I move on as both halves fall behind me into the crimson sea below, raising my Mandala to block the strike of a second demon, the force of the attack throwing me off course slightly. Conjuring an eldritch whip, I lash it out, winding it around the centre of a third demon and yanking myself towards it, the whip cutting into its flesh and reorienting my path with the pillar. Closing in on it, I flip, impacting it feet first and stabbing my raised Jian through its skull, killing it.
Pulling on Jian, I rotate the corpse, aiming myself in the direction of the pillar, then jump, launching off the body and sending it flying. I hit the top of the pillar with force and roll forward to recover, stopping before the broken edge, my body leaning over it, the sunken face of a demon staring up at me giving me a little fright. Lifting Jian, I stab it down, piercing into its open mouth, its grip loosening as it dies and falls down, crashing into others below it.
A sudden impact to my back sends me over the edge, out into the open air, the sight of the hungering, open mouths of the innumerable demons floating above the blood sea below me tripping my trypophobia and causing my skin to crawl. With a shouted curse, I twist, sending out another whip, catching hold of a cliffside demon and wrenching, returning to the side of the pillar at speed, bracing myself against it and piercing Jian into it for support.
Quick movement from out the corner of my eye causes me to spin, finding a neighbouring demon swiping at my face with a clawed hand, which I quickly lean back to dodge, the attack barely missing me. I counter, reaching out with my free hand and gripping the back of its damp head, then smashing its face into the pillar, its broken teeth embedding themselves in the copper rock as it starts to shriek and its body slackens. Drawing the demon in, I hold it above me in guard then pull myself up, stepping on the sheathed Jian and using it as a springboard, jumping up.
I summon Jian to me as I land, sliding it from the rock and floating it behind me as I pitch out the demon in my grasp, the telekinesis-enhanced throw sending its body barrelling into the gathered demons, clearing space for me to manoeuvre. Taking advantage of the opening I rush to the centre of the pillar, crouching down and slapping its wide surface, sending out a wave of force that pushes the group over the edge. Hand placed, curved rune lines branch out from under my palm, covering the top of the pillar, a permanent Shield of the Seraphim forming as the runes circle its edge.
Taking a second to gather my breath and wipe my face, ignoring the scratching of the wanting demons, their forms covering every inch of the dome, obscuring the light of the black sun. Needing information on where I am and on the things attacking me I pull the severed arm of the initial demon from my Ring of Containment, its ripped flesh and forked hand twitching as I drop it on the ground in front of me, not willing to risk touching it and being contaminated.
As I cast Spirit Read on it, the connection forming slowly, the spirit of the hand begins to retaliate, projecting images of the tortures it promises to subject me to and radiating waves of pain. I pay no attention to its impotent rage and withstand the mental pain with a furrowed brow, before starting to focus, blocking out my surroundings and funnelling more of my spirit into the divination, amplifying its power, feeling it finally take hold on the arm, apocalyptic fury emanating from it as It does,
[Spirit Read
Name – Adflictator
Type – Demon (Desire, Torment)
History – A demon of torment manifested by the Appetentia, a sentient Hell-dimension that reflects and seeks the numerous desires of the countless species of the material realm, that was birthed during the torture of a young girl by a depraved Grecian man. A healing man and worshipper of Oizys, goddess of pain and daughter of the personification of the night, Nyx, he mistakenly believed that if he were to repeatedly witness the pinnacle of human pain, he would be able to develop a cure for it, removing the feeling from humanity.
This thought process shaped the essence of the demon, causing it to seek out the followers of deities with power over healing and relief, corrupting their beliefs and twisting their understanding. One such change took place a few hours ago during the massacre of a town by an enemy kingdom, when a devotee of Kivutar, Lady of Pain, was overwhelmed by the torment of his fellows, his psyche fracturing as a result, opening him up to demonic possession.
The Adflictator detected his damaged spirit and snuck into the mind of the man, disguising itself as the voice of Kivutar and leading him to mutilate himself and the surviving members of his family. The gruesome butchery was interrupted by the arrival of a master sorcerer, who attempted to exorcise the demon, only for it to overpower and capture him instead. With the sorcerer in its clutches, it carved his heart from his body with unnerving precision and replaced it with its own, hellish heart.
Sending the disoriented sorcerer on his way, uncaring of the result of its messing, the demon turned its sight on the tired invaders, luring the soldiers into unlit corners and brutalising their flesh. It proceeded to work its way through the masses slowly, breaking their minds and bodies, until there were but only a few remaining townsfolk. Its fun was interrupted a second time by the arrival of reinforcements from the Masters of the Mystic Arts, who came to kill it and avenge their comrade.
The demon charged out to meet them in the body of the possessed worshipper, intending to decimate them, when its perception was near-blinded by the desire of a sword-wielding challenger who rushed out to combat it. With glee hidden in its dead eyes, it led her in circles, tricking her into helping it complete a ritual, opening a gate to Appetentia, where it now attempts to wear her down and consume her, hoping to descend to greater depths of power.
Unfortunately for the demon, it underestimated the sorceress, who captured part of its spirit and divined its plan and twisted actions, her expression twisting in fury as she reads this.]
A deep torrent of anger rises in my chest as my eyes register the text in front of me, causing me to go to destroy the arm, before a thought occurs that sees me placing it back in my ring, a malicious smile on my face. Closing my eyes, I calm my emotions and open myself up to the realm I'm trapped in, searching for its mystical currents, then reach down to my belt and go to grab my Sling Ring, only for my fingers to pass through air. I slowly open my eyes, the missing Sling Ring not unexpected, letting out a sigh as what I worried about comes to pass.
I suspected something like was happening when the portal opened; what kind of demon doesn't know that the Masters of the Mystic Arts can teleport? If it planned to drag me into this realm, it must've either destroyed or removed my Sling Ring at some point during our fight, perhaps when it was mounting me? Or when its tail hit my back? The how doesn't matter, not right now, nor does the fact that I can't escape under my own power anymore.
After all, this is exactly the reason I pulled Thomas in with me.
His mutant power allows him to exist concurrently in two places at once, so the moment he entered this realm its imagery was transmitted across dimensions into his mind at Kamar-Taj. Even if his body here dies, it shouldn't affect the one on earth, so Yi Hye-Rin can pull the location from his memory and come rescue me. That's the jist of my hastily devised plan at least, but until that happens, I have to try and survive the neverending waves of demons, each wanting to end my life.
Looking up at the pressed faces outside the shield, their mouths opened wide, I know I need to learn what I'm up against here. While these new, winged demons are nowhere near as powerful or durable as the Adflictator, their numbers are the real cause for concern. My superhuman physique and the Chi-infused Jian makes short work of them, a quick stab to what I see as a vital point seeming to be enough to kill them, but I haven't had the time to see if they possess any sort of regeneration capabilities.
I move over to the shield, the demons following me, climbing over each other to get at me, the overlapping of their movements breaking up the light passing into the dome, then crowding near my position. Seeing their reaction, their single-minded focus on me, a potential plan comes to mind. Keeping my eyes on the cluster of demons, I stretch out one hand to them, then sprint to the other side of the shield, reaching it in under a second.
As the demons scramble, I focus on a straggler, then manipulate the portion of the shield it's touching, opening up a hole under it and pulling it in with a quick telekinetic tug. I quickly close the hole as the other demons notice and scuttle towards it, the shield cutting into, and amputating, the limb of the one that managed to reach in. Conjuring a blade, I throw it at the hand, pinning it to the ground, before hurrying to my captured demon, pinning down its chest with a foot and stabbing through its head with Jian, hopefully killing it.
Moving over to the pinned hand, I hold my ring near it and store it, then grip a leg of the dead demon and drag it to the centre of the shield, kneeling down beside it and placing my hand over it chest, before closing my eyes to concentrate. My talent in divination has been unfortunately pushed to the side for the last couple of years, what with my focusing on learning sorcery, but I've never forgotten its importance in my quest for immortality, nor how it's vital to my continued survival.
So far, I've managed to acquire three methods of divination; Stickfall, Spirit Reading, and Dream Divination. Now, with my experience with Spirit Reading, I'm hoping gain the power to discover more, moving beyond something's history, to uncovering all that it is, from its name and status, to its strengths and weaknesses. Reaching out with Spirit Read, I halt before it links and force it to divide, spreading it to every inch of the demon.
As my spirit suffuses its form, I push along more power, saturating the body, then release my control, allowing the Spirit Read to connect. I wait patiently, hoping the divination understands my intentions, allowing it to consume more of my spirit as it searches. An uncertain amount of time passes in silence, most of my consciousness concentrated on the demon, before a shiver runs down my spine, the parts of my spirit in the body changing in a way I can't perceive,
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
[Divination Method Learned – Weakness Reading: Barring entities that are inherently perfect, all things carry varying weaknesses, no matter how powerful they may be. You have learnt, while under the threat of death by demon, to discover these weaknesses, granting you the chance to defeat even the most seemingly unassailable foe.]
A small frown forms on my face as I view the notification, the resulting method helpful, but not completely what I'm looking for. Immersing myself back in my spirit, I bring it under my control and start to experiment. Recalling what I felt when this new method formed, I move my spirit back to its previous, saturated state, and reverse the feeling, flipping its direction, a surge of unearned confidence forced upon me as my spirit slots into place,
[Divination Method Learned – Strength Reading: From the smallest mote of life, to the great embodying concepts that control reality, each have their own strengths and power. From the ability to breathe underwater, to being able to extinguish the sun with a thought, or force the universe to collapse in on itself with a wish; anything is possible.
By reverse engineering the process of acquiring Weakness Detection, you have learnt how to uncover its inverse, Strength, helping you to discover any hidden powers of those you read.]
Nearly there.
Manipulating my spirit again, I reset its position, then turn it in on itself with great effort, pushing it further into the demon, trying to look deeper. Suddenly, the sensation of being watched settles on my skin, pushing through me and reaching in, breathlessness taking me as I feel something touch the deepest part of me, bile rising in my throat as it does.
Leaning forward, I support myself with my free hand and try to suppress the feeling, focusing on my breathing. I start to cycle my Chi, channelling its healing through my body, the sickness calming as I do, then sit back with relief, finding five lines of golden text before me,
[Stickfall]
[Spirit Reading]
[Dream Divination]
[Weakness Reading]
[Strength Reading]
I stare at in confusion, not understanding, before I watch with wide eyes as the lines of floating runes start to flow into each other, the text overlaying and warping. As they do, golden strings start to appear in my sight, wrapping around everything I can see, looped and pulled taut, stretching into the ether, their origin unknown to me. A few connect to the golden runes, while a series of strings join us together, with more travelling off into the distance, their destination a mystery.
I watch in fascination as the strings around me start to fade, before a flash from the runes pulls my attention back, where I see them begin to fuse together, the number of runes decreasing overtime, their golden colour lightening until only a single, white rune remains,
'道'
Dao.
The rune explodes, its particles washing over and circling me, reaching my head and pushing into my eyes. I go to shield them, placing my hands in front and blinking, to no effect, the golden specks passing through and integrating with me, my sight flashing gold. As the feeling passes, I open my eyes, finding a clarity to my vision that wasn't previously there, the scars on the demons above me sharp and detailed. The remaining golden rain flows before me, forming a familiar notification,
[Power Gained – Revelation: Guidance, Secrets, Time, Condition, and Capacity; these are five aspects of Divination that you have learned, each pointing, in their own way, to the Truth.
You have gained the ability to see, to read your subject, their deepest reaches revealing themselves them to you, no method of disguise able to hide their true form from your sight. A precursor technique, Revelation is the final stage a cultivator must comprehend before they can achieve initial entry into the Dao of Divination.
The Dao cannot be explained, only experienced, so it is up to you to discover you own way forward, any abilities you develop based on your own, personal, understanding.
Congratulations, Sarah.]
Shock fills my system, running along my nerves, as the events of the last few minutes settle in my mind. Reading the notification for a second time, I take a breath, then abruptly stand and open my mouth, eyes to the demons, shouting out in glee, "Fucking yeah!" They flinch back at my outburst, my laughter bouncing of the shield and echoing back to me, before I remember where I am. Leaning on my training, I calm down, then look at the body of the demon beneath me.
As I do, I find that I instinctively know bits of information about it, the knowledge appearing in my mind without any action from myself, nor any activation of my spirit. Another notification appears before me, so I give it a quick read, finding that it matches the new insight in my mind,
[Revelation
Name – Esurire
Vital Status – Deceased (Resurrecting)
Species – Demon (Appetentia, Hungerer)
Powers –
- Reliant Immortality & Resurrection (Realm of Appetentia)
- Omniphagy
- Flight (Wings)
- Enhanced Senses
- Supernatural Bite
- Extendable Jaw
Weaknesses –
- Insatiable Appetite
- Blind
- Limited Durability
- Fire
- Lightforce
History – A demon of gluttony birthed by the Appetentia, a sentient Hell-dimension that reflects and…]
A grimace appears on my face as when I learn that they're apparently immortal, and that they resurrect upon death, before a small smile curves upon my lips as I discover their weaknesses. I have some inkling of whatever the Lightforce is, the name sounding familiar, but I have no means of calling upon or manipulating it. But fire... I can work with that.
I can conjure and cast small amounts of elemental power with my spirit, but given my current circumstances, It's best to save it for emergencies, making it last as long as I can. Thankfully, one of the two Principalities whose power I've been learning to call on, as they've previously initiated contact themselves, displaying their willingness to commune, is associated with fire. Kneeling down, again, I start the pull the artefacts I gathered to link to the patron from my ring, placing them down around the demon.
A three-legged cauldron, another Jian, not mine, a carving of a Vermilion Bird, painted red, and finally, a small sculpture of Mount Heng. Raising the Jian, I swing it down and cut off the head of the resurrecting demon, then place it, the bird, and the mountain in the cauldron. Storing the Jian away, I pull on my spirit, conjuring an orange fire at the fingertips of my right hand then throwing it into the cauldron, chanting the name of the deity as it ignites.
After the ninth chant a small, chinese fire dragon bursts out of the cauldron in a blaze, passing through my shield without damaging it, then circles, running itself through the waiting demons, their bodies igniting as they screech in pain. The dragon looks around at its environment, a golden glean in its eyes, its vertical pupils landing on me, its branched horns radiating its divinity, before swooping down, re-entering the shield and stopping before my face.
A glint of recognition flashes in its eyes as it looks upon me, evaluating me, before it moves, draping itself over my shoulders, its head held up beside mine. It turns to me, steam billowing from its nostrils, and boops me on my forehead, a piece of knowledge slotting itself in my mind after it does, another notification showing itself and laying out the result for me to read,
[Magic Learned – Cyclic Flames of the Southern Fire God (Conditional): A blessing given to you by the Chinese God of Fire, Zhurong, who governs the South and Renewal. This magic is currently temporary, lasting until the divinity hosted in the dragon around your shoulders is consumed.
Once this happens, you can perform another, permanent ritual, offering up part of your spiritual power to Zhurong, who will hold it in his keeping until such a time that you wish for it back, in exchange for him revoking his blessing. As long as Zhurong continues to provide part of his power to you, you will be granted limited manipulation of his divine fire and immunity to its damage.
Happy hunting.]
A fierce grin slowly forms on my face as I gain an understanding on the magic of my first Principality, the dragon on my shoulders barking and baring its teeth at the same time, mirroring my emotions. Feeling for the new magic within me, I pull a spark of fire from under my skin, running it along Jian, its blade lighting up with great fire, my hair blowing as its heat stirs the air. Summoning more, I gather it in my hands, watching as it swirls and pulses.
Raising the fire, holding it above me to the waves of demons approaching, I smile, then drop the shield, exposing myself to them. I wait a tense few seconds for the demons to close in, then release, launching the divine fire at them, watching in appreciation as it washes over them, their agony-filled shrieks bouncing off the pillars, echoing far and wide, warning the denizens of the realm.
As I stand alone, baring myself to the evils of this hell, Jian burning at my side, a dragon adorning my shoulders, I can't help but wonder to myself...
Have I ever felt happier than I am in this moment?