214. Demonic Manifestation
The dirt trail led Zetius and Cubie deeper into the woods. The flora here was dense, reminiscent of a rainforest, teeming with strange plants and even stranger insects.
“Look, look!” Cubie called out, gesturing for Zetius to see a bizarre insect clinging to a tree's dark bark.
The butterfly's wings resembled the face of a weeping woman, two shimmering streaks running down its pattern like tears. It gave off a sense of uncanny dread.
“Are you scared now, tough guy?” Cubie teased, seeing Zetius’s face turn pale.
“No,” he clipped, turning back towards the path. Behind them, the lumberjack's house had already faded into the oppressive green.
Glancing upward, he saw the tree branches interlacing into a thick canopy, filtering out most of the sunlight. An unnatural silence had settled over the woods, a quiet so profound it was becoming impossible to ignore. It was driving him mad.
“This way. The trail continues here,” Cubie urged, drifting slowly to the right.
The hair on his forearms stood on end. A wave of uneasiness washed over him, forcing him to swallow. As he gazed into the pitch-black darkness between the trees, it felt as if something or someone was staring right back, its gaze a hypnotising spiral.
“Zetius!” Cubie’s voice snapped him out of the daze. “What’s wrong?”
Rubbing his eyes, Zetius shook his head. “Just a little tired. Let’s go.”
After a short trek, they arrived at the mouth of a cave. He stood before it, feeling a faint but persistent wind being sucked into the opening, howling softly as it passed. The air was heavy with a vile stench, thick with the coppery tang of old blood and something else… something like a sickly sweet perfume of decay..
Zetius stepped back and inspected the rocky wall above the entrance. Its surface was covered with moss and low-hanging vines that looked disturbingly like long, matted hair.
“Z’smite me! This place is haunted,” Zetius grumbled, gritting his teeth.
“Looks like a natural enough cave,” Cubie commented flatly. “Oh, look! The trail of blood leads inside. We’ve found it!”
“We should become a full-fledged investigator at this point,“ Zetius jested to ease his own mind.
“Wait~should we call the Lunarius?” Cubie probed, perching on his shoulder.
“No. I don’t have anything concrete to report yet,” Zetius said firmly.
Hmm… Hum… Hum…
A distant, humming female voice reverberated from within the cave. The ghastly tune sent a creep up his spine he didn’t know he was capable of feeling.
He stumbled back, hands raised instinctively. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty clear,” Cubie added, unfazed.
“Hades… The local legend is true?!” Zetius blurted, cupping his mouth.
“Likely so. How do we deal with a succubus?” Cubie’s analytical side flared.
“I~I don’t know…” He shook his head, a wave of regret washing over him. What have I got myself into?
“What about Empyrion? We can try burning her?” Cubie suggested, seeming to enjoy the situation.
“Ye~yeah… You’re right.” Zetius patted his chest, his composure slowly returning. “I should be able to brute-force anything with sufficiently arcane.”
Mustering his courage, Zetius slapped his cheeks a few times before confronting the abyss. He closed his eyes and waved two fingers through the air, his motion elegant as a streak of flame followed his gesture.
In deep concentration, he pictured a fire lantern floating up to the night sky.
“Empyrion~Lantern!” he chanted. With a final point of his fingers, a glowing lantern, burning with ethereal flame, materialised.
The suction from the cave system guided the lantern, pulling it gently into the darkness and illuminating the damp walls. Zetius watched it closely as the path was lit. The walls expanded, growing apart to reveal a larger cavern inside. Eventually, the lantern drifted around a corner, and the darkness reclaimed its territory.
“No traps, no monsters so far,” Zetius observed, straightening his posture. “It’s just a cave.”
“Amazing! I didn’t know you could do that,” Cubie exclaimed.
“There’s no limit to the art,” Zetius said, tapping his temple. “As long as your mind doesn’t limit itself.”
Lighting the way with his Empyrion flame, Zetius’s face was cast in an amber glow. His boots scraped against the uneven rock floor. Luckily, the cave system seemed to follow a single path. The air inside was cold, stale, and thick with moisture, evidenced by the moss-covered wall.
As they ventured deeper, Zetius grew more certain that this was just a normal cave. The humming was likely just the wind blowing through narrow slits in the rock. The thought helped to ease his mind.
“There’s nothing alive in here,” he muttered, his voice echoing back at him.
The path soon opened into a lone, cavernous chamber.
“It’s too dark. Let me light it up.” Zetius cast a few more lanterns, sending them drifting towards the high ceiling. His shadows danced on the gravel ground, flickering with the soft gust of wind.
Cubie zipped around, quickly inspecting her surroundings. “There’s no other way. It’s a dead end,” she concluded.
With no other leads, Zetius sat on a large, flat slab of rock, the cold immediately seeping through his trousers. “Anything out of place?” he asked, sweeping his eyes around the chamber. The ceiling was just rock, with no other discernible features. There was no sign of the lumberjacks. “Did we miss a branch in the path?”
“That’s unlikely…” Cubie trailed off. Suddenly, she called out from across the room, “Zetius, over here!”
He found her hovering over a massive pool of blood next to one of the seemingly flat rocks. He froze. Whatever had come into this chamber had been reduced to this crimson pool.
“Bloody hell…” Zetius cursed under his breath.
“I surmise it’s probably the lumberjacks.”
“Yeah…” he clipped, turning away from the gruesome sight.
As he turned, a thin figure in the corner of his eye made him jump.
“WHAA!?” He yelped at the man in tattered clothes. One of the man's eyes was swollen shut, and blood dripped from his hands.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Pl~please help me!” the man begged, his voice trembling. Yet, his face remained eerily calm.
“The lumberjack!?” Zetius blurted, recognising him from the picture in the house.
“What happened to you?” Cubie chimed in.
“Yes… There’s~there’s a monster here. We must leave.” His voice cracked, but his eyes were dead and unblinking.
“What kind of monster?” Zetius asked. His caution flared, and his body shifted, falling into a ready striking pose.
“I~I~I don’t know.” He stammered, outstretching his bloody hands. “It’s the witch! The witch!” he blurted, spittle flying from his mouth.
“Let me heal you first. It looks like you’re injured.” Zetius reached a palm out. Mustering his mana, he chanted, “Iasis—”
Before he could finish, the lumberjack blurred. His hand snapped forward in the blink of an eye.
The impact threw Zetius’s body ten metres into the air before he slammed hard against the stone wall. He heaved, rolling with the momentum as he hit the ground and sprang back into his guard stance with practised precision.
“Zetius!?” Cubie snapped, zipping to his side.
“I’m fine,” he said firmly.
A deep, demonic chuckle echoed from the lumberjack’s throat. His skin began to burn an evil red, and his eyes gleamed with malice.
“What’s going on? Why are you attacking us?” Cubie shouted angrily.
“I’m going to eat you alive!” the demon spoke, its voice a distorted parody of the lumberjack's. Its teeth grew sharp and uneven.
“Demonic possession,” Zetius muttered, his expression hardening into resolution. No doubt, the husband ate his wife. “I’ve read about this. This sort of ailment was unseen for centuries, so why now?”
He recalled this in one of many passages in his study of the D’arcane and forbidden arts.
One of his hands blasted a cone of flame behind him, launching him forward. He shifted into a hazy blur, reappearing instantly within range. His fist, curled into a ball of fire, swung at the demon.
The attack missed.
His fist sliced through empty air as the demon sidestepped with unnatural speed.
“Huh!?” Zetius grunted, immediately following up with another hook. The flame arched, and this time collided with the foe. A guttural roar of pain spilled out of its lungs as flesh sizzled.
Another three quick jabs connected.
The mass of meat and bone thundered back through the cavernous hall.
“Go, go, Zetius!” Cubie cheered. A lone demon was no threat to an Arcanist of his calibre.
Cutting his legs low, Zetius swept the demon’s feet out from under it, sending it flying into the air. His uppercut followed, swiping upward and slamming into his foe like a wrecking ball.
The demon heaved, spilling blood and saliva.
In a fraction of a second, Zetius’s eyes glowed red. He flicked two fingers out. “Empyrion!”
A torrent of flame shot out, rocking the air and propelling the demon’s body tens of metres away. The limp form slammed down, rolling across the floor as dirt and smoke erupted from the impact.
Zetius kept his guard raised, his cautious gaze fixed on his unblinking enemy. “Hm…”
“Is it dead?” Cubie zipped closer. “What even was that thing?”
"I'm not sure of its origin," Zetius replied, "but the signs are unmistakable. The red skin, bloodshot eyes, the distorted voice... it has to be demonic possession."
Just then, the wind in the chamber shifted. The demon’s body began to move as if his devastating attack had never landed. Twisted arms and crooked legs snapped back into place with a series of sickening cracks.
“Hehehehe…” The deep, feral laugh echoed through the air.
Zetius’ blood ran cold, his shoulders stiffening. “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”
“I smell fire and brimstone…” the demon rasped. It lifted the lumberjack's tattered shirt, revealing scorched red skin that was already pulsing with freshly grown tissue. “Feels like home.”
“Empyrion doesn’t work! How?” Cubie exclaimed in shock.
“Bloody demon!” Zetius cursed, a trickle of sweat running down his cheek.
The demon tilted its head, locking its bloodshot eyes on him. Eerily, it smiled widely, revealing jagged and razor-sharp teeth.
GRRRRRRR!!!
Snapping its head forward, it launched itself without a speck of fear, a mindless beast that needed to feast.
Zetius sidestepped, hurling a powerful kick at its torso. Its waist buckled as his boot connected. The demon growled wildly, swiping its claws at him.
“Be gone!” Zetius snarled, pivoting away in a calculated evasion. His powerful hook smashed right into its temple with a loud, meaty thud.
The demon spun mid-air from the force of the blow but landed back on its feet, unnervingly steady.
“Empyrion!” His two fingers aimed point-blank at its face. Mana surged through his veins and shot out in a concentrated fire blast.
“Hehehehehe…” The deep, maniacal laugh continued as its face was revealed to be covered in crimson scales.
“Wha—!? It’s absorbing your fire!” Cubie yelped frantically.
“Tsk!” Zetius clicked his tongue, lifting his boot for a final stomp.
“Ahhhhhh—it hurts!” A new voice cried out, reverberating with genuine human pain.
Zetius flinched. He hesitated, withdrawing his foot.
“Please… I don’t wanna die… I’ve killed my wife… No…” The pleading voice carried the genuine pain of the man within as his skin shifted back to a pale, human colour. Abruptly, his body convulsed violently and his last words were a choked, “I’m sorr—”
A massive gust of wind erupted, twirling around the poor lumberjack as the smell of sulphur intensified, filling the air.
“Phoros!” Zetius recited, materialising a spherical shield just in time. From behind the translucent barrier, he narrowed his eyes at his enemy.
The body began to levitate, its hands outstretched to the sides, elongating to an unnatural length. A distorted scream filled the chamber, a sound that spoke of eons of torture.
“Oh no! It’s powering up!” Cubie fluttered erratically. “Zetius! Attack now!”
Snapping out of his shock, Zetius’s fingers arched with crackling electricity. His eyes glowed a bright blue, brimming with power.
Sucking air, “Astrapyion!” he bellowed.
A massive cone of power streaked through the air with thundering crackles. The sharp, oxidising smell of ozone replaced the stale air.
“ARHRRHRG!” The demonic lumberjack let out a guttural cry as lightning struck its right arm, turning its limb into a black crisp. The demonic ritual was interrupted, and it crashed to the floor.
“YEAH! HOW ABOUT THAT! AGAIN!” Cubie roared.
Zetius hissed through his teeth, ignoring the excruciating backlash of pain from channelling such raw power.
“Astrapyion!” He chanted again, flicking his fingers like the lash of a whip.
The demon squealed as it frantically scrambled to its feet. The lightning branched and arched toward its location.
Pure instinct took hold, and it tumbled forward ten metres. The lightning struck the rocks where it had been, shattering them into bits and pieces.
“Ah! Hades!” Zetius groaned, using his free hand to guide the raging energy.
The lightning followed as the enemy scrambled in flight, its eyes wide with primal fear. Even a beast knew it would perish if the bolts struck true again.
Suddenly, it jumped onto the far wall and disappeared into the stone. The wall rippled for a moment, and a faint chime echoed in the silence that followed.
The spell discharged. Zetius collapsed to his knees, clutching his smoking hands. “Wh~what? Where did it go!?” he stammered against the soaring pain.
“I~I…” Cubie was lost for words, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.
“Iasis!” he chanted. A flash of green soothed the burning in his hands, but his mana exhaustion was beginning to show. His damp silver hair clung to his forehead, and his breath came in ragged gasps.
Slowly, he rose to his feet and rushed to the area to investigate. “Impossible. You damned beast!”
“I think it’s a fissure…” Cubie’s blue glow illuminated the dread in Zetius’s eyes.
“That’s where the bastard went.” Zetius hovered his hands above the rippling surface of the rock. It hummed back as if it had a mind of its own. “How could I have missed this at first glance?” he grumbled in disappointment.
To test his theory, Zetius cast a lantern light and floated it toward the wall.
“What are you doing?” Cubie asked, tilting her body in curiosity.
“Watch.” And soon, the gust of wind carried the lantern into the dark wall. It disappeared as if into thin air, just as his enemy had done.
“So that’s where the draft goes,” he concluded, grimacing. “That’s why it couldn’t be a dead-end chamber. I should have used Astrapyion from the beginning.”
Cubie spun toward Zetius, her light dimming. “Hmmm… Zetius, don’t tell me… we’re going in that?”
“We must finish the job, Cubie.” Zetius massaged his hands, his skin now reddened from the collateral damage of his powerful electrical attack. He bit his lip, trying to calm his elevated heartbeat.
“Then let me send a message to Lunarius Willhelm,” Cubie proposed, floating mid-way between Zetius and the dark fissure.
He paused for a second to think it through. “Why, yes. That’s actually smart. Good thinking.”
“Um!” Cubie froze visibly for three seconds before speaking again, “All good!”
“Let’s finish this.” Zetius’s eyes gleamed with conviction as he clenched his other hand in anticipation. He would not fail.