The 10th day, in the evening.
'The 10th night is starting soon… we don't have enough time to prepare… if only that damn lantern showed up sooner.' Ciel thought with mild irritation
Ever since Rein made the contract with the Starlight Lantern, they hadn't seen it appear since that night.
They didn't get any more information about the Special Gate since then.
That was until the 9th night.
On the 9th night, the Starlight Lantern finally showed up, and explained a bit more about the Special Gate that they were in.
'The only thing it told us is that every 10 nights, a Blood Forsakened will appear. We don't really stand a chance against one… and we don't have time to make good preparations.'
Even though the Starlight Lantern had the ability to answer all their questions about this Special Gate, it was quite stingy when answering questions.
'It said it would tell us more if we passed the 10th night. Why would he make a contract just for us to die to a Blood Forsakened?'
'I guess it expects us to put in some effort of our own. It wouldn't want comrades who would leech off of him.' Ciel thought
They had completed the previous nights without much trouble. On the 9th night, there were 3 Twisted and 6 Feral Forsakened.
They would be lured above ground, and killed when separated.
The 10th night however, would have 9 unknown and a single Blood Forsakened.
The Blood Bears they tried so hard to escape from would just be spawned in front of them.
At least a monster of a similar calibre.
They would need to make this a battle of attrition, and use their knowledge of the environment to win.
[ We're gonna use the fact that the ice structures are invincible to our advantage. ]
[ We'll fight it for 2 hours each before going into each other's shadow. Once it's weakened significantly, well deal a final devastating hit. ] Ciel said to Rein
They had no chance in a direct confrontation against a Blood Forsakened.
They were going to run around the area, using the ice structures to maneuver around. If they could successfully perform a hit and run for 2 hours each, they would eventually tire out the Blood Forsakened.
[ Conserve as much Spirit Essence as possible. This night might take us over 3 days worth of time, still we won't give up. ] Ciel concluded
Right now, the duo was getting used to the environment and ice structures they could use to avoid contact with the Blood Forsakened as much as possible, while not allowing it any rest.
Soon, the sun had set, and the 10th night had begun.
[ it's starting… Good luck to us. ] Rein said
She had grown considerably stronger in terms of technique during the 9 nights they had spent and trained here.
She would be entering Ciel's shadow first. However there was something that needed both of their efforts before they could start the 2 hour shifts.
Ciel nodded and got ready by summoning all important gear they would need.
They soon heard multiple ferocious growls from the underground ice chamber. It looked like the Blood Forsakened had exited the tunnel and were ascending the stairs.
They waited a few minutes, and soon saw 10 Forsakened exiting from the staircase that lead underground.
[ 5 Feral Forsakened, 4 Twisted Forsakened and a Blood Forsakened. ]
The Blood Forsakened wasn't the only problem they would have to face.
[ Alright. I'll take care of the Twisted and Feral Forsakened. You'll have to deal with the Blood Forsakened till then. ] Ciel said
They had to kill the small fries early, or else they could get in the way during the 2 hour shifts.
All the Feral Forsakened were a pack of wolves, while the Twisted ones were bears.
The details about the Blood Forsakened were unclear, as it hadn't fully exited the staircase.
'We should have just killed that damn lantern… there's no guarantee it can even answer the questions we have.' Ciel thought
Still, he didn't regret the choice. As long as there was even the slightest possibility of answers, he would have done the contract.
The same went for Rein.
He jumped down the tall ice structure that they were hiding on, and went towards a narrow path between some ice buildings.
He didn't expose his precise location, but started making a noticeable noise to garner the attention of the Forsakened.
[ The Feral Wolves are going towards you… It looks like the others are waiting for us to take action. ] Rein said from her high vantage point
She had to keep an eye out for the Blood Forsakened, but could help scout the locations of the others.
[ Alright, I'll deal with them quickly and get to the Twisted Bears. ]
The Feral Forsakened were the least of their concerns.
Soon, the Feral Wolves arrived near Ciel. He easily managed to kill all 5 of them in under a minute without taking any damage.
He then used Soul Transfer on all of the corpses, sending them into the Soul World.
He learnt his lesson from the last time he faced the Blood Bear.
It had eaten the eggs of the Blood Serpent, rejuvenating its stamina.
If the Blood Forsakened did the same with these corpses, it wouldn't end well for the duo.
They needed it to be weakened before they collapsed from exhaustion.
After a minute, Rein gave another mental message.
[ The Twisted Bears are coming towards you. The Blood Forsakened aswell… I think I can distract it for now. ] Rein said
[ Alright. ] Ciel replied
'I have to take on 4 Twisted Forsakened at once… still, Rein will have it worse. A Blood Forsakened is a much higher threat. Bringing that thing down is going to take a while… ' He thought
Soon, there were 4 Twisted Bears surrounding him.
They had snow white fur, with red eyes and sharp claws, standing at 3 metres in height.
'Sadly, we can't pitch them against each other. They follow the rules of the Special Gate, making them only target us.'
'That doesn't mean we don't have any traps for them though.'
Ciel stood in place and waited for the bears to attack him first.
He didn't have to wait long. A second after the Forsakened Bears closely surrounded him, before charging forward without hesitation, having a glint of madness in their eyes.
Ciel rushed towards one of the Twisted Bears as well. He had to be quick, as he needed to meet up with Rein again before starting their 2 hour shifts.
With his katana in hand, he dodged the incoming attacks, and was able to get a clean slash on the neck and body of the Twisted Bear.
It didn't die, but it was heavily damaged.
Using this opportunity, Ciel jumped into the air — and using the back as a stepping stone — went up a nearby ice building that was 25 metres tall.
The bears followed, using their sharp claws and immense strength to swiftly climb the ice.
The damaged ice would repair itself the moment the sharp claws were released from the ice, as the ice structures were indestructible at night.
Before they had the chance to reach the top, it was too late for the Twisted Bears to dodge the already incoming attack.
With Soul Transfer, Ciel had just summoned 4 massive pieces of Eternal Stone on the top of the ice structure. The Twisted Bears had no chance to escape, and the Eternal Stone crashed into their heads.
It was quite heavy, and Ciel had to use Spirit Essence for increased strength to push them off the edge.
During the time spent in the Special Gate, with every Forsakened the duo killed, Ciel could increase the size of the Stone of Eternity.
Each Feral Forsakened would increase the size by a few inches. For a Twisted one, the Stone of Eternity would grow around a metre in size.
As for Blood Forsakened, he had only had the chance to absorb 2 of their Forsaken Cores. Still, each one gave the Eternal Stone over 10 metres in length and a few inches of height.
As for their Spirit, there was barely any increase as their opponents were too weak to give much.
The 4 Twisted Bears fell to the ground with the boulders on top of them.
A second later, all the Eternal Stone had disappeared, going back into the Soul World.
'They're not dead yet… at least they're weakened enough to barely be a threat right now.'
'The more I fight with Twisted Forsakened, the more doubt I have that we can defeat the Blood Forsakened. Simple traps like this won't work, and we don't have anything better…'
'Good thing we chose to wear it down. Still, how long is that going to take? It's not like we have infinite stamina… we could only last for two weeks if we did 2 hour shifts.'
'Hopefully that's enough time to wear it down enough for us to kill it. If only that damn lantern would help us fight.' Ciel thought
Soul Sorcerers had greater vitality than regular humans, and since the duo could regenerate faster while in shadow form, they could last two for weeks of running.
Still, the aftereffects would be quite immense.
Luckily, they would have 12 hours of relaxing daytime if they completed this arduous task.