The Damned Demon

As Asher and Lysandra made to leave the blighted valley, the air suddenly rippled with a sinister hiss, halting them mid-stride.

*Hiss….Hisss…..*

The hissing multiplied, surrounding them with a chilling serenade of malice.

Asher turned, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the dark, dense fog that seemed to thicken with every passing moment, "I thought there could only be one mature Dreadspine Serpent per generation."

"These are its minions," Lysandra responded, her voice laced with urgency, "They aren't as strong, but their confidence to surround us means the Dreadspine Serpent has marked us already as its prey. We have to leave now!"

As they pivoted to flee, a dark purple mist, eerie and thick, began to envelop the space above them.

Asher, intent on escaping, kept pushing upwards, but Lysandra grabbed him, yanking him back towards the murky ground, "Are you mad? Why would you keep flying into that poisonous mist? That's the Dreadspine Serpent's doing," she coldly reprimanded as they landed heavily back on the ground.

Asher gasped for air, his realization evident, "Ah, I forgot. You are not in the shape to fly through that."

"It's not just me. You also shouldn't," Lysandra retorted sharply, "It can spread that mist for hundreds of meters. Even if you—" She paused, realizing whom she was speaking to, Asher, who was unkillable in a way.

"You underestimate me. But it's fine. I can't leave without you anyway," Asher sighed, his eyes scanning the surroundings for any possible escape.

Lysandra blinked, taken aback by his determination to stay, "No. You should leave before that serpent gets here. It is using the mist to toy with us and slowly kill us."

"If you are worried about losing Agonon, don't be. I am not going to die against some snake," Asher said with a confident, almost reckless smile, "Just tell me what other ways we have to get out of here."

Lysandra glared at him, her frustration boiling over, "Why can't you show some concern for your own life? Any sane person would."

"Who told you I am sane?" Asher asked with a devilish smile, making Lysandra's eyes blink and wondering just what kind of man she was dealing with.

"Once someone is marked by the Dreadspine Serpent, there is no escape except through death. Maybe the Moon Guardian can but we are not him," Lysandra stated gravely and wished she could just knock him out and throw him out of here. But she wasn't in the state to do any such thing and he was too mad to listen to her.

All she could do was regret being here for a silly reason and because of his impulsiveness.

But he was very young while she was the older one here. She should have known that young men have their blood running too hot.

She was too preoccupied with so many thoughts that she forgot who she was dealing with.

Asher felt a bit irked to hear her mention the Moon Guardian. He still had a sour feeling in his stomach after getting his ass handed to him by that old wolf. Will killing this snake at least bring down the Moon Guardian a step down from his pedestal?

"If anybody is dying today, it is that damn snake," Asher declared, a fiery edge to his voice, "Come on, let's keep running away from where the mist came," With a determined push, he sprinted forward, cutting through the murky air.

Behind him, Lysandra, battling the toxins in her system, followed with a heavy sigh, her steps lagging.

Realizing her struggle, Asher halted abruptly, pivoting to face her with a resolve etched into his features, "This won't do."

Without waiting for her consent, he scooped her into his arms, her eyes widening in shock, "What are you doing? Let me down," she protested coldly, her voice a mix of surprise and indignation, unaccustomed to such a display of vulnerability.

Never in her life had she had to be carried like this, and it made her feel more pathetic.

"Stop feeling ashamed. You are sick, and you need help. Or do you want both of us to die here?" Asher's tone was firm, brooking no argument, as he adjusted his grip on her, preparing to move once more.

Reluctantly, Lysandra averted her eyes, nodding in grudging acceptance of her dire need for assistance.

With a smirk of resolve, Asher dashed forward again. But their path was soon barraged by a sinister onslaught.

From the shrouding mist, black poisonous balls of mana, each the size of a football, hurtled toward them with deadly precision. Asher's initial confidence wavered as the air filled with the lethal projectiles.

Surrounded, with no space to dodge, Asher's instincts kicked in. He leaped high, cradling Lysandra against his chest as a shield against the volley.

A mana ball struck his back, drawing a grimace of pain from him. Yet, within moments, the mana coursing through his veins neutralized the poison, making Lysandra feel relieved.

But from her position in his arms, Lysandra spoke urgently, "Stop here. We can't just keep running. We will have to take the initiative and kill them."

"How? This mist is protecting them, keeping us in the blind. I can't even track where their attacks are coming from or their auras," Asher responded, his frustration palpable under the thick, poisonous air.

"But I can. I will help you 'see' them, and you can finish them off," Lysandra asserted, leaping from his embrace to the ground.

She snapped her fingers, sending dark red lines of mana shooting out in various directions, piercing through the mist like spectral arrows.

"Quick! Follow the lines and kill them all. I can take care of myself until then," she urged, her tone laden with urgency.

Nodding, Asher's form exploded with a surge of dark green energy, his flesh and skin transmuting into a charred, black diamond skeleton, with dark green flames dancing fiercely around his bones.

With his ring blade gripped tightly, his figure blurred into action, diving into the mist along the paths marked by Lysandra's mana.

The mist thinned, receding like a sinister tide, as Asher, his skeletal frame wreathed in blazing green flames, moved through the shadows with lethal precision.

Each serpent, a peak Soul Purger and very few of them a low-

level Soul Devourer, fell under his ring blade as if they were mere whispers of threat.

Lysandra watched, her eyes wide with astonishment, as he dispatched the creatures with an ease that belied their deadly nature.

To her surprise, none of the serpents targeted her; their attention was wholly consumed by Asher's ferocious onslaught, not that they got any time to target her anyway.

It was a display of power that brought a new level of understanding to her—Asher was not just confident in his abilities; he was masterful.

She already knew that, but what she was worried about was not these minions but the Dreadspine Serpent. These minions can't be compared to their master...not at all.

Within a few minutes, the blazing figure emerged back from the mist.

Asher's flesh and skin reformed as he approached her with a triumphant smile, "See... that wasn't too hard, was it? But you have a really powerful skill there. No assassin would stand a chance against you—not that anyone would dare," he chuckled, shaking off the remnants of battle like dust from his clothes.

Lysandra, however, remained unsmiling, her expression taut with unresolved tension, "I am a liability in this situation," she insisted firmly, "So let's get out of here before more of them come."

Quickly, they hastened from the foggy lair, emerging into clearer surroundings.

Asher took a deep breath, relieved, but his relief was short-lived as he noticed Lysandra's grim face, "What is it now? There is no poisonous mist above us. We can leave."

"Look..." Lysandra's voice was low, her finger trembling slightly as she pointed towards a gaping cavern mouth, its darkness so profound it seemed to swallow light itself, "That is what the lair of the Dreadspine Serpent looks like. No matter which generation, every one of them always lives there. It seems its minions led us right to it."

"Huh..." Asher mumbled, his eyes narrowing as he turned to assess the new threat.

The cavern's gaping maw loomed ominously before them, as if a portal to nightmares, yet Asher's eyes sparked with an indomitable fire, "Good. I was looking to find out where its lair was so that I could come there and kill it. But it seems like the opportunity has come to me," he declared, his voice a blend of resolve and anticipation.

He wasn't really worried about dying because he could always escape if it came to that.

Lysandra blinked, her expression shifting to one of cold incredulity, "What? Are you even listening to yourself? That is its lair. We have to leave before it comes out. It hates trespassers the most. Even the Moon Guardians in the past had warned their people to never enter the lair of the Dreadspine Serpent. If you have to fight it, you have to do it in the open."

"So not even a Moon Guardian had ever killed one by entering its lair, huh..." Asher mused softly, more to himself than to her. He turned to Lysandra with a steely gaze, "You should leave. I will kill this thing and get back."

Lysandra's eyes widened in alarm, her voice earnest, "Asher, stop. This isn't something you can mess around with. I know you are young, and you might feel the need to prove yourself by taking on risks that are not worth it. But you don't have to. You are one of the strongest people I know, and you have no need to prove it to anyone."

"I appreciate your confidence in me but...it's more like I want to increase the influence of my name. What better way than to overshadow the Moon Guardian in something? My kingdom is in dire straits, as you know. My achievements not only give myself strength but to my people as well. Strength and achievements that display it are everything in this world. That is why I have to do everything I can to make things better. And who knows...I might find something helpful in there. I heard so many people died trying to find some," Asher replied, his voice firm, echoing his unwavering determination.

"You..." Lysandra faltered, words failing her as she gazed into his resolute eyes. She could see the unshakeable resolve there, a determination that brooked no argument. But she couldn't also find it in herself to admonish him since his kingdom was struggling to survive and he had a point. His people could use all the strength they could get.

"Fine. If you want to die that badly, go ahead. As for Agonon, maybe it's better for him to not see me anymore...not when I will only burden him," she mumbled, her voice heavy with resignation and turned around to leave.

"I will still get you the venom though," Asher said aloud from behind.

Lysandra briefly paused but then with a flutter of her dark silver wings, she turned and soared into the sky, her figure quickly becoming a silhouette against the pale light.

Asher nodded slowly. He had not expected Lysandra to give up on seeing Agonon so easily, but her decision made a grim kind of sense—a mother's instinct to not burden her child with any burden or worries.

With one last glance at the path Lysandra took, Asher turned back to the cavern.

He took out a couple of health potions and fell to his knees as he recovered his mana with dark green veins spreading over his skin. Only after a minute or two did he get up and resume walking.

His steps were measured and resolute as he approached the dark entrance, the determined light in his eyes reflecting a readiness to face whatever horrors lay within.

The cave seemed to swallow his figure, an echo of his footsteps the only sign of his passage into the belly of the beast.