Chapter 13 - Soul Unravelling
A shadow jumped out from the darkness. The steel glimmered under the moonlight, covered in ethereal black flames. It came down like a divine hammer crashing on a sinner. The metal screeched as the Shadow Stalker's claws dragged against Liesel's sword. The demon put its entire weight on it, but she held it steady. She angled the sword down, brushing the demon's claw aside. The claw sank into the ground like a knife into a cake. The shadow lunged forward, shattering the stone brick as it pulled out the claw.
Liesel enforced her feet. She stepped back and to the side. As the demon lunged past her, trying to halt in mid-air, Liesel swung her sword, barely managing to catch the tail of its shadowy form.
The demon dropped to the ground, shrieking in pain. It swung its clawed arms at her in a frenzy.
She was slower than it, so she had to engage most of her lower body at once, burning most of her Materiality. That was enough to create some distance. She stepped into a narrow passage between two mostly broken structures and then took a right. She could hear it move, but for now, it had lost her.
[Materiality: 12/49]
Liesel shoved her finger into her coat's pocket, clutching the Materiality Core.
If Liesel had to say what her favorite type of demon to kill was, she'd always prefer those that tried to mess with your mind. Yes, inherently, they were the most dangerous, to the point that most people would rather jump into a pot full of boiling oil than meddle with one. At the same time, they were the easiest to deal with once you learned to resist their influence. But for fighting, these low-level concept demons were fun to deal with.
The shadowy demon jumped up into the air, raising its claw. The dark flames crept up them. Its single red eye in the middle of an amorphous body narrowed at her. It swiped the claw. The knife-like claws shot at her, spinning in the air like a wheel of black flame.
Liesel channeled Materiality into her sword and knocked one away, pushing Materiality to disrupt the magic formation within. But the other two claws landed on the ground beside her. The black flames bloomed.
Liesel's pupils enlarged. Weaving Materiality into her feet, she dashed forward. The ground behind her exploded. She jumped to the side, taking cover behind a wall.
She exhaled, grabbing another Materiality Orb to soak up more of the energy. A ball of gloom landed in front of her. The demon sprouted a beast paw from its form, raising it above its head. Its claws were recalled back to their place on its hand.
It was a Shadow Stalker. It was not a common demon that Liesel had faced before, but it would classify high up in the hierarchy. At best, it was a Tier 2 demon, only the second up from the bottom of the rung. And for that, its strength and magic were too strong.
This must be the effect of the Tomb's leaking energy.
Its shadow shot at her, claws forward like a trident.
No need to delay any longer. I might have to fight another.
Liesel pushed Materiality into her sword and met the claw. The most problematic part about the Shadow Stalker was its appearance of being a large, formless creature. But that was just a camouflage, and there was only a tiny body inside that needed to be harmed.
Its red, wild eye glared at her angrily as it bashed its claw against the sword again and again, unable to get past Liesel's quick reflexes.
Liesel stepped a little closer, raising her right hand to the Shadow Stalker's eye. The spell circle formed over the jewel. It knocked the demon back instantly.
Liesel shoved her hand back into the pocket, siphoning Materiality, which she channeled into the sword, and with an arching strike, she cut off the protruding claw.
She stopped supplying Materiality into the sword and slashed at the form that it dodged, and proceeded to thrust the broken tip into the eye. Yanking it out quickly, she stabbed it again just below it, into a solid mass. Burning Materiality into both her arms, she bashed the creature into the wall. It fell to the ground, and the darkness surrounding it dispersed. Inside it was a wretch of sinewy limbs and rotting black skin, hugging the ribcage almost like all the air from its body had been suctioned out.
Her first instinct was to end its misery quickly. It came naturally. The victory didn't necessarily mean she had to prolong a demon's suffering, especially when it was capable of whimering just like any animal.
She had, however, remembered the condition of the skill, and the Shadow Stalkers seemed ready for it.
She lowered to her knee and settled her hand over the creature's head. She mentally started weaving the Materiality into the rune shape of Unravelling. The skill worked on a subconscious level, like muscle memory. If Liesel wanted to be good at it, she had to internalize it into her conscious mind and actively participate in the process.
The rune manifested on the palm of her hand and seared onto the demon's flesh. It soaked all the Materiality from her body and shot it into the demon's body. Tiny threads of glowing light spread across the wretched body of the demon. The thread count doubled each time they flowed through the demon's body. On the fourth pass, there were enough tiny threads splitting the creature that its entire body turned white for a moment. Like loose threads, the demon's body unravelled. It swirled and sank into her arm. Beyond this point, she didn't have the high enough Perception to follow what happened next.
[Soul Unravelling Successful!
Analyzing and extracting the acquired Soul...
Estimated Time: 12 Hours 7 Minutes
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Materiality Replenished: 49/49]
Liesel blinked. Her soul veins were aching slightly, but it was most likely because of using the Materiality cores to use her Enforcement technique over and over.
"What was that?" Auram asked. Somehow, Liesel had missed the spirit teleporting to her side.
"My new skill."
"What does it do?"
"We'll know in the morning, I guess."
"Oh..." Auram hummed. "That was kind of unnerving."
"Why?"
"Well, first, it's kind of bothersome to see anything's soul and body being sliced into tiny wires," Auram pointed in the direction from which the Shadow Stalker had come. "And there's another one coming from that place. I don't know how that is the case."
"Well, aren't I lucky?" Liesel mumbled. She picked up her sword. And she climbed to her feet, Liesel realized the skill was physically exhausting as well. Her body felt sluggish.
Liesel's right arm was bleeding as she settled it on the demon's forehead. She tried to activate the skill, and it failed. Maybe she had to wait twelve hours to use it again. At least, that's how it seemed right now.
She picked up her sword, pushing Materiality into the edge.
[Shade Strike Executed!]
The demon's blood lingered on her slate-black sword's edge. Slowly, all the blood from the demon's body coalesced around it. And within a minute, her sword had drunk all of it.
"That's not good," Auram mumbled.
"Well, whatever it is, we are going to know when we return to the Saffron Helm," Liesel shrugged. But she was starting to question whether she should have had it appraised. She didn't have the money, and seeing how helpful the bracelet was, Liesel didn't think she had made a wrong decision. "If it becomes dangerous, then I will have to destroy it, I guess."
"Was it the blood of the Mindeater that did this?"
"I don't think it should've done anything... at least, so far as my knowledge goes, but there's a likelihood the empire didn't want every desperate human trying to hunt a Mind Eater for whatever it does to the blade," Liesel said. She hadn't read anything regarding that kind of reaction, but then again, her information on those kinds of greater demon generals was very basic. She put it back into her sheath. "Is there another demon?"
"Not here, but that way. Your teammates are struggling. I mean, really struggling."
Liesel nodded.
"We should help them, right?"
"Sure," Liesel said.
She didn't want to fight anymore. Her nerves were tired, and her hand was swelling from the deep gash. Now she was aware that she should be using the Soul Unravelling skill against her last prey. Still, at this moment, the best course of action was to preserve as many lives as possible.
She found them very quickly, and they were fighting as a team. Something Liesel very much hated. She was not useful in those circumstances. Currently, they were using a ward to fend off a pair of Shadow Stalkers. They had killed a couple, and two of the three fighters were injured. The spearwoman was the last one standing and seemed to have a warding skill, though that seemed like a secondary skill.
Liesel considered it for a moment. She channeled Materiality into her bracelet, conjuring the Impact Rune. She angled a throwing dagger at the demon's red eye. When the impact rune behind the dagger was triggered, the blade was thrust forward like an arrow. The demon moved slightly, and the dagger dug into the creature's shadowy body. Since it didn't phase out, Liesel assumed it had struck.
She channeled Materiality directly into the blade, and when the Shadow Stalker rushed at her, lunging into the air and raising its claw to throw the exploding claw.
Liesel also threw her sword. It buried itself into the demon's face, knocking it from the air.
Yehia, the spear woman, used the release to kill the other Shadow Stalker.
The one that was knocked from the air didn't move as Liesel slowly made her way to it. She picked up the sword from its corpse, which was still barely moving.
Liesel executed a Shade Strike to kill it, and let the sword be buried inside as it soaked all the blood from its body. Fortunately, the other didn't see it.
"You shouldn't waste your Materiality on actually severing their soul," Yehia said. She seemed mostly unharmed. "It's not worth the effort."
Liesel stabbed the back of its head and took out the Materiality core from there. "That was the last Stalker. We can go back to the base now."
"Did you also find a Shadow Stalker?"
Liesel nodded.
"They are tough, huh?"
"Effect of the Tomb," Liesel said. "It seems to be enforcing their fundamental qualities."
"It's gonna be a pain in the ass to deal with."
*******
Unfortunately, once they returned, the Observer had already located another group of demons meandering their way. Of course, the two who had been watching over the base were rotated out with the injured ones.
Yehia was also tagging along with them.
Liesel had shared the Shadow Stalker's tendencies on her way back, so she hoped they'd have an easier time dealing with the demons.
Liesel watched Kurvam's flashy magic even from the base. He had wandered out far, but seemed to be fighting something strong.
It would be another ten minutes before the ward was completely stable. The Observer signaled everyone to withdraw then. Unfortunately, neither Kurvam nor the other three returned quickly. In the end, Liesel had to go down on her own.
Farki Jan said something was blocking his senses, so the demon was probably more than just a Shadow Stalker, and he advised that she should wait for Kurvam to return.
The mages were beyond spent erecting the ward to help at all, and the Healer must stay in safety. He was also healing the other two.
Regardless, they couldn't afford to lose three of their fighters so early into the expedition. At least, Liesel's hand had been healed by the healer in the meantime. He was a very capable Ascendant for his role.
"Auram," Liesel called as she approached their location.
"Want me to find them?" Auram asked, as she manifested over Liesel's shoulder. Her teleportation had been somewhat smarter after she was blown away like a bug outside the window.
Liesel chuckled as she realized that. That was a very human-like thing.
"What?"
"Nothing," Liesel shook her head. "Can you feel their presence?"
Auram didn't need to answer the question. A shock of raw Materiality coursed through her soul veins, scraping them like glass dust being scrubbed across skin. It was from the same direction that Yehia and others should be.
Liesel decided to jog toward the source of danger.
"Don't," Auram said, pulling a strand of Liesel's hair.
"What?" Liesel paused.
"It's way stronger than the Shadow Stalker you fought a while ago. Way, way more dangerous."
"I know." Liesel kept walking, still, despite Auram's numerous attempts to stop her.
"Then why are you going there? You should be taking everyone at the base to deal with it."
Liesel wouldn't deny the merit of that plan, even if it didn't occur to her. "The Observer should've already felt it. There's no need for me to waste time on that."
Before Auram could object again, Liesel decided to rush up the elevated Structure from the rest of the ruins. It seemed like a ceremonial building. She could soon hear the hollowing screeches of the demon.
Liesel unsheathed her sword.
Of the three, one had passed out from bleeding, and the other's hand was barely hanging by a thread. Yehia was using the ward to protect them, but it was almost shattered.
And the demon they were facing was not a Shadow Stalker, but a Malice Conjurer. It didn't possess any human traits, so it was still not a Rank 4 demon. Though Rank 3 was very vast from one end to the other, it could be in the upper region.
Liesel was capable of surviving an encounter with one at the bottom of the third rank.
The demon turned to her. Its red eyes dilated at her sword. It wore a white mask around the eye. It raised its sinewy hand, almost like a human's, with bloody red nails, and conjured an amorphous blob of darkness that was screaming like a newborn beast.
Then it flung it at Liesel.