“Frank… why on earth are you wearing sunglasses?”
Wrapped securely from head to toe inside a heavy black cloak, Huey poked his head out from the fluffy fur collar, staring curiously at Frank, who was sporting an oversized pair of dark shades.
“The wind is fierce.” Frank’s response carried an aura of utter chill. He stood rigid atop the jagged reef, his swallowtail coat and long hair whipping wildly in the gale. The sunglasses, however, remained steadfastly anchored to his face, concealing his thoroughly swollen, red-rimmed eyes.
Ah, right he’d spent the previous night weeping.
“The seaside breeze certainly is strong.” Scooping Huey closer into his embrace, Xavier pulled up the deep hood of the cloak to tuck the young demon in completely. “Keep your hood up.”
Obediently tilting his head back, Huey let Xavier adjust his outerwear, offering absolute cooperation as he lowered his head when prompted or raised his arms when directed.
“What are we actually heading down to the Sea of Oblivion to investigate?”
Indeed, shortly after a disheveled Frank burst into their room that morning to rudely awaken the pair, the three of them partook in a hurried breakfast before embarking directly toward the coastline of the Sea of Oblivion.
“The dark elemental energy harbored within those evil spirits is remarkably dense, whereas the Sea of Oblivion represents the epicenter of concentrated dark energy across the entire Underworld. A profound correlation likely binds the two phenomena.”
Xavier’s nimble fingers fastened the two fuzzy pom-pom drawstrings beneath the little succubus’s chin, the dark cord contrasting against his snow-white skin and making his delicate face appear even more petite.
“So, are we planning to head down below to take a look?” Huey tugged uncomfortably at the snug drawstrings under his chin; they felt a fraction too tight.
“Do not move.” Pressing down on Huey’s fidgeting hands, Xavier stated with grave seriousness, “If you loosen it, it won’t retain your warmth.”
Huey offered a helpless little sigh. He was, after all, a succubus; throughout the three centuries since his birth, he had never once burdened himself with layers of heavy winter garments.
Sigh—
The little succubus sighed quietly to himself while his eyes sparkled with fondness.
Such a sweet burden to bear!
Stationed off to the side, Frank silently adjusted his sunglasses, noting that one of their primary functions today was preventing him from being entirely blinded by the glaring romantic radiance emanating from his superior and his little succubus.
“We are descending,” Xavier murmured, glancing up toward the zenith where the sun burned fiercely, ready to supply him with an uninterrupted reservoir of light-element energy.
“First, however, we must locate the vector of highest dark elemental concentration.”
As he spoke, a pair of majestic black wings unfurled from his back, reflecting a somber, luxurious sheen beneath the solar rays. Simultaneously, the quietly brooding Frank manifested a matching pair of obsidian wings behind his own shoulders, albeit scaled down to a fraction of the size.
“Must I fly using my own wings?” Huey blinked up at Xavier with a pitiful expression. “This bulky cloak is bundled so tightly I can’t even extend my wings out.”
“Naturally not.”
Hovering a few centimeters above the ground with a rhythmic beat of his wings, Xavier leaned down slightly and opened his arms. “Come here, good child.”
In the very next instant, a warm, soft form hurled itself directly into his embrace.
Huey wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s neck while his tail instinctively coiled securely around the arm supporting his waist.
“Hold on tightly.”
The deep, gentle voice rumbled softly by Huey’s ear, cutting through the whistling gale.
Naturally, the barrier of pure energy enveloping Xavier effortlessly deflected all biting winds and bone-chilling frost, ensuring the little succubus experienced nothing save for the enveloping warmth of the embrace.
“Frank,” Xavier called out.
“My lord!” Straining to flap his wings to maintain pace, Frank clutched a massive magic crystal scope while calling back grimly, “Three hundred kilometers due east lies the point of highest dark concentration.”
“Understood.” Nodding, Xavier cast a critical glance at the struggling assistant and noted, “Your physical state today is subpar.”
Hearing his superior’s observation, the poor Grand Archangel assistant felt deeply embarrassed while internally weeping buckets.
“Keep up.”
A dense surge of concentrated light-element energy surged from Xavier’s palm, transferring directly into Frank to replenish his rapidly depleting stamina.
Three hundred kilometers eastward marked the geographical heartland of the Sea of Oblivion. The further they penetrated, the more violently the dark energy churned and roiled across the ocean surface, drifting upward into the atmosphere in thick miasmas that threatened to swallow the sun whole.
With a furrowed brow, Xavier cast an uneasy glance toward the solar disc, which was already veiled beneath a dense “black gauze.” Light-element energy here was being aggressively suppressed; once the sun was entirely obscured, he could theoretically sustain himself on his own immense reserves, but Frank lacked that luxury.
Pushing forward another few dozen kilometers, Frank’s complexion turned deathly pale, his flight path dipping and swaying dangerously. At that juncture, the sun had dwindled down to a faint, orange-red corona.
“Frank,” Xavier halted, pressing Huey’s head firmly against his chest to shield him before channeling a massive surge of radiant energy into his assistant. “Hand me the scope, and head back.”
“Forgive me, my lord.” Gritting his teeth, Frank transferred the crystal scope over.
“Think nothing of it,” Xavier dismissed casually. “You are still young; another few millennia of cultivation will set things right.”
“My lord,” Huey murmured, lifting his head from the embrace once Frank had departed. “Are we the only ones left now?”
“Mhm.” Lowering his gaze, Xavier affectionately smoothed down the young demon’s unruly locks. “Are you frightened? If so, I can escort you back first.”
Huey shook his head vehemently, his hood swinging like a pendulum. “I am not afraid. Staying by your side allows me to offer plenty of assistance!”
Filled with absolute self-confidence, Huey reasoned that he was, after all, a succubus the ultimate “portable charging station” for Underworld entities! As long as he remained present, he could guarantee Xavier’s energy reserves would never run dry.
“Very well.” Unaware of the true scope of a succubus’s unique abilities, Xavier merely chuckled at what he assumed was affectionate persistence.
At the very center of the Sea of Oblivion, the sun had vanished entirely, replaced by a boundless shroud of inky black silk woven from thick dark elemental energy that blanketed the entire expanse of sky and sea.
The ocean churned like a boiling cauldron, bubbling and hissing incessantly. Even suspended three hundred meters above the water’s surface, the sea spray practically snapped at their ankles.
Peering down past Xavier’s arm, Huey crinkled his nose at a pungent odor drifting upward and furrowed his delicate brows. “Does the center of the Sea of Oblivion always smell this foul?”
To Xavier’s enhanced vision, what writhed beneath the churning ocean surface was far more than mere dark elemental energy; dense swarms of writhing black mists identical to the entity discovered within the evil spirits churned relentlessly across the abyssal depths.
“Indeed, those things reside down here.” Extending a hand to cover Huey’s eyes momentarily, Xavier infused a gentle current of warmth that instantly adapted the young demon’s sight.
“They appear… entirely formless, resembling stray wisps of vapor rather than solid entities. They resemble the black mist we found in Lances’s room, though distinct from the manifestation in the Elven domain.”
“Your powers of observation are exceptional.” Nodding in approval, Xavier rapidly calculated his remaining internal light-element reserves, confirming he still retained ninety percent more than adequate for the expedition.
“We must descend and inspect whether we can locate the origin of these dark emanations.”
“Understood!” Promptly tucking his head back into the safety of Xavier’s chest, Huey minimized his physical footprint, effectively conserving the energy required to maintain their protective insulation barrier.
With a vibration of magic, a translucent membrane encased the pair. Folding his wings, Xavier clutched the little succubus tightly and plunged headfirst into the uncharted depths of the Sea of Oblivion.
Submerging into the water plunged them into absolute inkiness; even with magic-enhanced vision, visibility was effectively zero.
Whoosh
A brilliant orb of pristine white light materialized, hovering closely beside the pair to illuminate a five-meter radius.
Submerged beneath the waves, the black mists demonstrated a far greater agility than in open air, darting about erratically like schools of blind, predatory fish.
“Should we continue heading downward?” Possessing a succubus’s innate sensitivity to energetic flows, Huey tracked the trajectory downwards, lowering his gaze toward the pitch-black abyss beneath their feet. “I can sense the vast majority of these dark wisps originating from the deep ocean floor.”
“Agreed.”
Securing Huey firmly against his frame, Xavier generated a propulsion current with his magic, cutting through the water like a silver arrow as they plummeted toward the benthic floor.
The deeper they descended, the denser the black mist grew until it practically assumed a semi-liquid, viscous consistency.
Crouched safely within Xavier’s arms, Huey lost track of their descent depth, feeling as though the bottom of the Sea of Oblivion possessed no terminal limit.
“Wait!” Huey gasped suddenly, twisting his torso to point sharply toward a specific vector.
“What do you perceive?” Xavier halted instantly, hovering motionless in the current while pivoting the illuminating orb toward the indicated direction.
“There is an alternate signature over there,” Huey reported, frowning in concentration as his magical resonance rippled outward. “Aside from the dark elements and these vile entities…”
He paused, testing the currents. “…there is also an unmistakable trace of frost magic.”
Frost…
“Let us investigate.”
Guided by Huey’s directions, the pair ceased their vertical descent, shifting their vector diagonally downward toward the left.
As they closed the distance, the ambient frost energy intensified progressively, though it remained enshrouded within the pervasive dark mists.
“Here we are,” Huey whispered, signaling Xavier to halt. “The frost energy terminates precisely at this coordinate… and there appears to be a distinct spatial resonance layered over it.”
The young succubus shook his head in frustration. “I cannot discern more; these black mists obscure my senses entirely. Relying purely on intuition is insufficient.”
“You have done remarkably well,” Xavier assured him, pressing his palm gently against the back of the little succubus’s head.
Lowering his head until his lips hovered mere millimeters from Huey’s ear, he murmured softly, “Now, close your eyes, good child. Leave the rest to me.”
The deep, resonant voice carried a hypnotic, overwhelming power of suggestion that effortlessly bypassed even a succubus’s natural defenses, lulling Huey into a dreamy haze as he shut his eyes and buried his face deeper against the familiar chest.
“Sleep now.”
The Grand Archangel soothed the young demon with the gentlest cadence imaginable.
Sparks of blinding radiance bloomed outward from Xavier’s form, fragmenting and scattering to blanket the surrounding ocean floor in brilliance. His golden hair fanned out like a solar corona, suspended within the seawater and illuminating every concealed corner of the abyss.
Twelve immaculate, snow-white wings unfolded behind him, radiating the hymns of Heaven through the lightless depths.
“And God said, Let there be light.”
Parting his lips, the Archangel spoke with eyes of unyielding golden frost, devoid of mortal warmth.
Radiance erupted like scattered embers, expanding and consuming the darkness in a rolling wave. Radiating outward from the Grand Archangel as the epicenter, the waters within a three-kilometer radius of the Sea of Oblivion were instantly scrubbed crystal-clear.
Beneath the crystalline purity of the illuminated water lay a colossal, intricate array carved directly into the ocean floor, where spatial and frost energies writhed and intertwined in a complex geometric weave.
A cold, steely glint flashed within Xavier’s golden eyes as he pronounced the verdict:
“A unidirectional teleportation array.”