Garden Of The Abyss

Within an hour\'s journey, they found themselves before the pearly, colossal gates before the castle. The area in front of the castle gates differed from most of the strange land; the ivory grass was replaced with smooth, untainted cobblestone.

As expected, the gate was already unlocked and slightly parted; blood painted subtly across the edges of the otherwise immaculate fortress.

This is it, Ren thought.

"Ready?"

Ren looked back, but he hardly had to look back as the eyes of his comrades held the same resolve as he did.

"Alright, let\'s do this—"

The moment he placed his hand against the thick gate, an intense tremor swallowed his senses as he and the others fell still in that perplexing moment.

It was not only sudden, but came with an ungodly intensity, vibrating the steel he touched so viciously he felt his stomach churn.

What\'s going on? He thought.

"A-above…!"

Fedrin somehow managed to slip his words through his clenched throat.

As they all brought their gazes up, the sky of countless trees was parted, but no such sky was revealed; only the daunting existence of something grand.

Flapping its four, colossal wings that matched the seraphic shade of the heavens, it roared out as another tremor consumed the territory. It\'s size stretched a shadow over the surrounding area as it descended with its cosmic, nebulous eyes watching its prey below.

By the rumbling crescendoing downwards through the air, the popping in their ears below--it was as if the sky itself was crashing down on top of them.

Seeing such an entity bearing a colossal size, ungodly aura lathering its cloud-white scales— their readiness was tested.

Can something that large even exist…? Ren thought.

"A dragon?!"

Ren finally shouted out.

Just as he managed to get those couple words out, the grand beast of the skies landed atop the luxurious castle with an impact that caused the group\'s soles to slide across the courtyard pavement.

It was just the weight of its landing alone, but it felt as if a fierce storm was born before them.

There was no mistaking it; pure, white scales lined its gargantuan body, curved claws that could eviscerate mountains gripped onto the castle that served as its throne, and mystical, blue flames sat at the edges of its maw as it growled low.

It was the ultimate monster, the mythical reptile of legend, the terrorizer of the skies; a dragon, in the flesh.

As it leered it\'s head back, topped with spiky scales that resembled sharp horns, the azure smoke hanging around its mouth grew.

…What\'s it doing? Wait! It\'s going to burn us! Ren thought.

"Take cover!"

Ren yelled out at the top of his lungs as right now, everyone was left to decide for themselves how to survive the dragon\'s greeting.

Pushing through the gate as he slid his body through the barely parted area, Ren sprinted over to the entrance of the supreme castle—ducking beneath the roof supported by pillars. Doing the same, Iris, Fedrin, and Jae-Seong took cover beneath the entrance rooftop.

It was almost worse to be beneath where the grand beast sat, Ren believed, as it\'s unworldly weight could be felt like an extra blanket of gravity.

"…Shit! Achelous: Sea Splitter!"

Being in the complete open, Macheo had no choice but to counter the flames that built within the belly of the beast.

Throwing his hand forward, pointing towards the dragon, a large pillar of aqua manifested before him, intertwining and shooting out with heavy pressure.

Just in time, the dragon parted its maw as it pointed the onslaught of azure flames in the young man\'s direction. However, it wasn\'t a barrage of wild, unrefined inferno that unleashed; the azure chaos sent from the dragon coalesced into a radiant, azure beam that parted the winds.

Crap, there\'s no way it\'ll be enough…! Macheo thought.

"Kojin: Fractured Heat!"

From Macheo\'s left, the draconic knight bestowed her own helping hand as she guided a triple-set of condensed flames alongside his magic.

Together, the opposing elements met the dragon\'s unsavory welcome as a colossal shockwave propelled through the arena, carrying with it a mixture of cold and scorching heat.

"Valerie…!"

"Focus!"

"Crap! We have to help them—"

As Ren returned to his senses after feeling the massive reservoir of power launch from the dragon\'s maw, he took a single step from the entrance stairs before being stopped.

A scream came from Iris as something pulled her in through the shadowy front door of the castle—placing Ren between two matters.

"Iris!"

Reaching out, he barely missed her hand as the gilded, azure door slammed shut in his face.

Dread and adrenaline worked in unison to run through his veins.

"…Shit!"

He slammed his fist against the door before turning to Fedrin and Jae-Seong.

"Fedrin! You go help them! Jae-Seong…!"

"You don\'t have to tell me. I\'m with ya\'."

Jae-Seong gave his panicked companion a reassuring smile as he placed his hand in the closed door.

The high elf wasted no time making his move to help the other half of their group pinned down by the giant dragon.

Nodding his head as his expression slowly refined itself back to some semblance of calmness, Ren placed his hand along the gilded steel of the tall door as well.

This isn\'t how I wanted any of this to go—it couldn\'t have gone any worse…Ren thought.

"Look at me, Ren."

"…Huh?"

"We won\'t panic this time. We won\'t fall into their hands. Take a deep breath; I know how you\'re feeling right now. That impatience that\'s just itching inside of your veins; you don\'t want to waste a second."

Jae-Seong\'s words came from a place deep within him as his golden eyes met directly with Ren\'s own.

"But right now…we need to keep our heads on straight. We don\'t know what\'s waiting inside that place, but we do know one thing."

"…And that is?"

"It\'s luring us. You get it, don\'t you? Whatever that was is betting on us to run in blindly."

As Jae-Seong explained this, the realization came to Ren in his heated thinking, starting to settle down a bit at this reasoning.

It was an impossible request to ask someone to regain a cool head amidst such a situation as one felt the presence of the dragon\'s wrath fill the area with a chaotic radiance of black and blue.

But even so, he drew a heated breath into his lungs as he nodded his head, "Yeah, I\'m good."

Jae-Seong nodded in return as his curly locks partially veiled his beautiful irises; together, they pushed open the dense doors of thick, engraved steel of a gilded variety.

With its opening, a cold air ventured out from the depths of the castle as an immaculate keep was revealed to them; silver torches alight, an azure carpet stretching down the middle of the marble lobby as they both stepped in with their senses ready.

It\'s a lot nicer than I expected; it\'s well kept, Ren thought.

Holding Belus in front of him, he moved cautiously as Jae-Seong covered his back. Three corridors existed, with one, prominent passageway running down the middle--clearly leading to somewhere of significance by the statues wearing armor that sat as inanimate sentries, lining the decorated walls.

"I don\'t like this at all; place is giving me the creeps."

Jae-Seong commented, keeping his hands up as he scanned the lobby for anything peculiar.

"I\'m with you…"

Ren agreed as he drew in a breath to steady his tingling fingers, tightening his grip on the handle of his sword.

As footsteps met their ears, they both tensed up--facing the same direction as the sound of shoes clacking against the acoustic marble echoed.

"Get ready."

"You don\'t have to tell me twice."

Jae-Seong smiled as he tightened his fists, causing dormant veins to press against his bandaged arms.

Watching the left corridor intensely as it was cast over with obscuring shadows, the two fell silent as their eyes were honed in the approaching entity. Drawing closer, the steps neared the edge of the hall as Ren could feel his heart pound against his chest.

The moment the figure came into view, he nearly threw himself forward--nearly.

It was the familiar, unmistakable sight of azure hair that was imprinted into his mind, cascading down her shoulders before her eyes of the same shade looked at him.

"Iris?!"

Ren shouted, perplexed as the young woman held a confident smirk, wiping away a droplet of sweat that trickled down her chin.

"You\'re okay…?"

As Ren asked this, Jae-Seong simply laughed at their misguided worry, relaxing his stance as the two men reunited with the young woman.

"Looks like we had no reason to worry. I guess Outlanders are the real deal!"

"What happened?! I mean...I--we saw you get snatched away!"

Ren looked at the girl as if checking for any sign of injury, but there was nothing to be found.

"Yeah, I was caught off-guard, but that guy was nothing to worry about. He went down with just a few light arrows."

Iris explained with an unusual air of confidence in the wake of her triumph, smiling brightly as if expecting praise.

"Well, either way, I\'m glad you\'re okay…"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ren replaced his anxious expression with a smile as he and Iris shared a look.

"I can handle myself, you know."

"I know, I know…that\'s pretty clear right now."

Ren chuckled with his words as they both shared in a small laugh.

However, their tranquility was brief.

"Looks like trouble found us."

Jae-Seong muttered as he stood in front of the other two, facing the main corridor as heavy steps approached.

Standing tall enough to be forced to hunch over against the ceiling, a tall figure dressed in armor that sat between pristine and tainted drew into the lobby. A violet hood veiled the colossal knight\'s head as a shadow sat over its enigmatic face.

"…Intruders. Deal with them. Execute them. That is our atonement. For the king."

Speaking in a voice that traveled like the chilly winds present in an accursed forest, the tone bellowing from the being\'s throat shifted with each phrase.

"Hey, hey, this guy looks like trouble."

Jae-Seong smiled as he stepped up to the challenge, rolling his shoulder before he looked back at the other two.

"Go on ahead, I\'ll handle this guy."

"Is that really a good idea…?"

Iris asked, feeling the imposing aura oozing off of the four-armed, dreadful knight that brought with him an enigmatic wind.

But Ren knew differently; he witnessed firsthand the strength belonging to the confident Heavenly King. It was a risk, but with an opportunity presented behind it--he realized that in the position they were in, such decisions needed to be made.

Jae-Seong understands. If we fail, we can just try again--that\'s the advantage of Purgatory that most people seem to forget. He wants to prioritize gathering information if we\'re unable to win today, Ren thought.

"Right, good luck!"

Ren gave his supportive words to Jae-Seong, who faced off against the towering knight who was soaked in an aura of despair; holding four blades in its four hands.

"Ren?"

As if surprised by his acceptance of this, Iris looked at the white haired young man, who quickly grabbed the girl\'s wrist and pulled her forward.

"Let\'s go! We can\'t waste the opportunity he\'s given us!"

Pulling Iris along with him, Ren shouted as they headed straight towards the corridor the enigmatic, multi-armed knight came from.

Stretching its lengthy arms out that were clad in silver and sable armor, wrapped in torn fabric, the hollow knight blocked their path, "...You won\'t pass. The king remains unbothered. Unworthy. Execute you."

With such an imposing figure in the way, wielding four, immaculate blades that held their own personal radiance, it seemed passing through would be improbably, until:

"You should be worrying about me."

--Jae-Seong jumped up, using his knee as a javelin against the shrouded knight\'s masked face, knocking the harrowing figure out of the way for the other two.

"Go!"

There was nothing else needed; it was the shining brilliance of Jae-Seong\'s unending confidence, and boundless charisma that guided both Ren and Iris forward.

Perhaps it was what they experienced together and lived through previously, but Ren found it easy to place his trust into the hands of his recently acquired comrade.

Don\'t fail, Jae-Seong! He thought.