Chapter 65: The Demon Artifact

"Who are you?" Nathan asked in a serious voice as he looked around, noticing that the barrier surrounding the area had disappeared. However, Chris paid him no mind.

Having just arrived at the scene, Chris looked around.

Kelvin was holding his arm in pain while being supported by his party members. Aelonen was lying on the ground without moving, and dried-up corpses were scattered everywhere.

He tightened his grip.

*CRACK!*

This time, the sound of breaking bones was much louder.

"AAAGH!" Nathan yelled in pain.

His broken hand lost its strength, and Lilith managed to wriggle free before jumping back.

"COUGH! COUGH!" She started coughing while holding her neck.

"Who I am is of no concern to you, worm."

*CRACK!*

He tightened his grip with all his strength, feeling the bones beneath his palm grinding into dust.

"AAAAGH!"

Raising his other hand, he formed a fist.

*BOOM!*

His fist connected with Nathan’s face, sending his head flying backward.

His entire body would have been sent flying at great speed from the force of the punch, but Chris was still holding his hand tightly, keeping him in place.

"You have created quite a few problems for me." Chris said, looking at the man whose face had been caved in.

"COUGH! COUGH!"

Nathan coughed up blood and a few teeth before looking at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Whoever you are, I will kill you!" Dark energy began gathering around his hand, seeping into Chris’s.

But contrary to what he had expected, Chris showed no reaction at all. His hand flashed with white light for a brief moment before the dark energy completely disappeared, as if it had never existed.

"!!!"

Nathan was instantly startled. "HOW—"

*BANG!*

His head was sent backward again from another punch.

Chris released his grip on Nathan’s hand and grabbed his neck, lifting him off the ground.

"You like grabbing people’s necks, don’t you? The feeling must be wonderful, I can see." He nodded before smiling wickedly. "But how does it feel to be on the other end?"

Nathan looked at the man’s wicked smile, which seemed even scarier than his own, and shivered. He tried to speak, but no voice came out as his neck was being held tightly.

"Nothing to say? I see..."

*BANG!*

He slammed Nathan’s body into the ground before pulling out his sword and stabbing his leg, pinning it to the ground.

*SLASH!*

"AAH!"

Crouching down in front of Nathan, he looked him straight in the eyes. "Now tell me, little worm. What are you? Are you an Acolyte?"

Nathan shivered again. "Cough! Cough! H-how do you know!?"

Chris smiled. "So you are one. How interesting. Then tell me this... What are you doing here, trying to enter that ruin? Is there something inside that you need?"

Nathan remained silent.

"Not talking? Maybe this will change your mind..."

He extended his hand as Gwenor seeped out from his fingertip and entered Nathan’s body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Nathan screamed as if his very soul was being torn apart.

Chris smiled as he watched him for a moment before retracting the Gwenor. "How about now? Willing to talk?"

"Huff! Huff!"

Nathan’s chest heaved as he looked at Chris in anger.

"One day, I will find you, and I will make you experience the greatest pain you have ever felt." Nathan said before bringing his dagger towards his own neck and slashing it.

"NO! DON’T LET HIM!" Lilith suddenly yelled from behind and rushed forward, but Chris stood up and grabbed her hand.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" She tried to break free from his grip but soon found that it was impossible.

Chris simply smiled. "Let him."

"Y-you!" Lilith was speechless at his carelessness. "He will escape!"

"Let him." He smiled again.

In the next moment, Nathan’s head slumped to the ground as he lost all signs of life. The demonic energy surrounding his body began dissipating until only his normal appearance remained.

"You knew he would escape? Why did you let him?" Lilith asked angrily.

Chris smiled, releasing her hand before bringing his fingers to his mouth.

*WHISTLE!*

*ROOOOAR!*

A powerful roar echoed in the distance before an enormous flying monster came soaring towards them.

"W-W-WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT!?"

The people around them started trembling in fright as they looked at the approaching monster. They wanted to run, but they were far too frightened to move their legs. The series of events they had witnessed had drained what little courage they had left.

All they could do was watch as the monster approached.

Lilith looked at Chris with a doubtful expression. From what she had heard earlier, she knew he had a beast with him, so she was confident that the approaching monster was his.

While she was stunned by its sheer size and terrifying appearance, she was even more curious about what Chris intended to do.

*BOOOM!*

Azreon landed on the ground in front of Chris, making the earth quake and sending dust in all directions.

Looking closely, they could see that he was holding a young man in one of his claws.

"W-W-WHAT IS THIS?" the young man yelled in fright.

Chris smiled at him and took a step forward, waving at the young man. "Yo!"

The young man shivered as he heard a familiar voice before looking at Chris. "Y-YOU! HOW!?"

"We meet again. What? Did you expect to escape so easily?" Chris asked with a smile as he approached.

"Put him on the ground." Chris commanded Azreon, who placed the young man down but kept one of his claws on him.

The others around them widened their eyes as they realized that the enormous beast that had just appeared had no intention of attacking them. Even more surprising was that Chris seemed to be acquainted with it, as it obediently followed his commands.

They couldn’t help but feel astonished at the thought that the young man was commanding such a beast. Most of them didn’t know him and had never seen him before, but they had heard his name was Chris from Prince Kelvin, and the two seemed to have a good relationship.

"W-what do you want!?" the young man yelled out, still being held down by Azreon.

"Answers." Chris stopped in front of him. "Or would you like to experience that wonderful feeling again?" He raised his hand, forming a small ball of Gwenor on his fingertip.

The young man shivered again as he looked at the ball of white energy. "I-I will talk!"

"Good." Chris lowered his hand. "Now, my previous question. What did you want to take from the ruin?"

"An artifact." The young man slumped and replied.

"What kind of artifact?" he pressed.

"An artifact that can control insects in this dungeon." The young man replied slowly.

"Oh?" Chris was intrigued.

"He’s lying." He suddenly heard Aura’s voice in his mind.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

The young man, thinking Chris was asking him, displayed an awkward expression. "It’s just a small artifact that controls insects. Nothing much."

"He is lying about that part. There is no such artifact in the world. I think what he’s trying to get allows him to control anyone who has been corrupted by his demonic energy. You saw that the pool in the ant colony was infested with demonic energy, right? I suspect that many insects in this dungeon are corrupted as well. That way, he could probably control them with that artifact." Aura replied.

Chris nodded. "So that’s what it is, huh?"

The young man nodded. "Yes! Exactly that!"

Looking at him, Chris smiled. "There is no use in lying to me. I already know what you were planning." He raised his hand. "Now, you can die."

The man shivered again. "W-WAIT! WAIT!"

"What?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Those two!" The man pointed at Aelonen and Kelvin. "They are corrupted by my energy, and they will surely die soon. Only I can remove that energy from their bodies!" He yelled out. "And there’s more!"

Chris raised an eyebrow before turning around and walking slowly towards Aelonen.

Stopping beside him, he raised his hand and sent a stream of Gwenor into Aelonen.

Instantly, the dark energy began dissipating.

"Cough! Cough!"

Aelonen coughed violently as he woke up.

*SLAP!*

"WAKE UP!" Chris yelled as he slapped his face.

"HEY! I’M ALREADY AWAKE!" Aelonen yelled angrily as he looked around, but he instantly shivered when he saw Chris’s smile. "B-B-Big brother, what a pleasant surprise!"

Chris shook his head with a smile before walking towards Kelvin. He had naturally seen that Aelonen was already waking up before he slapped him, but would he really miss such an opportunity? Of course not.

The man being held by Azreon was speechless, his eyes widened in shock. He couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.

He had never met anyone, or even heard of anyone, who could deal with demonic energy like that.

Beside him, Lilith was equally shocked as she looked at Chris with intrigue.

"Big brother, I knew you would come in time!" Kelvin tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace as he struggled to endure the pain.

Chris stopped in front of him before grabbing his arm.

Instantly, color returned to Kelvin’s face as the demonic energy disappeared from his arm.

He took a deep breath and wiped away the sweat on his forehead. "Thank you, big brother. I’m not sure if I could have endured much more of that."

Chris simply patted his shoulder with a smile before returning to stand beside Lilith.

"You said there was more? I hope you have something good to say. Otherwise..." He looked at the man beneath Azreon’s claw threateningly.

"H-H-HOW—"

Chris raised his leg and stomped on the man’s hand.

*CRACK!*

"AAAAH!"

"I’m the one asking questions, not you. Now, I suggest you hurry up before I lose my patience."

The man was brought back to his senses by the pain as he looked at Chris fearfully. "Y-You won’t be able to get anything from that ruin without me! I built that place. I made sure nobody except me would be able to open any doors inside, even if they break through the gate!" The man yelled out.

"Don’t listen to him. Just kill him immediately!" Lilith sharply said from the side.

"That woman!" The man suddenly pointed at her. "That woman can use demonic energy too! You shouldn’t trust her!" he yelled.

Lilith shivered slightly before looking at Chris.

Chris simply looked at her with a knowing smile, making her shiver again. He had long since figured out what was so familiar about the energy she had used during their brief confrontation.

It was precisely demonic energy, but not entirely the same. Something about it felt different, and that was exactly why he hadn’t been able to figure out the connection at first.

The others around them also displayed doubtful expressions as they glanced at Lilith.

Chris turned back towards the man and shook his head. "And why would I believe anything you say? You are the only enemy here, as far as I can tell, and you tried to kill everyone. Why would anyone trust the lies you’re spouting?"

The others around them heard Chris’s words and nodded repeatedly.

"Yes! Yes! He’s right! We shouldn’t trust anything this man says!"

Lilith looked at Chris awkwardly. She knew he had helped her avoid suspicion, but she didn’t understand why.

"Still, even if you don’t believe me, you won’t be able to explore the ruins without me!" The man yelled angrily.

"First, I don’t like your tone. The next time you yell at me, I’ll make sure you experience pain much worse than before."

Chris’s expression became much more serious than before, frightening the man even more.

"Second, you will come with us inside. But if I see you trying anything funny, anything at all, I will make sure you beg for death."

His eyes glowed as he looked at the man.

"Y-yes!"