The Final Protectors

Chapter 10: Abyss Dhole Part 1

“I can mend the damaged areas of the Barrier’s core,” Archbishop Aldo said. He behaved as though he was discussing a trivial matter. No anxiety can be seen from his face as he gently spoke in his tomb room. “This is not difficult. The real problem is the energy that the Barrier is slowly losing. I, too, have no solution for it.”

Sculler coughed. It was already very difficult for his deteriorating body to support the energy of the Barrier’s core. “May I ask… what exactly is the energy supporting the Barrier?”

“The energy of the Darkness.” Archbishop Aldo led the three out of the tomb room. The ancient, heavy door slowly closed behind them.

“The what?”

“You didn’t mishear me. It’s the energy of the Darkness,” Aldo said, “The high-ranked Derots killed in the fight with the Black Robes accumulated an unmatched amount of Dark energy, which supported the exterior of the Barrier. Its interior consists of a net formed by 770 Defensive spells. It took decades to complete the primary construction stage. What supports the core of the array of spells makes up the Barrier’s core.”

“How is that possible? That makes no sense!” Roy knitted his brows together. “How could we use Dark energy to resist against the lifeforms of the Dark dimension?”

“Low-ranked Derots are only ordinary monsters. The higher the rank of the Derot, the higher their intelligence. To them, the dirty, hatred-filled air brought by the deaths of their race is very terrifying,” Mr. Good answered his question. “I believe this is the reason higher-ranked Derots find it difficult to penetrate the Barrier in all these years. Their high intelligence would make them instinctively avoid danger.”

“However, where should we find a sufficient amount of Dark energy?” Roy asked.

“Capture the Derots that escape the net,” Aldo said. “Then, bring me the parts that contain the most energy. The stronger, the better.”

They all knew that the Derot part with the most energy did not refer to the parts they attacked with. It usually was the part that it loved to feast on the most, such as the hearts of Abyss Dholes and the throats of Dark Elves.

“In addition.” The golden-haired man in white robes turned around. “I am a man who has died for a thousand years ago. I am not fond of seeing living people often. If possible…”

Mr. Good understood him. “Please rest assured. No matter if they are tourists or our own people, they will not disturb you without a reason.”

Aldo bowed slightly, answering motionlessly, “I’m very grateful.”

Jel suddenly remembered the man in his house who only wished he could shove his head into all the machines. He could not resist from asking, “Do you… not wish to see the outside world?”
The corners of Aldo’s mouth tugged. Smiles seemed to be eternally incapable of staying on his face. Even if it flashed past his face occasionally, it would be a fleeting one too.

“Thank you. However, there is no need,” He spoke. “If you walk straight from the exit in front of you, you will be able to leave this place.”

“Your Grace, I still have a question,” Mr. Good suddenly spoke up. “Were you the one who wrote the line, ‘Ten years akin to eternity’ under your statue? Was it an instruction as a deceased to enlighten your predecessors?”

Aldo stilled. In that instant, a change finally occurred to his composed expression. His brows trembled ever so slightly, his gaze staring into an unknown place.

“No.” He only answered after a good while. “There is no particular meaning. Just, someone had once loved me for ten years. I betrayed him, and lost him forever thereafter.”

It was the only genuine thing I ever had in my life, yet…

Aldo did not voice these words and only waved his hand in dismissal. A door that originally did not exist suddenly appeared on the wall on his left. The man politely nodded at them before he pushed open the door and walked in. Then, he vanished together with the door that suddenly materialized… as though they had ever existed before.

And the Abyss Dhole’s heart that he required was currently on the run because of an injured man and a novice.

Probably to increase his courage, Evan turned on the volume. An agitated symphony instantly burst forth, making the two in the car jump out of their skins, nearly causing a traffic accident—he truly did not know that Advisor Jel still had such an… elegant interest.

John stared at that small black box for a while, asking, “There’s someone inside?”

“No, no, no, this is only a CD.”

While in hot pursuit, the instruction on the ubiquitous knowledge and workings of media players once again began. John sighed in admiration at the disc taken out of the small box. “The parts that refract the light can’t be touched, can they? If I touch them, would I erase the sounds inside?”

“…As long as you don’t scratch them hard with a sharp object or your fingernails.”

“Wah… Something that can contain sounds.” Even if Evan explained that John did not have to be so cautious, John still very carefully pinched the circular center of the CD with two fingers, turning it around repeatedly for a while. Then, he cleared his throat, telling the CD, “My name is John. John Smith…”

“…” Evan asked, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to record my voice,” John replied innocently.

Numbed, Evan turned his head back, facing the front to drive in concentration—once he remembered that he was immediately going to catch an Abyss Dhole with this guy, he felt that his future was so completely dark that he practically can’t even make out his fingers.

Perhaps, on this date next year, it would be my one year death anniversary, Evan thought miserably, As a hunter who died on the first day of his internship, I’ll probably be immortalized in the history books.

John patted his shoulder. “Hey, hey, I see that girl. She’s in that even bigger ‘Bread’ from before.”

“Compared to Bread,” Evan spoke with a crying face, “We’re more used to calling it a bus.”

“Who cares what it’s called.” John softly recited an incantation that Evan had never heard of. The surrounding air immediately changed, with a deep green as sticky as a swamp’s algae floating upwards.

“Woah!” Evan jumped in shock.

“I materialized the Abyss Dhole’s scent. The green parts are the stench that it left behind. Follow it.” John narrowed his eyes at the deepest part of the dense fog. He asked carelessly, “What? I remember this is one of the 16 basic incantations.”

“No… No, we’ve never learned that one before,” Evan said, “We have detectors now. If we press it, it shows us related information of the Derots and their possible locations.”

John tore his gaze away from the girl sitting by the window of the bus. He asked with glittering eyes, “Really? Where is it?”

“There’s no way I could have it, alright, Sir?” The thick fog visible only to the two of them was already about to envelope their car. Who knew if it was his imagination but an ominous ashen shadow seemed to flash past him. Evan’s face turned as white as a ghost’s. The result of his terror-stricken state was that he miraculously stopped stuttering. “Interns are not permitted to go on assignments alone. I don’t have the qualifications to own a detector.”

“Oh, how regretful.” John was a little disappointed. But he said in reassurance, “But you can imagine me as a detector, and use me as a replacement.”
“That would need a crazy amount of imagination, Sir—But thank you for your reassurance.” Evan was silent for a while before he spoke with a tremble, “I feel slightly better now.”

The bus reached a stop at a certain park. The girl by the window got off along with other passengers Evan parked in the parking lot and happened to walk past the girl. Like a marionette, she walked forward without noticing a thing, her blank eyes reminiscent of the dead’s.

“What happened to her?” Evan asked quietly.

“Side effects of the Abyss’s Eye.” John sat in the car without moving, watching as the girl walked past them. In the algae-like green fog that was so dark it was almost black, a few streaks of red suddenly appeared. Like Moses parting the sea, it cut open the thick fog and wrapped itself around the girl’s hands and feet, guiding her towards the park.

“And wh… wh… what is that?”

“The Abyss Dholes’ tableware,” John answered without even turning his head. “You can think of it as your own fork and knife.”

A bizarre sucking in of a breath came from Evan’s throat.

“Get out of the car and follow me.” John lowered his voice and curtly commanded. Then, with a flourish, he pushed open the door firmly…

It didn’t open.

Evan, “…”

John, “Why can’t I open this thing?”

Evan gave up and pulled on the hard brakes, helping him open the door. Inwardly, he had already accepted that he could not see tomorrow’s sun anymore.

“Oh, right, hang on.” John pulled out a newly-bought jacket from the backseat,  and twisted open a bottle of mineral water. He moistened his finger and deftly drew a symbol on the jacket.

The study of spells was extremely profound. The majority of the ancient spells were already lost to time and the modern study of spells had already dwindled to mere lectures on theories and simple applications. Evan’s eyes stared at John’s agile fingers unblinkingly, mesmerized. “I’ve never seen this spell before.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t need this. It’s just to hide certain objects,” John said, wrapping the spell-drawn clothes around himself as he said simply, “Follow me.”

There were not many people in the park. Only some elderly on their walk, students in their still-life drawing classes and a few couples. Other than the forest made up of plants which were constantly green throughout the seasons , the rest of the park looked a little desolate.

Since it was nearing December, the workers were already putting up Christmas trees by the road. The girl passed by them as though she saw nothing. A boy sawing a pine tree whistled at her.

“Lassie,” He said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t go to the lakeside. The wind blowing from the lake would make your nose run!”

The girl turned a deaf ear to him, and the boy shrugged in disinterest.

Yet, there wasn’t just one crazy person today. Less than three minutes later, two men came too… One of them was even so nervous that his limbs on the same side were moving in unison.

“It’s definitely this damned gay’s first time fishing.” The boy muttered to himself as he climbed up the wooden ladder, beginning to wrap colorful lights on the peak of the Christmas tree. “Look at how idiotic he looks. Who knows where the hell his butt is swinging…”

The two men were already a distance away, but that man beside the idiot moving his limbs in unison suddenly turned his head. An ash-colored hat  pressed down on his long, soft hair, preventing the wind from blowing the strands into a mess. A pair of dark green eyes, as dark as lakewaters, peered out from under the hat, and happened to meet the boy’s eyes.

For some reason, the hand the boy held the lights with suddenly froze.

  Then, the green-eyed man revealed a wicked smile. He did not even have the time to understand the situation when he suddenly heard a crunch beneath his feet. Shocked gasps erupted beneath him, and he dropped down immediately. The support frame under his feet had broken into halves since God knew when.

The boy lying on the ground screamed, shouting all of a sudden, “My teeth, my teeth!”

A number of people surrounded him, watching him dumbfounded—his teeth had turned into neat rows of chocolate that were slowly melting along with the temperature in his mouth… The melting even exposed the peppermint stuffing!