Traveler Beyond Blind Eternity

I don't have time to waste. The more sacrifices this thing consumes, the stronger it becomes. I have to act now.

I kneel by the rocky shore of Tiwu Ata Mbupu, my palm pressing against the earth. I can still feel the slumbering presence deep below, coiling in the abyss like a serpent waiting for its time to rise.

Not today.

I take a slow breath, steadying myself. This will be difficult. The demon won't sit quietly while I strengthen its prison. If I do this right, it will remain sealed for years, maybe even centuries. But if I fail…

I shake the thought away. I won't fail.

I look at the lake and feel the prison the ancient people created. It is tied to the land itself. That means I can enchant the current prison and make sure the prison stays strong until I am strong enough to kill it permanently.

A seal this powerful needs an anchor. The current anchor is too old to handle all the mana I will use. I need something new, and I already know what it is. I move my mana and move the stone on the bottom of the lake.

It is good as an anchor because it is exposed to a lot of energy from the ward around the demon. That makes it great for trapping mana and its effect, so it will degrade at a slower pace.

I kneel by the edge of Tiwu Ata Mbupu, the weight of the stone in my palm grounding me. It's nothing special at first glance—just a smooth, dark rock worn by the waters of the lake.

But I will make it special.

I press my hand against it, feeling its connection to the land, to the depths below. This will be the anchor—the core of the seal.

The demon stirs beneath me, its presence roiling within the abyss. It knows. It can feel my presence.

The lake boils, steam rising in thick clouds. The ground trembles as if the very mountain is resisting me.

"Not today. You son of bitch."

I grip the stone tighter, drawing in every drop of mana I have left. 

I reach into the green mana inside of me. Nature itself responds to me and creates a chain that will tie the demon into the lake. The land will hold the demon down. Its body will be wrapped in unbreakable roots, locked in the very pillars of the earth.

The demon roars and makes the summit tremble from its roar.

"How dare you?!"

I pull on the blue mana inside of me. Water does not just contain—it suffocates, drowns, and isolates. I weave the mana into the currents, ensuring that the demon can never rise.

The demon tries to fight the water that traps it even further to the bottom of the lake.

"I will not be trapped! I will be free!"

The demon feeds on sacrifices, on death given willingly. I turn its own power against it. The cycle of offerings rots within the seal, becoming a curse upon the demon itself. Instead of nourishing, its feast will corrode it from within.

The demon releases another roar and tries to use the sacrifice it has to empower it temporarily. However, my Black Curse has already taken effect, and it causes the demon pain instead of relief.

"What have you done?!"

I ignore him and continue.

I channel my Red Mana. It is not to destroy the demon because I know it is useless at the moment. Instead of destroying my target, I cleanse something. The demon's whispers, its manipulations, the hold it has over the villagers—I burn it all away. The land will no longer hear its voice. The people will no longer feel its pull.

"How dare you?! I shall burn you! I shall eat your soul! Mark my words!"

I grit my teeth, gripping the stone tighter, and push everything I have left. The demon tried to break my seal by using brute force.

A tidal wave of power erupts from me, slamming down onto the lake. I push a lot of mana to make sure he cannot escape and all my will to fight against the demon.

The demon roars—a horrible, guttural sound, not in defiance but in pain. I feel it being dragged down, forced deeper, buried beneath layers of binding magic so strong that it will never surface again.

It screams one final time—then silence.

The ground stills.

The lake calms.

The boiling stops.

It's done.

The demon is sealed.

I collapsed onto my hands and knees, completely drained. My vision blurs, my muscles tremble, my entire body screams from the sheer force of mana I just unleashed.

The stone in my hand is now marked forever—the very essence of the seal carved into its core. This is the lock. This is the key.

The demon will slumber for centuries.

I look up at the lake, now eerily still, the steam fading into the air. The presence beneath is gone. Not destroyed—but buried.

I clutch the stone against my chest, sucking in a ragged breath. My mana is nearly empty. I feel like I could sleep for days.

But I did it.

I won.

I shake my head and force myself to move away from this place. I use my last bit of stamina to teleport to the nearby forest. I fall to the ground after I teleport away. I force myself to get up.

My legs feel like lead. Every muscle in my body protests with each step, but I force myself to move. I can't sleep here, out in the open. I need a place to hide—somewhere secluded, where I can recover safely.

I push through the dense jungle, branches scratching against my arms as I search for a quiet, hidden place.

Then, I found it.

A small clearing tucked between thick trees and covered by the shade of towering vines. The ground is mostly dry, and there's enough space for a tent without being too exposed.

This will do.

I drop my pack onto the ground and start assembling the tent. My fingers are sluggish, my body aching from the mana overload, but I force myself to finish. The sooner I sleep, the sooner I recover.

Once the tent is set, I pull the sealing stone from my pocket. Even after using so much mana, it still hums with power—the key to the demon's prison.

I exhale. I did it.

But I'm still vulnerable.

If someone—or something—comes looking for me, I won't be able to fight back.

So I do the only thing I can.

I kneel at the entrance of my tent, pressing my palm to the damp earth—one last spell.

I focus and draw the last ounce of my mana. I channel my Green Mana. I weave them into the spell, making my tent feel like part of the jungle. I channel my Blue Mana to cast subtle compulsion spells that make anyone who passes by this place overlook it, thinking nothing is interesting here. I channel my Dark Mana to make my tent blend in darkness and mask any noises coming from the tent.

The spell is weak—I'm barely holding it together—but it should last long enough for me to get some rest. It should last for at least twelve hours.

I collapse onto my sleeping bag, barely keeping my eyes open.

The jungle hums around me—distant insects, rustling leaves, the occasional cry of an animal.

And then—nothing.

Sleep takes me.