Chasm Of Death
"Errr... Okay—Wait a minute, Terra Divina? It's in the demon realm?" Maruti asks back, her voice a sudden, sharp question that broke the silence of their walk.
"Of course, where else you thought it would be?" Esdeath sneers, still walking without a break in her stride.
"I don't know, in some new realm or a separate small world maybe? Or somewhere in hell..." Maruti says, still confused.
"There was no demon realm at Kuber's time, and most of the land has yet to be fully explored. So that's why it was described as a mysterious, unknown place. But in the present age, that mysterious place is in the demon realm," Esdeath explains in as easy a way as she could.
"Ohh, now I understand," Maruti nods lightly in understanding.
As they went further into the demon realm, the surrounding atmosphere starts to change bit by bit. Not in a scary way, but in a unique, mesmerizing way, that was alien yet beautiful.
The trees were of different shapes and sizes, some twisted into impossible spirals, others tall and straight like spears. There were glowing, fish-like birds flying at 10 feet in a group, their scales shimmering with an inner light, leaving trails of color in the air.
Monkeys with plants and flowers growing out of their bodies jumped around on trees, their fur a living garden of vibrant colors. The wind had a unique wood and flower scent on it, a sweet, earthy smell that was both calming and intoxicating.
The grass seemed to be moving on its own, changing its places in a slow, rhythmic dance. While some big, giraffe-like beasts, with long necks and tongues, ate those grasses, but they had no hostility towards Maruti or Esdeath.
Sometimes, big orange lights glowed in the surroundings as phoenixes flew around like they were never the rarest birds in human kingdoms, their majestic wings painting the sky with streaks of fire.
"It's getting weirder and weirder by every minute. Don't tell me an S-rank monster or beast might come out of nowhere?" Maruti exhales, her voice a mix of awe and apprehension. .
"It can, but I don't think so. It is actually one of the safer routes," Esdeath replies, her voice a calm reassurance.
Maruti didn't say anything, but at least she had this much trust in Esdeath's words. They walk further, the trees' numbers start to go down, and in no time, they were walking in plains, with the tallest things nearby being grass or boulders, a wide, open space under the strange sky.
At that moment, Maruti looks up and just couldn't look away. The whole sky was bright, full of stars. Not in tens, not in fifties, not even in hundreds. It was like a sea of stars, a vast, infinite ocean of light.
The sky had no clouds, it was clear as crystal, and that's what made it look even more majestic, like she was looking at a newly born universe.
"Wow, it really feels like we are in a different world. Are they all just stars or constellations? Their population wouldn't be this much, right?" Maruti says, her voice a breathless whisper of wonder.
"Wrong. They are all constellations. It's just in human kingdoms, we can only see the brightest ones," Esdeath answers, her voice a matter-of-fact statement that was still mind-boggling.
"So, they can observe us more easily here?" Maruti questions, her mind racing with the implications of a sky full of watching eyes.
"Quite the opposite, actually," Esdeath replies,.
Esdeath suddenly stops and looks at the front. "Chasm of Death is here. We already made it halfway through,"
"Chasm of Death?" Maruti repeats, looking at the front, her eyes trying to see what Esdeath was seeing.
The plain still looked flat and clear, but only if looked from afar. Anyone up close could see just how giant the chasm was. It was a scar on the face of the world, a wound that would never heal.
Maruti walks forward a dozen more steps, going closer, till half of her feet were in the air towards the edge of chasm, a precarious step on the edge of nothingness.
She looks down, and all she could see was deep darkness, a black void that seemed to swallow the light. But she could certainly sense a large amount of mana overflowing from it, creating a pressure above, a heavy, oppressive weight in the air. Just like some chasms, the winds made things lay still in the air for a few seconds if they were thrown in them.
Maruti takes a step back. The chasm was not just deep but way... way too big.
The distance between both edges of the chasm was about one hundred or one hundred and fifty meters, while the length of the chasm seemed to have no end at all, maybe in kilometers. Compared to it, Esdeath and Maruti were like small cornerstones.
As for the depth, Well it sure showed why it's name is chasm of death.
Like someone had just split the earth in two. Once someone falls in, there's no hope in climbing back.
Maruti takes another step back, she was not interested in falling inside it at all.
"Dang, it sure seems like the end of the world. What's beneath it?" she asks.
"No idea," Esdeath curls her lips downwards as she says.
"Even you don't know?" Maruti felt slightly surprised, a flicker of shock in her eyes.
"No one has ever come back alive after falling in it. Not even demon lords can make it. Most say that there's no end to it. You'll just keep falling down for the rest of your life," Esdeath says, her tone being eerie on purpose.
"Fuck, don't scare me like that," Maruti sighs.
"Well, I don't think that's true. Most probably, the mana is too dense inside, so using magic will be close to impossible, and you'll have to climb up with just brute strength. Not to forget the wounds you'll get by falling who knows how deep inside. There's also groups of Black bat beasts living on the upper side of the chasm. They'll tear your body apart before it could even fully fall into it," Esdeath explains, her voice a calm, factual recitation of horrors that was somehow worse than the spooky story.
"Now you're scaring me even more," Maruti exhales, her shoulders limp with a sudden weariness.
"Forget it. How are we going to cross this chasm?" Maruti asks.
Esdeath points at far away. There was a single wooden bridge to cross this long chasm. The bridge was slightly curved, a bow of wood stretched across the void, which made it even scarier.
"How about I just fly there using magic instead?" Maruti's lips twitch as she gives her suggestion.
But Esdeath shakes her head, a firm, decisive motion. "Only if you have natural wings. The mana flow coming out of the chasm will disrupt your magic midway, and you'll end up falling into it," she answers.
"So we have no choice but to cross from that wooden bridge?" Maruti exhales once again in exhaustion.
But at that moment, Esdeath again gives her that weird look.
"We? Who's 'we'?" she says, her voice a playful, teasing question.
Maruti's eyes widen in realization. She immediately reaches to grab Esdeath, but before she could, Esdeath disappears in thin air and reappears on the other side of the chasm.
Esdeath had an affinity with space after all. She could teleport up to about a hundred meters of distance, although it consumes quite a lot of mana.
"You!" Maruti's clenches her fist in anger, a hot, sudden surge of fury. She knew Esdeath could have taken her with her, but she did it on purpose to annoy her.
"C'mon, the bridge can easily hold three people's weight. Don't waste my time," Esdeath shouts from the other side, her voice carrying across the chasm. She had her palm on both sides of her lips, a makeshift megaphone.
With no other choice, Maruti decides to give up and goes towards the bridge, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Meanwhile, Esdeath also follows her from the other side.
With a gulp, Maruti takes her first step on the bridge, her eyes glued to the darkness beneath.
"I really have a bad feeling about this," she sighs.
She takes her first step, second step, then third, then fourth, tenth, fiftieth, and before she knows it, she crosses the bridge, her feet on solid ground once again.
"Ha! I was worried for nothing... I guess my luck isn't that bad after all," she says, a relieved laugh that was a little shaky.
After crossing the bridge, she regroups with Esdeath again.
"Can I slap you this time?" she asks in annoyance.
"No," Esdeath replies flatly, turning around to walk again.
Maruti follows her once again, their journey continuing as if nothing had happened. For the next half an hour, they continue to walk without stop, the rhythmic crunch of their boots on the dry grass the only sound in the vast, empty plains.
"Fuck, it's getting so boring now. How much more?" Maruti groans in frustration, her voice a long, drawn-out whine.
"We are halfway there," Esdeath answers calmly.
"How about doing some hunt while we are on our way?" she asks.
"No, you might end up attracting stronger monsters instead, and it'll delay us even more," Esdeath replies.
"Fuck," Maruti mutters under her breath.
A few seconds of silence pass, the only sound the wind whistling across the plains.
Esdeath rolls her eyes, and then looks at Maruti. "How about we continue our history lesson while we are on our way?" she asks, a sly smile playing on her lips.
Maruti immediately stops with a horrified expression on her face, . The thought of another one of Esdeath's boring history lessons was a fate worse than the chasm.
But Esdeath only smiles mischievously, . "Good, your reaction says that you are interested," she says.
"So, let's continue from where we left last time.... Don't worry, I'll keep it short. It would be the end of the history lesson after all..." she adds.