Prince of The Abyss

The plan was simple... he simply didn’t have one. Was it a good thing? Sometimes yes, but in this situation he doubted it. This was a Demon Rank book; the chances of the guardian being a Seeker were extremely high, almost one hundred percent if he had to say.

But that didn’t scare him; what scared him was the rank, and whether this could be a Bearer. This monster might as well be a Demon Rank, and above. In a book of this rank, you can come across all kinds of Seekers... the only thing that makes him think that this won’t be a Titan is that this is still a Seeker class; it matters, since the class of the story also means that you will face monsters that are stronger or weaker based on the rank.

If this were a Reader book, the guardians would be weaker, but there would still be monsters in the world that, let’s say, were Seeker Titans; he would just not have to face them, only if he wished to.

From what he learned, this guardian specifically was strong, not on the weaker side, but also not on the stronger side... and if he had to say, the strongest he was going to face in this book, if he followed the story, was going to be a Seeker Demon, the same beast he had taken down with Lilith. But this time, he wasn’t going to have that bastard with him, so it wouldn’t be as easy, since he didn’t think that Sena was close to his strength; neither was he really.

’I’ll just see what rank this is when the Codex tells me.’

Aether gripped his blade, looking the beast in the eyes. Night was coming, which was a good thing; at least, as things got worse for him, he also got stronger.

Turning to Sena, he smiled. ”You ready?”

The girl raised one of her eyebrows. ”No?”

...

Aether stood dumbfounded, his mouth open wide enough for flies to walk in. ”What do you mean no?!”

Sena frowned. ”It’s your fault! I don’t usually fight myself; neither is my Affinity made to fit that role, nor do I have the skill to do so. I usually just make others do it with my Affinity, but you didn’t allow me to get anyone!”

...

Aether turned away from the girl, frustrated... but he wasn’t mad at her. He understood what she was trying to say; after all, not every awakened was built for fighting, and from what he figured out, she probably had the power to control others to make them fight for her. That’s why she wanted him to be her pet, so that she could control him. ’But still, isn’t it something to tell the person you enter a story with? If I had known, I would have waited. I’m patient.’

”So can’t you fight at all?”

Sena sighed. ”Fight, no. But I can help with my manifestation; my strings have Fate in them. When wrapped around someone, they bring bad luck, so they might give you some chances, as well as inflict some slight mental attacks on the beast.”

’Mind attacks? Interesting.’

Aether groaned as the beast jumped down from the top of the cavern, leaning forward to smell him. ’It’s a good thing it likes humans.’

...

’But I don’t like beasts.’

Aether thrust Voidpiercer into the monster’s nose, making it jump back in pain, with the blade still inside, before the beast got too far back and fully extended the chains connecting the blade to him and making him fly; he retracted Voidpiercer back into his hand.

’I got a free hit to start at least.’

Aether gripped his blade as the monster suddenly locked eyes with him, the calmness and the curiosity it had for him fully gone; if it loved humans in general, it sure didn’t like him. But... for some reason, that made him smile.

’Come at me...’

The monster lashed at him, faster than he had expected, his claws coming for his face, but, looking at its leg, he saw purple string attached to it... ’Bad luck, huh... let’s see.’

He didn’t move; he didn’t dodge the attack; he waited as the beast slashed down with its paw... its claws just missing his face, not long enough to cut him, yet at the same time leaving him an opening.

He stepped to the side, trying to thrust Voidpiercer into its heart, but before he could, the beast moved, blocking the tip with its strong claws. ’Shit!’ Aether thought in his mind as the recoil made the blade fly from his hand and made him stagger back. Seeing this, the beast slashed his leg... just missing anything that might make him lose his ability to move.

’Fate is scary...’

He bit his lip in pain as blood spilled out from his leg, but even with it hurting like hell, he still backed away and retracted Voidpiercer. He frowned as the beast circled him. Its rage, it was clear as day, yet for some reason, he felt... good.

Maybe because... Night had come.

He took a deep breath, dashing forward, thrusting his blade, but the beast dodged, its claws coming from above. Aether sensed it... he didn’t know why; after all, he hadn’t seen it, he wasn’t even looking at it, yet he knew it was there... was this because of the pin?

Just before the paw could crush him, Aether jumped away. As his stomach hit the ground, he pushed himself to his feet and thrust his blade into its paw. But... why hadn’t the monster tried to avoid the attack? Then he sensed it, but before he could get away, the beast already bit down on him.

...

And yet because of pure luck, he managed to slip between its teeth and not get ripped in half, but he was still inside its mouth. So before it could swallow him, Aether thrust his blade into the roof, making it open its jaw and giving him an escape. He jumped out, rolling on the floor, as he turned to face the monster, but not in enough time to avoid its claws from ripping his face... and yet, luckily, it had missed anything important; his eyes, mouth, and nose were all intact.

Tracking the paw from the moment it passed his face, Aether thrust down into it. Binding it to the ground and using his chains to fully keep it, before taking his blade out and running on its limb.

But his chains were never going to be strong enough to bind it, so before he could reach out to thrust into its face, it ripped from its restraints and launched him in the air. It opened its mouth, trying to eat him again... and he was going to take that deal.

Aether gripped Voidpiercer, waiting... and as he was about to fall into it, he thrust his blade; it dug through its mouth and tongue, coming out through the other side. But his leg had also been caught in its teeth. He screamed in pain as its teeth slowly grated against his tibia.

If he didn’t do something quickly, his leg was going to fall off, so in desperation, he gripped Voidpiercer and started to thrust with all his power, over and over again, until its mouth was covered in holes.

It was a battle of who could last longer.

”Damn it, fucking die already!” He said before curling up and thrusting Voidpiercer into its teeth, breaking his leg free... but his rage wasn’t done; as soon as he was free, he climbed on top of it and thrust right into its eye. The beast screeched, trying to slash with its claws, but he dodged them, thrusting over and over again. The blood was coming out, completely covering him, almost painting the front of his hair red.

And yet, it just would not die, no matter how much he thrusted, and his luck wasn’t going to last forever, even with fate. He wasn’t able to dodge one of its claws, so the beast managed to get him off, while also ripping his stomach, just missing anything vital.

His breath got heavier. He stood face to face with the beast. His legs were shaking, barely holding on; if it wasn’t for the adrenaline, he would be on the ground right now. But the beast didn’t look to be in a better position either; one of its paws was bleeding heavily, and it had so many holes inside its muzzle that it was never going to have a problem breathing.

’What’s with Seekers not dying?!’

Aether bit down, fighting the pain, as he dashed forward, one last time.

The monster tried to stop him, its claws coming down to cut him into pieces, but he managed to just get through them; he wasn’t sure if it was him or if he was just lucky, but he was able to get away from its claws and, too... thrust his blade right into its stomach.

...

[You Have Killed a Seeker Beast, Guardian of the Dark Forest]