Level Up: Voidwalker

Atlas woke up the next morning and was freezing, causing him to use his mana to warm himself up. Following that, he decided to go find the survivors and left the Otherworld as everyone else was asleep.

When back in the real world, he summoned Theo the Blood Bat King, who appeared from the azure portal. He climbed onto the monster's back before it took off and started flying southeast for hours.

As he sat there, Estelle sent him a message, 'Where are you?'n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Continue your adventure with empire

'Looking for the white wolves, I want to heal Lilith,' Atlas answered. 'You girls stay in the Otherworld. It's freezing out here.'

The blonde agreed as she said they would train with Zena, which made him smile before turning his attention to the world below. Snow-covered hills spread out in all directions with the odd patch of trees.

Atlas quickly spotted hundreds of monsters prowling the wilderness, but his attention was drawn to a village in the distance. Ten minutes later, they hovered above it, only to find that it was completely abandoned.

'What happened here?' he thought before speaking to Theo, ''Land in the square, I want to check this place out.''

The Blood Bat quickly descended and landed without a noise, causing Atlas to slide off its back while taking out his swords. While scanning his surroundings, the monster's voice echoed in his mind, 'Something's not right here Master, I feel weird.'

When hearing Theo's words, the creepy feeling washed over him as a howl rang out, which caused them to stiffen. Atlas glanced at the bat before speaking. ''Take off and try to find whoever did that, but if shit hits the fan, come pick me up.''

After he finished speaking, the monster nodded and took off, only to vanish into the dark stormy sky while he cast Void Infusion on his blades as he readied for an attack that had never come.

This confused him, but he started walking through the village and noticed the burned buildings and skeletons littering the ground. Ten minutes later, Atlas walked past the leader's house only to have a strange humanoid creature charge at him.

As the newcomers approached, a chill ran down his spine. Without hesitation, he hurled a Void Lance at them. The azure bolt tore through their bodies effortlessly, just as Atlas began slicing through the creatures.

His blade cut through them with terrifying ease, like a hot knife through butter, slaying dozens of the attackers in mere moments. But that's when more creatures poured out, their hideous forms growling with hunger.

'They are easy to kill but what are they?' he thought while scanning them with Void Sight.

[Ravengers]

[Rank D]

[Bastards that feed off the dead, normally encountered on battlefields or where massacres happen]

Without a moment's hesitation, Atlas lunged forward, his sword flashing through the air. The first creature met its end as his blade cleaved through its rotting flesh, its foul body collapsing in a heap.

More came, their distorted limbs moving unnaturally fast. One lunged at him from behind, but Atlas spun with deadly precision, slashing across its throat. Dark, viscous blood sprayed across the ground as the creature crumpled to the dirt.

He was holding his own until it was getting too much, causing Theo to swoop down and grab him before soaring back into the sky with a screech. Atlas climbed onto the monster's back while speaking. ''Thank you for that, boy. There were too many of them and it was getting chaotic.''

The bat king screeched before heading east as he rested while admiring the snowy landscape below just as Amethyst appeared beside him with her wings stretching out. ''Hello my love, I need to stretch my wings, so I thought I'd join you.''

Following that, the purple-haired young woman jumped off Theo's back before transforming into her phoenix form while letting out a loud screech. Hours later, the three of them arrived at the foot of a gigantic primal forest which creeped them out.

She attempted to fly over the area, but quickly pulled back, shifting into her humanoid form just as Atlas and Theo landed. After thanking the Blood Bat, he dismissed it as she turned to him, a voice laced with concern.

''My love,'' she said, ''there are Primordial monsters here. They warned me not to fly without their permission.''

Atlas nodded while replying, ''It doesn't matter. We're here to find the survivors and heal Lilith. The Primordials should leave us alone.''

As he finished speaking, his thoughts drifted back to the creatures he had encountered in the village. The memory stirred his curiosity about the desolate place, prompting him to ask, ''Are Ravagers common in Astoria?''

When the purple-haired woman heard this, her head tilted adorably while answering, ''Yes, they appear after every battle unless people chase them off. I hate those damn things. Their chuckle creeps me out.''

'Interesting,' he thought with curiosity before the two entered the forest as he spoke, ''We can finally heal Lilith after all these years. I'm certain she's going to be angry.''

Amethyst giggled when hearing this before she responded. ''Knowing that creature, she will start fighting you, but you'll just take it while not hurting her.''

Atlas laughed, ''You're right, but be careful this place isn't right,'' he warned while glancing at the menacing surroundings.

Following that, the two of them continued until finding a monster trail heading deeper, which they took. While doing this the phoenix woman commented, ''The others are leaving it to us. They just don't want to walk through this nightmare.''

''That's fine, at least we can spend some alone time together,'' he answered.

Amethyst beamed when hearing this as the two traveled through the forest while roars echoed. Atlas was enjoying the peace, but something told him to hide. He grabbed her waist, and Void Stepped in the canopy above.

The young woman looked at him, confusion etched across her face. He pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for silence, just as a deep rumble began to shake the ground beneath them.

[Drop some powerstones, comments, and gifts to help the novel grow; I appreciate all the support you can give]