Chương 17: Wyvern

Ch 17 - Wyvern Evan spent the day sitting there with his hands and feet bound while Isaac peppered him with questions. He answered half-truths, believable enough that Isaac would trust him, but nothing so helpful that it would give the man any real insight or make him an even bigger headache. He had no idea how much time had passed since entering the strange Rift, but one thing was certain. The night he had entered was long gone. For all he knew, it could already be the next day, or even the one after that.

He could already imagine Hye-jin screaming at him when he got out, if he got out. Even so, he had a plan, though he was not certain it would work. It was a gamble, one that did not just risk his own life but also the children's. He really hoped his bad luck would not strike him now. At least Isaac didn't spend every waking moment hovering over him.

Most of his time was devoted to preparing for the sacrificial ritual as he climbed up and down the tower carrying materials, worked at his alchemical bench, or disappeared to the upper floors. The books and alchemical instruments scattered throughout the workshop made one thing obvious: Isaac was a genius. It was a shame that someone so brilliant had become a madman. Whether he had always been like this or had been corrupted by the Demonic Artifact, Evan couldn't say. One thing, however, was certain.

Despite the polite treatment, the shackles around his wrists hadn't been removed. To Isaac, he was still nothing more than a prisoner. Evan could only wait and see what Isaac would do next. Hours passed, and boredom eventually pulled him into sleep. When he woke, Isaac was dragging him up the stairs.

"Are you starting the ritual?" Evan asked.

"Want me to monitor it for you? I can give you some tips." Isaac did not reply and kept dragging him upward.

"You do know you can just remove my foot bindings and I can walk on my own, right?" Evan said.

"Look at you already huffing and sweating." Silence answered him. On the rooftop, Evan was met with a ritual circle already etched into the stone floor. The wyvern sat calmly at its center, unbothered by the crying, bound children scattered across the outer nodes.

"Brother Evan!" Tyler shouted as he saw Isaac dragging Evan.

"You two know each other?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah," Evan said without bothering to lie.

"And here I thought you were only here out of curiosity," Isaac said with a mocking smile.

"Can't it be both?" Evan replied with a smirk of his own. Isaac answered by dropping Evan at the top glyph of the ritual circle. Unlike the smaller glyphs where the children were placed, his was larger, positioned just beside the central circle where the young wyvern sat.

"The seat of honor," Isaac said with a mad grin.

"Since you are so proud of your work, I figured you would enjoy participating in it."

"Are you crazy?!" Evan shouted.

"I have been very helpful to you, and this is how you repay me?!"

"As a fellow practitioner of Demonic Arts, you should be happy that your junior is spreading his wings," Isaac laughed as he stepped outside the ritual circle.

"With this, I am one step closer to my revenge. I will make them all pay. Those church members. Those government officials. All of them!" The children screamed as Isaac unleashed the ritual, flooding the outer glyphs with his demonic power. One by one, they ignited along the ritual's perimeter, burning with a sickly crimson glow as dark violet lightning raced across the engraved lines. The energy did not rush inward at once. Instead, it crept forward as though the formation itself were slowly coming to life.

Blackened power seeped from the embedded crystals in thick, swirling coils, drawn toward the activated glyphs before coursing through the carved channels. Layer upon layer, the energy wove itself into a tightening spiral that coiled around them like a slowly constricting noose. Only then did it reach the central sigil. Crimson light burst upward as though the stone had split apart, while converging streams of violet lightning lashed into it from every direction.

The air grew heavy, pressing down with a suffocating weight as the children's screams were gradually swallowed by the raging storm and Isaac's unhinged laughter. In the midst of it all, Evan stared as the final pieces of the ritual locked into place. The horror on his face lasted only a heartbeat before melting into a grin.

"Got you." KRRRRAK—BOOM! Evan knew exactly how the ritual was supposed to unfold. It should have drained the souls and life force from him and the children before feeding everything into the wyvern, strengthening the demonic beast with their despair and fear. Instead, the flow suddenly reversed, and the life force was ripped from the wyvern at the center of the ritual. The beast roared as it realized what was happening, thrashing violently in an attempt to break free, but the binding glyphs held it firmly in place.

"W-what? What is going on?!" Isaac shouted. The man tried to halt the ritual, cutting off his own dark power and even attempting to disrupt the etched circle, but nothing changed. The gathered demonic energy refused to obey, twisting away from the center and surging toward the top glyph instead, straight toward Evan. Dark power poured into him, flooding through his body and filling every vein.

"Aaargh!" Evan choked out as pain erupted through him. It felt as if his body were being burned from the inside while also being struck by violent lightning. The pain was so intense he wanted to black out, but he could not. [The Cry Later skill has been activated.] The skill kept his consciousness intact, forcing him to remain aware as his body felt like it was breaking apart and reforming at the same time. He clenched his teeth, swallowing the scream trying to force its way out.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The Suppression Cuff around his wrist burned as the flood of demonic energy overwhelmed its limits. The restraint, designed to suppress his own mana, had no answer for power being forced into him from the outside. With a sharp crack, the binding shattered. Evan rose to his feet. Dark shadows flowed across his body like flames, covering him from head to toe.

His fingers stretched longer, his nails sharpening into claws as the storm of demonic energy around him slowly faded. At the same time, the ritual formation began to dim, its power finally collapsing. Without Isaac's control sustaining it, the unstable formation was rapidly losing its power, leaving Evan with the opening he needed. The wyvern was still reeling from having its essence drained, its massive body frozen in place.

Evan surged forward like lightning, crossing the distance in an instant before slamming his fist into the creature's torso. The impact unleashed a violent shockwave that sent the wyvern crashing out of the tower and plummeting toward the ground below.

"Draemir!" Isaac shouted as the beast was flung away.

"That's the name you gave that thing? How tacky," Evan said as he approached Isaac slowly.

"You!" Isaac hurled dark flames at him, but Evan did not even bother to dodge. The flames burst out into nothing against his body.

"You think that weak fire is going to hurt me?" Evan asked.

"Maybe before, but not anymore. Not when I am overflowing with demonic energy this intense." Isaac only kept firing flames like a madman.

"Die! Die! Die!" Evan shook his head and grabbed him by the front of his hoodie, slamming him hard into the ground. The impact formed a massive crater beneath Isaac, his eyes rolling back as pain overwhelmed him.

"You're too loud. Sleep for a while," Evan said. Then he shifted his attention to the children, who were now staring at him with pale faces and gaping mouths. Evan stood there awkwardly for a moment. There was no doubt he looked terrifying. He could not see himself, but he was sure his hair was defying gravity, twisting and wavering as if caught in a storm. His teeth also felt sharper, like those of some terrifying banshee. He shook off the wandering thoughts and approached Tyler.

The boy flinched as Evan crouched in front of him.

"Sorry for scaring you guys," Evan said, raising his hands to show he meant no harm.

"I know I look frightening right now, but it's still me. Brother Evan." Tyler stared at him in silence for an uncomfortably long moment before finally giving a weak nod.

"Good. Let me remove those bindings." Evan gently broke the chains restraining the children's limbs and moved on to the others. They only stared in shock and fear, but at least none of them backed away. Once all the kids were freed, he gestured for them to follow.

"Come downstairs. I know a way out." He led them to Isaac's living quarters and searched for the strange device Isaac had used to open the Rift. After a brief search, Evan pointed it out to Tyler while keeping his distance. He had no intention of touching it himself. Demonic energy was still swirling around his body, and the last thing he wanted was to accidentally interfere with the device's inner workings and discover the consequences firsthand.

"Here. You hold this." Tyler took it with both hands from the table.

"This opens the Rift portal. It should take us to an abandoned warehouse near the park where Isaac kidnapped you. Do you still have your phones?" Evan said. The children shook their heads.

"Then go grab my bag," Evan said, pointing to where Isaac had thrown it onto a shelf. A girl stepped forward and retrieved it.

"The code is 09100325. You can use my phone to call the police once we're out. And before we leave, please don't tell the adults about… this form. It is a bit hard to explain." The kids nodded quickly, like bobbleheads. Evan tried to smile, but they all flinched. He lowered it immediately. Geez, am I that scary? Evan thought.

"Alright. Let's get out of here." He led them toward the Rift opening only he could see.

"But Brother Evan… are you going to stay like that?" Tyler asked cautiously.

"I'll deal with it later. The priority is getting out of here." Internally, Evan tried to stay calm. He didn't feel like he had been fully demonized. If that had happened, he should have already lost his mind. So maybe it wasn't permanent. Maybe he just needed to expel the excess demonic energy, and things would go back to normal. At least, he hoped so. He needed to do it quickly. If it kept building up, he might not stay himself for long.

And if Reid came back and saw him like this, that would be a one-way trip to exorcism. Evan pointed toward the spot where the Rift exit should be.

"Alright, point it here and—" SKRRAAAAK!

"SKREEEAAARRR!" the wyvern roared. Evan whipped his head around and saw it clinging to the side of the tower, forcing its massive snout through the wide window. It reared back, jaws opening wide, and unleashed a terrifying stream of dark flames. In an instant, Evan moved between the children and the attack, raising his own dark flames to form a barrier that swallowed the incoming inferno.

"Tyler! You and the kids head out first!" Evan shouted.

"Shoot the gun at the spot I pointed to and pass through the portal! Wait half an hour before opening it. I should be able to deal with this guy by then!" Tyler nodded and quickly did as he was told, activating the Rift. The children scrambled through the opening and vanished back into Nova Terra. Once they were safe, Evan turned his full attention back to the wyvern. The beast forced itself further through the window, shaking the tower as it dragged its massive body inside.

Evan surged forward and slammed his fist into its snout, snapping the wyvern's head back from the impact. However, the creature recovered almost instantly, its claws shooting forward and catching him before yanking him out of the tower. The two of them crashed through the outer walls, sending broken stone and shattered railings tumbling into the open air. For a moment, there was nothing but the roar of the wind and the rain of debris as the floating island and tower loomed above the endless void below.

Evan twisted in midair, tearing himself free from the wyvern's grip before dark energy flared around his arm. He drove another punch into its chest, sending the beast spiraling away into the darkness. The wyvern roared and retaliated, unleashing a torrent of flames toward him, but Evan met it head-on with a blast of demonic energy that scattered the attack. He shot upward, kicking off bursts of power beneath his feet as though climbing invisible steps through the air, racing back toward the tower.

The wyvern gave chase without hesitation, its massive wings cleaving through the void winds as it closed the distance, claws outstretched and ready to tear him apart. The moment Evan landed on the rooftop, the wyvern came crashing down after him, aiming to crush him beneath its weight. Evan slipped aside at the last instant. The impact shattered the tower's upper structure in a violent burst of stone, reducing the ritual circle to unrecognizable fragments.

The wyvern dragged itself forward with a furious roar, but Evan met it head-on. Instead of throwing a punch, he shifted into a stabbing motion and drove his fist straight into the wyvern's open mouth. His sharp nails tore through the soft interior and into its brain before he unleashed a burst of power. The wyvern's head detonated from the inside out. Its body went limp, already losing control as it began to fall. Evan seized its tail and, with one final burst of strength, hurled the wyvern back into the void.

The darkness swallowed the creature whole, leaving nothing behind. With his enemy gone, Evan dropped to one knee as the last of the demonic energy sustaining his transformation faded away. The shadows cloaking his body dissolved, revealing his human form once more, and the moment the power vanished, the exhaustion he had been holding back crashed over him. Pain surged through him in violent waves, like his organs were being twisted and crushed inside his chest.

He coughed, and blood spilled from his mouth before he could stop it. The toll of the fight with the wyvern and the ritual came crashing in at once. Step. A shadow fell over him. Evan looked up and met Isaac's bloodshot glare.