"Twin Demons!"
After emptying the clip, Jenkins knew that the abilities of his current identity were not enough. With his accuracy so poor, he'd never hit his target.
He would undoubtedly harm the innocents, but Jenkins couldn't see any other way.
Following his low cry, a shadow wreathed in black smoke materialized behind him. The frenzied figure blurred through the air, hurtling forward with a shriek before triggering a massive explosion.
It was certainly effective. When his vision returned, only the section of the hall where Jenkins stood remained, silhouetted against the magnificent red sunset. A black, humanoid creature, desiccated like a mummy, crawled over the rubble of the collapsed structure.
The blast had been imnse. He doubted any of the young people on the altar had survived. Mr. and Miss Madison were crushed beneath the collapsed do; they were surely dead as well.
For an instant, his vision flickered. The sunlight vanished once more, plunging the world back into darkness. This ti, however, he hadn't lost his sight; the environnt itself had changed.
Jenkins realized that the creature before him must have the power to control darkness or shadow.
"Are humans these days always so rude?"
The desiccated black creature spoke in a raspy woman's voice, a sound Jenkins could only associate with the old hags from fairy tales.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chocolate still perched on his shoulder. He was curious as to why the cat was immune to the creature's ntal influence, but that wasn't his primary concern.
"Who are you?"
He demanded, ntally calculating the attack range of [Blasphemous Creation] and the effective accuracy of [Knowledge Bestowal].
"You offered sacrifices of life," the creature rasped. "How could you not know who I am?"
"I..."
He had misjudged the altar's range, but on reflection, he realized he was indeed the one who had triggered the sacrifice.
"I have no business with you. Be on your way."
It was better to avoid trouble. He had no idea if he could actually defeat this bizarre creature.
"Caw caw~"
The laugh sounded like a crow's caw.
"If that's the case, then splendid. But if you wish to send away, you'll have to help . Co here... co closer~"
Its limbs writhed on the ground like black tentacles, and for a fleeting mont, Jenkins felt an undeniable urge to walk toward it.
But he snapped out of it just as quickly. That level of ntal control had little effect on him now.
"Why don't you co over here?"
He proposed, a brilliant band of silver light already coiling around the right arm he kept hidden behind his back.
"You should co here. I am from a very great place, you know. Sending back won't be easy."
"Very great?"
Jenkins stared into the darkness, asking absently:
"Let guess... the Overlord's domain?"
Silence fell. The black humanoid lay prone on the ground, no longer speaking. Its eyes were two enormous black pits, lending its entire form a terrifying aspect.
"Your ability to manipulate shadows is impressive. So... you're from the Shadow Kingdom?"
In truth, of the few otherworlds he knew, it was the only one associated with shadows.
Like a snake, the creature's entire body recoiled and coiled. Then, like a spring, it shot forward with a sudden whoosh, slamming into Jenkins before he could react.
His first sensation was of slick, slimy skin, followed by a wave of nausea that washed over his entire body.
He instantly activated [Blasphemous Creation], unleashing a torrent of the most terrifying whispers and murmurs he could recall.
But it was no use. The black body coiled around Jenkins like a serpent, forcing the fastidious Chocolate to leap from his shoulder. The creature raised its head level with Jenkins's, and its dark maw gaped open to a horrifying width, revealing an even more profound darkness within.
A powerful suction tugged at Jenkins, and he felt his very soul being violently pulled.
Fighting the sensation of his soul being torn away, he allowed the flas flowing through his spirit to surge outward with the pull, engulfing them both.
The crackling of flas was stark in the darkness. After several seconds, the two burning figures collapsed, falling away from each other.
The flas flowed back across the ground like a viscous liquid, returning to Jenkins's hand. He gasped for breath; the creature's pull could even drain his spirit. If not for that, he would have burned the thing to cinders before letting go.
anwhile, the black creature had shrunken by a third. Its dark color made it impossible to tell the extent of its burns, but it couldn't have escaped such flas unscathed.
For a mont, they both lay quietly on the ground, watching each other. Then, in the sa instant, they struck again. Jenkins's barrage of knowledge slamd into the black creature, while the desiccated thing's tentacle-like hand pierced through Jenkins's heart.
But Jenkins didn't die, and the black creature didn't go mad. They were locked together in a tight embrace. The gaping hole in Jenkins's chest trapped the creature's limb, while it, in turn, pinned his arms and legs.
"Chocolate!"
Jenkins cried out.
Only then did the cat saunter over.
It squinted at the two immobilized creatures on the ground, then padded over to Jenkins's side. With a small paw, it prodded the creature's horribly wrinkled skin. To its eyes, the folds of skin were nothing less than naturally ford runes.
"ow~"
The cat's ow suggested it was helpless.
In truth, if Jenkins were to lose consciousness, Chocolate could obliterate any nearby creature with a single swipe of its paw. But the great writer was wide awake, so for now, Chocolate remained a helpless little kitten.
"You're a smart cat! Use that thing!"
Jenkins urged quickly, but before he could say what 'that thing' was, the creature's arm clamped over his mouth.
Chocolate understood. It reached a paw to Jenkins's neck and, with considerable effort, managed to pull out a bone whistle. Gripping it in its paw, the cat put its mouth to the opening and blew with all its might. A skeletal warhorse erged from a cloud of black smoke.
Leaving the whistle on the ground, the cat leaped nimbly onto the horse's back. The skeletal steed scraped its front hooves against the dirt, then trotted to Jenkins's side and raised a hoof high over the monster's head.
It wasn't that he hadn't thought of summoning the unicorn. In fact, a unicorn would have been the perfect weapon against such a creature of shadow and darkness. But in this space, where the monster's influence had snuffed out all light, the summoning ability was useless.
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