The Thing Below

It wasn't long until another demon blocked their path, a female desire demon this time, who laughed with cold frosty voice. Her taloned feet tapped at the ground where a viscus fluid poured out, steaming and melting away the ceramic floor beneath it.

Clovis backed away, already complaining about their predicament. Gabriel remained where he stood. "Careful, the fumes are poisonous," he warned. He pointed his sword to the ground, mana-fueled lightning cackled and attacked the flow of acidic fluids. Though he was no expert on barriers or cleansing, the sheer absurd amount of mana that bubbled within each bolt of electricity was enough to slow the goo to a halt. Clovis made a face, inwardly judging the brute-force ways of their Lord High Paladin, while Kline scowled with both respect and envy.

"Kline," Gabriel called.

"Yessir."

"Take care of yourself and assist."

"Yessir." Kline nodded without complaint, his voice ever so slightly bearing the hints of childish excitement. Gabriel stepped back and retracted his mana, the sludge that had been halted began to creep at their feet again.

Kline knelt down and slapped his palm to the ground. His shadow darkened and expanded into a two-meter wide pitch-black circle. Liquid and gas that touched its edge disappeared, only to reappear again on the other side of the shadow.

Gabriel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of something that glowed blue. He tossed one to Clovis who barely caught it the last second, "That will buy us a minute or two."

"A minute or two!?" Clovis shrieked in horror, but Gabriel just ignored him, uncapping his vial and drinking the holy water within, cleansing and protecting him from the effects of poison.

Seeing as there was no way out of his predicament, Clovis could only lower his head and sigh. Despite his obvious complaints, there was still that lazy careless smile upon his face. He unscrewed the vial and followed after the High Paladin.

A look of agitation began to grow on the demon's face. She fanned out her long arms and fingers, connected by a thin membrane-like a bat's wing. She screeched and cawed at them in obvious protest, flapping her wings until they began to glow an unearthly purplish hue.

Gabriel took a step, but before the sole of his boot touched the dangerous sludge, the was lightning beneath his feet and his shot forward at terrifying speed. By using his ability he could make large jumps and minimize contact with the corroding floor. Clovis was not without his tricks as well, his mana activated a wind enchantment that made it as though he were as light as feather and he, like Gabriel, rushed towards the monster in a flash.

She caught Clovis's downwards slash, the blade crashing into thin fingers as those they were thick metal rods, but it gave Gabriel an opening to thrust his blade at her from her exposed right side.

She shrieked and their ears blistered, twisting away before Gabriel could stab through her tender flank while Clovis was shouting with complaints, "I'm going to go deaf!" Black blood oozed out of the wound. Residual flickers of electricity danced around the cut, making her muscles twitch involuntarily. Her beautiful visage twisted with rage as she cried, attention now drawn to Gabriel and lunged at him. But he was much too fast for her, zipping out of the way of her claws before she could touch a single strand of hair on his head. Which in turn, gave Clovis the opening he needed to attack.

However he was a little slow, and she twisted back to catch his thrust with her hand, black and bloody holding the blade.

"Uh oh," Clovis said, almost nonchalant as he was thrown aside. Luckily with the wind enchantment allowed him to turn in midair, landing down on his feet like a cat, "Hahaha, dangerous!" He was smiling.

Shadowy circles formed around them, little black disks hovered in the air, "Oh, thanks Kline!" Clovis laughed, and when he stabbed his sword through one of the black portals, the blade appeared on the side of another, stabbing the demon's back. She shrieked, swiping uselessly at the portals that hovered around in the air. But she was no fool either and didn't take long for her to realize the attacks were actually coming from Clovis. Just as she was about to lunge at him, Gabriel attacked her once more, not allowing her to close in on his assistant.

Just like that the volleyed her attention back and forth until she was stumbling in a pool of her own dark ooze. The air was starting to feel thick again, and Gabriel didn't like the sound of his shoes squelching on wetness, the burn of whatever acid underneath was coming through the thick layer of enchantments they had on all their clothes.

"Ah, I can't take this anymore!" Clovis whined, and for once he was right. The cleansing power of the holy water was beginning to wear out, they couldn't just continue.

That was fine, Gabriel wagered.

Seizing a brief moment where the demon swiped towards the fool Clovis, who almost slipped on the buildup on liquid on the ground, Gabriel rushed, releasing a high volume of mana towards the abomination. Electricity roared, alighting the entire room with sword thrust forth it was enough force to knock the creature back, it's overgrown form slamming into the wall. Clovis yelped, receiving some of the aftershocks of electricity that reached towards him.

Gabriel wasted no time, expending his mana reserve recklessly to blitz towards the beast before it could recover, stabbing his blade into its chest. It screeched, droplets of saliva hitting his face along with a splash of ebony blood that burned and irritated his skin on contact.

The long, needle-like thumb reached towards his face. The feeling of nausea was beginning to take over but Gabriel gritted his teeth and with a final burst of electricity sliced through the beast with his sword. It toppled over with a squelch, laying in a mess of gore and noxious tar.

He stepped away, barely stopping himself from stumbling. "Erm, you ok, Big Boss?" Clovis asked.

"I'm fine." He answered tersely, reaching into a hidden breast pocket for a small container and emptied a few pills into his mouth.

"Wow, Sir, you're actually insane." Clovis smiled sheepishly at their leader, wiping his feet to get rid of gunk, "I really thought we were goners at some point in there." He laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous." Gabriel chided, "And don't lose focus. Kline said there was something out back."

Kline gave Clovis a sneer and what could be said a proud look.

There was a narrow hallway leading out of the kitchen, curling around the back of the condo. The air felt thick around there, even more so than the distorted mana that hovered around the demon corpse they left behind. The hall felt claustrophobic with the three of them together, steps steady but slow. And while there was another battle brewing in the very same house, the sounds of their clash sounded oddly far away. The corruption was heavy, twisting with the Earth mana to make a nauseating mix.

They peered into a cramped bathroom and what appeared to be a theatre or playroom designed to entertain children, but it was the study that was especially dense with mana. When they first peered inside, nothing particularly looked array. It was only when they stepped inside, and a crunching sound erupted below Kline's foot that drew their attention. The carpet was tossed aside. Veins of tiny branches fanned out, seeming to originate from somewhere behind the wide ornate desk that sat at the end of the office. The three men shared a look. The desk was hulled aside, revealing that the tendrils were coming out of a hidden latch within the floor.

Clovis blanched, "This is some real horror movie stuff, Sir. We're all going to get cursed and die."

Neither Gabriel nor Kline paid him heed, moving to unhinge the rusted latch, much to the younger knight's dismay.

The opening presented a black void sounded by tiny strings of blackened branches leading them it. "We're all going to die," Clovis repeated.

Kline rolled his eyes, "Stop your useless whining." He fished out his phone from his pocket, offering the little light it could down the dark, damp steps.

"Let's go," Gabriel ordered, fearlessly leading them down into the abyss. Gabriel felt his stomach churn, finding the scene familiar with the mess he encountered years ago in the Lord Randori's mansion.

But there was no fight awaiting for them there in the hidden basement but what they saw down in the depths was no less terrifying.