Abe the Wizard

While Abel moved for a final hit, a dark flame appeared all over Duriel’s body. Upon a closer look, it wasn’t actually flame, but a vision of countless souls screaming and tumbling over one another in agony. Their screams were what supplied energy to it.

Duriel stared at Abel with its lifeless eyes. It tried to withstand the stinging sensation from getting zapped, and suddenly, one black flame erupted and exploded. It started screaming louder than ever before. The entire tomb shook. If Abel could describe this, it felt like his entire existence was being rejected by this room. He tried to produce another “lightning” spell, but the spell runes disappeared before they were even activated.

Also, he couldn’t move. It felt like the entire world was trying to resist him. It was the same when he faced Andariel. Duriel was a divine entity that ruled over this area, and he had no choice but to submit. As soon as he noticed that he was pinned right where he was at, he saw Duriel charge towards him. The skeletons and claystone guards didn’t do anything to stop it. They stood there and shattered into shreds as soon as it ran them over.

Abel felt extremely jeopardized, needless to say. He couldn’t move, and if Duriel ran straight towards him, he would be killed instantly. As though trying to respond to this threat, a vision of an oak tree emerged from his druid spirit. It looked just like the oak tree he planted in the Rogue’s Encampment. The more that the tree moved, the more transparent this vision started to appear.

At the same time, a giant oak tree appeared inside of Abel’s body. It wasn’t there physically, but it was firmly supporting him from behind. To put it simply, it was like he was leaning on the trunk of an oak tree. It made him feel rooted in where he was at. The suppressive aura that he sensed was gone when Duriel was just about to hit him.

To respond, the shield in his left hand returned with another “shield attack.” The idea was to unleash the rune as soon as Duriel was about to make contact.

Still, Duriel was not to be underestimated. The oak tree disappeared as soon as Abel performed his counterattack. If not for that ability, he would’ve been close to certain death. Anyways, now that he was at a massive advantage, he threw the “lightning” spell in his right hand towards Duriel’s outer shell. Then, he continued by doing the same with his left. Duriel already had the ability to defend itself, so all that it could do was take the hits as it lay powerlessly on the ground.

Abel still had his guard up. While attacking with both his hands, he ordered Black Wind to draw away from Duriel slowly. This was actually the first time he’s ever been so close to death, and thankfully, Duriel was finally starting to grow weak.

Duriel couldn’t defend itself anymore. As Abel struck relentlessly with his lightning spells, even screaming in agony became too much of a chore. The damage continued to pile up, and eventually, Duriel’s body started bloating from the inside out. The outer shell kept Duriel in shape until it couldn’t hold any longer. Soon, its organs and guts burst out of the shell and splattered everywhere. The skeletons and claystone guards were destroyed when they were hit by it, but he was out of range.

“I’ve finally killed it.”

Abel let out a long sigh of relief. His exhaustion caught up with him. He had been drinking potions the entire fight to maintain his sense, but having to constantly use the acute vision and digitalization ability was really starting to take a toll on his will power. He could replenish his physical and mental stamina as much as he wanted, but the stress on his soul wouldn’t vanish.

The fight lasted for an entirety of three days. Abel couldn’t help but smile weakly. If he didn’t have enough summoned creatures, didn’t do enough preparations beforehand, or didn’t equip the right things, there would be no way of securing his victory, and even then, he still wasn’t strong enough to combat Duriel comfortably.

While Abel was deep in his own thoughts, a shattered crystal rock floated from Duriel’s corpse. A light flashed out of it and lit up the whole room. It was the world stone fragment, the thing that made Duriel so difficult to beat in this fight. He tried to get a closer look at it, and surprisingly enough, the fragment flew towards him on its own. It passed through his frozen armor and combat qi as though they weren’t even there.

It was the same with his two passive defensive magic items. None of his defensive equipment stopped the world stone fragment from coming at him. It went straight through his body and right into his soul, where his own world stone fragment was placed. The two pieces were like pieces of opposite attracting magnets. When they combined into one, he felt that the world around him was starting to feel just like when he was at the Rogue’s Encampment. He was like a god here. Every trace of mana in the air was visible to him.

Just by thinking about it, a pile of water was separated from the mud on the ground. It rose into the air, leaving no moisture whatsoever to the surroundings. After that, it was sent into a void that was opened out of nowhere. Abel couldn’t believe it. He never thought that he could open a void just by imagining it.

“Wow!”

He could feel the power of divinity that was channeling through himself. This wasn’t his real ability, of course, but the ability of the world stone fragment. It seemed to have some sort of control over the ground beneath him.

Back to Duriel’s corpse. There were still grey shadows of the souls it consumed flying out into the air. The shapes were very distinct at the start, but they quickly became fragments that became less and less visible. The faces were the most visible part, whereas the bodies would move rapidly around the air and eventually fade into nothingness.

Upon reading the message that the world stone fragment left, Abel learned that these souls belonged to the generations of humans that once resided in Lut Gholein. Duriel’s death liberated them of their fate of being held captive for eternity. Once they knew found their savior, Abel, they bowed and changed color from grey to white.

Gratitude. Gratitude was what these countless souls were trying to express to Abel. It was the kind of gratitude that came from the bottom of their hearts, the kind of gratitude that purified them from the pollution they suffered from hell. Whether they were old or young, men or women, farmers or warriors, they had the same pure smile on their faces as they gradually vanished. Honestly, Abel’s mind was still a bit dreaded after the recent bloodshed he’s participated in, but after seeing this, he could clearly tell that his mind felt a lot clearer than before.

Soon, when the light slowly dimmed away, he heard a tune that he was once very familiar with. This was the second time he heard it. While he couldn’t hear the lyrics, nor the tune, there was something that he was very certain of. Yes, this was a song about life, the joint choir of countless souls singing together. Even with two pieces of the world stone fragments on him, there wasn’t really much he could do to try to decipher this piece of music. Instead, he just kept his ears open and enjoyed the sound that was playing around him.

“May your souls earn the peaceful rest that they deserve.”

Abel returned a bow to the souls, and the lights and shadows completely disappeared in the tomb. Everything became quiet again. He could no longer feel the same creepiness as when he first came here. It was still a tomb, but something about the mud, stones, and wall painting made them seem a little less haunted and a little more sacred.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was a secret passageway on the wall. Perhaps the fight with Duriel distracted him too much. Before going into it, though, he decided to check on the big dead bug, Duriel. He went to flip over its corpse, hoping to find anything that might be of use to him. He was quite disappointed to have not found any, but to be fair, having gained another world stone fragment and blessing from the song of life was already quite enough to be satisfied with.

Next, he went ahead and cast a “resurrection of the skeleton” on Duriel’s corpse. An explosion happened, and a skeleton stood up in an upright position. Unlike most skeletons, there was an extra thick layer of shell around this particular one. It protected all of its most vital parts, such as its frame, skull, and soul fire. This was a hybrid skeleton, something he’s already given up on summoning after so long.

Abel smiled as he observed the hybrid skeleton, “I’ll let you keep your name. Duriel.”

This was the second hybrid skeleton that he owned. As for its ability, it was something that he had to wait and see. Once he was done, he took a look at his surroundings and followed into the secret passageway that he just found. It was a bit dark here, but the world stone fragment helped him see through pretty much everything that he needed to see. Instead of using the “instantaneous movement” to get by faster, he decided to let Black Wind move on the ground.

By the way, he was not yet fully recovered from his previous fight. He needed time for his soul to return to its maximum. He needed that because he could feel something compelling and mysterious up ahead. Luckily, there was still quite a bit of distance between, so there was plenty of time for him to absorb the energy that was floating by.

Come to think of it. There was quite a bit of hellfire burning in front of him. he stared into it and saw a giant door made of stone appearing in front of him. It was a magnificent sight to witness. The humans that once lived in the dark world must’ve been extraordinarily civilized. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible for them to create such a giant piece in the middle of underground architecture.

As he passed through the giant door, he found himself entering another spacious dimension. He no longer needed the hellfire because he could see glowing red lava flowing in the middle of the area. Even breathing felt very painful here. Thankfully, he had the freezing armor to keep himself chilled.

On top of the lava, there was a platform connected by countless chains to the round rocks. There was an old, small wooden bridge that was connecting it to Abel. He didn’t think that a wooden bridge several tens of thousand years old would be substantial, so he decided to teleport right onto the platform.

“Thank you for saving me, young adventurer!”

A voice that came out of nowhere caught Abel by surprise. Despite having been inside the dark world for so long, he’s never encountered a living being that tried to make direct contact with him. Even Cairn wasn’t so outright when he first met him.

He didn’t think that there would be any living human here, but the voice had to come from somewhere. He tried to trace its source, and surprise surprise, he saw a tear on the red binding rune on the platform. A light shadow was trying desperately to come out of it.

“Who are you?” Abel asked.

“Me? Um, let me think about it. It’s been a while since I’ve seen any humans. Well, uh, wait, that’s right, my name is Tyrael!”

Tyrael the archangel. Abel became more certain when he saw the golden robe and wings. According to his memory, this was the archangel that was supposed to represent justice, a concept he wasn’t sure they would feel the same about if they were to have a discussion. Anyways, if what he remembered was correct, they should both be enemies to the forces of heaven.

Abel gave a slight bow, “Glad to see you here. If there isn’t anything urgent, excuse me, I’ll be off now.”

He didn’t want to have too much to do with Tyrael. An archangel was too much for his current self, so the easier option was to leave immediately.

“Please, stop!” Tyrael called out, “You need to help me, young adventurer!”

Abel shook his head and refused, “Afraid not, sorry. There isn’t much an ordinary human like me can do, is there?”

Tyrael said in a tempting voice, “Not so fast, young adventurer. Oh, wait, you are a wizard, aren’t you? Your physique is the same as a knight, but I can sense the mana that you are storing inside of you.”

“And?”

“And, if you are willing to help me, young adventurer, would you be interested in gaining the occupation of a holy crusader?”

Abel became alert by that offer. If he had to guess, Tyrael must’ve suffered some injury from his previous battle, so he was probably trying to lure him with some honeyed trap. If this were any other human from the dark world, the deal would’ve ended within a blink of an eye, but no, he had his mind clear the entire time. The underworld already overtook this world. If he accepted to change his occupation, Tyrael would’ve told him to surrender his soul to become his slave.

Come to think of it, it was already doubtful that there was a wholesome archangel still alive in this world. His eyes then turned towards the binding rune that was broken just then.

Abel quickly teleported away, “Um, no, I like being a wizard.”

Tyrael’s voice quickly became very sharp, “Hey, hey! Damn human! You just wasted my time! I…”

Instead of listening to the rest of what Tyrael had to say, Abel disappeared and reappeared elsewhere with his “instantaneous movement.” After that, Tyrael made a quick charge at him. He could feel a disturbance in his soul. Something was done to his most private parts.

After entering into Abel’s soul, the first thing that Archangel Tyrael heard was the sound of a dragon’s roar. Still, the giant dragon was just a level below that of an archangel that ruled heaven.

Tyrael laughed out loud without fear, “This, wow! This is the perfect body! This will be mine now!”

Abel also entered into his own soul. Inside there, he appeared in the form of a giant dragon as he screamed towards Tyrael.

“Get out of my body!” he screamed.

Tyrael said in a prideful voice, “You seemed to have experienced a lot, young adventurer, but that’s not going to matter anymore. From this moment on, you will become a part of me, and in exchange, I’ll grant you a life without an end.”

Abel screamed angrily, “You despicable forces of heaven! Because of your meaningless war against the underworld, the entire world has become lifeless. You want my body? Take it in your dreams!”

“How dare you defy heaven?”

With a scream just as loud, a light sword was revealed in Tyrael’s hands. Abel wasn’t sure what was going on, but he could feel his body still pinned when Tyrael said these words. As the giant dragon twisted its body, it was able to liberate itself from the restraint of the power of judgment. It took a bit of time, though, so Tyrael managed to land a strike with his light sword.

The cut felt painful. Abel could feel his soul being shredded as a giant wound appeared on the giant dragon’s body. It made him feel upset, needless to say. He was supposed to be the almighty ruler of his spiritual realm, but the archangel attacking him made him feel very powerless.

At the same time, his druid spirit created an image of a giant oak tree. The leaves were quickly turning yellow as the trunk supported his back. A green light appeared, and that helped to heal up the wound on the giant dragon.

Tyrael screamed manically, “So much for the long wait! You don’t even know what you possess, don’t you, young adventurer?”

Tyrael was very confident in his own victory. While the current version was not a complete one, his spiritual strength was still much stronger than Abel’s. The difference between them was too many leagues apart, and Abel was a lamb ready for slaughter. He wasn’t wrong to think that, actually. Abel couldn’t bring his gears here, and it wasn’t like he could use any spell attacks inside his own spiritual realm. The most he could do was to wait for Tyrael to come slowly towards him.

As Abel became closer and closer to despair, a broken piece of crystal stone appeared right on top of Tyrael.

Tyrael screamed at the top of his lungs, “The World stone! But how? How are you the owner of the world stone?”

Of course, Tyrael knew about the world stone. He knew exactly what it was, but the part he was surprised about was that a human became its owner. Usually, it should belong to just either heaven or the underworld, and now that the underworld already, it would make sense that only the underworld would have ownership over it.

Anyways, the world stone was a potent binding tool for Tyrael when it appeared on top of its head. It was like a mountain being pushed on top of its head. He honestly didn’t think that this would happen as soon as he was freed from his age-long captivity.

Tyrael screamed fearfully, “Stop, stop! I’m only a part of the real Tyrael! Stop! I can help you become a holy crusader.”

Abel wasn’t going to stop, obviously. His soul would’ve been crushed just then if it weren’t for the world stone fragments that were inside of him. Luckily, fate was on his side. The world stone fragment smashed every bit of presence that remained inside this version of Tyrael, and seeing that there wasn’t a need for him to do much, he transformed himself from his dragon form back into his human form.

Whenever the world stone fragment crushed Tyrael just a bit more, grey shadows would come out and spread throughout the spiritual realm. It made Abel hungry, for some example, so he went ahead and absorbed them into his own body. He felt a strange sense of comfortableness when he did this. After doing this two times with his mouth, he could feel his soul was replenished.

As more grey shadows spread out of Tyrael’s body, he finally stopped screaming and instead became a body without a will of its own. A message appeared from the world stone fragment, which stated that “an alien energy has been eliminated.” After that, the world stone flew from Tyrael’s body and went deep into his soul. As for Tyrael’s body, once the world stone fragment left, it just sort of became a crystalized statue on its own.

Abel opened his eyes as he woke up into the real world. He could see that a crystal angel statue appearing in his hands. The face wasn’t quite visible, but its body and wings were very distinct to the most minute of details. For some reason, he could feel a strange sense of holiness from it. He wasn’t sure what its function was, but since it came from a real archangel, the value behind it must’ve been very, very significant.

After packing the statue up, Abel turned to look towards the stone obelisk on the platform. There was a map on top of it. It was supposed to depict a sea route from Lut Gholein to the seaport of Kurast. While he didn’t have any transportation means to travel on the water, he did have two flying mounts that could travel as far as he wished.

Anyway, it was time to go. After memorizing the map with his world stone fragment’s ability, he used the town portal’s scroll to get out of this area.