The Star Of Depravity - Chapter 16

He submerged his hand in the water and lifted the monster out in the sun. It screeched, but Ervin had both sides holding its entire body. The Voidspawn’s eyes stayed on Ervin for a second—

Are those tears? 

He felt confused.

It was probably the light of the sun, he assured himself.

That, or he didn’t have enough sleep.

With one pull, Ervin felt and heard the separation of flesh and bones.

He quickly threw both pieces of its body in the swamp.

Then, a shadow leaped above them, temporarily shading Ervin from the light.

Both him and Ronnie snapped their heads toward the sky.

Seo-rin ran beneath the sun’s light in one blink.

Ervin was sure she was headed to the direction of the flame.

Of course, he didn’t need to wait around.

He marched forward to where Seo-rin was headed, his eyes stinging from the heat of the sun.

Seo-rin was already rounding behind—at least she attempted to—the bark of the willow tree when Ervin stepped on the dry soil, a streak of flame burst out toward Seo-rin’s direction.

The pale pink-haired woman immediately sprang above, easily avoiding the flame.

Quickly, Ervin attempted to follow Seo-rin, but another hot flame burst from behind the tree’s bark.

“Come out!” Seo-rin lurched her sword, and within a second, she managed to pierce someone—

Ervin hurriedly ran beside Seo-rin.

She didn’t spare a glance at him.

Both of them beheld a man—

“Ack!”

Seo-rin sunk her blade deeper into his clavicle.

He looked up, his monolid-shaped eyes wide as he took in Ervin and Seo-rin’s unruly appearance.

“Stop!” he bellowed.

No one believed it; however, Seo-rin was the type of person that was easy to talk to.

She pulled her glowing sword away from the man, causing him to scream from the pain of his flesh being sliced twice.

Ervin had wondered if he, too, was a vessel. If his hunch was right, the man was most likely among the summoned ones at the Garden of Vera.

The man was in a black, baggy shirt, and his arms revealed several tattoos that looked as if it was his second skin. He had dark eyes, almost the same as Seo-rin, and his hair was cut in a clean crop and seemingly dyed in dark blue.

The guy moaned in pain as he peaked at his wounded clavicle.

Without any hesitation, Ervin brought his blade in front of him, “Who are you?”

Seo-rin ignored his presence as she took a step back, wielding her sword at an incoming Voidspawn. She decapitated it and started heading straight to where the remaining Agmas were.

She passed by Ronnie, their stares fixed at each other as if the world suddenly slowed down for a second.

Seo-rin was the first one to break their stares.

Ronnie watched Seo-rin’s figure leaping above the sky like an angel—she began stabbing at any Voidspawn that would come her way, piercing them with the end of her sword like it was the only thing she was made to do.

Seo-rin was basically a war machine with astonishing speed and swift dexterity stabbing continuously at anything that came her way.

Ervin saw her silhouette for a second, and he wondered which Deity had decided to possess her.

Lurching forward, Ronnie swiftly arrived beside Ervin.

When she beheld the man lying on the soft grass, her eyes flashed with recognition.

“I know you,” said Ronnie as she intently stared at the man’s face, making sure she saw things correctly.

Then, the man’s eyes widened, “Are you…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Both of them held their stares as if scrutinizing each other’s faces.

“Uhm,” Ronnie tilted her head, her eyes squinted, “I think we’ve met… earlier.”

Ervin kept his stony gaze on the man, his blade touching his kidney. The man had three purple spots in his body.

One was at his heart, the other two on his brain and kidney.

Seo-rin only had one, wherein comparison, this guy had three.

What does it mean? 

He knew that inflicting fatal wounds on the following organs highlighted in the man’s body can lead him to his instant death.

Ervin had read many books in his youth about how medieval knights killed their opponents immediately by stabbing them in their kidneys.

Ervin thought that it was too brutal, but he found such information useful as he stood in front of the man, his blade pressed the material of his shirt right above his kidney hidden beneath layers of skin and flesh.

He watched both Ronnie and the man, his body tensed and ready to attack, recalling that Seo-rin had aggressively come at him just a bit earlier.

Although this time, Ervin was already sure of the reason as to why Seo-rin did it.

Do they know each other? He thought inwardly.

Based on their reactions, they might have—just like him and Seo-rin.

He wondered if every vessel had someone they knew from Earth also summoned to this place.

The chance was unlikely, though, but it did happen to him and Seo-rin, which meant there was still a small percentage—there was a hint of possibility.

“The Garden of Vera,” the man said like he was out of breath.

The man then attempted to stand, but Ervin pressed his blade further, causing blood to trickle out from his shirt’s material.

“Stay where you are,” he commanded like a general on the battlefield.

The man-made an “O” with his mouth as Ronnie silently watched the man’s movements.

Raising his calloused hands, Ronnie and Ervin backed away from him.

“Wait a minute!” shouted the man, his face twisted in a panic.

Ronnie faced her palms to face the man, “Drop your hands!” she warned.

The wind made whooshing sounds from behind her; the trees’ leaves were moving toward their direction.

The man followed, but the ends of his mouth turned upwards, “You know that wind triggers the spread of fire,” the flame flickered as he opened his palms toward Ronnie, then a streak of orange and red light braided into each other as it erupted from his hands.

Ronnie immediately dropped her hands, her face terrified.

Obviously, she hadn’t thought of that—not until the man pointed it out to her.

Ervin confirmed his thoughts. The man was indeed the vessel of a Deity, and he was most likely someone that can manipulate the element of fire.

So far, he had met three other vessels. And they all embodied the main elements found in nature.

Ronnie’s was easy to guess; she was the Wind Deity’s vessel. And this man—Ervin thought that anyone who’d come across him could already guess well enough whose’s vessel he was.

His eyes darted back to Seo-rin, who washed her hands in the swamp, the ripple of water surrounding her damp clothes.

The bodies of the Agmas drifted on the water, they emanated a putrid odor, and their figures became volatile as time passed.

He lifted an eyebrow.

Was she done fighting all the remaining Agmas?

You damned man. You left the girl on her own. Zyros disapprovingly commented, to which Ervin ignored.

Ervin darted his attention back to the man. “Where did you come from?”

The man observed him for a bit before he said, “I fell.” He gestured toward the clear sky, “And I know that sounds crazy, but so does fighting monsters.”

The man sighed, “I thought you’re going to kill me…” his eyes looked solemn for a moment before he continued, “technically, I’m supposed to be dead already…” he tried smiling, but ended up leaning his bloodied head on the willow tree’s bark.

Ervin didn’t look at him as he responded, “All of us are supposed to be dead.”

Now, now, boy. Don’t feel gloomy about not dying again.

The scowl on Ervin’s face deepened. The Dark Deity did really know where to hit a nerve.

“It’s been a long night,” the man whispered in a way where Ronnie could still overhear.

The redhead inched closer to where they were, “We know. We’ve all been at the Garden of Vera.”

It’s where it all started—at the garden that served as their stopover before they were summoned to fight the monsters in Lestra.

Ervin removed his sword from the man’s side.

Like a rotting corpse, it slowly faded away from his hands. The entire material turned into ash, and the wind carried it to the bright sky ahead of them.

Ervin remained his stare at the sky despite his eyes throbbing painfully from its light.

Opening his palms, he noticed the cut he acquired from Seo-rin’s blade was already gone.

Ronnie walked limply. Then, she immediately slumped beside the man, her fiery red hair sticking out from every direction as she let out a heavy sigh. “We’ve been fighting these monsters for hours…”

The man raised a dark eyebrow, “You have? I didn’t see you from where I… landed.”

“You didn’t?” Ronnie answered. “Though, we didn’t see you around, either.”

The man looked embarrassed, “It sounds so weird saying that I’ve landed.”

Ronnie smiled a bit, “Isn’t that what happened to all of us?”

Ervin looked behind to the two of them, “Where exactly did you land?”

“I’m not good with directions,” said the man as he fixed his sitting position. “But I saw her—” his finger pointed to the direction of Seo-rin, who was still in the swamp filled with the dead Agmas.

“What do you mean?” Ronnie asked, with confusion plastered on her face. “We’ve been fighting alongside her for hours. Am I right?” she looked at Ervin for affirmation.

Ervin just stared at them unblinkingly.

The man narrowed his eyes, “Is he alright?”

Ronnie contrived a smile, “Probably not.”

“What’s his name?” inquired the man.

“I heard the other woman call him something like ‘Ervin,” Ronnie hauled herself as she dusted off her behind.

“Oh. So, they know each other, then?” the man said as he watched Ervin cross the swamp once more.

Ronnie watched him with an eye like that of a hawk—something didn’t look quite right when Ervin headed straight to where Seo-rin bathed.

“What’s your name, by the way?” the man attempted to stand, but the pain on his stomach resurfaced.

Looking back at him, Ronnie lifted his arms and slid it on her shoulders.

She noticed that he was at least three inches taller than her, which was quite tall, considering that from where she came from, she was already above average in height.

“You can call me Ronnie,” she flashed him a smile.

“I’m Ri,” he answered back. “Is Ronnie some sort of a nickname? Sorry for this. I shouldn’t be burdening you.”

Ronnie gave him a half-smile, “Oh, no worries. You wouldn’t mind calling me by my nickname, right?” the freckles on her face highlighted her doll-like features as they walked to where Ervin and Seo-rin stared at each