<h4>Chapter 26: Curse of the Devil</h4>


    "AAAaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggghhh!"


    Before Ben could delve deeper into his thoughts, a gut-wrenching scream pierced the air. His attention snapped back to the ritual ground, where a young girl stood, her body wracked with pain. In an instant, her agony transformed into a burst of deep, resonantughter that echoed ominously through the night. It was as if two entities were locked within her, locked in a sinister dance, sharingughter tainted by madness and despair.


    "Hahahahaaha...Hahahahaha..." Theughter emanated from therge ck stone with red ruins marked on it, its voice heavy and glitchy. The sound seemed to crawl beneath the skin, causing visceral difort and sending icy shivers down the listeners'' spines.


    "I ASTAROTH MALEOVALENT, ON THE NAME OF THE 7TH HELL, ACCEPT YOUR CONTRACT!"


    Those chilling words reverberated through the ritual ground as if sealing a pact with the forces of darkness. Ben''s heart hammered in his chest, his mind racing toprehend the horrors unfolding before him. He knew he had to act to somehow free the girl from the clutches of this demonic entity.


    As the voice dissipated into an eerie silence, the mages, their faces etched with both disbelief and dread, broke the stillness with hesitant whispers. "That was a pact confirmation; does that mean we have seeded?"


    But their hopes were shattered by a trembling mage who dared to speak the truth. "It was a contract announcement, yes, but... we never intended to make a contract with Astaroth. The ritual was meant to summon the ancient demon Hiranyakashipu."


    The revtion sent shockwaves through the gathering—a horrifying realization that their intentions had been perverted by an unseen force. Panic settled in, a frenzy of whispered prayers and desperate pleas for salvation.


    Ben, hiding far from the ritual ground, was able to hear their conversation thanks to his Vampire senses. Not only that, but he was also able to see the ck fog gathering around the ritual ground.


    The ck, ghostly figures slowly disappeared into thin air. As if they were afraid of something much stronger than them. In an instant, the fog in the air was so dark that Ben had no option but to use his blood vision skills to see things around him.


    Using his blood vision, Ben''s surroundings were revealed in a gruesome disy. The once serene ritual ground was now cloaked in a sinister aura. The ck fog seemed to writhe and pulse, taking on grotesque shapes and contorted forms. Twisted faces appeared within the fog, their expressions frozen in eternal torment.


    Ben''s heart pounded faster as he realized that this was no ordinary darkness. It was a manifestation of pure evil, a force beyondprehension. The air grew thick with a putrid stench, the scent of decay and despair permeating every breath.


    Within the fog, Ben could see glimpses of horrifying scenes—a writhing mass of serpents slithering in the shadows, ws scraping against unseen surfaces, and distant screams of agony that echoed through the void. This was the true nature of the seventh hell unleashed upon the mortal realm.


    "BOM" An ear-deafening explosion reverberated through the ground, clearing the ck fog away. What Ben witnessed then was his most horrific dreams turned into reality.


    "Argh!!" Screams of mages echoed in the air, their limbs detached from their bodies, heads rolling on the floor. Amid this blood bath scene, a silver-haired girl, covered in shades of ck, wasughing, purple mes covering her torso.


    "What kind of energy is this?" Ben muttered, frozen in fear, as he looked at the girl as if he were looking at a ck hole, absolute darkness extending into the abyss.


    BURN," the girl said in a deep double voice, before a serpent-like wave of purple mes emerged from her body, swallowing the mage. The mages were in agony, doing everything they could to stop their foe.


    Constantly firing wind des and fireballs, colossal tentacles emerged from the ground to keep their target in ce, while one mage chanted nonstop, gathering massive energy in front of his wand.


    "EXPLOSION"


    He yelled, just as a deafening st echoed through the ne; its energy wave was powerful enough to shake the entire barrier surrounding the tree. As the st silenced, the mages wiped the sweat off their head, one of them asked turning around to face them. " Did we kill that thing?"


    "I DO NOT BELIEVE SO." A glitchy voice came from behind him, and a thin purple line passed through its neck before his head dropped to the floor, rolling. A figure emerged from the dust.


    The same half-burned girl was walking around,ughing maniacally; her hair was nowpletely ck, and her eyes radiated purple. While her body was rapidly regenerating and materializing back into full form,


    "RuuuuuNNNNnnNN" The mages screamed; without caring for the ritual, they flew towards the barrier, while most of them were just frozen in ce, internally epting their deaths.


    "Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...The fear, this is what I want." The girl said this before taking a running stance and sprinting towards the mages at breakneck speed. Screams and a burst of menacing constantughter filled the air as Ben watched blood signatures vanish one by one.


    "What exactly did I get myself into? I have to get going!" Ben screamed internally before sprinting towards the barrier at full speed.


    "How did I end up in this situation? I''m at a loss for what to do next." Ben was running at full speed. "Even if I reach the barrier at this rate, how will I get out of it, System? Is there any way you can get out of this mess?"


    Ben was almost at the barrier when he asked the system to find any way out. But before the system could even respond, a deep voice from behind him sent shivers down his spine.


    "A demon with divine energy? This is quite rare to see."


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    A/N: Yo guys what''s up!! These two chapters are thx for hitting 69 power stones past week, which is quite a rare number lol. Never mind- I have little question to ask you:


    These, past two chapters were set in a little dark tone. I did try my best to control the plot of story, let me know if you have any problem with it. Also I can increase the violent and action scene, based on your opinion of story, So make sure toment down your experience.