A New World, an immersive game experience

Chapter 461: Sacrifice

'There is another group of undead ahead, move to the right slightly.' Eldrian shared, the alteration having them skim just a few meters from the horde of undead.

While the undead realized that something had passed, most of them didn't know what nor did any of them care. This continued until the little group had crossed nearly 2 kilometers of enemy terrain.

"Here we are, please keep the enemy occupied while we work!" Eldrian shouted as he jumped from Ceph's back and placed his hands on the tree.

'Ceph, do as much damage as you can. I am going to try and see if I can locate the source.'

'Rig- Are you sure!?' Despite not having dived deep into the network last time, Ceph knew that the person behind this wasn't to be trifled with.

'Yes, if we can locate it we might be able to organize some sort of bombardment.' Eldrian shouted back, recalling the progress the gunsmiths had been making.

Honestly, though, they had turned into cannon makers and not gunsmiths. Their latest creation was a Tier 3 cannon capable of creating a crater of a 100 meters and flattening the surroundings half a kilometer. Mentioning the distance the flames reached was just overkill.

However, it had been proven that the area of effect massively decreased when stronger things were hit. Such as an army. The sturdy bodies of trained soldiers massively reduced the impact, while some mages could even block the cannonballs.

'It might not work, but it is worth a shot. Especially since I can get the cannon quite easily from the temple of Dragos. Though, each cannon is beyond expensive...'

Dropping the topic and returning to the task ahead, Eldrian didn't this time just send his mana inside. He also sent most of his consciousness in a similar manner that he normally would enter the magic abyss.

'This feels strange, it is like the magic abyss but far more primitive. Instead of an abyss, it is more an area filled with death mana.'

The feeling this gave Eldrian was by no means pleasant, quickly he covered himself with all his mana and tried to shield the corrosive effect it seemed to have.

"You came again!" A voice shouted, infuriated it sent all the nearby darkness to assault Eldrian. The pressure was so much that it felt like his very soul would be crushed at any moment.

It was at this time, that something stirred again in Eldrian. Something that hadn't stirred for a long time.

The crystal that had become his soul started to shine as his auras quickly grew in mass. Slowly, Eldrian's mana turned into the fiery red and ice blue of his auras, as his eyes took on a purple color.

Beneath the crystal, a half-elf could be seen taking shape. Slowly becoming clearer as the crystal faded.

"What's this? How are you resisting?" The voice shouted and threw even more at Eldrian.

'Shit, I won't be able to last much longer. Come one, find where this is!' Eldrian looked around at the network overlapping around him. Trying to find the direction the voice had come from.

'There,' Turning towards the source, Eldrian managed to get a glimpse of who the mastermind was as he felt his mind crumbling under the assault. 'Ti-time... Time to...'

'No, I can't fall unconscious here!' The fire surrounding him flared as the half-elf that was his soul opened its eyes. When this happened, Eldrian felt himself suddenly reconnecting with his body.

The next thing he knew, he was back. However, his mind was a mess and the fire and ice had followed him. Whatever it touched either froze completely and shattered, or was turned into ash.

'Ceph, retreat!' Eldrian managed to shout as he fell to the ground.

'I can't, you-'

'Go! Now!' Eldrian shouted again as he sensed the devil appearing again. Yet, even it was warry of the crazy mana surrounding Eldrian. It could feel lethal danger from the strange liquid ice and fire.

{"You! Again!"} It shouted in its demonic language, but the words did not register in Eldrian's mind.

And thanks to its hesitation to attack, Evale and Sodren managed to land the first hit. An arrow pierced through its heart again, leaving a gaping hole in its chest.

This wasn't enough to kill it, and the two knew this. Sodren struck with full force with his flaming axe, cutting off the devil's arm while Evale landed a hit in its leg. Bringing it to the ground as she took aim for the head.

However, just as they were about to end the devil prince's life, three ghouls attacked. While the ghouls were weaker than them, their deadly venom was just as dangerous as if there was no difference in strength.

"Shit, this isn't going according to plan!" Sodren shouted as he blocked the attacks of two ghouls and managed to get around them to land another hit on the devil prince. Keeping it on the ground, but unable to end its life.

"Agreed! Pelaros, it's time to act!" Evale shouted, but nothing happened.

Suddenly, a chilling thought occurred to her and caused her to fail in dodging the attack of her enemy. She still managed to block, but in the process a small cut appeared on her hand.

While it wasn't even truly an injury, it was enough for the venom to make it inside her body and immediately start weakening her.

As her vision started to blur and another attack landed, Evale realized that this wasn't the only fight that was happening. She could hear five others, meaning no help was coming.

'Is this it?' She wondered as she watched Sodren's back be ripped open by one of the ghouls as he managed to behead the other. Yet, that wasn't enough to kill a ghoul. It would only slow it.

As her last bit of hope started to fade, she felt a blazing heat suddenly surround her. Forcing open her eyes, she watched as Eldrian's body turned into dust along with that of the ghouls and devil.

...

'What is this feeling?'? Eldrian mumbled as he tried to fight off the pain assaulting his mind.

'Of course, this is bound to happen when I play with fire...'? He laughed dryly as he thought of welcoming the end that the darkness surrounding him would give him.

'No, I can't do that to those who care about me... What about Jen, and my parents. I can't just leave them. And Ceph, if I give up what happens to him?'

'Maybe, I should fight?'

'Yes, that is what I should do. That is what I always have done. Fight!'

'Is that? Light...'? Eldrian stumbled as he looked at the bright gate filled with pure white seemingly welcoming him.

'Should I go towards it? Hey! Body! I haven't decided yet!'

Fighting back control from his floating figure, Eldrian took a step back and observed the light coming from the gate.

'That, that looks like... No, it can't be. Right, let's turn around.'

Doing so, Eldrian stared at what was on the other side. Instead of a welcoming white light so often depicted as what heaven would look like, his sights were now filled with what one could only assume is then hell.

'This, maybe the light is the right way?' Shaking his head, he took a step towards the crazy elements before him. Raging fires, storming seas, billowing blizzards. And he walked towards this chaos.

AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support this on WN.