[https://i.imgur.com/JAWYMG8.png]

The silent halls of the abandoned structure lay hidden, forgotten by any and all intelligent life.

The warm pink colour of the walls an almost disturbing contrast to the ice above.

In the pool of blood sat Foxly.

"I should have really used levitate on myself!" he thought placing a healing seal on his hand.

The bleeding quickly stopped and the pain became more manageable.

"Thank god I always carry the charisma charm on me!" he exclaimed reaching for the piece of paper he had stuck onto the inside of his shirt.

"If not for this I would have been crying like a little bitch from the pain," he noted.

Foxly looked to the side and saw his right arm was missing, cut off past the shoulder.

"I better find a way up and get Crown to heal this!" he exclaimed before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper.

"Shine!"

"Glow!"

"Light!"

Nothing worked, he was forced to feel around the walls and hope there were no enemies or traps.

"The walls! They're warm!" he exclaimed, taking a step back and looking around.

"A-am I in some massive monster?!" he thought looking around.

"N-no... everything is too... symmetrical..."

"It's strange... this place should be pitch black... but I can see a little..." Foxly observed, "Maybe it's a carry-over from the game, where even at night the players could see a little..."

Foxly made his way through the long corridor, large, rectangular plates covered the ground.

"Worst case scenario, I'll kill myself," he shrugged.

"Damn, that's dark..." he noted.

Moments later, Foxly heard a loud ticking on the other side of the tunnel.

Tick, tick, tick.

Every three thicks there was a 'zip' noise.

"What the hell?" he thought, he looked to his arm, the stump growing longer bit by bit.

"I doubt I'll be able to fight in this state..." he thought.

As Foxly contemplated his next action, he heard a quiet voice coming from the end of the tunnel,

"Mortal?"

"Crap!" he exclaimed turning back to where he fell from only to realise it was a dead end.

"There is no need to fear, mortal!" exclaimed the voice.

"W-who is it?" asked Foxly with a trembling voice.

From around a small corner, it was a little doll.

Foxly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh... you're just a doll!" he exclaimed.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"My physical form was... damaged..." said the doll.

The voice was high-pitched, it was a dull monotone.

Foxly approached the doll.

"So what, are you some ghost?" he asked.

"No. My name is Magnus, demon-king ten." explained the doll.

Foxly let out a sigh, "Look, I'm kind of in a bad situation right now, I don't have time for your stories," Foxly replied.

"You won't be able to leave alone... this cell was designed to imprison everyone inside," explained Magnus.

"Eh?"

"I can help you escape, if only you take me with you..." offered the doll.

"...hmmm..." Foxly scratched his chin.

"If this was truly a demon... they'd know to hide that fact..." Foxly thought.

"Fine, if you can help me escape I'll help you leave." Foxly picked the doll up and suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure and his vision blurred. he looked around as saw the creature.

It was a skinny human.

He was pale and was wearing a pair of socks and sandals, other than that he was dressed like a mailman, with brown shorts and a light brown shirt with a neat collar.

He was completely balled and had a short, scruffy moustache, it was pale white.

"Finally! I have been released!" exclaimed the old man.

"What the hell is this?!" demanded Foxly looking around, lights surrounded him, colours that shouldn't exist, light from where there should be no light, the air, the rock, he saw his bones, vains, both and none at the same time.

"You and I formed a contract, buckaroo!" exclaimed the old man.

"What!? Don't tell me, you're really a demon king?!" asked Foxly.

He tried closing his eyes but the light came through them, his vision was godly.

"I sure am! Name's Magnus - I'm the demon of sight!" he explained.

Foxly looked to the old man, his face was drenched in sweat as his mind struggled with the sensory overload.

"Hang in there, buddy!" encouraged the old man.

"Try imagining a lense over your eye!" suggested the man.

Foxly did, he imagined not one, but a dozen lenses, each one blocking out the incoming light.

"Nice job! I knew you could do it partner!" said the old man giving him a thumbs up.

"Alright, what the fuck was that?!" demanded Foxly.

"You saw every possible wavelength of light and rapidly switched between them!" explained the old man.

Foxly stood up, rubbing his eyes.

"That was terrible!" he exclaimed.

"Wait, so I really released a demon-king!?" Foxly asked.

"Not quite! We're bound by a link stronger than the world itself!" the old man explained, "But I am still trapped within you, my new vessel!" the old man explained.

"Phew..." Foxly breathed a sigh of relief before wiping the sweat off his head with both hands,

"Wait! My arm!" he thought looking to the bloodied sleeve from which now sprouted an arm.

"Well, I can't leave my buddy without an arm, can I?" laughed the old man.

"You're... friendly for a demon..." noted Foxly.

"The name is just a formality..." replied the man uncertainly.

"Wait... so if I let you out... what happens next?" asked Foxly.

"I am on a quest to find a suitable vessel for a quest," explained the old man.

"A vessel?" asked Foxly.

"It's nothing major, I'm just doing my thing!" exclaimed the old man placing his arms on his hips.

"Hmmm..." Hmm'd Foxly.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much more, You see, I can see everything - this includes the various time dimensions," the old man began.

"I can tell that telling you will result in nothing but trouble for you," continued the old man.

"Of course, I can't see everything at once, I have to live through a time-line to see the outcome, so I avoid the risky ones."

"Plus, I forget anything before my current time, that's why I write it down or record it in some way." he continued.

"...I see... well, you're a strong healer if nothing else, I can let you tag along as long as you like," Foxly continued.

"That's great! Thanks, buddy!"

"Just one thing, if any of your friends find out about me, they'll be sent down a rout of trouble, so be careful."

Foxly started to look more concerned.

"I see..."

"Don't worry! I can tell that with the exception of timelines where you tell them about me directly, nothing out of the norm happens,"

"..." Foxly remained silent.

"What are you going to offer your vessel?" asked Foxly.

"Could it be you're volunteering?" asked the old man placing a hand over his heart.

"I mean... levelling and collecting gear is our top priority right now... so if you can offer me something useful, I'd be willing to help you out!" Foxly offered.

The old man scratched his chin.

The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone, it was one of the really old no*ia phones.

"Hold on..." he held the phone in one hand and with the other, slowly pressed the buttons.

When he faced the phone towards Foxly he saw a shakily recorded video.

"Hey, it's ya boy Foxly!" said the voice from the phone.

"You got this, buddy!" exclaimed a voice from behind the camera.

"As you can see, the future is a bit... grim for me," Foxly replied.

"Wait! You never said who you're talking to!" exclaimed the voice from behind the camera.

"Look, man - I have like thirty seconds tops before I pass out from blood loss," Foxly exclaimed.

"Right, I just need you... me... us? I need Foxly, to follow Magnus' instructions!" said the video Foxly.

"If you don't, the future will be worse than this... and I am missing my lower half, so you know this is already kind of shit..."

"Ten seconds, buddy!" exclaimed the voice.

Foxly looked to the camera.

"Alright... past me... I need you to find the person with this dagger," he spun around pointing to a poisoned blade lodged in his back, a solid white dagger with black tendrils.

The screen began to shake even more.

In the distance a massive wave appeared, it was tall enough for portions of it to stay in the sky thanks to the change in gravity.

"There goes the mantle, buddy!" called out the voice from behind the screen.

"Quick, get out of here!" Foxly commanded before turning to the massive wave.

As lights formed around the screen and the distant wave drew nearer future Foxly said one last thing.

"Oh, and me, if you go through with this, you'll get that one thing you wanted! Just a little incenti-"

The video stopped a frame before Foxly became a watery meat-pulp.

Foxly didn't say anything as the old man took his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

"I'm sorry for not letting you know from the start, but every step I made has been carefully designed over thousands of timelines to get you and your friends the best ending." the old man explained.

Foxly looked to the old man.

"Alright, what do we do?"