The hastily assembled team quickly stepped out of the heavily barricaded structure after making sure the dream sword found no Abyssal Creatures outside.
Outside, Soren felt the presence of the restaurant ripple before he couldn’t really focus on the building anymore.
Obviously, it was there, but it seemed so unassuming that he just glossed over it.
‘Useful.’
The group set out west, stealthily yet speedily hiding among the shadows cast by buildings.
They passed by several Abyssal Creatures, most of them avoided but some were inevitably dealt with.
The Abyssal Walkers moved like a well-oiled machine, quickly dealing with all the Abyssal Creature in a timely manner.
None of the Abyssal Creatures were above the Formless rank which allowed Soren—with the help of others—to kill some of them.
He had never seen so much money in one place—all of them Nonexistence Essences.
Soon, they neared the western edge of the island.
He slowed down his pace as he felt a biting cold as the edge of the island drew near.
It was almost as if it was warning him that if he drew closer, death was certain.
It likely was if he fell into the void.
He picked up his pace to catch up to the rest of them.
They reached the end of the island where the air was abnormally colder.
It started biting into his skin with a dreadful, static chill.
Below him was an endless, thick sea of stars that marked the Starlight Abyss.
If one fell down there… Well, he wasn’t sure if anyone ever survived to tell the tale.
“Don’t look down.”
Soren snapped his head up to see Captain Valen staring straight ahead towards the other island.
“If you do, you’ll only get more scared,” she said, taking a step forward across the void.
“The Abyss is a realm beyond our comprehension.
All we know is that Abyssal Creatures spawn here and not much else.
The more you try to comprehend it, the madder you become.”
She started walking across the void of the Abyss, creating a clear path for the rest of them to follow.
The path didn’t ripple and disappear like it did previously when she first demonstrated her ability.
It instead created a persistent faint, blue hue that indicated where she activated her ability.
The others followed one at a time before Soren was the only one still left on solid ground.
He took a deep breath before clenching his teeth.
Although this was terrifying, this was nothing compared to the grueling trials he had to overcome just today alone.
He took a step forward and his boots met solid air.
It felt as if he was stepping on solid stone but just knowing that he was a thought away from oblivion sent his body screaming.
It made him highly uncomfortable that he was completely at the mercy of another’s ability—no matter how much he trusted the Captain.
At least against an Abyssal Creature, he could fight back.
He took another step forward, and another, and another, until he started walking at the same pace as the others.
He kept his eyes forward, ignoring the infinite expanse underneath his soles.
The silence was deafening as the others stayed tense.
Only Captain Valene seemed somewhat relaxed, betrayed by her white knuckles that gripped the hilt of her longsword.
Halfway across, Soren glanced at the Dream Sword and focused on the Cathedral of The Heavenly Angel, noticing a vague figure inside the cathedral.
However, this time he saw dozens of wolf-like creatures slowly advancing to Shindo, drool dripping from their mouths.
“Captain,” Soren called, his voice tense.
“Abyssals seemed to have caught him.
He’s not safe.”
“I see,” she replied without turning around.
Her steps quickened a couple of paces until she paused.
Everyone halted immediately as she held up her hand, a signal to stop.
Soren paused, looking around to see why she stopped moving.
Not seeing anything, he looked at the Dream Sword to see what could possibly make them stop in the middle of the void of the Abyss.
Soren paled at the sight.
He saw a horde of bat-like creatures that had purplish wings, blackened bodies, and human heads.
It looked demented in a weird way.
Normally, this wouldn’t worry Soren that much since he could hide among the buildings where the bats couldn’t find him.
Now?
Well, he was stuck between two islands, out in the open, above the Starlight Abyss, and directly below the horde. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
‘Curses.’
He prayed to every Angel within The Divinity that the bats would, somehow, miss them but oftentimes, fate liked to spit right in his face.
The demonic, bat-like Abyssal Creatures screeched, echoing through the static void, as they noticed the group.
Was it a bad time to mention how much he hated Abyssal Creatures?
The bats dove straight down from the sky—no, the Void above.
“Everyone!” Captain Valen screamed, brandishing her glowing sword.
“Get ready!
You guys focus on surviving while I deal with the horde!”
Everyone nodded tersely, too tense to speak.
They readied their swords, including Soren.
He was taught the basics as a scavenger but was still a novice at swordplay.
While he used the sword somewhat during his travels in the Abyss, he mostly survived through his wits rather than his sword skills alone.
Captain Valen jumped, soaring to the Void and clashed with the enemies first.
She immediately slew the first few who closed the distance, cutting through their bodies with ease and landed on air, forming the first defensive line.
Soren’s heart slammed against his ribs.
The human-headed bats shrieked a discordant chorus of weeping and laughter that unnerved him.
They dived with even more fury towards Captain Valen, ready to avenge their kind but she was ready.
She rushed forward into the midst of the crowd and slashed, slaying even more bats.
However, instead of being bombarded from every direction but their sharp claws and human teeth, she remained untouched.
Instead, the flying abominations seemed to be reflected back when they were about to hit her, launched into the others.
No matter how many she killed, two more replaced them.
That meant that some of the Abyssal Creatures got bored of the captain and aimed their sights on the others.
And, for some reason, specifically on Soren to his horror.
A storm of fierce, blue lightning erupted, chaining from creature to creature without discretion.
The devastation annihilated dozens of the creatures swarming towards them, a glint of hesitation in their eyes before it disappeared and they dove back in.
The remaining flyers—still numbering in the dozens—ignored their falling companions as they rocketed straight towards the group.
A wall of vines moved to stop and capture them while lightning struck the ones who dodged them.
However, one lone bat managed to evade all the attacks from the Abyssal Walkers as it locked eyes on Soren.
“Damn it,” he muttered as he lowered his sword to his hip.
He braced his arms, legs, and torso.
Soren struck from his lower left diagonally up to his upper right, remembering what his—admittedly scarce—lessons with Shindo taught him.
He drove the sword upwards using his legs and torso while pushing the sword with his left hand and pulling it with his right.
It connected.
The creature screeched as it got cut in half from Soren’s sword before falling down with its slain brethren.
Soren stared at its fall, thinking of how easy it was to kill it with his sword.
While it could be due to how strong and amazing he was, he was more inclined to believe that the creature was weak and compensated that by traveling in a horde.
Another screech broke Soren’s train of thought as he looked up to see a bat covered with nasty cuts barrel towards them.
Soren got ready to do another diagonal slash before the Abyssal Creature turned into Captain Valen at the last moment, the Dream Sword passing easily through her.
She landed gracefully on the ground without a scratch on her and calmly looked at their tense faces who were ready to strike her at any given moment.
“I swapped places with it,” she said, pointing up at the horde where a lone human-like bat creature was getting shredded.
“That’ll distract them for a few moments.
Let’s go.”
She started running across the Starlight Abyss while Soren and the others followed suit.
Normally, a Transcendent could cross the distance between where they stood and the island in under a minute, likely in seconds depending on their pathway.
However, Soren was still a normal, which meant that she and the rest of the Abyssal Walkers had to limit themselves to Soren’s pace.
The shrieks turned faint as the squad put distance between themselves and the horde.
While a few stragglers followed them amidst the chaos within the horde, Rivor made quick work of them with his precise lightning shots.
Soren kept his head forward, matching his steps to the rhythm of Captain Valen’s boots.
His legs felt stiff as every muscle was screaming due to him sprinting to get the hell out of the Starlight Abyss
“We’re entering the outskirts of Shindo’s island,” Captain Valen announced, her eyes fixed on the looming landmass ahead.
“Prepare yourselves.
I don’t see any Abyssal Creatures but remain cautious.”
The island grew larger by the minute until Soren stepped foot on it, never feeling more relieved in his entire life than now due to the fact that he was stepping on something solid.
Soren stumbled forward until he rested against a scorched stone pillar. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
He gasped, greedily inhaling air that his body so desperately needed after the sprint across the invisible bridge.
Captain Valen walked forward, scanning the area coolly for any sign of life before looking back at them.
“We will rest for a minute.
Rivor, Meric, cover the perimeter,” Valen commanded smoothly, sheathing her brilliant longsword with a crisp, metallic ring.
“Soren, what’s the situation?”
Soren, catching his breath, brought the Dream Sword to view, angling the blade to catch the ambient light of the starlight and torches.
The reflection of the blade flickered violently before stabilizing.
The image was clearer now.
Shindo was seen cornered in the half-collapsed Cathedral as he fought against multiple Abyssal Creatures.
Although his strength and speed was obviously of a Transcendent, he fought with no abilities that Soren could see which confused him.
Even if the Dream Sword lacked the capacity to clearly show the abilities those of higher Order uses, it still hinted at its existence.
However, Soren knew that area.
It was just a couple streets down if they simply continued the path they were going.
“The situation is getting dire,” Captain Valen said after looking at the Dream Sword.
“Rivor!
Meric!
Come over here.
We’re going to the Cathedral.”
The two saluted from a distance before rushing over.
“I’ll go on ahead.
He looks like he needs my help,” she said, crouching into a running position before looking at Rivor and Meric.
“You two, protect Soren and get over there to reinforce me as soon as possible.”
With that, she launched herself at a Transcendent speed, vanishing from Soren’s eyes within a moment.
That was the raw strength of a Transcendent.
A normal’s strength was incomparable to the might of a Transcendent.
Soren breathed deeply before sprinting to follow her trail with Rivor at the vanguard and Meric at the rear.
He braced himself just in case he had to engage any Abyssal Creatures on the way but could only whistle at what he saw.
There was carnage within the wake of Captain Valen.
All the Abyssal Creatures were freshly slaughtered by her on the way to the cathedral, allowing Soren to travel without much worry.
If he traveled this path alone, he probably would’ve died within the first few steps.
“That’s Captain Valen for you,” Meric said behind him with a hint of pride in his words.
“She’s a genius among geniuses.
She reached Transcendent at the young age of twenty and at the age of twenty-five, is already preparing to break the Order of Divinity and become a Divine herself.”
Soren, still reeling from the power Captain Valen possessed, was mind-blown by what he learned from Meric.
Every Transcendent he knew from stories were middle aged people and they were the best of the best!
Even those from the Royal Family normally became a Transcendent around 30.
The Empress, a prodigy herself, was the exception who also became a Transcendent at the age of 20.
That meant that Captain Valen and the Empress were similar in terms of potential.
Meric then gestured to Rivor who was running ahead of them.
“And Rivor, right there, reached Transcendent at the age of thirty—still a formidable feat.
He’s thirty one right now, under the tutelage of the Captain herself.”
He knew too many Transcendents for a mere scavenger!
He wasn’t even one of the Great Scavengers who became an Awakened.
Occasionally, they would meet a lone Abyssal Creature that wandered too close to the three of them but they were quickly dispatched by the elite teamwork of Meric and Rivor.
As they rounded the corner of the ruined cathedral, a deafening boom hit them.
Half the cathedral was exposed to the outside world.
Inside, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of Abyssal Creatures closing in at the altar.
They were quadrupedal monsters that possessed a sludge green body that rippled with muscle.
They had a canine-like face with jagged obsidian teeth that snarled with viscous hunger.
At the center of the pack a large creature, easily fifteen feet, stood.
It was humanoid in shape but possessed a wolf head that radiated dominance.
It was the bipedal version of the wolf Abyssal Creatures.
Their leader.
And at the altar was Shindo.