings to himself had come to an end. Eva looks up at her abominable child as exhaustion takes her heart.
Her peripherals blurred and Eva slowly started to close her eyes. She was too tired of being. Eva simply wants to rest. She thought about what Toulif said in his last moments.
He called out her name. Did he want her to run, help? She supposed that it didn’t matter anymore. Toulif was dead, and Tiffany-
Don’t you dare faint!-
Eva’s eyes snapped open and jumped back away from Abatu. Both of his heads grinned at the elf and spoke in unison. “I had thought you had given up. I am glad I am wrong!”
Eva’s exhaustion was profound, but she found herself wide awake. It wasn’t some grand realization and some great triumph that held her consciousness. She didn’t pass out for a simple reason.
“I don’t want to die!”
The head with white eyes pursed his lips and the head with black eyes snorted. “That’s a shame.” “I- I don’t t- think you’re g- going to l- last long.”
Eva gritted her teeth at the demon king before her. She had one hope left, even if it meant that she would likely die anyway. In Eva’s last resort, her voice shakes.
“I call upon the amputated hand’s of the first devil-”
The whites of Eva’s eyes turn pitch black and irises burn red. Her essence flows freely out of her eyes and mixes with her tears. Eva put her hands in front of her as they transformed into ashen black claws.
“To send this horrid creature back to hell!-”
The heads of Abatu smile as they wait patiently for their toy to finish whatever spell they are casting. “I- I think she m- means to banish us b- brother.” “Such attempts are meaningless.”
Eva ignores the ancient demon king’s doubts and continues her most powerful spell. “I beseech thee supreme dark one! Return your descendant from whence it came!”
Eva claps her blackened claws together and a wave of magical energy washes over Abatu The Abomination. “FORCED DEMONIC BANISHMENT!”
Silence immediately follows. Abatu waits to see if the magic will take hold. The head with black eyes scoff. “See brother, the collar would never allow such-” But a large translucent black hand wraps around the head to cut it off.
Behind Abatu, space had split and peeled open to reveal one of the first devils' many eyes as it dwarfs the abomination before it. The demon king is nothing in the gaze of the dark supreme one.
Hundreds of hands launch out of the abyssal pupil and grab onto every part of Abatu. The abomination is lifted into the air as the demon blinks in complete shock.
Eva coughs as she keeps her hands clasped together as the banishment continues to drag on far longer than it usually should. Her lifespan rapidly drained away to keep the spell stable. Blood drips from her nose as another 200 years are spent.
The tattooing around the neck of one of Abatu’s heads starts to glow gold and steam burns from it. The abomination slowly starts to fade into nothing, but not fast enough-
Eva senses that half her lifespan is now gone, then she only has 300 years left, then only 200. Eva’s lips tremble as more blood flows out of all the orifices on her face. Her hands shake as she starts to feel weaker, but in spite of it, she keeps her hand firmly clasped together.
The tattoo on the demon grows brighter and Eva counts down the years she has left.
150-
125-
100-
75-
Eva feels death approaching and fear starts to fill her as pain starts to convulse through her body. Abatu is only barely visible now and the collar shines brighter than the source itself. Eva vomits a mouthful of blood and falls to the ground, still holding her hands together.
Finally, the eye of the first devil shuts-
A golden ring falls to the floor, clinks on the rocky ground and all the light in the room disappears. Eva lets go of her hands and rolls over on her back. Her eyes sit wide open as she stares into the completely dark room. The loud nothing sits in her ears as moments pass.
“I’m still alive.”
Eva spoke the truth without thinking and it caught her off guard. Is she really still alive? It didn’t seem possible to her, but yet here she was, in this dark and silent room. Her own breath seems unnatural to her at this moment, each exhale betrays her expectations.
“I’m still alive.”
She said it again, but this time it brings a title wave of relief. She had successfully managed to banish a demon above level 250 and lived through it. Eva let out a mix of a sigh and a groan. She rolled over and brought her hands face and cradled her head in her palms.
Eva stops when she feels the blood on her face and wipes it away. She pulls her hands back and looks at them, however she can’t see them without light. Eva can still feel the blood on her hands and the reality of her lifespan becomes a lot more present in her mind.
More moments pass as she sits in silence in the room. Eva is tired, but she can’t bring herself to sleep. The room starts to stink of death and grief starts to enter her mind once more. She desperately tries to make herself sleep, but finds that she is completely unable.
Don’t you dare faint-
It starts to feel like a curse to Eva. “Why can’t I just sleep!”
Moments pass without an answer. She sighs and rolls to her other side.
More moments pass-
A white fluorescent light flows past Eva’s head, she flinches at her sudden ability to see again. She blinks and turns her head to the light behind her.
Tiffany-
Her left hand wreathed in black flames, illuminating the room and her body in washed out colors. She is fully supporting herself on her right leg and her left leg is twisted at 180 degrees, limply dragged behind her. Ribs are slowly pulled back into her chest and her armour warps itself back into place. Her right arm past her elbow is gone and blood periodically drips from the missing limb.
She stares at Eva with her single bloodshot eye. “Are you okay?”
Eva blinks at the mangled woman in front of her. She tries to speak right away, but finds herself unable. Eva bites her lip and her face shifts to and from pain and expressionless. Finally she slowly shakes her head and starts to cry.
“No.”
