Soren quickly motioned for the adults to follow him as he stood up and walked further into the kitchen, away from the children’s ears.
After leading them further into the kitchen and urging them to sit down, he put the Dream Sword on the floor, changing it to become a large broadsword, and willed it to reflect the basement—more specifically, the Abyssal Creature.
“Although I can’t really tell from the reflection, it seems to be some sort of worm creature—”
“Uh,” Irene interrupted.
“We’ve—we’ve seen it before.
It’s a snake.”
Soren looked up at her before remembering the scene he saw as he entered the restaurant.
It was a disordered mess with bodies strewn everywhere, mutilated.
He assumed that some Abyssal Creature came in and after it finished its meal, left.
But now he was beginning to believe that the same Abyssal Creature was below them, hibernating after its meal.
“Do you have any other details that could help me with my plan?” he questioned, hope blooming in his chest.
Irene nodded, motioning to the Dream Sword as she explained:
“It’s a snake with a metal-like outer layer that didn’t allow anything to penetrate through it,” she said, eyes dimming as she remembered the terrifying experience.
“Its strength was simply beyond us normal humans.
We had dozens of men fighting it, trying to fend off the creature.
But, it didn’t bother defending itself.
It just ate them while ignoring the weapons sliding off its metal scales.”
Soren looked at her somberly, feeling a pang of empathy at the experience she had to go through.
“We hid in the back but it wasn’t any use,” Jase continued, eyes hollow as he remembered the incident.
“I was trying to protect my wife as we—and a bunch of other people—ran to the kitchen to hide but it simply broke past any barriers we set up.
It killed everyone except us.
It simply stared at us before it turned around and left, leaving us alone, trapped inside the kitchen.”
Soren winced.
He thought the situation was bad but it was worse than he thought.
The snake creature didn’t consume the people before him because it was too hurt to do anything to them.
No, it was simply too full from its feast.
It wasn’t even hurt by the dozens of men who attacked the Angeldamned thing.
“Okay,” he responded after a couple moments of thinking.
“I know it has scales that aren’t penetrable but what of the rest of it?”
The other woman stared at him before a light glinted in her eye.
“I think the inside of it is regular flesh!”
Soren smiled, starting to feel hope again.
There was always a weakness that could be exploited and this was one of them.
If the creature was considered impenetrable to normals like the people before him, then it was likely impenetrable to Soren.
However, if the inside was fleshy like a regular snake…
“Okay,” he started, looking at the Dream Sword with hope evident in his tone.
“If we can’t hurt it from the outside then we’ll hurt it from the inside.”
The husband and wife’s heads snapped up, looking at Soren with surprise in their eyes before he saw a glimpse of hope shine.
“We have the kitchen, don’t we?” Soren responded, gesturing around him at the various kitchen appliances and ingredients.
“We have limitless options!”
The three looked around them with wide eyes before looking back at Soren and nodded.
“What do you want us to do?” Irene asked.
Soren looked around as he stood up before he smiled as various things caught his attention.
“Get all the oil, lard, grease, and most importantly, the best alcohol you can find.
It needs to be strong.”
The others quickly stood up with Soren, following his lead as they nodded resolutely.
They went off in different directions to find the things Soren listed.
After grabbing all the ingredients and liquids he requested, they met just outside the basement door where it remained shut, separating the humans from the abomination that lurked below.
Soren walked over and looked at the empty alcohol bottles, whistling at a few of the brand names he read.
“Dragon’s Breath,” he said, impressed as he picked the bottle up to look at it.
The alcohol was very high-end stuff that Soren could never afford but here it was, mixed in a bucket with a bunch of other, lower-end alcohol that was just as strong.
He would almost feel bad if it wasn’t for the fact that his life—and several others—was at stake.
They placed everything at the entrance to the basement, ready in the order Soren planned to use them.
All the alcohol was poured into a bucket, followed by a bucket that was mixed with lard, oil, and grease, sloshing around with disgusting viscosity.
He took off the Royal Guard’s Armor and transformed it to a giant chestplate and made it light, placing it behind the bucket of everything slippery.
They quietly dragged all the heavy oak dining tables, stone slabs, and anything that could be considered heavy near the entrance to the basement.
“Alright,” Soren whispered, taking a deep breath, hand gripping the familiar necklace that lay against his chest.
“Let’s begin.”
He opened the basement door by a crack, staring down the stone stairs that seemed to possess an ominous darkness that was only broken by the faint violet light from the Anchor.
He stilled his trembling hands before looking at the others, nodding to signal that he was ready.
“After I pour the alcohol down the stairs, I need you guys to pour the rest of the oils down the stairs, making sure to coat every step.
After that’s done, shut the door and barricade it.”
They nodded, fear in their eyes but determination shining through.
Soren grabbed the heavy bucket filled with the strong blend of alcohols, flinching at the strong vapors that filled his nostrils.
He glanced at the Dream Sword he stabbed into the ground, seeing the snake remain sleeping, before he deeply exhaled and poured the strong liquor down the basement.
A river of high-proof alcohol cascaded down the stairs, splashing quietly onto the cellar floor below.
The stinging fumes of the alcohol immediately filled the air, enveloping the basement floor and the sleeping beast with the invisible, highly flammable vapors.
Immediately after, Jase poured the sloshing mixture of lard, oil, and grease down the stairs, coating the stairs with a slick layer.
In the reflection of the Dream Sword, the serpent’s tongue flicked, tasting the sharp chemical odor in the air.
Its metallic eyelids fluttered open.
“It’s waking up!” Irene gasped in a terrified whisper.
“Get ready!” Soren commanded, grabbing the candles he stole from the walls of the restaurant.
He tossed them down, watching as the flame flickered in the air before it landed on the alcohol-covered floor.
A muffled shockwave rattled the entire restaurant, sending a blast of heat and light through the cracks of the door.
“Close it!” Soren yelled, already closing the door shut and dragging the heavy furniture against the cellar door.
The others followed suit, dragging the rest of the furniture against the door before Soren grabbed the Royal Guard’s Armor and placed it on top of the furniture.
The lightweight plate transformed into a crushing piece of iron, slamming down against the furniture and locking the door from moving.
Down below, an eerie hiss echoed through the floorboards as the beast realized the situation.
It was trapped.
Savage, earth-shaking thuds slammed against the floor as it thrashed to escape the furnace it was trapped in.
However, as it tried to escape by slithering up the stone stairs, it found that it couldn’t climb the slippery slopes, crashing back into the melting heat.
Soren watched as the impenetrable scales protected the creature’s exterior while its insides cooked, the superheated air pulled straight into its respiratory tract with every breath it took.
Soren stared at the Dream Sword’s reflection until he couldn’t hear any more movements from the serpent below and smoke covered the air, obscuring the reflection.
He sighed as he grabbed the Dream Sword, manipulating it to revert back to its comfortable form before he pulled it out of the wooden floorboards below him.
The hard part was done.
All there was left was to see if the Abyssal Creature was dead.
After they moved the furniture out of the way, he put the Royal Guard’s Armor back on and cracked the door open, followed by a cloud of thick gray smoke.
Through the clearing haze, illuminated by the purple glow of the rift below, lay the motionless and burnt carcass of the snake.
Its mouth hung open, showcasing the interior charred to ash.
Soren looked at it somberly before slowly descending down the stairs, wary of any movement from the Abyssal Creature and any slick patches that could cause him to slip.
He landed on the bottom steps and poked at the snake, looking for any movement.
After confirming it was dead, he heaved a sigh of relief, a small smile gracing his lips as he realized the nightmare was over.
After walking around the creature to its side, he noticed a gleaming, yellow orb at its side—a Nonexistence Essence.
Name: [Nonexistence Essence]
Rank: [Transcendent]
Pathway: [Force]
Soren stared at the Dream Sword before looking at the orb in front of him, a smile dancing on his lips.
It was a Force pathway Nonexistence Essence!
It was infinitely more useful than the Demonic pathway orb he got from Crabmon if he ever decided to sell it or use it.
He picked it up and stashed it away right next to the Demonic Nonexistence Essence in his cloak, salivating at the thought of how much money he would make just by selling it.
Although today was a tragedy, at least he made much more profits than if the Order Break hadn’t happened.
Soren grimaced, immediately banishing the thought.
His survival was still not guaranteed and he still didn’t know where Shindo was.
He stepped over the charred tail of the beast and towards the purple rift pulsing ominously.
He gulped, cautiously approaching the Anchor with his sword drawn in front of him.
He had no idea what to do with the Anchor in order to activate it but some sort of instinct pulled him towards it.
He reached out to the rift and touched it.
The Anchor responded instantly.
The purple glow flared as a deep rumble came from the rift.
A deep shockwave boomed through the air as the Anchor fired a violet beacon straight through the ceiling of the restaurant, piercing the rooftop and into the Void sky of the Abyss.
Meanwhile, Soren convulsed as the purple light of the Anchor flowed from the rift, crawling up his arm and into his necklace and soul.
He screamed, feeling his blood boiling from the pure cosmic energy traveling through his veins.
He fell to his knees, dropping the Dream Sword from his weak grip as he panted, fighting to stay conscious.
The violent vibrations ebbed, the burning pain dulling.
Soren collapsed, faceplanting onto the stone floor as sweat poured from every pore of his body.