Tenebrous Wolf
Chapter 68: Demonic Purgatory

Chapter 68: Demonic Purgatory

"Bollocks!"

The instant he sensed danger, Klaus, gripped by momentary panic, forcefully shoved his entire body to the side and rolled across the floor. A massive silhouette hurtled past his previous position and heavily slammed into the wall ahead with a resounding crash.

Needless to say, if he hadn’t reacted in time, his chest would have been impaled on the spot. Fortunately, that wasn’t how things played out.

Steadying himself, Klaus narrowed his eyes, focusing on the figure before him to identify his attacker.

The damn abomination was a nightmare — an actual Tyrant — resembling that of a rhino, sort of. The behemoth was at least five meters tall and clad in thick, black rock-like armor with its form bulging with raw muscle. Molten green veins pulsed beneath the surface of its armour, glowing ominously like liquid fire.

Its monstrous face twisted into a wide, menacing grin, revealing sharp fangs. Hollow black sockets held an eerie, smoldering green light that burned with unmistakable malice and hunger. A single massive horn curved back in an intimidating arc, and its powerful limbs were built purely for destruction.

Such a Tyrant of Intimidating nature was the "Demonic Purgatory."

Klaus felt a chill crawl down his spine. Just how had he failed to notice such a massive creature until it got close to him?

It defied all logic. By all reasoning, something of that size should have been anything but stealthy. Yet, within the Shadow Realm, logic and reason seemed meaningless and discarded like worthless scraps. It was unfair — utterly and completely unfair.

To begin with, there were only a few types of Hollows capable of controlling other monsters; Tyrants, Calamities, Titans, and Devils. No one had ever seen a Titan or a Devil and lived to tell the tale.

And right now, he was standing before a Tyrant.

Tyrants were three stages above a Shrouded Hollow, and the gap between those ranks was beyond overwhelming. By some stroke of luck, this one was merely an Awakened Tyrant, meaning it had lost two of its Spirit Cores, dropped from its rank and became an Awakened Hollow. A Corrupted Tyrant would have been far larger and even more terrifying.

That didn’t change the fact that he was still facing a Tyrant. The odds of survival were so low that anyone would laugh in his face if he even suggested fighting it unless they were an Awakened Lancer and at least two or three ranks above the creature.

Which he most certainly wasn’t.

Even knowing that, he had no choice but to find a way to deal with it. There was no escaping this battle. If he tried to flee by climbing the pillars, the creature could simply ram them, sending him plummeting to his death or worse, straight onto its waiting horn. So unless he dealt with the creature would the opportunity give him a chance to escape.

More importantly, what was there to fear? He was already as good as dead. If he was going out, he would rather go out with a bang!

On the other hand, inside his Soul Stream, Briar was trembling uncontrollably, his voice rising in sheer panic.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IS THAT ACTUALLY AN AWAKENED TYRANT?! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! WHAT KIND OF MISFORTUNE IS THIS? IS THIS REALLY HOW I GO OUT?!"

"Hey, would you calm down over there? You’re going to give me a headache!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP! AREN’T YOU SEEING WHAT I’M SEEING?! THAT’S A TYRANT! A PREDATOR OF CHAOS! EVEN IF THAT THING HAS SOMEHOW BEEN REDUCED TO THE RANK OF AWAKENED, IT COULD STILL CRUSH YOU LIKE A BUG! TRUST ME, IT WOULD BE AS EASY AS BREAKING AN EGG! NO MATTER HOW WE LOOK AT IT, WE HAVE TO RUN AWAY! FIGHTING THAT THING IS IMPOSSIBLE!!"

"That would certainly be the best choice. Ah, you have wings, right? Can’t you fly us out through the opening?"

"Not impossible. But I’m still recovering my energy, remember? I won’t be able to fly us even if I wanted to."

"Oh, right... You overused your mind control and exhausted yourself. Tch! How lovely. So, am I supposed to play with this guy then? He certainly doesn’t look like the type to hold back on his toys."

"Just hold on somehow while I focus to recover my energy. Try not to get yourself killed before that time, okay?"

The mental communication ended right there.

Judging by the tone of Briar’s voice, she was clearly terrified — anxious beyond measure— which meant she fully grasped the severity of their predicament.

Shifting his attention to the other side, Klaus watched as the Demonic Purgatory struggled to wrench its massive horn free from the impaled wall. Then, with a single forceful pull, the abomination finally tore itself loose, breaking free from its shackles. The creature slowly turned and locked its burning gaze onto him. Thick, viscous drool dripped from its maw as it let out a low, menacing growl.

How the hell was he supposed to buy time against such a monstrosity?

"Oh, crap!"

Klaus cursed as the Demonic Purgatory suddenly charged at him and shook the ground with its monstrous weight. His instincts screamed at him to move, and without much thinking, he obeyed and threw himself to the side just as the Demonic Purgatory’s clawed hand cleaved through the air where he had been standing. The sheer force of the swing created a shockwave and scattered debris across the chamber.

Too fast!

He managed to stabilise his landing, but couldn’t calm his chaotic heartbeat. It was natural for him to expect brute might from the creature, but speed was not on his list. That thing had no business being that fast at all!

Something about this matchup should be illegal somehow.

Before he could even click his tongue in frustration, a huge shadow loomed over his body.

Eyes widening, he barely managed to roll backward as the Demonic Purgatory’s front limb came crashing down, splitting the stone floor in an explosion of dust and rubble. The shockwave sent him skidding back several meters and barely managed to hold himself together.

He needed a plan. Now.

"Buy time, huh?" Klaus muttered under his breath, glancing at the towering beast. "Sure, let me just ask nicely — Hey, big guy, mind waiting a few minutes? My partner needs to recharge her power so we can escape."

The Tyrant let out a guttural growl, as if mocking him.

What was with that reaction? Did someone take your candy? Klaus’s gaze seemed to offend the creature.

On the other hand, the young Aspirant slowly exhaled and took in his surrounding layout; the broken pillars, the uneven ground and lastly, the debris scattered across the cavern floor. His surroundings were far from ideal, but he could use them to his advantage.

There was no hope in overpowering the creature, knowing for certain that his katana won’t even scratch its body armour. But he had speed. He had his wits. And most importantly, he had nothing to lose.

If I can’t beat it... I’ll outmaneuver it.

"Alright then," Klaus muttered with a grin forming on his lips. "Let’s dance, you ugly bastard."

With that, he bolted.

The Tyrant snarled and charged after him, using its massive frame to tear through obstacles like paper. Every step sent shockwaves and tremors through the ground, but Klaus didn’t stop. He weaved through the wreckage, using every ounce of agility he had to stay ahead of the relentless monster.

The moment he spotted a collapsed pillar to his right, he made his move.

Klaus pushed off the ground, kicking up dust as he ran toward the pillar. At the last second, he leapt, planting his foot on the tilted surface and using the momentum to launch himself into the air. The Tyrant, caught off guard by the sudden maneuver, crashed headfirst into the rubble with a deafening impact.

Landing in a roll, Klaus whirled around as he caught his breath.

Tch. As I thought, it’s not enough.

He clicked his tongue as the Awakened Tyrant was already recovering. More than that, the monstrosity seemed to have gotten much angrier.

Frowning in displeasure, he sent a mental message to Briar.

’Hey, how much do I have to stall? I think this big guys is getting pissed.’

After saying so, he avoided a crushing blow, whereas a quick reply from Briar came afterwards.

’Just keep it occupied for a few seconds. I almost have mental power to overload its senses temporary."

"A little longer?" Klaus scoffed and dodged another devastating strike. "Briar, I don’t have a little longer! Can’t you see I’m fighting for my life here?!"

"Then stop complaining and survive!"

That’s easy for you to say!!

Swallowing back his words, Klaus gritted his teeth and evaded yet another devastating blow. Dissatisfied with the current flow of battle, he decided to become more offensive. Using the opportunity where the Awakened Tyrant had overextended its attack, Klaus sprang into action. His muscles tensed as he ducked low, shifting his stance. In a blur, he dashed toward the monster’s exposed flank, katana flashing in his grip.

With a precise slash, he aimed for the Tyrant’s molten green veins, hoping to at least damage its softest point. But the moment his blade connected, a ’loud clang’ reverberated through the cavern. Sparks scattered as the katana barely left a scratch, the thick rock-like armor proving near-impenetrable.

"Tch!"

Klaus clicked his tongue and twisted his body just in time to avoid the Tyrant’s sweeping claw. The sheer force of the attack sent a gust of wind blasting past his face.

However, it didn’t end there.

In the next second, the beast twisted its hulking frame with frightening speed. Klaus barely had a second to react before a massive hand slammed toward him. His instincts screamed. Without thinking, he planted his foot against the cavern floor and propelled himself backward. The great impact shattered the ground where he had stood, sending rock fragments flying through the air.

Of course, this included Klaus, who was violently hurled backward by the shockwave.

"Shit! Argh! Damn it all!"

With a curse, Klaus twisted his body mid-air, forcing his sword into the ground to halt his uncontrolled flight. The impact sent painful vibrations up his arms, but he gritted his teeth and held firm.

However, before he could fully regain his footing, his instincts suddenly flared up out of nowhere.

Snapping his gaze forward, his breath caught. The monstrosity had already closed the distance and barrelled its massive form toward him like an unstoppable rhino running in a straight line.

Eyes widening in alarm, Klaus mustered every ounce of strength in his limbs and threw himself to the side, narrowly escaping the devastating blow. The ground where he had stood a second ago erupted into a crater.

Had he hesitated for even a moment, there wouldn’t have been anything left of him to scrape off the floor.

But as the saying goes, where there is fortune, misfortune is never far behind.

Despite completely evading the crushing blow, Klaus barely had a moment to breathe before the creature lashed out with a sweeping strike. It was swift — far too swift for his liking — and worse, it came without warning.

Still airborne, Klaus had no way to dodge.

Gripped by a surge of panic and desperation, he instinctively raised his sword in a last-ditch effort to block the attack — or at the very least, soften the impact of the blow.

A grave mistake.

He had greatly underestimated the sheer strength of an Awakened Tyrant.

The Tyrant’s claw struck his blade with crushing force. A deafening "boom" echoed through the cavern as Klaus was launched like a ragdoll, accompanyed with his katana snapping in half from the impact. Agony exploded through his body as he crashed into a pillar and inadvertently choke on air before his vision blurred and blood flowed from his mouth.

’... I can’t breathe... I can’t...’

That blow had knocked the wind out of him. Cracks splintered across his suit from the sheer force, and pain flared throughout his whole body. Were his bones broken? No, dislocated?

At this point, he couldn’t tell which one was the answer.

’... W-What... What is it doing?’

Through his blurred vision, he caught sight of the beast’s throat bulging, something surging upward from its stomach. A sickly molten green glow pulsed beneath its hide, churning like a storm barely contained within its body.

"!!"

Realizing what was about to happen, terror flooded Klaus’s mind.

Mustering every ounce of strength left in his body, he forced himself to leap aside just as the Demonic Purgatory spewed a torrent of searing green substance from its monstrous jaws.