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1251. Over Side ways
🕑 Added 2025-01-20 18:29:12 +0000 UTCWho would have thought that the swamp world was even worse than the hell world? These weird fish-hybrid demons didn't even speak the demon language at least not the one that came to greet them first.
It was not the last demon that came out from the stomach-churning orifice in the wall. Seeing Al stand aside doing nothing, Seth used the chance to play around with the cantrip of the Salamander Skin. Feeling like an action hero, he threw the first demon aside and turned to the group coming at him. Firing with both hands, he reaped a lot of knees with the dark bullet.
The blacksmith had played around with the over 40 cantrips in his spare time after he finished the item, but he found that most were either just not very useful or resembled magic he already knew anyway.
Of the ones he found useful, Dark Bullet was his favorite. The cursed fire was shot from his index finger, which made the use feel quite intuitive. The reason this was originally a cantirp, was that it was supposed to have speed, but not power. The worst it was supposed to do, was create a small cursed wound with a short DOT effect.
However, with Seth's passive skills, item effects, and the trait Kin of Fire, their power output of these tricks rose, turning many of the cantrips into actually viable attack magic. They were the ones he found useful, but the Dark Bullet was the only one he could use for now, since he didn't want to kill any of them.
He didn't know which of them could close the Hell gate, so he had to incapacitate them. the other cantrips had a good potential to outright kill these guys. Considering how powerful his actual attack magic became, the cantrip was a good method to hold back. It was just that there was seldom a need for him to hold back.
of course, he could create the same effects with <Pyrokinesis>, like when he burned the hand in the lake, but that used mental power while the bullets and other cantrips used mana. The blacksmith preferred saving up his mental power in case he actually needed to fight.
“Do you think these were all?” he asked the sorceress who watched from the side. he looked over the shore of the swampy lake, that was covered in moaning fish demons, that were crawling over the ground, either to get away or closer to attack. Not even demons could shrug off the wounds caused by cursed fire.
“Yeah, they are the only creatures with this energy signature in the vicinity. The rest are monsters like the things in the lake,” Al'Zalsar said with an unapologetic smile. Seth wanted to hold a grudge, but he knew better. Sometimes the sorceress would simply do what she liked, but if things got serious, she would be his best lifeline.
“Did you enjoy the show?” he asked her his hand on his hips. Al'Zalsar chuckled.
“Yeah, your new trick looks quite fun. Did you learn it, or is it another item? ” the sorcerers asked curiously.
“Another item. Can you help me round these up?” he pointed at the fallen demons. It was obvious that these guys wouldn't be very helpful. Even if their capital hid many unfathomable treasures somewhere on the ground of a lake, he didn't give a crap.
“Sure,” the sorceress said with a petite smile and clapped her hands. All the incapacitated demons started floating in the air and gathered into a floating ball.
These guys were not eligible for trade in his opinion, so they needed to close the gate. Since they didn't which of them knew how to close it and Seth didn't feel like interrogating them here one by one, they would take them all back to the tree.
Without another word to the demons, who were helplessly dragged along, Seth brought Vegr back out and the two returned to the tree. Since they actually weren't that far away this time, and the atmosphere wasn't filled with dust, smoke, and sulfur, they could actually see the tree.
The sapling's looming figure was massive on the horizon. Taking the group back was also a psychological move. Taking into account the kind of disaster the tree had been to other abyss worlds, the sight of the giant tree in the distance had caused the demons intense pressure.
Seth was right,. The moment the fish heads realized where they were going they started squirming inside the ball Al'Zalsar had turned them into. They were croaking and quawking agitatedly, the closer they got to the tree. Their fear was palpable.
All of it was the setup for the next step. <voice of Seth> only helped to make sure these creatures got the meaning of his words, but nothing helped him understand theirs. Since they couldn't properly communicate with these demons, they had to look for other ways.
Seth shared his thoughts with the sorceress on the way back and she readily agreed. When they got back to the “plain” that was overshadowed by the sapling of the guardian tree, Al lined up the wounded demons at the shore of the dirty lake.
How was he supposed to communicate clearly with creatures that he couldn't understand? it was simply, to skip the conversation. With a whip of his wrist, a parchment appeared in a ball of flames. the soul's contract was a creation that could be understood by anything with a soul that could be affected by it.
Unlike when trying to converse with these creatures, Seth knew exactly what they would understand upon reading the contract and could most importantly, he didn't need any other answer from them, other than signing it. Each of them got the same contract.
The contents were very simple. it offered them their life if they were willing to close the hell gate after Seth and Al left through it. Using a soul contract for this had two distinct effects. Not only would it guarantee that those who signed it would close the gate behind them, but only the demons that had the ability to fulfill the contract could sign it in the first place.
Of the 21 demons they brought, only three were able to sign the contract. this meant that they were the ones who knew the spell to close it. The others.... were allowed to leave. Much to the despair of the three who had signed the contract.
Seth could have killed the useless ones to show how serious he was about this, but for some reason, he found the expression of the fish heads when he watched the comrades flee for their lives much more pleasing.
They had signed the contract and sealed their own fate, thinking it was the only way to survive, only to realize that they jumped into the trouble on their own. After all, only one of them would ultimately be able to close the gate. As for the other two? New souls for the smithy.
“Well then, you better get to work,” Seth said with a sinister smile before he and Al got back on Vegr and flew to the Guardian Tree. They passed the gate and landed in the wooden corridor on the other side.
“You can be really evil sometimes;” Al said approvingly.
“I learned from the best,” he teased her.
They waited at the gate for a few minutes, watching the three crippled fish demons duke it out at the shore in the distance. Even if they seemed like beasts, they all realized the situation and none of them wanted to die, with their soul being snatched by the contract.
Finally, one of them managed to beat down the other two with a rock he picked up from the shore and began conducting a kind of ritual to cast the spell uninterrupted by his competitors. They watched him dance for several seconds before the gate suddenly vanished.
“By the way, what do you think will happen to the tree on the other side?” Seth asked when he got the sudden thought. The tree stood in the middle of a lake of unknown depth. Did its roots reach all the way to the ground, or was it technically propped up by the tree branch on this side?
if the connection to the Guardian Tree on this Side was suddenly cut, would the tree drop into the lake? It was a shame he couldn't see what was going on, Seeing the giant tree fall and create a massive tsunami sounded amazing.
As he was musing, he got the notification that he had reaped two new souls and that they added to his soul inventory.
“I guess we are finished here. Let's move to the next one.”
“The darkness?”
“Yeah.”
