Abyss Descension: I Perform Rituals to Evolve In The Apocalyps

Chapter 49 - Urge

Yuxin was using her tiny legs to keep up with the group.

It wasn't that the adults around her didn't care. It was just that she kept refusing their help.

More than one person had offered to carry her or give her a ride on their shoulders, but she'd politely turned them all down.

It was all because her mother had raised her to be independent, and her father had instilled in her a quiet wisdom.

She wasn't the typical six-year-old who knew nothing beyond being spoiled rotten. She understood, perhaps better than most, that they were just strangers trapped in a place that held not a shred of mercy for human lives. She couldn't ask for much from them.

Not to mention, the fact that they had kept her fed and stayed by her side was more than enough to make her feel thankful.

The last thing she wanted was to drag them down. She didn't want to be a burden to anyone.

But now... she was starting to regret that decision a little.

"Feeling tired?" Agatha asked gently, having noticed the little doll-like girl's slowing pace and drooping posture.

"A little," Yuxin replied softly as her lips curled into a faint pout and her eyes shimmered with fatigue.

Seeing her look so sullen, Agatha's heart melted and she couldn't help herself.

Before Yuxin knew it, she was scooped up into a warm, secure embrace.

Agatha had lifted her up.

Yuxin's good impression of Agatha deepened—not just because her presence was calming and reminded her of her mother, but also because her voice was soft and pleasant to the ear.

She was graceful, kind, and undeniably beautiful.

In the end, no matter what anyone said, looks did matter. That was simply a fact.

"You can rely on the adults around you," Agatha said softly to the child she was carrying. "We are more than willing to help. I know I am."

"Thank you," Yuxin mumbled in her embrace, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No problem. Helping you is my pleasure," Agatha said with a smile.

"Big sister, you're so pretty," Yuxin said shyly, peeking up through her lashes.

The compliment from the irresistibly cute doll in her arms sent a wave of excitement through Agatha's chest, one she couldn't contain.

"Our Yuxin thinks I'm pretty? Hehehe," she giggled, her smile widening. "Yuxin, big sister also thinks you are pretty. You are the cutest child big sister has ever laid her eyes on!"

Agatha gave her a gentle squeeze, rubbing her face against her bubbly cheek, her eyes sparkling with warmth.

Yuxin blushed, her cheeks turning a rosy pink as she bashfully looked away, burying her face into Agatha's shoulder.

She didn't tease her any longer.

Pa!

The warm atmosphere that had settled over the group shattered as the sound of a sharp slap echoed through the air.

All eyes turned toward the source.

Several confused gazes landed on Kev.

The right side of his face was red and swollen. And the one who had hit him seemed to be none other than... Kev himself.

"Why did he slap himself?"

That was the question running through everyone's mind.

"Kev, why did you hurt yourself?" Lena asked, stepping closer in concern.

"Stay away!" Kev snapped.

Lena flinched. Her heart felt shaken and her lips trembled. He had never spoken to her with such harshness and coldness before.

She felt confused and pained as he had wronged her. Her emotions were reflected in her eyes that also revealed that stronger than both her confusion and pain was the worry she held for him.

"The fuck is wrong with me?"

Kev backed away from the group in panic recalling that he had just tried to kill them to collect their corpses, and this urge that had suddenly appeared in his heart was so intense he was finding it impossible to control.

He thought, 'I need to break away from the group or else I will end up killing them all.'

His eyes darkened with each step he took away from them.

"Kev! Where are you going?" Agatha asked in worry.

"Don't come after me.

Wait there.

Wait for me to return."

He turned around and ran, soon he was out of the effective reach of the flashlight in Pete's hand. His figure was swallowed by the darkness, and the group could no longer see him.

Whispers filled the air.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know. But it seemed pretty serious?"

"What are we going to do now? Follow his words like dumb puppies?"

"Do you have a better plan? No, right? Then, let's just wait for him to return."

Lena and Agatha silently stared in the dark, wondering whether they should give chase.

In the end, they decided against it.

When he had warned them, there had been a desperation in his voice that was hard to ignore.

It touched their hearts, and even though it wasn't what they wanted, they chose to obey him.

They decided to wait, just as he had asked.

Wait... and hope he returned safely.

By the time Kev was so far they couldn't see him, his eyes had become pitch-black.

In those dark eyes, there was usually no trace of emotion.

But now, there was.

An intense, violent madness burned like wildfire inside them.

His hands twitched.

His mind itched.

He wanted to reach out, manipulate the shadows and strangle them.

His fingers moved of their own accord, curling through the air as if plucking invisible threads.

The shadows beneath the survivors began to stir, silently rising like dark serpents from the ground.

Just as they began to take sneak up to their necks, Kev slapped himself again with such force a flicker of rationality sparked in his eyes.

Without hesitation, he stopped his monstrous actions and ran down the tunnel.

Soon, he turned a corner and entered another tunnel.

With the others completely out of sight, his situation improved, albeit slowly.

But the madness, that maddening urge to kill and collect corpses, still clung to him like a second skin.