Demon Sorcerer

The darkness had fully entrenched them in its chilling grasp, yet the heat emanating from the grotesque ritual ahead was suffocating.

The eerie flames from the archaic torches on the walls cast dancing shadows, shadows that appeared like the writhing souls of the mumbling dead cast into hell.

Richard felt his heart thump steadily in his chest. Memories flooded his head, scenes of a past he would have liked to forget.

The familiar scent of blood...

The abscent gazes of the heads lain on the ground.

Death...

A foe he was well acquainted with.

He grinned as he scanned the scene, sure to take in every grisly detail, every undulating shadowy movement, every flunctuation in the ambient mana...

This was not the first time he'd encountered something so horrifying after all.

Celine, however, wasn't as composed. Her hands gripped her curved blade tightly, knuckles pale from strain. She glanced at Richard who seemed rather calm and gritted her teeth. She had been told how wicked and evil the creatures of the abyss were, and had on occasion even witnessed a few gruesome works.

And still...

Nothing was enough to really prepare her for the horror in the flesh. The nauseating scent of blood, the malevolence in the air made her sick.

Seeing this, Richard could only feel sympathy for her. If she couldn't handle this, he could only imagine what would happen once things progressed to the next stage.

"What now?" Gregory whispered, his voice barely audible, trembling with a mixture of fear and terror. His wide eyes flicked between the altar and the masked figures, who were slowly swaying as if entranced by the unholy melody sung by the decapitated heads.

Richard didn't respond immediately. Instead, he took a deliberate step forward, crouching slightly to get a better look. The blood flowing from the severed heads on the ground shimmered with a sinister glow, faintly pulsating as though it was alive.

He was tempted to have a feel for it, but knew better than that.

'That's how they get you.'

Being curious in this line for work was a death sentence indeed...

"We can't let that ritual finish," he said, his tone pragmatic, almost cold even.

Umbra, on the other hand, smiled faintly, her beautiful eyes gleaming with excitement,

"Oh, this is going to be fun. Haven't witnessed a summoning in a long time."

Vagabond turned to her, his voice low and measured,

"Divinators, we need to know what abominable being they are calling upon."

Umbra closed her eyes and muttered a few words. When they snapped open, two streams of blood flowed like tears,

"Savitas."

Her sight, for a moment, transcended all of what was known as reality, into the plane on the other side of the veil...

"The instructor was right. It is a Horror-Class."

Vagabond's frown deepened,

"What kind?"

"A Devil!" Umbra replied, her grin widening.

All this time, the people dressed in the robes seemed not to even acknowledge their existence.

'Let's change that, shall we...'

His words flowed like a curse. The mana around him bubbled with excitement.

'Plato, you're up...'

'With pleasure...'

The Demon in his mind gladly took the seat.

Richard immediately felt the difference.

The world seemed to slow down significantly. The difference was rather clear.

But it was not the world that slowed down. No, he had just sped up.

He moved quickly.

He pulled out a vial of liquor from the bag he slung around his back.

This liquid was made from several different herbs and roots found in both the mundane world and the abyss. When blended together, they formed a crystal clear concoction that eroded corrupted forms of mana overtime.

It was called, 'Holy Water.'

While muttering phrases in the archaic tongue, he smashed the vial of Holy Water onto the ground.

The moment the water hit the ground, it turned into vapor that permeated through the air.

The change was immediate.

The necks of all the robed individuals twisted at sharp angles and their gazes, hidden by the masks, fell upon them.

Seeing this, Richard smiled.

Then he turned to Vagabond,

"Intercept them. Whatever you do, make sure you keep them occupied and away from Umbra."

The burly young man raised a brow, but didn't say anything. Instead, he clasped his hands together and began chanting as he walked forward.

The runes scattered all around his body began lighting up one by one.

"By body, become steel. My soul becomes a flame. Come forth, Igrius!"

His dark eyes turned into radiant orbs in their sockets.

It was as though a dirty had come down to the world of mortals.

Vagabond turned into a white blitz.

Three robed dark priests placed their blood filled goblets onto the ground and scattered in different directions, launching themselves at him.

A breath later, Vagabond clashed with the first one. Dodging what looked like a serrated claw of some unknown beast, he took a heavy step forward, centered his balance, and threw a skilled glowing fist forward, right into the chest of the dark-robed priest.

There was a miniature explosion. The priest's chest caved in and exploded, spilling guts, blood and bone fragments all over.

Pulling his fist out, Vagabond ducked to dodge a blow coming from another side. With his other hand, he grabbed the now very dead body and used it to shield himself from the strikes coming from the other two.

Richard turned to Gregory and Umbra,

"You, begin chucking spells. You, work on finding a way to stop the summoning. It might be fun, but I do hope not to encounter a Horror-Class Devil tonight."

Gregory swallowed hard, pulling his gloves tighter on his hand,

"But I–"

Paying him no more mind, Cain turned to Celine.

He smiled.

'The little Miss doesn't look very confident anymore, it seems...'

Her face was pale, and sweat was pooling up on her temples.

Richard decided to show some tough love.

His eyes turned frigid cold, and his face turned dark,

"And you, what are you doing?"

She glared spitefully at him, but didn't say anything.

He snorted, "Is this how members of the Rigborne family holds themselves? Absolutely pathetic."

Celine gritted her teeth and drew her sword,

"I dare you to say that again!"

Richard shook his head,

"We do not have a lot of time before whatever they are trying to pull through the gates of hell arrive. I'd rather you put all your aggression towards working together with me, just for now."

Her furious expression waved for a moment.

Richard took that moment to draw out his own weapons.

He pulled an object wrapped in a black cloth out of his bag.

Dropping the black clothe to the ground, he revealed a rather sharp curved blade, a 'Katana'. It was an original high quality model made in the Eastern nations.

Richard had it commissioned a few years back, and it had served him well up until this moment.

It was an extremely normal blade too; not even a lick of mana in it. It was not a cursed weapon either.

It was just a very well made craft.

And that was all he needed.

He took in a very deep breath. Then he grinned,

"Try to keep up."

With that, he exploded into action. Taking a step forward;

"Nox et Dispellia."

He dissolved into a stream of shadows...

And reappeared right behind a dark-robed priest.

'Razor...'

Not a single sound was heard. Not even the sound of the blade cutting through the wind.

A Blade Demon has the power to turn any blade into the sharpest of edges.

The cut was clean, leaving only a thin line behind.

There was a loud clang as the blood filled goblets fell to the ground with a loud clang.

A second later, the two halves of the corpse fell as well, organs and blood spilled everywhere. It was a rather gruesome picture.

"Impressive..." Umbra couldn't help but say in admiration.

Gritting her teeth, Celine watched as Richard cut down another dark priest just as fast.

'He is good.'

Still, she refused to be sidelined by someone like him.

With a deep growl, she dashed forward in a burst of speed as well.

Two dark priests launched themselves at her, but she dodged within a hair's breadth.

Then the weapon in her hands flashed multiple times.

When she came to a halt, the divided pieces slid down the whole, falling to the ground and creating a wet sound that sent jolts up the spine.

Gritting her teeth, Celine dashed forward again, cutting two more of the dark priests down.

However, that was all she was able to do, as it that time, the rest had already been wiped out by Richard and Vagabond and the rest.

Gregory let out a deep breath,

"T-they are all dead. Is it finally over?"

Umbra chuckled,

"Of course not. A test certainly cannot be so easy."

Her eyes sparkled as she took a finger and ran it across her wrist, drawing a thin line across.

"Stop! What are you doing?!" Gregory yelled with wide eyes, not sure what to make of the situation.

Umbra rolled her eyes,

"Relax." Then she continued chanting.

Her skin was split open, and blood began to flow from the fresh wound.

As the blood flowed, it dropped towards the ground, suspended only an inch above.

A few seconds later, and a significant amount of blood flowed out.

The gathered blood glowed with a rich deep crimson hue. The individual stranss of blood spun around in her hands until it had become a staff as long as she was tall.

Taking the skull ring in her hand, she placed it at the top of the staff.

The moment she did, the eye sockets in the ring lit up with crimson light as well. If one were to look in her eyes, strange geometric patterns and shapes would be seen.

Gregory watched all this happen, his face as white as chalk.

"I was unable to stop it. It is already here." Umbra said.

Richard answered without looking back,

"It seems that is the case."

He sighed inwardly,

'There goes my chance of having a relaxed evening after this.'

The truth was that he had known all along that they wouldn't be able to stop the Horror from manifesting. If it didn't, then the test wouldn't be nearly as difficult. The eldritch, nightmarish being would also not have invited them in if it hadn't been certain it would manifest.

In other words, this entire thing was an elaborate bait to lure them in.

And they had jumped head first into it.

'Might as well have some fun, right?'