The Damned Demon

Chapter 773: Stronger Than the Darkness



Asher peered down into the yawning chasm, his dark green flames faintly illuminating the edges of the abyss. The oppressive air emanating from below seemed thicker, darker, and colder than anything he'd encountered above. The whispers of an ancient yet ominous energy brushed against his senses, filling the silence like a phantom's breath.

"Maybe I should..." Asher mumbled, his gaze locked onto the unseen depths.

Lori's forked tongue flicked anxiously as she hissed in disbelief, "Are you crazzzzy, brat? The air coming from down there seemssss even more cursed than here! Even I will get cooked within hourssss if I sssstay down there."

Asher's lips curled into a faint smirk, "That's why you should stay up here. We don't have a better place to explore. Like we just saw, this is the building where all the cracks seem to originate. It's got to hold some clues about how to get out of here. It's also the largest structure we've come across. So it must have been the most important building around here." Lori coiled tighter around his neck, her voice dripping with indignation, "Ssss, just because you're not getting affected by this cursed air doesn't mean you should jump into a pit that screaamsss death. It looksss like a trap within a trap! If you get yourself killed down there, my future is ruined anyway!"

Asher chuckled softly, gently grabbing Lori's serpentine body. He unwrapped her coils from his neck and placed her on the ground, "Then you can stand guard for me up here. You might not see it, but this isn't some bottomless pit. It's about a thousand meters deep, give or take. If nothing else, I'll climb my way back up."

Lori flicked her tongue with exasperation, "Fine! But don't expect me to carry your corpse up here if you die down there."

Asher nodded with an amused smile and took a deep breath, "If I die, you should be worrying about how to get out of here."

Before Lori could retort, he stepped to the edge, bent his knees, and leapt into the darkness. The descent was swift, and Asher's form sliced through the suffocating void with a single purpose. His leathery wings instinctively flared out moments before impact, slowing his fall as he landed on the solid ground below with a heavy thud. A faint grunt escaped his lips, but to his surprise, the pitch-black floor beneath him didn't so much as crack.

Asher straightened, glancing around at his surroundings. Thanks to his Denizen of the Night ability, his dark yellow night vision revealed the vast, empty hall before him in an eerie glow. Every detail was outlined in sharp relief, the oppressive silence amplifying his focus.

His brows furrowed as his gaze settled on scattered remnants strewn across the floor. Decaying fragments of clothing clung to the shadows like forlorn memories. Armor, tarnished and broken, lay abandoned alongside rusted weapons, their sharp edges dulled by time and despair. But some seemed quite recent, not longer than 100 years.

And ashes.

Ashes littered the ground in strange, unsettling patterns, as if hundreds had met their end here, their bodies consumed by something far beyond comprehension. By now, he was sure that he and Lori weren't the first to come to this place.

So many must have somehow found a way to these ruins by accident or not and jumped down here, probably hoping to find some treasures or a way out like him. Either way, he couldn't help but become even more suspicious and curious about the Red Witch for knowing this place, including how to trap him here.

He couldn't wonder what killed all these people, his instincts screaming at him to remain vigilant.

Lori had been right. This place wasn't just cursed-it reeked of death, an ancient malevolence embedded deep into the bones of the earth. His steps echoed faintly as he moved cautiously forward, his every sense heightened. Behind him, the gaping hole from which he'd descended offered no solace, only an oppressive void.

On the far end of the hall, something caught his attention-a towering black rock. Its surface gleamed faintly in the dim light, its imposing form almost unnatural in its perfect symmetry. Asher approached it, each step calculated, the weight of the space pressing down on him.

The black rock, at least twice his height, appeared to block an entrance behind it. Its smooth, marble-like surface seemed to pulsate faintly, as if it were alive. Asher's eyes narrowed, his instincts prickling with unease.

He crouched to inspect it, his fingers brushing against its surface. It was cold to the touch, but beneath the chill was a strange, pulsing warmth. A shiver ran up his spine, but he pushed the sensation aside and stood.

'Looks like someone really didn't want anyone getting through here,' he thought in his mind, his eyes scanning the cracks radiating outward from its base. But whatever they were protecting, it's got to be important.

Rolling his shoulders, Asher placed both hands on the rock's surface, his fingers curling against its edges. His muscles tensed as he began to push, gritting his teeth as he tested its weight.

Within the next two minutes, his face flushed crimson, his jaw clenched, and veins bulged across his neck and arms as he poured every ounce of his strength into the massive black rock.

His muscles strained, his breath coming in short bursts as he pushed harder, the rough surface biting into his palms. But despite his efforts, the rock barely shifted, only nudging a fraction of an inch before coming to a grinding halt.

"Dammit," Asher muttered, stepping back as he wiped sweat from his brow. His dark green flames flickered faintly around him, illuminating the sleek, cold surface of the obstruction. It wasn't just any rock-it felt like it was carved from the same mysterious material as the rest of this building. It was far too sturdy for even his strength to overcome, and he could tell that no ordinary means of force would make it budge.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he rested his hands on his hips, trying to think of a new plan. But before he could focus, a sudden, bone-chilling sensation prickled up his spine, as though the shadows themselves had begun to close in around him. The air grew colder, heavier, and his instincts screamed at him to turn.

His head snapped to the side, and his glowing green sockets narrowed as his vision locked onto two faint, dark lights in the pitch-black darkness ahead. They flickered like distant lanterns, but their menacing glow was unlike anything natural.

Asher took a cautious step back, his fingers twitching as he prepared to summon his ring blade, "What the hell..." he muttered under his breath, his gaze fixed on the eerie

illumination.

From the abyss, a tall figure stepped forward, its movements slow and deliberate, as if emerging from the very fabric of the darkness. As it came into view, Asher's jaw tightened in

alarm.

The creature was a horrifying sight to behold-a disfigured figure cloaked in black, its skeletal frame exposed in places where charred, blackened bones jutted out. Dark green magma oozed over its body, pulsating with an unnatural light that seemed to mirror the glow in its hollow sockets. It looked humanoid and upon closer look, even the bones looked human.

But what shocked him was how similar this undead looked compared to his damned slaves in his Damned Dimension. The same texture of the bones and scorched flesh and even the dark green aura of the mana.

The undead figure stopped a few feet away, its soulless gaze locking onto Asher with a chilling intensity. Its presence alone made the air feel suffocating, its aura oppressive and

steeped in malice.

"What the fuck are you..." Asher mumbled as he just couldn't make sense of this.

The undead didn't respond. Instead, its gaze seemed to pierce into his soul. Without warning, its figure blurred, vanishing from sight.

"Shit!" Asher barely had time to react before the creature reappeared in front of him, its fist crashing into his chest with a devastating force.

The impact was thunderous, sending shockwaves reverberating through the chamber. Asher's dark green flames erupted in an instant, consuming his body as his flesh and skin burned away, transforming him into his Hellbringer Form. His skeletal frame, blazing with dark green fire, absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the sheer power behind it sent him hurtling

backward.

His body smashed into the seemingly indestructible wall with a deafening thud, dust raining down as he collapsed to the ground.

For a moment, he lay motionless, his mind racing to process what had just happened. He would never feel any pain in this form. But he looked down to see several of his ribs fractured, the glowing flames around him rapidly mended the damage, knitting his bones back

together.

Yet what shocked him again was that this undead's attack was so powerful enough to break

his bones which were tougher than diamond. It could only mean that this thing was at least as strong as the Moon Guardian!

The realization was as alarming as it was sobering. The Moon Guardian was the strongest being in the world, and yet this undead-whatever it was-had managed to fracture his diamond-hard bones with a single strike.

Who could have turned such a powerful human into an undead with such monstrous strength?

It obviously wasn't him. He couldn't shake off how eerily similar it looked to his damned

slaves.

He quickly pushed himself to his feet, his green flames flaring brighter as he steadied his stance. His hollow eye sockets locked onto the undead, who was already advancing toward him with an oppressive, deliberate stride. Its dark green sockets burned like twin beacons of death, and its aura radiated a strength that sent a rare shiver of doubt through Asher's mind.

The creature's skeletal form moved fluidly, its charred bones creaking faintly as it closed the distance between them. It exuded an aura of ancient power, a force that seemed to resonate with the eerie energy of the hall itself.

Asher's ring blade materialized in his bony hand, its edges glowing faintly with dark green

flames.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

His flames burned brighter, licking the edges of his skeletal frame as he prepared himself and see if he could survive against this thing. He had to.