The Star Of Depravity - Chapter 13

She brought her sword above her, her eyes sparkling white light—

Then, with one breath, she lurched and sliced at any Agma that came her way.

Pieces of the monsters’ bodies flew in the air, the richness of their red blood splattering in vertical waves.

Ervin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Seo-rin had been slicing and severing several Voidspawns in one go.

A flock of Voidspawn came her way, and with a blink of an eye, Ervin watched how she marched forward—fierce, yet calculated as she’d always been.

In seconds, she managed to defeat several monsters with one straight whip of her sword. She was fast as lightning, yet lighter than air in movement.

He instinctively tore away when the auburn-haired woman touched his cheek with her good hand.

“Are you alright?” she asked, her autumnal eyebrows scrunched.

I’m not is what he’d managed to say inside his mind.

In terms of his physical body, Ervin wasn’t okay, but he knew he’d soon heal all the wounds he acquired.

But on the inside, he was dying and rotting like a corpse.

Why can’t he just find a way to die?

Then, something hit him—it was like the arrow of realization shot at his heart.

It must’ve been the reason why Zyros couldn’t tell him how he’d be able to free himself from him. Maybe the Dark Deity also didn’t know the answer as to how he’d separate himself to him—perhaps once you’ve become a vessel, you couldn’t just die easily?

His eyes fleeted to the auburn-haired woman.

“Your name?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

Then, why isn’t she healing fast?

The woman seemed like she didn’t hear what he asked. Her eyes were fixed on his healing wounds.

“You’re healing…?”

Ervin couldn’t say anything at the moment. Part of it was because he couldn’t move his injured face.

“How can that be? How can you heal so fast? My arm’s still broken.”

Ervin’s eyes darted to her badly injured arm.

“Was it that bad?” he managed to croak.

The woman nodded, “It was that bad.”

They fell in silence as they watched Seo-rin hover in the air like an angel flashing from different directions at a fast speed.

“Your name?” Ervin repeated.

.

She looked at him, her eyes bluer than ever, “You can call me Ronnie.”

Seo-rin screamed, her breathing growing intense as seconds went by.

Ervin had the impression that she’s growing tired—

How long had she been fighting these creatures?

She lurched once more, and hundreds of Voidspawn fell from the sky.

Ronnie laid him gently on the floor.

“I need to help her,” she declared. Ervin noticed the urgency in her eyes.

He didn’t respond.

He didn’t know what to do.

Fight them, Zyros’s voice reappeared again.

He almost rolled his eyes at the persistent Deity.

With a strong impact, Seo-rin plummeted, her head hitting the ground first. Her drop was so intense that the earth shook.

She laid there motionless as a rock.

What happened? Ervin fixed his eyes on her.

She wasn’t moving at all. She stayed there like she was…

“Dead?”

* * *

“Ervin!” Ronnie called.

Seo-rin lay unconscious on the damp floor.

He quickly lurched forward and dove to where Seo-rin was.

“Hey!” he tried slapping his palms on her cheeks, but Seo-rin was still as a statue.

Ronnie’s scream made him snap his head to the sky.

Seo-rin’s lying on the floor unconscious, but Ronnie was hovering in the air, fighting off the beasts that ruined Lestra. She fought with her good hand, and Ervin knew she’d soon end up being like Seo-rin if he didn’t help.

Move, you damned idiot. 

Zyros was watching him from somewhere.

Damn it! I don’t know how! 

Again, Ervin didn’t know what to do.

Then, he felt it—a spark that made him lurch his body forward.

He moved with ease—like he was being compelled by a force he couldn’t see.

What are you doing?!

Zyros gave out a dark chuckle, Making you fight. 

His hand stung, and in a blink of an eye, a dark line began materializing in his hand, then, before he knew it, a dark sword appeared in his enclosed fingers.

The sword was obsidian, and a violet mist coiled around it like a snake.

The Voidspawn plunged to his chest, and Ervin quickly severed its head with his bare hand.

Good. Now, go and help the woman. Be a gentleman. 

He’d lie if what the Dark Deity hadn’t struck a nerve on him.

The heavy breathing of his chest reached his ears, and it was the only thing he can hear for an entire minute. It reverberated like the beating of drums pulsed his veins. His left leg arched forward, ready to attack.

The sword that the Dark Deity lent him was clutched firmly in his hand that was previously severed by The Keeper.

And to think that it wasn’t even the hand he dominantly uses.

Ervin wondered why it felt light to the touch, the handle fitting perfectly on his left hand.

For now, he’d decided to help Ronnie with her fight.

And so, Ervin positioned himself forward as approaching beast-like creatures from the sky descended like a rainfall. One landed on his face, its sharp claw piercing his right eye.

With one hand, the unmoved Ervin ripped away the creature from his head. Its claws dug in his pupils, causing his blood to splatter in the air in slow motion.

There was slight discomfort, but he already managed it this time.

“These shits like to target my eyes,” he said with a groan.

It was the second time that they’ve had their way with his line of vision.

Growling, he held the monster through its spider-like limbs that protruded on each side of its body.

The beast was a combination of a crow with eyes like that of a snake’s.

Again, Ervin thought it was an abnormal mutation between two animals.

He gathered three of its arms as it squirmed within his firm grasp. He felt its shell of a skin crack as he tightened his grip on it with every movement it elicits. The sense to kill more lingered on his mind for seconds before he shook the thought away and, without an ounce of hesitation, swiftly cut off its head with his bare hands.

The infamous chuckle that he likened to the devil echoed close behind. Ervin would have a hard time changing the impression he made up in his mind about the said Deity.

You’re starting to feel it, aren’t you? It was Zyros, his voice low and tempting his hunger for being in control.

“What the hell are you saying?” Ervin mumbled as he sliced through a pathway of monsters coming his way.

He heard a slight shriek from his right side.

When he turned his head, his eyes caught Ronnie running fast above a tree’s bark—it looked as if she was walking through the air when her legs landed a sharp blow above the Voidspawn that Ervin couldn’t decipher between a Toucan and a spider.

The monsters began rushing out of the clump of trees at the other side of the swamp. Ronnie landed swiftly on the ground, huffing once. Her gaze was now focused on the incoming monsters.

Then, when she turned, their eyes met.

Her eyes were like the vast ocean Ervin had the opportunity to cross when he was in Mykonos for a vacation.

Ronnie tipped her chin down as if she was telling Ervin that she can handle herself now.

Ervin had a blank expression on his face. He didn’t acknowledge what she tried to convey.

He stepped on the monster’s carcass as he felt his veins pulsing harder, squinting his eyes into the night.

Damn it.

He couldn’t see anything. Darkness had always been naturally present without the light, and Ervin pondered if it had been wrapping itself around his heart.

He focused his gaze behind the clump of trees—the same direction as to where he suspected the monsters were coming from.

His heart pounded fast when he caught a shadow crossing the field, the alertness traveling in his muscles.

When he returned his gaze behind him—

Seo-rin? Is she gone?

Ronnie was equally out of breath as him as she dunked a monster in the water that aimed to scratch at her head.

Now, she’s standing behind Ervin, her frail back pressed against his damp hoodie.

She was in a pink shirt that was probably two sizes bigger than her usual measurements. Her pajama pants had flower patterns printed on it, and Ervin found it odd she’s able to fight despite her choice of clothing. Then again, the woman must’ve had the same clothing as before she died and got summoned to this place.

The sound of clashing blades almost made him deaf. He had unconsciously pressed his blade forward. His arms shook from the force of the unsuspected attack.

He took a step forward, burying his foot on the sand as the person in front of him pressed the blade harder until it was the only thing separating them from each other.

Recognition hit him—

Vanilla…? He thought. It was at random, but he was positively sure he’d encounter that sweet, marshmallow scent somewhere.

Ervin didn’t know why, but he remembered that smell the day he decided to end his life in the middle of a pedestrian lane.

He was fairly sure he came across it—

The smell filled his senses, overflowing like a glass that had water to its brim.

His brain wrecked whatever storage it has as he pushed forward, the person behind the shinning blade was still not visible in his line of vision, which made him wonder what was wrong.

Pink hair flew his way, the wind brewing like there was an impending storm.

“Seo-rin?”