The Roach Empress watches her children be slaughtered by the intruder.
Weak-
They are all weak. They were supposed to be stronger than the intruder, but the children died by the hundreds. They are not worthy to be called her children.
She sees yet another one of her gladiators be emancipated from the inside out. The body of the gladiator is used as a club to smash thousands of the legion fodder. The intruder is dangerous.
The attack the intruder did at the start of this battle hurt her. She doesn’t understand how the intruder accomplished this, but they did. The empress also is completely unable to hear any of the intruder's thoughts, so she decided to be careful.
The Roach Empress will use her worthless children to wear this inconvenience down, and when she sees a moment of weakness.
The intruder will die-
---
Eva is tired.
She vomits against the cave wall once more. She had gotten incredibly sick from consuming the Abominable Mole meat. Elves are herbivores and can go weeks without food if needed.
But that demon, Tiffany, forced her to eat it. Eva puts the mask over head and goes to rest against a different wall.
Eva looks over at her new summons and activates Summoners Insight.
Summon(Beatzuly)
Race(Nav Imp)
Level(14)
Last Ability Used(Skill/Observe)
Summon(Herldren)
Race(Jinn Warrior)
Level(32)
Last Ability Used(Class Skill/Unravel)
That wasn’t the only notifications she got from the skill.
Summon(Tiffany Day)
Race(Human)
Level(27)
Last Ability Used(Class Skill/SoulFire)
How is she leveling so fast?
No, Tiffany is most likely hiding her real level. She seems to be fighting too. The Last Ability Used identifier is constantly changing between skills. Aura of Durability, Instant Position, SoulFire, Magical Aura Manipulation, Aura of Durability, Aura of Strength, and so on.
She remembered Tiffany talking about aura and souls at one point, but she didn’t understand. For the other abilities, Eva can only speculate what they even do. Tiffanys class skill Obscene Presence sends shivers down Eva’s spine. Definitely something that comes with being an Eldritch Horror.
She also remembers a trait she saw. Ydri’s Jester. It’s just… it doesn’t make any sense given that Ydri is-
“Are you okay?”
Eva is interrupted from her thoughts as she looks up at the Nav Imp.
Eva blinks “Yeah, Beatzuly, I just got a little food poisoning.”
The Jinn Warrior, Herldren, grunts “If I knew ya were sick, I woulda killed ya.”
Eva grins at the demon behind her mask “You’re too late, you accepted the contract.”
Herldren scoffs “Ya! Ya! I knew dat already.” Herldren is a beast of a demon. Over seven feet tall, he has four arms and holds a small hammer in each hand. His skin is a baby blue color and is completely bald. When he was summoned, he was actually wearing armour as well.
Beatzuly jumps off Herldrens shoulder and she lands in front of Eva “You shouldn’t be rude to your summoner, Herldren. She could still easily kill you if she wanted, and it's good to have a positive working relationship while we are in the mortal realm.” Beatzuly is small, even for a Nav Imp. She has the hallmark grey skin, but her hair is a hot pink. She also has a long pointed tail, which is rare for Nav Imps.
Eva shakes her head “It’s fine. I’m used to disgruntled demons.”
Beatzuly huffs “You're not helping!”
The Jinn Warrior snaps his head to the side. He grins wildly, and Eva picks up on this. He probably sensed a monster approaching. “Dats a Demon init… Right betzy?”
Beatzuly raises an eyebrow and looks in the same direction. “Huh, so it is.”
Eva freezes. A demon? It isn’t Tiffany, is it? “Beatzuly, what kind of demon is it?!”
She turns her head back at Eva “I’m pretty sure it’s Nav Imp, like me. Herldren, is there anyone with the demon?”
Eva immediately relaxes at the answer before turning to Herldren for his reply. He strokes his chin thoughtfully “Lookin to be a few hummi culties. Oh, and a sprigin like you.” He points at Eva.
Eva frowns. Her brother-
To be honest, she had hoped he died in the attack. She shakes her head. Of course it wouldn’t be that simple.
Eva sighs “Don’t mention to the humans that we are elves, and refer to me as Evan from now on.”
Beatzuly grins “You got it boss!”
However Herldren grumbles to himself “Stoopid contact.”
Eva grabs her stomach as it churns and after a moment the discomfort passes. She sighs, and waits for her ‘guardian’ to reunite with her.
---
My muscles are burning. I’m panting for air. I block a Roach Gladiators blade as it swings wildly in its madness. I grab onto the confused roach and rip it in half then throw the burning pieces of roach into the endless Roach Legions.
You have slain a (Roach Gladiator / level 26)
-
Moderate experience rewarded
---
You have slain a (Roach Gladiator / level 28)
-
Moderate experience rewarded
You have slain a (Roach Brood Queen / level 29)
-
Moderate experience rewarded
---
You have slain a (Roach Brood Queen / level 26)
-
Moderate experience rewarded
You have leveled up! (26 → 29)
-
You have earned (15) stat points
(Pain Tolerance) has leveled up! (6 → 7)
(Mana Cycling) has leveled up! (2 → 4)
(Magical Aura Perception) has leveled up! (7 → 8)
(Magical Aura Manipulation) has leveled up! (7 → 8)
(Aura of Strength) has leveled up! (7 → 9)
(Frost Breath) has leveled up! (6 → 9)
(SoulFire) has leveled up! (6 → 9)
(Aura of Vitality) has leveled up! (6 → 8)
(Aura of Durability) has leveled up! (6 → 9)
(Instant Position) has leveled up! (1 → 4)
I vomit a mouthful of blood as I’m hit by the thrashing tail of a raging Roach Brood Queen sending me across the room into a different roach queen. I grab onto it and tear one of the holes on its back wide and blow Frost Breath into it, boosted by my Magical Aura Manipulation.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
A very surprised Roach Legion gets obliterated as the Roach Brood Queen screeches in pain and expires shortly after.
I force Mana Cycling with Magical Aura Manipulation past what could be considered safe. I feel the edges of my soul erode slightly as a massive amount of mana flows through it.
I stand on top of the roach queens corpse and look around. After all that it looks like I’ve only killed about a third of the whole hoard. My mana refills rapidly, but my stamina is reaching its limit.
You’re tired-
“No! I’m not fucking done!”
With the stat points I’ve received so far, I put 10 into Endurance and 5 into Strength, Durability, and Soul.
My stamina goes from 3% to 35% and I jump back into the endless hordes of monsters. It’s not enough, you can’t kill her like this. I grit my teeth and glance at the Roach Empress. It’s that same condescending look of indifference.
“Just you fucking watch me!”
The Roach Empress mandibles slightly twitch as a small smile forms on her face-
Name (Tiffany Day) / Age (23) / Race (Human)
Alignment (Chaotic Neutral)
Class (Monk) / Level (29)
Stats / Stat Points (0)
Strength (73)
Durability (98)
Agility (31)
Endurance (35)
Intellect (39)
Soul (73) (-2)
Intrinsic Status
Vitality (72%)
Stamina (33%)
Sanity (85%)
Mana (67%) (max 99%)
Traits
(Interloper)
(Serial Killer)
(Ydri’s Jester)
(Sadistic)
Skills
(Quick Thinking) level 9
(Pain Tolerance) level 7
(Observe) level 3
(Mana Cycling) level 4
Class Skills
(Obscene Presence) level 2
(Magical Aura Perception) level 8
(Magical Aura Manipulation) level 8
(Aura of Strength) level 9
(Frost Breath) level 9
(SoulFire) level 9
(Aura of Vitality) level 8
(Aura of Durability) level 9
(Instant Position) level 4
---
Toulif walks around the corner to see two demons standing over his sister. He glances at the pink hair Nav Imp. Toulif grimaces, as he feels a sense of rage and shame.
“Hello captain-”
Toulif cuts the vice captain off. “Trent, Charlie. Set up the tent. I need to speak with the vice captain and his summoned Nav Imp in private.”
The vice captain hangs her head for a moment before standing up and nodding.
Geltor jumps onto Eva’s shoulder and pats her head “Welp, with this, the contract is complete!”
Toulif looks at the Nav Imp. “So it is.”
Geltor jumps down and smiles as a red pentagram suddenly forms at his feet. Black clawed hands sprout out of the ground and grip onto the Nav Imp. “I hope I never see any of you idiots again!” The hands pull Geltor into a seated position and he slowly fades from existence.
After a few awkward moments of silence of Toulif staring at his sister without saying a word, the tent is finally set up. Beatzuly jumps onto Eva’s shoulder as they enter the tent with Toulif.
They take off their masks and stare at each other for a moment. Toulif glances at Nav Imp “What is your task?”
Beatzuly frowns, and looks at Eva. Eva nods and she turns back to Toulif “To lead the way out of this dungeon.”
Toulif scoffs, expecting that answer “Of course it is. I knew you were a coward, but this is ridiculous. Did you not even try to look for others, or were you too focused on running away to care?”
Eva grits her teeth “The expedition was a complete failure! everyone was either dead or missing, so I was trying to keep myself alive long enough to report back to the cult!”
Toulif chuckles at the response she gave “Right, right, because you were going to go back to the cult, right? Not run from your responsibilities and let everyone think you had died in this mysterious dungeon?”
Eva bites her lip at the sudden accusation. A deafening silence fills the room. Beatzuly’s gaze keeps darting between the siblings, visibly uncomfortable at the interaction.
Eva speaks “I’m not fit to be-”
Toulif cuts her off with vitriol in his voice “No, I don’t think you are either. But I don’t get to make that decision, and neither do you.” Toulif starts to shake his head as anger starts to build on his face. “You really piss me off, you know. If I was in your position, I could do so much! You’re a fucking coward Eva!”
Eva grabs onto her clothes as she fights back tears. Beatzuly notices this and clicks her tongue. “Hey! That's going too far!”
“Shut up! Demon! In fact, Eva, alter the contract with this demon to track the demonic sealing collar. I’d be fucking damned if I let you ruin this expedition!”
Eva’s gaze goes cold and her voice is quiet “Yes, brother-”
Eva stops herself as she looks at her brother. He doesn’t have the usual spite filled gaze on his face. For the first time in a long time, he looks at her with concern.
Toulif points at his own nose “Eva.”
Eva wipes at her nose and sees blood. A lot of blood-
Blood is streaming out of Eva’s nose and ears as Toulif and Beatzuly look on in shock. Eva’s mind is suddenly filled with a voice she doesn’t recognize.
You’re a murderer! Psychopath! You're insane! Are you really bored right now?! They were right about you! I think you’re getting tired!
You’re a bad person-
Eva screams.
---
I grab onto another, still living, Roach Gladiator and swing it into the head of a Roach Brood Queen. The gladiator explodes on impact and the roach queen recoils. The queen goes to bite down on me, but I vanish.
I reappear inside one of the organs of the Roach Brood Queen with Aura of Durability fully manifested. I swap to Aura of Strength and my body bursts into black flames with SoulFire as I tear myself out of the monster.
I pull myself out with a crazed smile on my lips. “I didn't think that would work!” You’re disgusting- My smile deepens at the thought. “Yes I am!” I shloch a handful of roach slime from my shoulder.
You have leveled up! (29 → 30)
-
You have earned (5) stat points
(Magical Aura Manipulation) has leveled up! (8 → 9)
(Aura of Vitality) has leveled up! (8 → 9)
(Instant Position) has leveled up! (4 → 5)
I jump off the monster and stomp onto a group of Roach Legions. Their insides burst out as they get squished at my feet.
I look around to see most of my enemies around are ones that have gone completely insane. They are very easy to kill at this point. It’s not that I have killed all the sane ones first. It's the opposite actually.
The ones that have kept their minds intact have started to run away in terror-
With those that can effectively counter me running away and those insane roaches randomly attacking at nothing. I glance at the Roach Empress.
She tilts her head at me as we both study each other. A grin breaks my face. “You’re a bitch aren’t you! Trying to wear me down! The first brood queen I fought did the same thing, ya know!”
I dump my 5 points in Endurance for more stamina. Aura of Strength shifts to my legs and I jump. I reorient myself as I crash into the roof of the dungeon. I glare at the empress with my one eye and she flinches. I launch myself at the Roach Empress and massive cracks form all across the ceiling from the impact.
My soul coats my right arm with Aura of Strength and SoulFire. I go to punch the empress directly in the face. One of her insect arms flings upward and catches my fist. A shockwave reverberates across the empress’s entire body.
I stare in shock as the Roach Empress ignores her own burning hand to stare at me. My one eye widens as my own thoughts speak to me.
You are too weak to kill her-
One of the empress’s arms slams into my ribs. My arm wasn’t fast enough to block it, but my aura was. I reinforced the area with Aura of Durability and my ribs shatter.
My body became a bullet as I hurtled through the room. Thousands of Roach Legions and one very unlucky Roach Brood Queen are caught in my trajectory. They are all completely annihilated as my limp body flies through them.
I manage to fully manifest Aura of Durability before I crash into the far wall, but I still feel multiple bones break. I use Aura of Vitality boosted with Magical Aura Manipulation by covering the most injured areas first.
I gasp for air as my ribs pull themselves out of my lungs and snap back into place. My right arm untwists itself and my left arm pops back into its socket. I grit my teeth as a shattered femur fuses back together.
All the while the Roach Empress watches me. I finally get a read on its soul and all I feel is pity and amusement. You underestimate her.
My eye widened. “It's you! Thats your fucking voice!”
I see her soul dim for a brief moment as her mandible clicks. The Roach Empress soul brightens to an insane degree. The metallic soul literally catches fire and burns like a green sun.
I feel my mind strain and blood starts flowing out of my eye, nose, and ears. The Empress’s mandibles stretch open and they rip through her own cheeks. Her jaw unhinges, revealing rows of shark-like teeth.
The voice booms and my skull shakes
WE’RE GRINNING EAR TO EAR!!
I steal myself as I break into a grin. “Yes we are!”
The large sack-like body of the Roach Empress starts to fold into its torso. Her chitin hair extends downward and forms a black dress. Two translucent human-like legs extend out of her lower half. Her forehead bursts open as two massive antennas unfurl outward.
You wait for your death to come-
