The Animagus: From Hunter to Monster-Chapter 33: Unworthy Praise

Immediately after the environment was lit, revealing a sanctuary in front of the remaining members of Buji’s team, there was a second blackness. This time, it seemed to last longer.

Then, the familiar female voice came again.

<Kill the Boss.>

[00:30:00 remaining…]

At the mention of "Kill the Boss", every one of the hunters clutched onto their weapons tightly.

Buji tightened the grip of his hands on the sword, taking stances a typical swordsman would use when on a battlefield. Kirex flipped his spear, allowing it to rest diagonally behind his back, as he extended his left hand forward taking the position of a typical primitive hunter with the spear. And, there is Tyga, with her two daggers reclaimed, and her eyes narrowed searching the darkness.

But again, there was light.

The hall suddenly began to light up. Candles affixed on the wall around began to glow, and the chandeliers that were hidden by the darkness before them above came to play, colorfully lighting the ground beneath Buji and his teammate.

In their front, was an altar, with two candles lighted on the verge of its edges. The altar seemed to be made of marble, decorated with tiles, and adorned with intricate designs… of different beasts. In the middle, was a sign. A symbol.

The symbol was of bat, and it was in the middle of various beasts. The design on the altar made the bat look worshipped.

"Look," Tyga said, pointing at the walls just above the altar.

There was a bigger bat symbol but with a small feminine body attached to it. Just like the Stone Bats, except that this was just a carving. And below the symbol were the lettering, "Sacerdos Nyx."

"What does it mean?" Tyga asked, looking at Buji for an answer, but Kirex was faster with the answer.

"Nyx is a Greek word used to represent one of their deities. The goddess of night. And sacerdos?"

"…it means Priestess," Buji chipped in. "So, literally, we are facing the Priestess of Night."

The Night Priestess is a monster that can only act in the dark. Its vision is blurred during the day. This explains why it had to take the form of a bat. You know, bats can only have their visions clear in the night. In darkness.

"Is this why the Stone Bats attacked us from the dark?" Buji reasoned.

"But the chess players, we were clearly attacked by them during the day," Kirex said, hoping to find a clarification.

"The players never looked in the form of bats. They were clearly guardians of this altar. The night priestess must have designed the statue herself and had enchanted them to guard the place. Probably, as we shattered each player, it should send signals that there was a danger close by for her."

"True," Kirex agreed. "But now the place is totally lit…"

"…she won’t be out until there’s darkness," Buji interrupted.

"But how are we going to defeat it within the remaining allotted 30 minutes if it wasn’t going to be out sooner?" Tyga asked.

"We make it to create darkness, just like it did twice after we defeated the chess players. I’m sure the darkness had come from her," Buji replied.

"How?"

Buji took a moment to think. Somehow, his head moved to the altar again and he observed what was going on in the design of the altar.

"We praise it. An unworthy praise. It is going to trigger the anger in her and make her come out herself."

"What sort of unworthy praise?" Kirex asked.

"Let me think…"

"…"

"..."

Buji bit his lips in thought. He tried to remember an unworthy praise just like he had watched in the movie, the inner sanctum. He looked around him and noticed the lighted candles were eight in number and an idea came to his mind.

"Kneel before the altar, and repeat after me," he instructed.

"Before your sanctuary, I have come to seek solace."

"Before your sanctuary, I have come to seek solace."

And as he continued, Kirex and Tyga repeated after him.

"But the torn of weak mortality, which you left as guardian left me asking…"

"Why is your darkness a faint shadow of my soul’s despair?"

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

Immediately, a candle went off and Buji smiled. His plan was going to work. The plan of each candle turning off to provide darkness and invite the Priestess.

"Your control over the night is quaint. An unravel into a prison, a bleak and hopeless expanse that even your presence cannot illuminate. Your secrets are but a hollow shell, a pathetic attempt to conceal the emptiness that lies at the heart of your darkness."

Three candles went off, distracting Tyga and Kirex. They looked at each other.

"Kirex, can we make it out of here?" Tyga asked with lost hope.

And just like the human mind always does, an evil idea came into Kirex’s mind.

"Like other dungeons, we can leave safely if we sacrifice a life to the boss, and then report to school and allow them to involve the association."

"Are you saying we should abandon him here?"

"We should tie him, to look like a burnt offering."

Tyga started to untie the cord she had come with around her waist to serve as an alternative weapon.

Meanwhile, Buji’s voice could still be heard making the praises.

"…I worship you not out of reverence, but out of contempt for the weakness that drives mortals to seek comfort in the shadows. You are but a pale imitation of the true power that lies within me, a power that will soon eclipse your own. So, why should I honor and adore thee…?"

Along the line, Buji was interrupted by sudden movements around his body where he knelt. Before he knew it, he was bound and unable to move.

"Now!" Kirex ordered and he, with Tyga’s help pushed Buji closer to the altar. Turning their backs, they ran with their last strength towards the door.

Buji observed the surroundings and saw that two candles remained lit, and the door was closing fast. As he watched his teammates close their distance with the door, he muttered.

"I will desecrate your sacred symbols, profane your holy rituals, and reduce your mysteries to nothing more than a hollow mockery."

Just then, Kirex and Tyga jumped out avoiding the door which slammed close behind them.

On the inside, the candle lights, except those at the altar went off, and the hall became dark again.