My Wives are Beautiful Demons

Vergil breathed deeply, feeling Roxanne's weight clinging to his arm. The heat of the abyss suffocated them, but a different flame burned within him: determination. They had found a way up—narrow, dark, and dangerous, but it was their only hope of escape.

The red rocks that formed the wall rose in jagged curves, like the serrated teeth of a beast waiting to chew up any foolish enough to climb it. The air was dense, heavy, permeated with ash that clung to the skin and burned the throat.

Behind, a silent shadow accompanied them: Zuri, in her colossal serpent form, slithering across the ground with almost imperceptible movements. Behind her, Titania kept her gaze fixed forward, her eyes shining with tension.

"Further on…" her voice echoed, calm but firm. "I sense a concentration of enemies. Many."

Vergil didn't stop, but tilted his face toward hers. "How many?"

Titania closed her eyes, as if searching for the exact number in her mind.

"More than we can count."

The silence that followed was heavy. Roxanne tightened her grip on Vergil's arm, her fingers tense.

Zuri, however, merely raised her head, her forked tongue tasting the poisonous air of that place.

"Then I won't go with you there," she said in a dry, almost hissing whisper. "I'll climb a tree and wait. If things get bad, I'll know when to act."

Titania lightly touched the snake's scales, as if confirming her decision.

Vergil didn't argue. He knew Zuri wasn't a coward; she was strategic. If she preferred to observe from above, it was because something bothered her more than she let on.

Ahead, Vanny and Rize had already advanced a few meters. The two maintained their fighting stance, alert for any movement amidst the distorted shadows of the abyss. This terrain was unusual: twisted trees grew out of nowhere, trunks as black as coal and leaves as red as congealed blood. Everything there seemed alive… and hungry.

Vergil and the others walked more slowly, alert, until the silence was broken.

Crack.

A twig snapped.

Vany immediately raised her hand, signaling for everyone to stop. Her eyes—sharp as blades—scanned the darkness.

"Something's wrong," she murmured.

Rize took a step forward, her hands already close to her weapons.

"I know," she replied, her tone low, almost a growl. "It's too quiet."

The silence of the abyss was dense, but now it felt… orchestrated. As if the very creatures that lived there were waiting for something, holding their breath.

Vergil propped Roxanne up against a rock, pulling her close.

"Stay behind me."

Suddenly, a sound. A strange rustling, as if a thousand tiny wings were flapping in unison. The trees trembled. The air seemed to vibrate.

Vany narrowed her eyes.

"Brace yourselves…"

From the heights of the black canopy, something plummeted.

It wasn't just one creature. There were dozens. No, hundreds.

Slender, misshapen bodies, covered in crumbled flesh like burnt coal. Empty eyes, mouths open in soundless screams, as if hell itself had ripped away their voices. Each had claws too long for its body, sharp and dripping with a black sap that smelled of sulfur and blood.

The creatures didn't fall like prey. They fell like predators.

Rize was the first to react. His blade flashed in a swift arc, cutting three in half before they could touch the ground. Black blood splattered, burning the ground like acid.

"They're not ordinary!" she screamed.

Vany spun around, her daggers reflecting the red glow of the abyss. Each movement was deliberate, fast enough that the creatures didn't touch her. But there were too many. Too many.

Vergil stepped in front of Roxanne, summoning energy into his sword. The air around him trembled with power.

"Stay close!"

Titania raised her arms, her magic spreading in golden waves that knocked back some of the creatures. Her light seemed to inflict pain on the monsters, who retreated, howling voicelessly.

Zuri, watching from atop a crooked tree, narrowed her serpentine eyes.

"This is no ordinary attack…" she muttered to herself. "This is an ambush."

And she was right.

The creatures didn't attack desperately. They surrounded, pressed, forcing the group to split.

Rize roared, cutting through another handful of them.

"They're trying to separate us!"

Vergil realized too late. As he shielded Roxanne, a shadow rose behind them. A larger creature, twice the size of the others, its flesh more solid, almost like stone, and its eyes glowing bright red.

It didn't fall. It rose from the ground itself, as if it had sprung from the bowels of the abyss.

"Vergil!" Roxanne screamed.

He spun quickly, blocking the creature's claw with his sword. The impact was so violent that it cracked the ground beneath his feet. Vergil felt his muscles vibrate with the shock.

Vany glanced over.

"This one's different," he growled. "This one's the leader."

And as if responding to the accusation, the creature roared. Not in sound, but in vibration. A silent scream that pierced the air and made all the other creatures move in unison, like puppets pulled by the same string.

Vergil gritted his teeth. —Shit…

The creatures advanced from all sides. Rize was swallowed by a wave of bodies. Vanny disappeared in a whirlwind of claws and teeth. Titania struggled to maintain her barrier, but the fissures were appearing too quickly.

Zuri watched from above, her body tense. Her instincts screamed that something even greater was about to happen.

Then, the forest shook.

It wasn't from the creatures. It was from the ground.

From the depths of the abyss, something was awakening.

The roar that followed was unlike anything they had faced before. It was deep, colossal, reverberating off the walls of the abyss as if the world itself had screamed.

The creatures stopped. Not in fear—but as if being ordered to do so. They all turned their faces to the darkness, waiting.

Vergil felt his stomach sink.

"This… isn't good."

Roxanne, pale, gripped his arm even tighter.

"What is this?"

The silence that followed was unbearable. Until two lights opened at the bottom of the abyss. They weren't torches. They were eyes. Gigantic, red eyes, burning with hatred.

The creatures, in silent chorus, knelt.

And from the abyss, something immense began to rise.