The Damned Demon

Asher and Rebecca strode across the scorched sands, the desert winds whipping around them like ghostly whispers from a dead world.

The heat waves distorted the air, making the massive tent ahead shimmer in the distance like a mirage.

But the moment they drew closer, a towering armored figure stood at the entrance—her imposing frame unmoving, like an eternal sentinel.

Rebecca had her lips part in surprise upon seeing Eradicator standing here.

Asher barely had time to say anything before Valeria took a single step forward, her form exuding an eerie stillness, her gloved hands resting lightly on the hilt of her blade. The tension in the air coiled like a beast preparing to strike.

Then, in an emotionless, cold voice, she asked:

"Do you want me to dispose of her?"

Eradicator remembered how one of Asher's enemies was Rebecca and the nuisances she had caused for him.

Even though she knew he could handle her, she wanted to make sure, especially seeing her follow him here.

Rebecca snorted, folding her arms over her chest.

"Heh, so you were hiding here, eradicating nothing while our kingdom was getting destroyed?" she taunted, her dark red eyes gleaming with disdain, "You must be the first Bloodborn Guard in history to abandon her post."@@novelbin@@

Asher's expression darkened as he stepped between them, his gaze flicking between the two women.

"That's enough," he said firmly. "Rowena ordered her to keep an eye on me. And her name isn't Eradicator anymore. It's Valeria, and you will address her as such."

Rebecca's brows furrowed as she gave Asher a disbelieving look.

"You even gave her a name? What for? This is ridiculous!" Rebecca couldn't believe or understand why he was giving such importance to a royal servant.

Wait…he couldn't be sleeping with her, right? She should stop getting surprised at this point. He was still a despicable pervert.

Asher ignored her question, turning to Valeria instead, "You don't have to worry about her. I allowed her to follow me, and she'll be coming with us to the ruins. But, of course, you are free to keep an eye on her as well."

Valeria gave a silent nod, her gaze never leaving Rebecca.

Rebecca gritted her teeth in frustration, feeling like an unwanted stray dog trailing behind Asher.

"I thought you trusted me now," she muttered, her voice aggrieved, "Don't tell me I endured all that for nothing."

Asher's gaze remained impassive as he responded, "Letting you come with me and trusting you are two different things."

Saying nothing more, he turned and stepped inside the tent. Valeria followed without hesitation.

"This is so not fair…" Rebecca let out a frustrated grunt, rubbing her temples before finally following them in.

The inside of the tent was dim, illuminated only by the filtered crimson light of the sun outside. The air was thick with the scent of aged parchment, herbs, and something faintly metallic.

But what caught Rebecca's attention was the small serpent curled atop a large, makeshift bed.

Lori.

The once-proud, terrifying serpent was now curled in her smaller form, her body rising and falling weakly with each breath, as though she was in a deep sleep.

Rebecca's brows furrowed as she looked at Asher.

"What is this she-monster doing here and in such a state?" she asked, perplexed. "No wonder she was missing while we were busy fighting. If only she fought with us, we could have killed a lot of those filthy draconians."

Asher remained unmoved, his gaze fixed on Lori's still form.

"She followed me here, like Valeria," he explained. "Unfortunately, Lori and I ended up in those ruins Zane had sent you and the others to all those years ago. I was able to survive there, but Lori…" His voice dropped slightly, "She was dying because of the dangerous mana that permeates that place. Valeria saved us just in time."

Rebecca's eyes widened slightly, her smug demeanor faltering for the first time.

"That place is that dangerous?" she muttered. But what really struck her was how Asher managed to survive there when even a creature as powerful as Lori had nearly perished.

Before she could dwell on it, Asher turned to Valeria.

"Were you able to build the container I asked for?"

Valeria shook her head. "No. But there is a better alternative."

With a smooth motion, she pulled out three elegantly crafted vials, each filled with a swirling, abyssal black liquid.

Rebecca and Asher immediately recognized it with shocked looks—pure dark mana in liquid form.

It was considered impossible to condense pure dark mana in liquid form and only inferior versions of it could be produced which would have shades of gray.

Valeria calmly explained before Asher could ask, "These are Manavials given to me by my Master. They inject a layer of powerful dark mana into a living being, shielding them from the mana within the ruins. Each one lasts for several days."

Rebecca blinked, feeling a rare sense of admiration. Not even the expert alchemists from around the world could create something like this.

Just who was her master?

Asher's eyes gleamed with curiosity as he took one into his hand, feeling the powerful essence swirling inside.

"Your master gave you these?" he asked, his voice thoughtful. "This looks… advanced. Could this be a remnant of the technology created by the humans who once lived there? But more importantly, how did your master modify it to utilize dark mana?" He studied the vial closely. "Does he truly remember all the knowledge he had when he was alive?"

Valeria's expression remained blank. "I am not sure."

Before Asher could ask further, Rebecca, who was lost deep in thought, suddenly cut in,

"Hey, I need some of those too. Or how else am I going to follow you without dropping dead?" she demanded, crossing her arms.

Asher glanced at Valeria. "How many do we have? Can we afford to share one with her while ensuring Lori is protected?"

Valeria replied, "It depends on how long we plan to be there."

Asher's expression grew contemplative as he felt it shouldn't take more than a couple hours to talk to her master and leave. He only wanted to meet him to save Lori and find out why he made Valeria his protector.

Of course, this was assuming her master didn't have any ulterior motives.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes, her expression suddenly suspicious. "She's bluffing! I bet she has thousands of them stashed somewhere."

Valeria ignored her. "Based on the ones I have, it should last a few months for two."

Rebecca let out a sigh of relief, a triumphant smirk forming on her lips. "See? I was right."

Asher nodded as he felt there was nothing to worry about, "Good. Let's go and talk to your master."

With that, he turned and stepped out of the tent while Valeria carefully picked up Lori and followed after Asher.

Rebecca hesitated for a second before following, an intrigued look in her eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait—who's this 'master' of hers??" she asked, baffled as she chased after the two. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

—

The ruins stretched before them like the skeletal remains of a forgotten civilization, swallowed by time and reclaimed by shadow.

Crumbled pillars, once magnificent, now lay in heaps of dust and debris, their ancient carvings barely visible beneath layers of decay.

The walls, lined with intricate and otherworldly symbols, pulsed faintly as if whispering secrets from an era that should have never been forgotten.

Asher strode forward, the dark green flames of his torch flickering ominously, casting dancing shadows upon the warped architecture around them.

Rebecca followed with her jaw slightly agape, her eyes darting from one strange structure to the next.

Everything felt wrong—not in a supernatural way, but as if this place didn't belong to their world. The angles of the buildings, the flow of the designs… none of it made sense to her. Just what was Zane and Naida's connection to this place? How did they know about such a forbidden place?

She let out an astonished breath, her voice barely above a whisper, "I don't understand... How does Naida know about this place and her way around it? How did Zane come upon this and escape without getting killed by Valeria's master? Were they in on this together? All of this seems suspicious."

Asher remained silent, his thoughts mirroring hers. It was suspicious. The idea of Naida and Zane working together wasn't completely implausible, yet it didn't make sense.

If Zane had wanted Rowena's mother gone, there would have been simpler ways—at least a dozen easier ways. Why would he need Naida to orchestrate something so elaborate? And what was their connection to this place?

His fingers tightened around the torch, the flames reflecting the conflict in his mind.

Then, he glanced at Rebecca out of the corner of his eye, debating.

Should he tell her the truth about Valeria's identity?

But something held him back. It wasn't even his place to reveal such a thing.

For now, it didn't matter.

What did matter was the ominous weight in his chest—the creeping anxiety that settled in as he neared Valeria's master.

A being that had been waiting for him for devil knows how many years.

For what purpose?

Asher broke the silence, his voice low but steady. "Your master... does he have a name?"

Valeria walked beside him, her expression unreadable beneath her helmet, before she shook her head. "He only told me to call him and consider him as my master."

Asher nodded slowly with a shrug, "I guess I'll have to just call him Skully for now."

Rebecca, who had been distracted by the strange surroundings, whipped her head toward him. "Skully?" she repeated incredulously.

"Lori's nickname for him," Asher admitted with a brief chuckle, though there was no humor in it. "It stuck."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, unable to believe that the big mouthed serpent came up with such a name for a mysterious, powerful being.

But she left it at that as her eyes were still scanning the ruins in fascination and unease.

Asher, however, was still fixated on something else entirely.

"Who was your master when he was alive?" he finally asked, his voice a shade more serious. "I know he was human, but... a human shouldn't be able to exist in our world. Don't tell me he has something to do with the ancient civilization of humans that once lived here?"

Valeria gave a single, slow nod, "My master barely spoke of his past. All I know is that he once lived in this place before dying. From what he told me, this place is hundreds of millions of years old."

Silence.

Then—

"What the fuck..." Asher muttered under his breath, wondering if he heard her right.

Rebecca's breath hitched as she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide with disbelief, "What in the name of the devils... That can't be possible...I still don't understand how humans could exist in our world before us and now she is saying an undead has been exiting here for millions of years? An immortal undead shouldn't exist..." Rebecca mumbled with an even more unsettled look, feeling that all of this was beyond her comprehension and that didn't sit well with her.

Asher, too, felt the weight of those words sinking in, his fingers flexing involuntarily.

Even as an undead, something should have kept Skully "alive" for that long. An undead was powered by dark mana of the one who created it.

Without a source of dark mana supplied to it by its creator, it will die.

And yet Skully's creator was nowhere to be seen and the sheer amount of dark mana needed to sustain such an existence was unfathomable.

He exhaled sharply, trying to grasp the magnitude of what they were about to face.

Valeria suddenly came to a halt, standing at the edge of a massive hole in the ground—a chasm devouring the chamber like a gaping maw.

The pit stretched far and wide, an abyss shrouded in darkness, seemingly bottomless. A faint, unnatural whispering sound emanated from within, like the murmurs of long-dead souls.

"He's waiting down there."

Valeria's voice was as calm as ever.

Asher stepped forward, bringing his dark green torch closer to the edge, the eerie flames doing little to pierce the void below.

He recognized this hole easily.

Last time, it was nothing short of hell after going in there.

But this time… this time, he was willingly jumping in.

His jaw tightened before he took a deep breath. "Let's go."

Then—without hesitation—

He jumped.

Valeria followed immediately after.

Rebecca stood frozen at the edge, staring down into the abyss. She still had misgivings as part of her was screaming at her to go back.

But when had she ever listened to reason?

If Asher trusted Valeria, then it might be okay to take a leap of faith.

With a frustrated grunt, she muttered, "Devils curse me for this," before leaping into the darkness after them.