Wolves of Hader

Chapter 85

Krrrrng–

The cliffs on both sides of the gorge vibrated.

Something was rushing toward us from the darkness below, making a furious commotion.

Judging from the trembling of the ground, it seemed that many were charging at once, yet the noise was minimal.

Everyone moved forward, holding their breath.

Unlike in other places, in this ravine the evil spirits were visible to the naked eye.

All the cold shivers brushing past our bodies were evil spirits.

Things like the black smoke we'd seen in the marsh.

Urrrrr—

The sound of something surging!

It wasn't the sound of monsters in a sprint.

It felt like something running in a chaotic herd, on two feet, colliding with everything!

"Prepare for combat!"

Everyone gripped their greatswords in both hands and faced forward.

Out of the darkness, a mass of writhing figures surged toward us.

A member holding a torch shone it ahead. At that moment, everyone gasped in shock.

We all literally went, "Huh!"

Living corpses.

Their flesh was rotten throughout, with arms and legs grotesquely decayed, bare bone exposed!

Puhbububuk—Pukuk—

The team members struck down the silently charging corpses all at once, then immediately pushed deeper in.

The corpses' assaults were weak and slow, but their numbers were overwhelming.

The entire gorge stretching ahead was packed with living corpses.

We frantically struck down the silently shrieking corpses as we advanced at an ever-increasing pace.

The stench was so intense, it was hard to breathe.

"These are dead Elin, aren't they?"

"Yes! It seems the corpses never decomposed!"

The corpses of Elin, with pointed ears, flailed as they lunged at us.

The team members silently cut them down, but something felt odd.

The Elin corpses rushed at us as if pleading.

Of course, they were attacking us; that much was clear, but it carried a sense of deep resentment.

"We break through quickly!"

We ran through the charging corpses. Even a light push was enough to have their bones snap—crunch.

Had we run about a hundred paces or so?

Suddenly, the valley seemed to narrow. The way ahead was blocked. And yet, the corpses kept pouring out.

A team member behind me shone a torch, revealing a staircase descending ahead, and at the foot of the stairs was a stone gate.

The corpses were coming out of that stone gate.

That must be the entrance to the ancient ruin Wundbark mentioned!

With the torchbearer taking the lead, we entered the stone gate.

There was a long passageway, and within it, more corpses piled high.

We cut down and sliced apart corpses as we pushed forward.

Suddenly, the wind seemed to strengthen, and then our view opened up.

It was a vast underground ruin.

At its center stood a grand building like a temple, surrounded by smaller buildings forming the ruins of a city.

Countless evil spirits flitted through the air.

Unidentifiable skulls were heaped everywhere. Moving Elin corpses swarmed throughout the ruins.

"To the central building!"

"Yes!"

We descended a staircase leading down from the passageway. Corpses, sensing life, began to rush out in droves.

As I'd guessed, dark power emanated from the central building.

Even within the power of darkness, there was a spark of life.

It was the divinity of darkness.

If divinity gave life to the living, then the power of darkness seemed to give life to the dead.

That's why the corpses still seemed "alive", without decay.

It was said there was a demon gate on this island, and that building must be the gate.

The darkness spilling out of it had tainted the entire island.

In short, the ancient Elin didn't raise Storm's barrier to keep out invaders.

They did it to keep the demons trapped within the island.

Torch in hand, I pressed on as my team drove back corpses from all directions.

All the scattered skulls in the alleys had once been the demon legion's knights.

They looked very similar to those we'd seen in the arctic demon cave.

In places saturated with dark power, the demons had been reduced to skeletons, yet only the Elin corpses still walked.

How strange. Was it simply because Elin have long lifespans?

Slashing through the endlessly pressing corpses, we finally reached the central building.

The entrance was half-ruined. The walls were covered with bas-relief carvings of demons, and above stood a giant demon statue.

With the team, I climbed over the debris at the shattered entrance.

Illuminating inside with my torch revealed a vast space.

We all cautiously crossed over the rubble into what looked like a huge lobby, where two staircases beckoned—one narrow, rising upward, and one broad, spiraling down.

The stairs going up were broken, so we headed straight for those going down, descending a step into an underground hallway.

That moment, as we went down:

A chill swept my whole body as my elemental sent a warning signal.

Simultaneously, something pitch-black surged toward us.

"On me!"

As the team gathered around me, I raised a barrier.

It was the first time I'd deployed Buffer's barrier.

Tutututung—

Black evil spirits struck at the barrier, unable to break through its magic resistance, then tumbled back, only to attack the barrier again and again.

These were not the same creatures we'd seen coming in.

These evil spirits had demon-like forms and delivered tangible, physical impacts.

With the barrier raised, we pressed on.

This place was a kind of dungeon. The structure of the building resembled not a prison, but a palace.

Though evil spirits powered by dark energy constantly attacked, they couldn't pierce my barrier.

No more Elin corpses appeared now.

And so we explored the underground palace. There were no living demons, and hardly any skulls. No sign of any dungeon boss, either.

Only after much wandering did we finally find stairs to the second basement and went down.

But the second basement was much the same.

We searched for stairs to the third basement and descended again.

The lower we went, the greater the dark power and the stronger the evil spirits.

"There are no Elin corpses here."

"They must not have made it this far."

"The darkness down here is especially strong."

"Expand the barrier. Make sure no one steps outside it."

"Yes!"

We all descended to the fourth basement, slightly on edge. Unlike the other floors, this stairway was quite long.

The fourth floor was the last. The space was vast, the ceiling high, with thick pillars scattered throughout.

At the far, dark end of the space stood a huge demon figure—seated in a chair.

Swords of all sorts and unfamiliar gems littered the floor and walls.

We advanced slowly.

On the floor was a bizarre magical symbol, and between this space and the demon figure's area ran a deep ditch, crossed only by a sturdy bridge.

Stopping at the bridge, I scanned our surroundings.

I shone the torch ahead, and the grotesque decorations and symbols made it all the more bizarre.

Even the ditch was odd.

No sound came when a stone was thrown in.

Even when shining the torch, nothing but pitch blackness was visible.

"There are no evil spirits here."

"Indeed."

Since we came down to the fourth floor, the evil spirits that were hammering at the barrier were nowhere to be seen.

Did this mean it was the sanctuary of demons?

Perhaps even the greatest sacred ground for summoning a demon lord.

With even greater caution, we crossed the bridge.

I shone my torch below, and it was once again a bottomless abyss.

We approached the demon figure.

As the torch drew near, things previously hidden became visible across the bridge.

The demon figure wasn't a corpse or skeleton, but a statue.

In front of the statue stood a stone coffin, and on a small platform before the coffin rested a green stone.

On either side of the demon statue stood demons with wings and tails, shaped to form gates—just stone archways with no actual doors.

From these stone gates, darkness poured out. Inside the frame was only wall, yet black energy swirled violently, radiating dark power.

"These small gates seem to be demon gates. There are twelve in total."

The chamber with the demon statue formed a semicircle centered on the statue.

The entire semicircular wall consisted of demon gates.

The fact that darkness emanated from these gates meant this place was still connected to the demons' world, the only difference being the gates had not fully opened.

We approached the coffin.

The green stone on the platform before the coffin emitted no glow.

The seated demon statue, too, was just a sculpture.

"Carefully open the coffin."

"Yes."

Two members approached the coffin, grabbed the lid, and heaved.

When their strength wasn't enough, Donnie and Hans helped.

Krrrrng—

With a heavy scraping sound, the coffin lid slid open. The team members fell silent as they peered inside.

No wonder.

Inside lay the skeleton of a demon clad in golden armor.

A commander, at least legion-commander level or higher.

There was no demon's essence or any special artifact.

Only a rusted gold ring on the left hand of the skeletal demon. A ring so plain it was almost worthless.

Still, as it belonged to a legion-commander demon, I stowed it in my backpack.

There was neither pattern nor symbol, and I doubted any demon would wear it just out of love for gold.

"We destroy this place before we go."

"Understood."

Donnie and the others crossed the bridge, picking up hammers and axes. Donnie handed me a hammer.

Taking it, I smashed the demon skeleton's skull in the coffin. Puseok—the skull shattered to pieces.

There wasn't the slightest sign of resurrection.

The Elemental Lord had no doubt let us onto this island to implore us to close the still-open demon gates.

The team began destroying the twelve demon gates, smashing the statues and reducing the stone frames to rubble.

Dang— tatang—

Kukukukung—

As the gates fell one by one, even parts of the ceiling began to collapse.

Once destroyed, the seeping darkness immediately ceased.

The demon skull lying in the coffin, armor and all, was ground to fine dust.

Then the bizarre magic symbols on the floor and walls were destroyed.

I hammered at the green stone, but it didn't budge.

Even after infusing it with magic power and hitting it repeatedly, nothing happened.

When I tried to remove it by hand to no avail, I instead smashed the entire platform supporting the coffin with the hammer.

Then, striking the green stone where it fell to the floor—

Just then.

Jjeng—

With a loud crack, the green stone split, suddenly releasing a beam of light.

Had something been sealed inside?

Beams of light poured from the broken stone and surged in all directions, spreading outward like evil spirits.

Everyone tensed, fearing we might have awakened some sealed demons.

The light kept radiating from the stone for some time.

The rays weren't just light, but took on the shape of ghostly forms.

They flew freely, multiplying rapidly until the space was filled.

"They are Elin spirits!"

"These white shapes are souls?"

"In this place, we can see soul forms! They're definitely Elin!"

Their forms were blurred, but the figures were unmistakably Elin.

What's more, they numbered incredibly many.

I'd once heard that 470,000 Elin had died on this island—could all those souls have been sealed here?

The fluttering white soul-forms began to gather in front of us.

Unlike before, they now reverted to their original appearances.

Truly Elin.

One Elin wearing a floral crown stood at the front, behind whom stood many Elin in the guise of warriors.

Countless Elin spirits surrounded us.

The ratio of men and women was about even, and all were strikingly handsome or beautiful.

The Elin stared silently at us for a while. Then, the crown-wearing Elin stepped before me.

Immediately, a strange resonance echoed—not to my ears, but through my elemental.

—You... have saved us.

The Elin adorned with a crown smiled at me.

The sight was truly graceful and beautiful.

—What became of the demons?

"They were destroyed long ago."

—Much time has passed, I see.

The Elin spirits nodded among themselves. Being spirits, that was their only expression of joy.

—What became of the Elin?

"They returned to Aindel."

—I see.

The leader Elin smiled faintly.

—Might we ask a favor of you...?

"Of course."

Elin cautiously continued.

—It may be difficult, but we would like you to go to Aindel and tell them about us.

"It's nearly impossible. To stop the demon invasion, they erected a huge barrier at sea."

—So it's still there.

It was the same reaction as the Iki Tribe. Despair flickered on their faces.

Even in life, that barrier had kept them from returning home.

—You have awakened us, and are thereby our benefactors. Though we wish we could give you a great gift, as you can see, we possess nothing. However...

Elin smiled again.

—We can tell you the location of our treasured weapons.

Elin's treasured weapons.

That meant elemental equipment.

Like Lok's elemental bow.