Master Of Astral Summoner
Chapter 43: Enemy in the dark

Chapter 43: Enemy in the dark

[Congratulations, you have defeated the dark creature causing the midnight gate portal at the Riverglace train station to open.]

[Midnight gate portal linking back to the human world will open in a few minutes]

[Your relationship with Robin Hood increased by +9]

When he received the notification, he simply chose to sit on one of the large boulders surrounding him after the fierce battle. He could feel his whole body feeling exhausted, especially in his hands.

"Ah... this was way more exhausting than I imagined." Shaan stretched his arms upwards. "But at least, the creature who caused the midnight portal to open at the riverglace train station has been defeated, and now we just need to wait for the portal that will take you all back out of here to appear."

"That’s right... What are you saying that-"

"Shaan! Lira!" Chelsie shouted, running towards them, followed by a happy smile. "That’s amazing. You guys managed to defeat that giant octopus," Chelsie shouted with admiration.

"Chelsie, you also did great." Shaan smiled. "You managed to help those two Daemonists. Your healing powers are indeed very useful."

Nalira nodded her head slowly. "You... you’re amazing."

Hearing the praise, Chelsie’s face immediately turned red. "Uhhmm... i-it’s nothing. I just... tried to help as much as I could."

Only a few minutes later, a strange vibration was instantly felt around them, and slowly, the Noctis gate portal appeared. Shaan slowly lifted the amateur daemonists one by one as they walked towards the noctis gate portal, preparing to take them both out of this horrible realm.

Finally, at least everything is over. Shaan breathed a sigh of relief. ’Now, at least we can all return to the human world and rest for-’

[Wait a minute, Romani girl]

Carmen’s words instantly made everyone in the crowd turn towards her, including Shaan. Strange, what’s wrong with Carmen? Why would she say something like that all of a sudden? Could it be that she had something to say?

"Car-carmen, what’s wrong?" Chelsie furrowed her brow. "What are you saying?"

[Energy... I feel another strong energy around here.]

"Wait, that’s impossible." Chelsie’s face immediately paled. "B-but, Shaan and Lira have killed the dark creature ruling this place. It shouldn’t have any other energy other than that big octopus. Are you sure of what you’re saying, Carmen?"

[I can’t be wrong, Romani girl.] Carmen said firmly. [That figure is around here. Just be careful.]

’Damn. Could this be what Mr. Maximus said before? That the dark creature Carmen sensed... is a mutated dark creature?

"Hang on, for a moment. I’m still confused about what Carmen has said." Chelsie scratched her head. "But how is that even possible? How could there be another creature that can have a power equal to or even higher than the Giant Octopus itself?" She directed her gaze towards Nalira and Shaan. "That just doesn’t make sense... right, Shaan? Lira?"

" It’s possible," Nalira said. "Mutations... some of these Dark creatures might have mutations."

’Oh my, it turns out that Nalira knows about this too. But where does she know about it?

"Mu-mutation?" Chelsie’s face immediately paled. "So you’re saying... the presence Carmen sensed earlier is most likely... a mutated dark creature?"

Before she could reply to Chelsie’s words, a screeching sound instantly rang through the room. Oddly enough, the sound grew louder and louder, sounding like crying and deafening anyone who heard it.

"Argh, damn it!" Shaan grimaced in pain. "What is that sound?"

"I-I have no idea." Chelsie shook her head. "But, the sound sounds like it’s coming from over there."

"We should be careful... there’s something in"

The mysterious figure emerged from the shadows, revealing a grotesque and unsettling form. It stood twice the height of a normal human and had a pale white body like a corpse. On both ends of its hands, it looked like a scythe, and its legs were pointed. Strangely enough, there was absolutely nothing on its face, except a pair of wide mouths equipped with rows of sharp teeth filled with fresh blood.

"W-What is that thing...?" Shaan froze, unable to look away from the horrific figure standing before him.

Surprisingly, as the creature walked closer to them, its body suddenly changed shape to resemble Nalira. Everyone in the room instantly freaked out when they discovered this figure was a Doppleshade- the creature that had killed the other Dameonists.

"Dammit!" Nalira gritted her teeth. "We have to hurry-"

The creature launched an attack on Nalira, who just happened to be at the back of the line. She managed to deflect the creature’s attack, but the creature’s strength was much stronger, sending her crashing to the side.

"Oh my, Lira!" shouted a panicked Chelsie, seeing Nalira unconscious, "Shaan, please take these two daemonists out of here. I’ll help Nalira."

Shaan grasped Chelsie’s hand at once. "Chelsie, are you insane? That thing is very strong. Just let me help Nalira. You’ll take these two Daemonists out of this place."

"No, Shaan." Chelsie shook her head. "Lira has a pretty severe injury, and if I don’t heal her soon, she could die."

’What Chelsie has said is true. Nalira’s condition seems worrying, and she needs to get help as soon as possible.’

"Hurry up, Shaan, bring out the daemonist before the portal closes," Chelsie said as she ran away, leaving Shaan behind. "Carmen, I need your help."

[Okay, Romani girl.]

While walking one by one to carry the daemonists out of this place, Shaan heard Chelsie’s voice as she tried to defeat the doppleshade and protect Nalira. He just knew Chelsie must have had a hard time dealing with the doppleshade. He soon exerted all his strength and managed to walk out of the dark realm, into the human world.

"Thank goodness," Shaan said, handing over the two daemonists to the two police officers standing guard around the portal. "Please, take them both back to the training camp. I must enter the dark realm once more," he walked to the midnight noctis portal, which began to disappear.

"Hey, what do you think you’re doing?" the officer stopped Shaan. "You’ve made it out of the dark realm, but why do you still want to go back to that world?" the officer shook his head.

"Because I have to help the others. They’re still inside, fighting the Doppleshade. If I don’t go back... they’ll die."

"Don’t be a moron, you’ll die there for sure," the officer tried to reassure Shaan. "You’re already exhausted. There’s no way you’ll survive another fight, especially not against that thing. You don’t stand a chance."

Shaan froze. The officer’s words left him speechless for a moment. The Doppleshade was not an easy opponent, and it was likely that he would not be able to defeat the creature at this level. It was the same as killing himself. However, on the other hand, if he didn’t help Chelsie and Nalira immediately, they would surely die. Damn. What... What should I do?