The Cursed Knight (Blue Triangle Series #1)

Chapter 18: The Blood Tower

“Outland?!”

Arth yelled at Janshai as he held his head with both of his hands. His eyes were still wide open after knowing where they really are.

“Wait… what the hell is the Outland?” Arth asked him with furrowed brows. “Is this the Underworld they’re talking about?!”

Janshai looked at him with his red eyes. “This land is on the far end of the Underworld borders. It’s called the Outland since no single demon lived here. Only powerful demonic beasts inhabit this wretched land.”

“Wait… how did you know about all of this?” Arth sharply looked at him. “Is it because of what that lady said earlier… that you’re a half-demon? Is that true?!“

Janshai raised a brow at him. “You should’ve known that ever since you saw me the first time with my red eyes.”

Arth suddenly covered his mouth with his hand. “b****y hell, no way!” he yelled as he pointed at Janshai’s face.

Janshai just rolled his eyes and then returned his gaze to the red mountains a few miles ahead of them. “We have to get outta here. Your frail human body won’t last long from the pressured air here in the Underworld,” he said as he now started to walk fast.

“Hey wait!” Arth followed him immediately. He suddenly noticed that his body was heavier here compared to Earthos. Gravity is much more powerful here, huh? I guess that explains why demons are so tough and strong generally.

As they were walking on the dusty ground of the red terrain, the hot wind blew against them. Arth realized that the temperature here was so much higher than normal that he was already sweating from his forehead and his neck.

“So how does it feel like to be a demon? You have some demonic powers? Can you show me?” Arth kept on asking Janshai for how many minutes already as he was following him.

“Will you shut the hell up?” Janshai’s voice sounded more pissed than before.

Arth just pouted and continued walking.

“Have you been here already?” Arth asked again.

Janshai sighed heavily before replying. “No.”

“Okay. So how could you know where we are going?”

 “Because I know, okay?!” Janshai’s voice grew louder. “Now shut your mouth and just keep walking!”

“Asshole,” Arth whispered to himself as he leered at Janshai’s back.

I’ve so many damn questions I’d like to ask but he just keeps on giving filters. Arth scratched his head. He has clearly no idea where they’re going. He badly wanted to know so he could at least prepare himself for whatever may come.

A few hours has passed when they finally arrived in the red mountains. Arth sensed something strange around them.

They walked through the road path on the spaces between the mountains. At any moment, they could be ambushed or attacked from the top.

“Stay alert,” Janshai told him as they continued walking.

Arth nodded and nervously looked up to the top of the mountains. He even kept on looking back because he felt like something was following them.

“Uh… Are there any more paths other than this?” Arth asked.

Suddenly, they heard a loud roar around them. Janshai stopped walking and then looked up.

“Gryphons,” Janshai said.

When Arth raised his head, he suddenly saw three huge beasts flying on the dark skies. He swallowed hard on his throat as he saw the weird and scary form of the beasts.

They have the body of a lion but their wide wings are like of an eagle. His eyes widened when he saw the gryphons now charging down towards them at high speed.

“Move!” Janshai pushed Arth away with much force that he was blown away and rolled to the ground.

Arth heard a loud crash like a big meteor hit against the ground. The hot wind blew hard and red dust covered the area as the beasts landed. Arth narrowed his eyes to see how Janshai was.

He grunted and forced himself to stand up. He pulled his sword from his sheath and coughed because of the dust in the air.

When the dust almost faded, he saw Janshai now surrounded by the three huge gryphons. Arth’s heart was racing fast as he now got a closer look at the beasts. Their black skin looked so rough and their head of a lion was truly terrifying. They growled as they circled around Janshai. At any moment now, he could be preyed by these demonic beasts.

Arth needed to do something. He must help and protect his comrade.

He was about to charge but then Janshai stopped him. “Stand back,” he told Arth.

Arth looked at him with furrowed brows. “But I wanna help!” he hesitated.

“You’re useless. I don’t need your help,” Janshai replied in a cold voice. “You’ll just get in the way,” he slowly raised his right hand up in the air and opened his palm upward.

Arth’s eyebrows rose in shock as he saw black energy bursting out of Janshai’s right hand. The wind blew harder this time because of the intense force circling around him.

At all of a sudden, the black energy above Janshai’s hand compressed and formed into a long scythe.

That’s his weapon?! Arth looked at him in amazement. Janshai grabbed his black demonic scythe and then spun it above him as he made his stance.

The three gryphons suddenly charged at him together to attack. They all leaped into the air and was about to demolish him.

Janshai extended his long scythe and swung it with much speed in a circular motion.

“I can’t believe this,” Arth’s lips parted as he saw the beasts getting sliced in the air.

At one blink, the gryphon’s bodies were now cut into half horizontally. Dark-colored blood rained over Janshai as the huge bodies of the beasts fell to the ground.

“That was so f*****g lit!” Arth came to Janshai in excitement.

He glanced at the amazing form of the long scythe Janshai was holding. It was mostly black but there were also some red lines that made the weapon more demonic.

Janshai just ignored him and then wiped the blood on the curved blade of his scythe.

“How did you do that?!” Arth kept on asking. “When you called for your weapon earlier, it was so cool! It’s just like Alice’s staff that appears out of nowhere!”

Janshai sighed heavily. “They’re enchanted class weapons. We don’t need to equip them physically. We can always call them at any time.”

His long scythe slowly dissolved into black energy and was now absorbed back by his right hand.

Arth’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as he nodded. I wish I had an enchanted weapon. He thought but he didn’t want to replace his Blackwinter sword even if it was just a rare-class. They’ve been together ever since Arth learned how to wield a sword.

“Now don’t talk and just walk,” Janshai said as he turned his back to him and started walking.

After a few hours of following Janshai, Arth was now sweating and breathing hard. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and then fanned himself using his hands.

“Are we there yet?” he asked as they were already on another deserted terrain.

“We’re close. Behind those mountains is the Blood Tower,” Janshai pointed at the high mountains ahead of them.

“What’s in the Blood Tower?”

“A portal,”

“We’re finally going back?!” Arth’s face changed to being excited.

“It’s not as easy as you think,” Janshai replied. “Something is waiting there.”

“What do you mean someone-

“Another word and I’ll cut your damn tongue,” Janshai interrupted him in a loud voice.

Arth crossed his arms over his chest and just bit his lower lip to prevent himself from speaking more. He’s such a coldblooded, short-tempered, weird introvert! Arth just yelled in his mind.

As they reached the foot of the high mountains, Arth used materialization to create a tool made of ice to help them climb the steep mountain. It took them almost two hours to finally reach the top. From there, Arth finally saw the Blood Tower Janshai was talking about.

It was a huge circular tower. Arth did not know why it was called the Blood Tower since it was only made of strong black stones. Asking the question to Janshai was already out of his choice now so he was just left wondering.

The top of the tower could not be seen because it already reached through the dark clouds. There were also no arch windows or loopholes in the walls of the red structure. The inside was completely sealed.

“This is the only place in the Outland where a portal exists,” Janshai finally spoke up as they climbed down the mountain.

Arth nodded. He knew that this was their only chance of getting out of this wretched land.

When they reached the ground, they now walked towards the big metal doors of the tower. It has the form of a demon face in front and surrounded by skull figures. Arth swallowed hard and tried to calm himself down. He was already breathing harder than before. It’s like the air was getting thicker as he’s in that place for longer.

“Hang in there,” Janshai said as he pushed the metal doors. “We’re now close.”

The hot air blew against them as the doors opened. It was dark but when they stepped inside, the torches on the walls lit up at all of a sudden. As the place became clearer now, Arth saw circular staircases going up.

Arth took one from the torches on the wall and then they started climbing up the staircases. He looked up and saw almost complete darkness at the top. It’s like the stairs were never-ending.

“Uh… is it normal for us to climb without anything attacking us?” Arth suddenly asked Janshai. It’s because he knew a lot of situations like this where there will be some deadly traps that will kill them or some beasts that will attack them at least.

Janshai just shrugged. “The threat is on top of the tower, you’ll see.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Arth slowly said as they were climbing up the stairs.

“You just did,”

Arth sighed. “Just this once,” he pleaded.

Janshai shook his head.

“Come on. I’m still your subordinate today so I have every right to ask questions to my mentor, right?” Arth insisted as he raised a brow.

Janshai let out a huge breath. “Fine,” he replied.

“How did you join the guild?” Arth quickly said.

“It’s a long story. I won’t waste my time answering that,”

Arth furrowed his brows. “But we’re just climbing upstairs, still far from the top. Spill it. You have a lot of free time to tell me.”

Janshai looked up first to see the far top of the tower and then sighed. “I didn’t join the guild, because I was already part of it from the start.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lucas raised me when I was a kid,” Janshai replied. “He trained me. He helped me reach the fullness of my capabilities.”

“How did he find you?”

“Why should I tell you? You’re already digging into my past,” Janshai replied coldly.

“Wait… so that’s it?” Arth scratched his head. He was expecting a more detailed life story from him just like the others. But he realized it was Janshai, of course! What more could he expect from this introverted guy?

Janshai just nodded and pursed his lips.

Arth sighed and continued climbing up the stairs. A few hours have passed and Arth was already catching his breath. He was sweating so badly because of the rising temperature as they go up.

“Can we… can we take… a break first?” Arth raised his hand for a time out and then held his knees as his breath shortened.

“No. We have to keep going,” Janshai replied while wiping the small sweat on his neck. He seemed to be tired also.

“I’m hungry,” Arth complained. He shook his head as a few drops of sweat from his wet hair fell down to the stairs.

“I told you. You should’ve eaten the dead bodies of the beast we killed earlier,”

“What? No! That’s so gross, Janshai!” Arth winced in disgust.

“Then that’s your problem already. Now keep walking,” he replied.

“Oh gods,” Arth said as he continued stepping up the staircases. His right hand was already on the sidewall to support his body.

It has been almost like an eternity for Arth when he finally saw a light from the outside above. As they reached the final step of the staircase, his eyes widened in shock.

He saw a wide-open area at the top. There were no pillars, crenellations, or even roofs that covered the area. Because of that, Arth could clearly see the thick dark clouds on their level surrounding them. At the center was a red circle marked on the stone floor with a six-pointed star drawn inside.

“Is that the portal?” Arth whispered to Janshai.

“It’s not a portal until it’s activated,” Janshai replied. 

“So how do we open it?”

“We?” Janshai chuckled and shook his head. “Only I can open that portal, idiot.”

Arth looked at him with furrowed brows. “What? So you’re a mage now or something?”

“This portal needs an offering,” Janshai explained as he stepped closer to the mark on the stone floor. “This is where I will need you.”

“What offering? Wait… are you gonna sacrifice me?!” Arth sharply stared at him. “You traitor!” he pointed at Janshai’s face.

“Shut the hell up. I’m not gonna offer your weak human body,” Janshai rolled his red eyes. “For this unique portal to be opened, it needs a substantial amount of demon blood.”

Arth’s eyes widened. “But you’re only a half-demon!”

“That’s the problem,” Janshai sighed heavily while his hands were on his pockets. “I’ll try to double the amount of blood offer. That’s why it’s gonna take a longer time.”

“What?! But you’ll probably die running out of blood!” Arth yelled at him.

“It’s better than being stuck here forever,” Janshai replied as he looked at the mark. “I’ll do what I can to open this portal.”

“Uh… what am I gonna do?” Arth raised a brow.

Suddenly, a loud screech was heard around them. Arth quickly looked at the dark clouds getting terrified now. He listened closely and he heard huge wings flapping from a distance.

Is that… a dragon?! Arth thought as his chest was pounding so hard already.

“This is the time you’ll make yourself useful,” Janshai gave a smirk. “You’ll cover for me while I do the ritual.”

Arth’s jaws dropped as he saw the figure of a dragon flying now towards them from the clouds.

“You want me to fight a f*****g dragon?!”