478 Eruption (1/2)

By the time Raven and his teammates regained their vision, they were already riding a shuttle which looked like a boat. It streaked in the air, flying several miles per second.

”What happened Senior Brother?” Jason asked as soon as he regained his bearings.

”There's an eruption.” Henry said as he stood at the helm of the shuttle.

”An eruption?” Most of them repeated, confused as to what Henry meant by that.

*ROOOOAAAARRRR!*

”What the fuck!?” Henry didn't even get the chance to reply when all of them suddenly heard a ferocious howl behind them.

Everyone turned around to look only to see a gigantic silhouette of a humanoid roaring towards the moon. It was then followed by a repulsive wave of killing intent that send shivers to everyone it touches. It was extremely similar to the one they felt during their first step within the Devil's Cradle.

”Bad! This is bad!” Nelson exclaimed in panic, ”I can sense multiple devils running towards the us and they are extremely swift! There's at least twenty of them!”

”What!? Are you shitting us?” Jonathan's eyes widened as he questioned.

”I wish I was buddy, but not this time.” Nelson replied while tightening his grip on his weapon.

”What is going on here Senior Brother?” Michelle asked in a distressed manner as she too prepared for the impact.

”Like I said, it was an eruption.” Henry replied. A sword appeared on his hand and he performed a simple horizontal swing.

The junior disciples heard dying screeches after that, which means that Henry already took care of the Devils that are rushing towards them. They heard him say:

”Like what I mentioned before, the Devil Emperor's Pagoda lies in the very center of the Devil's Cradle. The pagoda is the seal that contains dimensional rend where the Devil Emperor is sealed. It also contains the hoards of these abominations pouring out from the humongous dimensional rend.”

”I also mentioned that the reproduction rate of Devils are absurdly fast. The reason why the Devil's Cradle contained some Devils is because of that. Due to how fast they reproduce, Devils within the pagoda often finds a way to bypass the restriction their prison and be free to roam around this area.”

*Swing!*

*Dying Screeches*

”Their reproduction rate is a problem that we still can't solve. The only way for us to keep them contained is by repeatedly whittling away their numbers. Unfortunately even with that method, the multiplication of these abominations just doesn't stop or slow down, which is why sometimes things like the Eruption occurs.”

”Eruption is the event where the number of Devils inside the Pagoda reaches certain amount that the prison can't hold them anymore. In order to keep the pagoda functioning properly, it discharges everything it has and will close by itself once the deed is done.”

Henry explained what the Eruption was all about, and as the team hears they couldn't help but feel chills all over their body.

”What kinds of Devils are we expecting and how many are there Senior Brother?” Raven asked after a moment of silence.

”The First Floor of the pagoda is the home of Imps. As for the number, we're looking for at least 100,000.” Henry replied.

”That many!?” Several voices were raised after hearing the absurd amount from Henry himself.

”That's the lowest estimate.” Henry said plainly, ”I told you, their reproduction rate is absurdly high.”

”Does this event happens regularly?” Ryan asked.

”Not regularly, but it's constant. At least five times a year here in Tartarus. The only problem is that we have no way of knowing when.” Henry answered.

”Then what do we do? Isn't this dangerous?” Pyra asked in a very distressed voice.