Chapter 304: Ch 304: Into the Abiss together

Everyone stopped to look at them as their swords clashed. Shuu pulled back immediately and decided to change his attacking point and try again.

But no matter what he tried, Kaiden blocked him. However, he did not press Shuu when he was given a choice. He remained in his stance, forever waiting for Shuu to attack first.

"What’s wrong? Are you not going to attack me back? Did you lose all your spunk in the short amount of time we were apart?"

Shuu asked, trying to get a rise out of Kaiden. But it was of no use.

The demon king gave him a blank but disappointed gaze. It infuriated Shuu that he was not getting a response back from the demon king, so he changed his attack pattern.

He decided to attack Kaiden from behind as well as from the front. That made Kaiden take action, but it was not as attentive as Shuu wanted him to be.

"Tsk, are you disappointed in me? Is that why you are holding back like this? Honestly, this does not seem like your style."

Shuu taunted, and Kaiden finally replied back.

"And being under someone else does not seem to be your style either. But you are not holding back either. How long are you going to remain as Astoria’s subordinate and protect her weaklings? You can do so much more if you apply yourself—"

That made Shuu snap. One second, he was listening to Kaiden; the next, he had Kaiden in a chokehold. He felt anger filling his whole body, and Shuu did not bother suppressing it.

"Don’t talk about those people like they are a burden. They are the ones who gave me a purpose. You don’t get to talk shit about them."

Shuu spoke firmly. But Kaiden only smiled bitterly back at him.

"So, has she trained you this well? You can’t even see through her schemes. What’s next? Will you dedicate your life to her as well?"

Kaiden’s words were sharp and intended to cause as much damage as possible. Shuu knew this much, but he still fell for his provocation and gritted his teeth.

He attacked Kaiden to distract himself, but it was of no use. Kaiden was much faster and much more experienced compared to him.

Still, Shuu was not going to let him have the last laugh.

"Why are you so concerned about my bond with Goddess Astoria? You never said anything beforehand. It’s not as if you ever said anything before. You did not even show your face in front of me until now, so stop complaining and face me properly."

Shuu spoke back with a similar amount of agitation. Neither he nor Kaiden was willing to back down. They would both suffer greatly at this rate.

The others were fighting around them as well, and Shuu suddenly heard the other generals crying out in pain. It distracted him just enough to get hit by Kaiden.

The look of disappointment Kaiden shot him was one that made Shuu even angrier.

"What do you want from me? First, you try to fight me, and then you disappear. Am I supposed to take you seriously?"

Shuu asked, and Kaiden looked taken aback by his loud yelling. It also put some light on his own behavior, and he realized that Shuu was right.

Even he did not seem to know what was wrong with him, and it showed on his face.

"I—"

"Shuu, we need to get out of here. Most of us cannot take it anymore. Let’s hurry."

An elder general called out to Shuu, and he nodded before turning around. Kaiden panicked and grabbed Shuu’s arm at the last second.

"Hey, wait a minute—"

"Let go of me right now."

Shuu tried to shake that grip, but it was of no use. Kaiden had pulled Shuu down with him to the depths of his field.

Shuu felt his body crash against the wall, and he let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his back. The fall hurt, but Shuu was able to maintain some sense of awareness and stand up.

He looked around, but the world was still dark and felt cold. He tried to use his powers to connect to Goddess Astoria, but it was of no use.

"Kaiden, where did you bring us? How do we get back home?"

Shuu asked in a desperate voice, but Kaiden shook his head.

"We cannot go back. There is no way for us to return from this place on our own. We will have to wait for the timer to expire."

That did not sit well with Shuu, and he immediately grabbed Kaiden’s collar to pull him closer.

"Why would you trap us in a place like this? Get us out of here right now."

"I cannot do that. You interrupted my spell, and I am stuck here with you as well. But first, calm yourself down. It will allow you some room to think."

Kaiden looked calm. This was not his first time being stuck here. But Shuu needed to head back and assure everyone else that he was fine. He was getting even more worried by the second.

But knowing the circumstances allowed him to calm down a little more, and he nodded.

"Fine, I will hold myself back for now. But that does not mean I am going to sit back forever. You better find a way out of here."

Kaiden shook his head at Shuu’s stubbornness, but he did not reply. He knew that anything he said here would trigger Shuu to snap back at him.

Still, the situation was not completely hopeless. They had each other for company, which made staying in the dark a little easier.

And Kaiden could still use his powers to keep himself warm and sane.

The bigger problem was the monsters that roamed this place. Because they were a part of Kaiden, they could not be killed or even hurt by his power. They would not hurt him either, but Shuu was a different case.

His life was at risk in the darkness, and since he could not even use his powers, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself.

It was up to Kaiden to keep them safe now. But he had a feeling telling this to Shuu wouldn’t be a good idea.

"What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"

Shuu asked in a subdued voice. He was standing still, not moving even an inch, and Kaiden felt sorry for him.

It had been years since Shuu had been born, but he was practically a baby compared to Kaiden. And yet, there was a hint of maturity to Shuu that made it hard for anyone to look away from him.

Even Kaiden felt attracted to him, and he quickly made an excuse to hide his reaction to Shuu.

"I was just checking up on you to see if you were scared enough to run away or not. If you feel like you need companionship, then tell me. I will lend you a shoulder to rest your head on."

Kaiden replied, and Shuu instantly flinched in shock and pulled himself back.

"There is no need for you to do that. Just try and find a way out. That will be enough."

Shuu sat back down, suddenly feeling exhausted. Kaiden looked around for a moment before he took his seat beside Shuu and let out a sigh.

No one spoke for a whole minute before Kaiden suddenly spoke up again.

"Hey, is it fun being a lackey for Goddess Astoria? All I know about her is that she’s a coward and not worth your time. Why do you even stay with her?"

Shuu did not answer at first since he did not like Kaiden’s tone. He was about to snap at Kaiden when he noticed the look on Kaiden’s face. It was pure curiosity filled with a hint of suspicion.

It startled Shuu so much that he ended up telling him the truth.

"It’s not that I am submissive to Goddess Astoria. But I just don’t want to cause her trouble. She and her generals have taught me so much, and they have been good to me. I want to repay their grace and favor."

Shuu felt warm inside as he spoke. Just thinking about the generals invoked this reaction in him.

He did not like Goddess Astoria the same way, but she had been helpful to him in the past.

But instead of understanding all this, Kaiden just scoffed at him and gave him a pitiful look.

"How old were you when Goddess Astoria got to you?"

"I can recall her being by my side for as long as I can remember. What does that have to do with anything?"

Shuu asked with a confused expression, and Kaiden scoffed.

"How do you know that her mercy is not a way for her to tighten the noose around your neck? Maybe she is just being nice because she knows she can use you. You don’t even have experience comparing her actions to someone else."