Chapter 537: Second Layer


    <strong>537. Second Layer</strong>


    Belphegor was gone.


    I searched for him, but no matter where I looked, he wasnt there. I hesitated, scanning my misty surroundings as I finally heard his footfalls echo in the distance. It had to have been ten minutes after he vanished before I finally heard the soft thudding of his slow walk.


    And that was when I knew that I was now alone.


    I stepped back, kicking back some rubble. I nced down to see the corpse of the [Gargoyle] below me. Its broken visage stared up at me with a silent scream. It was a Primeval Demon. Not wild, apparently but one of Belphegors creation.


    The fact that he could create Primeval Demons in itself was very impressive. But knowing that these Primeval Demons were so easily dismantled here at the entrance to the secondyer it made me realize how out of my depth I was down here.


    I raised my Divine Nebr Scythe warily as Belphegors footfalls faded, and a loud moring resounded all around me. The sounds of battle. I hesitated. I considered leaving. In fact, it only made sense for me to leave. I wanted to be the strongest in all of Nexeus, but this was just suicide. Nothing waited for me down here except for death. I backed up


    Only to stumble forward towards the tall archway. I blinked a few times, trying to regain my bearings.


    Huh what?


    I asked, but my voice wasnt audible at all. I couldnt hear myself speak, and while that was a little bit disconcerting, the fact that I had taken a simple step back but somehow ended up a few steps forward was a lot more worrying to me. I spun around, and a thin haze encroached on me.


    I bit my lower lip as my voice finally echoed behind me. It sent a shiver down my spine as I stared at where Ide from, then looked back up towards the archway leading me to the secondyer of the Netherworld.


    It wasnt just a regr entryway like the various tunnels that had led down from the Dungeon. It looked like a massive gate. A tall lumbering arched entrance that would stand at the front of a royal pce. But its gilded double doors were rusted shattered in a few ces. There were holes and cracks torn through its stone surface, and part of it had even copsed to the ground.


    Maybe it had once been a glorious sight it could have even been a powerful seal that held back the corruption at one point. But that was all a memory now.


    The corruption had broken through. Only a singleyer of the Netherworld remained whatever that meant. And I needed to get out of here.


    A sense of trepidation and dread drove me back. I spread my [Angelic Wings] wide and spun around. I flew straight in the direction Ide from, but the world spun around me. Even though I was flying in a straight line, I seemed to turn a corner at every passing moment.


    It was like I was trapped in one of Belzus illusions. The scene kept changing, and my mind reeled. I grew dizzy, trying to turn back each time I was spun around unwillingly. But no matter what I did even if I corrected my direction I would still be turned over my head, flying in a different direction.


    It was confusing. It was mind bending. This didnt make any sense. There was no logical exnation for what was going on. And unlike Belzus illusions, I couldnt see through this nonsensical world with my spatial senses.


    For a flicker of a moment, I was flying straight for the exit. Then I was diving straight into the ground, only to appear back standing at the arched gateway. I spun around to regain my bearings, only to find myself facing a wall. I pped my wings, flying up, but crashed into the ground.


    I groaned and picked myself up. I wasnt sure how long Id been trying to get out of here. All I knew was that the echoing sounds of battle never stopped. It could have been hours even days. Or maybe it was a few minutes or seconds. I barely knew what was going on,pletely thrown into disarray by this broken maze of space.


    I looked towards the steep incline leading away from this vast chamber. It was not a cavern. The floor here was made from a mossy ck brick. The very same rock that made up the rest of this ruined kingdom.


    But parts of the ground had been ripped up and shredded, with bits of rubble floating? I nced up at the ceiling, seeing a chandelier hovering overhead. Its chains had been broken, and it was trapped in an infinite fall. My eyes darted around the room, but ayer of mist clouded most of my vision. I still heard the echoes of a battle, even though I couldnt see the walls lining the edges of this chamber. It could have been a vast hall that expanded thousands of feet or it could have been a small room that was barely a dozen feet wide.


    I didnt know. I couldnt even move right!


    This is getting annoying!


    I took a slow step forward, but right as my toes touched the ground, I found myself standing in apletely different ce once again. But this time, I wasnt facing the wall, nor was I facing the arched gateway. I was facing a blurred figure. A mesh of colors. A broken


    <em>[---- Netherstone - Lvl. ---- ]</em>


    Fuck


    [Angelic Premonition] red in my head right before the Corrupted Netherstone couldsh out at me. Its tendrils shot out, and I was leaping out of the way. I tried jumping back, but space bent as I expected, and I flew straight at the distorted creature.


    I crashed into it as we tumbled out of the air. I felt its corruption bearing down on me trying to rip apart my skin. But I resisted it. My [Corruption Resistance] protected me from the twisting touch of the Corrupted Netherstone.


    I swung at the Corrupted Netherstone as we silently shed. My Divine Nebr Scythe shimmered with divine mes, ripping through the cloak of corruption protecting its core. But even then, that wasnt enough to finish it off in a single blow.


    I followed up with a flurry of strikes empowered by [Draconic Fury]. The crimson afterglow overcame my iridescent de, tearing into the Corrupted Netherstone even as we crashed through the room. Until, finally, I swung up with the Divine Nebr Scythe as I yelled.


    <strong><em>[Divine Radiant sh]!</em></strong>


    [Draconic Fury] shed. The image of a dragons w shed down with my shining strike. With those two Skillsbined into one, my attack engulfed the Corrupted Netherstone as I pushed back.


    Inded lithely on the ground with narrowed eyes, watching as the distorted figure flew back. Its core had been ripped open, and while it was still recovering slowly, it couldnt instantly regenerate. Not in the same way the Cursed Boulder had been able to heal itself by stealing from the earth around it. I also knew that once it was shattered, it wouldnt regrow into smaller tinier but still dangerous corrupted remains.


    But still, the Corrupted Netherstone wasnt destroyed just yet. I had to finish it off. I watched as it zipped around me, and I took a step forward


    Only to find myself once again stumbling around, no longer facing the Corrupted Netherstone. I blinked, and a pair of tendrils whipped me from behind. I staggered and spun around, watching as the distorted figure continued circling around me as it slowly tried to heal.


    Huh.


    I watched as the Corrupted Netherstone continued navigating through this chamber without any problems. It didnt slip or spin or teleport around the area. It just drifted around me. And I realized that it wasnt affected by whatever distortion was permeating this area.


    I narrowed my eyes, remembering when I was tumbling through the air with the Corrupted Netherstone. I had clung onto it, and I hadnt been dibobted, confused by what was going on around me. I had been moving perfectly fine while within the radius of its corruption.


    I gritted my teeth, looking back towards the exit. I shifted back, only to appear a dozen feet to the left. I stared down at the broken [Gargoyle] from earlier, and bands of fear tightened around my throat. This was a Primeval Demon. It had been a Primeval Demon, just like me. But even down here, it was nothing.


    I thought about a n to escape. The next time the Corrupted Netherstone attacked me, I could hop onto its back and ride it out of this ce. The pit in my stomach refused to close, and the prickling sensation of crawling ants over my skin never vanished. The pervading corruption left me uneasy. I shouldnt havee here. I should have


    And I steeled myself.


    No.


    I whispered. My voice came a full secondter. I raised my head as my body wisped with Divine Essence. Not my Grand Skill that wasnt avable just yet. I clenched my jaw, eyeing the circling Corrupted Netherstone.


    If I can use these Corrupted Netherstones to get out of here, then I have an exit strategy if things get bad. I am not going to run away without even seeing the secondyer!


    I pointed at the Corrupted Netherstone and cried out.


    Now,e at me! [Invoke Wrath]!


    And I watched as the distorted figure froze. For a moment, the blurred kes of color coating its body flickered. Like it was battling against my Skill. Then there was a sh of light, and it charged at me, swinging down with its tendrils.


    I deflected the attacks with my Divine Nebr Scythe before leaping up. I grabbed onto the Corrupted Netherstone as it shrieked, before slicing down at its tendrils. I ripped apart those appendages, then grabbed onto its back, redirecting it as it flew in a frenzy.


    The Corrupted Netherstone tried to smash me against the floor and the walls, but I nimbly circled around its back. I managed to avoid being crushed as I barely guided its movements, leading me towards the arched gateway ahead. An unsettling sensation crept over my back as I fought back against the corruption.


    We flew straight down into the secondyer as the Corrupted Netherstone began to regrow its tendrils. It struggled to throw me off, but I held on. Even as the walls changed around me. Even as the scene began to wrap and shift. Entire sections of the floor were missing, and nothingy below but empty space.


    I watched as the corridor led down and leveled out, opening into a narrow tunnel. It wasnt an open chamber, but this was the secondyer. I heard a voice echo in my head warped and twisted as my eyes flickered.


    <em>Now Entering [L-ir: The H----a D-ma-n]</em>


    I grinned and raised my Divine Nebr Scythe high. I bared my teeth down at the Corrupted Netherstone as I aimed for its core.


    Thanks for the ride! <strong><em>[Divine Strike]!</em></strong>


    And I shed down. My Divine Nebr Scythe blurred, shing with gray mes, before shifting into an iridescent aura. It tried to swipe up at me with its tendrils, and I sheared through its core. But the Skill didnte to an end. It continued glimmering over my Divine Nebr Scythe, even as I leapt off the copsing Corrupted Netherstone.


    <em>Defeated [---- Netherstone - Lvl. ---- ]!</em>


    <em>Experience is awarded for defeating a corrupted piece of the world!</em>


    <em>General Skill [Corruption Resistance] has leveled up!</em>


    <em>[Corruption Resistance - Lvl. 1] -> [Corruption Resistance - Lvl. 2]!</em>


    <em>Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!</em>


    <em>ss [Draconic Apprentice] Level Up!</em>


    <em>[Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 128] -> [Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 129]</em>


    <em>Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!</em>


    <em>ss [Draconic Apprentice] Level Up!</em>


    <em>[Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 129] -> [Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 130]</em>


    <em>Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!</em>


    Alright.


    I swept my gaze over the secondyer, looking at the corrupted tunnel.


    Now, lets see what you have in store for me.