Chapter Twenty Three: The Altar of Flesh

Deep in the bowels of the city, the Altar of Flesh awaited them.

The Tyrants stepped through a massive wrought-iron gate. The moment the last of them crossed the threshold, the gate slammed shut behind them with a shuddering crash that echoed down the descending corridor.

“Stay together,” Raiden said, voice low and firm. “We have no idea what’s waiting down here.”

The others nodded. Zero’s grip tightened around the hilt of his sword as the group began their slow advance.

The passage eventually opened into a vast hall. Torches lined the walls, burning with an unnatural, sickly glow that cast long, warped shadows across the stone. The air was thick with the stench of decay — wet, cloying, and old.

Raiden’s expression twisted in disgust.

“They call this their shame? They should have burned this entire place.”

“Perhaps they were afraid of whatever is down here,” Kai muttered, floating Magicyte orbs already beginning to circle his staff.

Then their Codices began to scream in unison.

ALERT. ALERT.
FLESHCRAFT ABYSSIAN DETECTED.
ALERT. ALERT.
FLESHCRAFT ABYSSIAN DETECTED.

Raiden glanced at the warning, then at his unit.

“Fan out. Take whatever measures you require. Zero — you’re with me. Sora, support. Yumi, flanks. Kai, magic duty.”

Acknowledgments came quickly. Zero drew his blade, the deep maroon Magicyte core flaring to life along its length. The team shifted into formation and continued forward at a measured pace. A moment later, Yumi melted into the shadows without a sound.

Then they heard it.

The loud, wet crunching of bone and flesh.

Something massive shifted in the deeper dark of the hall. It turned toward them, sniffing the air with a wet, ragged sound.

The Fleshcraft Abyssian came into view.

It was a grotesque abomination. A massive, lashing tongue protruded from a vertical split in its stomach. Where a face should have been, there was only a gaping maw lined with rows of jagged teeth. Bone-like hands hung from its sides, the claws dripping with a thick, venomous fluid that sizzled where it touched the stone floor.

The creature let out a low, gurgling sound as it fully registered their presence.

Raiden raised his greatsword.

“Contact. Don’t make a move yet,” Raiden ordered.

The team held position.

The Fleshcraft Abyssian fully turned toward them, revealing the full horror of its form. The massive tongue protruding from its stomach licked the air with a wet, reptilian motion, tasting their presence. Thick strands of venom dripped from its bone-like claws and sizzled against the stone.

Then it snarled.

The sound built into a guttural, wet roar that echoed through the vast hall.

From the darkness beyond the altar, more shapes began to stir.

Dozens of them.

Similar grotesque forms emerged from the shadows — smaller than the first, but no less nightmarish. Each one bore the same gaping maw, the same stomach-tongue, the same dripping bone claws. Their movements were uneven and twitching, as if the flesh that formed them had never been meant to move in unison.

The hall filled with the wet sound of shifting meat and scraping bone as the pack of Fleshcraft Abyssians spread out, cutting off easy retreat.

Kai’s floating Magicyte orbs brightened.

“That’s… more than a few.”

Yumi’s voice came quietly from the shadows.

“We’re surrounded.”

Raiden’s grip tightened on his greatsword, but he still held the line.

“Hold,” he repeated, voice low. “We don’t know how they coordinate yet. Wait for the first move.”

Zero stood at his side, sword already drawn, the deep maroon glow of the Magicyte circuits along his armor reflecting off the wet stone. His expression was calm, but his stance had shifted — ready to explode into motion the moment the order came. The lead Abyssian raised one of its bone-like claws and pointed toward the Tyrants.

That was the signal.

The lesser abominations let out wet, gurgling cries and charged as one, their stomach-tongues lashing and claws scraping against the stone floor.

Raiden smiled.

“Finally.”

He dashed forward to meet them head-on, greatsword already in motion.

From the shadows, Yumi appeared in a blur, twin blades flashing as she struck at the largest Abyssian. Sparks flew — but the blades bounced off its dense, rubbery hide with a dull metallic ring.

“Skin is dense!” she called out, already backflipping away as the creature twisted and swiped at her with a venom-dripping claw. The strike missed by inches, the acid sizzling where it scored the ground.

Raiden’s greatsword crashed into the front line of the lesser ones. The impact was heavy enough to knock several of them flying, but the blade failed to carve cleanly through their flesh. Blackened, thick tissue held firm under the blow.

“Tough bastards,” he growled, resetting his stance as more of the creatures closed in.

Kai’s Magicyte orbs brightened, beginning to charge. Sora’s barriers shimmered into place along the flanks. Zero shifted his grip on his sword, the deep maroon circuits along his armor flaring as he watched the way their bodies absorbed the impacts. Kai raised his staff and unleashed multiple beams of intense heat.

The Magicyte-powered lances of energy slammed into the lesser abominations, piercing straight through their dense flesh and leaving smoking holes in their bodies. For a moment it looked effective — until the wounded creatures turned on one another.

They began to feast.

Torn limbs and chunks of charred meat were ripped free and shoved into gaping maws. Flesh knitted back together at a sickening speed. Worse, several of the damaged ones crawled into each other, bodies merging and twisting until larger, bulkier forms rose in their place.

“Quick regenerators!” Kai shouted. “Raiden—!”

Before he could finish, one of the larger abominations slammed into Raiden with brutal force. The unit leader was smashed clean across the hall and crashed hard into a stone pillar, the impact cracking the ancient support.

“Captain!” Yumi called out.

Zero was already moving.

He dashed forward in a burst of speed, launched into the air, and brought his sword down in a powerful overhead strike aimed at the lead Abyssian. The creature raised one of its bone-like hands and caught the blade. Zero felt the bone fracture under the force of the blow — but before he could press the advantage, the Abyssian’s other clawed hand smashed into him.

The impact sent him flying backward across the hall.

The lead Abyssian threw its headless maw upward and let out a deafening howl.

A violent sonic shockwave exploded outward, rattling the entire chamber. Torches flickered. Stone cracked. The force of the roar slammed into the Tyrants like a physical wall, forcing them to brace against the pressure.

Raiden and Zero both forced themselves back to their feet.

Raiden wiped blood from the corner of his mouth… then let out a deep, hearty laugh.

“Bastards got some strength. No problem.”

His armor began to glow with a fierce, escalating light. The Codex on his wrist flared and announced in a sharp mechanical tone:

BERSERKER MODE ACTIVE

Raiden’s face flushed a deep red. His eyes turned pure white. The massive greatsword in his hands heated rapidly until the blade glowed white-hot, edges shimmering with barely contained power.

He charged.

Like a living battering ram he smashed into one of the lesser Abyssians at full force. The impact was catastrophic — the creature’s body inverted on itself, flesh and bone rupturing outward in a grotesque spray. Without slowing, Raiden swung the white-hot blade in a wide arc, tearing straight through two more of the regenerating horrors.

This time the wounds did not close.

Wherever the glowing edge of his greatsword passed, the flesh blackened and died. The rapid regeneration that had allowed the abominations to feast and reform was negated on contact. Severed pieces simply lay still, steaming and inert.

“Now we’re talking!” Raiden roared, already turning toward the next cluster of enemies, Berserker Mode radiating raw power from every plate of his armor.

Zero reset his stance beside him, deep maroon Magicyte circuits flaring in answer. The tide of the battle had just shifted.

The creatures born from the Altar of Flesh was no longer the only thing adapting.