Chapter 20: Battle of the Abyss (Part Two)
“Clang—” “Whoosh—” “Clang—” “Whoosh—”
The heavy sound of metal scraping against the ground drew closer and closer.
Ryan’s face was a mix of despair, his tears and snot creating a delightful cocktail in his mouth.
He understood that behind him was the chilling sound of demons’ footsteps getting uncomfortably close.
Ryan had never imagined he’d find himself in a situation like this.
He was just the village’s lazy good-for-nothing, lounging around and avoiding responsibility like it was a plague.
But he didn’t see anything wrong with that. Big issues were handled by his father, and the small stuff by his mother. He was the sole heir, his parents’ precious little pumpkin. Naturally, he had nothing to do but enjoy life.
Ryan thought this was quite comfy.
He knew the villagers snickered behind his back, but he’d never thought of changing his ways.
After all, life’s too short to care what others think as long as you’re living it up.
He kept this philosophy as he drifted through life.
Until one day, a girl showed up in the village.
Her name was Hil. As for her full name, Ryan never had the guts to ask.
But he swore he had never laid eyes on someone so beautiful.
The moment he saw her, it felt like the world blossomed into spring; he woke up from a dream.
From that moment on, his brain was blissfully occupied with thoughts of her.
The annoying Barry called her “Sister Hil,” so Ryan decided to hop on that train too. Her every little frown and smile made him lose sleep for days.
How could he strike up a conversation with this girl?
After some serious contemplating, Ryan smacked his forehead: “Old trick, tease her!”
So, he rounded up his entourage of wannabe followers, trailing behind Sister Hil wherever she went, making sure to drop cheeky remarks at just the right moment.
Every time he saw Sister Hil blush with indignation because of him, Ryan felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
Nobody could make Sister Hil blush like he could.
He thought, with a puffed-up chest.
And then… well, and then he got a good thumping from his father.
“Chasing girls isn’t about those cheap tricks of yours. That’ll just annoy her. You need to make her feel secure being with you!”
Ryan took his father’s sage advice to heart and decided to change himself.
He was about to turn nineteen, and for the first time in his life, he’d never taken anything this seriously.
That day, he planned to apologize to Sister Hil while also looking for an opportunity to mess with her again.
He knew this was wrong. But when Sister Hil blushed, it was just so… intoxicating.
Filled with glee, Ryan arrived at Grandma Claire’s house, only to find it eerily empty.
Where did everyone go…?
Just as he pondered this, disaster struck.
Suddenly, there were corpses everywhere.
A black sun and horrifying monsters appeared.
From there on, reality spiraled beyond his understanding, like those terrifying tales of demons he’d heard as a kid.
Until now, Ryan felt nothing. He was numb, moving like a sleepwalker, dodging around aimlessly until, inevitably, he was spotted by a demon.
And now, he was on the verge of collapse.
He might as well just stop running.
But stopping meant d*ath.
But he was just so dang tired.
Yet if he stopped, he probably wouldn’t ever see Sister Hil again.
But if he kept running, he might d*e from exhaustion, right?
“Is there anyone out there to save me…?
Anyone at all, help me! I’m not done living! I still want to marry Sister Hil! I don’t want to d*e!!!”
Ryan sobbed as he ran, his tears and snot mixing together, leaving a salty, bitter taste in his mouth.
It was at this moment…
“Whoosh—”
A waft of fragrant wind swept over his head, and the next second, he felt a shift behind him.
“Clang—”
The sharp sound of a weapon cutting through the air followed. Ryan then heard something heavy hit the ground.
The horrifying sound of pursuit finally ceased.
“Whew—, whew—”
Ryan gradually slowed down.
His strength was depleted to the max, his lips cracked, his face pale, and his legs shaking like a leaf.
As he slowly turned around, he just happened to see two grotesque black heads rolling to his feet.
The heads had features similar to humans but were completely mismatched. One had a mouth on its forehead, a nose on its cheek, and two bulging red eyes—one on its chin, the other on its left ear.
They looked both comical and terrifying.
“Ah—!!”
Ryan screamed in fright, stumbling backward and landing on his behind.
To his shock, the heads suddenly caved in, like they were melting from some extreme heat, turning into a cloud of ash along with the two decapitated bodies lying a short distance away.
A few specks of blue light scattered onto him, cool to the touch.
Ryan reached out with his right hand to feel his cheek.
Was this… snow? Or frost?
“Whew—”
The ash was whisked away by a gentle breeze.
The next moment, the image in Ryan’s eyes morphed into a whirlwind of snowflakes, sparkling like stars.
At the center of it all was a delicate figure dressed in white, with flowing black hair.
Like a princess from a fairy tale or a hunter waiting in ambush within a frosty storm.
Who… was she?
At this moment, Ryan’s brain was completely short-circuited.
Then the girl turned around, revealing that face he had dreamed of day and night.
Ryan went blank.
For a fleeting instant, he felt as if he were floating in a surreal dream.
Until the girl spoke.
“Ryan, head outside the village. Meet Aili.”
“…Hil… cough, Sister Hil?”
Ryan finally snapped back to reality, stammering.
“Yeah, let’s run.”
Sister Hil’s beauty was still breathtaking, but the warmth she usually radiated had vanished.
“What… What’s going on?”
“No time! Run!”
“Clang—” “Whoosh—” “Crash—”
The ground-shaking footsteps resounded again, more demons moving quickly towards them like they were on a high-speed chase.
Ryan’s pupils dilated in horror.
“Sister Hil, be careful!”
No sooner had he shouted, than the girl sprang into action.
“Whack.”
She jumped, tilted backward, and flipped through the air.
A haze of ice-blue mist and starlight followed her, spinning through the air and landing above the approaching demons, brandishing her scythe.
“Buzz—”
A head flew off.
Ryan struggled to prop himself up, watching the girl he called sister so effortlessly slay a demon. She landed and swiftly dodged another demon’s charge, her scythe beautifully cleaving it in half.
The whole process happened so fast it was almost unbelievable.
“‘Abyssal Speech’ slay.”
The demon’s whisper echoed from above once more.
Countless demons in the distance heard the order and twisted their grotesque bodies, surging towards Sister Hil.
The girl intentionally drew the battlefield further away, moving like a butterfly among the swarm of monsters. The scythe she held was now enveloped in a layer of frost, gripped firmly at the very end of the handle, and each swing released a wave of intense chill, creating a colossal attack range. Those demons couldn’t even get close, and any stragglers would be struck by her sparkling, blue-glowing left hand, instantly turning into ice sculptures, unable to pose any threat to her.
“So beautiful…”
At that moment, Ryan forgot his fear, forgot to run—he forgot everything and simply admired this solo dance that belonged to Sister Hil.
Gradually, the number of oncoming demons swelled, and the petite form of the girl was soon obscured.
“Sister Hil!!!” Ryan exerted all his effort to stand.
The next second, an unbearable chill was upon him.
“Crack crack crack crack—boom!!!”
Countless massive ice spikes suddenly exploded before him, showering the area with icy shards and covering everything within a hundred-meter radius in frost. The temperature dropped dramatically, and Ryan hunched over, hugging his arms tightly as his teeth began to chatter from the cold.
To Ryan, this was the second massacre he had witnessed today. However, this time the targets were those dreadful demons.
Countless ice spikes, varying in size and thickness, spread from a single point at the center, resembling a magnificent flower blooming, freezing everything within dozens of meters.
Those demons who, just a moment ago, had easily taken lives, had struck fear to the point of flight, were now either frozen in ice or pierced and pinned against the spikes, utterly motionless.
The girl stood barefoot atop the tallest ice spike, looking up at the black sun in the sky, her cloak fluttering dramatically in the wind.
Ryan’s snot had frozen into a string hanging from his mouth.
His father was a spirited man, always keen on stories of heroes. Influenced by him, Ryan learned about many legendary heroes throughout human history.
Like the most loyal follower of the deity, Cardinal George of The Holy Church.
Or the Sword Saint Ryan, who could slice rivers with a single strike, possessing the heart of a lion.
Or the mysterious King of Deceit, Lord Skarlij of Shanter Castle.
Or Carlos Gonzalez, the Silver Flash, who could wander through the Abyss.
Or Elizabeth II, the Queen of Ethanbel, known for her black mandalas.
And so on and so forth.
These names of heroes were etched deep into Ryan’s mind. As a youth, he had often dreamt of how amazing these people must be, wondering what they could accomplish.
Yet at that moment, Sister Hil’s small figure began to overlap with the shadows of those imagined heroes.
“‘Abyssal Speech’ slay.”
“Swish swish—”
Two black blades sliced through the air.
At the same time, the ice spike beneath Sister Hil soared skyward, as she leaned forward and dashed by the incoming blades.
“Boom boom—!!”
“Crash—”
The blades collided with the iceberg, obliterating it along with the frozen demons.
Sharp fragments grazed Ryan’s cheek, drawing bl**d.
He couldn’t stick around here any longer.
Ryan desperately thumped his shaking legs, staggered, and started running away.
“Yah—!!!”
Meanwhile, the girl leaped high on the ice pillar, her huge scythe glowing coldly, crashing into the black sun.
