The Villain Professor's Second Chance

"Lyan," I muttered under my breath. He didn't need further instruction.

Immediately, Lyan's hands flicked through a series of gestures, summoning a dense fog of illusions. It enveloped the forest clearing in a shroud of mist, and for a moment, the Abyss Borns hesitated, their glowing eyes darting in every direction. His illusions cast shifting figures of our group—phantoms that moved and flickered like shadows in a fire.

The demons hesitated, momentarily confused, unsure where we actually stood. I glanced at Aurelia and Anastasia, giving them a brief signal. We had practiced this—several times.

"Aurelia, on my mark," I said sharply. She rolled her eyes, but I saw her hands glow, flames flickering to life around her fingertips. Her eyes sparked with excitement, as they always did before a fight.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it, bastard," she muttered, though her grin betrayed her eagerness. Her fiery red hair caught the light of her flames, looking like a living inferno.

"Anastasia, be ready."

Anastasia nodded, her expression calm and composed. Where Aurelia's fire was wild, like a tempest, Anastasia's was the night itself—cold, calculated, and lethal. The contrast between the two always amazed me, even if they couldn't stand each other most days.

I turned my attention back to the Abyss Borns, still disoriented by Lyan's illusions. It wouldn't last long. The moment the demons figured out the ruse, they'd tear through us with their speed and ferocity. My eyes narrowed as I studied their movements, my mind already calculating the best course of action. Their attacks were straightforward, almost predictable. Good.

Predictability was something I could use.

"Now," I said, my voice cutting through the fog like a blade.

Aurelia didn't hesitate. Her hands burst into full flame, and she hurled a torrent of golden fire at the nearest Abyss Born. The flames crashed into the demon like the sun itself had descended upon it. It screeched, its body twisting and writhing as the purity of Aurelia's fire burned away the corruption that sustained it. The air filled with the acrid stench of burning flesh and sulfur.

"Damn," Aurelia muttered, wiping sweat from her brow. "These bastards don't go down easy."

I moved quickly, capitalizing on the demon's moment of weakness. "Anastasia, now."

Anastasia's dark flames surged forward, wrapping around the second Abyss Born like a constricting serpent. Her fire wasn't as aggressive as Aurelia's, but it was just as dangerous. Where Aurelia's fire was about destruction, Anastasia's was about suffocation, draining the demon's power and leaving it vulnerable.

I saw the opening, the shimmering energy core on the Abyss Born's back glowing faintly through the haze. Without a second thought, I darted forward, my blade gleaming in the dim light of the clearing. In one fluid motion, I drove my sword into the demon's back, right into the core. The demon let out a guttural scream before collapsing in on itself, its body disintegrating into ash.

"One down," I muttered, my eyes already scanning for the next target.

Aurelia was holding back the third Abyss Born, her golden flames creating a barrier between it and the rest of us. The demon roared, slamming its grotesque form against the fire, but Aurelia's power held firm, her eyes gleaming with both determination and anger.

"You're pissing me off," she growled at the demon. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she intensified the flames, pushing the demon back.

"Draven, this one's yours," she called, her voice laced with impatience.

I didn't need to be told twice. With the demon distracted by Aurelia's fire, I circled around, searching for the same weak spot I had noticed earlier. There—its underbelly. I could see the faint shimmer of its energy core beneath the grotesque mass of its body.

"Aurelia, keep it busy," I ordered.

"Yeah, because I wasn't doing that already," she shot back, though I could hear the grin in her voice.

Anastasia moved beside me, her eyes calculating as always. "Together?" she asked, her voice low.

"Together," I confirmed.

Aurelia's flames roared higher, forcing the demon to rear back in a desperate attempt to escape the heat. That was our moment. Anastasia's dark flames surged forward, coiling around the demon's legs, pinning it in place. The contrast between their fires—Aurelia's golden light and Anastasia's dark night—was almost poetic.

Day and night, fire and shadow, working together to suffocate the life out of the creature.

I moved swiftly, darting forward with my blade aimed for the demon's exposed core. In one clean strike, I pierced through its flesh, the force of the blow driving straight into its heart. The demon let out one final, pained shriek before collapsing in on itself, disintegrating into ash like the others.

There was a moment of silence in the clearing, the air still heavy with the stench of burnt flesh and dark magic. We stood there, catching our breath, the adrenaline still pumping through our veins.

"Well," Aurelia said, breaking the silence with her usual smirk. "That wasn't so bad."

I wiped the sweat from my brow, my mind already moving to the next task. "Let's keep moving."

We gathered our bearings quickly, wasting no time in setting out toward the rumored altar. The forest around us shifted as we ventured deeper. The once-darkened trees seemed to twist and warp, their branches contorting into grotesque shapes, as if they were alive. Their leaves were black, unnatural, and the further we went, the more the forest itself seemed to resist our presence.

The sky above, which had once been a deep crimson, was now a void of blackness, devoid of stars or light. It was as if the sky itself had given up, succumbing to the oppressive darkness that surrounded us. Beneath our feet, the ground was jagged and rocky, with glowing veins of dark mana pulsing beneath the surface, like the land itself was alive with malevolent energy.

Strange creatures lurked in the shadows, watching us with glowing eyes. They were demonic in nature, but none of them dared to approach. It was as if they recognized the power we wielded and chose to keep their distance. Still, their presence made my skin crawl.

"Creepy bastards," Aurelia muttered, her eyes scanning the darkness around us.

"They won't attack," I said, my voice calm. "Not unless we give them a reason to."

Anastasia glanced at me, her eyes thoughtful. "The deeper we go, the worse it gets."

I nodded, my gaze fixed on the path ahead.

"The altar is close. Stay alert." Lyan said, but I could feel that his atmosphere changed.

I guess this place might be much more dangerous than we thought.

As we continued deeper, the forest became more twisted, more unnatural. Large fissures opened in the ground, and strange, otherworldly sounds echoed from the shadows. It was as if the very air was alive with dark magic, suffocating us with its presence.

Finally, after what felt like hours, we emerged into a massive clearing. The sight that greeted us was far beyond what any of us had anticipated.

The altar stood at the center of the clearing, surrounded by towering black pillars that seemed to stretch endlessly into the void above. The altar itself was enormous, far larger than anything I had ever seen. It was carved from obsidian stone, its surface etched with glowing demonic symbols that pulsed faintly with magic.

The air around it was thick with power, so dense that it was almost suffocating. I could feel the weight of it pressing down on us, filling the air with an oppressive sense of dread. It was as if the altar was alive, pulsing with energy that seemed to be waiting for something—or someone.

Aurelia, for once, was silent. Her usual bravado seemed to have faded in the presence of the altar's overwhelming power. Even she could feel the weight of the place, the sheer wrongness of it.

Anastasia, too, was quiet, her eyes scanning the symbols etched into the stone. "This isn't just an altar," she said softly, her voice laced with unease. "It's something more."

I stepped forward, my gaze fixed on the massive structure. Every instinct I had screamed that something was deeply wrong. The atmosphere was oppressive, like the very air was pressing in on us, waiting for something to happen.

And then Lyan, who had been silent until now, stepped forward, his eyes wide with disbelief. He scanned the altar, his brow furrowed in confusion. Find adventures on empire

"There's nothing like this before…" he murmured, his voice barely audible.

We all stood there in silence, the weight of his words hanging in the air. Whatever this altar was, it was unlike anything any of us had ever encountered before.

And that, more than anything, filled me with dread.