Chapter 161: Starved Sentinel

There were a lot more shadows than he had expected, not on the same level that the Withered was on, but… he had to say, this city wasn’t all that bad.

’Is this also an effect of you “helping me”?’ Aether said, while following the merchants. Being this close and not even trying to hide that much, he was sure that he would be seen, yet he had been following them for a whole hour now, and they gave no sign that they were aware of his presence.

’It is… and what’s with the attitude, you should know that if it weren’t for my help, you would have been found long ago. Be grateful! You damn brat.’

Aether rolled his eyes, not quite fond of having someone like Fallen Eden as his… helper. They were God and Vessel, yet at the same time, they didn’t get together at all. After all, as much as he hated to say it, they were two of the same pole; they automatically repealed each other.

Did he hate having to rely on someone like him, definitely, yet at the same time, he knew he couldn’t do it without him. And the Abyss probably shared the same feeling. Did he want to help him? You could probably guess, but did he have to… to honor his side of the deal, he did.

None of them liked having to work with each other, but they knew they had to

Him out of necessity, survival.

And him out of responsibility, duty.

Aether sighed, feeling his feet starting to hurt. After all, ever since he came to this place, he had done nothing but wander around. He had walked towards the wall, then followed it. He had to get past the giant hole with the help of that small path, and now, he had to follow these guys just because he had nothing better to do.

’I think I could have found a lead that didn’t require me to have to follow some bastards for so much time.’

He looked in front of him as the leader of the hunters led the group, standing in front of his people. Like a true leader did, that way he could protect his followers and not put them in danger.

…

His face darkened slightly. This sight, it reminded him…

…’ Never mind.’

He didn’t want to say it, just the thought had already got his blood boiling.

…

In the end, the leader of the hunters will fail to protect them, no matter if he stands in front of them… or by their side. The end wouldn’t differ as much as he wanted it to.

He knew that from experience.

Clenching his fist, Aether continued to follow, his gaze lingering on the happy face of the hunter’s leader.

That laughter on his face was going to fall.

…

After what felt like an eternity, the party stopped walking, or rather, they slowed down.

Aether sighed, relieved that he could finally take a break.

’Don’t let your guards down.’ Aether was caught mid-stretch by the Abyss’s vague words. He shouldn’t let his guard down, but why?

But then he felt it… and he wasn’t the only one.

The hunters stopped laughing the moment the temperature had fallen unnecessarily by a lot. It wasn’t wind, movement, or sound… just the feeling of being watched, of sharing the same air with something they didn’t know.

Aether froze too, instinctively.

A pressure was born inside his chest, a sharp pressure grilling inside his ribs.

One of the hunters squinted their eyes, looking deep in the shadow, before they suddenly staggered. “Do you guys see that… something’s reflecting.”

At first, it looked like a pillar of black stone standing between the broken blocks ahead. Perfectly smooth, perfectly still. No movement. No breathing.

Then its head rotated… not turned, but rotated, a clean, silent motion like a sculpture coming to life.

A cluster of glowing geometric shapes hung where eyes should have been, rotating slowly around an invisible axis. Triangles, squares, shards of light shifting positions as if rearranging themselves into meaning.

The hunters stepped back, fear sparking deep in their hearts. The monster was gigantic, to the point that it was almost as tall as the wall.

Yet, Aether didn’t. The being didn’t seem to have eyes, meaning that it probably used something else to detect its prey. And usually that was hearing, so he tried not to make any sound.

The Sentinel unfolded. That was the only word for it. Its limbs stretched out from the obsidian torso like long, fluid shadows, joints bending in ways that made the hunters curse under their breath.

To say that the sight was terrifying would be an understatement, but… heartbeats also have a sound, so he closed his eyes; that way, his heart couldn’t get scared and start beating like crazy, even if the fear of the unknown was knocking at his door, his eyes remained shut.

“…What is that thing?” the leader whispered. The beast didn’t look like anything he had seen yet, and he had spent a while around here.

The geometric “eyes” pulsed softly.Once.Twice.Like a heartbeat.

The leader felt it, the creature tasting the fear blooming inside their hearts; it considered it tasty, it wanted more.

He raised his blade, instinctively placing himself in front of his party. He wasn’t going to give any more fear to the beast… even if he was trembling… and he had no idea what he was doing in front of everyone, after all, he couldn’t fight the thing alone. His voice wavered, but he tried to sound steady.

“Stay… stay behind me!”

The Sentinel’s eyes rearranged instantly, the shapes spinning faster. It reacted not to the command, but to the flare of hope in his voice, the belief that he could protect them.

Aether, even with his eyes closed, could feel the pressure of the beast, hiding his steps inside the steps of the hunters, so that he could get some distance.

Then it moved, all at once. A sharp shift of obsidian limbs, a flicker of glowing polygons, a blur of impossible angles. The hunters scattered, shouting, while the Sentinel glided between them with a speed that didn’t match its statue-like stillness minutes before.

The hunters ran. The sound of their rapid steps made Aether open his eyes. Seeing the giant monster on the run made him tremble, and it only got worse as the monster suddenly looked at him.

Yet before it could head towards him, the Abyss created a ball around him out of the matter.

“Control your emotions, it listens to them.”

His eyes widened. “Emotions?”

The Abyss manifested in front of him, nodding its head.

“That monster is attracted to them, which is why it came to attack you just now; it sensed your strong fear. Luckily, with my matter, if I cover us in it, I can make it forget about the emotions coming from it, so we’re good in here, but since I’m not in control, I can’t hold it for long. So you have to keep my words… control your emotions.”

Before Aether could ask anything, the ball of Abyssal matter dissolved, leaving him standing in front of the monster, yet again.

“Shit..”

The monster started running towards him.

’Damn it.’ He cursed, taking a deep breath, and closing his eyes, trying to control his emotions, but it just wouldn’t work. He heard it get closer and closer, so how could he?

Yet, it suddenly stopped, starting to walk in another direction, towards the hunters.

Aether watched its limbs fold inward, obsidian surfaces sliding over each other like moving armor plates. Then something extended from its arm, long, flat, sharp. Not a natural blade, not metal, just a piece of its body reshaped into a massive edge, smooth and mirror-dark.

The “eyes” spun faster, geometric shards locking into a tight pattern.

It raised the blade.

The leader was the first to face it. He planted his feet, trying to stand firm, trying to do the thing he believed a leader should do. His hands shook, but he lifted his weapon anyway.

For a second, just a breath, he looked almost brave.

Then the Sentinel moved.

No scream, no roar, no warning.Just a single, perfect motion, a clean arc through the mist, too fast for its size, the blade cutting air with a deep, heavy whump that seemed to swallow all sound around it.

The leader didn’t even get to swing back. The force alone sent him crashing to the ground, weapon skidding away across the stone.

The hunters froze.Not because they chose to, but because the creature’s presence wiped the fight out of them.

One of them tried to run.The Sentinel’s head twitched toward him, geometric eyes flashing once, and the blade swept again, a wide, controlled motion meant to disable, not destroy. The hunter’s body hit the ground hard, breath torn from his lungs.

It moved from target to target, each strike exact, silent, final.The mist around them shuddered with each motion, as if even the air feared being too close.

Aether stood behind it all, jaw tight, watching the hunters fall one by one.

Not messily.Not violently.Just… inevitably.

The Sentinel didn’t hunt like a beast.It executed like a machine.

When the last hunter’s body hit the stone, the creature retracted the blade, its arm folding back into its obsidian form with a quiet, smooth click. The glowing shapes in its head slowed, rotating gently, almost calmly.

It had done what it came for.

Aether exhaled, the tension leaving his shoulders.

“Run, now!” The Abyss shouted to him.

’You don’t have to say that twice…’

Yet before, he took one last good look at the beast… to think a being this powerful could exist…

He had been lucky, lucky to be alive.

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