More Than One

The gates of the Eternal Abyss slowly creaked shut behind them, sealing away the last sliver of light.

Lilith and the God King stood at the entrance, staring into the bottomless darkness.

Just like before, it was terrifyingly quiet, to the point where even their breathing sounded abnormally loud.

“I’ll jump down first and scout the situation,” Lilith said, glancing at the God King.

The God King nodded.

“Be careful.”

Lilith took a deep breath and leaped into the void.

...

Falling, yet again. Just like last time, Lilith felt as if she had dropped into a bottomless pit, her body plummeting uncontrollably.

But this time, she was prepared.

Last time, I died to a sneak attack because I misjudged their position... she thought, her gaze sharpening.

Not this time.

She unleashed her magic.

Terrifying magic surged from her body like a tidal wave, expanding outward and instantly covering a radius of several hundred meters.

Everywhere the magic touched, the darkness was pushed back, revealing the void below.

Lilith hovered in mid-air, halting her descent.

She closed her eyes, sensing every inch of space within her magic detection range.

“With my magic covering every direction, there’s no way I’ll get blindsided again,” she muttered, a cold smirk tugging at her lips.

Suddenly, she felt something intrude upon her magic field.

It was incredibly stealthy and moving at high speed; if her magic hadn't been spread out in all directions, she never would have noticed it.

“Found you.”

Lilith opened her eyes and looked toward the disturbance.

In the next second, she vanished.

...

In the darkness, a shadow moved rapidly.

It had no physical form—it was merely a blurred silhouette, nearly invisible in the gloom.

Its movement was bizarre—neither flying nor running, but flowing like water, completely silent.

Suddenly, it stopped.

It felt something appear behind it.

It tried to turn, but it was too late.

A hand was placed gently on its shoulder.

The hand seemed to hold no strength, yet the shadow entity felt a surge of lethal danger.

“Die.”

A cold voice whispered in its ear.

In the next instant, a massive web woven from countless slashes enveloped it.

The sound of blades rending flesh echoed.

Before the shadow entity could even scream, it was torn to pieces.

The fragments scattered before dissolving into black smoke and vanishing into the darkness.

Lilith stood where she was, looking at the remnants on the ground, and nodded in satisfaction.

“High attack, low defense? Heh, and you thought you could ambush me?”

She brushed off her hands, preparing to explore further down. But then, her expression shifted.

Within her magic detection range, more things had appeared.

One, two, three...

Ten, twenty, thirty...

The numbers swelled, a dense swarm surging forward like a tide.

Lilith’s brow furrowed.

“This many?”

Just as she was about to act, the entities appeared before her.

They were a horde of monsters. Like the shadow entity from before, they lacked physical form, existing only as blurred shadows. But there were too many of them, surrounding Lilith in a suffocating throng.

They had no eyes, yet Lilith could feel them watching her.

It was a cold, dangerous sensation.

Lilith froze for a split second, then without a hint of hesitation, she spoke.

“Restart.”

...

A blinding white light flashed.

Lilith opened her eyes to find herself back at the entrance of the Eternal Abyss.

She stood at the gates, her face pale and her forehead drenched in cold sweat.

“Haa... haa...”

She gasped for air, forcing herself to calm down.

Too many. Those monsters... there were just too many.

Even if she could one-shot a single one, she couldn't hold out against hundreds or thousands.

“I need a better plan,” she whispered to herself before turning to look at the God King.

The God King noticed her state.

“What happened?” he asked, a hint of confusion in his eyes. “Did you already clash with it?”

Lilith nodded.

“I did.”

“And the result?”

“I killed one,” Lilith said. “But there’s more than one of them in there.”

The God King nodded.

“I know that.”

Lilith’s face darkened.

“If you knew, why didn’t you say something sooner?!”

The God King spread his hands helplessly.

“You didn’t ask.”

Lilith: “...”

She was truly speechless.

“Fine, it’s my fault.” She sighed and rubbed her temples.

“But you could’ve given me a heads-up. How am I supposed to fight that many monsters alone?”

The God King smiled.

“That’s why I said we should team up.”

He paused, then asked, “Exactly how many were there?”

Lilith thought for a moment.

“Too many to count. At least hundreds, maybe more.”

The God King’s brow furrowed.

“That many?”

“Yes,” Lilith nodded. “And they move fast and stay hidden. If I hadn't covered the whole area with my magic, I never would've spotted them.”

The God King was silent for a moment.

“It seems this is more troublesome than we imagined.”

He looked at Lilith.

“Any ideas?”

Lilith pondered. “Brute force is out. There are too many; even if we can kill them, they’ll just wear us down.”

“Then what?”

“We need to find a way to lure them out and deal with them in batches,” Lilith said. “Or... find the source and wipe them all out at once.”

The God King nodded.

“Makes sense.”

He paused. “So, where do you think the source is?”

Lilith shook her head. “I don’t know. But I have a feeling they’re coming from below.”

She pointed into the depths of the Eternal Abyss.

“The further down you go, the more there are.”

The God King looked into the darkness below, his gaze solemn.

“Then we have to go deeper.”

Lilith nodded.

“Right.”

She took a deep breath.

“This time, we go down together.”

The God King nodded.

“Alright.”

The two shared a look and leaped down simultaneously.