Nox Mortem

The two of them followed Loft´s gaze and stared at the floating anglerfish, who was circling Raas like a vulture, waiting for their prey to succumb to their injuries.

Derat who felt their gazes looked down and shrank back. He felt that their stare was somehow dangerous...

"We could prolong his life by taking the souls that the Soul collecting apparition collected and use them to fix the gaps. It will only be a temporary solution till we find someone who is an expert on souls. In the meantime, we could only heal his internal damages and give him a constant supply of mana so that his core doesn´t dry out."

Derat looked absolutely horrified hearing Loft´s words and tried to swim away, but forgot that Sahra was holding onto his core the entire time. It was usually a good thing that Sahra was holding it as to have someone protect it when he was scouting, but now... now he couldn´t even run away...

Derat begged and cried, as the sole reason of his existence was collecting them, and to give them away? Unexpectable, it was like taking away a demon's darkness, an angel's holiness, an orc´s toughness, a dragon´s might, and so on. Without them, he was nothing but a shell...

He liked Raas... somewhat... or not... but the point is, he liked his souls far more than Raas.

Even when his core was almost cracked he didn´t give up. He would rather die than give his souls up willingly.

"We don't have much time left! Derat was your name right?" said Loft looking at the Soul Collecting Apparition.

He just nodded, and Loft continued, "I will personally give you a tier 4 soul if you help us out now!"

Derat froze up, and weight the pros and cons. On one side, he had to give up the many souls he collected in his short life, and on another hand, he gains a soul far superior to his prized possession, which is a mid-tier 3 soul. The difference, especially the taste would be on a completely other level, "Peak tier 4"

"Low tier 4"

"...a good mid-tier 4"

"Deal! Now push your souls into Raas, you will get your reward after he is in a stable condition," said Loft quickly, not wanting to waste any more time with this greedy anglerfish.

As Derat slowly pushed one soul after another out of his lantern, Loft purified them, before pushing them into Raas, trying to stabilize his unstable soul, while also infusing his core with mana.

The others stood there helplessly and could only watch their friend/mate clinging to the last thread of life.

The time passed and after 1 hour of constant infusing souls and mana, the shadow dragon queen Elizabeth, arrived with Cadina the Cabbage and Burash the Bush monster in tow.

Out of my way said the queen pushing away Loft and placing both of her hands on top of Raas' core. A large black magic circle appeared, plunging the whole city in complete darkness for a few seconds before the light returned.

Everyone looked at the spot where Raas was supported to be, but he wasn´t there anymore.

Sahra was filled with rage, anger, and sorrow, but before she could move the queen spoke up, "I transported him to Nox Mortem, another dimension where he can live without being always in a near-death state, as it is a place where death roams. I have a few people there that I know, so he shouldn´t be completely on his own."

"Elizabeth! How could you send Raas to such a godless place?! He wouldn't survive more than 10 minutes there in his state!" cried Beatrice knowing full well about this other dimension.

The queen pushed Beatrice's hands away and replied, "He should be able to operate full well there, as you know. And I have a few... let's say friends, there that will help him out. It will also make the Seekers think that he already died as Sol´s Gem´s presence will be completely erased. I didn´t plan it to be this soon, but I was initially planning to send him there when he was stronger, but this should be a nice chance for him to reach tear 2 or even 3 with a few unique evolutions. The time there is diluted, so a few days there are only a few hours here."

Beatrice cursed out of anger and frustration but calmed down, as she knew that it was the only chance for Raas to regain his core and repair his soul... well if he survived that is.

Derat asked, "What is that place?"

"Nox Mortem This place is worse than hell... literal, as it is a place for the damned, for the people and monsters that are too good for hell, a place where not even the demon lords and gods want to be. It is truly a fate worse than hell. But even there, countries and empires exist... but only in the most wicked and disturbing ways."

Everyone looked at her in worry, even Derat was kinda disturbed...

"It wasn´t always like that..." continued Elizabeth, "as a powerful god once roamed the realm, a benevolent and kind god. He created the first beings there, let them live a happy life. But where the light shone, there is a shadow. His creations are powerful, absurdly so, even the weakest ones could trample mountains. A life in constant bliss and happiness gets quickly boring... so they rebelled, fought, and killed each other... slowly turning darker. The god was saddened seeing his creations fight each other and tried to stop them, descending into the realm. His appearance alone made them stop fighting, begging him for forgiveness, and so he did. However, that was his biggest mistake. Upon seeing their creator´s might they got jealous, envious, and bitter. Their long life made them reach their bottleneck very early. But how could they possibly defeat and kill such a being?

Finding no solution in the light, they turned to the dark side. While their god was distracted on creating more beings, his old ones dappled in the dark, cursing them, making their flesh rotten, the land corrupt, but they achieved what they planned. They attained power far beyond what they should have. But nothing is free in life, especially power. They lost their sanity, their empathy, their kindness... their purpose. But not everyone strived for power, some liked the never-ending paradise, living in constant bliss. So the corrupted ones prepared for a fight, gathering almost all of their kind they slaughtered everyone that got in their way. Corrupted the land, poisoned the sea, and even darkened the sun. The god hearing all the cries and wails of his creations was furious for the first time in his life, seeing his paradise turn into hell broke his heart. So descending for the second time, he decided to punish his foolish children, not knowing that it was a trap. Touching the land, and breathing the air, he sickened and stumbled, but it wasn´t nearly enough to topple this god. He Cleansed the air, the sea, and the land. The fight was long bloody and cruel. He killed the corrupted and helped the pure ones, but walking around the damned lands made him slowly go mad and sick. His blood that was shed flowed, creating oceans. The body parts that he lost were consumed and used to gain power, making the fight against his creations harder and harder as time went on. So he decided to end it all in one move. While he was preparing his spell that would destroy half of the land, he was backstabbed by one of his pure children. At that moment of betrayal, he broke... the all-loving god shattered, as wrath and sorrow corrupted him... with his last bit of strength he cursed them all... everyone and everything that is in that realm. They could never rest, will always suffer, and repent for all eternity. And that is how the dimension turned like it is now... it is also the reason why it is called a godless place and despite the harsh conditions many brave and strong beings venture there to obtain a piece of the god or just to test themselves. Some nutjobs even willingly live there for an internal life." ended the queen while sighing.

"That is of course the short and dumbed-down version... as I don´t have enough time to chit chat all day." said the queen while walking away, but not before saying "and don´t be too shocked of what returns from there. Raas could be there for weeks, and such an environment could change him tremendously. Not only physically and mentally, but his soul too. So be prepared when he returns, and level up so you wouldn´t be left behind."

Leaving the room, everyone stared at the closing door.

Sahra squeezed her hands in from of her chest while looking at the crest that she got from Raas after naming her. She just got together after being separated, and now she had to wait for him again... but she didn´t let her sadness get to her and stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Beatrice.

"Leveling up. I don´t want to be left behind when he returns." With those words, she left the room and headed straight back to the 22nd floor.

Derat followed her, but Beatrice only stood there, watching them leave.

...

(AN)

Sorry about the info dump and forgive me for my poor storytelling... I didn´t want to make the background of the dimension too long but meh. It is more or less a generic history... I hope it wasn´t too cringe to read... but a new arc is starting now, with new characters, new environments, and new enemies!

Nox Mortem is only a more or less temporary name, so if you have better ideas leave them here or on the discord server!

Anyway, wish me luck on my upcoming test!