Umbra's Descent

A few hundred miles away from the flaming ape location sat another anomaly.

This anomaly was extraordinarily odd.

With four pure metallic black sides, this anomaly resembled a square-shaped monolith as it quietly sat atop a tall mountain covered in snow. Certainly, the monolith was strange, but it would be very hard to think of it as dangerous since it was not blocking the forces of nature throwing snow against it all the time.

"Boom! Boom! BOOM!"

Explosion sounds rapidly approached the area like sonic booms.

The clouds in the sky were pushed away by a rapid descent of curled-up energy.

Within a split second, the ripples of energy slammed into the monolith.

The entire mountain shook and crumbled as pieces of it fell off in a giant landslide.

The monolith trembled and released an intense black radiance before cracks formed on the four surfaces. These cracks grew into webs as the monolith cracked like glass. Rays of black light escaped through these cracks, some of them coming into contact with snow and instantly vaporizing it.

"BOOOOOOM!"

The entire area above the horizon became engulfed in a white blinding light far brighter than the sun, blinding every creature with eyes who happened to be glancing in that direction.

At the same time, all of the snow situated in the mountains for dozens of miles instantly underwent sublimation at a visible rate. The surrounding pine forests also released smoke as they turned brown and caught fire.

A giant ball of plasma tens of thousands of degrees hot rapidly expanded from the center as the light faded, vaporizing the entire mountain into a gaseous state while showing no signs of stopping.

At the same time, a powerful shockwave created a cloud of snow as even rock and dirt was stripped from the ground. All of the burning forests and creatures were instantly swept into the air and leveled completely.

A minute later rose a giant mushroom cloud that casted a dark shadow over the burning lands. Smoke from the forest fires were sucked into the mushroom cloud as it continued to rise.

What remained of the mountain was now a giant crater almost a mile in diameter.

The giant ripples of energy had passed through this anomaly and were now heading towards another anomaly on a new link that had snapped from the monolith upon explosion.

...

Bernice abruptly lost consciousness and fell over, but George caught her on time.

"Bernice?!" Amanda rose her voice up in panic thinking something bad had happened.

"I gently knocked her out. She's fine." George indifferently replied as he gently placed her on the soft lakeside shore.

"Oh thank goodness! I thought something bad happened." Amanda sighed in big relief.

"Thank you for obeying for my instructions and protecting them." George bowed to express his gratitude.

"Uh-er-um, no don't need to bow!" Amanda lost her composure and hastily brought him back up. She did not think he would do this which threw her off guard.

"I'm really grateful you protected them. Otherwise this would have plagued me and I would have failed the mission." George did not show this on his face but he genuinely was grateful.

Years of emptiness and unchanging emotions has resulted in his facial muscles becoming numb, but he still retains the emotions for gratefulness. It may not show up in his eyes or facial expressions however.

"But um... I hope it is okay to ask you this. But why are that trusting of me after all the things I did?" This was a question plaguing Amanda even when she was protecting the party.

A normal adventurer would be very cautious/wary of a powerful mercenary who shot their party member even after taking off a mind control enchantment. It would be impossible to analyze the mercenary's personality behind that mind control within a short period of time.

"I saw a part of myself in you, and I could sense your emotions were genuine. If I had sensed they were fake and you were had sinister thoughts, I would have killed you then and there. Someone of your strength would also have a reputation, so you would owe me a favor for freeing you."

"That last part is wrong." Amanda sighed and gently put down Abe and Hester. A dreary atmosphere enveloped her as she sat down and leaned her back against a tree.

"I never wanted to be a mercenary in the first place. There's nothing status-worthy having that occupation in my opinion. I only did what I was ordered to."

A hateful bloody aura enveloped her as her eyes turned bloodshot and she grinded her teeth. Crimson swirls of insanity filled her eyes like she wanted to devour her enemies.

"The damned Soul Tribulation organization! I'll slaughter every last one of them."

Seeing those crazed eyes and warped expression of hatred, George remained silent.

He had never heard of that organization before, but he could see the deep-hatred in her eyes telling a story. A story of torture, unimaginable pain, and endless suffering.

'Whatever they did to her must have been severe for someone to have a hatred that extreme.'

George snapped his fingers a few times in front of her eyes.

Amanda jolted and clarity returned to her eyes. Her bloodthirsty aura also vanished.

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine. Sorry if I reminded you of something traumatic."

"Not at all! You're perfectly fine!" Amanda stood up in a panic and lightly coughed to regain her composure.

"I still owe you my life. I never thought I could escape from being controlled. I don't think I can ever repay the gratitude you have given to me." Amanda deeply bowed.

"Again with that..." George shook his head and sighed. "Nevermind that. Let's-"

"George!"

Melissa descended from the sky and appeared in front of them.

"There you are! I was looking for- what are you doing here?!"

Melissa's face warped in anger seeing Amanda next to him. After what she did to Bernice, even someone as cold as her could not help but feel an itching sensation to enact revenge!

Seeing the tightly whirling ball of dark magus around Melissa, Amanda's face twitched a little. For some unknown reason, the power she possessed was extremely pure and now highly threatening.

"Melissa, I told you this the last time and it'll be the last time I remind you. Amanda was under an enslavement enchantment and forced to do things against her will. I've broken it now. She's on our side now. If you really wish to remain as my bodyguard, then do as I say."

"I-..."

Melissa's face contorted in frustration but she could only swallow her resentment as she landed on the ground not too far away, glaring deeply at Amanda.

"But what if she has malicious intentions after being freed?! What is she backstabs us?!"

"Then she'd be dead." George pointed at the unconscious party members.

"Amanda protected their lives when we were dealing with the ape. She could have fled or killed them anytime but chose not to. Are you really gonna hate the person who saved her and the other party members while we were fighting?"

Melissa's words got stuck in her mouth as she failed to make up a comeback.

If she was in a normal state, she would never dare to act like this or argue with him at the risk of being expelled. However, it still remained a fact that Bernice was shot. Melissa was deeply affected by this.

"Besides, your buff is about to run out. You might wanna save it for your god." George indifferently folded his arms while staring at her.

"What do you mean-"

Melissa's face turned pale white and her body trembled before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. An intimating presence escaped her body that caused the realm to shake slightly.

Pure darkness flooded out of her body and continued expanding.

In response, dense amounts of demonic magus moved to the area and pressed against it. The darkness stalled a few feet away from George.

The darkness resembled the pitch-blackness of a black hole, sucking any light inside with no way out. Although it was being suppressed, it was enough that Amanda's face turned pale from horror.

George remained indifferent and unaffected with his arms still folded.

[I guess you knew I was descending.]

A deep ancient voice full of power left the dome of eternal darkness.

"Welcome Umbra, the God of Shadows."

George's casual words caused Amanda to nearly faint from shock.

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Notes:

* Only those who are registered with the Guild Association and complete quests/missions are classified as 'adventurers'.

* Accessing your own stats at a guild does not mean registering to become an adventurer, but you will have to pay a fee each time. Military personnel for example get a military discount.