CHAPTER 142: FRACTURED

(Traytora POV)

I ran through the trees and soon encountered the other teams that were killing demons from behind, but it seemed like they were losing after the ritual activated. I didn’t engage though as I was more worried about Cythistia.

Is she okay? Is she injured? Or is she... Is she.... No, no she has to be alive right? The ring will protect her from being killed, it has to, I made a deal with Loki to make sure it does that.

I slid through the undergrowth of the forest and soon made my way back to the city, only to find several hundred people trying to get out of the city from some giant red demon that was destroying the city.

I tried to force my way into the city but there were too many people running out of the city to allow me to get in. They were pouring out like a raging river in a storm. I tried to push against it to get in but the wave of people was just too much to the point where I was knocked over onto the ground where people started running on top of me.

In a panic and without thinking, I used [Spatial Shift] on myself, without knowing how exactly it worked, I just knew it would get me away from where I was right now. And thankfully it did. I ended up somewhere on the outskirts of the city, not near any gateway.

I quickly got up and tried to figure out where I was, but I just couldn’t tell what was what from here as the whole city seemed to be covered in smoke from swaths of hellfire that the giant demon was releasing onto the city.

I looked at my skills to find another way to get into the city as I didn’t want to use [Spatial Shift] as it seemed too unstable, or I was just bad at using it.

Giving up on that, I chose to rush towards a gate. I went left as there was no way to tell which way would lead me to a gate faster, so I went with my dominant hand leading the way.

My worry was getting bigger as this whole time I was using my connection to locate Cythistia, and it was constantly telling me that she was inside the city.

As my heartrate and breathing got higher I eventually reached another gate, this one with considerably less people scrambling to get out. Which was good as it meant that I could squeeze past them and finally get inside and look for my beloved.

I shoved past the people trying to get out, none of us paying attention to each other as everyone else wanted to escape with whomever they could.

And after a lot of running into people, I finally managed to find a familiar place. It was one of the restaurants that me and the boys from work would go to every now and then. Although there was a giant chunk of the building collapsed in on itself and it was currently burning from the inside out.

I had no time for that though as now I had to find Cythistia whilst trying to avoid that monstrosities path of destruction, weaving my way through the burning city filled with collapsed building and charred corpses.

I could see some people fighting it from here, but I couldn’t make out who they were. They were just too small compared to the behemoth they were fighting. They were more than likely the patriarchs that stayed behind and the other elites.

But I had no time to dwell on them or their battle as I raced around corner after corner, slowly making my way over to where I could sense the ring I gave Cythistia, all while I practically begged any god for her to be okay.

Soon, I was very close, the only thing that worried me is that I think she isn’t moving. I turned another corner and I had to catch my breath as my heartrate had exceeded what my lungs could tolerate.

To stay out of sight, I went into the building closest to me to hid and catch my breath and let my heart calm down, even if just a little.

I slouched beside a window just so I could take a peek if I needed to in case of en emergency. I placed a hand on my heaving chest as I leaned back against the wall.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..." my breathing was laborious as I felt my heart pounding at an unnatural pace, and it wasn’t slowing down. The fear of what happened to her was taking a hold over me.

’Surely she’s just hiding, waiting for someone to come get her. Or perhaps she’s stuck under some rubble or something. Yeah. Yeah! That has to be it, she can’t be...’

I couldn’t even bear to think about that possibility on a conscious level or even subconscious. I can’t accept it. I won’t accept it. I refuse to believe that that can happen. It-It just can’t be.

*BOOM*

Explosions rang out as I could hear people fighting that giant, their battle causing absolute devastation to the city. I took a peek outside and saw that the fires were eating away at the former lustre of the city, its glow fading away as the radiance of the flames started to burn brighter that the silver of the city in the moonlight.

As I continued to stare out into the ever burning street, I could feel my heart clench in worry, as I could feel that the ring was close by, still unmoving from its location.

And having rested for a bit, my heart had calmed down a bit, enough to hopefully make the rest of the way there, hopefully.

I took one last deep breath and got out of the building, slithering through the streets filled with charred corpses and the ever growing pyre that the city was becoming. Twisting and turning through everything, getting closer and closer to her.

I was only a short distance away, just a few more streets and I’d be there, with her. And then something crashed behind me. I turned and saw that it was the demon.

My eyes dilated upon seeing its massive terrifying form up close. It was roughly three or four stories tall with goat-like legs and a muscular upper body, with its muscles bulging out of its arms. It had the face of a boar with long, curling horns and deep red flames covering its body like armour.

Before it could recover, a strike of lightning fell from the sky upon it, knocking it back onto the ground, and atop it was Dorrak, looking worn out from his fight against that other demon, yet here he is still fighting.

The demon then attempted to slap him off but he evaded before he could be struck, that’s when the patriarchs finally came over and hurled all of their own attacks at the behemoth, showering it thorny vines, blades of darkness, spears of light and many more elemental attacks.

When the demon started counter attacking I shook my head and turned around to go back to finding Cythistia, still praying for her safety.

I made my way down the last few paths, and then, inside this last street, which seemingly had all of the buildings on the left side destroyed by a kick. I could feel the ring, not far away. My heart was palpitating, as all I could see was fire and corpses.

I slowed down my pace in trepidation as my heart palpitated. I could feel that she was on the right side of the street, so I looked towards where she was and all I could see was mangled corpses crushed under piles of rubble.

And then, I reached one of said corpses.

It was the equine body of a stag, lying on its left side with it upper half torse torn off while its behind was buried under a pile of charred timber. On its remaining arm, was a pair of rings, one a metallic red serpent, the other, the ring I had been tracking.

My body stopped functioning as I fell over next to the body. My eyes never left it for a second despite my failings, and when I hit the ground, I could see the features of what was left of the face.

A single emerald eye that had a look of pure terror in it, fair white skin that was turning pale, and blonde hair stained red with blood.

’No... No no no nononononononono...’

I crawled over to her body, rivers of tears running down my face as I then fell over it, my pupils shaking, my body shaking, everything shaking as I wrapped my arms around it.

’I-I-It... N-N-No, i-it can’t be... No... No... Noo...’

I just lay there, grasping onto whatever was left, feeling myself falling apart, literally crumbling at the sight before me. I couldn’t accept it, I just couldn’t.

And with everything piled on top of each other, I just, shattered.