"Are you sure this is the zone they entered?" Arkin asked.
The man had gritty black hair and a face full of scars as he stood before the forest of varying red hues, the sun beating gently on his head.
"Yes, High Priest," the Captain of a Black Paladins team replied. He was a short teen with unmemorable profile. Three members also stood behind him.
Arkin raised the object in his hand, it was an old lantern that was burning steadily but instead of a warm yellow glow, it shone with a red light that cast no shadows, it gave off a mild pressure. An artifact of silver-ranked. It had cost him dearly, both in gold and souls, but it was worth it.
"We can't go looking for them in there," Arkin said calmly. "We'll flush them out."
Zones were always far from towns, and this one even more so. Arkin had all the time in the world to do as he pleased. He needed the Chaos Devourer. It was his ticket to rising within the ranks of the Chaos Cult.
He had been a failed Climber for twenty-seven years, but he had done well for himself regardless, steadily advancing through the cult's hierarchy. His final push was the spellbook he had bargained for, the one detailing the summoning of the Chaos Devourer, one of Chaos itself's guardians. Possessing such a summon would cement his position.
He had spent all his resources to obtain it and entrusted it to one of his most faithful subordinates.
"They killed your mother, didn't they?" Arkin asked softly.
The Paladin Captain stiffened, and he covered his face with his mask. "Yes, High Priest."
"Then you may kill the two," Arkin said. "I want the one with the Devourer brought to me alive. The Necromancer."
He studied the boy, feeling a wave of envy. The captain had a powerful Grimoire and a promising future, unlike himself, who had been forced to rip strength from greater beings.
Arkin had climbed the Tower to the 90th floor as an Iron-ranked Awakened before realizing he could advance no further, it was his natural threshold. But this was the Tower and power isn't only gained through the Awakening.
Things would change once he obtained his summon.
He raised the lantern artifact, unlatching the lantern with his right hand and drawing out the flame.
The flame was the true artifact. It pulsed, releasing a scent that Arkin adored, the smell of blood. He whispered a short spell and released it, directing the flame toward the forest.
The red fire bloomed, unfurling in the air and painted the sky a vivid red before dissolving. It work, however, was already done.
The entire zone froze as if a giant hand was holding it to be still and then a blinding red light surged through the entire forest.
The artifact functioned like a summoning tool, but it only worked where space was naturally twisted. It would draw forth monsters infused with chaos entities.
Arkin would have loved to exploit the spell for himself, but anything summoned by it could not be controlled by anyone.
Suddenly, a roar ripped through the forest, so loud it sent every monster bird flying. The ground trembled, and scorching air exploded from the zone and whipped Arkin's robes.
He smiled darkly. "Now we wait."
☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆
Temur was teaching me sword forms when I felt it, like cold fire spreading rapidly through the forest.
We paused and looked at each other at the sudden stillness of the forest and then a blinding red flash followed, and then a roar tore through the forest, vibrating straight into my bones.
"What is that?" Litha asked, dropping the meat in her hand as she moved quickly.
Hermit stirred in my body, sending confusion, fear, and a strange excitement through our connection, emotions I couldn't fully understand.
"It sounds like the roar of a powerful monster," I managed to say with a frown.
"That roar and the aura we can feel from here," Temur said, staring in the direction it came from. "Should something like that even exist in this zone?"
"You're right," I said slowly.
"And is it just me, or has the environment changed?" I turned, scanning the forest.
"The trees look more vivid," Litha added.
"It's like the color of blood," she confirmed.
The three of us exchanged a look.
Temur swapped his training sword for his real weapon, a long, double-edged blade crafted perfectly to suit him. Litha didn't need a weapon. As for me, my right hand was weapon enough. I knew no other way to fight.
We were already geared for combat after returning from a deeper hunt in the zone, so we moved quickly toward the source of the sound.
Suddenly I stopped.
My heightened senses caught the vibration in the ground before the others did.
"Litha!" I shouted. "Put up a shield around the three of us, now!"
She didn't hesitate. Stepping close, she raised her palm. A soft glow formed, then rapidly expanded into a vivid blue dome that enclosed us.
Just in time.
The trees ahead exploded as monsters burst through, different kinds from crimson crawlers, ironfangs to goremores, all fleeing together without restraint.
A chill ran through me.
Monsters were territorial and they didn't mix.
Whatever had terrified them enough to forget that fact was something I had no desire to meet.
I swallowed.
Monsters are ranked like Awakeners, but that's only the general scale. There are sub-ranks in each floor and the rank of the monsters in each floor is relative to the said floor. Iron-ranked monsters range from S to D. Everything we've hunted so far has been C or D…
But if they're running now…
The others seemed to reach the same conclusion.
Litha shouted over the chaos, "I can handle a B-ranked Iron monster alone. Temur too. Even you, Torvan. But if it's A-ranked, then we might be in trouble!"
None of us said what we were all thinking.
If it was an S-ranked Iron monster…
I really didn't want to find out.