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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

My head! What happened? My body hurts. Everything seems to be spinning. Moreover, what is this annoying buzzing sound? Why is it so dark? Am I floating? Slowly I felt consciousness returning to my body, with a lot of effort, I opened my eyes.

Only to be faced with a dark void, scrambled to my feet, and nearly passing out as dizziness overtook me, I scanned the area around me, trying to figure out where I was.

There was nothing, up, down, forward, back, nothing, just a dark void, honestly, there was no up or down, as there was nothing to determine distance, my sense of depth did not exist.

Well, this must be a dream, better enjoy it while I don't wake up, lucid dreams are rare for those who don't train, so I walked forward, I think, it was strange, there was no floor, but I felt my feet stepping on something, it was soft and it made a wet noise.

I walked for a few minutes until I heard a noise, simultaneously a small bright spot appeared on the horizon, as I walked, the bright spot got bigger and the noise became clearer.

Eventually I managed to make out the noise, it sounded like drums and flutes, the dot got even bigger, its light bothered my eyes, suddenly there was an explosion of light, I had to cover my eyes to avoid being blinded.

When the light disappeared, I had a complete view of where I was, I was in space, and I saw nebulae, planets and stars everywhere, a circle of asteroids floating around me.

Looking at the ground, I saw the thing I had been stepping on all this time, it was a gigantic sphere of flesh, a shapeless mass of tentacles, mouths and teeth, this sphere was floating in front of a bright and huge red star.

Flying around the sphere of flesh, there were swarms of dark-shelled insects, I fell to the ground at this sight, this must be a dream, and it can only be a dream.

The sound of drums and flutes continued, dangerously close to me, looking at the source of the sound, I was facing an amorphous creature that was playing a large ornate flute, all that crossed my mind now, was to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, that was my mistake, because due to my panic, I fell into one of the giant mouths of the sphere of flesh, my last sight before falling into that dark abyss full of teeth was the amorphous creature watching me.

I don't know how long I fell, but several images popped into my mind. On the other hand, was it the great pit I fell into? Never mind, I saw a majestic stone city at the bottom of the ocean, I felt my back hitting the water, as I was sinking, I felt the water entering my lungs, I saw two big eyes staring at me, these eyes belonged to a giant with the head of an octopus.

I kept sinking until I fell face down on a sand dune, I rolled down the dune, on the way I saw Egypt, the sand of the desert and the pyramids covered the horizon.

I saw the pharaoh sitting on his throne, the pharaoh looked at me and his face was transformed, in the place of his head there was a great tentacle extended upwards, the form of the pharaoh changed again, I saw nine hundred and ninety-nine different forms. With an amused laugh, the Pharaoh waved his hand and the desert sand enveloped me.

When the sand disappeared, I found myself in a forest of gnarled black trees, a dead earth beneath my feet and a sickly green sky above me; I saw a large shape reaching out from a hole in the ground.

A gigantic mass of dark tentacles and mouths oozing, the creature moved across its massive goat hooves and smaller monsters spat from its mouths, the creature grabbed me with one of its tentacles and devoured me.

I found myself falling again, this time a series of screams, giggles and moans of pleasure assaulted my ears, I closed my eyes and covered my ears, trying to get rid of the damn sound.

Suddenly everything was silent, I hesitantly opened my eyes, only to come face to face with a series of luminous orbs, these orbs were floating in front of a large gate made of light, I felt the orbs staring at me, then I heard a voice.

“You only have one goal, entertain us.”

The gate of light opened and a force pulled me towards it, on the other side of the gate, I saw a void, I didn't try to resist, honestly, I think I'm too calm after everything that happened. Am I just a human after all? What can I do?

"That's for you to decide, we'll just watch, entertain us."

The voice spoke.

Then the gate closed behind me and everything went dark.

XXXXXX

My head! What happened? My body hurts. Everything seems to be spinning. In addition, what is this annoying barking? With a flash of memory, I remembered everything that happened; I got up quickly, got to my feet and looked around.

I immediately realized that something was wrong, I was not on my way home after my classes at the university were over, I was in an unfamiliar place, grass was under my feet, heavy fog was in front of me, I saw the outline of trees on the other side and the barking of dogs continued.

When I turned around in search of some landmark my breath caught, my eyes widened and I gasped at what I saw, a gigantic stone building with the metal gate raised, to my left was a dead animal being devoured by crows and to my right a series of boxes and old barrels.

Please don’t! This can only be a dream! It has to be a dream! I didn't have time to think, the barking of the dogs grew louder, and looking back, I saw three large shapes moving through the mist, my legs shook, my breath quickened, I felt sweat trickling down my face.

When the first paw broke through the mist, my brain started working again and I ran at full speed towards the side entrance, I didn't look back, but I could hear the deafening barking and the sound of several paws stomping on the grass.

With a leap, I entered the side passage almost rolling down the stairs, but I managed to regain my balance holding on the wall, looking back, I saw one of the giant dogs staring at me; it was too big to enter the narrow corridor.

“HERE FOR YOU!” I held up my middle finger to the dog, as if it understood it barked at me.

But since he couldn't get in, I didn't worry too much, I went down the dark, fungus-covered stairs, using the wall as a support, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real, but when I stopped in front of the entrance to the end of the stairs and I saw the corpse siting to the side I realized...

This is real...

I took a deep breath trying to calm myself, the situation would be considered impossible to happen, but here I am, I sat down next to the corpse, it seemed to be here for a long time, skin withered and dry to the point that I could see the outline of the bones, the eyes were gouged out and several teeth were missing.

“You didn't even get a chance to go in, did you? Or were you trying to escape?” I spoke to the corpse as I took the thing off my backpack and made inventory.

The first thing I took out was a book that I always liked to read, I'm a fan of cosmic horror, one day I bought a book online, a compilation of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, I liked to read during the break, but now I don't see much use for it.

Alternatively, so I thought, because as soon as I took the book out of my backpack, the book opened and a green tentacle emerged from the cover, wrapping my hand and pinning it to the book.

The book was flipped by itself, but there was no wind, eventually it stopped on a blank page, but I'm sure this book didn't have any blank pages, looking closer; the book seemed to have more pages than its size showed.

The short stories ended and hundreds of blank pages passed in front of me before it stopped, then red letters appeared on the blank page and the following was written.

“Rejoice! For the Old Ones chose you! Mortal who seeks knowledge of the void, your actions have touched the curiosity of the Cosmic Horrors who live in the Ether of space, they are willing to reveal what you seek, but they demand compensation!”

"What?!?"

“Enter the dungeon of Fear and Hunger and face its horrors, what you will do is your choice, escape the dungeon, save everyone, kill everyone, become a god! The Old Ones don't care; they just want something that alleviates their eternal boredom!"

“Is this some kind of game to you?!?”

"Not for me! I am only here to assist you, for the Old Ones this is like a play, for you only you can determine.”

I was surprised when the book responded.

“Who or what are you?”

“I am the compilation you bought, given life by the Old Ones. My goal is to help you, but like you, I am just an actor in this great play, my survival depends on you.”

“If you are here to help me, what can you do?”

“Imagine me as a Grimoire, I contain spells and rituals beyond human comprehension, but I am nowhere near the level of the Necronomicon.”

"Seriously? Can you show me?"

As soon as I said that, the pages moved again, stopping at another blank page, then the letters appeared.

“Glimmer of Truth: Reveal to your enemies a fraction of the truth of the universe; show them how insignificant they are compared to the grand scheme of things. This spell does not work on those too foolish to understand the truth, the insane, as their minds have long since shattered, and the Enlightened, as the truth is something they have always sought.”

“Cats of Ulthar: Use this spell to summon the cats blessed by the gods, as a swarm they will surround your enemies, slashing with their claws, biting with their fangs, devouring with their divine hunger. Show everyone how these little animals became apex predators because of the gods.”

“Soul of the Cosmic Void: You have always been interested in dark and profane things, your quest to satiate your curiosity led you to read the books and tomes on subjects considered 'heavy' by society, this trained your mind, leaving you prepared for the horrors that are to come, it has made you resistant to what this dungeon has to offer, your mind is a fortress, but your body is weaker than the weakest of warriors. Unfortunately or fortunately, your curiosity is insatiable, always craving for more, even if it ends up harming you.”

"That is all?"

“I also provide notes and descriptions on all items in your possession.”

"Is that so? Then I will do a test. What is this?" I took an object out of my backpack.

“Generic Snacks: Generic Snacks from the cheapest brand, did not contribute a bit to your health, honestly there is a possibility that they shorten your lifespan, despite that you eat them anyway, after all it is your favorite.”

"And that?" I showed another object.

“University Books: Textbooks from the university you attend, old and with a few pages slightly torn, but still in good condition, it's a little heavy, enough to crush someone's head if you try hard enough. Perhaps the knowledge written on them is useful for something?”

“And this, this, and this?” This time I removed several objects.

“Case: A simple case containing pencils, erasers, pens, sharpeners and other school supplies.”

"Water Bottle: A full water bottle, you haven't opened it yet."

“Agenda: A small agenda, more like a notepad that fits in the palm of your hand, used to write down important dates, such as schoolwork submissions and exams.”

“Coin Purse: A small coin purse, made of high quality leather, when animal rights were not yet invented, belonged to your late grandfather and was given to you as a gift. Contains: x20 five-cent coins, x15 ten-cent coins, x10 twenty-five cent coins, x5 fifty-cent coins. Better keep them; you never know when they will come in handy.”

“Wallet: An old wallet, made of high quality leather, when animal rights were not yet invented, belonged to your late grandfather and was given to you as a gift. Contains: Identity Card, Credit Card, business cards from places you frequent, and x1 five-dollar bill. Wow! I have more money than you do! And I am a book!”

“Cell phone: A touchscreen cell phone with a charged battery, contains some games, music and e-books, luckily the cell phone is not old enough for the battery to drain quickly. Can be used to restore your Mind if needed.”

“Keys to your house: A key ring containing your house keys. They're not very useful, but they can be used to stab someone in the eye and then run away."

"Hang on! I didn't show you the last four!"

“And you don't have to. I already knew about all the items you have.”

“You were just showing off, weren't you?”

"Perhaps..."

Great, the book has a sense of humor “And what should I call you?”

“كتاب الألف أسرار.”

“I have no idea what you just said.”

“Kitab al'alf 'asrar.”

“How about I just call you Kitab?”

"Acceptable."

Well, I guess that's it, I don't have anywhere to go, I put my things in my backpack and got up, took a look at what I was wearing, a shirt that served as the university's uniform, with the emblem on the chest above the heart, dark jeans and black sneakers.

Nothing that offered protection for what I was about to face, I need to think about my priorities. What should I do? The book said the choice is mine. Have the others already entered the dungeon? If so, are they already in the canonical places? Should I find the NPCs? In addition, most importantly, must I save Le'garde? After all, this is his entire fault. Moreover, which ending should I try to do?

With no other option, I advanced towards the dungeon's dark entrance.

"Goodbye my friend, I hope you don't leave." I said to the corpse.

“Don't worry; I'll be here for a while.” The corpse replied as it turned to me.

I shook my head in surprise, when I looked back at the corpse, it didn't appear to have moved. My God! Is this place getting to me already? I took my cell phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight, then stepped into the darkness.

“You have entered the dungeons of Fear and Hunger, home of Gods Old and New, lair of monsters and horrors, I am Kitab al'alf 'asrar and I will be your guide. What is your first action?”

END OF CHAPTER

Well? What did you think of the first chapter? The introduction to our little adventure. I just wanted to make it clear that this is not GAMER fanfiction, and again, it is not GAMER fanfiction.

Leave your comments and opinions, suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

Until the next chapter!

Chapter Text

You know, despite being trapped in the world of one of the cruelest RPGs out there, I'm glad I'm not trapped in a horror movie. What I mean by this?

Well, my flashlight lit the path in front of me, it wasn't like in a movie where a group of idiot teenagers breaks into a haunted house and the only source of light they brought was cheap flashlights from the corner store.

I moved my arm from left to right, illuminating the area around me, I saw mold, fungus, mushrooms, ruins, boxes and barrels of rotten wood, plants, bloodstains, mangled corpses. I was in the basement of the dungeon, so I had better start collecting items that I will probably use in the future.

On the way I found some mushrooms and herbs growing between the wall blocks and floor tiles, I got a green, red and blue herb, the classic ones from a certain zombie game franchise; I kept them all in my backpack.

On my way, I passed the four pillars with the symbol drawn in blood on the floor.

“You seem strangely calm.” Kitab spoke.

“Don't confuse my calm with naivety, I know the risk I'm taking, I know the dangers of this dungeon. I already had my panic attack on the stairs; I don't need another one in here where the monsters walk around.”

As if fate had heard my words, a monster came out of a dark corridor ahead and floated towards me, a Maneba, an initial enemy, if I remember correctly they can communicate through telepathy, they are probably related to the God Rher, God of the Moon and Madness, and they are not exactly evil, they act more out of the need to feed.

“A monster stands in your way; let us see if your words are true.”

Hm... Trying to talk won't do me any good, I took a quick look around, there was nothing I could use as a weapon and the corridor was too narrow to go around the monster.

Well, time to find out if Kitab's spells work.

“Hey Kitab! How do I use your spells?”

The Maneba advanced, swinging one of its tentacles towards my head; I ducked and took a few steps back. Why am I surprised? This is not a game! It's obvious the monsters won't wait for my turn!

I got up quickly and took a step to the left, dodging a tentacle that tried to hit me on top of the head.

“Just feel the magic in your body. Visualize the cosmic power of the universe. Contemplate the void and its infinite dimensions. So unleash the power given to you by the Old Ones.”

“You think I'm some kind of wizard?!? I'm not an anime protagonist who masters a new power in five seconds! Give me something I can use!” I dodged the blow of another tentacle.

“Alternatively, you could just say the name of the spell.”

"Seriously?!? So there you go! Glimmer of Truth!”

I felt pressure in my head, followed by a little pain, the spells in Fear and Hunger use mind, that's the game's MP, which I felt must have been the equivalent of my mind being drained.

Kitab trembled in my hand, an unknown force flipped the pages of the book, green smoke came out of the pages of the book and enveloped Maneba's head, the monster was still for a few seconds, before shaking its head and attacking me again.

"Didn’t work!"

"Not my fault. You are the one who leads me in fights; the blame for using an ineffective attack is yours. You must know your enemy to face him in the best possible way.”

Maneba comes from the deepest depths and knows about the place in the place where time has no meaning, this thing is already crazy, or it has enough knowledge to not go crazy, solet’s go with the second option.

"DAMN IT!"

I screamed when Maneba hit me on the left side in my moment of distraction, I don't feel anything broken, but it hurt like hell. Focus! Pay attention to the thing in front of you! Unfortunately, this ceased to be a game a long time ago.

Pulling away, I used the second spell in my arsenal.

“Cats of Ulthar!”

The pressure in my head came back, only stronger, I think this spell uses more mind than the last one.

Kitab shuddered in my hand, the pages flipped again, this time, a black slush seeped out of the pages, and this slush flowed towards the floor, forming a big puddle at my feet.

That's it?

Again, as if fate knew what I was thinking, something happened. A series of eyes appeared in the mud puddle, and then the mud took shape, the eyes rising out of the puddle, the mud serving as the body.

They crawled out of the puddle and walked towards Maneba, their shape changing as they approached; the mass of dark mud took on a quadrupedal shape, with four thin legs ending in paws, a long thin tail protruding from its back, one head with two ears on top formed in front.

When the transformation ended, there were ten night-black “cats” with tails, ears, and a single, large eye in the center of their faces. The eye was a blue and gold colored eye of Horus.

The cats stopped in front of Maneba and looked at it curiously; Maneba tilted its head to the side and hit one of the cats, throwing it against the wall to my left, the cat turned into a dark stain as it hit the wall.

This stain ran down the wall until it reached the floor, where the mud resumed the shape of the cat with the eye of Horus. The cat approached Maneba again and meowed.

M̶͖͔̫̞̞̤̲̳̆̃̐̓ę̵̼̗̘̲͍͖͇͇̻̫̹̩̫̼̳̖̣͑̽o̶̡̧̙̘̯̙̩̰͖͉̜͈̲͚͓̬̗̭͍̹̠͈̽̽̽̾͐͋̂w ̢̳͖̞͔̼̰͚̱̝̮͖̞̟̟̞̣̜͍͜

Suddenly huge claws came out of the cat's paw, the claws were white, shiny, pointed and sharp, they could easily rip the flesh of a human being, but the change didn't stop there, just below the eye of Horus, a thin line appeared.

This line expanded from top to bottom, revealing a gigantic mouth with rows of teeth the size of knives, the mouth was so large that the cats' heads were distorted to the point that the eyes ended up on the back of the cats' heads.

Then came a scene from a horror movie, all the cats jumped towards Maneba, the monster swung one of its tentacles towards the nearest cat, but with a swing of its claws, the cat leading the group cut the tentacle in two with one blow.

The Maneba let out a cry of pain, but kept fighting, the monster swung its tentacles frantically, trying to hit the cats, but the animals dodged easily, with great speed they jumped, rolled and ducked out of the way.

While Maneba was busy with some cats, the rest of the group surrounded the creature, for a moment Maneba stopped when it realized what was happening, but it was too late.

All the cats jumped on top of Maneba at the same time and began to devour the monster, claws slashing and tearing, throwing blood and pieces of meat everywhere, their mouths biting and tearing apart, taking large pieces of the monster.

The Maneba screamed and struggled, trying to escape, but each attempt to push the cats away with its tentacle was met with the same tentacle being cut by the cats, eventually the Maneba was brought to the ground, where it was easier for the cats to devour it.

The cats ate in such frenzy that they ripped holes in the Maneba's head and crawled in, I could see the bulges moving beneath the monster's flesh, until one of the cats broke off the top of the creature's head in a shower of blood.

When the cats were done, there was nothing left, they ate even the pieces of meat that were thrown away, without Maneba in their way, the blood covered cats came towards me, for a moment I thought I would be next.

However, I changed my mind when the cats rubbed against my legs, their distorted meow echoing through the dungeon, I nervously patted one of the cats on the head. It purred and rubbed against my hand, one of the cats jumped on my shoulder and watched me, and another jumped on my arm and sat there.

With a final meow, the cats disappeared into a dark mud, and then the mud disappeared as if it had never been there.

"So? What did you think of your first fight? Of your first spell that guaranteed you victory? How do you feel? Happy? Irritated?" Kitab spoke.

“A little scared and surprised by what I saw. Glad I survived and didn't get eaten by the cats."

“Now you understand why the Egyptians loved those furballs. Anyway, congratulations! You won your first fight! You earned a total of 0 XP and 0 Gold!”

“What a generous reward.” I said with obvious sarcasm.

"I can't do anything about it; I don't make the rules here."

"Didn't expect you to, but with Maneba out of my way, let's move on."

I didn't have to walk far until something else in my path caught my attention, a large iron door was in front of me and on that door the symbol of a crow, and I knew what was on the other side, Miasma.

I approached and knocked repeatedly on the door, a metallic sound rang through the place, then I tried to push the door, it didn't move, then I tried to pull, I grabbed the metal handles and pulled with all my strength, nothing happened.

Without much choice, I put my ear to the door; everything remained silent, until the silence was broken by a voice.

"Hello."

I recoiled immediately when I heard the voice, it had spoken inside my head, surely, Miasma is on the other side, unfortunately, I couldn't open the door and I don't have enough strength to break it. Too bad, having one of the best weapons right off the bat would help me a lot, but I have no plans to face Crow Mauler, I'd rather never have to meet him.

I continued advancing and picking up some materials that I found inside boxes and barrels, I walked close to the wall; I prefer not to step on a tile that would lead me to the witch.

Lighting up a room beside me, I saw something that caught my attention, a group of crates filled with rusted armor and weapons. Maybe there's something I can use?

“Would you like to flip a coin?” Kitab asked.

"Good question. How do coin flips work here? What prevents me from simply not doing what the coin result tells me to do?”

“This dungeon is alive, if you don't do what the coin result dictates, the dungeon will oblige you.  Forces leagues above you will ensure that the result is fulfilled.”

"Seriously? So just pick heads or tails and flip any coin in the air?”

“Not exactly, you have coins of different values with you, the higher the value of the coin, the greater your reward, but the greater the consequence if you get the result wrong, if there is a consequence. Alternatively, you can choose not to toss a coin and try to find something yourself.”

Considering I seriously need equipment and the consequence is simply not getting anything, I didn't see a problem with trying. I took a five-cents coin and held it up, as if to show the dungeon what I wanted to do.

"Heads."

I tossed the coin up and watched it spin in the air, sweat trickled down my forehead as the coin dropped back into my hand, and I let out a nervous laugh at the result. Heads. Soon after, the coin crumbled to dust. Let's see what the dungeon has in store for me.

Rummaging through the boxes, I found a large dagger, almost a short sword, the blade was shaped like an upside down V, it was a little rusty, but better than nothing, I tucked it into my belt.

"Beginner's Luck, I say. Still, not bad. Would you like to try again? You can get something better with a higher value coin.”

“Better not, I prefer not to push my luck and better save the coins for when I need them.”

"Fair."

I went through the room with the chest on the other side, but it was locked, so I went forward, I saw the door that led to the upper floor, next to it there was a skeleton.

“Hey Kitab! Do you have any necromancy spells?”

"No, but that doesn't mean I can't have it in the future."

Damn it! Creating an army of the undead would be interesting, just loot all the equipment I saw ahead and I would have an army ready.

Going through the door and upstairs, past a cemetery, but avoiding going left, there's a chance I'll find a guard, instead go down the long hallway.

There are now two places I can go, the relatively safe room and the armory where Ser Seymor is. I decided to go right, if Seymor doesn't try to kill me, maybe I could get better equipment in the armory.

I approached the room where the knight was, but I didn't go in right away, instead I leaned against the wall next to the entrance and spoke.

"Hello?"

"Who's there!" A strong voice said from the other side.

“I'm a person trapped in this dungeon, just like you. Can I come in? I swear I'm not a threat."

A few seconds of silence passed before the voice returned.

“Yes, but come slowly and with your hands up.”

I did as he said, slowly walked into the room with my hands raised. Struggling to his feet was Ser Seymor, the knight in chainmail and wielding a giant sword.

The knight stared at me for some time.

“See? I'm not a monster, just a human being like you. Can you put the sword down now?”

Seymor sighed and placed the heavy sword on the ground, but I noticed that he was looking at me strangely.

“By Alll-mer, what are you doing here? What would drive a young man like you to enter this place?”

"I have no idea. I woke up at the entrance to the dungeon and had to run for my life to avoid being devoured by giant dogs.”

“Another soul trapped in this cursed place. Sorry for my actions, but this place messes with our minds. Who knows what kind of monsters roam around?”

“I agree with you, but changing the subject. Would you mind if I pick some equipment?”

"No of course not. Take whatever you need to your survival.”

"Thanks!"

I passed by Seymor and went through the boxes, most of the equipment was degraded beyond use, but I preferred not to spend a coin, I'll make do with what I find and one thing I found.

An iron mask and a cloth hood, the mask covered the front of my face from the forehead to the top of the nose, the mask had an angry expression, with two holes for the eyes and a leather strap to attach the mask my head.

The hood was sewn by threads and made of black cloth, shrugging, I put on the mask and hood, as I said before, better than nothing. I could try the assassin's strategy and hide in the shadows.

I didn't find anything useful, so I decided to leave, but before that, I decided to talk to Seymor.

“I will continue walking through the dungeon. Would you like to come with me?” Honestly, it would be nice to have Seymor accompany me.

“Unfortunately I must decline; I am on a mission to find the people who accompanied me in this dungeon, mainly Prince Buckman. Tell me, if you find Prince Buckman, would you send him to me?”

“Of course, you can count on me!”

"I thank. Would you mind answering another question?”

"No."

“That book and that shiny thing in your hand. What are they?"

"You know, you could say I'm an amateur sorcerer, the book is called Kitab, it's my spell book and it's attached to my arm, the glowing thing, it's a magic item that lights up things around me."

“While I don't have a positive opinion of sorcerers, you didn't pose a threat. I wish you luck in whatever it is you seek in this place.”

“Same to you Seymor, until we meet again.”

"Equally."

So saying goodbye to Seymor, I went towards the relatively safe room, there I found a place to prepare food, a statue of a woman with a crow on her arm and a bed.

I don't need to sleep and eat anything now, but I made a note in my agenda and ripped the sheet right away, leaving the sheet on top of the bed with a stone on top, serving as a weight.

The note talked about this room being safe the first time you slept in the bed, but if you tried to sleep a second time, you would have to flip a coin and if you missed, you would find Crow Mauler. I sketched the monster on the back of the paper. If any of the main characters will still enter the dungeon, I hope that helps.

I also took the opportunity to make some notes.

“Help Cahara find the treasures and make his S ending?”

“Save Le'garde? If so, let him become a new god? He's not exactly evil and he cares about humanity. Explain to him the truth about the new gods? If not, stop D'arce from reviving it and creating the second game's antagonist?"

“Save the girl? If so, let her become the Goddess of Fear and Hunger?”

“Recruit the Floating Head?”

“Recruit Moonless? Yes!"

“Learn necromancy and make an army of the undead?”

“Become a new god?”

Now I was facing the big hall again, if I went forward I might get a stronger weapon, but I don't have any cursed weapons to face the ghosts.

The worst part is, I'm saying this as if Iron Shakespeare isn't an issue, and I left a note about the monster followed by a sketch at the entrance to the hallway.

With no other choice, I walked down the hall. Suddenly the ground started to shake, heavy metallic footsteps echoed through the darkness, I pointed my cell phone ahead.

In addition, there was Iron Shakespeare, slowly advancing towards me, wasting no time, I cast Glimmer of Truth. Green smoke engulfed the knight's head, and then he started screaming and thrashing, his arms reaching for something that wasn't there. Looks like he still has some sanity left in him.

I ran around the corner of the hall, past the pillars, and sprinted across the hall, only to nearly be crushed when one of Iron Shakespeare's hands knocked one of the pillars down in a hail of stone. I thought the knight was trying to kill me, but he was still attacking the air.

I quickened my pace and ran towards the stairs leading down to the prison, letting the knight fight whatever he was seeing.

“I'm a little disappointed that you ran away.”

"Don't give me that talk, I'm in no condition to face that thing and I'd rather never have to do that."

"Better watch what you say, the dungeon is listening and she has an ironic and sadistic sense of humor."

END OF CHAPTER

Thanks for reading this far. Leave your opinions about what you think of the story, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Until the next chapter! By the way, this is our protagonist.

Chapter Text

Going down a flight of stairs, I entered the prison, I stopped at the end of the hall with my back against the wall, poking my head out of my cover, and surveyed the area ahead.

I spotted the rusty metal walkways, painted red with the blood of the prisoners, further on I saw the gigantic statues of lizard men adorning the walls, there didn't seem to be any guards, good.

Taking a deep breath, I left my hiding spot and followed the only possible path, I made a point on searching everything I found ahead, pieces of cloth, moldy bread, sticks, and I just need something to light the torch.

My steps echoed through the metallic floor, which made me worried, I could attract a guard by accident, approaching one of the edges of the walkway, I tried to illuminate the abyss that was just below, but I couldn't see the bottom.

It's a long fall, better not risk it, I doubt the rusty bars will endure my weight. I continued walking down the dimly lit corridor, I pointed the light of my cell phone at the cells in search of something useful, and my hands can slip between the bars.

"Hey! You!"

"AAHH..." I immediately covered my mouth, I looked around, searching for guards, when none appeared, I calmed down a little, and I almost fainted with the scare.

"Hey! I'm talking with you!" The voice screamed again.

I put my finger on my lips and let out a hiss.

“SSSSHHHHH!”

The hiss echoed through the dark prison, but it served to silence the voice.

"Sorry. Look over there." The voice came back, only quieter.

Turning towards the general direction of the voice, I saw something moving in the darkness, approaching slowly, with my hand close to the dagger, I took careful steps towards the moving thing.

I crossed part of the catwalk suspended over the abyss, passed an empty cell and had a better view of the source of the voice, it was a man, he was waving at me, his arm passing through the prison bars.

“You have no idea how relieved I am to find another human being. Can you help me?" The man spoke.

I approached the cell, but keeping out of the man's reach, I stopped in front of the cell and pointed my cell phone at the prisoner.

"Hey! What is this thing?” The man exclaimed while shielding his eyes from my cell phone light.

My breath stop and I swallowed hard when I saw the person trapped in the cell, Cahara, the mercenary who entered the dungeon in search of Le'garde due to the generous reward.

“Can you please get that annoying thing off my face?” Cahara exclaimed.

“Oh! Sorry about that!" I put the cell phone in my pocket.

"Thanks. What was that thing anyway?” Cahara asked.

“A magic item that lights my way.”

“Hm… Interesting.” Cahara muttered, smiling with a hand on his chin.

We barely know each other and he's already thinking about stealing my cell phone, if I get him out of prison, I'll have to hide my stuff first.

“But putting that aside. Could you get me out of here? That bastard of a guard trapped me here... You didn't meet one of them on your way here, did you?" Cahara asked nervously, looking away.

"No." I answered awkwardly, knowing well what had happened to Cahara.

“Perfect, then, how about opening that cell?” Cahara smiled as he leaned against the bars.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that, I really would like to, but I don't have the key and I don't even have a red vial."

Cahara took a deep breath with his hands covering his face “Right! Right! But you're still going to help me, aren't you?"

“Perhaps, but on one condition.”

"Speak it."

“First I want you to give me that doll.” I pointed to the doll in the corner of the cell.

"Just that?" Cahara asked, picking up the doll and handing it to me shortly after, I put it in my backpack.

“Yeah, you never know when that will come in handy. Thanks for that, but I have to go now. Don't worry, I always keep a promise, if I don't come back it's because I still haven't found a way to free you or because I died.” I finished with a laugh.

Cahara stared at me as if I was crazy.

"Haha! You are crazy!" Cahara muttered with a nervous smile.

"Considering the day I've had, it's quite likely."

“I will die here.”

“We will all die someday. Don't worry, I'll get you out of there, just don't go anywhere and don't jump into a shit pit.”

"Why would I do that?"

“You would be surprised. Toilets are the best places to think about life and philosophize about the universe.”

"I was right! You are crazy!" Cahara pointed a shaky finger at me.

“We are all a little crazy here, Cahara.” I replied as I grinned from ear to ear.

“I'm going to die here… Wait! I didn't tell you my name!"

"HAHAHA!" I let out my best villain laugh as I took off running, disappearing into the darkness.

“You've been here less than five minutes and you've already lost your mind?” Kitab asked.

“Maybe I've already gone crazy before I entered the dungeon? Or maybe my little gig was nothing more than acting?”

“Suppose you haven't become someone who needs to be placed in one of the padded cells at Arkham, wearing one of those shirts that make you hug yourself. Why did you do that?"

“Because since the game came true. I don't want to be an NPC but a main character. And to be one, I need to stand out.”

"Fair. But if you're going to do that, you better talk about me; I want to be famous too.”

"Don't worry, soon everyone will know about Kitab, the most powerful spell book of all."

“Yes, keep praising me.”

If I remember correctly, there's a guard with a ballista just ahead in a passage on the left. I heard the sound of heavy footsteps echoing through the prison, and there was the guard carrying a ballista like a crossbow.

I realized he was pointing the weapon at me, my heart raced and I broke out in a nervous sweat, corpses and monsters is one thing, but having a siege weapon pointed at you is a completely different story.

“You better start running faster!” Kitab screamed.

Without wasting time, I did what the book said, I accelerated my pace and ran faster, I saw the guard accompanying me with the ballista, in the middle of my run, and he fired. I threw myself to the ground and the ballista arrow flew over me, into a prison cell and piercing a ghoul in the stomach, pinning him against the wall with a crash.

The guard grumbled that he missed and started to reload the ballista, I quickly got to my feet and kept running, I reached the end of the walkway, just in time to escape another shot from the ballista, this one digging into the wall beside me, cracking and dropping the stone.

"You missed!" I yelled at the guard as I walked up the stairs.

The answer I got was a scream of rage and an arrow from the ballista slamming into the wall at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as I finished climbing the stairs, I stopped immediately and struggled not to throw up, the smell was beyond horrible, the smell of something rotten, the smell of death.

As soon as I took a step forward, I felt my foot stepping on something wet and sticky, looking at the ground, I saw something red, blood. Taking a deep breath, I walked forward and finally saw where I was, in the blood pit, walls, floor and ceiling covered with mutilated corpses in different states of decomposition.

Shit! Damn it! Fuck! I know I should expect this, but it's still hard to see, take a deep breath, I immediately regretted it and tried hard not to throw up, thinking better, don't take a deep breath, hold your breath and don't look to the side or down.

“What a waste! Instead of being dumped here, all these mortals could have made a fine sacrifice!” Kitab exclaimed.

“You are not helping.” I murmured.

"What? You read the stories. Sacrifices are normal for Old Ones, even if some of them don't even want it."

Lovecraftian curiosity, not all Old Ones wish to be worshiped, but after finding out something about them, some humans go crazy and form cults that try to invoke and contact the Old Ones, even though the Old Ones couldn't care less about humans.

I continued walking down the hall, but something shiny on the floor caught my eye, a red vial, perfect. I took the flask and put it in my backpack, but prepared to run in case I accidentally disturbed a certain floating head, seeing that nothing happened, I went ahead, passing through the hole that led to the caves and up the stairs.

However, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that someone was watching me as I crossed the pit.

I finished climbing the stairs and found myself in the inner hall; I stopped to think for a minute. Should I go back to free Cahara, or keep the vial to free the girl? Hm... Tough choice, considering the guard knows I'm walking around and I'd have to go through the blood pit again...

I think I'll just keep the vial and move on, if I find a key or another red vial I'll come back to save Cahara.

I continued walking through the hall and passed where the secret passage that would lead to the armor of penance was supposed to be, but for that I need Trortur's key and light all the torches in the hall.

I just need something to make a fire, anything!

Down the hall, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me, I turned around in time to get out of the way of a scared man, the man was shaking and sweating, his clothes dirty and torn and a little blood stained his face.

"He is coming!" The man yelled before running past me and hiding in one of the rooms.

He? Wait a minute! That man must be Buckman! So that means the one who's coming is...

"Well! Well! Well! What do we have here?" A squeaky voice came down the hall.

Rounding a corner, a deformed dwarf carrying a knife appeared, Trortur.

“Who the hell are you?” Trortur said with difficulty, his misshapen mouth making speech difficult.

“Nobody important, just a visitor.” I replied while drawing my dagger.

"Hm... There's no need for violence, you can be a good boy and surrender, I'm a doctor, you know?" Trortur muttered as he turned the knife in his hand.

“I will have to refuse. How about we go our separate ways before someone gets hurt?”

This seemed to piss off Trortur "Don't underestimate me; I've fought worse than you in the past!" Trortur exclaimed as he ran towards me with his knife raised.

It was a little disappointing, I won't lie, I was scared, but seeing Trortur almost fall to the ground as he ran towards me gave me some courage, I raised the dagger and brought it down on Trortur's shoulder.

“AAAHHH!” The torturer screamed as he dropped the knife and grabbed his wound.

I pointed Kitab at Trortur and casted Cats of Ulthar, the dark ooze came out of the book and formed the same monstrous cats as before.

“Hump! A bunch of cats? That's the best you can do... AAAHHH!” Trortur never ended, as the cats began to devour him.

I looked away from the bloody scene and focused on where Buckman was hiding; I entered the room and found the supposed prince huddled in a corner.

“You can leave; I already took care of the short mutant.”

“D-did you kill him?” Buckman stammered.

I glanced at the man who was screaming in agony.

"You can say so." I said nervously.

"Thank you very much! Glad to find another human being in this place! My sense of time has been shattered; I don't know how long I've been here! Days? Months? Years?"

Buckman spoke as he shook my hand vigorously.

“Okay…Okay…You're welcome. Listen, Seymour is looking for you. Last time I saw him, he was resting in the armory in the basement.”

Buckman's eyes shined and he gave me a big smile.

“Is Seymour alive? Thank you very much, young man! I'll go after him right away! Thank you again!" Buckman exclaimed as he grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.

Then Buckman ran down the dungeon corridor.

"Meh! He is not so bad after all. I expected an arrogant prince.” I shrugged.

“He is a weak-minded coward.” Kitab spoke.

"Do not say that. This dungeon is messing with all of us. “

“Speak for yourself.”

I returned to the corridor and found what was left of Trortur, only bones and rags. The blood-covered cats were lying on the floor with their bellies full.

As I approached, the cats got up and rubbed my legs, getting blood on my pants.

I shuddered with disgust.

“Well, the cats like you, it doesn't surprise me how much food you feed them.”

“I wonder if they will help me against the strongest monsters.”

“Probably not, but they can serve as distraction for you to ran away.”

“Didn’t you complain about me running away from fights?”

“Yes, but there is no reason to die like a fool.”

At least Kitab is reasonable.

I looted Trortur's remains, found the key to the armor, and stowed Trortur's knife in my pack.

Now where to go?

Going right, I continued picking up items, still nothing to light the torch. Looking into a room, I saw yet another of the disturbing things about the dungeon.

The Human Hydra, a mass of human bodies writhing, laughing and moaning in a gigantic marriage of flesh.

"Hey! You there! How about joining us?” A cacophony of different voices spoke, the Hydra's many eyes focused on me.

I ignored Hydra; I wouldn't gain anything from this thing.

“The Old Ones are disappointed with this poorly performed ritual.”

“At least the Hydra is enjoying it.”

Further, ahead, I found the altar of Alll-Mer with the priests in front of it.

Hm... Best to ignore them, I do not intend to sacrifice anyone.

I walked carefully; preparing myself for what was just ahead, the library where Enki is if you don't choose him as a playable character.

"Hello? Someone here?”

No reply. Walking slowly into the library, I looked around, hiding behind the bookshelves.

I don't want to get a fireball in the face by accident. I poked my head out of a shelf, I didn't find Enki. However, I found something else that caught my eye, a small key.

I smiled when I saw the shiny object on top of a table, I put the key in my pocket and left the hall, I'll throw some coins later. Maybe I can find a necromancy book on the shelves?

I went through the courtyard with the well, I could jump into the well and take the shortcut to the basement, and from there I could go back to Cahara.

Not yet.

I passed through the courtyard and arrived at the dungeon entrance, only to see a ghoul running towards me.

The being was thin and pale, wearing a loincloth and with bloody hands, its white eyes staring at me as it tried to bite me.

I leapt to the left, slamming my back into a table, but dodging the ghoul's bite, and quickly piercing the monster's side with my dagger right after.

With a tearing sound and a small spurt of blood, the shoddy dagger easily sank into the creature's flesh.

The ghoul let out a grunt and tried to attack me again, raising its claws and coming down towards me.

I jumped out of the way, past the Ghoul and deeper into the hall.

The ghoul's blow ripped a chunk off the table with a crack of splintering wood.

I advanced towards the Ghoul again and plunged the dagger into his stomach, for a moment I had a revelation, this is not a game.

I don't need to do one attack at a time! I withdrew my dagger from the Ghoul's stomach and stabbed it repeatedly.

Repetitive sounds of flesh being pierced echoed through the corridor along with the Ghoul's growls.

The Ghoul raised one of its claws and scratched me on the left shoulder.

"Son of a..." I kicked the Ghoul in the chest, causing him to crash into a bookshelf and knock the books on his head.

Wasting no time, I ran towards the bookshelf, grabbed it by the edge and pushed it forward.

The bookshelf fell on top of the ghoul, pinning him to the ground, I heard the sound of bones being broken, but the bookshelf wasn't heavy enough to kill the ghoul.

Even so, the Ghoul kept struggling, letting out screams of rage, but he couldn't get the bookshelf off him.

I crouched down next to the Ghoul and poked the side of his head with my dagger; the Ghoul turned and futilely tried to bite me.

I looked the ghoul in the eyes and said.

"Hey! You're dead."

The Ghoul stopped trying to bite me and went silent as if thinking about what I said. Did he understand my words?

The Ghoul looked me in the eyes, I think it was doubt. Did he doubt what I said?

"I'm telling the truth. Look."

I turned my dagger towards the Ghoul, making him see his own reflection. The Ghoul stared at the confused reflection, but with one last grunt, he stopped moving.

“Well, rest in peace.” With the Ghoul dead, I climbed over the bookshelf and kept walking.

“The Old Ones are divided, some approve of your actions, and others wish you had killed the Ghoul.”

“Well, they gave me the freedom to do whatever I want.”

“They know it and part of them regret it.”

If I remember correctly, there's a lot of useful stuff here at the entrance, but there's something more important.

I approached an old, rotting wooden door, kicked the door in the lock area, the door shook, but still stood.

I kept kicking, with each blow the door shook on its hinges, with one final blow, the door gave way.

The door fell into the room with a loud crash, kicking up a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, I found myself in a small room with a table, a bookshelf, flags on a wall, and a large red rug.

Moreover, in the center of the room was a cage and inside the cage, a small shape hiding in a corner.

I pointed my cell phone at the cage, the shape inside the cage hid even further, shielding its eyes from the strong light.

There she was, the girl, future Goddess of Fear and Hunger.

I put my cell phone away and walked over. Kneeling in front of the cage. The girl looked at me scared, trying to look as small as possible.

I lowered my hood and took off my iron mask.

"Hello. Sorry to scare you, but you don't have to be scared, I'm not a monster.” I said in a soft voice and smiling at the girl.

The girl didn't answer. Can she understand what I was saying?

“Don't worry; I'll get you out of here.”

I unlocked the cage with the small key and opened the door to the side.

I saw doubt and surprise in the girl's eyes. She must think this is too good to be true.

“Come on, I won't hurt you. Let's get out of here and get you something to eat. You must be hungry.”

The girl hesitated.

“Hm… You don't trust me, do you? How about I get you a gift? Proof that I am speaking the truth.”

I removed the doll from my backpack and held it out to the girl, the girl's eyes widened in surprise, she stared at me, probably looking for any sign that I was lying.

Slowly the girl extended her hand.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

Know what? I would love to have more time to update my fics, well, at least i dind't stopped. Here is the new chapter! Enjoy it!

Hesitantly and with trembling hands, the girl accepted the doll; I released it, pulling my hand away slowly. The girl held the doll with extreme care, as if the rag toy would fall apart in her hands.

The girl crawled out of the cage and stood in front of me, her eyes focused on the toy. She held the doll in front of her face with both hands and analyzed the toy's features, carefully; the girl dragged her fingers through the doll's hair and face. Then she hugged the toy to her chest, lifted her head and stared at me in silence.

Okay, that was a little scary, despite knowing the girl's history; she still looked like a kid from a horror movie. The girl made an uncomfortable face; I must have been staring for some time.

Composing myself, I tried to break the awkwardness of the situation, leaned towards the girl as I smiled and held out my hand “Nice to meet you!”

My smile faded when, instead of accepting my hand, the girl gave me a confused look.

“Do you know what a handshake is?” I asked.

The girl cocked her head to the side.

"Can you even understand what I'm saying?" Please say yes. I don't want to have to communicate through gestures.

The girl nodded slowly.

"Perfect! Where I come from, a handshake is a formal greeting between people, especially when they're meeting for the first time. We firmly hold each other's hands and shake them up and down. Do you think you can do it? I'm embarrassed to be holding my hand in the air."

The girl was silent, several expressions passed over her face, and she frowned, looked away, opened and closed her mouth. Slowly, she extended her hand. I gave myself a mental pat on the back; it looked like my attempt was a success.

Or so I thought, as the girl wrapped her right hand around my left index finger and weakly wiggled my finger up and down, kind of cute, but she did it for a long time as she stared into my eyes. God, this girl is weird, but I can't judge, because I am even more, being a little introverted and with a certain degree of anxiety doesn't help much.

“You can stop now.” I said with a nervous smile and sweat trickling down my forehead.

With slow steps, the girl let go of my finger, walked away from me and turned back to face me as she hugged the doll. Damn it! This is unnecessarily weird; I have no experience caring for children, much less a traumatized possible future goddess.

What should I do? Hm... I need to choose my priorities first, get the girl out of this room and get her some food, she must be starving. Second, scout this place for items and equipment. There are several important items in the area and two places where there is a chance for me to get armor and weapons without having to spend coins.

Thirdly? Go deeper into the dungeon? I think I'll only do that after I'm sure I'm ready. I might as well wait for Le'garde to die or for someone to save him, that way the fog around the dungeon dissipates and we can escape.

Calm down and let's start slowly. “Hm… Listen, I know we just met and you don't trust me, but I want you to know that I'm here to help. You must be hungry, so how about I fix you something to eat? There's a kitchen nearby.”

As soon as I finished speaking, a loud noise echoed through the room, it was the girl's stomach; she grabbed her stomach with a pained face. Damn it! I've seen the images of starving children in war zones or in poor countries, whether on TV or the internet, but seeing this in person is a completely different story, it makes my heart sink.

"Come." I held my hand out to the girl, but perhaps I was too impulsive as she backed up a few steps. “You know what, just stay close to me.” I said as I put on my mask and hood and walked towards the entrance.

I heard the girl's slow, careful steps right behind me, I poked my head out of the room and scanned the area, and there was no one there, perfect! Looking back, I saw that the girl was close, I motioned for her to follow me, but as soon as I took a step outside, I felt a tug on my shirt.

Looking back, I saw the girl holding the back of my shirt and looking at the floor "It's okay to stay like this, just don't let go of me and don't wander around, okay?”

The girl nodded. With that resolved, we left the room, book and dagger in hand. Slowly we made our way to the right, our footsteps the only source of noise in the decrepit stone corridors, reaching the end of the corridor, there were two paths one to the left and one to the right.

We approached the corner of the hall, our bodies pressed against the wall; I felt the girl's grip on my shirt tightening. I poked part of my head out of hiding and looked both ways, there was no one.

“The path is clear, we can continue.” Said as I gave the girl a quick look, she gave me a quick wave and we continued right again. We walked past the dungeon entrance, looking around; I saw the grass and the wall of fog outside.

No sign of the dogs and Isayah, good news. I noticed that the girl was also looking outside curiously. “This is the outside, where I came from. Have you ever been there?"

The girl nodded negatively, keeping her eyes on the landscape outside.

“Unfortunately we can't leave right now, I don't know if it's safe. Maybe later I can show you around the outside.”

The girl gave me a sad look and lowered her head, nodding in understanding, I felt bad for making her sad, but we can't risk running into the dogs.

We reached the end of this corridor and stopped in front of a wooden door, this was where I expected to get more equipment. “Could you let go of me for a minute.”

The girl fixed me with a hesitant look, but with a trembling hand, she released me.

"Don't worry, this won't take long, but stay where I can see you."

Understanding what I said, the girl leaned against the wall to the left side of the wooden door, with that done, I approached the old, rotten wooden door and grabbed the metal handle with one hand, forcing it inside as I lunged at the door.

It took a few tries, but with each impact, the lock gave way. Eventually the door creaked open, revealing a dusty storage room, when the dust settled, I entered the room with the girl following me.

Moreover, to my delight, I found one of the things I was looking for, the leather vest, similar to the ones Cahara wore, but instead of their brownish red hue, these were black in color.

I wore them over my shirt like a jacket, covering my torso but leaving my arms exposed, I need some armbands right away, the second item I found was a blue vial, and I put it in my backpack. Good, but I was hoping to get an iron mace.

“I got everything I wanted here. Thanks for waiting, let's move on." I smiled at the girl, then we went back to what we were doing, the girl holding my shirt and me leading the way until we finally reached the place I was looking for.

The kitchen.

It was a simple medieval kitchen, with wooden tables and chairs, a few boxes and barrels lying around, and a stone woodstove. I closed the kitchen door behind us.

"You can sit down; I'll make you something to eat." I said to the girl as I pulled out a chair for her to sit on. The girl looked surprised by what I said. Staring at me as if I was lying.

"What? I'm telling the truth." I shrugged.

Still surprised, the girl sat down and I pushed the chair closer to the table, she stayed there, swinging her legs and watching what I was doing.

“Kitab, would you be able to release my hand? I find it difficult to cook with only one hand free.” I spoke to the book.

"No problem." The book responded.

The tentacle that wrapped around my arm returned inside the book and it lay loose in the palm of my hand. I placed it open on a wooden counter next to the stove.

I searched the shelves for kitchen utensils; I think a sandwich will do. After a while, I found a knife that wasn't covered in blood, so I placed the items on the counter and started preparing the food.

"A sandwich? I expected more." Kitab spoke.

"I don't have anything to light the fire and even if I did, I'd rather save it for something really important." I answered while using the knife to remove the moldy parts of the bread and then split it in half.

"Like getting the armor you've been looking for?"

“Hm… It's a possibility, but there's the problem that once put on, the penitent armor can't be removed, so I have second thoughts about getting it. Maybe I can use it as a bargaining chip?” I cut up some cheese, lettuce and tomato and put them on the bread.

“Not a bad plan.”

"Moreover, I'm a skinny college student, not a warrior, there's a chance the armor is too heavy for me.” I searched the rest of the kitchen and found other interesting things, a cloth bag where I kept the leftover food, and I found some dried meat.

I put some meat on the sandwich too.

"Pathetic."

“Better shut up before I use you as fuel for the fire.” I closed the sandwich and placed it on a wooden plate.

“I am your source of magic! You wouldn't dare!”

"You think? Because there are other gods in the dungeon willing to teach me some spells and I know exactly how to increase my affinity with them.” I took a metal mug and opened my water bottle, pouring a third of the water into the mug, filling it up. I closed the bottle and put it back in my bag.

“You got me there.” Kitab “sighed”.

I held the plate with the sandwich and mug in each hand. So I headed towards the table, but as soon as I turned around, I saw the girl giving me a strange look. A mixture of surprise and fear?

“You saw me talking to a book, didn't you?” I asked embarrassed

The girl nodded positively.

“And now you think I'm crazy?”

The girl held out her hand and shook it a little to the sides. A little bit. It's not so bad.

I put the plate with the sandwich and the mug in front of the girl. I took Kitab from the counter and placed it on top of the table, sitting down in a chair shortly after.

“Girl, say hello to Kitab.”

"Greetings!"

The girl looked surprised that letters suddenly appeared on the pages of the book, but then she cocked her head in confusion.

"You know how to read?"

The girl's face turned red and she shook her head.

“You don't need to be embarrassed. You are not to blame for it. Nevertheless, to sum up, this is Kitab, my magic book that helps me to cast spells, and you could say I'm an amateur sorcerer. Kitab does not communicate with a voice, but with words on its pages, it said hello to you.”

The girl understood what I said and waved her hand at Kitab.

“Hump! At least she's polite."

"I wouldn't say its education, but caution born of fear."

“For me it works the same way.”

I preferred not to respond to the book, I think it's better not to say a few colorful words next to a child. Looking at the girl, I noticed that she still did not eat. Was she expecting something?

“This food is for you. You can eat now, I won't mind that.”

My words seemed to be everything she'd hoped for, as the girl placed the doll on the table and began to eat her sandwich. She took a few small bites, probably testing the taste, after chewing a bit her eyes widened and she started to eat faster.

"It is good?" I asked.

The girl nodded quickly.

“I'm glad for that. I pride myself on my culinary skills.”

Then the girl went back to eating, alternating between the sandwich and the water. That brought a smile to my face, but halfway through the sandwich, the girl stopped eating and looked at me, her eyes flickering between the sandwich, and me until she held the food out in my direction.

I held up my hand in denial: “No thanks. You can continue eating; I brought my food with me.”

I removed the snack from my backpack, with a little bit of strength; I opened the package, and started eating. Know what. For a moment, I considered giving the girl the snacks, but stopped when I thought of the effects the chemistry of 21st century food would have on the body of a medieval person, let alone a malnourished child.

The girl stared at me for a few seconds before shrugging and going back to eating while I enjoyed my snack.

“So what do you plan to do now that you've freed the girl?”

“Get the penitent armor and hide it somewhere until I decide whether to wear it or not.”

"And then?"

“Free Cahara.”

"And then?"

“Hm… Find Enki or a book that teaches me necromancy, get better equipment, scavenge items, and find Rag in the hidden courtyard.”

"And then?"

"And then? Good question...”

“You know you'll only have the option of leaving the dungeon after the prisoner everyone came looking for dies or is saved. What will you do?"

"That's a problem, if he dies D'arce will try to revive him and he will become the Kaiser in the future, if he lives he will try to become a New God."

“So what do you plan to do?”

“There are some options; I could prevent him from becoming a new god, but without killing him. Like, foiling his plans.”

“He might try to kill you for that.”

“That's why it would be nice to have Rag on our team. He could face him and stop him if necessary.”

“But the knight will not like it at all.”

That's a problem, one of the biggest obstacles is D'arce, her passion and loyalty to Le'garde has left her blind to what's going on around her. She has completely ignored all the horrible things Le'garde has done and will do anything to save him.

"Another question. Now that you've freed the girl, what do you intend to do with her? Let her become a goddess? Escape the dungeon together?”

“A difficult choice, if she doesn’t becomes a goddess, humanity will continue to suffer without making progress, and after all it was the Cruel Age created with the birth of the Goddess of Fear and Hunger and Enki's Skin Bibles that caused history to continue until the second game.

Maybe I can help her become a goddess, but in a different way? A positive and less painful transformation, at least outside of the dungeon environments.

“I need more information, Kitab, maybe Enki can help us, finding him might be our best option at the moment.”

“Well, choose what you think is best, after all I can't go walking around. Whichever you choose, I will have to follow.”

"Thanks. However, I think it’s better clear something up. Girl."

Upon being called, the girl stopped eating her nearly finished sandwich and looked at me.

“I don't know how to say this lightly, so I'll be quick. I know who your parents are.”

Hearing that, the girl's eyes widened, but she looked away soon after, embarrassed.

“The new goddess and Le’garde. Am I right?"

The girl nodded.

“Do you know what your father did to be here and what his plan is?”

The girl shook her head negatively. I could see fear on her face, she must be wondering where I'm going with this.

“I won't lie to you, your father did horrible things, and he hurt a lot of people to try to carry out a plan that has every chance of going wrong. He obviously didn't think this through and improvised much of the plan. The chances of him dying from something beyond his control are high.”

The girl lowered her head and stared at the table, I heard her sniffing her nose, and she looked like she was going to cry. She must think I'm accusing her of something because she's Le'garde's daughter.

“Please don't cry, I'm not accusing you of anything and I don't blame you for your father's actions, but we can't ignore what's going on around us. Now we have two options, we can go deeper into the dungeon and try to save your father, there are other people here trying to find him, we can join them. The other option would be to try to escape the dungeon, ignore Le'garde and just focus on escaping."

Wiping her runny nose with her hand, the girl nodded, still not looking at me.

“I won't lie, if we decide to save him, we will have to go through many dangers, monsters, traps and much more, the chance of dying is extremely high, but on the other hand, if we decide to ignore Le'garde, we can wander around the dungeon picking up items and equipment to survive until things calm down.”

I couldn't see the girl's face, her hair covered her face, but I noticed that her hands were shaking in her lap.

“I will get you out of here girl, I promise you, but we need to decide what to do here.”

The girl stiffened; slowly she lifted her head and stared me in the eyes, scary.

"You doubt me? I don't blame you, but I'm serious. A child shouldn't be trapped in this place. Wouldn't you like to see the world? What lies beyond these walls?”

We stared at each other for a long time, the girl's piercing eyes focusing on mine. Nevertheless, I didn't flinch, I returned the stare firmly. Then the girl got up from her seat, took her doll and stood next to me, then again she held my shirt, still staring at me.

"Do you believe me?"

The girl nodded.

“Thank you very much, I promise I won't let you down.” I said with a smile, I tried to pet the girl's head, but she backed away. Okay, no unnecessary contact, I understand.

"But we still haven't decided what we should do." I said to the girl.

“Then how about I decide for you?” A female voice sounded through the kitchen as the door simultaneously opened.

I got up immediately, Kitab wrapping its tentacles around my arm, I drew my dagger and the girl hid behind me. Looking at the source of the voice, I was surprised who I found.

D'arce, there was the knight, wearing her full armor, carrying a sword and shield, but she was not in good condition, her armor, sword and face were stained with blood, she had cuts on her body and armor, her hair is disheveled and she was shacking vigorously, her eyes frantically scanning the kitchen for something that wasn't there.

"What are you talking about?" I asked pretending to be ignorant.

This pissed off de D'arce as she took a step towards us, her sword raised and her face a mixture of fear and anger, "D-don't treat me like I'm a fool! I heard your conversation with the girl! Y-you will take me to Le'garde!"

“Well, this just got interesting; D'arce puts herself in your way. What will you do? Fight? Talk? Escape? Or die?"

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

"Girl! I need you to back off and take cover somewhere!” I said to the child accompanying me, never taking my eyes off D'arce.

I felt the girl let go of my leg and heard her footsteps walking away from me, turning my head to the side. I caught a glimpse of the girl taking cover behind a set of boxes next to the counter on the other side of the kitchen. She watched me with glazed eyes with part of her head poking out of hiding.

Good. Now to deal with the female knight in front of me.

“W-well! What are y-you waiting for? Take me to Le'garde!" D'arce demanded, pointing the tip of her sword in my direction.

“Do you understand how absurd your request is? Judging by your appearance, you must have seen the horrors of the dungeon. Le'garde is even deeper in this place. And believe me; it will only get worse as you go down.”

“I-I don't care! Le'garde is h-here somewhere and y-you know where he is! T-Take me to him!” D'arce demanded, taking another step forward.

I took a step back as I raised my dagger towards D'arce, which caused her to pause for a moment with a look of hesitation.

“I don't know if you noticed, but I have a child with me. She was locked in a cage and left in a dark room in the dungeon. She was hungry and afraid of this place; I would like to get her out of here. Are you suggesting that I should instead take her deeper into the hell she clearly doesn't want to be in? That I should put her in danger?”

D'arce was silent for a few seconds, a thoughtful expression on her face, her gaze softening for a moment.

“Hm… Looks like it worked.” Kitab wrote in its pages.

“T-it doesn't matter! If the g-girl's safety is an issue for you, the two of us can keep her safe! I-I swear on my honor! I-I swear by Alll-mer! In addition, if we can save Le'garde, I'm sure he will help us! I d-doubt his k-kind heart would allow a child to suffer in this accursed dungeon!”

D'arce said with a crooked smile, a mixture of hope, joy and fear. Was she hoping to convince me with those words? Well, it didn't work.

“Forget what I said. The woman is crazy.”

“You are not helping, Kitab.”

 “You have no idea what's going on here. I will not take you to Le'garde. I refuse. I will not risk a child's life and my own for the one responsible for everything that is happening here. I don't care about your honor. Moreover, unless Alll-mer himself appears in front of me and tells me to go with you, I won't move a finger. But that doesn't mean we need to be enemies, you can stay here with us if you like, or you can grab something from the kitchen and leave.”

D'arce was silent for a few seconds, her face set in a serious expression, but that expression changed to one of fury. The knight snarled in anger as she visibly dragged her teeth, she had a nervous twitch in her right eye and she started to breathe heavily.

"YOU DARE?!?" D'arce screamed, sending the scream echoing through the dungeon.

"What are you doing? Stop yelling before you attract a guard!”

However, D'arce ignored me and she began to speak as she approached me with heavy steps, her armor creaking with every movement.

“How dare you speak ill of Le'garde's good name?!? He fought valiantly for the people of Rondor only to be betrayed by the nobles! Le'garde is a hero, something commoners like you don't seem to understand! How dare you accuse him of being responsible for what is happening here? I should cut your tongue out for speaking such blasphemy!”

"Tell that to all the innocents Le'garde slaughtered."

“They were fools, savages, heretics. None of them can understand the greatness of Le'garde."

“The only person who doesn't seem to understand anything here is you. I will say this one more time. I won't take you to Le'gard, you can go alone if you like, but my offer still stands. Why don't you put down your sword and let's talk like civilized people? You aren’t ok. Why don't you get some rest?"

“I will only rest when my goal is fulfilled.”

"A shame. I hoped we didn't have to fight.”

I quickly cast Glimmer of Truth. Kitab's pages moved of their own accord and the familiar green smoke billowed from its pages and enveloped D'arce's head.

The knight started screaming as she swung her sword in the air, trying to hit whatever she was seeing. Seizing the opportunity, I tucked the dagger into my belt, grabbed one of the kitchen chairs, and ran toward D'arce.

As I approached, my spell wore off, the smoke disappeared, for a moment D’arce’s eyes focused on me, and she looked worse than before. Glimmer of Truth does not appear to cause physical damage, but rather psychological damage. In other words, if this was a game, D'arce would have lost some mind points with my attack.

Unfortunately, the next attack will do some damage. With a look of surprise, D'arce tried to raise her shield, but I was faster and slammed the chair into her left side, shoulder height.

CRASH!

“AAAHHH!” D'arce screamed as the old wooden chair was smashed into pieces against her body. It couldn't have hurt that much, after all D'arce wore armor and the chair was very old.

As soon as I finished my attack, I immediately took a step back, trying to get away, but D'arce wasn't a knight for nothing. With a swift slash that I could barely see, she managed to leave a slash in my leather robe.

Thankfully, it didn't make it to my flesh, but the sound of leather being torn apart was audible. Damn it! She is a trained person! Not me! One more slip and I will lose my head. What else can I use here? Because I don't want to have to kill off one of the main characters right off the bat!

When D'arce recovered from my attack, I got a good look at the result. The part of her body covered by the armor looked ok, unlike her face, her left cheek was starting to swell as a trickle of blood trickled from her forehead, down the side of her nose and onto her chin where it dripped onto the floor. .

The knight brought one of the gauntlets to her face, touching the blood and looking at her hand right after. She rubbed the blood between her armored fingers.

Closing her fist tightly, the knight let out a scream of rage before swinging her sword wildly towards me.

“AAAHHH!”

My eyes widened and I let out a strange scream I'm not proud of. Wasting no time, I took a series of steps, backing away out of range of the sword, but D'arce kept trying to hit me.

The sword sliced through the air in a silvery blur as D'arce unleashed a string of insults aimed at me.

“That girl is giving you trouble, isn't she? Why don't you just get it over with?" Kitab asked me.

“Because I don't want to kill one of the protagonists! What would be the consequences of me doing that?”

"Not being turned into mincemeat by the mad knight in front of you?"

“Good point! Still, I don't want to kill her. She could be a possible ally at least.”

“Then you better think fast before your head goes flying!”

As soon as Kitab finished speaking, D'arce raised her sword above her head and brought it down towards me.

I ran away from the onslaught, the sword hitting the floor with a metallic crack, and I took advantage of that opening to run behind the kitchen table, putting it between D'arce and me.

“Come here and fight, you coward! Where is your honor?” D'arce shouted, pointing her sword in my direction.

"I forgot it at home! And if being a coward will help me survive, then so be it!”

“The Old Ones approve your conviction, but not your method.”

“Not now, Kitab!”

D'arce ran towards me, I ran to the right, keeping the table between us, D'arce did the same, but seeing that she couldn't catch me, she ran to the left.

Upon seeing that, I ran to the left as well, keeping her away from me.

D'arce let out a grunt of frustration, still reaching for me.

We ran around the table repeatedly for a few minutes.

If D'arce went left, I went left; if she went right, I went right.

“Is this some kind of game to you? There is an innocent man trapped here and instead of helping him, you are playing with me!”

“Believe me; I am taking this seriously as my life is in danger here! And Le'garde is everything but innocent!”

“Shut up… AAAHHH!”

I didn't let D'arce finish as I cast Glimmer of Truth again.

Green smoke covered her head, making her scream.

I just needed that opening to put my plan into action. As D'arce and I circled the table, I just waited for a moment when the knight stopped with her back against the wall.

Wasting no time, I grabbed the edge of the table and pushed it against D'arce.

The knight let out a cry of surprise and pain as the table hit her in the stomach and pinned her against the wall.

I gripped the table tightly while praying for D'arce to have some shred of sanity.

She wasn’t ok, and I hit her with two spells. I don't know exactly how many mind points she had, but now I hope she didn't reach zero.

Because... Well, I don't want the girl to see someone committing suicide in front of her.

When the smoke from my spell cleared, D'arce fell silent; she looked around in confusion, all the anger and madness draining from her face, giving way to an innocent look.

That is, until her eyes landed on me, and she started laughing maniacally.

"HAHAHA!" D'arce laughed at the top of her lungs as she frantically swung her sword at me.

I had to lean back to dodge the blows, but because of that, I put less weight on the table, making it easier for D'arce to escape.

SLASH!

One of the blows grazed my mask, just below my eyes; I heard a metallic noise followed by small sparks entering my field of vision.

I realized that D'arce was about escape, I immediately put my weight against the table and pinned D'arce against the wall.

D'arce let out a cry of surprise and pain again, but she kept trying to hit me.

"HAHAHA! What's the problem? Why don't you come closer? Are you afraid of me? Don't worry, I don't bite… A lot!” D'arce shouted with a provocative tone in her voice.

“Sorry, but knowing this place, you'll probably bite my neck off!”

“GASP! How did you know?" D'arce yelled, swinging her sword again, I had to lean back to avoid being hit, but that was all D'arce needed to break free.

With a scream of rage, the knight raised her sword and brought it down towards the table.

CRASH!

With a mighty blow, followed by a loud crack of wood, the table was split in two.

“FUCK IT!” I took the dagger from my belt and swung it toward D'arce's neck.

For a moment I saw the knight's eyes widen and her smile widen into a mixture of teeth and blood that trickled from her forehead to her mouth.

With a quick swing, D'arce deflected the dagger away from her neck, then I saw her shield coming towards my face, it was all so fast that I'm not sure what happened.

I felt something hitting me in the head, everything going black for a second, bright spots floating everywhere. Then I felt a pain in my chest and suddenly found myself lying on my back on the floor.

As my vision returned, I felt something heavy on top of me. It was D'arce, you know, I wouldn't have anything against the situation I found myself in now. For some it would be a dream coming true, but for me it was a nightmare as D'arce had her sword raised above her head and she was grinning at me from ear to ear.

I barely had time to react before I used the dagger to block D'arce's blow.

SHING!

The metals of our weapons collided, creating a shower of sparks. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl looking at me from behind her hiding place with a scared look. Holy shit! There's no way I can win now!

"Enough! You won, okay?”

"HAHAHA!" However, D'arce just laughed and tried to cut again.

SHING!

"Stop! I'll take you to Le'garde!"

SHING!

"You are not listening to me? I'll take you to Le'garde!"

SHING!

CRASH!

With one final blow, my rusty old dagger snapped in two, its other half flying across the kitchen and landing on the floor beside me.

Glancing at D'arce, I saw that she held her sword with both hands just above my heart; she stopped with a face of deep thought.

“Le’garde… Le’garde… Le’garde? Oh! How could I forget?!? Le'garde! We have to get him, don't we? That's why we came here!”

Speak for yourself.

"Yes that's right! Le'garde! We came all the way to get him! I know the fastest way to him! I can take you there!”

“Oh! And why didn't you say it before, my friend?" D'arce said with an innocent smile as she rolled off me.

She extended her hand towards me with a friendly look, I hesitated, but after seeing the crazy look D'arce gave me behind her narrowed eyes, I took her hand.

I was immediately pulled upwards by a surprising strength. How strong is she?

“Well, what are we waiting for, my friend? Let’s go in search of the noble knight imprisoned in this place!” D'arce said as she patted my clothes, dusting them off, and adjusted the creased parts.

“I am not alone here. Girl, could you come over here?”

Slowly the girl came out of her hiding place and stopped a few meters from us, she focused her gaze on D'arce who was staring at her with a fixed look and a big smile.

The girl quickly ran towards me and hid behind me.

“How cute! She is your daughter?" D'arce asked, leaning forward, looking at the girl behind me.

I stepped to the side, putting myself in front of D'arce.

"No. But I'm taking care of her. Since you want us to go into the depths of the dungeon, I expect you to help me protect her.”

"Don't worry! I give you my word of honor as a knight that nothing will happen to your daughter!” D'arce said, puffing out her chest and placing a hand over her heart.

“She is not… Forget it!”

For some reason, that doesn't comfort me. Should I summon the cats when D'arce isn't looking and run off with the girl right away?

Glancing down at my broken dagger, I threw what was left of it to the side. It was useless now. If D'arce allows it, I'll spend some higher value coins; I need to get a better weapon.

“Oh! What is this book?” D'arce asked with childish glee in her voice.

She grabbed my arm where Kitab was pinned, and lifted it to face level. In addition, she stared at the pages of the book closely.

“Something you will never understand, you insane woman! I'm not just a book! Treat me with the respect I deserve or you'll be cat food!"

"What is that? Words are appearing on the pages!”

I immediately removed my arm from D'arce's grasp.

“You could say I'm a wizard or sorcerer. Call it what you like. Moreover, that's my spell book. But changing the subject, weren't we going after Le'garde?"

"Yes. That's right! Come on my friend!” D'arce said as she hugged my arm as if we were a couple and pulled me out of the kitchen.

This time the girl walked beside me as she held my shirt. She fixed me with a worried look.

"Don't worry. I'm fine, but I can't say the same about the woman accompanying us. Be careful of her, okay?” I tried to comfort the girl.

Suddenly I felt D'arce's cheek and mine touching and a voice whispering in my ear.

"What are you talking about?" The knight asked, looking me in the eye.

"Nothing."

"Perfect. I hope you aren't thinking of escaping, otherwise…” D'arce didn't have to finish speaking; she just raised her sword and placed it close to my neck.

"I would never do that."

"Excellent! It would be a shame if our friendship had to end too soon.” D'arce said with a deadpan look as she patted my cheek, most surprising was the bloodied kiss she planted on my cheek shortly thereafter.

“Congratulations on getting a girlfriend.” Kitab spoke.

"She's not my girlfriend. The woman is crazy, partly my fault. And what's more, she's obsessed with Le'garde."

“Of course… Of course… Keep denying the obvious. Nevertheless, I have something that might interest you. Congratulations! Some of the Old Ones found your fight interesting and your current situation amusing. Shub-niggurath mostly. So it has been decided that you should be rewarded with a new spell!”

On the outside, I was impassive so as not to alert D'arce, but on the inside, I was jumping with joy.

"Show me."

“The Rats in the Walls: Summon the ghostly rats that haunt the La Poer estate at Exham Priory in England. These rats come like a squealing tide and devour everything in their path. Nevertheless, they can also be invoked in smaller numbers. Order them, control them, and see the world through their eyes! Walls and doors do not stop them! Just don't summon rats and cats at the same time, the result won't be pretty."

Hm… It's not the most powerful spell, but I already have some ideas on how to use it, mainly to free a certain mercenary.

Looking to the side, I saw D'arce hugging my arm with a smile on her face as she hummed a song. Looking to the other side, I saw the girl looking at the path ahead.

Well… There's only one place to go now. Le'garde, you had better not die, because if you do, I'll bring you back as an undead just to kill you again.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

There's nothing so bad that it can't get worse. Initially I thought that whoever invented this saying was extremely pessimistic, until I felt how true this was.

“Will you take too long? We need to reach Le'garde!" D'arce exclaimed, at the entrance of the room.

"I know! What I'm looking for will help us take a shortcut to him!" I replied as I stopped rummaging through the bookshelf for a moment.

But upon seeing D'arce smiling disturbingly at me as she patted the pommel of her sheathed sword, I returned to my work at once.

Taking a quick look to the side, I saw the girl leaning against the wall next to me; looking at me worriedly. I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I don't think it helped much as I'm nervous too.

After some time pondering my situation, I determined that the best route to Le'garde would be using the secret passageway behind the bookcase, but for that I would need the mockup book that triggers the bookcase's mechanism.

Now I was scouring the library shelves for this book, but despite being unsteady, D'arce wasn't stupid, the room only had one way in and out, and D'arce stood guard in the way, to stop us from running away and also to deal with monsters.

Fortunately, the girl and I were out of sight, at the back of the room and completely covered by a large old wooden bookcase containing dozens of old, worn and dusty books.

Time to test my new spell, with one hand, I pretended to look for the fake book, meanwhile, I lowered the hand that was holding Kitab, but kept it open next to the floor.

Then whispering my spell, I used The Rats in the Walls.

I felt the pressure in my head again, my mind being used to cast the spell. Glancing at Kitab, I saw a faint green glow emanating from its pages as they moved.

Then small green creatures burst out of the book's pages as they let out a series of high-pitched squeaks. There were six ghostly rats, they were a green hue but transparent, I could see the ground through them, the rats had completely white and glowing eyes, and big teeth that looked like they could gnaw anything.

The girl looked at the rats and me in a mixture of fear and surprise, I smiled at her while putting a finger to her lips, the girl nodded as she repeated the gesture, but without the smile.

Now how do I get these rats to take the vial to Cahara? As if it had read my thoughts, one of the rats advanced towards me and entered my pants, climbing up my leg.

I shivered at the icy feel of the rat against my skin and had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at the tickling of its paws on my body.

Eventually the rat climbed under my shirt until it came out through the collar and jumped on my shoulder, from my shoulder it crawled into my backpack, I felt the addition of weight on my back accompanied by the noise of the rat going through my things.

Soon after, the rat jumped out of my backpack towards the floor next to me. For a moment the rat stopped and turned towards me and I saw it holding the red vial in its mouth by means of a small rope tied around the neck of the vial.

With a final screech, the rat ran towards the wall beside me, for a moment I thought it was going to head-butt the wall, but as soon as its body touched down, the stonewall rippled like the surface of a lake after being hit by a stone and the rat disappeared.

The girl and I looked in surprise at the spot where the rat disappeared, but our surprise was broken by D'arce's scream.

“Did you find the book yet?!?”

Jumping in fright, I poked my head out of the bookcase and saw D'arce waiting for us with her arms crossed and stomping on the floor.

“Not yet, but I'm sure the book is around here!” I replied with a nervous smile.

“Oh! I hope you're telling the truth and not up to no good. I would hate for our friendship to end so soon. It would really be a shame...” D'arce said, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling at me through narrowed eyes.

I quickly waved at the knight, hiding all my nervousness, then returned behind the bookcase. The rats and the girl were watching me, probably waiting for me to say something.

As I understand it, rats react to my thoughts, so let me try something different.

Explore the dungeon and bring me anything useful.

With a series of squeaks, the remaining rats ran towards the wall and disappeared in a similar fashion to the previous rat. I suddenly grabbed my head in pain, I didn't know what was going on but it was like someone was hammering my brain, but as fast as it came, the pain disappeared.

And what was left in its place left me confused and impressed, I could see in my mind the point of view of each of the rats as they scurried through the dungeon. I saw them running through walls and doors, running through hallways and hiding from monsters, but mostly, collecting whatever items they could carry.

Suddenly I felt a tug on my shirt, looking down, I saw the girl with wide eyes and repeatedly pointing at something behind me, turning around, I swallowed a scream as I took a step back to see a sword pointed at my face.

“I'm starting to think you're trying to trick me.” D'arce said in a serious and menacing tone.

"No! Why would I trick on my friend D'arce? Why would I do that?” I replied in a friendly tone, but slowly pushing the girl behind me with one hand.

"Is that so? So prove it! Show me the book you came for!” D'arce demanded, taking a step forward and making me flinch again as the sword approached.

“D-don't worry, the book is right...” Out of the corner of my eye, I scanned the bookshelf beside me, looking for the damn book. Reading the titles of the books, most were logbooks or history books, but there was one that didn't quite match the rest, a cookbook.

Please let this be the right book!

"...HERE!" I yelled as I quickly reached out my arm and grabbed the book in question, flipping through it, I saw that all the pages were blank, I hope I picked the right one.

Then all was silent, me with the book in front of my face and extending it towards D'arce and D'arce with her sword pointed at me. Slowly, a big smile appeared on the knight's face accompanied by a twitch in her right eye, simultaneously I gave her a nervous smile.

Slowly D'arce lowered her sword as she laughed.

"Hahaha! To think that I thought you were trying to trick me! Hahaha! I thought my friend was planning to betray me!” D'arce said, slapping her forehead and looking down at the floor.

"Hahaha! Don't worry, it was just a misunderstanding!” I responded with my own laugh, pretending nothing was wrong, but really, I was shitting myself inside.

I was prepared for a variety of reactions, I expected D'arce to take the book and walk away, for her to try to kill me, for her to insist even more on whether this was the right book or not.

What I didn't expect was for D'arce to sheath her sword and leap towards me, wrapping her arms around my neck, hugging me. I was paralyzed, not knowing how to react, processing what was happening.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I heard a noise followed by something wet running down my shoulder. D'arce was...

“*SNIF*, *SNIF*.”

Yes, she was “D’arce, is everything okay?”

Quickly, the knight took her face off my shoulder and stared at me with red, puffy eyes and snot running down her nose.

“WWHHAA! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry for doubting you, my friend! I almost hurt you over a stupid book!” D'arce exclaimed through her tears as she hugged me again.

What the fuck was going on here?!? I felt a tug and my shirt, looking down, I saw the girl staring at me, with one hand, she held my shirt and with the other, she pointed at D'arce and then rotated her index finger in a circular motion beside her own head.

“I know girl, I know.” I replied with a tired sigh.

With great effort, I broke out of D'arce's bear hug and grabbed her by the shoulders, keeping her some distance from me.

"Don't worry, D'arce, I'm not mad at you, it was just a misunderstanding, those kinds of things happen." I replied trying to give my best reassuring smile to the maniac in front of me.

“So does that mean you forgive me?” D'arce asked in a hopeful tone.

"Yes."

Quickly, D'arce grabbed the collar of my shirt with both hands and pulled me close, I felt my face heat up with embarrassment at the proximity, but whatever fantasy I had in my mind disappeared as soon as D'arce tucked her face in my shirt and blew her nose.

I winced in disgust when I heard the loud noise of D'arce blowing her nose, and I cringed even more when I felt the snot on my skin through the fabric, but with a quick mood change, D'arce snapped out of her melancholy mood and returned to her former disturbing joy.

“Well, let's move on! Le'garde will not wait for us forever!" D'arce said with a big smile as she wrapped her arms around my arm and pulled me away.

Seeing this, the girl quickly ran towards me and grabbed my shirt, following us at a hurried pace. As soon as we left the room, I mentally saw one of the rats returning to me and this one was somehow carrying a bottle of liquor by itself, it was as if the bottle was horizontally stuck inside its body.

I saw my back from the rat's point of view; looking back, I saw the rat running towards me. I ordered it to come closer and leave the bottle next to us, so the rat sank to the ground, leaving the bottle where it disappeared.

“Hey, D’arce!” I exclaimed, catching the knight's attention.

"Yes my friend!" D'arce spoke, looking at me with a big smile.

“Would you like a drink?” I pointed to the bottle right behind me.

D'arce's eyes widened before she released me and ran desperately towards the bottle, with a tug, D'arce removed the cork and drank the entire contents in one go, her gulps being audible to all of us.

“Well, you got yourself a girlfriend who's strong, crazy and drinks like an Irishman. You made the right choice, boy! I'm so proud of you!" Kitab wrote in its pages.

“Shut up, Kitab! She's not my girlfriend! And I doubt she will; considering how obsessed she is with Le'garde! But changing the subject, I'm a little disappointed with my new spell, the way you said it, it looked like I could summon an army of rats!"

“And you can, you can summon enough rats to fill every corner of this damned dungeon, but the point is. Will you have enough mind for that?” Kitab replied.

“Hm… I think you're right.”

“I'm glad you know. Don't abuse your power kid, or abuse it! I admit I'm curious to know what will happen to you if your fortified mind goes haywire! Will you choose the dastardly ending the others choose, or will you become something more?”

I closed Kitab after reading that last sentence. This is not the best situation to deal with the book's morbid curiosity.

Shifting my attention to D'arce, I caught sight of the knight finishing her drink and letting out a loud sigh of relief shortly thereafter. As soon as she was finished, D'arce threw the bottle away, where it shattered against the wall with a loud crack.

Right after that, the knight came towards us, looking much more composed than before.

"Let's go!" D'arce said with a small smile, this time taking my wrist instead of hugging my arm, and pulling me with less strength, with the girl at my side, we went on our way.

Moreover, in my mind, I saw more rats bringing bottles of liquor, well, I think I'm about to lose a mad knight and gain an alcoholic.

-Prison-

"Well, I think that's! The boy abandoned me here, or died! That's what I get for trusting others! However, ask myself on why he wanted the doll. On second thought, I'd rather not. Who knows what's going through that madman's head?" Cahara complained incessantly as he sat in the corner of his cell.

Knees close to his chest, arms crossed over his knees and head resting on his arms, Cahara let out a series of insults and curses about his current situation.

“I knew I shouldn't have taken this job! It was too good to be true! There must be another way! Another way for Celeste and I...”

*SQUEAK!*

But Cahara's complaints were interrupted by a screech close by. Looking towards the source of the noise, Cahara cocked his head in confusion as he saw a ghostly rat leaving a red vial in his cell before running towards the wall and disappearing.

Cahara's eyes widened in surprise, but that surprise was replaced by a smile after seeing the red vial next to his feet. Wasting no time, Cahara poured the vial's contents into the lock of his cell, the metal hissing and steaming as the acid melted it.

Pushing the cell door aside, Cahara was free.

“RROOAARRHH!”

But his satisfaction of freedom was short-lived, as Cahara had to throw himself to the ground to dodge the guard's ballista shot. Wasting no time, Cahara ran towards the stairs that led to the basement.

“Until next time, asshole!”

But not before insulting the guard trying to kill him.

“RROOAARRHH!”

With another scream of rage, the guard fired again, but thanks to his speed, Cahara managed to make it to the stairs before the giant arrow hit him, going up the stairs, the only sound heard was the guard's screams of frustration and Cahara laughter.

“Now to get the hell out of here! Wait for me Celeste, I will find a better way to save you!”

Unfortunately, Cahara's ramblings were interrupted as soon as he finished climbing the stairs and turning the corner, as he had hit something as hard as a wall.

“WOW! What the hell!"

But before he could process what happened, Cahara drew his scimitar, deflecting the ax blow that came towards his head, right after that, Cahara jumped back and stopped in a crouching position, but tilted his head in confusion upon seeing who was in front of him.

A tall, muscular man with red hair, a body covered in scars, and wearing animal skins held together by leather belts. The man raised an eyebrow in confusion upon seeing Cahara, but immediately shifted his attention after hearing the sound of heavy footsteps approaching.

Turning quickly, the man faced his original enemy, the Iron Shakespeare.

“Hey man, how about we save the introductions for later? From what I can see, you're human and you need a little help. How about we finish off the bucket head over there and then get to know each other better?” Cahara said with a smile and what appeared to be flirtation in his voice.

The man just stared at Cahara for a few seconds before nodding slowly, whether he understood Cahara's ulterior motives was anyone's guess.

"Focus your attacks on the torso; it's the least resistant part of his armor." The man spoke to Cahara.

“And how do you know that?” Kahara asked.

The man showed Cahara a sheet of paper with a drawing of Iron Shakespeare with a series of instructions written at the bottom, but the part that stood out the most was the series of arrows pointing specifically to Iron Shakespeare's torso.

“Hey! Looks like we both had a mysterious benefactor today!” Cahara said with a small laugh and readying his Scimitar.

Then with a nod of confirmation, both men hurried towards the Iron Shakespeare.

-Inner hall-

Our walk to the Inner Hall went without a hitch, that is, if it weren't for the guard barring our way near Alll-mer's altar.

Fortunately the guard didn't saw us; which gave us time to hide in a nearby room. Unfortunately D'arce didn't shared my cautious approach.

In other words, I had my back to the wall, holding D'arce around the waist with one hand and covering her mouth with the other, while D'arce swung her sword in the air, trying to escape my grip and go face the guard.

And she was almost doing it.

The girl stayed close to me, covering her mouth with both hands and hiding in the shadows.

Know what?!? I better act before D'arce kills us all! I quickly sent an order to a nearby rat, obeying the order; the rat ran towards the guard and bit his heel.

The guard let out an angrily mutter before swinging his leg, throwing the rat away, but the rat got up and let out an angry hiss at the guard causing the guard to swing his large cleaver in its direction.

The rat darted out of the way, dodging the blow that cracked the stone floor, and the guard gave chase. I ordered the rat to run to the blood pits, meanwhile, we all ran towards the small library.

Wasting no time, I placed the book on the shelf and with the click of a mechanism, the shelf slid to the side. D'arce and the girl gave admiring glances, while I just grabbed the girl's arm and got out of there as quickly as possible before the guard returned.

I felt the girl squirming in my grip as she grumbled, and that's when I remembered that she didn't like to be touched unnecessarily. I released her immediately and the girl took a few steps away from me.

The girl glared at me irritably as she grabbed her arm. Did I hold her too tight?

"Listen... I... I didn't mean to... I was just nervous to get out of there because of the guard and..." I stammered an apology as I crouched down to the girl's level.

Slowly the girl approached me.

"I'd like to apologize if I hurt you and..." I said as I scratched the back of my head and looked away, but I was interrupted as soon as the girl walked over to me and grabbed my arm while looking me in the eye.

"You forgive me?"

The girl nodded.

"Thanks!" I smiled in relief as I reached my hand towards the girl's head, but as soon as my hand approached, she closed her eyes and took a step back.

"Pardon me!" I said as I got up quickly, but this time the girl seemed to understand better and just waved as she returned to my side and grabbed my shirt.

“Oh! You and your daughter are adorable!” D'arce said with a smile and clasping her hands on the side of her face.

“She's not… Never mind! Let's focus on what's important right now!"

We are in the backyard of this place, which means that Butterfly, the girl's dagger and the passage to the tree are nearby. Looking around, I spotted something glistening in the grass near the trees.

“Girl come with me. I have something to give you.”

With a wave, the two of us, accompanied by D'arce, walked through the dungeon's backyard. Halfway there, I bent down to pick up the dagger and showed it to the girl.

The girl cocked her head in confusion as she stared at the dagger in front of her.

“Take it, this dagger is for you. For you to fight in case I can’t help.”

The girl widened her eyes in surprise, then she shifted her focus to me, staring at me with her deep yellow eyes, I admit it was scary; it was like she was staring into my soul. Maybe she is; considering what the girl really is.

Still staring at me, the girl slowly raised a finger and pointed at herself, as if wondering if the dagger was meant for her.

“Yes, I am giving this dagger to you. I don't expect you to run up to the monsters and face them, leave the fighting to me and D'arce. But should the worst happen, I don't want you to be helpless."

Slowly the girl extended her hand and accepted the dagger; she held the blade in front of her eyes, and then brought her other hand holding the doll towards her face.

“Have you ever seen your reflection before?” I asked.

The girl cocked her head in confusion.

“Do you know what a reflection is?”

The girl shook her head.

“Did you ever saw what you look like?”

The girl shook her head again.

"One minute."

I grabbed my phone and opened the camera app and with a quick click, I snapped a picture of the girl. She stared at me, not understanding what I was doing, but she was taken aback when I showed her the picture.

The girl alternated her gaze between me and the photo of the person on my phone.

“This magical artifact has the ability to record certain moments permanently; the person you are seeing is you. That's what you look like, girl."

The girl pointed to the photo on my cell phone and then to herself.

“Yes, this is you.”

The girl approached my cell phone and stared at the photo, slowly she ran her hands through her hair, through her cheeks, through her lips, in a moment she opened her mouth and ran her tongue over her teeth.

“So what do you think of your appearance? Did you like what you saw?” I asked as I put my cell phone away.

The girl looked at the floor, making a thoughtful face, and then she looked at me and shrugged.

"You do not know?"

The girl shook her head.

“Well, I can't judge, after all I'm not confident in my beauty either. But changing the subject, are you ready to go?”

With a wave, the girl pulled the collar of the rags she wore as a dress and placed the doll there, leaving only her head outside, with her right hand, she held the dagger and with her left hand, the girl held my free hand. I felt her shudder for a minute.

“Are you sure you want to hold my hand? You don't have to; I know you're not comfortable with that.”

Despite my questions, the girl nodded.

“Then don't let go of my hand, okay?” I asked with a small smile.

And to my surprise, the girl smiled back, she gave me a small smile, but it seemed to shine in this place, it might not seem like much, but I was sure it was something significant for the girl.

"Right! So without further ado, let's continue! Wait a minute? Where is D'arce?”

"Please stop!" A high-pitched voice called out.

Looking at the source of the voice, I spotted D'arce hitting Butterfly with the flat of her sword.

The lean, gray-skinned monster was lying on the ground as it covered its head with both hands, trying to shield itself from D'arce's blows.

“Face me coward!” D'arce demanded, still hitting Butterfly.

"Leave me alone, I don't wish for trouble!" Butterfly screamed.

“D’ARCE! STOP!" I screamed as I ran towards the knight, with the girl following me.

“Oh! My friend! Glad you're here! I didn't want to interrupt the conversation with your daughter, so I decided to explore a bit, and I ended up finding this vile creature! Come, fight by my side and together we will bring down this monstrosity!” D'arce said to me with a relieved smile.

I quickly grabbed D'arce's arm and pulled her away as I apologized to Butterfly.

"I'm very sorry! Please excuse my friend! She is a little crazy!"

“Hey, where are you taking me?” D'arce exclaimed, swinging her sword in the air.

“Please get her out of here!” Butterfly begged.

With Butterfly left behind, the three of us approached the passage blocked by rubble.

“Well, where is the way to Le’garde?” D'arce asked with her hands on her hips.

“Right in front of us. But we need to get this debris out of the way, an explosive vial should do.” Hm… Maybe I should send one of the rats to find an explosive vial and bring it to me.

“Oh! You mean one of those?” D'arce said as she removed a vial of black liquid from the pouch at her waist and held it in front of my face.

"Yes, exactly!" I responded with a smile, but that smile turned into a face of desperation as soon as I saw D'arce pulling her arm back, preparing to throw the vial.

“D’arce, no!”

But the knight ignored my words, with a childlike smile on her face, D'arce hurled the vial. It was as if the world had gone into slow motion, I quickly turned around and picked the girl up off the ground, holding her in my arms.

I quickly ran away from the narrow passage where the rubble was and turned the corner, stopping next to the statue of Alll-mer.

Then…

BOOM!

A deafening blast accompanied by a shock wave and a cloud of smoke erupted from the passageway. When everything went silent, the girl and I stared at each other with open mouths and wide eyes.

“Did she die?” I asked the girl.

The girl just shrugged, she didn't seem to care much for D'arce.

"I don't know. I'm a little worried about your friend, but I admit I won't mind if she's been torn to pieces.” Butterfly said beside me.

"Don’t say that. She's not that bad, this dungeon is messing with her head.” I said to Butterfly as I held the girl sitting in my arms.

"I hope you're right, our first meeting wasn't exactly amicable." Butterfly said as it ran its hand over the top of its head, which was now red from D'arce's blows.

"If it's any use, I'd like to apologize on her behalf." I said as I bowed slightly.

"No no! I don't hold a grudge, but I think you better check out your friend." Butterfly spoke, waving its hands, trying to defuse the situation.

“Oh! You are right! Sorry for bothering you!" I replied, walking towards the passage as the girl, I waved goodbye to Butterfly, and the monster waved back.

What a nice guy!

To our surprise, we found D'arce in one piece, but her armor and face covered in dust and dirt while her hair was messed up from the explosion.

“Where did you two go?” D'arce asked, waving at us with a smile.

"Nowhere. Let's keep going, I'm tired of setbacks.” I said with a sigh as I walked past D'arce. So without wasting time, we entered the big old tree covered with corpses and whose top was shaped like a woman with long hair.

We walked down a ramp made of roots, each step making the wood creak, D'arce leading the way, meanwhile I set the girl down and shone the flashlight on my cell phone down the path.

Glancing to the side, I saw the girl looking away as she crossed her arms and stomped to the ground.

“Do you want me to carry you?”

The girl shook her head, but I saw a tinge of red in her face.

“We'll have to face some monsters up ahead, and I need both hands for that. When we return to safety, I promise I will carry you. Is that ok?"

The girl nodded. With that taken care of, we continued following D'arce, but midway through, I told the knight to stop.

"Yes, is there a problem?" D'arce asked.

“I just wanted to say that this tree is full of secret passages.” I said as I tapped on a wall next to me and the wall opened revealing a room with a chest inside.

“Oh! You seem to know a lot about this dungeon.”

"What can I say? I like to know more about the places I'm going, especially when those places are dungeons full of monsters.” I replied as I walked towards the chest with the girl at my side.

“Hey Kitab? Do you think I can get a new weapon?”

“The possibility exists, but you can flip a coin to get something better.”

“Well, without holding back this time.”

I took out a twenty-five cent coin.

"Tails!"

So I flipped the coin up, when the coin came down, I was disappointed with the result, heads. Then the coin crumbled to dust.

“A pity, fortunately the consequence here is not getting better equipment. You can try again, or open the chest and be content with what's inside.”

"Not this time. I want to be prepared.”

I picked up another twenty-five cent coin and tossed it in the air.

"Tails!"

When the coin fell, the result was heads again.

“Bad luck, bad luck! Apparently, the gods are against you today!”

Grumbling at Kitab's comments, I picked up another coin of equal value, chose tails, and tossed it up. A smile formed on my face as the coin landed with the desired result.

Once the coin was gone, I opened the chest and grabbed my new weapon, but I frowned as soon as I saw what it was.

“A rapier?!? What is that? Dark souls? I doubt I have the dexterity to use that thing!” I screamed my frustrations as I held the sword in front of my face.

It was a rapier with the handle in the shape of a cup, serving as a hand protector, but the cup part was covered in silver adornments in the shape of eyes with emeralds in the center of the eyes.

The hilt of the rapier was made in the shape of several golden tentacles coming together in a spiral, ending in a pommel in the shape of a screaming face.

The rapier's blade was long, thin, and pointed, a meter and a half long, and having an edge on both sides, capable of piercing and cutting.

“Well, you can't complain! You said you wanted a better weapon, not a weapon you know how to use! Moreover, treat the weapon with the respect it deserves! This is the most recognizable rapier design, with a cup handle. This sword was popular in the 1600's in Spain and other countries. Unlike the ornate sword hilts of Germany and other northern countries, Spanish rapiers were created for practical use above all else. As rapiers continued to become longer and thinner, thrusting techniques dominated sword fighting. The frontal protection offered by a cup hilt made this style of sword extremely popular with civilians and common soldiers alike. This sword has also been used in a variety of settings, from fencing to New World expeditions.” Kitab replied.

I opened and closed my mouth, but no words came out. What the hell was that? Kitab just gave me a history lesson.

“How do you know about this kind of thing?”

“I am a book. Saving knowledge is my purpose. And I don't have the legs to walk around, so I need to keep myself entertained somehow.”

“Leaving that aside. Is this the kind of thing where I have to be extremely specific to get what I want?”

"Yes."

“Why doesn't that surprise me? I'm going to end up using this thing as a barbecue skewer.” I sighed.

I turned to the girl and D'arce, showing off my new weapon. The girl just looked on curiously, as D'arce gave an approving nod.

“This is the type of weapon a noble would use, although I don't know the design. Would it be from the Eastern Shrines, perhaps?” D'arce asked.

“According to my magic book, this thing came from Spain.”

"Spain? What kingdom is that?” D'arce asked.

Oh! I forgot! Spain does not exist in this world.

“Leaving that aside. Hope you don't mind me carrying a weapon with me.”

"No my friend. As long as you don't try anything funny." D'arce said in a menacing tone disguised as glee as she tapped her sword.

“Before we continue. How do you feel?"

D'arce was silent for a few minutes, her eyes focusing on everything but me, then with a big sigh, D'arce spoke.

"I'm not sure. It's as if the walls are moving, I hear disembodied voices and see shadows in the shape of people who disappear shortly afterwards. Sometimes I wonder if you and the girl are real, I wonder if I'm actually bleeding to death on the dungeon floor and this is just a hallucination, my mind trying to block out the cruel reality. But..."

"But?"

“But I feel like I'm getting better, after having a little drink and spending time with you two, I feel my sanity returning. Maybe I just needed to find someone normal around here.”

Yes... Normal... A future goddess and a sorcerer chosen by Lovecraftian gods.

“Well, since you're calmer. Would you like something to eat?”

"Yes please. What little food I had ran out some time ago.” D'arce said sheepishly.

I took out some pieces of dried meat from my backpack; meanwhile I told the rats to focus on finding food. Right after that, I handed D'arce some of it

Now all that was left was to choose where to leave it. Should the rats bring everything they find to me, or should they put everything in one place and create a safe room?

"Thanks!" D'arce said with a relieved smile as she accepted the food.

Giving a nod to D'arce, we all exited the secret room and continued down the tree, I had to improvise since I had both hands full, so I put the cell phone in my pocket, but with the flashlight outside, lighting the way.

The girl, however, stayed close to me, gripping my arm with her free hand as she looked around with her dagger ready, but I wondered if she could fight back.

I know that in the game, even armed, the girl didn't do much damage, but she could fight for gameplay reasons, but here, in this reality. Would she have the stomach to stab things that will stand in our way?

Well, only time will tell. So we just continued on our way, into the darkness.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

With a scream of rage, the Iron Shakespeare raised one of his hammer hands and tried to smash Cahara to the ground. Using his superior agility, Cahara leapt back, away from the blow that cracked the stone floor with a loud crack, and hurled a series of throwing knives at Iron Shakespeare.

Iron Shakespeare used his remaining hand to block the incoming projectiles, but left himself open to the red haired man's blows.

Closing the distance, the red haired man delivered a series of swings with his axe, the blade of the weapon passing through the armor with a shower of sparks, leaving behind three large gashes oozing blood.

Letting out a cry of pain muffled by his helmet, the Iron Shakespeare raised one of his hands and swung it quickly towards the red haired man, the man had little time to dodge, and so at the last minute he raised his arm, blocking the strike with his leather shield.

Unfortunately, that didn't do much to reduce the strength of the blow; the red haired man was sent flying away, slicing through the air until his back slammed against the dungeon wall.

Letting out a muted scream, due to the air knocked out of his lungs, the red haired man stood up on shaky legs as blood trickling from his mouth.

“Are you okay there, man?!?” Cahara asked, not looking away from the approaching armored knight.

The red haired man glared at Cahara, before swinging the arm that blocked the blow, giving a few thrusts in the air.

“Isn’t broken.” The man replied in a serious voice before grabbing his ax tightly and running towards the Iron Shakespeare.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Cahara asked with an amused smile, before advancing towards the Iron Shakespeare.

Iron Shakespeare pulled his fist back, and tried to punch Cahara in the head, with great agility, Cahara ducked, passing under the blow, cutting Iron Shakespeare's side with his scimitar, right after Cahara turned his body and pierced the knight.

The Iron Shakespeare arched his back, letting out a scream of pain and fury. Trying to hit his enemy, the Iron Shakespeare rotated his body at a speed that seemed impossible for someone wearing such heavy armor.

With a cry of surprise, Cahara ducked, avoiding the blow, but he had to back away immediately, to avoid Iron Shakespeare crushing him with his other fist, unfortunately, Cahara didn't have time to dodge the third blow, a punch that hit him in the center of his chest.

With the sound of something being broken, Cahara crossed the large stone hall and hit the ground repeatedly like a stone bouncing off the surface of a lake. When he finally stopped, Cahara tried to get up while gasping for air and clutching his chest.

“COUGH! COUGH! Son of a bitch...” Cahara muttered, reaching his hand to his leather bag and pulling out a blue herb, eating the herb quickly, Cahara stood up with a sigh of relief.

In addition, the mercenary got up in time to see the red haired man engaging Iron Shakespeare in combat. With fury in his eyes, the red haired man landed a series of vicious blows on Iron Shakespeare, who due to his heavy armor, had difficulty keeping up.

The red-haired man took a step to the side, dodging a heavy punch, and then delivered a deep cut to the Iron Shakespeare's chest, then he ducked from a blow aimed at his head and slashed the great knight's belly.

Raising both fists above his head, the Iron Shakespeare tried to crush the red haired man, planning to reduce him to a red stain on the ground, but before he could do so, the Iron Shakespeare screamed in pain, as a throwing knife passed through the opening in his helm and lodged in his left eye.

Taking a quick look behind him, the red haired man saw Cahara smiling with one hand extended forward, giving a nod of approval, the red haired man grabbed his ax with both hands and with a shout of rage, stuck it in the center of Iron Shakespeare's chest.

The knight let out a cry of pain as blood gushed from the wound in his chest and smeared the red haired man's face, clenching his teeth; the red haired man pushed the back of his ax with one of his hands, sinking it deeper in the flesh of his enemy.

Slowly the Iron Shakespeare began to fall backwards.

"Ha! Take that you bastard!” Cahara celebrated with a painful smile as he pointed at his falling foe.

However, that smile turned into a face of fear when Iron Shakespeare managed to catch himself before hitting the ground and stay upright.

Quickly the red haired man ripped his ax from Iron Shakespeare's chest and walked away, waiting for his enemy's next move.

“AAAHHH!”

Raising both fists in rage, the Iron Shakespeare let out a deafening scream that echoed through the dungeon floors. Then the Iron Shakespeare began to thrash around, hitting the floor and walls viciously, random blows that didn't care what they hit, leaving cracked holes everywhere.

Suddenly Iron Shakespeare began to lash out, hitting himself with his heavy armored fists, Iron Shakespeare let out a series of screams of pain as he crushed his own armor and broke his own bones, the noise becoming a disturbing cacophony.

With a final blow, both of Iron Shakespeare's fists were engulfed in flames, lighting up the dark corridor of the dungeon and with heavy steps, Iron Shakespeare approached his enemies.

The red haired man raised his eyebrows in surprise as sweat trickled down his face, whether it was from fear or the heat of the flames nobody could say.

"Holy crap!" Cahara yelled in surprise, offering a more appropriate response to the situation.

All combatants prepared their weapons as the fight just got tougher, but to everyone's surprise, something happened. The ground lost its solid form and everyone present began to sink as if in quicksand.

With a series of screams of protest, the three combatants disappeared into the once-solid stone.

-Inside the Tree-

“RRAAHH!” With a scream of rage, D'arce slashed the arm of one of the Mumblers that got in our way before driving her sword through the creature's chest, piercing its heart, with a last gurgle of pain; the monster fell motionless to the ground.

"Well, at this rate we won't have to fight any monsters." I said, giving the girl a relieved smile.

The girl responded with a wave and a small smile.

For the time being things were going well, we advanced without major interruptions, and the Mumblers weren't particularly difficult enemies, just avoid attacking their heads to not be poisoned and focus on the rest of the body.

We continued down the hallway, picking up anything we found useful until we reached a dead end.

“Secret passage?” D'arce asked me with a less distubing smile this time.

“Secret passage.” I replied as I walked past her and pressed the wall in front of me. With cracks of wood and earth moving, a section of the wall parted to the sides, opening a way for us to pass.

Nevertheless, I immediately took a step back when a Mumbler jumped out of the passage and tried to cut me with its claws, luckily I managed to get away in time and I landed a blow with my rapier right after.

At least I tried, you couldn't call it a blow, it was more like a clumsy forward thrust, but even so, I managed to pierce the Mumbler in the stomach, to the point where the sword sank to the hilt. With a wet sound of flesh, being pierced, purple blood oozed out of the wound.

However, when I realized that the Mumbler was still alive, I ripped the rapier from its stomach and cut it in the chest, unfortunately the cut wasn’t deep, because in the middle of the blow, dragged the rapier blade on the wall of the narrow corridor where we were in.

Excellent! A type of weapon that I don't know how to use and that is not the best for tight places!

The shallow cut left on the Mumbler's chest oozed a little, the creature let out an incomprehensible murmur, but before it could attack me with its claws, D'arce put herself in front of me.

The knight hit the Mumbler in the face with her shield and with a series of quick slashes; she covered the creature's torso with cuts. With a final sigh, the Mumbler fell motionless to the ground.

"Are you hurt?" D'arce asked with a concerned look, extending a hand towards me.

Instinctively I took a step back as I placed the girl behind me, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl facing D'arce with her dagger ready.

Seeing our reaction, several expressions crossed D'arce's face. Anger, fear, surprise, sadness, in the end, with a nervous smile and looking away, D'arce lowered her hand and stepped into the passageway, stomping on the Mumbler's body in the process.

“What a cold heart! See what you've done! You made your girlfriend sad!” Kitab wrote in its pages.

“D'arce is not my girlfriend! How long do you intend to play with it?”

“I'm a book, I don't have much to do; I need to have fun somehow, I thought you already understood that. Nevertheless, changing the subject. You had better go apologize before she freaks out even more. Alternatively, let her freak out, I'd love to see what happens. Hahaha!"

The girl and I stared at the passageway for a few seconds, looking down I saw the girl pointing her dagger at where D'arce was while making stabbing motions.

"No! We are not going to kill D'arce!" I replied surprised and a little scared that the girl would even consider that.

The girl gave me an annoyed look as if she was asking why.

“Listen, I gave you this dagger to defend yourself, not to kill others. If I see you stabbing someone without being in a dangerous situation, I will take that dagger from you.”

Upon hearing this, the girl's eyes widened as she shook her head negatively and hugged the dagger like a toy.

"If you don't want that to happen, you better behave, okay?"

The girl nodded as she pouted. How dare they lock something so adorable in a place like this?

We were pulled out of our conversation by the sounds of fighting coming up ahead. I seriously need to stop forgetting about D'arce! Entering the passageway, we came to another narrow corridor where D'arce was fighting two Mumblers.

The knight used her shield to block the blow of one of the Mumblers while slashing the chest of another with her sword, but due to her awkward position and little space to fight properly, the Mumbler who forced itself against D'arce's shield managed to push the knight's arm to the side, leaving her open for the next attack.

Upon seeing this, I ran towards D'arce as she regained her balance, passing the knight, I slashed at the Mumbler who was preparing to attack, but this time in a different way, I landed a blow upwards, slashing the Mumbler from the stomach to the chest.

It wasn't a graceful swing like in the movies, I swung the rapier with all my strength as if it were a piece of metal and due to that, the sword hit the tunnel ceiling, where it bounced and forced my arm down, I let out a scream in surprise and widened my eyes as soon as I saw the second Mumbler coming towards me.

However, before it could do anything, D'arce ran past me, pierced the Mumbler’s chest with her sword, and kicked it off the blade right after, the Mumbler slid motionless against the wall.

The Mumbler I had slashed tried to charge at D'arce, but the knight deflected the monster's blow with her shield and pierced it in the stomach shortly thereafter, the Mumbler let out a series of high-pitched squeals before coming to a halt on D'arce sword.

Removing her sword from the creature's stomach, D'arce kicked the corpse aside and grabbed something from the floor near the wall at the end of the tunnel. Then she came towards me with a big smile on her face as she held up an object.

A golden coin, in this case a lucky coin, the iconic item for coin flips in the game.

“Look what I found!” D'arce said, placing the coin in front of my face, I flinched a little at that action.

"I see. Better save that coin for later, you never know when a toss could save your life.” I replied with a nervous smile.

“Oh! Are you worried about me? I don't deserve a friend like you. I would kiss you, but my heart already belongs to someone else.” D'arce said, with a tinge of red in her face and a hand over her heart.

Glancing to my side, I saw the girl stick her tongue out with a disgusted face at the mention of D'arce kissing me. I had to stifle a laugh at the sight, but I couldn't help but tease D'arce a little.

"Is that so? I thought the kiss you placed on my cheek meant something. It breaks my heart to know that the heart of the fair maiden in front of me belongs to another! How will I live with this knowledge?” I spoke in my most dramatic voice.

"W-wait! T-that's not what I meant! I-it's not that you're ugly, in fact I believe the maidens of Rondor would find you attractive, but…” D'arce stammered, her face flushed as she sweated profusely.

However, before she had another meltdown, I put a hand on her shoulder and said in a more serious tone, "D'arce, I was kidding."

D'arce stopped apologizing and looked at me confused for a few seconds, before adjusting her posture and letting out a few chuckles.

“Oh! Right! You were kidding! Friends do that sometimes, don't they?" D'arce asked, grinning as she punched me in the arm.

I let out a cry of pain as the armored fist hit me with considerable force, but D'arce didn't seem to care. Looking at the girl, I noticed that her face was red as she puffed out her cheeks and tears leaked from the corner of her eyes.

“You're having fun with this, aren't you?” I asked.

The girl shook her head, but it was obvious that she was lying. Letting out an amused laugh, the three of us continued forward. Entering another secret passageway, we came to a room with a chest, but this time I wasn't in the mood to spend coins, not with the amount I spent to get the rapier.

But even if I spent the coins, I wouldn't get what's inside the chest, as it was locked, if D'arce's attempts to open the chest meant anything, then putting the chest aside, the three of us entered another secret passage where we arrive in a dead end.

“Where to, now?” D'arce asked me.

"Watch." I said as I stepped forward and pierced the center of the room's floor with my rapier, and as if it were made of glass, the floor cracked and collapsed, revealing a hole that led to the floor below.

“Good and it looks like we might be able to jump down from here.” D'arce spoke as she looked into the hole.

She was right, shining the hole with my cellphone flashlight, I could see the ground just below, we could jump without breaking our legs.

“Okay, we'll take it easy. Fine?" I asked D'arce and the girl, they both nodded.

The first to go down was D'arce, I expected her to do another crazy thing, like diving headfirst into the ground below, but no, to my surprise she did something much more restrained.

She took a small leap forward and landed with her body completely straight, I heard the sound of her metallic boots crunching on the wooden floor in a cacophony of creaks, looking into the hole, I saw D'arce waving at me.

Heaving a sigh with a stifled laugh, I threw my rapier into the hole, where it landed at D'arce's feet, then sat down on the edge of the hole and held my hands out to the girl.

Understanding my message, the girl let me hold her; I sat her in my arms as she wrapped her hands around my neck.

“Hold on tight, okay?”

The girl nodded. So pushing myself slightly forward, I fell from a small height, I felt the girl squeezing me harder, but soon my feet touched the ground.

"Hey, it's okay, it's over."

Slowly loosening her grip, the girl looked around, seeing that we were on solid ground, she let out what I thought was a sigh of relief accompanied by a small smile.

Holding the girl with one of my arms, I walked towards the rapier and bent down to pick it up, but as soon as I got up, I felt a hand grabbing my shoulder tightly, I was about to strike the owner of the hand, but I stopped when I realized it was D'arce who was looking at me nervously.

"We have a problem." D'arce said nervously through clenched teeth as she pointed in a random direction.

Squinting my eyes, I recoiled in surprise as I realized what D'arce meant, not just in the direction she was pointing, but also around us.

Dozens of Mumblers, all moving erratically and disturbingly like living mannequins, snarling and litany as they advanced toward us.

D'arce and I stared at each other for a few seconds before a single word came out of our mouths simultaneously.

"RUN!"

Simultaneously, all the Mumblers screamed, running towards us with their claws outstretched.

Wasting no time, I cast The Cats of Ulthar, the black sludge oozed out of Kitab's pages before they formed into the monstrous cats of before. With a series of distorted meows, the cats attacked the monsters blocking our way, opening a path for us to get out of there.

We passed the monsters being torn apart by the cats, leaving behind a series of screams and meows that echoed through the tunnels, unfortunately there were too many Mumblers, so as soon as we ran; more Mumblers came after us as more got in our way.

I felt the girl holding me tightly as she hid her face in my shoulder, with the girl sitting on my left arm; I gripped my rapier tightly in my right hand and ran faster.

But as I ran I saw the environment around me change, for a moment all the walls were taken over by huge eyes that stared at me with hatred, the eyes whispered something, but I couldn't understand it, but I felt that the meaning was deep inside my mind. Then as quickly as that image came, it disappeared.

I felt my heart race and sweat trickle down my face as I ran through the tunnels dimly lit by my flashlight, with D'arce at my side and the shouts and footsteps of the Mumblers behind us closing in.

The world changed once more, this time I walked through a long stone tunnel with glowing green symbols carved into the walls. The sound of voices chanting some unknown language echoed through it. Soon everything was back to normal.

As we ran, I slashed at the side of a Mumbler that got in my way then shoved it with my free shoulder, knocking it to the side, while D'arce slammed her shield into another Mumbler's head, knocking it into the floor.

Another Mumbler leapt out of a corner and tried to slash D'arce's neck, but the knight threw herself to the ground, skidding for a few seconds before getting up as soon as she passed the monster and kept running.

I jumped when a Mumbler lunged towards my legs, I felt my feet step on the creature's back and the sound of something breaking before I continued running.

However, as soon as my feet hit the ground, I was in a dark void with water covering my feet as mist floating around me, obscuring my vision, but in a bright flash of light, I was running alongside D'arce again.

To our dismay, our race ended, as we ran into a dead end. With our backs against the wall, we pointed our weapons on the approaching Mumblers, but we both saw that we weren't confident we would make it out of this alive.

“For what it's worth. I would like to apologize for everything I've done to you. Threatening you and all of that.” D'arce said to me.

"Don't worry, I don't hold grudges, I just wish we had more time to talk and get on better terms with each other."

"Likewise." D'arce replied.

The Mumblers advanced and instinctively we took a step back.

CRACK!

Nevertheless, as if time had stopped, the Mumblers were no longer our focus, as D'arce and I didn't feel the ground beneath our feet.

All we could do was scream as we fell.

“AAAHHH!”

TUMP!

CLANG!

I let out a scream as the air was knocked out of my lungs, letting out a series of gasps, trying to catch my breath; I slowly opened my eyes, only to stare at a stone ceiling.

Hang on? Where I am?

I felt something moving in my arms, slowly letting go of the moving thing, I saw the girl getting off me and standing beside me with a worried look on her face.

The girl crouched beside me and placed her hands on my chest, pushing me desperately, I saw tears forming in her eyes, and I slowly lifted a hand and placed it on top of her head.

"I’m alive." I spoke while trying to give the girl a reassuring smile, but I found it difficult due to the pain I felt.

The girl nodded slowly while sniffing her nose, I tried to get up but flinched as an excruciating pain coursed through my body, well I still felt my legs and I don't think anything was broken so I'll be lying here for a while.

A few minutes passed as I moaned in pain, but the sound of Kitab’s pages turning interrupted my little rest, I slowly opened the book in front of my face and read what was written.

"That was fun! Can we do that again?”

"Of course! How about race a little? We will throw ourselves into the middle of the Mumblers and the first one to escape the tunnels wins.”

“Hey, that's not fair! You know I can't walk around!”

"Exactly!" I replied with a cocky smile.

We passed a few seconds in silence until Kitab spoke again.

“So how do you feel?”

“Tired, hungry, and with a bad backache.”

“So nothing out of the ordinary for a human.”

“Tell me, did you just decide to speak now to make jokes?”

“No, that's just one reason; the other is that I'm a little worried about you. I'm a magic book, boy; I know something happened while you ran away."

“And you're right, as I ran, the world changed, I saw things that shouldn't be part of this dungeon, eyes that spoke; tunnels full of strange voices and much more. What was that?"

“Boy, I want you to answer me sincerely. When was the last time you really rested? When did you actually stop to restore your mind?”

I thought of Kitab's words, and he was right, since arriving at the dungeon, I haven't stopped beyond that moment in the kitchen, other than that it's been trouble after trouble.

“So I saw those things because is my mind is lowering?”

"Yes. Listen; boy. The Old Ones are watching you, and you've read the stories, haven't you? What you saw was a glimpse of what lies beyond reality, and the more your mind lowers, the thinner the veil that separates these nightmares from your eyes will become. You are resistant to the madness of this dungeon, but resistance isn’t immunity.”

“So basically I suffered the equivalent of having too much insight in Bloodborne?”

“Meh! You can put it like this. It's not much different from what actually happened. You will see things that no one else can see. And who knows? Maybe that's not a bad thing?"

“Great, one more thing to worry about. Changing the subject to something less disturbing. The rapier I got, I spent higher value coins to get that thing, and the sword design is not something generic. It looks more like a special weapon like Miasma and Blue Sin…”

"What you're asking is if the sword have any abilities or special effects?"

"Yes."

“Hm… Look at the rapier blade up close.”

With a little bit of effort, I managed to get up and passing by the girl who was looking at me worriedly, I grabbed my rapier that was a little away from me.

Bringing the sword to my face, I saw a series of words written in red on the rapier's blade. R'lyehian

“Ahornah poison cahf flows hup veins ot r'luhhor ymg' ah'mgehye bthnkor ng orr'e”

The only words I could make out were poison, flows and veins.

“So you mean this sword can poison my enemies?”

"I don't know. Why don't you try and find out?" Kitab responded with what I thought was amusement.

Closing the book, I looked around, judging by the location, we were in the catacombs. Which means Le'garde was close. The girl approached me, with her doll in her clothes and the dagger in her hand. D'arce was on the floor, mumbling something.

“D’arce, are you okay?” I asked as I approached the knight.

The knight opened her eyes as she moaned in pain, but slowly she got to her feet, retrieving her sword and shield.

"Where are we?" D'arce asked, looking around.

"In the catacombs, the place where Le'garde is imprisoned."

As soon as D'arce heard my words, she jumped to her feet with a smile on her face.

Heaving a weary sigh, I walked toward Le'garde's cell, D'arce and the girl following me. I felt the girl squeezing my arm tightly, looking down; I saw that she was giving me a nervous look.

Considering who we're about to meet, I understand why she's feeling this way. However, I can't decide whether Le'gard being alive or dead is a good thing or a bad thing.

Our footsteps echoed down the dark corridor, passing through a large hall filled with purple, sticky goo, we arrived at the gate of the tomb of the gods.

Hm… We don't have the cube, but I feel like we'll have to go after it… It can never be easy, can it?

Following our path, we returned to the stone corridor, and there, we stopped in front of a metal door.

“Well, there you have it, as I promised. Le'garde's cell." I said, stepping to the side and extending my hands towards the cell.

To my surprise, D'arce took both my hands in hers and shook them vigorously while giving me a big smile, less crazy than the last few times.

"Thank you very much! Thanks so much for bringing me here! And I'm sorry for doubting you!"

“Sure… Sure… No problem. Now go on with it, your boss is waiting for you inside.”

With a quick wave, D'arce walked towards the cell door, but stopped suddenly, there was something wrong, exchanging a look, D'arce and I had the same feeling.

The knight backed away from the door, readying her sword and shield, I raised my rapier and prepared to cast a spell, the girl released me and took a few steps back, her dagger in hand.

“RROOAAHH!”

"Shit!"

“Stop screaming!”

A series of screams came out of nowhere, and we looked around, looking for the source of the noise. We had our answer when the girl pointed to something above us, the ceiling above Le'garde's cell door rippling like the surface of a lake.

With a loud crash, three figures fell from the ceiling and landed on the ground, as the dust settled, I caught sight of Cahara and Ragnvaldr.

Seeing me, the mercenary smiled in a mixture of joy and nervousness “Boy! It's good to see you're alive!" Cahara waved.

"Focus! That thing still alive!” Ragnvaldr exclaimed without taking his eyes off the dust cloud.

“Thing, what thing?!?” I asked.

“Well, let's say we meet a new friend in the dungeon, but he doesn't like us very much.” Cahara replied, readying his scimitar.

I knew what Cahara meant, because as soon as he finished speaking, the Iron Shakespeare leapt out of the dust cloud, both fists covered in flames.

As soon as I saw the flaming knight approaching, I grabbed the girl and D'arce and pulled them out of the cramped hallway.

“Hey, wait for me!” Cahara shouted, running after us, Ragnvaldr following.

Nevertheless, as soon as we entered the hall where the door to the tomb of the gods was, a wall popped out of the ground, blocking the path ahead of us, preventing us from reaching the stairs to the prison or running into the mines.

A furious growl accompanied by heavy footsteps entered the hall, turning around, we saw the Iron Shakespeare approaching, as soon as he stepped into the hall, a wall rose up behind him, blocking the way to Le'garde.

"I don't think we've met before, my name is Cahara." Cahara said, introducing himself to D'arce and the girl.

“Oh! Nice to meet you Mr Cahara. My name is D'arce, and this is my sorcerer friend and his daughter." D'arce replied, introducing herself and pointing at me.

Cahara stared at me for a few seconds and then shifted his gaze to the girl behind me, upon seeing the girl his gaze softened. “Now I understand why you left me in the cell. You had more important things to take care of, didn't you?"

“If you are done introducing yourselves, how about helping me out here?” Ragnvaldr growled, preparing to fight Iron Shakespeare.

“What the hell is going on here?!? Iron Shakespeare should be in the basement and the walls shouldn't move!"

“As I said before, the dungeon has a sadistic sense of humor.”

“But isn't that an exaggeration? Why did the dungeon trap all of us here?”

“The dungeon acknowledges your presence, son of the void! Moreover, it doesn't like what it sees! Because of this, the dungeon wants to erase what shouldn't exist, like antibodies fighting a disease! Iron Shakespeare stands in your way, his body burning with the flames of madness! All the Gods are watching! What will you do?"

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

“RRAAHH!”

With a scream of rage, Iron Shakespeare charged towards us, trying to hit us with his shoulder.

Ragnvaldr was the first to move out of the way, leaping to the side, sending the Iron Shakespeare straight past, but not before cutting the great knight's left arm with his axe, leaving a wound oozing blood.

Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to stop Iron Shakespeare's advance, as the knight continued running towards us.

Somersaulting to the side, Cahara was the second to move out of the way, leaving a gash on the knight right leg in the process.

Iron Shakespeare stumbled in the middle of his run upon receiving the blow, but he soon regained his balance and continued advancing towards his targets, namely D'arce, the Girl and me.

Without wasting time, D’arce and I walked away in opposite directions; simultaneously I grabbed the girl by the shoulder, pulling her away.

A crash of shattering metal and stone echoed through the hallway as the Iron Shakespeare collided with the gooey wall next to where we previously stood.

The impact left the knight stunned for a few seconds, long enough for D'arce to strike the knight in the back, releasing a jet of blood and leaving behind a large bloody cut.

However, to D'arce's surprise, Iron Shakespeare quickly turned around and threw a flaming punch directly at her. Seeing that there was no way to dodge, D’arce did something that confused me.

She let out a war cry, assumed a slightly crouched stance with her shield raised in front of her face. The moment the punch hit the shield, a bell-like sound accompanied by a burst of flames occurred.

I expected D’arce to fly away with her broken arm.

What I didn't expect was the knight enduring the blow but being sent backwards with her feet sliding across the ground and steam rising from her shield. When D'arce stopped, she snapped out of her stance while swinging her stricken arm in pain, but other than that and the scorched shield, she appeared unharmed.

Wait? Did she just use one of the game's skills? Defensive Stance?

I was brought out of my stupor when Ragnvaldr and Cahara ran past D'arce and charged towards the knight, the Iron Shakespeare letting out a defiant shout and Ragnvaldr returning with his own.

Upon seeing the two enemies advancing, Iron Shakespeare raised his fists and tried to crush both opponents, which caused them to stop in their run to avoid being hit.

With that, Ragnvaldr and Cahara escaped the blunt of the blow, but were burned by the flames that exploded out of the punch. With his enemies off balance, Iron Shakespeare charged forward with his fist raised, attempting to crush Cahara.

The mercenary managed to dodge the blow, but I saw him make a face of pain as the flames licked his body. However, by being focused on Cahara, Iron Shakespeare left himself open for Ragnvaldr's blow that hit him in the left arm.

D'arce decided to take advantage of the opening, because as soon as Iron Shakespeare shifted his focus towards Ragnvaldr, the knight slashed Iron Shakespeare in the chest, causing him to let out a cry of pain.

Nevertheless, recovering from the strike, Iron Shakespeare delivered a powerful blow to drive away his attackers. With a swift movement, Iron Shakespeare spun like a top as he charged towards Ragnvaldr and D'arce, leaving behind trails of fire in the air.

Both were caught off guard by the blow, only having time to raise their shields, and this time, D’arce was unable to change her stance and use her skill.

With screams of pain, Ragnvaldr and D'arce were sent flying, with flames engulfing their bodies, as soon as they hit the ground; they rolled from side to side, putting out the flames.

My attention was caught when I felt someone pulling my hand. Looking down, I saw the girl staring at me with wide eyes as she pointed at the fight-taking place.

Holy crap! I've been watching this whole time?!? Why I didn’t do anything?!? I... I... Fighting an undead or mumbler is one thing, but Iron Shakespeare is a boss!

Shifting my focus to the fight, I saw Cahara trying to fight Iron Shakespeare, but the knight was pressing him with a series of flaming blows, he was slowly pushing Cahara against the wall.

Shit! My mind is low! I don't know how many spells I can use before I go crazy, but I can't just stand here!

“Girl, I need you to hide!” I said as I pointed to a stone pillar lying on the ground next to the two of us.

With a look of hesitation, the girl nodded slowly before running behind the pillar and watching me from the corner of it.

Letting out a nervous sigh, I drew my rapier and prepared myself for what I was about to do.

“Finally decided to act?” Kitab asked.

“Yes, but I am regretting my decision."

“You're only saying this now, but the moment you get a taste of a real fight, you won't stop.”

“I have to disagree. The more things between me and whoever is trying to kill me, the better. But we have wasted enough time, it’s time to act.”

"Hehehe! So act! I’m here for it, after all!”

Cahara slammed his back against the wall and Iron Shakespeare raised his fist, ready to deliver the final blow, but before he did that, I cast Glimmer of Truth and Cats of Ulthar right after.

Iron Shakespeare's head was enveloped in green smoke, causing the knight to stop his swing and scream in despair as he tried to hit what the smoke showed him.

Taking advantage of this moment, Cahara ran away, but not before searching the Iron Shakespeare armor for something, with a cry of satisfaction, Cahara came running to my side.

Just in time to get out of the way of the cats running towards Iron Shakespeare. With distorted meows, the monstrous cats leapt at Iron Shakespeare, trying to pierce his armor with their teeth and claws.

The great knight struggled as he tried to get the cats off him.

“Thanks man, you saved my life there.” Cahara said to me in a relieved tone.

However, even hearing this, I didn't pay attention.

"Man?" Cahara asked worriedly.

Nevertheless, I wasn't listening, Cahara's voice was distorted, it sounded as if someone was talking underwater and what's more, there was a series of noises drowning out Cahara's voice, noises originating from the things I was seeing.

I was in the hallway, but the environment around me was completely different.

The walls made of slime gave way to a large corridor made of flesh, a purple and black flesh that gave the impression of having been rotten for a long time, but even though it looked rotten and dead, the walls, floor and ceiling pulsated with life.

But the smell! My God! The smell!

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

The hallway pulsated, the walls undulated with the rhythm of the beat, and I felt my body rise and fall as whatever was pulsing passed beneath my feet.

The noise of the pulsation was deafening, it was the loudest noise I had heard in my entire life, louder than any music, yet the pulsation was as if it were music, divine music, and disturbing music.

Whatever creature this pulsation belonged to, it was something big, dangerous, but at the same time, wonderful.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

It wasn't just the walls that changed; the stone pillars too, the gray stone disappeared, giving way to large yellowed and diseased bones, cracked and with holes and black spots similar to cavities, but even with their fragile appearance, they remained standing, connected to the floor and ceiling, resisting the pulsation.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!      

The pulsation got louder, the music got louder.

I felt something crawling up my leg, looking down; I saw a sea of insects passing by my feet, centipedes, cockroaches, and beetles. In the air, flies and mosquitoes covered my vision.

These insects crossed the corridor in large rows that looked like a sea of dark dots; they climbed the walls and ceiling, undulating with the pulsation. Moreover, coming from the insects, a loud, high-pitched buzzing sound reached my ears.

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

The insects devoured the rotting flesh and diseased bones that made up the corridor, with wet, sickening noises; they sank into the flesh of the walls, causing purple blood to drip towards the floor.

With loud cracks, they gnawed at the bones, letting a fine yellow powder fall like snow into the sea of insects below.

The music continued and a new instrument was added to the symphony.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

Amid the wonderful symphony I was listening to, new spectators joined me to watch the show. Shadowy figures walked beside me, varying in height, and from the contours of their bodies, I identified some as male and female.

Beings made of shadows, but transparent, passed me and walked towards the large door at the end of the corridor.

They whispered in my ears, but I couldn't understand, but I felt like it was something I shouldn't know, but I wanted to know, I wanted to understand, I wanted them to tell me.

A female figure grabbed my leg, another my waist, another hugged me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

The whispers grew louder, mixed with laughter; a new instrument was added to the symphony.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

It was wonderful, it was disturbing, it was pleasant, it was deafening, the pulsation continued incessantly like a drum announcing the arrival of something divine.

Insects devoured everything in their path, the sound of flesh and bones being gnawed into dust was like the strings of a violin, calming those who came to witness what was about to happen.

The whispers and laughter that attacked my ears filled me with pleasure, I felt all the weight being lifted from my shoulders, and it was as if all the problems in my life had gone away.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

At the end of the corridor, the large stone door slowly opened, accompanied by a blinding white light, and what I saw on the other side left me in awe.

A golden city, great buildings made of stone and gold, with sunlight illuminating the beautiful constructions with rays that shone through the clouds and in the center of it all, I saw a large square where shadowy figures converged and there they danced.

They danced madly in front of a large statue in the center of the square; it was a statue with four sides and on each side a face representing a different being.

The symphony grew louder.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

For a moment, the shadowy figures stopped dancing and turned towards me, slowly some of them extended their hands towards me, as if wanting me to hold them.

They were calling me, calling me to participate in the dance. And deep down, that's what I wanted. I wanted to dance too, dance for all eternity in this divine city, to dance without having to worry about anything else.

Two more female figures appeared in front of me and each one of them grabbed one of my hands and pulled me towards the gate.

The music got louder and more frantic.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

As I advanced, the voices whispering in my ear became clearer.

"Come! Join us!"

“Dance with us, dance for all eternity!”

“In the city of the gods, in the city where all secrets will be revealed to you!”

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

Yes! That's what I wanted! To dance for all eternity! To dance in front of the gods! To dance so that one day they would reveal to me a fraction of their knowledge.

Slowly I walked towards the gate.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

BBBZZZ!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

HAHAHA!

"Man! What are you doing?"

"Boy! Wake up!"

"What is wrong with you?"

However, in the midst of my advance, I heard a series of voices calling me. Nevertheless, whom did these voices belong to? I didn't know, I didn't care.

I kept moving forward.

“Has he gone mad?!?”

“Someone stop him! I’m busy with this thing!”

"Leave it to me!"

SLAP!

“OUCH! Son of a...”

SLAP!

"Wake up!"

"What?!?"

As if awakened from a dream, I woke up confused with the world around me, for a moment I wondered where I was, until everything came back to me.

D’arce! Cahara! Rag! The girl! The Iron Shakespeare! What the fuck am I doing here?!?

“Are you back to us or I will need to hit you again?!?” D’arce asked worriedly, with one hand on my shoulder and the other raised.

"No! No! I’ve already returned to the real world!” I responded, raising my hands defensively.

"Excellent! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to help those two!” D’arce responded with a relieved smile, running towards Iron Shakespeare soon after.

“Have you finally decided to come back to us, boy?”

“Kitab, what happened?”

“I'll be honest with you kid, your mind is almost at zero, if you cast one more spell, no matter what it is, you'll go crazy for good.”

“But... But what about the Iron Shakespeare?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it, that guy is on his last legs.”

Looking at Iron Shakespeare, I realized what Kitab meant. The knight was almost dead, his armor cut, crushed and covered in blood, his blows were slower and the flames in his fists were weaker.

D'arce, Rag and Cahara didn't seem to need help; they weren't too injured and were pressing the Iron Shakespeare with different fighting styles.

Cahara ran around Iron Shakespeare, delivering quick blows around the knight's body, Rag stayed close, dodging Iron Shakespeare's blows and delivering heavy hits with his axe.

D’arce, on the other hand, had a more balanced style, dodging and blocking Iron Shakespeare’s blows and attacking during openings.

Looking towards the fallen pillar behind me, I saw the girl watching me, I waved to her, indicating that I was okay and the girl waved back.

Well, I think it's time to put an end to this, but I can't cast any spells and no way that I'll engage the Iron Shakespeare in hand-to-hand combat.

However, I remembered something, there was something running around the dungeon that I could use, so with a mental command, I called the rats.

From the ceiling, in a small green light, a series of ghostly rats fell to the floor in front of me and pointing Kitab towards Iron Shakespeare, I ordered the rats to attack.

Closing the distance and passing by the feet of the combatants, the rats ran towards Iron Shakespeare and jumped onto his chest, passing his armor.

For a moment, nothing happened, until Iron Shakespeare screamed in agony as the rats devoured his insides. Shouts of pain and despair echoed through the hall as the great knight struggled in vain.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I saw D'arce using another of her skills, D'arce's left leg turned into a blur as she tripped the Iron Shakespeare.

Then I had a vision of how superhuman the people of this world could be, as D'arce's sweep passed through Iron Shakespeare's armor, throwing shards of metal, flesh and bone to the side, causing Iron Shakespeare to fall to the ground.

In addition, with a cry of fury, Ragnvaldr struck the final blow, sinking his ax into Iron Shakespeare's head; the great knight shuddered for a moment, until he fell motionless to the ground.

Plucking his ax from his enemy's head, Ragnvaldr let out a relieved sigh as he breathed heavily. Cahara wiped the sweat from his forehead, with a nervous smile, while D'arce sheathed her sword while clasping both hands together, praying.

I, on the other hand, sat on top of the fallen pillar where the girl was hiding. Seeing that the knight was killed, the girl came out of her hiding place and sat down next to me, placing a hand on my arm.

“Don't worry, I'm fine... But still, thank you...” I replied between breaths of air.

Nevertheless, we were all taken from our moment of rest when the walls that prevented our exit sank into the ground, freeing our passage.

“Well... Enough wasting time...” I said to myself as I stood up with shaky legs.

I felt the girl holding my arm tighter, but I continued walking anyway.

“Hey, where are you going?” Cahara asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“After the bastard who caused us so much trouble.” I replied as I walked towards the cell.

Entering the dark gray stone corridor, I kicked the door in front of me open, with a metallic noise of the door slamming against the wall. Holding back a cry of pain, I stepped aside, letting the others enter the cell. .

In addition, in front of us, lying on the ground and wearing armor, was the man we came after, Grif... I mean, Le’garde.

“Le’garde!” D’arce shouted with a joyful smile as she saw her beloved alive and breathing.

“Well, mission accomplished! Time to get my reward!” Cahara shouted, raising a fist in the air.

“Finally…” Ragnvaldr muttered.

D'arce took a step towards Le'garde, but Ragnvaldr was faster, passing the knight, Ragnvaldr wrapped his hands around Le'garde's neck and squeezed it tightly.

Le'garde's eyes opened and the Mercenary Leader widened his eyes in surprise at the lack of air as he weakly placed his hands on Ragnvaldr's face, trying to push him away.

"What are you doing?!?" D'arce shouted, drawing her sword and pointing it at Ragnvaldr.

“Hey, I need this guy alive!” Cahara shouted, drawing his scimitar.

However, Ragnvaldr ignored him; he continued squeezing Le’garde’s neck.

I felt the girl squeezing my arm even tighter, looking down, I saw that she was about to cry, well, even though Le'garde is a horrible person, he is still the girl's father and someone trying to kill her father in front of her It's not a pretty sight.

“PPSSHH! Hey, boy!"

“Not a good time, Kitab!”

“It sure is one, because you just got a new spell!”

“Show me.” I said with a sigh.

“The Color from Outer Space: Use the mysterious properties of the meteorite that fell from the ether of space. Flip a coin and choose a side, if you win, you will receive a permanent strength boost, if you miss, you will also get a permanent strength boost but you will suffer a mutation. The higher the value of the coin, the greater the increase in strength, but the greater will be the mutation if you miss.”

I can't say if I'm happy to have won this spell, it's a gamble that I don't know if I'm willing to risk.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to think about it, as D'arce, Ragnvaldr and Cahara were about to kill each other.

Well, time to defuse this bomb before it explodes.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

Taking a step forward, I placed myself between D’arce and Rag; I opened both arms, keeping them both apart. Therefore, without much choice, I said nonsense after nonsense, trying to convince everyone here not to kill each other in vain.

"Seriously?!? Are you really going to fight at a time like this?!? After all the trouble we had to get here, you will turn on each other because of one person?!?” I exclaimed to everyone.

“Listen, I don’t know if you noticed, but that mountain of muscle over there is killing my gold mine!” Cahara replied, pointing his scimitar at Rag.

“And he will kill you too, if you don’t put down that sword!” I spoke back.

“Please get out of the way, I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t allow Le’garde to be killed!” D’arce shouted, pointing her trembling sword towards me.

“D’arce, do you have the slightest idea what Le’garde did to end up here?!?”

“If you’re talking about the failed revolt…”

"Before that!" I shouted, interrupting D’arce.

“N-no, what are you talking about?” D’arce said nervously, looking away.

“Don’t act like a fool; you know what I’m talking about. Before the failed revolt, Le'garde led an attack on the Kingdom of Oldegard, massacring everyone in sight, this aggressive act generated distrust in the Kingdom of Rondor towards Le'garde, which was one of the reasons that made it easier for him be locked up here.”

“That… That’s not…” D’arce muttered.

“If you know what this man did, why are you trying to stop me?” Rag spoke, still squeezing Le’garde’s neck, but not enough to kill him.

I saw Le'garde staring at me; the mercenary's face was turning from red to blue, with tears coming out of the corners of his eyes. I looked away with an irritated growl; I'm not doing this for you.

“Honestly, I don’t care if you kill Le’garde, I have no relationship with this man, and he is a total stranger to me…”

I realized that D'arce and Cahara were about to protest, but I continued with my argument.

“...But I don't know if you noticed, but we are in the depths of a dungeon full of monsters never seen before! Each of us ended up here by traversing the floors in some way, which means there are hordes of monsters above, below, and all around us! So I have a question for all of you, after you kill each other, break your bones and dismember yourselves, how do you plan to get back to the surface?!? Do you really want to be stuck here until you die or become some monster's toy?!?”

“T-toy?!?” D’arce asked as Cahara swallowed and looked away.

“Oh! Believe me, death will be a mercy compared to what the monsters will do to you if they catch you! Do you want me to go into detail?!?”

“If you're so uncomfortable with us fighting here and now, what do you suggest we do? You want me to let this bastard go after everything he’s done!” Rag exclaimed through gritted teeth, his scream echoing through the cell as he gave Le'garde's neck a tight grip, making the knight choke.

“No, as I said before, I don’t care about Le’garde, I’m no judge, jury and executioner, and I can’t decide his fate! What I'm suggesting is that you stop your disagreements until you leave the dungeon! What about this? We tie up Le’garde, take him out of the dungeon and you decide what to do next, because I don’t care, I just want to get out of here, and I don’t know if you noticed, but I have a child with me! Do you really want to leave a child in a place like this?!? A little help getting her out of here would be appreciated! Five minutes ago I was almost going crazy, but it seems that in the end, I'm the only sane here!”

After I finished my little speech, a tense silence took over the room. Everyone looked at each other with suspicious looks, weapons in hand; ready to spill blood, meanwhile, Rag's hands were less than one movement away from breaking Le'garde's neck.

The mercenary in question appeared to be on the verge of death, his face covered in sweat and hands struggling weakly to escape Rag's grip.

The first to break the silence was Rag.

“I hear that you knights of Rondor value your honor above all else. Then swear on your honor that you will not turn against me until we leave this cursed place.” Rag spoke seriously, looking at D’arce.

“So that means...”

“Don’t get it wrong, I will kill this man, but the boy is right about one thing. This is not the place to decide the fate of the man we came to seek, if I’m to die, I want it to have been trying to complete my objective, this way I will maintain my honor and the gods will decide my fate in the afterlife. And you? Do you also have this honor? If so, swear that you will not turn against me until we escape from here.” Rag said to D’arce.

"Hey! I didn’t agree with that!” Cahara shouted.

“SSSHHH!” I placed my index finger in front of my lips, silencing the mercenary.

The tense silence returned, D’arce and Rag looked at each other seriously, it was like a scene from a movie, and the two exchanged murderous looks. At any moment this could break out into a fight to the death, if that happens I'll grab the girl and run out of here.

Slowly, D'arce lowered her sword, and with one hand on her heart, she spoke.

“I swear on my honor, I swear on Alll-mer and I hope you do the same.”

“Your gods mean nothing to me, but I swear it too. May the gods decide which of us will emerge victorious.” Rag replied.

Slowly, Rag removed his hands from Le'garde's neck, making the nearly dead man sigh in relief as he coughed for air. After a few minutes of trying to recover, Le'garde got up, only to be knocked to the ground by a punch from Rag.

“But that doesn’t mean I will treat you like a human, you don’t deserve such courtesy, but I will offer you the mercy that has been denied to my people, for now.” Rag spoke, taking a rope from his bag and tying Le'garde's wrists, with a pull; he forced the mercenary to his feet.

“Le’garde!” D'arce shouted, running towards his former leader.

"Holy crap! Calm down! I won’t get my reward if his face is swollen beyond recognition!” Cahara shouted, also running towards Le'garde, more concerned about his money than the Mercenary Leader himself.

Rag stepped aside, allowing the two to talk, but he kept the end of the rope in his hands, not allowing Le'garde to escape.

Well, that's the best I can do; Rag will still try to kill Le’garde, at least I managed to convince him to do that when we leave. With that matter over, I went towards the Girl who was watching this entire scene near the cell entrance.

I got down on one knee and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, slowly the girl raised her head, looking at me with a sad look.

“Girl listen. I did my best, unfortunately I'm not a good negotiator, and everyone here is determined to kill or save your father, honestly we have no chance of defeating any of these people in a direct fight, I can only say that we will have help to get out of this dungeon, but I can't promise anything about what will happen to your father, whether he lives or dies will depend on who wins the duel after we escape.”

The girl looked away, staring at the floor as she rubbed her hands together nervously.

“As much as a child shouldn't hear this, your father did some very bad things, and now he's suffering the consequences, but at least now you'll see the outside, we can explore the world, or if you prefer, find a peaceful place for us to live.” I said gently, trying to comfort the girl.

The girl looked at me again, with a hopeful look, she held the hand I placed on her shoulder and gave me a small smile.

“I ask that you have a little bit of patience and we will get out of here soon, okay?”

The girl nodded quickly.

"Excellent! Let’s pack our things and get out of here!” I said with a smile.

“Nice speech, I must admit. Have you ever thought about becoming a minstrel?”

However, that smile disappeared as soon as someone's voice approached the cell, along with the sound of clapping.

CLAP!

CLAP!

CLAP!

Taking the girl in my arms and moving away from the door, I pointed the rapier towards the cell entrance, I noticed that everyone else present had also prepared themselves. Le’garde tried to act as well, but was stopped by a pull from Rag.

Coming from the darkness and with a fluid movement, a person entered the cell, looking like a living shadow, a thin, tall and pale man, with long white hair on his head, an impassive face and wearing black robes.

Enki, the Dark Priest.

“Forgive me for my rudeness, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about leaving here with our dear prisoner, unfortunately I can't allow that.” Enki spoke, and with a snap of his fingers, four skeletons entered the cell and I saw more outside.

“Do you also want this bastard to live?!?” Rag demanded, pulling on the rope and causing Le’garde to stumble, much to the concern of D’arce and Cahara.

“No, no, don’t get me wrong. I share the young sorcerer's opinion here. I don't care what you do with the famous Mercenary Captain, but before coming here, I heard news that Le'garde acquired a certain artifact…” Enki spoke; approaching Le’garde as he placed a hand inside his robes.

I don't know what went through my mind, but due to the tension of the situation, I pointed the rapier towards Enki's face the moment I saw his hand moving to grab something.

Enki gave me a bored look, but taking a step back, he slowly took out an object from his robes, a book, leafing through the book; he stopped on a page and showed us a picture, a picture of a cube.

“I heard that Le’garde looted this artifact from a neighboring kingdom, and this artifact was brought here. I want the famous mercenary to take me to it, so you will have to postpone his execution.” Enki said to everyone, his eyes looking at each one present.

“Well, that’s fine with me! I know when I encounter a fight I can't win! As long as you don’t kill the bastard, I’ll help you find that cube!” Cahara screamed, throwing his hands up and rubbing his head nervously.

“Don’t worry, he will be all yours after we find the cube, after that, I intend to leave you alone and go on my way.” Enki spoke in a slightly irritated voice.

“I didn't expect to find a Dark Priest here, I honestly don't feel comfortable around one, but we're compatriots, so I hope we can work together despite all the pagan gods your kind worships.” D'arce spoke suspiciously, as she stared at Enki, the sting being obvious.

“I’d rather not waste my time with ignorant-minded pathetic people like you, but since you value the Mercenary Leader’s survival, I’ll tolerate your insults for now.” Enki retorted, with his less discreet insults.

Enki and D’arce faced each other, exchanging threatening looks.

“Please don’t tell me you’ll fight too!” I shouted at both of them.

“I don’t mean to start a conflict, but I can’t say the same about your red-haired friend.” Enki said, pointing at Rag.

With those words said, we all turned towards Rag, waiting for his response. The outsider looked around, probably analyzing his chances of winning a fight against us, and then he turned his gaze to Le'garde who was still on the ground.

“Me and my companions crossed the ocean, we suffered hunger and thirst during those terrible days, surrounded by the cruel blue, I did things I'm not proud of to survive, only to arrive on a dark and cursed continent, we suffered to bring that artifact to our homeland, only to have it taken from us, and now I intend to get it back. In addition, you will lead us to it! You’ve gained some time in your life, enjoy it while you can!” Rag exclaimed to Le’garde.

“Well, since we are all in agreement, I made a room nearby as a temporary study environment. We can rest there before we go in search of the cube.” Enki said monotonously.

"Hang on! Does that mean you'll stay be here?!? What about the girl?!? Didn’t you guys agreed to help us get out of the dungeon?!?” I screamed.

Cahara and D'arce looked away, embarrassed, Rag gave me a soft look, Enki, on the other hand, didn't seem to care too much, he just let out an irritated grumble.

"Man; it seems like we all came here looking for Prince Charming here, except for you, it seems like we've come to an agreement for now. I intend to take advantage of this opportunity while I can.” Cahara spoke.

“I thank you for guiding me here, you kept the promise you made, but I can't go back now, I feel ashamed for not helping you and this is a stain on my honor. However, you could come with us! Now that we have greater numbers, I’m sure we can handle whatever comes in our way!” D’arce said with a nervous smile, unable to look me in the eye.

“I will go after the artifact, if you haven’t died by then, I will help you get out of here.” Rag replied, crossing his arms.

“Well, you've heard everyone's thoughts on the matter, you and the brat can leave now. Nevertheless, I admit I'm disappointed, as a magic user, I expected you to stay here to gain knowledge, but it seems I was mistaken. If you can make it to the capital, perhaps you can become a Dark Priest, just tell them that Enki sent you and they will probably get something for you.” Enki spoke, sending me away as if I were an inconvenience.

“Well, it looks like we’re alone in this.” I said to the girl, while letting out a long sigh.

The girl nodded, understanding the situation.

“Listen, apparently you know how to use necromancy, so could you teach me?” I asked Enki.

“And why should I?” The Dark Priest asked back.

“Because I'm alone and with a child, creating some undead to help me would make it easier for us to get out of here.”

“And again I ask you, why should I?”

“How about I pay you to teach me?”

“Hm... And what do you have of value?”

“How about I give you this rapier?” I said as I offered the weapon in question.

“And why should I accept it? I have my ways of dealing with future dangers.” Enki said, waving his hand and pointing at the reanimated skeletons.

“You never know when something unforeseen could happen. The skeletons are numerous but fragile. What if something gets too close and you can't cast a spell? The rapier is brand new, it is a light weapon, which is perfect for someone like you, not to mention of course, that the weapon is enchanted, and it can poison those who get in your way.”

“Hm... Acceptable, you captured my attention with the enchantment part. Let us begin your lessons immediately, as I do not wish to waste time.” Enki spoke, accepting the rapier and giving a few quick and precise blows in the air, I felt humiliated by this demonstration.

Lessons? I don't have time for that! However, before I could continue that line of thought, I felt Kitab shaking in my hand, opening the book; I read what was written on the pages.

“PPSSHH! Hey! Tell him to touch me!”

“Instead of wasting time with lessons, I have a better alternative, how about you touch my magic book?” I spoke, showing Kitab to Enki.

Enki raised an eyebrow, curious about the situation, but slowly, he touched Kitab with the tip of his finger, and then words appeared on the pages of the book, showing a new spell.

“Necromancy: Bring life back to where it once lingered...”

“Curious, but ultimately irrelevant. You have what you wanted, now go.” Enki said, pointing to the door.

Taking one last look at everyone present, I said goodbye.

“I'm honestly glad I met you all, I hope we can all meet outside.”

In addition, with my goodbye said, I left the cell, leaving everyone to solve their own problems. However, I stopped as soon as a question formed in my mind.

“I know this may sound strange, but how did you get here so quickly? We all had to fight and take shortcuts to get here.” I asked Enki.

“Oh! That! I just followed the rats.” Enki replied before turning to talk with the others present in the cell.

Hm... It seems that one way or another, I ended up helping. Therefore, with no other option, I walked away from the cell, walking towards the stairs that led to the prison, but stopped as soon as I reached the Iron Shakespeare's corpse.

I have an idea; I put the girl down and opened Kitab.

“Oh! I already know what you intend to do! And I’m impressed by it!”

Giving a small smile, I used Necromancy, for a moment, the corridor turned into flesh and the pillars into bones, the shadowy figures stretched out their hands towards me, but soon it disappeared, and in front of me, stood the Iron Shakespeare, standing, and waiting for my orders.

The girl backed away scared, but stopped as soon as she saw that Iron Shakespeare wasn't moving, so she surrounded the knight, watching him curiously, then the girl stopped next to me and held my free hand.

“Say hello to our new friend!” I said to the girl while pointing at the big knight.

The girl waved at Iron Shakespeare, but the knight didn't react.

"Come!" With an order, my new Undead accompanied us on our way out of here; we reached the end of the hallway and headed up the spiral stairs.

“Well, looks like it’s over.” Kitab spoke.

With a mighty blow, Iron Shakespeare destroyed the gate in front of us.

“Yes, and it was faster than I expected.”

The guard with the ballista tried to shoot us, but with one quick swing, the Iron Shakespeare hit him in the chest, sending him into the abyss below.

"I expected more."

We went up the stairs that led to the basement.

“Then you will be disappointed, for I intend to leave now.”

Iron Shakespeare easily crushed the Manebas on the way.

“No, I can't judge. You are choosing the smart route, continuing down the dungeon would be stupid.”

We reached the stairs leading outside and there I could see sunlight coming through the stone passage.

“Ready to get out of here, girl?” I asked with a smile.

The girl nodded, smiling back. Therefore, hand in hand, we walked up the stairs out of here.

Only to despair when a wall started to rise, blocking the passage, I quickly put the girl in my arms and ran towards the exit, but it was too late, the last thing I saw were the metal gates of the dungeon's main entrance closing, then the wall closed our exit and everything went dark.

XXXXXX

I entered the room with the armchair that was on the stairs leading down to the dungeon, I left Iron Shakespeare standing guard at the door and sat down, letting out a tired sigh, I reclined in the armchair while looking up, I removed my cloth hood and iron mask, covered my face with one hand and...

“AAAHHH!”

...And I screamed with all my strength, while hitting the arm of the chair with my other hand.

Amid my screams, I felt Kitab moving in my hand, stopping my tantrum; I took a deep breath trying to calm down, and opened the book, reading its contents.

“I didn’t expect that one.”

“Hump! You're not the only one!" I exclaimed as I tapped my fingers repeatedly on the arm of the chair, still stressed about the situation.

“You better calm down, you’re scaring the girl.”

Realizing what Kitab said, I scanned the room for the girl, I found her near the opposite wall, sitting on the floor near some boxes and barrels, as soon as our eyes met, and the girl looked the other way.

Damn it! I mentally screamed as I tried to calm down. How do I solve this? I know!

Opening my backpack, I took out a notebook and my pencil case, opening the notebook to a blank page, I called the girl.

“Hey, I'm sorry for scaring you, but I'm just tired and irritated from everything that happened. It has been a while since we really rested, hasn't it? So how about we stay here for a while? You can draw a little if you want.” I said as I showed the notebook.

This caught her attention, as the girl came running to my side and hopped in one foot to the other anxiously. Giving a small laugh, I handed the objects in question to the Girl.

She looked at the case and notebook curiously, playing with the case's zipper and notebook rings, she played with the eraser, sharpener, pens, but stopped when she saw a familiar object, a pencil.

The Girl placed the notebook on the floor, removed the doll from inside her dress and sat it down next to the notebook, and then the Girl lay down on her stomach and began to draw while dangling her legs in the air with a small smile on her face.

I think it's a good time to rest my mind, taking the phone out of my pocket, I opened the music app, went into my playlist and put it on shuffle, and anything will do now.

“Empty spaces”

“What are we living for?”

“Abandoned places”

“I guess we know the score”

Opening my backpack, I took inventory of what I had at the moment, a blue vial, a white vial, a worm juice, three blue herbs, two red herbs, a green herb, four pieces of cloth and four sticks, five tinderboxes from the room where I found the Girl, the skinning knife, the bone saw, the book of fears, a pipe with some tobacco and opium, and a great variety of food.

“On and on”

“Does anyone know what we are looking for?”

Not bad, I think we just need better equipment now, for the girl and me. Wasting no time, I ordered the rats to find better equipment, but only light things that the girl and I could use.

“Returning to the previous topic. What are we going to do now?" Kitab asked.

“I don't know, we're stuck here. The dungeon won’t let us out.”

“And you’ll just give up?”

"No! But I don’t know what to do, I need time to think!”

“We don’t have many options, you can try to catch up with the others and go after the cube, try to kill the god of the depts., or take the cube yourself and go to Ma’habre.”

I stopped for a second to think about the options.

“Another hero”

“Another mindless crime”

“Behind the curtain”

“In the pantomime”

“Are you suggesting that I become a New God?”

“I don't know, it's your choice. Or you can try to turn the girl into a Goddess, or fight Gro-Goroth's traces.”

“Neither option suits me.”

Hearing a series of squeaks, a group of rats carrying equipment entered the room. They brought a Hard Leather Armor, a better version of the leather robe I wore, and they brought a trench coat.

Giving a small smile, I removed my current equipment and put on the leather armor, which was extremely light, and put on the trench coat right after, a long black leather coat that reached my shins, with long sleeves and full of pockets. .

"Hey Girl! How I am?" I asked while striking a pose.

The girl stopped drawing, looked at me and gave a positive wave.

Giving a small laugh, I returned to my seat.

“Hold the line”

“Does anyone want to take it anymore?”

The rats retreated in search of more equipment, in my mind, I saw them running through the dungeon but I ordered them not to go into the mines or caves, I don't want to take the items from D'arce, Cahara and the others except for Le 'garde, fuck that guy.

“Hm... Maybe I should focus on acquiring books and scrolls, increasing my magic skills would be great.”

“You have coins to spend. But we still need to decide where we will go.”

“I only see one way, the caves, and then the mines. Considering we know how the dungeon works, unlike the others, we can assume that they went to the mines through the catacombs, which will lead them to a dead end since they don't have the rope.”

“As for us, we will take the smart route. Using the elevator and getting to the cave dweller village.”

"Exactly."

“Then it’s decided! To the caves!”

“To the caves.” I said in a less excited tone.

“The show must go on”

“The show must go on, yeah”

“Inside my heart is breaking”

“My makeup may be flaking”

“But my smile, still, stays on”

The rats returned, this time bringing a light brown leather helmet and a red leather robe, perfect for the girl. When we leave, I will give her this equipment, if I remember correctly, the girl can wear a chain mail helmet and a trench coat, the problem would be finding both.

“I think I should order the rats to bring rotten meat.”

“And why is that?”

“Who lives in the caves and likes rotten meat?”

“Oh! We are getting a new team member!”

“Definitely! The best girl!”

“Whatever happens”

“I'll leave it all to chance”

“Another heartache”

“Another failed romance”

Changing my mind, I asked the rats to bring me something and look for a certain object. A few minutes later, they returned with a weapon and a shiny stone.

The Shark's Teeth, a crude improvised blade, capable of easily ripping soft flesh. Moreover, the other item was a soul stone; the rats found it near the priests.

Extending the stone towards Iron Shakespeare, a light came out of the undead knight and disappeared into the stone, and then the stone's brightness increased.

I held the soul stone in front of my face, studying its glow, and then shrugging, I put it in a pocket inside my trench coat. I felt a tingling throughout my body, probably the soul in the stone taking effect.

“On and on”

“Does anyone know what we are living for?”

“Don’t you think you’re going too fast, getting equipment and everything?”

“Are you really asking that in a place like this?” I asked while lifting Shark Teeth, it was a little heavy, not impossible to lift, but it could be easier.

I picked up a five-cent coin, cast The Color from Outer Space, and tossed the coin into the air.

"Heads!"

The coin fell and the result was tails.

“Fail, mutation acquired.” Kitab spoke.

The only thing I felt different was that I was stronger, Shark Teeth felt lighter in my hands.

“Ssstrange, I don’t feeel anyyything out of the orrrdinaryyy.”

“I guess I'm learning”

“I must be warmer now”

“I'll soon be turning”

“'Round the corner now”

“Outside the dawn is breaking”

“But inside in the dark I'm thinking to be free”

“Something changed, but it was a small mutation, nothing that will help or hinder you, don’t worry about it.”

“Iiifff yyyou sayyy.” I said while shrugging it off.

“So, ready to go?”

“Not yyyet, I want to ssstay here ffforrr a wwwhillle lllongerrr. And let the gggirrrl enjoyyy it forrr a while, childrrren ssshould have fun, not worrry about dyyying because of a monssster.”

"Of course. That's fine with me. Do you mind if we talk some more?”

“No, jussst give me a minute.”

I ordered a rat to get something for me, soon the mouse arrived with a bottle of booze, I took the bottle and sent the rat away, removing the cork, I took a sip.

I immediately choked on the burning in my throat due to how strong the drink was. I've drunk with my friends before, but never anything this strong, it just didn't take long for me to get used to it.

Therefore, having a small moment of peace, Kitab and I talked, while the girl drew. Just another normal day in the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger.

“The show must go on”

“The show must go on, yeah, yeah”

“Ooh, inside my heart is breaking”

“My makeup may be flaking”

“But my smile, still, stays on”

“My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies”

“Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die”

“I can fly, my friends”

“The show must go on, yeah”

“The show must go on”

“I'll face it with a grin”

“I'm never giving in”

“On with the show”

“I'll top the bill”

“I'll overkill”

“I have to find the will to carry on”

“On with the show”

“On with the show”

“The show must go on”

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

"What?!?" I shouted, standing up quickly after hearing several voices talking. I prepared to cast a spell, but I was confused when I felt something missing on my left hand, Kitab wasn't there.

This made me nervous. Where did the book end up? I also didn't feel Shark Teeth in my right hand. What is happening?

“Are you going to ask for something or just stand there?” An angry voice asked.

Turning quickly towards the voice, I was surprised by what I saw. A wooden counter with wooden benches in front of it. Behind the counter were wooden shelves filled with colorful, unlabeled bottles.

That wasn't here before.

As if that wasn't strange enough, I noticed the way this place was lit, electric bulbs hanging from the ceiling. There's something wrong here.

Looking back, I saw several circular tables with groups of people sitting on chairs, but there was something wrong with these people, the way they dressed didn't fit with the medieval era in which I found myself.

They dressed in the American fashion of the fifties, men and women, all wearing clothes that hadn't even been invented yet. These people talked and laughed while drinking and playing cards.

A strong smell of cigarette smoke permeated the air. I heard music coming from somewhere, looking towards the counter; I saw an old radio working without problems.

“Boy, are you okay? If you're going to faint, it's better to do it outside, I don't want any commotion here.” The man behind the counter spoke again.

How long have I been standing here? I must look like an idiot to these people. Approaching the counter, I sat down on one of the wooden benches and rested my arms on the counter.

“So what will it be?” The man asked.

Analyzing the man's appearance, I noticed that he was wearing a classic bartender outfit, with a black vest over his white shirt and everything, but the man had no face.

I've been through so much to the point where a faceless person isn't the worst thing I've seen.

“Sorry, but I have no money, at least no money you would accept.” I responded with a shrug.

“Great, a broke guy in my bar. But lucky for you, the first drink is on the house.” The faceless man replied, taking a bottle from the shelves, removing the cap, and pouring the contents into a glass in front of me.

I picked up the glass and looked at the liquid suspiciously. Considering how the dungeon operates, I wonder what kind of status problems I would get from drinking it. Poison? Parasites? Or nothing?

“First of all, what is this place?” I asked the faceless man, as I gestured to the rest of the bar with the hand holding the glass.

As I did, an old man cleaning the floor with a mop bumped into my arm, knocking the glass onto the floor.

CRASH!

SPLASH!

"I'm very sorry!" The old man exclaimed, bending down with difficulty to clean up the mess on the floor.

“No, no, it was my fault, let me help.” I responded politely, but before I did so, I felt a hand on my shoulder stopping me from moving, it was the faceless man.

“Let Old Bugs handle it, that’s his job after all.” The faceless man spoke, tilting his head to the side.

Even though he didn't have a face, I noticed that he leaned over to face the old man on the ground. The old man, now known as Bugs, stared back at us, before nodding and returning to his work.

I looked at him one last time before returning to my seat.

“To answer your question, you’re in my bar, Sheehan’s.” The faceless man spoke, filling another glass in front of me.

"And where..."

“Boy, I don’t have time to talk; I have clients to attend to.” The faceless man complained, before retreating to another part of the bar.

Damn it! Mentally sighing, I picked up the second glass and twirled it in my hand as I thought of a way to get out of here. I didn't see any doors or windows, and the walls were peeling away, revealing the bricks and cement underneath.

“You can drink, the booze here is safe.” A person on the bench next to me spoke.

Turning towards the owner of the voice, I couldn't see his face; because the newspaper the man was reading blocked my view. However, I managed to read the main headline, my breathing stopped and my eyes widened at what I saw.

“Chicago Journal January 31, 1950: President Harry S. Truman announces development of the hydrogen bomb.”

What the fuck?!? I was inside the dungeon and ended up in Chicago?!? Moreover, in the fifties?!? That's not possible!

“Sorry for the hurry, but I need to get out of here!” I said to the man, placing the glass on the counter and standing up.

“Are you leaving now? Such a shame, we’d love to talk to you.” The man replied.

"We?"

"Yes. We." The man replied, putting down the newspaper.

In addition, what I saw was a white, faceless head that seemed to be melting. My heart quickened, because I knew who this person was, a New God.

“You are a New God.” I pointed at the man as I took a few steps back.

“Oh! Do you know what we are? Well, you already know more than most who came here.” The New God shrugged.

"What do you want from me?"

“Honestly, nothing. We just wanted to talk; we realized the dungeon doesn't like you.”

"Don’t tell me! Can you believe I didn’t even notice?” I responded sarcastically, but inside I was panicking. Out of the corner of my eyes, I looked for a way out.

“Hey, no need to be rude!” The New God rebuked me.

“It's easy for you to say! Unlike you and your friends, I don’t have the safety of the Hall of the Gods!” I countered, feigning courage.

“Hm… You also know about this. Tell me, have you been to the dungeon before?” The New God asked curiously.

“No, this is my first time here.”

"Curious. You are a strange person. You’re not from here, are you?” The New God asked.

“No, I’m not from Rondor.”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re not from this world, are you?” The New God asked again, clasping his hands on the counter and tilting his head.

"How do you know that?"

“Please, you underestimate us. Despite our false ascension, we New Gods have acquired unimaginable knowledge, including about other worlds, from the Sulfuric Pits to The Void, the existence of other worlds is not new to us, nor is the existence of other gods of these worlds. And from the looks of it; you serve some of them.” The New God responded proudly.

“Congratulations, you got everything right about me. What do you intend to do with that information?” I responded, clapping my hands sarcastically.

“Nothing, it’s not like we can interact with things outside the Hall of the Gods. But all knowledge is valuable, even if it is not used.”

"Wait a minute! Is this the Hall of the Gods?!?” I exclaimed as I opened my arms.

"Correct! It took you a while to understand!” The New God applauded, snapping his fingers immediately afterwards.

In a flash of light, the bar disappeared and I was in a dark room full of gigantic tables. Sitting on the large chairs near these tables were the New Gods in their enormous forms.

The one with the melting white face, the bird-headed one and the bandaged-headed one. Looking around, I realized that the hall stretched infinitely, there were other New Gods sitting at the tables in my field of vision.

“Sorry for our intrusion, but your presence made us curious.” The bird head spoke.

“You have high affinity with a group of gods on the same level as the Old Gods.” The bandaged head said.

“So we took a look at your memories while you slept and created the bar from some of them.” The melting face said.

“I admit the change of environment was welcome, centuries in a dark and dusty hall can be boring.” Birdhead said again.

“Listen, what’s the point of all this?!?” I exclaimed, looking for a way out.

“Hm… Curiosity.” Melting Face spoke.

"That simple?"

“I don't see what the problem is. We can’t hurt you, we can’t interact much with things outside the hall, the memories we saw were only superficial.” Bandaged head said.

“The dungeon was angry about something and it caught our attention, so we found you. An anomaly, you shouldn't exist here and the dungeon knows it, now it's trying to solve the problem.” Birdhead spoke next.

“Although there are some unanswered questions. Like why are you here? Who are the gods you serve? And how do you know about the New Gods and the Hall when you've never been in the dungeon before?” Melting Face continued.

“Hm... I'm here to entertain the gods I serve; this is nothing more than a source of entertainment for them. The gods I serve are many and little is known about them, I could spend all day mentioning their names. And the last question... I don’t want to answer; I would end up giving you all an existential crisis.”

"Fair. We’ve had enough of that here.” Birdhead sighed.

“Now that I’ve answered your questions, can I ask mine?”

"Only one." Bandaged face raised an index finger.

"Seriously? You take information from my head and ask a lot of questions, but when it's my turn I can only ask one?”

“Get to Ma’habre and open the book, then you can ask more questions.” Melting Face explained.

“Fuck it! I know you know about the girl and her fate! How do I change this?!? How can I get a better result?!?” I demanded.

The New Gods stared at each other in silence.

“A difficult question.” Melting Face spoke.

“The girl is destined to change the world, save humanity from stagnation.” Bird head completed.

“But to do so, she will go through a painful process.” Bandaged face finished.

Then a tense silence took over the hall before Molten Face spoke again.

“The girl already knows fear and hunger, this is impossible to reverse. Nevertheless, maybe you can add something else? The girl would become the God of Fear, Hunger and something else.”

I looked at the floor as I thought about this answer. How the hell do I do this? How do I apply a new concept to a future god? Unfortunately, I didn't come up with a solution, as suddenly the salon started to disappear.

"What is happening?"

“You’re waking up.” Birdhead spoke.

“We had an interesting conversation.” Bandaged head said.

“We will see you again in Ma’habre if you survive. Until then, don’t expect to see us again.” Melting Face said while waving goodbye.

Soon everything disappeared.

-XXXXXX-

“GASP!” I woke up scared. Looking around, I realized that I was sitting in the armchair inside the room near the spiral stairs.

The Iron Shakespeare still guarded the entrance. But where was girl? I felt a weight on my leg, looking down, I saw the girl sleeping, sitting with her head against my leg.

Heh! Cute. Changing my focus, I saw Shark Teeth lying on the floor next to the armchair; Kitab was still attached to my left hand. I opened the book to see if he had anything to say.

"Did you sleep well?" Kitab asked.

“I think ssso. I enterrred the Hhhall of Godsss and met the New Godsss.” I replied while stretching. I must have been exhausted to sleep in a place like this, and the booze didn't help.

“Oh! The almost ascended! How was the conversation?”

“Interesssting to sssay the leassst. They know that I'm not frrrom thisss worrrld and that the dungeon wantsss to kill me. They alssso know about the exissstence of otherrr worrrldsss and that I ssserrrve otherrr godsss.”

“It doesn't surprise me. Who knows what kind of knowledge they gained from sitting on the throne?”

“Who knowsss? I would like to know.”

“Do you intend to become a new god?”

“No, I dddon’t want to dddie and leave a copy of myssself lying arrround.”

"It's your choice. Hey, do you think I can become a New God?”

“I don’t know. Do you count asss a perrrssson?”

“Well, I have a conscience, which should be enough.”

The movements of the girl next to me interrupted our conversation, she was waking up. Slowly the girl opened her sleepy eyes before stretching and yawning.

Looking around as she rubbed her eyes, the girl noticed that I was awake; she quickly got to her feet and gave me a small smile. I returned the smile while stroking her hair.

“Did you sssleep well?” I asked the girl.

The girl nodded before tilting her head in confusion.

“Isss therrre a prrroblem?”

The girl pointed an index finger in my direction.

“Isss therrre something wrrrong with me?”

The girl nodded.

“I believe she is talking about your voice.”

"My vvvoiccce? What'sss wrrrong with it?”

“Haven’t you noticed yet? You acquired a mutation and now your voice is different.”

Hm... I didn't notice anything different with my voice, but there's no harm in trying it out. I took out my cell phone and opened the voice recorder, then said a sentence.

“The sssun isss ssshining in the sssky.” Stopping the recording, I played it back immediately.

“The sssun isss ssshining in the sssky.”

I almost dropped my cell phone after hearing that. That couldn't be my voice!

"Surprised?" Kitab asked.

Surprised?!? My voice sounded like two people talking at the same time, but the second voice had a delay, making the words stretch, but not to the point of being incomprehensible.

This time I did something different, I opened my phone's camera and switched to the front camera, and then I stuck my tongue out. What I saw was a gray tongue covered in black veins.

“An sssnake tongue?”

"Not exactly. Do you know how the Old Ones are represented in the form closest to human understanding? The same goes for your mutation.”

Hm... Cthulhu doesn't have an octopus head and dragon wings, he has a head that looks like an octopus, but not quite, he has wings that look like a dragon, but not quite. It seems the same goes for my tongue.

“So, I have the tongue of some snake-like creature, but not exactly?”

"Correct."

Well, it could be worse.

“I understand what you mean, but don't worry, I'm fine.”

The girl nodded at my statement, but I noticed that she was hiding something behind her back.

“Girrrl, what are you hiding therrre?”

Slowly the girl showed me the notebook I lent her and there I saw the drawing she made.

The drawing depicted Kitab, the girl and I in a dungeon hallway, I wore my iron mask, hood, hard leather armor and trench coat, Kitab was holding in one of my hands with his tentacles, while my cell phone was in my pocket lighting the way.

The girl was holding my free hand, with the doll sticking out of the collar of her dress and the dagger was in her other hand.

However, despite the way I'm describing it, the drawing was clearly made by a child. Crooked lines, smudges and poorly drawn geometric shapes covered the paper, although the girl took the time to color the drawing and draw smiles on our faces.

“Good job girrrl! I loved thisss!” I responded, stroking her hair again, which made the girl smile and blush with embarrassment.

I flipped through the pages of my notebook until I stopped on a specific page.

“A beautifulll thing like thisss dessserrrvesss a rewarrrd! A good girrrl ssstarrr!” I said, picking a star-shaped sticker and sticking it on the girl's dress.

The girl looked in surprise at the yellow sticker on her dress, hesitantly and with her face red, the girl held her doll and lifted it towards me.

“Oh! How could I forrrget about herrr? Ssshe alssso getsss an ssstarr!” I said in a playful tone, sticking a star sticker on the doll.

The girl held the doll in front of her face and smiled, hugging the doll tightly and swaying from side to side soon after.

I laughed at this sight, but unfortunately, we can't continue here, we need the cube.

“Girrrl, I'm ssso happy that you'rrre having ssso much fun, but we need to go.”

The girl nodded, changing her face to one of seriousness.

“But before we go, I have sssomething for you.” I said, taking the leather helmet and vest that the rats brought and helping the girl put on her equipment.

“Rrready?”

The girl nodded.

With that out of the way, we came out of our little hiding place, I held Shark Teeth in my right hand and Kitab in my left hand, the girl kept the doll inside her dress, with the toy's head sticking out of the collar and the dagger in her right hand.

Iron Shakespeare accompanied us in silence, but his heavy steps and the creaking of armor echoed through the staircase. Before going up, we stopped at the room where Enki could be found, but there was no one there, I think they already left to the mines.

Leaving that aside, we went up until we reached the prison, then we passed through the destroyed gate and turned left, entering the lever room, but there was a problem, the Elite Guard in our way.

Upon seeing us, the Guard let out a sadistic laugh as he waved his morning star wildly. To hell with it! I'm not going to fight this guy!

“RRRUN!” I shouted to everyone.

Iron Shakespeare, the girl and I ran out of the room with the elite guard chasing us, laughing maniacally as he swung his weapons, trying to hit us.

We ran towards the prison, I motioned for the girl and Iron Shakespeare to turn the right corner. Meanwhile, I stopped near the bars that prevented anyone from falling into the abyss and waited for the Elite Guard to approach.

And there he came, quickening his pace when he saw me, but as soon as he got halfway, I cast Glimpse of Truth. The Elite Guard screamed in agony as smoke covered his face.

I quickly moved out of the way, allowing the Elite Guard to pass right by me and due to his speed, he was unable to stop in time before hitting the bars.

The Elite Guard's large form collided with the metal bars, bending them with a crunch, but it wasn't enough for the monster to fall. Well, that's why I sent Iron Shakespeare ahead.

“Iron Shakespeare attack!” I shouted at the undead while pointing at the confused Elite Guard.

Without saying a single word, Iron Shakespeare rushed forward, and with a mighty blow of his hands, he sent the Elite Guard into the dark abyss below.

All we heard was the sound of the monster screaming before everything went silent.

Without the monster in our way, we headed back to the lever room, where I pulled it, activating the elevator. We went through the prison without any problems until we reached the flesh pit.

Suddenly I felt a small hand squeezing my arm tightly, I gave the girl a comforting smile, but even so, I could see that this sight horrified her.

“Don’t worrry, we’ll be out of here sssoon.” I answered.

At the end of the hall, we found the cage-shaped elevator, the girl and I entered the elevator but shared hesitant glances when we saw Iron Shakespeare accompanying us.

To our dismay, the knight didn't wait for a response and entered the elevator. The elevator swayed and the chain supporting it creaked audibly, the girl and I were squeezed against the walls, but luckily, we didn't fall.

Pulling a lever inside the elevator, we hear a series of clicks of moving mechanisms before the elevator began to descend. Slowly the light disappeared, leaving us in total darkness.

However, to our relief, the descent didn't last long, soon the elevator touched a solid surface with a jolt and the metal door opened, letting in a little bit of light.

We had to squeeze out of the elevator, and as soon as we got some distance, Iron Shakespeare got out of the elevator too, following us silently.

Looking around, we realized how dark the caves were, we could barely see a foot in front of us. Hang on!

“Iron Shakespeare, light the way!”

With the swing of both arms, Iron Shakespeare's fists burst into flames, lighting up the area around us. I turned off the flashlight on my cell phone to save the battery and stayed close to the Undead and the girl.

We both sweated with the heat, but it was tolerable. Therefore, we advanced through the cave, the only problem being some of the Cave Gnomes that got in our way.

Iron Shakespeare swung one of his arms, burning and throwing two Gnomes against the cave wall where they became red stains on the stone.

Because they were flying enemies, Iron Shakespeare was unable to stop all the Gnomes from approaching, so I had to deal with some of them.

I swung Shark Teeth at the first Gnome, slashing it in the chest, the serrated blade tearing through the monster flesh with ease, creating a jet of yellow blood.

The second Gnome dove towards me, trying to bite me, I moved out of the way, and as soon as the Gnome passed me, I slashed it in the back, achieving a similar result to the previous one.

As soon as the Gnome fell to the ground, I realized he was still alive, so I lifted my foot and stepped on its back, the creature let out a squeal of pain before stopping moving.

I heard a scream next to me, I felt my heart accelerate when I thought that the girl was bitten, and there was a chance that the Gnomes could cause an infection, but to my surprise, the scream was from the Gnome who had a dagger stuck in its eye.

With a groan of effort, the girl snatched the dagger from the Gnome's eye and stabbed the monster repeatedly before it had the chance to react.

When finished, the girl turned to me with her face and clothes covered in blood and stared at me waiting for something. Did she want a compliment?

“Good job!” I replied, giving a thumbs up.

The girl smiled at the gesture. With the enemies dead, we advanced through the cave and to our surprise; we found the bodies of the Ballista Guard and Elite Guard.

Both were motionless on the ground, lying in pools of blood, with their limbs crooked and bones tearing through the skin. I approached the Elite Guard and analyzed his weapons.

Hm... I tried to lift the sword and morning star, but I had difficulty, both weapons were forged for someone the size of the guard. I could flip a coin, but I'd rather not run the risk of acquiring an unnecessary mutation.

Therefore, I called the rats and ordered them to take the weapons to our hiding place. The rats gathered into a small group and used their combined strength to lift the weapons, and then they disappeared into the darkness in a series of squeals.

What should I do now? Recruit Moonless or fight the Cave Mother? Firstly Moonless! The more allies I have, the easier a boss fight will be.

We walked until we reached the prayer statue, passing the statue and reaching a narrow passage, we stopped in front of a rope bridge.

"Hello!"

However, before we crossed, we heard someone's voice calling us, looking to the side, we saw a man wearing a cat mask near some boxes.

“Ignore him.” I whispered to the girl and she nodded.

I ordered Iron Shakespeare to wait; I'd rather not risk his weight collapsing the bridge.

“Hey, I'm talking to you!” We heard the voice again, but we ignored it.

The girl and I crossed a second bridge, and on the other side we encountered a being similar to a wolf, but with four red eyes and a mouth full of large, jagged teeth.

Upon seeing us, Moonless let out a growl followed by a series of barks, but before a fight could begin, I opened my backpack and threw two pieces of rotting meat to the wolf.

Moonless focused on the meat, quickly devouring it. As soon as she finished, Moonless stared at us, tilting her head in confusion. The wolf approached us with cautious steps, I felt the girl holding me as she hid behind me.

Moonless stopped in front of us and sniffed us, for a moment nothing happened, until Moonless sat in front of us, and let out a series of happy barks, sticking out her tongue and wagging her tail.

I let out a relieved sigh when I saw this.

“Who’sss the good girrrl?!? Who’sss the good girrrl?!?” I asked Moonless as I put Shark Teeth aside and petted the wolf on its head.

Moonless barked in happiness, wagging her tail even faster.

“Girrrl, don’t leave me hanging herrre!” I said to the girl who was observing the whole situation.

Slowly she approached with hesitant steps and extended a hand towards Moonless. The wolf sniffed the girl's hand before letting out a bark, advancing towards the girl and licking her face.

The girl laughed as she tried to push Moonless away, when she finally managed to do so, the girl petted the friendly monster.

“Sssee? Monlesss will be ourrr new companion.”

The girl looked at me, as if asking if what I said was true, and I nodded.

“Moonlesss, the girrrl and I arrre advancing thrrrough the dungeon. Would you like to come with usss?”

“WOOF!” Moonless barked.

“I’ll take that asss a yesss.”

Returning across the bridges, I felt Kitab moving in my hand.

“Congratulations, Moonless has joined you party!” Kitab spoke.

There were a series of letters after the phrase that represented sounds, but since Kitab had no voice, I can only assume he was trying to sing.

I laughed internally at the jokes of the book; we crossed the bridges, ignored Pocketcat again and headed towards the Cave Mother's nest, but not before Moonless marked territory on the statue.

I took the soul stone and as soon as we returned, we heard the flapping of wings. Moreover, out of the darkness, there she was, a deformed harpy, the Cave Mother.

I prepared my blade and Kitab, Iron Shakespeare raised his fists in defiance, the girl drew her dagger, but I saw the nervousness on her face, while Moonless let out a series of barks and growls.

Well, time to add another soul to my collection.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

The Cave Mother squealed audibly, calling her children’s into combat. Several Cave Gnomes came out of the darkness surrounding us and flew around their mother.

Then, with a shake of her head, the Cave Mother ordered her cubs to attack, and they did. With a series of high-pitched squeaks, the small winged creatures dove towards us.

“Don’t let thossse thingsss bite you, they can caussse infeccction!” I shouted to my group.

The Girl and Moonless responded with a wave and a bark, respectively. With that out of the way, we focused on the approaching monsters.

“Iron Ssshakessspeare! Get rrrid of the sssmallerrr onesss! Girrrl! Ssstay ccclossse to me!" I ordered, forming a plan in my mind.

Without saying a single word, Iron Shakespeare charged toward the Cave Gnomes, swinging his flaming fists, burning and crushing some of the creatures.

The rest retreated with frightened squeals, and flew around the Iron Shakespeare like a cloud of bats.

Simultaneously, I put my plan into action. The Cave Mother flew above us; I just needed a way to bring her down.

Pointing Kitab at the great winged monster, I cast Glimpse of Truth. Kitab's pages flipped quickly, releasing green smoke that enveloped the cave mother's head.

The Cave Mother flailed frantically, screeching in panic. Her erratic flight caused her to crash into the cave walls, ceiling, and stone pillars with enough strength to leave yellow bloodstains on the rock.

With a final scream, the cave mother fell with an audible thud a few meters away from us.

"Moonlesss! Go get it, girrrl!" I shouted at the wolf while pointing at the injured monster on the ground.

“WOOF!”

With a bark, Moonless quickly advanced toward the injured and confused Cave Mother. The monster tried to use its wings to get up, but before it could do so, Moonless jumped up with its fangs bared and bit the Cave Mother's neck.

Blood gushed from the wound and flowed towards the ground, the Cave Mother screamed in agony as she thrashed, trying to throw Moonless away. This only happened because Moonless decided to release the Cave Mother.

Moonless landed safely on the ground a few meters away from the Cave Mother. The wolf growled defiantly at the monster in front of it.

Hm… We had a good start. Iron Shakespeare kept the Cave Gnomes busy, the creatures' teeth were unable to pierce the armor, and I doubt Iron Shakespeare would be infected since he is undead.

Shifting my attention to the Cave Mother, I saw the monster flapping its wings, trying to take off, but I didn't allow it. I cast Glimpse of Truth again, generating a similar reaction to the previous one.

“Moonlesss, attaccck the leffft wing!” I ordered again.

“WOOF!”

Moonless advanced again. Like a dark blur, the wolf closed the distance between the Cave Mother and itself, and with a powerful leap, bit the Cave Mother's left wing.

The Cave Mother screamed, but it did nothing to remove Moonless. Well... I think it's time to do my part.

“Ssstay here girrrl.” I said to the Girl next to me.

With Shark Teeth in my hand, I rushed towards the Cave Mother and quickly slashed her right wing repeatedly. Shark Teeth slid through the flesh with ease, tearing the skin and shooting jets of blood away.

With an angry roar, the Cave Mother thrashed furiously, forcing Moonless to release her, and causing me to move away to avoid being hit.

Taking a few steps back, I noticed the Cave Mother's eyes focusing on me. I quickly jumped back, dodging the series of bites the monster sent my way.

Suddenly, the Cave Mother lunged toward me, but I was quick enough to move out of the way, narrowly avoiding the creature's mangled wing.

Taking advantage of this opening, I slashed the Cave Mother's back repeatedly, tearing skin and flesh and leaving behind a series of bloody wounds.

Without wasting time, I returned to the girl's side, keeping the Cave Mother in my field of vision.

I felt Kitab moving in my hand, I opened the book and read the contents of the pages.

“I’m surprised; you took the initiative and fought the monster!”

“Honessstlyyy, the morrre thingsss betwwweeennn me and the monsssterrrsss, the bettterrr, but I realizzzed sssomething durrring the fffight in the catacombsss.”

"What?" Kitab asked.

“I cccan't depend on my magiccc, I don't want to have anotherrr moment of madnesss. To avoid thisss, I need to get bettterrr at fighting monsssterrrsss and leading our sssmall grrroup.”

"Look at you! You are learning! I'm so proud of you!” Kitab exclaimed.

I didn't respond to the book, as the Cave Mother attacked the Girl and me violently. We quickly moved out of the way, causing the creature to head into the rock wall behind us.

I felt Kitab moving again, and for a moment I changed my focus to the book.

“Hey, the girl wants to help.”

Looking at the Girl in question, I saw that she was holding her dagger in both hands as she stared at the Cave Mother nervously.

Hm… She wants to help in the fight, but she is still afraid of the monsters.

“Yyyou want to help, don’t yyyou?” I asked the Girl.

She jumped in surprise upon heard my voice but nodded quickly to my question.

Focusing on the Cave Mother, I saw the creature remove its head from the wall, this gives us time.

“We’ll do thisss togetherrr, I’ll go ahead and yyyou’ll come rrright behind me. An advice; aim forrr the legsss.”

The girl nodded with a nervous smile, so we advanced toward the Cave Mother.

Come on! Just one more time! I cast Glimpse of Truth and what I expected happened.

With a determined face, the girl slashed at the Cave Mother's right leg, the cuts weren’t deep, but the Girl's dagger was sharp, leaving a series of cuts behind.

The Cave Mother's legs shook. The monster had difficulty staying upright and fell on one knee. This allowed me to swing Shark Teeth towards the Cave Mother’s neck.

The monster let out a choked scream as blood gushed from its throat. Wasting no time, I applied more strength behind my strike, ripping out the Cave Mother's throat.

The monster staggered, trying to stay upright, leaving bloody trails wherever it went, but it was too late. A few seconds later, the Cave Mother fell to the ground, creating a pool of blood.

I let out a relieved sigh but jumped slightly when I felt someone tugging at the tail of my shirt, looking down I saw the girl smiling at me as she jumped slightly.

It would be a lovely sight if she wasn't covered in yellow blood, come to think of it, I can't judge, after all, I am too.

"Yyyou did a good jjjob!" I said, stroking the Girl's head.

She smiled upon receiving the compliment.

“WOOF!” Moonless barked; approaching us.

The wolf sat in front of us, waving its tail.

“Yyyou did a good jjjob too, Moonlesss!” I said, stroking the wolf's head.

“WOOF!”

Looking to the side, I saw the girl crossing her arms, looking away.

“Oh! Arrre yyyou jealousss? Don’t think I forrrgot about yyyou!” I said, petting the girl again.

So I alternated between Moonless and her.

I stopped as I heard heavy metallic footsteps approaching. It was Iron Shakespeare, his armor covered in scratches but intact.

“Yyyou don’t wannnt a head pat tooo, doo yyyou?” I asked the knight, but there was no answer.

Laughing at my question, I took the soul stone out of my pocket and pointed it at the Cave Mother; a small light came out of the monster's body and entered the stone, causing it to glow.

Cave Mother's soul increases attack. But what should I do with it? Give it to the Girl? No, I don't want her to fight every monster she sees and the Girl isn't very strong, I doubt the increase will be significant. Moonless? No, I don't have anything to attach the stone to her body.

Maybe I can use it on myself? Nothing is saying I can't use the power of two souls. Or maybe… I looked at Iron Shakespeare.

Approaching the Undead knight, I stood on tiptoe and opened the front of his helmet, I flinched when I saw the empty eyes staring at me, but ignoring that, I placed the soul stone on Iron Shakespeare's helmet and quickly closed it.

Taking a few steps back, a flash of blue light surrounded Iron Shakespeare's body before quickly disappearing.

I think the soul stone took effect. If I’m going to give a soul stone to the girl, I think the best ones would be from the Black Witch, White Angel, or Salmonsnake.

With that solved, we returned the way we came, but I couldn't help but ask Kitab a question.

“Heyyy, Kitab, whyyy haven't I gottten anyyy new ssspellsss? The cccave motherrr wasss a bosss.”

“Yes, but the fight was too easy, the Old Ones determined it wasn’t impressive enough to merit a reward.”

"Damn it!"

“I share your frustration; I would love to acquire new knowledge for my pages.”

Unfortunately, our little conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a man wearing a cat mask on our path.

"Hello! A great show you did back there! I felt my whiskers standing up with excitement! A round of applause for you!” Pocketcat spoke excitedly, clapping his hands.

I frowned at that statement, so he was watching us. Damn it! One of the people I didn't want to meet.

"Let'sss go!" I said to my group, ignoring Pocketcat's words.

But before we could turn the corner toward the mines' entrance, Pocketcat took a long step to the side, placing himself in front of me.

At that moment I realized how tall he was, according to the fairy tale books, Pocketcat was extremely tall, I just didn't expect it to be that much, since as soon as he stopped in front of me, I found myself staring at his chest.

“Now, that was rude. I don’t remember doing anything to offend you.” Pocketcat said with mock sadness, tilting his head to the side and looking down at me with his bright yellow eyes.

I slowly looked up, looking Pocketcat in the eyes. Hm… He must have been almost three meters tall.

“I would like to apologizzze, it wasss not my intention, now if yyyou will exxxcussse usss…” I said, trying to get past Pocketcat, but he leaned against the cave wall, getting in my way again.

“Hm… Are you leaving so soon? A shame... I has been some time since a saw new faces here, I'd love to chat a little.” Pocketcat spoke, scanning us one by one.

“Unforrrtunatelyyy we can’t do that, we’rrre in a hurrryyy yyyou know.” I shrugged.

Pocketcat gave me a dubious look before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a gold watch, he looked at the time for a few seconds before putting the watch away.

“I believe we have time to talk a little.” Pocketcat said amusedly.

“About what exxxactlyyy?” I asked, taking a step back and placing myself in front of the girl, I felt her holding me tightly.

"I don't know. We could talk about how wonderful today is, or about life's challenges. Tell me, are you depressed? Do you want to die?” Pocketcat asked, cleaning his nails on his shirt.

“Honestlyyy, it'sss difficult to tell dayyy frrrom night down herrre, ssso I can't anssswerrr that quessstion. Life hasss been ssshit asss usssual, but it'sss gotten worrrssse sssinccce I enterrred the dungeon. I'm not deprrresssed, afterrr all, I have people to keep me company, about wanting to die... Well... I prrreferrr to ssstay alive, thank you, but I believe I ssshould asssk you that lassst quessstion.”

“Oh! What do you mean by that? Come on, tell me! I'm curious!" Pocketcat asked with barely concealed aggression as he took a step forward.

“GGGRRR!” Moonless growled, baring his fangs at Pocketcat.

Pocketcat stopped his advance and looked around. Iron Shakespeare raised his fists defiantly and I raised Shark Teeth, in the meantime; I felt the girl sobbing behind me.

"I am sorry! I don’t tell you what went through my head!" Pocketcat said, bowing politely.

"No prrroblem. Now would you be ssso kind asss to ssstep out of the way?" I asked irritated.

"Of course! Of course! I believe I took enough of your time, but could you answer one last question?” Pocketcat asked, raising a finger in front of my face.

"Asssk." I sighed audibly.

"Are you a child of light or darkness?"

“I am a ccchild of the void.”

Pocketcat tilted his head in confusion, before pulling away and tapping his index finger against his chin as he looked up.

“This answer is new, and unfortunately, I don't have an answer for it. It’s the first time I’ve heard something so peculiar.” Pocketcat shrugged.

"What can I sssay? Life isss peccculiarrr when you are peccculiarrr.” I smiled.

Pocketcat and I stared at each other in silence for a few tense seconds before we laughed audibly.

"HAHAHA! I like you, I can feel a connection forming!” Pocketcat spoke, holding out his hand.

"HAHAHA! That’sss good, I love making new frrriendsss!” I responded, accepting the handshake.

Pocketcat and I faced each other, shaking our hands slowly, I tried to use my increased strength to crush Pocketcat's hand, but he showed no reaction.

I held back a scream of pain when Pocketcat returned the gesture with more strength, almost breaking my bones.

“Wow! What a strong grip you have!” Pocketcat said in false surprise, rubbing his wrist.

"I can sssay the sssame!" I replied, shaking my sore hand.

“Well, I believe it’s time for us to say goodbye, it was a pleasure meeting you, my friend.” Pocketcat spoke, bowing exaggeratedly and stepping to the side, clearing the way.

I kept the girl close to me, putting myself between Pocketcat and her, but as we walked, I noticed Pocketcat's eyes focused on her, making the girl flinch.

"Tell me. Why don't you give me the girl? I have deep pockets, you know. Maybe you’ll find something that interests you?” Pocketcat asked.

Once we all passed Pocketcat, I turned and answered his question.

“Tell Rrrherrr if he wantsss the girrrl, he’ll have to come in perssson.” I responded seriously.

For the first time in our conversation, I saw Pocketcat lose his mocking stance and stand still like a statue. For a moment I saw his eyes widen behind the mask before returning to normal.

"Who are you?!? Who the hell are you?!?” Pocketcat demanded, approaching with hurried, heavy steps, his arms and legs stretching and claws tearing his gloves and boots.

We all prepared to fight, but as soon as Pocketcat raised one of his claws, he stopped mid-strike and turned back, looking at the cave ceiling.

Quickly Pocketcat returned to normal, letting out a heavy sigh, Pocketcat dusted off his clothes and adjusted his shirt.

"Look at me. Losing control over a little nonsense like that. Where are my manners? I would like to apologize again, my friend.”

“Of courrrssse…” I replied hesitantly.

“Oh! I almost forgot I believe that despite our little conversation, we never introduced ourselves properly. My name is Pocketcat, a humble traveling merchant.”

“And my name isss…”

I stopped for a moment to think. Despite the time I spent in the dungeon, I never told anyone my name, and I want it to stay that way, I prefer not to give out my personal information in a place like this.

However, what name should I give? A smile formed on my face as I remembered a certain crazy scholar.

“You can call me Micccolasssh.”

“Hm… A peculiar name for a peculiar person; I hope to meet you again, Mr. Micolash.”

“Likewissse, Mr. Pocccketcccat.” I replied politely.

With our conversation over, we walked away from Pocketcat.

“One more thing before I forget.” Pocketcat spoke.

"What?" I asked, holding back an angry scream.

I turned around in time to catch something that Pocketcat threw towards me, opening my hand, I saw it was something wrapped in a candy wrapper, catnip.

“A gift from your new friend. And if I may say so, you have a peculiar accent.” Pocketcat spoke, winking one eye.

I nodded, putting the catnip in my pocket and finally entering the mines.

As soon as we took a few steps into the tunnel, I let out a cry of frustration as I punched the wall.

"Holy crrrap! I thought I wasss going to die! Talking to that guy wasss unnerrrving!” I screamed, punching the wall repeatedly, surprisingly, I didn't hurt my hands that much.

“GGGRRR!” Moonless growled towards the tunnel entrance.

I had to resist the urge to tell it tear Pocketcat apart.

Iron Shakespeare remained silent.

But what worried me most was the girl, I looked at the child who remained next to me, staring at the ground in silence.

"Arrre you ok?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

The girl jumped scared as soon as I touched her, but after seeing it was me, the girl started crying.

I quickly hugged the girl, trying to calm her down, so we spent a few minutes like that, the only noises in the mines being the girl crying.

In the end, I don't know how much time passed, but finally, the girl calmed down.

“Lisssten, I underrrssstand why you’re ssscarrred. I wasss too. That guy wasss a weirrrdo, and dangerrrousss too, we need to be carrreful with him, but don’t worrry, I won’t let him get ccclossse to you.”

The girl stared at me with red eyes as she sniffed her nose and nodded slowly.

“You arrre a brrrave girrrl, I am happy to have sssomeone like you by my ssside.” I said, stroking the girl's head.

The girl closed her eyes and held my hand on her head with both hands.

Before I could say anything else, we were surprised by an earthquake.

The entire mine shook as rocks fell from the ceiling and walls, looking back, I saw a stone wall rising at the entrance to the mines, preventing us from returning.

And then the earthquake got worse, the entire tunnel shook, I quickly hugged the girl, keeping her close to me as she tried to stand up, but suddenly, the earthquake stopped.

We remained still for a few seconds, waiting for another surprise, but nothing happened, with the girl in my arms, we advanced deeper into the mines.

And what we saw left me frustrated.

The mine was no longer a relatively linear path, what I saw were tunnels stretching in all directions. There were three tunnels to my right, five to my left, and seven in front of me.

Peeking into a tunnel, I saw a fork inside them.

Perfect! This place became a maze!

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

"Hey, weirdo, this one's on you!" Cahara shouted to Enki as he jumped back, dodging the grip of one of the miners' ghosts.

"My name is Enki, you irritating fool! And if you wish to continue receiving my assistance, then you better refers to me as such!" Enki exclaimed angrily, casting Pyromancy Trick and hitting one of the ghosts with a fireball.

The ghost screamed in torment, its face distorting to inhuman levels before disappearing in a blue flash.

"I will do it when we are not surrounded by the spirits of the dead!" Cahara exclaimed back, standing behind Enki and his reanimated skeletons as the mercenary could not do much in this fight.

"This is not the time to argue." Ragnvaldr spoke seriously, slashing a ghost's chest with his ax before decapitating the spirit shortly afterward, making it disappear similar to the previous one.

"Strange, your weapon is effective against hauntings; could you tell me how this is possible?" D'arce asked curiously, taking a fighting stance and blocking the scratches delivered by one of the ghosts.

"It's a long story that involves a strange stone, a dead monster and a stone table." Ragnvaldr responded before pulling on the rope restraining Le'gard, causing him to stumble and move out of the way of one of the ghosts.

D'arce held back a scream and widened her eyes in worry, but focused on the enemies in front of her. Her attacks did not affect the haunts, so she could only block and avoid their hold.

"This is annoying, all of you, move away!" Enki exclaimed, extending his free hand towards the ghosts and conjuring two Dark Orbs.

D'arce, Cahara, and Ragnvaldr, who dragged Le'garde along, got out of the way, either leaning against the walls of the mines or throwing themselves on the ground.

The quartet did so in time to dodge the purple spheres that cut through the air at great speed, hitting the heads of a pair of ghosts before moving on.

Enki moved his arm with a concentrated face, muttering magical words as sweat ran down his forehead as the Dark Priest changed the trajectory of his spell with movements of his hand.

The orbs hit ghost after ghost, tearing off arms, legs, and heads, filling the hallway with screams from beyond as the hauntings disappeared, lighting the tunnels with bright flashes.

Then the mines fell silent, the only noise being the heavy breathing of those involved in the fighting.

"You, give me my pipe, and don't forget the tobacco!" Enki ordered one of her skeletons.

The skeleton in question reached its fleshless hand into a leather pouch slung over its shoulder and withdrew a wooden pipe and some dark leaves.

Enki took the items in question without saying a word, placed the leaves in the pipe, and lit them by conjuring a small flame with his index finger. An unpleasant smell filled the mine tunnel as the Priest sighed in relief.

"So, does anyone care to explain how these two manage to get rid of the ghosts, but we don't?" Cahara asked irritably, pointing at Enki and Ragnvaldr as he pulled D'arce close by her shoulder.

"Hump, I'm not surprised that ignorant fools like you don't understand this kind of thing. We face ghosts, spirits of the dead unable to move on due to the trauma of a violent death, they became bound to the earthly plane thanks to their suffering and desire for revenge, or the machinations of a capable necromancer. They are immune to physical damage, so you need to attack them supernaturally, whether through magic or enchanted or cursed weapons."

Enki replied as he smoked his pipe, glancing at Ragnvaldr's axe. The outsider returned the gaze, tightening his grip on his weapon.

"Oh, I loved the history class! Nevertheless, going to the point, do you know how to enchant or curse weapons? As the pretty knight and I are at a disadvantage!" Cahara exclaimed, gesturing between D'arce and himself.

The female knight in question just stared at the mercenary with a nervous smile on her face, uncomfortable with the situation, then she politely grabbed Cahara's hand and removed it from her shoulder with a crushing grip, making the mercenary wince in pain.

"Despite his careless attitude, Sir Cahara is right. Could you enchant our weapons?" D'arce asked with a hopeful smile.

"Unfortunately, no, this is not the kind of work I can do with the snap of a finger. I would need several active soul stones and a hexing table." Enki responded without much interest, making D'arce lower her head in disappointment.

"I understand, still, thank you for satisfying our curiosity. Even so, your skills and knowledge are admirable despite you being a Dark Priest."

"What do you mean by that?" Enki asked irritably, raising an eyebrow.

"I just don't like the idea of someone worshiping false gods and..."

"Listen, how about we move on? We have to find this cube, don't we?" Cahara spoke nervously, stopping the conversation before it got out of hand.

The Priest and Knight looked at each other one last time through half-closed eyes before nodding at the Mercenary's words and moving on through the mines.

"So, do you have any ideas where we should go?" Cahara asked, scanning his surroundings, waiting for something to jump out of the shadows.

"According to the tomes I found, the Cube of the Depths is a relic related to the God of the Depths and there are traces that some of his worshipers are hiding here somewhere. The cube must have been lost during the chaos in the dungeon and recovered by the worshipers."

Enki responded, ordering one of his skeletons to light on a torch and light the way.

"Heretics worshiping pagan gods, it is a shame that there are still people who have not been touched by the light of Alll-mer." D'arce spoke with sadness in her voice, generating a laugh from Enki.

"Naive girl, do you think Alll-mer is the only God?" Enki asked with a mocking smile.

"And why wouldn't he be? The worship of Alll-mer is the greatest religion in the world; there are records of his existence, history, and miracles, while the false gods are forgotten by time." D'arce exclaimed, through clenched teeth.

"The world is a big and old place, the domain of powerful beings, born of concepts, and who cemented their names and powers in human history millennia before the birth of Alll-mer. It would be foolish to think that they disappeared completely, after all, their traces still roam around and their followers are many. And besides that, I don't know why you feel so uncomfortable with other gods; you didn't seem to have any problems with the boy who accompanied you previously."

"What do you mean by that?" D'arce asked confused.

"Didn't you notice? The boy has captured the attention of powerful beings and is being watched from afar. I wonder if he is willing to exchange knowledge with me, that is, if he is still alive." Enki spoke with amusement, passing by D'arce who stopped in deep thought.

The knight lowered her sword and shield and stared at the ground, a mixture of seriousness and guilt passed across her face as she recalled the way she had treated her previous companions.

Now she left them to wander alone while she pursues the man who captured her feelings and committed several atrocities.

However, she got what she wanted, no? Even though she threatened her partner and his daughter, they took her to where her loved one was.

Furthermore, the sorcerer knew how to use magic; he was more than capable of protecting his daughter and himself.

Nevertheless, what if he wasn't? What if he has died? Now the girl would wander the dungeon alone, crying over the loss of her father until some monster finally killed her.

What if the girl has died? Now, her father would have to deal with all the pain of losing the daughter he rescued.

They did not seem like bad people despite everything that happened, maybe they are just confused and do not know which God to believe in. You could help them with this, making them see the light of Alll-mer.

By Alll-mer, you did not even bother to learn their names!

However, Le'garde, you will help him realize his dream, won't you? He has a noble goal, to create a united world, free from suffering. Nevertheless, the man you love changed; you know what he did to try to make that dream come true.

Perhaps someone manipulated him or he suffered an error in judgment. After all, the Rondo nobility betrayed him; they were just waiting for the right opportunity to imprison him. Perhaps this is all just a plan by the traitorous nobility.

Alternatively, maybe he has become a monster and you refuse to see the truth...

"Hey, are you okay?" Cahara asked worriedly, frowning as he placed a comforting hand on the knight's shoulder.

"Y-yes, n-no! I can't say!" D'arce stuttered, snapping out of her thoughts.

"You're feeling guilty about leaving the boy and his daughter behind, am I right?" Cahara asked, smiling gently.

"Y-yes." D'arce replied, looking away in embarrassment.

"Hey, don't worry. The boy knows how to use magic, you saw what he did in the fight against the giant knight, and they must be far away from here, having a good night's sleep at their house. However, if it makes you feel better, we can check the dungeon entrance path. If we did not find anything, then that means they are backing home, and if we find something… Well… Maybe we can give them a proper burial."

"Thank you." D'arce replied, giving the mercenary a shaky smile.

"You're welcome! Nevertheless, you cannot just focus on the negative; otherwise, you will go crazy! How about we focus on something to take your mind off this for now?" Cahara replied, returning the smile with more energy.

"Like what exactly?"

"How about that over there?" Cahara asked, pointing to something further ahead of the group.

There was something blue and shiny stuck to the wall of one of the mine chambers. Cahara's words captured the attention of Enki, Ragnvaldr, and Le'garde, so the group slowly approached the object in question with their weapons ready for combat.

It was a long sword, adorned with glowing runes and with its blade enveloped in blue flames that did not generate heat.

"I saw it first, so it's mine!" Cahara exclaimed, pushing past the group and preparing to remove the sword from the wall.

"Wait, don't you think that this is too convenient? What if it's a trap?" Ragnvaldr spoke seriously, placing a hand on Cahara's shoulder and stopping him from moving forward.

"Of course I do! However, look at this thing; it is the first item of value I have found since I entered this hellhole! I wonder how much I can sell it for!" Cahara exclaimed, breaking out of Ragnvaldr's grip.

"I don't think that's a good idea." D'arce muttered hesitantly, eyeing the sword suspiciously.

"The sword is supernatural and will be useful in our quest. I am willing to sacrifice one of my skeletons to remove it." Enki spoke soon after.

"Hm… Two in favor and two against it…" Cahara said, placing a hand on his chin in thought.

"I could remove the sword for you!" Le'garde finally spoke, after having been silent all this time.

"SHUT UP!" Ragnvaldr exclaimed, swinging the rope and lashing Le'garde with it, much to D'arce's dismay.

"HAHAHA, NO! I may not be the most informed person, but I know you made a huge mistake to end up here! I will not put a sword in your hands! You can tell the skeleton to take the sword away!" Cahara spoke to Enki right after.

With a nod and a command, Enki ordered one of his skeletons to remove the sword from the rocky wall. Suddenly, the entire mine shook before the skeleton touched the sword.

"I didn't touch anything!" Cahara shouted in surprise, jumping away from the sword.

The entire mine shook as rocks fell from the ceiling and wall, eventually removing the shining sword from its prison.

"It's mine!" Cahara exclaimed, taking the sword for himself immediately afterward.

"Keep that piece of trash if you want, because I have bigger problems at the moment!" Enki shouted.

Soon everyone realized what the Priest implied, as the passage where the group walked previously collapsed in a rapidly approaching rocky rain.

The group let out a cacophony of surprised screams amid the deafening roar of the collapsing tunnels, but they soon snapped out of their shock and ran in the opposite direction, dodging the rocks that fell in their path.

The floor and walls cracked, lifting and sinking parts of the ground, leaving the group to focus on their balance while piles of rubble flowed out of the walls, forcing them to dodge at the last second.

A particularly large boulder fell towards D'arce, but Le'garde, who managed to keep up with the group with difficulty, moved faster, charging at D'arce and saving her from being crushed.

Unfortunately, the boulder fell on the rope that held Le'garde, breaking it and causing the Knight and the Mercenary Captain to roll into a tunnel, disappearing into the darkness.

"Damn you!" Ragnvaldr raged with his eyes red in fury, but Cahara stopped him from pursuing the fugitive as the tunnel still collapsed around him.

Then Enki, Cahara, and Ragnvaldr continued their escape, jumping to a corner just ahead in time to avoid their deaths.

A huge cloud of dust filled the mine tunnels, blinding everyone present as the sounds of the collapse slowly faded, becoming muffled until they became inaudible, and then everything went silent.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH! Are you still alive?" Cahara asked, coughing as he stood up and brushed the dust off his face.

"I'm still alive…" Ragnvaldr said exhaustedly, raising a hand, as he remained face down on the ground.

"I deeply regret having you all as companions on this quest, I was better off alone." Enki muttered beneath a group of skeletons who used their bodies to protect their master.

"Hump! At least you are alive and… Guys, you need to see this!" Cahara spoke, standing up quickly.

Enki and Ragnvaldr turned towards the Mercenary and were unable to hold back their insults as they saw a series of tunnels stretching in different directions in front of them.

-XXXXXX-

"What… What happened?" D'arce asked confused, standing up as she held her aching head.

The knight looked around, but she could not see anything as darkness surrounded her. Then, she felt around her body for her bag and removed a torch, lighting it immediately.

"Hello, Ragnvaldr, Enki, Cahara! Can you hear me? Where are you?" D'arce shouted into the darkness but only received silence in response.

"D'arce!" A voice shouted from behind the Knight.

D'arce turned quickly, screaming in surprise and drawing her sword with some difficulty, but did not attack when she noticed that it was Le'garde who called her.

"D'arce, it's me, Le'garde! Are you hurt?" Le'garde asked, approaching the knight.

"N-no!" D'arce stammered, stepping back.

"I'm happy about that! Now, could you release me, please?" Le'garde asked with a gentle smile, showing his bound hands to the Knight.

However, D'arce did not move, she just stared at the Mercenary Captain while keeping her sword pointed towards him.

"D'arce, what's the matter? Release me, please." Le'garde spoke again, maintaining the same expression.

"What's the point of all this? The people you killed; the failed revolt against the nobles of Rondo, your imprisonment, all the people who entered this cursed place in search of you, and now the monsters that roam around us. What is the point? What is your goal? What do you want in the end?" D'arce asked question after question, completely ignoring Le'garde's requests.

Le'garde went silent for a few seconds, his gaze shifting toward the darkness around him, then Le'garde's expression softened and he approached D'arce with the same smile as before.

"I believe you know what I want, my dream coming true. I wish for a unified world, without hunger, pain, injustice, or suffering, and that dream can become reality thanks to what the depths of the dungeon are hiding. Imagine all the corruption of not just Rondo but the world disappearing, but I need your help for this, the help of a strong and loyal woman who I trust with my entire being. You promised you would help me make my dream come true, right. So please put down that sword."

D'arce's hand trembled hesitantly, causing her sword to swing in the air. Doubt ran across the knight's flushed face, as she looked away, flattered by the words of the man she loved.

D'arce looked again at her loved one and saw that he looked at her with a gentle smile and an expectant look in his shinning eyes. Then, with a swift movement of her arm, D'arce freed Le'garde.

"There, I'm happy to have you by my side, Le'garde!" D'arce said, returning the smile.

"Likewise, D'arce." Le'garde replied, rubbing his sore wrists, his smile disappearing imperceptibly as he stared at the smiling Knight in front of him.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

"Dammit!" I screamed in surprise as the Dark Orb hit the tunnel wall, close to my cover and ripping off part of the stone with a bang.

Looking to the side, I saw the Girl, Moonless, and Iron Shakespeare waiting for my orders.

"This guy is giving us a hard time." Kitab spoke.

"Only becaussse I want the Eclipssse Talisssman." I replied, peeking out of my cover and observing the Yellow Mage at the end of the tunnel.

Hm... The Mage will disappear, leaving only his clothes and some items behind if, I kill him, so I cannot use everything I have, but I can steal the talisman or get it by asking the right questions.

However, the Mage will not stand still while I speak, I will need to survive his blood magic to prove that I am worthy of possessing the talisman. Well, I think I had better get started.

"What isss your origin?!?" I shouted to the Mage from my cover.

"That doesn't matter; I'm just a pawn in the grand scheme of things!" The Yellow Mage shouted back, swinging his staff and conjuring another Dark Orb towards me.

I backed away again and let out an insult as the spell tore off another chunk of the wall.

"He doesn't seem in the mood to talk."

"Not now, Kitab!"

BBBZZZ!

A buzzing sound echoed through the tunnel. Looking at the Mage, I saw him casting Locust Swarm towards us with his left hand. The dark cloud of insects quickly approached, looking like a living shadow with hundreds of eyes shining within it.

"Iron Shakespeare, go ahead and burrrn those bugsss! Moonless go around and attack the Mage's legsss, but do not kill him! Girl, stay clossse to me with your dagger ready!"

Iron Shakespeare charged forward without wasting any time, turning the corner and leaping into the tunnel with his fists blazing.

The undead knight opened his arms and closed them in front of the cloud of insects, slamming his fists together and creating a flaming explosion, reducing the locusts to ashes.

Moonless was the second to act, bypassing Iron Shakespeare and leaping through the smoke cloud left by the previous attack, and charging towards the Mage with her fangs bared.

"Which God do you serrrve?!?" I asked my second question.

"I channel destruction, isn't that obvious?!?" The Mage responded, casting Pyromancy Trick and shooting a small fireball towards Moonless.

The wolf leaped to the side, yelping in pain as the flames singed her fur, but she did not appear seriously injured.

Then she returned to her attack, trying to advance towards the Mage, but being prevented from closing the distance due to the spells cast successively by her opponent.

"Gro-gorrroth?" I asked, knowing the correct answer.

"Correct! You are not completely misguided!" The Mage responded excitedly, beginning his dance.

I knew what he intended to do, cast Hurting. Moonless and Iron Shakespeare were close enough to have their limbs ripped off by the spell, but I did not allow it.

I concentrated and called out to the rats that ran across the dungeon, a few tense seconds passed as Iron Shakespeare and Moonless advanced towards the dancing Mage.

I saw the rats' point of view in my mind; they ran through the walls and tunnels, quickly approaching our location. Simultaneously, a magical circle appeared at the Mage's feet, representing Gro-Goroth's sigil.

The ghostly rats arrived at the last second, breaking through the wall next to the Mage and biting his left leg, shortly interrupting his dance.

The Mage screamed in pain as blood stained his yellow robes, but he endured the pain and danced, casting his spell. Fortunately, this small opening was enough for Moonless and Iron Shakespeare to close the distance.

Moonless bit the Mage's right leg, creating a gush of blood and causing him to scream in agony, as the sound of tearing flesh and the wolf's growls echoed through the tunnel.

The Mage stopped his dance, his legs too injured to perform such demanding movements. However, the Mage acted quickly, as Iron Shakespeare approached with heavy steps.

I took this moment to signal the Girl to follow me. We approached carefully, keeping a safe distance in this tight tunnel.

The Mage pointed his hand against the ground and cast Locust Swarm again, surrounding himself in a cloud of insects. I saw Moonless jumping out of the cloud as she shook herself, pushing away the insects.

Nevertheless, Iron Shakespeare did not care and advanced since the bugs could not get past his armor. The knight raised one of his flaming fists and struck it at the Mage's approximate location, creating a flaming explosion again.

I mentally screamed when I thought the Mage had died, but I sighed in relief when I noticed the lack of a body when the smoke cleared. The Mage had retreated deeper into the tunnel, raising his staff and slamming the butt of the object against the ground.

"Why ssserve Gro-Goroth?" I asked, continuing with my plan.

"Traits of Gro-Goroth are the strongest among the old gods. No other ancient being is so prominent in this era. Like all Mages, apprentices, and priests, I seek personal growth and greater powers. Gro-Goroth has the most to offer! And you can't please all the gods, can you?" The Mage replied.

Hum! I have been doing this since I entered this dungeon!

The tunnel walls opened, and four skeletons carrying mining equipment charged towards us. Iron Shakespeare punched the first skeleton into dust, but the second skeleton took advantage of this opening to pierce Iron Shakespeare's chest with his pickaxe.

The undead knight didn't care, as he was incapable of feeling pain, and smashed the second skeleton against the ground with the swing of his fist, and charged towards the Mage soon after, forcing him to cast spell after spell to keep him away.

Moonless busied herself with the third skeleton, leaving the fourth to me while the Mage prepared his spells, but he would run out of mind eventually.

"Girrrl, are you ready?" I asked the child next to me while holding Shark Teeth. The Girl nodded with determination and held her dagger with both hands, pointing it at the skeleton.

"Rememberrr what I taught you, aim for the legsss." I spoke before entering into combat with the skeleton.

The skeleton raised his pickaxe and lowered it immediately, aiming for my head, but I stepped to the side, dodging the blow that left a small hole in the ground, and cut the skeleton's left arm.

The Shark Teeth ripped out slivers of bone but did not destroy the arm, as it was forged to cut through soft flesh, not tough objects.

The Girl, on the other hand, had more luck in her attack, piercing the skeleton's knee directly at the joint, causing him to stagger back. I took advantage of this opening to attack the skeleton again, delivering a second blow and cutting off his left arm.

However, I jumped back right away, dodging a swing aimed at my right side.

The Girl removed her dagger from the skeleton's knee and ran to my side, watching as the skeleton walked with difficulty due to the weight of his weapon and injured leg.

Suddenly, the skeleton threw the pickaxe towards us, the Girl and I jumped in opposite directions, dodging the flying tool and allowing the pickaxe to pass between us, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel right behind.

I charged towards the skeleton without wasting time, he tried to scratch me with his bony fingers, but my trench coat and armor were more than enough to block the weak attack.

I then struck the skeleton's neck, hitting his spine with an audible crack, but it was not enough to decapitate the undead, however, his skull almost fell off.

I stepped back, preparing for my next action, but a stone passed by my side and struck the skeleton's forehead, creating a hollow noise and finally separating the skull from the spine, making the bones to fall harmlessly to the ground.

Looking back, I saw the Girl with her arm outstretched and some rocks near her feet.

Hm... I had forgotten about that, the Girl may be weak in hand-to-hand combat in the game, but she is good at providing support with the use of items, especially throwing rocks.

I doubt rocks have the same high percentage of stunning the hit body part of an enemy, unless they are hit in the head, but it could be useful for distraction.

The Girl rushed to my side, carrying a handful of rocks in her arm, and stared at me with an expectant look as she jumped eagerly in her place.

"You did a gooood job!" I smiled at the Girl, patting her head. The Girl closed her eyes as she smiled in appreciation, but a bark interrupted our little moment.

"WOOF! WOOF!"

Looking towards the source of the noise, I saw Moonless sitting in front of me, sticking out her tongue and wagging her tail as she left the arms and legs of a skeleton in front of me.

"You did a goood job too, Moonlesss." I responded, stroking the wolf.

However, I soon changed my focus as the one enemy who still fought. The Yellow Mage alternated between Pyromancy Trick and Locust Swarm, keeping Iron Shakespeare away, but the fire was not that effective against the knight, and the locusts did not pass through the armor.

"Can you teaccch me about Gro-Goroth?!?" I asked the Mage, also ordering Iron Shakespeare to retreat before he suffered serious damage.

"I'm not at the level to impart knowledge on such a subject. Seek my master Nas'hrah of the East if you wish to learn more." The Yellow Mage spoke as he breathed heavily, his robes burned and bloody as sweat ran down his face.

Then he removed a yellow, decorated object from his robes, a talisman with the image of an eclipse.

"Here, if you survive my blood magic, show this talisman to my master and show great humility! He might listen to you!" The Mage exclaimed, putting away the talisman and preparing another spell.

The Mage raised his staff, closing his eyes and muttering magical words. Suddenly, an unearthly wind blew through the tunnel, ruffling the Mage's robes and blowing small objects away.

I had a bad feeling when I saw the sudden change in the environment. Moonless growled as the Girl grabbed my leg, hiding behind me, scared of what would come.

I ordered Iron Shakespeare to stand in front of us, serving as a shield, and commanded the rats, ordering them to attack the Mage's arms. I had to concentrate so that they did not devour the mage's arms; I did not want him to die before giving me the talisman.

The rats disabled the Mage's left arm first, reducing it to a bloody mess. Nevertheless, the Mage stood his ground, ignoring the rats' biting his right arm and finally casting his spell.

The Mage slammed his staff against the ground, letting out a cry of effort before sending a barrage of Dark Orbs our way. Iron Shakespeare placed his arms in front of his body, protecting himself from the attack. Moonless jumped behind the Iron Shakespeare, using him as a shield too.

I turned my back against the spells as I hugged the Girl, watching as she closed her eyes and trembled in my arms. Metallic booms echoed through the tunnel as the orbs hit Iron Shakespeare, each impact leaving a smoke cloud, slowly obscuring our vision.

Then the noises stopped as quickly as they came and the tunnel went silent. I waited a few seconds, prepared for whatever might happen, but nothing came.

The smoke cleared, and I realized that Iron Shakespeare was still standing and that Moonless and the Girl were okay. The Girl opened her eyes and looked around, confused, but sighed in relief when she saw me.

"Arrre you ok?" I asked the Girl and she nodded.

I released the Girl, smiling at the answer, and focused on the Mage who kneeled on the ground. I raised my Shark Teeth and approached with careful steps, Moonless growling beside me. I ordered her to stop before she jumped towards the Mage's neck.

The Mage breathed heavily, his head bowed as his staff rolled away from his injured hands. I saw the tip of the talisman sticking out of the Mage's robes; I quickly grabbed it before the Mage reacted.

"I'll keeep it ifff you don't mind." I said to the Mage, putting the talisman in my pocket.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" The Mage asked dismissively, without looking at me.

"I'm not going to kill you; I already got what I wanted."

"I failed Master Nas’hrah; I am not worthy to consider myself his student. Death is the only thing that remains for me."

"Well, the dungeon is full of dangers; feel free to wander around if you want to die that bad, as I don't intend to kill you. You can go and no one here will stop you."

The Mage raised his head and stared at me in silence for a few seconds, then mumbled something and the person beneath the robes disappeared, leaving the clothes scattered on the floor.

My eyes widened in surprise at this result, but I wasted no time in looting what he left behind and found a soul stone. I mentally celebrated and kept the stone in my pocket, now I just need to kill the Salmonsnake.

"Well guysss, it's time to move on… WOW! You look horrrible!" I exclaimed surprised when I saw Iron Shakespeare's condition.

Holes riddled Iron Shakespeare's armor, particularly on his arms and torso, revealing an abundance of bloody wounds, some even showing the bones and organs rotting beneath.

"Do you feeel any pain?" I asked but got no answer.

Sighing, I ignored the knight and removed the talisman from my pocket, analyzing its design. If I remember correctly, the Eclipse Talisman increases my magic defense and otherworldly damage, a great accessory.

I kept the talisman in the inside pocket of my trench coat and watched as my body glowed slightly before returning to normal. I believe the talisman took effect.

"Ssso, are you ready to continue?" I asked Girl and Moonless, receiving a nod and bark in response.

-XXXXXX-

If my cell phone is right, we have been walking through this maze of tunnels for an hour now. I sent the rats forward and observed the world through their eyes.

This helped me avoid monsters and alleys, only following the tunnels that led somewhere. I also made a point of drawing arrows on the wall with my marker, to know where we came from in case we needed to return, and to avoid going in circles.

Other than that, we had a relatively uneventful walk. Currently, the Girl sat on my shoulders, eating some dried meat while I talked to Kitab, and Iron Shakespeare lighted the way with Moonless beside him, munching on some rotten meat.

"Any idea when we'll get out of here, I'm getting bored!" Kitab exclaimed.

"I have no idea. The rrrats haven't found the exxxit yet." I shrugged.

"At least you have something to do, I, on the other hand, just stand here, looking at your ugly face."

"Hump! You are jealousss of my natural beauttty."

I interrupted my conversation with Kitab the moment the rats found something different. I walked along the path they took and saw a knight lying on top of a stone table with a blue barrier blocking a passage just behind.

Well, we just found one of Nosramus' hideouts. However, where is the alchemist?

I left that thought behind when Moonless barked at something behind us. Turning around, I faced the Specter Knight coming through the wall.

Know what? I will not waste my time!

"Iron Shakespeare, destroy the knight lying in the table!" I ordered, pointing to the knight in question.

Iron Shakespeare wasted no time in advancing towards the knight, I ran after the undead soon after, leaving the specter's range. The Old Knight slowly stood up, observing his surroundings. Only to see a punch approaching the center of his face, sending him flying into the wall.

Iron Shakespeare walked around the table and unleashed a barrage of punches on the knight, crushing him against the stone thanks to the Cave Mother soul increasing his strength, leaving behind a crushed ball of flesh and metal.

The Specter screamed in agony before disappearing into a cloud of blue particles, but I let out an insult as soon as I saw the Claymore crushed at Iron Shakespeare's feet. This weapon would have been useful in the future.

Stifling my despair with the joy of this easy victory, we entered Nosramus' laboratory with Moonless making marking territory on everything in sight. I placed the Girl on the floor and we both observed the apparatus and objects around the laboratory. It will be fine as long as we do not touch the chest.

I focused on the shelves full of books while the Girl observed the bottles filled with colored liquids, seeing her reflection distort like in a mirror house, not that she knows what one is.

You know, it is much easier to find useful books without spending coins if you search in the right places, considering that this is the real world and not a game. I called the rats as I removed the books from the shelf and ordered the animals to take them to our hideout.

Alchemillia I, II and III, Recipes of the 15th Century, Anathomia, Natural Doctrine I and II, The Brotherhood I and II and their original versions, Studies of Alll-mer I, Studies of Gro-goroth I, Studies of Sylvian I, The Tale of Pocketcat I and II, Poems of Love and Torment, Ma'havre, Magic of Blood & Flower I.

These books do not teach any type of magic, but they do contain useful knowledge. Now let us see if I can get something useful out of coins. I took a lucky coin out of my pocket and tossed it in the air.

"Headsss!"

The coin fell into my hand with the tail facing up before crumbling into dust. Damn it! I picked up another coin, this time a dime, and tossed it in the air.

"Headsss!"

The coin fell with the desired result before becoming dust too, and I spotted a paper sheet sticking out of one of the books, so I picked up the sheet and read its contents.

"Creation of Life I."

Hm… I do not know if it is useful. I need two more parts to get the spell and create the Kid Demon, but it is better to save the paper, it might be useful for later.

I opened Kitab and placed the instructions on top of the pages, watching as the paper sheet sank and the information appeared in the book. I also looted Nosramus' laboratory for potions and items.

Now, only the guaranteed Empty Scroll remained. I found the scroll in question on a table, so I opened my backpack and took a pen from my pencil case. I already knew what I would ask for, something I seriously need.

"O LORD, TEACH, HEALING WHISPERS."

The scroll floated as soon as I finished writing the words, drawing the attention of everyone present. Then, the scroll rotated as it glowed brightly, disappearing in a luminous flash.

I felt Kitab moving in my hand, I opened the book and read what he had to say.

"Congratulations, you have acquired a new spell! And a healing one, you made the right choice!"

"Healing Whispers: Whispers carried by the Old God Sylvian, heal wounds and bind injuries."

"Everyone, come clossser, please!"

Iron Shakespeare, Moonless, and the Girl did as I said and approached me, so I cast my new spell. I watched as the glowing purple letters surrounded us, healing any injuries we had before disappearing.

Iron Shakespeare benefited the most from this, being almost brand new except for his armor.

"We can continue our jourrrney now that we've gotten more itemsss and healed up."

"Are you leaving so soon? But I just picked some mushrooms for tea." A soft voice spoke from the entrance of the laboratory, surprising us all.

There was Nosramus, waving and smiling as he held a basket full of mushrooms. Nosramus was a tall, thin, and pale person, with long white hair, a serene expression, and wearing a simple gray robe.

However, the game description did not live up to its appearance. I could not tell if he was a man or a woman, even when I saw him up close and heard his voice. However, I could not deny his beauty, in other words… I would! Next question!

"Sorrry, but we stayed here longer than we should have; we have a long trrrip ahead." I replied politely, preparing to leave.

"Seriously? You didn't seem hurried in ransacking my laboratory." Nosramus replied, maintaining the same calm and gentle tone. However, I cringed at the obvious jab anyway.

"I can returrrn everything back if you want." I spoke, quickly apologizing.

"Did you go through my chest?" Nosramus asked with slight seriousness in his or her voice.

"No, it isss right there, completely untouccched." I replied, pointing to the chest in question.

"So you can keep those old books, I've read them countless times. I believe they will be of more use to you than to me." Nosramus smiled, entering his laboratory and approaching the wood stove.

I stepped away from Nosramus because of the strange feeling he gave me, and I am not talking about my sexuality. As if he was not here, as if his feet did not even touch the ground he walked on.

Nosramus was something ancient and otherworldly. However, I knew what he was, an Enlightened One, one of the members of the fellowship who realized the truth about the ascension to a New God and sought another solution, becoming something more.

"Why don't you two sit down? The tea will be ready soon." Nosramus spoke, pointing to the table where I found the scroll.

The Girl and I exchanged a hesitant look, but Moonless approaching Nosramus caught our attention. I prepared to call the wolf before she attacked the alchemist, but Moonless sat down next to Nosramus and allowed the Enlightened One to pet her head instead.

Shrugging, the Girl and I sat down in our respective seats, leaving Iron Shakespeare in a corner, and waiting for Nosramus to return.

"Hey, I have an important question for you, and I need you to answer it honestly." Kitab spoke.

"Asssk it." I replied.

"Would you fuck Nosramus?"

"WHAT?!?" I shouted, catching everyone's attention. I laughed nervously, looking away before returning to my conversation.

"So what's your answer?"

"What kind of quessstion is that?"

"You neither affirmed nor denied."

"Of courssse not, I refussse to answer that kind of question."

"Come on, I promise I won't judge. I am a book after all!"

"No!"

"Okay, but I would fuck Nosramus." Kitab responded, making me choke on my saliva at that statement.

"And how the hell would you do that?!? You arrre a book!" I asked in disbelief.

"Hey, no need to offend me! I don't go around saying you can't do something because you're human!"

"That's not the point! How arrre you going to fuck Nosramus?!?"

"Simple, getting a body!" Kitab said it as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"And how do you intttend to do that?"

"By becoming a new god!"

"You want to become a new god jussst so you can fffuck someone?!?"

"Look into my eyes and see how serious I am!"

"You don't have eyesss, Kitab!"

"Come on, it won't be that bad! I have no concept of gender or sexuality, so I don't care who my partner is as long as it's within the law..."

Well, that is a relief!

"...And besides, I don't even know what I'll look like. You might end up liking it~~~" Kitab spoke suggestively.

"What arrre you insinuating?"

"You know exactly what I mean~~~"

"Hm... An interrresting prrroposal, tell me more about it." I replied, seriously considering what Kitab suggested. Maybe I will enjoy it, depending on what Kitab looks like.

I felt the Girl tugging on my shirtsleeve and saw her looking at me with concern.

"I am fine, Girrrl, just faced with a difficult decision."

Unfortunately or fortunately, it depends on your point of view. Nosramus placed a tea set on the table, handing a steaming cup to each of us before sitting down.

"How about we talk a little, dear guest from another world?" Nosramus spoke, sipping his tea.

END OF CHAPTER.

Chapter Text

"Well, you know about my condition asss well asss the new gods. Why am I not sssurprrrised?" I said sarcastically, looking at my reflection in the steaming tea.

"Oh, have you met my old companions?" Nosramus asked, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"Not exxxactly. The old New Godsss appeared in my dreams, curiousss about my presence in the dungeon, probably becaussse of the strange way it is acting. They used some of my memoriesss to create a comfortable environment, but we rrreturned to the Hall of the Godsss when I discovered who they were." I shrugged.

"Curious, so you already knew the New Gods and the Hall of the Gods. It is impressive, but not impossible, if you look in the right places. Can you tell me what you talked about?" Nosramus asked, frowning, deep thought.

"I can, but only ifff you answer some of my quessstions in return."

"Of course, nothing more fair. However, tell me something, will you not drink my tea? It was troublesome to find the right mushrooms and prepare them." Nosramus smiled gently, raising his cup and signaling to mine.

Hm... I hesitated for a moment. Nosramus is not a bad person, but I am afraid there is something unknown in this tea. It is all too good to be true.

I looked at the Girl sitting next to me. She remained quiet and listened to our conversation as she stared at her tea. We exchanged a hesitant glance, wondering what to do.

Well, I just hope that Moonless and Iron Shakespeare will act in case some poison or sleeping potion affect us, maybe I can even give an order or cast a spell.

"Blow it beforrre you drinkrr." I said to the Girl and she nodded in confirmation, so we drank our tea simultaneously, and Nosramus did the same.

Nosramus looked at us expectantly, his serene smile never leaving his face, while his eyes widened visibly.

I called his name and snapped my fingers in front of his face, but got no response. I raised a questioning eyebrow at this lack of reaction until I felt strangely light and the walls melted.

"Holy shit!" I screamed from the top of my lungs as everything spun around me.

The floor and ceiling spun, becoming whirlpools that consumed everything around them. Multicolored geometric shapes danced through the air, floating in random patterns everywhere.

The fire in Nosramus' stove burst into flames, forming a screaming face as the books around us opened and closed, whispering incomprehensible words.

I looked towards Moonless and Iron Shakespeare. The wolf looked like a badly rendered 3D model, as if someone took a quadruped enemy from a video game and forced it into a humanoid model, leaving it standing.

Iron Shakespeare became a beautiful work of Pixel Art, an extremely detailed 2D figure that moved slightly from side to side in a looping animation while a happy song played in the background.

I then looked at the Girl, seeing her pupils dilated and mouth open in an empty expression, until six more Girls appeared floating next to her, all in the same position, but with different colored hair, representing the colors of the rainbow.

Suddenly, an explosion of colors hit my eyes, forming a large fractal that approached infinitely. I sank into my chair at this sight, but it was over as quickly as it began, and I flew forward as if I were in the seat of a car that came to an abrupt halt.

-XXXXXX-

I looked around when my head stopped spinning and realized something important: I was no longer in Nosramus' laboratory but on a grassy, green hill overlooking the sea.

Looking up, I saw a starry sky, with a full, white moon shining brightly, and a dark ocean in the distance, but one that reflected the view above me like a mirror.

I thought I had escaped the dungeon for a moment, until I spotted two ships sailing in different directions. One was black and flew in the sky, heading toward the moon, and the other was white and followed a large colorful bird.

This was more than necessary to confirm where I was, The Dreamlands.

My eyes widened and my mouth hit the ground. I felt a mixture of joy, fear, and surprise, joy at leaving the environment of the dungeon, fear at not knowing what awaited me here, and surprise, because I had never expected to visit this place.

However, I was not the only one who shared this admiration. The Girl rose from her seat and looked around with eyes as big as plates, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

The Girl stepped forward hesitantly, bringing both hands together in an apprehensive grip, as she looked around frightened.

Then she rubbed her feet on the ground, watching the grass slip through her fingers, and then walked to the highest point of the hill, gazing out at the beautiful landscape in wonder as the wind blew her hair.

The Girl stood on tiptoe and stretched out a hand towards the moon, opening and closing her fist as if trying to touch the natural satellite.

The moon was so close and shone so brightly that the Girl became a dark outline from my point of view, so she stood there, observing something she never dreamed, a world beyond the dungeon.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Nosramus asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, of course... Wait! Am I speaking normally? How?" I asked surprised, rubbing my throat.

"That happened thanks to an alchemical concoction I put in the tea, forgive me for saying this, but your strange accent bothered me. I hope you will not be offended, unfortunately, the effect is temporary." Nosramus replied, looking away in embarrassment.

"Well, I can only thank you for that, because I found the accent annoying too." I replied, glimpsing The Girl sitting on the grass and observing the scenery, before returning to my seat and sitting down opposite to Nosramus.

"Now, returning to my previous question, could you tell me about your conversation with the New Gods?" Nosramus asked.

"Of course, but the answer might disappoint you since they didn't want anything specific. They noticed my arrival in the dungeon and how violently it reacted to my presence."

"I'd say the reaction is more than violent, as the dungeon is rearranging itself to keep you trapped here." Nosramus replied, sipping his tea.

"I know. I don't need to be reminded of my unfortunate situation again. Now it is my turn to ask a question. How did we end here?" I asked, sipping my tea too.

"The Dreamlands has always existed, whether in this world or another. An alternative dimension with its civilizations and inhabitants, but mirroring the waking world in its geography. Certain people can access this place while they sleep. Others need a little stimulant." Nosramus smiled, swaying his teacup slightly in front of his face.

I remembered how certain characters in the tales used drugs and other substances to see and access other planes of existence, but this ability diminished with age. Considering everything, I saw so far, I could assume that the tales were not just fiction.

"Now it's my turn to ask a question. How did you end up here in this world?" Nosramus asked.

"Hm... It may sound crazy, but I had a strange nightmare where I encountered several gods known as The Old Ones, and passed through each of their realms, awakening at the entrance to the dungeon. All I know is that my presence here is nothing more than entertainment for the gods." I replied, rubbing my face in frustration.

"I suppose these Old Ones are the Old Gods of your world, although they are more active than ours." Nosramus replied, thinking deeply.

"Probably so. Tell me, the New Gods and you know about the existence of other worlds, I believe that's thanks to the knowledge you've acquired, but how do you know I'm from another world?"

"The strange aura around you would be the best way to explain it." Nosramus replied, snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, I found myself enveloped in a kind of dark smoke that constantly flowed out of my body. I swung my arms around, watching as the smoke accompanied my movements.

"That's your aura, the energy of your very being, and it's completely different from what the inhabitants of this world possess, not to mention, of course, your unusual soul." Nosramus replied, pointing to my chest.

I followed his finger and looked where he pointed, noticing something strange in the center of my chest. It looked like a dark sphere, similar to a picture of a black hole, with its black center and orange outlines distorting the space around it.

"Your aura and soul are completely alien to those that exist in this world, and those who have delved deep enough into magic can perceive them, as well as powerful entities, the dungeon we're in, for example. You're like an annoying light shining in the corners of someone's eyes, always drawing attention but hurting the eyes of anyone who stares directly at you, and that probably explains the dungeon's reaction to your presence."

"This may sound strange, but I'm glad to know that I'm causing this damned dungeon some pain." I laughed, sipping my tea.

"You'd better watch your words; you don't want to acquire even more animosity from the dungeon. Next question. How do you know so much about the history of this place, the Old and New Gods, the ascension, and about me?"

I am surprised I have lasted this long without making the famous and terrible revelation that this world and everything in it is just a video game. However, I have not shouted this information from the top of my lungs like other people would, and kept most of my knowledge to myself.

However, there are those perceptive enough to notice the little I let slip. Well, I guess a half-truth will do, I would rather avoid the shock of reality and philosophical discussions.

"I came too far to worry about the dungeon's opinion; it can think what it wants about me. To answer your question, there are people in my world who saw other worlds or alternative realities, call them what you will. The Gods that brought me here were considered a work of fiction written by an author, that is until they proved to be real, and the same goes for your world. Someone saw this reality and wrote a story about it, I read that story thinking it was fiction, and I ended up in it, unfortunately."

Nosramus remained silent, closing his eyes and resting his cup in his lap while holding it with both hands. I glimpsed a momentary change in the alchemist's peaceful expression; he probably pondered my words and what they meant.

"Do you know how this will end? What will happen to the current visitors to the dungeon?" Nosramus asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes and no. The story had several endings, depending on the choices of those who entered the dungeon, ranging from horrible to acceptable, but never happy endings. I tried to change that when we reached our objective, Le'garde, the mercenary captain. I suggested that we leave the dungeon and solve our problems outside, but we clashed, as some wanted Le'garde alive. Others, dead, and another, something he brought into the dungeon. Now the dungeon has trapped us inside and is trying to kill me, so I can't say how it will end, I can only move on, facing the difficulties in my path, no matter how much it hurts."

My God, when was the last time I thought about my situation? I will take the Cube of the Depths, open the door to Ma'habre, defeat the New Gods, and then what? I do not have a complete plan; I improvised since I got here!

Escaping through the front door is no longer an option, which leaves me with the S ending for each protagonist, the A, B, C, C - II, and D endings.

I will have enough power to get everyone out of the dungeon if I become a New God, but I will stop being myself and become my soul and ego elevated to the max.

Le'garde becoming a New God is also another way to leave the dungeon, by either kneeling before him or killing him, but I would have to face Cahara, D'arce, Enki, and Rag, depending on their reactions.

I would rather avoid facing Gro-goroth's traces. That leaves me with the A ending where the Girl becomes an Ascended God, and the S endings, but there's the question of whether the dungeon will let the four protagonists go, or whether they are stuck here thanks to me.

"Honestly... I... I do not know what to do... Should I try to become a New God even though I know the consequences? Should I Allow a New God to rise in the vain hope that he will help me? Or go along with Nilvan's plan?" I asked, resting my cup on my lap and holding my head with both hands in doubt.

"I recommend that you avoid becoming a New God since we both know the consequences. Hopping for the kindness of a New God is a plausible possibility, depending on what his soul represents. Nevertheless, you said something that caught my attention. What do you mean by Nilvan's plan? What did my old companion do this time?" Nosramus asked seriously, letting his cup float in the air and grabbing my shoulders, making me face him.

"Nilvan believes in the potential of humanity, that any goal can be achieved through effort and perseverance, but Nilvan was aware that her power and reign would eventually come to an end, so she looked for a way to extend it. She believed that Le'gard, a man surrounded by prophecies, would be the key to completing her plans, so they had a child, hoping that it would become a beacon of hope for humanity."

"And that child is the Girl sitting next to the two of us now?"

"Yes, the Girl grew up in the dungeon, knowing only fear and hunger, and these will be her concepts if she achieves divinity. She will save humanity from stagnation, but she will become a God through a painful process. I asked the New Gods in the hall how I could change this, but they told me that this is the Girl's destiny, all I can do is add one more concept, fear, hunger, and something else."

Nosramus remained silent, staring at me while various expressions passed across his face. The alchemist slowly released me returning to his chair and assuming a thoughtful pose while muttering incomprehensible words.

I shifted my focus to the Girl, who followed some purple fireflies that flew around her, laughing as she tried to grab them with her little hands. I saw how the Girl's eyes sparkled with childlike curiosity, and I wish they would stay that way, but I do not know how long I can pretend that everything is fine.

"You know, I realized that I never asked your name, even though we talked for so long. That was rude of me." Nosramus spoke up, catching my eye.

"My name is Micolash, and you don't have to worry, after all, I'm the one who broke into your laboratory, I should have introduced myself first." I laughed nervously, making the corners of Nosramus' mouth turn up.

"Micolash, have I shown you my soul and aura?" Nosramus asked, his smile widening and giving me a bad feeling.

"No, why the... MY EYES!" I cried out in pain, turning around while shielding my face with both hands. Nosramus lived up to his title as The Enlightened One, for his soul and aura shone like a sun. I only glimpsed him for a second before I had to look away.

"I'm sorry about that, but you saw how my soul and aura differ from yours, haven't you?" Nosramus apologized as the light slowly disappeared.

"Yes, obviously!" I said sarcastically, removing my iron mask and rubbing my eyes, trying to make the spots in my vision disappear.

"My soul didn't used to be so intense in the past, but it became so after I sat on the Golden Throne, faced my other version, but didn't ascend, returning with the knowledge acquired. Now look at the Girl." Nosramus replied, pointing to the child in question.

I thought that looking at Nosramus was a mistake, but I realized how wrong I was as soon as I looked at the Girl because of the absurd pressure I felt.

I remembered a moment in my childhood where I had jumped into a pool too deep for me, even though I did not know how to swim, and almost drowned. I had lost all sense of up and down, seeing only a blue void as the water entered my lungs and drowned me with its crushing weight on top of me.

I felt the same when I looked at the Girl's soul, a tiny glowing dot surrounded by mist, but which exuded so much power. Lights shone in the mist, one brown and one yellow. Meanwhile, I spotted luminous cracks forming in the mist, shining an orange light.

"What are those lights?" I asked without taking my eyes off the Girl.

"Those are the concepts that the Girl represents, fear, hunger, and something else." Nosramus replied, following my gaze.

"How is that possible? I haven't tried adding anything different yet."

"I believe you have since when you chose to help the Girl. The question is what you have added. Tell me, what have you done for the Girl?"

"Well, I freed her from her cage, gave her a doll as a gift, and some food. I explained a bit about her father and promised to free her from dungeon. So I looked after her and got closer to her ever since."

"I suppose the Girl became more comfortable with your presence."

"Yes, she went from just holding my shirt to allowing me to carry her in a short period of time."

"Just that? You keep the Girl out of harm's way while you deal with the obstacles in your path?" Nosramus asked.

"Initially, yes, I got hurt and almost died several times, but the Girl showed a sudden desire to help me during fights, even if she didn't need it. Where are you going with this?"

"I can only move on, facing the difficulties in my path, no matter how much it hurts. Those were your words, and that is what the Girl and you have been doing ever since you met. What does that represent?" Nosramus asked amused.

"I don't know! Hope?" I exclaimed irritated how Nosramus treated our conversation. Was this some kind of game to him?

"Wrong! Hope makes people think that everything will be better in the future, but that is not true. The world is a cruel and unfair place; you will become a broken-minded fool if you think everything will get better only to be put down repeatedly. You can only accept the harshness of the world and move on. You must fight. Fight, no matter what difficulties stand in your way. Fight until your bones break. Fight until your flesh gives out. Fight until the life leaves your eyes. And what is that called?" Nosramus said, grimacing at my answer.

I looked around, expecting a certain skeleton knight mounted on a horse to appear to give me mysterious philosophical advice.

"Perseverance. The answer is perseverance!" I exclaimed, finally understanding Nosramus' words.

"Exactly. The Girl wants to fight, and you will not be able to protect her from danger forever. Teach the Girl to be strong and to face whatever comes her way." Nosramus nodded in approval, returning to his tea.

"Even if that's the answer, where should I start? I don't want the Girl to get hurt." I replied, looking at the Girl who chased the fireflies. She stopped for a moment and waved at me while smiling. Then I returned the gesture as well.

"I'm not telling you to leave the Girl face a Lord of the Flies alone, but you should start teaching her how to fight smaller, weaker monsters. In addition, where should you start? What about naming the Girl? You can't call her Girl forever, which is cruel as her father."

"I'm not her father. I've explained who the Girl's parents are."

"But that's not what she thinks." Nosramus replied, smiling and focusing on something next to us.

I followed his gaze and saw the Girl running towards me, smiling and hiding something in her hands. The Girl stopped and stared at me as she jumped slightly in her feet.

"Well, what have you got there, a gift for me?" I asked curiously, laughing at the lovely sight in front of me.

The Girl stood on her tiptoes and stretched out her hands towards me, then opened them to reveal one of the purple fireflies. The firefly ran through her fingers before flapping its wings and flying around us, glowing an intense purple.

The Girl and I followed the firefly with our gaze, watching as it joined the others of its kind and flew away in a great cloud of luminous points, blending into the starry sky and becoming indistinguishable from the stars.

"I loved the gift, Girl! But now I have a gift for you!" I said, patting the Girl's head, making her laugh. The Girl stared at me after hearing my words, tilting her head in confusion, but then gave me an expectant look, waiting for the surprise.

"I'd like to give you a name! What do you think?" I asked excitedly, expecting the Girl to jump in joy, but I frowned at her lack of reaction.

The Girl stood still like a statue, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Then she lowered her head and looked away while rubbing her hands together nervously.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked worriedly, leaving my seat, kneeling, and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

The Girl slowly raised her head and stared at me with her bright, deep eyes. I stared back, trying to understand what the glint in her eye meant, but I think I understood what the problem was.

"Do you think I'm giving myself too much trouble caring after you?" I asked and the Girl nodded hesitantly.

"Listen, you're not giving me trouble. I am doing this because I want to, because it was my choice. If I did not want you by my side, then I would have left you in the cage where I found you, but I did not do that, did I? All this work, everything we have been through, I did it because I care about you. You deserve better than this, Girl. You deserve to get out of this dungeon and live a happy life, but I want to give you some of what you never had until that happens. Then I will give you a name, every person needs a name, after all, I can't call you Girl forever."

Suddenly, the Girl hugged me. I did not react for a moment, surprised by the Girl's action, but then I returned the hug and we stayed like that for a while.

"Are you ready to be named?" I asked the Girl and she nodded in confirmation.

Since we are in Rondor, and this kingdom is an alternative France, I think a French name or similar will do. I just hope I do not mess it up, as my knowledge of the French language does not go beyond internet memes.

"From today on, your name will be Madeleine!"

The Girl opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, as if trying out the name on her tongue, but without using her voice.

"Do you like the name?" I asked again, fearing that she would not like it, but to my surprise, the Girl smiled and nodded positively.

"I'm glad to finally refer to you by a name, little Madeleine. My name is Nosramus." Nosramus spoke amiably, bowing slightly.

Madeleine hesitated for a minute but returned the gesture by nodding to Nosramus. However, the world cracking like glass around us interrupted any further interaction.

"What's going on?" I asked, preparing to fight.

"Oh, well, it looks like the effect of the tea is wearing off." Nosramus shrugged disappointedly.

The cracks widened and expanded, revealing a blinding white light. Madeleine and I shielded our eyes, hoping it would stop. Suddenly, we heard glass breaking, as if someone threw a stone through a window, and the world around us turned completely white.

-XXXXXX-

"GASP!" I woke up with a jump, confused and frightened by my surroundings. However, I realized that I stood in the same position as before, sitting up and holding a cup of tea as if nothing had happened.

Looking around, the laboratory looked the same, but the fire in the stove had gone out, and Moonless slept on the floor next to my chair. Iron Shakespeare had not moved an inch.

Madeleine, however, lay on the floor with her legs up on the chair, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. Then Madeleine blinked repeatedly, her face contorting in confusion as she opened and closed her hands in front of her face.

She stood up, rubbing her head and looking around, but jumped slightly when she saw me.

"Do you rememberrr what happened?" I asked, mentally cursing at the return of my accent.

Madeleine nodded, wobbling slightly from side to side. I offered my hand to hold while she regained her balance, which Madeleine quickly accepted.

"It's a shame the dream is over, but I'm glad we had a pleasant conversation." Nosramus said, placing his cup on the table and standing up as he stretched.

"That... That wasss bizarrre." I muttered, getting up too.

"I thought the same when I first entered The Dreamlands, but now it's became a place to think and rest when necessary." Nosramus replied, collecting the dirty dishes and putting them in a bucket full of water.

"I believe I can say the sssame, since the last person I ssspoke to was not exactly frrriendly." I replied patting Moonless's head until it woke up with a yawn, showing off its rows of huge teeth.

The wolf barked excitedly when it saw us and sat down while wagging its tail. Madeleine took this opportunity to pat Moonless, making it howl happily.

"I thank you forrr everything you've done for usss, Nosramusss, especially for illuminating what the New Godsss meant." I said, bowing politely.

"Of course, I'm happy to help, but I'm also grateful for your company, I may be immortal, but the loneliness of the dungeon is overwhelming sometimes." Nosramus replied, his posture dropping for a second before returning to normal.

"I'd love to ssstay and talk more, but we need to move on and find a way out of thisss labyrinth."

"I see. I will have to do the same in the future since the dungeon has changed. Hump! I spent many years learning its passages only to have it all thrown away in an instant." Nosramus grumbled annoyed.

"HAHAHA! I'm sssorry about that." I laughed, scratching my head in embarrassment.

"Sure, sure, just be careful out there, things are changing too fast. If what you told me is true, your presence here has caused unexpected outcomes, whether for better or worse, only time will tell." Nosramus spoke enigmatically, walking over to one of the many bookshelves and searching for a book.

Madeleine and I nodded, I retrieved Kitab and Shark's Teeth from the table and ordered Moonless and Iron Shakespeare to follow me, then we all left the laboratory.

Meanwhile, dozens of thoughts raced through my mind. I would have to teach Madeleine to fight. I looked over and saw the child walking next to me, holding her dagger in both hands while carefully observing her surroundings.

Hm... A new challenge appears for every answer I get. Fear, hunger, and something else, let us see if I can create something completely new in the end, or die trying.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

I watched as Madeleine faced a simple reanimated skeleton before her, but I stayed close, ready to act if necessary. Iron Shakespeare kept the dark, damp tunnel lit with his flames, while Moonless lay there, watching the fight curiously.

Madeleine stood her ground, facing the skeleton with determination as she held her dagger with both hands.

The skeleton swung one of its bony hands towards its enemy, but the child stepped backward, staggering slightly, and dodged the blow. However, the skeleton did not finish its attack, striking another blow with its opposite arm.

Madeleine crouched slightly and ran to the left, ducking under the blow and slicing the skeleton's elbow, separating the worn bone from the rest of its body.

The severed limb fell to the ground with a thud, making the girl smile slightly, but that smile turned to surprise and fear when the skeleton turned its body and kicked Madeleine in the chest, making her scream in pain.

I inhaled air through my clenched teeth, wincing audibly at the display. I resisted the urge to get involved and help, remembering the earlier conversation with Nosramus, Madeleine needs to learn how to fight.

Knowing that Madeleine still wore her armor and helmet gave me a bit of relief, along with the fact that the blow had only been a kick, nothing that magic and potions would not heal.

Madeleine grunted as her back hit the wall of the tunnel, but she quickly refocused and analyzed her surroundings, seeing the skeleton's closed fist approaching.

She threw herself to the ground immediately afterward, dodging the punch that hit the wall with a thud, damaging the bones more than the solid rock, but the skeleton followed her with its remaining blows, stomping the ground in the hope of crushing her.

Madeleine quickly rolled across the floor of the tunnel, covering her clothes in dirt but evading the attacks, before clumsily getting up and striking the skeleton's right knee.

Aiming for the joints proved to be an effective strategy, as the bone gave way and came loose from the rest of the leg, forcing the skeleton to balance on its remaining leg.

Madeleine picked up a stone next to her and threw it with all her might, hitting the skeleton's forehead and knocking it to the ground.

She wasted no time in running towards the skeleton and plunging her dagger into the monster's forehead with a scream of effort, piercing the skull and causing all the bones to come loose like a jigsaw puzzle and turning the undead into a pile of dusty bones.

Madeleine stood, breathing heavily as she stared at the dead monster at her feet. Then she turned and walked towards me, limping slightly until she stopped in front of me.

I felt distressed upon seeing the girl like this, which only worsened when she stared back at me, wiping the dirt from her face with the back of her hand with tears threatening to flow from her eyes.

I sighed and opened Kitab, conjuring up Healing Whispers, and watching the pages turn before bright pink letters surrounded the girl, healing her wounds.

"Do you feeel betterrr now?" I asked, and Madeleine nodded positively in return.

"I'm glad! Facccing that thing must have been ssscary." I said, causing Madeleine to nod negatively.

"You don't havvve to act like a tough girrrl to impresss me. It is okay to be scared becaussse I am too. But you can't let fearrr take over, underssstand?" I spoke softly, putting a comforting hand on Madeleine's shoulder.

Madeleine looked down at the ground, wriggling her bare feet in the dirt before raising her head and nodding with a small smile on her face.

"Good, jussst don't pusssh yourself too hard, you're not alone herrre!" I smiled back before we resumed our walk through the tunnels.

Soon the atmosphere filled with a mixture of Iron Shakespeare's heavy metallic footsteps and the crackle of his flaming fists, Moonless's grunts and the wet noise of her marking her territory, the squeal of ghostly rats, and the footsteps of Madeleine and me.

Frankly, we failed miserably at hiding our location from the monsters, although the rats helped us stay out of trouble as we avoided enemies and alleys.

Speaking of the rats, they stopped bringing items, as we reached the point where tunnels consisted of rocks, wooden beams, and nothing else. There was nothing to loot.

I could send the rats to the other levels of the dungeon, but that would slow down our progress, I think. The dead ends and passages that made us turn around diminished, giving way to tunnels that led somewhere.

It was a bit unnerving, even with the knight's flames lighting our way.

The darkness of the dungeon was so dense, almost solid, like tar floating in front of me, not to mention, of course, that I felt like I was in a horror story, where something wrong could happen at any moment.

I say that because the limitations of the game no longer apply. What guarantees that I will not encounter an unknown monster? Something I am incapable of facing or running away from.

I will probably suffer a fate worse than death, struck down by something of unknown origin, unable to fight, and only able to watch the end approach. My head ached shortly and my breathing stopped as darkness overtook the mine tunnel.

Its walls turned into pulsating rotting flesh, full of angry eyes staring at me intensely as thousands of insects crawled across the floor, and then the disgusting smell returned, almost making me vomit.

Dark figures walked beside me, whispering in my ears, while my footsteps crushed the insects with audible crunches. I blinked, and everything disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. I was in the tunnel again, with Madeleine, Moonless, and Iron Shakespeare.

I took a deep breath and shook my head, trying to clear my confusion and calm my desperately beating heart. When was the last time we restored our minds? I will do it as soon as we get out of the tunnels and find a relatively safe place.

I wonder if Kitab was right to refer to the dungeon as a living being, in the sense that it is a different entity from the God of the Depts.

Killing the God would probably end the darkness and the constantly changing layout of the dungeon, but I do not know if that would do anything for the dungeon itself.

Hm... Maybe... Maybe the visions I had in the catacombs and just now mean something... Maybe I saw the dungeon for what it is.

Putting these thoughts aside, I focused on what role the girl would fulfill now that she is more active in fights. I thought of a support role, with her carrying a bag with stones, potions, darts, and throwing knives.

I could also try to get her the best equipment possible, such as the Chain Mail Helmet, Trench Coat, Hardened Leather Armor, Skeletal Arm, and Salmonsnake Soul.

Some accessories would also work for both of us, such as another Eclipse Talisman, Everwatching Talismans, Arm Guards and Leg Guards for me, Eyeglasses for both of us, the Pinecone Pig, the Soul Devour Necklace, and perhaps the Eastern Perfume.

I had my doubts about the Charm of Yaggaegetsu and the Ring of Wraiths because, technically speaking, they were unique items with quests to get them, and I doubt I would find them in a random barrel.

That left only the Rings of the Still Blood, Thorned, and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first two of which would make me immune to bleeding, infections, and poisoning, but I would become unable to remove them after putting them on, which was not a problem since I have ten fingers.

However, what interested me most was the Sorcerer's Stone, capable of restoring the mind indefinitely. The perfect accessory for my sorcerer/warlock build.

I laughed mentally at my joke and reviewed the spells the girl could learn.

I think a mix of Combustion for support and defense since that spell does not cost mind. Pheromones to send enemies towards Iron Shakespeare, Loving Whispers to heal, and all the spells of the depths would be the best combination.

Therefore, a bit of Gro-goroth, Sylvian, and a lot of God of the Depths Well, I guess I had better start looking for the Ritual Circles.

Something in my rats' view caught my eye. The tunnels were changing again, revealing small wooden and stone constructions crushed by rubble, probably due to the sudden change in the dungeon.

I felt a mixture of relief and regret, relief because the buildings belonged to the cave dwellers, which meant we were close to their village and regret because I saw blood coming out of the rubble, with the partially buried remains of some inhabitants appearing.

I ordered the rats to stop what they were doing and follow the tunnels with ruined buildings, and it was not long before the rats found a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Madeleine, let'sss hurry, the ratsss have found a way out!" I said excitedly to the child next to me, who widened her eyes and nodded quickly, before we followed the rats at a brisk pace.

We passed curves, forks, skeletons, and ruins, always following the path the rats had found until we spotted the light too.

Madeleine and I exchanged a smile, relieved that we were about to get out of here, but since there's no such thing as too much care; I sent the rats ahead as we followed them slowly.

The rats left the tunnels and entered a large rocky chamber, with tracks, mine carts full of rock, crates, and barrels, the chamber had wooden beams and planks on the walls, serving as supports, and skeletons holding tools scattered on the ground.

There was a tunnel on the other side of the chamber, larger than the entrance tunnel and with light shining at the end. We stopped near the entrance to the chamber and watched the rats crossing to the other side.

Strangely, the light did not increase as the rats approached. It took me a few seconds to realize that something was wrong, since thanks to the distance, the light seemed to be at the end of the tunnel, but as it got closer, I realized that it had been floating a few meters in the air.

Then my rats approached the light source. I could not tell what happened, I caught a glimpse of something huge and lost the connection with my rats, recoiling in a mixture of fright and headache.

Madeleine rushed to my side, but I reassured her that I was fine. In the meantime, I wondered if we should keep going, or look for an alternative exit. Something was waiting for us on the other side of the chamber, but I did not want to wander through the tunnels again.

"Attention, everyone! I have lossst my connection with my ratsss, something or someone has destroyed them and isss waiting for usss up ahead! Turning around and finding another way would be the bessst option, but we had lossse more hours walking arrround! Then we'll face whateverrr isss hiding on the other side of the chamber!"

Madeleine nodded and Moonless barked in determination as Iron Shakespeare stood silent.

"Right! Get rrready to fight!" I spoke before entering the chamber with the rest of the group following me. On the way, I felt Kitab moving in my hand, so I opened the book and read what he had to say.

"Well, we're almost out! Thanks to the Old Ones! I was getting tired of looking at your face and counting the cracks in the wall!"

"I'm sorrry I'm not a good sourrrce of entertainment." I replied sarcastically.

"Not for me, but you know who else is watching us. But leaving that aside, what do you think is on the other side?"

"We're in the minesss, and considering everrrything the dungeon hasss thrown at usss so farrr, I think it'sss one of the bosses waiting for us." I replied, watching the light on the other side move closer as the ground shook rhythmically.

"We killed and revived Iron Shakespeare, and sent the Cave Mother and her children to hell. Following that order and the location we're in, then that means..." Kitab spoke as the tremors intensified followed by rumbling that reverberated off the walls.

"Yes, Salmonsssnake awaits usss."

As if it had understood my words, the Salmonsnake chose that moment to step out of the darkness, revealing itself the source of light.

The colossal gray salamander, with its fishy head and glassy eyes, walked into the chamber, each step of its four huge legs shaking the ground, while its long tail whipped the air behind it.

Moonless and Iron Shakespeare stood in front of us, taking up fighting stances. I raised Shark's Teeth and readied Kitab, while Madeleine stared nervously at the monster and held her dagger with both hands.

The Salmonsnake raised its head and scanned its surroundings slowly, from left to right, while its long, snake-like tongue tasted the air.

A heavy, silent tension gripped the room as we waited for the creature's next move. We got our answer when the Salmonsnake focused on us, stomped the ground with its front paws, and let out a deafening roar.

"RRROOOAAARRR!"

Music For the Fight

The guttural roar echoed off the rocky walls, I felt my ears beep and saw that everyone else was suffering similar reactions, trying to protect their ears as they screamed in pain, except for the undead knight.

"WOOF! WOOF!"

Moonless's worried barks snapped us out of our stupor, just in time to see the Salmonsnake advancing at full speed.

"HAHAHA! Here it comes!" Kitab spoke from its pages with what I thought was glee, but I quickly abandoned the words of the book and focused on the approaching monster.

Madeleine and I jumped to the right and Moonless to the left, but Iron Shakespeare did not move fast enough, probably due to the weight of his armor, and received a direct head-butt from the monster.

We watched surprised as the knight flew away until he hit the wall next to the entrance tunnel, raising a cloud of dust as fragments of rock rained down on his body. However, we had to leave our surprise behind as the Salmonsnake turned towards us.

I analyzed the situation and formulated a plan in my mind. The Salmonsnake had more body parts to hit than in the game, with two eyes, four legs, and a tail.

We needed to prioritize the eyes and tongue, but the spacious environment of the chamber allowed the monster to fight any way it wanted, unlike its original arena. However, the additional space also allowed us to maneuver freely around the creature.

I cast Necromancy and revived three skeletons present in the chamber, which immediately stood up carrying their digging tools. I ordered them to advance towards the Salmonsnake, which roared in defiance, as we prepared ourselves.

"Moonlesss go around the monssster and attack itsss left eye! Madeleine, we'll attack the rrright eye!"

Madeleine nodded while Moonless barked in confirmation, so we went ahead with the plan.

I spotted Moonless skirting the Salmonsnake as if a dark blur, simultaneously, Madeleine and I approached from the opposite direction, watching the salamander face the skeletons.

The Salmonsnake extended its tongue and hit the first skeleton, pulling it into its mouth and quickly devouring it. The next skeleton raised its shovel, trying to hit the monster, but became dust thanks to a crushing blow from the Salmonsnake's left front paw.

The third was luckier, managing to land a blow and drive its pickaxe into the center of the creature's face, generating a wet noise followed by a small spurt of blood, but it soon flew like an arrow as the Salmonsnake lunged forward and landed another head-butt.

The skeleton fell apart as it hit the ground, but the distraction allowed us to approach unnoticed. Moonless was the first to act, leaping from a pile of boxes and plunging her fangs into the monster.

"RRROOOAAARRR!"

It was a precise attack, Moonless sinking her fangs into the soft flesh that bled and watered as she drove her claws into the salamander's flesh, leaving shallow wounds, but she was soon out of my sight as Madeleine and I closed the distance, due to the monster's size.

We both raised our weapons and prepared to unleash our attacks as the Salmonsnake struggled wildly, but we stopped as soon as the monster's right eye focused on us, showing our reflection.

The Salmonsnake stopped struggling and leaned to the side. We widened our eyes in surprise when we realized what it intended to do, so we backed away, immediately getting out of the creature's way.

The salamander rolled across the ground, causing a tremor followed by a crash as it smashed the rocks and mining equipment in its path, reducing them to splinters.

Moonless had to let go of the creature to avoid a crushing death, landing in front of the monster and receiving a powerful blow as soon as her paws touched the ground.

The she-wolf yelped, sliding across the ground to an abrupt stop, where she stood up on shaky legs. Despite the situation, I felt a certain joy at seeing Salmonsnake close is blinded eye. Now there was only one left.

The Salmonsnake's tongue slid out of its mouth and shot towards us. Madeleine stepped to the left as I leaned in the opposite direction, allowing the tongue to pass between us.

Madeleine wasted no time in slashing the tongue with her dagger, leaving a bloody gash, but not enough to cut it out. The Salmonsnake growled and attacked repeatedly, sending its tongue towards us.

Madeleine, Moonless, and I did our best to dodge, receiving a few glancing blows and almost being devoured. I cast Glimmer of Truth, trying to create an opening, but my spell had no effect.

It seems that Salmonsnake could not understand what the spell showed. Moonless acted soon after, howling in determination before zigzagging forward, dodging the salamander's tongue.

I decided to help and cast Cats of Ulthar. The dark mud oozed out of Kitab, creating a puddle on the ground, which soon turned into the monstrous cats.

The cats acted immediately, revealing their gigantic fangs and claws, probably due to the massive food source in front of them, and followed Moonless toward her enemy.

The Salmonsnake tried to devour its opponents before they got too close, succeeding with some of the cats, but soon found itself in melee combat as the rest closed the distance.

Moonless and the cats bit and scratched the salamander's face and forelegs. Simultaneously, the Salmonsnake stomped the ground, trying to crush its attackers.

Madeleine and I went around the Salmonsnake again, as we would not stand a chance in direct combat, and we succeeded this time, approaching the creature's left side and cutting out its remaining eye with our weapons.

The Salmonsnake was now blind, but we didn't let this small victory distract us, and focused on the left hind leg, while the monster roared thanks to its hurt eye.

However, we encountered a worrying problem when we launched our next attack, the flesh on the rest of the Salmonsnake's body proved more resistant than its eyes, to the point that we left harmless superficial cuts.

I was ready to try again, this time with more strength. Suddenly, the Salmonsnake reared up on its hind legs, standing for a second, before throwing itself against the ground, releasing a powerful shockwave.

The cats dissipated and Moonless, Madeleine, and I lost our balance and fell to the ground. I did not have time to get up, as I saw a shadow forming above me, and spotted boulders falling from the ceiling of the chamber.

I grabbed Madeleine and rolled across the ground, dodging the rock that had smashed into our previous location.

I then got up on one knee with Madeleine in my arms but stopped as soon as I saw the Salmonsnake lifting the back of its body and raising its tail. Hundreds of thoughts ran through my brain in less than a second, looking for a way out, but I only had a moment to act.

"MOONLESSS CATCH!" I shouted with all my might as I threw Madeleine towards the she-wolf.

I spotted Moonless running towards Madeleine as the girl crossed the air, but I quickly turned to the Salmonsnake in time to see its tail approaching. My eyes went wide, my mouth dropped open and my shoulders slumped. I raised my arms protectively in front of my body and muttered half a word.

"SHI..."

Then I felt an absurd pain as if hit by a huge moving object, similar to a truck. My feet left the ground and I felt myself flying backward, with my body hitting the ground repeatedly followed by sickening noises.

I only got some kind of relief when I hit something, stopping my movement, and losing consciousness.

-XXXXXX-

I don't know how long passed, I remained on the edge between conscious and unconscious, having momentary flashes of what was happening around me before everything went dark again.

A high-pitched, irritating ringing assaulted my ears, while muffled noises echoed in the background. I heard screams, roars, and howls, mixed in with the thunderous tremors that occurred in succession.

Slowly, I felt the clarity returning to my mind, and with it, the pain. I do not know how long I screamed, I felt blood dripping from my mouth and nose, and bones certainly broken or dislocated out of place.

However, my vision was still a mixture of blurred, duplicated shapes and bright spots. As if that was not enough, my head hurt like hell, as if someone squeezed my brain with barbed wire, especially in the forehead area, where I felt absurd pressure.

Then my vision returned to an acceptable state, and I glimpsed what happened around me. I let out a string of the worst insults I knew when I saw the trail of blood and cracked marks on the ground representing the trajectory I bounced like a ball.

Focusing on my landing site, I realized I stood partially buried in a pile of destroyed crates and barrels, with Shark's Teeth a few meters away from me, and Kitab still clutched in my hand.

"How was your rest, Sleeping Beauty?" Kitab asked although it took a while for my vision to focus on the letters.

"The bed wasss *COUGH!* awful and leffft me with *COUGH!* back pain!" I exclaimed with difficulty, coughing up blood as I spoke.

"Are you all right?" Kitab asked with strange concern. Frankly, I felt uncomfortable with the lack of a funny answer.

"Wha-what *COUGH!* Wha-what do you thinnnk?!?" I answered, trying to get up, but I stopped and gritted my teeth as soon as a twinge of pain ran through my body.

"Can you stand up?" Kitab asked again. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, because I was the only one who did not take it seriously.

"N-no." I muttered, moving under the rubble and receiving another stab of pain. I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth, enduring the pain and dragging myself out of my prison.

I used my left arm and right leg to pull myself out, as I could not move my remaining limbs, which were probably broken. It was a slow and painful process, but I sighed mentally when I finally broke free.

In addition, the chaos of the fight going on in the center of the chamber was the first thing I saw. The Salmonsnake roared and thrashed wildly, delivering frantic blows with its tongue, paws, tail, and head.

Simultaneously, Iron Shakespeare exchanged blows with the creature, punching its head repeatedly with his flaming fists, breaking bones and creating scorched wounds.

The Salmonsnake slapped Iron Shakespeare, but the knight raised his fists in front of his body, protecting himself from the brute of the attack as his feet slid backward.

Then Salmonsnake focused on Madeleine, who mounted Moonless' back and rode the she-wolf around the salamander.

I could not help but feeling proud at this sight, but I wondered how Salmonsnake managed to locate those around it. I got my answer when the monster sniffed the air and sent its tongue towards the she-wolf.

The salamander followed Madeleine and Moonless, turning its body as they went around it, still trying to hit them with its tongue.

However, this moment of distraction allowed Iron Shakespeare to approach from behind, raising both fists and bringing them down on the Salmonsnake’s tail in a flaming explosion, crushing flesh and bone with a flurry of blows.

The Salmonsnake roared in fury, rearing up on its hind legs and throwing itself backward towards the knight, who quickly stepped aside, avoid the crushing blow.

However, the Salmonsnake rolled aside, hitting the knight with its body and pushing him away, creating an opening to unleash another powerful head butt, hitting the Iron Shakespeare.

Madeleine and Moonless followed soon after, with the she-wolf running alongside the salamander while the child dragged her dagger across the creature's flesh, leaving a long gash.

I shook my head, mentally kicking myself for getting distracted, and conjured up Healing Whispers, screaming in pain as my broken bones violently snapped back into place.

Nevertheless, it was not enough; so I cast the spell a second time. I felt the wounds closing and the bleeding stopping, but the pain was still there.

I resisted the urge to vomit when nausea overtake me due to the disgusting noises my body made. I heard the wet noise of the flesh healing, the bones snapping and rearranging themselves, and the blood returning and rushing through my veins.

I cast the spell a third time just to be sure, and I felt much better, the pain in my body becoming a slight discomfort, and the pressure in my head a simple headache.

However, to my dismay, I smelled something familiar, a horrible stench, and the worst smell that had ever attacked my nose.

The chamber changed in the blink of an eye, the walls and ceiling turning into a mass of pulsating, gooey pink flesh, with each pulse sounding like the beat of a drum.

The wooden planks and pillars turned into snow-white bones, supporting the terrifying landscape around me. A steaming green liquid covered the ground, slowly dissolving the ruins and skeletons scattered everywhere.

A hissing sound reached my ears, and voices whispered in the back of my mind.

"Why don't you rest?"

"Just close your eyes, it will all be over soon."

"You'll become part of something greater; it will only hurt for a moment."

Then I realized where I was, in the stomach of the thing that tried to kill me incessantly.

I slapped my face, the pain making the vision disappear, and found myself in the chamber again. I fumbled to stand up, and analyzed my surroundings; the knight, Madeleine, and Moonless still faced Salmonsnake, I needed to help, but how?

I knew how, but I had doubts about using that spell again. I put my backpack on the ground and rummaged through its contents, removing a bottle of ale broken in half, and pouring the contents of both halves into my mouth.

I choked on the burning in my throat but then rummaged through my coin purse. My hands would not stop shaking; I snapped my tongue in frustration and grabbed a handful of coins without looking at the value.

"Wait! What the hell are you..."

"HEADSSS!" I shouted, interrupting Kitab and throwing the coins up, casting The Color from Outer Space right after.

I watched as the coins reached their apex before falling to the ground, showing their values and results. Three five-cent coins, two ten-cent coins, and one twenty-five-cent coin, heads, tails, heads, heads, tails, tails respectively.

"Fail, mutation acquired. Fail, mutation acquired. Fail, mutation acquired." Kitab said.

For a moment, I did not feel anything different until my eyes closed horizontally. Suddenly, I felt a strong pain on the right side of my chest, and when I put my hand on it, I felt a second beat. As if that was not enough, I felt something wrong with my right arm.

I grabbed the limb as it twitched, the fingers bent at impossible angles, the flesh pulsed visibly under my clothes, and the bones shook and crackled, shifting. Then…

"AAAHHH!" I screamed as my arm exploded in a spray of blood, staining my clothes and the ground around me.

I staggered from side to side as the pain clouded my thoughts, the strength in my legs disappeared and I fell to my knees, praying that whatever happened would end soon.

I grabbed the right sleeve of my trench coat and ripped it easily with one pull, throwing the pieces of fabric away and staring at my arm, and it stared back at me.

All the skin on my arm peeled off like a snake shedding skin, revealing a mass of red muscles that moved as if they had a will of their own, my fingers ended in claws made of bone, with a bone spike sticking out of my elbow.

However, the most disturbing sight was the series of eyes staring at me in the crease where each muscle met, completely black eyes with a red iris in their center, each facing a different direction.

This... This was too much! I felt my heart racing, along with the second beat in my chest, my vision turned red and the eyes on my arm dilated.

I grabbed Shark's Teeth next to me and ran towards Salmonsnake. I felt great! I have never felt so alive! Mutations aside, this increase in strength was all I needed!

The Salmonsnake shot its tongue towards me, but Moonless with Madeleine on her back jumped in the way and bit the salamander's tongue, planting her paws on the ground and keeping the piece of meat taut.

"HAHAHA! THANKSSS MOONLESSS!" I shouted with all my might, swinging the Shark's Teeth and mutilating the Salmonsnake's tongue. Moonless spat the piece of tongue onto the ground, where it struggled like a lizard's tail.

The Salmonsnake swallowed what remained of its tongue and ran towards me, trying to head-butt me, but Iron Shakespeare landed a flaming punch on the side of its head, causing the monster to stumble and fall to the ground.

I raised the Shark's Teeth and struck the Salmonsnake's head, smiling in satisfaction at the ease with which the flesh tore and the gush of warm blood that hit my body.

Then I kept cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and cutting...

END OF CHAPTER

I also would like to share something that I made.

1 - An Unexpected Encounter

2 - Boss Fight: Micolash, Father of Perserverance.

I am no artist, so I used some of the game sprites. Tell me what you think.

Chapter Text

Where am I? What happened? I can’t see a thing! Why is it so dark? I felt a solid surface beneath my feet and the repetitive swinging of my arm along with the sweat dripping down my body, but I couldn’t see my surroundings.

SLASH!

“RRROOOAAARRR!”

What’s happening?! What was that noise?! My heart raced, threatening to leap out of my chest as fear gripped my being, but there was something else.

SPLASH!

Something hot and wet hit my face in the confusion.

CRASH!

I felt a sharp pain in my chest as if something big had hit me. My feet left the invisible ground beneath me and my back hit something hard. However, instead of wondering what the hell that was, I felt something else…. Anger.

I got up quickly and ran through the emptiness surrounding me, back to where I was before, and swung my arm again.

SLASH!

SPLASH!

"RRROOOAAARRR!"

I heard the same deafening noise as before and felt the same hot liquid touch my face, but it did nothing to calm the rage burning inside me. My muscles burned, my blood ran rampant through my veins, I clenched my teeth to the point of almost breaking them and kept swinging my arm.

I don’t know how long I kept it up, but I noticed a certain heaviness in my right hand, I held something, and that something easily slid and teared what stood in front of me with sickeningly wet noises.

Slowly, the color red filled the void where I stood, but this did nothing to diminish my anger, even if I didn’t know why I was angry, my instincts screamed that the thing in front of me was to blame.

I intensified my swings, causing the red to appear in droves, partially obstructing my vision, the noises got louder, and a pang of joy hit my chest because I wanted more.

I wanted more of this red, more of the stuff that splashed all over my body. My furious grimace soon turned into a wide, painful smile as I swung faster and faster.

My hand wouldn’t stop, because what I did brought me unimaginable pleasure, I needed more, I wanted more!

More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More! More!

I was in heaven!

-XXXXXX-

An unknown amount of time passed again, and I soon noticed the anger and joy gradually disappearing. The muscles that formed my smile soon changed to a face of disappointment.

Why was that? Why couldn’t I feel what I felt? Crashes replaced the wet sounds of something tearing, and the hot liquid stopped splashing my body. My swaying became slow in despondency, panting and tiredness overtook me.

No! This can’t end now! I need…. I need more…

I raised my arm again but stopped as soon as an overwhelming pressure took hold of me, something big and impossible, unimaginable and incomprehensible. For a moment, I glimpsed a mountain of mutilated corpses shrouded in darkness, but I noticed some of their familiar details, even if only for a moment.

A muscular red-haired man, a pale man dressed in black, a black-haired man wearing leather armor, an orange-haired knight, a skinless giant, a giant head, a half-naked woman, a golden statue…. And…. A black wolf and a child…

The pressure crushing my body intensified as if I held the ocean on my shoulders, I fell to my knees on top of the corpses, writhing in disgust at the noises and rotten stench they exuded.

My breathing quickened in desperation as I tried to stay upright, shaking violently, I looked around, searching for a way out. Suddenly, I heard the flapping of wings, and as I looked up, at the top of the mountain of bodies, I saw a colossal being and several eyes staring at me in the darkness.

Every fiber of my being screamed in agony as the pressure crushed me, driving me towards the ground. I felt every cruel second as my bones broke and turned to dust, and my flesh turned into a red paste.

The corpses on the ground opened their eyes and stared at me, letting out deafening screams, and pulling me with their putrid hands. Then, with a final scream, I became just another unrecognizable corpse in the pile.

-XXXXXX-

“GASP!”

I filled my lungs, which immediately begged for air as if waking up from a realistic nightmare. I breathed heavily, trying to understand what happened midst the high-pitched ringing in my ears, I wasn’t in my bed in my room, but in a…

Oh…. Oh no…. Please don’t…

I found myself in a large and dark stone chamber, full of skeletons and mining equipment.

I took a deep breath this time, closing my eyes and trying to calm down as I muttered every insult I knew, mentally praying that this was a dream within a dream, but the weapon and book I held indicated otherwise.

I slowly lowered my trembling and aching right arm, realizing how exhausted I was, and tried to sit down on the ground, but something stopped me.

Looking back, I saw a black-haired, red-eyed she-wolf biting the back of my trench coat and pulling me, preventing me from moving forward. Looking down, I saw a small, bloodied figure hugging me around the waist with all its might, its face a mixture of effort, fear and determination.

Please…. Please tell me this isn’t her blood!

The Shark’s Teeth became strangely heavy in my hand, even after using it easily before. My grip on the weapon loosened, and it fell to the ground with a thud that echoed in my mind.

I brought my hand hesitantly towards the girl’s head, trembling as the strength left my body, feeling like I would collapse to the ground at any moment, so, with one last movement, I rested my hand on her leather helmet, drawing her attention.

Madeleine stiffened, but raised her head a few seconds later, staring at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Did I hurrrt you?”

She shook her head negatively.

“Isss that yourrr blood?”

Another negative response.

“Arrre you injured in any wayyy?”

I received an answer similar to the previous ones.

“Goood, I’m glad about that….” I smiled weakly at the child, allowing my body to finally rest. I fell backward and closed my eyes, not caring about the pain of the fall.

-XXXXXX-

I woke up to Moonless licking my face, making me grumble in delight and irritation at the tickle I felt. I put my hands in the way, asking the she-wolf to stop as I pushed her back.

I stood up with difficulty, sore as if I’d run a marathon, and as I sat down, I noticed Madeleine sitting next to me, hugging her knees to her chest and staring at me intensely.

“I worrried you, didn’t I?”

She nodded.

“I’m sssorry about that, I don’t know what came overrr me, but the Sssalmonsnake…. Where'sss the Sssalmonsnake?”

Madeleine pointed to something on the other side of the chamber and my eyes went wide at the carnage in front of me. The giant salamander no longer had a head, it wasn’t a quick decapitation, but the complete shredding of its skull.

Blood painted the ground around the creature, with piles of crushed flesh and shattered bones completing the scene. The monster’s tongue was stretched out like a rope, with its eyes beside it, and pieces of the brain turned into a pink paste.

I brought a trembling hand up to my mouth in horror but stopped as soon as I saw the bloody claws approaching my lips. Following the claws, I saw my new arm, its eyes staring back at me.

“I…. I did that?”

The child nodded again, getting up and walking towards me. I was about to apologize for my actions but stopped as soon as Madeleine pulled up my hood and patted my head.

Several thoughts ran through my mind, confused by the girl’s actions, but I laughed lightly as soon as I realized the reason behind them. She was imitating me, as this was the gesture I used to calm her down.

Madeleine frowned, probably because she thought I laughed at her help, but I told her that wasn’t the case before I caused any misunderstandings. However, I ran into another problem when I stood up.

“FFFUCK!” I exclaimed as I fumbled, almost losing my balance.

Madeleine and Moonless rushed to my aid, but I held up both hands, stopping them in their tracks and focusing on the real problem here. I shook my new arm in front of my face and went speechless as I saw myself from a different point of view, I could see through the eyes in my arm.

Then I moved my arm from left to right, seeing the floor, the ceiling, left, right, front, and back of the chamber, I had a view of almost three hundred and sixty degrees, albeit all in various shades of red.

This was extremely disorienting, but it was still useful.

“I can sssee through the eyesss in my arm.” I said, extending the limb in question, but backed away as soon as Madeleine poked curiously at one of my eyes, generating a pain similar to being hit in the eyes in the face.

Madeleine apologized nervously, but I put a hand on her shoulder, calming her down.

“Aren’t you ssscared of my new aaarm?”

She shook her head negatively, gently holding one of my bony claws. I felt a warmth in my chest, probably because she didn’t see me as a monster.

I retrieved the Shark’s Teeth and removed a Soul Stone from my pocket, heading for the Salmonsnake straight away and meeting the Iron Shakespeare on the way.

“Did you worrrry about me tooo?” I asked provocatively but got no answer.

I felt Kitab shaking in my hand, so I opened the book and read what it had to say.

“PREY SLAUGHTERED! +1 Insight!”

“Congratulations, you’ve learned a skill! Blood-lust: Enter a state of aggression and trance. A traditional Oldegård folk skill.”

“Congratulations, the Old Ones have decided to reward you for your determination, strategy, and ruthlessness in slaughtering such a beast! You’ve acquired a new spell! Carve: Carve words in R'lyehian on equipment to give it effects. Enchanting the object wears away the mind. Using the enchantment effect also wears it down.”

Available words

Fm'latghor

R'luh

Ah'lloigshogg

?

?

?

“HOLY SSSHIT! What kind of ssspell is that?! They want me to go crrrazy?! At leassst give me sssomething more balanced! And Blood-lussst?! That'sss the worst ssskill in the game!”

“Don't come complaining into my non-existent ears! You're the one who's gone temporarily mad and let your anger consume you! As for the spell, I can't do anything about that, the Old Ones have decided, but it's your choice whether you use it or not.”

Hm... You know, I feel like an RPG character with complicated mechanics and specific game-play, where you need to invest a lot of time to make it viable. I'll need the Sorcerer's Stone soon if all my skills require intensive use of the mind.

“But leaving these uninteresting matters aside, how do you feel?”

“Ssstrange? Grrreat? Powerrrful? All at once? None of the above? Or sssomething completely different? I'm ssstronger, even though my physssique remains the sssame, but there'sss a nagging in the back of my mind, a desssire for more.”

“You’ve had a taste of power, kid, the power to end something with your bare hands.”

"Really? That wasss exciting like a child getting a new toy." I answered semidetached, searching my pocket and finding a five-cent coin.

“What are you….”

“Headsss.” I tossed the coin up and cast the spell, smiling when I saw the desired result as it fell into the palm of my hand, crumbling into dust afterward. I immediately felt stronger.

“Wait….”

“Headsss.” I said, tossing another coin of equal value and getting a similar result.

“You have no idea what….”

“Headsss.” I tossed a ten-cents coin this time, hoping for a bigger reward, and didn’t mind when I saw tails, after all, judging by the value, the mutation would be small.

"Fail, mutation acquired! ENOUGH!" Kitab exclaimed and a sharp pain in my arm snapped me out of my trance, making me scream as if I'd put my finger in an outlet.

“Wha-what happened?” I asked confused, looking at my surroundings.

“You just proved me right! You've become addicted to the feeling of power and now you want more! Nothing wrong with that, frankly, I encourage that goal, but you're going too fast! You've just snapped and you're in a low frame of mind, you need to rest!”

I spent a few seconds in silence, processing the words in the book. I clicked my tongue and let out a string of swear when I realized that Kitab was right. I need…. I need to get some rest before I lose control again and do something I'll regret.

I shuddered as I remembered the mountain of corpses and familiar bodies, a chill ran through my spine, but I shook my head, dispelling these bad thoughts, and focused on the Salmonsnake.

The soul stone glowed as it approached the dead creature, and I quickly called Madeleine to my side, but I realized a problem: where would she put the soul stone? She had no pockets, and putting the stone inside her clothes, like the doll, was a bad idea.

Hm... I asked Madeleine to wait and ran over to my backpack lying on the ground, bringing it close while I removed some rope from inside. I cut a piece of rope with the Shark’s Teeth and prayed that I still knew how to tie the knot my grandfather taught me.

After several failed attempts, mostly due to having claws instead of fingers, and Moonless and Madeleine laughing at my failures, I managed to make a makeshift necklace, with the soul stone wrapped in rope.

“Madeleine, I have a ssspecial gift for you, this is the Soul of the Sssalmonsnake, it will give you hardened ssskin, and it will also heal and prevent bleeding, infectionsss, burnsss, critical condition, and the lossss of armsss and legsss.” I said, putting the necklace around the child’s neck.

Madeleine’s mouth dropped open in surprise as she held the glowing soul in front of her face, making the light reflect in her wide eyes, then she stepped quickly towards me, offering me the soul, but I denied it immediately.

“No, no, you need it more than I do. I'm a ssstrong adult, armed with an arsenal of ssspells, well equipped, and with a monstrousss arm. I can take a beating, unlike you, so I want you to keep the sssoul, I care about you and I don't want anything bad to happen.” I smiled back but raised an eyebrow when the girl looked at me strangely.

“Is sssomething wrong?”

Madeleine opened her mouth, showing her teeth as she pointed in my direction.

“Is there sssomething wrong with my teeth?” I asked and she nodded.

I quickly took out my cell phone, frowning at the slightly cracked but still functional screen or film, and used the front camera to see my open mouth, only to spot huge, extremely sharp teeth in place of normal ones.

As if that wasn’t enough, I had the terrible idea of smiling, and cringed as I noticed my mouth stretching inhumanly from ear to ear. So I opened my mouth as wide as I could, noticing how it opened to impossible levels, and then closed it, shuddering with the strength of the movement.

“Well, you’ve got the mouth and bite of something like a shark now.” Kitab commented with what I thought was amusement.

“Probably sssome creature from the deeep, Dagon must be watching me.”

“Just hope you don’t end up with a fish face like the inhabitants of Innsmouth.”

I sighed angrily, leaving the jokes of the book aside, and took stock of my inventory, putting my backpack on my back and asking if everyone was ready to leave. Moonless barked, Madeleine nodded, still hesitant to keep the mighty soul, and Iron Shakespeare remained silent.

With that done, I rummaged through what remained of the Salmonsnake, cutting off a few pieces of its flesh with the Flaying Knife, and finding the Stone Crown buried under a pile of brain.

I gave it to Madeleine straight away, as the crown had a better defense and would help us with the Cave Dwellers if they were aggressive.

Then we left the chamber, Iron Shakespeare and Moonless leading the way while Madeleine held my mutated arm and analyzed the soul in her neck.

-XXXXXX-

We finally emerged from the labyrinthine tunnels of the mines, only to come face to face with soggy, rotting heads impaled on spears, demarcating the territory of the Cave Dwellers.

Madeleine’s grip on my arm increased, so I pulled her close to me, comforting her and explaining the purpose of the crown on her head, which served to calm her down.

We climbed the wooden ladders leading up to the balcony made of the same material, except for the great knight, as the old, rotten wood couldn’t support his weight.

Smiling at not finding astoned D'arce and the Yellow Mage on the path below, I picked up the Soul Stone from the spherical house next to us, and we sat on the edge of the balcony, our legs dangling in the air.

An uncomfortable silence overtook the place, so I put on some music to restore our minds before starting a conversation. I pressed random and hoped for something good.

Music

“She had a horror of rooms”

“She was tired you can’t hide beat”

I removed my hood, iron mask, trench coat, and leather armor, sighing relieved at leaving that oven, because I sweated like a pig.

I removed some food of my backpack, throwing rotten meat to Moonless, who gobbled it in the air with one bite, and grabbed some bread, cheese, and salami, dividing it between Madeleine and me. I would have liked to make a sandwich, but I couldn’t now.

“When I looked in her eyes”

“They were blue but nobody home”

“You did a good jjjob taking on Sssalmonsnake.” I said between bites, but Madeleine looked away.

“I’m ssserious! You looked amazing riding on Moonlesss' back like a knight saving the day! I’m glad I can count with your help in fights!” I complimented, patting the child’s back, making her smile and blush embarrassed with her chest puffed.

“Hey, would you like to drrraw again?” I asked and Madeleine nodded quickly. I handed my notebook and case and let her play doodling on the paper.

I laughed slightly, noticing her swaying from side to side, but stopped as soon as I saw the shadowy figure walking past us. One of the problems that arose after I snapped, the shadow people and the living dungeon appeared frequently now.

“Well, she could’ve been a killer”

“If she didn’t walk the way she do and she do”

The fleshy walls pulsed audibly, supported by bone beams, with dark rows of insects crawling everywhere in rivers of blood, stomach acid and partially digested corpses.

Simultaneously, the shadowy figures whispered in my ear, their words becoming clearer and clearer.

“Kitab, could you put my mind to numberrrsss?”

“No problem!” The book replied and increasing numbers appeared on its pages.

Mind: 05 / 200

Mind: 06 / 200

Mind: 07 / 200

The amount of mind impressed me, twice as much as any other character in the game, and terrified me, by how close it was to zero. Well, the description of my soul warned me about this, including my body.

“Could you ssshow me my body now?”

“Of course!”

Body: 20 / 75

“I only have that muccch body?!” I asked disbelieved.

“You’re not a veteran mercenary, hard-living barbarian, or trained knight, even the priest learned to fight, unlike you, who has lived a normal life.”

“Damn it!”

“She opened strange doors”

“That we’d never close again”

“Look on the bright side, you’re changing your frail physique.” Kitab replied, and I knew exactly what it meant.

“She began to wail jealousies scream”

“Waiting at the light know what I mean?”

I licked my sea-monster teeth with my snake-like, but not quite, tongue, then raised my right arm in front of my face, flinching when all eyes stared back at me, blinking at different intervals.

As if fate watched me, the next part of the song was certainly ironic.

“Scary monsters, super creeps”

"Keep me running, running scared”

"Scary monsters, super creeps”

"Keep me running, running scared”

“HAHAHA!” The book laughed at my suffering as I made an annoyed face, but then a deep, unfamiliar male voice caught my attention.

“Could you spare a minute of your time?”

Looking towards its source, I saw an old man sitting to my right, but he hadn’t been there before and there was no way of him arriving without me noticing, as he would have to climb the visible ladders and Moonless would have alerted me of his presence.

Tall, with a well-developed physique, a severe face, tanned skin, and long, completely white hair and beard, he wore worn brown robes, and a large raven with a sharp beak rested on his right shoulder.

“She asked me to stay”

“And I stole her room”

I resisted the urge to shout and swing the Shark’s Teeth in his direction, I had the bad, supernatural feeling that I would regret it if I did. It was as if my instincts screamed at me to stay as still as possible because this old man exuded a disconcerting presence that demanded fear and respect.

I focused on Moonless and Madeleine instead, seeing how they were perfectly still statues, but the music still played.

“Don't worry, they are unharmed. I just stopped time with a simple spell.” The old man replied softly with an empathetic gleam in his eye as if he were my grandfather.

SHIT!

“A-a sssimple spell, you sssay?” I stammered, smiling nervously upon realizing my non-existent chances of victory since such a feat on the level of the Gods was simple for this old man.

“Exactly, but I'll dispel it as soon as our conversation ends, young man. I think we should introduce ourselves first before discussing the reason for my presence.”

"Of courssse! Where are my mannerrrs? My name is Micolasssh!" I replied, offering a handshake with my normal arm.

“It's rude not to introduce yourself with your real name, young man. Didn't your parents educate you?” The old man asked, frowning as he stared at my static hand.

SHIT!

“A person of your age shouldn’t utter such language.”

I bit my tongue and tried to keep an impassive face, but failed miserably.

“Can you tell ifff I’m lying and rrread my mind?” I sniffled.

“Perfectly.” The old man nodded as if this were a normal activity.

“She asked for my love”

“And I gave her a dangerous mind”

“Who are you exxxactly?” I asked suspiciously.

“You can call me Nodens.” The old man repied.

My breathing stopped and both my hearts raced, cold sweat poured down my face as I shook violently, losing all self-control because the being in front of me was the greatest enemy of those who had brought me here.

I was fucked.

“FUCK! SHIT! DAMN!” I screamed with all my might in a mixture of fear and anger.

“An unexpected but common reaction when I introduce myself to those who know of my existence.”

Nodens, a deity from Celtic mythology, called "Lord of the Great Abyss" and master of the night-gaunts, a race of flying creatures. Likely the previous ruler of the abyss where the Old Ones reside before expelling him, and Nyarlathotep's greatest enemy.

There’s a good chance he killed Old Ones, you know, creatures of the same race as Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu, cosmic horrors and destroyers infinite universes, incomprehensible beings capable of breaking the minds of mortals and manipulating time and space in any way they wish.

“Now she’s stupid in the street”

“And she can’t socialize”

“Don’t worry young man, I don’t wish you any harm, although I offer you a deal if you’re willing to listen to me.” Nodens spoke, placing an icy hand on my shoulder.

Despite the gentle gesture, the weight of his hand felt like a mountain, not to mention, of course, its crushing grip.

“Of courssse, it’s not like I have a ccchoice!”

“But you do, just listen to my words.” Nodens replied and I signaled for him to continue.

“I've noticed a certain inactivity from the Old Ones recently, especially my greatest enemy, The Slithering Chaos because it wasn't acting in the way that earned it its title. After my investigation, I found you, a poor child serving as entertainment for cruel gods. So I took part, exerting my influence.”

“What point are you trrrying to make?”

“The Old Ones reward you for performing deadly deeds in their unholy names, it strengthens them, similar to the sacrifices and worships of cultists. I want you to do the same for me, complete a challenge in my name and I'll reward you.”

“So thisss is all jussst you being petty, not wanting to fall behind in power and influence in your eternal fight againssst the Old Onesss?”

“If you want to put it that way, but I admit felling certain satisfaction in annoying my ancient enemies by interfering in their little game. And you would benefit from the help of a benevolent God.” Nodens shrugged, smiling slightly.

I became skeptical about the benevolent part. Something truly benevolent in Lovecraft’s mythology is rare, especially in a universe full of arrogant and avaricious entities.

“Well, what do you waaant?”

“Hunting is one of the aspects I embody, so I wish you to continue your hunt for the beasts of this dungeon. Do that and I'll present you with a weapon and spell.”

"Well, I love the little girl

“And I’ll love her till the day she dies”

“Why didn’t you sssay that before?” I exclaimed, smiling broadly as I crossed my legs and joined my hands, resting my chin on top of them.

A spell and a weapon straight from a God, the possibilities excited me, almost enough to make me forget this life and death-situation.

“If you wish to accept my offer then we can seal it with a handshake.” Nodens laughed, offering his hand.

I hesitated for a moment, reviewing everything that had happened so far and pondering whether it was a good idea. I’d be making a deal with the enemy of the Old Ones and adding another faction to this damned show.

On the other hand, I need all the resources at my disposal, and as Nodens said, he’s a “benevolent” god. Well, I’m already in a horrible situation. If the Old Ones get angry with my decision then they can only blame themselves for getting me into this mess.

I accepted the handshake.

“She wails”

"Jimmy’s guitar sound jealousies scream”

"Waiting at the light know what I mean”

“I'm glad you made the right choice, child of the void. I'll watch you closely, don't disappoint me.” Nodens replied, his smile widening as his eyes shone a blinding light.

Before I could ask what he meant by that, I found myself in my original position, with Moonless chewing the rotten meat and Madeleine happily drawing.

“Hey!” Kitab exclaimed, sending a shock through my arm.

“What?!” I asked surprised, snapping out of my stupor.

“Are you all right?”

“I think ssso, why do you asssk?”

“You stared at the wall in silence for a long time, no matter how much I called you.”

“Would you believe me ifff I told you I’d jussst spoken to Nodens?”

“Yes, because that would explain the words that appeared on my pages.”

The Elder God Nodens, the Lord of the Great Abyss, offers you a deal after you caught his attention with your hunting skills. Slay the dungeon’s beasts in his name and receive a divine reward.

Beasts Slain: 0 / 100

“A hundred beassstsss and the ones I’ve killed ssso far don’t count?!”

“Why would they count? You didn't accept the quest earlier.”

“I would have if they’d offered it when I firrrssst got here!”

DAMN IT! Complaining won’t help me, but I'll do it anyway! However, I can't shake the feeling that I shouldn't have accepted the deal due to the enmity between the Old Ones and Nodens.

I’ll probably regret it in the future, just like I did so far.

“Scary monsters, super creeps”

“Keep me running, running scared”

“Scary monsters, super creeps”

“Keep me running, running scared”

So, I took a deep breath and enjoyed the music, restoring my mind and trying to calm my nerves that had almost died from shock during the recent interactions.

-XXXXXX-

We prepared to continue our journey after our rest ended. Madeleine showed me her new drawing as she jumped excitedly, revealing all of us facing the Salmonsnake.

I made sure to give another star sticker to the child and her doll, making her sway from side to side in gratitude.

Then we packed our things and put on our equipment, returning the way we came and following the lower path, passing through the pit leading to the Wolf Masks, climbing the ladders, and crossing the wooden platforms until we reached the main entrance of the Cave Dwellers’ village.

Any joy I felt at being so close to my goal died as soon as I saw the state of the village, as the dungeon rearranging itself caused more damage than I had anticipated.

The cavernous village stood in ruins, with the new dungeon tunnels protruding from the walls and ceiling, collapsed houses crushed by rocks where everywhere, with the Cave Dwellers clearing the rubble and pulling out injured survivors or corpses.

We entered the village and immediately caught the attention of its residents, who looked at us with haggard and empty eyes, more so than their in-game counterparts. However, they quickly bowed as soon as they saw the crown on Madeleine’s head.

The child squeezed my hand tightly but did not back away, and we crossed the village, the slender, naked, blue-skinned beings staring at us the entire way before returning to their previous work.

I grimaced as I passed a pile of misshapen bodies, their limbs broken in unnatural directions and blood leaking from their orifices. Occasionally, we glimpsed a bloody hand or foot sticking out of a pile of debris, but otherwise, our walk to the Altar of Darkness went smoothly.

We climbed another wooden ladder set on another platform and crossed a rickety bridge over a dark chasm. I thought it would collapse under the weight of Iron Shakespeare, but it held up and we made it to the altar.

I spotted the small house where the cube stood, and the walkway leading to the God of the Depths. Whether out of curiosity or paranormal force, I felt compelled to walk to the end of the walkway.

And there it was, its gigantic form hidden by the darkness except for part of its head made of gray coral and its swollen yellow lips enclosing a huge, yellowish mouth similar to that of a human.

I stared at that mysterious being in silence, a true Old God, not just its traces. I wonder what secrets it holds, what truths of the universe it knew and could reveal to me.

A buzzing sound attacked my ears, and I saw the infinite insects converging towards the abyss where the God rested. An absurd pressure threatened to crush me again, a primordial fear overtook me when the being’s head moved, staring at me with its nonexistent eyes.

Then a distorted voice, louder than any ocean, spoke.

“Feed me.”

My paralyzed legs finally obeyed the command of my mind and I turned my back on the God, leaving the walkway and stopping next to the rest of my group who watched me apprehensively.

I dared to look over my shoulder and saw that God’s head in its original position as if nothing had happened. I movedmy hand towards my chest, trying to calm myself, as I felt minuscule after this encounter.

Madeleine approached with a glint of concern in her eyes. I tried to assure her that I was okay, but I failed miserably. She insisted on staying beside me as we entered the small house and found the cube on its altar.

I asked Madeleine to take the cube, as she wore the crown. The child stood on her tiptoes and removed the artifact from its altar with both hands, studying the inscriptions on the mysterious material that looked more like a box compared to her body.

We all had a small celebration, and I congratulated the child for keeping her courage and enduring the hardships. I believe Madeleine tried to do a happy dance, but I couldn’t tell, as I'd never seen her dance before.

Does she even know what a dance is?

Putting those thoughts aside, we headed back the way we came, I felt the fulminating gaze of the entity in the abyss burning my back, but those who appeared in front of us on the other side of the bridge caught our attention.

“D’arce, Le’garde.” I greeted them both impassively, gripping the hilt of the Shark’s Teeth. There is no way this will end well.

“Oh, it’s you! I… I never learned your name…” D'arce said happily, smiling when she saw me, but her expression changed to shame as she looked toward the ground.

“Greetings, you must be D'arce's friend. I don't believe I ever thanked you for saving me twice. And I see you've achieved what we came for.” Le'garde said kindly, but I didn't believe his words, as his gaze shifted towards Madeleine.

I stepped forward and pulled the child behind me. Simultaneously, I ordered Moonless and Iron Shakespeare to stand in front.

“What are you doing? We're not here to fight!” D'arce exclaimed, frustrated with my actions.

“My companion is right. That wasn't the best introduction, but I don't believe I did anything that deserves such hostility.” Le'garde continued, frowning as he assumed a fighting stance.

“GASP! And what happened to your arm?! And your voice?!” D'arce said in surprise, widening her eyes as she covered her mouth.

“A lot hasss happened since we went our ssseparate waysss, D'arce. I'm sssorry, but I can't give you the cube, not while he isss here.” I replied, pointing at Le'garde.

The man in question narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his sword. D'arce tilted her head in confusion but quickly moved to stop her beloved before a fight started.

Screams and sounds of fighting echoed in the distance, and the first attack did not come from Le’garde, but from the creatures that had climbed the platform. Creatures similar to the guards, but covered in fur, with a wolf-like head, and a mouth that extended toward the ground.

The Moonless Guards were here.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

D'arce and Le'garde acted quickly, jumping in opposite directions with surprised cries, dodging the large bloody cleaver that split the wooden floor between them with a crack followed by a shower of splinters.

They both assumed battle stances, D'arce with her longsword and shield and Le'garde with a ritual spear. Fear and surprise flashed across their faces but soon gave way to a determination born from their lives as mercenaries, probably.

I, on the other hand, cursed internally as I watched both moonless guards climb onto the platform, causing the precarious construction to shake and creak.

Of all times, why now?

Moonless growled beside me, barking furiously at the guards, Iron Shakespeare remained in combat stance, awaiting orders, while Madeleine stood behind me, her gaze alternating between the cube, the mercenaries, and the monsters.

For a moment, I thought D'arce and Le'garde would handle the job, as they both swung at the climbing creatures, delivering deep cuts and punctures. However, that soon changed as they rose to their full height, moving away their obvious weak spots and going on the offensive.

The first guard tried to close his massive jaws around Le'garde, but he held his spear horizontally as he stepped back, escaping the wall of twisted fangs. Unfortunately, this caused him to bump into D'arce, disrupting her aimed strike towards the second guard's left arm.

They both ducked immediately, dodging the slash that nearly split them in two, but they struggled to stand up and dodge the crushing kick aimed at them. This lack of coordination occurred for a simple reason: there was not enough space to fight.

We were on a narrow bridge suspended over a chasm, and the same was true for the way we came, a tiny open area with a narrow rock walkway leading to the God of the Depths, and I didn't want to face it again.

The guards suffered from the same problem, pushing and shoving each other, exchanging growls as they approached. As if that wasn't enough, cracks spread across the bridge, causing it to sway again, nearly tipping us over to our deaths.

This thing won't hold our weight! Damn it! Better to fight next to the damned God than die stupidly or have my only way out destroyed!

"Everyone, let'sss return, now! We can't fight here, thisss bridge won't hold ourrr weight!" I captured the mercenaries' attention as I pointed to the altar.

Moonless, Iron Shakespeare, and Madeleine went first, with me following shortly after. D'arce and Le'garde glanced over their shoulders at me, nodded, and retreated as well, delivering swift blows to disorient their enemies.

We crossed the bridge and took fighting stances in the open area, watching the guards slowly make their way towards us. There I felt the gaze of the God of the Depths on my back again and heard his voice.

"Feed me."

"Does anyone here have a plan?!"

"SHUT UP!"

"WHAT?!"

I cringed in shame and cursed internally when I realized I had yelled at D'arce, who now glared at me with a revolted face and raged eyes. I had the feeling she struggled between hitting the creatures or me.

"I'm so sssorry!" I replied quickly, thinking of a way out.

"There's enough space here for us to divide our enemies and face them separately. D'arce and I can fight one, but I would like the help of one of your allies." Le'garde suggested with disturbing calm, observing the monsters like a predator about to attack.

I know he has one of the most fortified minds here to carry Miasma without problems, but this is ridiculous.

Sweat ran down his face, sticking his long hair to his pale face as he breathed heavily, but he did not weaken, maintaining a slightly bent combat stance while holding his spear firmly.

If I did not know anything about this world, I would certainly fall for his charisma and determination and follow him to the ends of the earth. Is this the power of the Prophesized One, the power to make people obey his will?

The worst part is that he was right because his group was outnumbered. I believe that Moonless would be the best option because she did not need orders to fight.

"Moonlesss, go with them, we will find ourrr way againssst the guard!"

The wolf looked at me for a second before barking in confirmation, running to Le'garde and D'arce's side, although the latter glared at her suspiciously with narrowed eyes as she gripped her sword, receiving a menacing growl in response.

"This is Moonlesss, she's my friend and she helped me out a lot recently. You betterrr not attack herrr, or I'll come after you when I'm done with the guarrrd!"

"You can trust me, I'll make sure to keep her safe!" Le'garde replied, sending me a bright smile that made me click my tongue at how convincing it was. D'arce shook her head, sighing tiredly before focusing on the guards.

"I hope you knew what you were doing by putting your trust in that thing sir… Sir… I still don't know your name!"

"Micolash!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you properly, Micolash!" D'arce offered me a gentle smile.

"Likewise, D'arce!" I returned the gesture with my own, but tilted my head confused at her surprised reaction, then remembered my new teeth.

"Your teeth…"

"Yes, I know!"

"RRROOOAAARRR!"

"Save the introductions for later, here they come!" Le'garde interrupting our conversation.

"Feed me."

A cold shiver ran through my body as if I were on top of a snowy mountain.

I cast Glimmer of Truth as the first guard came into view. If the green smoke had any effect, he didn't show it, but it blinded him long enough for Iron Shakespeare to attack at my command.

The knight delivered a crushing punch to the side of the guard's head, disorienting him and causing a sickening crack to reverberate through the dark walls of the cave.

"Madeleine, legsss!"

The girl nodded and set the cube aside, throwing it into the house where the altar was and advancing towards the guard with her dagger raised, piercing his left knee with a spray of blood.

The guard staggered back, pulling the girl with him, but she managed to remove her weapon in time and escape the kick thrown at her as the monster recovered from its confusion.

She rolled across the ground as Iron Shakespeare threw a flaming straight punch, but the guard roared in fury and swung his right arm, hitting the knight's wrist and parrying the blow, leaving him open for a cleaver cut.

The weapon tore through the air, piercing the armor and cutting the undead's chest with a sharp screech followed by a shower of blood and sparks. The monster prepared to strike the unbalanced knight with the next blow, but I didn't allow it.

I advanced behind the Iron Shakespeare, tearing the flesh of the cleaver holding arm in the middle of the attack, simultaneously, Madeleine used her small form to bypass the monster unnoticed and cut the side and back of his already injured leg.

The moonless guard weakened and fell to one knee with a small tremor, Madeleine disappeared behind him, probably heading towards the other leg. I, meanwhile, continued cutting and tearing the guard's left arm, ripping off slices of fur, skin, and muscle, doing everything I could to disable the limb with the Shark Teeth.

It was strange, sweat dripped down my face, my heart raced, and I breathed heavily as blood splattered around me. A smile crept across my face as I saw my weapon stained red.

"Feed me."

I felt as if a thousand eyes were watching me, judging me, waiting for something.

No! Shut up! I screamed internally as I realized what happened. This is not the time for this! Not now!

I stepped back, barely escaping the deadly abyss that was the creature's mouth, but its fangs ripped off parts of my armor and trench coat as they closed in on my previous location, leaving huge rips in the leather and fabric.

The guard growled, standing up again as he chewed and spat the rags onto the floor, leaving them covered in saliva and blood. He tested his left arm and leg with light movements, bloody and injured, but still functional.

I ordered Iron Shakespeare to advance as I noticed the tremor in my enemy's limbs, a shaky leg, and a loose grip on his weapon.

Suddenly, the guard grunted in discomfort as Madeleine cut his remaining leg, but had to run as he turned toward her, trying to stomp and slash at her repeatedly.

She was fast and hard to hit, but she was slowly cornered against the cave wall. My vision reddened and I gritted my teeth in boiling rage.

I moved faster than I thought possible as I tightened my grip on my weapon, outpacing the heavy knight, and slashed the creature's back, straining my muscles to the limit.

It felt like I would tear my flesh, but the agonized yelp I received in return gladdened my heart.

I sank my blade into its body, pulling it down with all my strength, doing my best to split its it in two, reveling in every scream of pain and suffering.

"Feed me."

I heard the gnashing of colossal teeth dragging against each other in anticipation. The massive wound poured blood like a waterfall, bathing me in red, but a pang of regret arose midst the anger, for I had made a mistake.

The Sharkteeth was made to tear and slide, delivering quick and severe blows, not to sever, and I soon found myself unable to move my weapon, for it was stuck.

The guard seemed to realize the same, for instead of struggling and trying to throw me away, he ran backward, trapping me against his body and pushing me quickly toward the cave wall.

My eyes widened as I tried to escape, to cast a spell, to throw myself aside, anything! But there was no way out, there was no time, so all I could do was scream.

"NO, NO… ARGH!"

All the air left my body with a choked gasp and my vision darkened. I think I lost consciousness for a moment, shaking off the initial pain as an absurd weight crushed me against the wall, but not the subsequent pain that hit me like a train.

I heard several cracks that I prayed weren't my bones, but the twinges that ran through my body said otherwise, and I felt something twisting inside me.

I sighed in relief when the weight disappeared and fell to my hands and knees, screaming as air filled my lungs, but soon stopped when I felt something rising in my throat.

I tried to hold it in as the burning continued and my body shook, but I vomited a mixture of bile and blood onto the floor as tears escaped my eyes.

"Feed me."

I heard something approaching, shaking the ground. I saw a large shadow forming and when I raised my head, I saw an infinitely tall giant staring at me, but that vision soon disappeared, giving way to a raised cleaver.

I cast a spell, either out of desperation or instinct. Dark mud leaked from Kitab and the monstrous cats leapt at the guard. Unfortunately, the creature devoured half of them in one bite, but the rest returned the favor, scratching and biting his body.

I took advantage of this opening to crawl away, casting Healing Whispers along the way, healing myself more than the rest of my group, and giving Iron Shakespeare space to return to the fight.

Madeleine sidestepped the guard and the knight, nearly getting hit by careless blows, but escaping the corner where she was trapped and returning to my side.

I sat leaning against the cave wall, blending into the shadows and watching the fight. Meanwhile, the girl gave me another one of her worried looks, making my heart sink.

I lifted a shaky hand, breathing heavily, and placed it in front of her yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. She held it tightly, resting her forehead against my palm as I gave her a comforting smile.

"Don't worry, I'll surrrvive, nothing a few healing spellsss can't fix, but I need to rest rrright now."

Madeleine nodded and crouched down beside me, watching the fight, her grip on her dagger tightening anxiously. I knew she wanted to return the fight, but as much as it pained me to say it, we would be a hindrance.

"Wow, it's a miracle you survived!" Kitab laughed heartily, catching my attention.

I looked slowly in its direction, fatigue, and pain preventing me from acting any faster, and I frowned at its witty comment.

"I'm not in the mood for jokesss, Kitab. Iron Shakespeare's soul hasss done its work. Let me rest if you have nothing important to sssay." I replied through clenched teeth.

"What's with that tone?"

"I'd like to see you say the sssame if you were in my place! You weren't crushed againssst a wall!"

"Of course I was, you were holding me!"

"But you're a book incapable of fffeeling pain!"

Kitab was silent for a few moments while I glared at it, returning only a few seconds later.

"Well, you go me there! Sorry!"

"Hump! At leassst you had the nerrrve to regret it!"

"That aside, how do you feel? That thing hit you hard and is giving us more trouble than the giant lizard."

"I'll live, and you're right, the current terrrain has rrruined our teamwork, we barely have room to fight without hitting each otherrr."

"So, what's the plan?"

"Let the Iron Ssshakespeare fight while I support him with ssspells, and hopefully last until D'arce, Le'garde, and Moonless finish off theirrr guard."

Speaking of the other group, they were in a bad situation, but not as bad as mine.

The moonless guard punched Le'garde’s tomach, who let out a mute scream, spitting blood and saliva, and flying dangerously close to the edge of the chasm, almost taking D'arce with him.

Luckily, this allowed D'arce to advance and sever the monster's right arm with a powerful slash accompanied by a war cry. Flesh and bone gave way and the furry limb flew away, disappearing into the deep darkness with a trail of blood in its wake.

Moonless leaped onto the creature's back, sinking her claws and fangs into its body, but she showed more agility than I and escaped being crushed against the wall, returning to D'arce's side and assuming an attacking position.

Le'garde returned shortly after, the punch’s imprint on his armor’s and blood dripping from his mouth. D'arce had a black eye and a bloody cut on her left side. Moonless seemed the least injured, but I saw red stains on her fur.

The guard was the worst of the lot, with his right arm and eye missing, and his body covered in cuts, bites, and heavy punctures, spilling liters of scarlet liquid.

The mercenary captain rushed too fast for someone in heavy armor, narrowly dodging a cleaver slash that moved in a silvery blur, and piercing the monster's side with a wet thud.

He dropped his weapon and leaped back, dodging a decapitating blow and kicking the guard's legs, tearing off chunks of flesh and forcing the creature to its knees before retrieving his spear and moving away.

I focused on the Iron Shakespeare this time, watching as he pressed the guard against the cave wall, putting him in a similar position to the girl as the cats disappeared. I cast Glimmer of Truth repeatedly, confusing the monster, and allowing the knight to land crushing blows.

Punch after punch, the guard's bones broke and his fur ignited in flames, further deforming his body, until he stepped aside as his opponent delivered the final blow, dodging the attack and causing the knight's hammer fist to sink into the wall with a crash.

Stone and dust flew away, but the worst came when Iron Shakespeare was unable to remove his hand from the stone. A cruel gleam appeared in the guard's eyes and he swung his cleaver faster than I could cast a spell.

With a crack and a few sparks, the knight stumbled backward, separated from his left arm that stood in the wall.

My heart raced and my face contorted in despair. I screamed every insult I knew, but I bit my tongue, standing up with Madeleine's help, focusing on the fight.

The guard unleashed a barrage of cuts, tearing the knight's armor and staining the ground with the little blood that remained inside the undead. Fortunately, he felt no pain and must have already rotted inside the armor, but that didn't change the fact that the fight approached us.

"Feed me."

Don't look back! Don't look back! Don't look back! I screamed mentally, feeling the temperature of the place become glacial, making my teeth chatter and the feeling disappear from my extremities.

I left these thoughts behind when I saw the Iron Shakespeare using his remaining fist as a shield, mitigating the damage from the cuts that now sent metallic cracks through the environment.

I glimpsed the guard holding something shiny in his right hand, a coin, he intended to launch his hit kill attack!

The monster howled something and threw the coin up, simultaneously, I raised Kitab and cast a spell, feeling my brain almost explode in protest. The ghostly rat left the book and I controlled it, making it climb the knight and jump towards the coin at its apex.

The world slowed down as the rat approached with its mouth open, a glint of denial appeared in the monster's eyes and he reached towards the animal, but it was too late, my summon bit the coin and escaped through his fingers, landing and disappearing into the darkness.

"RRROOOAAARRR!"

The guard raised his arms, roaring in blind and animalistic fury, and swung his cleaver again, however, this small pause was all the undead knight needed.

He pulled his fist back and punched with strength and speed I thought impossible for a rotted undead. I didn't order him to do it, perhaps there was some remnant of conscience or humanity there, some desire to win or knightly honor.

It didn't matter in the end, as the flaming fist collided with the cleaver, destroying it in an explosion of glowing metal and boiling embers. The blow didn't stop and continued forward, colliding with the creature's hand and...

CRACK!

"RRROOOAAARRR!"

We all winced at the result, as the creature's fingers broke in different directions, becoming an unrecognizable mass of bone, flesh, and fur.

The bones of its forearm broke through its elbow with a wet, tearing sound, its biceps reached its shoulder, and the shoulder stopped above its head, with a spike of broken bone protruding from the top, completely mangling the limb.

The monster cried and thrashed in mad pain, its deafening roar creating an infernal noise. Iron Shakespeare pulled his fist back again and I felt a smile forming on my face.

I raised Kitab and cast Glimmer of Truth again, watching the world become distorted around me, nearly knocking me down with the absurd dizziness, revealing more than I used to seeing.

However, my smile died as the guard opened his monstrous jaw and bit down on the knight fist, losing a few fangs but keeping the limb in place. No matter how many spells I cast, how much I risked sinking into madness, and how many undesirable things I saw, he refused to release it.

Then the monster stepped forward, and the knight's feet slid back. The heavy footsteps turned into a frantic run, and Madeleine and I were face to face with a wall of metal and muscle approaching blindly.

I looked around and saw a chasm on both sides, if we tried to avoid it we would enter D'arce’s fight, whose group also stood in a difficult situation, with Le'garde leaning on his spear, Moonless limping while barking in defiance, and D'arce holding her sword with one hand while the other remained hanging.

There was only one way, back.

"Feed me."

We retreated to the stone and wood walkway toward the God of the Depths, entering a desperate situation. Madeleine remained at my side, holding her weapon with both hands in a fighting stance, but she fidgeted nervously in her place.

I was in no better shape, injured, tired, and with a splinting headache, seeing bizarre beings crawling from the darkness.

"Feed me."

The corners of my vision reddened and I felt the hatred returning. No! Not now! I need to think! I need to think!

"Feed me."

I called my rat back, ordering it to drop the coin and invade the guard's body, devouring his insides, and prioritizing the vital organs, but how long would that take? Did this thing even have human biology? The rat could be attacking something useless!

"Feed me."

My muscles burned and my teeth gritted, I hyperventilated as my blood rushed through my veins. No! No! No! Think of a way out! Cast a spell! Do anything, but don't lose yourself now!

"Feed me."

I cast spell after spell, rats, cats, green smoke, everything! But it wasn't enough, the monster still advanced and we were still retreated. Iron Shakespeare served as a shield, so we could not throw anything or strike the guard’s sides.

So, I did the only thing I could, I pushed.

"Feed me."

The cold steel touched my body as I hugged the knight, screaming in effort as I dug my feet into the ground. Madeleine did the same, her small form wrapping around the undead's right leg.

Her face contorted, a mixture of fear and courage shining in her eyes. I felt sorry for her and mentally kicked myself for thinking that, remembering the conversation I had with Nosramus.

You can't protect her forever! You should teach her how to fight! I will if we get out of this alive! I will get the divine weapon too!

"Feed me."

I stumbled for a moment, causing us to retreat a few inches. I licked my lips in anticipation, I wanted blood.

Suddenly, all the sound and color of the world disappeared and I felt an indescribable emptiness taking over me. Everything disappeared, there was no pain, no fear, no worry, no anger, there was nothing.

Something moved in the abyss, and two colossal purple hands, larger than any mountain, grabbed its edge with their ten fingers at the end of each limb with an unnatural gentleness.

Looking back, I saw the chest of a gigantic being rising from the abyss, this chest led to a neck connected to a head, but I looked down at the ground as soon as I saw a pair of yellow, swollen lips and what looked like a closed cyclops eye.

I should have been desperate, screaming, tearing my eyes out at the sight of a God, but there was nothing, just an abyss similar to the one that surrounded me, the absence of everything.

A color returned to the world, an intense purple light, more than any spotlight or star, it illuminated me as if on a stage, and then I heard his voice.

"Feed me."

Don't look up!

"Feed me."

Don't look up!

"Feed me."

"Don't look up."

"Feed me."

To hell with it…

I took a deep breath and let it go. The world turned red and I finally felt something, anger. There was no void, no light, no God, no abyss, only the thing that threatened to kill us, and I wouldn't allow it.

"AAAHHH!"

I grabbed Iron Shakespeare's shoulders, seeing the eyes on my mutated arm dilate and move erratically, and pulled myself up, climbing the knight until I stood above the moonless guard, staring at his monstrous face through my blurred vision.

I then opened my mouth and threw myself towards him, letting out a furious scream as everything disappeared.

-XXXXXX-

It shouldn't be like this! The moonless guard thought, a moment of sanity in his perverse mind, feeling his body scream in protest as the strange cats and rats slowly devoured his flesh.

It should have been easy! They were strong, fused with the cave beasts, becoming more powerful than any human! Ending these pests should have been simple! New toys to break and devour, but now the life left their bodies, blood running in rivers from their deep wounds, skin torn and burned, and fur in flames!

The knight was strong and resilient, more than anyone, but he was stupid and slow, the small creature was fast and dangerous if lost from sight, but fragile. The tall and thin being was the most dangerous, he knew how to cast spells and attacked with cruel brutality!

There was something wrong with him! His instincts screamed to kill him quickly because if he didn't, he would become something terrible! So he did, but the being survived somehow, now look where he stood in a desperate fight, trying to die and take his enemies with him!

Even if he survived, it would be impossible to live in the dungeons, as his injuries would make him a burden, his arms and legs mangled, he was nothing more than a crippled animal that would be thrown out of the pack, easy prey!

It would not end like this! He would kill the leader of the enemy pack and return to his brother, and together they would find new prey, but deep down, he knew that was not true.

The flaming fist in his fangs burned his mouth as tears flowed from his eyes, he pushed and pushed, driving them to the sleeping God, soon they would be its new meal! At least he could revel in their desperate screams, feel the sadistic pleasure in his heart one last time knowing that he would not die alone!

However, his ramblings died as he heard a deafening scream, a hissing voice that echoed through the darkness, sending a chill through his soul.

Then a shadow rose, blocking what little light remained, and when he looked up, he saw a gigantic mouth full of sharp, knife-like gleaming teeth splitting the enemy leader's face, and closing around his head.

CRACK!

It took him less than a second to register what happened, as the agonizing pain running through his body was a cruel indicator. No! Pain was not the right word, as the absurd pressure crushing his skull was indescribable! No word in the world could define it!

CRACK!

The teeth sank even deeper, sending a paralyzing shock through his body. He couldn't move, he couldn't feel his legs, which caused him to stop pushing and fall to his knees.

CRACK!

Unfortunately, he still felt something, his head turning to mush in his enemy's mouth, the forked tongue covering his face in saliva moving like a snake savoring its prey.

CRACK!

His vision reddened and his eyes popped from their sockets, a crushing headache making his world spin.

CRACK!

It wasn't supposed to end like this! How did it get to this point?! From a cruel and powerful guard who witnessed this dungeon go to hell, to a monster, beast, and now prey?! He was stronger than this! He should win!

CRACK!

He could no longer feel his arms he could no longer feel anything below his neck, only pain, infernal pain, hallucinating pain, cruel pain, boiling pain, pain, pain, pain… Who was this being? What was he doing here? Why delve deeper into the dungeon? Why were his instincts screaming to kill him?

CRACK!

He would do things differently if he could go back in time, he would never have faced the monster in front of him, he would never have made a flesh marriage, he would never have accepted service in the dungeons, he would never have gotten out of bed that day, he would have been a better person, sought a fair and honest life, he… He…

CRACK!

He didn't want to die! So he begged in his mind, begged to be spared! Begged to be let go, but the monster wouldn't stop, it kept tearing at his flesh! This was how his victims felt before the end?! When there was no chance of victory and the mercy of their assailant was the only salvation?! He could only beg for forgiveness!

CRACK!

He could no longer see, however, the pain was still there! How long would this torture last?! Suddenly, a divine light shone in the darkness, like the most beautiful sunrise.

A flapping of wings echoed in his ears and a shadow appeared in the light, slowly descending and revealing its form. It was an angel! The Gods were truly merciful, for an angel had come to take him to paradise!

He was dressed in white from head to toe, white shoes, white pants, a long white shirt with long sleeves ending in gloves of the same color, a long black sash wrapped around his stomach, tightening his shirt and giving the lower section the appearance of a skirt that covered his hips and part of his thighs.

The angel wore a white cloak with a hood attached to his body with a type of metal buckle, but this did not hide his large pair of majestic wings full of white feathers. He extended his right hand as he descended from the heavens, keeping his left hand above his chest in a solemn position.

Using all the remained strength, he extended his right hand towards the angel, ready to be taken.

However, his relief turned into a primal fear when the angel caught his wrist in a crushing grip and hunched forward quickly, revealing a face as dark as night, with a pair of eyes like perfectly round blue jewels, and a toothy smile from ear to ear.

The left side of the angel's chest opened, revealing a mass of red eyes and dark tentacles, the same went for his back, from where several green tentacles came and whipped the air.

The angel opened his mouth, revealing an infinite void and a distorted laugh emanated, but not from the being in front of him. Looking up one last time, the guard understood why his instincts screamed so much, for a smiling moon stared at him, laughing at his suffering.

In his final moments, he could only regret not having killed the monster and spared the world from what would come. Thankfully, his torment finally ended when the angel closed its teeth around his head and everything went dark.

CRACK!

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

I swung my sword with a war cry, tearing through the flesh of the monstrosity in front of me, leaving a trail of silvery red in its wake.

At the same time, Le’garde flanked it with swift steps, piercing its left side with a deep thrust of his spear, drawing a red spray after a soft, wet crunch.

The strange wolf-like creature lunged forward, snarling with bared fangs, biting into the beast’s right leg, tearing its limb apart and cracking its bones with a sickening crack.

The creature’s guttural, agonized howl reverberated through the dark, rocky chamber, making me grit my teeth against the ringing that hurt my ears.

The wolf retreated into the shadows, thrashing and yelping painfully, while my captain stepped back, cowering, using his spear as a crutch while holding his wounded arm. 

I resisted the instinct to cover my ears, avoiding falling into a terrible combat stance, opening my guard to an unexpected attack from my enemy. 

However, the gnashing in my mouth and the pain in my head were insignificant compared to the rest of the afflictions that ravaged my body. 

My limbs burned and protested against every action I took, exhausted by the endless macabre dance. 

Advance, attack, retreat, dodge, defend, parry, this process would repeat itself until one of us was dead. 

I did not intend to be the first. 

My armor threatened to topple me in a moment of weakness, weighing down like a blacksmith's anvil on my entire body. 

A brief loss of strength in my legs was all I needed to fall toward the ground.  

Whether I would ever rise again… Well… That was a different story.

My chest burned and each breath required an enormous effort, creating clouds in my partially obscured vision. 

It felt like fire ran through my veins and each blink extended the dark edges that brought eternal sleep.

Oh, Alll-mer, what if I stopped for just an instant? Would it be so wrong? Would you condemn your devoted follower for a moment of weakness? Can I sit and rest, believing that I am under your watch and care? When… If I open my eyes, will I find myself in this accursed abyss, or beside you in paradise?

I widened my eyes and shook my head, dispelling these sinful ponderings.

D’arce, how dare you doubt at a time like this?!

I wiped the sweat that was running down my forehead like a waterfall, soothing my eyes and unsticking my hair from my face.

Forgive me for my lack of faith, my God, I know that you would not abandon your sheep in a time of trial! Not when you proudly observe our devotion with your eternal love, ready to guide us to new heights with each challenge overcome! If you allow me, I only ask one thing of you, one thing, and I swear that I will never demand anything from you again. Give me the strength to face this abomination!

I took a deep breath, feeling refreshed, as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

I stopped clenching my teeth, the pain in my head receded, my arms and legs pulsed with energy, my gear became light as a feather, my heart burned in my chest with unshakable determination and I had never seen so clearly.

I tightened my grip on the hilt of my sword, hearing the material creak, and scanned my surroundings with a sharp gaze born of my time on the battlefield.

Teeth, eyes, and metal gleamed faintly in the darkness. The wolf circled like a beast, limping and growling with every step, but remaining defiant, like a predator about to spring upon its prey.

The beast knew this, there was animalistic recognition in its gaze, a mixture of the intelligence of what had once been human and the instinct of what was left of an animal.

The corners of his massive, bloody, salivating mouth twitched unsteadily, responding to the sounds uttered by the dark wolf, and his remaining limbs twitched dangerously, ready for the next strike.

Le’gard headed in the opposite direction, raising his spear with both hands, moving with a cautious step, one foot after the other, almost dragging them on the ground.

His chest rose and fell heavily, as if he would stop at any moment, his long hair, once beautiful but now filthy with dust, blood and sweat, tangled in front of his pale face, and his fighting stance faltered slightly with each painful movement.

I was in no better situation, we could not continue like this for much longer. It was time to put this beast down.

“RRROOOAAARRR!”

The beast released a deafening roar, a shocking sound that seemed to shake our surroundings.

We returned the gesture, letting out our war cries and howls, enduring the familiar pain and advancing on the monster.

A swing of his remaining arm kept Le’gard at bay, forcing him to back away awkwardly as he raised his spear to the side, using it as a shield.

The attack left an opening for the wolf to close the distance, circling the beast and drawing its attention, dodging the kicks and bites it unleashed, but finding itselfmyself pressed against the cave walls.

I narrowed my eyes and waited for the perfect opportunity, approaching cautiously, my sword steady and raised, my feet light and nimble.

Just when it seemed the wolf would be crushed against the cold rock and become a red stain on its future grave, my brother-in-arms plunged his weapon into the beast’s back, which arched, screaming in fury, and turned quickly, separating the spear from its owner.

Opening its gigantic mouth filled with knife-sized fangs that would devour and tear apart a grown man in a single bite, the monstrosity intended to condemn my companion, but I would not allow it.

I abandoned my shield and gripped my sword with both hands, assuming a combat stance focused on speed and moving as fast as lightning.

At the same time, Le'gard swung his leg with absurd speed and force, sweeping his opponent's lower limbs.

Our enemy stumbled and fell to his knees with a heavy thud, chunks of his legs torn off by the powerful blow, putting him within my reach.

I focused intently on the target ahead, like a hawk about to strike down its prey. There was nothing left but my blade and what it would prove.

"AAAHHH!"

I screamed with all my might, thrusting my sword forward, using the little energy I had left to pierce the side of the monster's head.

SCHING!

SPLURT!

Cold steel pierced through blood, flesh, and bone, piercing its brain and exiting the other side in a crimson stream.

The beast stopped with its hand in the air, red liquid leaking from its bloodshot eyes and broken snout, but that was not the end.

I growled in effort, pulling my sword to the right, cutting half of its skull, swinging it above my head and delivering a subsequent blow in the opposite direction.

With that final movement, the creature that tormented us fell forward, similar to a cut tree, staining the ground with its blood and severed brain.

Silence consumed us as we observed the corpse. I, I prayed that it would not get up, for it would not be able to continue fighting.

We watched the wolf approach and sniff the body, my heart clenching during the tense moments that passed.

However, a smile crept onto my face when the wolf stepped on the beast's back with its front paws and howled in victory.

That was the signal for me to finally stop, I dropped my sword and shield, letting them fall with a sharp crack. 

The crushing weight in my hands disappeared, but the tremor in my legs carried me down.

I fell to my feet, grunting in pain, but then sighing in relief.

I leaned back, staring at the dark ceiling as I propped myself up on my arms, slowly lying down.

Thank you! Thank you, Alll-mer! I knew you wouldn't abandon me! Forgive me for doubting! I swear I will continue to fight in your name and spread your word throughout the world!

Everything hurt, words could not describe the exhaustion I felt.

I wanted nothing more than to get out of my armor and rest my battered muscles, but this was not a safe place for that, no place in this damned dungeon was.

I caught my breath in slow, heavy gulps, filling my burning chest with valuable air, and looked around, spotting the wolf licking his wounds in a corner and Le'gard sitting on the floor against a nearby wall.

Our eyes met in silence and expressionless faces, until he gave me a smile and a playful wink, making me laugh out loud at the absurdity of the situation.

“That was quite a fight, wasn’t it?” He laughed, breaking the silence.

“You say it like it was a good thing!” I replied in a mix of joy and sarcasm.

“I would never dream of it, I hope I don’t encounter another one of those anytime soon. My heart wouldn’t be able to take it.”

“As long as we work together, I’m sure we’ll win.”

“Hm… Value yourself more, you did most of the work and killed that thing. Speaking of us, where’s your friend, his daughter, and the giant knight? We lost sight of them in the darkness, I pray they’re okay.”

I mentally scolded myself for having forgotten about Micolash and his group.

Were they still alive? I’m ashamed to think about it, but I believe we would have heard if they had died. Perhaps they won after all, there is no second beast roaming around here.

CRASH!

The sound of something large hitting the ground interrupted my thoughts, drawing our attention, something was moving ahead in the darkness.

I smiled, muttering a prayer of thanks as I spotted our companions alive and well.

The child, the giant knight we had defeated earlier but had somehow returned, was Micolash.

The remaining beast was dead, resting in a pool of its own blood, with the latter lying on its chest, however, there was something wrong with this sight.

The girl hid trembling behind the knight's legs, watching with wide, teary eyes, a horrified face and hands clasped in apprehension the behavior of her protector.

I followed his gaze, frowning in confusion at Micolash's attitude. He wasn't unconscious, as he was still moving, albeit erratically, but he didn't move away from his enemy's corpse, keeping his face close to the body.

“Micolash…”

“SSSHHH!”

The child interrupted my speech, staring at me deeply, placing a hesitant finger in front of his lips, releasing a hiss to silence me.

I would ask the reason behind this, but the answer came when the man on top of the monster stopped moving, filling the surroundings with a freezing silence, and slowly raised his head, accompanied by the sickening sound of something tearing.

I regretted having called his name when his bloody face focused on me.

His mask, hood and mouth were covered in red that dripped towards the ground, giving him the appearance of a merciless killer.

His slitted eyes glowed in the darkness, similar to those of a cat or snake, making me feel like prey being analyzed by a predator.

His red-drenched mouth consumed a large chunk of raw meat, still possessing the fur and skin of his victim, and one eye remained dangling between his deadly, gleaming fangs.

We stood in tense silence, waiting for who would act first. My mouth had never felt so dry, I licked my lips and reached for my sword, glancing around so as not to be caught off guard. Luckily, my weapon was close behind me. 

I reached a tired hand toward it, opening and closing my grip in midair. I groped for the ground and accidentally pushed my blade away, but I had never felt so relieved and secure when my fist closed around the hilt. 

Micolash's unearthly eyes stared deep into my soul, he knew I was up to something, and with an inhuman roar, he closed the distance like a maddened animal. 

His speed was astonishing, moving on all fours during the initial thrust, but rising into a hunched posture halfway. 

His skinned arm, covered in eyes and tipped with bone claws, plunged toward my face. I rolled away, yelping in surprise and rising to one knee. 

I gasped as his blow pierced my previous location with a crack, leaving five circular holes in the now cracked ground. 

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” I pointed my sword at him, demanding answers and receiving another maddened roar in return. 

His second attack was more predictable, despite his speed. I stood up and stepped to the side, dodging a vertical swing from below. 

I avoided having my belly ripped open like a pig’s and pondered my next action in the following moments. 

I had no desire to hurt the one who had helped me despite all the harm I had caused him, but I would not allow myself to be struck down after overcoming such a challenge. 

I brought the pommel of my blade down towards his head, intending to knock him unconscious. 

Horror covered my face as the countless red, glowing eyes on his arm stared at me in perfect synchrony, demonstrating intelligence. 

Micolash moved nimbly, twisting his body and grabbing my wrist with his misshapen arm, holding it in a painful grip.

“STOP!”

What happened?! He wasn’t that strong!

However, he was still far from overcoming me. I gritted my teeth and planted my feet on the ground, escaping having my neck ripped open as he pulled me towards his toothy mouth and pulled him in the opposite direction, punching his face with my free hand.

The metal of my gauntlet hitting his mask cracked in my ears, and he staggered disoriented, releasing me and allowing me to continue.

“YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN! THIS PLACE WANTS TO DRIVE US INSANE! MAKE US KILL EACH OTHER…”

“AAAHHH… ARGH!”

A furious scream interrupted by another punch was his response, putting him in a trembling position, almost collapsing.

“IF YOU WON’T LISTEN TO MY WORDS THEN MY FISTS WILL MAKE MY MESSAGE CLEAR! STOP AND CALM DOWN, COME TO YOUR SENSES BEFORE I HAMMER SOME SENSE INTO YOUR HEAD! IF I ESCAPED INSANITY THEN SO CAN YOU!”

My efforts were in vain, as he showed no signs of stopping. The next blow was aimed at my left side, which I easily avoided and slapped his face with the back of my hand.

The next one, aimed at my chest, I stepped back, escaping his reach and punching him in the jaw.

“I SEE YOU WON’T GIVE UP WHILE YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH!”

The same goes for me! By Alll-mer, I’m about to pass out!

Maybe I hit him too hard in the head. He closed the distance in a blind, clumsy lunge. I simply moved to the left and put my leg in the way, knocking him to the ground.

“I admire your determination, but you are no warrior! Now stay down!”

I clicked my tongue in frustration as Micolash struggled to get up, and I prepared to kick him to end this. 

However, the mass of orbs focused on me again, and he dodged to the side, dodging my attack.

I would have applied more pressure, but a handful of dirt met my eyes, briefly blinding me.

I grunted in pain, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to regain my vision, catching glimpses amidst the chaos. 

I swung my sword carelessly every time I thought I had found my opponent. 

A futile effort, as something threw itself at me, hitting my chest and knocking me to the cold, hard ground.

A weight held me down, and when my vision returned, I barely had time to get my blade in the way of the gnashing fangs approaching my face.

Micolash's jaw snapped shut with such force that I found myself unable to move my weapon.

Several loud cracks snapped me out of my thoughts of how this was possible.

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

Cracks spread across the steel.

What happened to you? How did you become this thing? How did you gain such strength? You are no longer the person I once knew.

The metal groaned and bent, splintering as his mouth closed. Shards of blood, saliva, and grease rained down in all directions, some lightly cutting my face.

I recoiled in pain, closing my left eye as blood obstructed my vision. This was an inconvenience compared to the situation I found myself in.

The irony was palpable, I was fighting for my life this time. So this was how Micolash had felt when I had nearly killed him in my madness.

Hmph! And I had never apologized properly. Of all the dangers in this damned place, being killed by another human being was one of the most humiliating ends.

I dropped the remains of my weapon and used both hands to pull Micolash's face away from mine before he could bite it off.  

The sight of the fanged, drooling mouth close to my face was terrifying, death so close at hand. 

Unfortunately, without my sword and with both hands occupied, my attacker was free to try other methods. 

“AAAHHH!” 

His right hand, tipped with claws, closed around my left shoulder, piercing my armor, chainmail, and the flesh just below. 

Blood gushed from the wounds as I felt the sharp, curved pieces of bone lodge themselves. 

“GASP!” 

My screams ceased as his remaining hand wrapped around my throat, his grip tight as a monster’s, crushing my airway. 

If he didn’t break my neck, then I would suffocate, and I couldn’t tell which fate would be preferable. 

My breaths slowed, becoming slow and painful, each breath burning in my chest as the air left my lungs. 

The corners of my vision darkened again, my strength fading, allowing Micolash to approach. I shivered in disgust as his serpentine tongue licked my face, leaving a trail of saliva.

I think this would be the end. My efforts, prayers and faith were in vain, I will die here, devoured by the one I forced to help me. 

I think I deserve this in the end, perhaps Alll-mer chose this as penance for my sins, truly ironic.

Why did I come here?! What brought me to this place?!

I knew the answer, I was selfish and foolish, selfish for focusing only on my goal without caring about the consequences of my actions, and foolish for allowing myself to be manipulated by everyone around me!

I escaped from my parents who decided my future for me only to fall into Le'gard's good graces, becoming his right hand, but still taking orders! Blinded by a childish love!

It's always been this way, always following someone else, always having my destiny decided by others, and look where it got me! I should have made my own choices! Said no when something was decided for me!

I should have taken control! Be the one being followed instead of the one following! Carved my path!

I felt the calming embrace of unconsciousness approaching and the hot breath and growls burning my face. I couldn't fight, I didn't have the strength.

I resigned myself and let it happen, praying that it would be painless and that Alll-mer would wait for me with open arms, ready to accept me by his side.

CLANG!

“GGGRRR!”

“AAAHHH!”

I heard a metallic impact followed by growls and screams of pain., II glimpsed the child carrying my shield, repeatedly striking Micolash's head.

She was small in relation to the metal piece and didn't have the strength to swing it properly, preventing her from knocking her father off with a single blow.

Simultaneously, the wolf bit Micolash's pants, preventing him from getting any closer.

I couldn't think straight, I couldn't feel anything anymore, I didn't know how long this lasted, but the one who had almost brought about my end fell on top of me, remaining motionless.

The girl with teary eyes was the last thing I saw before everything went dark. I murmured a thank you and allowed my body to rest.

-XXXXXX-

Le’garde ran through the mine tunnels, breathing heavily as he held the cube in his hands. 

His wounds burned, his side bled, and he limped with every step, but he wouldn’t stop, not when he was so close.

Abandoning D’arce left a bad taste in his mouth, but there was a clear conflict of interests between his group and Micolash’s. 

The strange young man didn’t trust him, that was clear from the beginning.

He didn’t know why he had saved him in the catacombs, perhaps to escape immediately with everyone’s help, but he had a way with words and an unusual knowledge about this dungeon, able to convince everyone and always be one step ahead, after all, how had he reached the cube first if he didn’t know where to go?

That didn’t matter now. D’arce and he must be dead by now, and he needed to return to the catacombs, to enter the city of the gods.

Suddenly, a strange music echoed through the tunnels, with voices and instruments foreign to him, despite having roamed Rondor and neighboring kingdoms and seen their diverse cultures.

Please, allow me to introduce myself

I’m a man of wealth and taste

I’ve been around for a long, long year

Stole many a man’s soul and faith

His face contorted in confusion and his movements became cautious, leaning against the walls and peering into every corner and passage in search of the source of the noise.

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ

Had His moment of doubt and pain

Made damn sure that Pilate

Washed his hands and sealed his fate

It was louder now, however, he was not confident in his chances of victory, wounded and unarmed. Someone playing music showed signs of intelligence, perhaps he could negotiate his way out.

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guess my name

But what’s puzzling you

Is the nature of my game

Le’garde was met with a sight that would have been comical if it weren’t macabre just around the corner, ghosts and skeletons singing, dancing and playing instruments in a makeshift ballroom in a rocky chamber.

I stuck around Saint Petersburg

When I saw it was a time for a change

Killed the Czar and his ministers

Anastasia screamed in vain

Colored lights shone from the ceiling, expensive carpets stretched across the floor, tables laden with food and drink stood in the corners, and in the center of it all, there was a man with his back turned.

I rode a tank

Held a general’s rank

When the Blitzkrieg raged

And the bodies stank

Before he could even say a word, the man turned around quickly with exaggerated pomp and poise, displaying his features, or lack thereof. 

He was an absurdly tall being, nearly three meters tall, wearing a long gray robe that reached his shins, but did little to hide his feet ending in hooves. 

His skin was dark as the starless night, in every part of his body responses, including his elongated fingers ending in sharp nails and his smooth, featureless face, except for a pair of yellow eyes glowing like flames. 

Only his gestures and the tone of his voice indicated his emotions, welcoming him with open arms. 

“Welcome, Le’garde, I’ve been waiting for you!” 

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guess my name, oh, yeah

But what’s puzzling you

Is the nature of my game, oh, yeah

His first instinct was to run away, but he found himself unable to do so, his body wouldn’t obey him, as a primal fear gripped his heart.

“How do you know my name?!” He uttered in a shaky voice, surprised that he could speak.

“I know many things, a name is nothing impressive, although it would be foolish not to know the name of The Prophesized One.”

“How did you…”

An invisible force pulled him towards the man and his feet slid across the floor, no matter how much he struggled.

“SSSHHH! Didn’t you pay attention to what I just said? Don’t waste my time with useless questions. But where are my manners? I didn’t introduce myself, did I? You can call me Tep, and I have a proposition for you.”

I watched with glee

While your kings and queens

Fought for tem decades

For the gods they made

“You see, my associates and I have come to a rare moment of unity and have decided to do a little experiment with an individual who has been proving interesting, something that came out of sheer boredom. Unfortunately, this has caught the attention of an unsavory person who has approached this individual and offered him a deal, just as I am doing with you. And what did the bastard do?! HE ACCEPTED! EVEN AFTER EVERYTHING WE HAVE DONE FOR HIM!”

Suddenly, the entire dungeon shook, as if a giant had stepped on the surface. Tep took a deep breath, calming himself, clearing his throat and adjusting his clothes before continuing.

“Forgive me, I almost lost my temper, but back to the subject... I believe this is our fault, as we have established extremely loose rules, but that is no excuse for accepting my enemy's proposal. That is where you come in, I know of your dreams of greatness and I wish to help you, after all, it is not every day that a pathetic mortal has the chance to become a God. I will give you the power to achieve your goals, in exchange I want you to do something for me.”

I shouted out

Who killed the Kennedys?

When, after all

It was you and me

Tep signaled for Le'garde to speak, but no words came out of his mouth, his mind still trying to process the situation until he finally formulated something.

“What if I don't accept?”

“You will be free to leave, but you will face everything in your path at your own risk.”

Time passed in tense silence, the Mercenary Captain pondered his next move, whether it would be worth joining this incomprehensible being, or continuing with all the odds against him.

“What do you want me to do?”

“TSK! TSK! TSK! We need to seal the deal first. Shake my hand!”

Let me, please, introduce myself

I’m a man of wealth and taste

And I laid traps for troubadours

Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Le’garde eyed the outstretched hand with suspicion, hesitating to accept it.

“Shake my hand! Come on, boy, won't you shake a poor sinner's hand?” Tep insisted.

Against all logic and common sense, he accepted the handshake.

“Yes!” Tep exclaimed, smiling broadly, if he could.

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guessed my name, oh, yeah

But what’s puzzling you

Is the nature of my game, oh, yeah

Get down, hit it

“Now listen carefully, for I will not repeat myself. This is the moment to ask, so you might as well take advantage of it. The young man who calls himself Micolash and the girl who follows him have very special souls...”

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah

But what's puzzling you

Is just the nature of my game

Just as every cop is a criminal

And all the sinners saints

As heads is tails

Just call me Lucifer

'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

 So if you meet me

 Have some courtesy

 Have some sympathy, and some taste

 Use all your well-learned politesse

 Or I'll lay your soul to waste, oh yeah

 Pleased to meet you

 Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah

 But what's puzzling you

Is the nature of my game, a mean it, get down

 Woo, who

 Oh yeah, get on down

 Oh yeah

 Oh yeah!

 Tell me baby, what's my name

 Tell me honey, can you guess my name

 Tell me baby, what's my name

 I tell you one time, you're to blame, 

END OF CHAPTER

I have something to show you guys. 

I wanted to do things myself and have been learning how to draw, so I would like to show you the drawings I made about this fic.

I would like to apologize for the paper's condition, since all of them took a lot of work to make.

First, we have the angel from the previous chapter.

This was the first version I made months ago.

Now this is the most recent one.

Micolash's mutations: Right arm, mouth, eyes, ears and tongue.

Older Micolash and Madeleine, Fear and Hunger 2 Termina Version

Finally, a redesign for Micolash with his mutations, still keeping the pretty boy look. But now he remembers me of a Jojo character.

That is it for now, I have other drawings ready, but they are older and reveal spoilers, so I will reveal them when the time is right.

Leave your thoughts and opinions of them and the chapter! See you later!

Chapter Text

I floated disoriented and confused in a shadowy void, shrouded in darkness.

There were no landmarks, no floor, walls or ceiling, nothing to indicate my location or distance, so I simply remained.

How much time had passed?

It was uncertain, nothing made sense, there was no way to measure time. There was no sun, no moon, no hourglasses or grandfather clocks.

I tried to scream for help, but I had no voice, no mouth, no teeth, no tongue or throat. Nothing would come out of my being, no matter how much I struggled, for there was no body to inhabit.

What happened to me?

Strangely, a cozy calm settled on my nonexistent shoulders like a soft, warm blanket.

Momentarily, I remembered my childhood, where my dear and loving mother would tuck me in to bed, telling me stories, searching for monsters in my room, or comforting me after a nightmare.

Oh, I never said goodbye properly. An argument was our last interaction before I ran away from home due to a foolish dream. Will I ever see her again?

What I wouldn't give to go back. Retrace my steps. Take a different path and make different choices. Not make the same mistakes. Tell her how much I loved her. Tell her how sorry I was…

The logical side that made up my bizarre incorporeal existence warned me that something was wrong, a tingling in my invisible head.

Suddenly, numbness ran through my essence and the memories I held so dearly and fondly turned to gray.

I was aware that this was worrying and what I should feel in this situation, fear, despair, anger, and more, but apathy was what took over.

I watched as my memories became monotonous and colorless, starting with the earliest childhood memories and moving toward the most recent moments.

I watched my life unfold, my moments of joy, anger, and sadness, my fears, mistakes, and embarrassments, my highs and lows.

I remembered every hug and compliment, every scolding and frown of disapproval, every fall and cry.

I saw people who had disappeared from my life, their existences remembered in this moment of revelation.

I should miss my family, but I am unable to.

Nothing was left out. The outside perspective revealed all my flaws to me.

An obedient little girl trying to please everyone, blind to her imperfections. Too bad it's impossible to change that now.

Everything was melting away into nothing, like candle wax slowly melting, leaving a void similar to the one I was traveling in.

Was this death? Wandering through eternal darkness towards nonexistence? Where was what I was taught? Where was Alll-mer? Where was the paradise we were promised? Have I been deceived my whole life?

Fear never came, despair became unknown, sadness and revolt disappeared from my vocabulary.

One, two, three…

I counted the invalid seconds in a futile attempt to concentrate, giving up and falling silent moments or eternities later.

Then I returned to my transient, insensitive state, waiting for what would come next.

W̷̨̰̫̻̼͉̟͕̊̐̀̐ä̸̩́́͌̔͑̿̏̿̃̀̅̏̔́̑͘k̵̡̯̦̙̖̰̠̣̪̞̝̠̭̰̠̈́̓͒̚e̶͍̭͇̮̰͍̦̹̳̘̪̱͜͜͠ ̸͉͒͠ŭ̸͙͐̄͂̄͗̉͒̐̔̏̚͝͠͝p̷͙̞̠͎̼̝̙̙͈̈́͋͛͒̏̒̎̀̈́̊͒͒̇̈́!̴̡̨͔͎̜̼̺̩̼̭̩̩̙͕́͜

A powerful whisper reverberated through the void, shaking its foundation, the blinding light of a thousand suns drove away the gloom, and gathering every ounce of power and determination I had left, I opened my eyes.

-XXXXXX-

“GASP!” I woke up with my lungs screaming for air, analyzing my surroundings with wide eyes and a confused face soaked in sweat.

A battle instinct strengthened by years of combat forced me to search for a weapon when I found myself in an unfamiliar place, a dark, damp and suffocating rocky chamber.

It was only after I stood up with trembling legs and an aching body that I realized the familiarity of the environment.

Everything came back like a war hammer blow to my head and I grabbed the air near the scabbard at my waist, mentally kicking myself as I remembered the fate of my sword, seeing its fragments shining faintly on the filthy floor.

But if I'm still alive then that means...

I wasted no time and raised both hands, assuming a combat stance as I searched for my opponent.

I frowned as pain assaulted my mind and eyes, the walls seemed to spin, showing me their twisted surface and glimpses of the corpses of beasts, an armored giant, a dark beast, and a worried child standing next to something.

I squinted my eyes, focusing on that something, and there it was, Micolash sitting on the floor and against one of the cave walls, next to a walkway of rock and wood over the dark abyss.

I couldn't see his face, but he displayed a disconcerting casualness in his posture and actions compared to what had occurred.

His legs were crossed, like the meditating statues I had heard about in the Eastern Sanctuaries.

He stroked the head of the child who remained seated between his legs, now helmetless, imitating his position while holding a rag doll with both hands, shaking it slightly or moving its limbs.

In a stomach-churning display, Micolash removed a small piece of flesh from the corpse of the beast beside him, tearing it off with a wet, slurping sound, and carrying it toward what I assumed was its mouth, before stopping and tossing it to the ghostly rats waiting at his feet.

The rodents’ spirits fought over the piece, squealing and scratching at each other before tearing it into three parts, devouring their respective portions.

Then he tore off a larger piece with disturbing ease, using it to attract the attention of his wolf, whose head and tail excitedly followed the swing of his arm, like a trained pet.

With a throw, the piece of flesh closed the distance toward the animal, which leaped and bit it out of the air in a single, precise movement, sinking its misshapen fangs into its master’s gift.

It was no different from the wolves of nature in this case, tearing large pieces and devouring them in a few bites while dragging him to his corner.

The great knight was the only one who did not act, similar to a statue next to Micolash.

For the moment, I did not know how to act, I had witnessed horror after horror since my arrival in this hell, but never something so contrasting, wrong, but indifferent to everyone.

I had my back to the exit and I imagined that I could escape and find a weapon if I was fast enough, not to continue the fight, I was alive and I would not ruin this chance.

I moved with light steps, or at least I tried, the armor and fatigue made it difficult for me to escape. Strangely, I did not feel the pain of my injuries and I would not waste time checking them now.

CRACK!

I immediately flinched as I crushed a small rock beneath my feet and felt a pang in my heart as all eyes focused on me.

The knight didn't react and the wolf watched me disinterestedly before returning to eating, but Micolash was the one that worried me the most.

He stopped immediately, with one hand on the girl's head and the other in the air.

The eyes on his arm turned towards me one by one, watching me intensely as they blinked at different intervals.

His head moved seconds later, slowly turning, revealing his glowing yellow eyes to me.

I braced myself for combat, but the threat I expected never came. He seemed to whisper something to the child as he handed her something.

Nodding, the girl put on her helmet, stood up and walked towards me without the fear she had shown at our first meeting.

As she approached, I noticed the leather armor and the bloody dagger she was carrying, along with the light wounds where there was exposed skin.

Has she been fighting since we parted?

She stopped in front of me and raised her head, staring at me with her yellowish eyes that pierced the depths of my soul and her emotionless face like that of a painting.

A shiver ran through my body, I never imagined that I would fear a child, but her current appearance belonged to horror stories.

However, her next actions contradicted my assumptions, handing me a bread while smiling weakly before returning to her father's lap.

I said thank you, but received no response, so I just sat in a dark corner and rummaged through the leather bag at my waist, removing some cheese and mushrooms for my meal.

I choked in disgust at the taste, the ingredients were old and it wasn't the best combination to eat raw, but it had to do.

In the meantime, I pondered what my next move would be.

Le'garde had disappeared and I didn't feel like looking for him, not after everything that had happened before and after we entered the dungeon.

The senseless slaughter of the innocents, his growing obsession with the occult, his imprisonment in the dungeon, what was the point of all this?

The red-haired foreigner harbored a burning hatred for Le'garde, was he related to one of the victims?

The Dark Priest mentioned something about a cube that Le'garde possessed, what was so important about that?

The mercenary seemed to be the only one without ulterior motives, wanting the reward for the rescue

Our arrival here was too coincidental to be pure chance. There was something going on here, some bigger plan, but what was I supposed to do, leave or move forward?

Hump! For once there is no one giving me orders and I don't know how to act. D'arce, you really are a trained dog, aren't you?

I was pulled from my thoughts by a movement in the corner of my vision.

Micolash had gotten up and was now dragging the remains of the fallen creature's corpse towards the end of the walkway, throwing it into the abyss.

CRUNCH!

CRACK!

I raised a questioning eyebrow as I heard sounds of chewing, flesh tearing and bones breaking.

Morbid curiosity burned in my chest and I struggled to decide whether to check or not.

Against all odds, I stood up and approached the walkway, for I was tired of remaining ignorant to the mysteries that surrounded me.

I spotted Micolash reading something in the strange grimoire attached to his left arm by a green tentacle, far from the worst thing I had seen, but still worrying.

I had no love for magic, much less for that of unknown pagan Gods, but the Priest's words echoed in my mind.

As much as I hated to admit it, there was a lot I didn't know.

Are there other true Gods besides Alll-mer? Is Micolash being watched by them?

I heard his whispers as I approached, but his words made no sense to me.

“Hm… Ssso the removed mechanicsss still work…”

Mechanics?

Suddenly, he turned on his heel and walked past me in a hurried pace, making me recoil in surprise, completely ignoring my presence and dragging the remaining corpse into the abyss.

CRUNCH!

CRACK!

“What are you doing?” I jumped slightly at my words, not expecting to utter them so quickly, much less for them to be answered.

“I’m incrrreasing my affinity with the God of the Depthsss.” Micolash replied as he pointed to something below.

For a moment, I thought he was mocking me, but his expressionless face and monotonous voice revealed otherwise, so I swallowed my fears and advanced along the walkway, feeling my stomach sink at what I saw in the darkness.

A massive, toothy mouth, with swollen yellow lips and crooked teeth of a lighter shade, connected to a large purple head, the rest of whose probably even larger body rested out of sight.

My breathing quickened and a tremor ran through me. I swallowed hard, licking my lips as the words died in my mouth.

My chest felt like it would explode, struggling to stay upright in the face of such a monstrosity.

THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! THIS CANNOT BE A GOD! AN ABOMINATION OF SUCH SIZE IS A DEITY?! THE WORLD IS LOST IF SUCH A BEING IS WORSHIPPED! ARE THERE MORE OF THEM HERE?! WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?! ARE THEY LISTENING TO US?! WATCHING US?! ALL-MER PROTECT ME! ALL-MER… ALLL-MER… ALLL-MER IS ONE OF THEM?! EVERYTHING I KNOW IS A LIE?! I PRAYED AND BEGGED TO A MONSTROSITY?!

“This is the God of the Depthsss…”

I nearly broke my neck as I turned my head, focusing my horrified face on the solid one of Micolash, whose casual pose reminded me of my childhood tutors.

His red-painted face and inhuman features covered by a tangle of dark hair were frightening, but his lack of emotion demonstrated a calm that did not belong here.

I wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him, demanding answers and asking if he had gone mad, but I guess we all have gone mad in this endless abyss.

That idea died as he continued his explanation.

“...Born from the Green Hue, the primordial sssoup of life, a place where time and ssspace mean nothing, the birthplace of the Old Godsss who embody fundamental conceptsss of the world. He embodies the concepts of rrrevulsion and inescapable darknesss, being worshipped by few, those considered forgotten and abandoned, like insectsss, or outcastsss of sssociety, taking theirrr ability to think as a mercy againssst the pain caused by reality and free will. Unlike the other Old Godsss whose traces roam the world, this is the true God, with his organsss ssscattered throughout the dungeon, constantly changing its layout, or so I thought.”

I had trouble processing his words, a true God, an Old God of forgotten religions no less, was in front of me in flesh and blood.

The corners of my vision darkened and my stomach churned, I turned back the way I came and emptied the contents of my stomach onto the floor.

This was too much! I couldn't take it anymore! I... I needed to get out of here!

A comforting hand on my back did little to help me, as I turned to see Micolash chewing on a piece of raw meat.

"HOW CAN YOU EAT THAT?!" I demanded, stumbling to one of the walls where I weakly supported myself, trying and failing to regain my composure.

"I learned the Devourrr ssskill, so it doesn't bother me anymore." He shrugged as if there was nothing wrong.

"Y-you learned it?! What do you mean?! Cannibalism isn't something you learn overnight!"

“Cannibalism only countsss if it’s between beingsss of the same speciesss. I doubt the Moonlesss Guardsss can be considered humansss, and before you ask, yes, that’s the name of the enemies we faced.”

“Enough jokes, I demand answers! What happened to this dungeon?! What happened to you?! Why is everyone so interested in Le’gard and a damn cube?! How do you always know the name of things you’ve never seen before, what to say and where to go?! Tell me the truth, no matter how ugly, I can take it! I’m tired of being ignorant!”

I stopped with an accusing finger pointed at his face, whose serpentine eyes closed sideways, with the ones on his arm doing the same at different intervals.

His silence worried me and I scolded myself for hostile to the one who almost killed me.

The girl could have saved me, but there was no reason for us to be allies. I was at a disadvantage here.

I saw the exit out of the corner of my eye and prepared to flee as Micolash took a deep breath, but instead of an attack, I heard a heavy, tired sigh.

Clasping his hands behind his back, he fixed me with a hesitant gaze before replacing it with determination.

“To begin with, my new appearance is due to the side effectsss of a new ssspell, the price to acquire more powerrr. Now for the more pressing matter… Times are changing, D’arce, the Old Godsss and their tracesss are more active than ever, even after abandoning humanity. The God of the Deepsss is responsible for corrupting the dungeon, changing its form and creating the darknesss that makes us hungry, drives us mad, and creates most of the monstersss we face. Gro-gorrroth’s tracesss rest in the stomach of the aforementioned God, and Sssylvian’s swim in the Green Hue, while the servantsss of the Moon God stalk the passages that surround usss.”

“W-why is this happening?!”

This was only getting worse. It felt like my heart would stop at any moment. Oh, what kind of chaos I have become involved in, no mortal should be placed in such a situation, much less in a game of Gods beyond their comprehension.

“Hm… An Assscended God will soon be born within the wallsss of this dungeon, bringing about a new world order. However, the Old and New Godsss present do not wish to have their reignsss overthrown and their influence and power diminished, so they have started all this chaosss to stop the flow of destiny. Our arrival has already been decided, however, not our future, we may die, several Godsss may arise or none at all, we may return home with our mindsss and willsss broken, the possibilities are endlesss. And how do I know what I know…”

Micolash’s gaze drifted to the ceiling in deep thought.

“…I had visionsss…”

“Visions?”

“Yes, like Enki, the Dark Priest, I had visionsss revealed to me by powerful entitiesss. I use the knowledge revealed to me by them to plan my stepsss, knowing what to say, do, and acquire to ensure the desired rrresult, but although I know about the future, I do not know the final outcome, for dessstiny is like a turbulent ocean.”

“Tell me everything, please, I need to know!”

What was my purpose here?! Just a pawn?! A toy?! Or could I make a difference?! Would I die soon or live long enough to grow old?!

“Do you need it or want it? Or do you believe you want it but fearrr the truth? I can reveal everything to you, but it would ssshake your faith and worldview. Your reaction to the God of the Depthsss speaks volumes.”

I… Did I really want to know? I could remain blissful ignorant or face the cruel truth. He was offering me a choice, was I ready to finally take control of my life and decide something for myself?

I took a deep breath, readjusting my posture, ignoring my churning stomach and aching head, regaining what little dignity I had left to give him a determined look and answer his question.

“Tell me everything.”

“Very well, but you better sit down, because there’s going to be a long ssstory. Prepare to forget everything you’ve learned about Godsss and the world.” Micolash nodded solemnly. “Madeleine, come here, this is sssomething you need to know too.”

The child, now identified as Madeleine, waved excitedly and sat down next to her father, waiting for the explanation with a smile.

I laughed lightly, a mixture of surprise, joy and nervousness. They acted as if they were on the outside world, as if all this was normal. Maybe they’ve gone crazy, or maybe I have. Maybe this is the new normal or they’ve adapted well to the environment.

Ha, in a world of madmen, the sane ones are the mad! They did the right thing, accepting and thriving, you, on the other hand, are about to break! What a great knight you are, defeated by a child and a sorcerer who doesn’t know how to fight!

Then Micolash began his explanation, of the origin of the universe and the birthplace of the Old Gods, the concepts they embodied and much more.

With each word spoken and truth revealed, I felt revolt and denial coursing through my veins.

I lost count of how many times I wanted to question him, to call him a heretic, but the seriousness in his words, the level of detail, left little to question.

I could not help but notice the changes in his attitude during the explanation.

Micolash seemed much calmer and more collected, rarely showing emotion, maintaining an upright and regal posture, even his vocabulary had become more formal.

He had become so different, where was the nervous but smiling young man I had known?

Madeleine, the wolf and the knight seemed to be the only ones who got any kind of reaction out of him.

So the conversation continued, getting to the points of the Ascended Gods and the New Gods, and as I learned their history, I could not help but grit my teeth in fury.

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text