Side Story Chapter 83 - There is No Light Here (8)

"Wha..."

Pastor Salvatore's shoulders trembled. Two ember-like eyes were staring at him in the darkness. Chills ran down his spine as he realized something was wrong.

"WHO DARES COVER THE GREAT AKART'S LIGHT—?!!" Salvatore shouted to erase the fear spreading throughout him.

The yellow eyes in the darkness slowly shook and floated closer to him.

"U-Urgh."

Salvatore stepped backward without realizing it. The eyes, as yellow as that of a reptile, and the horizontal pupils, were chilling.

"Eyes of a demon...!" Salvatore bit his lip. No other creature could have such evil eyes. "YOU BASTAAAAAAAAARD!!! SO YOU WERE THE SERVANT OF A DEMON!!!"

He grimaced and raised his arms high.

"PASTOOOOOOOOOORS!!! BRING JUDGMENT ON THE WICKED DEMON WHO DARES TO COVER THE LIGHT OF TRUTH!!"

"JUDGMEEEEEEEEENT!!!"

"JUDGMENT TO THE DEMON!!"

The pastors standing behind Salvatore yelled as golden light burst from them. However, the golden light shining in the jet-black darkness did not emit an inch past them.

"Wh-What in the...!"

"What is this darkness?!"

It was as if the darkness was devouring the light. They couldn't see anything in the abyssal darkness. All they could see were the two shining demonic eyes. The pastors couldn't even see each other despite emitting light.

"O GREAT AKART!!! GRANT YOUR LIGHT TO YOUR LOWLY SERVANTS!!!"

"THE LIGHT—!!"

"THE LIGHT—!!"

The pastors lowered their stance inside the jet-black darkness. Their sense of sight was blocked, but they were still seasoned warriors; they couldn't be stopped just from the loss of sight.

Clack, clack!

The light emitting from them gathered and turned into a long spear. They gripped their spears tightly and one of the pastors charged at the eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

He thrust his spear at the area slightly below the eyes, where the enemy's neck would be.

Whoosh!!

"Huh?"

The spear only sliced through the air. The pastor was left wide-eyed and frozen.

Crunch—!!

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Sharp teeth bit into the pastor's neck. A large chunk was bitten off, and blood spewed like a fountain.

"Kurgh! Grrrk!"

The pastor collapsed.

Salvatore quickly shouted, "Those eyes are bait!!! Do not be fooled!!"

If there was nothing where a neck should be based on the location of the eyes, it meant the eyes themselves were bait from the beginning.

"He's somewhere else!"

"I-I can't see anything in front of me!" one of the pastors shouted in terror.

As he said, none of them could see a few centimeters in front of themselves. They were emitting light at full power but they couldn't even see their bodies due to being engulfed in darkness.

"YOU IMBECILE—!!" shouted Salvatore as he stomped on the ground. "DO NOT DOUBT THE LIGHT OF THE GREAT AKART! HIS LIGHT WILL SOON CHASE AWAY THIS DARKNESS!!!"

He crossed his forearms into an X-shape in front of his chest.

Whoooom—!!!

Radiance burst upward like a pillar and split the darkness.

"I told you." Just then, a voice echoed from the darkness. "There is no light here."

It was so close that it sounded as if it was being whispered in Salvatore's ear.

"

Gasp!!

" Salvatore stepped backward in shock. "There you are, bastard!!!"

Whoosh!

He swung his spear in the direction where he heard the voice but it only sliced the air. He couldn't feel the edge of the spear slicing through flesh.

"Argh!! Where are you?! Where?!!" shouted Salvatore with a grimace.

An individual who reached heights as high as him usually did not rely on sight. Their heightened senses allowed them to draw a clearer image of their surroundings using the tiny sounds, smell, and movement of the air around them. At least, it should have been that way.

"SHIT!!!"

Salvatore couldn't sense anything around him for some reason, as if even his senses were devoured by the darkness. All he could hear were the breaths of his fellow pastors, filled with fear.

'Breaths?'

Salvatore's eyes shone fiercely.

"That's it! Sound!! Focus on the sound of his movements!"

"Y-Yes, sir!!" the pastors quickly answered.

They anxiously gripped their spears and focused their sense of hearing.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

A screech echoed in the darkness.

"There!!!"

One of the pastors thrust his spear in the direction of the sound.

Stab!

"Kurgh!!"

"Yes!!!"

He felt his spear stabbing something. The pastor smiled brightly and thrust his spear even deeper.

"Gurgh! Gah!! Arghhh!!"

"H-Hahahahahahahaha!!! Die!!! Die, you evil demon!!!"

"P-Pastor... L-Levetoo..."

"Huh...?" The pastor who was thrusting his spear deeper as he laughed maniacally froze. He knew whose voice that was. "Pastor... Andrew?"

"Cough! Cough! I am... not the dem..."

The pastor named Andrew collapsed without finishing his sentence.

"Ah."

The feeling of stabbing into flesh lingered in Pastor Levetto's hands. Blood trickled down the spear shaft and wet his hand. He had killed his comrade rather than the demon.

"A-Aaaahh. Wh-What have I d-done?"

The pastor fell into panic and dropped his spear.

Clatter!

The spear fell to the ground and dissipated into golden powder. Pastor Levetto faintly saw Pastor Andrew's corpse before the golden powder was engulfed by the darkness.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Levetto screamed as he pulled on his hair.

"C-Calm down!!! This is merely the demon's tricks!!" Salvatore quickly shouted. "R-Remaining pastors, shout your name!!"

"B-Bruno, the lowly servant of the Great Akart, is here!"

"Jordan is here!"

"Marcia is here!!"

"Hurgh! I-I...!! Wh-What have I done to Pastor Andrew...?!"

There was Bruno, Jordan, Marcia, and Levetto, who could barely speak due to panic. There was also Andrew who died at Levetto's spear, and the pastor whose neck was bitten off by the demon. Including Salvatore, there were seven, which matched the number of pastors who infiltrated the live broadcast.

"Wait a second..." Salvatore's expression turned pale. "In that case..."

'Who was the one who screamed in the darkness earlier?'

"A-Aaaahh."

The terrible scream that had echoed in the darkness had been from the demon to deceive them.

"Y-YOU BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!!"

Salvatore's expression crumpled and turned red with fury.

"Kurgh!! Guh!! Gaaaaaaahhh!!"

Screams rang in the darkness again. Salvatore frowned ferociously.

"I WILL NOT FALL FOR THE SAME TRICK TWICE!!" He then shouted in the jet-black darkness again, "PASTORS!! SAY YOUR NAMES AGAIN!!"

"B-Bruno is here!"

"Jordan is here!!"

"Hurgh! Hurghhh!!"

They couldn't hear Marcia.

"Marcia!! Where are you, Pastor Marcia?!!"

There was no answer.

"

Sniff!! Waaaaaaaaahhh!!!

"

"Shit!! Pastor Levetto!! Now is not the time for despair!!!"

Salvatore walked in the direction of Levetto's weeping sounds. He could not see him but reached for the area where he could hear the sounds. He grabbed what seemed to be Levetto's shoulder.

"Pastor Levetto! Get a hold of yourself, Pastor Levetto!!!"

"Hurghhhh!!!"

Salvatore violently shook Levetto's shoulder.

Splash, splash.

"Huh...?"

A warm liquid splashed on the back of Salvatore's hand. He brought his hand closer to smell it— it was blood.

"What the..." Salvatore frowned and reached for Levetto again. "Pastor Levetto, what is this blood—"

Splash

.

"Huh?"

There was nothing in the area where Levetto's head should be. All Salvatore could feel was warm blood wetting his hand.

"

Waaaaaaaahhh! Waaaaaaaaahhh!

I-I killed Pastor Andrew...!"

Levetto's cries continued to echo in the darkness. Salvatore's teeth clacked, shaking in fear.

"You..."

He turned to the direction where he could hear the sound— it was echoing close by.

"Who... are you?"

Levetto was already dead— hence, the one weeping in Levetto's voice had to be...

"Oh, you got me."

"ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Salvatore roared in fury and swung his spear at the source of the sound.

A storm of spears swept the surroundings.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

However, Salvatore couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't feel anything. All he could feel were his heavy breathing and the cold sweats gathering at the middle of his chin.

"BRUNO!!! JORDAN!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Over here, Pastor Salvatore!!!"

The voice sounded slightly far away. Salvatore ran toward the direction of the voice.

"We have to gather and emit as much light as possible!"

They needed to burst their radiance in one area to drive away the darkness even a little.

"Alright, start praying to the Great Akart right away!!!"

"Over here, Pastor Salvatore!!!"

"I know! Are you Pastor Bruno or Pastor Jordan?!"

Salvatore couldn't even distinguish whose voice it was, possibly due to the darkness dulling his senses.

"Over here, Pastor Salvatore!!!"

"Yes, I know that alr—"

"Over here, Pastor Salvatore!!!"

"Huh...?"

Creak.

The sound of something distorting echoed.

"OverherePastorSalvatoreOverherePastorSalvatoreOverherePastorSalvatore.... OverherePastorSalvatoreOverherePastorSalvatoreOverherePastorSalvatore.... OverherePastorSalvatoreOverherePastorSalvatoreOverherePastorSalvatoreOverherePastorSalvatore."

"What the..."

Salvatore reached for the area where the sounds were coming from and felt two mounds of flesh. He grabbed them and brought them so close they were a hair's breadth away from his face. They were Bruno and Jordan's heads.

"Why...?"

Salvatore's legs trembled. He felt dizzy, and he felt like he was about to throw up. He couldn't understand what he was seeing or if it was even real. He couldn't even tell if the liquid on his hands was blood or if his heavy panting was even his.

Just then, the demon's voice echoed in his head.

"Alright, here's a question for you."

Salvatore quickly turned to see two yellow eyes with horizontal pupils staring at him. A mouth filled with sharp teeth opened wide under the eyes.

"For long long do you think you were alone?"

The demon's cackles echoed in the darkness.