Jack was thrown backward. His hand up, cuts and bruises were apparent on his body. But he didn’t blink from pain. Instead, he was furious that he was kicked back so quickly. He thought that he was finally as strong as Snow or even stronger than her with the new equipment and blessing he had gotten.

“It seems you are still weak.” Snow goaded him, she kicked up to get up on her feet. She carefully paid attention to his movement as she didn’t want to be thrown around like a ragdoll again.

Jack got up and spat on the ground. He grimaced by her words, snarling as he showed off his canine-like teeth. He was becoming more and more monster like that Snow couldn’t help but wonder if he was baptized by the dungeon.

No sane human could change in a short amount of time without a blessing of the gods, artifacts, or black magic. On the other hand, dungeon magic wasn’t something that Snow understood, but she had read about such circumstances.

Was this one of those cases?

“No,” Jack wasn’t buying Snow’s words. “I made a deal.”

A deal? Snow was wondering who could help him gain power. She felt a sharp pain invading her mind. It was a lingering feeling of darkness that riled up her emotions.

“A deal with the dungeon lord.” Jack hissed. “In exchange to kill you.”

With a furious yell, he swung his fist. An instant transformation of his hand changed, even more, bulking up as fat as a redwood tree trunk. His muscle flexed, smashing into the very barrier of magic that Snow had put up in the last minute.

Boom!

Thrown back by force from impact, a massive wave of air blew her back. Even her barrier broke apart into small pieces, shattering it into nothingness.

Snow twisted in midair, landing on her feet.

Her claws reached out, dragging on the ground to stop her from being pushed any further. Her tail embedded into the ground, helping her stop from being thrown back as well. Even her helmet came on to block away the debris that was hitting her face. Her white horns slink backward and protrude forward. She didn’t have just one pair of horns anymore but a couple of smaller ones that gave it a crown-like look. Her helmet's shape was more angular similar to a dragon’s face with four pockets of eyes.

Snow groaned. Another wave of dizziness and pain in her head hit her. Confused and a bit disoriented, she tried to get her bearings.

What was wrong with her?

“Do you think I’m the same?” Jack snarled. He was pissed that he was told in such a way again that his anger flared. He was waiting for this day to take the smug look off of Snow's face. Instead, he was ridiculed and pushed around by a female! He believed that she was beneath him.

“Yes.” Snow said leisurely, which she was covering it to not show her pain. She knew she shouldn’t have said that, but her words spilled out unconsciously. “The only reason I’m fighting you now is because you are annoying.”

With rage, Jack's body completely transformed. He was not his usual human self anymore, but a wild ape beast. Three times his normal size, muscles that bulge out of his body, and a craze screamed--kill. Crazy black hair that wavered with black flames. Green eyes that were sedated with jealousy, anger, disgust, and pure lust for carnage. Even his face had become more demonic than before, giving him an ugly expression. A large tusk exploded out its mouth, giving him a sinister look.

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Maybe I have pushed him a bit too far, thought Snow. But she didn’t regret it nor wanted to take back her words.

Was it really something she wanted to say?

Yes.

She was disappointed in Jack. His action had caused more harm than change. At first, she believed it was for self-defense, but time went by, and the decision that Jack had made her angry. She wanted justice.

But the words were becoming skewed and twisted. Unable to differentiate the line from Justice and Murder. His existence was an eyesore. She wanted him to disappear.

The bubbling darkness of her existence pulled her through. The black energy in her heart gushed out, dampening the light energy that she always used. It was different, almost mesmerizingly addictive.

Even Jack went silent, realizing the energy that she had given off was completely different than before.

“So, it's true.” Jack word with a bit of a roar. His tusk gleaming white. “The demoness is hidden in the face of a saint.”

Snow didn’t understand what Jack was implying nor cared. She just wanted him gone. Her armor started to turn black with blood red, simmering with red and black energy. Heavy mist escaped from her body, causing heatwaves around her.

Long gone was the pure white armor or the golden halo that followed behind her, leaving her tainted with ill thoughts and uncontrollable emotions that screamed kill.

The voice spoke in her mind.

“Come.” The voice called to her.

No. It was a command.

“Join me.”

Jack laughed at her. Smiling like a crazy fool who was enlightened by what he was seeing. “The dungeon lord speaks.” He was enjoying the struggle that Snow was having.

Snow's mind was getting numb. Enchanted by the voice that said to turn. Turn to the darkness that would keep her in its cold embrace.

Out of everyone present, Snow was hit the hardest. Her mind in turmoil.

The people who were fighting couldn't help but turn their gaze towards her. They all felt the dizzying effect of darkness spewing out from her body. It wasn’t the soft angelic energy that she would give to everyone but a pervasive evil that they never wanted to feel before. It was getting stronger and stronger.

“I never said I was a Saintess.” Snow calmly said, the darkness of her energy increasing. Her mind was being pulled on both sides, listening to her head's two voices. One called out for destruction. The other called out for protection and sanity, asking for control of one’s mind.

Once again, the voice called for her to take a step towards it. She didn’t budge, standing in the middle of the crowd, unable to move.

“She’s being enchanted!” Mike was the first to get up and rush towards her direction, realizing what was happening. “Dairen, get her out of there!”

Dairen summoned up a slew of skeletons, pushing back Jack’s army's swarm, who all changed into monsters of similar kind. They weren’t as powerful as him or large, but they could go head to head with most of the guild members, keeping a lot of them in check.

Mike yelled, sword brimming with his electric energy that swirled around his sword like a tornado. He waved it once, allowing the electricity to spark around him in a fever.

With one swing, he knocked down an oncoming wave of monsters, followed by another.

Jack didn’t care that Mike was heading straight towards him. Instead, he pushed off, rushing straight at Snow. He wasn’t going to give Snow a chance to snap out of her daze or even break free from the magic that the dungeon core was casting and assisting him in this fight.

Snow’s mind blanked out.

Swirling clashes of light and darkness echoed with turbulent rage. The light wanted complete dominance, while the darkness was complete annihilation of the light. Snow emotions didn’t make it any better, bringing her many memories of her unwanted fears, passion, joys, happiness, and even hatred to the surface.

Jack punched straight towards Snow’s head, but before his hand could make contact, her tail whipped around, catching him in midair. With a vicious slam, Jack was thrown around onto the ground.

A blast of holy fire erupted out from her body, spraying Jack completely with one flick of her tail. The fire twisted and turned, changing from blue to black. Jack screamed on the ground, rolling, trying to put the fire out, but failed.

Snow eyes glowed green, lost was the golden hue.

She tilted her head, expressionless. “I thought you wanted to kill me.” A monotone of a voice spoke through her mouth.

Anger brimmed in Jack’s mind, his body all burnt and scared. With a mighty roar, he extinguished the fire magic that riddled his body. Shakily getting up, he scowled in the direction of Snow. Hatred present in Jack’s eyes.

“I’ll kill you. Don’t worry about that.” Jack stumbled, holding his burnt arm. “I’m just waiting for the right time when the dungeon lord will take over your mind. Then the real fun begins. You will watch yourself killing everything you love. When you finish your rampage, I'll be there. Oh, I’ll be there to give you the fatal blow.”

It was like hearing a cringe soap opera the way Jack was so engrossed in Snow that Snow was able to break free from her mind trap for a brief moment.

“Holy Redemption.” Snow whispered, out the only two words she could muster. Her sanity temporarily came back. Her light magic spilled out of her body. The spell hit both Dairen and Mike as they were filtered with white light.

“No!” Jack yelled in anger, realizing the momentary relapse of a hold was broken free. He raised his hand, and with an anguished cry, he dug his hand into his chest. Black blood spewed out from his crazy antiques, and in its place, a black jewel emerged from where his heart once was.