Toulif finally caught a break-

  At first, he felt lost after the failure of the expedition. He couldn’t do anything. Not after his sister exercised her power over him. If he wanted, he could still pull rank on her, but that would lead to drastic consequences within the royal family.

  Toulif’s and Eva’s father, the emperor, has hundreds of children. And his children have ranks within them. The first and highest rank is the potential heirs, they are the favored sons and daughters of the emperor. The possible future rulers of the empire. Eva is a potential heir.

  The second rank are the receding heirs. They are the sons and daughters that have proven to the emperor that they are far more useful to him at other professions. They managed to voluntarily leave the race of succession.

  The third rank and the lowest are the disgraced heirs. They are the children that are seen as failures in the eyes of the emperor. They are not cast out, however. They are instead forever chained and servants to the potential and receding heirs.

  Toulif is a disgraced heir. All because of a simple cosmetic injury. In normal circumstances, such an injury could be healed, but the wound had been cursed by one of his many siblings as a tactic to get rid of him. And it worked-

  Toulif is now forced into submission by his sister. His completely pathetic sister.

  But now Toulif is happy, he won't have to entertain his sister for much longer. Why? Because Eva had sacrificed over 200 hundred years off her lifespan, and the emperor had disgraced his children for far, far less.

  Once the emperor learns of Eva’s shortened life, her disgrace is all but guaranteed. And the expedition may have been a failure, for they never retrieved what they were looking for. But-

  Toulif looks down at the human, who is currently laughing in her insanity.

  A mortal with true demonic essence may be a far more valuable find-

  Toulif is broken from his stupor at the stop of the insane woman's laughter. She suddenly jumps to her feet and starts checking her surroundings. Toulif recognizes this and readies his newly acquired sword.

  He turns around to look at his surroundings only to find nothing. His ear twitches. Is that… clicking? He turns back towards Tiffany and pauses.

  Her face is washed of color and she stares into the middle distance with her mouth agape. Tiffany speaks in a whisper “r- run.”

  Toulif blinks at her. “What?”

  She grits her teeth and yells out. “RUN!-”

  ---

  I turn on my feet and start dashing in the other direction of that thing-

  Its soul is a mess of magic and mana stitched together, and it’s coming directly for us. Directly- Ignoring the walls of the dungeon, but it’s traveling at a speed we can run away from.

  I glance back to see everyone staring at me dumbfounded. I grimace at the precocious seconds lost. “NOW!”

  Everyone breaks into a sprint at my command. I turn back around only to be blocked off by a hoard of roaches. How did they get this close without me sensing them?

  (Zombified Roach Gladiator / level 29)

  (Zombified Roach Gladiator / level 26)

  …

  (Zombified Roach Brood Queen / level 27)

  (Zombified Roach Brood Queen / level 30)

  (Zombified Roach Amalgamation / level 47)

  (Observe) has leveled up! (3 → 4)

  They don’t have souls-

  I scowl as the smell gets instantly worse. I hesitate at the disgusting sight of the roaches rotting carcasses. Mushrooms and mycelium stick out of the cracks and opening of their exoskeletons.

  A large mass of fused roach bodies sits in the middle of the swarm in front of us. Dozens of every kind of roach monster I’ve seen so far are melted together to create this abhorrence. I almost vomit at the sight of what appears to be once a Roachling trying to escape the amalgamation, only to be pulled back in by a rogue gladiator blade.

  A slash of dark energy flies by me and slams into the Zombified Roach Amalgamation and it screams out with a thousand chittering mandibles.

  “Push through!”

  At Toulifs words I steal myself and conjure a soul-spear. I grab the spear with my right hand and pull it back. With my arm now coated with aura, I throw the spear as hard as I can at the Zombified Roach Amalgamation. I propel it forward even faster with Magical Aura Manipulation.

  The soul-spear streaks through the swarm of zombie roaches, ripping through them. The spear strikes the amalgamation and the monster recoils. I quickly chant under my breath. “Spite.Collapse.Soul.Break.”

  The spear shrinks to a point and quickly annihilates the amalgamation from the inside out as a wave of black flames explode outward. The fire washes over all the surrounding roaches, creating a large gap in the swarm.

  You have slain a (Zombified Roach Amalgamation / level 47)

  -

  Moderate experience rewarded

  You have slain a (Zombified Roach Brood Queen / level 27)

  -

  Less experience rewarded

  …

  You have leveled up! (45 → 46)

  -

  You have earned (5) stat points

  I extinguish most of the fire so we can run through the path I just created. Gent drags his wand through the air and pillars of rock shoot out of the ground and ceiling. They rip through the roaches on our peripheral as we run.

  Toulif swings his new sword and an arc of dark energy is flung from the blade into another group of zombie roaches. They are bisected through the middle as the energy cuts through like a hot knife through butter.

  I use Soul Conjuration to create a new weapon.

  “Soul… Fear… Permanence… World… Break…”

  I grip onto the dark soul-sledgehammer and swing at a Zombified Roach Gladiator in front of me. Its body is torn apart as the roach is launched out of the way. I swing upward and a Zombified Roach Brood Queens gore is splattered onto the ceiling.

  I look back to see Jammie about to be attacked by a zombie gladiator. I Instant Position behind it and grab it by its neck in an attempt to throw the monster back into the swarm. Its body is so fragile however that the roach simply falls apart at the sudden force.

  Jammie is too slow- I pick up our healer and start sprinting back to the rest of our party. I glance at Eva with Geltor riding her back. I take note that she hasn’t fainted at the sight of the roaches and is running behind Toulif and Gent. Good, one less thing to worry about.

  “Hold on!”

  I coat my legs with aura and jump forward. While I hold Jammie with my right arm, I swing the dark soul-sledge with my left at any zombies in my path as my body bolts through the air.

  Why are they so fucking many of them?! I glance back at the monstrous soul behind us. It has closed about half the distance between us and is still getting closer. Whenever we turn, it turns with us. We are not running fast enough.

  I don’t think we have a chance of beating that thing. That soul, it’s utterly terrifying. It has no structure, like someone took a whisk to it and they’re somehow still able to hold it together.

  The chasing soul suddenly stops-

  I grit my teeth as half my attention is split on the soul behind me and the other half on running and killing roach zombies. I use Frost Breath on a large group to the left and black spikes rip through the ones on the right.

  Something inside the soul shifts-

  I look away as more of my attention is drawn away from the battle in front of me. The massive green soul rips itself apart and vanishes.

  My head snaps back forward as the monstrous soul appears in the direction that we are running. The soul fuses back together and I go to scream out to my party to stop, but it’s already too late.

  The dungeon wall explodes outward sending massive rocks ripping through the swarm of roach zombies. I turn to shield Jammie from the debris and the rocks pelt me. I turned back to see the monster for the first time.

  A massive worm of rotting death.

  (Zombified Blattaria Anathema / ???)

  DESPAIR DECEIVE

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Blood spurts out of my ears and nose as its mind magic instantly assaults me. I fall to my knees and drop Jammie, who is now convulsing and grabbing onto his head.

  RESTRAIN RETRIEVE

  I grab onto my head and slam it into the ground from the pain. I grit my teeth as my brain feels like it's about to tear itself. I scream out as I start crying blood.

  My body freezes and the pain stops as I activate Instant Thought.

  I internally gasp in relief as my senses are returned to me. I don’t savor it for long. I need to start thinking of a way out of this.

  Is Eva okay? I push the thought out of the way. Not now, I tell myself. I need to stop the mind magic as fast as possible.

  I think back to my fight with the Roach Empress. Is there any way for me to stop the mind magic? Maybe if I destroyed its head? No, that won't work. I tried that on the empress. I completely annihilated its head and it still did mind magic.

  If I distract it? No, the Roach Empress mindlessly attacked her surroundings and couldn’t find me, but still hit me with her mind magic. No, she can focus it on me. Her children weren’t affected by the magic. Only me-

  Is Eva okay?

  This is such a bad idea-

  “Titanic Presence!”

  I put my entire aura into my head and immediately begin repairing my brain with everything I have. IT HURTS-

  Summon’s Respite (2 / 3)

  Summon’s Respite (1 / 3)

  Summon’s Respite (0 / 3)

  RETRIEVERESTRAINDECEIVE

  Blood mixed with a greyish fluid pours out of every orifice on my head. I collapse onto the ground as I become completely unable to use my body.

  I think there is fighting around me? I don’t know.

  I’m completely focused on how much this hurts. There is no anger, no fear. There isn’t any lashing out, because there isn’t any room for it. There’s just pain.

  It becomes normal to me-

  Congratulations, you have evolved a skill

  -

  (Pain Tolerance) becomes (Pain Ignorance)

  I grab onto my dark soul-sledge and stand to my feet. Blood and grey matter is still spilling from my head. The unending pain still assails me and a wall of voice crashes into my mind. “Huh… Neat!”

  I smile as I gain my bearings. I look around to see everyone staring at me. Titanic Presence is still going, but they seemed to be able to defend me from the hoards of zombie roaches.

  I look forward to the massive worm of fused insect corpses, it’s thousands of undulating eyes staring into my being and I grimace. It smells really bad!

  I grin through the stench and step towards it. I feel great after evolving another skill. I swing the dark soul-sledge into my grip as I walk forward.

  If the main attack of this thing is simply causing pain, I can handle it-

  The Zombified Blattaria Anathema splits twice across its length as the entire thing lunges at the whole party. Its maw is filled with millions of tiny brown hairs and in less than a fraction of a second, everyone is swallowed into the belly of this monster.

  The pain stops, the voices stop, replaced by a single word.

  SLEEP

  And the world fades to black.

  ---

  “Why do you like her?”

  I look over at our vocalist Jack. He has stubble across his chin, juxtaposed his usually clean shaven face. His hair is unkempt and he looks across from the bar at me.

  “You look like shit, Jack.”

  He scoffs and waves a finger at me. “You’re one to talk.”

  I blink and look down with my one eye at the rest of my body. I’m covered in green blood and guts. My armour is bent and warped, but it slowly repairs itself over time. That’s probably what the enchantment does.

  “Point taken. So, how have you been?”

  “Things have been pretty shit since you disappeared. You were last heard from a 911 call and after that you were just… Gone. They launched a formal investigation and some very fucked up stuff that you did got uncovered.”

  I stare at him for a moment, not really processing what he said. Was I found out after I got summoned? “Okay?”

  He smiles at me. “Not even going to try and deny it?” He starts to chuckle, “You always did give off serial killer vibes!”

  I raise an eyebrow at him. “What’s going on?”

  He rubs his eyes and decides to ignore me. “Why do you like her?”

  I instinctively reach for a drink and find that there is none. I look around to see that there is no one else at the bar. I frown and look back at jack. “You mean Eva?”

  “Who’s Eva?”

  I tilt my head to him, “Then who then?”

  He stretches and yawns then shakes his head. “No, after you dumped my ass, you started talking to some girl. It was Stacy, or some shit?”

  “Oh, her? Nah, that was just something for fun.”

  “He- slut.”

  I punch him in the shoulder and he flinches. “Ow? Are those spiked knuckles?”

  “Ah, my armour. A god gave it to me.”

  He blinks at me and smiles warmly. “Who’s Eva then? I guess my question stands for her now.”

  “Why do I like Eva? I guess… I don’t know. Her eyes are golden and I think she’s cute when she’s scared. I guess that she saved my life too, I suppose.”

  He scoffs, “Ahh, another one of your victims then?”

  I scowled at him, “I would never hurt her!”

  “Sorry Tiffany. You already did, and you’re going to get her killed if you keep going like this-”

  ---

  I pull my eye open, not really remembering the dream I had. I try to get up to find that I can’t. Thousands of locks of brown hair are tying me down to the slimy wall behind me. My face scrunches at the horrid smell entering my nose.

  My body bursts into black flames as I manifest my aura to try and burn the hair with soul fire. The hair doesn’t even slightly singe. I look around to see the rest of the party tied down in a similar manner. I grit my teeth, “Hey! Anyone else awake?!”

  “I didn’t think I would die like this.”

  I look up to see Geltor tied to the ceiling. “We aren’t dead yet! We can still get out of this!”

  Geltor scoffs, “Nah, we’re dead. You just know that yet. I’m assuming you just don’t have a high leveled Observe?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  He groans to himself, “This thing's level is 109. We cannot do anything except wait for it to kill us.”

  I pause at that. Level 109? I shake my head. “I don’t care! I’ve killed things twice my level before and I’ll do it again!” I manipulate my aura to my left arm and pull it forward. The hairs strain and stretch until they start to break. My arm breaks free and I slam it back down into the beast as hard as I can.

  The back of my fist digs into its flesh and ripples are sent out across its body.

  The walls of the monster begin to vibrate and I hear squelching noises. Thousands of more hairs burst out of the walls and wrap around me. I sink into the slick flesh as I’m pulled even further than I was before. “Shit!”

  “You should stop. You’re going to wake the other- Oh, too late.”

  I look over to see Toulif coming too. “Where? Where am I?”

  “Toulif! We’re inside the monster!”

  I look at him pleading and he stares out around the room. “I- see.”

  I blink as his soul immediately becomes resigned. “Are you fucking kidding me! You’re just going to give up?!”

  His head snaps to me as he is filled with confusion. “How did?” He glares as his soul is filled with anger again. “Of course not! We simply need a plan to escape this beast!”

  After that Gent and Eva start to regain consciousness. I look around to find Jammie. Where is he? I look out with Magical Aura Perception. The monster's deranged soul is near the head of the creature. Jammie soul isn’t anywhere to be found.

  “Where’s Jammie?”

  Geltor laughs out, “It digested him!”

  I look up at Geltor. Everyone has now woken up at this point and is now staring at the Nav Imp. Eva sputters, “Wh- are you serious?!”

  He grins at her, “Yeah! It was a sight to watch too. He was pulled into the walls and dissolved into nothing! It’s what's going to happen to all of us, so prepare yourselves!”

  I spit at him, “Fuck off, Geltor!”

  I use Soul Conjuration to create a circular-saw blade made of black flames in front of me. I start to spin it rapidly with Magical Aura Manipulation and start to cut along the outline of my body. I push the blade around me as fast as I can and rip myself from being tied down.

  I step forward and more hair instantly wraps around my ankle. I fall forward and more hair tendrils reach up to catch me.

  I Instant Position to the center of the space within the beast to escape the hair. Before I can even start falling, millions of hairs burst from the walls and tie themselves around me.

  “Fuck!”

  Geltor turns his head with a mocking expression. “Told ya.”

  As I’m about to tell Geltor to end his own life. Toulif speaks up. “We’re moving.”

  I look down at Toulif as I’m suspended in mid-air. “We are?”

  “Yes, this thing is taking us somewhere.”

  I focus and I start to sense the slight trembling. Huh, where are we going?

  I think back to the voices I heard when I was being attacked by the monster's mind magic. It wasn’t the self doubt stuff that the Roach Empress did. It was orders, commands on what to do.

  Eva speaks up. Still slightly shaken at what Geltor said. “Where though?”

  Suddenly the monster shifts. The edges of the beast split apart as the entire thing essentially inverts itself. Large tentacles of translucent green flesh, covered by brown hair, sprout from the undulating monster and braid themselves together.

  The party is exposed to the outside as its insides flip on itself. We are inside a massive cavern that is incredibly humid and warm. The ground is covered in black grass and dark vines stretch out through the entirety of the cavern. The vines reach up in the center of the room to surround a big brown cube, the size of a skyscraper.

  The cube is completely smooth on all sides and floats impossibly in the air. I freeze up at the sight of it. An incomprehensible dread forces itself into my soul. Everyone looks on at the cube with the same sense of terror.

  (Magical Aura Perception) has leveled up! (9 → 10)

  A hurricane appears surrounding the cube. A swarm of black rocks spin onto itself and thunderous black lightning crackles and flickers off the edges of the cube. The dread becomes a physical sense of wind blowing through my hair.

  The monster finishes unfurling and blooms into a disgusting flower of flesh. At its center, a figure of a woman with mandibles randomly protruding off its face, stretches upward towards the cube.

  It opens its jaw and meat rips from its face. “fReE Me!”

  And the cube splits-