Hell Contractor: Rise of the Last God

Tomb of a Pharaoh.

Beyond the foot of the steps below, Ayanda and Bright have been following the passages leading towards the deeper parts of the tower. At this level, it isn't completely overgrown as it was upstairs, and most of the standing structures seem to be held together by the earth it's been buried beneath. Ayanda and Bright both have no flashlight out, but they're circulating their individual God Blood Lightning Sacred Art's which is enhancing their physique's and senses. They're both able to adapt to the dark, with Bright's vision having a thermal sensor, and Ayanda's vision gives him X-ray extended vision which he can use in short distances to form a 3D ghost display. The difference in their enhancements is due to their genes, especially Ayanda who has had transfusions with different types of blood.

 Ayanda was leading the way as they went along, since he could see further ahead, with Bright detecting if there's anything alive or hidden. Ayanda thought he was more adept than Bright, but she suddenly pulled Ayanda back and gestured for him to remain quiet. In front of them was an empty pathway, but in the next second, a strange light breaks out from the ground, revealing a c***k in the stone path. A strange stone beast rises out of the cracked path, and it's appearance is like a giant otter with reptilian scales covering its body. It was bleeding profusely, dragging it's body away from the c***k it escaped from as though it was lucky to make it out alive. But in the next second, a giant beetle head bursts out, and grabs the dying stone beast to drag it back down into the depths it escaped from.

Ayanda was alarmed mostly because of how fast the beetle came out and dived back into the earth again. He was still reeling in from the strange stone beast, but he was able to also observe the beetle too as it disappeared. After Bright was sure there was no more signs of life, she suggested that they move faster so they don't draw any more attention.

"How did you know the beetle was coming?" Ayanda asked curiously.

"I didn't, but for some reason, there were temperature fluctuations in the spot where the stone beast came out, so I stopped to be sure." Bright responded calmly, explaining how she used her thermal vision to detect the strange reaction. Although it wasn't a lifeform, Bright had to be wary of the source of the temperature fluctuations, so that's why she held back on exploring further before.

As Ayanda and Bright continued to venture more, they started to discover ancient cavern ruins filled with deteriorating human skeletons, all laying upon stone slabs set up like the placement on a clock, circular but central to the room. There were no chains or restraints visible, and the skeletons seemed to have been in a sleeping posture, possibly already dead.

Ayanda was looking around the cavern, taking note of the carvings which resembled daemonic text as runes, inlaid with thin metallic spikes hammered into the walls. There are hieroglyphics of numerous Komodo monitors which are being worshipped by humans, with sacrifices, gifts and huge temples built in their image. But then in the middle of the depictions, a rugged chameleon which has been scorched into the hieroglyphics appears to descend upon the civilization worshipping the Komodo dragons, and proceeds to destroy everything, including the humans, temples, along with the Komodo dragon's that were being worshipped. For some reason after that, the chameleon remained alone upon the destroyed civilization, and the next hieroglyphic that Ayanda saw sent chills down his spine.

It was a hieroglyphic of the exact same burnt willow tree he had seen in his vision, only much smaller on the caver wall. What was scary to Ayanda, was that the burnt willow tree appeared to be growing out of the back of the chameleon who has remained, but now the terrifying deity is now asleep, with the burnt tree protruding out from it's body. For some reason, Ayanda felt as if the tree was different from what he had seen in his vision, but he couldn't tell how.

"Strange..." Bright muttered under her breath, drawing Ayanda's attention.

"What's wrong?" Ayanda asked.

"I feel like my teacher has told me about this." Bright answered while staring into the cavern with a puzzled gaze.

"You know about the burnt tree?" Ayanda pointed to the hieroglyphic of the chameleon and the burnt willow tree.

Bright stared at it and became more confused, "No, I've never seen that before. I was talking about the stone slabs, and the bodies..." Bright trailed off while turning to look back at the slabs that have been set up.

"What did your teacher say?" Ayanda questioned Bright while fearing the worst. Judging by what was depicted in those hieroglyphics, this was clearly a temple of some sort for the chameleon deity.

"She told me about how the early Phoenix Sect used to be a group of heretic's at their time, choosing to study the sacred arts of companion beasts over furthering any mortal sacred arts. That's why we have the Burning Phoenix Sacred Art we have now, but back then they were quite reckless in their early experiments, even attempting to contract wild companion beasts who had high intelligences, so they demanded human sacrifices in order to be revered by the humans that wanted to contracted. But eventually, those people became more ruthless, trapping companion beasts by using human sacrifices as bait...".

As Bright's eyes hovered over the slabs, Ayanda began to understand what Bright was thinking. This temple may have had something taken away by the early Phoenix Sect, but since it was ages before the forming of the Four States, there is no way for her to accurately tell. For now, she can only hope to return to the Phoenix Sect and ask her teacher as to the possibility that those remains are from that past era.

Ayanda continued to explore the wall in the cavern, but after the burnt willow tree and the slumbering chameleon, there's is nothing else specific about the time period or even the name of the stone temple they're in. 

"Where do you think that giant beetle disappeared to?" Ayanda asked Bright, as now he couldn't rely on his vison to pre-emptively detect any fluctuations, he must promote his God Blood Lightning Sacred Art to a higher level to gain more benefits. He was thinking of how to do this as he started to circulate his cultivation for God Blood Lightning Sacred Art.

"I'm not too sure. I don't think anything has been in here for ages." as Bright was looking around to assess the cavern, she suddenly noticed Ayanda had leaped over to her and was pushing her out of a fog that suddenly formed around her, but now only Ayanda was trapped in it. Ayanda is sucked into the fog, then the fog goes into the center of the room, in the middle of the slabs, then descends mysteriously in the fog like its water swirling down the drain. Bright can only watch in disbelief as Ayanda has vanished.

"Dammit, just as I caught up to you two." Nez complained as he reveals himself out of the shadows of the cavern wall. He had remained undetected as he got closer, and was planning to separate Ayanda and Bright by sending her into the depths of the temple, but Ayanda foiled his plan and was sent away instead. "And here I wanted to see if that worm has actually got any guts. All he cares about is impressing you." Nez spoke with disdain towards Ayanda.

Bright was startled initially, but after hearing Nez's voice, she started to burn with a powerful magenta flame, unlike any seen before, causing her eyes to blaze with the glaze of a red ruby.

"Where is Ayanda?" her voice may have been calm, but the bloodthirst oozing out made Nez unintentionally take a step back before he became annoyed with himself.

"If you can beat me, I'll tell you." now Nez started to circulate his own sacred art, and toxic fumes started to pour out of his skin, which began to corrode the ground he was standing on like acid was eating through it. 

Nez doesn't even move and he lets out a vicious strike from his fist, with Bright attacking at the same time with a blazing whip of her leg, releasing a torrent of meteors in Nez's direction. Bright's attack overwhelms Nez causing him to dodge the fierce flames, then re-assess his strategy. But before he can decide, Bright has already appeared behind him to kick him back from where he ran with a quick sweep. Nez also dodges this attack, but gets the side of his face burnt. For some reason, Nez remains unbothered by the burn, and continues to take on the barrage of kicks, giving Bright a strange glare. Nez suddenly changes his own temperament, and then pulls back his fumes. His eyes turn black, and the vitality in his body changes drastically, becoming more sinister.

Bright had guessed that Nez had a trump card, but in her delay in reacting to it, Nez has already struck out with a fist, but one that seems plain to her. It's only when Bright switches to her God Blood Lightning Sacred Art at the last second, does she catch the glimpse of the sinister vitality that's concentrated around Nez's fist. Before the evil vitality can penetrate her, she flares up a layer of jewel like flames to surround her, but this only prevents the sinister vitality affecting her, Nez's punch is still powerful enough to send her rocketing into the cavern wall, breaking a few ribs.

"Interesting. Your second sacred art is spiritual? Yethu said it was only mortal." Nez spoke, but his voice had a strange texture now, as if it's intertwined with something twisted and demonic. If Ayanda were around he would be able to notice the daemonic vitality that's coming from Nez, but unfortunately for Bright now, she wasn't aware of any daemonic arts yet.

Bright pulls herself out of the wall she was planted in, spitting out some blood.

"My princess, he's using an evil vitality, most likely daemonic. It would be best to find a way to retreat and come back with support to retrieve your friend." the voice inside Bright's Soul Scape spoke to her telepathically, it was concerned for it's master. Bright was smart enough to switch to her God Blood Lightning, but it's cultivation base is much too low for it to be useful.

"I can see his strikes. As long as I don't get hit again, there's a chance." Bright said resolutely, glaring at Nez with calm eyes, circulating a surge of the God Blood Lightning Sacred Art spiritual vitality. At best, she could push most of her bones back and patch up the internal bleeding, but her wounds would still be serious unless she gets help soon. And considering how Ayanda is trapped, she has to do everything she can to bring him back, she has no idea what Nez has up his sleeve with his plans for them.

Nez was about to attack Bright again, but felt a strong pull on his neck from a powerful force within his Soul Scape. Nez was having this reaction due to the nature of his companion beast, which gives him his toxic techniques with it's sacred art, but in order for Nez to gain mastery of daemonic sacred arts and it's vitality, Nez had to relinquish certain control from his body. The companion beast was pulling Nez back from being hasty.

"You fool! Can't you see she's waiting to counter. If you jumped in there, you would've died!" it was a hissing voice of a woman, which sounded elegant and arrogant. 

The landscape wasn't clear, but there appeared to be skeletons and bones laid all over within Nez's Soul Scape, which had a creepy castle built out of blackened skulls as bricks. The wings of a skeletal dragon spread as it soars around the castle, and the woman is sitting inside the castle, inside a locked room, draped in a green cloak that's decorated in strange bones woven onto it. The bones look like they're from dragons, and the woman is looking into a crystal ball laid on top of a dragon skull. The image she is seeing is if Bright, and see can detect the changes in the sacred art she was using.

"Don't forget, you contracted me in order to turn your pitiful dying Toxic Wyvern into a Zombie Lich Wyvern. Its my power that's promoted you." the voice reminding Nez of their agreement. She is now Nez's daemonic companion beast, but her abilities are limited since his Toxic Wyvern was only good enough for him to have it remain as his companion beast, but he can't draw out her power completely yet. Nez also doesn't have a high capacity for daemonic vitality, so he has to direct it to the part of the body he is attacking with, leaving his body exposed. Nez also has a flaw that could be exposed if he's not careful.

"So what do I do?" Nez asked politely, not wanting to irritate her any further.

"You should have listened to your master's lackey earlier. You were rash, and now you're facing something you didn't expect now." the voice was smug but serious. She wasn't about to give Nez an opportunity to act more recklessly.

"I can't go back unless I beat them" Nez was reserved, but resolute. He clearly was wary of the voice, but he wasn't afraid of backing down.

"Well, have it your way. But you should go all out if you want to beat her. You'll suffer like hell later, but if you don't, she might kill you." the voice told Nez, pointing out the only obvious thing Nez missed; that Bright was about to go all out herself, and if he wasn't aware of this, he would've been killed instantly.

Both Bright and Nez had their internal conversations in a split second, then Nez suddenly unleashed a stream of daemonic vitality from his body, slowly wrapping his body with black armor made of dragons skeletons. The armor pierced into his flesh and bones, causing him to bleed, but the blood was leaking into the armor, giving it a red tinge.

"My princess! Run!" the voice in her Soul Scape bellowed as it released an array of feathers that formed into a powerful crystal like shield protecting Bright. She instantly tried to retreat, but was stopped by Nez who somehow has already appeared behind her, and is attempting to kick her with the same sweep she used before. Before Bright got hit thought, she was able to draw the shield around her in, and used a burst of God Blood Lightning Sacred Art to dodge the sweep successfully.

Inside Nez's Soul Scape, the woman watching jumped up in shock, Nez was originally able to only draw out about 20% of the daemonic vitality at first in his mortal state, but now in his armored state, he was slightly over 50%. Yet even with that near mythical level boost, Nez was unable to finish Bright off with his initial strike. She knew that the more Nez exerted himself, the less time he could remain in that state, and that even if Bright can't fight back, she could be waiting for her own opportunity to take Nez out.

"You should give up. If she keeps this up you'll die." the woman's voice whispered into Nez's ears, but then Nez ignored her and continued attacking at Bright. 

Nez resorted to punching quickly, but Bright was able to block off his fists, and redirected the force away from her. Bright zig-zagged and pushed her God Blood Lightning Sacred Art movement to a different extreme than even her companion beast had anticipated. For some reason, the traces of her Jewel Shrine Sacred Art were resonating with the crystal shield, and that helped keep her spiritual vitality circulating within her body, instead of leaking out. This started to give Bright an idea about how to continue using her movement techniques without getting tired, and now she was starting to speed up as the surges of red lightning were forming bolts around Bright's body, helping her deflect Nez, who was now bleeding out of his armor because of all of these intense movements being required to fight against Bright.

"Nez, she's about to strike. Can you even take a hit now?" the voice was annoyed. If she had known that Nez would force himself into this much of a damaged state just to take out these two students who meant nothing to her, then maybe she would've advised him better earlier and told him that he should use his last ditch move, which will almost guarantee the death of even a mythical level master. Now she's contemplating stepping in, but that would give her the brunt of the blowback from his wounds. She doesn't have a lot of good options, but then strangely, Nez was maintaining his pace, hardly backing down and also catching up to Bright. Nez is drawing in more daemonic vitality from her in order to compensate for his blood being fed into the armor, and this is surprisingly increasing Nez's power.

"So, he can draw out more daemonic vitality as long as there's a threat..." the voice was thinking to herself, now contemplating how she can possibly get Nez into dangerous fights like these in order to boost his growth potential with daemonic sacred arts. She had high requirements for Nez to meet in order to gain her Path of the Overlord Sacred Art. Nez has to be able to absorb her daemonic vitality at a 100% level of absorption, this is the only way to stand a chance to even cultivate the base of the Path of the Overlord Sacred Art. Now she is beginning to see some hope for Nez, who seemed like a desperate bully when she first laid eyes on him.

"My princess, his vitality is becoming more corrupted. He may be on the verge of demonization if you're not careful." the voice now could sense the daemonic vitality clearly, which made it puzzled to how a human can suddenly draw out this much daemonic vitality yet remains focused. Now he fears that once Bright loses her concentration, but it can tell that she won't relent, not until she can see Ayanda again, and make sure he's safe. 

Right now, Bright was so focused on beating Nez, that she was willing to risk her life to attempt to strike at Nez, and she can also sense that Nez has become far more dangerous than before. Bright's vision is focused on Nez completely, so she can't tell that Nez is about to attack strangely.

Nez has a skeletal hand protrude from his forehead, bursting forward like a knife, with the tip dripping in a cloudy purple venom. Bright is unable to avoid it, but uses a surge of red lightning from her eyes to block the stabbing hand, but this unintentionally exhausts the spiritual vitality Bright has built up. Instantly, Nez sucker punches Bright, causing her to be blasted into the side of the cavern, and then she collapses to the ground bleeding profusely.