NOVEL WEB Chapter 1445: Seeking The Demonic Presence
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"Well, we can make sure to ask all the questions we want later, right now we must focus on the foes before us!" Arthuria said, swinging her sword spirit and cutting through the wolf-like demonic beast rushing towards her rear. "Let's put our trust on Patricia and Erdrich and whatever they're planning!"
"Yeah!" the entire class roared.
Meanwhile, Gray and Monica, who were right besides them, looked at Blake fighting Hero Dylan, things had only turned for the worst out of nowhere, and with Dylan being revealed to be a Demon Cultist, Demonic Beasts popping out of nowhere, and a Demon Gate appearing in the skies, things were only becoming more chaotic.
"I can't believe there is a full-on attack from the demons against Stronghold City! Is this something they planned all along?!" Gray wondered, flying with his angelic wings as he punctured the Demonic Beasts with his spear made of light.
"It seems so, but Blake seems confident, and everyone is handling things really well!" Monica said, using her powerful spirits and using her magic to curse her foes, while blasting them with cursed fireballs, even demonic beasts were affected, dying agonizingly. "Let's keep up the pace! We can't do much ourselves, we're not as strong as everyone else, but we can do our own part and protect everyone else!"
The two, alongside several other students, fought the demonic beasts alongside the soldiers that decided to fight back, meanwhile, the rest of the spectators rapidly ran through the corridors and into the city, protected by everyone alongside Blake's familiars, as giant beasts started covering the entire arena, tearing through foes and creating walls using their bodies to protect the rest.
However, these demonic beasts were awfully stronger than usual, their powers being several hundreds of times higher than normal, and it showed, as even Blake's Familiars covered by the nanomachine armors were having trouble keeping up with some of the bigger demonic beasts.
Thankfully, due to their element of light and heaven, imbued into each nanomachine boosting them, they were able to hold their ground and fight back, the tides of battle were constantly changing outside, but it seemed that the demonic cultists were being rapidly pushed back even more, their last hope being the underground crystal they had prepared, and the demonic gate in the skies.
But even those things were now being thwarted, as Erdrich and Patricia appeared in the deepest, hidden underground area, suddenly running across the sewers, moving towards the strong demonic presence they could feel in the distance, the surroundings were strangely corrupted, as red and black tendrils spread through the sewers, the sewer waters were also black and boiling constantly, turned into miasma.
"Careful!" Erdrich sensed something coming from the miasmic waters, pushing Patricia to the side and swinging his fist down, punching a massive monstrous demonic beast fish that leaped off.
BAAAM!
The fish's head exploded into pieces, dying on the spot, however the waters trembled more, as more creatures from the sewers and the swamps connected to them underground started leaping from the corrupted waters, now having turned gigantic and corrupted into demonic beasts!
Fishes, frogs, rats, and cockroaches roared and leaped towards Erdrich and Patricia, both faced their head one, as Erdrich unleashed a barrage of blazing punches, taking down several beasts from the behind, the front, and the side, while Patricia swung her sword, cutting through anything at the front, while using her Iron Slimes to manifest an armor around her body, and another Great Sword to wield.
The two kept running amidst the swarm of Demonic Beasts, finally turning to the left and finding its origin, a giant black and red crystal was glowing constantly at the distance, connected to it were the aberrant tendrils that were expanding everywhere, this was not a normal Demonic Crystal Core, it was imbued with the essence of several Archdemons combined together!
"This is weird, what was this even made of?!" Erdrich asked Patricia.
"I-I don't really know…!" Patricia said. "I am someone pretty low in the hierarchy, I could have never learned more of these secrets…"
"Hmm…" Erdrich wasn't completely sure, but he could feel several Archdemon presences mixed into the crystal, in disarray, forced together against their will.
Erdrich could feel the monstrous and aberrant hunger of Beelzebub, the fury and wrath of Satan, the intoxicating brainwashing presence of Lilith, and even Mammon's overwhelming, all-consuming greed.
It became clear to him that someone had taken pieces of these Archdemons, their Cores within their Sealed Bodies within the Layers of Hell, merged them together, and placed this thing down here.
And something inside that crystal was being formed, absorbing the souls of the dying demonic beasts and people, and the dark energies produced from all the horror and pain.
"That thing is not a simple core; it seems to be incubating something inside! Patricia are you sure you didn't know?"
"Wait, what?! I had no idea!"
As the two rushed forward to destroy the thing, more and more Demonic Beasts emerged to stop them, but they quickly disposed of them, being clearly superior to these small, monstrous critters.
However, as they began to wonder where the cultists could be, the mass of flesh covering the walls and ceiling started pulsating, from them long meaty arms emerged, as sharp claws slashed at Patricia, hurting her face and chest!
SLAAASH!
"Aaaagh!"
"Patricia!"
Erdrich covered Patricia with his Aura, and then punched the tendrils away, making them explode into burning pieces of flesh and bone, his eyes widened in that moment, as he quickly learned where the cultists had gone to…
"Uuuaaaggh!"
"Goooouuhhhhh…!"
"Graaaahhhh!"
"Aaaaeeeeehhh!"
The screams of several beings echoed from the fleshy walls and ceiling, as their twisting faces of agony appeared, the cultists were assimilated by the fleshy tendrils and walls, part of the strange crystal in the center of the sewers, which was empowering the demonic beasts above and most likely keeping the entire demon gate above, alongside a few others.
"Patricia, are you okay?!" Erdrich asked her.
"Yes, I'm fine… even if it had demonic miasma, I am resistant to its infection…" Patricia's wound quickly showed little iron slimes coming from her blood, making it quickly close the wound.
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