Chapter 306 - A Warmer Destination
"Bring her here.
" said Daniel to Felix and George, who quickly dragged the injured girl in front of him, and placed her on her back and above the ground in front of where he was sitting.
"Bright red blood.. So much of it.. I think the knife pierced through her femoral artery!
" muttered Josh after kneeling on the other side of the injured girl and making a quick diagnosis of her injury. In the university that his group used to attend, Josh was the only one who, had the apocalypse never started, would have become a doctor.
After the apocalypse his experience and studies had come in handy, and he had become the medic of their group. Unfortunately, he couldn't do much for the type of injuries that were the most common in this planet.. Or at least, he wasn't as effective as a bullet was.
Daniel ignored Josh's worries, and simply put a hand on the girl's leg. He then injected her body with a small amount of healing essence which traveled through her damaged veins, flesh and arteries, and repaired them.
"Woah.. that is something you don't see often..
" muttered Josh as the blood that was gushing out copiously moments earlier, slowly moved back into her injury, before closing completely.. Not even leaving a scar behind.
Once the color went back to the girl's face, her eyes opened.
"H-How are you feeling? Do you feel any pain at all?
" Asked Josh with curiosity. His medicine student's spirit had been awaken from the miracle that Daniel had pulled out, and there was nothing more he would have done right now, than to run some tests on the girl that, just moments earlier, he was sure would die.
The moment the girl woke up, she turned to look around him in fear.. But after realizing what had happened, she wrapped her arms around Josh's neck, and said in between sobs
"Thank! I was so scared.. I thought I was going to die!! Thank you so much!!
"
Josh was embarrassed by the girl's behavior, after all, he had done nothing to help saving her.. So he let the girl vent before moving back, and while pointing his finger at Virgil and Daniel, he said
"I am not the one who saved you.. It was them.
"
The girl, still filled with the gratitude for having just been saved, turned to look at Daniel, and wrapper one of her arms around him, before repeating the same words he had said to Josh.. This time however, one of her arms was placed in between their chests, and the hand was grabbing a necklace made out of pearls.
A faint snap could be heard coming from in between the two.
Contrary to what one would expect, these pearls did not fall on the ground, and instead moved in the crevices of Daniel's clothes, and inside them. When they reached his body, they dove into his skin before lighting up of a brown-colored light.
As soon as these pearls lit up, an oppressive amount of earth essence flushed into his body, turning his skin and flesh into stone.. In a matter of moments, he had turned into a statue of himself, and only his organs and blood were left working properly.
"This is nothing personal kid, you are just a high paid job.
" Said the girl before standing back up. She then dusted her clothes as if she couldn't be bothered with the strange looks that the people around her gave her.
"What are you talking about?
" Asked George as he noticed Daniel's body go rigid, along with his expression.
The girl ignored George's words, and instead stood up calmly. She then stretched her arms upward, and as soon as her arms stretched completely, the shape and size of her body changed. Her waist became thin and flat, and her legs became longer. Her clothes were assimilated into her body, and turned into a pattern on her skin. Her breasts grew double the size, and two curved horns grew out of her forehead, and moved down the side of her head like two locks of golden hair.
Josh looked at the imposing figure of this woman in shock, while Virgil and the rest of the group looked at Daniel in worry. He was completely immobile.. Unable to even blink.
"Who are you?..
"
"SOMETHING IS WRONG! She wasn-..
" shouted Alex while running back from giving a lesson to the young man who he believed to have stabbed he girl, however, before he could warn his friends, he had noticed the tall and seductive demoness in her true shape.
She was standing in front of Daniel in silence.
Virgil had already felt that something was wrong, but as a cultivator, he was able to feel the oppressive power that this demoness emanated. Especially since she was not holding anything back, and was letting it out openly.
The demoness was exactly what a human would expect a seductive and evil being to look like, and the sight of one, along with the healing powers shown by Daniel, had only reinforced the idea that he was the God that the people in their civilization would pray to, or at the very least, one of its angels.. That also meant that this demoness was an enemy.
The members of the group observed the tall demoness, while at the same time, they grabbed the weapons they were carrying. They knew perfectly well how powerful Daniel was, and for him to be in that state, he must have been caught by surprise. Their only chance to rescue him, was to surprise her.
"I commend your bravery, humans..
" Said the demoness while turning to look at the nervous group. She had seen right through their intentions..
"However, there is more than a few worlds that separate our powers.
"
"What did you do to him?
" Asked Hannah as she and her friends grabbed their weapons openly, and prepared to fight the demoness, who after noticing their actions, shook her head in ridicule.
"This is not something you would understand.
" She said before making an enchanted bag appear in her hand, and threw it at Daniel body, which was quickly swallowed into it, and trapped.
"I will leave you to your torment.
" said the demoness while showing an indifferent expression, right before disappearing.
The moment the demoness disappeared with Daniel, Virgil got back to his senses and looked around in worry.. However he was unable to feel him or the demoness no matter where he looked.. She had gone. So he took a couple of beads that were inside his spatial ring, and broke them into pieces.
These beads were essence flags, and the essences contained in them belonged to Xargy and Aeron, but even after a full minute after using them, no one had appeared.
Virgil's breathing became heavier, squeezing his chest as if someone was sitting on it.. He was in a place he knew nothing about, with people he didn't know.. And Daniel, who he believed to be invincible, had been captured as if nothing had happened.
Two big tears began to form in his eyes, while the rest of the group looked around in dismay.. However, just as they were about to lose hope, they felt an incredibly powerful pulling force surround their bodies.. And before they could react, they were all standing in a small patch of grass, with a house, a small stream of water, and trees all around.
The six members of the group looked around in panic, while on the other hand, deep relief could be seen on Virgil's face.
-----
Back in the frozen land in the southern pole of the planet, stood two demons in wait. They were both extremely tall for human standards, and wore the same clothes. Their horns looked identical, and grew out of the side of their head as curved swords.
"I think she failed. The outcast killed dozens of us.. There is no way the shapeshifter bitch managed to capture him.
" Said one of the demons while pacing around, and kicking the snow.
"I agree.. If it was the shapeshifter that caught the dragon, maybe.. But not her.
" responded the second demon as he squinted his eyes in order to look further into the distance.
"Why do we have to meet them here anyway? Can't we just go to her? This is damn stupid.
" added the first demon in anger. They had been waiting in place for hours now, and there was still no trace of the demoness.
The second demon kept looking around in hope to catch a glimpse of the demoness, but after failing to spot her, he muttered
"You don't know because you are an idiot.. If we open a passage to hell in a place any warmer than this, the heath will burn the atmosphere off of the planet, turning it into a useless rock.
"
"Good riddance.
" Said the most nervous of the two demons.
"This torture is useless. There is nowhere nearly enough sufferings for a demon to cultivate properly. These human insects die too easily.. It's better if you just leave them into chaos, and let them go rampant. They'll avoid killing themself off completely in order to not stay alone, and yet they'll live in fear.. Much better.
"
"It does sound a lot better..
" responded the second demon.
"You are both wrong. Listening to you two idiots speak is by far the worst torture.
" Said the demoness who appeared from heir blind spot. She was carrying a bag, and inside it, was Daniel's paralyzed body.
Already irritated by the long wait, the first demon narrowed his red eyes at the demoness and began to emit a deep guttural growl, but he was stopped by his calmer companion, who said
"Did you complete your mission, shapeshifter?
"
The demoness looked back at the angrier of the two demons with as much hostility as he showed, but instead of attacking, she threw the bag that contained Daniel at the feet of the calmer demon.
The second demon bent down to check the bag, and after uncovering Daniel's face, and making sure that it was really him, he nodded at the demoness. He then broke a piece of jade that was hanging from his earlobe, and waited for someone from his faction to open a portal to Hell.
"Sister.
" Said a voice that came from behind the three demons.
The three turned to look at the figure of a second demoness, which the one who had captured Daniel, greeted with a happy smile.
"Elder sister. You are still here.
" Said the demoness with politeness. She was only a mid level elite of her faction, while the elder sister, who had played her part in capturing Xargy, was a high level member of the Law of Mimicry.
"Of course. I wanted to go back home with you.
" Said the most powerful demoness with a faint smile.
The two demons looked at each other in worry.. They didn't know for how long the demoness had been there, and if she had heard all of the insults they had used when referring to her, and the members of her faction. However, before anything could happen, a crack appeared in the frozen plane in front of them. When it opened, a wave of warmth washed past them.
From the staircase that appeared in between these slabs of ice, a second elegant demon with white horns walked out. He looked exactly like the one that had taken Xargy into custody, but his power was made of a distinctive and drastically different mixture of sufferings. He was also much weaker than the one who had appeared previously.
The moment he appeared, the two male demons dropped to their knees. However, instead of caring for them, the white-horned demon turned to look at the two shapeshifters, and said
"Bring my greetings to Lady Night.
" He then took the bag which contained Daniel's body, and walked down the flight of stairs as if nothing had happened.
While all of this was happening, unbeknownst to the five demons present in the area, just a few meters away from the entrance to Hell, was a human-sized clump of distorted space.
This portion of space was curved, and it forced the light that entered its territory to curve as well, and brush past its surface, just like all of the elements present in the area. Inside this hollow pocket of space, was a human made out of complete darkness. Nothing could be felt from him, and not even his own power was able to escape the gravitational pull that the darkness of which his body was filled of possessed.. And yet, a pair of golden eyes were lying in the dark.. In wait.