In the Dark World, the Plains of Despair outside the Demon Fortress were scorched black, mingled with faint, distant wails. The sight weighed heavily on Abel as he advanced.
The longer he stayed on this land, the more he could sense the plight of the powerful Professionals who had once guarded the Demon Fortress. No wonder this place was called the Plains of Despair.
This was a land that made people despair. There was no life here, only weeping souls.
All four of Black Wind's feet were stained with black ash, and he shook them irritably.
It was not only Black Wind who suffered here. All of Abel's Contracted items and summons were tormented by the ash. Feiyan flew as high as possible, lest the beating of his wings send the ash that had accumulated here for who knew how many years swirling into the air again.
Frankenstein used Teleport to appear beside the four corpses bound to a tree and constantly writhing. With the Spirit sword in his hand, he released the weeping souls from within them.
Abel watched four souls drift out of the gray-black corpses and transform into pure-white spirits. His mood improved somewhat.
Battles in the Dark World were far beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Many people on the Central Continent had wondered why his strength had increased so quickly, but who could know that the battles he had endured were beyond anyone else's imagination?
If he had not left the Dark World every day and returned to Steel Castle to recuperate, and if he had not possessed so many Contract Beasts and summons to accompany him, he could not have guaranteed that he would not go mad amid such unrelenting battles.
"Something's wrong. Be careful. We haven't seen any Hell Creatures for quite some