CH 8: Sacrifice

The group of dungeon divers stood there frozen, unable to process how the knight had revived, let alone risen to Ascendant stage.

Derrick tightened his grip on the greatsword in his hands despite his apparent fear. "I'll try to distract it. Take the portal to the next floor and I'll be right behind you."

"No!" Vetra yelled vehemently. "You won't be able to last a second against it! We should all try to get through the gate."

Venessa looked from the knight to Derrick. "She's right Derrick. We shouldn't try to fight it. We need to get out of here."

Derrick looked toward his last team member, looking for his input.

Alaric's eyes didn't leave the knight. "It's pointless to fight. Even running away will be difficult."

Derrick sighed in resignation. "Fine. On the count of three, we run for the gate."

The dungeon divers tensed their bodies, ready to escape with all their power.

"One," Derrick said while the knight just stood in the center of the room, waiting patiently. "Two… Three!"

The group turned and took off toward the gate. On the way there, Vetra looked to the side. A gray wolfkin was missing from the three people running.

Vetra's eyes widened and she looked behind her. Derrick, instead of turning for the gate, had taken off toward the knight.

"DERRICK! NO!" Vetra screamed.

Derrick raised his sword over his head and swung down with all his might. The knight didn't even bother responding and Derrick's attack passed right through its body altogether.

*BOOM*

The ground under the knight caved in from the powerful swing.

Derrick, with his sword stuck in the ground, couldn't believe what happened. His attack completely phased through the knight!

*SWOOSH*

"Gah!" An attack with imperceptible speed cut across Derrick's stomach, causing his intestines to spill out on the ground beneath him.

Derrick grimly looked down at his severed stomach. "Grrghh." Blood spilled from his mouth and his skin paled. Before he could even register what happened, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out.

The rest of the party, who had stopped after seeing Derrick's reckless attempt to hold back the black knight, couldn't believe their eyes. Not only did their leader's attack phase through it, but they couldn't even perceive the speed of the knight's attack.

"Dammit, Derrick!" Venessa screamed in anger with tears in her eyes. She was closer to Derrick than the rest of the party. While they weren't a couple yet, it wasn't long before one of them confessed their feelings for the other.

In her anger, Venessa raised her hands, and a bright orange glow emitted from her palm. A blazing fireball the size of a beach ball quickly formed and shot toward the pitch-black knight who was standing over the body of Derrick.

*FWOOSH*

Again, like with Derrick's previous attack, the fireball completely passed through the knight's body.

*BOOM*

The stone wall behind the knight collapsed on itself from the impact of Venessa's anger-fueled spell.

"DAMMIT! How are we supposed to attack this thing!" Venessa screamed.

The three party members still standing had despondent expressions. Even Alaric didn't see a way to fight the knight and save Derrick.

But, before any of them could make another move, a current of wind passed by each of them.

*SWOOSH*

*Thud*

*Thud*

*Thud*

Three heads dropped to the floor, each belonging to the still-standing dungeon diver party. Their bodies soon collapsed to the floor not long after.

The black knight who was standing over Alaric's body, swung his greatsword to the side, effectively cleaning the blade of the blood of its victims.

"Good job, Mr. Knight." Rylen, who had been concealed up until now, finally revealed himself. His body was completely covered in wispy, pitch-black tendrils that undulated and encircled his figure. The piercing amethyst eyes that shone like gemstones were the only discernible feature.

Four black tendrils shot out from Rylen and devoured the corpses of the 4 unfortunate dungeon divers. Once their bodies were completely gone, Rylen felt a slight increase in his power.

"Not bad for a group of Awakened."

Rylen shifted through the memories of each member. The more he learned, the more annoyed his expression became.

"Tch. Of course Guidance has to be this strong."

According to all of the party's memories, Guidance was the sole leading power of Exousia and all of reality. They were the educators, the law enforcement, the army, and the politicians, they were everything. They even led and managed the economy as well as all of the dungeons.

Since the party of Awakened was only at the bottom of the power scale, they didn't have much information on the upper echelons of Guidance. But what they did know was that it was led by beings that were incomprehensible to them.

As Rylen got to the runic avatar, Alaric's memories, his expression lightened up a bit. "Interesting. Runic avatars have very unique abilities. I can't wait to try them out."

Thin black tendrils rose from the bottom of Rylen's cloak of darkness, forming into his stats and skills.

—

Name: Rylen Aptera

Age: 22

Titles: Heir to the Abyss, Lord of Apocalypse

{STATS}

Body: C+

Mind: S-

Essence: C+

Shroud: SS+

Power Grade: A+

Potential: ???

Stage (New): Ascendant

{SKILLS}

Essence Skills:

{Corrupted Enhance (Tier III)}

{Corrupted Inquiry (Tier III)}

{Corrupted Fire Conjuration (Tier I) (NEW)}

{Corrupted Water Conjuration (Tier I) (NEW)}

{Corrupted Healing (Tier I) (NEW)}

{Corrupted Area of Effect Enhance (NEW)}

Shroud Skills:

{Touch of the Abyss}

{Harvest}

{Abyssal Storage (Current Limit: 1000 square meters)}

{BLOODLINE (NEW)}

Human (Ascendant)

Elf (Awakened) (NEW): Proficiency in elemental conjuration increased by 50%

Beastkin - Wolf (Awakened) (NEW): Physical strength and agility increased by 25%

{Corrupted Beast Transformation - Wolf (NEW): Allows the user to transform into a wolf with the properties of the abyssal shroud.}

Runic Avatar (Awakened) (NEW): Proficiency with runes increased by 100%

{Corrupted Runic Skin - Assasin (NEW): The user can etch runes on their skin with abilities relating to Assassin job skills. Runes merge with the abyssal shroud and increase effectiveness by 500%.}

—

Rylen's lips curved slightly into an amused smirk. His new stats were pleasing to the eyes and the new skills he had absorbed would prove useful.

Above his hand, Rylen conjured a dark flame that absorbed the light around it and launched it toward the empty throne. No noise was created from the flame as it collided and consumed the stone, leaving nothing behind.

As the flame started to eat away at the floor, Rylen conjured a black liquid and sent it toward the flame. The liquid completely surrounded the black fire and shrunk until it disappeared, leaving behind a crater on the floor, taking away the flame with it.

"It seems any corrupted skill takes on the properties of the shroud. There isn't any difference between the outcome of either ability," Rylen pondered, seeing the effect of the elemental conjurations. "I wonder if I can still use the original essence skill without merging it with the shroud?"

Rylen raised his hand again and started the process of conjuring a flame. But, as the essence and shroud began to merge to create the fire, Rylen stopped the shroud, resulting in a bright flame appearing above his palm.

*FWOOSH*

Rylen continued to fuel the blinding fire with essence and the flame grew until reaching the ceiling. His essence reserves halved in the process.

The flame dispersed in the air and Rylen was satisfied with the outcome of his experiment.

"I assume as long as I halt the merging of the shroud and my essence, I can use regular skills and bloodline abilities. I'll have to confirm it later."

Rylen looked over to the dark knight who was gazing at him silently. "I'll keep you just in case I need you in the future." He waved his hand and a pocket opened underneath the knight, sending him into Rylen's abyssal storage.

Now that the throne room was empty, Rylen began to think about his next move. Getting more powerful was a must, but he also needed more information about how Guidance worked.

"Guess it's time to visit more Guidance agents," Rylen said with a tinge of boredom. The tendrils of abyssal shroud surrounding him tensed and Rylen completely disappeared from sight.