Garden Of The Abyss

"It's my fault...it's my fault…"

Jae-Seong repeated as he looked down at the mangled, split corpse of the Lucrauvian woman. As he looked down at her pale face that had become layered in gashes and blood, his eyes lost their tint as his lips stayed parted.

"No...it's not over yet...come on…!"

Placing his hands over her chest, one resting over the other, he began to pump her chest as if trying to restart her still heart.

"Come on, Yuri! You're not done yet!"

After a few more pressed, he leaned down as his mouth met hers, breathing his desperate breaths into her still warm husk before continuing to press down on her chest.

In the midst of a battle, it was a dreadful sight for Ren's eyes; the futile effort to save somebody who had clearly already resigned from the plane of the living.

It's no use, Jae-Seong...she's already...Ren thought.

As if spectating the hopeless sight, the colossal eye that acted as the ceiling of the hellscape seemed to hone its pupil on the desperate man.

"Come on…! Wake up!"

Continuing, it didn't even seem to register in the mind of the frantic, desperate man that the girl he was trying to save had been bisected--even so, he continued pumping her chest fervently--hoping for a different result.

Watching this futile effort, Sicarius clicked his tongue as he began to run towards Jae-Seong, "Hold it off for now, Ren!"

"...Right!"

Ren held Belus tightly as he swiped it through the incoming tendrils while the assassin made his way towards the keeled over man, cutting and dodging the sable tentacles that began protruding from the ground as well.

"Get it together, Jae-Seong!"

Sicarius' words didn't so much as cause the man's eye to twitch as if falling upon deaf ears.

"...Shit, there's no end to these things…!"

Dicing up the plentiful tendrils that swarmed towards him, the assassin felt their endless assault begin to feel overwhelming.

Protruding from the walls, another worm, pillar-like entity of sable flesh filled the accursed chamber with distorted laughter as it chattered its buck teeth—aiming for the compromised man.

"Dammit…!"

Rushing over, Sicarius wrapped the length of his chain scythe around the elongated body of the laughing creature before causing it to crash down.

Sicarius tugged on the chain, causing the scythe to cut apart the worm into pieces.

"Get up!"

Though the assassin had no time to convince the man as more of the wall-eaters began to surface; their high-pitch laughter echoed through the chamber as Sicarius slowly gathered his breath—tightly wielding his chain scythe.

On the other end, Ren dodged and countered the colossal's slow attacks—flinging Piercers and Slices at it as some damage was starting to become prominent.

This thing doesn't seem made for fighting; I can handle it! Ren thought.

Though as the idea of triumph seemed possible, gaping pores became visible across the patchwork giant's grotesque form as Reverse Walkers were launched out of its body in droves.

I get it now…this thing is like the queen of the hive…a brood mother! He thought.

Falling back, he quickly became surrounded by the countless, horrifying figures as he wielded his blade with his adrenaline-filled grip. He could no longer even see his allies as the Reverse Walkers gathered around him, all holding wicked smiles in their salivating maws.

Shit...there's so many of them! He thought.

Even so, he drew in a breath as he reinforced his blade, hacking the first of the tall, lanky fiends that stepped towards him as he brought the blade down through its oval head, parting it in two as it fell to the ground.

Good; there are a lot of them, but they aren't anything special individually, he thought.

It was like cutting through butter; every slash he committed managed to easily part through the Reverse Walkers' flesh, but it wasn't one-sided; with so many around him, his main focus was evading their many grasps.

Even though bringing one down wasn't difficult, he hardly had the opportunity to as he was kept on the defensive; spinning around as he cut away the nearest fiends.

Though as he took a step forward to cut away the fiend standing closest to him--his boot didn't lift from the ground. He looked down to discover lively tendrils had risen from the mushy, fleshy ground, wrapping around his legs.

"Shit."

--Was the one word that popped into his mind. Before he could cut away the tendrils, the Reverse Walkers enclosed around him, grabbing his arms with their slimy, bony fingers, others threw themselves at his body, all to hold him still.

What the hell are they doing…?! Ren thought.

With their weight, numbers, and strength, it was nearly impossible for him to move as his limbs were compromised by their hold--feeling their repugnant, hot breath pelt against his nostrils as their tongues dropped from their lipless maws.

I haven't put this one into much practice yet, but it's my only way out…! He thought.

It was the nauseating pressure of a life-or-death situation; that heavy, encumbering concept was what dragged out the best out of warriors--it wasn't any different for Ren; the dread, fear, and depravity present in the realm fell to the wayside as the only thing he focused on was surviving this encounter.

With the pressure of death looming over him, he felt something bubbling up within him:

"The Perfect Environment"

--Not so much a theory, but an understanding he had come to when discussing innate abilities with Iris.

When backed into a corner, it's possible an unmastered innate ability will surface itself. It's like that same with Asterius after it beat me nearly to death, then in Butcher's Domain, I was in a rush to reunite with Iris, he thought.

Sucking in a quick breath, he flexed every muscle in his body before shouting out an incantation:

"Dunkel: Slicer!"

--There was a difference this time in the way he manifested the spell: he had no clear, singular target in mind. As opposed to cutting one thing, he wanted to slice everything around him--leaving no spot untouched. It was this life or death resolve to slaughter that enhanced his magecraft to a viscous edge.

Yuri is gone...I hate to think of things like this, but I have to pull my weight twofold now! He thought.

Within a moment of this incantation, a perimeter two meters around him manifested--summoning a brief flicker of darkness that encompassed the territory directly around before all of the fiends that held close to him were reduced into a dozen sections each.

A shower of black blood resulted from the split-second massacre, pouring onto him as his snowy, pure hair was tainted by the fiends' blood.

Ah...this reminds me of that one time when I fought off all those juggerknulls to protect Aiko. In times like this, I feel free...unrestrained; Actions come seamlessly, each motion feels like a natural stride, my head is clear...that killer instinct can flourish...since these guys aren't really human, are they? He thought.

Moving almost weightlessly, he planted Belus straight into the fleshy ground, using it as leverage to jump up as he quickly drew his sheathed dagger--implanting it into the skull of the fiend that intended to clasp him in its clamping jaws.

It's times like this...he thought.

In one motion, he pulled his sable dagger from the fallen fiend's skull while pulling Belus from the ground, bisecting the enemy that approached him from behind.

...that I feel enlightened, Ren found.

It wasn't complete or absolute, but he could feel it; a slight fire felt as if it burned in his eyes--a conscious heat that he recognized. Only a minimal usage, but it was enough--his pupils took a golden, seraphic tinge as he swept through the horde of Reverse Walkers.

There was a new sharpness to Belus as it was guided by his hand, dividing the blackened bodies of those that stood in his path. Not only were his movements sharpened and honed to a new level in this state, but the movements of his foes became obvious to him as if being written out for him to read.

I don't know how, but I managed to activate it again--though it's minimal, just embers of the real flame...I'll take it, he thought.

A few moments was all it was--he could sense that much; it was a fleeting power, but he took advantage of it as he soared through the depraved battlefield, dicing up the dozens of tendrils that chased after him while cleaving away at the Reverse Walkers. His blade became a true extension of his body in this time, dancing with it as he cut apart the seemingly endless fiends without a single finger brushing his dark coat.

--But a momentary activation was all it was as a sudden increase in the passive heat in his eyes caused him to take a knee, gripping his own face as he was put into temporary anguish.

Even when barely using it...it still hurts this much?! Starting to feel like this is a built-in drawback...just my luck, Ren thought.

Catching himself before letting one of the remaining fiends grab his shoulder, he lobbed its arm off with his bloodshot eyes being forced to stay astute.. Even as he drowned himself in battle, he felt his instincts being dulled by the plaguing thoughts of death--remembering over and over again the scene he had just witnessed.