Salvation
Table of Contents
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 END AftermathChapter 51
Standing before him is a different cavern that he had gotten accustomed to after rescuing Billy. Gathering his bearings, he scanned his new surroundings with caution and curiosity from being alone in a strange place filled with uncertainty about what was to come for him as Seth continued moving with his own two feet in this mysterious environment.
The rocky cavern is a vast and twisting network of tunnels, passageways, and crevasses, lit only by mysterious lights from above and the glowing fungi that grows on the walls and floor within the darkness of this cave. The air is dry and dusty, showing little use of oxygen. The stalactites hanging from the ceiling are like daggers of varying size and shape, with many stalagmites jutting up from the floor.
Regardless, he doesn't appear to need a light source, for everything around him, even if it is faint and dim; it is visible enough for him to traverse throughout the system, albeit with some difficulty. With the knowledge of having gotten used to seeing in the abyss from all the hiding in dark corners of surviving alone, he adapted well to it.
Which makes this part of the challenge a piece of cake. Having not only fled and hid back in his home world but also gained some experience from his previous trek in a cavern, it feels more natural and calming in his eyes as he keeps going through the underground environment. "But why here?" Wondering to himself where he is being moving to, "Why send me to a place I am familiar with?" Seth is unable to understand the demon's reasoning for having him come here.
At least it wasn't something like the labyrinth he had to deal with earlier; that was horrifying, to say the least, for it reminded him of a horror movie with its narrow and twisted layout. Along with having to deal with a monster that accurately mimicked his friend's voice to lure him out of his safe spot,
There's also the fact that there were trapped souls who were suffering from agonizing existence, shuddering at the thought of what they were experiencing in their state, for he had wanted to see how they were viewing their surroundings and the state of their condition altogether.
Despite all of the horrors and obstacles in his way, he hadn't given up and kept pushing himself through the numerous ordeals, always seeking to improve himself just to do the right thing, whether Billy would angrily insult him for being weak again or be satisfied with seeing Seth as a man for once.
None of it matters because he could never hate anyone, for he should love everybody equally, a philosophy that his own mother had taught him during his stay in the king's castle. Whether he can keep such a promise is debatable, as emotions can get the better of him sometimes.
In second thought, why hasn't there a smell for him to be guided out of this place? Is his mother still supporting him even when he isn't in the maze anymore? Is she now confident of her child doing this on his own despite his persistence in saving his friends? "Maybe I should ask?" He said to himself, stopping in his tracks as he began to kneel down with both of his legs touching the ground.
Placing the holy crucifix at the side, he held his hands together in a praying gesture, closing his eyes in the process. Then he prayed with his heart, if there was nothing holding him back, "Mother, guide me through this; I beseech of thee. In the darkest nights, shine the brightest light upon me," he said calmly, feeling assured that his mother would come at any time.
But as a minute passed, when she should have been here within a couple of seconds, dread and worry crept all over his body like an ant that's crawling onto his skin, and the boy immediately opened his eyes in panic. Unsure of what was happening, he stood up while taking his divine weapon that glows with golden energy, "mother," whispering her name where the cross still illuminated its light in response as he looked at it strongly. "Where are you?" Question that should be answered by the woman's appearance.
Has she abandoned him? No, it doesn't sound like her. Or is Muriel testing him to see if he can handle this stressful situation by himself? Surely a kind mother wouldn't do something as cruel as this. Perhaps he is the one responsible for failing to meet her expectations. Or maybe she's busy?
He doesn't know; Seth has little clue of how angels and the Lord work in their mysterious ways. Even though he felt hurt and lost at this moment, the boy still needed to find a way out of this place with or without their help, for the sake of his loved ones.
The motive of his reason to push forward in spite of being afraid of everything around him is what matters most for his reason for being here. Without a cause, it wouldn't make sense to be in a dangerous place in itself. He is simply not driven to do anything at all due to indecision and doubt.
Looking around, the place felt slightly cold; he had noted the new area in this part of the tunnel as the walls around him were lit by the moonlight from above. With no further option to choose, he presses forward while exploring this long network of tunnels and whatnot.
All he wants in his heart is to get this over with, saving Billy from Asmodeus, who is still holding the rebellious teen's soul if it were still there in the first place. "I need to keep moving," forcing himself to keep going despite his weary condition. His own stamina is diminishing bit by bit, along with the hunger growing within the pits of his stomach.
Walking through the many hallways with many shadows cast on the walls, the loneliness and gloominess in this place are what Seth is constantly fighting with as the surroundings seem to become darker and colder while he keeps moving deeper through this cavern.
However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard monstrous groaning noises, turning to the direction where he saw what was causing it. Hearing the noise, it sounded like someone was suffering from great pain. The boy approached the noise, not sure what it was other than readying his divine weapon in case he needed to free another soul.
When he got close enough, his blood completely froze at the horrific sight of it. The thing was anything but soul, as it resembled exactly those medieval paintings depicting demons. This, however, isn't truly frightening, but scary enough for him to be on edge.
Levitating from the ground was a human-sized, gray-colored fish with hair and spikes all over it. Instead of a normally shaped head for aquatic animal, it is shaped like a mixture of an ant and a monkey, with long human arms attached to its body that are holding a spiked mace in one of its firmly gripped hands.
Not only having otherworldly appearance but also possessing red bat-like wings acting as extra limbs from the back that help it fly through the air as it continues to float in its spot. Nevertheless, this creature appears to have turned towards the boy with his complete black orb eyes staring directly at Seth.
The demon's mouth was shaped like a beak but with shark-like teeth; letting out a hiss, it hovered towards the boy while flapping its wings in the process of attacking the teen, causing the shocked boy to take a couple of steps backwards after realizing what it was intended to do.
"Wait! We don't need to fight!" He reasoned with it, trying to find some humanity or rationality in this fallen angel before his mind could catch up from the shock of seeing an actual demon in the flesh for the first time. "We can work together, please; let's talk about this!" The teen said it with a trembling, loud voice.
The demon stopped its tracks, staring at the child in eerily silence for what felt like minutes before it began to let out a bellowing laughter in its cold tone of voice. Finding the notion of being attacked and threatened amusing to it, "foolish child of God," it spoke for the first time, having a cold and hiss-like voice, "Your attempts at reasoning with me are futile after I see your brain matter splattering on my master's floor!" Stating with cold malice before floating straight at the boy
"Stay back! Don't make me use this against you!" He warned in panic about using this against sentient beings, "Why? Why do you have to do this??"Begging it to cease with a fearful and demanding tone of voice, "Can't you see this is pointless!" Pacifying is difficult, but what is more impossible is using this against a demon who is hell-bent on killing him.
It didn't stop; the demon simply continued moving, but this time it was moving faster than before. The creature's arm raised the weapon with anticipation in his face, "Your soul will feed the master greatly!" The fiend screeched while beginning to get close enough for Seth to raise his crucifix out of self-defense.
When he finally used his cross, aiming it directly towards the incoming monster, the fallen angel rapidly burned in its holy fire, consuming the thing within two seconds as the spiked mace fell on the ground, leaving only a trace of burnt ashes before they were slowly dragged away by the wind.
Lowering his right arm, he approached it before looking down with a troubling expression, not sure if Seth should feel happy about this. On one hand, it was a demon, not a human. But on the other hand, the creature is sentient enough to understand that it goes around in their surroundings.
"Are all demons completely evil? Do every single one of them be bloodthirsty or irredeemable?" He is conflicted by this bothersome concept: "God teaches us to always forgive our enemies as he has forgiven us for the sins we committed." His teachings dictate this, but what should he do in this scenario?
He doesn't know anything at this time; the longer he thinks and stays here, the harder it becomes to think thoroughly about this situation. "I just...have to move on," concludes the decision to not let the incident weigh upon him. He might learn from it later, but as of right now, Seth has to continue pressing on.
Ignoring the aftermath of this event, he began walking in the direction where he left, but just as he did, he heard a horde of this demon, whom he just killed with their rapid shouting and profanity, heading directly to where Seth is right now. Stopping him in his tracks once more, the boy knew that he should make a run for it, but knowing his injured leg, trying to even run is pointless.
From the distance, where the darkened tunnels are, dozens of them flew out from the shadows and into the light, their bat-like wings flapping in the air. Their mouths were open as they were screaming like banshees, holding various swords, clubs, and axes or spears, ready to brutally turn him into mince meat.
All of them have the features of fish and wings with different looks on them, all demonic-looking nonetheless. They were charging straight at him; excitement was visible in their eyes like madmen, as some of them had a gaping, sharp tooth smile.
Seth cannot run from this or reason when they are incapable of listening. The only thing he can do is fight with what he has. He raised his arm once more, showing them the cross where the divine flames started to illuminate many of these monsters.
Those who were in the front were the first to diminish, then the ones behind them and the new row, and so on as it continued without stopping. Realizing they were unable to get close enough, the demons then went into separate groups, moving into opposite tunnels and hallways to plan out their next course of action.
Allowing him to get a breather after witnessing them leave after seeing how seemingly impossible it was to try to physically kill him in close quarters, "there were so many..." Sweat had fallen from his face; "so many of them too." Expressing relief to see them gone, at least.
Now the question is: what are they planning to do now? He knows this isn't the last of them, as there is a chance they will be back, but in bigger numbers, the teen needs to get out of here before the possibility of being cornered becomes real. "I have to move on; I cannot stand here forever," he says, pushing himself out of this state.
Seth decided to turn around, where there is a longer hallway that he decided to go than where the monsters have gone; "this is a safer bet; going back would mean a death sentence," mentally deciding that going to a different area than where the demons have come from is a logical decision.
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