The Ashen Keeper

Chapter 87

She reached the bottom and looked around. It was ... dark ... she supposes. There was almost nothing on the ground here. She held her hands up and lit a small flame to ensure better visibility.

It did not work. All she could see was still a pitch-black void and nothing else. She could only tell what she is standing on using the flame as a light source. The 'ground' of the Abyss it seems was floating above a cobblestone.

Truly baffling just like the Abyss. She did not what kind of air she was breathing. The only thing keeping her company was the Hun dun she brought from the surface world.

She has no knowledge regarding the Abyss for the Abyss itself blocks her from accessing the required knowledge. They were mortal enemies. The only being aligned with fire who has seen the Abyss in its entirety was the great knight, Artorias.

Just then, she felt as if she was hearing some sort of music. She concentrated again to find the source of the sound was gone. Instead, something appeared in front of her. It was a most strange being.

Just by seeing the being, she recognized the music. If anything, other than her were standing here, they would have been dead in an instant.

It does not matter how powerful you are, even the likes of the Lord of Light Gwyn would have died in an instant with no resistance after hearing it. There was no blocking its sound.

She is only alive right now because she was the source of life itself. She was the first flame. Artorias held a covenant that allowed him to traverse the Abyss freely while Morris was born from the source of Chaos.

She could see why the Gods themselves feared the Abyss. Not even Nito who was the incarnation of death itself could go inside the Abyss without consequences. The creature just stared at her probably confuse that she has yet to die.

She recognized the creature. It was the four kings that were probably combined. Veins started showing on her forehead.

If there is anything she loathed more than the Abyss, it was these incompetent animals that call themselves kings that lead to the creation of the Abyss. She wondered what Gwyn was thinking when sharing them a shard of his own soul.

The moment it realized that she wasn't just going to lie down and die, it roared in frustration. It then swung its blade like arms. It was slow, pathetic and practically useless.

Weak, far too weak. She had overestimated the four kings. The moment its cry no longer worked; the battle has already been decided. But there was one redeeming factor in it. It knows when to use its full strength.

It screams now shook the non-existent void. It was also trying its best to grab her and suck her life force. Of course, it soon realizes the fact that it would never catch her.

She could have ended the four kings early but all she did was dodge. She was extending the time to study more about the Abyss. This could be said to be the safest moment since she came to the Abyss.

She feared the unknown more compared to this whelp of a guard dog. The disgusting creature seems to realize that she was stalling for time. It started screaming even more and began to tear apart itself using its own arms.

From there emerge four humans. They were the size of a normal human. On rushed straight at her with its arms stretched out. She summoned her scythe and dodge the blow. She then swung it down on it.

It was at this moment, another came behind her. She dodged by jumping causing her to miss the blow. She then swung it in a circular motion so that it hits both of them. Another two came from above from different directions once again.

Individually, they were even weaker than the likes of Loki, but they were fast. Nearly as fast as the Wanda's brother. Even though, they were now more human, they resembled what Earth called zombies.

However, they were fast and the fact that all four were working together made it even harder. When she started hitting one, another comes up. All this time, it has been her fighting against single opponents with multiple helpers.

Now that she was alone facing a larger group, she had difficulties dealing with it. Of course she could simply burn everything down, but she does not wish to.

Just then, Morris started making noises. It was wanting to go free of her embrace. She was about to refute when she remembered Ying Li telling her to trust it. But, what if it just died? She put aside her doubts and put it on the floor.

She did not say anything for she was given no time. Morris too, ran off somewhere. One came straight at her to with an uppercut to her chin. She blocked it but the force was still enough for her to lift off the ground.

One then came from above with both hands clenched intending to bring her down. She swung her scythe at it but, it did not get cut. Two other kings came at her from left and right respectively. They came at the same time with neither one being earlier than the other.

She let go of her scythe and use her bare hands to catch their fists. She then redirected so they hit each other. They didn't. By now, the only one left was the one coming from above.

She summoned her scythe back and aimed for its body. She was fully intend on slicing it in half. Just before she hit that one, rocks came flying in. The one on the ground was digging up rocks and throwing them at her.

'Tsk' It was a hassle. She dodged some and destroyed the others. She used her legs to hit the air below her and made a kick at the one above. But it was far from over. The two that came at her before had spilt up.

One caught the rocks she destroyed and caught them when they were still in the air. It threw all those back at her. Another dove straight into the ground. Great, now she has to watch out for the ground as well.

Two came straight at her once again in perfect synchrony with each other. She caught each one by their face and threw one at the one in the sky. Just then, the other popped up from the ground. She used its body as a shield and a launching pad from the ground.

Jumping straight into the air, she slashed at the both of them at the same time. She wished to slice them from their torsos in the middle. Those two grabbed each other and started spinning and then, they let go.

One flew further into the sky while another went straight into the ground. She missed them once again. They used each other to push themselves away from her. She was now considering to use bigger moves.

One that would burn them down all at once. It was at this moment; she heard a wolf howl once again. She glanced in that direction, to see Morris riding atop a giant wolf. From what she could tell, it was the legendary wolf companion of the knight Artorias. Sif has come.