Chapter 98: Kutur and The Journey

After saying our goodbyes to Lee, Sera, Arthur and Mary, Theodore and I started walking toward the so-called palace of Culex.

None of them had made a speech. Sera had only given me a look, the kind that said do not die, and Mary had given a small nod. Arthur had waved far too enthusiastically for someone sending us toward a monster. I carried those goodbyes with me, and they were heavier than they looked.

As we walked, I turned my theory over in my mind.

’Culex. Most likely an affinity tied to vampires.’

It was only a hypothesis, but it fit too well to ignore. It explained his appearance, and it explained the strange abilities that Lee talked about.

Hence, before we left, I had taken some purifying charms from Sera. I did not know whether they would work. I only knew that walking into a vampire’s home without them would be foolish, and I had enough foolish ideas in this plan already.

I also touched the locket resting against my chest.

I had already turned the Vial of Fate into a good luck charm instead of using it to make a Time Card. The reason was simple. I had neither the time nor the power to explore the soul world at the moment. The charm, at least, could help right now.

The system had named it the Serpent of Luck.

A Sovereign rank gift.

Powerful, certainly. Yet the ichor of Fate itself was a mythical rank gift, so the charm stood one rank beneath its source. It was a strange feeling, holding something so valuable and knowing it was only a shadow of what it came from.

The negative affect it carried was that a person would become obsessed with it overtime.

’Still, luck is luck. I will take every drop of it.’

Soon we reached the mountain, and the ground changed beneath our boots. The soft, wet swamp gave way to cold stone, and a path wound upward toward the palace, narrow and patient, like a tongue waiting for something to step onto it.

"Hey Edmund," Theodore said, breaking the quiet. "How much time do you think it will take for our plan to get completed?"

"I don’t know," I replied truthfully. "Probably a day, one week, or maybe even a month. Who knows."

He nodded slowly, as though he had expected nothing better. I did not blame him of course. It was an answer without comfort. But I would rather give him an honest uncertainty than a pretty lie.

The path here was made of ruins.

Broken walls leaned against each other like tired old men. Crumbled doorways opened onto nothing. It looked as though people had lived here once. If I looked closely, I could even find small round holes dug close to the rubble, neat and deliberate, as if they had once served as a water pipeline.

The thought sat strangely in my chest. The silence made it worse. A place with such houses and things should have been full of noise, of voices and footsteps and fires. Instead there was only the wind, dragging its fingers through the empty stone. Of course, what could a person expect from Realm of The Evil other than this.

I kept walking.

After some minutes, we reached an area that was flat and open, and before us rose a flight of stairs leading higher up the mountain. The steps were greasy, slick with something dark and slimy that shone dully in the grey light. I stepped carefully, not wanting to slip.

Then I noticed the problem... A stair was missing.

Right in the middle of the flight, one whole step simply did not exist. There was only a gap, a hungry mouth in the stone. We would need to jump over it, otherwise we would fall to the area beneath.

I peered over the edge.

The area beneath awaited nothing but death.

’Well, it is not that dangerous.’

I frowned. That was not entirely honest. It was not a bottomless pit, and I doubted anyone would die from falling here, but the darkness below looked far too eager. Perhaps I was being meticulous. Perhaps I had simply grown tired of surprises.

Theodore did not hesitate. He stepped back, took a short run, and jumped over the missing stair, landing neatly on the other side.

At that exact moment, I heard it. A painful screech from above.

It was raw and ragged, the sound of something in agony, or something that wanted others to share it. It scraped against the inside of my skull, and every hair on my arms stood on end.

I moved without thinking, vaulting the gap and landing beside Theodore. We both got on our guard, our shoulders tense and breath held.

Neither one of us spoke.

Slowly, we walked toward the source of the sound. Each step on the slick stone felt louder than the last. My heart was beating hard enough that I was certain whatever lay ahead could hear it.

The stairs curved, and the ruin opened into a wide, shattered courtyard. The sky above was a dull grey sheet, and beneath it, something large moved.

Screech!

It launched itself toward us.

An unorthodox creature the size of a bull, wings spread wide against the sky. Dark and ragged, it crashed through the air with a force that made the wind howl. Its horns curved forward like cruel scythes, and from their tips, blood seeped through, slow and thick, dripping onto the stones below.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

[You Are Looking At A Beast Horror: Kutur]

’F*ck.’

The word echoed in my head, loud and clear and entirely sincere.

It was a Beast Horror. Not a Feral Flesh. Not some mindless thing that wanted only to chew on my boot. This was something with weight, something with intent, something that had shed blood long before we arrived.

My pulse thundered in my ears.

For a single, suspended heartbeat, I felt every instinct in my body scream at me to run. Then I swallowed it. Running would only turn my back toward those horns, and I had not come this far to die with my spine exposed.

I quickly composed myself.

’Breathe. Think. Act.’

I thrust my right hand forward, and the air shimmered. Heat gathered along my fingers, crawling up my wrist, and Breathing Fire Glove materialized around my hand in a flash of crimson light, warm and alive, humming like a furnace waiting to be fed.

Kutur dove.

Its shadow swallowed the courtyard. Its wings blotted out the sky. Those horns were aimed straight at me, blood trailing behind them in thin, spinning threads.

I pointed my palm directly at it.

"Burn."

Whoom!

Flames shot from the glove, a roaring torrent of orange and gold, wide enough to fill the entire sky between us. The heat rolled across the courtyard in a violent wave, searing my face, cracking the cold air, lighting every ruined wall in blazing color.

The fire struck the creature head-on, and in an instant the flames enveloped Kutur.