Garden Of The Abyss

"I wouldn't call it being calm--I'm just prepared. Even so...I don't know what to expect. You can't really fit a formula to these people. They exist outside of the normal human spectrum; I wouldn't go as far as to insult humanity to liken them to these guys. They're the kinds of people I hate the most. Unreasonable. Inhuman. Maybe it's a bit rich for someone of my profession to say, but that's just the truth. They don't fear pain, death, or any fate--so they're free to unleash whatever hell they want without any consequence."

Sicarius' words made Ren quickly regret even asking, as knowing the nature of those who prowled the halls made him that much more wary; checking over his shoulder every few seconds as noses he couldn't distinguish between real or just tricks of his mind resounded against his eardrums.

"...Really, just who are they? You still haven't answered that. It's the least you can do. If I know...maybe I can be of more use--I'll know how to counter."

Ren's quietly spoken question made Sicarius fall silent for a bit as only their footsteps were primarily heard, echoing through the halls that were drenched in blood; the further they got, the more common the corpses of demons became.

"I think knowledge in this case will only have the inverse effect, kid."

"What makes you say that? I've experienced hell here. I've died--brutally and mercilessly, over and over again; that pain is still etched into my body. What makes you think I can't handle this? What do you know about me?"

His words were sharped; hearing Sicarius' reluctance to indulge him in any real information felt as if he was being treated like a child--a weakling. Hearing this, Sicarius came to a stop before turning to face Ren with his usual, blank expression present on his face.

"Huh? What is it?"

Ren asked, watching as the assassin reached for the bottom of his cloak; Sicarius gripped both his cloak and tunic, lifting it up as he revealed his bare torso to the young man.

There was no mistaking the sight of it; a thick, prominent scar stretched down the middle of the man's upper body--starting from his collar down to his pelvis.

"...What's that? Why're you showing me this?"

"This is what they're capable of. I fell into their hands once. They didn't kill me, but they did something worse."

Sicarius' words caused the young man to trace his eyes along the large scar; he still couldn't decipher what the man was trying to say to him.

"They cut you?"

"They held me down and split my chest open--all while making sure I was as conscious as could be with their magic. I was forced to watch as they rummaged through my organs as they looked like children fiddling with new toys; giggling with arms coated in crimson. Eventually, they finally decided to remove my heart. It wasn't the pain that threw me over the edge--the feeling of emptiness, of everything inside of me being revealed to their wicked eyes--I wanted to just fade away."

Even as he spoke of this, Sicarius' tone didn't change--though the abhorrent, detailed description of the horrid event made Ren feel like gagging.

"...If you don't have a heart, then how're you…?"

"I do have a heart. I didn't mention the worst of it yet. That day, I was with my older brother...they ran him through the same, inhuman process while I listened to his screams--just wishing to sink away into death so I didn't have to listen to it. I think it was a flip of the coin that decided it, but I received my brother's heart. I don't know if it was for some ritual, or just their own wicked idea of fun...but that's the kind of people they are."

Sicarius pulled his garments back down, continuing to traverse the corridor as Ren followed quietly and closely.

Just what kind of enemy are we facing…? Stay safe, everyone, Ren thought.

"These "Reverse Walker" things--you can tell me what those are, right? I think fighting those is going to be unavoidable…"

Ren asked, pressing the stoic assassin for more information as the ambiance of death grew louder around the two.

"I can't exactly tell you what they are since I'm not exactly sure myself, but they're the hounds of these bastards. They're fast and brutal; simple as that--you need to act first before they get their hands on you."

As Sicarius said this, he came to a stop, quickly raising his blades as if speaking of their existence called for the aforementioned creatures. Ren didn't notice it until a few seconds later as he watched the same direction the assassin cautiously faced; the tall, lanky creature with abnormally lengthened limbs crawled against the wall rapidly with its split tongue dragging a trail of grime across its blood-stained surface.

"Stay behind me."

"I can fight--"

"Stay. Behind. Me."

Sicarius put his foot down on any chance of the young man assisting him, preparing for his clash with the malicious, grotesque being. The narrowness of the death-painted corridors didn't help; by the size of the fiend, there was no avoiding it.

Even knowing how capable the legendary assassin was, worry inhabited the pits of his stomach as he saw the unnatural appearance of the Reverse Walker; its limbs seemed to twist and pop as if each stride forward crunched its bones.

"Watch out--!"

Ren yelled out as he watched the monstrous creature part its maw that dripped with black, thick saliva, revealing a field of jagged teeth that covered every section of its maw. As it neared the darkly-dressed man, it leaped from its spot along the wall--aiming its parted maw towards Sicarius as it could easily fit the man's head inside of its jaws.

Any worries were settled as with an unseen speed, Sicarius' steel flashed right through the middle of the fiend; parting it into two halves that landed on the blemished floor with a squelch.

"...Try not to yell like that, kid. You'll ruin my focus."

Sicarius muttered as he turned to face Ren--in that brief moment, his eyes widened, witnessing the new existence of another of the twisted, hellborn entities directly behind the young man. Before he could part his lips to call out to Ren, something knocked against the left wall.

Knock.

--In the next moment, the once luxurious wall exploded into debris and dust as something from the other side unleashed a devastating blow. By some miracle, the approaching fiend was caught up in the unknown blast.

My ears…! Ren winced.

Before he could register anything that had happened, Ren found himself retrieved by Sicarius--who tossed him behind his back as he raised his blades for another round with whatever entered the corridor.

"How disappointing. You freaks aren't even a warmup."

It was a voice very familiar to Ren's ears; witnessing a silhouette from within the obscuring nature of the sediment-formed cloud of dust.

"Jae-Seong…!?"

Calling out the most likely name, Ren pushed past Sicarius as his eyes finally met with the unveiled form of the man. No doubt, it was the shades-wearing otherworlder, and right behind him was the short, quiet Yuri.

"Huh? Is that you, Ren?"

Swiping the dust from his face, Jae-Seong looked at the white-haired young man with his usual, carefree smile as his curly locks had become layered with dust.

"You're okay!?"

"Of course I'm okay! These guys are total chumps."

As Jae-Seong responded, his gaze moved over to the tall, mysterious assassin--his expression taking a more serious fit.

"Sicarius, right?"

"Got a problem?"

The two men stood face-to-face, both maintaining their serious expressions while Jae-Seong slid his hands out from the pockets of his ashen coat.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Well, it depends: do you want a problem, assassin?"

Jae-Seong had a way of lacing his words with a certain finesse that dug right under the skin of the recipient's skin.

Though, the tense confrontation was immediately diminished as the curly-haired man's ear was pinched by the few-of-words girl tasked with accompanying him.

"Hey, hey! That really hurts!"

Jae-Seong winced as he was left to the grasp of Yuri, who looked up at him with a reprimanding glare, placing one hand on her hip.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't seem to understand the type of situation we're in."

Woah, she talks?! Ren thought.

Releasing her hold of the man's ear, Yuri inspected the walls that were painted with a coat of grimy black and crimson blood, tracing her finger along the mixture of substances.

"This is human blood."

"How can you tell?"

Ren asked, looking at the sticky, red substance Yuri had dirtied her glove with. Being on the receiving end of a stare from her, the cold gaze belonging to her eyes was unmatched—making him fall silent as if addressing a superior.

"It's an ability of mine. Anyway, why do these things have human blood?"

This time, Yuri turned her works directly to the salt-and-pepper haired assassin who was wiping the grimy innards from the fiend off of his cloak.

Looking up, his gaze met with Yuri's before answering, "I can't speak with any certainty, but I'm guessing you've reached the same conclusion as me: these things are human—or at least were human."

"Humans…? These things?"

Ren muttered, looking down at the split corpse of the blackened fiend. As expected, the ice-eyed Lucrauvian soldier wasn't much for Ren's closeness, moving herself away with a flick of her ponytail as her black, leather boots clacked against the solid ground.

"It seems this unknown group has taken hold of the building; the blackout spell they used was a territorial spell--I don't imagine these transfigured humans simply waltzed right through the front door, so they have someone in their ranks who can transport them. That's probably how they infiltrated the arena."

Yuri deciphered without any waste of time, folding her arms across her chest as Ren was left at a loss of words at how quickly the girl who seemed young of age took control of the situation.

"I'm assuming you figured the best plan of action was to evacuate the building as quickly as possible...Sicarius?"

As if forgetting the man's name, Yuri turned to face the veteran assassin who nodded his head. In the presence of the Lucrauvian soldier, even Jae-Seong put a halt to his constant quips.

"That's the gist of it. This is their domain now; we're sitting ducks in here."

"I agree; let's make it our priority then to evacuate--avoid confrontations, if possible."

Yuri nodded her head a few times as her words complied with Sicarius' instincts. Somehow, Ren expected the "lone wolf" assassin to be against raising their numbers, but Sicarius didn't contest in the slightest.

"Now, hold on."

Jae-Seong halted the group before they could traverse further down the corridor.. The Lucrauvian woman didn't look pleased to be stopped, turning back to face her curly-haired companion with an icy glare.