As he was travelling to the second portal when he received a message from Phoenix that Jack and Margarett had arrived at Bastion City. He smiled, knowing they had made their way there on their own, instead of teleporting.
He sent a quick reply, sending his regards, and focused back on the task at hand. Silent Light trailed behind him, acting as a mobile miasma repellent, as they trudged to the next portal.
This one was located in a deep valley, flanked by cliff sides on each side of it, looking almost like the grand canyon, only deeper. When they entered the valley, through one of the ends, the miasma's thickness suddenly became almost opaque, and they had to stick close to each other lest they lose sight of one another.
Losing long-distance sight like this was unsettling, to say the least, but it was easier than the second thing that happened. After walking about two hundred meters into the valley, the wind stopped blowing, and everything became eerie.
The only sound both players could hear was the crunching of the gravel beneath their feet, and their heavy breathing, as they continued forward. Astaroth was thrown off by the presence of creatures, or lack of, to be exact.
If he remembered what Kloud had once told him about the forest and its areas, this used to be a breeding ground for the blood bats. But now, nothing was present at all.
"Keep your eyes peeled, and your ears perked. Something is wrong."
Silent Light nodded his head vigorously as he clutched his mace tighter in his right hand. When he tried sending his senses outward, all he was met by was the overwhelming demonic presence that suffocated him.
So he didn't try that again, as he broke into a heavy sweat.
Astaroth restrained a chuckle. He understood what had happened to the teen, as he had almost the same thing happen to him when they entered.
Luckily for him, his mana sense was much more developed, and he could pierce through the veil of demonic mana everywhere around them. But there was nothing more beyond it, and that was what was troubling him.
As they moved further ahead, they eventually found the portal, which was spewing miasma in high concentrations, like a witch's cauldron. No enemies were around, and it was almost suspicious.
But as Silent Light started sealing the portal, Astaroth kept on high alert, his head spinning periodically in every direction. Nothing came.
The portal closed, but the miasma already present never receded. This was strange since the miasma in every other location always dissipated soon after the portal closed.
But not this time. It stayed, thick as before, lingering like the morning fog on the coastal towns of Nova Scotia, in early summer. If it wasn't for the persistent feeling of dread it emanated, the scene might have been enchanting.
But they wouldn't stick around long enough to know when it receded. Astaroth tapped Silent Light's arm, signalling they had to leave.
"The next portal I know of isn't so far away. But we'll have to fly out of here. Taking the long way out would stretch our journey."
"Urgh. Do we have to? I hate being carried like a princess. It makes me look so uncool…"
Astaroth stifled a laugh.
"Kid, it's just me and you here. And I won't say a word to anyone else. How do you think I look when I carry you like my gay bride? But it's the fastest way."
Silent Light grumbled under his breath but eventually nodded his head reluctantly.
After melding with Morpheus, Astaroth grabbed him behind the knees and back, and lifted off, while Silent did everything in his power to look away from his winged taxi provider.
But Astaroth had lied to him, partially. He wouldn't say a word about it, but that didn't preclude him from taking a screenshot of his vision, with the mad-blushing face of Silent Light in his arms.
He sent it to Phoenix discreetly, telling her to keep it for herself. The relationship between his girlfriend and this teen still mystified him, by its nature, but he didn't care.
He felt like the relationship between Phoenix and Silent resembled the one he had with Violette. One closer to sibling attention than actual friendship.
He received a thumbs-up emoji, followed by the words 'Thank You', and giggled internally.
'She is going to pester him about this for the rest of his life. Poor kid, hehe.'
After exiting the gorge they had been in, the wind of fresh air ruffling their hair and clothes felt great. They no longer felt like they were trying to breathe through a straw with every breath, and both boys sighed in relief.
But their troubles weren't over.
The next portal was close by, and Astaroth knew for a fact that this one would be much more troubling to deal with. Spreading his mana sense as far as he could, he could already sense it from here.
All the mana signatures surrounding the one large blip of demonic mana.
He hadn't even known this was a possibility until he searched for the portals the first time.
The third portal he had located, had opened up in a small village, and from how many mana signatures there were around it, it had spared no one.
The entire village had been corrupted.
The first time he spotted it was shortly after he learned the cleansing spell with Aether, and he had been hopeful about it. But something came to his attention not long after that killed his mood on the matter.
Every monster he had cleansed the day before, which had crawled away from the settlement, with tired bodies and even more fatigued minds, had died not even twenty-four hours later.
Their cause of death. Acute exhaustion.
Apparently, their bodies had been under strain for so long, due to the demonic mana holding them in a constant state of overload, that even when he cleansed them, it was too late.
Thinking about the possibility that no matter what he did for those Ash Elves, they would die, left a sour taste in his mouth. He took it upon himself to warn Silent before they reached the village.
"Silent. I have something to tell you."
"Hmm? What's up?" the teen asked, turning his head toward Astaroth.
The gloominess on Astaroth's face was an instant red flag.
'Crap. What is it now?' he thought.
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