The illusion began to shake. The sky cracked and pieces began falling. The beautiful meadow began disintegrating into dust, leaving nothing behind.
The scene before me evolves into something entirely different. Everywhere is black and the ground only has black rocks and pebbles, no wildlife is seen anywhere. The air became musty and dry, soot filling my nostrils with every breath. The sky was only illuminated by some fiery glow in the distance, perhaps a volcano or a massive fire.
But perhaps the most disturbing thing of all, this was a place I remember. It is almost too similar.
This is hell.
The final battleground where I fought and died against Ezekiel, and the place where I was to be crowned demon king. This sense of deja vu makes me want to throw up.
As I try to scout around for any signs of Avesta, I notice how eerily quiet my surrounding is. Hell should have demons everywhere. Something is not adding up.
I quickly run to the light in the distance. It's the only place where I can gauge the situation and save Avesta.
After a few miles of running, the light started getting larger and larger. Only then did I finally hear demons. It seems to be a small demon outpost. In the middle is a massive bonfire, perhaps due to a ritual or something of that sort. I slowly creep behind a tent and listen in on the conversation. Due to my previous life, understanding demonic language was not an issue.
Demons and angels as different races also have their language, but all awakened learn as many languages as they can as it's often crucial when doing dungeon raids. The process takes many years but eventually, humankind had obtained an advanced understanding in over 100 languages across different races we met.
The system also seems to understand that I can comprehend the demons. Just as I started listening in on their conversation a notification popped up.
||Language proficiency increased!
Demonic Language
Lv.0 -> Max
Intelligence +5||
Looks like I can bring more of my knowledge from my past life and use it to increase stats. My attention went back to spying on the demons. Most of them appear to be lesser demons, the weakest kind. Even so, it would still be a struggle for me to fight them. Just one is stronger than the lizard I fought in the F-rank dungeon. This C-rank dungeon is really no joke.
Furthermore, there is also one half-demon. Half-demons are often outer species who have either interbred with demons or been demonized, giving them horns and other noticeable traits. Half-demons are usually only formed when the demons want to have access to a superior gene-pool. This half-demon seems to be the running the outpost. From his looks he seems to be a mix of a centaur and demon. He isn't someone I can mess with.
"Sir Half-Demon, the ritual is almost complete. With the addition of this human's unique ability, your strength will be beyond anyone of your peers!"
The half-demon coldly looks down. "And when exactly will we be done? We cannot let anyone else find out what we are doing!"
"As soon as we finish extracting some blood. The human's skin seems frail so we have to be careful in order to preserve-"
"Did I ask? I want this human's body right now. I don't care if you break its arms to get it. GET IT DONE!"
"Y-y-yes Sir Half-Demon! We'll get it done right now."
As the lesser demons quickly ran off, I quietly followed. Following the half-demon is far too risky, if I got discovered I would be likely dead, and Avesta's safety is my priority right now.
The lesser demons ran around the massive bonfire. As I follow them around a bend, they just disappeared from my view. In this massive fire, there was a small path leading to the center. That must be where Avesta is held.
I looked around some more and found that there is only one entrance. The fire is too hot to cross through at my current level. All I can do is pray that they did not do anything to Avesta yet.
After a while the demons came out again, discussing.
"Are you sure you used all your might? It looked like you weren't even trying."
"I'm telling you I really did smash it as hard as I could. It didn't do anything!"
"Looks like we need to get Sir Half-Demon to do it himself. We are too weak."
When they left, I snuck into the middle of the bonfire as fast as possible. If anything happened to Avesta, I don't know how Aldrich would react. I've already lived a second time, and yet it's so difficult to have things go my way.
The scene is horrifying. A giant container like building is in the middle of the bonfire. There is no door so I immediately see what is inside. Several tables laid around the walls. An assortment of metal surgical tools and what I think are torture devices littered on the table and hung on the wall. In the middle lies a small body strapped to a wooden table. Even though there is a bag over her head, I can tell it's Avesta.
I run over to the table to inspect the straps. Avesta hears this and starts crying. I quickly try to calm her down.
"I'm a human, so don't be afraid. I'm here to save you."
Thankfully there aren't any magic spells placed on the bindings and I easily removed the ropes around Avesta. However, for the sake of not scaring the girl, I decided to keep the bag over her head.
"There are some monsters here that are very scary that I don't want you to see."
Avesta vaguely nods her head and stayed silent. Even if I save her, this experience will probably leave a permanent scar on her in the future. I need to make sure she doesn't need to go through more.
Avesta is surprisingly light. I carried her on my back and ran out of the bonfire. The demons still had not come back, clearly trying to discuss how to deal with her. Too bad she's being snuck away right under their noses.