Tenebrous Wolf
Chapter 70: Sunless Void

Chapter 70: Sunless Void

The succubus Briar couldn’t believe her eyes. Klaus had just taken down an actual Tyrant.

Of course, she knew the creature was only an Awakened Hollow, not a fully Corrupted Beast, but that didn’t make the feat any less shocking. Even as she replayed the battle in her mind, the reality of it remained staggering.

An Awakened Ghoul was one thing. An Awakened Tyrant was another thing entirely. Despite both sharing the same rank, the Tyrant’s original soul state placed it leagues above a mere Ghoul. That was the inherent hierarchy among Hollows dictated by their existential weight rather than just raw power. The same principle applied to Ascendants who had once stood at the peak but suffered grievous injuries, forcing them down a rank. Even weakened, a former high-ranker retained certain advantages that set them apart from those who had never ascended in the first place.

This was simply the order of the world.

And yet, Klaus — an Aspirant — had just slain an abomination that should have been impossible for someone of his current level to slay.

How was she supposed to think about something that absurd? That was similar to the possibility of an infant killing a grown man with a knife. Under normal circumstances, it would have been completely impossible so it wasn’t wrong to say that it was a possibility outside logic and reason.

It seems her so-called Master turned out to be more capable than she imagined. Speaking of which, she didn’t know the set of abilities that he possessed. Perhaps that was the reason behind his victory over the Tyrant.

... Maybe if it’s him, then ’that’ should be possible.

Following that thought, Briar bit her lip and shook her head before making her way toward where Klaus had fallen from the Tyrant’s back.

As she approached, her voice carried a rare hint of excitement.

"Hey, you did it. You actually did it. You’re the first person I know who’s taken down a monster stronger than themselves in this way. But don’t let it go to your head. I was the one who helped you, after all."

"..."

"No response, huh? Are you seriously ignoring me right now? Ah, maybe you’re just exhausted. Even so, get up. We need to extract the cores before the rest of its buddies show up."

"..."

"Ehm... Hello? Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on?"

Briar frowned. Nikolaus was being uncharacteristically quiet — too quiet for comfort.

Gripped by a sinking feeling, she knelt beside him and shook his shoulder. That was when she froze. Her hands came away slick with blood.

Looking closer, she noticed a thin trail of crimson trickling from Klaus’s lips. His entire body was drenched in a mixture of monster blood and his own. Her gaze shifted to his eyes which were noticaby dull and unfocused.

That was when she realized that he had lost consciousness.

It was hardly surprising that he had lost consciousness, given how the Awakened Tyrant had repeatedly slammed him against the wall. The brutal impact alone was enough to break bones, and judging by the blood on his lips, he had likely suffered internal injuries as well.

But this was a serious problem for Briar. Her Mysticism Ability wasn’t suited for direct combat; she couldn’t so much as harm a towel, let alone fend off another enemy.

And Klaus was their only heavy hitter. What would happen now that he was the one who had taken the most damage? It was not like she was a healer.

Click! Click! Click!

To make matters worse, a series of clicking sounds echoed from the passageway they had come from.

Briar’s face paled as she grasped the situation. Without wasting a second, she swiftly extracted the two large Spirit Cores from the Tyrant’s carcass and stored them within her Soul World. Then, steeling herself, she began to drag Klaus’s body away from the scene.

Then, she unfurled her bat-like wings to their full span, giving them a few powerful flaps before lifting off the ground. Tightening her grip around Klaus, she carried his unconscious body into the air, ascending toward the massive opening above.

Moments later, a swarm of Plague Ravagers poured into the chamber, and latched their massive pincers onto the Tyrant’s carcass. With eerie coordination, they began dragging the fallen beast into the depths of the darkness.

† †

Upon escaping from the Forsaken Cavern, the succubus had to quickly locate a safe spot for Klaus to recover. But that was difficult to do when the land was completely foreign. Simply put, the surrounding was rather strange.

It almost seemed like they were inside a sunless void.

This wasn’t an exaggeration.

Flying from above, the ground stretched endlessly beneath her, yet it felt disturbingly empty. No landmarks, no mountains, not even a proper horizon — just an endless expanse of smooth, dark terrain. The sky was no better. There were no stars, no moon, and no discernible source of light apart from the ashen sky — a result of the thick, mysterious gray fog blocking the heavens.

She had expected the outside to be just as desolate as the Forsaken Cavern, but she had truly underestimated the mysteries of the Shadow Realm.

For the next few hours, Briar flew in the air while carrying the unconscious Klaus, scanning the empty land below, searching for anything that could serve as a temporary shelter.

A cave. A ruin. Anything.

Then, after several minutes of aimless flight, she saw it.

A structure.

It was barely visible against the darkened landscape, blending into the unnatural surroundings, but it was unmistakably a beacon of hope — a lone, towering structure standing in the middle of nowhere.

The succubus instantly made her decision on their temporary base, not that she had much of a choice.

Making sure the coast was clear, Briar landed on the tall cliff, carefully holding Klaus. A sheer hundred-meter drop separated them from the ground below.

Beneath them, the landscape shifted into view; crimson trees that resembled coral, seemingly twisted, growing chaotically into one another and stretching skyward like petrified flames.

They were colossal with their irregular protrusions entwining and merging together, forming a vast, eerie labyrinth. In the sunless void, where black and red dominated the world, the reef-like forest looked more like the fossilized remains of some long-forgotten nightmare.

As far as Briar could see, the tangled expanse stretched endlessly, broken only by uneven cliffs, sudden chasms, and distant, unidentifiable structures.

Looking down for a moment to study the surroundings, the demoness soon shifted her attention to what exactly she was standing on.

The structure itself was broad in diameter, its surface smooth and flawlessly level. The material beneath her boots wasn’t rough stone but something more refined, almost polished. A few cracks ran through it, but such trivialities failed to hold her interest for long.

Glancing around, Briar spotted a small cave at the far end. Well, not exactly a cave, but a space large enough for four people to fit comfortably. Convenient, considering that was exactly what she needed at the moment.

With her mind settled, she carried Klaus towards that place. Entering the space, she placed him on the otherwise smooth surface, careful not to aggravate his wounds further.

A quick assessment told Briar that while he was still breathing, his condition remained dire. His breathing was now shallow, and the blood that had dried along his lips only hinted at the internal damage he had sustained from battling the Awakened Tyrant.

’Tch. This is bad.’

Briar bit her fingernail thoughtfully. Of course, she couldn’t let him die for many reasons.

First, if he died then she would follow suit as well. Second, if he died then she would have to explore the unknown sunless void on her own which obviously not favourably for the succubus. And lastly, she had grown somewhat attached to him, not that she would ever admit that. Her prideful nature won’t allow it.

Whatever the case, she had to figure out what to do next.

As a member of the demon race, she had all the traits of a demon which includes self regeneration, but that had nothing with healing others. Demons were beings of destruction, after all. Her Mysticism was useful for many things, but restoring a heavily injured body wasn’t one of them. If Klaus didn’t receive proper treatment soon, there was a real chance he wouldn’t wake up at all.

Her tail flicked in irritation as she considered her options.

’If only I had some Vital Essence left... Should I have absorbed some before coming here?’

A succubus could innately absorb the life force of any target as long as they made contact with their bodies, the life force of the planet included. But she had drained her reserves long ago, and what little energy she could gather from her surroundings was barely enough to sustain herself, let alone heal someone else.

More importantly, it was difficult to absorb the life force of the world and only had to accept scraps. The Shadow Realm was different from Earth and the Demon Realm; the atmosphere was thick, dull and moreover, empty. No wonder, it was called a ’dead world.’

She clicked her tongue and turned her gaze toward the entrance. Outside, the eerie stillness did nothing to ease her nerves or mind.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry. It was unlikely that the Plague Ravagers would track them here.... At the very least, no monsters should be able to track them here and the demoness even turned off the effects of her [Siren] trait for good measure too.

Sighing, Briar sat back down beside Klaus, with her wings folding against her back. For the first time in what felt like a dreadful eternity, she allowed herself a brief moment of peace.

Her golden eyes lingered on the unconscious man beside her.

Even now, even after seeing it with her own eyes, she struggled to believe what he had done. A mere Aspirant, slaying an Awakened Tyrant? That wasn’t something that should have been possible.

And yet, he had done it. Even demons would laugh and deem it as a meaningless, false story.

’Maybe... he is the person I have been looking for...’

She shook her head. No, it was too soon to start thinking like that. First, she needed to make sure he survived the night.

With that thought in mind, she shifted into a more comfortable position, keeping her senses alert for any disturbances beyond the cave. The Shadow Realm was merciless, and she had no intention of letting their hard-earned survival go to waste.

Quite frankly, it was entirely possible that they would be attacked at the very moment when both of them were at their weakest. Not like they could simply raise a white flag to an enemy that cared only about its own survival and the need to stave off starvation. The chances of any Hollow being an herbivore were close to zero, if not nonexistent altogether. Everything in this realm seemed to have developed a preference for meat and flesh.

It would be fitting to call them ordinary carnivorous animals, but that would be an understatement. These creatures possessed incredibly enhanced body functions, heightened strength, and sharpened senses, far beyond what any natural predator should be capable of.

Though Briar doubted anything could scale the structure, she wasn’t foolish enough to leave their survival to chance. Hell, there was always the possibility of a predator with wings — something that could fly just as well as she could, if not better. After all, the size of this world was unknown and could be incredibly vast.

She really didn’t want to think about that, but ignoring the possibility wouldn’t make it any less real.

The night stretched on, and eventually, Briar — who had been keeping watch while periodically checking Klaus’s condition — succumbed to exhaustion. Flying for several hours had drained her stamina, and despite her vigilance, she had inevitably fallen asleep.

It was a well-deserved rest.

Because of that fleeting moment of weakness, however, she failed to notice the presence of a humanoid silhouette that had silently appeared before the small cave’s entrance.

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