As we made our way through the fog, I read over the brochure. The city we were looking for was called Daegris. Supposedly, it was home for those who felt alienated from everyone else. It was a place where those of the dark could find kinship and comfort. The Oni Crest governed the place with a contractual approach – meaning every official action and every agreement between two or more individuals had to be carried out through meticulous contractual commitments. It reminded me of Earth in a way. The crest itself was composed of 600 pneumarians and 130 klevonians and had a crest worth of 880 billion spendil.
They made a small portion of their wealth from the contractual agreement with the Succubus Crest, which allows the klevonians to feed on the heightened state of civilians attending the parties. They feed just enough to keep the civilians from being overwhelmed by the music's spiking effects. But Viraa said they don't actually care about anyone's well-being. They just love the energy they taste from the young influenced by the music. Apparently, the oni were the most duplicitous of the crests. They were cunning and manipulative, the type to cause trouble behind the scenes and to stir strife out of enjoyment.
Thanks to our sense ability, we could roughly tell where the city was, since darkness couldn't block that sense, but somehow it still felt off. It was almost like they were...
"Below ground...," I finished aloud as we stood at the entrance of a dark cave. There was the loud crashing of a waterfall that fell over the cave entrance and created a small pond, but I could tell the cave behind it led somewhere else. As I was about to push past the waterwall, Avarice stopped me.
"I'm surprised you're willing to touch that so carelessly," Avarice commented, stopping me in my tracks just as I felt steamy breath blow from my left.
I looked up to see the red glowing eyes of a great tiger ox watching us. Initially, its fur was pitch black, but its tiger-like stripes began to glow red, which illuminated the immediate area around us.
"Sorry for interrupting your sleep," I said softly as I stepped back. It didn't seem to be bothered by us and closed its eyes again.
Before its glow faded, I was able to see what Avarice was talking about. What I assumed was a waterfall wasn't water at all – it was blood.
"Where's it coming from?" Za'Fia asked.
"I think from inside the cave...," I answered as the Sacred Guardian's glow completely faded. We each pulled out some glemit from our spatial bags to help light the way as we walked into the cave. I covered us with a barrier so the blood wouldn't fall on us.
Deeper into the cave, we found a path that led to an underground opening that held the entirety of Daegris and its 2.4 million people. The city looked like something from a nightmare. The buildings were all made of stone, and the medieval city had rivers that flowed red with blood, giving its atmosphere a coppery smell. Considering cindarians didn't have metal in their blood, that told me most of the blood we saw had to have come from other species; a thought that made me sick. Near the center of the city was a colossal red-and-grey castle with an ominous, black aura that hung around it. From its base, I could see that more blood flowed into the red waters below it.
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There were tons of people roaming about, nearly everyone wore black or leather with the Oni Crest's symbol branded on their clothes or silver jewelry. If we were on Earth, the closest thing I could compare them to would be goths.
The three of us stood out like watermelons in a field of rice, receiving several curious casting looks as we flew overhead. When some of the crest members spotted us, I saw some make a transmission, likely to spread the news of our arrival.
Not long afterward, we saw a guy approaching us in the sky. He flew like us, without any wings, showing he had a better understanding of spirit energy manipulation than most other klevonians.
He was of medium height, maybe 5'9", and had long, straight, black, brown, and blue hair that covered most of his face. Like everyone else, he wore black leather clothes, but he also wore red, tattered pieces over them, which helped him stand out. He was known as "Avatar" Prometheus due to his temp cintracy, Avatar, which gave him the ability to manifest a large spiritual extension of himself made of his spirit energy, but that wasn't all...
Prometheus didn't hesitate before two large arms of stone gripped each of us in one fell swoop. Then the arms leaked water until they became saturated enough to become mud, then clay, which thickened against us.
"Whoa, he has two elements like Sanjna!" I exclaimed.
Prometheus also possessed the eutierric cintracies, Neta and Surge, which gave him limited control over stone and water. Mixing them, he was able to create a new element unique to himself. He was a 2.5-star threat with a base EQN of 44,357,120, which told me he was likely one of the Crest Head's personal guards.
"You dare enter our sanctuary of death..." We barely heard him speak. "The stench of life hangs off you. You do not belong here."
"No, shit," Za'Fia uttered as she struggled against the clay. "Not sure what you get into here, but people's blood for rivers...?"
"I'm the Crest Head of the Chimera Crest. We're here to meet your Crest Head," I told him calmly, to not trigger him.
His head unnaturally snapped my direction.
"You are not worthy of being in the presence of Death herself. Your souls remain unclaimed by her embrace. Either give it freely, or I will remove you all from your mortal coils. It will be my penance for letting you contaminate our sacred home."
Prometheus's head suddenly hung low, and then his clay cracked before breaking apart.
"Of course. As you will it, Master," he said before looking back at us. "You all have been granted the privilege of standing before Death Herself. Remain close and follow."
Without so much as another word, he turned and began to fly toward the Crest House with us in tow. When we reached the castle, we entered through a top window that led directly into a throne room with blood fountains and tanks around the exterior. Otherwise, everything was similar to the outside of the castle.
There were two others in the room. One of which seemed to be pouring vials of random stuff – no, elements – onto her hand. She poured water on it, and her hand grew fish-like blue scales, retaining the water. She poured purple toxin on it, and her hand turned black like the exoskeleton of the giant scorpion tail we'd seen in the Aqrabuamelu District, repelling the toxin.
"You're staring..." the woman spoke. She was a klevonian with long black and red hair and pointed ears like most of the cindarians we'd met so far. She wore black, ripped jeans, a torn black shirt, and a red-and-black leather cropped jacket. She had silver piercings in her ears and wore a black choker. She wasn't transformed, but she also had a pair of prominent horns that sprouted from her head, giving her a devilish appearance.