"A shortcut, huh? Let me think..." Williamsk lowered his head, carefully considering. "The main road through the mountain winds quite a bit, and you're bound to run into monster ambushes. But if it's a shortcut you're looking for, there is a slope I know of. It's a bit rough, but definitely faster. Only issue—it runs along a cliffside, and there are a lot of Rockfangs prowling the area."
"That's good enough." Zhao Heng nodded, then turned to Kaelin. "Time for your performance."
"Performance?" Kaelin blinked, then immediately caught on. "Ohhh, got it! Leave it to me!"
Mo Yan suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
"Wait... you don't mean—"
Zhao Heng stayed silent. That silence was all the confirmation Mo Yan needed.
As the familiar sound of Kaelin's battle anthem blared, she summoned the military-grade off-road vehicle from her ring. This time, she wasn't just speeding—she was overloading.
With everyone packed inside, Kaelin hit the gas and blasted toward the cliffside slope Williamsk had described. Every monster in their path was either flattened or sent flying. Even Williamsk couldn't help but admire it.
"Whoa, this iron beast packs a punch!"
"At this pace, we'll be there in no time," said Williamina, sitting sideways in the back seat with one hand casually resting out the window.
"Darn right! Everyone hold on tight!" Kaelin whooped.
And with that, she floored it to over 200 km/h, hurtling up the steep cliffs toward the mountaintop.
BOOM!
The vehicle soared off the edge and landed with a thud on a plateau. Before Kaelin could even park properly, everyone leapt out in a daze.
"This the place?" Kaelin asked, then quickly recalled the car back into her ring.
Williamsk nodded. "Yeah. No mistake. I can feel it... there's a strong, malevolent energy here."
"But there's nothing here," Kaelin said, arms crossed, glancing around. The plateau was empty and eerily quiet—like the final showdown spot in a wuxia novel.
Just then, Zhao Heng stumbled forward, hand on his forehead.
"Forgive me, Lord Evilbane... please keep this between us..."
The memory was sharper now—darker, deeper. The stone walls in the vision were much taller than what was around them. That meant… this plateau likely concealed another space entirely.
In the memory, Williamnir had shed his physical form, becoming a spirit wolf, then ascended into the sky and fell back to the mountains like a shooting star. And this plateau… it might just be the place where his spirit had landed.
"Zhao Heng, did you see something again?" Mo Yan asked.
Zhao Heng didn't answer. He stepped to the center of the plateau, knelt, and brushed the dirt aside. A faint pattern began to emerge—an arcane diagram etched into the stone.
"An octagram?" Tianlang narrowed his eyes. "This is a primary sealing sigil... To find one here—"
Before he could finish, the pattern beneath their feet flared to life.
WHOOSH!
A vortex of magic opened, sucking everyone in.
Dizziness washed over them. When Zhao Heng opened his eyes again, the scenery had changed—this was the very place he had seen in the vision.
"...So this is it."
"Hey! You guys, come look!" Kaelin suddenly shouted.
They rushed over—and froze in place. Before them lay the massive skeletal remains of a beast: at least 3 to 4 meters long and a full meter tall. Judging by the weathering, the bones had been there for centuries.
"These... these are the ancestor's remains!" Williamsk exclaimed, voice trembling.
Kaelin turned in shock. "Wait, you mean this is Williamnir?!"
Williamsk nodded firmly. "Yes. Among our kind, only the ancestor's beast form was ever this large. And only he had the ability to fully shift between man and wolf."
He dropped to his knees before the bones.
"Ancestor... I don't know what truly happened that day, but I swear—no evil shall be allowed to defile this place. Rest in peace."
His sorrow was raw and deep. Kaz and Nina soon knelt beside him in solemn silence.
Meanwhile, Kaelin had wandered to another part of the area and called out again.
"Tianlang! Uncle Williamsk! Come look at this!"
She stood before a glowing platform. At its center was a stone, pulsing with a dark light. It was surrounded by six crystalline pillars arranged in a hexagonal formation, sealing it in. Beneath the stone sat a black box radiating an ominous aura.
"This power..." Tianlang frowned. "Could it be… a seal placed by Evilbane or Williamnir?"
Everyone gazed warily at the box at the platform's center.
Suddenly—
CRACK!
The black box trembled. Then, a surge of unstable energy burst forth.
BOOM!
The six crystal pillars shattered simultaneously.
"What the hell's going on?!" Kaelin shouted, stepping back.
Everyone scrambled for cover as the seal ruptured. The central stone exploded into dust, and a dimensional rift tore open in the air. The black box disappeared into the void.
"Grrrh..."
A deep, hoarse voice echoed from the rift. Then—a dark humanoid figure began to float out.
It had two pairs of arms, a metallic halo behind its back, and wore armor that gleamed black like obsidian. It resembled both warrior and sorcerer—every inch of it screamed danger.
"...The Deep Sinner!" Tianlang shouted.
Kaelin's face paled. "Wait—that ugly thing is the Deep Sinner?!"
The creature stretched its four arms as if waking from a long sleep. An invisible wave of dread swept out from its body.
"Hahh... 500 years. Finally… I am free!" it exhaled gleefully, then looked around. "Oh? Unexpected guests... especially you. That familiar scent… could you be—werewolves?"
Its glowing eyes locked onto Williamsk, Nina, and Kaz. Williamsk stepped forward and pointed directly at it.
"You're the one—the demon our ancestor gave his life to seal! I don't care who you are. Today, I will end you!"
"Ancestor…?" The Deep Sinner paused in recognition. "Ahh... so fate brings us together once more. He tried so hard to bind me, and now his descendants stand in my way again."
Its lips curled into a sneer. "Fine by me. Past and present… I'll settle all my debts today. The werewolf bloodline will be erased."
"Tch. Come try if you've got the guts!"
With a roar, Williamsk transformed into his wolf form once more.
"Everyone, protect the shopkeeper! Kaz, Nina—we fight together!"
"Right!"
The battle began.
Williamsk charged headfirst. His claws slashed toward the demon's skull.
But the Deep Sinner didn't dodge.
Two hands crossed over its chest, channeling dark energy, while the other pair hurled two black lightning spheres toward Williamsk.
The spheres arced—missing directly—but landed at his feet.
BOOM!
Electricity surged outward, triggering a chain reaction that blew apart the surrounding terrain in a storm of chaos and shadow.
To be continued in Chapter 20: Demon of the Abyss
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