《Humanity's #1 Fan》 1: At First, I Expect the Apocalypse to be Widely Unpopular Ashtoreths goal thought once shed arrived on Earth was try to warn everyone of the impending demonic invasion. She knew they wouldnt listen to her, of course. But if they remembered some of what she told them when the portals started opening, she knew it might help save their lives. In a flash of violet light and smoke, shed warped in and landed on the colorful tiled floor of some kind of restaurant. Immediately she clambered up onto a nearby table to turn and shout at the various families who had taken a break from eating their paper-wrapped meals to stare at her. People of Earth! she cried. First of all, hi! Hows it going? Its great to finally be here. She beamed down at all the humans in their natural habitat. Nearby, a small, curly-haired toddler with ketchup stains on their face excitedly raised a hand to wave. Their mother grabbed their hand and pulled it back down. Several people began to mutter to one another as they stared at her. Second of all, heed my warning! she said, her voice darkening. The apocalypse is nigh! The world as you know it will soon come to an end! The sky will open up and the legions of Hell will pour forth with the singular aim of conquering humanity and enslaving all that you hold dear! Maam! The voice was sharp and loud as a cracking whip. Ashtoreth looked down to see one of the humans approaching her, a restaurant employee, but not just any employee: Her striped shirt, stockier size, and the full hat she wore in place of a visor indicated her to be of a higher rank than the others. An elite. Hello! Ashtoreth said. Maam, you need to get off that table. Ashtoreth looked around her at the customersall of them using chairs. She realized shed been rude. Oh, she said. Sorry. She stepped down onto the nearest chair, then turned back to the crowd. I wont lie to you! she shouted at the assembled humans, some of whom were taking out their phones to record her. At first, I expect the apocalypse to be widely unpopular! But You need to leave the store now, maam, said the elite. The police have been called about the firecracker. Well, that was certainly good news. After all, her second goal was to get arrested. Um, actually, it was a warp spell, Ashtoreth said to the elite. She turned back to the assembled families. Listen, she said over the continued protests of the elite human. If my life in Hell has taught me anything, its that you can always look on the bright side! Every cloud has a silver lining! Get down and get out! NoIm doomsaying, Ashtoreth said, beginning to grow annoyed. Try to see this all as an opportunity, she cried out to the humans. Its the perfect chance for a career or lifestyle shift! And if you grow very powerful, you can exact revenge on everyone whos ever wronged you! The elite human reached for her, and Ashtoreth plucked the womans hand from the air, then twisted it to bring the human to her knees while still looking at the restaurant-goers. To all of you, the apocalypse is going to look a bit like a video game. She said. She blinked, then pursed her lips. Which hopefully you play. See, Earth is an outer realm that has drifted close enough to the inner realms to be contacted. That means itll get systematized andsorry, could you stop making so much noise? She was frowning down at the elite human, who had been twisted and struggling against Ashtoreths hold on her, hissing in pain. Ashtoreth released the human, who scrambled back across the floor of the store and stared up at her.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Okay, where was I? she asked. Right: Earth hasnt been in contact with the inner realms, but their nature still echoes into your dreams. The stories you tell have reflections of truth in themand theyve gotten more and more truthful as time goes on and Earth gets closer and closer to the other realms! Pretty easy to understand, right? Several of the people in the restaurant had gotten up to leave. She knew they didnt believe her, but that was fine: a car was at least a much safer place to be when the demons came than a publicly accessible building. Ashtoreth carried on for the benefit of the remaining humans. One of the things youve known for a while, though, is that pretty much everyone who looks like me is bad news. Ashtoreth turned to look in the window near the table she stood beside, smiling at her own reflection. She was small for her age, but the humans could surely see that compared to them, she had all the trappings of a well-bred archfiend: the black, curling horns emerging from waist-length twintails of violet hair, the symmetrical wings sprouting from her shoulder-blades, the sinuous black tail and the faintly luminous, violet eyes. She turned back to the humans, then flared her wings and narrowed her pupils to slits for emphasis. As she did this, she raised a hand and shifted her fingers into lengthened, bony claws. Perhaps theyd thought, in spite of her lifelike wings, that Ashtoreth was wearing a costume. Now she could tell that some of the humans were rethinking this assumption. Many had lowered their phones to stare at her, open-mouthed. Of course, Im not bad news, she said. She put her hands on her hips, thrust out her chest, and grinned. Im here to help! Then she glowered down at them. But seriously, everyone else you see who looks like me is evil and wants to enslave you. The whole species. Everyone. A thought occurred to her, and she added: Even if theyre sexy, okay? Because, you know, I know that supernatural romance is a whole thing with you humans, and I want to stress that even the good lookin onesother than meare evil. She held her hands out in a what-can-you-do gesture. The apocalypse can be a gateway to many new lives, many fantasies, but thats not one of them. She shrugged. And Im real sorry about that, you know? I mean, I dont want to kink shame anybody or anythingoh, hey, she said excitedly, getting distracted as she looked out the window. The police are here! She could see them pulling up outside, their blue-and-red lights flashing. She spent a moment just staring at the car, mouth open in a wistful smile. Its really happening, she thought. Im actually on Earth! You guys! she said, grinning as she turned back to the restaurant. I think Im gonna get arrested! She blinked, clearing her head. Okay, before I go, one useful tip. I dont how useful itll be since I dont think any of you really believe me yet, but theres a really, really good trick you can do when the system initializes that will make you more powerful. You just do whatever you would normally do to kill yourself. More people were getting up to leave. Now, none of you look like youve killed yourselves before, Ashtoreth added. But I want to stress you wont really be killing yourself. Its not really suicide! Youre just trying to get your soul to leave your body. Temporarily, I mean. If youre in a transitional state between life and death when the system comes, you can get an undead race augment, which are pretty danged Maam! The voice was even more aggressive than the elites had been. It was the closest of two police officers that had just entered the restaurantan older human, his hair black and grey. He had a hand resting on the gun holstered at his hip. Ashtoreth looked down at this and beamed. Is that a gun? she asked. Great! Perfect; Im gonna need that in a minute. The officer immediately drew their weapon and pointed it at her. I said in a minute, said Ashtoreth. Turn around and put your hands behind your back! he commanded. Oh! Right, she said. She turned, hopped down off her chair, then presented her hands as requested. Im getting arrested, right? Just keep your hands behind your back. Are we going to the police station? Ashtoreth had decided that the best people to warn about the impending apocalypse were probably the cops. Hence why shed wanted to get arrested. The fact that it had happened so fast, with the elite human calling them just from seeing her warp spell, was a stroke of luck. Ill ask the questions, maam. She felt the officer clipping something metal around her wrists. Sure! she chirped. But I dont know how much time we have before Hell starts attacking. We should probably get a move on. 2: The Silver Lining Here is that I Get to Ride in a Police Car! Ashtoreth sat in the back of the police car, nose almost pressed to the glass of the window. Outside, she saw something incredible: shop after shop of a roadside strip mall rolling past them. Quick Stop Mart. Pet Palace. Kals Tattoo Parlour. Fries and Shine. The glories of humanity flashed past her in moments. She wanted to stop and explore it all but she knew there was no time. I wish we could stop and get peanut butter, she said wistfully. And bubble gum. And popcorn. She paused, then added: and a cat. Were not stopping, said the second officer, a woman who looked about as old as the first. She was driving the car. Youve been arrested. Ashtoreth sighed wistfully as she watched the shops roll by. I know. It feels so surreal. Ill bet, said the first officer. He sat in the passenger seat, and had mostly been speaking into the radio. Having a very interesting day, are we, miss? Youll probably find this hard to believe, but Ive never been to Earth before! she said delightedly. Well miss Id love to welcome you to our planet, but heres the thing. You scared quite a few of those people back there, and you attacked the store manager. Mhmm! she said. But since the apocalypse is coming, I figured I was justified. In a little while the system will initialize, and they wont be as lost as if I hadnt warned them. Youll see. Right, said the officer. You got a name? Im Ashtoreth. Whats your name? My names Officer Frost, the officer said. This is my partner, Officer Carmichael. You got a last name, uh, Ashleth? Ashtoreth. And no; just Ashtoreth. Right, he said, clearly not believing her. Thats a mighty fine costume youve got on, Ashtoreth. Oh, its not a costume, she said. Which is kind of obvious, but I guess youre sort of coping about the existence of magic. Im an archfiend, see. O-kay, said the officer. It was hard to tell through the cage that separated them, but it looked like he was writing things down. An archfiend? That like a satanist thing? Nope! said Ashtoreth. Satans not real. Your imaginations tend to get things real close, but not like, individual people close. The real King of Hells a completely different guy. O-kay, the officer said again. And did you come out here today with any friends or family, Ashtoreth. Anyone wondering where you are? Anyone we can call? Nope! I used a warp bore to get here ahead of the invasion. The familys not here yet which is a good thing. O-kay, Frost said again. Can you listen to me for a minute, Ashtoreth? Mhmm! We coulda gone a lot harder on you back there. A lot harder, his partner chimed in. But you were cooperative. We appreciate that, and we hope it continues. You sure you dont want to tell us your real name? Carrie asked. She laughed. My real name is Ashtoreth. I see, said Frost. Well Ashtoreth, we figure that right now youre higher than a spy balloon, so were gonna get you a place where you can rest a little and come down to Earth for a more permanent stay, okay? Sure thing, Sir Frost! she said, beaming. Just as long as you take me to where the rest of the police are. What do want to see the rest of the police for? To tell them about the apocalypse, Ashtoreth said. You guys will be wanting to save as many people as possible, right? O-kay, said Frost. And you dont want to tell us anything about what you were doing, all dressed up like that? Maybe you had a client who was into that sort of thing, gave you something youd never taken before? Outside, she saw a giant inflatable tube man waving its arms. She watched it come and go in silence, her smile broadening. It was just so beautiful.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Miss? I know you dont believe anything Im saying, Sir Frost, but I dont want to lie to a police officer. She shrugged. Im an archfiend from Hell. Im here to help! Those two things feel a little at odds there, miss. Normally, yes. But Im special. Wait. It was Frosts partner. She was slowing the car, looking out of the windshieldand up. Whats that? she asked. What what is that? Ashtoreth leaned forward to look through the cage. In the sky ahead, she saw a swirling black cloud around a beam of red light that pierced the air a hundred meters above them. What the hell? said Frost. Funny you should ask that way, Ashtoreth said. Because its Hell. She appraised the hell-portal and made a sound of distaste. They got here faster than I would have liked. I was hoping to convince some of the police at your station to kill themselves. Kill themselves? Frost asked turning back to her. Then realization seemed to flash across his face. Wait a secondyou know about this? You know what this is? Well, not really kill themselves, Ashtoreth said. She nodded to the portal outside the window. But, yeahthats the apocalypse. She frowned. Im uh, guessing that neither of you is going to be accommodating about this, but could one of you lend me your gun? But both of them were momentarily ignoring her. Theyd instead become very interested in the radio, which was now talking constantly. Well I didnt want to damage your car but its sort of an emergency. Ashtoreth braced herself against one side of the car, then drove both feet into the door with all her mightand the car buckled and rocked to one side, the door bending outward. What the hells going on? Carmichael asked, turning to look at her through the protective grating. Im getting out, Ashtoreth said. She kicked the door again, metal warping under the force of her legs as the car rocked to one side. Howwhat the officer stared at her for a moment, then turned and began talking into their radio. Carmichael brought the car to a halt, and Ashtoreth could see the blue-red lights come on a moment later. Another kick and the door was torn open with a screech of warping metal. Sorry! Ashtoreth said, climbing out of the police car. But the apocalypse is here. Can one of you kindly come give me your gun? Frost pushed open his door and emerged with his weapon drawn, levelling it at Ashtoreth. Get down on the ground! ...No? Get down now! Ashtoreth conjured a sudden burst of hellfire, sweeping her hand in an arc before her to fill the air with a plume of violet flames. At the same time, she dropped to the ground. Frost fired his weapon a second later, the bullets tearing through the air above Ashtoreths head. Ashtoreth sprang forward through the dissipating flames, barreling into the officers midsection and sending them both sprawling to the ground. In a moment shed pulled her feet up onto his chest, pinning him. She struck the hand he held his weapon with and then grabbed the gun by the barrel to yank it from his grasp. She sprang off him as Carmichael came around the hood, filling the air with another gout of flame to block her sight and then leaping up onto the roof of the car. Carmichael fired into the blossoming flames, wincing from the heat. Ashtoreth sprang into her chest and knocked her to the ground, then took her gun with ease. Sorry! she said, standing. I know youre just trying to do your jobs and all, butdont. Frost had scrambled to his feet and moved as if to come toward her. He froze as she pointed one of the guns at him. Dont, she repeated. Im not going to hurt you. She glanced down at Carmichael, who groaned as she got to her feet. Frost spoke again, his voice firm and commanding despite his circumstancesall trace of the kinder gentleman shed first met was gone. He kept looking between her and the portal behind her. You dont want to hurt us? he asked. Then help us. What the hell is going on? At this point, is it really going to help if I tell you again that Hell is invading Earth? Ashtoreth said. {System Initializing} Ashtoreth blinked. She turned to Frost. Im gonna do you a favor, okay? Hold still. She dropped one of the guns, then raised the other and aimed down the sights. Frost raised his hands. Woah! Listen She put a bullet through his head with a loud crack, then spun on Carmichael and shot her too. Then she walked over each of them, putting another, seemingly unnecessary round into their heads just to be sure they didnt die for real by dying too slowly to get the augment bonus. Theyd get a harder tutorial after choosing undead race augmentsbut they were trained police. Basically human paladins. Surely theyd rather fight harder monsters with stronger racial powers for the chance to help more people once the tutorial was done. Maybe one day theyd even find her and give her a big thank you. She picked up the second gun, aimed one at each of her temples, and did her best to pull both triggers at the same time. She had the fleeting impression of a very hard knock to the head. 3: Ultimate Life Hack: Shooting Yourself in the Head Darkness. And then: {You were initialized into the system in a state between life and death. To resolve this uncertain state, the system will spawn you into the tutorial as an undead.} I did it! she said. Or she would have, if she had a body to speak with. Instead she only thought the wordswhich still felt pretty loud, given the absolute darkness and total silence of the void around her. {You must choose an undead augment to be applied to your current race. Failing to make a choice will result in your permanent death.} No need to warn me! {You have 5 minutes to make this choice. You are outside of normal time during this period.} {Choose a Race Augment} {You will add the listed stat bonuses to your current race, which is [Archfiend]. Your current races tier will increase one step.} [Ghoul] + 1 STR, + 1 DEF, + 2 VIT Ghouls are physically powerful undead who gain strength from devouring the flesh of the living. Powerful ghouls can suffuse their teeth and claws with dark magic and convert the cadavers of those they kill into undead minions. Abilities include: [Consume Flesh], [Unholy Strength], [Energy Drain], [Animate Dead], and [Paralytic Venom]. [Lich] + 3 MAG, + 1 PSY Liches are the premiere undead spellcasters, and gain access to a versatile array of abilities to aide in spellcasting. Powerful liches can create a phylactery which their soul flees to in the event of their bodys destruction, allowing them to cheat death. Liches gain a high bonus to their overall maximum [Mana] pool. Abilities include: [Energy Drain], [Despair Aura], [Animate Dead], [Control Undead], and [Create Phylactery] [Shade] + 1 AGI, + 1 MAG, + 2 PSY Shades are incorporeal spirits who interact with the material world primarily through spells and psychic attacks. Their [Strength] and [Vitality] scores are converted to [Psyche] and [Defense], respectively. Abilities include: [Incorporeality], [Energy Drain], [Possession], [Fear Aura], and [Wither]. [Vampire] + 1 AGI, + 1 STR, + 2 VIT Vampires are life-consuming undead with access to a versatile array of physical, magical, and psychic abilities. Vampires replace their [Health] with [Blood]. [Blood] is drastically faster and more efficient at regenerating bodily damage, and can be used to restore [Mana] as well. [Blood] must be replenished with their [Blood Drain] ability. Abilities include: [Blood Drain], [Energy Drain], [Enthrall], [Command Undead], and [Shapeshift]. I cant believe its all finally happening, Ashtoreth thought as she finished reading the race augments. Not only had the apocalypse come to Earth, but shed successfully become undead. She was about to enter the tutorial! Ashtoreth had done a lot of fighting with her sisters. A lot of fighting with her sisters. She knew her fighting style, and it was more physical than magical or psychic. Shed also known that this choice would come up, and had a pretty good idea where each of them would lead her. She was tempted, of course, to choose lich. Liches were cool! Liches were ice cold. And shades were probably pretty swanky too, from the looks of things. Neither seemed to jive with her fighting style right away, but she was sure she could adapt. She already used magic to complement her skill with weapons, and could surely incorporate more of it. At higher levels, the lichs ability to restore herself with a phylactery seemed very powerful indeed. At any level, the shades incorporeality was probably an instant win against a huge variety of enemies. But she wanted to snowball out of control, and while a minion build could certainly do that, it wouldnt pick up momentum very quickly. Minions also had some pretty clear early weaknesses, such as big explosions. She wanted to snowball out of control in the tutorial, and that meant moving from fight to fight, constantly. Hence the ability to restore [Health] from fallen enemies, along with the more physically-oriented powers of the ghoul and vampire, were better suited to her. As for ghoul: she already had [Devour Flesh] from being half-demon. It was a good ability: it restored [Health] and granted a buff based on the stats of the thing you ate. The system ensured that duplicate abilities werent useless: if she took ghoul, [Devour Flesh] would become even stronger.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. But the vampires [Drain Blood] could restore [Mana] as well as [Blood], the resource they used in place of [Health]. As long as she kept killing, shed have the means to kill even more. It was the best option for snowballing, even if she would have preferred the ghouls boost to [Defense]. Also, not that it was factoring into her decision much, but shed always found fresh blood to be the least pleasant part of eating flesh. It wasnt that it tasted bad, it just seeped into everything and wasnt particularly good. Not like fresh fat and sinew were. She was an archfiend: to her, blood was for baths, not feasts. But not for long. Being a vampire would definitely improve the taste and make devouring the flesh of the unworthy even more of a treat than it already was. Vampire augmentI choose you! {You have chosen the [Vampire] undead augment} {Your A-Rank [Archfiend] race has been replaced by the S-Rank [Vampiric Archfiend] race} {Your racial progression path has been updated} Pretty exciting! she thought. She took a look at the new goods: [Vampiric Archfiend] S-Rank Race Stats per Level: {+7 DEX | +7 STR | +8 VIT | +6 MAG | +6 PSY | +6 DEF} You count as an undead, a demon, and a devil. You have magically enhanced physical characteristics: You have [Blood] instead of [Health]: You have the following resistances and vulnerabilities. Resistances increase as you level: You have the following racial abilities: If shed had a body, she would have beamed at her race description. So much! Most of the lengthy description was familiar to her. Her innate resistances had increased, though she was now even more vulnerable to sacred effects and sunlight than she already had been. It wouldnt matter. One of the racial upgrades that vampires could buy would mitigate sunlights effects on her. But before she could properly consider her new powers, she got another system message: {You will now be warped to a randomly-selected tutorial zone that is appropriate to your power level. Populating potential tutorial zone list.} If shed had a physical body, she would have waited with bated breath. Shed spent pretty well her whole life in Hell. True, she was eager to get back to Earth, but any place they put her in would feel still be a fascinating tour through a whole new world. {Your power level renders you eligible for the following tutorial zones: Hell} What. {You will be sent to a random eligible zone in 3...} Oh, come on! {2} She sighed mentally. {1} Just when I thought I got out. There was another flash of purple light, and she was deposited onto the floor of a dark stone hallway. Her mind flooded with system-text. {Welcome to the tutorial.} {You are currently outside normal time. If you finish the tutorial, you will returned to the exact time and place you left to join it.} {This tutorial is a challenge meant to reward the strong and cull the weak. It is an opportunity to gain power and to learn how to use it.} {Fight challenging enemies to the death to progress. Loot parcels containing useful items will be given to you for killing multiple enemies. A boss chest containing powerful, personalized rewards will spawn if you can kill a boss enemy.} {You cannot return until someone has defeated the tutorial boss.} {As you are already familiar with the system, you will not be given any additional guidance.} {Furthermore, your magic item: [Ashtoreths Glamourous Diadem] has been confiscated for balance reasons. You will have the opportunity to reclaim it during the tutorial.} {Additionally, you have not been given a choice of weapon because your racial abilities already grant you one.} Ugh, said Ashtoreth. The air was hot, and filled with the scent of ash. Hell. I cant believe this. She rose and dusted herself off, scowling at the turn of events. It was one thing to be born in Hell, but to be thrown there against your will? I got Lucifered, she said plaintively. She took a look around her. She was in a crumbled hallway made of dark stone and lit by floating white orbswitchlights. Behind her, the hallway ended in a collapsed ruin. Some distance ahead of her, it joined a corridor that split off in two directions, both out of sight. An iron-barred window was nearby, looking out on a steep slope of rocky soil that led down toward a lake of lava. A massive, foreboding citadel rose out of the center of lake. Its edifice was clad in black iron, and its close-packed slender towers and many flying buttresses marked it as ancient diabolic architecture. Some blubbering next to her caught her attention. She looked over and down to see a middle-aged woman huddled on the ground in the fetal position. Oh, she said. Hello! Im Ashtoreth. The woman whimpered. Yeah, Ashtoreth said. Believe me, I get it. She looked through the bars at the black citadel that rose above a lake of lava. Im not a big fan of Hell either. 4: Out of the Frying Pan and into the... Hey! This is Just the Frying Pan Again! The woman whimpering on the ground beside her was perhaps in the early stages of middle age. She had chestnut brown hair and was wearing the same plain white robe that Ashtoreth had been equipped with when theyd been warped in. But the most distinct thing about her were her animal featuresshe had round, furry brown ears and a matching tail. Ashtoreth judged that she needed some cheering up. Say, Ashtoreth said. Are you here because you have a bloodline? Those are supposed to be really rare, and super powerful! One of your ancestors probably got busy with a monkey god, or something. Pretty cool, huh? The woman breathed rapidly as she slowly looked up, her eyes focusing on Ashtoreth, uncomprehending. With the power of a bloodline to back you up, I bet youll do great! The woman blinked several times, terror seeming to slowly dawn on her face as she comprehended what she was looking at. Oh, said Ashtoreth. My names Ashtoreth, by the way. Im on your side, if you couldnt tell. She flapped her wings nervously. I guess maybe I should have led with that. The woman sat up and slowly looked around, her face becoming more and more of a mask of terror. No, she whispered. I dont I dont belong here. She began to shake even more, and her face snapped back to Ashtoreth. I dont belong here! Ashtoreth frowned. Oh, sorryI should have explained Hell, first. The woman winced as she heard the word Hell, and Ashtoreth quickly raised her hands in a placating gesture. Its not that bad, trust melook, just let me explain. Maybe take some deep breaths? Just try and calm down a bit. The woman looked at her, mouth agape, her face pale, her breathing rapid. You think this is your Hell, said Ashtoreth. That you died to get here, that being here means youre bad, and that now youre going to suffer eternally. Right? Well I have great news! She flashed the woman a smile and put her hands on her hips. None of those things are true. Youre didnt die, youre not bad, and best of all She spread her arms to present the hellscape around her and grinned down at the shaking woman. Were here to become more powerful than you could possibly imagine! She let this sink in for a couple of seconds before continuing. Now: you tell me your name, take a few big, deep breaths, and well go over the system together! The womans lower lip trembled a little. Then, without warning, she scrambled to her feet and began to run full tilt toward the open end of the hallway. Wait! Ashtoreth said, lunging after her. We should be friends! The woman made it to the branching end of the corridor. There she stopped, looking down one of the hallways, and froze as her eyes widened with terror. Ashtoreth was much faster than the woman, and caught up with her a split-second later. She shouldered the woman out of the way as she moved into the corridor, putting herself in the path of an oncoming demon. A dog with shimmering black fur barreled down the corridor toward her, thick muscles rippling under its sleek coat, steam gushing from a slavering maw beneath faintly luminous red eyes. {Hellhound Level 3} It lunged at Ashtoreth. Normally shed have leapt aside, but there was a human behind her. Instead she raised her arms, shifted her fingers into claws, and sank both hands into the creatures neck as it lunged for her throat. Its weight smashed into her, sending both of them to the stone floor as the claws on its forepaws scratched at her chest. But her grip around its neck tightened, her claws slicing deeper and deeper into blood-matted fur while she held its gnashing teeth at bay. After a few moments it fell limp.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. {You receive 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} She threw the corpse off her and scrambled to her feet, turning to find Oh, goddamn, she cursed. A second hellhound had charged down the other corridor. While shed struggled with the first, it had got the human on the ground and fixed its teeth around her neck. It was now shaking her around like a ragdoll, blood everywhere. Ashtoreth leapt on the hellhounds back, slashing into its neck with her claws. You, she said accusingly, bringing her claws down again and again. I have causeto dislike. She severed its spinal column with a decisive slash and it fell still. {You receive 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} She heaved the hellhound off the humanor rather, the humans corpse. The womans blank eyes now stared up at the ceiling, her face a mask of terror. Ashtoreth sighed. Then she shrugged. Oh well, was never gonna save em all. She turned her attention away from the dead woman and toward her newly-gotten cores. Lets look at some of these new goodies. That would cheer her up. First, she retreated back into the hallway theyd spawned in. Then she spent some [Blood] to regenerate the deep gashes that had been made across her chest and shoulders. She checked her stats: [Dexterity]: 106 [Strength]: 110 [Vitality]: 88 [Magic]: 110 [Psychic]: 96 [Defense]: 80 [Blood]: 1621 / 1760 [Mana]: 1030 / 1030 Ashtoreth grinned. It had taken barely any [Blood] at all to regenerate her wounds. She had plenty left. Then she consumed her hellhound cores, hoping for a new level. {You absorb 2 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1. You are 44% of the way toward advancement} Oh right, she said. I dont even gain levels. Levels would come only once she had a class. And to make a class, shed need to choose three aspects to create it out ofthey would determine what class she got, and how its progression worked. What was more, because she was a high-ranked race, shed probably have to advance her racial abilities a few times as she gathered her aspects. Theyd be strong upgrades, but theyd also delay her eventual class. And until she got her class, she wasnt going to be gaining any stats. Also, two hellhounds hadnt been enough to get her first advancement. Not by half. Since she wouldnt be advancing, she instead decided to take a closer look at the only new ability shed gotten, [Blood Drain]. It had come with having a [Blood] pool instead of [Health]. She read the skill: [Blood Drain] You can drink fresh blood to restore your [Blood]. If you would restore [Blood] over your maximum, it is converted into [Mana]. A living creature whose blood is drunk will have its stats reduced. Well thats straightforward! Ashtoreth said. Straightforward, but powerful. [Mana] took two hours to regenerate to full. [Health] took an entire day, though potions, levels, and magic could restore it. [Health] could also take more than a minute to restore ones wounds. [Blood], by contrast, had regenerated her much faster. That, and she had 20 [Blood] per point of [Vitality] instead of 10 [Health]. Vampirism was a powerful racial augment indeed. With [Blood] and [Blood Drain], shed be able to speed through the tutorial, taking only minimal breaks between fights. None of her other racial abilities had been altered. Right now, the important one was [Devour Flesh]: [Devour Flesh] Eating the flesh of a slain creature will grant you a bonus in each stat equal to 10% of the slain creatures respective stat. For each stat, you use only the highest possible bonus from all the flesh youve eaten. The stat bonuses will begin to fade after 6 hours, completely fading after 12. Thanks for the meal! she said as she cheerfully dragged one of the hellhounds corpses back into her starting hallway. She tore a strip of flesh out of its slashed neck, then swallowed it in one gulp. {You gain a [Devoured Flesh] buff: +4 STR, +4 AGI, +3 VIT, +3 DEF} A warm feeling spread through her belly, but she wasnt finished. She lowered her mouth to the gaping wound, intent on drinking some of the creatures blood. 5: If Experience Has Taught Me Anything, Its How to Kill Anything With My Bare Hands Almost a minute later, her [Blood] was full. Shed swallowed a lot of air, and once she sat up she let out a loud, boisterous burp. Okay, Ashtoreth said, wiping her mouth from where she knelt over the corpse of the hellhound. That took longer than I liked. The trick was probably to drink from still-living creatures, ones with pumping hearts. Then she could kill them and eat some flesh. A moment later her thought process was interrupted by a swift shadow moving in her peripheral vision. Another hound had sped through the entrance at the end of the hall. It hadnt even stopped to growl at her, just charged. Ultimately, it was good news. But for now it had caught her off-guard. The hounds weight barreled into her just as she lifted a wrist to cover her neck. She felt the back of her skull slam into the stone beneath them as the hound grabbed at her wrist with its superheated teeth, each of them sinking into her arm and scraping across the bone with a quick flash of agony. She turned her palm toward the creature and conjured a gout of hellfire, scorching its face. It released her arm, leaping away from her, and she loosed two more plumes of fire to keep it at bay as she scrambled to her feet. As soon as she had her balance, she let out another small flash of flame to distract the hound, then lunged, dropping onto the dog and pinning it under one knee. For a moment the hellhound was in a frenzy, thrashing from where it lay sideways on the groundthen Ashtoreth punched a clawed hand into its neck, spilling its blood across the dark stone. {You gain 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} Eugh, she said, her regeneration closing the wounds on her arm. Just eat all the tier 1 essences. {You absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1. You are 66% of the way toward advancement} No sooner had she done this than she looked up to see another hellhound in the doorway. This one had the sense to pause and regard her now that she wasnt distracted with her teeth in somethings neck. Say, she said to it. Do you have a friend, by any chance? Two more hounds joined the first. She yanked a bloody hand out of the dead hound beneath her and grinned. Works for me! The three hounds came all at once, and she cupped her hands before her and released a large plume of hellfire once she was sure their momentum would take them into the worst of it. The central hound took the brunt of the blast, most of its fur bursting into flames as the other two veered around it. Ashtoreth was moving to bodycheck one even as she shot her flames, careening into it as it moved to one side and pushing it into the wall of the corridor. It struggled under her weight, and she thrust her clawed hand into its neck, twisted, then ripped out a fistful of hot gore.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} She felt a sudden, sharp pain in her tail, then was dragged backward as one of the houndsthe one not on fireyanked her backwards, then bit clean through the thin appendage. She spun just in time to see the hellhound slam into her, its weight bearing her to the ground. Its jaws gnashed as it went for her neck, its clawed front paws shredding the flesh in her shoulders. She grabbed it by the neck with both hands to keep it at bay, then squeezed, gouging deep holes into its neck as its breath steamed from its mouth and flecks of its hot spittle struck her face. Her claws sank deeper and deeper, until: {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} {Congratulations! Youve absorbed enough power to choose your first Class Aspect!} She smiled, then turned to see that the first hound had run a ways away from the fight, then simply begun writhing on the ground in pain. Most of the flames had been extinguished, but it was still hideously burned. She pinned it under one knee and roasted its head until its eyes boiled and she got the system notification: {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} Well that went well, she said, standing and looking around at the corpses. I could really use a weapon, though. She looked at the corpse of the woman shed spawned near to. Even though the system had implied that everyone who didnt have demonic claws would be armed, the woman had nothing. Perhaps shed been given a choice of a weapon, but failed to respond to it. Shed seemed pretty addled. Still, Ashtoreth would have greatly appreciated it if the woman could have picked up a nice, fat sword before shed fed her throat to a common dog. She walked back to where shed fought the other two hounds while her wounds healed, grabbed half her tail off the floor, then reattached it using regeneration. All the while, she could feel her excitement growing at the prospect of choosing her first class aspect. Each aspect would grant her a new ability. When she had three, theyd form a class togetherand each one of them would become one of that classs three progression paths. Shed never gotten to choose even a single aspect. Shed been bred and raised for the invasion of Earth, after all, and only the weakest infernals could be sent through the initial portals. As time went on and Earth drifted closer to the inner realms, stronger infernals would be able to make the journey. Ashtoreth and her sisters had not just been meant to join the invasion as soon as possible, but to join the tutorials that the humans would get. That had meant keeping her classless. Still, shed practiced combat using a lot using buff spells, magic items, and in some cases outright illusory training simulations in order to grow accustomed to various stat benchmarks and abilities. The idea was that while the humans were all bumbling about and figuring out how to handle new levels and tiers, Ashtoreth could be on the ground, a skilled fighter capable of commanding the legions of Hell. At least until the older archfiends could arrive. Normally this should have been her chance to finally make her mark after all her years of training and technically, she was. Just on the wrong side. The humans in this place would be choosing from a very broad set of aspects that were based on their accomplishments and personalities. Ashtoreth would be no different, but her powerful race would affect her options as well. Shed get a much narrower selection. Okay, she muttered to herself, rolling her shoulders and psyching herself up. Here we go. Show me what you got: A moment later the system message appeared: {Choose an Aspect} 6: Demon Hearts: The Other Red Meat {Choose an Aspect} {Once made, this choice cannot be undone. Your aspect will either grant you a new ability, or significantly upgrade one of your existing abilities.} {When youve chosen 3 aspects, you will be given a class and gain the power to level up. Your 3 aspects will become your main progression paths.} [Darkness] Primary stats: MAG, PSY [Darkness] focuses on creating illusions, on fighting using deception, and on gaining powerful advantages when fighting in the absence of light. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Shadowrithe] ability, allowing you to conjure and manipulate tangible darkness with which to attack your foes. [Hellfire] Primary stats: MAG [Hellfire] focuses on using profane flames to destroy people, places, and things. Choosing this aspect will improve and add to the capabilities of your racial [Hellfire] ability, and move that ability into the [Hellfire] progression path when you gain your class. [Domination] Primary stats: PSY [Domination] focuses on exercising varying amounts of control over another creatures mind. This can be to control them, paralyze them, trick them, or merely extract information from their minds. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Mental Domination] ability, and move your [Command Infernal] ability into the [Domination] progression path when you gain your class. [Drain] Primary stats: VIT [Drain] focuses on stealing [Blood], [Mana], and power from other creatures or enchantments. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Consume Heart] ability, which combines the benefits of your already existing [Devour Flesh] and [Blood Drain] while being easier and faster to use. [Minion] Primary stats: MAG, PSY [Minion] focuses on summoning, commanding and supporting multitudes of creatures which are weaker than yourself. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Animate Dead] ability, and move your [Demonic Summoning] ability into the [Minion] progression path when you gain your class. Ashtoreth looked these over, nodding each time she was sure she understood one. Shed been hoping for an [Armament] or [Companion] aspect, but there was still two more chances to see each. In fact, she wondered if wielding a weapon would have helped her get offered the [Armament] aspect. Shed been offered aspects like [Domination] without using their related abilities, but no [Armament]. Shed trained with a lot of conjured weapons, was all. She knew [Armament] would be very strong in her hands, and she knew it suited a mixed combat style well. It would have been a great first pick. Except it wasnt there. She wrote off [Minion] and [Domination] fairly quickly. They werent her style in the first place, though she knew each was powerful in its own right. [Minion], especially, was a necessary aspect for any serious summoner. But in the end, neither would help her take the tutorial by storm and snowball out of control, as shed planned. In that sense, [Drain] was highly attractive. The only physically-oriented aspect on offer, and it would work well with anything, leaving her open to build any strategy she liked with her next two aspects. Sure, she already had the means to keep her [Blood] and [Mana] full but shed also already determined that drinking blood took a long time. The process could be improved. Lookin good, she said, giving a conciliatory tilt of her head. As for the others [Darkness] was certainly attractive, but it was another magical element to attack with. She took a look at [Shadowrithe] and, as shed suspected, it didnt seem more attractive than [Hellfire]... profane and shadow damage as opposed to profane and fire.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Demons and devils were about equally resistant to both, all in all. In the case of [Shadowrithe], the conjured shadows took more [Mana] than [Hellfire], and since shed have to kill things by crushing or suffocating them, it would take longer to finish a fight. Sure, the later abilities would no doubt add some great utility and be quite stylish but the same could definitely be said for [Hellfire], an element she had more practice with. Two choices, then: [Hellfire] or [Drain]? A look at [Consume Heart], the [Drain] ability, showed her that it would let her restore her [Blood] and [Mana] very quickly, far more than her current [Blood Drain] allowedit let her tear the hearts right out of creatures and absorb them through her palms, no chewing required. [Hellfire] on the other hand would obviously help her kill fasterthose hellhounds had already struggled with her flames as it was. What it came down to was this: she wasnt sure which would help her move more quickly through the tutorial, and she suspected it was [Hellfire]. But [Drain] would reduce her risk of dying, and would work with any other aspects she came acrossincluding the much-desired [Armament] and [Companion]. {Choose [Drain] as your first aspect?} Heck yeah! said Ashtoreth. {You gained the [Drain] aspect and the [Consume Heart] ability.} She took a look at [Consume Heart]: [Consume Heart] You can use magic to tear a creatures heart from its dead body, and you can absorb hearts through your palms. Eating a recently-slain (within 1 hour) creatures heart will grant two benefits: The second half of the ability was the exact same as [Consume Flesh], making the ability a perfect combination of [Drain Blood] and [Consume Flesh]. Convenient and efficient! said Ashtoreth. She reached out toward the closest hellhound corpse and used the ability, enclosing the heart in a telekinetic glove, then bursting its ribcage and sprinkling herself with a little gore as she pulled the heart to her hand. First she looked at her [Blood] and [Mana]: Blood [1655 / 1800] Mana [825 / 1030] Here goes. Her fist closed around the heart, blood gushing between her fingers with a squelch. She felt the heart burn away into pure magical power that flowed into her palm and then up her arm and through her body. {You gained [Devoured Flesh] buff: +4 DEX, +4 STR, +3 VIT, and +3 DEF} Wow! she said, letting out an exhilarated gasp. Thats nice! Blood [1800 / 1800] Mana [1030 / 1030] A single hellhound heart was enough to bring both to full, she thought. The excess [Blood] must have just automatically been converted into [Mana]. She tore another heart out of one of the Hellhounds. These still-warm hearts sure beat potions! she said. She looked down at the white robe shed been wearing when shed spawned. I wish I had pockets! Or rather, the robe had been white. Blood had run down from her chin when shed drunk from the first hounds corpse, and now it coated both her hands as well as her chest below the shoulders where one of the hounds had scratched her. While the one-hour time limit would prevent her from gathering truly obscene stockpiles of hearts, it still wouldnt keep from having a stock of consumables that clearly outclassed health and mana potions. She moved out into the hallway, then used her claws to tear away some pieces of the dead humans blood-stained robe. These she tied in many places, fashioning a makeshift sack with a strap on it, which she hung around her neck. She ripped out the remainder of the hellhound hearts and stored them in her new red carry-sack. Then, with a handful of hearts around her neck, and the her newfound [Consume Heart] ability upgrading her [Vampiric Archfiend]s [Drain Blood] and [Devour Flesh] abilities, Ashtoreth proceeded through the darkened halls, finally ready to do what shed been planning to do for years: save humanity. Moments later, she heard someone in the distance begin to scream. Im coming! she said, taking off at a run in the direction of the noise. She felt a tremor of excitement run through her. Somebody needed her help! 7: [Consume Heart] Means Every Enemy Drops a Health Potion Dont fear! she cried as she rounded the corner. Though I may look like an evil fiend, Im actually here tooh. The person who had screamed was a corpse nowone that had been ripped into two pieces at the midsection. Two demons sat crouched over each half of the human, both of them eating. Each of them was vaguely humanoid, hulks with long arms that walked on their legs and knuckles. They had plates of black armor fused into their skin, and six beady black eyes set into their skull above their elongated, blood-soaked snouts. {Carnage Demon Level 5} {Carnage Demon Level 6} Both of them looked up at her. She froze as she slid to a stop in the doorway. This hardly feels level appropriate, thought Ashtoreth. Where are all the imps? I could really go for some imps. On the other side of the demons, behind the humans corpse, she saw a spear lying on the ground. Theyd chosen a weapon before theyd been killed. Then she thought: maybe I can use guile to get out of this one. She was an archfiend, after all. And this was Hell. Well well! she said, beaming and placing her fists on her hips. What do we have here? She tilted her head toward the corpse lying in a pool of blood at her feet. You two have actually done something right, eh? Try not to spend too much time celebrating before you get back to One of the carnage demons let out an otherworldly howl, its jaws unhinging and opening wide enough to fix themselves around Ashtoreths head. Ashtoreths face fell. Rude. She conjured a plume of hellfire before her to distract the carnage demons. A bright burst of violet fire filled the room, as much hellfire as she could create at once. She dove through it, lunging for the spear. It wasnt enough. One of the carnage demons reared back from the flames, but the closest one ignored them. It slammed into her side just as she landed near the spear, sending her skidding across the stone floor, its weight on top of her. Its claws scratched at her chest, neck, and face. She heard her satchel of hearts tear as she rolled to turn her vitals away from the beast, felt the handful of organs spill away onto the floor. The demon atop her snapped at her head, but she jerked her neck toward it at the last moment. Its jaws closed, but it bit down on the end of one of her horns. It reared back, letting out a pained cry as a trail of blood ran from its mouth. The other demons jaws clamped down on her elbow with terrifying force, and would have broken it had she not conjured a powerful blast of hellfire that she sent directly into its face. The demon let out a muffled snarl, and for a moment it tried to simply power through the flames pouring over its eyes and filling its mouth. Then it leapt backjust in time for Ashtoreth to turn her palm on the other demon as it came forward again. The carnage demon faltered. With both of them out of the way she rolled to one side, grabbing the spear by the dead humans body and then springing to her feet, spinning and launching an arc of fire out before her as she did so.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. But just as she finished the arc, she ran out of mana, her stream of hellfire dying. The demons had shrank back from her, deterred by the hellfire. There were some flames clinging to their bodies, and they were distracted for now but her hellfire had really just pissed them off more than anything, and the wound in her elbow would make killing them with the spear more difficult. Ashtoreth reached out, trying to grasp one of the hearts that had spilled across the floor and found she couldnt. [Consume Heart] only let her rip hearts out of bodies, not telekinetically control all hearts. But she did feel there! She tore a heart out of the recently-dead human corpse, squishing it in her hand and absorbing its power. {You gain a [Devoured Flesh] buff: +2 DEX, +2 STR, +3 VIT, +3 MAG, +2 PSY, +2 DEF} Oh, she thought, momentarily distracted. Human hearts felt really good. Then she began healing her elbow with her [Blood] and fell into a fighting stance, bloody palms slickening the haft of the spear as she faced down the two demons. In the same moment, she spent an enormous portion of mana on another one of her abilities, [Command Infernal]and her voice changed, shifted, became a cacophony of many voices layered over one another, all of them her own but with a slight alterationand all of them filled with murderous rage. Kill! she commanded. The lower-level demon froze, its mind momentarily overtaken with a single-minded desire to obeyit turned and lunched for its fellow, latching its massive jaws around the other demons neck. The demon struggled under the attack of its ally, falling to its side as it clawing at its attackers faceand Ashtoreth took her opportunity to lunge forward and drive her spear into one of its eyes, first burying the point in, then bearing down on it with all her strength and forcing it deep into her enemys skull. {You gain and absorb 1 [Carnage Demon Core]; Tier 1} She yanked the spear free and backed away over the humans corpse just as the other demon turned on her, the spell of domination broken. It lunged, but shed given herself enough distance to aim a well-timed spear-thrust into its open maw, driving the point of her weapon into its throat and keeping the demon at bay. Her enemy mewled as it struggled, torn between using its forelegs to claw at the haft of the spear and push itself away from the driving point. But there was no getting away: Ashtoreth had skewered it good. She gritted her teeth and slowly worked the spear deeper down the demons throat, then spoke, pausing in her speech every time she got slid another few inches. When an archfiendgahspeaksyoulisten! {You gain and absorb 1 [Carnage Demon Core]; Tier 1} {Congratulations, youve absorbed enough power to advance your racial path!} That, she said, exerting herself to yank her spear free of the demon it was deeply embedded in. Hardly felt level-appropriate. It took her a few seconds, but she got the weapon free. She picked up one of the hearts shed dropped and consumed it with a squish. The fact that she couldnt grasp loose hearts was bad news, but not the worst: she just needed a better heart carrier. She tore the hearts out of the carnage demons, their corpses flopping a bit as the organs were ripped free. Then she spared another glance toward the demon corpses before she turned her attention to her advancement. Really, thougha level 6 this fast? Tough tutorial. How are the humans surviving any of this? she wondered aloud. Then she looked down at the bloodshot eyes of the dead humans upper half. Well not you, obviously, she said. She frowned down at the human, then looked at the spear in her hand. It was poor luck, that was for sure: beggers couldnt be choosers, but it would have been nicer if theyd chosen a greatsword. Still, she had something to look forward to. She queried the system, excited to get her first-ever ability upgrade and occasionally licking her fingers. {Racial Advancement} 8: The Real Progression is the Friends we Summon into Bound Servitude Along the Way! {Racial Advancement} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} {Retained upgrades will be offered again next time you advance your racial progression path. Replaced upgrades will be replaced with new options.} Upgrade [Devour Flesh] and [Consume Heart] with [Connoisseur]: You gain 10% of the consumed creatures resistances as well as its stats. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire: Range]: Your magical control extends farther for the purpose of conjuring hellfire. Upgrade: [Demonic Summoning] with [Summon Demonic Familiar]: Your demonic summoning now permanently summons a single companion instead of temporarily summoning multiple demons. [Consume Heart] was in the [Drain] progression path, but Ashtoreth was pleased to see that she could effectively upgrade the ability by upgrading its components. One of them was already on offer. Resistances are good, she said. [Devour Flesh] was another great ability for snowballing through the tutorial. She hadnt scratched the surface of its potential, but she would once she killed a boss and ate their heart to gain a stupidly huge bonus to her stats. She herself had around 100 in each stat. A boss would have much morea boost of 30 or more wasnt out of the question. Adding resistances to the equation would only make it better The [Hellfire] upgrade didnt interest her. Her horns already acted as a spellcasting focus, increasing the range of her magical control and giving her more refined manipulation of her fire. The range increase would stack with that, but the ultimate effect wouldnt be useful: if she wanted to attack foes at range, shed need a ranged spell upgrade like [Hellfire Bolt]. She read the upgrade for [Demonic Summoning] and cocked her head, curious. [Demonic Summoning] temporarily summoned a small group of demonic minions. Their type depended on the summoners [Magic] stat, and there was always a bit of randomness involved. Since the minions were temporary and the spell took almost thirty seconds to cast, it was only really useful if cast just before combat. It also cost a very high amount of [Mana], adding to its limitations. Of course, when she could use it, it would be very strong. Right now shed probably get a few level 1 imps ready to serve her. Not powerful minions, but even if they would just be a distraction for a monster like a carnage demon while she aimed a deadly strike with her spear, that was still quite handy. Still, its limitations made it one of her worst abilities. She knew that its upgrades could turn it into one of the strongest abilities an archfiend possessed by making the summoning nearly instantaneous, as well as making the minions it called stronger. The difference between instantly calling up a flock of demons and requiring half a minute to summon them was enough of a difference to change [Demonic Summoning] from one of the weakest abilities to one of the strongest. Except she hadnt gotten any upgrades to make it faster or stronger. Instead, she could turn it into a companion ability. It was hard not to let her decision become emotion-driven. Shed always wanted a companion. Few things could help in combat as much as a second body and mind on your side. Not only were companions typically strong for something that required only a single ability, but there was also the [Companion] aspect to consider. If chosen, shed have a whole progression path dedicated to keeping her companion on a power level with herself.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. She could see it in her minds eye already: her and her familiarstrategizing together, sharing build ideas, complimenting each others style, cracking jokes and laughing together, high fiving sometimes. Better than a 10% boost to her resistances? Definitely, she said. Demonic Summoning, please! She chose to retain only the [Connoisseur] upgrade. {You have enhanced [Demonic Summoning] with the [Demonic Familiar] upgrade. The ability has been renamed [Summon Demonic Familiar].} [Summon Demonic Familiar] You summon a demonic familiar from somewhere in the upper regions of Hell. The familiar is a companion who can assist you by scouting, by casting beneficial effects upon you, and by helping you in combat. If your familiars body is destroyed, you can reconstitute it by casting this spell again. You choose a small form for the familiar to take the first time you summon them; thereafter, they will always be summoned in that form. Exciting! she chimed, almost giddy as she read the ability. She found a patch of unstained floor, drew a circle in blood on the ground there with her hands, and spent almost a minute channeling mana into the ability. Finally a small, red rift opened in the air before her. {You must choose a type for your familiar. This will determine their starting abilities.} {Choose: spirit of war, spirit of intellect, or spirit of favor.} {A spirit of war will assist you by fighting alongside you in battle.} {A spirit of intellect will assist you by sharing its knowledge and aiding in ritual casting.} {A spirit of favor will assist you by granting you buffs and sharing its resources with you.} Huh, said Ashtoreth. She ruled the spirit of favor out quickly, as she didnt need resources. As for war versus intellect she felt like she had enough brawn, or at least enough that the spirit of war wouldnt be a gamechanger without the [Companion] aspect. A spirit of intellect would likely be an older demonic spirit, someone with more experience to offset the fact that she was just 18. Her experience was limited to her childhood training and her study of humanity. Spirit of intellect, please! she said. {You have chosen a spirit of intellect; the Arbiter is now selecting a soul} {Soul selected. Choose a form for your familiar. This choice is permanent.} {Choose: Ophidian (Snake), Pteropine (Bat), Feline (Cat), Strigine (Owl), Murine (Rat), Corvine (Raven), or Demonic (Imp).} Ashtoreth read this over carefully. For a non-combat familiar, the choice was mostly cosmetic: theyd all be able to fly once her [Magic] and [Psyche] stats were high enough. Cat or rat? she asked herself. Theyre both just so cute. She thought another moment and added: Oh, I want a kitty. Cat, please! The red rift in the air before her flashed, its light coalescing and then solidifying into a new shape. A black cat fell to the ground before her. They had two batlike wings that were very much similar to her own, along with the same spade-ended tail. Their eyes were red, and faintly luminous. The cat spoke in a wry, male voice. Phew! he said, sitting up and looking down at his paws. Theres a relief. After all these years studying human culture I guess I was a little paranoid when the Arbiter said youd chosen cat form. I was thinking of a different sort of form, maybe for a master with damper shirtsleeves. But you. He trailed off as looked up and saw Ashtoreth for the first time. Pleased to meet you, sir, Ashtoreth said, dropping into a curtsy. Im Ashtoreth. Oh, he said. Then, suffusing the word with even more distress, he repeated: Oh. Whats wrong? Yeah, I think theres been a mistake, he said. I was told that Id be coming in on the human side of things. You know, the hopeless one? The doomed cause? Oh! Ashtoreth said, realizing his confusion. Dont worryyou did! You see, I betrayed Hell! I am an archfiend fighting on the side of humanity. A good archfiend. The cat blinked up at her. He cocked his head. Then he burst out into gales of uproarious laughter, as if hed never heard anything funnier in his life. 9: A Relationship Has to Start Somewhere... and This One Starts With My Familiar Thinking Im a Joke I am! she protested. Im a good archfiend! But the cat wouldnt stop laughing, beating his little paw on the bloody ground before him. Oh, sure! he said. Look: I believe that you believe youre a good archfiend. Honestly, the Arbiter never gets things wrong, and they said I was coming in on humanitys half of things. You have! I fight for humanity! The cat looked around the small room they occupiedat the bloodied corpses of the carnage demons, each with their necks laid open, and at the grisly remains of the human who had been torn in half. Doing a great job, I see, he said, eyes fixed on the human. They were dead when I got here! I tried! Sure, the cat said. Look, she said. If we play it right, we can save humanity from the worst of the invasion. The cat snickered. What? Asthoreth asked, crossing her arms. Oh, Heavens, he said, looking up at her with glistening eyes. You really do believe it, dont you? Ashtoreth put her hands on her hips. Now listen, she said. One, I dont care for that kind of language. And two: yes, I believe it. I told you, Im fighting on the side of humanity. Dazel snickered. Ah, of coursehumanity, bastion of all thats good and true in the multiverse. You know what they say: nothing bad ever happens on Earth. What could be more of a good deed than keeping Earth the way it is. Hey! Whether or not humans do bad things has no bearing on whether or not they deserve to be invaded by the legions of Hell. All right, all right, the cat said, turning away from her and starting to walk around the room. Say: did you put all these hearts over here? he asked, prodding at one of the hearts that had been scattered when a demon had torn her carry-sack. Yes, she said. What about it? I dont know, I guess I just dont consider collects the hearts of her enemies to be a morally neutral character trait. I dont collect them, she said. I eat them. See, Im a [Vampiric Archfiend]. My [Consume Heart]hey! For some reason the cat had started laughing again. Oh, forgive me, he said, giving her a mock bow. I didnt realize that you were a [Vampiric Archfiend], that changes everything! Nothing evil about a [Vampiric Archfiend] devouring the hearts of her enemies. Eating a demons heart when it will help you save human lives isnt evil! she said. At the very worst, its neutral! Oh, I get it, said the cat. But say: about that really dark spot on the upper half of the human corpse, there. Ashtoreth looked down at the corpse, then away. Uhwhich, sorry? There are a lot of dark spots that I can see. Its a very bloody corpse. The darkest one. There, under the tear in the robe. Just near the ribs. See it? Well. The cat kept sniggering, barely containing his laughter. Is that, perchance, the hole that you ripped their heart out through before you ate it? Ashtoreth blanched. There were, uh, circumstances. Sure! the cat said, sitting up and spreading his forepaws. Circumstances! She didnt save the human, but she ate their heartcircumstances! He continued to laugh uproariously, his voice making it sound like he was on the verge of tears. Ashtoreth glared down at him, crossing her arms once more. So youre a wise guy, she said. Listen, Princess, the cat said. Your souls as black as mine. Probably even blacker. An infernal is an infernaland infernals are the cosmic bad guys, the black hats, the designated villains. The sooner you realize that, the better. I wont be a villain according to humanity, she said. Not once Im finished. And you know what? You wont be so down on yourself, uh say, whats your name? You never told me.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Its Dazel, he said. And you were? Ashtoreth. I told you. Oh, right. He shrugged. Its an easy name to forget. Where I come from, Ashtoreths are a dime a dozen. Used to be even worsein the Crucible of Hate a few centuries back, youd just call any girl an Ashty. Six times out of ten youd just be using her name. Still not nearly as bad as when Lilith was in fashion. Can we focus? Ashtoreth said. Sure, master. Just let me know what Dazel suddenly froze. He looked up at Ashtoreth, narrowing his eyes. Hey, he said. His eyes seemed to glaze over for a momenthe was checking something in the system. Why does this say that Im a companion? Because you are. His little bat wings rose as if hed sensed a threat. Youre my familiar, she explained cheerfully. I took an upgrade on my [Demonic Summoning] abilityyoure a permanent companion! Permanent? he said. Familiar? If thats an upgrade for [Demonic Summoning], then its a new one. Well, then its a new one! Ashtoreth said. Oh, come on, said the cat. With an archfiend? And a crazy one, to boot. Im not crazy. Ashtoreth said. Her smile had begun to fade. This was definitely not going how shed wanted it to. But look: I want you to be happy as my familiar. Tell me, whats the matter? The cat sat up and folded its front paws. Whats the matter? he asked. Permanent servitude! Not a temporary summonpermanent servitude! To an archfiend of all things! Ugh, I should have figured out thats what this was when I saw my new body. Now it was Ashtoreths turn to cross her arms. Excuse you, she said. But its supposed to be a great honor to serve someone of my pedigree. Honor? He cried. Oh, yeahjust what every demon craves: honor! I used to stay up at night thinking about it, back in my crevice in the Pit of Sorrowam I noble enough? Am I, as a demon, truly living up to my principles and values? Say, Ashtoreth said, smiling. Youve got some sense of humor, dont you? I like that. I think once you get acclimated, you and I really gonna get along. He groaned. You just dont get it, do you? Listen, how about you unsummon me and well think of this as a successful attempt at a job interview that I failed. But I cant summon someone else, she said. Its a companion ability, youre locked to the position. If I unsummon you, my whole [Summon Demonic Familiar] ability is wasted. Its never a waste to try new things, boss, Dazel said. Even when theyre instant, obvious, abysmal failures. That should never have been tried. You learned what you dont like, todayand you cant put a price on knowledge. Look, she said. Just try being my familiar for a while, all right? She beamed down at him. I promise: youll quickly see Im not like the others. Were gonna be great friends. Yeah, no. he said, turning to move for the door. Hey! she said. Come back! Nope! Im a companionI get a choice, remember? And I am choosing to find a place far away from you until you unsummon me. Dazel made for the doorway, but before he could reach it, Ashtoreth used [Command Infernal] Come. Dazels body went rigid, and he turned and slunk back toward her, eyes vacanthe was far too weak to resist her spell. She picked him up by the tail just as the fog cleared from his eyes. He yelped. What are you doing? Im gonna torture you, she said simply, the cheer never leaving her voice. Dazel struggled, twisting and turning in the air before her. Ashtoreth conjured a fistful of hellfire and began to move it closer to his face. Okay, stop! Its too muchI give in! I didnt even Nooo! he wailed, writhing in the air and batting nonexistent flames off his body. Ill do anything you want! I swear! Everything, Ashtoreth said, in a tone that clearly made it a correction. Okay, Ill do everything! Everything you want! She dropped him to the ground. He sat there in a pool of blood, looking up at her with what she was sure was a resentful expression. You said you were different, he said. Truthfully, Ashtoreth probably couldnt have gone through with torturing him but he was a demon. There was no way hed expect as much from her. And she wasnt so bent on being good that shed be stupid. An intellect spirit was a useful person to have around. I am different, she said. I fight for Earth. And right now, your cooperation could mean the difference between life and death for any number of humans. Im not gonna let you mess this up. She paused, then added: And I mean, pretty much anyone with any sense should agree that torture is justified when the stakes are this high. Now come onwe gotta go do the right thing. Dazel stared at her in incredulity for a moment, then hurried after her into the hallway outside. 10: Its Too Bad That the Demons Dont Understand Why the Archfiends Should be in Charge The hellhound bounded down the hallway toward her, snarling with ravenous fury. Freeze, Ashtoreth commanded. For a moment, the hound couldnt help but obey, its muscles relaxing as it slid to a halt in front her. She drove her new spear through its neck, then worked the point around, severing its vitals as it struggled. {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} How close? Ashtoreth asked the system. {You are 6% of the way toward advancement} Wow, she said. That slowed down quick. She grasped the hellhounds heart, then tore it out and tucked it in the newly-tied heart satchel that hung around her neck. Then she began moving down the hallway at a brisk pace, searching for more potential enemies and allies. You know, Ashtoreth said. These demons are fairly strong, considering theyre supposed to be fighting classless humans with nothing but a weapon and a race augment. Dazel scoffed. And that bothers you? Well Id like to actually save some of the humans in this tutorial, so yes. Figures the archfiend starts caring about fairness as soon as the unfairness starts working against her. Ashtoreth scowled. I dont get it, she said. What exactly do you have against archfiends? Dazel let out a singular, disbelieving bark of laughter. Seriously? he asked. Youre really asking me that? Obviously, she said. Look Dazel began. Sec. Two carnage demons had come into view as she turned another corner in the labyrinthine ruins. Both of them spotted her at once, then began bounding toward her. Kill, she commanded as they drew close. The demon in front turned to attack the one trailing behind it and they collided with one another, falling to the ground in a flurry of thrashing limbs. Ashtoreth charged forward as they did, then drove her spear through one of the largest of the top demons six eyes. She had to drive it in hard, gripping the spear with both hands and pushing with all her body weight to get it to burst through the creatures eyehole and into its brain. {You gain and absorb 1 [Carnage Demon Core]; Tier 1} The demon on the bottom struggled to heave its fellows corpse off its body as Ashtoreth yanked her spear out. A moment later, shed thrust the point of the weapon into its snarling mouth. Its claws scrabbled at the haft of the weapon, but it was a futile effort. A moment later it was dead. {You gain and absorb 1 [Carnage Demon Core]; Tier 1} Progress? Astoreth asked the system. {You are 34% of the way toward advancement} A little more generous, she said. Thank you. She checked her [Mana], found it was almost empty, and ate one of the carnage demons hearts, earning her a buff: {You gain a [Devoured Flesh] buff: +3 DEX | +7 STR | +5 VIT | +4 DEF} She added the other heart to her growing collection, and Dazel took the opportunity to begin complaining. Since you asked, he said. Archfiends go around Hell doing whatever they please. Ashtoreth laughed. I know, right? They act like they own the place. Exactly, theyhey! What? Dazel grumbled. They do own the place. Unfortunately. What do you mean, unfortunately? Hell, if you hadnt noticed, is full of infernals. They dont exactly fall in line when asked politely. Dazel snorted. Well Im glad you appointed yourselves our eternal masters, O mighty one. Look, Ashtoreth said. You might not be able to see this from your place on the hierarchy, but Hell needs rulers who are strong. She held out a hand as if grasping something. Rulers with vision. Rulers who have the drive, the passion, the power to reign in all Hells disparate devils and demons and push us onward and downwardinto a darker future for all infernals.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. There it is, the cat said, rolling his eyes. There what is? Dazel asked. The justifications, thats what. You fiends cant just take whatever you want and leave it at thatoh no, that would be too straightforwardly wicked. Instead, youve gotta lecture all us poor, wretched cretins about how its all for our own good while you do it. Thats the true evil. They turned a corner and found three more hellhounds in the process of devouring a mangled heap of meat that didnt even look human anymore. The hounds charged, but Ashtoreth had been more than a match for three of them even when unarmed and not using her [Command Infernal]. Within a few moments the hounds were dead, and she checked her progress: {You are 53% of the way toward advancement} Thank you, she said to the system. To Dazel, she added: Were more than halfway. Cool, great, but if we could get back to my critical theory on archfiends again. Uh-huh, Ashtoreth said, stowing two hearts and taking a bite out of a third before absorbing it with a squelch. Its the philosophy that really adds insult to injury, said Dazel. Its not enough for you to be up there in your castle, living off the backs of us filthyouve gotta act like youre doing us a favor. Ashtoreth felt herself getting mildly annoyedbut only mildly. He was such a curious little creature, this demon. She knew they mustnt all feel as he didnone of the demons at the palace had ever talked like this. She only laughed. Who is it, again, who keeps you safe from the shining armadas of the celestials? Hey, said the cat. No one asked me if I wanted to be press-ganged into a might-based hierarchy that claims to be necessary for the purpose of defense! Ashtoreth, who had begun to move back into the depths of the labyrinth, spared a glance over her shoulder. But why would we? Dazel let out an exasperated sigh. See? You dont even get it. This is why sometimes I think maybe Id actually like a heavenly purge to come in and harrow us all into nonexistence. Ashtoreth snorted. You dont really mean that. Maybe I do, maybe I dont, said Dazel. What I know is that Im up up on the higher layers in the Pit of Sorrow, nary a morsel of unworthy flesh to eat for myself. And you and your kind are down in the Courts of the the Paradise Citadel, living it up like its the third frame of a Bosch triptych. Well its not like you cant move down in life, said Ashtoreth. Youve just got to put in the hard work. Keep doing well when you get summoned, accrue essence and knowledge, gather power and prove yourself worthy. Thats the deal. Dazel made a noise of disgust. Thats just the dream you use to keep us complacent, said the cat. Keep us all toiling away, dreaming of something better. Meanwhile you archfiends are propped up by billions just for being born right. Not just. You have to admit were a little more suited to But the cat was well and truly ranting, now. Dining every hour on the flesh of the unworthy. Everyone eats the flesh of the unworthy! Ashtoreth protested. Its just that unworthy is a much bigger pool of candidates when youre an archfiend. Bathing every night in the blood of the inferior. Well I cant help what comes out of the faucet when I turn the tap! Blood for bathing, water for rinsing. Sleeping in sheets of the finest gossamer while some poor sod you yanked out of his lovely, aromatic burrow in the Fields of Rot has to rub your feet. So now Im the bad guy because I gave a demon an opportunity? Opportunity for what? For earning power, she explained. Power and prestige. An opportunity to move down in the world! You lot are the reason hes so down in the world in the first place, Dazel said. Honestly, said Ashtoreth. You seem like a nice fellow and all What. But Im really having trouble understanding what bothers you so She turned a corner and froze. Dazel trotted up beside her, looked in the same direction, and froze as well. Ahead of them was a large, trapezoidal door, beyond which was a cavernous chamber. On the other side of the door, a bridge extended out over a pit. Crouched in the middle of the bridge was a massive creature. It looked to be twenty feet in height even crouched down, and it resembled a carnage demon in shape. It was freakishly huge, covered all over in building, many-veined muscles that pressed taut against its skin. Its six eyes were looking directly at them from under a pair of massive, bovine horns. It snorted as they came into view. Dont mind us, Ashtoreth muttered under her breath as she began to back slowly around the corner. Just two more infernals, hangin out in these ruins. The creature opened its mouth, roaring so loudly that the stones around them shook, dust falling in clouds from the ceiling. Ashtoreth turned and bolted, bounding down the hall as fast as she could manage. After a few seconds, however, it became clear that the demon wasnt chasing themunsurprising, given that it couldnt have fit through the door. She stopped, then turned and kept an eye on the corridor behind her just in case. That was a boss, right? Definitely a boss. For sure, said Ashtoreth. Probably guarding the way out of here, too. Well have to get it, and soon. Dazel made a sound of protest. Soon? he said. You need a class to fight that thing. And allies. Ive got an ally, she said. That was a joke, right? Tell me youre joking. Youre supposed to be helping me out, you know. Yeah, with my superior knowledge. So take the advice of a much older infernal and dont. Just dont. Ashtoreth grinned. I guess that explains a lot. What does? You dont know much about archfiends, she said. As this example shows. Whats that supposed to mean? he asked. It means, O ye of little faith, that Im killing that boss. Nearby, two more carnage demons that had been stalking the halls rounded a corner, saw her, and howled. They began to charge. Ashtoreth grinned at them. And soon, from the looks of things. 11: Castles in the Sky Ashtoreth yanked her spear out of the twitching corpse of the second carnage demon. {You gain and absorb 1 [Carnage Demon Core]; Tier 1} {You are 75% of the way toward advancement} I still dont get why you hate the hierarchy so much, she said, tearing out their hearts. I mean, I suppose I understand being unhappy that youre weak, she said. But why hate the whole system? The system works. Well at least its got your stamp of approval, master. Look, Ashtoreth said. If you want to do whats right, you need two things: you need to know whats right, and you need to have the capacity to do. Power is the ultimate precondition for moral action, because its the necessary precondition for any action. Therefore its always moral to seek more power. And thats the gospel truth. Dazel just sighed. So of course the archfiends rule Hell from its lowermost darknesses, and do whatever they please. He sighed again. Anyway, she continued. I dont see why youre so upset about being summoned. Were both going to get stronger, and then get even stronger, and then do that forever. Its going to be nice. Dazel scoffed. Its never nice where your kind are concerned. Oh, it always seems promising, you always want to think you can come out on top, with archfiend levels of power in the mixbut nobody gets to ride along with you forever. My kind? Ashtoreth said, laughing incredulously. He was such a curious little demon: so bold. The things her sisters might have done to him for saying just that one sentence, let alone the rest of his rant. If you havent noticed, Im not anything like the rest of my kind. You threatened to torture me within minutes of meeting. For a good reason! she said. Weve got to save the humans! Their conversation was interrupted yet again as she rounded a corner and found two more carnage demons. She grinned, rushing forward. Kill, she commanded. The first carnage demon turned on the second, tackling it before it could reach her and Ashtoreth descended with her spear, stabbing it in every spot she could get a shot at. She didnt kill either demon before her command wore off a moment later so she just spent [Blood] to command it again, driving her spear into its victims neck. {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} Her second command wore off in time for the demon to turn to her and have her spearpoint driven through one of its six beady eyes. {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} She fished a heart out of her bulging heart-sack, consumed it with a squish, then ripped out two more for her collection. Progress, please! {You are 96% of the way toward advancement} Cheer up, Ashtoreth said. Weve just got to kill one more thing to get my second aspect. Nah, Dazel said. Id rather complain. She rushed through the corridors ahead of her, searching excitedly for another monster. True to his word, Dazel complained the whole time. Things were going good for me, you hear? he said. My last summoner was an elf from the inner realms. He was your typical master for a whilecruel guy, insecure, sheltering himself from the realization that the research hed devoted his life to was mostly worthless by pretending more and more he was outcast for his genius, you know. But then one day he summoned a Phneelith and it ate his sanity. Much nicer fellow, after that. He sighed wistfully. My days were filled with books of lore and my nights were filled with leisure. I got to go outside and bask in the light of a white moon stretch out in the fireplace and get all sooty, breathe in the hot ash and sample the flavors of fresh-cut firewood He grumbled. Then the poor old fellas son figured out our con, killed him for his inheritance, and sent me straight back to Hell. But you know? It still wasnt that bad. I found a nice, cosy crevice in the Pit of Sorrow, then got drafted into helping with the invasion of Earth. So I studied up, learned the cultureyou know. Oh believe me, Ashtoreth said, rounding another corner to find the corridor beyond disappointingly empty. I know. Dazel shrugged and shook his head. I thought things would be easy. Was hoping Id get summoned by some hapless edgelord who chose a demon-summoning class because he thought it would do the impossible and make him dark and sexy, you know? He sighed, carrying on in a mournful tone. Id pick up a little power for myself, maybe. But ultimately Id watch the human sucker get himself offed because his dumb ass chose a scythe for a weapon, or something equally stupid. And after that? Id mosey on back to my crevice and look busy with something whenever the devils came by. Ashtoreth frowned, trying to understand. But what about I dont know, anything? Dont you have ambitions? Dreams? Dreams? he asked. Yeah, I got dreams. I just told them to you. The dream is that I leave, and then nothing bad happens to me for as long as feasibly possible.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. But waitif you want nothing bad to happen to you, then what you really want is power! And in that case, Im the best thing thats happened ever to you! She spread her arms as if presenting the whole world around him. Come on, cheer up! When were done with my quest, youll be more powerful than you could possiblydoggy! Shed cut off to remark with glee upon the hellhound that had appeared at the end of the corridor. It lunged toward her, and in short order it was writhing on the ground, pinned by her spear, blood pooling around it. {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} {Congratulations! Youve absorbed enough power to choose your second Class Aspect!} Ding! said Ashtoreth. Great, said Dazel. Congratulations. Say: how long do you take with system choices again? What Im really asking is: how much time do I have time for a nap? Ashtoreth frowned. Keep an eye out while I choose, all right? He sighed. Yes, my master. She scowled, but brought up her choices nonetheless: {Choose an Aspect} {Once made, this choice cannot be undone. Your aspect will either grant you a new ability, or significantly upgrade one of your existing racial abilities.} {When youve chosen 3 aspects, you will be given a class and gain the power to level up. Your 3 aspects will become your ability progression paths.} [Armament] Primary stats: DEX, STR [Armament] focuses on creating versatile personalized weaponry that interacts with your existing abilities. Choosing this aspect will grant you a [Conjure Weapon] ability for your choice of close-range, long-range, or spellcasting weapon. You will also get to choose one upgrade for that weapon. [Blood] Primary stats: VIT [Blood] focuses on manipulating vital fluids, both physically and metaphysically, allowing you to control blood telekinetically as well as harvest its latent magical power in a variety of ways. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Blood Control] ability, and move your [Drain Blood] ability into the [Blood] progression path when you gain your class. [Companion] Primary stats: MAG, PSY, DEF [Companion] focuses on bolstering your ability to fight alongside an intelligent, willing ally. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Battle Bond] ability, granting you and your companion immunity to one anothers attacks and allowing you to share resistances. Choosing this aspect will also upgrade your [Summon Demonic Familiar] ability, and move it into the [Companion] progression path when you gain a class. [Domination] Primary stats: PSY [Domination] focuses on exercising varying amounts of control over another creatures mind. This can be to control them, paralyze them, trick them, or merely extract information from their minds. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Mental Domination] ability, and move your [Command Profane] ability into the [Domination] progression path when you gain your class. She read the list over and knew what shed take immediately. Shed wanted [Companion], it was true but Dazel had done a lot to discourage that particular dream. [Armament], however, had been the only other aspect on her wishlist. She wasnt going to bother going over the other options. {Choose [Armament] as your second aspect?} Heck yeah! Ashtoreth chirped. {You gained the [Armament] aspect} {Choose: close-range, long-range, or spellcasting for your [Conjure Weapon] ability.} Close-range, please! {Concentrate on the form you would like your close-range weapon to take and form it in the space before you. This form will be difficult to change once chosen.} Ashtoreth sighed and smiled. Things were really going her way. In the air before her, a translucent image of a colossal greatsword appeared. It was a wide, flat hunk of steel that was longer than she was tall and five times her body weight. It had a single edge which wrapped around both ends of the sword. It would have been perfectly symmetrical, were there not a cavity cut through the solid piece of steel near its base, leaving a long, leather-wrapped bar along the swords spine that served as its grip. Thats it, she said. Thats my baby. {Name your weapon} Luftschloss. {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Counterforce Telekinesis]: You can telekinetically push or pull against Luftschloss. Any force you apply to the blade is applied to you as well, in an equal and opposite reaction. The maximum force you are able to apply to the blade depends on your STR, MAG, and PSY stats. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis]: You can telekinetically move Luftschloss in any direction while it is close to your body (within three meters). This telekinesis does not apply any counterforce. The maximum force you are able to apply to the blade depends on your MAG and PSY stats. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder]: While Luftschloss is conjured, you gain a 25% bonus to your STR. Ashtoreth read all these over. She considered the boss shed seen on the bridge in the cavern. Then she chose [Counterforce Telekinesis] and retained both [Proximate Telekinesis] and [Mighty Wielder]. Both abilities would eventually help her wield the massive weight of the sword. [Proximate Telekinesis] would help her swing it around better than a raw strength boost would. {You have gained a new ability: [Conjure Luftschloss]} Thanks! she said to the system. It cost a huge amount of mana to conjure the weapon, almost two-thirds her total. But after a second of concentrating her mana into the shape of the sword, it appeared in her hands. Its tip crashed down to the stone floor of the corridor before her. Ashtoreth grinned down at it. Hail to the king, baby. She didnt know why, but something about giant swords always felt a little masculine to her. Wha? Dazel said, starting from where hed lain down a few feet away. He blinked, looked around. How long was I out? Ashtoreth frowned down at him. Thirty seconds? You were supposed to be on lookout. Dazel made a disappointed noise. Youre supposed to agonize over every possible decision. The choice was obvious. I knew what I wanted pretty much right away. That just means you agonize over every possible decision, then reveal that youve already made up your mind. He shot an amused look at the gigantic sword. Okay, size queenwhere to now? Ashtoreth laughed. Were gonna go fight that boss. Dazels eyes widened. What?! 12: When it Comes to Telekinetically Controlled Plus-Size Greatswords... Size Matters Sorryyoure not really thinking of fighting that thing now, are you? Ashtoreth ran through the halls, backtracking to where theyd seen the giant carnage demon. Luftschloss was a little too heavy to comfortably shoulder at her current stats, so she was holding it with both hands, dragging across on the ground behind her. Weve built a stock of resources, and Ive gathered enough power. You dont even have your class. This is the perfect way to get ahead. You dont even have your class! Ashtoreth grinned. I will soon! Did you see the size of that thing? Ashtoreth stopped for a second, then glanced meaningfully down at her greatsword. She looked back at Dazel, raised her eyebrows. Obviously. Youre insane! LookI get it, okay? Im easy to underestimate. I think its because Im so nice. Anyway, Im not going to ask you to fight it with meyou dont seem like youre very strong. Im most definitely am not, said Dazel, perking up immediately. Good luck out there, master. Thank you. Youre the archfiend, after all, said Dazel. Youve got the training. Youve got the power. And youve definitely got the spirit. You think Im gonna die. You are gonna die, said Dazel. And when you do, Im going straight home to crawl into the deepest, most moist crevice I can find and forget that any of this ever happened. Within a few minutes theyd come back to the bend in the halls that would lead to the demon door. You can do it, Dazel said tonelessly. Just, uh, believe in yourself. Ashtoreth flashed him her teeth. Oh, but I do. I really, really do. She moved around the corner, locking gazes once more with the six-eyed, colossal brute that was crouched in the middle of the stone bridge. It let out a ground-shaking roar as she approached, but as before, didnt move toward her. She crossed the threshold of the doorway, stepping out onto the bridge. There was a flash of red light and a puff of smoke next to her, and Dazel appeared just as a studded door of burnt black iron slammed down behind them. Dazel sighed. Immediately once shed come through the door, the demonic brute began to stomp toward them. Ashtoreth found that she could tag it, now: {Carnage Hulk Level 10 Boss} She grabbed Luftschloss with both hands, heaving the sword up off the groundthen placed one leg against the iron door behind her and spent a hefty chunk of mana to launch the sword at the demon with a massive burst of force. Luftschloss sped through the air between them, arcing under the pull of gravity even as it continued to accelerate, Ashtoreth pouring as much mana into the ability as she could. It sped across the platform, toward one of the demons upper eyes and then missed as the demon crouched low, continuing through the air to embed itself deep in the rocky wall on the other side of the chasm, cracks spidering out from where it had struck blade-down.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Whoops! Ashtoreth said. She charged at the demon as it continued to speed toward her, its footsteps so heavy they made the platform shake. Then, just as they reached one another, she pulled on her sword. It didnt come free of the stone wallit was embedded too deep for thatand so the effect was to pull her toward it, giving her a sudden boost of speed that the demon hadnt anticipated, allowing her to just barely dive clear of its snapping jaws, then roll to her feet and sprint past its blade-studded forelegs. She made it past the demons hind legs a moment later, sprinting for one edge of the bridge, her eyes on Luftschloss. Then she felt something slam into the middle of her back, sending her tumbling forward to crash to the ground, roll off the platform and fall into the pit belowit had whipped her with its tail just as shed run clear of its body. She flared her wings, using them along with what little magical flight she had to stop herself spinning and slow her fall to a controlled glide. She looked down as she descended to see that the bottom of the pit was strewn with smeared blood and the gore-covered bones of several humans. She guided herself to land on a stone before the gore-pile, then craned her neck to look up at the platform as she rummaged through the heart-bag still affixed to her neck with some difficulty. Shed left herself only a small opening to grab out of, and the bag was on tight. With a squish, she ate a heart and restored some [Blood], then ate another to fill her [Mana] to full. A moment later the demons head appeared over the edge of the platform, and, spotting her, the demon leapt into the pit. Ashtoreth reached out and found Luftschloss still embedded in the stone above her, then sprinted toward it, leaping up onto the rock wall of the pit and pulling herself to the sword. Again, she spent a high amount of [Mana] to pull herself with great force, hard enough that she could run up the wall of the pit with wide bounds as the sword pulled her toward it. The boss fell past her a moment later, the wind of its passage almost pushing her off balance as she made for her weapon. The stone beneath her feet shook a moment later as the great bulk of the demon collided with the pit floor. She reached her sword, its blade facing downward from where it was embedded into the rock. She pulled herself toward it, grabbing the hilt and flipping herself over it to land with both feet on its spine. Then she gripped the sword, planted her legs against the rock wall and heaved, pulling the blade free and leaping off the wall toward the bridge as she spread her wings and looked down on the demon below her and gave it a single command: Hate! she told it. Compared to the demons defenses, her command was so weak that it was nothing but a flicker of added rage in the demons mind, one moment of wrath in which it paused in its upward climb to look up at her and roar. The sound of its hateful cry filled the cavern, shaking dust from the ceiling. Ashtoreths [Mana] had already run dry, so she used the last of her [Blood] to push on Luftschloss, launching the greatsword downward and pushing herself higher into the air in the same moment. Luftschloss shot downward with the combined forces of magic and gravity, the massive blade streaking down into the chasm and directly into the open mouth of the roaring demon. The demon gave a choked cry as the blade buried itself deep in its innards. Above, Ashtoreth glided down onto the edge of the bridge, then reached into the bag around her neck and pulled out two hearts. She folded her wings behind her as she ate both hearts at once. Below her, the demon writhe around on the ground. As it did, she braced herself against the platform, then reached down and yanked on her sword, tugging the blade through more of the creatures innards as it howled in agony, thrashing on the ground and paying her no mind. She waited until it had changed position, then pulled her sword toward her again, then repeated this process until she was out of [Blood] and [Mana]. Then she dismissed the blade and conjured it once more, creating the greatsword in one hand while she looked over the edge of the platform and licked some blood off her fingers, giggling. Once shed made the sword again, she regarded the writhing demon carefully, waiting for her chance before leaping off the platform, perching on the hilt of the sword with both hands and feet and using her limited flight to guide herself toward it. Look! she commanded. Again the command did very littlebut it let the demon know she was coming, and its small influence was enough to get its head to snap up and look at her. Just in time for her to drive the point of Luftschloss directly through one of its largest eyes, hammering its head down into the rock beneath it as the blade tore straight through into brain. She spent another huge portion of [Mana] to force the blade in deeper, the counterforce throwing her up and backward. {You gain and absorb 1 [Carnage Hulk Core]; Tier 1 Boss} {Congratulations, youve absorbed enough power to advance your racial path!} {Congratulations! Youve absorbed enough power to choose your third Class Aspect!} {Ding! Youve absorbed enough power to gain a level! You will level up once you gain your class.} She turned over once in the air, then landed before the bosss carcass in a coiled crouch and grinned, spreading her arms as if she were a magician who had just finished performing a particularly spectacular magic trick. Ding! 13: The Bigger They Are... the More [Strength] I Gain by Eating Their Heart After I Kill Them! Ashtoreth called out toward the upper platform. You okay, Dazel? Distantly, she heard a squeak. Good. She turned her attention toward the demon corpse in front of hersurely she could eat its heart? She could feel it with her [Consume Heart] ability, but getting it out might be a problem. A dark form glided down to land on the hilt of the greatsword jutting from the eye of the corpse in front of her. I thought that thing was a melee weapon! he said. Ashtoreth scoffed. Um, actually, she said. Labels are for soup cans, not greatswords. Say, how long did that take me? What? Was I supposed to time you? Just guess. I dont know! Just guess, though. I wasnt timing you! Thirty seconds, tops, Ashtoreth said, grinning. Howwhathow did you do that? You werent watching? Ashtoreth pouted. You could at least be a Speedwagon. I dont understand what that means. Ashtoreth let out a forlorn sigh. And Im starting to doubt our compatibility as a result. She frowned and looked back at the corpse. At least the fight went okay. Wait a second, said Dazel. Hold ondid you mean to put the sword in the back wall? So you were watching! You planned that whole thing! Dazel accused. From the start! Astoreth affected a stiff, gloating voice. Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Please no, he whined. Dont tell me youre actually competent! Im going to be here forever. Forever and ever! said Ashtoreth. Better start trying to make the best of it by embracing your role as my cuddly familiar friend! Dazel made a gagging noise. But Ashtoreth had put a hand on a hip. Love beats hate and hope beats cynicism, she said, wagging a finger at him. Im gonna get you, Dazelnow look around for a boss chest, would you? She grinned. Ive got a big decision to make! She brought up her third aspect selection: {You must advance your racial progression path a second time before you can choose your third aspect} Oh, Asthoreth said. Right. {Racial Advancement} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} {Retained upgrades will be offered again next time you advance your racial progression path. Replaced upgrades will be replaced with new options.} Upgrade [Devour Flesh] with [Connoisseur]: You gain 10% of the consumed creatures resistances as well as its stats. Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Aura]: Creatures in close proximity to your hellfire are affected by any auras you possess.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Gain a beneficial aura that renders allies immune to damage from your hellfire. Say, Ashtoreth said approvingly. These arent bad at all. There was a dead boss right next to her, and she was about to eat its heart, so [Connoisseur] seemed like the obvious choice. [Hellfire Aura] would be useful once she actually had allies. [Blood Memory] seemed like it could have all manner of uses, but wasnt the best choice when she was trying to quickly overtake the tutorial. She chose [Connoisseur] and retained both the others. Then she started looking at her last aspect: {Choose an Aspect} {Once made, this choice cannot be undone. Your aspect will either grant you a new ability, or significantly upgrade one of your existing racial abilities.} {When youve chosen 3 aspects, you will be given a class and gain the power to level up. Your 3 aspects will become your ability progression paths.} [Hellfire] Primary stats: MAG [Hellfire] focuses on using profane flames to destroy people, places, and things. Choosing this aspect will improve and add to the capabilities of your racial [Hellfire] ability, and move that ability into the [Hellfire] progression path when you gain your class. [Might] Primary stats: STR, VIT, DEF [Might] focuses on using calculated applications of brute force to overwhelm your enemies. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Mighty Surge] ability, which allows you to greatly increase your [Strength] for an extremely small time period. [Telekinesis] Primary stats: MAG, PSY [Telekinesis] focuses on moving objects through mental and magical power alone. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Animate Object] ability, which allows you to enchant an object to move according to your will, converting it into a minion. [Domination] Primary stats: PSY [Domination] focuses on exercising varying amounts of control over another creatures mind. This can be to control them, paralyze them, trick them, or merely extract information from their minds. Choosing this aspect will grant you the [Mental Domination] ability, and move your [Command Profane] ability into the [Domination] progression path when you gain your class. Ashtoreth looked over her options. Well its not an easy one, but really, thats a good thing. The thing about being an archfiend was that she had a very balanced set of stats, even after becoming a vampire. Her two prior aspects, [Drain] and [Armament], could work well with both physical and magical abilitiesbut each of them had physical stats. So she ruled out [Might]: even if it was a good pairing for her gigantic sword, [Consume Heart] along with her ability to cast from [Blood] and her archfiends balanced stats meant that shed want a magical aspect to take full advantage of all her resources. She was already planning to use her moderately high [Magic] and [Psyche] stats to bolster her sword swings with the [Proximate Telekinesis] upgrade that shed retained when building her sword. Since her weapon could already be telekinetically controlled, she ruled out [Telekinesis], toothe sword was really the only thing she was interested in throwing around, and she hadnt chosen the [Minion] aspect that would really make [Animate Object] shine. That only left two options. [Domination] or [Hellfire]? [Domination] was also an aspect that really shone with the [Minion] aspect to synergize with it, and she wouldnt be getting one. Her command ability had been incredibly powerful so far, but it was well-known to be one of the more powerful abilities innate to archfiends. And it was sure to work on most everything in both the Hell tutorial and back on Earth, aspect or no. [Domination] might have been her choice if she didnt know that its powers were minimally effective on powerful foes, which were the ones she cared about most. Sure, she might be able to freeze them in place or get a read on their thoughts, maybe even throw some of their own minions at them but she questioned whether that would be worth a whole aspect. Still, it was close. Not taking either [Domination] or [Telekinesis] felt like it was as much a choice of personal style as one borne out of reasoning. She was left with [Hellfire]. [Hellfire] could deny large areas by setting them aflame, damaged almost everything that existedincluding demons and devilsand would likely have better interactions with her [Armament] aspect than [Domination], if not [Telekinesis]. The big problem with hellfire was that its high damage came at high [Mana] cost but her build supported that. Okay, I guess it was easier than I thought, she said. {Choose [Hellfire] as your third aspect?} Ashtoreth beamed. Heck yeah! {You gained the [Hellfire] aspect and can now upgrade your [Hellfire] ability.} {Your three aspects will now combine to form a class. Synthesizing} {Class Synthesized. You are now a [Bloodfire Annihilator]} {Ding! You level up and gain 11 DEX, 11 STR, 15 VIT, 13 MAG, 7 PSY, 7 DEF} {You may choose a path to advance.} It was finally happening! Not only did she have a class, but she had two more upgrades to choose. Ashtoreth grinned and looked at her newfound power. Its beautiful! 14: I Choose to Regard [Bloodfire Annihilator] and "Hero of Humanity" as Synonymous, Thank You! [Bloodfire Annihilator] C-Rank Class Stats on Level: +4 DEX | +4 STR | +7 VIT | +7 MAG | +1 PSY | +1 DEF This class grants the following benefits: Ashtoreth read the class with wide eyes. Then, tentatively, she stepped forward and cast a gout of hellfire onto the dead bosss arm, keeping the flames on it long enough for the arm to ignite. She watched the fire burn a moment, then called the flames back into herself, sucking them back into her palm and watching her [Bloodfire] go back up, restoring about half of what shed spent on the flames in the first place. She felt a warm, fuzzy feeling grow inside her. Its beautiful, she said. Hellfire itself was now her health and mana resource, [Bloodfire]. Her total [Blood] had been determined by [Vitality], which between her class and her race was her highest stat per level at +15 total. And shed been getting 20 per level, not 10 the way that [Health] worked, because she was a vampire. Now that it was combined with [Mana] to create [Bloodfire], she had a truly stupendous resource pool. The 5 [Mana] per [Magic] and [Psyche] had given her a little over 1000 [Mana] before shed levelled. She opened her stats: [Dexterity]: 121 [Strength]: 126 [Vitality]: 108 [Magic]: 126 [Psyche]: 105 [Defense]: 89 [Bloodfire]: 3315 / 3315 Now that she could re-absorb her hellfire, she had far more capacity in battle for regeneration and offense. And she could replenish her [Bloodfire] just by setting things aflame and letting the fire spread. Her greatsword was now also a hellfire attack spell. In fact. Dazel, you should move. Wha? he said, his head coming up from where hed curled up next to the blade protruding from the bosss eye. Did you go to sleep again? Mm? No, he said defensively, blinking. Im not even mad, she said. Im sort of impressed you can do that so quickly. Anyway, move. He groaned and hopped down off the demons face. Ashtoreth dismissed her sword and watched a roaring plume of violet fire burst from its eye socket and rise a dozen feet into the air. She felt hot, steaming eye-gunk splash her face as she grinned up at the flames. Im just so happy. she said, her voice wavering. Uh-huh. It really suits you, boss Okay, Ashtoreth said. Theres more yet. Ive got an upgrade from taking the [Hellfire] aspect and an upgrading from hitting level 2. She jerked her head toward the now-smoking corpse of the boss. Then I gotta eat this things heart. Wait, said Dazel. So if Id gone to sleep somewhere else, I could have kept napping? No! she said. Go find the boss chest, you lout. He grumbled. Its probably on the bridgeI dont think I can get back up there. No? I can toss you. ...Though actually, I see a path up these cavern walls that I can try. Im gonna check it out. Great, Ashtoreth said flatly. But her useless familiar couldnt detract from her moment. She still had progression to look forward to. {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Bolt]: For a low [Mana] cost, you can form your conjured hellfire into a dense missile that you launch with high accuracy. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Efficiency]: The cost of conjuring hellfire is reduced by 20%. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Aura]: Creatures in close proximity to your hellfire are affected by any auras you possess. Gain a beneficial aura that renders allies immune to damage from your hellfire. [Hellfire Efficiency] was probably useful in the long term, but right now Ashtoreth had a lot more hearts than she had [Bloodfire] problems. She still wanted the aura once she had allies, and better yet more aura effects. Archfiends could get all manner of both detrimental and beneficial auras from their racial progression, and her class made it clear that setting the world ablaze was a life goal but at this low level, and with no auras to speak of, the skill was mostly useless.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. She wasnt sure if it was appearing here because shed retained it in her racial progression, though. If she chose to replace it in her [Hellfire] advancement path, would she never see it again? She didnt want it, but she didnt want to get rid of it. So she chose [Hellfire Bolt] and retained both other options. It would be nice to have some ranged capabilities, at least. {Gained [Hellfire Bolt] upgrade for your [Hellfire] ability} Thanks! she said. Next up: level 2! {Reaching level 2 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths.} Armament, please! To Ashtoreth, it was a pretty straightforward choice. [Armament] was the only path that her racial advancement couldnt buff, and it was the path she had most training in. [Hellfire] could deal with hordes of monsters, but Luftschloss was her boss killer. {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis]: You can telekinetically move Luftschloss in any direction while it is close to your body (within three meters). This telekinesis does not apply any counterforce. The maximum force you are able to apply to the blade depends on your MAG and PSY stats. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder]: While Luftschloss is conjured, you gain a 25% bonus to your STR. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Blow]: You can spend a moderate amount of [Blood], [Mana], or hellfire to infuse your next strike with incredible force. Well then, Ashtoreth said. Reading them over, shed probably be retaining whichever two she didnt pick. She was a spellsword through and through, and her sword was heavy. For most intents and purposes, [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis] would let her casting stats function a lot like [Strength]. The telekinesis in this case wasnt reciprocal, meaning that the minute manipulations on the blade wouldnt push and pull her around. It would be similar to her racially-provided flight power in that she could affect minute adjustments to position, but for the sword. Helpful, especially when combined with the [Luftschloss: Counterforce Telekinesis]: she could use it to get just the right angle when using the counterforce to throw either her sword or herself. All in all, [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis] gave everything that [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder] would give her, but better. Shed still want both eventually, but one was clearly superior on account of the balanced stats she got from her race. It was a tempting upgrade but [Luftschloss: Mighty Blow] was a boss killer, plain and simple. Creatures with high [Defense] stats or huge bodies would require high bursts of damage to seriously harm. The higher her burst capabilities, the stronger the bosses shed be able to fight. She wanted both, but she had to pick one. So she picked the one shed most regret not having, if it came up: {Gained [Luftschloss: Mighty Blow] upgrade for your [Conjure Luftschloss] ability.} Thanks! Ashtoreth said to the system. That done, she turned to the final matter at handthe smoking corpse of the boss that lay next to her. Somehow I gotta eat this things heart, she said. It took her a while, but she found that [Consume Heart] could still tear out a heart even as big as the bosss it just needed a little time to slowly open up the ribs, tear open the skin, sever the hearts connecting arteries and then heave the whole thing out into her arms. Ashtoreth caught it in her arms, her mouth forming an O while her eyes widened. Its huge! she said. Its like a softer, inside-out pumpkin! She beamed as she hugged the organ to her chest. She squeezed it tight, using her [Consume Heart] ability, and it burst into violet flames, dissolving and being absorbed. Unsurprisingly her [Bloodfire] went to full. What was more: {You gain a [Devoured Flesh] buff: + 6 DEX | + 65 STR | + 44 VIT | + 33 DEF} {You gain a [Connoisseur] buff: + 10 Death Resistance | + 10 Fire Resistance | + 10 Shadow Resistance | + 6 Frost Resistance | + 6 Lightning Resistance | + 6 Physical Resistance | + 6 Poison Resistance} Ashtoreth snorted as she saw the stats shed received. The boss had apparently had no [Magic] or [Psyche] to speak of but 650 [Strength]. Min-maxing is a legitimate strategy! she said, grinning as she brought up her stats: [Dexterity]: 123 [Strength]: 186 [Vitality]: 147 [Magic]: 126 [Psychic]: 105 [Defense]: 120 [Bloodfire]: 4095 / 4095 Ashtoreth grinned and shook some of the leftover blood off her arms. The buff, combined with her level, had close to doubled her [Strength]. She wouldnt have much trouble hefting Luftschloss now, even without the proximate telekinesis upgrade. Im so much more powerful, she said, her voice once again trembling with joy. She formed her claws and used the pull of her racial flight ability to climb the walls of the cavern with relative ease. She found Dazel up on the bridge, napping atop a chest of burnt black iron whose lock clicked open at her touch. She threw open the lid, sending the cat sprawling onto the stones of the bridge below. Dazel yelped, then got up and looked around, finally fixing his eyes on her. That was cruel, boss. Why did you fall asleep on the one thing I had to open? she asked. In a chiding tone, she added: Dazel. Are you a masochist? Im not even going to dignify that with an answer. A soft, violet glow emanated from the chest. They even got my color, Ashtoreth said appreciatively. But inside the chest was nothing but a note, seemingly handwritten on a piece of vellum in spidery violet ink. You entered the tutorial with a magical item, [Ashtoreths Glamourous Diadem]. Your boss rewards will be allocated toward that item until youve fully earned it. You are 82% of the way toward earning [Ashtoreths Glamourous Diadem]. Okay, she said. Well thats nice. Still 82 percent? It would have been nicer if shed been able to forgo have her item budget reallocated until she fought a boss that would be worth the whole diadem. Well, I suppose it is a pretty powerful magical item. Hey boss, said Dazel. Do you hear that? Ashtoreth paused, listening. She could hear something in the distancethrough the doorway on the other side of the bridge. A frequent, staccato burst. A high crack that seemed to reverberate off the walls. She smiled, eyes widening. Dazel, do you know what that is? Uh? A gun! And she ran through the doorway at the end of the bridge, seeking the sound of the weapon and its wielder. 15: If the Thought Counts for Anything, Id Say Shooting You in the Head Was Quite Generous She careened into the next corridor, momentarily surprised that the area beyond the boss looked much the same as the one before it. Corpses littered the floor. They were all hellhounds and carnage demons, just like the ones shed been fighting. Most of them were missing huge chunks of their heads and had bloody wounds on their bodies as well. She reached a fork in the path, listened for a second, heard the sound of the gun once more, and set out in its direction. A living human! she thought. One who survived the higher-leveled monsters! What would they be like? Would they want to team up? How was she going to introduce herself? She rounded a corner and saw him: a singular man with his back turned to her, aiming down his sights and blasting a leaping carnage demon from the air. The demon fell, writhing and clutching its chest, and he fired over it, two shots that sent a demon behind it to the ground as well. He paused, held out a hand, coalesced two roundsshells?and then loaded them into the gun with calm, precise movements. Then he blasted off the head of the nearest demon, took a few steps forward, and repeated this process with its fellow. His shoulders slumped as he heaved out a sigh. Hi! Ashtoreth said. Im a good guy! Dont be The man wheeled, bringing his shotgun up to point it at her. Freeze! he cried. Ashtoreth gasped. She recognized the human man with graying hair before her. It was the police officer, Frost, the man shed let arrest her before the system initialized. Shed helped him by shooting him in the head. Hed probably made it into the same tutorial as her because the undead race augment shed earned him put him in the upper echelon of initial power. After all, the trail of dead hellhounds and carnage demons made it clear that hed killed quite a few already. Now that he was facing her, she could more clearly see a sword belted to his waist, probably his starter weapon. Hed most likely gotten the gun from the [Armament] aspect. Her favorite aspect. She could already tell that they were going to be friends. Drop the weapon! he shouted. Uh, okay, she said, unshouldering Luftschloss and letting the sword crash to the ground beside her. Frosts eyes darted to it, wide and disbelieving. Dont shoot, all right? Ashtoreth said. Were on the same side. Sir Frost blinked. Realization dawned on his face a second later. You, he hissed. You again. Dazel spoke from where he was hiding behind her legs. Waityou know this human? Mhmm! she said, nodding. I met him right before I came here. Hes a police officer, so I bet he wont just be happy to join up with ushell be useful, too. You uh, you sure about that? Dazel asked. Of course Im sure, she said. Hes a police officer. Theyre sort of like Earths paladins. Uhsorry, what? Dazel asked. Were we watching the same humanity? Frost was just staring at them. Ashtoreth realized he really had no idea what to do. After all, it wasnt like he could arrest her again. Where would he take her? How would he hold her? You dont have to point that at me, Ashtoreth said. Like I said, Im on your side. Yeah, Dazel added. We look trustworthy, right? Stop it, she hissed at her familiar. To Frost, she added: Im Ashtoreth. I know how I look, but Im here to fight Hell. Im a good archfiend. Good? Frost shouted. You shot me! You shot him? Dazel asked. You you killed me! Frost said, his eyes wild. You killed me and put me here. Woah woah, Ashtoreth said, holding her hands out in a placating gesture. I didnt kill you. You shot me in the head! Okay, yes, she conceded. That much is true. But I didnt kill you or put you here. Instead I made you. she trailed off, squinting at him. He looked mostly human, but she could see that his eyes were red, now. Looks like you picked vampire. Vampires are dead! Um, actually, theyre undead, Ashtoreth corrected, raising a finger. Theres a pretty big difference between being undead and being deadone makes you stronger, the other unmakes you. Now, to be completely fair, its technically true that I did get you put here, because without your vampire augment you wouldnt be strong enough to get into this tutorial. But this isnt the afterlife, if thats what youre thinking. This is Hell! he said. Thats right! Ashtoreth said. And while thats no cause for celebration, I hope we can agree that Im the expert on Hell, between the two of us. She drew her tail in a sinuous motion from one side to the other to emphasize her point. Theres definitely some misconceptions I ought to clear up.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Youre a demon, Frost breathed, his eyes seeming to grow even more wild. Okay well excuse me, but nono, no, no. Im an archfiend. Trust me, man, Dazel added. You dont want to call an archfiend a demon. Were way less precious than them. Frost just looked between them, hands still holding the gun steady. Something in his face seemed ready to break. Look, it was an honest mistake, said Ashtoreth. You dont know any better! Im not offended. She paused, then added. Anyway, the key takeaway here is that youre not dead. Youre undead! And you can go back to Earth and help all of the people there. This seemed to get through to him more than anything else shed said. He shut his eyes, shook his head as if to clear bad thoughts, then opened them again and resumed aiming down his sights. Those portals, he said. Those things coming out of them. Everything that I already told you was going to happen! she said. Hell has invaded Earth. Right now were all stuck in our own private time, but as soon as the tutorial is done well be returned to Earth in the very moment that we left. Thats not possible! he insisted. This cant be realno-one can freeze time! Okay, Ashtoreth said, unsure of what to say. But, um, actually, the same thing that filled your mind with video game menus and teleported you to hell after turning you into a vampire can definitely freeze time. She gestured vaguely. You kind of just have to take the whole bag, here. Frosts face seemed to grow desperate. This cant be happening, he said. Okay, Ashtoreth said. But actually yeah, though. An awkward pause hung in the air between them for a moment, and then she spoke again. Listen: come with me. Well beat the tutorial together, then help stop Hells invasion of Earth! Frosts eyes hardened. Youre one of them. Youve noticed, Dazel said dryly. Sharp eyes on that one. Shush, you, Ashtoreth hissed. She looked back at Frost. Im not like the other archfiends! she said. But now were just talking in circles. Okay then, Sir Frost said. Tell me: whyd you turn against your own kind? he asked. Well, she said. To prepare for an invasion, Hell takes a whole bunch of devils, demons, and fiendsfiends are hybrids of the first twoand has us spend our whole lives training. We also study the culture of the place were invading so that we can think like our enemies for the purpose of destroying them. And with Earth, that was easy: humans have the internet, and television, and books. We just got unlimited access to all of those. In retrospect, Dazel added. It might not have been the best approach. Ashtoreth ignored him, carrying on: But the more I did my invasion research, the more I realized that I wanted to protect Earth, not invade it! Humans have fun! And not just sadistic funthey have birthday parties and new years parties and baby showers! They go to the cinema and the mall and the arcade! They eat ice cream and bubble gum and peanut buttersometimes even peanut butter with chocolate! They watch unboxings and movie trailers and video essays! And they have memes! O such memes as my heart has longed for since I was just a little girl! As she spoke, her voice became exuberant then began to fray, grow more desperate. And were going to take it all, she said. Were just going to turn it into more Hell. Infernals and slaves, everywhere. The only thing to eat will be the flesh of the unworthy and the only thing to watch will be their suffering. Frost regarded her for a while before speaking. Youre crazy, arent you? Definitely, said Dazel. Just a little! Ashtoreth said defensively. Frost considered her. Briefly, he closed his eyes and hung his head. If I shoot you, it wont hurt you at all, will it? Well, your gun isnt loaded, Ashtoreth said. So no. But even if you did. She tried to look apologetic. I dont have a choice, do I? asked Frost. If I dont trust you, Im not going to get back to Earth. Probably not, she said. I dont think most of the humans who landed here are doing too well, to be honest. Slowly, he lowered the weapon. You really did think that you were doing me a favor when you shot me. It was more a resigned realization than a question. I was! I was. Dont do me any more favors without asking first. Ashtoreth grinned. Sure thing, Sir Frost! Frost lowered his weapon, then warily approached, seemingly waiting for Ashtoreth to spring an attack. When none came, he said: Okay then. Weve spent enough time herewe should get moving and look for survivors. Right! said Ashtoreth, overjoyed to have made contact withand recruitedher very first human. We should start looking for a way outside this complex, since thats probably what any survivors are doing. Itll be easier to spot distant humans from out in the open, anyway. Frost considered this, then nodded. There were some stairs leading upward back that way, he said. They set out in the direction hed indicated. So just to get this straight, Dazel said, falling in behind them. She killed you so that you could become an undead? Took advantage of the old interstitial soul state loophole? Frost looked down at the talking cat with a tired expression. Hes my familiar, Ashtoreth explained. So far, hes pretty useless. His names Dazel. Frost took this in, his expression not changing. Right. Great. Well, Dazelyes. She shot me. Okay, said Ashtoreth. To be fair, I did shoot him. But it wasnt murderit was, I dont know, whatever you call it when you suicide someone else, but so murder, Dazel said. No, you didnt let me finish! Its murder, though, Dazel said. I only killed him a little bit! she protested. You said it yourself: since his soul was in a transitional space when the system came, its only technically death. So you murdered him, but with unusual consequences. How about: surprisicide. Officer Frost looked over. It was murder. Okay okay, said Ashtoreth. But what about: friendicide. Listen, kid, Frost said. If Ive got all this right, a whole lot of people are dying right now because of your kind, and the only reason Im in this placewhich is Hellis because of you. Right now, people are being hunted like animals. The whole world has changed forever, and for the worse. Frost shook his head. Now as far as I know, you havent lied to me once. So if you say youre going to help people, Ill go along with you. His jaw stiffened, and his eyes hardened as he looked at her. But make no mistake: we are not friends. Im not even sure you really know that even means. Before she could answer, he had turned away and proceeded down the hallway. Okay, okay, said Ashtoreth, falling in behind him. So we wont call it friendicide. She smiled. She wouldnt let this deter herthey just needed to get to know each other. Quietly, she added: Yet. 16: Perhaps its Weakness is Being Stabbed in its Vital Organs and Completely Engulfed in Hellfire! The hellhound squealed as its flesh sizzled, the smell of it filling the hallway. {You gain and absorb 1 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} How come you didnt shoot it? Ashtoreth asked Frost, moving forward toward the corpse. It was the first demon theyd fought together, though shed done all the fighting: theyd turned a corner, it had charged, and shed roasted it in short order. I you lit it on fire. My firebolt is slower than your bullets, she said. Hes still addled because of the apocalypse, said Dazel. Honestly, Im surprised he got this far, even. His reaction time is awful. Just awful. Hmm, Ashtoreth said. She used her [Consume Heart] to tear the hounds heart out, rolling the smoking carcass over to do so. As the organ zoomed into her hand, Frost gave a start. What the hell was that? What? Ashtoreth asked. I eat hearts. I keep them in this nifty little bag I made. She tucked the heart away and patted the bag with a squish. Frost just looked at her with widening eyes. What? she asked. You dont exactly look like you belong in the Christmas pageant either, Officer Vampire. Now come on, we should walk side by side so that when you do fire your weapon, you dont hit me in the back. It would be very unfortunate if that happened, added Dazel. Say, Ashtoreth asked. How close are you to your second aspect? Hm? Frost asked. I have it. Im working on the third. Really? she asked. Your first is [Armament], right? Yes, he said. How did you know? She looked meaningfully down at the shotgun. It was that or your gun is a magic weapon that regenerates ammo. Your starter weapon was that sword, Im guessing. It was, he said. He looked down at the shotgun. This suits me better. I guess you know a bit about guns and Christmas because you used the internet? Oh, no. Ashtoreth said, letting out a little laugh. Humans think of all sorts of things that infernals never have, but harnessing the power of explosions to kill people by excavating their skulls with projectiles launched out of metal tubes wasnt one of them. Infernals probably invented those before we came up with cutlery. Right. I love guns! she declared happily. Have ever since I was a kid! My first gun wasoh! A big one! {Vivinsect Level 8} They had turned a corner to see a massive horned beetle filling the double-wide corridor and guarding a set of stairs that led up into a brighter, outdoor light. Its carapace glowed with red markings, and a red orb of light floated in the air just above its jagged horn. Her firebolt struck it a moment later, and a moment after that she heard the roar of Frosts shotgun. The beetle shuddered a little as each attack hit itand then it began charging toward them as the light above its horn grew brighter and brighter. Frost kept firing his shotgun. Ashtoreth pushed Luftschloss, hurling it through the air toward the demon. They had just rounded a corner, and the counterforce immediately sent her back into the wall behind her, where she planted her feet and braced herself as the weapon sped through along the hallway. The massive sword pierced the beetles armor and sunk three feet deep into the flesh beside its shoulder. Cease fire! she cried, pulling on the sword to tug herself off of the wall and into the hallway, sprinting with unnatural speed as the beetle was momentarily tugged off-balance by the sword that was pulling its master toward it. She reached the beetle just as the orb above its horn flared and sent a conical burst of frayed red energy toward her. She leapt into the air, and at the same time she stopped pulling on her sword and began to push against it instead, the counterforce slowing her charge and pushing her up against the ceiling so that she avoided the attack spell as she slid to a halt, planted her knees, and continued pushing down on the blade, using the counterforce to keep herself pressed to the ceiling. Her greatsword tore its way through the beetles body below her. The demon squealed as the blade ripped out of its bottom side to clatter against the ground below. Ashtoreth ceased pushing on it, kicking off the ceiling to turn in the air and then land on the beetles back, lean forward, and start spending all of her [Bloodfire] to pour hellfire into the gap in its armor while it thrashed beneath her. Very soon it stopped moving.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. {You gain 1 [Vivinsect Core]; Tier 1} She spent a while tearing its heart out through the wound that Luftschloss had made, then squeezed the cantaloupe-sized organ into her heart bag. Frost came up to stand beside her, staring at the dead beetle. Youve been training to fight since you were a child, he observed. I mean, you told me that. Uh-huh! Do all of you? Infernals, I mean? Not all, said Ashtoreth. But the invaders do. I see, he said. Then he added: Look, since were on the same side, I should cast my buff spells on you, right? Uh-huh! Let me have it! Right, Frost said. He raised a hand, gathering a silver light in his palm. Wait! Dazel cried. Ashtoreth screamed as a steady, vibrating pain shot through her entire body, echoing up to the tips of her ears and digging into the roots of her teeth, scraping against the inside of her eyes and searing the underside of her skin. A moment later the pain was gone. Oh, said Frost. Shit. I didnt meant to do that. Ashtoreth stood from where shed fallen to her knees and rounded on him. Your buff spell was bless? You took the [Sacred] aspect second, didnt you? Were in Hell, he said. It seemed like a good idea! Really? Ashtoreth asked. And why was that, pray tell? II figured demons are He blanched. Right. Sorry. I suppose I should have realized that wouldnt have gone well. Ashtoreth deflated a little, groaning. Sorry, she said. I shouldnt have snapped at you. You were just trying to help. No, said Frost. Look, Im the one who should be sorry. I should have realized. Its fine, she said. Unless you did it on purpose to test and see if you could momentarily disable me if need be, in which caseyou could have just asked. Mentally, she made a note to the system that she didnt want to accept his buff spells anymore. It wouldnt keep him from casting them on her, but hed at least have to to go through her defenses, first. Uh. Come on, she said. I see light at the top of that stairwayit might lead outside. Right, he said, falling in step behind her. Soon the emerged onto a stone landing and had a chance to take in the world outside the ruined labyrinth. The lava lake that theyd seen before stretched out to their right, the terrain rising up steeply around it on all sides. The fortress made of tall, curving towers of black iron floated high above the center of the lake, one distantly visible bridge extending away from it until it was obscured by an omnipresent haze. A forest began to their left, one made of unnaturally black trees whose bark shone like they were made of obsidian and whose leaves were red as blood. The roots of the trees jutted out above the ground, creating a tangle of thin, grasping limbs. A dull, reddish light was cast over everything, giving it all a dusky glow. A bright red moon shone through the haze in the air like an angry eye glowering down at them. It was the only feature of the sky that was visible: the haze was everywhere, making it seem as if they were inside some impossibly vast, dimly-lit cavern. Almost as soon as they stepped outside, they heard a loud smash behind them and the ground shuddered. Ashtoreth spun to see that a horizontal black metal door had slammed shut over the opening to the stairway. They heard the a distant, blaring sound. Ashtoreth turned to find the sounds source, and saw a horseman blowing a horn from where his mount stood on a hilltop overlooking the red forest. They was too far away to identify, and the haze made them a silhouette. Other shadows moved at their feet, and Ashtoreth only realized what they were when she heard the baying of dogs join the sound of the horn. Im thinking thats a boss, she said. And thats bad? Frost asked. Ashtoreth let out a small, single-note laugh. Let me solo him. Not a chance, said Frost. Uh, look, said Dazel. You probably should just let her solo him. I know I said we werent friends, said Frost. But Im not letting you fight alone. Dazel let out a derisive laugh. Lookyou want to help! I get it. He paused, then added: Actually, I dont, but thats beside the point. Just let her solo him. Ashtoreths eyes were on the oncoming hounds. Just stay safe. You can join me once youve got your class. Youre just a kid, said Frost. I wont Ugh, just stop, Dazel said. He moved out in front of Frost, then sat and crossed his forepaws. Shes a better fighter, and you dont have a class yet. So hang back. Hide and wait for a fight you can contribute to. Frost looked down at him coolly. And thats what you do, is it? I skip the second part. But yes. Frost looked out into the forest as the sound of the hounds grew closer. Youre gonna fight all that alone? With your gigantic sword? Listen, Ashtoreth said, stepping forward. Maybe it seems ridiculous to you, but Ive been training for combat since before I could walk. And Ive fused dozens of different combat arts into my own personal, highly effective style that combines martial and magical combat while striking a perfect balance between creative improvisation and well-honed technique. You may know jiu-jitsu I dont. But my style is something deeper, Ashtoreth said, her eyes focused on the forest. Something more. She planted her greatsword in the ground, then moved out to stand in front of it and looked back at Frost. Your language is too limited to fully describe the arts that I bring into battle, she said. But I can try. Uh O-kay, Frost said, eying her like she was mad. She reached down and scooped Dazel up off the ground. Hey! he protested. What are you doing? She looked from the cat to Frost. Then she answered both Frosts curious glance and Dazels outright question. Weaboo fightan magick, she said. Thats what Im doing. The she leapt toward the huntsman and pushed against Luftschloss, catapulting herself and Dazel high, high into the air on an arc toward their foe. 17: The Noble Art of Weaboo Fightan Magick Ashtoreth cried out in joy as the warm outdoor air rushed by her face. Dazel clung to her arms, his claws digging into them. I hate you! he cried. She flared her wings and released Dazel as they passed the treeline of the forest, letting him leap from her arms before she rolled to a halt in the underbrush. Heywait! Dazel said, immediately leaping to up onto her back and perch on her wings, his paws around her neck. Im not taking my chances down there! In the woods ahead of them, Ashtoreth could hear a chorus of howling dogs. Makes sense, she said. She took off at a run toward where shed seen the boss. She also dismissed her weapon, choosing not to have it burst into flame just in case Sir Frost was still standing near it. Why did you kidnap me? Dazel said as she pushed her way through the underbrush. You dont need to me fight this guy! No, thought Ashtoreth. But I dont want to leave you alone with the human. Theres no telling what sort of thoughts you might put in his head. Youre my familiar! she said. Were supposed to fight togethercome on, itll be exciting! She broke through a patch of underbrush to see a hound hurtling toward her, then leapt to one side as it lunged, conjuring Luftschloss once more. Another hound followed the first, and she hurled a bolt of hellfire at it, batting it out of the way with one hand while it was distracting by the spell. Then she spun, sword fully formed, and cut the first hound in two as it lunged for her, spinning to turn the motion of her slash into a thrust that impaled the second, burning hellhound. She yanked her blade free and whirled to see the boss astride his hellish steed just ahead of her on a path that had been beaten out of the underbrush. Hounds were appearing from the bushes behind him, filling the space around his steeds hooves. {Huntsman of the Wood Level 13 Boss} Well its a good thing you brought me anyway, Dazel said dryly. Because I think I know this guys weakness. You do? Yeah, said Dazel. Its that we trap him back within the metal album cover from whence he came. Not helpful, she said, gripping her sword more tightly. The huntsmans horse reared and breathed out tongues of flame as the demonic hounds snarled and growled. The red leaves of the forest filtered the light of the moon above, making the world seem as if it was being seen through a window of red stained glass. I definitely see it, though, she added. Human swine! he boomed, voice echoing from beneath his helmets visor. Foolishly you challenge me beneath these profane boughs! Actually It matters not what you were on your old world, whether beggar or king. Here you are naught but prey! Very unlikely, but For my hounds hunger, and the night He froze. Wait. Yeah, Ashtoreth said consolingly. The dark figure seemed to pause. Then he lifted his visor, peering at her with slitted yellow eyes. What is the meaning of this? Im not human, Ashtoreth said. Also, since you called me a swine: Im not porcine, either. Im actually capric on my mothers side, sort of a funny His visor clanged down, interrupting her. Kinswoman, he boomed. This forest is mine.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A thought occurred to Asthoreth. If she could get him to leave her be, shed have a little time to prepare. The forest around them did look particularly flammable. Okay, great! she said. No need to tell me twice! Actually, I think I saw a festering bog back there where I can go and be my most authentically evil self. Good uh, good hunting! He gave a disdainful snort. You mistake me, kinswoman. Even if you could pay me recompense for the hounds you slew, your very presence here still makes you nothing but prey to be chased. Dang, Dazel muttered in her ear. And he looked so reasonable. Ashtoreth sighed and unshouldered her massive sword. It made a dull thud in the dirt beneath her feet. Chase me? she asked. Dont I have to run for that? Attack, the huntsman commanded. His hounds surged forward and he watched from the saddle, surrounding Ashtoreth quickly. From where he was perched on her back, Dazel whispered: Kill the dogs first. Ashtoreths eyes darted left and right at the circling dogs, none of which had lunged forward to attack yet. She experimentally moved from side to side, watching the circle of hounds move away from her each time. She saw him drawing his bow from his saddle and knew what he meant to do. Her movements needed to be perfect. Otherwise, when she blocked the arrow, the hounds would use the distraction to bring her down. The arrow flew, and Ashtoreth surged into motion. She brought Luftschloss up across its path in a wide swing, blocking the arrow with a shower of sparks. She let the massive weight of her sword carry the momentum of the swing through, spinning and laying about her with the bladeand at the same, conjuring a wall of hellfire to surround her. She felt the blade connect with one hound, then two more that had lunged at her back, shearing into their flesh and knocking them away. A hound got past her blade and bit into her ankle, but let go when the flames engulfed it. She took one hand of her greatsword and wrenched a heart out of one of the hounds shed cut down with her sword, then consumed it while the rest of them circled her. She healed the small wound in her leg, and she looked past the pack of hounds at the huntmaster. He was nocking his bow again. She readied her sword. Kill! he commanded. He let his arrow fly, but now all of the hounds surged forward at once, heedless of the danger posed by her blade. She whirled and cut a few of them from the air, then felt teeth biting into her body everywhere as the hounds dragged her to the ground. She waited just a moment as the hounds piled on. Her [Defense] and regeneration could help her to survive until they were all over her. Then she made use of her class ability and ignited her sword, bursting it to engulf herself and the dogpile above her with violet fire. The whimpering, pained howls of the hounds filled her ears as she spent conjured even more flames with her [Hellfire] ability, searing away their fur and the flesh beneath it. Many of the hounds fell dead, burning heaps of flesh that had been stripped of skin and fur. The rest scrambled away from her, giving her the chance to leap free of the pile while simultaneously tearing a heart from one of the fallen hounds into her hand. She saw the huntsman a moment later, riding his hellsteed through her flames and brandishing a jagged black greataxe. With one hand she consumed the heart shed taken, and with the other she conjured her sword again, not just spending [Bloodfire] but drawing all of the nearby flames into the shape of the blade before it solidified just in time for her to block the huntsmans downward axe-stroke. The force of his blow sent her reeling backward, almost causing her to lose her balance. She knew immediately that he was too strong to fight head-to-head in melee. She looked at his horse. Buck! she commanded. Nothing happened. The command had been fully resisted. Laughter boomed out from within the huntsmans helmet as he raised his axe and brought it down again. Ashtoreths sword came up to catch the strike, but this time his attack was even more powerful: to keep from being knocked on her back, she rolled backward to absorb some of the force of the blow. Coming out of her roll, she saw him above her already, bringing his axe down again. She brought her sword up, bracing it with one hand against the flat of the blade. His axe struck with explosive power, sending her to one knee. It was a massive weapon, but he wielded it like it was a toy, smashing blow after blow into her blade, sending her reeling and forcing her to make an hasty, stumbling retreat. It was clear that she couldnt fight him head-to-head. He was stronger than she was, so much so that she couldnt even properly defend herself, let alone make any openings to strike him with. She leapt aside as he brought the axe down an overhead chop, then threw a bolt of hellfire at him and watched, in dismay, as it splashed harmlessly off his armor. She groaned. Clearly, hed stacked [Defense]. He was barely hurt by her hellfire, too strong to fight in melee, and she couldnt even command his horse. Shed have to get fancy. 18: Some Fiends Just Want to Watch the World Burn, Unsurprisingly The huntsman spurred his horse forward and brought his massive axe down in a sweeping arc. Ashtoreth leapt back to avoid the greataxe. Then, as he came forward to unleash another hail of blows, she dropped her weapon, dove forward, then leapt into the air and pushed against it, pressing the sword into the dirt and simultaneously catapulting herself through the air and toward the heap of dead dogs. The huntsmans horse reared, but as it turned toward her, Ashtoreth broke her sword, causing both horse and rider to be engulfed by a sudden burst of violet hellfire that set the surrounding foliage, along with a nearby tree, ablaze. Again, she saw that the huntsman and his horse were seemingly completely unharmed by the flames. Somehow, they had even higher profane resistance than she did. She conjured her sword again as she ripped a heart free of one of the burning dogs and consumed it. The huntsman rode clear of her violet flames. Ashtoreth waited, trying to time her throw perfectly, then launched her newly-conjured sword at him, throwing herself backward in the process. Her blade missed the huntsman, flying past him to bury itself into a tree even as the counterforce sent her backward through the air to land with her feet planted against the trunk of another tree herself. She snarled, bursting her sword once again to engulf the distant tree in hellfire and set its trunk and branches alight. She leapt off the side of the tree, dropping down to land amidst its roots as the huntsman changed the course of his charge. Then she reached out and tore another heart from one of the dogs, conjuring her sword once again. The huntsman reached her riding full tilt, swinging his axe at her from horseback as he rode past, the blow surely strong enough to slam her backward and into the ground. Instead of raising the sword to block him, she thrust it into the ground at an angle and pushed off it, leaping far into the air and over the pile of dead hounds. She burst her sword once again as the huntsman''s axe passed through the air where shed been, again bathing him and the forest around him in a harmless plume of violet fire. She struck the ground, rolled to her feet, then turned as she tore free a new heart and conjured her sword again. The huntsmans horse reared in the midst of Ashstoreths violet fire, and the huntsman laughed as the tree next to him crackled with violet flames. You cant hurt me, can you, little archfiend? he boomed. You cant even hurt my steed. Ashtoreths feet moved across the battlefield, her eyes never leaving the huntsman. She needed him to think he had her, to let his guard down. But you cant hurt me either, she called out. Not without catching me first. The huntsman laughed. If I have to do this for an hour before your power runs dry, so be it. I enjoy the thrill of the chase. he said. His turned his horse and began to gallup toward her. Again she threw her sword, at him, sending her backward to land feet-first against the trunk of tree behind her. Again, the sword missed the huntsman, burying itself in another nearby tree before she burst it to conjure it in her hand. But she wasnt done repeating herself. As the huntsman closed in on her, axe raised, she planted her sword and leapt over him, landing near the pile of burning hounds to consume another heart. Once more she burst the sword and left him unharmed as the tree nearby was engulfed in a plume of fire.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. But this time, she conjured her weapon and charged. The huntsman cocked his head, then spurred his horse onward. He raised his massive axe for another mighty blow. Ashtoreth had judged the distance wellthey met each other at the center of the ring of burning trees shed created as she dodged and harmlessly attacked him. And because her horns acted as a casting focus, she could draw flames into her sword at a high enough range to draw from the whole of the forest around her. She sucked the fire from the trees around her, drawing the flames through the air and into her sword just as she and her enemy came together. She used her [Mighty Blow].... The huntsman''s axe met her sword with a crash like thunder, but now her strike was so forceful that she almost knocked his weapon clean from his hands, his horse staggering from the force of her blow. Ashtoreth was already rolling and drawing more fire into the sword as the huntsman let out a shocked cry and recovered, pivoting his steed toward her. He turned and got his bearings just as she finished bringing the sword through a tremendous overhand arc, using another [Mighty Blow] as she brought it down. Her sword struck the huntsmans steed, shearing through its armor and burying itself halfway into the horses neck. The horse fell to its knees, and the huntsman let out a cry of surprise and brought his axe down toward her. She leapt back and pushed against Luftschloss, toppling the horse as the counterforce pushed her clear out of the path of the huntsmans blow, flipping back through the air to land clear of the huntsman and closer to the remaining two burning trees before bursting her sword and conjuring it again as she rushed forward. The huntsman got clear of his falling horse with surprising agility, rolling free of the saddle and coming to his feet to move toward her. Ashtoreth charged, more fire flowing away from the burning forest and into her sword. She planted her feet and thrusting forward with all her momentum, extending herself to the fullest and using another [Mighty Blow] as the huntsman brought his axe up to parry the thrust. But her blade was too heavy. His axe couldnt push it away fast enough, not through the power of her [Mighty Blow]. She drove her sword-point hard into his shoulder, crumpling the metal of his pauldron and knocking him flat onto his back as the forest filled with the sound of breaking metal. She sucked more fire into the sword, enough so that the whole glade became nothing but charred trees that glowed with violet embers, then brandished the weapon and watched the huntsman carefully, timing her blow. He pushed himself to his feet, staggering forward. She watched as he unsteadily raised his axe, found the weakness in his stance, his bearing, and delivered another [Mighty Blow] that caught him in the leg and sheared it off at the knee, the strike so forceful that it sent him spinning to the ground. A hollow howl of pain came from beneath his visor, and as he fell, she let go of her sword, rushing forward to grab the haft of his axe and jerk it free from his weakened grip in a moment of surprise. She tossed the axe away, then grabbed the hilt of her greatsword again and loomed over him. Wait! said the huntsman. He lifted the visor on his helmet. Wait! I submit! You have bested me; I will serve you, O archfiend, untilno! Ashtoreth had no more hellfire to consume, so while he spoke she funneled all of her [Bloodfire] into her weapon, then raised it. The huntsman protested as he raised his arm to shield his face from her final [Might Blow], and her blade obliterated his hand, then clove off his head and left his neck a charred, smoking lump before burying itself into the dirt beneath him. {You gain [Huntsman of the Wood Core]; Tier 1 Boss} {You gain [Hellsteed Core]; Tier 1} Asthoreth let out a relieved and satisfied sigh. I feel that took forever, she said. Then she looked at the scorched trees around her. Are you still here, Dazel? If hed been ripped apart in the fray, she was going to need to summon him again. 19: The Greatest Thing About Destroying my Enemies is All This Free Stuff I Get Dazel! she called. Did you die, or just get lost somewhere? Oh, me? she heard him call, voice dripping with indignity. Im just over here cowering beneath some of these charred, stinking dog corpses. You know; just Ashtoreths familiar things. Boss is dead, Ashtoreth announced. You can come out. She saw one of the burning hound carcasses shift a bit, and a moment later Dazel appeared and padded his way over, glaring at her the whole time. Look, she said. Sorry about willfully getting dogpiled by hellhounds while you were on my back. It was a good plan, though. I got pretty much all of them and then scared the rest off. I smell like a burning hellhound, Dazel said accusingly. So do hellhounds, Ashtoreth said. Get past it. Youre the one who said to kill the dogs first. Kill the dogs and try to have so many dogs attacking you that your overall bodily surface area isnt sufficient to accommodate them are different things, boss. Very different things. Uh-huh! she chirped. And Id say the fact that I paired them both so well together really shows a lot of creativity. Dazel moaned. Im useless, he said. You could have just let me hide and cower like I wanted. Why did you have to bring me along? One second, Ashtoreth said, reaching out a hand to tear the bosss heart out. She watched as his breastplate opened up, metal peeling away to make a big enough hole for his heart. Evidently even metal armor was no barrier to her [Consume Heart] ability. She ate it with a quick squish and took a look at the benefits: {You gain a [Devoured Flesh] buff: +18 DEX | +45 STR | +35 VIT | +48 PSY | +58 DEF} {You gain a [Connoisseur] buff: + 23 Death Resistance | + 23 Fire Resistance | + 23 Shadow Resistance | + 23 Profane Resistance | + 16 Frost Resistance | + 16 Lightning Resistance | + 16 Physical Resistance | + 16 Poison Resistance} Well, would you look at that! Ashtoreth said, beaming. I guess he had good [PSY] to help command the hounds, she said. Mad high [DEF]. She looked down at the smoking, headless corpse on the ground, a hole in its chest where its heart had been torn out. Which I really appreciate, by the way. The buff from [Devour Flesh] would overlap, not stack. She brought hers up to check on it: {Your [Devoured Flesh] buff: +18 DEX | +65 STR | +44 VIT | +3 MAG | +48 PSY | +58 DEF} Lookin pretty good, she said. Still, her only increase to the magic stat was still from the human heart shed consumed, and her dexterity bonus was comparatively low. Just need to fight an uncharacteristically agile wizard. There were still some burning bushes and even one tree, so she absorbed the hellfire on each of them before going to find Frost. Do you really need to do that? Dazel asked, watching her suck up the flames. Surely eating that bosss heart gave you all the [Mana] you need. Its a pretty forest, she said. I dont want to burn it down if I dont need to. Plus, who knows what kind of attention a forest of hellfire will attract. I cant imagine itll bring the humans to us, which is the goal. Also, I have [Bloodfire], not [Mana]. Right. Shed give him the cores he needed to get his third aspect or at least, shed give him the hellsteed and hellhound cores, which would hopefully do it. For now, shed most certainly earned herself a treat: {You absorb [Boss Core: Diabolic Huntsman]} {Ding! Ding! Ding! You gain 3 levels. You are now level 5.} {You gain 33 DEX, 33 STR, 45 VIT, 39 MAG, 21 PSY, 21 DEF} {Reaching level 3 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} Ding! Level 5! Congratulations, Dazel said tonelessly. She couldnt advance the same progression path twice in a row, so she had to choose between [Drain] and [Hellfire]. Shed seen the [Hellfire] options when shed gotten an upgrade by taking the aspect, so she decided to look at the [Drain] ones. Drain, please! {Choose an advancement to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. Upgrade [Devour Flesh] with [Satiated]: Buffs from [Devour Flesh] last 18 hours, not 12, and no longer fade in intensity before they expire. Gain the [Energy Drain] ability: Spent a low amount of [Bloodfire] when you touch an enemy or strike them with a wielded weapon to drain a small amount of each of their stats and restore your [Bloodfire]. The debuff from [Energy Drain] stacks.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Undead are immune to [Energy Drain]. Well would you look at that, Ashtoreth said. As with before, upgrades that had appeared in her racial progression and been retained had shown up in her aspect progression as well. But more importantly, there was a new ability available. [Energy Drain] was the obvious choice as far as she was concerned, as it would help her outlast and exhaust anything she couldnt kill quickly. The real question was: did she retain [Satiated] and hope to take it later? It wouldnt be useful until the end of the day, when she went to sleep. At that point it would help her preserve at least some of her buffs until morning. She frowned. After all, shed retained [Blood Memory] because it looked incredibly powerful, but it also didnt seem to have any immediate use. If she kept retaining them both, shed only have one new [Drain] advancement available every time she leveled. But the more she thought about this, the more she didnt mind: she had other paths to level, after all. And they were both fairly strong advancements. She retained both, then took [Energy Drain]. {Gained [Energy Drain] ability.} {Reaching level 4 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Drain].} No secret that my sword is doing most of the heavy lifting, she said, mouth curling into a smile. Armament, please! {Choose an advancement to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis]: You can telekinetically move Luftschloss in any direction while it is close to your body (within three meters). This telekinesis does not apply any counterforce. The maximum force you are able to apply to the blade depends on your MAG and PSY stats. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder]: While Luftschloss is conjured, you gain a 25% bonus to your base STR. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Strike]: You can spend a very high amount of [Bloodfire] to launch Luftschloss at incredibly high speed using your [Luftschloss: Counterforce Telekinesis] upgrade. Ashtoreth regarded the new arrival with some curiosity. She could already launch her blade hard enough to bury it in a stone wall. Just how fast was the incredibly high speed the system was referring to? And how fast would the counterforce throw her backward when she used it? Catapulting a sharpened slab of steel into an enemy had a certain appeal to it, but did she have the [Defense] to survive being thrown backward when she did? It looked neat, so she chose to retain it along with the other two. {Gained [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis] upgrade for your [Conjure Luftschloss] ability} {Reaching level 5 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} The new upgrade would help her swing her sword around much faster and more precisely. Once she had [Mighty Wielder], shed be a force to be reckoned with. Hellfire, if you please! she said to the system, grinning. {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Efficiency I]: The cost of conjuring hellfire is reduced by 20%. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Aura]: Creatures in close proximity to your hellfire are affected by any auras you possess. Gain a beneficial aura that renders allies immune to damage from your hellfire. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Consumption]: You may choose to have your hellfire ignite fallen enemies, converting their blood and flesh to hellfire. The amount of hellfire created is the determined by how much [Bloodfire] you would have gained if you had consumed their heart. Oh, wow, Ashtoreth said. Maybe I shouldnt be keeping so many of these if the new options are so nice. [Hellfire Consumption] could not only be used offensively, but could streamline the process of converting dead enemies into [Bloodfire]. After all, it was easier for her to absorb the flames then it was to tear out a heart, catch it, and then consume it through her palm. She couldnt carry hellfire in a makeshift bag, however. But she was with Sir Frost, now, and she wanted him to stay alive. Standing in a pool of her hellfire would certainly protect him from many enemiesand he did have a ranged weapon. Plus, he had no fire resistance to speak of: at present, he probably had to stay further back from her flames than other infernals. There was also the hope that taking [Hellfire Aura] would lead to more aura abilities appearing in any given path. She knew she was due for some when she got her racial advancement, after all. And which abilities the system offered you were partly based on your pre-existing abilities and class. If shed had the ability to consume the dogs in the fight with the huntsman earlier, she probably could have ignited all of them and set the entire forest on fire, then finished the fight right then. Her ability to convert hellfire into [Bloodfire] would let her reave through groups with ease. And she was trying to snowball, after all. She could come back and get the defensive skill later. She took [Hellfire Consumption] and retained the others. {Gained [Hellfire Consumption] upgrade for your [Hellfire] ability} Thanks! Asthoreth said. Do you really say please and thank you to the system? Dazel asked, coming to sit near her feet. The system is a universal entity of order that can bestow godlike power and control time, Ashtoreth said. If youre ever going to be polite in your life, it should probably be to the system. Did you find the boss chest? Id love to tell you that its in the pile of scorched dogs, said Dazel. But its not. So you didnt find it? she said, looking around. Oh I found it. He pointed. Its over there, sitting on a rock between those two trees. Its just that its free of the stink, is all. Good, she said, moving for where she could see the flat top of the black iron chest through the foliage. I dont know why thats disappointing, Im sure I also smell like burning dog. They were all over me. Yeah, I suppose. Do you want me to go find Frost and bring him here? I dont think we should leave him on his own for long. You dont want to see what we get? she asked. You have to stay and see what we got. Also, she thought, glancing down at the cat, I dont want to leave you alone with the human. Theres no telling what youll tell him. Dazel only sighed. The chest clicked open at her touch, and she leaned forward in anticipation as the lid popped up. She knew that her diadem would be insidehad to be inside. But it was 88% complete after a different boss. Didnt that mean there would be something else, too? Inside the chest, resting on a folded rectangle of felt, were two pieces of jewelry and a snazzy new accesory. Her mouth fell open as she saw each item. Theyre beautiful! she cried. 20: My Favorite Kind of Jewelry is the Kind That Holds the Still-Warm Hearts of my Enemies Ashtoreth looked down at a delicately crafted silver locket that was set with a ruby and hung upon a thin chain: {Ashtoreths Heart-Shaped Locket} This locket can store up to 3 hearts that youve torn from slain enemies in an extradimensional space. Hearts contained within the locket dont lose freshness. You may only store hearts that you are able to consume. Oh its perfect, she said, raising it up and admiring how it glittered in the light of the bloodied moon. She thrust it out to Dazel. Look! Uh-huh, Dazel said. He climbed into the chest, then eyed the diadem still resting on a piece of felt. Did you read it? You look like you didnt read it. It stores hearts. Oh, you did. Sorry! Im guessing that when it says it wont store hearts that have lost their freshness, it means I cant store hearts that wont restore [Bloodfire] because their owner died more than an hour ago. She paused in thought, then added: Technically I can still consume those, though. But by eating them. And for no bonus. Hearts are too bloody and stringy for my taste, Dazel said absent-mindedly. Im more of a belly-fat fellow. Two articles remained in the chest before her: the diadem that had been confiscated when shed arrived and something else new. It was a non-magical bag, and thus couldnt be identified. As she lifted it out of the chest, she saw that it was more like a thick messenger bag than a purse. It was white leather, and had a red heard emblazoned on the front. Oh, Dazel, look! she said, flipping open its flap. It has compartments for storage! And a sweet little heart on the front too. And I daresay it looks quite fetching. She spun and let her momentum lift the satchel out and away from her. If only I had a mirror I could get a better look. So its not even enchanted? he asked, peering at it. Its just a satchel for hearts? Mhmm! she said. It feels very high-quality, though, she said. She lifted the satchel to her face and gave it a sniff. Her eyes widened. It smells like elven leather! she said. She ran a hand across the front of the satchel. So supple! Well I guess you can get rid of that knotted, blood-soaked thing around your neck. Uh-huh! she said, tearing it away and then pulling her new heart satchel over one shoulder. As she transferred her remaining hearts from the sack of torn cloth into her new leather satchel, Dazel hopped up onto the rim of the chest and looked down at its last remaining item. It was the diadem that had been confiscated. It was a simple thing: a circular, crenelated band of silver studded with 36 small diamonds. He looked up from the diadem to Ashtoreth. You brought this with you? Uh-huh! You know how to weave glamours? Ashtoreth grinned. Then she picked it up, examining it: [Ashtoreths Glamourous Diadem] 100% charged. This enchanted diadem allows you to conjure glamours. Glamours make a thing seem like something else, and can deceive any of the senses to do so. The strength of this diadems glamours is extremely weak. The diadem charges by draining your [Bloodfire] while you wear it, and wont replenish charge that was spent on a glamour it is currently maintaining. The diadem was made of two halves. She undid the simple lock that connected them, then locked them back together around her head. The magic of glamours was a powerful magic indeed. Any bad situation could be paved over over with fantasy and made better. Time to choose an outfit, Ashtoreth said, looking down at her scorched and blood-soaked white robes. They were torn through in many places by teeth marks. Something human, you know? What do you think? Well, youre a betrayer of Hell. How bout a blindfold and a cigarette? Dazel, she chided. Come onwhat if I dressed like a superhero? A business woman? Even a regular woman? I could be any kind of human there is. I like uniforms, thoughmaybe a human soldier. She made a complex gesture with her hand as she drew it through the air, and suddenly she was wearing black military dress uniform that was trimmed with violet, complete with a polished white cap and pristine white gloves. That was fast. Dazel said, voice sounding uncertain. Is it too much? she asked. I dont want to seem like someone who doesnt respect the military. Maybe something more casual She moved her hand through the air again and was suddenly wearing a baseball uniform, complete with cap. It was black with violet pinstripes and had the word pride written across the shirts breast, the back, and the front of the cap. Lets try this! she said, looking down at herself. This feels good. Very human, and it shows Im a team playerat the very least, it should make any human who spots me pause in confusion long enough for me to explain that I dont want to kill them. Plus I cant feel the sticky blood anymore. Youre completely insane, said Dazel. She waved a hand dismissively, then began to jog toward the edge of the forest so that they could find Frost again. You think Sir Frost will like the diamonds? she asked. On Earth, the diamonds dont ever come perfect, I dont think. These would be pretty valuable, if not for the apocalypse.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Sure, said Dazel. Just give him a second to pull out his jewellers monocle and check, and hell be very impressed. Did you know they have blood diamonds on Earth, too? she asked, ignoring him. Its sort of a different thing, though, but you could make the argument that theyre technically the same. In Earths case, they dont directly sacrificesay, its Sir Frost! Hed appeared near the edge of the forest, jogging toward them. You stopped hiding, Ashtoreth said, trying to sound both cheerful and accusatory. There was a dragon, he said, eyes seeming wild. An actual dragon, flying over the lake. It was level 50. So you ran to us in the hopes that wed be the safer bet, Ashtoreth said. Smart! Anyway, I killed the huntsman. I was worried about you when I saw the fires in the forest light, then go out all of a sudden. He stared at her, blinked. Youre wearing Then he shook his head as if to clear it. Youre not more surprised by the dragon? It might be the tutorial boss, she said. Well find out when we kill it, I guess. That thing was massive, said Frost. It wouldnt have fit on my front lawn. How the hell is anyone supposed to fight that? Well think of something. Youre not at all surprised or worried about this? Ashtoreth frowned. You are? I mean, humans have figured out that dragons are a typical boss by now. Like the one at the end of the Hobbit. Sure, said Frost. The dragon. There was one in the Bible, too. And Beowulf, said Dazel. Also, the dragon wasnt at the end of the Hobbit. Yeah, said Frost. He dies right at the start of the third movie. Dazel groaned. Right, well, ignoring the movies for a second, the dragons not really the final boss of The Hobbit. He should be, but after they kill him everyone squabbles over the treasure. Really, greed is the true antagonist of the Hobbitrepresented by the dragon, but also as a force that all the peoples of middle earth fail to overcome once the dragon is dead. Uh, okay, said Sir Frost. Hes a knowledge spirit, said Ashtoreth, beaming proudly down at her familiar. Say, Dazel: maybe when Earth is peaceful again you can do video essaysI bet youd be great at it! What? No. What? Sorry, can we focus? said Sir Frost. There could be people in trouble even now andactually, what is going on with you now? Oh? Ashtoreth said, spinning in place. You mean my new threads, or my new frosting? Frost just stared. Frosting as in ice, Ashtoreth explained. Ice as in jewels. She paused, letting the sentence hang for a moment before adding: I have diamonds. The tiara. Its a diadem, but yes. It makes glamoursI started with my new outfit. I can do one for you too if you like. Frost blanched, seeming totally unable to process this. The baseball uniform is a glamour? Yeah, you like it? I like it. I thought a firefighters gear would have been too on the nose. You chose this, Frost said. Its the great American pastime, right? Ashtoreth said. I definitely want to be an American once we get to Earththeyre the strongest. And they have things like Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon and liberty. Anyway, the glamour masks the feeling of the robes, which were getting pretty uncomfortable. Your diamond tiara puts baseball uniforms on people. Sorry, I he put his face in his palm and rubbed his temples. Right, lets just go see if we can find some other humans, I dont know if more talking is going to help me understand this. They set out into the woods. Because Frost was looking at her like she was a crazy person, Ashtoreth added: Its not just for trivial seeming fashion choices, okay? I can use my diadem to trick anything that doesnt have true sight. Whole types of enemies will have no defense against an item whose power scales with my creativity. Okay, he said. I suppose that makes sense. Just wait a bit, she said. Give it time and Ill show you how useful itll be. It will take time, thoughit replenishes very slowly, so in a real fight using it should be a last resort. Except for the baseball uniform, which was essential. She smiled and looked away. Well, I mean, when its full it feels like a waste to not use a little bit of it. I still have plenty of charge left for combat. But its nice to wear what makes you feel good, you know? I bet your police officers uniform made you feel pretty good, huh? Uh, sure, said Frost. Anyway, we should probably move through the woods, but parallel to the lake of fire. That way well hopefully run into anyone else whos just come out of the dungeon area because we can keep sight of whats out in the open while still taking cover from your dragon. Frost thought about this, then nodded, seeming relieved to hear something that made a little sense. Sounds good, he said. Oh, and hereI have cores for you to absorb. Just touch my hand. To her chagrin, Frost seemed somewhat reluctant to touch her offered hand. But he did, and she transferred all of the cores shed gotten from the hounds along with that of the bosss horse. Hopefully that gets you to your class, she said. Then you should at least be strong enough to fight with me and not be a liability. Great, he said. Obviously, your third aspect is your choice, Ashtoreth said. But let me know if you want any pointers, okay? Id be happy to help. O-kay, said Frost. I have [Armament] and [Sacred]. The second one I took because it would be effective in Hell, and the first because it said it was versatile and could get me a gun. You know? Maybe you dont need my help. Thats some pretty sound judgement, right there. Uh, thanks, said Frost. You said the third one is my choiceis there something different about the fourth? Fourth? Ashtoreth asked. You gave me enough cores to get the third and fourth aspects, Frost said. Uh thanks, by the way. But you only said the third one is my choice. Does the fourth one get chosen for me? Theres only three aspects, Ashtoreth said, frowning. Oh, said Frost. I suppose that makes senseits a racial thing, under human. Ashtoreth looked over at him, suspicion dawning. Surely he didnt mean. Whats a racial thing? she asked. Human, he said. It says it lets me pick an extra aspect to make a class with. I should have realized you wouldnt know that, since youve never met a human beforeI saw it when we loaded in, but I wasnt really thinking clearly, then. Slowly, Ashtoreth began to laugh. What is it? Frost asked. Dazel padded quietly beside him, staring up at the police officer. You said you get four aspects? Youre sure about that? Ashtoreth was laughing so hard she was practically cackling. I guess that goes a little way to explain what hes so afraid of, she said. Who? Frost asked, looking from her to the cat. Dazel? Oh no, Ashtoreth said. Not Dazelthe King of Hell. She shrugged, then kept on walking into the woods, smiling to herself. Theres a reason that Hell is putting so much work into invading Earth, after all. Now I at least know part of it. Theres eight billion of you, right? So it figuresthe King of Hell is afraid of humans. 21: Yes, I Know that Eating Your Children is a Bad Thing. HOWEVER.... Four aspects is good, then? Frost asked, keeping pace with her. Strong? And the invasionits happening because the ruler of Hell is afraid? Hold on, said Dazel, weaving his way through the underbrush. What did you mean by afraid, Ashtoreth? I meant afraid, she said. I mean, hes got to have some reason for putting so much into this one particular invasion of this one seemingly inconsequential world. This invasion is different than others? Frost asked. Hell invades other worlds? Sure, said Ashtoreth. The system likes violence as a means of progress, and above all it likes tests. It prefers invasions as a way to integrate outer realms when they draw too close to the inner ones. It Anyway, the King of Hell is about three times more prepared for war with Earth than they ever have been for an outer realm. There are way more demons waiting in the summoning pool, and way, way more infernals were bred and kept classless for the purpose of forming the initial wave. Okay, Frost said. I have a lot of questions. Great! said Ashtoreth. Ask away. The four aspects, he said. Whats strong about them? Why does that make humanity scary? Well for one thing, its nice to be versatile. A wizard tends to have the [Spellcasting] aspect and then two other thingsthree other things instead is going to make for some pretty neat wizards, if you ask me. Youll still get the same amount of advancements as me, but your class will be based on synthesizing four aspects, not three. Some of the hybrid abilities, like my [Consume Heart], are the strongest you can find. But thats not really the whole of it. How are his stats going to work? Dazel asked. My stats? Frost asked. What should be different about my stats? Your stats per level are determined by your race and class, said Ashtoreth. My S-grade race gives a total of 40, and my C-grade class gives 24. But with class, the stats that go up are determined by your aspects. So if you get a C-grade class, will it give 32 stats on a level? Probably not, but maybe youll get an A-grade class instead of a C-grade one. She shrugged. Who knows? I suppose I should pick my last two aspects so I can find out, Frost said. Theres more, though, said Ashtoreth. See, reproducing when youre a magical species like me requires an investment in magical power. Even something like an elf, which is just an immortal with heightened senses, has to spend a lot of power to reproduce. Just an immortal, echoed Frost. Immortality isn''t that big a deal, trust me, Ashtoreth assured him. Not like an [Archfiend]. When you want to make someone like me, youve really got to spare no expense. His eyes flicked up to the sparkling diadem she was wearing. I see. Humans are a horde species. Theres no power investment to reproduction, and so theres billions of you! If they got anything at all, it should have been something useful but weak, like darksight. Or something to do with your weirdly shaped ears. Weird? Frost asked, reaching up to touch one ear. And then theres the fact that having a race that grants powers almost always narrows which aspects members of that race can choose. I was never going to get [Sacred], if you get my meaning. Okay, said Frost. So were versatile and theres a lot of us. I guess that part got echoed into your fantasy and science fiction settings too, said Ashtoreth. But I never even thought about it. Anyway, theres way more reasons to be worried about humans. I mean, have you seen all of the cool things you guys get up to without magic? For starters, you have the internet, and I mean Yeah, hold up, said Dazel. What is it? Ashtoreth said, looking around the forest to see if hed noticed something. Nothing, said Dazel. I just figured you were about to go on forever about humans and I have questions of my own. Hey! Listenwhy do you know that Hell is overprepared for this invasion in particular? What happened to operational security? The King wouldnt just tell He paused, flicked his ears, then began again. I mean, I dont think the King would be telling just anyone how much force theyre mustering for. Dazels voice faded suddenly. Then his voice grew low and suspicious: Ashtoreth, he said. Uh-huh? Why does your shirt say Pride on it? You could have noticed that when I asked you how I looked, Dazel. Ashtoreth. Dazel. Whys he asking? Frost said. What are you two talking about? Is that her favorite sin, or something? Well yeah, said Ashtoreth. But its also my clan. If youve got it, you flaunt it, right? Dazel barked out a humorless laugh. Its a little more than her clan. Its the rarest kind of infernal there is. She already told you that archfiends cant just breed willy-nilly, right? The pride clan are the ones with the most possible power funneled into their creation. Theyre also shameless eugeniciststhey kill off the under-performing children so that the bloodline can only get stronger. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Well, okay, Ashtoreth said. Its a little more than that. They dont want the rest of us getting complacent. Well never reach our full potential if we think were so valuable that our parents wont kill us! And I dont actually have my race augment, yetso in system terms, Im just a regular archfiend. But since archfiend bloodlines are all meticulously, uh, curated. To be clear, Dazel said. Shes talking about the part where they kill the children who disappoint them. They kill their children, Frost said, voice quiet. Please, for a duke or a duchess of hell? Dazel said. Eating your kids is morally average. Eating? Frost asked, looking between them. You only said killing. Let me amend that, then, said Dazel. With archfiends, one tends to go with the other. Ashtoreth put her hands on her hips. They dont always eat us. But you have to think of things from their perspective! I mean, how many times in your life do you get to eat an archfiend? And no-one else is allowed to eat us, so are they just going to let the carcass go to waste? At Frosts horrified expression, she added: Look, I know its bad that they do that, okay? Im just adding context. Anyway, Dazel continued. The rest of the archfiends get to fight over who becomes what sin theyll be for their whole lives, even though the racial upgrade is something most of them will never see. But pride? You have to be born to pride. You have to be made for it. He sighed. I should have figured you were pride. Should have figured? Why do you say that? Frost asked. Because I wrote it on my clothes three times? Ashtoreth suggested. Not that, said Dazel. He sighed. Archfiends of pride are. Were the best, Ashtoreth said matter-of-factly. ...You eat your children, said Frost. ...Okay, that too. Dazel sighed. Id say thats not helpful, but its actually fairly illustrative of what your kind is like. Oh, my kind, Ashtoreth said. As if a demon from the Pit of Sorrows has met enough of us to form opinions. So is that. She eyed her familiar sidelongshed been trying to bait him into telling her if hed met any others with her last comment, but he hadnt fallen for it. So she was left to wonder: Had he met another archfiend? Just how old was he, and what was he doing before the Pit of Sorrow? Earlier hed corrected himself in a way that had almost made it sound like he knew the King but that was too ludicrous an idea to even consider, surely. Surely. Look, I still have a lot of questions, said Frost. I dont know Hells politics, but I want to. And I want to know more about this invasion. All of this information could be important, andhold on. Bats. He pointed above them, at where a flock of giant bats with bladed, meter-long wings was passing above them, silhouettes against the blood moon. Ashtoreth and Frost both froze. Doesnt look like theyve spotted us, he whispered. Youre right, Ashtoreth said, frowning. She threw a firebolt at the crowd of bats, just grazing the one in the lead. The flock let out a series of ear-scraping screeches and turned toward them, diving. Got em! she said happily. Iyou. Frost spluttered. What? Ashtoreth asked. Youve got a sacred shotgun and shearbats arent exactly the ninjas of the sky. Just waste them and if they get close, Ill burn them out. Right, he said. Stand clear. He raised his gun and she watched as blue fire flashed from the muzzle. He repeated this five times, striking five of the bats and knocking two of them clear out of the sky. Hmm, Ashtoreth said, a little disappointed. He definitely hadnt chosen his class yet. It was clear by their incredibly grating screeches that they were certainly feeling the sacred damage, but most of the bats still remained. The cluster of bats was almost upon them, now, each of them flying close together. Get back and take cover, she told Frost. Then she fell to her knees, unshouldered her sword, aimed carefully, and launched it at the bats. The counterforce pressed her knees into the mulch at her feet, and the sword gleamed red in the light of the bloody moon as it rushed toward the flock of their enemies. The shearbats broke apart a little as the blade came, but not fast enough: sparks flew as it one of the bats in the middle, shearing through both the blade on its wing and its skull. Then Ashtoreth caused the sword to burst into hellfire, engulfing the oncoming flock in a plume of heat and flame that caused their fur to ignite. She used her new [Hellfire Consumption] upgrade to ignite the flesh and blood of the bat shed killed with her first blow, adding to the sudden cloud of flame. {You receive 8 [Shearbat Core]; Tier 1} Engulfed in violet fire, the remaining bats fell from the sky and into the forest in front of them. Not one of them survived the explosion. What the hell was that? Frost asked, shielding his eyes and turning away from the wave of intense heat. A pair of ignitions, Ashtoreth said, feeling the heat of the fire in her eyes as she stared at it and smiled. Wasnt it wonderful? Sorry if its too hottheres an aura ability I can take that will give you immunity, soon. She paused, looking out at the burning swathe of forest where there had once been a flock of shearbats. I took that ability instead. You probably understand. Uh, sure. Im gonna go put those fires out and steal some hearts, Ashtoreth said. Come on. I think I just lost my eyebrows, Frost said. Sorry! Ashtoreth said. But like I said, I didnt take the upgrade that would let me protect you because there was one that granted a bigger explosion. You get it. Soon she was absorbing the flames from the bats to fill her [Bloodfire] and store the rest within her locket. I suppose its not good if we burn the forest down, huh? Frost asked, watching her suck the last of the fire into her sword. Definitely not, Ashtoreth said matter-of-factly. Itll draw attention, there could be people in it, and I might need it later. The forest, I mean. Need it later? For what? For the dragon, she said, rolling her shoulders. She turned to Frost. Did you choose your aspects yet? No, he said. I got distracted by everything. Ill do that now. Great! she said. Ill give you three more cores so that were even, too. Here. He took the cores, and she absorbed the rest: {Absorbed 5 Shearbat Core; Tier 1} {Ding! You level up and gain 11 DEX, 11 STR, 15 VIT, 13 MAG, 7 PSY, 7 DEF} {Reaching level 6 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Hellfire].} Well hey, said Ashtoreth. What do you know. I guess the boss core put me closer than I thoughtIm level 6! Time to see what shed gotten. 22: You Say Shearbat, I Say Charred Heap of Still-Burning Flesh With a Delicious Heart Inside {Reaching level 6 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Hellfire].} Armament, please! she said, bringing up the armament advancement. {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder] While Luftschloss is conjured, you gain a 25% bonus to your base STR. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Strike]: You can spend a very high amount of [Bloodfire] to launch Luftschloss at incredibly high speed using your [Luftschloss: Counterforce Telekinesis] upgrade. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Energy Drain]: Luftschloss now affects enemies with your energy drain attack. They were all fairly good options. [Mighty Wielder] was looking better than it first had now that shed fought a boss with such high [Defense] and [Strength] that shed struggled to get through his guard and hurt him at all, but the other options were both also boss killers. The [Energy Drain] would let her whittle down stronger enemies as long as she could stay in melee, but also give her a bit of sustain against them. Still, with [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis] and her [Devoured Flesh] buff, the bonus [Strength] was pushing her to truly absurd heights for a level 6. And because [Strength] affected how fast she could throw her weapon, it was also a ranged improvement. The drain from her [Energy Drain] was good, but she had hearts to restore [Bloodfire] with, so its sustain was at least a little redundant. And if she really needed to whittle away someones stats, she could still just touch them and use the normal [Energy Drain] ability. She took [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder] and retained the other two. {You upgraded your [Conjure Luftschloss] ability with [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder]} Then she moved the sword around her, testing its weight. Still heavy, but not nearly as much as when shed started. She looked over at Frost. Hows it going, Sir Frost? Id like to take the [Protection] aspect, he said. Really, Id like it if any of these options would help us find people faster, but none of them seem to. [Protection] sounds good, Ashtoreth said, trying to be encouraging. Theres also one called [Might], he said. And if I take it, the extra [Strength] will make my shotgun stronger. But maybe that can be the next one. He frowned while reading something ahead of him. The thing is, I have abilities I cant use. Before you found me, I upgraded my race with something that lets me use sacred-type abilities on myself so that I can use my own blessings. Do you think that something like that could exist for youan ability for one of us that lets me buff you? Probably, Ashtoreth said. The system wants you to succeed. It offers abilities that work well with what you already have and tries to give you new build directions as you advance. Its rare to get dead abilities that stay dead. All right, Im taking [Protection]. His eyes looked a little glazed for a moment, and then he nodded. Ive got more stuff to take. Theres too much underbrush here for me to walk and pay attention to this at the same time. Sorry, but do you mind waiting another second? Not at all, Sir Frost! Thanks. Frost kept reading his abilities. Anything in particular I should look for? Ashtoreth shrugged. Versatility is nice, if you ask me. You should know what your strengths are and aim to patch over your weaknesses. For example, Im stacking lots of power onto my sword because its the best tool I have for solo engagements and my class makes engaging multiple enemies very easy. I saw, Frost said, looking over at the dead bats. If your gun is your only weapon, maybe build for something that you can do when its empty. But since youre partied with me and were looking for others, maybe build for more support. Right, said Frost. O-kay. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. While Frost was reading his abilities, Dazel climbed up onto a nearby branch. So. Whats up? Ashtoreth said, flashing him a smile. Who is it? Her smile faded a little. What do you mean? Your dad, obviously. Who else would I mean? You said your mother was capric, so hes got to be an archfiend of pride. Mhmm! Ashtoreth said. Say: you were listening, earlier! Yeah, sure. Thats great, Dazel! Were getting along better than I thought. Uh-huh, said Dazel. Who is it? Come on, said Ashtoreth. You dont strike me as a demon who cares much about politics. He cocked his head. Ashtoreth, the first conversation we ever had was the one where I railed against the hierarchy the entire time. Okay, sure, she conceded. But if I told you my dads name, would you even recognize it? she asked. What would it matter? Who cares? said Dazel. I was just asking. You got very defensive about it, though. Defensive? Ashtoreth said. Me? Bah! My [Defense] is my lowest stat. Along with your [Psyche]. Hey, she said, her eyes narrowing. What do you mean by that? You know, Dazel said, lying down on the branch and swinging a forepaw. Were getting sidetracked. Whos your dad? You know, for someone who cares so little, youre unbelievably pushy. Why does it matter so much? Matter? he said. He looked away. Tch. It doesnt matte. But then you got all defensiveand you know how I like to needle you. Boss. Which is pretty rude, if you ask me, said Ashtoreth. All this needling. Needles are for pincushions, not people. Sure, but whos your dad? Ashtoreth smiled. Shed already learned what shed wanted to by avoiding the questionDazel certainly did care about which connections Ashtoreth might have. Still she was having fun. Look, said Ashtoreth. What if I dont want to tell you about it because I disowned my family when I betrayed them? she asked. What if its painful to think about? Dazel was quiet for a moment. Is it, though? Im just saying, you could have thought about my feelings before you got so pushy. So its painful for you to think about? he asked. Really? Painful? she asked. This conversation is, sure. I feel like were talking in circles. Again, Dazel waited. Ashtoreth. Uh-huh? Whos your dad? Dazel, she chided playfully. Why do you care so much? They stared at each other. The bloody light of the moon, broken into fragments by the leaves above, reflected off his eyes like shards of a stained-glass window. Shed realized, and so had he, that both of them cared but wanted to pretend they didnt. Both of them had things they wanted to keep hidden. It was hardly a strange relationship for two infernals, even if Ashtoreth was trying to walk away from Hell and all its cruel games. Dazel could stay tight-lipped for a while yet. He didnt have the power to affect any change in the tutorials, though she still didnt want to leave him alone with the humans. Ashtoreth, for her part, had layered secrets that ran deepshe didnt mind feeding him a nugget of truth, here or there. Especially not this one. In fact, she was eager to see what hed do with it. Fine, he said. If you dont want to tell me, dont tell me. But you couldve just said that. Oh, Ill tell you, she said. She grinned. You just have to admit that you care. You care so much. Ugh. Fine. I care. Can we stop this stupid game, now? To get to the good one? Sure. So whos your dad? Ashtoreth tilted her head and flashed him a smile. Unlike most of her smiles, it was more befitting an archfiend. The focal point of the smile were the teeth that you used most when eating people. Oh no, Dazel said, standing and backing away. What? I dont see why it matter so much to you. Okay, you want to be companions, right? You said yourself you didnt want to lie to me, right? Ashtoreth? And? she asked innocently. Whos your dad? You know, if you added one more syllable to that question, this would sound like a very different kind of conversation. The cat began backing away and shaking his head. No no, he said. Oh no. No, no no Dazel, Ive noticed you have a tendency to be very negative. Who is your father, Ashtoreth? Ashtoreths wrapped her tail around one wrist, rested the barb in the palm of her hand, and pretended to examine it. She cast a sidelong glance at him, and noticed how the refracted light of her diadems diamonds made little stars on his fur. See, she began. The thing about dad. 23: My Dad Could Beat Up Your Dad! Oh no, Dazel said. Oh no. Nope. Theres just so much negativity. Well did you think I would be happy to learn that your father is the King of Hell?! Ashtoreth looked through the treetops, admiring the moon. Happy for me, maybe. No! said Dazel. Oh nolisten, Your Highness, I had a good thing going back in the Pit of Sorrow! Are you sure? she asked. Because it doesnt sound like the sort of place where good things go. Everything that happens above the lip of that pit is above my paygrade! Dazel said. Everything! Im not paying you, though. Sorrysome more questions, said Frost. Both of them turned to him. And not about the system. Ill, uh, start with the more obvious. He looked at Ashtoreth. Your father is Satan? No, they both said at once. Humanitys dreams only echo reality, said Ashtoreth. They dont perfectly describe it. Theres a King of Hell, but hes not quite the guy you know. He is sometimes called the Lightbringer, though. Okay, said Frost. He looked at Dazel. And he said you werent paying him. So hes your slave, or something? Again, they answered at the same time: Yes. No! This is his job! Ashtoreth said. He cant die, and while hes here he gets to acquire power, which is like being paid. I dont know why hes so upsetI mean, youre a police officer, right? ...Right, Frost said uneasily. So you dont get to quit in the middle of work one day if you show up to a call you dont like, right? Dazel cleared his throat. She ripped me from my home to serve her. Its his job! It wasnt my preferred vocation, Dazel said. Who knows? Maybe Id have picked royalty but strangely, I wasnt given the choice. Lots of people work jobs they dont like, Ashtoreth said. It doesnt make them slaves! Honestly, it sounds like hes a servant of some kind, said Frost. The people on Earth who cant just walk out of the their jobs are usually working in special circumstances. If your life depended on him, Id at least understand a little but so far he seems kind of useless. Yeah! Dazel said. You hear that? Im no help to you at all! You said hes a knowledge demon or something, right? But all hes done is give the thesis statement for a highschool-level essay on The Hobbit. Uh, high school? Dazel asked reproachfully. Well excuse me, professor. Say, where did you do your PhD? Frost ignored him. I think you should let him go. See! said Dazel. He thinks Im a slave too! I told you that you were evil! I dont really know the whole situation about employment in Hell. said Frost. Im not evil! said Ashtoreth, crossing her arms. I dont think youre evil, Ashtoreth, said Frost. From a strange place with terrible morals, sure. But not evil, not from what Ive seen. Thank you! she said. I think. But he is useless, said Frost. Sporadic genre criticism isnt exactly a part of an effective combat force. Uh, sorry, Dazel said. You mean Sporadic literary criticism. The genre only began in the wake of Tolkiens towering legacy. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Literary? Frost asked, blinking. Like Cormac McCarthy, you mean? But The Hobbit has orcs and elves in it. Dazels hair stood up on end. Im sorry, what did you just say? You can call me useless all you want, but dont you dare stuff Tolkien in the fantasy ghetto, you uncultured swine. Frost looked at Dazel, his eyebrows slightly raised. Did you just call me a pig, pussy? Okay, the only person here whos part animal is me, said Ashtoreth. And as previously established, Im a little bit demonic goat. But you know what? I concede. Concede? Frost asked. She flashed him a winsome smile. I concede to your better judgement, Sir Frost. I want to be a good archfiend, and youre rightI was born and raised in Hell. Im trying to fight for humans because I like Earth so much more than my own home, but Im probably still trapped in an infernals way of thinking. She looked over at Dazel. If you really want, Ill dismiss you. You can be free. Dazel blanched. What. Ashtoreth looked at him and fought the urge to smirk. Dazel wouldnt leave. Hed just learned about her fatherhe had a position he could play, moves to make. She was offering for two reasons. For one thing, she wanted to endear Frost to herthe nicer he thought she was, the more he thought shed listen to him when it mattered, the more hed trust her. And she needed the humans to trust her. Hopefully having a police officer on her side would help with that. And the second reason: I want to know why the arbiter sent you, of all demons, to me, she thought, looking at the surprised face of her familiar. I want to know why you were so insistent on learning my lineage, why you almost make it seem like you have personal experience with archfiends. If Dazel knew secrets about her family, if hed worked for the archfiends once upon a time, that could be incredibly useful to her in the coming war. Your move. To his credit, Dazel seemed to catch himself quickly. Tch, he said, sitting up and raising his nose. Its too late for that, princess. I dont understand, Frost said. I thought you just said you wanted to leave. Eh, said Dazel. I was on the fence about it, really. Mostly I was just upset that as a spirit of knowledge, my input wasnt even being considered. Then it became clear to me just how little you two know when you came out with all this disrespect toward the arts. I like the arts, said Ashtoreth. Youre the one whos never watched any anime. Tch. When I said the arts I wasnt talking about Sword Art Online, he said. Oh, you think that ones bad? Ashtoreth said, grinning. Thats like, eight video essays worth of content. Im telling you, Dazelyou could be big. Ugh. This is what Im talking about. You had unlimited access to Dostoyevsky and Beethoven, and instead you wasted away in front of a screen listening to someone complain about the Star Wars Hotel for four hours. That felt pretty specific, Ashtoreth said, a smile spreading across her face. Maybe you did the same thing? No, Dazel said, looking away. Whatever. Humans went from Michelangelo to Shakespeare to Mozart to I dont know, Kubrick. And then the internet happened and now theyre all obsessed with I dont know, with cats that play piano and Logan Paul poking corpses for fun. Yeah, you were really born in the wrong generation, said Frost. And dimension. Look, Ashtoreth said. Can you really fault the cat playing piano for being more entertaining than all those other dead weirdos? I mean, Shakespeares collar was funnier than his plays. I like the Ninja Turtles, though, but I didnt know they came before Shakespeare. Was the cartoon was an adaptation or something? Dazel groaned. This is what Im talking about! I can at least stay long enough to prove to you two that the rich cultural tapestry which you so blithely wipe your feet on has something beautiful and meaningful to add to every facet of life. O-kay, Frost said. Because right now were killing monsters in video game Hell. Every facet! Sure, said Ashtoreth. Fine. Have it your way, Dazel. Your party role is now: snob. At least its better than the nothing you were doing before. We should get a move on, though. I agree, said Frost. Dazel groaned again, but fell in behind her as she set out through the forest once more. Look, Ive got a lot more questions, said Frost. But I think I should start with my last aspect. I got offered [Life] along with [Might]. Since you said versatility matters, I was thinking Id take [Life]. You seem to have the strong attacks angle coveredbut you dont heal, correct? She heals herself, but not others, said Dazel. Pride, remember? Okay, so I can give first aid to anyone we meet, said Frost. The worst that could happen would be that we meet a bunch of people who took the same things, right? Yeah, said Ashtoreth. And four tanky healers doesnt sound like the worst composition you can think of. Here we go, said Frost. [Armament], [Sacred], [Protection], and [Life]. It says its synthesizing o-kay. I got [Steelheart Paladin]. Thats my class. See! Ashtoreth said to Dazel. I told you that police were like paladins! This is exactly what Charlemagne intended, Im sure, said Dazel. So my class Frost began. He never finished. A piercing, pained howl cut through the forest around them, seeming to echo off the trees. That sounded like a creature in pain! Ashtoreth said excitedly. Maybe a cinderwolfit wasnt human, thats for sure! Someones fighting a demon? Frost asked. Uh-huh! It could be a human! Lets go. They took off into the forest, hurrying through the areas of low underbrush beneath the trees. It seemed Frost would be getting to use his class, and soon. 24: For There Are Those Who Fight With the Darker Side of the Weaboo Fightan Magick, the Chuuni.... They heard another cry as they ran toward the source of the noise, then another a few moments later. Each of them quickened their pace, crashing through the light underbrush of the forest in an effort to get to the potential human faster but soon the demons cries ceased. Fearing the worst, Ashtoreth pressed on, cutting out ahead of Frost and emerging a minute later into a small clearing. There, she saw something that set her fears at ease. In the clearing ahead was the corpse of a massive canine, its head resting in a pool of its own blood, its fanged mouth agape. It had no fur. Its loose, wrinkled skin was covered with a rusty, rippling pattern. Say, Ashtoreth said, breaking out into a grin when she spotted it. Whoever were following killed a cinderwolf. A big cinderwolfthat looks like a boss! Looks like a gigantic hairless dog, Frost said, eying the dead beast with distaste. When theyre alive, theyre covered in fire, said Ashtoreth. They look much more impressive, then. When theyre dead they look kind of, I dont know I guess a bit like foetuses, but not as appetizing. She unshouldered her greatsword, poked it in the neck, then stepped up onto the body of the hulking hellbeast. She spotted the human immediately. He was huddled in the shadow of a nearby bloodleaf tree, covered by a sheet of tinted, translucent grayan illusion spell. Ashtoreths training kicked in as soon as she recognized the illusion. She tried to make it seem as though her gaze was sweeping the forest beyond, rather than that shed turned at the sight of the human. As she did this, she studied the man through the corner of her eye. Hed tensed as soon as he saw her, but apparently hed bought her deception and still thought he was hidden, because he stayed crouched in the shadow of the tree, his weapons in his hands. The most striking thing about him was that for some reason, he had no shirt. His torso was a field of pale skin bearing a tattoo that wound up and around his body. It was stylistic, made out of disconnected pointed and curved shapes, but it was unmistakably depicting the form of a dragon. He was young, perhaps her age or a little older, with black hair and dark eyes. In each of his hands he held a katana. Okay, Dazel whispered. Maybe we, uh, just skip this one. Find a different human. Shush, she whispered back. Were saving everyone. She looked over her shoulder. Say, Sir Frost, she called, wanting the other human to come into view before she startled the one waiting in ambush. Look, Dazel whispered. The only reason we cant see how damp this guys shirtsleeves are is because he probably took it off the moment the apocalypse started. He doesnt look undead, she said through gritted teeth, turning away from the human. He probably has a bloodlineand hes strong enough that he killed what looks like a boss. Solo. Sure, but that guy looks really invested in being the main character of his own thing, said Dazel. Come on. You think hes gonna turn down the chance to align with a Princess of Hell when his life is on the line? Oh no, said Dazel. Hell want you on his team, boss. Just not for the reasons youre thinking. Dazel. Get your mind out of the gutter. Officer Frost came into view around the body of the cinderwolf. You need me for something? he asked. Dazel leapt down off her shoulder and started speaking first. Yeah, he said. Check out all the slashes around this things neckmultiple wounds, but overall there are two separate angles. Uh, okay, said Frost. Dazel, Ashtoreth chided. But Dazel ignored her, striding forward to gesture at the creatures bloody wounds. Its looking like weve got a fan of R.A. Salvatore on our hands. He shook his head, his tone grim. Could even be katanas. Ashtoreth put her hands on her hips. Frost blinked. Wait, I think I know who that is. Ashtoreths face dawned with desperate hope. You do? Wrote D&D books? With the dark elf? Drist? I read them in high school. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Um, actually, Ashtoreth said. Im pretty sure its Driz-it. With two syllables. Mm, I dont think so, said Officer Frost. Theres only one vowel in it, right? You need at least one vowel per syllable. In any case, Dazel said loudly. This body bears the mark of another who fights with Weaboo Fightan Magickbut not the one we know. For there are ever two sides to the Fightan Magickone light, one dark, and these cuts have undoubtedly been made by a warrior of the dark path, that of the chuuni Stop making fun of him, Dazel. Frost frowned. How is he making fun of me? No, theres another human nearby under an illusion spell, said Ashtoreth. She turned to the humanand found that hed vanished. See? she said, looking down at Dazel. You probably hurt his feelings. Youre right, said Dazel. Ill bet he used his Dark Shadow Shadestride ability to get away. Another human, and he ran? Frost asked. He looked around, then began to call out to the forest around them. Listen, he said. You can come outwere friendlies. You can trust him! said Dazel, sounding like he was on the verge of giggling. Hes a cop! A voice rang out from above theman intense, steely voice. Why should I trust anyone I meet, in this place? Ashtoreth looked up along with the others to see that the other human now stood on a tree branch, looking down on them with both his katanas still in his hands. Oh no, said Dazel. He got stuck up a tree. He called out to the human. Do you need some help getting down? In answer, the human reversed his grip on both katanas, then stepped off the branch he was standing on, falling and landing in a crouch before standing as he regarded them. How do I know hes not an illusion you summoned when you saw me? he asked. Hm, said Ashtoreth. You can poke him? Frost, let him poke you. The officer glared at her, then turned to the other human. Look, son. Wouldnt we have attacked already if we were your enemies? Surprised you while you thought you were hidden? Maybe, he said. But maybe you know that wouldnt have been enough. He turned to Ashtoreth, his mouth a hard line. Maybe you can clearly see that I soloed this boss and you know youre going to need a bigger jump on me than that. Hey guy, said Dazel. Youre, uh, still holding your samurai swords backwards. Dazel, stop, Ashtoreth said. Youll hurt his feelings. No he wont, said the human. It would take a much stronger psychological attack than that to even phase me. Right, okay, said Dazel. But your swords Look, can we stop arguing about this? said Frost. Theres probably more people out there right now who could use help. We owe it to them to not waste time. Hes right, Ashtoreth said. Poke Sir Frost so you know hes real, then come with us. But the human made no move toward Frost. Instead he shook his head and eyed her warily. Why didnt you just greet me when you saw me? Why play games? Because I didnt want you to attack me! Ashtoreth said. Im an archfiend! She spread her wings behind her to emphasive her point. I dont even look trustworthy to other infernals. You humans have got millenia of culture teaching you not to trust people with bat wings and goat horns. She crossed her arms. Which is rather prejudicial, even if its correct. The human considered this. Eventually his rigid posture seemed to slacken, a little, some of his tension easing. One more thing, he said, looking at Dazel. He called you princess. Guess were skipping over cats can talk, said Dazel. But with this guy Im not surprised. Well, yeah, said Ashtoreth. Im one of Hells royalty. Its not a big deal, reallythe King has a lot of children. Ask her how, said Dazel. Youll love the answer, trust me. Dazel! The human looked between Ashtoreth and Frost. If youre Hells royalty, then why are you helping him? Because Im a traitor! she said, puffing out her chest and planting her hands on her hips. I turned against Hell to help humanity in its darkest hour of need! Once we win this tutorial, I have a plan to stop Hells invasion of Earth. But we have to win the tutorial first. As she spoke, she considered the human. He was clearly levelheaded and powerful, or he wouldnt have been able to kill the boss. And he obviously had a good sense of personal style. Look, she said. Youre clearly powerful. And not just a little bit powerfulyou obviously know what youre doing. This earned her a sharp look from Dazel, but the demon kept his mouth shut for once. He could probably see what she was doing. Ahead of her, the human cocked his head. I know as much as anyone about Hell, she said. And I know about the system, and the tutorial. Help us. If you stay by yourself, youll just be getting stronger on your own. But if you come with us, youll be getting stronger faster, and youll have less chance of dying, and you can save Earth. The human seemed to consider this. Look, he said. Im more of a solo act, is the thing. Really? Dazel asked. Because you look very social. Ignore him, said Ashtoreth. Were searching for survivors and then were going to make a plan to end the tutorial. Just come with us for a bit, and if its not to your liking, you can leave. She didnt tell him that whether he could kill a boss or not, she was drastically increasing his chances of survival. Surely he could already guess as much himself. The human seemed to think about this. Okay, he said at last, nodding. Ill help you. For now. Great! she chirped. Im Ashtoreth. Whats your name? My name? he asked. He finally switched the grip on his katanas so that he was holding them properly. Im Hunter, he said. Hunter Wolfhard. 25: Sadly, Being a Fan of RA Salvatore Doesnt Make You a Master of Dual Wielding Dazel wheezed with laughter. No youre not, he managed to say. Theres no way thats a real name. Thats my familiar, said Ashtoreth. Hes sort of a jerk. Thats not a real name, said Dazel. Theres no way. Hunter Wolfhard? Its like if JK Rowling had to make a character for a CW show about a teen werewolf hunted his own kind. Case in point. Thats my name, said Hunter, looking supremely unamused. Why would you even say the whole thing. Dazel looked like he wanted to say more, but he was laughing to hard, literally beating a forepaw against the ground. Im Ashtoreth! she said. This is Sir Frost. Its a pleasure to meet you, Hunter. You can call me Kevin, said Frost. And Im not a sir. Nice to meet you both, Hunter said brusquely. Now come on. He jerked his head away toward the forest. We should head deeper into the forest, away from the lava lake. He turned and began to walk off, clearly expecting them to follow him. What? said Ashtoreth. No, were following the lakes edge, just a ways back into the forest. But theres more people that way, said Hunter. From what Ive seen, everyone spawned in the ruined structures near the lakes edge. Exactly! Ashtoreth said. And we want to find and help as many of them as possible. The stronger monsters are further out, said Hunter. If we take a path near the lakes edge, we wont just be getting weaker monster cores, the monsters we fight will already have been thinned by other players. Players? Ashtoreth said, cocking her head. Yeah, you know. Players. Other humans. Ashtoreth ignored his misconception for the moment. Look, she said. Im glad youre involving yourself already in our group decision making process, but right now, that process is that I make the group decisions. Thats not really a group process. said Hunter. Im an archfiend and were in Hell, said Ashtoreth. So we should save time by just obeying me instead of deliberating. Hunter turned to Frost. And youre okay with this? I dont know about any of that, said Frost. But she wants to save as many people as possible. Thats the plan Im getting behind. Hunter sighed and turned to Ashtoreth. Listen, princess, he began. Oh? she said, letting all amicability fall from her face as she raised an eyebrow, her tone suddenly dangerous. She wondered, briefly, how many people Hunter had killed before. Hunter seemed to deflate almost instantly. Well, uh Ashtoreth crossed her arms and made a face that said Im waiting. You said you wanted to save Earth, right? he asked, speaking more quietly and looking past her, not at her. That means winning this tutorial and becoming as strong as possible. Uh-huh. So we need to level as fast as possible. If the whole planet is on the line, leaving some hypothetical people behind is, uh a worthy sacrifice. Hypothetical people? Frost asked warily. Listen, Mister Wolfhard, said Ashtoreth. Hell has a lot more than cinderwolves and devils to throw at us. We need as broad a skillset across our group as possible if we want to optimize our chances of defeating the tutorial. We want to be able to fly, strike at long ranges, absorb enemy attention with sustainable minions, have defensive buffs, see and dispel illusions, strike incorporeal targets, anchor teleporting targets, run interference on enchantments, counter spells, heal the living, heal the undead, turn the undead, defend against psychic assaults well, I hope you get the idea. The more the better. Hunters face fell as her list went on and on. Uh are you sure we need all of that? Im sure well need some of that, Ashtoreth said. But I dont know which ones, so its best to get as versatile as possible. Later, when weve got more magic items that can cover our blind spots, thats when we go into the unknown in smaller numbers. Right, he said. Well, if thats really what Hells like okay, yeah, your plan is probably better. Great! she chirped. Hunter was already walking off in the direction of the lake. You should probably stay behind me, princess, he said over his shoulder. My [Shadowstride] will let me evade the attacks of anything that comes for me, getting behind them to unleash a [Twin Fang Strike]. Because my [Phasing Fangs] allows me to penetrate almost all of an enemys [Defense], I can instantly kill most enemies. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Say: thats pretty cool, said Ashtoreth. I have infinite [Health] and [Mana]. ...What? Well, not [Health] and [Mana], technically. [Bloodfire], which is better, Ashtoreth explained. But yeah, as long as I can stop and eat a heart, I can almost completely replenish my resources. And Ive got a lot of hearts. I keep them in my magical locket and in this cute bag, here. She patted her satchel. It squished. Thats whats in that bag? Hunter asked. Mhmm! she said, giving it another squishy pat. Also, while I really appreciate that youre trying to be respectful by calling me princess and all, its actually Your Highness. Ashtoreth is good too. Hunter looked away quickly. Uh, okay. Ashtoreth. Thanks! she said. And you know what else, Hunter? Uh, yeah? Youve been doing great, she said, beaming at him. Killing that boss on your ownthats amazing! Uh, yeah, he said, straightening a little. And youve got cool style, too. That tat looks rad. Uh. Thanks, he said. It was hard to tell in the light of the bloodleaf forest, but it almost looked like he was blushing. Dont let Dazel get to you, all right? she said. Hes a real stick in the mud. Has been since I summoned him. Hes the cat? Im actually a demon who has been unwillingly forced into the form of a cat, Dazel said, walking along beside them. He wont get to me, he said. Like I said, Im resilient against psychological attacks like that. Because you spent a ton of time training your resistance with the other kids at school, right? Dazel asked. Ignore him, Ashtoreth said. Dazel comes from the Pit of Sorrow; hes not good with social skills. Anyway, we should share all our fighting styles. You made it sound like you were more a spellsword. Yeah, said Hunter. Im spellsword, too, said Ashtoreth. And Sir Frost here is a [Steelheart Paladin], so hes pretty much just a tankier, divine spellsword. So were all spellswords, Hunter said. Pretty much, said Ashtoreth. Gee, said Dazel. Howd that happen? Great minds think alike! said Ashtoreth. Anyway, my class is called [Bloodfire Annihilator]... She explained the working of her class, assuming that Hunter would be more forthcoming if she went first. She finished by conjuring a little hellfire in the palm of her hand. Pretty soon, Ill be able to make you both immune to it, she said. Useful that theyre purple, Frost added. Given our current whereabouts, Im sure well be seeing plenty of fire that were not immune to. Okay, said Hunter. All of that makes sense but why are you in a baseball uniform, again? Im a fan of the sport, she said. Well, the games are boring, but the slow motion highlights are really cool. Honestly, I just wanted to wear something that humans do to let you know that Im on your side. Great, said Hunter. Good. Okay. So whats your class? Ashtoreth asked. Im a [Twinfang Assassin of the Shadowflame Dragon], said Hunter. I fight with the twin fangs granted me by the spirit of the shadowflame dragon that originated my bloodline. He held up the katana he was wielding in his right hand. This blade is the fang of flame. In combat, it wreathes itself in fierysorry, is he okay? Dazel was clinging hard to Ashtoreths neck, sniggering as holding in his laughter was a matter of life or death. I just, I thought of Dazel broke off and had to contain his laughter. Just thought of something funny. You, uh, tell us about your shadowflame fangs, bro. Hunter frowned, then looked back to his sword. The fang of flame doesnt just do fire damage and give me limited control of flames, he said. It allows all of the abilities that I have which are enabled by shadows to function within the light of my own flames. He raised his other sword. And this is the fang of shadow. Not only does the fang of shadow allow me to gather darkness into solidified shadows, but it has a special connection to the shadows of those I attack, allowing me to penetrate Hold up, said Frost. Weve got company. He raised his shotgun to point off into the woods. Waitis that a gun? Hunter looked between the two of them. Theres guns? He looked back at his sword in seeming confusion. There were guns before, Dazel said. Youre from Earth. Theres also vivinsects, Ashtoreth said, watching several of the gigantic bugs she and Frost had fought earlier came through the trees. The angry red orbs that hovered over their horns made their carapaces glint and glitter, even where the trees obscured the moonlight. Thats a lot of meat and bug-shell to put between me and a core, said Hunter, twirling both his katanas. Say, I like this guy, Ashtoreth said, smiling over at Frost and Dazel. The beetles have a low range on their magic, so Frost and I will pick a couple off as they come in to engage before I Hes gone, by the way, Dazel said. Ashtoreth looked over to see that Hunter had, indeed, disappeared. Huh, she said. Quiet ability, that [Shadowstride]. She heard the demonic beetles ahead begin to shriek and cocked her head, confused. Did he really just run into the firing line headfirst, with no plan, even though we have two tanks in a three person partyand hes neither of them? Looks like it, said Frost. Dazel snorted with laughter. Hey, he said. Ashtoreth. Say: baka! Ashtoreth unshouldered her greatsword, then plunged it into the ground next to Dazel, forcing him to leap aside. Get blessed, she told Dazel, scooping him up off the ground. Then she launched herself off her sword and into the fray. 26: Oddly Enough, our [Twinfang Assassin of the Shadowflame Dragon] Might Be Too Much of a Lone Wolf As she flew through the air, arcing toward where the battle was now taking place, Ashtoreth couldnt help but feel a little disappointed. If theyd engaged at a distance, they could have picked a few off, then gotten them to focus on Ashtoreth, who had more survivability than anyone because she had higher stats, higher resistances, a higher level, was more skilled, and could regenerate. That, and she couldnt set the world on fire if he was fighting nearby. Not yet, at least. It would also have meant that she wouldnt have had to throw herself into combat so quickly by using the counterforce from her sword. Cancelling her blade and re-conjuring it meant spending a lot of [Bloodfire]. True, she could replenish it easily enough, but it was still frustrating. As soon as she had launched herself into the air, shed dismissed her sword, choosing not to cause a burst of hellfire. Then she began to conjure it again out of her [Bloodfire] pool, and had just barely completed forming the weapon as she fell toward the ground. With a glance, she took note of the battles terrain beneath her. There were almost a dozen of the large beetles below her, all of them in the process of engaging Hunter, who fought next to the corpse of a beetle hed already killed. The nearest beetle turned to her as she fell through the air. The orb of red light above its horns flashed, and a jagged bolt of power streaked toward her. She launched her sword at the beetle, the counterforce sending her flipping backward just before she hit the ground so that she avoided the creatures attack. She used her minimal flight abilities to assert a little control her trajectory and position as the weapons counterforce threw her backward, and her sword impaled the beetle just as she landed with her feet against the trunk of a bloodleaf tree. She ran down the trunk of the tree, pushing on the blade to keep her feet against its twisted bark. Then she pulled on the blade when she hit the ground, jerking it and the struggling, squealing beetle forward. She took two unnaturally long bounds across the space between them as she pulled herself to her weapon, more spells from other beetles fizzling through the air behind her. She reached the beetle, planting her feet against the carapace around its horns and gripping the hilt of her sword before flipping up onto its back to avoid the continued barrage of spells. She tore her blade free with a shower of gore, threw herself backward to roll to a stop on the ground behind it, then whirled to smash the tip of her sword into the head of the nearest enemy, which burst in a shower of gore and carapace fragments as she looked over to where shed last seen Hunter. He was fighting three of the beetles, batting at them with his katanas and holding them at bay with a coil of swirling shadows that whirled about him in a vaguely spherical pattern. She didnt know if he was doing well or not, but she could clearly tell that he didnt know how to use his swords by the way he was flailing them about. She continued with the wide arc of her sword-swing, then launched it at one of the beetles engaged with Hunter. The counterforce sent her back, and she landed with her feet planted against the fresh, headless corpse shed just made. The dead beetle skid unevenly across the ground as her sword broke through the carapace of the beetle shed aimed at, impaling it. One of the spell-bolts thrown by the other beetles connected with her, sizzling as it disintegrated some of her skin, but the pain was a distant, uninteresting thing to Ashtoreth. She reached back, dug her claws into the body of the beetle beneath her feet, then flipped up off its headless front and onto its back, crouching there before springing high into the air. More spells hissed and fizzled beneath her, and she pulled on her sword, drawing herself forward and downward toward the impaled beetle near Hunter. As she fell, she launched a hellfire bolt at one of the other beetles engaged with Hunter. Then she landed with one foot planted on the body of the beetle shed impaled and one foot planted on the ground. As the beetle shed stuck with her sword struggled against the blade, the other beetle that shed stricken with her hellfire bolt turned to face her at which point she ripped the blade out of the first beetles body with as much force as she could muster, bringing it up in an arc to smash it down into the seconds beetles head. She spun toward the third beetle shed seen around Hunter, but it was lying on the ground, dead with faint wisps of shadow streaming out of cracks in its carapace. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. She lifted her sword and charged the rest of the enemies, and as she did so she saw a flash of blue accompanying a crack like thunder. It was Frost, his gun infused with sacred energy. His shot struck the nearest beetle and it squealed and hissed in agony, rearing away from him before a second shot obliterated its head and it fell to the ground, blue flame rising up out of its headless stump. She saw another beetle jerk suddenly, then fall to the ground, the same wispy shadow-substance that shed seen before rising out of its corpse. Hunter stood behind it, pulling his katanas free of his body and then thrusting them outward to put them between himself and a charging beetle. Frost engaged another one of the beetles, and Ashtoreth charged one of the few free targets remaining. It was over fairly quickly after that. There were too few beetles to challenge them, especially now that Ashtoreth was strong enough to kill them with one well-placed blow from her sword thanks to all the upgrades shed put into her [Conjure Luftschloss] ability. Soon she was yanking the blade out of the corpse of the last beetle. Okay, she said. I know we won, and Id love to tell everybody they did a good job She turned to Hunter. But weve got to talk. Youre hurt, said Frost, looking at where Hunters arm and chest had been corroded by one of the beetles spells, skin completely gone in several places. Ashtoreth was somewhat surprised he wasnt more injured, given hed started off completely surrounded. I have [Health], Hunter said, wincing. I can heal it just take a minute. Come here, Frost told him. Ive got a healing spell. He held out a hand and bathed Hunters body in silvery light, flawlessly regrowing the skin. When he was done, Hunter rolled his shoulder. Wow, he said, looking around at the corpses, most of which were clearly her kills. Then he turned to Ashtoreth. Are you sure you really needed to go all-out like that? I mean, the way you swing that sword whats your [Strength]? Uh, sec. She brought up her stats: [Dexterity]: 179 [Strength]: 287 [Vitality]: 207 [Magic]: 178 [Psyche]: 179 [Defense]: 173 [Bloodfire]: 5925 / 5925 Okay, its 287. What? Well, Im a pretty [Strength]-heavy spellsword, you know? I get 11 a level, which isnt that much. Uh its not? And Im level 6. Waitwhats your base [Strength]? Without any levels? Oh, it was 110. What? she asked, in response to his incredulous expression. Did you think humans were physically stronger than archfiends? Wait a second, he said. That still doesnt account for 287 [Strength]. Right, Ashtoreth said, nodding. So I also have a devoured flesh buff that gives me 10% of the [Strength] of an enemy whose flesh I devouredand that was a boss-grade carnage demon, so it was pretty high. Plus I gain a 25% boost when I have this sword out. So its more like Ive got 16 levels worth of [Strength]. But thats sort of deceptive. Deceptive? How? She gave a sidelong nod of her head. Well, I have abilities to wield the sword with my [Magic] and [Psyche] stats, which are pretty close right now178 and 179, since I ate a psychic bosss heart. Anyway, I can adjust its position and trajectory mentally, with telekinesis, but the stats only move it about half as effectively as [Strength] does. Still, its more like Im wielding the weapon with, uh 465 [Strength]. Hunter just stared at her. Yeah, I definitely prefer to one-shot things, she said. I mean, you know how nice to one-shot something, right? She flashed him a smile. You said you can do it if you use, like, all your stuff. Hunter looked a bit hurt. Ashtoreth patted the flat of her blade. My babys worth building for. Also, just so you know I wasnt going all out. That involves a lot more hellfire. She flashed him another smile. If I had gone all-out, it definitely would have killed you. Hunter seemed to deflate a little. Youve got some pretty neat abilities, though, she said. Teleportation is pretty serious stuff. She looked from him over to Frost. Now: while we distribute these cores, we need to have a talk about teamwork. 27: Team Work Makes the Dream Work, as Long as the Dream is That I Kill 80%+ of Enemies By Myself So, Ashtoreth was saying. Once I get the [Hellfire Aura], itll be fine! You wont have to worry about interfering with my fire. Theres no explosive blast when I ignite a corpse or burst my weapon, so I wont knock you over or anything. And the fire doesnt burn air, it burns [Mana]. Well, [Bloodfire], now. Uh, right. She tore a heart out of one of the vivinsects, tucking into her satchel before moving on to another one. Anyway, she continued. Ill get the aura next level. But even once I do, you should probably let me or Frost draw enemy attention before you engage. You did really well back there holding them off, but were both vampires with regeneration, and hes got a [Protection] aspect in his class. Since you strike from the shadows and everything, its probably a benefit if you let them pay attention to us, first. Um. Yeah. Seriously, Hunter, Frost said, sounding much more annoyed than Ashtoreth. Why did you just charge in like that? We cant watch your back or rely on you to watch ours in a combat situation if theres no planning or communication. I was just just trying to seize the initiative, he said. I have no ranged abilities, so I figured Id get into their midst and take them by surprise. He looked away, clearly embarassed. Im not used to being on a team. Hey everyone, Dazel said, coming out of some nearby bushes to clamber up onto Ashtoreths back. Howd the bonding exercise go? Did that new guy die? Oh, guess not. New guy? Hunter asked reproachfully. Yeah, what was your name again? Xx_shadoslayer_xx? Its Hunter. Okay, yeah, but whats your real name? I told you, its Hunter. Oh, okay. I think I get why youre making one up. Hunter sighed. What? Is your real name Jaxon with an x? I wont judge you for making a name up if your real one is Jaxon with an x. Its not Jaxon. Im Hunter. Oh God, its Jaxxon with two xs, isnt it? Language, Dazel, Ashtoreth. I mean, damn. I know youre from the Pit of Sorrows and thats your culture, but can we keep the Authority of Heaven out of it, please? My culture? Dazel asked. Whats that supposed to mean? You know, Ashtoreth said. That youre common, low, and vulgar. Hunter laughed a little, but Frosts expression was totally unmoved. We should head out, he said. Uh-huh! said Ashtoreth. And split up these cores. Theres a really steep curve for gaining the power needed for lower levels, with the really low ones taking next to nothing, so you two should get a lot of benefit from these. They split the cores three ways, and Ashtoreth wound up a little under three quarters of the way to her next levelthe curve was getting steeper. You know, Frost said once hed finished choosing an upgrade. He is kind of like Drist. Huh? Whos Drist? asked Hunter. Hesoh, hes a character from some novels based on the Dungeons and Dragons universe, or something. I read them a long time ago. Hes a dark elf with two swords. He was in Baldurs Gate, actually. Oh, hes in Baldurs Gate? Nice. I never ran into him. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Hes in the first and second ones. I havent played the third. Oh, said Hunter, sounding disappointed. He frowned. Didnt those come out in like, the 90s? I late 90s, I think? Frost said dubiously. Its been a long time since I played a video game. Oh, I wasnt born then, said Hunter. Anyway, you should check out 3 when you get the chance. Its really good. I probably wont do that. Why not? Its really good. Because of the apocalypse. Realization seemed to dawn on Hunters face. Oh. Right. He looked sad, so Ashtoreth tried to salvage the situation. You didnt get to finish before, Hunter. Tell us what else your build does. Oh, he said, seeming to come out of his own thoughts. Well, when I cross the fangs together, I release my ultimate power, the [Embrace of the Shadowflame Dragon]. He paused for a second, then looked at Dazel. Uh, hes really strugglingare you sure hes okay? Dazel was shaking uncontrollably, barely clinging to Ashtoreths back. Im great, he wheezed. Please continue. Please. Hes fine, she said. Your skills just remind him of an anime he loves, I think. Cool, said Hunter. I like anime too. You do?! Dazel asked, crooning with laughter. No way! Hunter scowled, then ignored him. Well the [Embrace of the Shadeflame Dragon] gives me the ability to fly for a limited time, and makes my other abilities cost almost nothing while increasing my [Dexterity] and [Defense]. But its got a heavy cooldownan hour. And the other annoying thing about it is that the power it released when I first used it completely burned my shirt away. He shook his head, staring off into the distance. Destroyed it almost instantly. Dazel burst out into uproarious laughter. Its how I killed my first boss, Hunter said. The cinderwolf? No, that was the second boss I killed. That one was really hard, because the flames all over it meant it was never in shadow. But it had no flames on its belly, so I teleported under it using [Shadowstride] and then slashed its throat with my high [Defense] penetration. Say! Thats pretty clever, Ashtoreth said appreciatively. Uh, thanks, he said, looking away. By the way, said Dazel. Did you know that your abilities are way, way stronger if you shout out their names when you use them? No, said Hunter. They arent. Ignore him, said Ashtoreth. Come on, Dazel said. Playful jokes like these are just how I show affection. Hunter cocked his head at the cat. But then how do you show hate? Same way. Hunter frowned. So youre just always like this? I believe among humans, its called being an asshole, said Dazel. Quiet, Frost said, his eyes on the sky. Ashtoreth followed his gaze to see another flock of winged shadows passing overhead. More shearbats. Oh, Hunter said, looking up. I dont have much to deal with flyers. Its okay, she said. Theyre pretty packed together again. Ill engage first and then Sir Frost can lay into them with his gun. Right, said Frost. Watch this, she said, stepping forward. Im about to do these guys like Trogdor does a thatched roof cottage! Strangely, none of them laughed. They must not have heard her. Im about to do these guys like Trogdor does a thatched roof cottage! she said, a little louder this time. Why did you say that twice? Frost asked. Whos Trogdor? Oh, Ashtoreth said, crestfallen. Shed sort of been hoping that humans would understand all her references, given that they were humans. But she supposed it made sense that the Burninator wouldnt be popular with the police, given his propensity for wanton destruction of property. She launched another hellfire bolt at one of the bats as a distraction. Then she planted her feet and launched her sword right after it, the counterforce pushing her backward hard enough that her heels tore furrows in the earth. The sword struck one of the bats, and she burst it into flames, causing them all to shriek as the fire washed over them, coating their fur once more. Beside her, Frost opened up with his shotgun. He killed the first bat he struck, and Ashtoreth ignited its corpse and bathed most of the flock in even more flames. The fight was over in moments. The burning carcasses of the bats fell into the forest ahead of them, some of them sticking into trees. Uh, wow, Hunter said. See? Ashtoreth said, moving forward to draw the flames into her palm. Thats what I could have done back when we fought the beetles, but Id have burned you alive. Speaking of, I think this gets me my level. She distributed the cores across the team, then absorbed her own. Sure enough: {Ding! You level up and gain 11 DEX, 11 STR, 15 VIT, 13 MAG, 7 PSY, 7 DEF} {Reaching level 7 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} 28: Contrary to Popular Belief, You Should Definitely Stand in Fire Ding! Ashtoreth said. You know the nice thing about getting [Hellfire Aura] is that it might also make it more likely for me to get good auras. To the system, she said: [Hellfire], please. {Advance [Hellfire]} {Choose an advancement to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Efficiency I]: The cost of conjuring hellfire is reduced by 20%. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Aura]: Creatures in close proximity to your hellfire are affected by any auras you possess. Gain a beneficial aura that renders allies immune to damage from your hellfire. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Blast]: When using the [Hellfire Bolt] upgrade for the [Hellfire] ability, you can spend time charging the bolt so that it causes an explosion on contact. This costs a moderate to high amount of [Bloodfire]. The more time spent charging, the higher the cost and the larger the explosion. Oh, wow, Ashtoreth said, momentarily regretting that she had allies. Someones getting retained. You guys, Im going to get to throw fireballs! You dont already? Frost asked. Huge fireballs! But for now Ive gotta start building my aura. I already took explosive bursts over protecting you from my hellfire once alreadytwice feels greedy. {You upgraded your [Hellfire] ability with [Hellfire Aura]} Thank you! Ashtoreth said, turning to them. Okay, you guys can see an aura in your buffs, right? Dazel, stick your head up. Uh, why? he asked cautiously. I can see it, Hunter said. I can too, Dazel said, his voice close to her ear. Butah! Ashtoreth had immersed him in a gout of flame. Do you feel any pain? she asked, speaking loudly to be heard over the rush of flames. Nothing physical, boss, Dazel said. Great! Ashtoreth said. I dont have to worry about friendly fire. Now to harvest these roasted bat hearts. She hefted her messenger bag of hearts as she moved toward the closest corpse and tore its heart out. This things getting full. I might end up with so many hearts that I have to throw some out when they lose freshness. Say, boss, said Dazel. The trail of torn-out hearts you leave behind you can be like your calling card. Thats how people will know theyre following the good archfiend. Ashtoreth tore free another heart with a squelch. Exactly! she said. After alltheyll see that theyre all infernal hearts. Speaking of She turned to Frost. Are you hungry? I havent seen you drink anything since we started. I know those bullets arent free. Frost opened his mouth speak and seemed to hesitate for a moment. Theyre not free, he said. But theyre cheap. Ill be fine. Ashtoreth tore another heart from one of the vivinsects. But you dont regenerate [Blood] the way that the living regenerate [Health]. Here: Ill leave that one with its heart still in, and then you can drink yourself up to full! Dig in! She indicated a nearby vivinsect corpse whose head shed pulverized with her greatsword. It lay with its legs askew in the air, guts oozing from the hole where its head had been. Uh no thanks. Do you want me to tear away some of its armor plating for you? Actually, my class makes it so that all my buffs grant me regeneration, Frost said. Its slow, but itll suffice. Look, Ashtoreth began, resisting the urge to put her hands on her hips. This is all important, remember? Try it! Youll love it. Youre made to love it, now. Frosts eyes were still fixed on the dead giant insect. Ive never drank a creatures blood before and it wasnt because I wasnt getting resources for it. Look, I get that itll feel a little weird at first. Right now its like youre a blood virgin. No, nope, Frost said, shaking his head. Just never say that again, Ashtoreth. I dont get it, she said, frowning and putting a hand on her chin. Ive seen human food. How can you like stuff like hot dogs and jell-o, but not the still-warm blood of the enemy you just killed to grow in power? She gestured to the corpse. Just think of it as farm-to-table! This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Listen, said Hunter. Id probably drink it if I were a vampire Not helping, said Frost. but drinking demon blood tends to go very badly in human lore, Hunter finished. He paused, then added: By which I mean Warcraft lore. He paused again, then added: But probably any other lore where it happens, too. You know technically, in Warcraft, it actually happens twice. Once when Thank you, Hunter, Frost said brusquely. He turned to Ashtoreth. Look: you like humans, right? Heck yeah! Well Hunter said it best: were against drinking blood. Even of our enemies. His eyes flicked over to the dead insect. Especially of demons. But it could Drop it, Ashtoreth, he said firmly. I know you mean well, but Id like to stay as human as possible from here on out. Fine, she said. She wondered how long Frosts strange compunctions would last. She doubted that his buff-spell regeneration would keep him from every getting hungry. And then. Oooh, said Dazel. Are you gonna take that from him, boss? ...Yes? she said confusedly. Why wouldnt she? Oh, said Dazel. Okay then. Listen, said Frost. Before we find another flock of demons, Id really like to get to some of my questions about everything thats going on. I uh, also have questions, said Hunter. Like. He peered at Frost. Well, youre a vampire. Yes. Howd you become a vampire? I thought you were a cop. Hes a paladin, Ashtoreth said. Its sort of a long story. Its not, said Frost. I arrested her on Earth for well for being herself, then she shot me in the head when the apocalypse started because uploading into the tutorial while between life and death grants you an undead augment. I chose vampire. Oh, said Hunter. Huh. So if Id shot myself when the tutorial was starting, Id have been stronger? Uh-huh! If you think becoming undead is worth it, said Frost. Id have been stronger, though, Hunter said, as if this explained, inarguably, that of course it was worth it. Back to Frost, said Ashtoreth. Ask your questions, and I promise that this time we wont all start talking about something else. Im sort of easily distractible sometimes. Thanks, Ashtoreth, he said, smiling a little. It might have been the first time shed seen him smile. Explain the invasion, please. You said that the devil was afraid of humans? Afraid of us? Hunter asked. Uh, not really the devil, Dazel said. Okay, Ill get to those things, Ashtoreth said, holding up a bloody hand to quiet them. I got my heartslets head out when I explain. They continued moving along the edge of the forest, keeping the lake of fire in sight and searching for more flocks of demons. I suppose I should explain the system first, Ashtoreth said. I know that to you guys it looks like a video game, but really you can just think of it as a near-omnipotent cosmic entity that brokers power. The best theory as to why it does this by passing out discrete quantities through universally understandable entries of information is that its somehow antithetical to the incomprehensible eldritch entities of pure chaos that lurk at the edges of the multiverse. O-kay, Frost said. Certain new questions have been raised, but go on. The thing to understand is that the system wants balance. It wants two forces to collide, violently, but in a way where the winner has won by proving something. Now, balance doesnt mean fairness: the strong getting stronger will always be a law thats hard-baked into reality, system or no. But the system does what it can to make it so that skill plays a factor, almost always. It wants the high-level, multiversal superpowers to have gotten there because they can contend with strife. And thats why were getting a tutorial? Frost asked. I have to say, this hasnt seemed very balanced. I. His voice grew frayed, distressed. Honestly, this doesnt seem anything close to fair, Ashtoreth. I think that most of the people who started here have been slaughtered. Ill get there, she said. One thing you need to know is that the systems desire for balance can be I dont know, metagamed. It can be manipulated, but only to a point. But that makes sense: using the system to get ahead is itself an expression of skill, right? So thats what Hell does. I guess its not surprising, said Hunter. Hell plays as unfairly as it can get away with, right? Right, said Ashtoreth. But all of this inferred from how the system behaves, not something it told anyone. And I should probably also mention that a lot of whats balanced is between potentials, not what actually happened. Potentials? Hunter asked. What does that mean? If the system makes two people fight, and only one of them has any combat knowledge, but both of them could have learned combat knowledge, then the fight is fair. The fact that the person who knows how to fight will win doesnt matter. So it doesnt force fifty-fifty outcomes, said Frost. Nope! said Ashtoreth. Which is important for understanding whats going on now. Earth couldnt be a militaristic multiversal superpower that aggressively games every part of the system that it can, because it had no way of knowing the system existed. But it could have been more prepared than it is, Frost said, his tone shifting to one of dismay. Right. It couldve been be far more militaristic and invasion-ready right now. Surely in some histories, humans could have landed in a place where almost all of them had military training and access to firearms. In some places, they do, said Frost. Exactly. So if Earth is at a disadvantage because its not optimized for inter-state war while Hell is, the system wont care. Now the system does do a lot to balance the scales on account of Hells foreknowledge of the system, but Hell games all of them as hard as it can. I dont know about you two, but before we came here, the system told me that it was populating a list of potential tutorial zones and Hell was the only item on that list. Same, said Hunter. Really? Frost asked. Mine had two others on it. Uh the Abyssal Rift and the Deadlight Shard. Okay, so Hunters bloodline made the system consider him baseline stronger than you, said Ashtoreth. But theres a reason that Hell was the tippy-top of the list, with no equals. Hell is deliberately constructed and ordered so that when a bunch of its lowest level infernals are drafted into a tutorial, theyre horrifically effective. Its a point of pride among the aristocracy that Hell is synonymous with the hardest difficulty something humans have picked up on through the Dragon, Frost said, his voice suddenly a whisper. No, said Ashtoreth, frowning. Theoh, wait. She looked up into the sky. You meant the dragon. 29: Stay Awhile and Listen—as I Explain Why Hell is So Gosh-Darned Overpowered No one move, Ashtoreth hissed, her eyes on the sky. She formed one hand into a claw because the points of her fingers allowed for finer, more precise manipulation of glamour, then began to weave an illusion about them, covering them in false bushes. It only took her a few seconds, but her heart thundered in her chest as she did it, her eyes on the dark shadow that was coming nearer to them, flying over the edge of the lava-lake. {Black Dragon Crucifect Level 50 Boss} It came closer, close enough that she could see how its scales warped the reflection of the lava pool beneath it. It was a dragon with demonic, not divine, ancestry: it had the body of a great predator lizard, not a serpent. The humans would have called it a western dragon. As it came closer, she saw that it was male: she could tell on account of the metallic gray beard and the flared profile of the lower jaw. Closer still, and she could see the glint of his red eyes, make out the burnished black metal barb that had been hammed through his tail. He swept his gaze from side to side as he flew, eyes scanning the ground below him. At level 50, his truesight wouldnt be strong enough to see through even a weak glamour like hers at such a great distance. He would need to have patrolled further out from the lava lake for that. Or so she hoped. She might be able to escape an attacking dragon, but the humans would be finished if they were seen. In silence, they watched him through a gap in the trees. He soared through the sky at the edge of the lava-lake, wings spread, occasionally angling them to shed some velocity, but never flapping them to gain more air. Interesting, Ashtoreth thought. She guessed that their environs were shielded from the lakes heat by magic, but that the sky directly above the lake was not. The dragon was flying very silently by taking advantage of the hot air rising off the lake. In fact. Ashtoreth licked a finger and stuck it in the air. Sure enough, a light breeze was blowing toward the lake. Cool air being drawn into a zone of low pressure. Useful knowledge? Her wings werent very functional, physically, but maybe once her stats were high enough that her racial flight ability could do most of the lifting, she could catch an updraft and cut her way toward the central citadel. Provided the dragon was dead. She might be able to tire him out if she brought him away from the lava lake: a dragons flight was magical, like her own, but at level 50 hed still need to do a lot of wing-flapping to stay aloft with no updraft. Soon the dragon had passed out of sight, and she could feel the tension easing out of her companions beside her. Back to exposition, she said, her voice a little lower than its old volume. The dragon is a good example of how Hell prepares itself to metagame the system, Ashtoreth said. Hell be a fairly young dragon, one raised in Hell for the express purpose of this invasion. That means hell be like me: hes been kept classless for his entire life. Really? Hunter said. Yeah. I started from nothing today, just like you. But you, uh, seem to know what youre doing. Hunter said. Well get to me in a minute, she said. See, the system control travel between the inner realms and the outer ones. Like Earth, said Frost. Yep! And because everyone on Earth is starting at level 1, Hell has to start its invasion with low-level infernals. As Earth gets closer to the inner realms, the troops they can send will get stronger. To give us a chance, said Hunter. Uh-huh! The dragon and I were both trained to fight at various different power levels and with many different fighting styles using buff spells, alchemical items, and outright illusory realities so that we could drop into the invasion and proceed to power through getting our classes, then get ahead of the curve and destroy everyone. Of course, it got drafted in as a boss, maybe even the final boss, of this tutorial. Sorry, wait, Hunter began. Theres a chance that hes not the final boss? Uh-huh! Ashtoreth chirped. Then, seeing Hunters expression, she added: Think about the silver liningmore power for all of us if theres an even stronger boss! Hunter seemed to ponder this, then gave a conciliatory nod of his head. Not everyone has been trained from birth, though, right? Frost asked. The demons weve been fighting, theyre not even intelligent. Are they strong because theyre all just a higher grade race and class, or something? Not quite, said Ashoreth. The system would account for that, somewhat. Theres sort of a lot of things at play with them, but the main one is pack instinctsalmost every low level creature in Hell that isnt intelligent is something that tends to group up to attack others, then retreat when its alone. The hounds, the bats, the carnage demons and the beetles, said Frost. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Uh-huh! Ashtoreth said. That way when the system grabs a bunch of dumb brutes to form the horde of level 1 to 10s that it needs to populate a tutorial, the demons dont just wander around solo waiting to get ambushed by a party. Theyll find allies and hunt as packs. Picking off the humans if they cant quickly find allies themselves, Frost said grimly. Exactly! said Ashtoreth. Most of them are built for speed, not brawn, so they can form groups before the tutorial-goers. Those beetles were pretty fast, said Hunter. And as their levels get higher, they get a broader mix of abilities so that they can endanger even those with highly specialized defenses, said Ashtoreth. But thats just one example. Theres also the fact that Hell has a wide enough collection of demons to always have a terrain advantage. And thats just talking about the brutes. Once we get to the higher levels, well start to run into monsters like Dazel. Uh. Me? Dazel asked. Dazel is probably ten times older than all of us put together, Ashtoreth said. And he has knowledge of an extraordinary number of things, even if hes not sharing it. She felt him shrinking a little from where he sat on her wings with his paws on her shoulders. Uh, I do? The way that the hierarchy of Hell works means that as infernals fail their superiors and fall out grace, theyre stripped of their power and cast down into the lower ranks, usually one of the pits. Once there, they have a chance at rising through the ranks again but no matter how high they rise, they can always fall. So the low levels that the system will pit against low-level humans are like specialized forces? Frost asked. Demons who know much more about the system, about fightinghell, about everythingthan us? Exactly! she said, giving him an encouraging smile. Its something Hell is known for, sometimes even in human media. Summoning takes more resources the higher-level something is, but if you just want information? Well, Hell is full of easily-summonable infernals who have lifetimes worth of knowledge to trade. Across the realms, its fairly well-known that demonic and diabolic tutors know how to get you pretty much anything you want. Heh, said Hunter. Ashtoreth smiled at him. If youve got questions, theyve got answers, she continued. But what that means when Hell is populating a tutorial is that once you get past the brutes with bestial intelligences, you wind up fighting infernals who know exactly what theyre doing. Like the huntsman, Dazel added. Tell them about the huntsman boss. Good idea, said Ashtoreth. You werent here for it, Hunter, but the last boss I fought had a defense-stacking build that controlled a whole lot of hellhounds. Because the hounds were already trained, and already doing something close to their nature, he only needed minimal psychic power to control a large number of them. And because he was defense-stacking, anyone who was likely to have the crowd-management and area-of-effect abilities to deal with the hounds was unlikely to be able to hurt him. Huh, said Frost. So thats how that guy worked. It was a fully functional build, said Ashtoreth. One that was tailored to killing people new to the system. He wasnt much higher in level than the first boss I fought, but he was much harder. And you can expect that sort of difficulty from almost all the low-level intelligent creatures that come out of Hell. Instead of being the youngest, least experienced people from a given realm, its all the infernals who well, its sort of like the people who most recently lost their jobs. And the system doesnt care enough about this to fix it? Hunter asked. I mean sure, Earth isnt as militaristic as it could be, but we dont even know the system exists. We cant possibly have given ourselves these advantagesits imbalanced. Ashtoreth shrugged. Im sure the system makes some adjustment for the fact that theyre more skilled and knowledgeable than any other type of creature at that level, but its not a big adjustmentin a way, the system appreciates and rewards that kind of manipulative strategizing. Okay, Frost said, nodding his head and considering this. Theres something I still dont understand. If all of this is true, then why would the Devil be afraid of us? Humans, I mean? I also want to know that, Hunter said. Honestly, you make it sound like were, uh doomed. Theres a few things that work in your favor that I havent told you about, yet, said Ashtoreth. Also, the King of Hell is a fiend, not a devil. Theres a difference? Dazel snickered. Okay, Ashtoreth said, holding up her hands. O-kay. Thats definitely another thing we need to get to. Infernals are classified as demons, devils, or fiends, and fiends are a mix of the first twobut theres more to say about that. For now, we should talk about humans. See, Frost says hes got four aspects as a part of his class. Yeah, said Hunter. Me too. Its the human racial. Is that strange? Yep! said Ashtoreth. Strange and wonderful for you. The thing is, all other races I know of will only get three. And I wasnt just making stuff up to push you out of the decision making process earlier when I was talking about versatility. Classes made of four aspects are probably much more versatile than the rest. I wouldnt be able to heal if it werent for my fourth aspect, Frost said. Exactly. You might even be getting more stats per level than everyone else, but I doubt it. I have a C grade class granting 24 stats a level. Okay, so same as me, said Ashtoreth. But still, the fact that you all get that ability without any magical investment to reproduce means that you can add even more power onto your existing race. Theoretically, the potential that every human has is higher than She frowned suddenly, cocking her head to listen. I think I hear something. Moments later they crested a small hill and she saw that she was right: shed definitely heard something. Below them, gathered in a small clearing along the banks of a tiny brook, were dozens of carnage demons. They were fighting one another to get at something, but there so many carnage demons heaped atop it that it was hard to tell what it was. The demons turned toward them as they crested the hill. One of them distended its jaw to howl at them with a hungry fury, and then the rest of the followed suit. They began to move toward the party, revealing what theyd been eating: it was the corpse of an animal that was the size of a minivan, unrecognizable on account of how much of it had already been eaten. Blood covered the ground around it and was smeared across the claws and mouths of the pack of predators. Thats a lot of carnage demons, Hunter muttered. Is that what those are? Ashtoreth asked, letting out a giggle as she unshouldered her greatsword. Because to me they just look like huge group of explosive barrels with power cores inside them. 30: [Hellfire Consumption] Just Means Every Monster is an Explosive Barrel Deep Down Frost stepped forward, levelled his shotgun at the enemies, and began to open fire. His weapon loosed plumes of blue flame both from the end of its barrel and where it struck the demons. His aim was good: hed felled three of them in quick succession as they dismounted whatever theyd been eating, causing their fellows to shrink back from the sacred flames. As he did this, Ashtoreth braced herself against the ground my falling to her knees, then launched her sword toward the group of demons, the counterforce pushing her legs into the dirt. She dismissed her sword as it struck a demon in the oncoming hordes midst, causing it to burst into a massive bloom of hellfire. It would have been a devastating opening attack, but her [Hellfire Consumption] made it truly absurd: she ignited every corpse that Frost had already made as the flames touched them, and they added their power to the initial plume of flames, so that the whole group of carnage demons, even those that had already begun charging toward them, were totally engulfed in hellfire. Those closest to the center of the blaze were incinerated, dying and then igniting themselves, adding even more heat and power to the inferno. A few carnage demons made it out of the flames, their fur burning. Frost brought one of them down with his shotgun, at which point Ashtoreth ignited it and the ensuing explosion engulfed its fellows. Soon they were all just staring at a wide inferno that covered the ground before them and had spread to the trees around them. She heard Hunter swear as another one of the demons moved and she burst another corpse, engulfing it and the forest in even more deadly, violet flames that bloomed dozens of meters into the sky. Whew! Ashtoreth cried. Say, anyone else feeling like these 8d6 fireballs are a bit much? A carnage demon that was completely engulfed in flames ran free of the blaze, then was promptly dispatched by a blast from Frosts shotgun. I mean, surely 6d6 would be a little more balanced, you know? There was no further motion from within the flames. Hunter looked over, katanas seeming to hang limply from his hands. Ashtoreth, he said. She grinned at him. Uh-huh? Just so you know your class is bullshit. To be fair, a lot of this was enabled by my race, she said. Turns out a [Vampiric Archfiend] isnt someone that you can really threaten with a given number of low-strength demons. Its noticeable, said Frost, staring at the flames. I can feel the heat, but it doesnt hurt me. Its a strange sensation. Allright, Ashtoreth said. This is probably pretty visible from the sky, so Ill suck up all this fire, maybe take a few hearts, and we can get out of here and distribute the cores. She looked at her system notifications to see that she had, indeed, just gotten more than 30 low-level cores. Frost had probably gotten another half-dozen and Hunter had well, Hunter would be useful against bosses. Hopefully. She looked over at Frost while she planted her greatsword in the ground and began to absorb the fire. Maybe watch for that dragon? Im always watching for the dragon, Ashtoreth, said Frost. Thats why I spotted the shearbats first both times. Within a few moments it was done: they jogged away from the site of the battle, eyes on the sky, but the dragon didnt emerge from the haze. The cores werent enough to gain her a level, but that wasnt surprising: the curve was steep, and the carnage demons had been low. Her last level had mostly come from the Huntsmans boss core. I dont get it, Hunter said. I thought I was strong when I soloed that boss. But you werent kidding at all when you said they were explosive barrels. Nope! Ashtoreth chirped. How is anything that isnt a boss supposed to contend with that? Its just a chain reaction. She shrugged. Mobility abilities. Minions that are strong enough to survive an explosion from an allys corpse. Minions that are spread out. Really, any tightly packed groups of enemies fares badly even against fire magic. Even fire magic that sucks. She looked over, and seeing his downcast expression, she added: Hey, cheer up! Give it a couple of levels and youll have some overpowered synergies yourself. Plus, boss-killing is more important than crowd-killing anyway. Right, he said. Ive got a level now, actually. Uh, any advice? Do you have anything that helps you regenerate resources? I retained some stuff, yeah. Go for those, she said. Unless theres something you should obviously be doing anyway. Youve got four progression paths, right? That means 33% more stuff to choose from than what I see. Pretty good. Im still not sure I understand it, said Frost. Four aspects does sound good when you talk about it but to justify a full scale invasion of Earth from Hell? With all of the advantages you mentioned Hell having, it seems strange that the King would feel like Earth could ever threaten you. Hell, I mean. Ashtoreth shrugged. Well, who knows? Maybe theres something else, something to do with Earth itself. I mean, knowing humans, it could be a lot of things. What do you mean? Well, you guys sure got a lot done without magic alreadyI dont think any of the other outer realms that got integrated had the internet and computers, not like yours. And youve got atom bombs but didnt destroy yourselves, which is pretty impressive. And the stuff you do with molecules sure gets a lot of buzz in hell. Molecules? Frost asked. You mean like how we make plastic and vaccines and stuff? Exactly! Ashtoreth said, happy that he was getting it. Have you seen all the nerve agents? I mean, barely any amount of sarin at all can kill someone in as low as a minute! Uh, okay, said Frost. And thermobaric weapons! Have you seen those? Fortunately, I havent. Theres more, too. I mean, your average human is frail, unimpressive, flabby, and unmotivated, right? This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Sure, Ashtoreth. But if you look at the humans who are the best at things like gymnastics or video games or sculpting, it feels like theyre not even the same species. The upper bound for humans is insane! But its more than that, even. What do you mean? Hunter asked. I mean, you guys built airplanes and rocketships within a century of each other. And have you seen how tribal you can get, how completely crazy you are sometimes? Just look at the witch trials: eventually the people they were torturing would name other people just to get the torture to stop. You guys were killing each other for no reason at all, and using torture just to find yourselves more people to kill! And thats impressive to you? Frost asked. Well its not good, said Ashtoreth. But my point is this: whats gonna happen when that species figures outwell, figures out that there are other species? Theres eight billion of you. Integrating that many humans into the inner realms is a pretty scary prospect, especially when youve got a powerful racial ability to go with your numbers. You mentioned them before, Hunter said. But the inner realmswhat are those? Theyre the systematized realms, said Ashtoreth. A loose collection of worlds and pocket-dimensions, all of them interconnected. You can probably find almost all of the fantasy elements that the human race has been honing in on for the last little while on any of those worlds. You know: mermaids and stuff. Mermaids? Hunter asked dubiously. You know, the fish people. Mermaids. Yeah, its just I guess I was surprised that you would pick that one, of all things. Are there like elves? Yeah, Ashtoreth said. In fact, theyll probably get along with humans since you look so similar. Elves have normal-shaped ears, though. Why do you ask? Dazel said, leaping down to pad along the ground beside Hunter. No reason, just curious, said Hunter. Dazel walked up beside him and then nudged him in the ankle. Looking to wife yourself an elf maiden, huh? Uh, no, said Hunter. I have a girlfriend, actually. Wow, Dazel said, blinking in surprise. Wow. Interesting dialect. Huh? Its just, Ive never heard someone pronounce tulpa that way before. Girlfriend. You must be from a pretty remote Ugh, Hunter said. You know, for a talking cat who calls himself an asshole, you sure keep trying to act like Im the stereotype between us. Dazel stretched out his wings. Like I said, its how I show affection. And I never said that I wasnt a hypocrite. Say, boss: apropos of nothing at all, how about glamouring me up some cigarettes? Sure Dazel, you just gotta lay off of Hunter. I dont think he likes your affection. Ugh, fine. Ashtoreth wove some of her glamour into a small cigarillo wrapped in black paper and passed it to him. Dazel took it, stuck it in his mouth, and lit it with a claw. Hows this for stereotypes, Mister Wolfhard? Hunter stared down at him, perplexed. How how can you do that? Your paws? Cat was more of a suggestion than a schematic, he said, raising one forelimb and wiggling his thumb. Ive got no interest in holding chalk with my mouth. Say boss, can I ride in the wings again? The ground is dirty. Ashtoreth laughed as she lifted him onto her shoulders. I dont know why youre worried about what you use to hold chalk, she said. Youre not doing any magic for me at all. True, that, he said. She felt a light puff of air against the point of her right ear, and a cloud of smoke appeared a moment later. Say, this fake cigarillo aint bad. Youve got experience. Dont blow smoke in my face, Dazel, she said. Sure thing, boss. Hey, while were on the subject of Hunters girlfriend Were not, Hunter said flatly. What about you, boss? Dazel asked. Been cultivating any romantic fantasies while you look forward to betraying Hell and wowing Earth with your heroism? Is there a billionaire pirate vampire angel whose daddy forbids your relationship living somewhere amidst your countless, clearly pathological daydreams? Nah, she said. Im not here for romantic opportunities. She sighed, then added: I mean, Im not saying I wouldnt like to meet somebody somedayhumanity really sold me on the romance thing. You do it way better than we do it in Hell. How do you do it in Hell? Hunter asked. You know what? she asked, raising a finger. Lets change the subject. Right now! Ive got a question, said Frost. That cigarette. Cigarillo, Dazel said. Sure, said Frost. Its fake. But he can taste it? Ashtorth heard a steady exhale from behind her. To my pleasure, he said. Our girl Ashtoreth has clearly done her fair share of smoking. Dazeldont tell Frost that. Hes a cop. I Frost spared Ashtoreth a befuddled glance, then seemed to turn back to Dazel. I dont understand, he said. You can conjure illusions, but theyre real? Glamours are illusions that can deceive all senses, Ashtoreth said. Its the art of making things seem like something else. But it still isnt real. They dont have the substance to survive any kind of forceful interactionI couldnt weave a bridge that we could walk over, for instance, because wed be too heavy. And anyone who actively disbelieves something like a glamoured fire wont feel its heat. Dazels chosen to embrace the illusion. She paused, then added: if you focus a bit, you can probably see that Im still wearing a blood-stained robe, not a baseball uniform. Hunter and Frost both stared at her for a second, and she watched their expressions change to those of surprise. Huh, said Frost. Trust me, Ashtoreth said. Youll appreciate it later. Well probably be sleeping on piles of leaves tonight, but your mind wont care so much if I trick it into thinking youve got a nice feather bed instead. Youll fall asleep faster, even if you still wake up a little sore. Frost slowed for second and stared at her. Sleeping? he said. Wait a secondjust how long are we supposed to spend in this tutorial? I didnt know wed be here for a whole day. Oh no, said Ashtoreth. The tutorial can cover the whole first tier, or even more. We could be in here for a lot longer than a single day. Oh. Just remember that the system has put us in private time, Ashtoreth said. Were going to come out in the exact same moment we left, same as everyone. She flashed him a smile. Just think: if we spend a week in here instead of two days, well then thats just more practice and power to save Earth with! We should stay and farm as long as possible, Hunter said. Frost looked unenthused. Id really like to return to whatever will be back on Earth. But remember, Ashtoreth said. No matter how long we stay here you wont miss even a single second of the invasion. Great. Ashtoreth didnt say any more. With any luck, shed have a little more time to work on Hunter and Frost before she brought them in on the full scale of her plan. She wanted to tell them, of course, but they needed to be eased into the truth, coached and goaded like flighty animals. After all, Ashtoreth had a secret. Affixed to her very soul was a shard of something that shed stolen from her mother before shed fled the Paradise Citadel, the seat of utmost power in Hell. With it, she could tamper with the tutorials ordinary constraints so that she and everyone else who survived could return to Earth with more power than the early infernal invaders could possibly hope to contend with. But that kind of power would take time to gather, and shed need even more time to train the humans in using it properly. She wasnt telling him that if things went her way, they wouldnt be staying in the tutorials private time for a week. Theyd be staying for much longer. Surely, if she told them at the right time and in the right way, the humans would be thrilled. 31: Stay Awhile and Listen—as I Explain Why I’M so Gosh-Darned Overpowered Okay, Ashtoreth said as they plodded on through the forest, searching for more humans and more enemies to kill. Crash course on understanding Hell. Youve got three different types of infernal, Ashtoreth said. The demons, the devils, and the fiends. The ones who are really special get an arch on the front: archdemons, archdevils, archfiends. Well start with the demons. Theyre the most varied. Also the weirdest. Hey, thanks, said Dazel. Abhorrent insects, tumorous vines, mutated primates, suppurating trees, congealed slimes, grotesque humanoids, rabid canines, monstrous birds. Such a pleasant bouquet adjectives, said Dazel. I can really feel the love you have for your subjects, Your Highness. Huh? She asked, frowning. Theyre supposed to love me, not the other way around. She turned back to the humans. Anyway, demons tend to have the most variety in physical forms because they have loose souls. This is ugh, Dazel said. You want to step in? No, no, he said. Youre way is probably a fast and easy way to understand. Id end up lecturing on metaphysical mechanics to a bunch of people who barely want to listen. Sure, she said. Demons are very easy to socket into new bodies and forms. Dazel here is a good example, hes basically just a bunch of aether stuffed into a shape and then given some stats. You can almost think of demons as being more fluid, metaphysically. Theyre easier to summon, easier to bind, and its easier to transfer their soul into a new body, or have them possess somebody. In Hell, they are typically, typically the lowest-ranked of the three types of infernals. But not always? Hunter asked. Oh no, Ashtoreth said, dragging out each word for emphasis. Everything I just said makes demons easy to enslave and very useful as slaves. But theres also a lot of high-level craziness they can get up to. They can have truly titanic, monstrous forms, and they can use warp magic and soul magic more easily than pretty much any other race. Its not so much that demons are always on the bottom, said Dazel. Its that our power floor is much lower than that of devils and fiends. If youre born a devil, the lowest you can be in the hierarchy of Hell is still much higher than the lowest it can get for a demon. Right, said Ashtoreth. She was smiling: to her it felt like more and more, Dazel was forgetting himself and joining in on the group dynamic. Sure, he might just be doing it so that he could get at, and manipulate, the humans. Or maybe hed decided that manipulating her would take a little more friendliness. But still: he was at least somewhat part of the group, now. Very soon she could goad him into actually being useful. Maybe he would even become pleasant to be around. Moving on to devils, Ashtoreth said. They tend to be the more I guess you would call them humanoid. Not always, of coursea better rule is that they tend much more to resemble twisted versions of intelligent creatures like mermaids and elves and dwarves. Theyre also much more likely to be practiced spellcasters and have elemental aspectshellfire, hellfrost, and profane shadows are their typical milieu. Its much more normal for a devil to be in command of a host of demons than for a demon to be. Theyre also the most resentfully ambitious creatures youll find in Hell, said Dazel. Its possible to find demons that dont have a lot of ambition, who just live for the finer pleasures in life, or at least the avoidance of pain. But devils? Every one of them thinks they deserve their bosss job and would betray every single person close to them to get it. Thats uh, your unbiased opinion? Hunter asked. Hes mostly right, actually, said Ashtoreth. The way the fiends look at it, the devils have a taste of power but always have to settle for being second best. I think its easier to accept being on the bottom than in the middle. That, or theyre just objectively worse than demons, psychologically speaking, Dazel said. In my unbiased opinion. So let me get this straight, said Frost. The fiends and demons can both agree that devils are the worst. Yeah, Id say so, Ashtoreth said. What would a devil say, if they were here? Theyd say that fiends are arrogant, incompetent, and co-dependant, said Dazel. And that demons are ambitionless, cretinous, and servile, said Ashtoreth. Which sort of proves our point, if you ask me, said Dazel. Yeah, said Ashtoreth. But devils really are just sort of like that. Its awful. Someone else should probably feel bad for them, said Dazel. Ashtoreth snickered. Okay, well, on to fiends. See, fiends are a sort of mix of demons and devils, but its a little more complicated than that. Because most mixes between demons and devils result in useless freaks, Dazel said. Not the optimized superbeings that the lords of Hell desire. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The bad ones get purged, said Ashtoreth. But mostly they dont happen anymore. Okay, purged? said Frost. Friendly reminder that Im talking about the people Im risking my entire life to stop, Ashtoreth said. But yes, purged. The experiments that created my kind resulted in many forms that were suboptimal. But with great effort, the goal was reached. And now, fiends tend to breed with other fiends, only rarely bringing the other infernals into the mix to change something. You said the goal was reached, Hunter said. What was the goal? A strong race? Lots of races are strong, Ashtoreth said. Dragons and devils are strong. But do you remember how I said that Hell did everything it could to game the system so that its low level creatures win the initial stages of an invasion? Yeah, said Hunter. Take that mentality and apply to crafting a race. You can only stuff so much power onto one soul that has no class, right? So I dont know, you two have both played video games. Think of a system where you have a racial point buy. Archfiends dont just have the most points to spend, thousands of years have been spent figuring out what the most optimal way to build is. So youre really, really OP? Hunter asked. Exactly! Ashtoreth said. Think about it like this: youre both humans, but because of your bloodline, and Frosts vampirism, you both have racial abilities. And those abilities should give access to different, hybrid abilities in your class advancement. Uh, yeah, said Hunter. My shadowflame dragon bloodline is sort of a crucial part of my whole class. Great, said Ashtoreth. So think about my kind like this: fiends were made and perfected over millennia to have a starting set of abilities and a continued racial progression path that gives multiple options for strengthing your build with good synergiesno matter what you actually build for. Toughness, magic, summoning, martial supremacy, striking from stealth anything. We can build for power in everythingbut more importantly, we can shore up any weakness. Flight and truesight both answer a lot of potentially unanswerable problems, without requiring one to take an aspect. As an example, Dazel said. Its no accident that when she became a vampire she got to take the [Drain] aspect and get this absurdly powerful [Consume Heart] ability. Shed have found something like that anywhere as an archfiend. Right! she said. Good example, Dazel. Though [Consume Heart] is maybe still Yeah, okay, that one is still strong by Hells standards even, Dazel said. Earlier, said Frost. You said you spent your whole life training for this. Yep! And earlier than that, you said that if you were too weak theyd kill you and eat you. Yup! Frost seemed thoughtful for a moment. Im very sorry, Ashtoreth. Ashtoreth went rigid for a moment. She felt a quick flash of fear and seemed to hear a memory of a distant song. She shook her head. There are worse lives to live, she said at last. Amen to that, Dazel said. Language, Dazel. I felt like we were getting along. Dazel chuckled. Just remember, you two. In your worlds terms, Ashtoreth is a genetically engineered supersoldier who has been trained from birth to be one of Hells most powerful fighters and commanders. They taught her to be vicious without being savage, cruel without being indulgent, unpredictable without being random. I wont lie, said Hunter. You dont, uh, seem all that vicious and cruel. Thanks, Hunter! Not surprising, said Dazel. What do you mean? Well I left something out, said Dazel. See, Ashtoreth is supposed to be loyal. Loyal to her father, loyal to her family, loyal to the clan of pride, and loyal to all fiends. Loyalty beyond anything. Once upon a time, devils used to rule Helldevils with plenty of overpowered racial abilities of their own. But beyond any of their many powers, the fiends sense of racial superiority helped them stick together while the devils, who never stopped backstabbing each other, were easy to pull apart. Thats why the war went in her kinds favor. If Her Highness over here has gone traitor, something in her is pretty seriously broken. Sure, Ashtoreth said. If you say so. But you know what, Dazel? Its great that youre warming up to being on the team. What? Im not warming up to anything. Sure, she said. Except you started off not wanting to help with my loredump, remember? Then boom. Suddenly Dazel is doing more than half of the loredump, all by himself. Uh, well excuse me Quiet a sec, Hunter said suddenly, cutting Dazel off. They stopped and listened. A faint, steady sound could be heard over the trees. At first Ashtoreth thought it sounded like a waterfall, but then she realized it might have been peopleit was like they were a few blocks away from a stadium. Is that a battle? Dazel asked. Ill check, Ashtoreth said. She stuck her sword into the ground, the planted her heels atop its hilt and pushed it downward, the counterforce throwing her high into the air. She cleared the tops of the trees easily, then rose further and used her racial flight ability to turn herself and survey the land beneath her. She saw demons, hundreds of them. Strangely enough, they seemed like they were fighting each other. They were hard to make out at this distance, but some of them were huge, armored quadrupeds that were multiple storeys tall. Perched on a precipice that was looking over the battlefield, she could barely make out a tower in the haze. The positions of the armies made it seem as if the tower was what the demons were trying to assault. She landed moments later and looked around at her party. Great news! she said. O-kay, said Frost. That can mean a lot of things with you. There are hundreds of demons over there! Case in point. Oh, come on, she said, grinning at him. Dont you want to hit level 10? 32: The Enemy of My Enemy is… a Bunch of Zombified Enemies, Apparently I dont know where the second army came from, but it looked like it was also demons, Ashtoreth said. They were jogging through the forest, making a lot of noise as they crashed through the underbrush toward the site of the battle. So your kind are infighting? Frost asked. I mean, other than just you? You think some of them are also on our side? No, she said. The only explanation I can think of is undeadsome of the humans built their class for necromancy and raised an army to defend themselves and hid in a nearby tower. How many humans, do you think? Frost asked. Hard to say, she called back. Minion builds are pretty strong, usually, and necromancy builds take that to a whole new level! If theyre a high enough level, it could just be a few people! If thats the case, we have to protect that tower, Frost said. Agreed, but be careful. Were already farther from the lake than weve travelled yeteverything were about to encounter is a higher level than were used to, and some of the demons I saw were huge. I can deliver a lot of damage to a single target, said Hunter. If my flames light up the battlefield, though, Ashtoreth said. Wont that shut down a lot of your abilities? Dont worry, he said, his voice sounding intense and determined. Ill handle them, hellfire or no. Ashtoreth wait a moment. When it became clear than no explanation was forthcoming, she said: Okay, but how? You should probably tell us. Oh, he said. I can use my [Embrace of the Shadowflame Dragon] again. Because the fang of flame lets me use all my shadow abilities within the light of my shadowflame, it basically means my shadow abilities are always on. Great! Ashtoreth said. Frost and I will handle the minions in a way that distracts the big guys to give you an opening. Before we know how tough they are, dont strike until you have a way of getting yourself out. Right, said Hunter. Can we expect friendly fire? Frost asked. The other forcethe undead. Will they attack us? No idea! Ashtoreth said. But if they do, then theyre not getting included in my aura. Right. The forest grew sparser, and soon they emerged onto a small slope that overlooked a sunken field, dotted by other bloodleaf trees and bushes. A little more than a half-mile ahead of them, still somewhat obscured by the omnipresent haze, was a steep, rocky hill with a ruined tower atop it. In the field between them and the tower were clusters of fighting infernals. Ashtoreth took in a group close to them and saw that one side was definitely undead; a few of them were even skeletons. What was more, she saw that some of them were armored humanoid figures wielding wickedly curved swords and spears. Some of them had horns curling around their heads, and a few even had wings, though none were flying Devils. Theyd have higher profane resistance than demonsit wouldnt negate her chain-reaction area-of-effect, but it would make it harder. These lower-level devils would most likely be young and barely trained, but that still meant they were trained. Watch out for the devils, she said, leaping down from the top of the hill they stood on to glide toward the nearest battle. There was no hulking, armored demon in the group she was attacking, but Ashtoreth was still able to get a good look at one of them in the distance as she charged into the fray: {Shiverhulk Demon Level 14 Elite} It almost looked like a cross between a carnage demon and a hellhound, if theyd also spent about a century bulking up. It was quadrupedal, and covered in hammered metal plates that had been bolted to its skin, scraggly lines of fur growing out of the cracks between them. Its eyes glowed with a harsh, white-blue light, and it moved slowly, spending more than a second to take a single step, looking as if it were never meant to grow to its current size and struggled with its own weight. Theyre underestimating the undead, Dazel said in her ear as she charged. Have to be. Theyre trying to clean up the battlefield, but their losses are too heavy. Ashtoreth blinked, looked around, and realized that he was right. Fresh demons and devils were entering the fray from a distant field somewhere past the tower, to her left. Bodies littered the ground, the signs of continued fighting. She guessed most of them were the bodies of the undead. With necromancers around, the corpses of the living tended not to stay where they fell. Still, this sort of scattered fighting could only be the result of a battle gone wrong. Clearly the infernals couldnt retreat and regroup to try for the tower again, or theyd have done so. They must have come at it from what looked like a great many angles, but had their force substantially whittled down. Even with their massive hulks, they were apparently fighting for their lives. It took her a few seconds to notice and surmise all of this, and then she reached the first cluster of enemies. One of the devils saw her as she charged, and his eyes widened as he pulled himself away from the fighting to meet her. Your eminence! he said in a clipped, hissing voice. We are routedGethernel has abandoned us! Sensing an opportunity, Ashtoreth skidded to a halt before him instead of attacking outright. Im not a part of your corpswhos Gethernel and whats going on here? Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Gethernel is our commander, said the devil. He claimed he was working on a siege But her conversation partner looked past her, eyes once again widening. Humans, Eminence! He turned to bark a command over his shoulder Halt, Ashtoreth commanded, calling upon her [Command Infernal] for a high cost in [Bloodfire]. The devil froze momentarily, and Ashtoreth planted her feet, brought her sword back, and then struck him with a [Mighty Blow] that sheared him in half. The strike was angled upward, so that while the devils legs were knocked away from her, his torso spun through the air to land amidst its comrades. Seeing her chance, Ashtoreth let loose a hellfire bolt, allowing it to ignite the slain devils bloody torso. The rest of the squad was just turning toward the meteoric noise shed made with her greatsword when they were engulfed in the burst of Hellfire. She charged in after it. Pained shouts of surprise filled the air, but Ashtoreth magical sense didnt detect any more corpses that she could ignite with her hellfire. Instead, when the plume of flames cleared, she saw that the effect of her attack had been mixed. They had demons with them: more carnage demons and hellhounds. These had all been badly burned, with some of them still engulfed in flames. They were a higher level than those shed encountered before, and so their [Defense] would be higher, as well. A single burst of hellfire wouldnt kill them but a few might. The devils, on the other hand, were fighting through any burns theyd sustained. They had at least a little profane resistance, and would also have higher stats than their demonic companions. Her hellfire had hurt them, surely. Moderately wounded them, even. But they didnt burst into violet flame the way that some of the hellhounds did. That was what her sword was for. She rushed toward the nearest devil, who was already charging her. She leaned forward, extending to thrust at the devil with a [Mighty Blow] that punched a hole in his breastplate and igniting his corpse as her blade pierced his heart. Then, seeing a hellhound leaping for her as they were both engulfed in the flames, she dropped her sword, spun to avoid her attacker, and reached out to slash the hounds neck with a clawed hand as it sailed by her. Two more devils were next, thrusting for her chest with spears from both sides. She pulled on her sword, the counterforce yanking her down toward the ground faster than she could have fallen, bringing her under their thrusting spears before she drew the flames around her into the blade as she pushed herself up onto the knees and struck out with another [Mighty Blow] to shear through both devils at the ankles. They fell screaming to the ground. She threw herself to one side to avoid a lunging carnage demon, then planted her sword in the ground to block a hellhound that had thrown itself at her. She threw a hellfire bolt at it a second later to distract it, then pulled her sword free and spun to cleave the carnage demon in two as it lunged for her yet again. She was low on [Bloodfire], so she ignited the carnage demons corpse and immediately sucked the flames into her body. Another devil rushed her, then was knocked flat by a blast from Frosts shotgun before being quickly dispatched with a second shot. This gave Ashtoreth enough time to execute the two who were still writhing on the ground, legs severed, with a pair of thrusts that crushed their skulls. As she did this, however, the hellhound shed thrown a hellfire bolt at bit her in the ankle. She spun and sliced it in half, sensing that something was wrong immediately. It should have been in too much pain to come at her again so quickly: it had been engulfed in profane flames. Not only that, but she couldnt sense its heart even though shed killed it. She couldnt ignite its flesh with hellfire, either. She checked her system textpast the messages about gaining cores, she read: {Resisted [Energy Drained] debuff; you are immune.} Oh wow! she said, smiling. Did all of these undead have [Energy Drain]? If so, the fact that the necromancers could raise the corpses of the fallen living meant that the infernals were sure to lose any battle of attrition. No wonder this battle seemed to be going so poorly for them. At the same time, the undead were making no distinction between her and the other demons. But that made enough sense: what she really had to worry about was the humans. She saw Hunter ahead of her, pulling one of his blades out of an armored devils back like its armor was paper. Two more hounds ran past him, ignoring him completely, and identified both: {Fallen Hellhound Level 7 Minion} {Fallen Hellhound Level 8 Minion} She dispatched both of them with her sword, then turned to look at Frost. She couldnt tell if they were attacking him or not because hed engaged from a distance, putting her between him and most enemies. The dead are ignoring us! he said. But not you! Oh good, she thought. He checked, too. Its fine! she said, pulling a heart out of a nearby devils corpse and devouring it with a squish. They all have [Energy Drain]! The humans might not even need our help out here! She stopped talking as she saw a devil rushing Hunter; she threw her sword at the enemy, falling into a crouch and digging her claws into the ground to keep herself from flying back from the counterforce. Her sword didnt strike the devil hard or precisely enough to pierce their armor, but it knocked them onto the ground so that Hunter could dispatch them with a quick, awkwardly-delivered swipe of one of his katanas. Ashtoreth let her blade continue on its trajectory until it struck the ground almost fifty meters away. A quick glance around showed her that the rest of the infernals here were engaged with the undead, and would fall soon. You two should get to the tower! she said. Ill escort you most of the way, then divert to cut off their reinforcements! This shouldnt take us As if in direct response to her hopeful thoughts, a low, dolorous klaxon sounded from far across the battlefieldin the direction the infernal reinforcements were coming from. Distantly, coming out of the omnipresent haze, she saw a massive, hulking creature that seemed to be made of angular shapes and darkness, perhaps fifty feet in height. Its sheer size meant that even at this distance, she could identify it: {Demonic Chorus Golem Level 20 Boss} She felt Dazel leap back up onto her tail, then clamber up her back to perch on her wings. That, uh, might be pretty decisive, here. The klaxon rang out across the battlefield yet again, the sound like that of an oversized church bell that had been slowed down and heard through a great metal pipe. But Ashtoreth couldnt be more thrilled. O, happy day! she cried, clasping her hands together before her. O joy of joysyou guys, they brought us a boss! 33: Sometimes it’s Hard to Spot a Boss’s Weakness Past All the Giant Glowing Red Points Ill work on keeping that thing from turning the battle against the humans! Ashtoreth said. You two work your way around the battlefield and get to the base of that tower, then kill any demons who manage to make it there after you! Travel close to the dead when you cantheyre on your side! And watch out for the devilsthey know what theyre doing! You sure youll be all right? Frost asked. Once again the klaxon rang out across the battlefield like a dirge. Sure! she said. If I cant outrun it, Ill just overpower it! She cackled, then took off. Her sword still lay fifty meters away from her, toward the tower. She pulled on it, dragging the sword across the ground toward her while the counterforce catapulted her forward. With a few long bounds, she reached it, sprang forward onto her hands to grab the hilt, then came back to her feet and heaved the sword up to thrust it into the ground in front of her before springing up onto its hilt again and leaping into the air. She pushed the sword, throwing herself high up into the air on an arc toward the boss, then spreading her wings and using the small amount of self-telekinesis that her racial flight was currently granting to glide toward it at great speed. Then she absorbed all the cores shed gotten for killing the infernals. Sharing was nice and all, but once she got a good idea of what she was fighting, she was sure shed be able to think of an upgrade shed seen that would help her. Only they didnt level her up. She checked her progress: {You are 93% of the way toward leveling up} As she flew through the air, she grew nearer to the boss and could examine it more closely. It was a squat assembly of welded and bolted metal that rested atop two long legs with inverted knee joints. One arm extended out from where its hip would be if it were a devil, ending not in a hand, but a long-barreled gun that was fed by a chain of ammunition which emerged from a slot atop its body. It didnt have another arm on the other side. Instead it simply had a huge, bulky arrangement of metal-plated piping that looked as if several heavy-duty engines had been fused together, forming one massive shoulderfor she had decided to think of them as shoulders, not hipsto balance out its only arm. A chorus, Dazel said. Thats where the imps went. Huh? The imps! Dazel said. This is why there arent any even though this is a tutorial. A chorus construct is made by funneling a great deal of souls into the construct in question, combining their power to animate it. A good caster could have sucked in all the imps for dozens of miles. Oh! she said, understanding him. Clever plan, that. They didnt just deprive the humans of the easiest source of experience, they thinned out the monsters so that the pack animals like hellhounds had more time to group up. Itll be stronger than its level suggestsand itll have a controller, maybe the guy that the other guy mentioned. Zevernel, or something. Gethernel. Sure, yeah, that guy, said Dazel. They were coming closer to the creature now, though they were far enough that shed have to conjure her sword to leap off it once again if she didnt want to approach on foot. The good news is that because its a vessel for living souls, your command ability and your energy drain will both work on it. The other good news is that its still a construct, so it wont have any vitality. Damage you do should be permanent. No need to one-shot it! Ashtoreth said. Yeah, except the bad news is that its probably invincible for you. Were talking something like a thousand impsthat things got power. Also bad news: I lost my cigarillo. You accelerate too fast, boss. She conjured her sword before she hit the ground, then began running full-tilt toward the construct as she reached into her heart-bag and ate a heart to top up her [Bloodfire]. If this Gethernel fellow was smart, hed have designed something to be supported in the field by his troopswhich meant the construct would favor long-ranged weaponry. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Or so she hoped: she needed to get in close to have any chance of killing it. Shed probably needed to stay in close for quite awhile in order to hit it with [Energy Drain] or her sword enough times. You think you can trick them? Dazel said as she rushed across the field toward it. Make them think they work for you like you did with the other guy? The devil, just now? That guy was level 7, Ashtoreth pointed out. And losing a fight. How much loyalty do you expect from a devil controlling a level 20 boss toward a level 7 Archfiend? Dazel paused to consider this for a moment. Itll have ways to engage at a distance, he said, not even bothering to argue there was a chance it would do anything but attack. Uh-huh. Just be ready, is all. Dazel. Are you nervous? He never got a chance to answer. Ahead of them the construct released a gout of black smoke from its massive, bulky shoulder. An aperture opened in the middle of the giant apparatus, and crimson light flared in the depths of the constructs mechanical internals. A hair-thin beam of deep, red light shone out of the construct a moment later, marking Ashtoreths chest with a glowing dot. Her eyes widened as she saw it, and she let go of her sword and pushed on it as fast as she could, throwing herself hard to one side. A beam of what seemed like pure power shot forth from the construct to strike the space where shed been a moment later. Harsh red light bathed the world around her, and her ears filled with a continuous roaring sound. The beam followed her as she pushed herself off her sword, and she ran frantically as it swept across the landscape behind her, chasing her and putting a scorching wind at her back. She conjured her sword again as she ran, and as soon as it was in her hands, she dropped it and leapt into the air, throwing herself upward at an odd angle to watch the obliterating beam cut through the space shed just been in before it lurched upwards to cut its way through the air next to her before finally ceasing. The aperture on the constructs bulky shoulder closed again, and it raised its only arm to point the barrel of its chaingun toward her. She saw the end of the gun flare, saw the belt that fed it ammunition begin to move, and felt the bullets begin to hiss through the air beside her as the gun roared. She pulled on her sword again, diving down toward it to avoid the hail of bullets. Once shed gained enough speed she flared her wings and transferred her momentum into a forward glide, angling herself straight toward the construct as the hail of bullets from its chaingun followed her trajectory. Too slow: she felt a bullet graze her side, gouging out a huge portion of her flesh below the hip. Two more tore through her wings and she began to plummet through the air. She pushed against her sword, momentarily throwing her up and out of the chainguns line of fire. Then she fell. She could slow her fall a little with her racial flight ability, and she tried to spread her tattered wings to slow it further, but she still hit the ground hard, then rolled and bounced until she was stopped in place by striking something hard and heavy: its foot. The constructs foot lurched up off the ground, and Ashtoreth rolled to her knees, then reached out a clawed hand behind her. The foot came down in a multi-ton stomp, but she pulled on her sword, dragging herself across the ground and out of the way of the stomp before digging a clawed hand into the soil to anchor herself. She reached out with the other hand. The earth shook as the metal leg smashed into the ground before her, and a moment later she felt the hilt of her greatsword fly into her hand. Hah! she cried, looking up at the towering construct. This close, its chaingun couldnt get an angle on her: it wasnt designed to point at the ground in front of its own toes. She finished regenerating the wounds in her hip and wings. Dazel floated down to land next to her. Uh, boss? Weve closed in, she said, brandishing her sword before her in both hands. Thats what matters. If she was right, the constructs heaviest, long-ranged weapons would be its strongestit was meant to be supported by the rest of the army once it joined the fray. An aperture opened on the center of the constructs chest, once again filled with a blazing red light. But shed been expecting something like this: without waiting for the weapon to fire, she fell to her knees, bracing herself against the ground, and launched her sword with every ounce of strength she could muster, aiming straight into the constructs glowing heart. Then a curved barrier of translucent white hexes appeared at the last moment, flaring orange as it deflected her strike. Her eyes widened as her weapon fell harmlessly to the ground in front of her. Boss? she heard Dazel say from somewhere beside her, voice filled with rising panic. Ashtoreth hissed as she looked up at her enemy. She just had to dodge whatever came out of that She saw a surge of light, got only the briefest impression of a jagged bolt of red power filling the air between her and the glowing orb on its chest, and then felt a flash of searing, agonizing pain before her body went limp, every muscle failing her. She fell toward the ground, paining seeming to fill her body down to the core of every bone, the horrid scent of her own cooked flesh filling her nose. Ashtoreth! Dazel screamed. 34: My Only Weakness is Every Single One of my Enemy’s Multiple Massive Weapons, Apparently Ashtoreth fell, flesh seared all over her body, her muscles spasming instead of obeying her. Before she hit the soil, she reached out and pushed against her sword. She didnt know where it had fallen, but that wasnt the point: the counterforce threw her back across the ground. She skidded, bounced, and tumbled violently away from the place shed fallen, then felt the massive force of the constructs followup stomp shake her whole body a moment later, an attack that surely would have killed her. A moment after that, she regenerated her eardrums enough to hear the constant sound of the constructs chaingun as it pursued her across the ground with a hail of bullets. Her regeneration kicked in further, first healing her fused eyelids and then her fingers. She could visualize the gatling gun tracking her body as it rolled away from where it had fallen, knew that the bullets would be tearing into her soon. Without taking the time to get oriented, she threw herself to one side, stumbling and then leaping to avoid the hailfire of bullets before pulling herself toward her sword, reversing her momentum so that she was stumbling, then running toward the construct. Shed regenerated most of her mobility and senses a moment later, even if moving still felt agonizingly painful. She spared a glance behind her and saw the trail of bullets from the chaingun coming closer, then tore a furrow in the earth with her claws to yank her sword across the battlefield and into her hands just in time to take cover beneath the massive blade. As shed expected, the chainguns aim wasnt perfect when it came to tracking. The bullets sent vibrations into the roots of her teeth and the force of their impact against her sword shook her bones, burned her skin, and drove her down into the soil at her feet, but the chaingun passed over her a moment later. She drove her blade into the earth, then leapt up onto its hilt. The trail of bullets stopped moving just in front her, their course reversing. Ashtoreth launched herself straight into the air as fast as she could, gaining altitude and pulling a heart out of her locket to consume while she rose. Then, glad to have her resources back and to have regenerated most of the damage from its close-range lightning, she grinned as she looked down at the construct below her. The chainguns constant fire ceased for a moment, and she saw a cloud of steam rising from the constructs arm, obscuring it. It had overheated. Now was her chance. No sooner had the chaingun ceased its fire than the construct turned, bringing its massive, beam-launching shoulder to bear on her. She began to conjure her sword. A gout of black smoke billowed from the constructs shoulder, as before. She took careful aim, trying to figure out when the perfect timing would be, trying to remember everything shed seen of the firing sequence the first time as she glided alongside the construct. The aperture on its shoulder opened, revealing the angry red light within. Ashtoreth waited until the last possible moment, until the tiny beam that sighted the weapon appeared on her chest. Then she hurled her weapon with all the force she could muster. The beam appeared as the counterforce threw her backward through the air to avoid itbut then it ceased, having only flickered for a split second. Once again, the curved barrier made of transparent white hexagons appeared to block her sword, now in front of the beam weapons shoulder-mounted opening. But this was the wrong spot. Her sword sped through the air and made contact with the construct, tearing through the belt of ammunition that fed its cooling chaingun. She burst the blade right after it struck, creating a plume of violet fire and causing an erratic series of explosions in the stricken munitions. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She grinned and let out an exhilarated laugh. Dazel had said that the construct had a diabolical controller, after all. No doubt it had likely been very easy to guess what Ashtoreth was trying to do as shed floated through the air, poised with the greatsword theyd already seen her throw. The aperture guarding the beam opened yet again, and this time she didnt have her sword ready to throw as the beam shot forth. Still, it was far a less threatening attack while she was in the air. Her racial flight couldnt lift her weight yet, but it could adjust her trajectory well enough. As the beam of obliterating light chased her across the sky, she made for a slippery target, falling erratically and weaving from side to side as she used it to apply force to her body in different directions. The aim for the giant beam was even less precise than that of the gatling gun, but shed expected as much: if theyd had something that didnt overshoot and could aim on a dime, they would have used it. Instead, they were aiming by rotating their mechanical body. The beam ceased. Launching her sword to cut the ammo-belt for the gatling gun had pushed her far, far away from the construct. From her high vantage point, she looked down on the battlefield below her, then picked out the nearest group of infernals moving to reinforce their allies against the undead. Or as Ashtoreth liked to think of them: her next level. She dove toward them, eating one of the charred hearts from her satchel and loading another one into her locket as she fell. Then she conjured her sword as she swooped toward them, wings flared. There were a half-dozen devils and almost a dozen hellhounds or carnage demons, all in all. Evidently the group had been watching her fight the construct, because when they spotted her they fanned out into a battle formation. Two of the devils raised shortbows to shoot glowing arrows at her as she came close, and she launched her sword at one them to quickly dodge the missiles. The sword struck one of the archers as she fell to the ground, knocking them off-balance. She pulled herself toward the blade as the host of demonic beasts converged on her, bounding out of their midst to grab her sword by the hilt, step past the staggered archer, then wheel and smash her sword into their side with a [Mighty Blow], cutting them in two. She ignited their corpse, flames engulfing everything nearby and keeping the demons at bay for a moment as she spun to face the next-nearest devil, who came toward her with an axe. Halt, she commanded, thrusting forward to take advantage of the devils momentary paralysis and drive the point of her sword through his helmet, collapsing his face. She ignited his corpse, and at the same time she launched her blade through the ruins of his skull and into a carnage demon behind him, pushing herself backward to avoid a spear-thrust as more of her enemies converged on her position. She began to draw the hellfire around her into herself, keeping her resources topped up as she spun in their midst, striking them down with her [Mighty Blow] and igniting their corpses immediately, occasionally letting out a [Command Infernal] to gain the upper hand, either by paralyzing one of the devils or by ordering a carnage demon to attack them. Their weapons occasionally struck home, but only ever grazed her or pierced nonvital areas. And against her massive sword, they had no real defense: even her weakest blows could send them reeling, or throw them onto their backs. Soon the air around her was covered in whirling flames that gushed from her dead enemies and were sucked into her constantly moving sword. Ashtoreth was laughing: it didnt matter that they had quickly surrounded her, or that they fought together as a unit, or that they had some resistance to her hellfire. Traitor or no, she was an archfiend of pride. She was more than a match for this common rabble. She absorbed all of the cores as she got them. Soon shed got what she came for: {Ding! You level up and gain 11 DEX, 11 STR, 15 VIT, 13 MAG, 7 PSY, 7 DEF} {Reaching level 8 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Hellfire].} But she kept fighting even when their squad was down to a few stragglers. The devils broke and fled when there were only two of them left, but she chased one down and struck them in the back with a [Mighty Blow], tearing a hole through their abdomen and almost shearing them in half. It was only then that she a red gleam from across the field and from the construct shed been trying to watch out of the corner of her eye since the fight began. Shed killed as quickly as possible, but shed been waiting for her real opponent to strike all the while. She planted her sword, sprang onto its hilt, then leapt into the air as the beam roared forth from the construct. She veered to one side using her racial flight ability in case the construct had learned to anticipate her movements. Then she glided toward it, winding and weaving and occasionally dropping altitude by folding her wings. The beam ceased after a moment, and she took took a second to complete the advancement that shed known she needed. Ashtoreth chose [Armament] as her advancement path once more. She picked quickly, not bothering to read the rest of the system messages that accompanied advancement, choosing to retain both of the options she wasnt picking. {You upgraded your [Conjure Luftschloss] ability with [Luftschloss: Mighty Strike]} Thank you very much! she told the system. Then she looked down at the great golem of black metal that dominated the field beneath her. And thank you for waiting around for me. 35: You Know What they Say! If it Ain’t Broke: New Plan! The construct began to move toward her with long, powerful strides. She could see why it would: its gigantic obliterating beam had been its least effective weapon so far. Its close-range, anti-personnel lightning had been far more powerful, and she could only imagine that its controller was eager to get near enough to use it again. She conjured her sword once again, then pulled a heart out of her locket and consumed it in midair, topping up her [Bloodfire] before diving straight toward her enemy. She wanted to engage it as quickly as possible. If her plan didnt work, she was getting zapped, and she didnt want the construct to have its beam ready to fire if that happened. She landed, then charged the construct across the field, making it seem like she meant to close for melee. The construct continued to move toward her with quick, powerful strides. Then, finally, the aperture in the center of its weapons platform opened, revealing red light beneath. She knelt, setting her knees to hopefully absorb most of the counterforce, then leveled her sword at the construct and threw it into the glowing red weapon. This time, though, she used her [Mighty Strike]. After all: the magic barrier that the construct had used to defend itself from her sword-blows had flashed orange when shed stricken it the first time. Somehow, she doubted that it changed colors because it had infinite integrity. Ashtoreth felt her knees pressed violently into the ground beneath her for a moment and a massive counterforce slammed into her so hard that she was thrown backward and away, sent tumbling and bouncing across the ground behind her at a shockingly fast speed. Shed gotten the faintest impression of the barrier popping up, flashing red, shattering. The ground was unrelenting in its assault, and it took her several moments of chaotically rolling away from the construct before she got her claws into the earth and slowed her motion, fingers carving grooves into soft soil as she regenerated her torn skin. She looked up to see the construct with her sword jutting out of the crater of bent and collapsed steel that it had made in the constructs chest. Wow! she said, beaming and hardly believing her eyes. Is that scaled to the weight of the weapon, or something?! she stood shakily to see that shed thrown herself backward almost a hundred meters, then began to heal the skin that had been torn off her arms and ankles. Had she found an overpowered interaction completely by accident? It had cost her almost two thirds of her [Bloodfire] to launch the weapon, and she spent half of the remainder healing the wounds dealt by the recoil, but she was still immensely satisfied. Her sword was indeed turning into the boss-killer shed always meant it be. She ate two more of the charred hearts in her satchel as she pulled her sword so that the counterforce dragged her toward the construct, bounding across the distance between it and her. The aperture on the constructs shoulder opened, revealing the angry red light within, but it was too late: Asthoreth closed to quickly, sprinting into its shadow and leaping up to grab the sword-hilt jutting from the center of its chest, then plant her feet against its body. She almost wasnt strong enough to heave the sword free. As it was, it took her several powerful tugs on the hilt, the blade lurching a few inches each time before finally coming loose with the sound of scraping, twisting metal. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She pushed the sword down to the ground to launch herself up and over the lip of the weapons platform, where she landed, gripped some jutting pipes, and held fast. To an outside observer, it might have looked like Ashtoreth wasnt doing anything: she was perched atop the construct, unmoving. But every passing moment that she was touching it, she affected it with her [Energy Drain], stacking a debuff each of its stats and giving her a little [Bloodfire]. Best of all, she suspected that its movement came not just from [Strength], but [Magic] as well, possibly even [Psychic], like her sword. The construct wheeled about, unable to attack her without its lightning-thrower. Soon enough it began to slow, the debuff growing greater and greater. It weakened so much that it teetered in place, unable to balance its own movements, then fell to the ground with a massive, earthshaking noise. She leapt free from it, then glided down to the ground once it had fallen. Taking cover on the far side of the construct from its beam generator in case that part exploded, she lay a hand on its surface and steadily affected it with more and more of her [Energy Drain]. It struggled to rise once, then fell still. Two more groups of infernals moved past in the field around her. Whether they refrained from engaging her because they had orders, or because they were just afraid, she couldnt say. The important thing was that when [Energy Drain] was finished depleting all of the constructs stats to 0, it would either die on its own the way a living creature did, or be trivially easy for her to kill. Love the clever workaround, she heard Dazel say as he stepped around the immobile construct and into view. It has a shield to protect itself from having you smash your sword into its guts, so what do you do? Smash harder, somehow. Ashtoreth snorted with laughter. Yeah, or I deceived it into letting me disable its long-range anti-air capability so that it could only engage me with the slow-charge dodgeable beam weapon while I farmed the upgrade I knew I needed to break its forcefield. Like I said, smash harder, said Dazel. Im surprised youre still here, Ashtoreth said. I figured it got you with something after I ran away from the lightning. I ran away too, he said. Just not as quick. And then I couldnt catch up to you because you can basically fly. How did you launch your sword so fast? Its an ability, she said. Costs a lot of resources. You know, though? I think its pretty strong. Yeah? You think? Uh-huh! she said. Once Im done with this thing, were gonna find the boss chest quick, plunder it as fast as we can, then go find the humans. Sound good? Sure, he said. Ill try to hope for the best. Theyll be fine, she said. Frost knows how to {You receive 1 [Demonic Chorus Golem]; Tier 1} Oooh! she said excitedly. It died! {You absorb 1 [Demonic Chorus Golem]; Tier 1} {Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You level up four times!} {You gain 44 DEX, 44 STR, 60 VIT, 52 MAG, 28 PSY, 28 DEF} {Reaching level 9 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} Too bad it doesnt have a heart, she said, reaching out with her senses and feeling nothing inside it. I could really go for a chunk of its stats. Im sure theyre higher than those other two guys we fought. As she was speaking, she climbed up onto the bosss corpse and scanned the field around them. She frowned as she saw nothing, then noticed a black metal chest of huge proportions had appeared just in front of the constructs shoulder, right beneath her. Lets see. she said, hopping down and touching the chest. It clicked, and the lid swung slowly open. Ashtoreth looked inside. Say, would you look at that! 36: Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Yoink, Free Stuff! And the Numbers Go: BRRR! Inside the chest was a folded piece of clothing. Ashtoreth took it and held it out, examining it. It was a robe and a pair of breeches that seemed to be made of a strange, silvery form of silk. {Ashtoreths Mercurial Costumery} Any glamour you use to change the appearance of your clothing gains a very high bonus to its effect strength and does not deplete or count against the charge of your [Ashtoreths Glamourous Diadem]. This clothing grants a very high resistance bonus against all effects which would hinder your movement or render you immobile. Wow! she said. Okay dont look, Im changing! She swept a hand through the air and conjured herself some privacy fog, then set about quickly getting changed. Dazel jumped off her back like shed burst into hellfire. Im not looking, he said. Also, you realize I can see through your glamours because Im your companion, right? Sure, she said. Thats why I said not to look. Were in the middle of a battle. Is a cosmetic suit of clothes important enough to stop and change? There could be movement-impairing effects coming up, she said. Also, my old clothes werent exactly in the best shape. She finished changing, then waved her arm to disperse the fog. Then she wove another glamour to alter her silver clothing. When she was done she was wearing a violet beanie instead of her coronet, a black hoodie with I ? Earth written on it in violet letters, and a belted pair of black jeans. Shed also given herself some bracelets. Im done. Great, Dazel said, turning around. Now ifokay, why? The necromancers in that tower told their undead to attack demons, or at least not attack humans, said Ashtoreth, weaving another, weaker glamour to hide her horns, wings, and tail. I dont know exactly how the undead know the difference between me and a human, but I can at least try to blend in by hiding my fiendish attributes and wearing traditional human garb. The regular humans got white starter robes. Well say I looted this from a chest. Finishing her glamour, she planted her sword, jumped onto the hilt, then threw herself into the air. Dazels forepaws tightened around her neck as they catapulted upward. Thats not easy to get used to, he said. Huh, she said, looking down at the battlefield below them as she glided toward the hill with the tower on it. Is it me, or did the undead start losing as soon as we got here? She could see Frost near the base of the tower: he was a small figure that occasionally emitted a burst of blue-white light from the end of his shotgun. She assumed that Hunter was nearby, but harder to see. It seemed like there were a great many corpses littering the ground around thembut it also seemed like there were fewer scattered pockets of fighting, all in all. Judging by the fact that more of the groups were moving toward the tower, the infernals had finished off most of the dead and were coming for her allies. The big guys must have been a recent addition to the battlefield, said Dazel. They really turned the tide. Cant have taken more than a few minutes. Ashtoreth ate a heart from her satchel, lamenting the fact that shed been a little negligent in collecting them and had only a half-dozen left. Im going to try to level some while we fly to the base of the tower, she said. Let me know if anything that matters happens. Uh-huh. {Reaching level 9 has granted you a racial advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} Hellfire, please! she said. {Advance [Hellfire]} {Choose an advancement to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Efficiency I]: The cost of conjuring hellfire is reduced by 20%. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Blast]: When using the [Hellfire Bolt] upgrade for the [Hellfire] ability, you can spend time charging the bolt so that it causes an explosion on contact. This costs a moderate to high amount of [Bloodfire]. The more time spent charging, the higher the cost and the larger the explosion. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Penetration] Your hellfire now ignores an amount of your enemys highest resistance against it equal to twice your level. Blast, please! she said. It was a fast pick because she already knew what she wanted. She retained [Hellfire Penetration] along with [Hellfire Efficiency]. Resistance equal to her twice level wasnt going to be enough to negate the resistances of almost anything, including the devils, but it would still make for a very effective damage multiplier. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. {You upgraded your [Hellfire] ability with [Hellfire Blast]} {Reaching level 10 has altered your advancement progression. You will now be granted advancement only at even levels.} {You can now choose to advance your [Vampiric Archfiend] race when advancement is available.} {Your total racial advancements cannot be more than half your total class advancements. Advancements that your race shares with your class progression paths will always count as class advancements for this purpose.} She had to wonder how many of her racial advancements would fall into the [Drain] and [Hellfire] aspects. Potentially she could devote a third of her total advancements to any of her racial bonuses that didnt overlap with those two. And dont mind if I do, she said. If Ashtoreth knew anything, it was that archfiends were overpowered. [Vampiric Archfiend], please! A new advancement greeted her: {Advancement: [Vampiric Archfiend]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. This upgrade will count as a [Blood] advancement. Gain the [Daywalker] ability: Sunlight no longer causes sacred damage to you, but still significantly weakens you. Upgrade your [Aura] ability with [Aura: Hellfire Absorption]: You may choose to have your auras affect creatures within a 6m radius. Allied creatures in your aura can consume your hellfire to restore most magical resource(s) and their [Blood], if they have any. Gee, she said. But which one will I take? It was funny: she could acted the same way about [Daywalker], if it hadnt been for [Aura: Hellfire Absorption]. Instead shed have to take [Daywalker] the next time it was availableit was a necessary skill, after all. Though with her progression slowing down, she wouldnt be getting it until level 14. But shed have another chance to take it, and hopefully its upgrades, before she ever saw harmful sunlight. Hells suns never counted as real sunlight. The aura, please! she cried. It would even help Frost to get by without drinking any blood. {You upgraded your [Aura] ability with [Aura: Hellfire Absorption]} {Reaching level 12 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Vampiric Archfiend].} Thanks! she chirped. As for her next upgrade: Ashtoreth had no doubts that one day shed stop playing favorites with her progression paths. That day was not today. [Armament], pl she began. Grounds coming, Dazel said. Dang, she said, looking up and seeing that he was right. Shed almost reached the tower, thoughher newly added stats had meant shed thrown herself much higher on the way back. She landed on the inside of a very loose semi-circle of infernals that was gathering at the base of the steep hill that led up to the tower. A quick glance at the battlefield told her why: the infernals had essentially cleaned up all of the errant undead. As such, they were regrouping before making an assault on the tower, forming up where they knew they were safe. There didnt seem to be any more undead rising in the middle of the battlefield, and Ashtoreth had to wonder: had the necromancers used the battle as a distraction and left? The infernals would have to choose between cleaning up these forces and hunting the humans through the forest if that was the case. She sprinted most of the way to where Frost had taken up a position. With her high [Strength] and her racial flight ability to push her forward even faster, she made excellent speed across the steep ground. Frost was taking cover behind a chest-high wall of stone halfway up the slope of the hill. She passed Hunter before she reached himhe was kneeling in the shadow of tree on the most likely approach, likely waiting to spring an ambush. There were a few skeletons around Frost, their horns indicative of the fact that theyd been created out of devils. Their skulls seemed to burn with a smokey energy, as if seen through shifting grey glass that glowed somewhat. They didnt seem to notice her or Frost at all. Instead they stood on the ledge, looking down at the demons, perfectly motionless except for the shifting energy around their skulls. Hows it going? she asked the police officer as she approached. Glad youre here, he said. Then he seemed to take her in fully. Whyoh. He looked back at the skeletons. Yes, she said. Hello, fellow human! Right, well Im glad youre here, he said. I dont know what happened. It seemed like the undead were winning, but theyve been getting overwhelmed since we got here. Im telling you, said Dazel. Its the hulks. Hunter killed a few of those with some trick I honestly cant see most of, but he said it takes him a lot of [Mana]. Ooh, she said. I can help with that. You can? Uh-huh! You guys can drink my hellfire like I do now. Should restore resourcesactually, with you itll even restore [Blood]. You dont need to drink any demons! Isnt that great? Fantastic, Frost said dryly. Though right now, its just him who needs it. Anyway, look. He gestured out across the field. They just keep coming from the same direction you fought that golem in. We need to disperse this group below us or well get overwhelmed. Right, she said, nodding. Let me pick my last level, then Ill go top up Hunter and you can support us while we take out those hulks. Wont be more than a minute. She resumed doing what shed hoped to finish while still in the air. [Armament], please! she said to the system. A moment later she let out a laugh at what she saw. Really? Shed retained an option without looking at it while shed fought the chorus golemand now that she saw what it was, her face spread into a wide grin. It was time to pick a second weapon. 37: Everyone Remembers Their First Love. Mine Was Bolt Action and Fired 28mm Armor Piercing Rounds {Advance [Armament]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Energy Drain]: Luftschloss now affects enemies with a milder form of your [Energy Drain] attack. Some abilities, like your [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike], will heighten the intensity of the [Energy Drain]. Gain the [Conjure Armament] ability: Spend a high amount of [Bloodfire] to conjure a customized armament whose nature you will decide upon gaining this ability. You can only have one of your armaments conjured at a time. Upgrade [Conjure Armament] with [Armament Speed]: Halves the time it takes to conjure an armament. Before, when shed upgraded her sword with [Mighty Strike], shed chosen to retain the option without looking at it, too focused on the battle at hand. She hadnt seen that it was her second weapon. The option for new armaments appeared once youd taken enough upgrades in the [Armament] progression path. She was also being offered an upgrade that would affect all of her available armaments. Shed gotten offered one for efficiency at 1st level, but replaced it on account of her high regeneration. Now she got one that was much more useful: even fighting with just her sword, doubling the rate at which she could conjure would help immensely, given that she was always either throwing it away or throwing herself away from it. And she wasnt going to be fighting with just her sword, now. She took the obvious option and retained all others. {Gained [Conjure Armament] ability.} {Choose: close-range, long-range, or spellcasting for your [Conjure Armament] ability.} Her horns were a spellcasting focus already. Shed want one from her [Armament] aspect when she could it, obviouslybut right now it would be nice to have a long-ranged attack that didnt cost most of her [Bloodfire] and hurl her backward hard enough to break her bones while also usually requiring even more resources than it took to summon the sword in the first place. Eheh, Ashtoreth said. Eheheh. Long-range, please and thank you. Beside her, Frost looked at her warily. Uh, you okay? {Concentrate on the form you would like your long-range weapon to take and form it in the space before you. This form will be difficult to change once chosen.} Unlike her sword, Ashtoreths ranged weapon wasnt personalized or unique. In fact, over the last few centuries the fiendish smith in the Paradise Citadel had crafted a few dozen of them. The HRH 28BM11 Almighty was the eleventh iteration of a long-range anti-behemoth cannon specifically created to be wielded by the children of the King. And as Ashtoreth spent an exorbitant amount of [Bloodfire] to form the massive weapon in the air before her, she gazed upon it, radiant with love. Altogether the stock, action, and barrel had been made to seem, at first glance, to be made of a single piece of matte-black metal, textured as much as possible to drink rather than reflect the light so that the whole affair struck the eye as the silhouette, the outline of a weapon more than a true weapon itself. The action was a slitted, boxy affair with seemingly no curves whatsoever, and the stock followed this trend by being so angular as to make the weapon look uncomfortable, industrial, and uninviting. Half the length of the weapon was nothing but its barrel, which ended in a muzzle brake that featured the cannons only decorative feature: it was shaped to have two points that curved outward and could just barely be recognized as resembling a fiends horns. Unlike Frosts more barbaric human gun, her cannon was made to be conjured by one with the [Armament] aspect. Each of its components was carefully budgeted out of what the [Conjure Armament] ability would allow and tested against many other possible configurations. The parameters were simple: High power. Long range. Conjuring a single one of the 28mm rounds would cost her more than it cost to conjure the cannon itself, or her swordin fact, it was the same absurd cost as her [Luftschloss: Mighty Strike]. It held only one round in its base form, a limitation imposed by the system to keep it balanced with other possible weapon-forms. Loaded, it weighed a hundred and eighty pounds. With no upgrades and without considering stats, firing the cannon would slowly warp the barrel. After six shots, it was risky to fire without dismissing and reforming the weapon. This was a number that would alter depending on the ratio of her [Defense], which bolstered her equipments structural integrity, to her [Strength], which made the cannon fire with more explosive power. At the moment, Ashtoreth had 4 shots, not 6. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The translucent image of the cannon finished forminga weapon designed by the Hells greatest smith to be wielded by monsters as they killed other monsters. Theres my little friend! Ashtoreth said, grinning. {Name your weapon} My cannons name is Rammstein! {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options. Retained options will be queued to appear on your normal list of [Armament] upgrades.} Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Extra Capacity]: You can load a second round into your cannon. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Armor Piercing Rounds]: You can conjure an armor-piercing round in place on a normal one. This process has the same cost in [Bloodfire], but takes less time. Armor piercing rounds ignore an amount of a targets [Defense] up to 3 times your level. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition]: You halve the time it takes to conjure a round for Rammstein. Yes! she cheered. Shed gotten the armor piercing rounds. While she was sure there would be hybrid upgrades that would be very attractive, she was familiar with all of these. Certain types of upgrades, like magazine capacity and round conjure speed, were common to all firearms. Crucially, there was a potential upgrade that would allow her to conjure the cannon with all the rounds shed loaded into it before it had last been dismissed, which transformed the whole ability into one that would allow her to suddenly unload a massive amount of power into any engagement. There were also upgrades that could spend more than one conjured round to unleash a truly devastating effect. Shed want to increase the cannons capacity, but the huge engagement range of the weapon meant that having to take time to load the weapon and conjure rounds wasnt a dealbreaker. Armor-piercing rounds got stronger and stronger into the higher levels, as the base stat values accounted for fewer and fewer of a creatures overall stats. Even now, with no other type of munition available, the penetration was sure to still grant a significant multiplier to the harm she caused. Ill take the armor-piercing rounds, please, she said. This choice finalized the ability selection, giving her a few more lines of system text: {You gain the [Conjure Rammstein] ability} [Conjure Rammstein]: Conjuring Rammstein has a high [Bloodfire] cost. Conjuring a round for Rammstein has a very high [Bloodfire] cost. You can have a maximum of 1 rounds conjured at a time. {You upgraded your [Conjure Rammstein] ability with [Rammstein: Armor Piercing Rounds]} Slowly, Rammstein took shape as Ashtoreth funneled [Bloodfire] into the ability, until she was cradling its massive length in her arms. Ashtoreth, Dazel said from where he sat on her back. That is just a stupidly big gun. A dazed smile spread across her face. Yeah. she said, wild-eyed as she grinned up at the weapon. You should have seen how upset I was when I was a kid and I learned that The BFG by Roald Dahl was about a friendly giant. Look, Dazel said. Being a size queen is one thing, but now youve gotta start with the why choose trope? Im not a fan of reverse harem, boss. Whatever, Dazel. Will you go tell Hunter that he can drink my hellfire to replenish his [Mana]? He can? He can. Will you tell him, please? Yeah, I guess. Dazel leapt from the ledge and started gliding toward their ally. Ashtoreth approached the edge of the small ledge, then lay her satchel down and removed the half-dozen hearts inside it. She rested the cannon on its bipod and lay down behind it, next to her satchel. She ate a heart, then conjured a single round in one hand. Frost stared down at her, eyes wide as he watched the round appear in her hand. O-kay, he said. Im guessing thats for the big guys? The little guys arent worth the [Bloodfire] that it takes to conjure a single shot, she said. She set the round down on her satchel. Good thing it doesnt take a lot of [Blood] or [Health] to regenerate eardrums, she said. I dont know if our [Defense] is high enough to fully block the sound. Its not, Frost said, glancing down at his own shotgun. So whyd you call it Rammstein? Oh, no real reason, she said. Theres this one particular anime where they name things in german. Anyway, rammstein means ramming stone, which I thought was pretty fitting. Theres no deeper meaning than that. Acquiring a target wasnt at all difficult: the icy hulks werent more than two hundred meters away. She picked one of the nearer ones, one with a close pack of devils and demons standing around it. Anyway She grinned as she pulled back the bolt, loaded the round, then chambered it. Here comes the sun! She pulled the trigger. The cannon fired with a bright flash and the sound of thunder. A wave of air exploded out from the muzzle, flattening the grass, tossing back her hair, and bursting her eardrums. In a fraction of a second, her bullet had crossed the distance between Ashtoreth and her target, entering the shiverhulks face right below its eye. The hulk tilted backward for a split-second before its head burst, blood and fire filling the air around it as the very bones of its face collapsed. Before the force of the bullet could knock the dead shiverhulk to the ground, however, she ignited the creatures flesh and blood so that it exploded into a massive bloom of violet hellfire that fully engulfed the surrounded devils and demons, its heat so intense that she could feel it on her face from hundreds of meters away, its light so bright that it seemed like a brief, second sun. {You receive 1 [Shiverhulk Core]; Tier 1} {You receive 7 [Hellhound Core]; Tier 1} {You receive 3 [Carnage Demon Core]; Tier 1} {You receive 1 [Soldier Devil Core]; Tier 1} Ashtoreth regenerated her eardrums fast enough to hear herself say, in a singsong voice: Headshot! 38: I Cast: Gun! GUN GUN GUN! Ashtoreth laughed as she looked down on the blaze of hellfire burning before her, devils and demons still fleeing out from its center. Then she ate a heart, began conjuring another round, and pulled the bolt back to eject the cartridge case onto the ground next to her. She took her eyes off the sights to examine the battlefield below. Hellhounds and carnage demons ran amok, engulfed in flames. Even a few of the devils seemed unable to cope with the pain, though many of them were now running out of the blast radius to join their peers. Beside her, she heard Frost make a noise of appreciation. Where do I get one of those? She turned to him and flashed him a smile. Youve got [Armament], she said. I can teach you how to conjure one when you get your next weapon. I can teach you how to conjure a whole load of Hells weaponsones that are designed just for our skills. She loaded her newly formed round and slammed it into the chamber, sighting another one of the nearest shiverhulks. This time her bullet took it square in the forehead, and through the blast of wind made by firing her cannon she saw, for a brief moment, its face crater inward as blood geysered out behind itthen all was engulfed by fire once more. Have you been levelling [Armament] a lot? she asked. Yes, Frost answered. Ive been focusing on [Armament] and [Protection]. I can almost fire my shotgun continuously. Then soon youll get the option for a second weapon, she said. By now the small army of infernals had begun to charge their position, but the two wide pools of still-burning hellfire on the ground near the front of their group had effectively cut them in half. A scattered group of attackers, notably lacking demons, rushed up the hillside path. There were a half-dozen shiverhulks left, and she chose carefully, searching for the one whose ignition would do the most to stagger the charging attackers. Again she squeezed the trigger and dealt instant death to the massive demon, her bullet ripping its way through the creatures neck despite its armor and burying itself deep in her enemys body. Again a plume of hellfire that rose high into the sky lit the world like a second sun. Im going to go help Hunter! Frost told her. Good idea! Drop a few and Ill light em up, Ashtoreth said, consuming another one of her few remaining hearts. She had three left in the open and three in her locket. More than enough to handle the last of the closer hulks. Whether because hed grown a little more sense, or because Dazel was on his shoulder and had sense enough to share, Hunter was still waiting in ambush along the most likely path up the hillside. More than good sense, he must have had a potent stealth ability, because the devils passed him by where he was kneeling in the shadows, unable to see him despite having their own limited truesight. Hunter let them pass, presumably waiting for Frost to engage. Beside her, the skeleton mages that shed mostly forgotten about began to throw bolts of death-energy down the hillside at the approaching demons, seemingly choosing their targets at random. Ashtoreth finished conjuring her next round, loaded it, then killed the only shiverhulk that had made it around the pools of hellfire to charge up the path along the hillside. As it burst, she looked down at Frost and Hunter to see how they were doing. Blue fire burst from Frosts shotgun at intervals that were shorter than a second. Hunter watched, waiting as Frost methodically brought down the charging devils, two shots apiece. She saw that the devils were closing in on him, tightly packed on the narrow path up the steep hillside. A perfect chance to use her new ability. She waited on conjuring her next round, instead beginning to charge a hellfire blast. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Below, she saw an arrow ping off a blue barrier that appeared to protect Frosts face. Another sprouted from his belly above his hip, but he ignored it, a look of pain coming across his face only when he stopped firing and held out his hand to conjure not a few shells, but an entire cylindrical magazine. It was only then that Hunter attacked, taking a few steps out of his hiding place to sweep one of his katanas clean through the body of the nearest devil, shearing through its armor as if it was paper. The devil fell away in two pieces, their nearest fellows turning to face Hunter as he became visible, moving to surround him. But Hunter vanished into wisps of smoke a moment later, arrows hissing through the air where hed been. He appeared behind one of the offending archers further down the hill, lopping their head from their body with apparent ease. Then he raised his other sword, wreathing it for a moment in white flames that were shot through with streaks of darkness. He brought the blade down and a crescent line of fire extended outward to engulf one two of the devils and cut their attacking group in half. Then Hunter was gone again, disappearing into a wisp of smoke to appear out of part of his wall of flames, whipping aside a devils weapon with a conjured coil of shadow and running them through with thrust from one of his katanas. Ashtoreth smiled down at him. It was clear that he didnt know how to fight with his swords, but at least he had some idea of how take apart a group of enemies. Better still, he was smart enough to keep moving while doing it. Frost rejoined him a moment later, the sound of the shotgun resuming its regular beat. She finished charging her fireblast, waited until she was sure she wouldnt distract Hunter a crucial moment, and called out: Incoming! before throwing it into the fray. Her missile hissed and streaked through the air, impacting the ground before blossoming into a wide sphere of engulfing violet flames. She ignited the corpses that Hunter had already left, causing a cascade of growing flames that seemed to set the whole hillside alight, including the few trees and bushes. She ate a heart and began to conjure another round for her cannon, smiling down as she saw Hunter and Frost both drawing her violet fire into their bodies. Drink deep, she whispered to them as she saw Hunter teleport to execute an oncoming devil once again, then teleport away again. Drink deep and spam. Soon she was loading another round and aiming at the next-nearest hulk, her heart swelling as it burst into flames while the wave of air exploding from the muzzle washed over her. She entered into a cycle: fire her cannon, then watch her allies as she waited to conjure another round. She was ready to descend and help them at any time, but they didnt need it: the infernals only ever succeeded in wounding Hunter once, but when this happened he simply teleported next to Frost and lay into them with his ranged slashes while waiting to be healed. Soon enough the scant army of devils was retreating across the field, none of them daring to get close to the hulks. Ashtoreth kept firing upon them as they retreated, bringing down the hulks until she had only a single heart left in her locket. Then she grabbed her cannon and leapt down to join her allies as they watched the few remaining devils retreat across the field. You guys did really well! she said. Great job. I think were a bit stronger than they are, Frost said, prodding a dead devil with his foot. Oh, definitely, Ashtoreth said, setting down her cannon and beginning to tear hearts from the bodies around her. These are rank and file soldiers. Skilled, but about the least effective devils you can find. Hunter came to stand beside her. Do we chase? he asked, expression hardening as his eyes followed the fleeing devils. I think Ashtoreth chases, said Frost. And we stay behind and look for the necromancers. Right you are, Sir Frost! Ashtoreth said, still quickly stuffing hearts into her satchel. I just want to stock up a bit, then Ill see how many of the rest I can turn into cores. You sure you dont want my help? Hunter asked. You could probably keep up, Ashtoreth said. But Id rather you stay with Frost and see if theres anyone left in that tower. Nobodys been raising any undeadI wonder if all the people who were here left while we distracted the infernals. Okay, Hunter said, seeming a little put-out. Ill share the cores. This seemed to make him much happier. All right, he said. We tried the tower before, but the only door we could find was barred. I didnt want to teleport in blind. Good plan, she said, stuffing more hearts into her satchel. All right Dazel, youre coming with me. But why? he asked. You dont want a native of Hell to stick with the humans while youre away? I could be useful. She raised an eyebrow at him. Come on, Dazel. No time to debate. She still didnt trust him at all. His change in attitude had only come after hed learned who her father was, and it was important to Ashtoreth that she manage the expectations and beliefs of the humans so as to ease them into being fully on her side. Dazel sighed and climbed up onto her back. He probably knew exactly what she was thinking. Okay, she said to the humans. You guys see if you can get into that tower without making the occupants distrust you. She dismissed her cannon and conjured her sword, planting it into the ground so as to launch herself into the air. And Ill go kill everybody else while they run away! 39: Do We Have Time for Some Cannibalism? I Think We Have Time for Team Bonding Through Cannibalism The devil screamed. She dropped her bow as Ashtoreth leapt the distance between them, raising her hands in futile attempt to stop the [Mighty Blow]. Her armor and body seemed to crumble around the sword as it sheared her in half and beat both halves into the ground. {You receive 1 [Diabolic Soldier Core]; Tier 1} Think we should go back yet? Dazel asked, sounding a bit bored. There was only one more Devil nearby, and Ashtoreth fell to her knees and braced herself before launching her sword through his back, sending him sprawling face-first into the dirt. {You receive 1 [Diabolic Soldier Core]; Tier 1} This is a good farm,she protested. Even if we divvy these up evenly, Ive probably got more levels stored up than what we got from the boss. Were getting pretty far from the tower, he said. You sure you dont want to head back? One second, she said. She planted her sword, then launched herself off it and into the air as high as she could, scanning the terrain below her. What do you know, she said, I think I can see their base. From above, it was clear that the routed infernals were fleeing toward a ravine in the ground a kilometer away, one that glowed with inner light like an angry wound amidst the bloodleaf trees. She flared her wings and slowed her fall with her racial flight, considering this. All right, she said at last. Lets go get the others. Great, said Dazel as she landed, then threw herself into the air againback toward the tower. Also, dont get upset, but I wanted to ask something. Thats an inauspicious preface, Ashtoreth said warily. But okay. Ask. And you wont get upset? Ask. Fine, he said. Its justyou realize that Hunter was actually right, right? Uh. What? She didnt expect to hear that from Dazel. Look: when shirtless Kirito wanted to go off into the woods and farm instead of looking for more humans, he had the right idea. If you want to save people, the way to do it is to save Earth, not wander around the tutorial falling behind looking for rescues. Ashtoreth frowned. She wanted to argue with him, but Sorry, she began. shirtless Kirito? How do you know who Kirito is? Cultural osmosis, Dazel said, sounding suspiciously defensive. Obviously. But really, why are you dragging these humans around behind you? Because its the right thing to do. Dazel gagged. Look, you can be honest with me about this, at least. I am being honest! Ashtoreth. Come on. I am! Look, he said. Youre the fiend, Im the demon. Youre the boss, Im the minion. Youre hiding things, Im completely honestits the way of the world. But we dont have to trust each other because we understand each other. We know how it is. So why not just tell me what you need a squad of loyal humans for? Because they dont deserve to die to Hell! Ashtoreth said. Because nobody does! Its not complicated, Dazel. Tch. Hey! she said. Im telling the truth. It was, of course, only part of the truth. Once shed beaten the tutorial and then tampered with it so that it functioned as a higher-level, year-long training simulator, she could level the humans so that they were super-effective combatants, especially when compared to the low-level demons who would be invading the Earth when they returned. Shed show up at the start of the invasion with a set of what were now the most powerful humans in the world, humans whod had almost a year to learn to trust her and fight with her. With a versatile group of humans, Earth would be hers within days, especially if one of them was strong enough to manage long-range teleportation. Hence, she needed the humans. You know that every one of these fights is something you didnt need them for, Dazel continued. You can do this much faster without any of them. Theyre going to slow you down even more once you start flying. And none of thats considering the fact that you keep just just giving them cores. For free. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ashtoreths voice grew cold. Its not a handicap I cant handle, Dazel. Were keeping the humans. Fine. Whatever. But are you sure theyre going to keep you? Were dropping this. He sighed. Yes, boss. Say, Dazel. Yeah? Were you always a demon, or did you get converted? She felt him stiffen where he clung to her back. You dont have to tell me, she said. I was just wondering. He paused a moment, then suddenly asked: who asks something like that? Youve got to the weirdest archfiend that there is. Ill take it as a compliment that I differ from the baseline. Especially from you. Soon enough the tower came into view. She couldnt see Frost or Hunter, and she hoped that meant they were inside, meeting its occupants. Theyre not outside, she said. You think that means they found the necromancers? Yeah, maybe. Or theyre dead. Hey! Be positive! Uh no? Thats not positive! ...Yes, its not? Well youre halfway there, I suppose. Dazel groaned. Say, can we stop and grab a bite before we go up? She frowned. What? Im getting hungry, he said. Arent you? And we should probably not eat in front of the humans. My [Consume Heart] whets my appetite, thank you very much. You can eat later. I dont want one of them to walk in on you slurping up cheek-meat or something. Excuse me. I dont slurp. Look, theres a body right hereone of the good ones. She crossed her arms regarded the body. It was one of the shiverhulks that had been destroyed either by Hunter or the undead. Shed landed beside it so that she could take its heart instead of having to dip into her own supply. She considered his request. She didnt feel like Hunter and Frost were in any real danger, given that the necromancers minions hadnt targeted humans, all the infernals around them were dead, and they were both at least a little capable. And it would only take a few moments. Okay, get a snack. But I want to get back to that tower. Dazel walked forward and prodded the body of the shiverhulk. Uh, wanna help me out, here? Youve got the blades, and Im tiny. I dont want to just gnaw on somebodys face. She looked down at him with a wry expression. It was, at the very least, a chance to get closer to her mysterious familiar. And she still wanted to find out why hed been paired with her. She shrugged. Well, I suppose as my familiar you should at least eat well. With a great, heaving effort, she rolled the corpse over, formed a claw, then began to cut away the furry skin covering the lower ribs. She peeled this back and sliced away some thick strip of choice meat, then passed one to Dazel, who began eating eagerly. You know, Dazel said, chewing. Maybe there is a benefit to having an infernal master instead of a human one. I mean sure, you think Michelangelo is a ninja turtle, but this is at least one area where you can be said to have good taste. Ashtoreth snorted, then took a strip of meat for herself and fed the whole thing into her gullet, swallowing it with one thick gulp. Say, she said, cutting herself another one. For how comparatively unworthy it is, this flesh aint bad! I thought you were full. Satiated, she said. I still have the appetite and tastebuds of a fiend. She gulped down a second strip of flesh and made a noise of appreciation. See what I mean? Dazel said. Worth the short break. He paused to pick away more meat, then added: But youre always going to have to hide stuff like this from those humans, you know. Theyre not going to get cannibalism. She pelted him with a wad of flesh. Hey! Was that what this was about? she asked. You just wanted to alienate me from the humans? Stop She froze. Standing almost fifty feet away from them in the middle of the battlefield was a woman wearing a black robe with its hood up. She seemed human, perhaps the same age as Ashtoreth, with pale skin and dark hair. Her eyes, however, glowed an icy blue. Ashtoreth realized that she was an undead: one of the humans who had been placed in the hardest tutorial because death had granted them a powerful undead augment. And she had a smokey, translucent quality to her, so that Ashtoreth could see the landscape through her. At first, Ashtoreth thought the woman was a shade. Then she realized that shed seen exactly that sort of translucent quality before as part of Hunters abilities. It wasnt incorporeality. It was invisibility. The woman was most likely a lich. Shed been slowly moving toward them, but she froze when Ashtoreth caught sight of her, eying her warily. Oh, Ashtoreth said. Uh, hello! Frantically, she reached up and wiped some blood from around her mouth. Hi! I, uh. Realizing that she needed to explain what this potentially dazed and traumatized human was seeing, she gave the first explanation that popped into her head. I eat flesh, she explained. I mean, its a racial thing. I meanlook, Im a good guy! Im on your side. I love humans and Im going to save Earth. Im Ashtoreth, by the way. This is my familiar, Dazel. She looked down to see that Dazel was still gnawing on his strip of meat. Dazel! she hissed. Mm? he said, raising his head. The woman just stared at them. Theres some other humans with us, Ashtoreth said. Theyre very nice and trustworthy. One of them is a police officer! The woman cocked her head. Look, I know what this looks like, Ashtoreth said. And I dont want to make you feel unsafe You dont, the woman said in a curt, rasping voice. Then she attacked. 40: If this Necromancer has a Weakness, I Bet it’s Compliments and Good Cheer! The air around one of the womans hands seemed to fracture and darken, as if it were being seen through broken, tinted glass. She raised this hand, pointing it toward Ashtoreth with a quick, decisive motion, and the orb of splintered darkness broke into four shards that moved to position themselves above her head in an array. Bad idea, Ashtoreth said, beginning to conjure her greatsword. Look Freeze, the woman commanded, and Ashtoreth felt a dominating spike of psychic energy surge through her body, cutting short her attempt to conjure her sword. In the same moment, the four shards of magical energy that the woman had summoned all sped toward her. Dazel let out a yelp and leapt into the air, and two of the bolts struck him, dispersing him into a wisp of dark aether almost instantly. The other two struck Ashtoreth in the chest, and she felt the unpleasant, enervating power of death magic surge through her, darkening her vision and weakening her muscles. The woman gestured with both her hands, and a short javelin of the splintered death magic shot through the air between them. But the command wore off an instant after Ashtoreth had been struck, and she threw herself to one side to avoid this spell as she threw her own hand forward, launching a weak firebolt at the woman, trying to be careful not to kill her. She began to conjure her sword. The magical javelin cut through the air where shed been only a moment before, and the woman gave a dismissive flick of her wrist as Ashtoreths firebolt reached her, seemingly snuffing it out of the air. Aches and weakness seemed to spread through Ashtoreths body. The woman had such powerful magic Ashtoreth had very high resistance to death effects, thanks both to her own natural resistance and the fact that shed consumed the heart of the huntsman. For this humans spells to hurt her as much as they had, their [Magic] stat had to be very high. Freeze! the woman commanded again. Again a psychic spike of dominating energy forced its way into her mind, but a second command was never as effective as the first: her mind had adapted. All the ability did was interrupt Ashtoreths sword-conjuring and make her stagger a little as she moved toward the woman. Still, it was a moment that her opponent seemed ready to take advantage of. The necromancer thrust one hand into her pocket, then pulled it free with a violent motion that scattered a cloud of what looked like ashes into the air. A faint white light gathered about the ashes, and they shifted in the air to take the vague form of a horned humanoid. Shed raised one of the devils as a ghost. It surged toward her, floating through the air. But even if it was undead, it was a devil: something Ashtoreth could affect with her own command. Leave, she told it. The luminous white spirit simply angled itself up into the sky, flying away from the two of them. At the same time, she sprinted toward the necromancer, now picking up her pace as she tried to conjure her sword once more. The necromancer raised both her hands, seeming to time Ashtoreths approach as she wove them through the air. Then Ashtoreth finished conjuring her sword. As soon as she felt its weight in her hand, she dropped it, then pushed against it so that the counterforce propelled her toward the woman. She dropped to all fours, bounding across the last two dozen meters between her and the necromancer in only a moment. She saw the womans eyes widen at Ashtoreths sudden surge in speed. Her hands were still in the middle of casting another spell when Ashtoreth barreled into her, knocking her flat onto her back. Ashtoreth straddled her opponents chest and then pinned both of her hands above her head. Then she turned, found the summoned ghost in the sky above her, and threw two hellfire bolts at it, dispersing it. Then she looked down at the other woman and grinned. Say: youre pretty good! The woman gritted her teeth. She didnt seem the least bit afraid. Instead, she looked disdainful, almost disgusted. Well? she asked, the words practically a snarl. What are you waiting for? You gonna eat me too? Huh? Im not going to kill you. I told youIm one of the good guys! The necromancer eyed Ashtoreth warily. Youre not going to kill me? Look, Ashtoreth said. How about I get off you, and in return you agree not to try to kill me again? Were on the same side, here. The woman barked out a humorless laugh. Nobodys on my side. Do you want me to get off you, or not? The woman made a noise of disgust. Fine. Get off me, I wont attack you againnot that it did any good. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ashtoreth stood and stepped aside. Say, she began. Weve made a pretty bad set of first impressions, huh? The woman eyed her like she was completely insane. Youve got blood on your chin. By the way. Heh, Ashtoreth said, sheepishly reaching up to wipe it away before realizing there was blood all over her hands, too. It looks bad, I know. But really, that was just a wholesome bonding session between a fiendish master and her demonic companion. The woman only continued to stare. I mean, whats more social than sharing a meal, am I right? Your companion, the woman said. He leapt up he sacrificed himself. Yeah, its pretty surprising, said Ashtoreth. Hes sort of been a stick in the mud. She smiled. I guess sharing that meal really worked to bring us together! Youre not at all bothered about it, are you? she asked, taking a step away from Ashtoreth. Oh. Oh, Ashtoreth said, nodding with realization. Okay. Let me explain: hes a familiar. I can summon him again now that hes been dispersed. Say, you should be really proudhes survived three boss fights, but didnt survive you! Oh, the woman said, seeming relieved. Im Ashtoreth, by the way. Ive been helping humans ever since the tutorial started. So even though the circumstances of our meeting, uh, led you to believe that I was one of the bad guys, Im actually here to make sure everythings okay! Okay, the woman echoed, staring off into the distance. Yeah. Say: whats your name? Okay. Uh, yeah. Ashtoreth said. The distant stare that had come across the womans face was suddenly reminding Ashtoreth of the first human shed met, the woman with the monkey bloodline whod almost immediately gotten herself killed. Okay? the woman asked, letting out a humorless laugh. Okay? She spun in place, gesturing to the world around them. Look, I know how it must seem Im supposed to be dead, she said accusingly. Not whatever this is. Dead! Do you understand what that means? It means no more people, no more promises, no more expectations! It means no more me! By the time shed finished, her voice was so loud that it was ringing out across the field around them. Dead! Ashtoreth regarded the other human. Had she been looking forward to being dead? She almost sounded as if she felt short-changed. Oh, Ashtoreth said. LookIm sorry. Oh? the woman said, letting out a mocking laugh. Oh you are, are you? I guess I didnt think of the fact that youre here because when the system initialized, you were dying. Im sure this must be pretty confusing for you. You dont know anything about how I feel. Right, okay. But lookwould you please just tell me your name? It doesnt matter. I think it matters, Ashtoreth said. Listen, I wasnt joking when I said I was trying to save the Earth. Will you help me? Come with me and meet the others? The woman met Ashtoreths eyes and held them. Slowly, the anger and bitter humor seemed to drain from her face, replaced with what seemed like nothing at all. Tonelessly, she said: If its that important then you should probably leave me here. Ashtoreth crossed her arms and scowled. No, she said firmly. Youre powerful: I need you to help me protect my friends along with any other humans that might still be alive, in this place. The woman shook her head. Trust me, she said. Im going to let you down. Ashtoreth raised an appraising eyebrow. Maam, I dont know what you messed up in your life before, but it definitely didnt have anything to do with casting necromancy spells and commanding undead minions. And since the only available evidence seems to suggest that youre pretty good at those, you really shouldnt be so down on yourself. The necromancer scoffed. Have you seen this place? If the demons out here dont get us, the dragon will. Ill handle the dragon, O ye of little faith. Now come on, Ill introduce you to the others. Theyre human, too. The woman eyed her for a moment that stretched on into several moments, uncertainty flickering on her face. All right, she said at last. Fine. Great! Ashtoreth said. Come onthey were trying to see if theres anyone in the tower. There isnt, said the necromancer. The devils assumed thats where I was because I centered my minions around it. Then I hid in the deeper woods with an invisibility spell on. Ashtoreth laughed. Thats brilliant! she said. See? Youre really good at this! Whatever, the necromancer said, looking away for a moment. Just so you know, I can barely help anyway. Im out of [Mana]. Well Im glad you said something, Ashtoreth said. I can certainly help with that! She pulled her sword into her hand, then shouldered it. Lets go find my friends. She began leading the necromancer back toward the tower, thrilled that the other woman was following her. So. Ashtoreth said after a few moments of walking in silence. The woman looked over at her and frowned. So what? So whats your name? Whats your story? What are your favorite human things? The woman sighed. Im Kylie, she said. I dont have a story. Dont bother me about anything unless you need to. Great! Ashtoreth said. Say, Kylie: if the towers empty, then where are the other necromancers? Are they also hiding in the woods? Huh? You know, Ashtoreth said. The other necromancers. The ones controlling the rest of the undead army that was out here. Kylie was silent for a moment. Hold on, Ashtoreth said. She felt a grin spreading its way across her face. Wait a second. 41: It’s All About Maintaining the Proper Grindset Youre level 23? Ashtoreth asked incredulously. Thats fantastic! Kylie, youre amazing! Im also not five years old, she said. So you dont have to talk to me like that. I talk to everyone like this! Ashtoreth said. Its just I dont get it. Youre so down on yourself but youve done better than any other human herethey threw a whole dungeon at you! Kylie scoffed and looked away. If I did well, it was because I lucked my way into it just like I lucked my way into surviving in the first place. But it doesnt matter though, does it? None of it matters. She laughed. Were all doomed. Uh, strongly disagree, Ashtoreth said. She frowned and cocked her head. You cant even know all that much about Hellso how can you be so confidently miserable about everything? Okay, said Kylie. So the giant robot thing would have killed me, but lets pretend I got lucky when you came along and killed it. Uh pretend? Now we just need to survive all the other demons that might come for us, she said. Which includes a dragon. Then, even if we survive the dragon and whatever else this literal, actual hellhole throws at us, we can return to an Earth thats apparently being invaded by more denizens of Hell and fight all of the demons there. Did I get all that right? Well, okay, yes, Ashtoreth said. But cheer up! When you look on the bright side of things youll realize that this is all sort of like I dont know, like finally getting your Hogwarts acceptance letter. I literally died and went to Hell. ...Where you can learn witchcraft! Ashtoreth hastened to add. And wizardry! And make friends! Kylie cocked her head. With you, you mean? I just watched you tear a strip of flesh off a dead demon and swallow it whole. Yep, its true! Ashtoreth said. That happened. But at Hogwarts they drink pumpkin juice, and I mean she stifled a laugh. Thats pretty weird, am I right? Yeah, see, Im not the one whos crazy, here. You dont know better than me just because youre a demon, or whatever. Uh, oh. Okay. Im an archfiend, actually. Big difference. Yeah, I said or whatever. Heh. Okay, thats uh Look, this the apocalypse, right? Sure, sort of. But I mean, the word apocalypse can mean a lot of things. Can it? Kylie asked acidly. Is it really just a matter of semantics? Well, have you read Revelations? Im just saying that on a meta level, apocalypse might just mean a really wild drug trip. Like, really wild. Kylie rolled her eyes. Look: I died and woke up in Hell because its the apocalypse. I said: were doomed, and you said: its like Hogwarts!. One of us is sane, and its not the person wearing an I heart Earth shirt into battle. Where did you even get that? I made it up! Ashtoreth said. Anyway, those are my friends. Ahead of them, Hunter and Frost were coming down the slope in front of the tower. How come the guy with two swords has no shirt? Kylie asked. Its part of his strongest ability, said Ashtoreth. She raised a hand and waved emphatically to them. Guys! I found another human! Frost and Hunter jogged out to meet them. Good, Frost said. We got inside the tower, but it was empty. Uh-huh! It was a decoy, said Ashtoreth. Okay, Kylie: this is Sir Frost, and hes a police officer. And this is Hunter, and hes an assassin. Guys, this is Kylie. Dont ask about why shes here, her past, or her present. Shes agreed to help us. Hi, Kylie rasped, making the word sound as hostile as possible. Good to meet you, said Frost. Even if the circumstances are terrible. Ive noticed, Kylie said. Kylies level 23! Ashtoreth exclaimed. Isnt that great? Good, said Frost. More power means were more likely to survive. To Kylie, he added: do you know where any of the other humans are who raised these undead are? There arent any, Kylie said. Shes the only one! Ashtoreth said. She raised them all on her own, then basically turned herself invisible and AFK farmed an army of infernals from the start of the tutorial until now. The entire army? Hunter said, seeming to grow more interested. That sounds pretty powerful. Whats your build? Build? Kylie asked. You picked lich for your race augment, right? Ashtoreth said. Then she blinked. Actually, that makes sense. You look like a bit of a lich, Hunter said. Its the glowing blue eyes. Yeah, Kylie said, seeming to emanate distaste. Sure. Well call it my resting lich face. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Ashtoreth snickered. I meant it makes sense because liches had a [Mana] bonus. She turned to the other humans. Raising or summoning a minion usually takes an investment of maximum mana. You put 50 mana into animating a basic skeleton, and you not only lose the mana like you would using a regular ability, but your maximum gets reduced. So you replenish mana more slowly, and you cant replenish the mana you spent until the minion is dismissed or destroyed. So with a high level and a big mana pool, Kylie can summon a lot of minions, Hunter said. What else did you take? Ashtoreth asked her. What are your aspects? [Death], right? And [Minion]? Yeah. Okay, but what about the other two? Did you take [Drain]? Is that why your minions could all use [Energy Drain]? Because thats really powerful. And either [Darkness] or [Spellcasting] to get invisibility, right? Kylie looked over at Ashtoreth in annoyance. For a second it seemed like she wouldnt answer, but then she said: [Death], [Minion], [Drain], and [Spellcasting]. I suppose you want to know my class, too? Definitely! Im a [Devouring Necromancer]. My abilities are that all my minions get my [Energy Drain], and the mana they drain can be returned to me. Whenever I or one of my minions kills something, I get even more [Mana]. The lich augment doubles the mana that I get from the [Magic] and [Psyche] stats, but halves the regeneration. My class makes that even strongerthe [Spellcasting] augment grants a lot of extra [Mana] too. Kylie shrugged, then looked away. When I got here I killed some things with my lich abilities and got levels quick. I just figured that if I have lots of [Mana] I can have lots of minions. Then I made my minions strong and got ways to get my mana back. Thats great! said Ashtoreth. Im telling you Kylie, youre amazing! You act like you dont know what youre doing and dont care, but youve got a fully-functional minion necromancer build! [Death], [Minion], and [Spellcasting] make a bread and butter necromancer, but even though theyre super powerful, everyone knows theyve got mana problems. Adding [Drain] with your human racial just covered the necromancers biggest weakness! And I mean, look at how many infernals you killedall by yourself! Yeah, sure, whatever, she said. Except I barely have any [Mana] left, she said. I get it for killing things, but one of those demons doesnt give me enough [Mana] to animate it when it dies. Id been spending what I gained when I leveled, but once I ran out, the whole battle was lost. I had a few more minutes of invisibility, tops, when you got to me. Am I missing something? Frost asked. Why can she turn invisible? Shes got [Spellcasting], Ashtoreth said. Its the most versatile aspect there is. When she gets new upgrades for it, she gets offered spell slots and spells. Anyone can focus [Mana] into complex arrangements with different effects, but [Spellcasting] gives you a limited way to save some of those complex arrangements so that you dont have to focus for five minutes to make them happen. Kylie here was smart enough to take an invisibility spell. Wait, Hunter said. How is that different from normal abilities? Well, the aspect itself is versatile enough to support spells of different types, said Ashtoreth. Though anything to do with her existing aspects shell cast with some pretty hefty bonuses. Now, some spells require you to have their related aspects, but most, like invisibility, just require [Spellcasting]. And then the other big thing is that she can replace her spells with new spells. As Hunter listened to all of this, his face seemed to darken somewhat. Now it just sounds stronger than other aspects, he said. Ehone of the strongest, definitely, said Ashtoreth. Most people who get offered [Spellcasting] take it, but youve really got to know what youre doing to get the most of it. And the other aspects can get pretty crazy. I mean, youre teleporting all over the place and penetrating how much enemy [Defense]? Uh, 75% or 105, whichever penetrates more. Ashtoreth blinked. Okay. Seriously? Hunter straightened a little. Yeah. Is that good? Thats great! No wonder your swords go through the devils like theyre butter. My shadowflames are pretty effective, too, he said. And with my [Shadowstride] Look, said Frost. I dont want to interrupt, but can we decide what our next move is and then talk shop on the way? Right! said Ashtoreth. Okay. Heres the deal. From now on I think weve gotta really approach things with a little something I like to call: the grindset. The grindset? Frost asked. The grindset, Ashtoreth said, smiling. She wants to level faster, Hunter said. Which I agree with, by the way. Look: I know you want to get stronger, Frost said. And it makes sense, given everything were dealing with. But we should be focused on gathering survivors, remember? You said yourself that our chances of survival increase with every person we save. Uh-huh! Ashtoreth said. But at this point, any other humans have made it out of the starting areas. Theyll be spread out, and theyll have some idea of what theyre doing. Im thinking that we gain some levels until I can properly fly. Then I can search out any of them that are left by covering ground quickly. Frost considered this, then nodded. Im going to hold you to your promise, though, he said. Aerial search and rescue. Aerial search and rescue! Ashtoreth said, grinning. Of course, she also needed to fly in order to kill the dragon, but then she saw no need to say so when Frost was already on her side. Okay, everyone, she said. That ravine was in the same general direction around the lava lake as the bridge we saw leading to the citadel. I think we should go there and kill all the infernals we find inside, then move toward the citadel. I like that plan, said Hunter. If it works to get you in the air, then lets go, said Frost. I dont care, said Kylie. Apparently you both do whatever the camp councillor from Hell on amphetamines tells you to, so whatever. Lets go. Great! said Ashtoreth. Ill pass out some of the cores I got to get you two some levels. You all get started heading toward that ravine. Theres plenty of hearts I can still harvest on this battlefield, and Im very low. Plus, Ive got a feeling its going to take quite a few of them to top up our new friend, here. Sorryfriend? Kylie rasped. Well get there, Ashtoreth assured her. Anyway, you guys go on ahead and get some upgrades to assault the dungeon with. She patted her heart carrier. Ive got to fill up my lunchbox! A thought occurred to her, and she added: Also, I should probably resummon my cat. Someone took a death spell for meand Id say he deserves a big, huge hug. 42: In Which a Certain Special Kitty is Getting a Big, Huge HUG! Dazel stepped out of the rift, flaring his wings and then arching his back in a stretch. Hey, boss. So did you kill the necrowha?! His sentence was cut off as Ashtoreth picked him up and pulled him to her chest. Dazel! she crooned. Okayokay, affection levels are supercritical here, boss. The way you screamed earlier when the construct struck me with lightning, that felt genuine. Getting way too acquainted with your bosom here, boss. But then when you leapt in front of Kylies attack because you were worried it would kill mewow, Dazel. I didnt know youd grown to feel so close to me in so short a time! Okay, great, please just let me go. Are you sure? She asked. This feels really nice. I made you a cat but I never cuddle youits just such a waste. She sighed, then released him. Im not the type, said Dazel. Ashtoreth scoffed. Come oneveryones the type! Yeah, I wasnt exactly looking around the Pit of Sorrows thinking say, you know what this place needs? More cuddles. Well I think thats very sad, Dazel. But I wont pet or hug or snuggle you if you dont want it. You didnt mention cuddles there. Ashtoreth laughed. Im not trying to devil-speak you, Dazel. No cuddles. Great, he said. Anyway, did you kill that human? No! Ashtoreth said. She crossed her arms. I recruited her, thank you very much. Well be joining her in mere momentsI just needed to fill my satchel with devil hearts. Dazel glanced over at the bulging leather satchel. Blood ran out in rivulets from beneath its opening flap and smeared the surface of the bag. It was hard to tell that the satchel had once been white. The lockets full, too, she said. I managed to get two of the shiverhulk hearts in thereI think Hunter killed them both. Anyway, hop up. Dazel clambered onto her wings and she began to run toward the distant group. Her racial flight wasnt nearly strong enough to get her off the ground, especially not with her massive sword in hand, but when combined with her high [Strength] she made long, powerful bounds across the landscape. It was part of the reason shed scoured the battlefield for hearts so quickly. Ive got a ton of cores to level with ever since I killed those hulks with my cannon and chased down the fleeing infernals, she said. It should be enough for two levels at least. Yeah, sure, said Dazel. Did you give half of these ones away to the humans, too? Mhmm!. He made a noise of disgust. Just because theyre not as useful as me doesnt mean theyre not useful, she said. Come on, Dazel! Levelling has diminishing returns. Spreading the power out is effective. Frost can work a gun, and Hunter can use his brain well enough, even if hed probably be more effective with just one sword. Or a spear. Look, Dazel said. If this were Hell Uh. Okay, yes, he said. It is. But what I mean is: if those guys were infernals, they wouldnt cut it. Theyd get killed and eaten. Or just eaten, said Ashtoreth. Exactly. Give them a chance, she said. Theyll come through. And the necromancer we just met really seems like she knows what shes doing, even if hm. What? he asked. Even if what? Well, she sort of seems uh, shes sort of a bit. What? Awful, said Ashtoreth. A real downer. Maybe youll like her. Gee, boss. Thanks. One, sec, levelling. Ashtoreth had 3 shiverhulk cores along with 10 hellhound cores, 13 carnage demon cores, and a whopping 33 soldier devil cores. Absorbing them all rewarded her with one of her favorite new sights to see: {Ding! Ding! Ding! You level up three times!} {You gain 33 DEX, 33 STR, 45 VIT, 39 MAG, 21 PSY, 21 DEF} {Reaching level 14 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} Im level 15! Ashtoreth said. Isnt that great? Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Sure, said Dazel. I might just take [Daywalker], said Ashtoreth. Hells suns never count as sunlight, but I need the first one if I want to upgrade it, right? Sure, said Dazel. S-grade vampire races can upgrade it to full. I think its three advancements. You probably want them all before we return to Earth, but you might need to be tier 2 for the third one. Ashtoreth grinned. Dazel, youre doing your job again! He grumbled. Shed also want more [Armament] upgrades to build out her cannon. Sword upgrades were useful too, but Luftschloss was well-built enough now that just gaining stats would strengthen it. [Vampiric Archfiend], please! she said. {Advancement: [Vampiric Archfiend]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. This upgrade will count as a [Blood] advancement. Gain the [Daywalker] ability: Sunlight no longer causes sacred damage to you, but still significantly weakens you. Gain the [Master of the Nightborne] ability: Gaining this ability will make unintelligent nocturnal creatures more friendly toward you. You can use this ability to psychically dominate unintelligent nocturnal creatures. You may call psychically call all nocturnal creatures within 600m, though they can potentially resist this call. This abilitys effect strength is based on your [Psyche]. She wondered if she was going to come to regret keeping [Blood Memory] around for so long. She wasnt willing to get rid of itperhaps she should just take it to try to get it out of the way for new abilities? As for [Master of the Nightborne] ability, to Ashtoreth it looked useless. Her [Psyche] was low, and the best shed do with it was call shearbats and other demons toward her so she could farm them for experience. She chose to retain [Blood Memory] and replace [Master of the Nightborne]. [Daywalker], please! {You gain the [Daywalker] ability} Thanks! Shortly afterward, she caught up with her allies as they moved into a thicker part of the red-leafed forest, heading in the direction of the ravine shed seen earlier. Hey, guys! she said. Did I miss anything? No, Kylie rasped. Except we stopped for a bit so that the cop could take all his clothes off. Frost shot her an annoyed glanced, then turned to Ashtoreth. Some of those shearbats attacked us once youd left. Kylie and I handled them easily enough, but I got a loot parcel from the system once we had. It had this armor in itit just sort of appeared in front of me when I opened it. He glanced at Kylie again, a note of irritation entering his voice. And I thought Id change right away because the infernals could attack again at any time and were not going to find more privacy. Lookin good! Ashtoreth said, looking him over. Frost was now wearing what looked like a bulky, blue-and-black mix of kevlar and ceramic plating. With whatever Kylies black robe does, and my new threads, Hunters the only one of who hasnt gotten any new clothes. I havent gotten a loot parcel, he said. Which feel wrong, somehow. Ive gotten plenty of killing blows. Ashtoreth frowned. Say, me neither. How come I havent gotten any loot parcels? The system said wed get them for killing things when I loaded in, and Ive killed plenty of enemies. Its because youve killed three bosses, said Dazel. Youre still building toward a loot parcel, but you basically get set back whenever you open a boss chest. Think of it like a pity effectthe people with no boss loot get something to compensate. Hence why Hunter doesnt have any, either. This is my familiar, by the way, Ashtoreth said to Kylie. His name is Dazel. Dazel, this is Kylie. Hi, Kylie rasped. Shes a little standoffish, Ashtoreth said said. Dazel looked the pale, dark-haired necromancer up and down. Yeah, well can you blame her? Kylie frowned and looked over sharply. Whats that supposed to mean? From the looks of things, the tutorial tore you right out of Tim Burtons next movie. Id rather be there than here, too. Kylies eyes narrowed. She raised a hand and conjured a knot of the smokey, fragmented darkness shed attacked with earlier. Woah! Ashtoreth said, raising a wing to shield Dazel. Lets relax. Dazels just a bit of a joker, is all. But if I kill him, you can just re-summon him. Kylie asked, not lowering her hand. Thats pretty funny. Cant I be a bit of joker? He costs a lot of [Bloodfire], said Ashtoreth. Which I need to refill your [Mana]. Kylie grunted, then lowered her hand. Looking to change the subject, Ashtoreth added: Say: did you get any loot parcels, Kylie? Or did you also kill some bosses? I got these robes, she said, not elaborating further. Hunter moved a little closer. I killed two bosses, he said. And plenty of demons. No loot parcels for me, but I got a pair of boots that help me teleport more, he said. And I got a ring that strengthens my [Shadowcloak]my stealth ability. Ashtoreth blinked. Those sound nice. Thats why those devils couldnt see through your invisibility when you were hiding in the trees. Yeah, said Hunter. Uh, sayAshtoreth. It was Frost. Uh-huh! Look, he began. When I levelledoh, goddamnit, His eyes suddenly widened and he readied his gun. Demons, he said suddenly. Ashtoreth followed his gaze into the reddish haze of the night sky. There, appearing just above the treeline, she saw the large, lithe shape of a humanoid rising into the air. It had elongated limbs, and was flying with tall, membranous wings much like her own. In its arms it bore a pike that looked to be twenty feet long. She identified it: {Skygorger Demon Level 15 Elite} That things huge, Frost asked. Its not a boss? As if in answer to his question, a second skygorger demon appeared above the treeline, Hmm, said Hunter, twirling his swords. Maybe a Dark Souls boss, then. Not good, Ashtoreth said. Not good, Dazel agreed. Lets hope theyre just desperate. Whats wrong? Hunter asked, looking over at them with concern. There was an infernal in control of the construct I killed, she explained. They saw me fight. Ahead of her, in the forest, she heard the baying of hounds and the shouting of more devils. She sighed. Unless theyre just looking to cause a distraction while they run away, theyre attacking right now because they think they can win. Despitewell, despite me. 43: No Need to Panic: We Just Have to Kill them All Everyone spread out, Ashtoreth said. Those skygorgers probably have AOE. And Kylie, dont be alarmed, but Im going to cover you in hellfire now. What? She held out a palm and shot a gout of hellfire toward the ground in front of Kylie, who instinctively shrank back as the grass and bushes in front of her burst into flame. What the hell? she cried, taking a few steps back. Its okay, my fire wont hurt you! Ashtoreth said, her eyes still fixated on the approached demons. Drink it for [Mana]just try, itll work. Kylie face was a scowl bathed in the violet light of Ashtoreths fire, but she reached out a hand and began to absorb the flames a moment later. Oh, she said. Meanwhile, Hunter had disappeared, likely to cloak himself and hide in the branches of a nearby tree. Frost had moved forward, gun at the ready, to put himself between Kylie and the noises coming from the forest. Ashtoreth grumbled and looked up at the skygorger demons. They were aerial spellcasters, among other things: theyd be more than capable of engaging from a distance. Within only a few moments theyd flown close enough to worry her, and so she stopped supplying Kylie and ran forward to hopefully draw their fire. As she moved, she wondered how best to approach the situation. Conjuring her cannon would mean dismissing her sword, rendering her immobile. It almost meant waiting to conjure a round to fire, and there was no guarantee shed even be able to hit a moving, aerial target. It was unfortunate, but with only one advancement spent on the cannon, it wasnt an effective weapon in circumstances like these. Her other options felt only marginally better, though. The demons were either waiting for their ground forces to engage, or waiting to bait Ashtoreth into attacking them with her semi-flight. For all she knew, the trees below them could be filled with devils ready to unleash a barrage of arrows, bullets, or spells as soon as she flew over them. And yet waiting for the enemy forces to position themselves and converge on her allies all at once was surely folly. If she wanted to protect the humans, she had no choice. A moment after she split away from Frost, the skygorgers hastened her decision . The tips of their pikes began to glow with a green light that quickly brightened, then flared and shot toward her as a pair of sizzling missiles. She planted her sword, then launched herself high into the air, angling herself to fly over one of the skygorgers. A moment later the missiles impacted the ground where shed been, simultaneously bursting and combining into a sickly green cloud of hellfire that scorched her back as she sped away from it. As she sped through the air over the trees, she saw that shed been right about the ambush. Two-dozen devils that were positioned amidst the trees launched a volley of arrows at her as she came into view, their tips infused with glowing red magical energy. Ashtoreth was painfully aware of the fact that she couldnt actually fly yet, and shed deliberately aimed for a spot that was high above the nearest demon to give herself altitude that she could shed to maneuver before intercepting it. She guessed that theyd anticipated she would fly lower, on a trajectory that aimed directly at one of the skygorgers. As it was, she had time to see them and adjust her course to avoid most of the arrows by yanking on her sword and shedding some velocityjust enough to alter her course and send her angling straight for the skygorger. An arrow took her through one wing, and another struck her in the thigh. Both of them sent jolts of paralytic magic through her body, but her defenses were too high for the arrows to truly immobilize her. Two more might have knocked her out of the sky, but as it was they were just painful, nothing more: her muscles spasmed for a moment, and that was all. She angled toward the skygorger, conscious that it had two choices: it could try and strike at her with its pike, dooming itself if it missed, or it could dodge. The skygorger folded its wings back and fell toward the ground, dipping below her trajectory so that she sailed clear over it. Ashtoreth launched a hellfire bolt at the demon to distract it, then reached out and pulled herself toward her sword, at the same time flaring her wings to stop herself midair. Her momentum began to reverse, and she spun in the air, angling her wings downward to dive toward the demon below her. It turned midair, but couldnt swing its pike around to face her fast enough. She collided with its torso, wrapping her arms around it to keep herself fixed to the creature as they both careened sideways in the air. The creature bit down on her shoulder with a powerful set of jaws. She hissed, but dug her claws into the roots of its wings, piercing the muscles that she knew were necessary for flight. It screeched in pain, the sound muffled by the fact that her flesh filled its mouth. Then it dropped its pike and struck at her face with two clawed handsand Ashtoreth dipped her head so that they struck her horns instead, then pulled her claws out of its shoulders and brought them up to rake them across its face. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! It screeched, and she relaxed her legs where they clung to the demon around its abdomen, pulling on her sword so that she fell back away from it through the air. She spun to face the ground as she fell, then felt a layer of leaves and branches breaking against her body as she hit the canopy of the forest a moment later. She made a hard landing against the ground, rolling and then stumbling to her feet. She saw an incoming flash, leapt back, and felt a sharp pain in her side as the point of a spear grazed her body. Shed landed in the midst of the archers. They were taking up close-quarters weapons, spears and curved blades, and cautiously fanning out to surround her. Ashtoreth sent plumes of hellfire out around her in all directions, then dropped to all fours and bounded through her wall of distracting flames to tackle one of the blade-wielding devils as he moved into position. She brought him to the ground, pulled herself up onto his chest, then caught one of his hands as he drew a knife at his waist. With her other clawed hand, she drove two fingers into each of his eye sockets, curled them to grip under the inside of his skull, then planted a foot on his chest and heaved, tearing away the part of his skull between his eyes and mouth. She rose in a spray of gore, and at the same time she drove the barb of her tail through the hole shed made in his face. Then she ignited his corpse with her [Hellfire Consumption] as the rest of the devils converged on her, flames spreading across the ground around her in a pool. The oncoming devils plunged two spears into her chest, but it didnt matter: with her high [Defense], even the needle-sharp points of the diabolic weapons only buried themselves one or two inches into her flesh. She grabbed the spears, pushing each of them away from her and out of her body, then leapt up and yanked herself along the length of one of them to drive both her feet into its wielders face and affect him with her [Energy Drain]. The force of her kick knocked the devil onto the ground and threw her backward, where she hit the forest floor and rolled to her feet, still facing the devils. She began to conjure her greatsword. They were disciplined, coming at her despite the pain they must have felt from the hellfire that burned all around them. They fought as any squad of devils should: some of them kept her on the defensive, pressing her with blades and spear-thrusts, while other fanned out around the violet pool of hellfire, drawing their bows. Worse, she saw the remaining skygorger demon descend into view, the point of its spear flaring as it prepared another spell. She conjured a burst of hellfire to hide behind as it brandished its weapon to throw the missile, then dodged by leaping in the direction it would least expect: forward, toward the devils. One of them impaled her through the abdomen with its spear, and she pulled herself along the haft of the weapon, grabbing its wielders hand and affecting them with her [Energy Drain]. With the spearhead jutting out of her back, she flexed her abdominal muscles, then grabbed the haft of the spear with both hands and snapped it in half, hissing in pain. An arrow struck her in the shoulder, and a brief flash of their paralysis spell rippled through her body. One of the devils allies took advantage of the momentary distraction to thrust at her with their spear, but the paralysis from one arrow was too ineffective. Ashtoreth dropped to the ground to avoid the attack, winding her tail around the wrist of her first attacker at the same time. As she fell, she reached for the haft of the broken spear that was thrust through her body with one hand and for the ground with the other. In one smooth motion, she pushed herself off the ground, yanked her attacker off balance with her tail, spun once as she came to her feet, and tore the broken spearhead out of her back with a reversed grip to bring it around and drive into the devils eye as it widened in an expression of shock. Her enemy burst into hellfire a moment later, his other eye flashing and gushing out of his skull as a tongue of violet flame before his skin and bones followed a moment later. His allys spearpoint drove its way into her side, and another arrow struck her abdomen, but these things mattered little to Ashtoreth. What mattered was that shed finished conjuring her sword. She drew hellfire into the weapon and struck with a [Mighty Blow], cleaving her other attacker in half and bursting their corpse into even more flames that she drew into herself as she finished healing her wounds. She rushed toward the rest of the devils, intent on seizing the initiative now that she was surrounded by hellfire and had her favorite weapon in her hand. But before she could lay into them, another figure burst forward out of the bushes with a shriek of rage. It was the other skygorger demon, the one that shed torn out of the sky. Shed expected it to heal its wings, then take flight again. It was a process that would have taken thirty or more seconds for the skygorger, which lacked her vampiric regeneration. Instead it had likely seen where shed fallen and decided to attack her on foot, knowing that they needed to overwhelm her quickly or be overwhelmed themselves. Its clawed hands flashed green, and a bolt of magic power sped toward Ashtoreth. She dropped her sword and pushed herself away from it, needing the counterforce to dodge a projectile that had been hurled from such a short range. She hit the ground, rolled to her feet. And then a second bolt of acid-green power, one hurled by the other skygorger demon, struck her in the shoulder. Its magic flashed and spread through her body, and she suddenly felt as if she were encased in a block of solid steel, completely immobilized. She pushed against the force of the spell, straining herself to her limit but failing to move even an inch. Fortunately of the devils were now behind a wall of burning hellfire, and couldnt take advantage of her frozen state. But the skygorger with the bloodied wings was a different matter. The demon bore down on her, its wings still hanging limply behind it, mere moments away from tearing her apart. Ashtoreth strained. 44: Now You’re Cooking With Corpses The skygorger demon clawed its way toward her across the forest floor, moving with the lurching grace of a crawling insect. Ashtoreth pushed against the force that held her immobile, ready to spring into action the moment she was free, but the spell held her longer than she expectedmore than a second, even with the resistance bonus from her new clothes. Soon the doom loomed above her, reaching for her frozen head. Then its clawed hand exploded in a blast of pale blue light, and it reared back and shrieked with surprise and pain. A second blast struck its face, and it shrank back, raising one arm to protect itself. It was Frost. Hed appeared somewhere behind her, likely having moved for her position when he saw her bring the demon down and land someplace in the woods. The rapport of Frosts shotgun was a fast, steady beat against her eardrums, and the world around her was lit with flashes of blue light that came so quickly they seemed to cut the world into a section of slow-moving frames, turning the cowering demon into a slideshow of its own demise. For a fraction of a second, the skygorger demon struggled against the barrage of shots, clawing at the ground as if to right itself and flee. But that lasted only a moment. Soon it was merely writhing in agony and shielding its neck and face with its elongated arms as the gun melted away entire portions of its flesh, blue ether rising from the wounds. Frosts gun went silent after what might have been two seconds of firing. The demon twitched, then went still, its flesh still sizzling. Ashtoreth had already jolted free of the immobilization spell, then twisted to see the other skygorger diving toward her in an attempt to impale her with its outthrust pike. She pushed the point of the pike away from herself with two clawed hands, and it buried itself in the dirt at her feet. The demon shrieked and tried to pull the weapon back as it rose into the air, but Ashtoreth grabbed the pike by the haft and held it. Then she leapt into the air, pushing against her sword, which shed dropped when shed been immobilized. The counterforce, combined with her loose grip around the haft of the pike, pushed her up along the length of the weapon while the demon struggled to rise away from her. She launched a single bolt of hellfire at its face as a distraction while she was propelled up the length of its weapon. A moment later, she collided with its upper body, grabbing the demon with her claws and wrapping her legs around its torso. She let out a howl that was part triumphant laugh, part vengeful scream, then began to slash at its face with her claws, ripping away its skin, prying away the front of its skull, and then gleefully gouging its brain out from where it had once had a nasal cavity. She fell away from the demon, pulling herself back down to her sword to land on it a moment later. She saw Frost nearby, struggling: two demons had rushed forward to engage him while he reloaded his weapon. He was blocking the curved sword or the first devil with his gun, and an arrow jutting out of his shoulder. The second devil had somehow been disarmed, their spear on the ground nearby and their arms wrapped around Frosts neck from behind. Halt, Ashtoreth commanded the devil whose sword was pressed against Frosts weapon. They froze long enough for Ashtoreth to cross the few steps of distance between them, draw some of her nearby Hellfire into her sword, and slam it forward through their body below the shoulders with a lethal [Might Blow]. The other devil pushed itself away from Frost, turning to face her as it retreated, but it was too late. Ashtoreth tore her blade free of the first devils body, igniting them and swinging the sword in a 270 degree arc that sheared the other devils legs off and buried the blade in the dirt at Frosts feet. An arrow sprouted from her back, along with an impotent jolt of paralysis magic. Because Frost could use her hellfire to replenish his [Blood], she turned and left him, lunging back into the fray. It was a short fight after that. Frost reloaded his weapon, but as soon as he saw that Ashtoreth had killed the other skygorger demon he turned and ran back into the woods to find and support the others. It was the right call: Ashtoreth dispatched the rest of the devils with relative ease. She was fighting them with a nearby stock of hellfire, they were deprived of their aerial casters, and she had her sword in her hands: they simply stood no chance. She backtracked once shed finished, rejoining the others where they were finishing up a second group of devils and hellhounds that had gone ahead of the ones whod lie in waiting to ambush Ashtoreth herself. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. She only got to kill one of these other devilsthe rest of them, along with all of the hellhounds, had fallen when she arrived. Sorry I took so long, she said, looking around at the bodies that littered the forest floor. They were ready to ambush me when I attacked their air support. Hunter shrugged. Still took out their air support, he said. Even if Frost had to go back you up. You should have seen it! Ashtoreth said. He lit up one of the skygorger demons and its flesh was melting away like mud under a water-jet! It was beautiful! She looked admiringly down down at Frosts shotgun. That things getting pretty danged strong, Sir Frost. Frost gave a curt nod. Its now fully automatic with 20-round drum magazine, he said. The added sacred damage has let me get away with focusing on fire rate instead of damage. Ive got an upgrade retained to let me have a second drum conjured, too. With multiple max mags, I can conjure one while the gun is still loaded. Hopefully that way I can keep the weapon online for a whole combat. Say, your build is really coming along, then! Ashtoreth said, grinning. He had a lot of shots, Hunter said. And the dogs couldnt even handle being grazed by themthey were panicking before they even reached us. And then Kylie summoned a bunch of black orbs of what looked like broken glass, but she didnt throw them right away. Instead she waited until I started attacking, then killed anyone who looked like they were reacting too quickly to me. Brilliant! Ashtoreth said, beaming at Kylie. I killed demons with my [Death] abilities, she said. Really an act of genius, figuring that one out. Lets spread the cores around while I harvest these hearts, Ashtoreth said, already pulling one into her hand. Anybody seen my cat? Im up here, Dazel called from somewhere above them. As one, everyone but Kylie craned their necks to search for the source of the voice. Im keeping lookout, Dazel said. I can just barely see the edge of their hole from the top of this tree. You guys carry on. Are you going to fall asleep? Ashtoreth asked. No, he said, sounding defensive. Lowering her voice, she said: We should keep an eye out anyway, just in case. And we should move from this position as soon as possible, but it seems like whoever is in that ravine knew where we anyway. They might be tracking us with magic. Which means theyll know were coming, said Frost. Yep, said Ashtoreth. So we should level up and figure out our approach. By the way, said Kylie. I cant animate the corpses that you tear hearts out of. I cant even feel them with the ability. So if you wanted another legion of the dead to attack their stronghold with, I dont just need [Mana], but fresh corpses, too. Uh-huh! Ashtoreth said. You need me to harvest a ton of bodies for your [Mana], and you need a ton of bodies just for yourself! Sounds pretty demanding, Hunter said. Trust me, said Ashtoreth. Necromancers are worth supporting. And while it sounds demanding, remember that most people dont have any uses for corpses. We can turn them into minions, mana, and bombs! They spent another minute distributing the cores. Kylie gave all of hers to Ashtoreth. She acted like she didnt care to lose them, but Ashtoreth appreciated that she was letting the others catch up. Besides, some of the devils and hellhounds were below level 10theyd hardly grant anything to a level 23 like her. Predictably, when Ashtoreth absorbed a half-dozen devil cores and then a skygorger core, she got the familiar message: {Ding! You level up and gain 11 DEX, 11 STR, 15 VIT, 13 MAG, 7 PSY, 7 DEF} {Reaching level 16 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Vampiric Archfiend].} All right, Ashtoreth said once shed finished harvesting hearts. Thats it for here. Lets go let Kylie animate all the devils and the dead skygorgers. You missed a few hearts, Hunter said. Uh if that matters. And I just spent all my remaining [Mana] on the fight, said Kylie. Im out. Ashtoreth grinned. Did I? she said to Hunter. To Kylie, she said: Are you? She launched a hellfire bolt at three different corpses, bursting each of them so that the whole of the forest around them was engulfed in hellfire. I get that it doesnt hurt us, said Kylie. But its really hard to see, now. Free mana for everyone! Ashtoreth cried, her smile broadening. But mostly Kylie! Drink deepdrink deep so you can get started on our army of the dead! Were assaulting their base of operations as soon as possible! She paused, then added: Right after I level, though. 45: Base Assault Missions Always Feel So Good While her allies absorbed the violet flames that burned around them, Ashtoreth tended to her progression: Armament, if you please! she told the system. {Advance Armament} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Energy Drain]: Luftschloss now affects enemies with a milder form of your [Energy Drain] attack. Some abilities, like your [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike], will heighten the intensity of the [Energy Drain]. Upgrade [Conjure Armament] with [Armament Speed]: Halves the time it takes to conjure an armament. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Extra Capacity]: You can load a second round into your cannon. Shed seen all of the options before on account of the fact that shed gotten an extra three to choose from when creating Rammstein. one of them, [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition], was still lined up to appear in her selection of three once she chose another. Ill take [Armament Speed], please, she said. {You upgraded your [Conjure Armament] ability with [Armament Speed]} Swapping between her armaments in the middle of combat was of little use to her for now, considering shed still have to conjure and load a round into Rammstein in order to fire it. The upgrade would only help her re-conjure her sword after she flung herself off it and into the air. But a few more upgrades would change that. Most guns were pretty poor weapons until you invested a lot into them, and Ashtoreth wanted more out of Rammstein than the ability to take a lot of time and resources to kill anything that was far away. If she built it right, shed be able to pull it out in the middle of a fight and unload multiple shots into an enemyit would be as good a boss killer as her massive sword. Shed just finished choosing when Dazel glided down from his tree to land on her back. Stats are getting better, boss. Glidings getting a lot easier. Ive noticed, she said. She was capable of some very high aerials herself, now, though they would be much harder with her sword out. She brought up her stats to take an approving look: Level: 16 [Dexterity]: 289 [Strength]: 425 [Vitality]: 357 [Magic]: 311 [Psychic]: 249 [Defense]: 243 [Bloodfire]: 9925 / 9925 [Vitality] might have been her best stat on a per-level basis, but [Mighty Wielder] and her [Devoured Flesh] buff were both pushing strength into absurd levels. The [Bloodfire] total was really something to be proud of. The costs of her abilities scaled with stats like [Magic], but since her resource pool was primarily determined by [Vitality] at 20 points per [Vitality] and 5 per point of [Magic] and [Psyche], shed gradually gotten away from the point where high-cost abilities like conjuring her sword took up most of her resources. Very high cost abilities, like conjuring a round for Rammstein or using her [Mighty Strike], were supposed to cost all of ones [Mana]. With her, they cost considerably less. More and more, consuming hearts was something she didnt need to do mid-combat. Which was a good thing. She was well past the point where a hellhounds heart could mostly fill her [Bloodfire]. It took four devils hearts to do that, now. Frost came over to her from where hed presumably been dealing with his own levels. Say, Ashtoreth. Mhmm? There was something I was trying to tell you, he began. Before we got attacked. When we were levelling with those cores you passed over, I got an upgrade that lets me use my [Sacred] abilities on undead. Great! Yeah, he said. Itll help me protect Kylie and her minions, if she gets any more. But the upgrade doesnt mention infernals. Im a little worried about trying it on you. All right, Ashtoreth said. Just let me have one, then. If it doesnt work, whats the worst that can happen? No! Dazel said suddenly, shifting from where he sat on her wings. Lowering his voice to whisper in his hear, he said: Boss, this is their perfect opportunity to disable you long enough for Hunter to lop your head off. They could have planned it while you were out collecting hearts earlier. Hey, Dazel Just get ready to catapult yourself away with your sword shenanigans, Dazel hissed. Uh, everything okay? said Frost, eying them warily. Sure, said Dazel. But what does the ability say, exactly? Whats the wording? Undead allies will gain the full benefit of your [Sacred] and [Restoration] abilities without being harmed by them, said Frost. Theoretically, that should work, Dazel said. Now if it had said Your abilities will no longer harm undead, then it wouldnt be worth trying. Not sure I see the difference, said Frost. But okay. Be ready, Dazel whispered in her ear. Ashtoreth didnt want to give any credit to what Dazel had said, but still. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Just in case you do put me in agonizing pain she said. She dropped her sword to the ground. I dont want to cut myself. Hit me, Frost! Of course, this would also help her throw herself directly into the air, making it easier to get clear of any attack. She kept her attention on Hunter in the corner of her eye, watching to see if he tensed as if getting ready to strike. Frost raised a hand that flashed with a silvery light. Then: {Gained [Blessing of Steel] buff: + 33 DEF. Grants very low [Bloodfire] regeneration.} {Gained [Steelhearts Ward] buff: + 33 MAG and + 33 PSY, but for the purposes of defense only. Grants very low [Bloodfire] regeneration.} {Gained [Sacred Armaments] buff: Weapons you wield will inflict additional sacred damage. Grants very low [Bloodfire] regeneration.} {Gained a [Blessing of Health] buff: Grants moderate [Bloodfire] regeneration.} Wow! she said. Say, Im an archfiend who does sacred damage! Dazel snorted. Yeah, he said in a dry voice. Your dad is like, totally gonna freak. Youve got 4 buffs, Sir Frost? My class gives them all regeneration, he said. Well, I definitely needed the [Defense] boost, she said. That Skygorgers immobilize ability got me pretty good, and Im wearing clothes that specifically resist it. [Defense] combined with other stats to determine how much an effect was mitigated. Magic abilities were mitigated by the [Magic] stats, physical by the [Strength] stat, and so on. Resistances were also a factor. Both of Frosts first two buffs would make her harder to hinder and kill. Good, said Frost. Im glad I can be useful. Hed built all that along with a healing ability and a gun that could melt infernals. Good paladin. What about you, Hunter? Dazel asked. Do you have any buffs? No, he said. I dont. A lone Wolfhard. Gotcha. Ashtoreth turned to Kylie, who was staring down at the corpse of a devil whod had their head cut off, probably by Hunter. Okay, Kyliehows the [Mana]? A third full, she said, still looking at the corpse. A third? I told you. I built to have lots of [Mana] so that I could have lots of minions, she said. Yeah, but Also, she said, still looking down at the corpse in a way that was disconcerting. I cant animate targets that you tear the hearts out of or turn into fire. Okay, Ashtoreth said. I guess I underestimated your power. Lets go drink up the rest of the corpses and well animate the rest when were exploring that ravine. We should get a move on anyway. They moved on toward the second batch of bodies. Ashtoreth picked one of the skygorgers hearts for herself, tucking it into her locket alongside two shiverhulk hearts. She ate some hearts out of her carry-case to speed the process along, but it became clear that it would take more than an entire batch of enemies to refill Kylies [Mana]. Im a little over two-thirds, Kylie said once they were finished and had moved further into the woods to approach the ravine from an angle. Still not full. No problem! Ashtoreth said. Youre welcome anytime. What are friends for, right? Kylie glanced back at her with a withering look. You realize that everyone is just working with you because they want to survive, right? Maybe at first, Ashtoreth said, smiling. But I bet youll warm up to me just like others have. Humans are cool like that: cunning and pragmatic when it comes to survival, but kind and trusting once theyve formed mutual bonds through struggle. Kylie scoffed. You dont know anything about us, do you? Hey, I know plenty! Ashtoreth said. Im basically an expert on humans. Kylie stopped and glowered at Ashtoreth. Well since youre stupid enough to trust us, trust me when I tell you that you have no idea what youre getting into, she said. You dont know what were capable of. Humans never even fully accept each otherthey always, always need to have people on the bottom: the rejects, the exiles, the losers. You think theyre going to accept you? Ashtoreth, quick, Dazel whispered in her ear. Use your glamour to play Johnny Cashs cover of Hurt. Oh, get blessed, Ashtoreth told him. Come on, look at her, he said enthusiastically. Shes beautiful, Ashtoreth. Her pain should be set to music. Maybe glamour up some mascara for her to smear. Dazel. Excuse, me, Ms Addams? Dazel asked. Kylie looked over and glowered at him. Quick question: did you perhaps try so hard, and get so far? I just wanted to know if in the end Muzzle him or Im not helping you, Kylie said flatly. Leave her alone, Dazel. Youre right, youre rightIm sorry, Dazel said. I dont understand her pain. You dont, Ashtoreth said, frowning. Kylie scoffed. Are you back to pretending you do, little miss molly fiend? Molly? Whos molly? Kylie rolled her eyes and turned away. Look, Ashtoreth. I dont know what I dont know, you know? But I think I get it. Kylie started walking away into the woods. Okay. Your whole world has been upended! Ashtoreth said, hurrying after her. Humans rely on routine to keep everything stable, and now you dont even know which routines youll get to return to! You dont know the state of your loved ones, and if you dont survive this horribly unfair scenario that seems like a game, youll never be able to protect them! Kylie stared at her for a second, then arched an eyebrow. But if you think all of thats true, why are you so cheerful? Why are you telling jokes? Ashtoreth shrugged. Well Im not going to let it ruin my day. Ive been waiting for this for what feels like forever! Youre just a happy-go-lucky psychopath, are you? Kylie said. Anyway, you got it all wrong. If youre curious. Like I told you, dont ask meugh. An arrow had hissed through the air and stricken Kylie in the chest, catching her between two ribs and likely piercing a lung. The necromancer was looking down at the arrow with disgust writ across her face. She reached up, pushed on the shaft until it emerged from her back, then snapped off the fletching and pulled the rest of the arrow out of her back before wreathing one hand in her death magic and waving it over the wound. As she did this, she turned and walked past Ashtoreth. Found the base, she rasped. Frost and Hunter joined them a moment later, and Ashtoreth rushed forward to get a look at where the arrow had come from. The trees and bushes ahead of them thickened, then ended abruptly at a steep cliff that led down into the ravine shed seen earlier. Ramparts and walkways had been carved into walls of the ravine, with devils spread evenly along all of them, their distance from one another a defense against her [Hellfire Consumption]. As soon as she appeared, a skygorger demon launched a green bolt of energy toward her. She dropped her sword, pushing against it as she leapt back and up into the air, dodging the bolt and giving her a clearer view of the fortress below them. She spent a brief moment to take in her enemy, then pulled on her sword to fall quickly back down to the ground. Her allies had taken up position away from the cliffs edge, out of range of the devils weapons. Theres only one skygorger, she said, dismissing her sword and forming some of the hellfire it created into her cannon. Ill take it out, then charge in. Support me, but dont take risks unless I look like Im in trouble. She began to conjure a round for her weapon. If they try to overrun your position up here, Ill come back to help. You sure youll be all right alone? Frost asked. I got a good look, she said. A lot of the enemies down there just look like walking explosive barrels, to me. Everything looks like an explosive barrel to you, Ashtoreth, said Frost. She flashed him a grin as she slammed the bolt of her cannon home. Its a good build, I agree. 46: Its Only Normal that We Talk About the Boss Behind Her Back Dazel lay on Ashtoreths back, nestled between the powerful spans of muscle and bone where her wings met her shoulderblades. He braced himself, sure that even if the sound of her ridiculous cannon didnt burst his eardrums, it was at least going to hurt. Hed decided that this was his chance. Almost... she muttered. Almost. Her cannon rested on its bipod, and she was aiming over the cliffs edge at where the skygorger demon hovered just out of sight, no doubt charging a long-ranged spell, one that it would need a little more altitude to throw at them. Hey, Dazel said. Any chance I could get you to glamour up some cat-size ear prot She fired the cannon, and a wave of sound seemed to vibrate through his entire skull as his ears smarted with pain. He began to regenerate them with his [Health] a moment later, though his head still rang with pain. Got em! Ashtoreth said, standing. Around them, the others healed their ears: Kylie used her death magic, and Frost held a glowing hand out toward Hunters head. But Dazel was, of course, left to regenerate his wounds alone. Ashtoreth stood, and he rose with her, paws around her neck with his hind legs on her wings. Ill suss out any traps theyve laid and maybe pull out this Gethernel fellow, if hes still around, she said, standing and dispersing her gun to form her sword again. Support me if anything goes wrong. She planted her sword in the ground, then sprang up onto the hilt to launch herself away. But in the moment that he began to feel her accelerate, Dazel released his grip and used his racial flight to pull away. Great idea, boss! Dazel cried after her. Ill stay here and strategically coordinate! Ashtoreth didnt acknowledge him as she sped down into the fray, aiming for a line of devils along the rampart just below them. Dazel climbed into the branches of a bloodleaf tree overhanging the cliff so he could see the battle. He watched Ashtoreth push her sword through the chest of an armored devil below her, causing herself to rise out of a volley of arrows in the same moment before pulling herself down to the corpse to retrieve her sword. Beside him, Frost opened up with his automatic shotgun, forcing a handful of the devils near Ashtoreth to take cover as she gained a foothold. Kylie stepped up to the cliffs edge as Ashtoreth fought below: She sent several spikes of death magic toward a devil on one of the lower platforms, and Dazel watched it collapse, then rise again in short order and charge the devil nearest to it. Shed given him the perfect opening. Hold up, Dazel said. Hey. Necromancer girl. Kylie glanced over at him. Are you talking to me? Probably, Dazel said. Listen: ignore those guys for nowget the ones on the top platforms. Kylie flashed him an icy look. Excuse me? Look, I know the lower ones seem more disruptive because you can pincer the devils between your minions and the princess, right? But shes going to send them downward when they retreat, and your minions will get overwhelmed outside the range where we can support them. Kylie made a noise of disgust. Spare me the backseat lichcraft, fancy feast. Below them, Dazel watched Ashtoreth charge along one of the bridges that spanned the ravine. She sheared a devil in half, bursting their corpse into a plume of hellfire, then dodged a volley of arrows by emerging from the top of the flames, having dropped her sword and pushed herself upward. She landed behind the next-closed devil, then pulled on her sword, yanking herself into her enemy as the sword came at them from the other direction, impaling them. She flipped over the devils shoulders as more arrows hissed through the air toward her, grabbing the hilt of her sword as she used their corpse as a shield and charging down the length of the bridge. Beside Dazel on the ledge, Hunter tensed and reached for his sword-hilts. What are you doing, Jaxxon? I can [Shadowstride] down to the lower platform and take out those devils with Hold that thought, Roninslayer, said Dazel. Lets keep the twin fangs of cringe and edge sheathed for now. You can reveal your true power level if Her Highness down there actually runs into some problems. Shes moving out of range of my shotgun, Frost said, loading another drum of ammunition. Its not too far a drop to that platform. We can move in behind her to keep up support Eh, lets not, said Dazel. Shes doing fine. Shes still got your buffs, and Kylies still in range. She can support. The necromancer let out a displeased grunt at this, but Dazel noticed that shed begun animating the corpses of the devils by the upper ramps. Below them, Ashtoreth launched her sword into a group of devils that had gotten to tight-packed, causing a chain reaction of explosions as the counterforce launched her off her current bridge and onto a different one, where she began to attack more devils with her claws. Christ, Frost said, watching Ashtoreth bound across a distance of twenty meters on all fours, then tackle a devil to the ground, rip their metal helmet away from their face, the gouge out the contents of their head like she was spooning the yolk out of a deviled egg. Her foe burst into a plume hellfire a moment later, and her sword suddenly shot out of this cloud to cause another one of the enemies to explode. She fights like a cornered animal, the cop said. Shes a killer, Dazel said, carefully injecting a tone of pride into his voice. A real monster. You guys should feel lucky that she found you. Lucky, Kylie echoed. Dazel swished his tail. Now was his chancehe just had to think of the right words. Sure. I mean, shes not just a strong ally in the coming warshes also got immunity in case things go south. Immunity? Frost asked. What are you talking about? Come on, Dazel said. Youre police. You know. No, Frost said, his voice darkening a shade. I really dont. Look, Dazel said. You know how in the Great Gatsby, Daisys laugh is the sound of money? I think I read that in highschool, said Frost. But no. I dont, said Kylie. Nobody? Jaxxon, what about you? This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Its Hunter, and I just used Sparknotes for that essay. Are you sure we shouldnt be helping her? Dazel looked down into the ravine. Another skygorger demon had appeared from one of openings carved into the cliff walls. Nah, he said. Shell be fine. Ashtoreth ducked to avoid a green bolt of magic that it threw from its spear as it rose into the air. Then she crouched against the railing of one of the bridges, bracing herself as she threw her sword at it. The skygorger mightve beat its wings hard and used its flight to dodge the fast-moving sword, but it never got the chance. Ashtoreth seemingly used the same ability shed used to break the construct bosss shield, imbuing the sword with far greater velocity once the demon was committed to its initially calculated dodge. The sword struck the demon through the center, not so much impaling it as breaking it apart like a bullet striking a small bird. Dazel cocked his head as he watched Ashtoreth. Cracks had appeared in the stone of the bridge around her. She pulled herself up to her feet with her arms, and he saw a bend in each of her ankles straighten. Shed broken her legs to throw the blade that hard. See? he said as she leapt toward more devils that were spilling from the openings in the cliffsides. Shes fineshes having fun, Ill bet. Kylie had more minions on the upper bridge, nowshed been raising more of the devil-skeletons with death magic, and they were filling the space along the railing to throw spells down at the emerging enemies. Surprisingly, she was targeting the right enemies: not the ones Ashtoreth was engaging, but the ones closest to reinforcing the ones she was engaging. She was keeping Ashtoreth from being overwhelmed. Anyway, Dazel said, Immunity. Look, Frost, you know how back when you were a cop Im still a police officer, Dazel. There were people who you couldnt arrest? People the law didnt apply to? No ones above the law, Frost said firmly. Bullshit, Kylie saidwith perhaps more emphasis than shed said anything since Dazel had met her. You guys use lawyers who you hire with money to handle legal matters, Dazel said. Dont tell me the rich ones dont have an edge. The systems not perfect There you go! Dazel said, cutting him off. And its imperfections? They serve the Ashtoreths of the human world. The politicians, the trust fund babieshell, even just the more attractive people have an advantage. Like I said, the systems not perfect. But I dont see what youre getting at. Again, Dazel swished his tail through the air. It was a bit of a gamble, what he was about to trybut resentment was the same across all species. He knew that well enough. Kylie knows, he said. Excuse me? the necromancer asked. Some people were born right, Dazel said. And some werent. Some people are so protected from consequences that they can bend every rule they dont like. And if it turns out they cant break it? Well, thats fine, theyll get a slap on the wrist and move on to the next one. Kylie eyed him suspiciously. And you think I know this, why? The point is, some of us get to casually assert control over everything they come into contact with. I mean, how else can you explain how happy she? Nothing shes even done has really ended in disaster. At least for her. Her Highness down there is one of the elect. Some of us live in an amusement park, a vacation made out of the world that people build. Some of us, he said, nodding meaningfully down at Ashtoreth. Get to own the world that we live in. He watched the princess leap clear of a gushing explosion of hellfire to slam a devil to the ground and tear their face away. Some of us get to be free. Ashtoreth is a child soldier, Frost said. Her parents have seen her as a tool her whole life, and if shes happy, its probably because shes never been freenot until today. Theres a noble outlook, said Dazel. Maybe youre more of a paladin than I thought. Come to think of it, maybe youre less of a copI havent seen you unload an entire magazine into anyones back after shouting at them to stop resisting, either. Is she really a princess? Kylie asked quietly. Her glowing blue eyes were fixated on the archfiend fighting below them. Seriously? Got her, Dazel thought. Oh, shes the princess. Her father is the King of Hell. And good for it, too: imagine the stability that relationship will bring once she becomes the Monarch of Earth. Sorry, Monarch of Earth? Frost asked. Yeah, Hunter said. That sounds powerful. How does someone become the Monarch of Earth? Thats how all of this works, said Dazel. The system will make one person the monarch, and theyll control inter-realm travel both to and away from Earth, among other things. Think of it as this: they get realm-wide admin privileges from the system, but they can also be challenged for the role. Thats what princess chucklefuck down there wants? Kylie asked. To rule over mankind? Dazel swished his tail with satisfaction. Kylies life had not gone well, as far as he knew and what did a loser like her want, more than someone to resent? He was a demon from the Pit of Sorrow, after all. He knew. Of course thats what she wants, Dazel said. She couldnt not want it. Shes an archfiend of pride. Shes either getting stronger along every vector possible, or shes failing. Shes the best of all infernals. And so you think she should rule Earth, Kylie said. Woah! Dazel said. Hold on, not rule it, just control travel. And fight as its champion so that nobody else can take that power away. Monarch is just a title. And you cant deny shes got moves. Below them, Ashtoreth impaled a devil on her sword, then swung the sword hard enough to throw their corpse at one of the entrances and ignited it in midair with a hellfire bolt, hiding herself from their view as she surged forward toward them. Look, Dazel continued. You should stick with Her Highness down there, is all Im saying. Even if this invasion doesnt go your way, shes still gotI dont know, immunity, freedom, protection, call it what you want. Her betrayals not an unforgivable offense, and youd rather be her favorite humans than some other infernals lunch. Like a bunch of pets? Kylie said acidly. Take it from me, Dazel said. Im a cowardly, cretinous demon. I know how to survive! And the first step to surviving is to become immune to shame. She loves humans! I mean, shes not dragging you along as her coattail passengers because she actually needs you for something, shes doing it because she wants friends. Ashtoreth isn''t the manipulative typeId know if she was, trust me. I dont, said Frost. All right, fine, said Dazel. But Im telling you: shes not using you, she likes you. Youve met her: shes no good at that kind of lie. And bear in mind that the only time shes ever really been in danger so far was when she ran into the trap back therethe one with the two skygorgers. You mean when I killed one with my shotgun. Exactly that! Dazel said. She did that because she knew that while she could have given those demons the runaround, you guys wouldnt have been able to escape. She leapt headfirst into a trap to protect you. Thats how you know she really cares. Cares enough to protect her assets, maybe, Kylie said. Hes rightif she wants to win the tutorial, whats she dragging us along for? Hey, wait a second, Dazel said. If Im right about that, at least trust me on the other thing, tooAshtoreths not manipulative. Im telling you, she really cares. Listen, Kylie said. She never finished. A deep noise boomed out through the chasm below them like a gong. A thin film of darkness seemed to ripple outward from the lava-lit depths of the chasm, passing over everything in the space of a moment. All the remaining devils below them fell to the ground, dead. What was that? Frost said, raising his shotgun even though there was nothing to point it at. Below, Ashotoreth shook a limp body off the end of her sword, seeming almost disappointed. She looked up at them, then made an exaggerated shrug. Dazel yawned. Life harvest spell, he said. Itll reverse in a sec. Sure enough, the ripple of smokey power coalesced again and withdrew along the path it had come, converging somewhere below the network of stone bridges and walkways. See? Dazel said. Its just a boss fight. A winged figure shot up from below, then dove downward to land on the same bridge as Ashtoreth, standing opposite her, then folding their wings behind their back. {Archdevil Gethernel Level 24 Boss} See? Dazel said. Anyway, try to get a hit in if you want lootImma nap. 47: Archfiend Versus Archdevil Ashtoreth grinned as she saw the new arrival, giving the smile a sinister caste. Have we met before, archdevil? she asked. Gethernel wore a tightly-fitted white robe that was embroidered with gold. An orange light seemed to inhabit him, glowing beneath his skin and eyes and giving a strange, waxy look to his features. Even so, it was easy to tell that he was furious. These souls were commended unto me, fiend! he shouted. I am the one who was appointed this task! Uh-huh. He flared his wings. The doom of humanity has been long in the making! he hissed. Mark me, you meddlesome pest! No fiendish prerogative, no mandate of Paradise will save you from my ire on this day! Flecks of spittle began to fly from his mouth, trailing steam. I have toiled to learn the necessary arts for centuries! I have crawled across the bloodied backs of those fools who thought they were my betters to earn this charge! And youyou can come before me on the day of reckoning and, and He stopped, then narrowed his eyes, scanning her shirt to read the I ? Earth there. Break your favorite toy? Ashtoreth finished. Kill all your troops? She made no move to attack him, hoping that her goading would only bring about more whining. The longer they talked, the more her allies could prepare some offensive of their own from their position on the cliff somewhere behind him. In fact, she wasnt even sure how much Gethernel knew about the humans. At the very least, he might not know about Kylie. And she doubted that hed assume she had sided with them, no matter what it said on her shirt. And even if he did know about them, she was sure she could get him to give her all his attention. She was a fiend ruining his plans, after all: it was a special frustration, for devils. One they knew well. All she had to do to play into it was act arrogant. Which wouldnt be a problem. How bout this? Ashtoreth said. You tell me something, anything you think I ought to know. You tell me something nowsomething valuable. And Ill decide if its worth your life. Gethernel sneered. Girl. Youd be no match for me even at my normal strength. But with the power I just harvested by evacuating the souls of these unworthy dogs? He flared his wings again, more slowly now. The orange light beneath his skin rippled, shifting and glowing more bright. Buddy, she said to him. Come on. She gestured to his whole body. If killing all your troops to turn yourself into a jack-o-lantern was the final-form trump card youre pretending it is, you wouldve done it while my undead army was wasting yours. Rage flashed across his glowing face. Well see, he said. Then he lunged, surging forward across the stone bridge, propelled by both his legs and his racial flight ability. He was faster than her, but she had an advantage: the counterforce she could generate with her sword would allow her to move her body in unpredictable ways. He grabbed for her as he sped toward her, and she let go of her sword, pushed herself away from it so that he passed between her and the blade. She pulled her weapon back into her hand, the leapt back along the bridge, toward where her allies were. Gethernel rounded her herand then he hissed in pain as a volley of bolts of fractured light and shadow struck him from across the ravine, bursting across his face and wings and dispersing in the air. It was Kylies skeletons. Shed spread all of them out along the upper walkways, then launched an assault now that it looked like Ashtoreth needed the help. But Gethernel raised a wing, interposing it between himself and the dark energy and letting it ripple through his body. His face twisted in discomfort, but he otherwise looked unharmed. High [Defense] and high resistances, then. She could handle that. She launched her sword at him, pushing it hard. She didnt brace herself, and so as the sword sped through the distance between them, she was thrown far backward across the bridge to land in the shadowed entrance of one of the halls that was cut into the cliff. Gethernel snarled and slapped her sword out of the air, knocking it away so that it clattered uselessly down to the stone of the bridge. Then he rushed forward once again, crossing the distance between them as a bright orange blur to swipe at her face with a hand wreathed in crackling power. She dodged, once again relying on her ability to pull on her sword so as to move unpredictably. But this only delayed the inevitable: Gethernel was incredibly fast, and Ashtoreth danced around him for only a few seconds before he grabbed her by the arm with a powerful grip. He pulled her close, and Ashtoreth launched a plume of Hellfire at his face with her one free hand. Gethernels grinning face emerged from the flames a second laterhe was perfectly unharmed. But Ashtoreth had chosen this hallway carefully, working around Gethernel so as to launch them both back to the entrance that was nearest to her supporting group of humans. She folded her wings around him, pulling them tight to cover up to his back below his own flared wings, obscuring his glowing skin so that a pillar of shadow stretched out behind him. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Hunter! she cried. Gethernels expression flashed with momentary misunderstanding. Freeze, Ashtoreth commanded. He was momentarily jolted with the psychic assault Then Hunter appeared behind him and thrust the tip of one of his katanas through Asthoreths wings and into Gethernels chest. The archdevil looked down with wide-eyed shock at the tip of the blade, which glowed orange with his blood. Behind him, Ashtoreth saw Hunter raising his other sword so as to cut off the archdevils head. His mouth curled into a satisfied smirk. Nothing p Gethernel screamed, and a thunderous boom sounded through the hall as a wave of concussive force sent Hunter flying away from him to slam into the ceiling with a flash of blue light. Ashtoreth was flattened against the floor of the hall, her vision blackening. She reached out for her sword, pushing herself away from it in case Gethernel had a follow-up attack, sliding herself further into the hallway toward where she knew Hunter would fall. She threw herself to her feet as her vision returned, seeing Gethernel first as an orange blur moving back and forth across her field of vision. Her eyes cleared as she dug a claw into the floor of the hall to pull her sword into her other hand. Gethernel was still shrieking, an unnatural sound made of many voices layered over one another. His wings twitched as he reeled through the hallway, senses seemingly addled. Orange blood oozed from the wound at his chest as he backed into a wall and thrashed against it. Her sword reached her, pushing her back across the floor as she gripped it with both hands. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hunters prone form. She drew the skygorger heart in her locket into her hand and consumed it, filling her [Bloodfire]. Then she saw Frost appear in the doorway, raising his shotgun. She launched her sword at Gethernel with her [Mighty Strike], sending herself slamming backward into the wall so hard that she lost vision as her head cracked against the stone, the impact crushing the small bones in her wings and breaking several ribs. But as her vision cleared, she saw something beautiful: Gethernel pinned to the stone by her massive sword, cracks radiating through the wall around him as he struggled against the sword, beating his wings uselessly. Frost stood right in front of him. The paladin lowered his gun to the devils face and said something that Ashtoreth couldnt hear. Blue light filled the hallway as Frost began to fire and Gethernels glowing skull was hammered back into the wall again and again, becoming more and more of a formless lump every time each time it rebounded and absorbed another shot, the gun taking chunks out of it until finally Frost was empty. The orange glow faded from Gethernels body. The devils head was nothing but a smoking crescent pressed deep into the stone behind it. Frost loaded a second drum into his shotgun as he rushed over to where Hunter lay on the ground. Ashtoreth joined him. I put my ward on him, Frost said, his hand glowing as he waved it over Hunters head. It shouldve saved him from any hit that was too harmful. Was that the flash of light? Ashtoreth said. There was a blue flare when he hit the roof. Thats it, Frost said. I dont put it on you because I only get one, and Hunter has to be in melee. And so you use it on him instead of yourself? She smiled. Sir Frost, thats so chivalrous. Uh sure. Hunters eyes fluttered open. The boss? he asked. We got him, Ashtoreth said. Pinned him to the wall and pumped a whole lot of shells into him. Really, though, he was sort of going crazy after you stabbed him through the heart. Mm, Hunter said, a look of satisfaction coming over his bloodied face. Your strike would have done the job, said Frost. I just wanted to get in the loot. Mm, Hunter said, finally sitting up. Loot? Where is it? Hold up, said Frost. Stay there a second, let me check you out. I know weve got all these stats and Ive got healing magic, but I want to be sure you dont have a concussion. All right. While Frost made sure that Hunter was all right, Ashtoreth tore her sword out of the wall. It took a great, heaving effort, and when she was finished Gethernels corpse sagged away from where the remnants of his head had been pressed back into the stone. She reached out with her [Consume Heart] ability, only to find that both she and Hunter had done substantial damage to the organ in question. She tore out a thick wad of muscleone piece of the heart. Hmm, she said, frowning down at it. Is this thing even going to be edible? She tore out the other piecesfour in alland then tried to arrange them together in her palms to get a more-or-less assembled formation. Then she ate the heart with a squish, energy flooding through her body: {You gain [Devoured Flesh] buff: +51 DEX | +71 STR | +68 VIT | +35 MAG | +24 PSY | +110 DEF} {You gain [Connoisseur] buff: +34 Death Resistance | +34 Fire Resistance | +34 Shadow Resistance | +34 Profane Resistance | +22 Frost Resistance | +22 Lightning Resistance | +22 Physical Resistance | +22 Poison Resistance} Wow! Ashtoreth said. I think my [Devour Flesh] buff just went off the stats he had after eating everybody! She checked her current bonuses from [Devoured Flesh] and found that only [Psyche], which the huntsmans heart had increased by 48, hadnt been updated by this newer, stronger buff. And the better resistances would certainly be helpful in making it so that the next boss didnt one-shot her. Enjoying yourself, Your Highness? Kylie said as she appeared in the doorway. Uh-huh! Okay, Frost said, standing nearby. Ive got the boss core. I think we should give it to Ashtoreth and then split the rest to catch up. If anyone is pulling ahead here, it should be herwe want her flying, remember? Ive got no objections, said Hunter. Here, said Frost. Lets trade. They clasped hands, and Ashtoreth gave him the many devil cores shed harvested during the fight. {You gain [Archdevil Gethernel Core]; Tier 1 Boss} {You absorb [Archdevil Gethernel Core]; Tier 1 Boss} {Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You level up four times! You are now level 20.} {You gain 44 DEX, 44 STR, 60 VIT, 52 MAG, 28 PSY, 28 DEF} {Reaching level 18 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} Cha-ching! Ashtoreth said. Level 20! 48: [Devoured Flesh] for Everybody! Ill take [Vampiric Archfiend], please, she told the system. Shed replaced an option last time she leveled, and so was eager to see which two options there would be this time around. {Advance [Vampiric Archfiend]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. This upgrade will count as a [Blood] advancement. Upgrade [Aura] with [Aura: Devoured Flesh]: Add 6m to the radius of your [Aura]. Allies in your aura gain a bonus to their stats equal to half the bonus currently provided by your [Devoured Flesh] buff. Upgrade [Command Infernal] with [Command Undead]: [Command Infernal] will become [Command Profane], which can briefly dominate fiends, demons, devils, and undead. Well hello, said Ashtoreth. Dont mind if I do. Ill take [Aura: Devoured Flesh], please! She chose to retain the [Command Undead] upgrade, too. {You upgraded your [Aura] ability with [Aura: Devoured Flesh]} {Reaching level 20 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Vampiric Archfiend].} Thanks! she said. Then she looked over to where Hunter, Frost, and Kylie were distributing cores and levelling themselves. You guys, my aura should give you stats now! Check it out! 55 [Defense]? Frost asked incredulously. This is stronger than all my buffs. Yeah, I dont think its meant to be used with juiced-up boss hearts, Ashtoreth said. And Kylie, just think it wont give its full bonus to minions, but I can still buff your skeletons en masse! Sure, Kylie said. Great. Say, Ashtoreth, is it? Uh-huh? Will you do me a favor? Ashtoreths smiled broadened. Sure, Kylie! Stop smiling. Ashtoreth laughed. Nope! Yeah, Kylie said tiredly, looking away. Kind of thought so. On to more progression! Ashtoreth declared. [Armament], please! {Advance [Armament]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Energy Drain]: Luftschloss now affects enemies with a milder form of your [Energy Drain] attack. Some abilities, like your [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike], will heighten the intensity of the [Energy Drain]. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Extra Capacity]: You can load a second round into Rammstein. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition]: You halve the time it takes to conjure a round for Rammstein. It was another no-brainer. Capacity, please! she said, retaining both other options once more. {You upgraded your [Conjure Rammstein] ability with [Rammstein: Extra Capacity]} Soon, Ashtoreth thought. Or rather, hoped. There was a certain amount of randomness in hoping for the upgrade that would let her conjure her cannon with it already loaded. There were plenty of other upgrades that could appear in its stead: ammunition types, hybrid upgrades, general [Conjure Armament] upgrades, and of course upgrades for Luftschloss. It was the downside to taking a second weapon, one that was only partially mitigated by the fact that new armaments came with a free upgrade. Shed be spreading her upgrades across her separate weapons whether she liked it or not. But the reward for it all was that shed be able to Rammstein out mid-battle and unload two or more rounds into someone. She might even take a [Drain] advancement next chance she gotgrabbing the [Luftschloss: Energy Drain] upgrade there would remove it from the upgrade pool in [Armament] and give her more chances at the upgrade she needed. While the others leveled, she looked at the chasm. She wondered if the tunnels carved into the rock around her led anywhere new. They were of an architecture she didnt quite recognizediabolic, pre-upheaval, runes along the archways over the openings. Have to ask Dazel. she said. She tried to harvest some hearts, but whatever Gethernel had done to empower himself, it had stripped the magic that powered her [Consume Heart] ability. She couldnt even consume the hearts of the devils that shed killed herselfwhich meant that Kylie wouldnt be raising any more minions, either. She looked over at Gethernels corpse, opened her mouth to say something, then realized that the back of his skull had finally fallen away from where it had been pressed into the crushed stone wall and tumbled away. She looked around, then found it after searching the ground for another momenta charred, crescent-shaped lump. Sort of rude, if you ask me, she told it. She saw Hunter approaching a moment later. Oh hey, she said. Say: remember when I said that youd be good against bosses? Uh, yeah, he said, looking away. Well when Im right, Im right, she said, flashing him a smile. And I was definitely right. Anyway, you need [Mana]? Uh, no, he said. I just wanted to say I was sorry. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. She frowned. Sorry? For what? I should have been faster, he said. I could have taken off his head. Nah, she said. You did everything right. The teleport, the stab, the meming on himit all would have been perfect! But he was just too fast. I guess, he said. Then he gripped one of the hilts of his sword. But next time, I wont hesitate. Ill be faster. Ashtoreth scoffed. Are you letting Dazel get to you? she asked. Before he could answer, she reached out and clasped his shoulder, then gave it a squeeze. Youre doing great, Hunter. Right. Now where is Dazel? she asked, looking around. I want to ask him about these tunnels. He was near Kylie, said Hunter. Oh there you are, she said, spotting him where he was half-hidden behind the hem of Kylies robe. Dazel. What are you lurking over there for? Come on. Hey boss, he said, padding his way over. Great buffs you got going, now, boss! She looked down at him, still smiling but letting an edge of displeasure touch her eyes. And that fight with the devils was just, uh, really something! His voice began to falter. You uh, youve got the moves, Your Highness. Say: that part where you killed the guy by pulling your sword through him and then flipped over him to use his body as a shield? Nicely done. She arched an eyebrow. Whatever he was after, it had apparently involved spending some time alone with the humans. Uh, yeah, he continued. In summary: good hustle! I agree, Ashtoreth said. Now: did you have fun staying with the humans for strategic coordination? You heard that, huh, boss? I just figured I was better on the ledge. Help the humans help you, you know? Theyre inexperienced, is the thing. I gave them a guiding paw by telling them what to do. Kept Hunter up there so you could deploy him when necessary, you know? Im sure you got your strategy well underway, she said darkly. Its pretty obvious you want me to do this solo, Dazel. And when I find out what you told them, maybe Ill be able to figure out why. Say, is that a row of four identical chests? Dazel asked. I know youre trying to distract me, Ashtoreth said, folding her arms. She looked over at the four metal chests in the center of the bridge and scowled. Also: yes. Thats definitely the loot. How do we know which one to open? Frost asked, coming to stand beside her. Theyre all identical. Theyre Schrodingers chests, said Dazel. The loot inside each depends on who opens them. Wouldnt that be Schrodingers loot? Hunter asked. Okay, sure, said Dazel. Schrodingers loot, then. Could you imagine if Id been allowed to mess up that analogy? Phew. Glad you caught that one in time, Hunter. Well, I guess Ill go first! Ashtoreth said, stepping forward and touching the nearest chest. It clicked and sprang open. Oh wow! she said picking out a pair of black, steel-toed boots. These are cute. {Combat Boots of Protection} Wearing these boots grants you + 24 [Defense] Im putting them on right now! Oh, good, Dazel said. The systems finally helping you stack [Defense]. She frowned. What do you mean, finally? I mean [Vitality]s your main stat and you can regenerate as fast as anything, so you should probably be mitigating as much of the harm you take as possible. Reasonable. Yeah, except up until now your number one priority with magic items has been playing dress-up. I was always going to want [Defense], eventually, Ashtoreth said with a tone of reproach. The system chose my second item. And it takes your desires into account. My tiara probably saved us from being spotted by the dragon, so I dont think you can complain that I brought it with me. And my glamours saved me from being attacked by Kylies skeletons. Okay, okay, said Dazel. I can admit that your desire to perform aggressive mimicry of humans has paid off. But if the next boss chest gave you the choice between something that granted [Defense], and made your hellfire shed sparkles and confetti as it burned, what would it be? Ashtoreth narrowed her eyes at him. Okay, she said at last, crossing her arms. Well obviously youve made your point, but a secondary priority is still a priority. Say, Dazel said. Officer Frost got a helmet. Frost grunted as he held up what looked like a black steel helmet with a motorcyclists visor. Says its invisible and grants 24 [Strength]. He put it on, and it faded from view a moment later. Look at that, he said. Then he shrugged. Dunno why its so important that you can see my mug, but I suppose should be easier to aim this way. Ashtoreth frowned. We got the same stat bonus, but you got something extra, she said plaintively. She looked down at her boots. These dont turn invisible. Dazel flicked his tail. Sorry, Your Highness. But somewhere Tarantino is shedding a tear without knowing why. She rolled her eyes. I didnt really mean I wanted invisibility, she said. Just a little something extra. Say: what class do you think he got? Who? Tarantino, she said. Then she shook her head. Nevermind, it doesnt matter. What matters is that you Dazel yelped as she quickly wrapped her tail around his chest and pulled him up into her arms. Have got to start being useful. Understand? Come on, Ive been helping out! he protested. Not just strategically, but with moral support, too! Ashtoreth looked around. Frost was speaking with Kylie, and Hunter was seemingly examining the contents of his chest, which he hadnt removed. They werent paying attention to her. Im curious about why you of all demons were sent to me, she said. But my curiosity has a upper limit, Dazel. And youre approaching it fast. Look, Boss Shush. As far as I can tell you want me to succeed, at least for a little while, but you want me separated from the humans because Ill have a better chance that way. I want what you want, boss! Whatever that isyou havent told me. I have. Sure, sure, Im a good person and I want to help humanity. Its the sort of lie that makes me think that when you were growing up, the Citadel servants just pretended you could trick them whenever you tried rather than deal with your wrath. Its not a lie. Listen, bossif you werent dragging them along behind you, youd never have been vulnerable during that ambush. Shush, she said again. Dazel, if you want to be so openly duplicitous, then youve got to be useful enough to compensate. Starting with these tunnelsis this just a big fort, or a transportation network? Look, boss. Dazel. Fine, he said, flaring his wings. Its a roadway. He pointed toward an entrance below them with the barb of his tail. If you want to go toward the castle in the middle of the lake, you want that door over there. Will the farming be better underground than in the forest? Probably. Great! Ashtoreth said. Well see if the others dont mind fighting our way underground. She moved to join the rest of the group. Good news, everyoneDazel says one of these tunnels is probably a shortcut! You want to go underground? Frost asked dubiously. Well move faster along carved passages than through the forest, said Ashtoreth. And were more likely to meet enemies on the road. She suddenly noticed that Kylie now had a frayed noose hanging around her neck. Hey, she said. Nice threads, Kylie. Are you saying you want me to hang myself? What? No. It wouldnt work anyway, Kylie said, turning toward the entrance. I dont breathe. What about you, Hunter? Ashtoreth asked, turning to see that he was holding a small bundle which he hadnt changed into, yet. Whatd you get? I got, uh He blanched. Cmon! Tell us! He looked down. I got a studded belt, he said at last. And pants. I got pants. No shirt? Kylie asked. Seriously? Hunter didnt answer her. His face was bleak, and he sounded as if he were reporting on the death of a loved one as he said: The pants have a lot of buckles. 49: Hundreds of Giant, Carnivorous Insects? Count Me IN! We need to kill another boss, asap, Dazel said. For Hunters sake. So I can maybe get a shadowflame resistant shirt? he asked. No? What? No, Dazel said. So you complete your gear set with a fishnet top and three pounds of hair products. These pants boost my [Dexterity], Hunter said stiffly. And the magic doesnt work if they dont without all the extra straps. I think they look great, Ashtoreth said, smiling down at Hunters tight black pants, which were covered in decorative studded straps and buckles. Uh, thanks, Hunter said, looking over at her. She saw a hint of suspicion in his eyesdid he think she was just trolling him? They were moving through the stone hallways that ran beneath the forest. Red witchlight had been imbued into the worn, cracked walls around them, painting the world in a single shade. Okay, Dazel. I want you to scout. What? He asked. Come on. Youre not getting by just knowing facts about tunnels, mister, she told him. Youre a companion and you know how to scout. Ive gotten plenty of levels: your stats should make you fast. Hold on, boss, Dazel said, leaping down off her back. Ill scout ahead if you want, but I must object to being called a companion. But you are a companion, Ashtoreth said. Thats what it says on the ability. And thats pretty offensive, if you ask me, he said. I mean, companions are willing. Summon a guy, sure. Make him do grueling, dangerous, demeaning labor for too little pay, surethats Hell for you. You are willing, she said. I told you I could send you home anytime. Im only willing because its best option out of all my terrible list of options, he said. And because I couldnt bear to let you all suffer my absence. Gee, said Hunter. Thanks. But am I living my best life here? Dazel said. No I most certainly am not. Asking me to go along with my servitude by pretending that I like it or want to be here, well thats just a kind of sadistic cruelty that we should be leaving to the humans with those wretched little cubicles, if you ask me. In Hell, the servants know theyre servants. You know, Dazel, you can be really melodramatic, Ashtoreth said. Yes, O my master. Melodramatic, O my master. Go scout. I know youve been gaining stats when I levelyou should be fast and quiet. And if you die, I can just summon you again. Scout, O my master. he said, speeding away into the tunnel ahead of them like a shadow that had been launched from a slingshot. Faster! she called after him. Were about to pick up the pace! She turned to the humans. I think we should at least jog, she said. It increases our susceptibility to an ambush, but with Dazel running ahead, we should be all right. Ill take the lead. Jog for how long? Kylie asked. Im not exactly drowning in [Strength] and [Dexterity] over here, said Kylie. And neither are my skeletons. Ashtoreth glanced behind them, at where over a dozen skeletons marched behind their master. Oh. Right. No jogging, then. She shrugged. Its worth the wait, though! You and your skeletons are going to make assaulting that citadel way, way easier. Im glad I can be of service, Princess. Ashtoreth. I wish you were telling the truth, she said. And I prefer either Ashtoreth or Your Highness. Thanks! Kylie only glowered at her. Look, said Frost. Lets not be at each others throats. Weve got an endless supply of real enemies. Right you are, Sir Frost! Ashtoreth said. She thought a moment, then added: Unfortunately. She thought about asking what Dazel had said to them while she was fighting in the ravine. Would it make her seem less trustworthy if she tried to anticipate what hed said? Or should she wait for them to bring something up to explain it, and continue to act oblivious in the meantime? She decided that the best course of action wast to try to get one of them to bring it up. She just needed to figure out what to say to get the humans talking about what Dazel had said without seeming like she was conniving enough to anticipate Dazels manipulations. Hunter spoke before she could make a decision. Dazel moved fast, he said suddenly. When the others turn to look at him, he looked away. I mean, I was just thinking. These stats we haveI wonder how fast I could run, compared to an olympic sprinter. I know what you mean, said Frost, rolling his shoulders. This morning, Ashtoreth kicked the door off of my police cruiser and I couldnt believe my eyes. Now I bet I could do the same thing. My whole body feels lighter and faster. I can see everything happening faster, too, said Hunter. I think my [Dexterity] is giving me a finer sense of perceptionto dodge and counter attacks. It is! Ashtoreth said. Ive never felt power like this before, said Hunter, his voice becoming a little more gruff as he rested both hands on the hilts of his swords. But somehow it feels right. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Frost spared him a questioning glance. This is like a bad dream, he said. Its all just so unreal. I feel like I need to stay focused on whats right in front of us to avoid losing my mind. Its the end of the world, one way or the other, Kylie said. If you ask me, its kind of funny that the crazy jesus freaks handing out pamphlets about the second coming were apparently more right than anyone else. Kylies got it! Ashtoreth said. You humans have got apocalypse myths all over the placethis cant be totally unexpected. Just think of it like the Rapture! Except christians are wrong. ...Its not really like the Rapture if thats the case, said Frost. Ashtoreth shrugged. Just trying to throw your local mythology a bone, but all right. See it however you like. Gods not real, Kylie said. And welcome to Hell. You forgot here are your video game powers said Frost. Kylie grunted. Oh, come on, said Ashtoreth. That should be the most believable thing about all of this. The video game menus? said Frost. Sure, said Ashtoreth. I mean, have you seen humanitys explanations for reality? When the atoms were all interacting fields that were made up of a cluster of blue and red balls surrounded by tinier balls that orbit the middle balls like theyre a genie, that made sense. ...a genie? Frost asked. And Einstein made a cool bomb! But I think that was the end of the road. It wasnt really Einstein, said Hunter. Ashtoreth shrugged. Okay, but have you seen quantum mechanics? Youre gonna tell me that a video game menu makes less sense than humanitys clown bag of different quanta that do different things depending on where you look? I think when you got the charm quarks that are so called because they carry the quantum number charm, which gives them their flavor, someoneand Im not trying to be judgemental herebut someone should have figured out that the system had run out of idea and was just messing around with you. Look, said Frost. I wont pretend to understand quantum physics, but Im sure its not actually that silly. Well I didnt get it, so its probably fake. Dazel appeared a moment later, moving with alarming speed. His stats, combined with his racial flight, meant that he could leap the last thirty meters toward Ashtoreth. Hey Dazel, she said, catching him out of the air and pulling him toward her chest. Find something? He panted. Bugs, he said. Why bugs? He pressed his head into her chest. So many bugs, boss. And not the little ones like you fought earlier. Those were eight feet tall, Frost said. Bugs? Kylie asked. It seemed impossible to Ashtoreth, she sounded even less enthused than she had about anything else. Ashtoreth dismissed her sword, converting it to hellfire that she gathered to help form her cannon. Any reason we cant charge in? Theres hundreds of them? Dazel said. Do they have an attack vector other than this tunnel? Ashtoreth asked. Dazel looked up. Blinked. Oh, he said. Uh no, actually. Are they chasing you? Just a couple. Lets go, everybody! Ashtoreth said. We can intercept them before the main group sees us coming! She took off down the hallway and heard the footfalls of her allies follow behind her. Theyre in a big chamber up ahead, said Dazel. The main road for this complexthough theyve repurposed it into a hive. I didnt know you didnt like bugs, she told him. Who does? Dazel asked. Dislikes giant insects is not a defining character trait, boss. She ran full-tilt, pulling away from them as she conjured a round for Rammstein, only to stop and let them catch up as she loaded it into the cannon. I think we lost Kylie, said Hunter. Shell catch up, said Ashtoreth. I want you two to deal with any bugs that reach us first so I can save my resources for the hive. She began to run down the tunnel again. If I fill the tunnel with fire, itll cover our retreat if things go badly! Very soon she saw four dark shapes moving quickly toward her in the distance, each of them with a red orb hovering above it as it moved. She squinted and made them out as massive insects, all easily eight feet tall without counting the two-pronged horn that protruded from their head. She identified one: {Vivinsect Level 16} Say! she said appreciatively. Those are bigger. No sooner had she finished speaking than she saw a distant shadow shifting further down the tunnel. It was a beetle so large that it barely fit into the hallway with them, one with many prongs on its horns like a stag and multiple glowing orbs floating above them. She identified it too: {Vivinsect Hive Guardian Level 20 Elite} Dang, she said, pulling up short and laying her gun onto its bipod. Was hoping to get ahead of youyou guys keep them off me while I get the big one! Got it, said Frost. As Ashtoreth lay out on the ground before her cannon and looked through the sights, Frost moved past her with his shotgun raised, sticking to one side of the hall. She saw a flash of blue-white light and heard the resounding crack of his weapon, but her focus was on the shining carapace of the more distant guardian beetle coming toward them, on the constellation of red glints below its magic orbs, the reflection of its power in its own eyes. She squeezed the trigger, and the sound of thunder accompanied a blast of air that tossed her hair and swept the dust from the stone floor around her weapon. In the distance, the guardian beetle lurched, then burst into growing plume of violet fire that rushed down the hall toward them. {You gain [Vivinsect Hive Guardian Core]; Tier 1} She hefted her cannon and began to conjure another round as she ran toward the flames shed made, ignoring where Frost and Hunter dispatched the smaller giant insects. Her burned across the floor, walls, and ceiling of the stone hall as if theyd been painted there: the beetles power meant that theyd burn for some time. She bounded through it, then fell to her knees to quickly stop herself from falling out over an edge as the tunnel suddenly ended in a chasm. She saw red lights and dark shadows moving beyond, and so she absorbed the hellfire nearby, her eyes adjusting quickly to see into the darkness below. Before her was a cavernous chamber where many halls, including the one they were travelling down, joined a larger, high-ceilinged hall that led off into the distance. Instead of being lit by the glowing red witchlight that lined the stone halls, however, the darkness was lit by the magic orbs of the vivinsects. True to Dazels word, there were hundreds of them moving about like angry little eyes in the dark. By their light she could see that the stone of the great hall had been eaten away in places and fused with a massive mound of a biological substance that was covered in clusters of holes. The moment her flames darkened, insects began to turn and move toward her by the dozens. Many of them were guardians, and the nearest of these launched a volley of red magical bolts in her direction. But it was too late. Ashtoreth was lowering her cannon almost as soon as she saw it, ready to take her shot. And its allies were positively swarming around it. 50: ‘Raging Inferno’ is my Favored Terrain Type The guardian was below her at a distance of fewer than twenty meters: she lowered her cannon to aim down toward it and took the shot almost as soon as she saw it. The air around her shook with the sound of her cannon as fire bloomed from its muzzle. {You gain 1 [Vivinsect Hive Guardian Core]; Tier 1} She let herself fall back onto the stone below her as she fired the weapon, and she saw the energy of the guardians spells disperse harmlessly across the ceiling of the hallway above her. Then her vision filled with purple light as she ignited the guardians corpse with her [Hellfire Consumption]. She finished conjuring the round for Rammstein, righted herself, and loaded the round into the cannon. She stepped forward to the ledge. The flames had engulfed a large section of the chamber below, spreading up the wall of the great hall until they almost reached where she stood. There were several insects scurrying to be free of them, and another guardian that had charged forward was now only a dozen meters from where shed killed the first. Again, the guardian launched its spells at her. Again, she lowered the weapon and fired as soon as she saw it. {You gain 1 [Vivinsect Hive Guardian Core]; Tier 1} This time its magic struck her just as she fired, though, and pain surged through her body as its disintegration spell tore the skin from her arms, then the flesh from her fingerbones. She fell to her knees, regenerating, then tossed the cannon down onto a few of the vivinsects that were crawling up the flaming wall below her. The cannon fell, and she dismissed it when it reached them, engulfing them in more flames. One of them died and she ignited it immediately, killing the other two with the ensuing burst of hellfire and then igniting their bodies, too. Then she fell flat to take cover from the longer-ranged spells of the guardians and reached out into the cavern below her to ignite more of the vivinsect corpses: she found dozens of them near the first two guardians shed killed. A furnace wind rose and filled the hallway, and Ashtoreth grinned as her sight was completely obscured by hellfire. The underground chamber was an oven: the heat from her flames was contained by the stone, unable to simply rise into the air and disperse endlessly. Another one of the guardians died, and its corpse also become a plume of hellfire, as did the vivinsects that had surrounded it. She killed them all. Her fire spread through the cavernous hall with ease: only a handful of guardians would have generated the heat necessary to cook the whole chamber. Once it was clear she had enough, she left the remaining corpses to crumble to ash. Her system messages kept counting up, until finally they stopped: {You gain 285 [Vivinsect Core]; Tier 1} {You gain 8 [Vivinsect Hive Guardian Core]; Tier 1} The world glowed like a sun. She heard the movement of something massive, felt the ground shake as it emerged in the room ahead, heard shrieks accompany the roar of the flames as she backed up to stand where Frost and Hunter had stopped behind her to stare into the blaze. She levelled her sword, ready to lash out with a [Mighty Strike].... {You gain [Vivinsect Hive Queen Core]; Tier 1 Boss} Ashtoreth cackled. I got the boss, she told them. Hell, Ashtoreth, Frost said, his eyes filled with the gleam of the flames. She grinned and gave a little curtsey. Just so, Sir Frost! I cant even see, said Hunter, shielding his eyes with one hand. The air tastes strange, said Frost. Are we inhaling their ashes? Hunter asked. Dont worry! Ashtoreth assured them. Your healing abilities mean that your lungs will regenerate any damage caused by fine particles, so for now you can just enjoy the flavor! She looked into the burning violet light and sighed with appreciation. And the sight. This is insane, said Frost. I can feel that its hundreds of degrees right now! If I took off my shoe and threw it, it would vaporize. Here! Ashtoreth. She began to pour even more hellfire into the air around her to spend [Bloodfire], then absorbed the hellfire in the environment to restore it, slowly clearing an area around them on account of her inefficiency in re-absorption. Will Kylie be all right? said Hunter. The hall is cooking. Your aura will still protect her, right? The heat will put her in my aura, Ashoreth said. Doesnt matter that its a hot wind, itll still work. All right, said Frost. That was a lot of creatures. I have almost 300 cores, said Ashtoreth. Listen, Ashtoreth said Frost. I appreciate that you like to share and that weve all been levelling together, but I think we should do what we can to get you in the air. What do you think, Hunter? Do we need to kill the dragon before she can fly around and find survivors? he asked. And is it better if we spread the cores for killing the dragon, or focus them on Ashtoreth? Ashtoreth frowned in thought. I can fly along the outskirts, she said. But its probably best to kill the dragon first before I go searching. We can do it, though, I thinkyou and I will need more levels, but not Kylie or Frost. Ill do most of the fighting, but Ill want you to strike fast and retreat at some pointwhich means more levels and upgrades that will help you get in and out quickly. Sounds good, said Hunter. Youre sure? said Frost. About killing the dragon, I mean. Theres no reason to think its only circling the lake, she said. Or that if something on the ground spots me flying, which is very likely, they wont be able to call it somehow. And since we can engage it a lot more favorably if we have setup time yes. I think we should kill the dragon. Will that end the tutorial? Frost asked. Level 50 means that its probably the last boss, said Ashtoreth. So I think so, yes. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. But not really, said Dazel. Ashtoreth turned to see him walking out of the thinning hellfire that led along the way theyd come, Kylie in tow. Everyone will still have to get to an exit point, and thatll almost certainly be in the castle, which might contain the actual last boss. All right then, said Frost. We need to kill that dragon. I guess I thought it wouldnt be so soonyoure level 20. Are you sure youll be strong enough? With the right support and setup? Ashtoreth asked. Sure. We just have to able to pierce its [Defense]. Plus, we just got 300 cores. Is that why you needed to set literally everything on fire? Kylie asked. You never need a reason to make the world a better place! Ashtoreth said. Anyway, Kylie: youll probably be useful against the dragon to apply [Energy Drain], but not for much else. Hunter has a lot of [Defense] penetration, and I actually know how to fight. She paused, then added: Uhno offense, everybody. Uh-huh, Kylie said. I was thinking he and I should split these cores and pay you both back later. Im still a higher level than you, said Kylie. Youd want to catch up anyway. She shrugged, looking away. Go for it. Great! said Ashtoreth. Ill eat the boss core, then boost Hunter to match me, then well split the rest! What was the boss? said Hunter. Well, first it was very loud, and in pain. Now I imagine its mostly ashes. But it was called a vivinsect hive queen, if that helpsI never got to see it. I stand by what I said earlier about your class being bullshit, Ashtoreth, Hunter said. Ashtoreth, are you sure this place is stable? Frost asked. Or should we move? Now that the flames are dying down, the stone on the walls down there looks like its glowing. Its Hell, said Dazel. Theyre built for that, trust me. If you say so. All right, said Ashtoreth. Levels first, then well talk strategy. Hunter, take all these cores and use them to match whatever I get from this boss core. Right, he said, his eyes widening as she gave him the hundreds of cores. Youll also have loot from the boss, he said. Say, youre right! said Ashtoreth, grinning at the thought. Okay. {You absorb: [Vivinsect Queen Core] {Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You level up 4 times! You are now level 24.} {You gain 44 DEX, 44 STR, 60 VIT, 52 MAG, 28 PSY, 28 DEF} {Reaching level 22 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} Ding! she said. Level 24, Hunter! And Ill take [Drain], please! Dazel slinked over to her. [Drain]? he asked. Im looking for a certain upgrade in my [Armament] advancements, she explained. And Ive been dragging along an [Energy Drain] option for my sword. Im going to take it out of [Drain] to clear room when I roll new options for [Armament]. Oh. That makes sense. She looked at her system text: {Advance [Drain]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. Upgrade [Devour Flesh] with [Satiated]: Buffs from [Devour Flesh] last 18 hours, not 12, and no longer fade in intensity before they expire. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Energy Drain]: Luftschloss now affects enemies with a milder form of your [Energy Drain] attack. Some abilities, like your [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike], will heighten the intensity of the [Energy Drain]. Ill take the weapon talent, please and thank you! Ashtoreth said. {You upgrade your [Conjure Luftschloss] ability with [Luftschloss: Energy Drain]} {Reaching level 24 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Drain].} [Armament], please! {Advance [Armament]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition]: You halve the time it takes to conjure a round for Rammstein. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Spellblade] Luftschloss now counts as a moderately potent spell focus while you wield it. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Extra Capacity II] You can load a second round into Rammstein. Dang, she said. Its not here. She sighed. At least I can cycle the useless spellblade skill. It wasnt exactly useless, but all it would really do was extend the range of her hellfire and increase her control over it. Worse, it would open up a whole new set of options to be offered during advancement. Extra capacity, please! she said. {You upgrade your [Conjure Rammstein] ability with [Rammstein: Extra Capacity II]} Well at least when I do get all the skills to make it useful, my cannon will be at three shots already, she said. Sorry, what? said Frost. I think the cannon is already useful, Ashtoreth. Yeah, butwell, youll see. After a moment, Hunter handed her back 121 vivinsect cores and 4 guardian cores. Why are they called vivinsects, anyway? he asked. Oh, thats easy, said Ashtoreth. Its because they prefer to eat things are still alive, but they only like the inside parts. So its like a combination of vivisection and insectget it? Thanks, Kylie said. I hate it. Reasonable! said Ashtoreth. She absorbed all her cores: {Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You level up 4 times! You are now level 28.} {You gain 44 DEX, 44 STR, 60 VIT, 52 MAG, 28 PSY, 28 DEF} {Reaching level 26 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} Hello! she said. Gosh, maybe we should poke around and see if we can find another insect hive! Level 28, you guys! The important question is, have you got liftoff yet? Okay, she said, rolling her shoulders. She strained her racial flight ability to push directly upward on her center of gravity. Come on. she said. She flapped her wings and her feet lifted off the ground. Hunter and Frost both made appreciative noises. Hey, said Dazel. No cheating. Using her wings to fly is cheating? Hunter asked. Come on, Ashtoreth said, flapping her wings to rise in the air. You know the rules, boss, said Dazel. You wont qualify for [Powered Flight] until you can apply enough force to counter normal gravity. Its got to be at level 30. She sighed. If Im lucky enough to get it, you mean. It always appears, he said. Its like your second and third [Conjure Armament] abilities. Once you meet the requirements, you always get it if you have a free slot. It does? she asked, hearing her own voice brighten. Yes, he said. Level 30 it is. Well then, she said. Onward to level 30! Once I finish picking stuff. And get my loot. 51: If We’re Going to Kill a Dragon, Then I Guess I’ve Got to Change Into the Right Outfit [Hellfire], please! Not your racial? Dazel asked. I know what two of my racial advancements are, she said. And I dont need either right now. Id be getting offered one new thing. {Advance [Hellfire]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Efficiency I]: The cost of conjuring hellfire is reduced by 20%. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Penetration] Your hellfire now ignores an amount of your enemys highest resistance against it equal to twice your level. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Vampiric Flames] Your hellfire now applies your [Energy Drain] when it causes enough harm to an eligible target. [Bloodfire] that would be restored to you via this [Energy Drain] is instead used to fuel the flames. Ooh, Ashtoreth said. If she lit someone on fire with [Vampiric Flames], would the flames potentially grow so strong on a weak enough target that they would consume them entirely? Perhaps. What was definitely the case was that her chain reaction explosions caused by [Hellfire Consumption] would be hot enough to apply the drain to many creatures at once, and thus be made even stronger. She considered the cavernous chamber below her. It was blanketed in ashes that had settled over the hot stone. Did she need bigger explosions? Ill take [Vampiric Flames], please! she said after a nanoseconds thought. {You upgrade your [Hellfire] ability with [Vampiric Flames]} {Reaching level 28 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Hellfire].} [Armament], please! {Advance [Armament]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition]: You halve the time it takes to conjure a round for Rammstein. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Reserve Ammunition] If you dismiss Rammstein while it is loaded, it will still be loaded the next time you conjure it. Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Hellfire Round] You can expend an extra round when you fire Rammstein to fire a hellfire round, which bursts into an explosion of hellfire on impact. And there it was. Up-grade! Ashtoreth said in a singsong voice. She chose to replace [Rammstein: Hellfire Round]. Her gun wasnt meant to an area-of-effect ability, and if she really needed it to function that way, she could just burst an enemy with [Hellfire Consumption]. Or two enemies, given the abilitys cost in rounds. Ill take the reserve, thank you very much! {You upgrade your [Conjure Rammstein] ability with [Rammstein: Reserve Ammunition]} Hunter still wasnt finished looking over his options, so she converted her sword to hellfire, then formed her cannon again, then began the process of loading 3 rounds into it. Can you figure out where were going, Dazel? she asked. Which of those other tunnels will take us to the castle? That one, he said, pointing with his tail. She frowned. You didnt even look at the stonework. The tunnels all go straight until they hit a big chamber like this one, he said. Weve just got to pick the right direction, which is that way. Youre sure? Of course Im sure, he said. I dont want to get lost down here. All right, she said. Anyone see the boss chest? They found it near the center of the mound in the bigger chamber, faintly covered in ashes that had been blown about the moving air. She popped it open and found a very tiny box insideone that contained a glittering black ring. {Ashtoreths Adamantium Band} + 54 [Defense] Hello! she said, sliding it onto her left ring finger and holding it up to examine it. It was a perfectly circular band with a matte finish. Flecks of what might have been diamond dust shone and flashed as they caught the light. More [Defense]! Dazel leapt up onto her back. So all in all, the system has given you three pieces of jewelry, a nice handbag, and some combat boots? It must work with the recipients sense of style, Ashtoreth said. It sure understands mine pretty well! I got pants with decorative buckles. Hunter said. I figured thats because you feel good when you wear them! she said. Dont you? Hunter didnt answer. I got a noose, Kylie said flatly. And you know, Kylie? Its a different sort of style, but youre pulling it off. Kylie glowered at her. Speaking of, Ashtoreth said. Ive been thinking of changing. After allwe are going to kill a dragon. She formed her claws and wove her hand through the air, weaving a new glamour to attach to her enchanted clothing, one that looked like a polished set of black plate armor trimmed with purple. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Lookin good, right? she asked. I just dont know what to draw on the front. Maybe a lion? Lions have prides. And theyre used a lot in heraldry already. She formed a rearing lion out of gold embroidery on her tabard. But then I thought: maybe I should honor my lineage and do a goat? I mean, did you guys know that people sometimes say goat to mean greatest of all time? I could go with that, but it doesnt really convey pride, you know? Ill probably regret asking, Kylie began. But why does it need to convey pride, again? Because Im an archfiend of pride, Ashtoreth explained. And pride is the number one sin. You know what they say: if youve got it, you flaunt it. So youre just the living embodiment of arrogance, then? I suppose that makes enough sense. Ashtoreth laughed. Actually, she began. Arrogance is an alloy formed of hindsight, self-esteem, and failurefailure most of all. So you see, Im missing the most crucial ingredient. You cant be arrogant if you never fail. Kylie looked toward Frost and Hunter. Have you two noticed that shes like this? Im just wondering why youre still here. Well, Ashtoreth has been nothing but helpful since she met me, said Frost. I know shes eccentric, but that wouldnt be a good enough reason to abandon her even if she wasnt critical to our survival. Thanks, Sir Frost! Ashtoreth said. Say: what about a unicorn? I mean, they dont really scream pride, but theyre noble and magical and have a horn to gore people with. Thats pretty cool. And in some realms theyre the natural enemies of dragonsunicorns are usually spellcasters, see. We could ask Hunter, said Dazel. Ask me what? Are any of the unicorns named Pride? He frowned. What unicorns? There are no unicorns on Earth. O-kay, Frost said loudly. Lets maybe skip Dazel going after Hunter for the tenth time. What? said Dazel. Thats the best part of this whole day so far. Youve got to learn to enjoy the little things, Officer Frost. What about the sun? Ashtoreth asked. Thats number one in most pantheons, right? I could have a big sun on my chest. It at least opens up some potential Dark Souls references. Frost let out a long sigh and brought a hand up to rub his temples. Oh, God help me. Its just a bunch of teenagers. Uh, woah there, excuse me, said Dazel. I am an ancient, uh. he trailed off, then said: Well I dont have any accomplishments, really, but I am old. Thats nice, Dazel, said Frost. And hold on a second, Dazel said, turning to Ashtoreth. Arent you going to tell him not to swear? Hes a paladin, she said. Im not gonna tell him he cant bring the Authority of Heaven into it. Thats their job, half the time. Im a police officer, said Frost. Not a paladin. Yeah, said Dazel. He brings the Authority of Authority into it, instead. Respect it or else. Look, said Frost. If weve got some time to talk, here, then we should plan ahead, not bicker. Right you are, Sir Frost! Ashtoreth said. Whats our strategy for the dragon? You cant fly yet? Frost asked. She pulled herself off the ground with as much of her racial flight power as she could muster. Nope, she said. Then she took a few long, slow bounds that saw her fall slowly to the ground. I can moon-jump, though. See? So we still need to get you enough levels to fly with, then, said Frost. Thats step one. Am I missing something? Kylie said. Being able to generate enough force to lift yourself into the air isnt exactly going to give you the most useable flight. Youll just keep yourself from fallingthe dragons not going have much trouble catching up to you. Theres a racial skill Ill get once I can lift myself off the ground, said Ashtoreth. Itll strengthen my flight for a [Bloodfire] cost. Oh, she said. Okay. Well then, Im guessing my undead wont hold up to any sort of concerted attack against the dragon. Probably not! Ashtoreth said. Definitely not, said Dazel. So if anything, theyll just serve to draw it toward the ground, right? Kylie asked. For a little while, at least. Hunter cant fly, but he has high damage penetrationso how many of my skeletal mages do you think would bait the dragon into coming down close enough for Hunter to strike? Twenty or more, Dazel said. Just dont put them in a line, hell do a flyover. You want him to rampage through the skeletons, or at least hover over them for a bit. I can fly, so you all know, said Hunter. My [Embrace of the Shadowflame Dragon] is ready. I need only cross the twin fangs to activate it. He seemed to think for a moment, then added: Im not good at flying, though. I have no experience. Ambush it is! said Ashtoreth. Because that dragon will one-shot you, and he does know how to fly. My minions have [Energy Drain], said Kylie. Will that help, or will they just be a distraction? Oh, thatll help! Ashtoreth said, grinning. Hell have high enough resistance that the debuff will wear off quickly unless we keep applying it. And since I have [Energy Drain], that can be arranged. Theres no point in anything but ranged minions, right? said Kylie. None, said Dazel. And lets hope theres forest where we come out, said Ashtoreth. If theres not, lets hope theres one nearby. The wind is blowing in the direction of the lava lake, but its not strong. Still, my [Magic] is high enough now that my hellfire burns hot enough that I can probably set the forest ablaze. We can hide Hunter and your minions inside the flames. Magic fire competes, it doesnt combine, said Dazel. Since everyone is immune to Ashtoreths hellfire, itll act as a moderate shield against the dragonfire. Hell have to first burn away her hellfire for his dragonfires heat to roast any of you. Which hell be able to, said Ashtoreth. Just to be clear. Oh, definitely, said Dazel. Dragons dont go light on their breath attack upgrades. A full blast of his breath will wipe away your hellfire in a moment. Standing in fires not going to save any of us from the dragon, just buy us a second or so. But if he does rear up to breathe fire, will that be my opening to strike? Hunter asked. Sort of, Ashtoreth said. Sort of? Dragons are cunning, she said. The only time you can be sure theyre not baiting you is when youre sure they dont know youre even there. Thats when its safest to attack. So after the first strike I should fight unpredictably, said Hunter. All right. Where do you want me to hit him? If you can, go for the eyes or the flesh just above where the wing meets the shoulder. Now, I dont mean the part that meets the shoulder, I mean the flatter part of the back above the wing. Cut as deep as you can, then leave. And when you leave, its best to just fly straight up, or up and in the direction of his tail. Youll have to dodge either a lunge and a bite, a gout of fire, or a spell. Right, he said. Straight up. Hell be able to heal the damage you cause, said Ashtoreth. But I can really get to work on him in the meantime. If you can sever one of his wings or put out one or both eyes, I can probably end it fast. Okay, he said. Just temporarily wound it. Got you. It may be best to wait a bit before you strike, said Ashoreth. We might want to see about applying tons of [Energy Drain] before you engage. And if we can drain him to death, all the betterwe wont need to risk your life! Not sure how I feel about that, said Hunter. Not helping, I mean. Good, Frost insisted. You feel good, Hunter. As for Sir Frost, said Ashtoreth. Hes buff spells. Maybe he can open up with his shotgun to distract it if things look bad, but with the dragons [Defense] and its prior training, the shotgun wont do much more than cause it pain, which itll probably ignore. So Im mostly uselessexcept as a potential distraction if anyone else gets in trouble. Yep! she chirped. Hey boss, said Dazel. I think theres something up ahead. She squinted. At the end of the tunnel ahead of them, she saw faint red glow. That doesnt look good, she said. Go check it out and report back. Well wait here in case the tunnel is flooding with lava. Dazel sighed. Yes, boss. He darted away. Couldnt you just run up yourself? Kylie asked. Youre fast. Yeah, but I dont want to leave you all without me, she said. Its dangerous. Besides, Dazels fast and hes got good eyes. True to her expectations, Dazel returned only a minute later. You were right, he said. Its lava? No, he said. But its not good. 52: For Some Reason, People Are More Honest When They Think They’re Going to Die Youre right, Ashtoreth said, assessing the red wall of wavering energy before them. This isnt good. It was a barrier spell, one made by runes that ran along every side of the wall. It would prevent anything from passing through it, and her guess was that it had been placed here to keep them from surfacing near the bridge that led to the castle. It was also a trap. The barrier distorted the runes that were carved along the walls of the stone hallway, but she could still read themshe knew that much spellcraft, at least. They described a spell that would channel its energy outward if struck, a spell that would lash out with enough power to destroy them if they were foolish enough to try to force it. Im going to force it! Ashtoreth announced. Everyone stand back. Uh, are you sure thats a good idea boss? Dazel asked. Standard barrier, Dazel. We can disarm it delicately like a bunch of nerdsthe boring kindbut thatll take a half an hour. The first thing you gotta check with a spell like this is whether or not itll answer to a more She smiled. Percussive solution. Hold up, Dazel said, leaping down from her back. You sure that wont just break it more? he asked. I mean, you didnt read those runes for very long. Boss? She stepped back from the barrier and raised her sword. Nobody stand behind me, she said. Usually when I do this, it breaks some bones. Okay, Dazel said. Hold on a secno! Ashtoreth launched her sword at the barrier with her ordinary telekinesis, then dismissed it just before it struck. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at Dazel, who had cringed as soon as shed thrown the weapon. Dazel, she chided. If you knew what the runes meant, you shouldve said so. He raised his head, looking from the barrier to Ashtoreth. Oh. Trying to hide your skill in spellcraft from me? she asked. She jerked her head toward the symbols glowing along the seam of the barrier. These are fiendish runes, Dazel. You might be a knowledge demon, but youre not supposed to know anything about these. Now lower the barrier, if you pleaseyoull get it done faster than I will. Dazel sighed. Fine, he said, padding over to a point where the barrier met the floor. I dont get it, Frost said. Whats going on? Oh, Dazel was hoping that Id know how to disarm the barrier. And you dont? Oh I do, she said. Despite my fighting style, Ive got a classical fiendish educationI know my runes and enchantments. She grinned. I just wanted to know if he knew what they were. I see, Frost said, frowning. The barrier vanished. There you go, boss. Oh. Wow, she said, looking down at her familiar. Dazel, that was fast. Were you a prison guard or something, once? Can we just get a move on? he said. Come on, she said, heading for the stairway that they could now see further down the hallway. Too bad we didnt find another hiveI still need two levels. So hes trying to hide who he is from you? Frost asked. Uh-huh! And you dont mind. She shrugged. Ill have to figure out whether to keep him around once the tutorials done, she said. But until then theres not much he can do to interfere with us. Whatever he wants, he cant get it if Im dead. Hey Dazel, were you a prisoner? I am a lowly demon who lives in the Pit of Sorrow. Sure, whatever, she said. Maybe you did a jailbreak. Maybe youre in the Pit of Sorrows laying low. They moved up the stairwell, emerging into a little valley surrounded by steep, lightly forested hills. She couldnt see the citadel from where they stood, but the haze in the sky reflected a glow that she was sure must be the lava lake. Ashtoreth? Frost said. She looked over. He was staring at her with a peculiar expression. Yeah? she asked. You tricked Dazel, he said. Yeah! she said. She smiled. It was pretty clever how I pretended I was going to kill us all, if you ask me. He continued to stare at her. Are you hiding something from us? No, she said. Sir Frost, why would you ask that? Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. When we first met, I agreed to go with you because I figured you hadnt lied to me since I first met youeven when it made you sound insane. Yeah. Frost looked away, still frowning, then turned back to her. Whats the plan, Ashtoreth? What happens when this tutorial is done? I told you, she said. We go back to Earth and defend it with all the power we gain here. And thats the most you can tell me? Oh, she thought, realizing that Dazel must have told them something incriminating while shed been fighting Gethernels minions. But what was it? No, she said. I can talk for hours about the invasion, if you want. Hell will send its forces in progressively stronger waves as the system allows higher and higher level enemies to attack, but the first wave will still contain a lot of infernals like meones who were born to a generation raised for just this invasion. Okay, he said. What else can you tell us? Hunter said. She glared down at Dazel. He didnt want her to be with the humans because they were slowing her downhed made that much clear enough. You, she accused. What did you tell them? What? he asked, backing away. I defended you! I said you were trustworthy! Forget him, Kylie said. Tell us what you want. What will you do when you get to Earth? Fight demons, she said. The strongest fighters will be given a chance to compete for a title that will grant them the power to block much of the invasionsomething that can either stop or greatly subdue anyones ability to warp into Earth. You didnt tell us what that title is called, Kylie said. What is it? Traffic demon? Well its Monarch, actually said Ashtoreth. Oh, Kylie said acidly. What do you know? You didnt think that maybe you should mention that you want to be the Queen of Earth? It doesnt matter what its called, Ashtoreth said, flicking her tail nervously. It matters what it does! Im trying to help youIll stop almost all of the invasion, and Ill kill anyone who challenges me for the Monarch title. Even if theyre human? Kylie asked. No, of course not! Ashtoreth said. Look, I was born to compete for this title. Oh, so you deserve it, is that it? Kylie rasped. You want it, after all. Why shouldnt it be yours? No! she said. But Ive got a better shot of getting it in the opening stages of the invasion than most humans. Especially when She paused. She didnt want to tell them about her plannot yet. Soon. Especially what? Frost asked. Other humans can compete for the title of Monarch, she said. If one of them is better than me, then Ill lose it, or at least give it up. Because you wont have a choice, Kylie said. Hold on, Frost said. But what did you mean when you said especially when, Ashtoreth? Whats going to give you a better shot than all the humans? She winced. Shed slipped up, and now there was no getting out of it. Besides, shed have to tell them eventuallyand theyd consider not being told now, in this conversation, as a deception. If even she hadnt misspoken, shed have to tell them. I was going to tell you, she began. But I knew you might not like it. Oh, here it is, said Kylie. Kylie, Frost said. Youre not helping. We just gave her 8 levels, she said. And now we get to find out that shes been hiding something? Just let her explain herself, said Frost. He turned to Ashtoreth. What did you know we wouldnt like, Ashtoreth? The tutorial, she said. Its in its own separate, compartmentalized time, right? Yes, he said slowly. Okay well, heres the thing, she said. It would be nice to get back to Earth having beaten the hardest tutorial zone. Well have some of the best gear, highest levels, and most powerful abilities. But on a world of billions those advantages arent going to assure us the kind of victory that we need. Its not good enough that we win? Kylie said. Thats what youre saying? Of course thats what Im saying, said Ashtoreth. On a scale of billions, random chance will still lead to people and infernals who are stronger than we are even if we have a good lead. Go on, said Frost. I didnt tell you because I know all of this is overwhelming, she said, speaking quietly, seriously. But you see well, how do I explain? The thing is I stole something from my mother. Nearby, Dazel perked up, his tail curling in the air behind him as he peered at her. She thought of dismissing him, hiding this conversation from him but decided against it. Hed find out eventually, and hed be spending the year in here with all of them. Besides: there was really nothing he could do to interfere with her plans. I told you before that the system is an entity of order. It parcels power into discrete quantities. Theres a lot of theories as to whypreventing the power from decaying, warding off the entities of chaos but the point is, the system is an entity. It has its own architecture. Its own desires. Theres music that can make it move. Ashtoreth, Dazel said quietly. What did you take? But she was looking at the humans. What if I told you that I could keep us in this slice of frozen time for longer than a week? she said to Frost. If I could remove death by giving us the power to respawn whenever we were killed? If I could add new places, new monsters to fight and train against, but still gain loot and cores from? Ashtoreth, Dazel said, his voice rising. Tell me that you dont have what I think you do. Hell will be limited in levels, said Ashtoreth. But theres a lot of humans and wildlife on earth to farm to get more. I know you hate to hear it, but there will be breakaway infernals. Enemies all over the world that humanity struggles to deal with. And more than that, their forward demiplanes will be guarded by the next wave of invaders, the higher-level infernals. Fighting the invasion off on Earth is near-impossible, but turning the tide of war and bringing the fight to their positions its both necessary and utterly unheard of. Im not part of your demon-hunting hit squad, said Kylie. How long, Ashtoreth? Frost asked. We can return to Earth as demigods, compared to what well be fighting, she said. We can sweep away their armies before a Monarch is ever named, warp to their demiplanes and eradicate their logistics network How long, Ashtoreth? She sighed. I want to keep you all here for three hundred and sixty three days. 53: Who Better than an Archfiend to Make These Decisions for Both Humans and Humanity Both Frost and Kylie made bitter, dejected sounds. This was your plan all along? Frost asked. Uh-huh, she said quietly. And you said nothing! he said. You werent going to ask us until the very end? Come on, said Kylie. Use your head, Frost. She was never going to ask. Shes probably going to use whatever her stupid thing is whether we said yes or no. Why would she have told us this way if she didnt care what we thought? Frost said to Kylie. Why bother with the honesty when pressed at all? He turned back to Ashtoreth. Right, Ashtoreth? Ashtoreth sighed and looked away. You want me to be honest, right? Frost tilted his head, regarding her with disbelieving eyes. Ashtoreth? Thats one of the things I like most about humans, she said wistfully, staring up at the hazy red moon. When they start to trust each other, they stop having to watch their own backs and only watch each others cooperation becomes much more efficient that way. The advantages of complete trust must be extraordinary. Or so it seems. Ashtoreth, if I tell you that I dont want to spend a year in this place, that I wont be one of your soldiers. he let the sentence hang. I want you to like me, she said, looking at him apologetically. I want it so much, you have no idea. Ive dreamed of making friends with humans since I was a girl. But trust is more important. Ashtoreth, what are you saying? Frost asked. The closer that Earth comes to the inner realms, the more powerful the entities that assault you will be, she explained. Even if somehow humanity manages to fight off Hell well, that will take years of constant war. And itll change Earth and humanity forever. Then, once youre finished, assuming you win youll be easier pickings for the rest of the inner realms. She lowered her head to look Frost in the eyes. But you wont win. My people will kill most humans, then take the rest as slaves to be traded to the other realms or converted into demons in the Pits of Hell. The best possible outcome for a human will be to escape Earth and flee to one of the more peaceful inner realms but there theyll still be weak compared to the other inhabitants, and likely live lives of exploitation even if they arent made slaves, which many will be. Her voice was steely, firm. The tutorial either ends or it doesnt, Sir Frost. We either all leave, or we all stay. I cant send you home and remain myself which means youre staying. Kylie sneered, turning to Frost. Told you, she said. Im not giving you or anyone else who survives a choice, Ashtoreth said. Like Hell I am, Kylie said, raising a hand. No! Frost roared, so loudly that she started. No one is fighting one anotherare you insane? We need to talk about this. Talk about the fact that were all following a fucking demon who lies to us when she sees fit and doesnt care about our free will? said Kylie. Sure, lets talkbut what possible conclusions are there to be made, here? Shes right. It was Hunter. Frost and Kylie both stopped, then turned to him. Shes right, he repeated, looking someplace past them. Do the math. The free choice of a handful of us isnt more important than the survival of our species. The system itself told us that we were in our own separate time. How very self-sacrificing of you, Hunter, said Kylie. Condemning me to a year with you lot just so you can better live out whatever gross fantasy youre clearly enjoying right now. My mother and girlfriend are back on Earth, said Hunter. And Id cut your throat to increase their chance of survival by just one percent. He rested a hand on one sword-hilt. Oh, said Kylie, her voice dripping with sarcasm as if she was about to let loose an insult. Then she seemed to fully realize what hed said, and her eyes widened. She blanched. Relax, you two! Frost said. And Christ, Hunterdont say something like that. But its true. We need to have a calm discussion about this, said Frost. He looked from Hunter to Ashtoreth. Look, he said. Im not saying that what youre saying doesnt make sense. Im not saying that youre not right if youre telling the truth. Im saying that! Kylie said. We already know that she hides whatever its convenient to hide. What happens a year from now when we find out that time wasnt actually frozen, when we come back to a ruined Earth because Ashtoreth already knew that was the best possible outcome and decided to lie? How many other places is she lying to us to get her to play along with her real plan? This was it, said Ashtoreth. I swear. God damnit, Ashtoreth. Frost shook his head. I felt sorry for you, before, he said, hurt in his eyes. His face contorted with anger for a moment, and then even that expression faded. He just looked tired. Is this the real you? Calculating? Deceitful? The smile gone from your face as soon as youre not getting exactly what you want? This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. She winced. Im sorry, Sir Frost. I swear to youmy smiles never fake. But it is conditional, Kylie said. I dont understand you two, said Hunter. He shrugged. Shes right. It made sense not to tell us right away. If wed left her to go on our own, wed probably all be deadshes done everything she can to save as many humans as possible. If shes telling the truth about everything, said Kylie. Which is clearly unlikely. Oh, be quiet, all of youyouve had enough time to process and bicker. It was Dazel. He beat his wings, slowly rising into the air until he was on a level with Ashtoreth, then moved to hover right in front of her so that they were, for the first time, face to face. You expect me to shut up because you tell me to? Kylie asked. Wait, said Frost, peering at Dazel. Dazel spoke, and his voice was deeper, steadier, more commanding. Show it to me. Ashtoreth raised an eyebrow. Done playing around, then, Dazel? Show it to me, he said in an intense hiss. If you have what I think you have the things you could do. I know what I can do, she said. Oh, Ashtoreth, he said. You couldnt possibly know what one can accomplish with even the weakest of shards. Show it me; I want to see just how much power you stole. Maybe you give me too little credit. Ill give you more credit than Id guess most of the infernals in Hell would give, he said. I know what you are. I can see what youre capable of. Believe it or dont; it matters little to me. But if you stole what I think you did, you dont know what youre holding. Ashtoreth. She reached out with one hand and grabbed him by the neck. Freeze, she commanded. Dazel stiffened in her hand. Then, raising her other hand, she called forth the thing shed stolen from her mother when shed fled the Paradise Citadel. A small collection of glowing orange splinters appeared above her palm, glimmering like the fragments of a broken crystal. The splinters had strange, alien geometries shifting inside them. An antithesis shard. She held it out for only a moment, quickly stowing it by absorbing it again before her command wore off. Dazel blinked, pulling himself out of her grip to resume hovering in the air and staring at her. So you know what that is, Dazel? Ashtoreth asked. Is that why you and I were paired together? Do you know how much of a waste this is? he asked. The things you could be doing with that shard. You lack the proper perspective, she said. Hijacking a tutorial demi-realm is worthwhile if it saves Earth. That sharddo you have any idea what your mother wanted it for? To hurt dad, probably. That thing could reverse one of the currents of the cosmos, he said. Rewrite the rules of a whole species. Fracture time itself. Or save Earth, she said, letting a note of finality enter into her voice. No, Dazel said. No? she asked. You want something else, dont you? Slowly, Ashtoreth shook her head. It makes me sad that you dont believe me, Dazel, she said. But Ive told you the truth this whole time. I want to save them. No! He said again. Theres no way youd waste that shard on this! That much power? No: somehow this tutorial is about something else. You have some other game, Ashtoreth. What do you want to do with that shard? Ashtoreth and Kylie both began to speak at once, but they were interrupted almost instantlyby a newcomer. Bright, white light shone down into the small valley they stood in, and a clear, female voice rang out in the air around them: Youre asking the wrong questions! Ashtoreth felt a surge of pure terror emanate out from her gut to the rest of her body as she heard, and recognized, the voice. She turned to the humans. All of them had raised a hand to shield their eyes as they turned toward the source of the voice somewhere behind her. Run, she told them. Run, now! Then she turned to regard the speaker: the silhouette of a teenaged girl standing on a stony outcropping that jutted from the hillside, illuminated by a set of conjured floodlights. So anxious to get going? she asked, raising a hand to conjure the outline of a top hat. Dont worryyoull be leaving soon! Are you fucking kidding me? Kylie said from somewhere behind Ashtoreth. Dont tell me thats But first, one tiny correction! The silhouette drew a long rod out of her top hat, then twirled it in the air before abruptly stopping. Three identical top hats with question marks emblazoned on their fronts appeared in the air before her. The question isnt what her mother wanted with it! the shadow said. She waved her wand and one of the hats was sliced in two, spattering blood across the forest as the air filled with the sound of Ashtoreths mother screaming. Its not what Ashtoreth wanted with it! Ashtoreth heard her own voice let out a sharp howl of agony as another of the hats was shredded, releasing a fine mist of illusory gore filled with gleaming strands of violet hair. No, ladies and gentlemen of the audienceit must be seen to be believed, but the only person here who matters is me! The silhouette raised her arm, pointing the rod at the final top. Both she and hat burst into a flock of sparkling crows that scattered into the forest around them but as this happened, a figure was catapulted out of where the top hat had been, backflipping several times to land where the silhouette had stood, arms spread wide. Fearful of the number she was about to see, Ashtoreth checked her sisters level: {Archfiend Pluto Level 51 Boss} No. she whispered. Pluto was 23 levels ahead of her. Ashtoreths youngest sister ran a hand along the brim of her magicians top hat and flashed them a toothy smile as her tail cracked at the air behind her. Her hair was a perfectly straight curtain of azure, a color matched by her sparkling tailcoat. Ask yourselves, ladies and gentlemen! she cried, her voice booming out across the clearing. What am I going to do with that antithesis shard? 54: The Greatest Magic Trick the Archfiend Ever Played Pluto! Ashtoreth called out. Lets talk about this! Talk we will, dearest sister! Pluto said, removing her top hat and pulling her real baton out of it to twirl in the air. But first, watch in awe as I wave my magic wand and make your humans. No! Ashtoreth cried. ...Disappear! Pluto abruptly halted the motion of her baton, and a dozen shards of azurere hellfrost appeared in the air before her and shot toward the humans behind Ashtoreth. Ashtoreth was moving before the shards had even appeared, jumping one way and pushing her sword the other, flaring her wings to cover as much space as possible and keep the shards from striking her party. She spun as she leapt, getting a moments glimpse at Hunter, standing with his arms on Frost and Kylies shoulder, before all three of them vanished in a flash of white fire. Then a half-dozen shards of ice struck her wings and back, each of them exploding in a blast of hellfrost wherever it pierced her skin. She was thrown forcefully against the ground, and spikes of frost bloomed out of her body, growing to create a massive wall of ice that rooted her to the spot. Still, she felt a flare of hope. Shed told Hunter to build for escaping, and hed apparently gained, or always had, the power to teleport others. Oh come on, Pluto said. Your humans can teleport? Im going to have to chase them all over after this, arent I? Oh wellnot like I dont have time. Ashtoreths icy prison pierced her body everywhere, and she coughed up a gout of blood as she began to charge a [Hellfire Blast] in one of her frozen palms. Her mercurial clothing would help her escape the immobilize, and her sword now lay on the ground almost twenty meters away. Pluto landed in front of her. Crazy, isnt it? You, losing to me? She cocked her head. Im guessing you severed your tether before you ran away? Youll die for real. Pluto, she gasped, barely able to speak as blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Lets talk. You were always my favorite, you know, Pluto said, her expression almost wistful as she smiled down at Ashtoreth. Her face darkened. Not just me, eitherbut I know you know that. She shook her head, a hurt expression on her face. I dont get it, she said. You like humans, sure! But thats a good reason to own a few hundred thousand of them, not to switch sides! Ashtoreth had beaten her sisters before, even when fighting at a disadvantage. But 23 levels was a fairly big disadvantage, even if it didnt feel like Pluto had gotten any kind of bonus stats for being classified as a boss. If she wanted to win, she had to throw off Plutos mental state, had to get under her sisters skin. It wouldnt be too difficultafter all, Pluto was the runt, the spare, the unwanted. She wasnt a princess. She had the wrong mother for it; her pedigree was second-best. Shed been allowed to train with Ashtoreth and the other five on account of her seemingly boundless determination to prove herself and then on the eve of the apocalypse, shed been told that she couldnt join the attack on Earth with Asthoreth and the others. Shed been forced to remain behind, and apparently been drafted by the system into a Hell tutorial as its boss. No doubt shed taken it as another chance to prove herself to their father. Give me the shard, said Pluto. Well find a way to finish the tutorial without killing you. She leaned forward. I wont tell anyone what you did. I promise. You said you stole the shard from mother? Well come up with a story, and Ill take credit for that particular deed. Im sure father will be most pleased when I deliver it to him. Pluto. You were only ever mean to me when you had to be, Pluto said, reaching out and straightening Ashtoreths tiara. I noticed that, you know. So you and I can go to Earth togetherboth of us. The Monarch will be you, of course. She smiled. It was always going to be you. But youll do it all with me by your side, and father? Hell watch us. She looked down at Ashtoreths hand, encased in ice but still with a mote of purple light gleaming above it. Look, she said. I can see that youre charging a [Hellfire Blast]. You can use it if you want, but it wont get you anywhere. Ill crush you and take the shard if you make Ashtoreth interrupted her sister by pulling as hard as she could on her sword. The counterforce pressed her body against the ice, sending tiny cracks running through it as the sword sped toward her. Pluto turned just in time to see the massive weapon collide with the icy prison, shattering it in the instant that Ashtoreth converted the sword into hellfire to melt away most of the hellfrost. Ashtoreth was pulled forward along the swords trajectory, through the cloud of hellfire, rolling across the forest floor as she healed the bloody wounds all over her body. Pluto clearly expected her to have been tossed in the other direction, knocked backward by the blast, and launched a volley of icy shards behind where the prison had been placed. When she saw that shed missed, she whirled to face Ashtoreth. I dont want to do this! she said, reaching into her hat and pulling out a large rectangle of blue silk cloth which she released to fall through the air beside her. Give me the shard, Ashtoreth! Then dont! Ashtoreth said, conjuring her sword. Pluto, listen to me The silk cloth stopped falling midair, draped over four long, slender objects. Pluto pulled it away to reveal four ornate longswords with crystal blades hovering in the air, then made a dramatic gesture to point at Ashtoreth with her baton. Ashtoreth drove her greatsword into the ground as the crystal swords suddenly rushed through the air toward her. Then she ran. The first sword struck somewhere behind her as she pushed herself away from her weapon, exploding instantly into a massive hunk of ice that could have filled a city intersection. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She was conscious that the next sword had adjusted its trajectory to track her, and so she pulled on her greatsword and skidded to a halt, turning to bound back along her course as the second crystal longsword struck the ground in front of her and exploded into another miniature mountain of growing ice crystals She slammed into the first icy spire, grabbed it with her claws, then threw herself upward as the third sword burst beneath her. She conjured a gout of hellfire to burn away the ice as it expanded beneath her, pushing on her now-frozen sword to throw her further into the air and just barely evade the growing hellfrost crystals. Then the fourth sword sailed past her head, and she beat her wings and pulled on her weapon to move downward, forward to avoid the rapidly-growing crystal structure that burst behind her as the sword exploded midair. She struck the first hellfrost mound, the one that contained her sword, and felt it draining the heat from her body as she ran down it, then pushed herself off it to launch herself at Pluto. Pluto jammed her hat onto her head and formed her claws as Ashtoreth bounded across the ground to meet her. She threw another volley of shards Ashoreths way, but Ashtoreth turned sidelong and cartwheeled through these before reaching her sister to fight her claw-to-claw. Her reasoning was simple: in melee combat, Pluto left a lot to be desired. Even if Ashtoreth didnt have her sword, she still had the [Strength] bonus from it to even the close-quarters stat disparity, and she could still move unpredictably by using the counterforce. She lashed out at her sister and Pluto snarled and fought back. Claws blurred as they swiped through the air. Wings darted forward to strike like a scorpions stinger. Tails wound through the space between them and tried to snag and tug against undefended limbs. Their natural racial flight helped them dodge, twist, and slide to evade and reposition. Ashtoreth was clearly the better fighter, but when she raked her claws across her sisters skin they barely penetrated. Pluto had no trouble drawing blood herself with her superior speed and power, but Ashtoreths [Vitality] and regeneration were so high that her wounds were half-healed before her blood even spattered against the ground. Pluto called hellfrost a few times to try to turn the fight in her favor, and Ashtoreth either avoided it or negated it with hellfire. But Pluto didnt have the close-quarters skill to effortlessly weave magic into her fighting style, and every time she tried to use her much stronger hellfrost to turn the fight in her favor, Ashtoreth gained the advantage with her claws. Everything was nothing but a blur of instincts in Ashtoreths mind: move, slice, grab, turn, there, nowmove! She had to end it here, like this. She couldnt conjure her sword or cannon because every moment of fighting relied on her ability to push and pull on the sword that was already buried in ice. Finally she got ahold of her sisters arm, twisting it in the right way to bring Pluto to her knees. She pushed hard on her sister, using all her leverage to pin the other archfiend. Then Pluto snapped her other claws and became nothing but a mass of rushing shadows that broke apart into the form of a dozens of glimmering crows and dispersed. Ashtoreth hissed, standing and turning to see Pluto now standing atop one of her mountains of ice. She pulled a skygorger heart from her locket and absorbed it with a squelch, replenishing her [Bloodfire], which had been dangerously low. You think Im going to quit just because Im afraid of you?! Pluto roared. Ashtoreth exhaled. Itd be nice. Did I quit because your mother hates me? Pluto shrieked. Did I quit because our father barely knows my name? Did I quit because I was the ill-bred sister, the weakest sister, the joke? No! Never! No one keeps Pluto down! Okay, but astronomers Quiet! Pluto shouted, pulling another cloth out of her hat to conjure four more swords. Ashtoreth saw this and dismissed her sword, beginning to conjure it again. It doesnt matter if Im the runt!" Pluto cried. Im going to keep on fighting and getting stronger until Im the very best! Today: this tutorial! Tomorrow: the genocide of humanity! Okay there, said Ashtoreth. Thats the issue Ill grind their cities into powder! Pluto cried with a fierce grin on her face. Ill turn their armies into dust! Ill kill so many humans that Ill become the Monarch, not you, and Dad will have to admit that Im worthy! She pulled the cloth free of the swords, but instead of throwing them at Ashtoreth, she kept them hovering in the air around her. Then she held her white-gloved hands in front of her and a light began to build between them. Pluto was charging a spell. Ashtoreth had significant doubts that she could deal with both the spell, and Plutos swords. If the swords each caused an explosion of hellfrost as large as they did what would the spell do? She could try to attack with her cannon, but Pluto was a small, flying target who could teleport and do who-knew-what else when she saw the weapon form. And Ashtoreth clearly needed her sword to dodge Plutos attacks. Pluto spoke as the light before her built, growing brighter by the second, and there was a woundedness that could be heard beneath all her rage. My will! she cried. My dreams! My ambitions will be the mighty force that launches me into the sky, through the moon, and beyond the stars themselves! My wake will change constellations! Youll see, Ashtoreth! Just watch me! Ashtoreth, said a voice. It was Dazelhe must have been nearby. Call the shard, he urged. I can save us. Pluto hissed from atop the icy protrusion, then began to float. The incandescent azure orb hovered over one hand as her hat floated beside her, and she reached her free hand into it and drew out a playing card. It was clear that she intended to fight Ashtoreth for real. In truth, the fact that Pluto could fly meant that she could have built all her power and attacked Ashtoreth from the air from the very beginning. Her sister had tried to pummel her into submission first, offering Ashtoreth the chance to surrender. Ashtoreth had only one card left to play. The shard! Dazel hissed. Ashtoreth! But Ashtoreth shook her head and focused on her sister. Pluto! she cried. Trust me, PlutoDad cant give you what you really want! How can you say that?! Pluto shouted. Just because you couldnt be happy having everything, I wont be? You were always the favorite! I know, Pluto. I know. And it doesnt mean anything. Itll never be enough. Join me. Pluto scoffed. Never. Ashtoreth felt a flutter of uncertainty in her gut. Join me, she said. Or youll spend your whole life obeying the same master who really killed Orcus! Pluto blinked. The light glowing in her hand seemed to flicker. Listen, Pluto, Ashtoreth said, gentling her voice. Youre one of the only people who can ever truly understand me. I know Pluto began to scream. The muscles on her face contorted with rage as her voice, thrumming with power, carried out over the entirety of the forest. Her hair floated up around her and her eyes blazed with magic. The icy protrusions beneath her shattered into tens of thousands of icy javelins. Pluto thrust one hand forward, and thousands of them launched toward Ashtoreth as a wall solid wall of missiles. She could leap into the air with her swordand then Pluto would have four swords, her spell, whatever her card did, and anything else shed thought of. Ashtoreth! She was out of options. She raised a hand and called forth the antithesis shard. She saw a black blur dart forward, then heard a sound like shattering glass. 55: Cat Got Your Future Ashtoreth stood on an invisible floor in a void of perfect darkness. She could use her flight to move, but there was nowhere to move to. She could use her abilities, spend her [Bloodfire]... but there was nothing to affect with them. Dazel? she asked. There was no answer. She tried to summon him, but couldnt. Was he coming for her? Or was she stuck here, perhaps forever? She kept thinking back to her fight with Pluto, but she couldnt think of how she might have made it go differently. Maybe in more favorable circumstances, she could have surprised her sister with a bullet to the head, but that seemed like wishful thinking to her. But Pluto was an [Archfiend], and a talented spellcaster at that. The chance that she had abilities to counteract a sudden coup-de-gras was fairly high. And Ashtoreth had let her build to a massive offensive trying to talk her down. She sighed. Now she was at Dazels mercy and that was only if he hadnt simply thrown her here to rot. Not an ideal position to be in, but shed known that conjuring the shard had been a desperate move. She no longer had the antithesis shard. The only way she knew of to steal one was to force the person who held it to give it over, but hers was gone. Apparently, shed been right to worry about letting Dazel near it while he was still in control of himself. She wondered about him. What did he know, truly? Who was he? She began to conjure a glamour of her favorite bedroom back in Paradise. It was a big room, but felt cramped. Copies of human media, made for her by the scryers, lay everywhere. Panes of enchanted glass seemed to cover the walls, and all sorts of human attire were thrown across every piece of furniture. Once shed finished making it, she looked it over with a sense of longing. Shed last seen it less than a day ago but shed known that she wouldnt be seeing it again. Shed convinced herself this was a good thing. That she would stop living immersed in humanitys culture to actually go and join it. The glamour wasnt perfect. Only some of the books and comics had titles, and the screens couldnt play anything she didnt remember. Still, it was more comfortable than the void. She changed her black armor for a lavender silk robe, then sat in her comfiest recliner, one upholstered in elven leather. She conjured a pipe and began to smoke it. Dazel eventually showed up by leaping onto the sill of a window that looked out into darkness. She looked over at him and resisted the urge to start sulking, instead taking a puff of the pipe and exhaling a smoke ring. Well this is embarrassing, she said. Dazel leapt down into the room. You can beat an overconfident fool with a life harvest spell who has a few levels on you, he said. But a trained [Archfiend] at level 51? Dont feel bad about it. Skill only goes so far. I dont feel bad about losing to Pluto, said Ashtoreth. I feel bad about losing to you. What do you mean Ashtoreth? She flicked an annoyed glance his way, then leaned back in her recliner and let the hand holding her pipe fall to one side. I was so confident you couldnt get me, she said. Not until the tutorial was done, at least. Whatever you wanted out of me, you werent going to get it by acting against me, not in there. Sure, you wanted to separate the humans from me, but that was never going to happeneven after they learned my intentions, they were going to stick with me. Theyre natures will make them bond even with abusers. She sighed. But I was wrong. Very wrong. Hindsight, pride, and failureI was arrogant. Imagine it: me. How did you do it? Thats obviously not something Ill share. I never thought a demon could have the audacity, she said. Let alone know as much as you seem to. Dazel padded across the carpet to leap into her chair, then settled on her lap. Dont be so hard on yourself. I know the position Im in, she said. I suppose its too much to ask you to make this quick? Businesslike? Its not too much to ask, he said. He swished his tail back and forth. I wont gloat. Ill even go easy on you. No. You wont. I can get us out of here. Naturally. But where, exactly, is here? Were Outside, he said. Actually, were in a buffer zone between the realms and the actual Outside, which is somewhat more hostile. This is a band of infinite void that wraps the realms, insulating them from the Others. The system uses it for certain things, like choices made in limbo. And no-one else can find me here? Theres no way back on my own? Hmm, said Dazel. Obviously Id lie if the answer to this question didnt serve mebut no, Ashtoreth, theres no way back on your own. Now, if your father investigates by questioning Pluto about what happened, and she got a good look at how I punched a temporary hole in the reality of the tutorial to bring us here, he might come for you. Not ideal. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. I figured. The alternative is that you be unmade so as to keep the void internally consistent. The system will eventually delete you. I see. Naturally, Dazel said, swishing his tail. In exchange for my assistance in this matter, Im going to want you to sign something. Naturally, Ashtoreth echoed. I must say, youre taking this all a lot better than I thought you would. She let out a humorless laugh. My entire life, Dazel, has consisted of me being forced to do things I dont want to do through every form of compulsion and manipulation imaginable. That sounds awful, he said, looking around. But hey, at least you get to be rich. Ashtoreth sighed. I know we dont know each other, Dazel. But I meant what I said earlier to the humans. The way they actually trust each other its efficient. They get to rely on the help of others, sometimes huge groups of people, without ever having to maintain a whole set of constraints and consequences that ensure their support group will be there. Ashtoreth, Dazel said, his voice sounding tired. Id really rather you not do this. If you do this to me, theres no going back, she said. We can never have any relationship other than this. We had this relationship already, he said dryly. Only you were in control and held all the power while I had nothing. Now its reciprocalwell both twist each others arms. I wasnt really going to torture you when we met, you know, she said. I just wanted to scare you because the humans Ashtoreth, Dazel said, his voice hardening. Id really rather you not do this. You werent going to torture me, but you could have. You wanted to be friends, but thats your choice, not mine. Good God, child, dont you get it? You and I are monsters. Dont you dare hit me with your ill-considered hypocrisies now that the tides have turned. Ill die before I become your slave, she said. You understand that, right? Perfectly. And you have to leave me the shard, she said. Oh, Do I? he asked. Even if you become the Monarch Which is very likely, if I keep the shard. From the looks of things, itll be even more likely if you actually contribute your full breadth of knowledge and abilities. I agree, he said. But theres no guarantee you could ever get me anything as valuable as that shard, with the path your on. Monarch or no. Im not giving it to you, Dazel. My whole mission is lost without itI might be an excellent fighter, but that wont be enough to overcome all my sisters and everything else Hell throws at us. I know, he said. And Im not going to demand it. This will go better for if youre powerful, anyway. Ashtoreth blinked, then sat up. What? Ill finish my offer, he said. Therell be the things you expect to see. You have to keep me summoned. You cant hurt me. You cant share information about me that you reasonably expect I wouldnt want sharedwhich will include the existence of our contract. If I want to be dismissed, I will be. All reasonable. Indeed, said Dazel. They really ought to just come with being a familiar, but alasthe system is anything but fair. Of course, the definition of hurt must be one that cant be stretched to include make you feel bad by not doing whatever you want, including give you the shard. Youll get to read it over, Your Highness. Naturally. Now, what are your actual terms? Youll free me. Free you from what? Free from being bound to Hell, he said. Preferably by changing me into something other than a demoneven being human would suffice. But just severing the binding that makes me a familiar will do. I can manage the rest from there, as long as Im strong enough. How strong is strong enough? Mmm, Dazel said, swishing his tail. A high enough level for good warp magic. That should get me started. Say, 300. The changing process might necessitate that all of this be provided for in saved cores immediately. I see. And the most important part. The real compulsion. You said youd make this quick. Fine, he said. When I ask you a question youll ah, how do the humans say this? Youll respond with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Youre going to be honest with me, Ashtoreth. About everything. I. she trailed off. That was the worst of his deal? I told you, he said. Im going to go easy on you. I dont need you to be my slave: I need you to make me strong enough that I can cast off my shackles, and I need to be able to predict you. I can do all of the heavy lifting myself once those things are doneand they will be done. Well see about that when I read your contract, she said. Dazel laughed. Your naive theories on trust are girlish and unbecoming, Princess. But that doesnt mean I dont believe in mutual benefit. Believe it or not, I intend for you and I to make an excellent team. I intend to see you installed as Monarch of Earth. I daresay I will show you the doorways to corridors of power youve never even considered. And when all is said and done, you wont resent me for our contract. Youll see that it was beneficial to both of usa clean set of assurances that allowed us to work together without having to watch our backs. He swished his tail again. But, he said. You will have to tell me what you actually intend to do with the humans. Ashtoreth eyed him and tried to let her face betray nothing. But a faint, shocked hope had flared within the pit of her stomach. Because thats what she was going to give him: nothing. Nothing that he couldnt have already had from her. Once the tutorial ended shed have helped him get free of Hell if hed just asked. After all, she wanted to be free of Hell herself. She already didnt want to hurt him, and who would she betray his secrets to, if she learned any? She hadnt told him about the shard because shed been suspicious of him but that had been her only secret. As inconceivable as it was to a demon as cynical as Dazel, she really did just want to save as many humans as possible, even in the tutorial. And then she wanted to save Earth. Do we have a deal, Your Highness? She kept her expression muted as she took another pull from her pipe, acting as if she was considering it. Write your contract. 56: Infernal Literacy Skills Can Get You Real Far in Life She didnt bother asking why Dazel knew how to write an infernal contract. So far, it seemed that he used to be some kind of spellcaster, and his knowledge of the antithesis shard made it clear that hed been a very powerful one. Within the confines of her illusory bedroom, Dazel passed her page after page of the contract he wrote out in diabolic script on conjured, translucent sheets of paper. Ashtoreth read them all through a pair of waspish glasses that shed conjured with her diadem. She couldnt find anything duplicitous in the wording. As was typical, the fulfillment of the terms was partly reliant on her own perceptions: she couldnt betray what she knew the spirit of the contract to be even if she found some loophole in his wording. Neither could he: it was void if he tried to squirrel some secret clause within it, tried to bind her to his control in a way she couldnt see. Hardly the sort of contract shed been trained to read: most devils would find it an embarrassment for how meticulously it avoided exploitation. His rules were straightforward and clear, written with a directness that made hiding any ill intent near-impossible. No matter how much she scoured the script for the sentence or phrase that would damn her, she couldnt find it. Its looking good, she said. But theres nothing in here about you giving me the shard back. I dont have the shard, he said. Your sister does. Ashtoreth slumped back onto the chair. Are you kidding me? No, he said. I scrambled it when I did this, but that was the best I could do. What does that mean? Scrambled? It means she cant use it for anything. Someone who knows what theyre doing will have to decode it first. So what youre saying isI have to go get it back. Yes. Ashtoreth sighed. Pluto went easy on me last time. Are you sure? Dazel asked. Because it looked to me like you let a mage stand at a distance and build up all her strength before you said something to piss her off. Ashtoreth shrugged. Once I figured out that I couldnt kill her claw to claw, it was over, she said. And the only reason I could fight her like that was because my [Mighty Wielder] and [Devoured Flesh], combined with my ability to move erratically with [Counterforce Telekinesis]. But as soon as I gained the upper hand, she just left. A shot to the head from your cannon would probably take her out. If she doesnt have any spells to stop that, Ashtoreth said. But how am I going to set up the shot? She can fly. Given that her [Magic] will be very high, she can fly fast. And she can teleport. All that, and shes still a well-trained mage: shes going to have built defenses against surprises whenever she saw the chance. She glared at Dazel. Trust me, I wouldnt have let you do this if Id seen an alternative. Shes almost certainly the final tutorial boss, said Dazel. And she has the shard. You have to kill her, Ashtoreth. I know, Ashtoreth said, frowning. But Im going to need some kind of boost to take Pluto out if things get serious. Even getting almost ten levels of stats from eating a boss heart didnt do it. What will? asked Dazel. Another hive of insects? The dragon? Both and then some, she said. Ideally I could build some more Hellfire. Actually, ideally Id get a faster conjure speed on my weapons and a spellcasting focus. Fighting her with no ability to counter her hellfrost is a death sentencetheres too much of it and its too powerful. A single hit can immobilize me. She frowned in thought. Was he trying to distract her from the contract by getting her to talk shop? This needs more work, she said, indicating the page she held. Put something in about the shardyoure giving it to me as soon as you have it, youre not going to try to take it, you wont interfere with its use that sort of thing. You dont want to write that part? This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Its your contract. Dazel sighed. All right. And something about not intentionally using my obligations to run interference on my plans. I dont want you diverting me into some contrived quest for your freedom right when I need to be somewhere as a strategy for binding me into a greater contract. Come on, Your Highness. I told you I wanted us to work well together. What happened to your big speech about trust? Trust doesnt coexist with contracts that bind the soul, she said. She expected that the real reason he was seemingly going so easy on her was because he was afraid of her father. The King could strip Dazels binding from Ashtoreths soul as easily as a hound stripping meat from bone. And while he might be upset by Ashtoreths betrayal, and even more upset by her failure to stop Dazel from binding her, he would also see cause to punish Dazel for what hed done. It would be a matter of family pride. And those were serious matters indeed. Making sure Ashtoreth didnt fail to accomplish her goals was in his best interest. If their enemies dragged her back to Hell, it would end badly for Dazel. Besides. With the knowledge hed shown so far, it was at least plausible that he had no use for her apart from his freedom, and no cause to interfere with her plans. Mutual cooperation until he could go his own way probably was the best option. Or so she hoped. She read over the contract for what might have been another twenty minutes, unable to find any hidden shackles in its wording. Her paranoia led her to insist on a whole handful of extra phrases insisting that he not abuse his power in various ways but in the end she had to move on. Besides. She knew he was about to be very disappointed, in at least one sense. She formed a claw, took a moment to glower at Dazel, and signed. The contract erupted into flames before her, and she felt the binding burrowing down into her souls substrate like it was a snake wriggling through her intestines. She shuddered, gritting her teeth and then standing. All right, Dazel. Take us back. Dazel lifted himself into the air with a flap of his wings, then began to weave his front paws through the air in a manner that was most uncat-like. A red circle appeared on the ground before him, then was surrounded in fiendish runes. Ashtoreth cocked her head. Did he ordinarily cast with fiendish runes? Or was he just doing this to confuse her? She found herself wondering something she was probably going to spend a lot of time wondering: just who or what was Dazel? Im going to need you to funnel some [Mana] in here. She touched the relevant rune on the circle and began to channel into it. Ive got [Bloodfire], remember? Might change things. I can adjust. Its all just power in the end. Are you putting me back where I left? Near there, yes. he said. But you disappeared and your sister got the shard, so my guess is that shes assuming youre dead. Lets hope so, said Ashtoreth, scowling and thinking about what shed do when she got back. She needed to level upenough to fight Pluto. But she also need to find and assure the safety of the humans. She had to eat two hearts out of her bag and spent almost twenty thousand [Bloodfire] before Dazel finally said: Ready? Do it. There was a red flash of light, and Ashtoreth felt the familiar sensation of a warp spell: she simultaneously felt like she was dissolving and being jerked in one direction. A moment later she was tumbling toward the forest floor, where she rolled and came to her feet before looking around to see that she was standing on a hillside in the tutorial. It was easy to tell that she was near to where shed fought Pluto. The stairwell that led to the tunnel network was visible, even if it had been collapsed. Even more obvious than this clue was the fact that the brush along an entire hillside had been shredded and frozen by Plutos extraordinarily powerful attacks: most of the frayed bushes and barkless trees that had been left behind were still encrusted in ice. Plutos probably hunting for the humans, she said, looking at the collapsed tunnel. Had Hunter brought them into the tunnel, then fled underground? It was likely the best choicebut how had they collapsed it? Unless that had been Pluto. She banished the thought. Shed only been gone so long, and she herself hadnt known how to navigate the old tunnels. Pluto likely wouldnt either, and so the humans would be safe hiding in them. Or so she had to hope. She still had Frosts buffs on her, and that meant he was still alive. Well, youve got what you wanted, she told Dazel. Its just me for a while. Better to farm enemies until I can fly than fight Pluto now. She wove another glamour about herself, one to make her look like an armored devil. Then she began to sprint and bound up the side of the hill until she crested it. She looked out at the landscape below her. In the distance she could just barely see the beginnings of the great stone bridge that led to the citadel floating at the center of the lake of fire. Better get going, Dazel said. He leapt up onto her back. Ashtoreth bounded down into the forest, her racial flight and highest stats making it easy to move quickly. With any luck, the enemies near that bridge will be stronger than what weve found in the rest of the forest. I can gain my two levels fast. Sure, sure, said Dazel. And dont let me interrupt the farmyou know I want you to level quickly. Good. Were in a tight spot. I know, I know, said Dazel. Anyway, while you work, I hope you dont mind me asking you some questions. 57: Nothing Hurts Quite Like the Truth, Even if Sacred Damage Comes Pretty Close Ashtoreth bounded through the forest, slipping between the trees and searching for new enemies. Her stats were higher now, and to test her strength she leapt up and bounded off of a tree, beating her wings to carry herself high above the red-leafed canopy and scan the world below her. She saw a slight break in the trees far ahead of her, then dove back beneath the canopy and ran toward it. All right, Your Highness, Dazel told her from his place on her back. The times finally come for the big reveal. Lets make this quick and painless. Lets. Just what do you need these humans for? The humans? she said. Oh, thats simple. Im going to give them some training, level them to absurd heights, and then hopefully have them help me defend the Earth by fighting off the invaders while severely disrupting Hells inter-realm logistics. Uh-huh, said Dazel. Go on. Well, Ashtoreth said, letting a smile come across her face. There is a little more I could say. Lets hear it. I know that in the end, it wont be worth it to keep the humans around, she said. If Id just done all of this alone, it would have been fasterin fact, I might never have needed you to protect me from Pluto by throwing us into the void. And because the modifications that I intend to make to the tutorial will scale with level, it would serve my ultimate goal of becoming Monarch more to let the humans die and do it all alone. I know all that, Dazel said, growing annoyed. So tell me what theyre really for. The contract compels youanswer me. Im keeping them around for two reasons. One is that having an actual team of humans on my side will help me to endear myself to humanity. Or so you think, said Dazel. And the second reason? The second reason? I dont want them to die. Dazel was quiet for a moment. What. I want to help, Ashtoreth said, smiling. Im a good archfiend! At that moment she broke through to where shed seen a break in the trees. It was a narrow road of mostly-buried cobblestones. One sec, she said. Further down the path, shed spotted a pair of devils mounted on demonic steeds. She skidded to a halt by thrusting a claw into the ground, then began to sprint toward them. What do you mean, one sec? Dazel hissed in her ear. The contract compels you! Tell me what you want with the humans! The nearest devil opened his mouth to speak to her as she approached, but never got more than a word out. Ashtoreth leapt through the air to tear him from the saddle, overpowering him easily before punching one clawed hand through his helmet to collapse his face. The other devil and the two mounts didnt take her much more time. Soon she was consuming the hearts of the steeds and stowing the hearts of the devils, her arms dripping blood. Still, she felt good after the quick fight. It was nice to blow off some steam. I dont understand, said Dazel. Why arent you answering me? Oh, you understand. You just cant cope. This isnt possible, he hissed. She heard the flutter of paper behind her and realized that he must have summoned the contract to look over it. No ones soul is immune to an infernal contract! Dazel, Ashtoreth said. Id really rather you not do this. She took off down the path in the direction of the floating citadel, hoping to run into more. She absorbed the cores and checked with the system: the cores shed gained had put her from 48% of her level to 51%. You cant lie to me! he said. You cant! Butthis he looked down at the contract and hissed. No, he said. No, no. She grinned. Again with that negativity. You have to have some other plan! he shouted. Youre not doing this all out of the kindness of your heart! Your father is the King of Hell and you were raised as an archfiend! Youre his daughterI know you are. Dazel, Ashtoreth said. Id really rather you not do this. Her eyes scanned the forest as she ran, searching. She needed to find a bigger group of enemies. Maybe there was a garrison at the end of the bridge? It would expose her to any boss protecting the citadel, and potentially the dragon, but if Pluto was out hunting humans she at least wouldnt have to worry about her sister. You can get everythingeverything you wantjust by working for Hell. Your dads not going to care that you stole the antithesis shard from your mother; youll have taken out a potential threat and used it to carry out his own objectives. Correct? Correct. So so why? he asked. You want to rule Earth? Thatll be ten times easier if you do it by fighting for Hell! It makes no sense, Ashtoreth! It makes perfect sense, she said. I dont want to rule Earth, I want to save it. You have to tell me the truth! She laughed. I am, Dazel. Get past it. No! he cried. I could believe it if you were too stupid to see that it was a bad idea! I could believe it if you really did think, deep down, that the humans youve been dragging along behind you were somehow going to give you an advantage, in the end! But this? Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She leapt into the air, beating her wings to bring herself above the treeline once again. There were perhaps two miles between her and the edge of the forest. Then the bridge. I probably would have freed you, too, she said. Maybe not right away, but eventually. If youd just asked. Liar! I cant lie to you, she said. The only way that would work is if I were lying to myself. Face it, Dazelyou wasted your whole contract to get things you couldve gotten from me anyway. And all because youre too cynical to believe that the real me exists. Youre a fool, he said, his voice trembling. You still could serve Earth up to your father on a silver platter, rule it as your rewardhowever you see fit. Have a perfect life of perfect safety Do you want to know why I first conjured you? she asked. Its not just because companions are powerful. Its because Im a silly fool and I wanted a friend. Damn you, he spat. You ignorant brat! you hypocritical, moralistic lunatic! The moons got nothing to do with it, said Ashtoreth, laughing. Im actually like this all the time! No. And now that you know it for surefor absolutely deep-down sureyou can start to trust me. After all, you never needed to agree with my philosophy. You just needed to know what it was so that I would be predictable. Face it, Dazel: both of us can get exactly what we want, now. Nobody has to crush or dominate the other. Who was Orcus? Ashtoreth skidded to a halt. Dazel leapt down from her back and moved to stand in front of her. I heard you mention them when you were fighting Pluto, he said. They died, right? You said who really killed Orcus. Well, Ashtoreth, who really killed Orcus? Please dont. Somewhere deep inside her, Ashtoreth felt a painful vibration that spread to her bones, an uncomfortable force pressing against her temples. The contract, compelling her to do as shed agreed. Answer however you like, said Dazel. But give me the full story. NoDazel ungh, she winced against the growing pain, resisted the urge to start talking. You know its just going to get worse, he said. I can manage for a while, she said, her voice tight. Listen this question its not going to help youagh! Trying to lie, huh? he said. Just get out with it, Ashtoreth. Asthoreth gritted her teeth and hissed through them: Are you asking because youre curious, or because you want to punish me? Dazels tail swished in the air. Surely you can see that knowing all your secrets might come in handy, he said. And you knew what you were getting into when you signed the contract. Ashtoreths breathing became labored as the pain built. Pushing against the compulsion began to take every piece of focus she could muster. Theres no point in fighting it, Ashtoreth. She fell to her knees, then forward onto all fours. Yes there is! she snarled. The pain flared in her, became so all-consuming that she couldnt make out the shape of her own body, just the burning agony. She doubled over, clutched her belly, cried out and then bit her tongue to stop herself from speaking. The compulsion was everything, the obliteration of thought and will and self. She gasped, inhaling deeply before blurting out, Were twins! An ache throbbed in every fiber of her being, and she could barely think as the words flowed out of her. All of us were twins. Twenty two of us to start, seven at the end. Six princesses and crownless Pluto. But when when. She started, sitting up and looking around, coming back to her senses and gritting her teeth once more against the building pain. Stop, Dazel said quietly. Just stop. I dont want to know anymore. Her eyes flitted to him. He wore his inexpressive cats face. His tail lay limp on the ground. Pain still throbbed through the whole of her mind and body. Pain and anger. Oh? she asked. You dont want to know? She shot to her feet, and despite their contract Dazel startled and backed away from her. Thats funnybecause you asked, Dazel. After I begged you not to. After I said it wouldnt help you. Tell me, Dazel: before you were a demon, were you a man with no choices at all or a man who had choices and made them all wrong? Stop it, he snapped. Ill leave your secrets to you if you wantbut dont you dare pretend you know the first thing about me! She whipped the cobblestone next to him with her tail, creating a loud crack and making him flinch. Are you sure? she asked, advancing. Are you sure you dont want to know what we got instead of eleven candles and a frosted cake? She struck the ground beside him again, and while he flinched, he stopped and stood his ground as she loomed over him. Im not afraid of you, he whispered. Liar! she hissed. You know who I am; you know the kind of fire youre playing with. Things could go wrong any number of ways and if you ever ask her nameeverthen win or lose you know I can ensure you meet the most, the most The most terrific of endings, she thought. But the pain was fading, and as it ebbed out of her she realized that she didnt want to threaten him with torture. She hung her head. Nevermind, she said. Ignore that. I was angry, okay? Silence. Then: Okay. Lets go. I still need two levels. Dazel wordlessly hopped up onto her back. She ran the rest of the distance along the path, but she didnt meet any more patrolling devils. More surprising was the fact that when she emerged from the forest, she saw absolutely nobody guarding the bridge to the citadel. A stretch of scorched earth led to a stone landing that connected to the bridge, which spanned hundreds of meters to meet the massive metal gates of the citadel. But she only noticed all of this briefly: as soon as she came clear of the trees and saw the citadel, her attention was fully occupied by the dragon perched above its gate. {Black Dragon Crucifect Level 50 Boss} He was staring directly at her as she came free of the forest. With a deep, echoing rumble, he rose, to stand on the battlements, then launched himself into the air with a few powerful beats of his wings. Perfect, she said. What? Dazel asked. Damnit, Ashtorethnot this again! Definitely this again. You dont have flight! You dont have hellfire! You dont have allies! But I really need to blow off some steam, she said. She jerked her head toward the dragon and began to conjure her sword. Hes a start. 58: When it Comes to the Fullest Extent of Your Powers, Size Matters In every corner of the cosmos, it was generally acknowledged that dragons were to be feared. Across all worlds, they were known as annihilators, plunderers, and tyrants. Such was their power that the image of a dragon was one of the first things that would resonate across the cosmos and seed itself in the minds of an outer realms inhabitants. They were monsters whose might was rivaled only by their intellect, whose creative ingenuity was rivaled only by the cruelty that it always served. Their minds were naturally inclined toward magic, their bodies excellent at channeling [Mana] into the destructive spells they so loved. Physically, they were some of the fiercest, deadliest fighters in the realms: they could fight with claws, teeth, wings and tail, could strike out with elemental breath and take to the air with ease. On every world where dragons dwelt, dragons lived in legendburning cities, plundering nations, and casting whole continents into dark ages. They were possessed not only of the power and cunning to lay any foe low, but the pride and capriciousness to answer any insult given with death, often en masse. Crucifect moved through the air with powerful wingbeats, coming straight toward Ashtoreth. She cupped her hands around her mouth. Whats up, lizard wizard? she shouted. Did you get forced to guard the door because my little sister can beat you up? Say, I got a riddle for you: what do you call a celestial body thats even less significant than Pluto? Crucifect roared, his mouth glowing with the deep heat of a furnace, his eyes gleaming with power. I dont know either! she said. I guess nobody cares once they start getting that small. Ashtoreth planted her sword in the ground as the dragon swooped down toward her. Then, just as Crucifect opened his mouth and released a plume of red fire, she launched herself into the air over him, combining her natural flight with the counterforce from her sword ability to soar high in just a few seconds. She dismissed her sword as she flew into the air, then began to conjure it again immediately so as to dodge whatever Crucifect did next. Sure enough, the dragon snapped his jaws shut as soared over his flames, then spoke a guttural, commanding word and conjured a small constellation of deep red flaming orbs above his head. These surged forward a split-second later, each converging on Ashtoreth. The first struck her before her sword was finished conjuring, searing her skin painfully and burning away some of her [Bloodfire] as an added effect. But she had such high fire and profane resistances that her regeneration would handle the damage in only a second or so. She just needed to make sure the rest of the flaming javelins didnt hit her. She finished conjuring her sword a moment later, then pushed herself off it once more as she reached into her bag for a heart to consume, throwing herself backward through the air to avoid the rest of the flaming orbs. She dismissed her sword, then began conjuring it again as she she rushed toward the ground hundreds of meters away from the dragon. He could fly, but he couldnt move as fast as she could: he was so heavy that even at level 50, it likely took him multiple upgrades to move well in the air. She landed, rolled, then spun to face Crucifect with her sword at the ready, seeing as she did so that his conjured missiles were still homing in on her. She planted her sword and threw herself out of the way of them as they converged, and they dissipated harmlessly against the ground, creating a wide circle of scorched earth where shed stood. She pulled herself to her sword, then pulled it from the ground and shouldered it, waiting to see what the dragon would do next. Across the field, Crucifect let out a rough sound, a sound like a rusty saw tearing into an impossibly thick log. He was laughing. Little coward, he said. Do you think that your juvenile insults will move me? Do you think I will chase you into whatever trap you have laid? Come; face me. It is the end. I am facing you! she shouted from across a gulf of hundreds of meters. Some of us have ranged abilities, thanks. You think my capabilities are lacking? he boomed. He let out another guttural laugh. Little cowardhow I wish that you were of a high enough level to be more than a momentary distraction, he boomed. For once, on this day, I could have felt the pleasure of putting forth the full extent of my power. Ashtoreth snorted. Hey, buddy, she shouted. Look: Im not judgemental. You dont need to look for excuses to not show your full extent. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She saw him pause for just a moment, cock his head by the smallest of degrees. I mean, I get that some dragons are embarassed that it might not you know. Extend far enough. Crucifect let out an angry snort, and twin plumes of black smoke poured from his nostrils. Pathetic, he said. A being of your ilk should face its death with pride, with dignity, with all the profundity it can musternot this feeble infantility. O-kay, Ashtoreth said. Im getting mad small extent energy from you right now. She shot a meaningful glance up at where her sword, resting on her shoulder, rose into the air behind her. Is this making you nervous? Die, then, he hissed. He conjured and launched another volley of flaming red javelins, and Ashtoreth grabbed a heart out of her bag as she planted her sword once more, watching them come toward her and waiting. The spell converged, and she launched herself into the air again, began to conjure her sword again, ate her heart to replenish her [Bloodfire].... Crucifect conjured another volley of the homing missiles, double as many as hed thrown with the first volleys, clearly intending to either kill her or strike her from the air. They bent to rush toward her, and she finished conjuring her sword and threw herself off it immediately, getting another heart ready as she sped further upward and toward the forest. She tried to make it look like she intended to circle him at a distance, but she grew a little closer to him as she folded her wings and dove to dodge the first wave of his homing missiles, then even closer as she did the same to the next. The missiles turned around mid-air, placing Ashtoreth at the center of dozens of them as they came toward her from every direction, their positions known to her by her magical sense. She was thinking as she looked down at Crucifect, gauging distances against times trying to find the perfect moment. How long to conjure her sword? How long to dive toward dragon below her? She needed to time it exactly, to not give Crucifect even the smallest of windows. She spun and wove through a few more of the javelins, sure that in a moment she wouldnt be able to dodge them any longer. She grabbed another heart and began conjuring her sword. She saw her opening. The weight of her sword fell into her hand, and she twisted in the air to put it beneath her feet and then pushed herself away from it, launching it backward so that she dove fast toward the dragon. The air whistled in her ears and tugged at her hair as she rushed down toward her target: his tail. As she dove, she conjured her sword yet again. She struck the ground feet-first, her legs wracked by the force of impact as she fell to her knees, then rose. She finished conjuring her sword in the same instant, the blade forming in her hands above her right before she brought it down with a [Mighty Blow] to pierce the scales on Crucifects tail and bury itself deep between his vertebrae. Crucifect shrieked and lurched, and Ashtoreth felt [Bloodfire] flow into her as her sword affected him with a strong form of her [Energy Drain]. As his blood spattered from the wound, she ignited it into a cloud of violet hellfire that she immediately began absorbing into herself. Then she leapt up, repositioning herself over his half-severed tail to unleash a [Mighty Strike] that pushed her blade through the rest of his flesh, shearing off his tail as it launched her into the air. Her vision darkened as the force of her [Mighty Strike] ability accelerated her so fast that she lost control of her flight, tumbling and spinning until she finally spread her wings, righted herself, and reached into her bag to consume another heart. Below her, Crucifect stomped and thrashed, roaring his displeasure as his severed tail bled on the ground beneath him. Using his [Health] to slowly heal a wound as they fought would have been easy enough, but reattaching a limb took time. Hed have to stop and hold it in place, which would just give her another opening. He raised his head, then conjured another barrage of flaming red javelins, but it was too late. Ashtoreth was far enough away from him now that shed avoid or regenerate from the assault with impunity. You called me a coward! she shouted out as she fell backward through the air, gliding toward the distant ground. But youre over there with your tail between your legs! Get it? Crucifect unleashed a mighty howl, and his eyes began to glow a searing red. His flaming javelins launched themselves toward her, and he followed them, leaping into the air with enough force to shake the trees of the distant forest. Ashtoreth waited a moment, then said, as if he hadnt understood the first time: With your tail between your legs! She waited a moment, then added: Get it? Crucifect launched himself toward her with flames pouring from the corners of his mouth, beating his wings but charging across the ground, leaving a trailer of his own blood as it gushed from the stump of his tail. She hit the ground, rolled to her feet, then spun. Yeah, she said as she began conjuring her sword again. He doesnt get it. 59: [Energy Drain] Gives Whole New Meaning to the Words “Bad Touch” Crucifect dove toward her, enraged by some combination of being maimed and being insulted. Seeing that the distance between them was great enough for her to regenerate, she leveled her sword at him, then launched it with her [Mighty Strike], aiming for where one wing met his shoulder. The counterforce snapped both her ankles and sent her tumbling back across the ground, away from him, but she was more ready for it now than she had been when shed fought the golem. She got a claw into the soil and skidded to a halt, raising her chin to see a plume of violet fire wash over Crucifects wing even though she hadnt dismissed her sword. Red threads seemed to glimmer in the air before him like a net, then faded. Somehow hed dispelled her sword. Hed drained some of her [Bloodfire] when hed stricken her earlier, too. Perhaps he had an antimagic specialization? She conjured her sword and re-knitted the bones in her ankles, but by then he was almost upon her. Crucifect skidded to halt as he approached her, having gathered too much momentum in his rage, and she took the opportunity to launch her sword at the ground between them, then sprint toward it and leap into the air. His jaws opened, flames gushing out into the air around them as he launched himself forward to snap them shut around her, but she pushed on her sword at the last moment, sailing over his head as his teeth closed, his flames scorching her. She dove to land on his back, afflicted him with her [Energy Drain], then braced herself against his scales and pulled her sword toward her, against where his neck met his belly. But even though his scales were weakest there, she could feel that her sword barely pierced his flesh, drawing only a few drops of blood. Still, it also afflicted him with her [Energy Drain]. Crucifet roared and shook himself a half-second after she landed, and though she kept her footing by pulling onto her sword and pressing herself into him, he conjured another constellation of searing motes of energy a moment later. Ashtoreth waited, getting another [Energy Drain] off before the homing missiles darted toward her and she launched herself into the air to avoid them as they dissipated harmlessly across his back. Five, she thought as she glided away from the dragon. Five applications of [Energy Drain], two of them with added strength because they were from [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike]. It was the only way to fight a dragon that was 22 levels above her: she had to lower her stats, either to the point where she could kill him with one of her strongest abilities, or so much that she could kill him through his regeneration from [Health]. Below her, Crucifect breathed a pillar of fire onto her sword, breaking the magic that formed it and bursting it into a harmless cloud of violet hellfire that was quickly swallowed by his own, deep red flames. The he spun in place, spotted her in the air, and threw himself toward her by leaping off the ground with a powerful beat of his wings. She folded her wings as he came close, diving toward the ground as she conjured her sword again. He followed suit, moving quickly with his own racial flight ability. Hed no doubt planned for her to dodge him in the way that she did, because as soon as she hit the ground she had to spring out of the way to avoid being crushed by Crucifect as he crashed down after her. She came to her feet, but still too close to him: his jaws snapped forward and she found herself beating her wings to leap back in a frantic dodge a moment later. These were followed by his claws, which lashed out at her in an effort to box her in while his throat began to glow with the deep red light of his flames. She conjured her sword and used it to block the first strike from his claws, then dove in front of it and let it fall to the ground as she pushed against it and threw herself under Crucifects jaws. She bounded across the dirt beneath him, reaching up to touch his belly and apply another [Energy Drain] as she headed for his rear. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. She saw the muscles of his back legs tense, his weight shifting, and drove a claw into the ground to halt her momentum and hold her steady as she pulled her sword toward her hand. A split-second later he struck where she would have been with his hind legs, and a split-second after that she struck upward with a [Mighty Blow] that applied another [Energy Drain] and pierced his belly enough to draw bloodblood that she eagerly ignited into hellfire and drank. Crucifect snarled and shifted his weight, rounding on her with his teeth bared and conjuring another dozen homing orbs of fire magic. Ashtoreth dropped her sword, launched herself to one side. The next few seconds were nothing but frantic dodging, both with and without using the counterforce from her weapon. She touched him once more on one of his claws, applying another [Energy Drain] before having to yank herself backward and away from another claw, and then it was more hasty evasions, more fighting from instant to instant. Her sword was too heavy to fight him with: it slowed her down too much while she held it. But that was fine: even only as a mobility ability, it was effective just for how much it clearly threw him off having to deal with her ability to throw herself around with the counterforce. Even so, every moment that she stayed near the dragon was a moment where she was an instant away from death. If hed still had his focus and his tail, shed have been no match for him. A single glancing blow would have caused her to lose her balance, and then it all would have been over. But his tail was necessary for balance. Without it, he couldnt manage the terrible grace and precision that dragons, despite their size, normally fought with. They were too arrogant to train to fight wounded, and so Crucifects attacks were more enraged thrashing than calculated forms: an angry man screaming instead of a thoughtful mans debate. His racial flight meant he was able to move himself around by pushing his center of gravity, positioning himself for more accurate blows, pushing him off the ground so that he was effectively lighter and could strike with lighting speed but it wasnt enough. His tail had scabbed over, and hed grow a new one if given enough time but she wasnt going to give him enough time. She touched him three more times with her [Energy Drain], losing count of how many that made in total. She ate two of the largest hearts in her locket, the shiverhulk hearts, by conjuring them into a clawed hand and consuming them as fast as she could. She didnt have the time to reach into her bag. Finally Crucifect did what he should have done much earlier. He abandoned any hope of surpassing her in close-quarters combat, paused for a moment even though it meant absorbing another [Energy Drain], and then spun in place while releasing the brightest, hottest gout of firebreath that he had since theyd begun. He lashed out at her with one claw to keep her from anchoring herself in the dirt and pulling her sword into her hand, and a moment later she watched as the blade was engulfed in flames, then dispelled. The wall of fire came upon her, and she beat her wings and leapt back as the flames grew and grew, engulfing the dragon and spreading outward. Crucifect rose into the air as he breathed downward and toward her, a pillar of bright fire searing her eyes where she saw it as she turned to run away. The flames overtook her, and she grabbed a heart from her bag, consumed it, and filled the air ahead of her with a gout of hellfire from her palm. Her flames did little to cancel out Crucifects though, and the searing heat came over her a moment later, burning her skin and depleting her [Bloodfire]. She came free of the flames a moment later, conjuring her sword and needing to eat a second heart to replenish her resources. She glanced behind her, sure that Crucifect would be following his breath up with a new attack. But he wasnt. Instead she saw Crucifect above her, his wings outspread, a shining star of deep red energy burning in between his claws. And she saw past him, at where red draconic runes had been inscribed in the scorched earth around them. She was standing in a giant magical circle. Crucifects circle. She planted her sword and launched herself outward, toward the edge, air rushing by her as she half-flew, half-bounded for safety. Ashtoreth! It was Dazels voice. It came from the trees. She looked around, couldnt spot him. Then she stepped clear of the circle just as the world was bathed in red light from an explosion behind her. Inside! Dazel screamed. Go! Standing at the edge of the magical circle, she turned and saw that it was filled with spreading, red fire, a growing inferno. Inside! Dazel screamed. She had only a moment to decide. Ashtoreth sucked in a breath through her teeth, then pulled herself back into the circle. Toward the oncoming flames. 60: With Friends Like These, I’m Burning in Agony All Ashtoreth could think as the flames came toward her was: would Dazel lie to her? While the answer to that question was an emphatic yes, it was also the case that Dazel wouldnt lie to her to get her killed. He knew fiendish runes: surely he knew draconic runes as well. He knew, or could guess, what this spell would do. Briefly, she wondered when hed made it. Had he been drawing the runes and channeling his [Mana] the entire time she thought shed been wearing him down? She hadnt taken her own advice to Hunter: dragons were cunning. The only way you knew they werent baiting you was if they didnt know you existed. The flames came on, soon to envelop her, and Ashtoreth dropped to her knees and raised her sword, taking careful aim at Crucifect before launching the blade toward him with a [Mighty Strike]. The counterforce pushed her deep into the dirt, but only broke a few of the small bones in one foot this time: she was getting better at accounting for it. She watched the sword lance through the air toward Crucifects chest then her heart sank as she saw it disperse into a cloud of hellfire as it passed through a fine web of red flames. Hed dispelled it before it reached him. Again. The wall of fire washed over her a moment later, a boiling heat seeping into every pore of her body. She gritted her teeth and exhaled steadily, trying to keep the fire out of her lungs for as long as possible as she stuffed one hand into bag of hearts and used the other to fill the air around her with her hellfire, which was instantly annihilated by the dragons inferno. But she lived. The flames were hot, but her [Defense], [Magic], and resistances were high enough so that her regeneration caught up with the damage a few seconds after the fire washed over. She ate one heart, then a second, then a third. The flames cleared, though her skin still cooked in the superheated air as it rushed around her. Pain was a hateful blanket that covered the whole of her body, a second skin of attention-ripping agony but shed lived. Her regeneration unfused her eyelids and healed her eardrums, and she looked up at Crucifect where he was still hanging suspended in the air at the center of the circle, directing his spell with his claws. She conjured her sword again. Past Crucifect, she saw that a glowing wall of red light had gathered at the edges of the circle. She saw it in the very moment that it finished absorbing the last of the wave of dragonfire that had rushed by her. With a thunderous blast, the wall of glowing energy blew outward, enveloping everything around the circle for hundreds of meters. The end of the bridge disintegrated as the red energy washed over it, and trees were blown into dust. Dazel had been right. Crucifect must have been channeling mana the whole time theyd been fighting and hed certainly intended to trick her with his circle. She ate another heart out of her bag. Two left, counting the one in the locket. Then she finished healing herself. The air had cooled enough that her fire resistance kept her safe, even if it was still very hot. Then she smiled up at where Crucifect still hung in the air. Wait, she said. Is this actually your full extent, though? I mean I said I wasnt judgemental, but wow, okay. The roar that Crucifect gave in answer must have shaken the lowest stones of the nearby bridge. Impudent whelp! Insignificant worm! Hey, dont be upset. Your full extent is cute. He dove toward her, and she held her sword at the ready. She hadnt hit him with as many [Energy Drain]s as she wanted. He had to know that he was running her out of resources, even if he didnt know just how much [Bloodfire] she could make with her gathered hearts. But with only two hearts left, it was now or never. Crucifect swooped down toward her. His neck glowed with inner red light as he breathed a pillar of dragonfire down onto the ground beneath him, one set to overtake her in only moments. Instead of dodging by throwing herself away from her sword, she tried to do the unexpected: she charged forward, running toward the edge of the flames and then hurling her sword upward with a [Mighty Strike] that pushed her flat into the ground below her. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The sword crossed the distance between them in an instant, then buried itself in his neck the counterforce pushed her down onto her back and flattened her against the ground. Crucifect let out a sharp wail, as his firebreath ceased just as it reached her, the last remnants of his [Bloodfire]-draining flames washing over her and scorching her skin. She drew her lockets last heart, the skygorger heart, into her hand, then consumed it as the flames cleared and she finished regenerating. Crucifect slammed into the ground before her as she stood, spinning to face her, then charge toward her. One heart left. Ashtoreth faced him, but didnt throw herself out of his path by pushing on her sword. Instead she waited. Crucifect rushed forward, a deep red glow emanating from his neck and burning in the depths of his throat. As soon as she saw what he was going to do, Ashtoreth dismissed her sword. He drew closer, the ground shaking with his steps as he reared his head to breathe out a deadly gout of dragonfire. His head shot forward, mouth open, flames welling up and Ashtoreth finished conjuring her cannon and shot straight into his open mouth, the bullet tearing its way down his throat and burying itself somewhere in his internals. Crucifect recoiled and skidded to a halt as a high-pitched squeal came from the depths of his throat. Red fire leaked from his jaws as he snapped them shut, and more fire gushed out of the wound that shed made in his neck. Ashtoreth worked the bolt, dispensing her casing onto the ground beside her and glaring at the dragon as he thrashed and screamed in front of her. He was truly out of his mind, now, and acting purely on instincts. Instincts that she knew. The dragon shuddered, tilting his head forward to retch, flames spewing out of his mouth to spread across the ground in front of him. Ashtoreth rushed forward, then took aim as she saw him gain some semblance of control over himself, so that when he snapped his head up to look at her she was standing right in front of him. A slight adjustment of her aim put the barrel of her cannon only feet away from his left eye. She saw the dragons eye widen. She fired, the weapon roaring as the dragons head was knocked back by the impact. She chambered the last round as Crucifect let out a low, pitiful groaning noise, his head swinging back toward her drunkenly, sluggishly. But she knew her dragon anatomy. The angle of her shot had been correct, and what was more promising was that there was no exit wound. Crucifect turned toward herand then collapsed. {You gain 1 [Black Dragon Crucifect Core]; Tier 1 Boss} Ashtoreth took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. Then she began to laugh, and her relief at having survived, having won the fight, became a kind of delirious glee. Dazel soon joined her, streaking out of the forest and across the ground so quickly that he looked like a thin bolt of shadow. Thanks for listening, he said. When I warned you, I mean. When you told me to run headfirst into an inferno of dragonfire? she asked. Come on, Dazelwhat makes you think I wasnt going to do that anyway? Seriously, though, Ashtoreth. I was worried for a second there. Please, she said. Ive got one bullet and one heart left. I pretty much could have fought two dragons at the same time. Say: do you know what St Georges time was? Because mine feels pretty good. Come on, Ashtoreth, Dazel said, his voice becoming stern. You couldve been killed. Uh-huh! she said. She started conjuring another round to load into her cannon. What about it? You keep acting like all of this is trivial, Dazel said. You said you were fighting him just to blow off steam. Is that what this is about? Ashtoreth asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Dazel. Is someone feeling guilty that I put myself in danger after our argument? No! he protested. Its not that, itslook, you still have to fight your sister. Weve got a good plan, here My plan, you mean. but everything is lost if you get yourself killed making a misstep, he said. So can you not risk your life unless its necessary? Definitely! she said. But that was necessary; Pluto is out hunting the humans that I want to save, so were on tight time constraints. Farming a level from random demons would have taken too long. Lookfor all we know, the humans could already be dead. Theyre not, Ashtoreth said firmly. She finished conjuring a second round, loading it into her cannon so that the weapon was full. If they were, I wouldnt still have Frosts buffs on me. And Pluto would have have interrupted us. Okay, fine. That makes sense. She dismissed the cannon and absorbed her [Bloodfire]. Pluto is stubborn, she said. She doesnt give up. She wont change priorities from hunting out the humans I was protecting until long after its clear shes lost their trail. In fact, if she has no idea how to unbreak the antithesis shard that you said you scrambled, then shell want them as captives to interrogate. So weve got time to farm, Dazel said. No, said Ashtoreth. That was the farm. The humans are in trouble, Dazeland I know you disagree with me about saving them, but any significant extra power I can earn now will take too long. Wherever this core gets me, itll have to do. She cast her eyes behind them, away from the floating citadel, past the desolation wrought by the dragon, and toward the hills where shed last seen her Pluto. Im going to loot the boss chest, gain my levels, then somehow find and kill my sister. {You absorb [Black Dragon Crucifect Core]; Tier 1 Boss} {Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You gain 7 levels. You are now level 35.} {You gain 77 DEX, 77 STR, 105 VIT, 91 MAG, 49 PSY, 49 DEF} 61: The REAL Loot is the Gigantic Dragon Corpse! But Also the Boss Chest. {Reaching level 30 has granted you advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} {Reaching level 30 has altered your advancement progression. You will now be granted advancement every 3 levels.} Seven levels, she said. Its time. Look, said Dazel. I know I was saying that it looked like you could take her earlier, but you, ah, successfully talked me out of that notion, boss. You dont have be coy about what you want, Dazel. I dont blame for thinking that I should use the humans as a sacrificehope that they occupy Pluto long enough for me to build more power. Now thats just unfair, he began, I do notokay, well, actually thats pretty spot on. But dont think about what I want, here, think about what you want! I do, she said, flashing him a smile. Very often. Its called ambition. Yeah, sure, pride clan and all, but Ashtoreth, theres a chance they manage to hide from her long enough that you can catch up. If youre close to her level, shes got no chance, right? I just need to build out some [Hellfire] casting, Ashtoreth said. Then were toe to toe. Her casting versus mine, with hers stronger. Her teleportation versus my counterforce motion, with both of us flying. Her super high [Mana] pool from [Spellcasting] versus my endless [Bloodfire] from [Consume Heart]. And her martial abilities versus mine, with mine much stronger. Its a fight I can win. But thats not the fight youre angling for, now, Dazel said. Come on, Ashtoreth: waiting wont put the humans at more risk than going in unprepared will. Tune the odds in your favor. Gain some levels. She shook her head. Plutos a bit silly, but shes not incompetent. Gee, said Dazel. Where have I seen that before? Shes going to find them, Ashtoreth said. Ill grab some hearts from the guards in that citadel, then be on my way. To the system, she said: Ill take [Vampiric Archfiend]... please. {Advance [Vampiric Archfiend]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. This upgrade will count as a [Blood] advancement. Upgrade [Command Infernal] with [Command Undead]: [Command Infernal] will become [Command Profane], which can briefly dominate fiends, demons, devils, and undead. Upgrade your racial flight ability with [Powered Flight]: You can spend [Bloodfire] to greatly increase the strength of your racial flight ability. As with your base racial flight ability, your wings are the focal point of this upgrades power; destroying or harming them will greatly disrupt your flight. Ill take [Powered Flight], please, she said. {You upgrade your racial flight ability with [Powered Flight]} {Reaching level 33 has granted you advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Vampiric Archfiend].} Armament, if you please! Ashtoreth said. Huh? Dazel asked. But Ashtoreth was paying attention to the system, not him: {Advance [Armament]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition]: You halve the time it takes to conjure a round for Rammstein. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Hellfire Blows] Luftschloss now deals profane and fire damage to enemies. Some abilities, like your [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike], will heighten the intensity of the damage. Upgrade [Conjure Armament] with [Armament Speed II]: Quarters the time it takes to conjure an armament. Gosh darn it, she muttered, looking at her options. It wasnt therenot yet at least. I dont get it, said Dazel. Why Armament? Ill take [Armament Speed II], please, she said to the system. {You upgrade your [Conjure Armament] ability with [Armament Speed II]} Good, she said. Hey Dazel, how many [Armament Speed] upgrades are there? One for every armament you can conjure, he said. Why are you still building weapons? Because the best thing for my hellfire is if I can turn my [Strength] into [Magic], somehow. But I didnt get it, not yet. She frowned, then said to the system: Excuse me, but could list my [Armament] progression? {Your [Armament] Progression Path:} [Conjure Luftschloss] [Luftschloss: Counterforce Telekinesis] Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. [Luftschloss: Mighty Blow] [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis] [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder] [Luftschloss: Mighty Strike] [Conjure Rammstein] [Rammstein: Armor Piercing Rounds] [Conjure Armament: Armament Speed I] [Rammstein: Extra Capacity] [Luftschloss: Energy Drain] [Rammstein: Extra Capacity II] [Rammstein: Reserve Ammunition] [Conjure Armament: Armament Speed II] Huh, she said. Five upgrades between Luftschloss and Rammstein, but Ive gotten seven upgrades since Rammstein. Chance of getting a new armament increases the more you dont see it, said Dazel. Itll show up in the next two upgrades. Which are at 39 and 45, she said. Not exactly ideal. Probably the next, if that helps. It does, she said. One level is a lot more reasonable than seven. She looked around and spotted the boss chest standing on the platform before the ruin of the bridge, then grinned. I dont know about you, she said. But Ive got high expectations for the level 50 solo dragon boss loot. Wait a second, Dazel said as she made for the boss chest. Arent you forgetting something? Nope! Youre not going to eat Crucifects heart? he asked. Maybe imitate Sean Connerys voice while you say something about how its the biggest youve seen? Nope! So you dont want the stat bonuses of the level 50 boss? Oh I want them, she said. But Ive got better plans for this massive carcass! Dazel looked from her to the dragon. Right, he said. Sure. Okay. I guess get your Arkenstone on and then lets get moving. She touched the great black chest and heard the lock click before it sprang open. Inside was a smaller, polished chest of black wood lying on a square of felt. She lifted this out of the chest, ran a hand across its smooth surface, then popped it open as well. For a few moments, she simply stared at the contents of the box. Then her eyes widened as she looked down at the sparkling jewel before her. Its beautiful, she said at last. {Ashtoreths Spellfire Ruby} While this ruby is on your person: This ruby can be added to any existing piece of equipment to upgrade it. This changes everything, she said, removing her diadem. She touched the ruby to its front, and the metal of the diadem grew, expanding to create a setting for the gemstone at its center. My hellfire already has a [Mana] draining effect if you count [Energy Drain], she said, putting her diadem back on. This one will make it stronger, though this one doesnt consume the [Mana] to fuel the hellfire. But the spell-burning effect? Thats totally new. And very, very powerful. She conjured a mirror with her glamour, then admired herself in it, tilting her neck so that the jewel could better catch the light. Okay, you were just saying that we need to hurry. Thisll only take a sec. Also, said Dazel. How did you get so good at glamours? Youre extraordinary for someone so youngmirrors are difficult. Ashtoreth began to weave herself a new outfit. The dragon was dead, and there was no reason to be in plate armor anymore. But how to dress for confronting Pluto? Ugh, she said as the pain of her contract began to rise in her body and press against her mind. Dazel had asked her a question, and she was compelled to answer. Irritating, that. A glamour can overwrite reality with something more pleasant, she said. Back in Paradise, I had a lot of realities that were begging to overwritten. My imagination needs exercise, you see. Right, he said. I uh, didnt mean to compel you to answer that. In a few moments shed finished her outfit: a black silk robe that iridesced purple, complete with ornate gold embroidery. I would much appreciate it, Dazel, if you were attentive to our contract. After all, you dont want others to know about it, and my resistance is an obvious tell. Now climb upwere going on a full-blown assault of the citadel. Hold on, Dazel said, hopping onto her back. You just argued with me that we shouldnt do that. Circumstances became more favorable, Ashtoreth said, looking out through the haze toward the fortress floating above the lava lake. She lifted herself into the air with her racial flight. Oh, she said. Thats nice. She glanced over her shoulder. Are you good to hang on back there? I can fly now too, remember? Ill just cling to your collar and try not to put weight on your wings. Great! she said, beaming. Lets go trigger some alarms! Uh, listenAshtoreth. Uh-huh? I just wanted to sayer, well. Well? I shouldnt have pushed you before, he said. She stiffened. Forget about it. When you told me that your secrets werent going to interfere with my plans I should have asked around the question. I should have I dont know. Im keeping secrets, after all. Ive noticed. But really, Dazel, I dont blame you for not trusting an archfiend. And you shouldnt blame me if I dont trust you. Yeah. Dont sound disappointed, she said, scowling. This is the relationship you chose, remember? Right. But then again, I dont know. Youre a curious creature. Whats that supposed to mean? Can that not be a question? she asked, the compulsion slowly rising at the edges of her attention. Oh. Sure. Forget I asked, then. I meant that youre curious because wellbecause I figure that you just need a little love. Dazel made a gagging noise. This lack of trust that leads you to bind me? It came from somewhere. Maybe once I understand you more, Ill understand better why you felt you had to bind my soul to your service. Its very light service, Dazel added quietly. Dazel, theres no downplaying an infernal contract. He sighed. Fair enough. Now hold on tight, she said. Weve got company. Ahead of them, rising over the walls of the citadel, were two tall, slender demons wielding pikes: {Skygorger Demon Level 25 Elite} Only two? Ashtoreth said. Didnt these guys just watch you kill a dragon? Dazel asked. I know, she said. And I must say, I feel insultingly underestimated. 62: With Enemies Like These, I Have Infinite Resources The citadel floated in the air at the center of the lake, a cluster of narrow spires and high ramparts that were clad in matte black steel. Anticipating a trap, Ashtoreth rose high into the air as the skygorger demons took a position some distance out from the walls and began to cast their spells, no doubt within the range of a great many diabolic archers. Rather than conjure her cannon to hopefully pick the skygorgers out the sky, she flew above them with her eyes on the battlements below her. She chose a high rampart with a squad of soldiers atop it, judging it to be the one that was least accessible to the soldiers below and would thus get the least support. Then she dove, conjuring her sword and launching it at the nearest soldier. One of the devils conjured a sparkling dome of green light. Her sword passed through the barrier and was dispelled, but this just meant that it burst into a plume of hellfire that engulfed the pack of soldiers. Once, her hellfire had been little more than a nuisance for the devils, but that was when they were a few levels higher than her. Now she was more than ten levels higher than them. Now, they burned. Their ranks broke as the hellfire of her sword covered their bodies, and their screams filled their air. Her flames drained their stats with [Energy Drain], converting them to more fire so that the flames coating her enemies only grew and grew. She landed a moment later. Soldiers such as these tended to build for [Defense], but the cores from the hive of vivinsects and the dragon had made her too strong now for it to matter. She rushed forward to those who hadnt been stricken by her hellfire blast, easily moving faster than they could follow before forming her claws and shredding through their armor. Soon shed conjured her sword and was laying about her, cutting them down with ease. Arrows from devils further down the rampart sank into her flesh, carrying with them paralytic or damaging magic, but neither was strong enough to slow her down or tax her [Bloodfire] too much. More skygorgers appeared above her, and she answered their spells with her own bolts of hellfire. They concentrated their efforts, throwing blasts of green flame in tandem, but she simply launched herself into the air to avoid them, then landed once more and resumed fighting the devils on the rampart. She cleared the battlement of soldiers, then turned to address the six skygorgers who had gathered as shed fought. She launched her sword and the nearest, and it lurched to one side in midair. Then she braced herself against the battlement and pulled the sword back to her, simultaneously throwing a bolt of hellfire at the demon. It conjured a green barrier to shield itself from the bolt of hellfire, then was impaled by her sword as it returned to her. She caught the bloody blade, threw it further down the rampart, then leapt after it to take a new position as the rest of the demons spells came rushing toward her. The next skygorger demon turned to keep an eye on her sword as it flew past them, but Ashtoreth simply leapt and let the counterforce draw her up into the air, charging it and grabbing a hold of its back, where she sank her claws into its face and pulled away the front of its skull. She caught her sword a moment later, whirled in the air to face the next closest demon, and shouted, Freeze! before launching the blade again to take it through the chest. The rest of the skygorgers fell one after the other as devils rushed to take up supporting positions below them, none of them taking her more than a few moments to bring down. She burst most of their bodies with [Hellfire Consumption] rather than chasing them to the ground, absorbing the fire each time because she was unwilling to stop and collect the hearts. As she dispatched the last of them, she finally heard what shed been wanting to hear since she began: a loud, dull klaxon began to emanate from one of the citadels towers, the warped sound of a horn carrying out across the lake of lava below them. The citadel below was a hive of activity, soldiers and demons now appearing out of seemingly every doorway to line the walls and fill the courtyard. Oh, good, she said, landing on the rampart. She tore three hearts out of devils that shed killed on the rampart, loading each of them into her locket before launching herself into the air. She didnt turn inward to address the growing army of demons, however. Instead she threw herself past the limit of the walls, out over the lake of lava, and let herself begin to fall. Shouldnt you be grabbing some of these hearts! Dazel shouted as the wind rushed by her. Your sister is coming! Priorities! she said, spreading her wings and moving toward the base of the citadel. Whats more important than surviving your sister? Ashtoreth grinned. Beating her, obviously! The citadel was built upon a massive armored scaffolding that flared out to form its airborne foundation. Entrances both small and large dotted this foundation, each of them blocked by a portcullis. Ashtoreth chose one of these portcullises, then landed on it, gripping the gaps in its grating. It had two devil guards: one of them shot an arrow into her belly as she landed, and the other moved to thrust a spear at her. Open it, she commanded the devil with the bow. Her targets eyes grew hazy, and they moved to grab a metal wheel set into one wall and heave. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The portcullis lurched upward an inch. Ashtoreth set her feet onto the lip of the doorway below her, then pushed her hands beneath the bottom of the metal grate and heaved. Another arrow scraped across the top of her skull, and a spear took her in the neck, but soon she heard the sound of snapping chains and a resistance in the portcullis gave way. She slammed it upward to step into the fortress, snapping her attackers spear. A few moments later and she was tearing out the two devils hearts, then launching herself down the corridor beyond them, further into the citadel. Soon she emerged into a vast open area built for readying aerial troops, a room that was little more than runed metal support pillars and a floor. There were only a few dozen soldiers and a few more skygorgers around, but what caught her eye was the devil standing at the center of the room. He wore a heavy-looking set of black plate armor, polished to a mirror sheen and trimmed with gold. Two tall wings filled the air behind him, and in one hand he held a barbed spear made from a single piece of burnt black bone. {Captain Zhorak Level 35 Boss} He was giving orders. Spread out! he shouted to the few other devils in the room with him. Get back! The brat makes corpse explosions! He looked over at Ashtoreth as she landed on the ground nearby and inclined his head in a curt nod. Another child of Pride, he said. Tell me: do you know what this places purpose was before it was taken for this tutorial? Have you any inkling of my true mandate? Sorry! Ashtoreth said, conjuring her sword and letting its tip fall to make a dull boom against the metal floor. Im overleveled for you and Im in a hurry! And honestly, I dont care about the lore. We are evenly matched! Zhorak barked, lowering his spear. Come! Ashtoreth launched her sword at him, kneeling and grabbing at the floor so that her claws scraped against the metal to keep her from being launched backward. Zhorak moved to bat the flying sword out of the air with his spear, and she pulled hard on her sword, launching her forward across the floor and throwing off his timing. She burst her sword a moment later, engulfing both herself and Zhorask in a plume of [Hellfire] as she sped toward him. Think! she commanded. An old trick: she might be able to make Zhorask freeze for a split-second, but if she started him on a train of thought, had him try to consider what she was doing and where she would strike from, hed still be thinking even when the command expired, still be deprived of his instincts for a moment longer. The spearpoint came for her through the flames, and she threw herself beneath it, abandoning any effort at a fighting stance as she slid beneath his attack, then rolled past him while forming the hellfire in the air into her cannon. Zhorasks feet moved perfectly as he reversed his stance and brought the spear around to jab it into her chest. A surge of green power flowed down the length of his spear and into her body, filling her with a deep ache. Then Zhorasks eyes widened. He was staring almost straight into the barrel of her cannon. She fired. The sound of her weapon rang through the great chamber, a thunderous note of finality as Zhorasks head was turned to mist and his body sent flying backward to land and skid across the floor. She reached out with her magical sense and ignited his body with [Hellfire Consumption]. Shed never ignited a boss before, and the results were anything but disappointing. Fire bloomed from the center of the massive chamber, spreading to fill every corner of it and continuing to burn on the floor and rune-carved pillars even after the initial rush of flames subsided. The rooms few other occupants, who had at first been positioning themselves to give ranged support to their commander, then rushing to flee from Ashtoreth once hed been killed, burst into flames, screaming. Ashtoreth laughed as she pulled a heart from her locket and consumed it to replenish her [Bloodfire], then dismissed her cannon, ignited the corpses of those who had fallen in the flames, and rushed to leave the room from the way shed came. Dazel spoke. Okay, good fight and all, but I agree! Ashtoreth chirped as she sped out into the open air again. Shouldnt you be harvesting more hearts? Levelling? Youve got cores! A boss core, even. Youll get the one level you need for another advancement! No time! she said, conjuring her sword so that she could launch it away from her and rush up the walls of the citadel even faster. Hearts first! The small army of soldiers that had been assembling on the ramparts when she left was somewhat scattered once more. Many of them had apparently been called into the depths of the citadel as shed attacked its lower reaches. She chose the most vulnerable rampart, then dove into the midst of its devils and conjured her sword. She struck one devil dead, cleaving them and their spear in half and causing them to burst into a cloud of hellfire that she used to cover herself as she went for the others. This time, though, as she lay about her with the blade, she was sure to stop and tear the heart from everyone she killed, hastily stuffing them into her bag once her locket was full. If she could fill her bag, shed have the resources to counteract the massive [Mana] pool that Pluto had. Then she could spend some time levelling, gain at least one more advancement. Ashtoreth saw the crystal sword with her magical sense as it pierced her cloud of hellfire to strike the ground at her feet. She leapt from the battlement, beating her wings to fly high into the air and reaching out to sense yet more swords shooting toward her. She couldnt dodge in time, not with her flight: she launched her sword away from herself so that the counterforce pushed her back through the air as another of the weapons exploded into a small mountain of ice mid-air. She was in the air and moving fast, and the next two swords that came for her were easier to dodge. She soared over the courtyard below her and landed with her feet against the conical roof of the citadels tallest tower, then looked up into the air at where Pluto floated more than a hundred feet away, seemingly lit a by a floodlight that shone from somewhere behind her. Is this what you wanted? Pluto asked, her voice ringing out across the towers of the citadel. No! Ashtoreth cried. But youve set our stage so perfectly with such a splendid opening act! Pluto said, slowly descending to Ashtoreths level. You, the favoriteand me, the runt. Pluto, just talk to me! But Pluto called the antithesis shard to hover above her palm, the orange splinters glimmering. A trophy most precious to act as our prize! she cried. And the venue? One dark citadel above a burning lake of fire! Her hat rose and flew off her head, spinning around her and flipping so that she could draw her baton from its depths. She gave it a twirl and a spotlight shone down on where Ashtoreth stood against the tallest tower. Talk to me, Ashtoreth said as Pluto came closer. Please? But Plutos insane grin never faltered, her teeth gleaming in the light. Be dazzled! Be amazed! Come from here, and come from away! One sister rises, one sister falls! Two champions battleand winner. Takes. All! 63: A Screaming Sibling Deathmatch of Ice and Fire Ashtoreth immediately absorbed every core that she had, sure that the boss had to grant at least two levels by itself. {Ding! Ding! Ding! You gain 3 levels. You are now level 38.} {You gain 33 DEX, 33 STR, 45 VIT, 39 MAG, 21 PSY, 21 DEF} {Reaching level 36 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} She didnt bother to read anything new, but rather quickly chose an upgrade she knew would be useful: {You upgrade your [Hellfire] ability with [Hellfire Efficiency]} She didnt even read the system text as it flitted by her attention, instead focusing on her sister. Pluto swooped down and launched her crystal swords at Ashtoreth, who leapt from the tower toward the front of the citadel as two swords burst against the roof where shed just stood. She twisted midair to face her sister again, but she had no intention of attacking. Instead she used her [Mighty Strike] to launch the sword toward Pluto and send her rocketing backward. She shot out over the lava lake to fly parallel to the bridge that ran away from the Citadel, her vision darkening with the force of her acceleration before she got her bearings, turned in the air, and flew for the cliffside. Pluto was the faster flyer, and had teleportation, but with any luck Ashtoreth could still throw herself faster in a moment than Pluto could travel. She needed more time. She landed on the cliffside where crucifects body still lay, conjuring her sword and spinning to see that Pluto streaking toward her from the direction of the citadel, only seconds away. She reached into her bag and ate one of her hearts, then readied her sword as her sister came upon her. Pluto wasted no time. Crystal swords rained down on Ashtoreth from above, but she was getting a better sense of her sisters aim. In a few brief seconds all of the blades had been thrown, and with her flight, her counterforce, and by pushing against the ground, Ashtoreth had evaded all of them, if just barely. Then Pluto descended a little further and reached into her top hat and withdrew something Ashtoreth didnt expectan incandescent orb of light that looked exactly like the spell shed charged earlier. Asthoreths eyes widened as Pluto let out a laugh and threw the orb toward her. She spun to get her swords position right, then pushed herself away from it as hard as she could and rushed over the ground as Plutos spell exploded behind her. She was too slow. The spell overtook her, first as a ripple of frigid air and then as a massive wave of azure hellfrost that began to encase her from the feet up. In the instant she felt it touch her, she twisted and conjured two plumes of hellfire from her palms, burning away enough of the frost that she could beat her wings and pull herself freeat which point a crystal sword pierced her through the abdomen and pinned her back under the frost. Then it burst, thoroughly encasing her in ice up to her neck as the world around her was coated in azure hellfrost. She struggled, but in vain. Pluto landed before her a moment later, appraised the ice that imprisoned her from the neck down, then spun her baton and conjured even more. Hellfrost grew up around them, until they were enclosed in the small cavity of a frozen pyramid. Im getting deja-vu, she said to Ashtoreth, flashing her a smile. She lifted a white-glowed hand and made a fist, and Ashtoreth winced as needles of frost grew into her body from every direction. But this time, neither your sword nor your cat will save you. Ashtoreth sucked in a breath with great effort. Something to say? Pluto asked. I love you, she wheezed. Pluto rolled her eyes in annoyance. It doesnt matter, Ashtoreth. It doesnt matter that you were my favorite, or that you want to be friends, or if you love me. Maybe you learned this little life lesson too softly, but I had to learn it the hard way over and over: it doesnt matter what you want, it matters what you can force! If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ashtoreth gritted her teeth and moaned in pain as the spikes of ice drove deeper into her body. She sucked in a breath, then said, I love you. Stop it! Pluto said. You lost! Tell me how to fix the shard or Ill make sure youre broken when I give you back to our father! I lo Pluto slapped across the face. Stop it! she said. You stop! If you really cared about me youd have taken me with you, not started asking once I was in your way! Im sorry, Pluto, Ashtoreth said. Then she raised her head and flashed her sister a devious grin. But hadnt you heard? Plutos face became a quizzical scowl, and Ashotreth said, Love thaws. Then she reached into the frost below her and ignited Crucifects corpse. The world grew bright as the dragons body burst into an incandescent wave of purple fire that vaporized Plutos ice and overtook the two sisters in a moment, immersing them in a world of heat and light. Ashtoreth tried to lunge for her sister and grab her as soon as she was freedbut Pluto was gone, just a few wisps of glittering shadow that were eaten away by her fire. She conjured her sword, drawing more hellfire into herself to fill her [Bloodfire] and heal her wounds. Then she planted her sword and pushed herself into the air to hover just above the inferno and search the sky for Pluto. It was easy to find her. She was charging another incandescent orb of azure energy some three hundred feet to Ashtoreths right, hovering above the place where Crucifect had obliterated the trees of the forest. Ashtoreth frowned. Her sister should have been hurt by the enormous infernobut somehow shed protected herself. How charmingly bold! she said. How fittingly spectacular! But weve yet to reach the grand finale! The orb of glowing energy streaked toward Ashtoreth, who pulled on her sword to dive back into the heart of the inferno, then drew the hellfire around her into as dense a sphere as she could manage. There was a flash of azure. A ripple of cold emanated outward from the center of the inferno, and Ashtoreth felt her flames dying around her as Plutos spell negated them. Soon she stood in a circle of fire that was tiny compared to the inferno shed created, looking up through her flames at where Pluto was charging yet another spell. She had be getting closer to empty, now. She waited until Pluto launched her second spell, then threw herself off her sword, away toward the citadel shed just fled. As the world was plunged into freezing cold and coated in frost behind her, she flew past the missing portion of the bridge that Crucifect had disintegrated with his spell to land on the crumbled stone edge of the remainder. Her sister had to be running low on mana. She could fly too quickly, could disengage too easily but once she was out of resources, that would be it. Pluto would want to finish the fight quickly, now. Ashtoreth watched as her sister descended to hover in the air above her, then cocked her head. Im impressed, she cried. Here Im the magician, but youve brought your own bag of tricks! Nonetheless, I daresay mine runs deeper! Shall I make your hope a part of my next vanishing actby telling you that I havent spent even a fifth of my [Mana]? Ashtoreth felt a chill. Perhaps Pluto was lying but somehow she doubted it. It was true that [Spellcasting] could grant one a very deep pool of [Mana], but a fifth? Efficiency talents could combine with high resources to create truly stupendous reserves, but even that couldnt account for Plutos claims. Her sister must have had some kind of synergy that Ashtoreth couldnt guess atif she was telling the truth. I see you see your predicament, Pluto said. You may be a star, but seven levels just arent enough. Any more tricks up the sleeves of that glamour youre wearing? As if on cue, a noise reached them from across the lake of lava, a deep, echoing groanone like the creaking of an overburdened steel girder before it gives way, but amplified a hundredfold. Ashtoreth smiled and let out a single laugh as she began to conjure her sword again. Yeah, actually, she said. Just one. The fire shed lit in the citadels foundation had finished burning through its incredibly robust, reinforced enchantments. The enchantments that kept it in the air. A sound like a snapping cable echoed out over the lake of fire. The Citadel began to fall from the sky. 64: Ashtoreth’s Inferno Pluto jerked her gaze toward the distant citadel as it broke away from the stone bridge connecting it to the cliffside and began to fall out of sight. Ashtoreths sword finished conjuring a moment later, and she took advantage of her sisters momentary distraction to launch herself back toward the citadel with a [Mighty Strike], flying fast through the air as the stone bridge rushed by beneath her. Ahead of her, she saw a few winged devils who had spread their wings to glide out over the lake, abandoning the sinking citadel. But there was nowhere for them to land: the citadel had floated over the center of the lake of fire, and they drifted away to their doom. She knew from experience that Pluto would be right on her heels, would catch up to her in only seconds despite the speed provided by her [Mighty Strike]. And she needed time. She passed over the broken end of the stone bridge just as the citadel fell into the lava below and sent out a molten wave. Ashtoreth dove as the citadel began to sink, watching the flightless infernals on its walls and in its courtyard scurry about as if they could avoid their certain doom. But they couldnt. Almost all infernals had fire resistance. Astoreth had a natural affinity for hellfire, and so she had higher fire resistance than most. But resisting a little bit of the heat of the lava was nothing but a momentary stay of execution, and the spells that Ashtoreth had burnt away had protected the citadel from the worst of the lakes convection. Her [Defense], combined with her fire resistance, might be enough to survive close to the surface of the lake. But the poor soldiers below her? She dove straight into the citadels courtyard, the air around her rising to a furnace heat as she did so. She landed on a devil, slamming them into the ground and then executing them with a claw to burst them into hellfire before conjuring her sword and looking up into the air. Pluto hung above the citadel, charging another orb of azure light. Try me, Ashtoreth hissed. Around her, soldiers screamed as the heat became too much, their skin beginning to blister as the air filled with the scent of their burning flesh. She wanted to throw some hellfire bolts at selected targets, burst their corpses to fill the courtyard and then the whole of the sinking citadel with fire. But she had to keep an eye on her sister. Pluto finished gathering the power of her spell, then launched it down into the courtyard toward her. Ashtoreth knelt and launched her sword into the air, where it intercepted the flying orb and caused a massive explosion of frost like a firework to blossom in the air above them. Shards of ice rained down into the courtyard, steaming as they fell, but they did little to lower the mounting temperature. She absorbed the hellfire shed created by killing the first soldier, then conjured her sword once more. She kept her eyes on her sister. Pluto vanished into a cloud of glittering illusory birds, and Ashtoreth didnt bother wheeling about to see where she reappeared, instead throwing herself away from her sword in a random direction to avoid the attack she knew was coming. She twisted backward as she flew toward one of the citadels walls, then watched as a playing card spun through the air to strike the ground where shed been standing and explode into a tangle of conjured chains. Her eyes followed the cards trajectory back to where her sister stood on one of the ramparts, and she saw another card spinning through the air toward her and leapt up to avoid it as it burst into another tangle of chains. Her sister was trying to bind her without using ice. She called herself back to her sword to avoid another one of the cards, then threw herself across the courtyard once again as Pluto launched two of her crystal swords. But Ashtoreth was sure to throw herself behind the frozen structures that grew where the swords struck, giving herself a moment of cover from her sister. Then something wonderful happened. The soldiers began to die. It started below her, in the bowels of the citadel. She felt their lives snuffing out with her magical sense, and immediately burst their corpses with her [Hellfire Consumption]. There was no sense in waiting: if the heat of the lake burned them to ash, there would be no igniting them. She lunged for a devil who was writhing in pain on the ground nearby, then punched a clawed hand through their helmet. Their corpse burst just as Pluto appeared over the edge of the frost wall and launched another sword at Ashtoreth. She threw herself to one side, and the sword struck in the middle of the pool of hellfire that Ashtoreth had created out of the devils corpse. Hellfrost and hellfire negated one another so that a small pillar of azure frost was all that resulted from Plutos strike. Then one of the devils in the courtyard finished cooking to death, and Ashtoreth turned them into an explosion of hellfire. Another followed almost an instant later on the ramparts, and their ignition caused a chain reaction. Plutos head snapped up to where a violet plume of fire rose into the sky, and Ashtoreth could see the purple light reflected in her eyes. She looked back down at Ashtoreth, uncertainty dawning on her face. Ashtoreth grinned. More of the soldiers around them fell, and she burst their corpses, too. The world around them became a blaze of violet as the citadel continued to sink, the courtyard tilting. The temperature in the air around her rose, but at the same time it affected her less and less. As long as enough of the heat was from her own inferno, and not the lake, she was immune to it. Within a few more moments the last of the trapped enemies had died, burned away by the runoff increase in temperature. Ashtoreth laughed. As long as she stood in her own hellfire while it was further protected by the lava, Pluto would find it immensely difficult to hurt her with anything. That meant she had the best chance she was going to get to level. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The system was fair: it knew who had killed the soldiers, here, even if Ashtoreth hadnt done so directly. She absorbed the cores that shed gotten from burning the army in the citadel alive. All of them. All four hundred of them. {Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You gain 10 levels. You are now level 48.} {You gain 88 DEX, 88 STR, 120 VIT, 104 MAG, 56 PSY, 56 DEF} {Reaching level 39 has granted you advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Hellfire].} Armament, she said, her voice drowned out by the roar of the flames. {Advance [Armament]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition]: You halve the time it takes to conjure a round for Rammstein. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Hellfire Blows] Luftschloss now deals profane and fire damage to enemies. Some abilities, like your [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike], will heighten the intensity of the damage. Gain the [Conjure Armament] ability: Spend a high amount of [Bloodfire] to conjure a customized armament whose nature you will decide upon gaining this ability. You can only have one of your armaments conjured at a time. She laughed, then chose: {Gained [Conjure Armament] ability.} {Choose: close-range, long-range, or spellcasting for your [Conjure Armament] ability.} Spellcasting! she cried. {Concentrate on the form you would like your long-range weapon to take and form it in the space before you. This form will be difficult to change once chosen.} It was all curves, her scythe: a gently curved handle meeting an ornate, oversized blade that was glossy black mingled with a translucent, glassy purple. {Name your weapon} Wanderlust. {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options. Retained options will be queued to appear on your normal list of [Armament] upgrades.} Upgrade [Conjure Wanderlust] with [Wanderlust: Long Harvest]: You triple the range at which you can absorb hellfire while you wield Wanderlust, and you no longer need to draw hellfire into your body to absorb it. You can also consume hearts within this range without having to touch them. Upgrade [Conjure Wanderlust] with [Wanderlust: Might is Magic]: Half your [Strength] is counted as [Magic] while you wield Wanderlust, but only for the purpose of spell efficacy, not maximum [Bloodfire] or [Bloodfire] regeneration. Upgrade [Conjure Wanderlust] with [Wanderlust: Bloodfire Well]: Your maximum [Bloodfire] is doubled while you wield Wanderlust. This does not increase the rate at which [Bloodfire] regenerates. She read the upgrades quickly, though she knew what the might and well upgrades did: resource doubling and strength conversion were common to all spellcasting armaments. [Wanderlust: Long Harvest] was perfect. In fact, they were all perfect. Ill take might is magic, please! she whispered. {You gain the [Conjure Wanderlust] ability} [Conjure Wanderlust]: Spend a high amount of [Bloodfire] to form your spellcasting focus, Wanderlust. {You upgrade your [Conjure Wanderlust] ability with [Wanderlust: Might is Magic]} {Reaching level 42 has granted you advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} [Hellfire], please! Ashtoreth said, eagerness growing inside her as she gave her scythe an experimental twirl. {Advance [Hellfire]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Penetration] Your hellfire now ignores an amount of your enemys highest resistance against it equal to twice your level. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Rune]: You can emblazon a hellfire rune onto a surface, which you may detonate to create a blast of hellfire at will. [Bloodfire] spent to cast this ability is reserved and cannot be replenished until the rune has been detonated or dismissed. You may only have a third of your [Bloodfire] reserved in this manner. Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Efficiency II]: The cost of conjuring hellfire is reduced by 40%. Efficiency, please! she said exuberantly. She dismissed her scythe and conjured her cannon as she read the new options. {You upgrade your [Hellfire] ability with [Hellfire: Hellfire Efficiency II]} {Reaching level 45 has granted you advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Hellfire].} [Armament], please! {Advance [Armament]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Conjure Rammstein] with [Rammstein: Rapid Ammunition]: You halve the time it takes to conjure a round for Rammstein. Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Hellfire Blows]: Luftschloss now deals profane and fire damage to enemies. Some abilities, like your [Mighty Blow] and [Mighty Strike], will heighten the intensity of the damage. Upgrade [Conjure Wanderlust] with [Wanderlust: Long Harvest]: You triple the range at which you can absorb hellfire while you wield Wanderlust, and you no longer need to draw hellfire into your body to absorb it. You can also consume hearts within this range without having to touch them. She didnt need to read the list to choose. Ill take the harvest, please! she said, conjuring a round to load into her cannon. {You upgrade your [Conjure Wanderlust] ability with [Wanderlust: Long Harvest]} {Reaching level 48 has granted you advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Armament].} But there was no need: shed choose when she had more time. Lava had begun to seep in through the portcullis of the citadels front gate, and Ashtoreth decided it was time to leave. She loaded the last round into her cannon, dismissed it to conjure her scythe, then rose through the air. Both her added stats from levels and the bonus [Magic] from wielding her scythe meant that she flew much faster, now. It would be harder for Pluto to catch herand easier to catch Pluto. She found her sister hovering in the air above the crumbled end of the bridge. Sensible enough: it would have been impossible to fight Ashtoreth inside the inferno, but shed known the flames would subside eventually. Ashtoreth rose until she was level with her sister. She relished the fear she saw in Plutos eyes. You were right! she called out. Her grip on her scythe tightened. We really hadnt reached our grand finale! 65: The Grand Finale Pluto clapped her gloved hands together in front of her. Bravo! she said. Is Ashtoreth ready to fight at last? Because all youve done so far is run from medancing from trick to trick. But Ashtoreth could see through her sisters performance, even at this distance. Plutos voice wavered. I know youre terrified, Ashtoreth said. And you should be. Youre not my match, Pluto. Pluto brandished her magic rod. Youre just like all the othersunderestimating me! Pluto! Ashtoreth said warningly. Give me the shard! You think Im not used to be the underdog? Pluto shouted. Ill never give up! It wouldnt matter if the odds were impossibleIll find a way to beat you! Youll see! Ashtoreth furrowed her brow. Okay, she said. But Pluto, youre still 3 levels higher than me. Quiet! she shouted. Youre the one who got all the training! All the attention! All the love! It wasnt love, Plutolisten. Youre strong. Theyve kept you alive all this time because they know youre strong. Because you try so hard, because you fight no matter what. You think I dont know that? she asked. That its all a game? That its just for results? I think Id rather they really hated me than that they make me suffer just to motivate me. They dont deserve you! Ashtoreth said. He doesnt deserve you! She began to float closer to her sister, taking one hand off her scythe to hold it outstretched. Choose freedom. Choose yourself. You can suffer for them until you die for them, or you can take my hand and see what comes next. Join me. But Pluto was shaking her head. Havent you been paying attention? she asked. Father wants Earth more than hes ever wanted an outer realm, maybe more than hes ever wanted anything except the throne itself. Nobody has ever gotten the chance to give him what we can give him! What I will give him! We owe him nothing! Ashtoreth snarled. Least of all to go to some world weve spent our whole lives studying so that we can we can wound ourselves, scar our souls by doing to them everything we do to each other. Pluto, she pleaded, drawing closer to her sister, her hand still outstretched. I want you to think of the worst thing that youve ever done. Dont! What were going to do to themwell make them raise their children the way we were raised. Stop it! Hurt each other the way that we do Stop it! Pluto shrieked. Its the way of the cosmos, Ashtoreth: the strong eat the weak. Dont pretend you dont know. The humans are swine. Weak, pathetic, numerous. Necks to be collared, souls to be fed to the Pits. Ashtoreths grip on her scythe tightened. Dont. Your betrayal only ends one way, said Pluto. And if I join you, Ill be the one he kills to teach you your lesson. She held her hands out before her and began to charge another one of her massive hellfrost blasts. So no, Ashtoreth. I wont be joining youand I wont be losing, either. Pluto. She gritted her teeth, her eyes gleaming with a fierce intensity as the light of her spell carved shadows on her face. I told you before, Ashtoreth, she said. The wake of my passage will rearrange constellations! It doesnt matter who stands Then, midway through charging her spell, she vanished into a cloud of ethereal, glittering crows. Ashtoreth, spun, searching the sky for her sister, then spotted Pluto above her an instant later. Shed abandoned her larger frost spell and quickly conjured several of her crystal swords, all of which now sped through the air toward Ashtoreth. It was a well-constructed ambush: cutting off mid-sentence, spending mana to charge the wrong spell, and launching the swords as soon as she came out of her teleport. None of it mattered. Ashtoreths new scythe was a much better spellcasting focus than her horns were, and she was combining both to give her an incredibly fine level of control over her hellfire. She swiped the scythe through the air and conjured two patches of dense violet fire in the path of the swords, two flashes of violet light, and the spell-eating effect granted by her ruby was enough to fray the magic of the conjured swords enough that they detonated harmlessly in the air between her and Pluto. She was already charging forward even before the projectiles met in the air, beating her wings to rush toward her sister with her claws formed. Pluto surged backward, retreating as she threw two more swords, but Ashtoreth swatted them out of the air just like she had the first two. She charged a hellfire blast as she chased her sister, dodging a few haphazardly conjured and tossed shards of ice before throwing her searing missile at a point behind Pluto. Pluto dove to one side to avoid the explosion of hellfire, and Ashtoreth spun her scythe, quickly gathering the flames into another searing bolt that she threw at her sister. Pluto barely dodged the second blast, rushing toward Ashtoreth instead of away from her. Ashtoreth took her opportunity, surging forward to catch her sister in the air, sinking one clawed hand into Plutos ribs while she dismissed her scythe to engulf them both in hellfire than she used to begin forming her cannon with her other hand. Pluto snarled, then dissipated into a flock of shimmering birds. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Ashtoreth quickly wheeled about, searching for her sister. Pluto reappeared a moment later, directly below Ashtoreth, pointing her baton. But Ashtoreths cannon had finished forming in her hands. She fired the weapon just as their gazes met, and the sound of thunder accompanied a blast of light from the muzzle. For just a moment, the air in front of Pluto seemed to crack, as if an invisible pane of glass had become visible by shattering. Her sister was sent careening through the air, down toward the lake of fire below. Ashtoreth dove after her, dismissing her cannon and forming its hellfire into her scythe once more. She collided with a dazed Pluto a moment later, snarling and trying to sink her claws into her sisters face as she bore her further downward toward the lake of fire. Pluto became nothing but a flock of dissipating birds again a moment later, and again Ashtoreth wheeled around to find her sister. She spotted Pluto reforming on the stone platform of the bridge below them, then rushed down toward her, considering how best to approach killing her sister. Shed seen the air warp and fragment as her shot was deflected. Pluto had some kind of mana barrier protecting her. That was why shed been fine after the ignition of the dragons corpse, and why shed been able to fight so close to the inferno of the sinking citadel. It had to be a powerful one if it was able to absorb so much damage. She launched a hellfire bolt at Pluto as she dove, and her sister responded by conjuring a thick wall of hellfrost to absorb the power of the spell. The initial wall was followed by several more, so Pluto was encased in an icy pyramid. But with three spinning swipes of her scythe, Ashtoreth conjured the hellfire that she needed to gouge out a segment of the wall of hellfrost. Pluto was inside charging her massive frost spell, and as Ashtoreth dove into the pyramid to engage with her claws, she teleported away again. As Pluto became another flock of glittering birds, Ashtoreth converted her scythe into hellfire which she used to conjure her sword, spinning to search for Pluto and seeing her reform further along the bridge. She pushed the sword away from her to throw herself at Pluto, dismissing it once she had enough momentum and beginning to conjure her cannon. Pluto threw a half dozen shards of hellfrost at her, but Ashtoreth threw a single firebolt at one of the shards, destroying it and diving through the gap shed made to slam into her sister and bear Pluto to the ground. Pluto teleported once more as Ashtoreths cannon finished forming, and she brought it around to find Pluto forming on the bridge further behind her. She fired, and once again her round struck Plutos reactive barrier, sending her sister tumbling back across the bridge. But Ashtoreth had dismissed the rifle and begun to conjure her sword as soon as shed seen the flash from the muzzle. With her free hand, she conjured a heart out of her locket and consumed it to make sure she had enough [Bloodfire].... She took careful aim across more than a hundred meters, trying to judge where Pluto would finally come to her feet. She launched her sword with a [Mighty Strike] as soon as it formed in her hands, sending it tearing through the air as she was sent careening backward, off the bridge and into the air above where the citadel had sunk. She righted herself a moment later, consuming another heart to rush toward the bridge, searching. She didnt spot her sister, and so she wheeled and looked about her, trying to see where shed teleported to. Finally she looked at the distant cliffside, wondering if perhaps Pluto had fled. Then she spotted her. She dove, soaring toward the cliffside as fast as she could. Her sword had stricken Pluto, knocking her off the ledge where Crucifects spell had blasted the bridge away and then impaling her against the cliffside. Ashtoreth closed in on her sister, ready to conjure a new weapon, but there was no need. The blood-soaked sword had taken Pluto through the chest, caving in her ribcage and destroying her lungs and heart. Even so, Pluto was struggling to use her racial flight ability to pull herself along the length of the blade, straining to get off it. Her teeth were gritted, and blood ran from her mouth. Her eyes, filled with hatred, locked on to Ashtoreths. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. Then she burst into a cloud of blue ether and dissipated. {You gain [Archfiend Pluto Core]; Tier 1} {Warning! You acquire an antithesis shard} Ashtoreth stared at the bloodied cliffside for an indeterminate amount of time. Then she rose, turned, and saw a polished black chest resting on the remnants of the stone bridge. She floated to land in front of it, staring at it and wondering what to do. She opened the chest. Inside was Plutos glitter-coated top hat. Ashtoreth didnt bother identifying the hat. Instead she simply closed the lid, then slumped down and sat with her back to the chest. She drew her legs toward her. Dazel glided down to land beside her a moment later. He stared at her, quiet for a moment. You okay? he asked softly. Her voice was hoarse. Why couldnt it have just been the dragon? she asked. Why Pluto? Am I going to have to she cut off and shook her head. Kill them all. If it helps she was probably soul-tethered. Even if they said she wasnt an archfiend is a big investment. I know, Ashtoreth said despondently. So either shes dead and gone forever or shes going back to Hell. Back to her mother and our father. As a failure. Oh. Ashtoreth pressed her head into her knees for a moment. The other five went straight to Earth, she said. Once all is said and done here, well return to the moment the invasion begins. And even if we act as fast as possible, theyll all be mass murderers by the time we find them. I wont be able to convert them. Or spare them. She let out a humorless laugh. A few of them dont even deserve it, thats for sure. Maybe, Dazel said. With the right tools, we can imprison them until the war is done. Its actually the best option, considering theyll almost certainly be tethered. Yeah, Ashtoreth said, her voice thin. Come here, Dazel said. He nuzzled her side, and she reached down to pet him, finally picking him up and pulling him close. You did it, Ashtoreth, Dazel said. Youve got the shard, and you finished the tutorial. The humans are still alive. Probably. Frost is, she said, checking her buffs. She frowned. Were you just trying to cheer me up? Uh. Yes? Look, you know more about looking on the bright side than me. Its pretty surprising they survived. Theres a silver lining to every cloud, she said tiredly. Then she rose, Dazel still in her arms and shrugged. Sucks about Pluto, but hey? What are you gonna do? Cant save em all. ...Yeah, Dazel said quietly. I was born for war. Im built to handle the loss of even those closest to me, let alone my enemies. Yeah. I want to kill my father, Dazel, she said, her voice emotionless. But I cant see how. Even if everything I want comes to pass, the best I can do is keep him away. Hes too powerful. No-one even knows how to become that powerful anymore. I I just want to kill him so badly, but I never can. Never say never, Dazel said quietly. Just keep going, Ashtoreth. Who knows? Maybe the further you go, the more things will fall into place. She eyed him. Dazel. Mm? he said. He snuggled against her chest. You know its quite cosy, getting carried up front instead of riding in back. I might take a nap while you go looking for the humans. Dazel. Mm? Who are you? A pause. Me? Im just a lowly, cretinous demon from an unspecified crevice in the Pit of Sorrow. He yawned. Good with magic and runes, though. Ashtoreth sighed and rose into the air. Lets go find the humans, she said. We have a lot of preparations to get through. 66: The Silver Lining Here is that I Get to BE A Police Car! {The tutorial boss has been slain by the following creatures:} {Vampiric Archfiend Ashtoreth Level 48} {The tutorial is now finished. An interactive point has been created on a cliffside overlooking a ruined bridge that once led into the center of the lake of fire. As you are a victorious participant, interacting with this point will grant you rewards based on your performance.} {All remaining participants will be ejected into normal time and returned to their previous location in 23:51:31} Ashtoreth read the message for the second time since shed taken off to search the land below her. 24 hours. That was her time limit for manipulating the tutorial using the shard. As she flew, she created flares by sending up plumes of her hellfire. Surely the humans would have seen the systems message. If they were underground. theyd know to surface and look for her. I need about an hour to use the shard, Ashtoreth said to the cat she cradled in the arm that wasnt holding her scythe. Do you need any time to repair it? Mm? Dazel said, blinking awake. Huh? Did you fall asleep? Weve been in the air for less than five minutes. Its just, youve got to understand, Your Highness, Dazel said blearily. Its this body. Its naturally predisposed to certain things. Seagulls are made to squawk, pigs are made to roll in shit, and cats, it seems, are made to laze. Its very easy to stop caring about everything except getting comfortable. I cant wait to see how good it feels to stretch once Ive spent a few hours just lying around. The shard, Dazel. How long for you to repair it? A couple seconds. She scowled. Well thats good, I suppose. You suppose? I dont know somehow I wanted you to have to do more toiling. Those are just your fiendish instincts kicking in, he said, yawning. Ive got my nature, youve got yours. She met a few shearbats and even a skygorger, but they were easy enough to deal with. She was flying with her scythe out because its [Might is Magic] upgrade made her move faster, and a single fireblast with her current stats generated a fireball large enough to fill an auditorium. The fire was so hot that even the elite skygorgers couldnt survive it. They would live through the initial blast, then burn to death as her [Vampiric Flames] upgrade drained their stats to sustain the fire that burned all over their bodies. She began her search with the small valley where shed first lost them as Pluto attacked, then scanned the territory around it. It wasnt long before she saw a tall plume of Hunters black-streaked white fire rise into the air in response to one of her flares. She spotted the three of them through the trees on a hillside, then rushed down to land before them. Youre alive! she said, beaming at all of them. No, youre alive, Kylie rasped, crossing her arms. You sound a little disappointed, Ashtoreth said. Im just saying its more surprising, Kylie said. We figured youd been killed by the smaller, more annoying teenager. The one that inexplicably dressed like a magician. While I did lose that fight, I managed to come back okay thanks the antithesis shard. And then I killed the dragon, and then I killed the citadelthe whole citadel! And then I finished my sister. Yeah? said Kylie. That was your sister? I confess I detected a slight resemblance. She said she was my sister, Ashtoreth said. Anyway, now we can continue arguing about my plan. Yeah, sure, whatever, said Kylie. Hey, is there an explanation forthcoming on the magician thing? Because that sort of warrants explaining. Listen, Frost said. Its not that it isnt an important conversation, but is there any reason we cant talk about all of this later? Frost asked. Huh? Ashtoreth said. You dont want to talk about it now? What point is there in talking about it? Kylie rasped. You already made it clear that we dont have a choice. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Well what else is there to do? Ashtoreth asked. Ashtoreth should be searching for survivors, Frost said. And theres a day left before everyone gets expelled, right? Including the demons? Right, Ashtoreth said. Frosts jaw was a hard line. I dont want to be up here talking, he said. I want you in the air like you promised you would be, and I want as few of the infernals to make it home as possible. Sounds like the right course of action, Hunter said, his voice quiet and firm. Kylie looked from them to Ashtoreth. Yeah, okay, she said at last. Lets go make sure as many of the demons and devils get what they deserve as we can. But maybe just a quick explanation for the magician thing before we get started. Oh, Ashtoreth said, realization dawning on her. You want revenge. Okay. You do flyovers to find anyone whos left, said Frost. And while I hate the deception, you should hide your demonic features so that Uh. Ashtoreth raised a finger. Hold on Fiendish features, he said, annoyance clear in his voice, so that any humans who spots you in the air will at least trust you enough to reveal themselves. And look, this might sound silly to you, but maybe make a siren along with some blue and red lights with your glamours. People will recognize the sound of a police car or an ambulance, its basically universal. Ashtoreth grinned. I get to be a police fiend? she said. What a horrifying concept, Dazel said. I mean, the infernal slavers are bad enough, but actual cops? Sure, Ashtoreth, Frost said loudly. If it gets you in the air with lights and sirens, Im officially making you a police fiend. Oh-my-gosh! she cried, immediately forming a claw and weaving it through the air to put herself in a black and purple police uniform, complete with an octagonal hat. Time for some first response! Okay, Ashtoreth, said Frost. I dont care if you enjoy yourself, but take the job seriously and approach any humans with tact. Am I on mute, or something? Kylie asked. Lookthe ultimate enemy who was one step above the literal dragon was a kid who pulled weapons of a sparkly top hat. That wasnt noticeable to anyone else? Are you sure you dont want to come with me? Ashtoreth asked Frost. I could carry you, and it might help No, Ashtoreth, said Frost. His expression darkened. Look, I dont know if you can understand this but I need to be out there, right now. She shrugged. All right. You know youll still be in danger, though. Well be fine, Hunter said coolly. We fought another hive queen, remember? Frost said. Kylies [Energy Drain] practically immobilized it and lowered its [Defense] so much that my shots burned its guts out. Theyre still underground because we didnt want to draw attention, said Hunter. But Kylie raised some of the bugs, too. Great! said Ashtoreth. She felt better about leaving them knowing that Kylie had gotten some of her army back. They could sweep through the forest with disposable minions, Frosts heals, and Hunters ability to teleport them away if things got tough. Get going, said Frost. Theres no need to waste any more time here. And do you know where the interaction point is? The one the system was talking about? Mm, said Dazel, shifting in her arm. Itll be on the cliff where that big bridge was. Stick Dazel there, said Frost. He can inform anyone who finds it while were away. Great idea! Ashtoreth said. What? Why, Dazel whined. Id rather go with you, boss. But would you be useful if you go with me? Ashtoreth asked. I dont want you to argue about this, Dazel, Frost said. Okay, hold on, Dazel said, raising his head to look at Frost. Does that ever actually avert arguments in your personal life? Because I feel like it shouldnt. Just go. You could save a life if someone stumbles upon you and you show them how to take cover from the remaining demons, or even just convince them to wait for us. I didnt say I wouldnt be useful, Dazel said. I said I didnt want to. Do it, Dazel. Yes, fine, okay, he said, rising out of her arm and flapping his wings to hover in the air. Ill go. Ill get searching, Ashtoreth said. I also had a great idea to use a megaphone. She wove a claw through the air and formed one using her glamour. You can amplify your voice without a megaphone, said Dazel. Theyre glamours. You dont need to create the mechanism that makes the soundyou can just make the sound. This will seem more natural, she said. It will put the humans at ease. Frost shut his eyes momentarily and seemed to mutter a prayer. Just approach any people you find with tact, okay? Be a little less exuberant. Be consoling if you need to be. No need to worry, Sir Frost! Ashtoreth said. If we had the lame stats that some RPG systems use, Id have maxed charisma! She rose into the air, conjuring a set of flashing blue and red lights to hover just behind her shoulders and looking forward to the process of scouring the remainder of the tutorial for surviving humans. Then she spent more than a dozen hours scouring the land below her for more survivors. She found none. 67: Think of Yourselves Less as Prisoners and More as Helpless Coattail Passengers After more than fifteen hours of searching, Ashtoreth landed to join the humans where they had gathered on the cliffside above the lava lake. Her fights with the dragon and her sister had left the terrain a flat expanse of blasted, scorched rock. Kylie stood at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the lake of lava, and Frost and Hunter sat together on the chest that held Plutos hat. Frost looked over at her as she landed. He had to know what it meant that she returned empty-handed, because he turned away almost as soon as they made eye contact, his jaw trembling. Hunter stood and moved over to join her. Nobody, huh? There could be people who are just hiding as well as they can until the timer counts down, Ashtoreth said, loud enough for Frost to hear. We might not find them until we spawn into the next tutorial. That seems reasonable, said Hunter. I mean, it wouldnt matter what their bloodlines or racial augments werenot everybody would be able to find and embrace their inner killer right away. Right, said Ashtoreth. Nearby, Frost stood. Youre calling off the search. Im sorry, Sir Frost, she said. But Ive been awake for almost twenty five hours. Ive been at it too long. Theres little point in going on. I can fight when Im this tired, but not search: my eyes just scan automatically, noticing nothing that isnt a threat. Any humans that wanted to be found would have signalled me by now. Frost looked down, then away. All right, he said. Then he picked a direction and random and walked away. Hes been pretty pissed off ever since you fought your sister, from what I can see, Hunter said, looking after him. I guess he wants some alone time. So does Kylie apparently, Ashtoreth observed, looking past Hunter at where the necromancer stood at the cliffs edge. Shes been standing there ever since we got back, said Hunter. For an hour, about. Ill go talk to her, Ashtoreth said. Are you sure thats a good idea? I want to try. She crossed the blasted landscape to stand behind Kylie, then debated how she should approach the conversation. Did she apologize? Remark that it was an interesting view? Kylie spoke before she could decide. This is it, isnt it? she said, staring down at the lava. My last chance. Once you use that shard, you said that dying will just make us respawn. Only one way out. Ashtoreths mouth fell open. I, uh please dont? My whole life, Ive had only a few choices, Kylie rasped, not taking her eyes off the lake. And I made them all wrong. Now my afterlife is what? This? She gestured to the Ashtoreth. No choice; I get to be forced into spending a year with you so that I can be put to use. Like a beast of burden. All to protect a humanity that, to be honest, I dont even like very much. Ashtoreth had no idea what to say, so she just stayed quiet. Is it fair? Kylie asked after a minute. No, said Ashtoreth. And I know that doesnt make it better Shhh, Kylie said gently, still staring down at the lake. Im not asking about what you did, Im asking about this. She sighed. What if opting out condemns a hundred thousand innocent people, people who I dont care about, to die? Its not fair that you put me in this positionbut does that make it fair if I object in the strongest terms possible? If I let them die to save myself the indignity? I dont know, Ashtoreth said. That seems like a pretty big question, and Im no good with moral conundrums. Im pretty sure I failed the trolley one. How could the indignity that I feel be worth anything, let alone so much? Kylie asked, ignoring her. Deep down, every one of my feelings is wrong. I know that. Doing the right thing, with me, means acting in spite of what I feel, behaving like someone else. Me, I break it. I ruin it. I spoil it. With me, the bad outcomes are like the ball falling into the gutter in a pinball machine. Its what Im built for. If you find me succeeding and feeling good, its because I havent reached the conclusion yet. That sounds pretty harsh, Ashtoreth said. It really doesnt seem like itll help if I say this, but since Ive met you youve done nothing but things that would justify having great self esteem. Even now Im doing it wrong, Kylie whispered, seemingly talking to herself. Self-loathing is just the worst kind of self-obsession. Kylie, Ashtoreth said softly. Can I give you a hug? Please? No, she said. She turned to stare at Ashtoreth, her eyes two cold points of light. Ashtoreth, she said. I want you to know something. Okay. I hate you so much, Kylie said. So, so much. I think the thing I hate so much about you is that you have some sob story to back up all your insanity, to win Frost over to your side. You are a child soldier, and so you get to win the suffering olympics, dont you? Put the rest of us to shame. Ashtoreth had no idea how to respond. It was the most absurd accusation shed ever heard. Her mouth hung open, moved uselessly. But I think I also feel sorry for you, Kylie continued, peering at her. Im not just saying that. I really do. See, youre powerful. Your family is powerful. You may not have had a life of sunshine and roses, but you definitely lived a life of privilege. One where your mistakes never had too many consequences, and where whenever you did it right, you got showered in praise. Slowly, Kylie smiled. You probably believe that your successes in life came from something deep inside you. That you really are special. And that your dreams will come true if you just work hard enough. And thats why youre here, Ashtorethbecause you dont know anything about the way the world really works. In fact, you know so little that you cut yourself off from all the things that put you on the easiest difficulty setting that life has to offerjust so you could cosplay being a hero to humanity. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Ashtoreth crossed her arms. Are you trying to hurt my feelings? Because if so, Ive got some bad news for you, and it involves sticks and stones. No, Ashtoreth, Kylie said. Im trying to explain to you why I havent jumped. You see, youre going to fuck it all up. And when you do, Ill be here to laugh at you while the ashes begin to fall. Ashtoreth had no idea what to say. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. At last she said, So youre in, though. Kylie scowled. Leave me alone. Okay. She turned away and began to walk back toward where Hunter and Frost now stood together. Wow, she said to Dazel. I am absolutely not equipped to deal with that girls issues. That was pretty much all downhill, Dazel agreed. I mean, at first she was pretty introspective, but its almost like standing near you made her more and more angry as time went on. I know, right? It makes no sense at all. Just goes to show how varied humans can be, I guess. She could have just said, you son of a bitch, Im in and left it at that. Frost approached her across the flat expanse of stone, looking about as unhappy as he had when shed returned. I get it, he said. Why you want to trap us here, why you didnt tell me right away, why you wont give us a choice. If I had to condemn four strangers to this fate in order to gain humanity such a strong advantage in the fight for Earth, Id do it. Id hate myself for it, maybe, but Id do it. We have to stop them. We have to save as many as possible. Right you are, Sir Frost! said Ashtoreth. Dont, he said, shaking his head. This only works if we can trust each other. So from now on, no bullshit, Ashtoreth. From now on, you tell me everything you think Id want to know. Everything. Everything! she said. And I still cant trust you, said Frost. Kylie was right when she said that youd made it clear youll lie when you think its for the best. So let me make one thing clear: the moment I realize youve lied again is the moment that youll have to kill me to keep me from warning the rest of humanity that youre not to be trusted. And if I do that, youll never belong with us. Ashtoreth practically gaped. It wasnt just that he was upset with her. That she understood. She was shocked, however, that Frost had properly surmised how best to threaten her by warning her that he could take away any chance she ever had of fitting in with humanity. Full of surprises, these humans. She hadnt thought hed had it in him. Kylie came to join them, apparently having finished staring out at the lake. So the search is over? she asked. We found nobody? No, Frost said stiffly. Nobody. Kylie jerked her head toward Ashtoreth. Well, she did spend about an hour burning a quarter of the forest to the ground and slaughtering everything in it. Ashtoreth let out a shaky laugh. You guys saw that, huh? I thought you were on the other side of the tutorial when I did that. We were, Kylie said. It didnt matter. She turned and looked out across the lake. Ashtoreth followed her gaze to see a huge swathe of forest that was nothing but a field of dark ash and seething violet embers. Wow, okay, she said. Thats really visible from here. The forest fire? Kylie asked. Yeah. Its visible. Well I got really frustrated! she said in protest. I wasnt finding any humans, and I think it sank in that I might not find any. She sighed. I was really hoping there would be a few like Kylie but I guess not. And you guys were on the other side of the fire lake, and there were a lot of demons in the forest. Its understandable, said Frost. Now can you just can you take that uniform off? If youre done searching, just take it off. But you said I know what I said, he said, rubbing his temples. Just please, Ashtoreth. Its just cosplay anyway, Kylie said. You can really tell how much you just pictured a cop and tried your best. She squinted. The badge on your chest just says Pride. I know, right? Ashtoreth said, pulling the badge toward herself to look at it. Its like my precinct is my own sense of self esteem! she said. But sure. She wove a claw through the air and gave herself another silk robe. No more uniform. She looked from Frost to Kylie, and then to Hunter. Okay, I gotta be honest, Im not sensing a lot of love for me in the room right now, she said. Im gonna go and, uh, do that thing with my antithesis shard. The thing that locks us in here with you for a year? Kylie asked. Thats the one, yes, Ashtoreth said, her voice quieting a little. She moved away toward the interaction point, which was a orb of gleaming light that floated above the ground at about chest level. Okay, she said once they were out of earshot. So, if we had a scale to measure the bonds of camaraderie going on here, were at like a two. Out of what? Not five, she said plaintively. Ten? She pursed her lips. It could be even higher than ten, unfortunately. And my relationship score with the humans individually is not exactly high, either. On the upside, Dazel said. Hunters the NPC who you can befriend with nothing but gifts. Just give him monster cores and body pillow covers, and youll have that meter maxed in no time. Yeah, Ashtoreth said. He really doesnt seem that phased about the whole hyperbolic time chamber plan. Honestly, credit where its due, Hunter doesnt seem much phased by any of this. Ashtoreth broke out into a smile. Dazel! You complimented Hunter! Sure, he said. If you want to consider the fact that I think hes the human with the least amount of humanity a compliment. Emotional stability isnt inhuman, she said. I think in these circumstances, it may be. Which is sort of a problem for us. Us? Look at you. What? he said defensively. I told you I was on your side now. I want you to succeed, boss! At least long enough for me to get out before you fail catastrophically. Ashtoreth put her second arm around him and snuggled him to her chest. And that makes me very happy, Dazel. Ugh. Anyway, what I was getting at, Your Highness, is that the humansminus Hunterseem to have a normal repertoire of human emotions. Uh-huh. And so theyre not as big a fan of you as you are of them. Ive noticed. She leaned in and adopted a conspiratorial whisper. But, she said. Ive already considered all of this. Great, said Dazel. Good. Okay. Does that mean you have a plan to actually win them over? More like a process. Okay, he said. But what process, exactly? Theyre trapped in here with me, see. For a year! They wont be able to help form bonds with me, and when that happens theyll start to see my decisions in the best possible light. She grinned. Slowly, little by little, the friendship will claim them. Okay, Dazel said. Let me get this straight. Your plan to win the humans over is basically to rely on on On little something that the humans like to call Stockholm Syndrome.... 68: That [Vampiric Archfiend]’s Got Class Dazel repaired the shard in a moment, turning it from a dysfunctional collection of fragments of chaos into a functional one with little more than a touch. It sort of frustrated Ashtoreth, how quickly he did it. After all, it took her almost two hours to carve out the runes shed memorized for her pre-planned magical ritual, the one that would expend the shard to reorder the tutorial. Hunter came over to her when she was halfway finished and Dazel had fallen asleep on the ground nearby. Were probably going to find a place to sleep further into the forest, he said. Kylies minions will keep watch. Okay, she said, nodding. She was looking forward to joining them. She was exhausted. Ill be over when Im finished. Then I can help make things seem more comfortable. Can I ask you something? Uh-huh? What is it? The shard, I mean. You said your mother was going to use it against your father. And when Dazel saw it, he completely changed. It sounds powerful, but I dont understand how. Its like a container, she said. Or maybe more like a warhead. Its a pure dose of the deepest chaos that exists at the edges of reality. Its anathema to the system itself. So why doesnt the system just kill you for having it? Hmm, Ashtoreth said, frowning. Well, for one thing, its not clear that the system has that kind of agency. Its less like its a god of order and more like its the spirit order itself. So it cant just kill you off? If it did, one of you would be able to take the antithesis shard, she said. And then someone is still walking around with its kryptonite. Is it really wise to mess around with something like this? he asked. Arent you worried youll upset the system, somehow? Even if it cant lightning bolt you from a clear sky, it can probably do something. She shook her head. While its possible to use a shard to force or break the system in some way, thats not what Im doing. Im trading with it. Oh, he said. I see. I give it the shard, it gives me a serious advantage. It doesnt grant me any wish I want, but it does put a heavy finger on the scale in my favor. Think of it as an incentive for the systems disarmament policy. So the shards are safe to use, he said. As long as you use them by giving them to the system in exchange for a favor, yes. Ashtoreth looked over at where Dazel slept on the ground, his chest slowly rising and falling. I have a feeling that earlier, when Dazel was talking about the shards full potential and telling me that this was a waste he was most decidedly not talking about trading it to the system. All right, Hunter said, seeming to consider the cat for a moment. Im going to go help them set up some kind of camp. Good luck with your spell thing. Thanks. When it was finally done, the shard vanished into the interaction point without much in the way of spectacle or fanfare. The glowing orb of light fractured, then gathered into a perfect sphere once more. A message appeared: {A boon of reclamation has been granted to Vampiric Archfiend Ashtoreth.} {For 363 days, all creatures who were victorious in this tutorial will not be expelled to Earth at the completion of this tutorial or any further scenario. Instead, they will be given up to 24 hours of respite, then sent to a newly-assembled scenario that will be balanced for their current power level.} {Death has been temporarily removed for this period. Should you die, you will be respawned at the start of the next scenario. Should all of the victorious die, the next scenario will begin immediately.} {Your maximum level will be limited to 300 for the duration of this period, but you will still be able to gather item rewards and tradeable cores once this limit is reached.} Lookin good, she said, smiling. At long last, she was on track. They had so much time to prepare for the invasion. And while it wasnt absurdly high, level 300 would be more than enough to tilt things in Earths favor, if they played their cards right. Mmmworked? Dazel said, raising his head. Yeah, looks like it worked. He rose, then began to stretch. Im going to collect my tutorial rewards, Ashtoreth said. Then we should go sleep. Tomorrow will be the first day of the regimen, and we need to train the humans. We? Dazel asked. Yes, we, said Ashtoreth. You and Kylie are going to get along great, I can tell. No you cant. I can. I have instincts for these things. No, you dont. Youre going to teach her so many useful spells. Ugh. And the more she pets and cuddles her demonic cat tutor, the more shell realize how much life has to offer her, and how good it feels to be as talented as she is. Id say keep dreaming, but I really dont want you to. Dazel narrowed his eyes at her. I want you to stop. Lets see what I got for being the MVP, Ashtoreth said, reaching out to touch the orb of light. {Ashtoreth. You are 1st rank in performance for this tutorial. In addition to a boon core and a loot parcel, you will receive an upgrade to your class.} {You gain [Tutorial Boon Core]; Tier 1. This cannot be traded.} {You gain [Tutorial Loot Parcel]. This cannot be traded.} {Ding! You can upgrade your class rank from C to B!} Look at that, she said. A class upgrade! She took a look at her current class: [Bloodfire Annihilator] C-Rank Class Stats on Level: +4 DEX | +4 STR | +7 VIT | +7 MAG | +1 PSY | +1 DEF This class grants the following benefits: The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She smiled fondly at it. All rightpowerup time. Show me what you got! {Choose a Class Upgrade} {You will add the listed stat bonuses to your current class. Your current classs tier will increase one step.} {You may forgo upgrading your class to gain 21 levels and be offered a different set of options the next time you get an opportunity to upgrade.} [Bloodfire Spellreaper] +3 VIT, +3 MAG [Bloodfire Devourer] +1 DEX, + 1 STR, +3 VIT, +1 MAG [Bloodfire Assassin] +3 DEX, +3 STR Huh, she said. She read them all over again and added, Huh. She frowned. None of these classes sound as intimidating as a [Bloodfire Annihilator], to be honest. She took a closer look at [Bloodfire Bestow]: [Bloodfire Bestow] [Bloodfire] absorbed over your maximum will grant a temporary buff to your stats whose effect will fade in strength as it expires. Absorbing [Bloodfire] equal to your [Bloodfire] maximum will grant a buff that takes 1 hour to decay. Stats granted by absorbing [Bloodfire] past this point will decay much more rapidly. The stats granted by this ability are equal to the [Bloodfire] spent divided by 30. You can choose the proportions in which the stats are distributed. That seems pretty nice, she said. But even a few spells could completely change her efficacy once they got to Earth. Input, Dazel? she asked. Sure. He flew over to land in her arms. Show me what you got. She used her diadem to write the options in the air in glowing letters. He read them over. Huh, he said. I know, she said. I figure youll say the spells, right? Spells can do anything. Nah, he said. I mean normally I would. He sighed. Its hard. What? Your build is great, said Dazel. Really, I mean that. Its full of answers and its viciously punishing to just about anyone. Why thank you, Dazel. Thats such a nice thing to say. But your defenses are trash. ...There it is. They are! he said. Youve got what, 7 [Defense] per level? Yes, she said. Howd you know? Your race is 6, vampire adds none, and your class will give the base of 1 because your aspects arent [Defense] granters. Oh. That makes sense. A [Defense]-focused entity of your caliber would be gaining more than 20 points a level, Dazel said. And youve got 7. Its not mid, its low. More than that, you have no reactive defenses. I have excellent dodging skills. You have okay dodging skills, Dazel said. Shooting yourself in one direction so hard that it breaks your bones is less effective than a teleport, especially when you need to be wielding one of your three weapons to do it, and even more so when you have to disarm yourself. I guess thats fair, she said. But it also makes me feel bad. Look, the claw-fighting style where you plant your sword and then slide around is great, he said. Credit where its due, almost no-one will have the technique to fight you hand-to-hand when youre that slippery. Youve got the unpredictable movements down. And for some reason, even though youre just a child, your actual hand-to-hand skills are extreme. Im glad you noticed. But? But when you fought your sister, all she had to do was score a good hit with her ice blasts to end the fight then and there, whereas you had to trigger her mana barrier with something massively damaging, then follow that up with a second killing blow to end the fight. If you werent more skilled than she was, shed have easily crushed you. Its a bad mentality. What mentality? Fighting isnt about proving whos more skilled, its about winning. You have such a great set of resistances, too. Exactly, Ashtoreth said. They help me get away with skimping on [Defense] so much. But why would you want to use them that way? Dazel asked. Youve got the defenses of a normal fighter despite the fact that you dump-statted [Defense], and thats a waste. I dont even know if I got offered any [Defense] aspects. See? Thats a personality flaw in my book. Hey! You could have built good [Defense] and been next to impossible to kill. And great [Defense] could have made you actually impossible to kill for most of the things weve run into. But not the ones that mattered, Asthoreth countered. Not the dragon, not Pluto, not Gethernel, not the mech with a giant laser. Fair enough, said Dazel. Fine. I still say youve got a gaping hole in your build. If you take the spells, youre just going to use them to shore up your defenses and theyll be worse than the other two. Wow, Dazel, Ashtoreth said, starting to pet him. What? I figured youd go for spellcasting supremacy, is all. You were a mage, right? Spells are fantastic, he said. Dont get me wrong. Id much rather your deficiencies not existyouve could be getting back to Earth with long range teleportation, no need to rely on others. But a dead Ashtoreths of no use to anyone. Ashtorteh frowned. Well, actually Okay, sure, most of our enemies would love to eat a dead Ashtoreth. But you see my point. You thinking the teleport or the stat buff? she said, appraising the list again. Im thinking the stat buff. Higher-tier fiends can get teleportation anyway, even if it wont be as good. Thats overpowered, said Dazel. I should very much like to think so myself. To the system, she added, [Bloodfire Devourer], please. {Class Upgraded. You are now a [Bloodfire Devourer]} {You gain 48 DEX, 48 STR, 144 VIT, and 48 MAG.} [Bloodfire Devourer] B-Rank Class Stats on Level: +5 DEX | +5 STR | +14 VIT | +8 MAG | +1 PSY | +1 DEF This class grants the following benefits: Stats! Ashtoreth said in a sing-song voice. You mean [Defense], said Dazel. Specifically [Defense]. Yes, sure, [Defense]. Even if I cant die now for another year. You should still get used not having the buff anywhere but [Defense]. Ashtoreth rolled her eyes. Sure thing, boss. Ill learn how to not die. Woe is you. Now lets open this box, gain some levels, and give the rest of the cores I harvested to the humans. Ashtoreth said. She looked off in the direction of the forest, where the humans had made their camp, then yawned. Honestly, I really want to get to bed. 69: It Turns Out Soloing Seven Bosses Earns You a Big Reward {You absorb [Tutorial Boon Core]; Tier 1} {You absorb [Archfiend Pluto Core]; Tier 1} {Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You gain 4 levels. You are now level 52.} Ding! Ashtoreth said. 52. Ive still got an advancement from level 48, too. And since were technically invincible, I can finally clear some of these upgrades Ive been keeping foreverlets start by trying for the second rank of [Daywalker]. Ill take [Drain], please! Dazel yawned. Should I ask why you chose the wrong path? Im going to clear out [Blood Memory] before I take [Vampiric Archfiend], since its in both. You got [Blood Memory]? Uh-huh! That ones nice. You can really get a sense of who somebody was, deep down, as you devour their heart. I thought so, Ashtoreth said. And technically, I consume hearts. She looked at the system-text: {Advance [Drain]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Blood Drain] with [Blood Memory]: You can glimpse some of a creatures memories when you consume their blood. Upgrade [Devour Flesh] with [Satiated]: Buffs from [Devour Flesh] last 18 hours, not 12, and no longer fade in intensity before they expire. Upgrade [Energy Drain] with [Theft of Power]: When you affect a target with your [Energy Drain] debuff, you may choose to gain bonus stats equal to the stats you drain rather than gaining [Bloodfire]. Gained stats are limited to 50% of your targets total stats. Gained stats expire when the [Energy Drained] debuff expires on your target, but will last 1 minute longer if your target dies with this debuff on. Some good stuff, Ashtoreth said. Im really gonna juice myself up with these buffs, once I get rolling. Ill take [Blood Memory], please! {You upgrade your [Energy Drain] ability with [Blood Memory]} {Reaching level 51 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths other than [Drain].} [Vampiric Archfiend], please! {Advance [Vampiric Archfiend]} {Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options} Upgrade [Command Infernal] with [Command Undead]: [Command Infernal] will become [Command Profane], which can briefly dominate fiends, demons, devils, and undead. Upgrade [Daywalker] with [Daywalker II]: [Daywalker] now reduces the weakening effect of being in sunlight. Upgrade [Aura] with [Aura: Obedience] Add 6m to the radius of your [Aura]. Enemies in your aura who you can affect with your [Command Infernal] ability have their [Psyche] reduced by five times your level. Well then, Ashtoreth said. Taking control of someone for a little bit longer sounds pretty handy dandy to me. She chose to retain both of the psychic abilities. Ill take [Daywalker], if you please! {You upgrade your [Daywalker] ability with [Daywalker II]} Who knows where well end up next, said Ashtoreth. It could be sunny! Its probably Hell again. Its probably Hell again, she said, hanging her head. But Ive got to take Daywalker just in case. Anyway, on to loot. Good news there, said Dazel. Thats also based on performance. You should get something fairly handy, given the fact that you soloed uh, how many bosses? Um. The hulk, the huntsman, the construct, the dragon, that guy, and Pluto. That guy? Yeah, he was a commander or something, remember? He wanted to talk about what his castle was for, but I just killed him. Oh yeah, Dazel said. That guy. He seemed pretty stoked to fight, too. She shrugged. I skipped the loot. I just wanted to set fire to the enchantments holding the citadel up. Plus there could have been more in the forest that I burned down. I dont know how much the system will reward you for those, said Dazel. They were probably level 20s, and you killed them after the tutorial finished. Yeah. she said. Oh wellloot time! {You open [Tutorial Loot Parcel]} Two objects materialized before her in the air. The first was a tiny, circular object made of glass. The second was a key hanging on a fine silver chain. She caught them both before they fell to the ground, examining each. The first was a small compass. {Ashtoreths Heartfelt Wayfinder} This compass points to the nearest bosss heart. A creature with strong enough psychic defenses or anti-detection abilities can resist being located by this compass. This compass has a maximum range of 5 miles. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. You may speak a creatures name to the compass, at which point it will attempt to point to their heart instead of that of the nearest boss. Why hello, she said, grinning. The system knows my style, thats for sure! {Ashtoreths Hidden Housekey} Turning this key at a waist-high point in the air will conjure your hidden house, provided there is enough space40 feet by 40 feet with 20 feet of vertical clearance. It takes 1 minute and costs a very high amount of [Bloodfire] to conjure your hidden house. You may spend additional [Bloodfire] when you conjure the house to heal any damage that it has sustained. Items stored in the house when it is dismissed will remain there when it is re-conjured. You may touch this key to an item and spend a moderate amount of [Bloodfire] to send it to your house. Ashtoreth gasped, and her smile broadened as she read the ability. Dazel, she said. I own magical property! Great, he said. Tell Officer Frost. Itll increase your relationship score. Itll act as storage space for all the stuff we get! she said. Dazel, this is great! Definitely, said Dazel. The systems a pretty generous DM, I gotta say. I bet its because Im so polite, she said, hanging the key around her neck. She started heading back toward the forest. You think the others will be bothered that Ive got a house now? They just spent quite a while setting up camp. She found the others in a small section of the forest that theyd partially cleared. Kylies minions were positioned around them in the bushes to keep watch, and they had cover from the branches above. Kylie was lying on a pile of leaves and small branches and staring at the sky. Hunter was eating out of a cardboard food box with a pair of chopstickshe must have gotten food from his loot parcel. Frost sat next to him. Great news, Kylie rasped. Hunter was sweet enough a pile of sticks and leaves just for you. She pointed, and Ashtoreth looked down at the ground to see a long, haphazard tangle on the ground. Make yourself comfortable. Actually, Ashtoreth said. The system just gave me a house. You guys want to see if we can sleep there, instead? Kylie shot an uncaring glance around their primitive camp. But they worked so hard, she said tonelessly. A house? Frost said. Where? Right here! she said, holding up the key around her neck. Its a conjurable house! Lets try it out. She led them out of the forest, then conjured the house by standing with the key out in the same place for a minute. A lock formed around the key, then a door, then walls: soon a square building of dark stone stood in front of them. Wow! Ashtoreth said, pushing the door open. Isnt this great? I wont need to make us feel a false sense of comfort with glamoursits all right here! Past the tiny entranceway was a small common room filled with plush purple chairs and a round table. Past this were rooms: one that looked like it was for storage, and four bedrooms for sleeping in. There was problem with the latter. One was larger than the others, and dominated by a beautiful four-poster bed. The others rooms were little more than closets containing steel-frame cots. Gee, Kylie said. You think the house mirrors its owners psychology? Yes, okay, Ashtoreth said, looking into what was clearly the master bedroom. Clearly the system, which is hierarchical, intends for me to I call this one, Kylie said, moving past them to throw herself onto the bed. What? Ashtoreth said. Hold on. We should roll a dice or something. Nah, said Kylie. You threw me in here against my will, remember? Youve got to make this concession as a gesture of goodwill. But Youre generous! Kylie said, shrugging. Youre charitable. A princess of the people. Look, I dont care about the bed, said Frost. But flip a coin with Hunter about it or something. She can have it, said Hunter. I dont mind. You dont? Frost asked. Its important not to grow soft, now. I have to harden my body and mind for the ordeal to come. Dazel laughed. Mans in his training arc, Officer Frost. You cant break his focus. To Ashtoreth, he added: Say, is there a gravity setting next to the thermostat? Asking for Hunter. Hunter rolled his eyes and took a room. But shouldnt she have to flip with me? Ashtoreth asked. I need the space, said Kylie. I have wings! I need the space. Im going to need to put my phylactery somewhere, said Kylie. Those things are huge. What? Ashtoreth asked. No theyre not. The most famous phylactery in human lore is a needle. Oh, is it? Kylie said. She shrugged. Yeah, I had no idea what those were. Oh, said Ashtoreth, smiling as she realized she could help Kylie out. Well have you read Harry Potter? Kylie glared at Ashtoreth. I am aware of Harry Potter, Ashtoreth. Its like the Horcruxes in Harry Potter. If you die, your soul goes back to your phylactery. She frowned. Actually, its pretty exactly like those. Were those just phylacteries? I see, Kylie rasped. She looked from Ashtoreth to the four poster bed. Then she narrowed her eyes, suddenly seeming more angry. Uh, so the bed Nope, Kylie said. After all, Im a guest. In your home. You wouldnt let me sleep in a cot while you live in luxuryyoure pretty much the only one who for sure cant get the good bed. Ashtoreth scowled. Then she smiled. Right you are, Kylie! Fortunately, I have glamours. Everybody let me know if you want me to give your room a makeover. Put some shurikens on the walls, maybe, Dazel said to Hunter. Some other decorative blades, maybe. Magical girl character minis Lets not start, Frost said. Lets just level and get to bed. Id like to wake up before the timer expires and we get thrown into a new tutorial. Or scenario, nowI dont know the difference. I dont really think there is one, said Dazel. Tutorials are for starting levels. Scenarios will be balanced against your current level. This barely felt like a tutorial already, said Hunter. We just got a minimum of instructions before being attacked by demonic dogs. Wheres the elderly NPC with a fu man chu whos going to teach me how to cook my fish? A silence followed this. What? Kylie asked. But Hunter stared doing a voice. Ahhh, young one. Open the materials tab of your inventory and select the raw cod with the A button. Oh, that reminds me, Ashtoreth said. Ive got cores for you from when I burned down that forest. Great, said Frost. Lets pass those out and then get to bed. We can figure out how to approach the new scenario when were not exhausted. Kylie, are your minions in position? Yes. Good, he said. And good night, everyone. Its not. Thank you, Kylie. Night, she said, shutting her door. Ashtoreth wove a claw through the air to create herself a pair of striped pajamas. Good night, Sir Frost! See you in the morning! She shut the door to her tiny room and then yawned, stretched, and threw herself into bed on her belly. This isnt bad, she said, reaching out to touch the wall opposite the bed. Its cosy. Yeah, said Dazel. Its fun to cosplay the poors! You better get all your jokes out fast, said Ashtoreth, yawning again as she folder her arms under her face. I wont be conscious much longer. Aww, Dazel said. Boss is all tuckered out. All that murder, treachery, and heart gobbling really wore you out, huh champ? Mmm, Ashtoreth said. She was vaguely aware that Dazel continued, but his voice was like a blur in the back of her mind. The cot below her was too cosy, and her eyelids had fallen shut. All she managed to think before she fell asleep was: tomorrow I get to do it all again. 70: Think of it as a Free Training Arc Whose Only Cost Will be to Our Mental Wellbeing! The next morning, they sat in the common room with less than an hour before they were ejected into their first scenario. We should be able to make level 300 relatively quickly, said Ashtoreth. Maybe a month or so. That long? said Frost. It only took a day to get you higher than 50. Once we hit 60, we reach tier 2, said Ashtoreth. Well get an advancement every 4 levels until level 100, then every 5 levels until level 300, which is tier 3. Theres new advancements that we can get in tier 2, but the levels also come a lot harder. So were going to be fighting level 300s at level 300 ourselves for 11 months, said Hunter. Yep! I dont get it, Kylie rasped. Whats the point of doing this for that long, then? Why not just go to 300 and then quit? Because were going to gather cores and magical items the whole time, said Ashtoreth. Well return to Earth with enough cores to level an army, and enough magical gear to equip one, too. Well also have optimal equipmenttheres a level-based limit on how much magical power you can bind in the form of items, and what were going to do will give us the optimal items. Dont leave out the last part, boss, Dazel said from where he sat in her arms. These three need training. Im willing to do what it takes, said Hunter. Ill keep pushing every day to I wont, Kylie said, cutting him off. This is ridiculous. What do you even mean by training? Oh, all sorts! Ashtoreth said. I can give Hunter and Frost some weapons practice, spar with the three of you, teach you a little bit about mana manipulation and of course, the main event will be the scenarios themselves. Itll make the most sense to train you all to fight at level 300, but since we want to succeed in the scenarios right away, we should probably work on some basics once weve got the time. Im sure youre a very encouraging teacher, said Kylie. Thanks, Kylie! Im just going to figure things out on my own. Dazel groaned. Youre a spellcaster, said Ashtoreth. Yeah, thats true. Ashtoreth frowned. You just want to keep your spell slots full of the same spells that they came with? I mostly picked [Spellcasting] for the bigger [Mana] pool, anyway. Id tell you to explain how much we need her, Dazel said. But I think that would make things worse. Ashtoreth ignored him. Once youre a high enough level, we can get you a teleportation spell, she said. Itll be essential for the defense of Earth. In the meantime, youre not going to find any spellcasters willing to trade notes with you once were in the scenarios. And once we get back, Earth will be stuck on the tier 1 spells that people learn in the tutorials. Uh-huh, Kylie said disinterestedly. I dont get it, Ashtoreth said. I mean, I get that circumstances for you three, uh, arent exactly ideal. You forced us to come with you on a magical adventure to endless war, Kylie said. One where even death is no escape. Yeah that, said Ashtoreth. But dont you want to get more powerful? Even before you knew Hell was invading Earth, surely you had ambitions. Wanted things. Wanting things has never gone so well for me, said Kylie. Well thats very sad, Kylie, said Ashtoreth. But maybe itll go better when youre an archmage commanding legions of the dead. Kylie shrugged. That sounds like one of those jobs where youve gotta be available twenty four hours. But your minions are all dead, said Hunter. But everyone will want something from me, said Kylie. But, said Ashtoreth. Once the war is over, theyll be too scared to be pushy! Is that. Kylie narrowed her eyes at Ashtoreth. Are you trying to entice me by promising that when were done, Ill be so powerful that everyone will be afraid of me and I can do whatever I want? Is it working? Ashtoreth asked delicately. Kylie looked away. Its a better effort than Hogwarts, she muttered. Okay, Dazel said. I dont think we need to spend any more time on Kylies retirement plan of hiding herself away in a flying necro-castle and spending her days smoking weed, listening to emo music, and binge-watching bad dramas on Netflix. What the hell, Kylie said stiffly. Thats completely inaccurate. If I had ultimate power, it would be way different. Cats right, said Frost. Lets move on. I have a questionhow does all of this work, exactly? The tutorials, or scenarios, I mean. Where are these enemies coming from? In the tutorial, they clearly started at certain levelsthat dragon didnt hit 50 by gaining cores on its own. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Good question, Sir Frost! Ashtoreth said. Once it chose an environment for the tutorial, the system drafted denizens from across Hell to make up the other side. When it drafts enemies for a tutorial, they dont always have to be exactly the right levelPluto was probably made level 50 right when this one started. The dragon, too. Frost looked thoughtful. So every time we do this, an army of other beings are going to be unwillingly teleported into a tiny world that exists just for the purpose of us killing each other. Uh-huh! Ashtoreth said. And if they succeed in killing all of us, they can go home and well never see them againwell wake up in the next scenario. Frost reached up to rub at his temples with one hand. Unwilling, Ashtoreth, he said. Only sometimes! Ashtoreth said. Its only unwilling if the system cant find enough willing candidatesand since the rewards are so good, it usually can. So what if it isnt Hell? Frost asked. Were just going to be reaving down some flock of elves who all wanted to get stronger and improve their chances of protecting their loved ones from the utter insanity of the multiverse? Look at you, critical of the system, Dazel said. I didnt think you had it in you. Actually, its called the cosmos, not the multiverse, said Ashtoreth. And not quite. Not unless the elves are evil. Youre trying to tell me the system will only feed us evil people? Frost asked dubiously. Exactly! said Ashtoreth. And animals. Remember, it wants us to fight each other. So itll send us places where well have the least qualms about killing a selection of the inhabitants! Its ethical farming! Youre telling me that the system is going to send us after hundreds of enemy armies, and itll be sure Im never bothered by killing any of them? The cosmos isnt the nicest of places for creatures like humans, said Ashtoreth. You dont say. The system can find a lot, and I mean a lot, of enemy factions who wont think twice about slaughtering us. Its them or us, right? said Hunter. We stand to affect Earths fate on too great a scale to have moral compunctions. Again, Frost reached up to rub his temples. Sometimes, Hunter, you say things that are very disconcerting. Good, he said. Its an uncomfortable truth, but Im not against being the one to say it aloud. A couple hundred morally questionable slaughterings of some other realms inhabitants is a drop in the bucket compared to what we can stop back on Earth. So were you always a wannabe ubermensch? Kylie asked. Or did that come with the samurai swords? Look you guys, Ashtoreth began. Were talking about warping in to a scenario filled with undead from the Deadlight Shard, or another Hell, or a wilderness full of wild beasts. Hey, dont forget the inter-realm empires of slavers, said Dazel. Plenty of those around to bring the spice of novelty to their respective cars on our murder train. Exactly! Ashtoreth said. She looked at the humans. You guysll kill slavers, right? She means other than her, said Dazel. Hey! She said, putting her hands on her hips. Demons summoned to work in the Paradise Citadel are being given a big opportunity. Were being sidetracked again, said Frost. Were going to get moved, soonwhat can we expect when that happens? Will it be like this tutorial, where we all wind up in different places? Will it be stacked against us, like this one was? Im not sure if well all be in the same spot, said Ashtoreth. You will be, said Dazel. Okay, what he said then, she said. It wont be as bad, even if its Hell, said Dazel. Hell puts a lot of work into making sure that their tutorials are especially deadly. They dont maintain that standard for a scenario drafted for levels 50 through to 300. No more of Hells cheats, Hunter said. Hell will still play as unfairly as it can, said Dazel. But on a scale that runs from Dora the Explorer to Saw, the game were playing now just had its difficulty dropped a couple of notches. Swiper no longer has a robot with a chaingun and we got the singing map back. Youre a real connoisseur of the arts, Dazel, said Frost. Look, clocks ticking. Lets figure out what were going to do once we get into the new zone. Find a safe spot and plot our course from there, Hunter said. He turned to Ashtoreth. Right? More or less, she said. The systems going to throw more than some low-level hellhounds at us at first, but Im sure its nothing we cant handle. I emptied out my bag this morning because the hearts expired, but my locket still saved three for meIll go in with my scythe and lay down some hellfire to start things off. That should give you guys some cover, keep you in my auras, and draw attention. Hunter can teleport us as a group, now, said Kylie. So hes our escape plan, right? Thats a reasonable plan, said Ashtoreth. Hes got Frosts strongest protection spell, tooso if things are chaotic as soon as we come in, start looking around for a better position to move them to. Weve got great debuffs against anything not immune to [Energy Drain], said Kylie. But nothing to keep enemies off us unless theyre vulnerable to our command spells. They talked for a while as the timer ran down. To Ashtoreth, everything they said was glaringly obviousof course theyd want to retreat from unknown hostility and regroup to find a better approach, of course theyd use abilities how they were meant to be used. She wondered if that meant she would be a poor teachershe was overestimating what their basic knowledge should encompass, after all. The humans circled the same topics more than once, and eventually Ashtoreth realized they were just nervous. Cheer up, everyone! she said at last. You cant die! We get to train and grow stronger for a year with no consequences. Except the consequences on our mental wellbeing, said Kylie. Exactly! said Ashtoreth. Those cant be that bad. Now Ill tuck the house into its key and we can wait outside. Once this was done, they gathered on the bare, blasted landscape of the ledge with only a few minutes remaining. Hunter had a few more questions about combat, but they came further and further apart, until everyone seemed to watch the countdown in perfect silence. Ashtoreth didnt understand. They couldnt die. There wouldnt even be consequences if they all got taken outtheyd get to try again, right away. There was no need to be nervous. The timer hit ten seconds. Im ready! Hunter said to no-one in particular. Im excited! Ashtoreth said. Well, heres for Earth, said Frost. Fuck you all, said Kylie. The timer struck zero. 71: The Abyssal Rift was… Not Our First Choice, Unsurprisingly It was immediately clear to Ashtoreth that theyd spawned in the Abyssal Rift, even if shed never see it before. She stood in the middle of a vast, circular cavern filled with a diffuse light which had no apparent source. Gravity seemed to follow its own laws in the cavern, so that the landscape that was distantly above her was populated by the same strange assortment of terrain features that she could see nearby. They were familiar things that had been arranged in ways that didnt make sense: stones that we covered in bark, bony trees whose symmetrical braches ended in globular streetlamps, pyramids whose outer walls were made of pale, shelled flesh like a crabs. The ground ahead of transitioned from a spongy pink substance into a flat expanse of brickwork regularly punctuated by windows. Beyond that, wooden poles grew like spear-hafts, each of them topped with a bulbous, fleshy formation like a two-jointed finger. The air was warm, moist, and in a constant fluctuating breeze. Oddly-shaped islands floated here and there near the center of the cavern, each hundreds of meters above her. Dazel raised his head from where he rested in her arms and made a small noise of displeasure. Poor humans, he said. Maybe you should all kill yourselves and reroll. But Ashtoreth was grinning up at the chaotic landscape. And miss this learning experience? Fat chance! Where the hell are we? Frost asked. Ashtoreth turned to see the others scattered in a loose formation behind her. Not great, she said, pursing her lips. This is the She was interrupted by a long, distorted sound reverberating through the cavern. Follow me, she said, spotting a nearby structure that might function as cover and setting out toward it. The others fell in behind her, and she continued with her exposition. This is the Abyssal Rift, she said. Its a sort of demi-plane constructed by the Near Ones. Its like a random pick of different tilesets, Hunter said. What are the most important things we need to know? Frost asked. Physics dont work the same way here, she said. Gravity and space can warp and curve. Almost every enemy will have very high resistances but not a lot of active defenses, and almost every strong enemy will have a psychic component to them. Dazel leapt out of Ashtoreths arms and flew beside her as she led them into a small structure that looked to be a massive, hollow tree stump dotted with circular windows and made out of seashell. Reality here is pinned to the strong enemies, he said. When you kill one, especially bosses, things around you might change. The tutorial boss is probably the demiplanes keystonekill it, and everything might collapse. But then how do we get loot? Hunter asked. The system wont let us down! Ashtoreth assured him. Kylie opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the same long, distorted noise from earlier. All of them looked up as it reverberated through the huge cavern. Look, said Dazel. If you guys dont want to Jonestown your way out of this one and try your luck at another scenario Jonestown? Frost asked. Is he suggesting what I think he is? Call it retryicide, said Dazel. At least in Hell, Ashtoreth is fighting in her native terrain. The Near Ones are serious stuff. If you want to efficiently farm before the invasion of Earth, you should at least test whether there are consequences for passing on a given scenarioand you wont find a better one to pass on than this. Hunter scowled. You just want us to to give up? I wouldnt classify it as giving up, said Dazel. Id classify it as retryicide. They sound the same to me. Think of like a more upbeat ending to that movie The Mist, said Dazel. One where theres enough bullets to I dont think we should try opting out, said Ashtoreth, quickly interrupting him. This could be a great team-building exercise! Kylie jerked her head toward Dazel. Whats he so afraid of, exactly? What are the Near Ones? Theyre entities of the outer chaos, said Dazel. They tore their way into the cosmos and overwrote the hole they made with realms like this. Some people say that the reason its like this is because the Near Ones are insane! Ashtoreth said. And some people say that its because they hate the way our consciousnesses are coherent, and that the worlds they generate are a senseless mash of things we recognize because they want to tear our minds apart! I prefer the army hypothesis, said Dazel. This scar is the foothold on reality, but they cant push themselves further inward. Theyre experimenting with everything they can see in the inner realms here because theyre creating the minions they need to form the armies that theyll use to invade and destabilize the rest of the cosmos. As for me, Ashtoreth said. I prefer the fan hypothesis. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Thats not a real hypothesis, said Dazel. But she ignored him to talk to the humans. I think theyre big fans of reality, but theyre not sane enough to express it in any way we know. This is them cargo-culting the parts of the cosmos that make sense without knowing that they wont get the same results that we do. It doesnt function the same way, but their alien minds can never know why! She made that up, said Dazel. Its really the army thing. Youll agree with me after you spend a few hours here. From outside came a new noisea high-pitched chirping like the sound of a cricket. Or a few minutes, Dazel said. Damn it, Kylie hissed. Her gaze snapped to Ashtoreth. I lost my minions on the way here, but the system gave me the [Mana] back. I just need some corpses and time to get the ball rolling. Dont worry, said Ashtoreth. I brought some hearts along to get me started and my cannons full on ammo. Actually, Frost said from where he was looking out of one of the shell-stumps circular windows. Its looking like therell be enough bodies for both of you. Ashtoreth leapt up through the opening above them to perch on the edge of the giant tree stump and look in the direction that Frost had been. True to his word, a legion of enemies was flooding over the bizarre landscape toward them. Most of them were like six foot tall, four-legged crabs. Their shells were a vividly clashing mixture of blue and orange, and a cluster of lights hovered above their heads, its formation mirroring that of the eyes on their face below it. {Skitherling Level 47} Hundreds of them had already poured out of a distant opening in the curving walls of the vast cavern, and more were still coming. Almost a dozen much larger enemies walked among them, quickly overtaking their small peers. The nearest of these would reach them soon. It was more than twenty feet tall, but most of this height came from six long, slender legs. Atop these was a shelled, dome-shaped head. The head was ringed all round with oddly-spaced eyes and had four mouths, one facing every direction, each of them draped with a curtain of pale, wet fingers. {Theelertissle Esp Level 51 Elite} Just to be perfectly clear, Kylie shouted. You think that thing exists because the Near Ones like us? Uh-huh! Ashtoreth said, nodding as she formed her cannon. They just dont get us, you know? They wanna make a world that works like ours does, but they dont know how! And so you get Mr. Tallcrab Fingerlips over there. Nope! Kylie said. No, no, no! I dont like the fingerlips, Ashtoreth! I dont like them at all! Im definitely right about the army hypothesis, said Dazel. Ashtoreth brought her cannon up and trained it on the approaching elite. With any luck, it would be just like the insect hive: she could kill a few of the elites and then let the rest of them burn to death in the inferno. She fired, a flash of light accompanying the loud boom of her weapon. The air seemed to split into fragments as her shot reached the elite, and she saw bursts of kinetic energy against the ground in a half-dozen places around it. Dangit! she said. One more, said Dazel. She glanced at him. She only had three shots, after all, and each round was expensive. Nonetheless, she took careful aim as the creature rushed toward them on its quickly-moving stick legs, then fired again. This time, the elites defensive barrier failed to materialize, and Ashtoreths shot connected just above its mouth and ripped a hole through its head as the elite was sent teetering back toward the ground. She burst it into hellfire, and the motion of its fall meant that the ground behind it was painted with a conical swathe of burning violet flames. Knew it, said Dazel. No way that thing was always on. Im moving up! Frost said, charging toward the flames. Kylie followed him, but Hunter stayed in the stump, presumably to wait out of view. Ashtoreth began conjuring another round to load into her cannon, eying the next-nearest elite as it moved over the alien landscape toward them. It was just ahead of the wave of oncomers. If she took two shots to kill it, she might be able to cause another chain reaction. Then she heard the same eerie, distorted noise that theyd heard twice since arriving only now it was much, much louder. The oncoming horde of enemies had stopped in their tracks within a matter of seconds. Then, as one, they began to retreat. Ashtoreth sighed, consumed one of her three hearts, then began to load her cannon as she conjured another round. Frost stopped at the edge of her pool of hellfire and turned to her with a questioning look. Ashtoreth made an exaggerated shrug, looking around for what she expected would be a boss. It didnt take her long to find it. In the distance, glowing tendrils began to sprout from one of the floating islands as it began to move toward them. A hazy ring of turquoise energy surrounded it in the air, a hundred and fifty meters in diameter. Even though it was more than a kilometer away, it was more than a hundred meters long. Ashtoreth could easily identify it: {Erzmannanon Indristithic <