Chapter 44: Mist of the Fallen Deep
A stinging metallic scent was the first thing Ravi noticed when consciousness returned to him.
He pried open his eyes. He recently started to believe that he wasn't drowning as his sigil's pain became manageable. But now, he was certain that he drowned in some kind of abyss.
A crimson fog drifted between jagged rock formations like thin ribbons of blood, filling the underground cavern with a faint, pulsing glow. The air felt thick … poisonous … alive. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped endlessly into a black abyss.
His head throbbed again from the Dark Sigil's pulsations. This time, it was stronger, almost unbearable. "Where—"
He tried to move—but his limbs went heavy. The ground beneath him shivered as if the earth itself was breathing.
"Ravi…?"
Waker's weak voice came from somewhere behind.
Ravi twisted his head—Waker was sprawled against a jagged boulder, half-buried in dust, his shirt torn open, the golden aura around his fingertips still flickering stubbornly.
"Still alive?" Ravi muttered with grim relief.
"Barely … " Waker groaned, clutching his ribs. "Where in the Essence are we?"
Ravi didn't answer for some time. His eyes traced their surroundings instead. "Do you know that people were unaware of Essence before the Second Great World War ... But Essence was known to people before 5000 years, which gradually started disappearing. I think this place was born from the gathering and unstability of the essence of that era ... This place is old , too old."
Waker replied sturdily, "Hey, you are a criminal! You should've supposed to leave me instead of lecturing me. I started to suspect that you are thousands of years old. How come you know so much."
Ravi replied annoyingly in a grumpy tone, "Firstly, I'm not a criminal, I was accused. Secondly, I learned about this from ancient murals I discovered near my village. Can't you use your own brain a little bit."
They weren't in the collapsed hall anymore. They fell lower—much lower. A subterranean pit beneath the cursed city … perhaps even beneath that.
That's when he heard it. Crunch.
Stone cracked somewhere ahead.
Something huge shifted in the fog. It moved with the sound of grinding metal and tearing meat.
Ravi grabbed Waker and dragged him behind a crumbled arch. The sigil at Ravi's neck burned fiercely again.
Through a narrow slit of broken pillar stone, they saw it pass—
—a Devourer unlike any above. Thirty feet tall. Hunched. Bones fused with twisted metallic rotors like limbs. Its torso split open like a ribcage alive with grinding metallic gears and black teeth. Its eye sockets spilt red steam. The thing sniffed once—
—SNORT.
—and then lumbered on.
Waker's face was pale. "That's … not a Devourer. That thing… what's that thing ... "
Ravi's voice was hoarse. "It's a Dark Devourer, and we're in their nest."
Waker replied with a twitched smile, "T-Their?"
That's when he saw dozens of similar shadows lurked within the scarlet haze. Ravi counted at least six shapes, all moving in different directions—hunting. These things were looking for something without any predictable pattern.
"Great. First, we were attacked by all the white apes of the forest. Immediately, we were chased by Devourer wolves followed by bandits that surrounded us and blocked our path. Then, we were attacked by a cursed giant white ape, and then we fell below the Astal Mountains. I don't even want to think about the horrors we faced earlier. Now this ... What's worse, could happen now?" Waker whispered.
"We can't go up," Ravi said. "And moving blind through fog full of Dark Devourers is suicidal ... Also, did you notice that we can't replenish our essence in this place."
Waker looked at him miserably, "I'm sorry that I asked you. So what? We wait here and die?"
But as they argued in low whispers, the underground tremor grew worse … and suddenly, the fog parted.
Both boys were forced to shield their eyes—something was glowing bright red and black in the centre of the cavern, far ahead.
It wasn't Essence, nor was it fire.
Something was …. moving towards them. It's more like a floating ...
Like an airborne fortress made of bleeding rubies and jagged stone — drifting silently through the red mist, its spires twisted and bleeding fog from its windows.
Ravi's heartbeat slowed. "A … castle?"
Waker's voice shivered. " … Is it alive? I hope it didn't listen to our conversation."
Amid the drifting scarlet citadel, dozens of runes glowed black across its walls—pulsing in rhythm to the cavern's heartbeat. Dark devourers on the floor snarled in fear and retreated.
Ravi's eyes turned violet for a split second, with a single white dot shining at the centre. That's when he saw it in a blurry image. He couldn't able to activate his Arringun for long due to being low on essence after continuing fighting.
Atop the floating castle's balcony …
A black-hooded figure was floating. Alone and felt motionless. Cloak like liquid night, face obscured beneath darkness.
It's exactly like the figure I saw once before … the one who never seemed to belong to any empire or faction ... on one of the ancient murals.
The figure raised a single hand, extending it slowly in their direction, towards Ravi.
And then—the castle started drifting toward them.
Waker's throat tightened. "D-Don't tell me it saw us."
Ravi's sigil flared with agony as white sparks began crawling alongside black roots across his throat. His vision blurred, the Dark Sigil violently reacting to the castle's presence.
"Waker … " he breathed, shadows flickering around his feet. "Run when I tell you to."
"And you?" Waker croaked.
Ravi's eyes were already glowing violet, his silver sword appearing in smoke.
"I'll stall it, a little bit as I could." he whispered.
The floating castle drew nearer, casting a crimson shadow over the rocky terrain below. Stones lifted off the ground as if gravity itself was surrendering.
From within the red ramparts, the hooded figure finally spoke—voice echoing like steel scraping bone: "Descendant of Umbra. Bearer of the Sigil.
You have walked far … only to stand before your fate. That Dark Sigil of yours ... Hand it over."
Ravi's clenched jaw twitched. Waker whispered, horrified, "Is it talking to … you?"
Ravi took a step forward while twitching. Sword in hand.
"Get ready," he said, as the floating castle opened its maws of red gates and unleashed a sound … like an entire continent screaming.