Stop the Wheel

They travel through the meadow and strangely enough after even half an hour of walking they hadn't seen a single creature.

"This is strange," Seiren says as he looks around cautiously.

"Yeah, this is incredibly odd. Not a single demon in sight." She says. "This is making me a little anxious."

Where could they have gone? Seiren thinks.

In the distance, a structure stands out amongst the trees. Mera could only barely make out its features from the distance.

"It seems like there's a building on this layer. I think we should avoid it." Mera says, placing a hand to her hip.

"We might find something interesting," Seiren says.

"I'm not so sure about that. That could be a trap set by some hunters. Or it could be an abandoned building for good reason." She says, crossing her arms.

Seiren tilts his head at her reaction.

Wait, could she be scared? Seiren thinks.

"Hold up. I see the way you're looking at me. Just what exactly are you thinking?" Mera questions and flicks his forehead.

"You don't talk much, do you?" She questions.

"I'm not the best at it," Seiren says.

At least with people, I'm not fully comfortable with. He thinks.

"So you're just the awkward type." She says.

"That's one way of putting it," Seiren mutters with a hint of exasperation.

"Alright, let's get back on track. After taking that time we were talking to think. It's safe to surmise that this area could belong to the hunters." She says.

Seiren looks at her with a perplexed expression.

"Well for one, the complete lack of demons was a big hint. Next, if we think about it, any kind of larger predator would have left or simply died due to the lack of food here. Which means we'd have to be dealing with something smarter. That building in the distance is well maintained, which means…" She explains.

"There's someone taking care of it," Seiren adds.

"Exactly. The hunters probably started by hunting in this area when they arrived and when the numbers started to thin they probably had to change their strategies. So as not to exhaust the populations any further, but the demons never returned here for some strange reason." She explains. "Let's get out of here before we end up having to fight unnecessarily."

"Sorry to say this, but it's a little late for that." A masculine voice says as they walk up from right in front of them.

A smaller short-haired demon was riding on the back of a larger, one with no hair. The larger man was leaned forward on his knuckles like a gorilla. The smaller man hops off of his back and leans against a tree.

"You're spot on, you know. I guess there are quite a few humans that can use their brains. By the way, I go by the name Chris Cross. This knuckle dragger here is Iron-row John." He introduces.

"Iron-row," John says in a thick and heavy voice.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but I think it's time we got outta here," Mera says, while not dropping her guard.

This isn't good. We had enough trouble with just one hunter, now we've got two? Seiren thinks.

"Sadly, I can't let you do that. Humans are true quite the delicacy." He says. "Get ready John, let's put these down nice and easy."

John heard the words leave his lips and starts moving up in down quickly. Then he raises his giant forearms into the air in excitement.

"John no!" Chris exclaims.

John slams the ground with his incredible strength and causes several cracks to appear in the dirt underneath Seiren and Mera, as a cloud of dust blocks their vision.

"How strong is he?" Mera says as she covers her mouth.

The ground beneath their feet begins to give way and they lose their balance. Unable to move due to unstable footing, the ground outright collapses from underneath them.

Seiren and Mera fall straight into the hole, shouting in surprise as they disappear into the dark below. Chris Cross runs over to the hole, and peers inside, seeing nothing but inky darkness.

"John? You know about the rule here! Ground attacks are forbidden since the ground is super unstable!" Chris says, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"John…." John says in a low tone.

"This is on you. Going down there is suicide. You're gonna have to make this up and find two others." Chris says as he walks away from the pit.

Seiren and Mera come crashing down into the dirt, taking a minute to recover. Seiren rolls over onto the dirt and sighs.

"I think my ribs are broken," Seiren mutters.

"And I think my butt is cracked…" She says with a groan.

There's an obvious joke here, but I'm not gonna take it. Seiren thinks.

"At least we're alive." He says.

"They don't seem like they're going to pursue us." She begins.

Seiren grunts in agreement as he tries to sit up.

"I swear it's just one thing after another in this place," Mera said, rubbing her backside.

After regaining themselves, they stood to face the trial before them. There was a large tunnel extending past them that looked as though it could continue forever.

What would make tunnels so large? Seiren thinks. How are we supposed to get back to the surface?

"We could get out if we dug out a mound of dirt high enough, but we'd run the risk of dealing with those two boneheads again." She says pointing at the hole they both fell through. The light was barely reaching deep enough into the underground.

"If we follow the tunnels we might find a way out of here. I just hope there are no spiders down here." Mera says as her body shivers. "Not that we'll be able to see down here."

"I can see pretty well down here," Seiren says.

"Great. You can take the vanguard. Also, let me hold your hand because it'd be pretty bad if we got separated or if I got lost." She says.

"Okay." Seiren agrees.

"You know, holding hands with you like this, made me realize." Mera begins.

"What?" He says.

"That you have sweaty palms. It's pretty slimy. Like Jello." She says.

"Gee, thanks for your insight, Mera," Seiren mutters.

"Don't mention it."

Now standing hand in hand, they began walking down the path as it stretches on and on. Following many twists and turns through each of the dark tunnels. Seiren came to a sudden stop, and Mera bumped into his back.

"What happened? Is it a demon?" She questions.

"Nah. There are 7 different tunnels."

"I swear I hate this damn place," Mera says placing a palm on her face. "What's next demonic worms?

A large white creature emerged from the darkness of a tunnel. Its body was long and springy, it let out a roar, as blood and saliva dripped from its gaping mouth, like a thick syrup.

"Me and my big mouth!" Mera exclaims in anger.

"I doubt we can outrun it."

"It's not looking too good for us here," Mera mutters.

The worm-like creature charges toward them, tearing through the dirt corridors. Seiren grabs Mera's hand and dodges to the side with her. The demon collides with the dirt wall, tunneling straight through.

With Mera unable to see, and I stuck on defense, trying to defend her, I can't attack. Seiren thinks.

They dodge the worm several more times as it comes crashing into the dirt yet another time.

Beating this thing is impossible like this. If anything, maybe not fighting it at all might be the option. Mera thinks.

"Brace yourself Seiren, because we're bringing this to the advocate," Mera says.

"Huh," Seiren says in an exaggerated tone. "How?"

"For now, just try and get us onto its back. Then you can leave the rest to me." She says.

"Alright," Seiren says.

That being said, I have no idea if this plan is gonna work, honestly, it's probably gonna be the craziest thing I've ever attempted. I can always blame Seiren if it doesn't work out since he inspired this idea. Mera thinks.

The worm barrels toward Seiren and Mera yet again however, he and Mera slide underneath its spongy body. Then Seiren extends his spear using it to launch him and Mera above it, and they land on its skin.

"Good job! Now, here goes nothing!" She exclaims.

Mera places her hands firmly against its skin and focuses her mind to the extreme.

This is a really big leap, from just shooting water bullets. I'm not entirely sure how this is going to affect me but, our options are limited. Humans and animals alike are made up of mostly water. I'm not certain if demon physiology is the same, but by controlling the water in the various parts of the body, I should be able to control this thing. Mera thinks.

The worm begins thrashing around to throw them off and Seiren uses his shadows to keep him and Mera seated on its body. Little by little the worms thrashing began to slow until it comes to a complete stop. The worm begins aiming itself upward, at the dirt and begins moving once more.

We'll get knocked off like this. Seiren thinks.

Calling the shadows nearby, he uses them to form an angled barrier over himself and Mera. With the barrier in place, all Seiren could do was wait as the worm's body violently shook while digging through the dirt. After a few minutes of intense rumbling, the duo found themselves outdoors again.

"I need to keep controlling this thing, but I need to divert my everything to it, so I'll need you to defend me," Mera mutters.

"Alright." He agrees as he looks back at her and slightly recoils.

Blood was dripping from her nose and ears as she continued to focus on controlling the worm.

"You should stop."

"Sorry, but I'm aiming for extra credit here. There is no victory without sacrifice." She says.

How much longer can she even keep up something like that? He thinks.

The worm begins moving through the forest at high speed. Smashing through trees and tearing shrubbery and the like apart.

If I'm gonna do this, I gotta make it quick, because I'm already near my limit. She says.

The sound of flapping wings filled the air and as Seiren looked up, it was hard to tell what it was due to the bright light.

Are those angels? Seiren questions.

One of them lands on the worm in front of Seiren and extends its arms to him, with a beautiful smile. As it slowly inches closer, Seiren's guard also begins to lower.

It doesn't seem to have any weapons or anything to attack with. Plus I've never seen a demon like this before. He thinks. Just in case, let's bait it out.

Seiren completely releases his spear, allowing the angel to get close to him. It wraps its arms around him and Seiren watches as its mouth begins to open. Its cheeks split open, and its jaw unhinges revealing two rows of monstrous jagged teeth facing multiple directions. It chomps down on Seiren's head, only to realize it cannot move its jaw. Seiren's spear pierces it through the head from the shadows of his hoodie. He removes the spear, and the demon falls to the side, off of the worm, and goes rolling onto the ground as they leave it behind.

Then, two more lands on the worm behind Mera.

Get back! Seiren thinks.

His spear pierces through their backs from the shadows below them and Seiren steps in between them and Mera. Seiren rushes to the one in the middle as it's impaled and throws a flurry of thrusts at it, poking even more holes in it. Failing to realize the other two in the air. One swoops down toward him and slices his back. While another reaches at him from the side and bites him in the shoulder.

Seiren shouts in pain as the other two demons descend upon Mera, grazing her with their sharp wings as they fly past. Seiren grits his teeth and shouts with all his might as he rips the demon's arm off of him.

I have to help Mera! Seiren thinks.

"Get… OFF OF ME!" Seiren exclaims.

Seiren stabs the demon in the foot, causing it to roar and release his shoulder.

He puts his spear in front of the demon's neck and pulls it toward his back, causing it to suffocate. Realizing he doesn't have the time to choke it out, he musters all of his strength and launches the demon far forward. Unable to control its movent well enough to fly, it falls directly in front of the death worm and is caught in its mouth. Seiren drops to his knee to catch his breath.

I can't stop now. Not while Mera's pushing so hard! Seiren thinks.

He rises back to his feet and runs toward Mera. The remaining two refocus themselves on Seiren after he killed the other. Seiren watches as the demons rush toward him.

I have almost no way to deal damage while they're in the air like that. How can I stop them…? Seiren thinks.

Using their superior speed, they sadistically began flying back and forth grazing him. First his arms, his legs, head, waist, stomach, blood spilling out of each wound.

I'm a literal sitting duck… Is this it? Seiren thinks as he drops to his knees from all the blood loss.

Am I going to die again here…? There's still so much that I want to do… How can I return to my mom like this?!

Seiren digs deep and stands back up once more, as the angelic demons laugh at him from on high.

"I'm not giving up," Seiren says.

I can't afford to take any more hits, I need them to be closer if I'm going to land a hit on them. He thinks.

As they swoop in toward him once more, Seiren throws his spear at one, piercing it in the stomach, but not enough to deal a decisive blow.

Now. Seiren thinks.

While inside of its stomach, the spear changes shape, wrapping around the demon's body and at the other end turning into a spherical weight. This causes the demon to fall out of the sky and crash into the ground before its head is crushed on a tree. Seiren looks at the last demon and watches as it looses a screeching cry before unhinging its jaw to attack him.

Seiren prepares for the demon as it grows closer, he puts his foot back and reforms a new spear before launching a downward slicing attack. The demon is bisected right down the middle, spilling some blood on Seiren's face. The body falls onto the worm and rolls of the side like the rest.

"Get ready to jump!" She calls out.

Meanwhile, the advocate was looking over another's haul. The fiery-haired girl from earlier brought back a loup-Garou. A giant wolf-like creature with black fur and glowing red accents raced along its body while alive.

"Well done. No damage to the body and the meat is of exquisite quality." The advocate says with a wide grin that causes creases in his fat to form throughout his gelatinous body. With a single scoop of his jaw, he devoured it whole, taking in some dirt as well.

"Splendid. Well done, you may advance." He says as a gate alights behind him.

As she walks past the advocate to the gate, she hears rumbling coming from the forest, watching as tree after tree is mowed down. A giant white figure burst through the forest, headed straight for the advocate. His body began jiggling nervously as drool began leaking from his mouth like a leaky hose.

"Ho!!! Ho!!! 100% Fresh meat!!!" The advocate shouted excitedly. His jaw unhinged as he extended his mouth wide enough to catch the entire worm. The worm continued to fly into his mouth, extending his stomach far beyond the size of his body. Almost 10 seconds passed by before the entirety of the worm was engulfed by the advocate. In his post-meal euphoria, he looked over to see Seiren and Mera lying on the ground after having jumped off of the beast.

"How was that for a meal?" Mera asks before coughing up blood. Seiren helps her to her feet and sat her down on a nearby tree stump.

"That meal was the best I've had in many many years. Death worms have some of the most delectable flesh." He says. "The two of you are free to advance."

Even if we managed to clear the floor, I doubt either of us is in any condition to move on immediately. Seiren thinks, realizing Mera passed out. He could feel his vision fading as well before he also passed out.

"My my. It would seem that they've tuckered themselves out. After bringing me such a good meal, I'll do them a service." The advocate says. "You with the orange hair. Can you please take these two with you to the next layer?"

The orange-haired girl walks over to them and smirks.

"Normally, I would've said no. But these two caught my attention with a haul like that." She says. She throws Mera over her shoulder and holds Seiren up by the back of his hoodie as she walks over to and through the gate. The advocate remains as the gate darkens once more.