Chapter 86 Eyghon, Fortress of the Earth (3)

“Ysabelle, let’s talk…”

The black-haired beauty before my eyes visibly flinched as we finally got the opportunity to talk one-on-one for the first time. As much as I would like to reminisce on the past and ask why she had avoided me for so long, we were currently in a crisis. At any moment, this Outer Demon might digest us, and even if we managed to survive his stomach acid, there was a chance that it would warp back to its own planet, leaving us with no way to get back home.

Therefore, before we could proceed any further, I needed to figure out what Ysabelle knew.

“Do you know anything about this Outer Demon, Ysabelle?”

The Amazonian goddess peered at my face, holding back the blush that coloured her cheeks. It seems like she was holding back some emotions as well, given that we were in this dire circumstance.

“… Its name is Eyghon.”

“Eyghon?”

“Yes, it’s one of the Demon Lords,” Ysabelle explained succinctly. “The Blackburn House realised through the help of advanced analytics that there was a chance of its resurgence, and we moved desperately to stop that.”

Ah, so that’s why this Outer Demon felt so powerful… It was a Demon Lord, on the same level as Cthulhu, the monster that the entire Everwinter House almost died to.

“That’s why you hired Werewolves and Hunters?”

“T-That’s right…”

Hearing me mention the Werewolves made Ysabelle freeze for a few seconds. However, she promptly continued with her explanation: “According to our data, as long as we eliminate the Okarins from making ground, we could potentially stop Eyghon’s descent. And it actually worked for a few weeks now. The Outer Demons that invaded had been drastically decreasing, and there was a real chance that Eyghon would have been stopped. But, who would have guessed…”

Ysabelle’s face turned into a regrettable frown as she bit down hard on her bottom lip.

“Eyghon, Fortress of the Earth. The Demon Lord that the Blackburn House had been tasked with defeating. Its anti-magic powers make it difficult for Vampires from the other Houses to deal with, and so, we are the only ones capable of facing it.”

“Yeah… The anti-magic ability is a pain…”

Just to confirm, I sent out yet another Dragon’s Breath onto the fleshy wall, but it dissipated into nothingness yet again. I’d even tried to create a long spear and accelerated it in hopes of piercing the meaty gullet, but the thick muscular linings were far too robust. No magic or physical attacks that I could muster could destroy the monstrous esophagus, leaving us completely helpless.

“Do you have any idea how we could escape?”

“No, I have nothing.” Contrary to my expectations, the Blackburn Princess was completely clueless about how we could escape from this ordeal. “Eyghon has only appeared a few times in history, and we never got much data from it. But there’s something that was always certain…”

Ysabelle looked up in my eyes, her agate pupils turning misty in the process:

“Those who have been eaten by the Demon Lord… Never come back.”

“I see… That’s a shame…”

That wasn’t good news… Although, I could see why no one could return if the inside of this Outer Demon was this treacherous. I could not damage it using magic, and physical attacks would just bounce off. Still, I wasn’t one to give in to my fate.

“Ysabelle… I need you to tell me all the information you have about Eyghon.”

“… What do you want to know?”

I looked down at the black-haired beauty, who had somewhat recovered from her shell-shocked state. Although I could sense a tinge of nervousness from the tremors in her voice, I knew that her warrior’s mentality had returned wholly. With a deep breath, I replied:

“Everything.”

???

“BROTHER!!! BROTHER!!! FUCK THAT DEMON!!! LET ME FREEZE IT TO DEATH!!!”

While Jin and Ysabelle were busy planning their next move within the jaws of the beast, the two Vampire scions on the outside weren’t as peaceful. Particularly the white-haired girl who longed to rescue her brother from the monster that dared to eat him.

“Calm down, Miss Irina! That’s a Demon Lord we’re up against! We can’t risk your safety!”

Variel attempted to calm his master down, but it only served to fan the flames in her heart. Ever since she conducted the ritual to turn Jin into a Vampire, the girl had never seen Jin come to any harm. When Jin was fighting against the Bloodborne House and Sirius Moonreaver in particular, the girl was still in retreat, training to complete her own Domain magic.

If Irina was present during those times, it was almost inevitable that she would freeze the world down, and any who dared to harm Jin in the process. And so, seeing the man she loved come into harm’s way struck a nerve within the young Vampire, and she was ready to charge into battle, regardless of whether her opponent was a Demon Lord or an ancient Vampire.

“Calm down?! You’re asking me to calm down, Variel?! Brother was swallowed by that monster! We need to save him right now!”

“Miss Irina, that’s Eyghon! The Demon Lord! We can’t do anything to help them for now! We should regroup and get some help, maybe call the Matriar-…”

“Then it’ll be too late! Can you be responsible if Brother dies?! No?! Then, don’t stop me!”

Irina was ready to fly into the sky and send down a blistering blizzard upon the filthy Outer Demon. However, the one who would stop her wasn’t the bodyguard that the Everwinter House had placed on her, but the woman she called her rival.

“Irina, stay your hand. Your magic won’t do anything to Eyghon anyway. The only thing that you would do is aggravate the Demon Lord. If it feels threatened and escapes, can you take responsibility?”

“…”

Fortunately, her raging emotions hadn’t overtaken Irina’s brain just yet. Lilith’s logic prevailed, and the young woman lowered her fists while staring menacingly at the ugly turtle.

“You’re right… I can’t let that monster escape with Brother in its mouth.” Irina nodded her head, but the frustration was clearly evident in her reddened face. Not only that, her nails dug deep into the bottom of her palms, creating an ever-flowing river of blood. “Thank you for stopping me.”

“No worries.”

“How are you so calm, Lilith?”

Irina wasn’t pulling her leg when she asked that question. She was genuinely curious at how Lilith, a woman who loved Jin equally as much as her, had managed to stay rational in this situation. However, contrary to her beliefs, the blonde Vampire turned her eye sockets towards her, revealing that her pupils had been dyed deep crimson.

“Calm? Do I look calm?”

Lilith’s words were soft, but the conviction within them wasn’t. If one were to look closely, one would see her petite body trembling as her nails grew even sharper. The fangs that were tightly tucked into her cherry lips started to show, and her magic power was steadily rising.

“Just like you, I want to rip Eyghon’s mouth out and save Jin right this instant! However, we have to stay level-headed. Else, we might risk losing Jin forever.”

“Yeah… You’re right.”

“Furthermore… Can’t you feel it?”

Lilith’s words lessened Irina’s anger to a degree as curiosity filled her mind. She thought for a moment before finally realising what Lilith meant. Closing her eyes, she peered deep into her soul. It took a while, but soon a soft pulsation could be felt thumping at her innermost regions. It was gentle and ever-so tender. Similar to the way a certain lover in her life would treat her.

It was as if that connection reassured her that everything was going to be alright and that he would be in her arms again soon.

“Jin is still alive,” Lilith smiled. “And he’s telling us not to worry.”

“Brother…”

Even though he had returned their souls back to them, Jin still possessed a deep connection with the two girls. Although it wasn’t as strong as letting him know his location at all times, he could at least prove to them that he was still alive, irrespective of whether he was in an anti-magic zone or not.

“You’re right… Brother is still alive!”

“Hmph! Of course, he is. Jin won’t die so easily. Maybe you didn’t notice since you’re not his Bloodmate.”

“Hargh?!”

Irina snapped back at Lilith’s insult. While Irina and Jin hadn’t partaken in the Bloodmate Pact, the pair were essentially married in body and soul already. In fact, the only reason Irina hadn’t forced Jin to initiate the Bloodmate Pact was due to Lilith’s interference.

“When Brother returns, I’ll make sure we sign the Bloodmate Pact immediately!”

“Hoh? You sure have guts, telling that to me… Jin’s ONLY Bloodmate!”

“Fucking!”

Like fire and ice, the two completely didn’t gel well together. It took everything in their power not to start yet another duel with the rights to Jin’s bed on the line yet again. Usually, Irina wouldn’t take such an insult lying down. However, they simply didn’t have such luxury now.

“I’ll deal with you later! Let’s make a plan on how we can rescue Brother now! We don’t know when this Outer Demon would run away!”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that.”

However, completely unlike Irina’s urgency, Lilith waved her hands and walked forward to the corner of the mountain.

“What do you mean?”

“That’s why you should read more books…”

Lilith shook her head and buried the urge to tease Irina once more. After all, even though Irina was a genius that could master a domain in a mere month when she took years, the girl was utterly uninterested in anything that wasn’t Jin-related. If you asked her what the Pythagoras theorem was, she would draw question marks, but if you asked her what Jin ate for lunch ten years ago, she would reply in great detail.

As much as Lilith hated to admit it, no other person knew Jin more than his precious little sister. One could say that Irina was a Jin historian if that could be an occupation.

“You see… Eyghon has a pattern…”

???

“Whenever Eyghon appears, he stays in the same spot for three days?”

Ysabelle started to explain everything she knew about the Demon Lord based on the records she’d obtained from the Blackburn House. I listened intently and did my best to digest as much information as possible. But regrettably, there was very little information about Eyghon’s weaknesses. However, there was one crucial detail that I couldn’t miss.

“That’s right,” Ysabelle nodded at my confirmation. “We don’t know why, but every time Eyghon appears, it will stay in the same place like a soulless mountain. And unless someone provokes it, it won’t move for three days, or seventy-two hours to be exact.”

“Why so specific?”

“We don’t know.”

The black-haired beauty solemnly shook her head. “All we know is whenever the Demon Lord appears, its minions would wreak havoc while it rests. There are a few theories on why it does this, but none have been proven to be conclusive.”

“How troublesome…”

That means there wasn’t any information that we could use to exploit the monster. However, that didn’t mean that hope was lost. If what Ysabelle said was right, we still had over seventy hours to figure out a way out. At least we could be certain that we wouldn’t be dragged back into the Outer Demon’s planet for now.

“… The way I see it, we have two options.”

“What are they?”

“One, we climb up the tube and seek refuge in Eyghon’s mouth. If it opens its mouth for whatever reason, we can attempt to escape.”

This was the safest option. We could stay safe from the stomach acid, and with my Creation magic, I could ensure that we could live at a certain level of comfort. However, since we had to wait for Eyghon to open its mouth, we would be basically praying for a miracle to happen. If the Demon Lord doesn’t open its mouth during the next seventy-two hours… Simply put, we were fucked.

Ysabelle wasn’t an ignorant fool, and she could easily pinpoint the issues. If we chose that option, we would leave our lives to fate. Plus, there was no guarantee that we could escape even if Eyghon opened its mouth.

“What’s the next option?”

Knowing Ysabelle would ask that, I smiled teasingly and pointed my finger downwards into the fleshy tunnel. And once she guessed my intentions, the adorable Amazonian widened her eyes in complete shock.

“We dive into the belly of the beast.”