image [https://i.imgur.com/xcQhW8Y.jpg]
Five hours earlier...
Or was it twenty minutes? Seriously, time loves taking its sweet—time?—when you’re bored out of your skull!
But wait, I don’t have a skull.
Huh.
Semantics always messing with my mind. Regardless, I’m pretty sure—like, twenty percent sure—it’s only been twenty minutes, so maybe ignore that whole “five hours earlier” bit.
Waiting in the toad boss’s chamber, I nestled into a perfect Asian squat—scratch that, it sounds a bit racist… Japanese schoolgirl squat? Nah, too bathroom-y fetish-sounding. Just picture a deep, relaxed squat—ugh! You know what? Think of my current position more like a chaotic contortionist’s crouch. Wait, now that sounds even more sexual. Let’s just move on, okay?
There I was, hunched over, repeatedly casting Fear to see how long the cooldown was on that area skill—verdict? No fucking clue! Meanwhile, I was fiddling manically with Silk Webbing, throwing every ounce of my crazed insight into mastering it. Sure, I could use my skill to weave intricate silk that looked like ghost-white skin—skin that would give Tim Burton a hard-on—but that was all done subconsciously (which might actually be better, not so much for my inner control freak). Trying to do it on command? That’s a bit harder.
Take teeth, for example—yeah, I have teeth woven out of silk... but no actual biting with them—they’re too soft. Still, they were woven from my subconscious desire, probably because having teeth felt natural, so naturally, I wove them. But hey, either way, they look great next to my black gums and tongue. That being said, I was curious about what my controlling nature could do with this silk—besides going full dominatrix like I did with that lizard.
Oh, that was fun!
Mhmm. And tasty—
“Ah-ha! Cat’s cradle,” I cackled, my head and butt shimmying in harmony at my triumph! Silk strings swirled between my fingers as I held them before me, proudly displaying my mastery—
Huuurk!
“Shit man, I swear if you dry heave one more time...”
—They’re here!
My head snapped sharply upwards—or downwards, from your perspective—as I focused on the sounds coming from outside the doors. Black tendrils, which I called hair, stood straight up into the air—oh, right! Did I forget to mention I had been doing all this from the ceiling? What can I say? Spider Walk is just too badass! Not sure how to use it in combat; it’s not like I could leap far—though, I do have Leap waiting to be selected. That said, I can Burst in any direction.
I quickly flipped upright falling to the ground, rushing around like a madwoman searching for something to sit on and look menacing, like a throne! Sadly, there was nothing—not even the boss’s corpse—what can I say? I was hungry!
Where to go? Where to go?
Go there!
I sprinted to the center of the circular chamber, put a hand on my hip, and struck my best disinterested pose as the doors creaked open.
~
Five minutes later… or now!
“We—we can’t take her,” Heather gasped, her words fraying like a thin thread in the oppressive air of anticipation. Her eyes were glued to the system screen, her Appraisal returning nothing but more questions.
V:\Ascension>SAFE_MODE
AppraisalResults
Error.
Error.
Admin:\Magic>Login_
Target Data Overridden.
Reinitializing Skill Request...
Request Accepted.
Appraisal Results: Restricted.
V:\>
Heather stood in shock, her mind racing. The woman’s abilities—neither weaknesses nor resistances—were visible. Normally, the system would outline something, yet now it displayed only one detail about her: Restricted. What truly unnerved Heather, though, was the involvement of an admin in restricting the woman’s information.
Around her, the others seemed unperturbed, their eyes fixated on the enigmatic woman before them. Lost in their own calculations and unaware of Heather’s distress, they did not grasp the gravity of Heather’s revelation—that this woman was under the protection of the admin; a foe they were unprepared to face.
Despite the undercurrent of fear permeating the room, Jason’s resolve only hardened. His eyes, sharp and calculating, studied the strange woman’s form, his spirit not daunted but invigorated by the looming challenge.
Yua, gathering her courage, voiced the question hanging heavily in the air, “What level is she?”
No answer came from Heather as the strange woman continued her murmurs, detached from the reality around her. “Yeah, I got this! Yeah, piece of cake, totally got this!”
Yua’s elven ears caught snippets of the woman’s whispers—her words fragmented and elusive, painting a portrait of chaos that left her convinced: the woman was nuts!
Uncertainty gnawed at the others, their conviction wavering. Yet, they maintained a facade of resilience, well aware of the consequences of doubt—though that was a lie. Rob appeared on the verge of panic, his face pale and sweaty as if he might collapse at any moment. Heather’s usually dark complexion turned ashen, a testament to her fear. Jeremy’s eyes darted nervously, his uncertainty palpable. Yua’s skin crawled, the hairs on her neck standing on end. Despite their fear, they steeled themselves for what was to come, the woman’s manic whispers resonating around them like a harbinger of doom.
“I should savor the taste of their flesh. Mhmm! Yes. Yes. That sounds good,” the woman murmured to herself, her voice a disturbing blend of delight and malice, her head nodding in agreement with her own words.
Jason’s smirk, edged with a hint of madness, widened. “This bitch is crazy!”
Jeremy interjected urgently, “Heather, what’s her level?”
“I—I don’t know! The admin restricted any details about her,” Heather stammered, finally catching everyone’s attention.
“What?!” Yua blurted out.
“Appraisal was restricted by the admin,” Heather replied.
“Restricted?” Yua repeated, disbelief coloring her tone.
Jason laughed, the sound slicing through the tension. “Hahahaha! This just got a lot more interesting.”
Rob suggested, his voice tinged with fear, “I think we should run.”
Jason dismissed Rob’s concerns with a confident wave. “Don’t be a coward! If we work together, we can take her down without a problem.”
Heather’s voice trembled as she tried to emphasize the threat of the admin. Yet, her words fell on deaf ears.
Jason, still laughing, suddenly surged forward at the woman, his determination unwavering. The others stood frozen, caught off-guard. Meanwhile, the enigmatic woman seemed barely aware of their presence. As Jason closed in, her arm erupted, her white skin unfurling like threads as a single black tentacle lashed out, poised for a lethal strike.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
In a flash, her tentacle smacked Jason across the face, sending him spinning through the air before he crashed down, his body writhing in agony as if his flesh were dissolving in acid, purple veins crawling visibly under his skin.
A scream distorted Jason’s features, but no sound escaped; he froze as if petrified. Meanwhile, the woman’s tentacle reverted back into a human arm, its skin eerily absent. She shifted her focus from her nails to Jason, her eyes burning with an unsettling orange glow, radiating a fierce inner light. Detached yet observant, she watched Jason’s plight, leaving the rest of the group speechless and frozen in disbelief.
Time seemed to stretch into an agonizing silence until it shattered. Jason disappeared from the ground and reappeared suddenly beside Jeremy, his voice erupting in a sharp cry as he clutched his face in visible agony.
“That fucking bitch! She hit me with some sort of acid attack, and some kind of poison that paralyzed me,” Jason bellowed.
“What statuses did the system show?” Jeremy queried.
“It didn’t.”
A heavy silence fell. The only other time statuses had been absent was a haunting memory—when Jason had turned on them to kill Sophia. Otherwise, the system always revealed the nature of every monster they faced.
The porcelain-skinned woman chuckled, amused by the turmoil she induced. “That was a bit much, wasn’t it?” she mused, her mischievous gaze flickering. “I haven’t killed him... yet.” Pausing, she seemed to listen to whispers only she could hear. “No rush. No rush at all. Let’s have fun with my food first,” she grinned.
Jason’s agony widened Heather’s eyes in shock. With hesitant steps, she approached him, her hand trembling as she reached out to touch his shoulder. Muttering a shaky incantation, she invoked, “Heal!” A warm glow radiated from her touch, wrapping Jason in a soothing aura, gradually reversing the damage wrought by the acidic slap.
Despite her actions, Heather’s true feelings for Jason were far from compassionate. She loathed him deeply, yearning to see him suffer. She knew well that he would not hesitate to harm her if their roles were reversed. But survival trumped hate, making it crucial to keep him alive, even if reluctantly.
Yua snapped, “We’ve got to work together, you dumbass!”
“Yeah, I think I figured that out,” Jason grumbled, standing upright, his wounds now healed.
The initial shock of fear and personal grievances faded as they recognized the necessity of unity against the looming threat. The mysterious woman posed a danger they could only face together. Reluctantly, they set aside their differences, even Jason acknowledging the need for solidarity. Steeling themselves, they prepared for the battle ahead, knowing that only through cooperation could they hope to survive—or so they would have liked to have believed.
Yua lashed out with no plan, her voice fierce and panicked, “I call upon you, oh dark goddess, heed my plea, Darkness Arrow!”
Jeremy followed suit, lashing out in blind fear, “From the gastral depths of my soul, I call forth, Acid Ball.”
“Incantations, seriously?” the woman scuffed.
The dual attacks struck the monster disguised as a stunning woman with full force. She screamed in agony and stumbled, collapsing to her hands and knees. Jason burst into triumphant laughter, but Heather, noticing the smile on the woman’s face, shivered.
“Dramatic? Yep! Still, I knew that year I took in drama would be worth it someday,” the woman snickered, unnoticed by the others.
“Fear the phantoms, for they shall consume you,” Jason chanted before vanishing, “Phantom Slash!”
He materialized above the woman, a wicked smile spreading across his face as she writhed and trembled below. Filled with sadistic delight, he raised his sword, relishing the anticipation of delivering the final blow. As he swung the blade toward her neck, a chilling realization struck him—the woman’s cries were of perverse pleasure, not pain. Her laughter resonated through the chamber, mixing confusion and trepidation within him.
Undaunted, Jason pressed on with his attack. However, just as his sword was poised to strike, the woman vanished in a blur. Jason found himself slashing at empty air, his face contorting with perplexity as he grappled with her sudden disappearance.
“What just happened?” Jeremy asked.
They all stood in stunned silence.
Rob was the first to catch sight of her—right beside him! The woman’s appearance had undergone a dramatic transformation. Her face now appeared almost alien, resembling a mask, and her dress clung tightly to her curves, accentuating her newfound allure. Her entire body was an oily black, and her hair, matching in color, cascaded down to the small of her back, moving with sinister intent as if alive. Despite these changes, her glowing orange eyes remained unmistakable, piercing through the darkness with an intense, unwavering gaze.
“My turn,” she cooed.
One of her arms had twisted into a tentacle, ensnaring one of Rob’s undead goblins as he stumbled backward. The goblin struggled desperately but in vain; it dissolved within her grasp, its innards spilling to the ground as its flesh melted away.
“Aw, that’s the best part,” she sighed.
Meanwhile, the second goblin leaped between Rob and the woman, bravely positioning itself to shield its necromancer master.
Jason yelled in frustration, “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!”
“Yua, how long until you can recast Darkness Arrow?” Jeremy asked while considering their options.
“It normally takes around three minutes. What about your Acid Ball?”
“Same,” he groaned.
The woman shifted her gaze from the oozing goblin guts back to the group, a smirk playing on her lips. “Really? Discussing cooldowns right in front of your enemy? Come on, isn’t that, like, Gamer 101?” She paused, tapping her lip with a theatrical flair. “And while we’re on the topic, just how did you geniuses figure out your cooldown timers?”
“FUCK YOU!” Jason screamed.
Heather, however, immediately realized something was off about the woman’s comment. “How do you know about gamers?” she asked.
“Hmm...? Oh, well, that’s an interesting little tidbit,” the woman mused, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. “Maybe I shouldn’t spill the beans... But then again, why not? It’s not like it’s going to change anything,” she continued, engaging in her peculiar self-dialogue.
She then snapped her attention back to Heather, her eyes alight with a mix of madness and excitement. “That’s because I’m a summon candidate too. Just. Like. You!” she declared with a twisted grin.
“And not only am I planning to win—not that I particularly care about the title of Dark Champion, I’m here to steal your skills. And don’t worry,” she added with a smile, “I’m really looking forward to savoring my meal when I devour each one of you!”
“She’s a sadistic psychopath,” Jason stated.
“Well, isn’t that rich,” the woman retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “A demon accusing the devil of being sadistic? At least I have the decency to finish my meals, unlike you, who leave behind a delicious corpse after your murderous rampage. What a waste of a perfectly good meal. Oh, what was her name again… Sophia?” Her tone, mocking and amused, carried a dark undercurrent.
Rob stepped back, his last remaining undead goblin in tow. “Who are you?” he asked.
“Hmm... Oh... Uh, what? Didn’t I just tell you who I am?” the woman responded, her voice tinged with a mix of confusion and irritation.
Jeremy advanced confidently, his voice steady though he tried to mask his underlying fear. “We don’t need to resort to violence,” he said. “Perhaps we could collaborate and find a way to escape this dungeon without having to murder each other.”
“That’s a fair point,” she mused, her smile unfaltering. “But, alas, it will not come to pass. For I am hungry, and you are here. Besides, Team Evil boasts a gorgeous vampire I’d love to hook up with, but I need your skills to complete the admin’s little side quest first,” she added with a grin.
Jason nodded in understanding, then paused, perplexed. “Side quest?”
Rob was consumed by fear, the thought of dying in this cursed place overwhelming him. Despite daydreaming of himself as a noble, heroic paladin, the reality of being summoned as an evil half-orc necromancer clashed with everything he believed. Determined not to let fear control him, Rob pushed away the negative thoughts. Deep down, he knew he was lying to himself about being brave. With a silent whimper, he extended his hand toward the woman and began chanting his most powerful spell, “The death of the undying pain knows no end, Necrotic Flame.”
As the incantation slipped from Rob’s lips, light blue flames erupted, converging into a colossal wave aimed straight at the woman. Yet, with alarming speed, she vanished in a blur. Her wicked and delighted laughter echoed through the chamber, but as they glanced around, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Why are your Necrotic Flames blue?” she asked, her glee unabated by the situation.
Startled, Yua glanced up, yelped, and stumbled backward, collapsing onto the ground, her screams of horror piercing the air. The woman chuckled at the sight, her wicked grin unwavering as she stood on the ceiling, right above Rob.
“I just want to go home!” Rob cried out—Ack!
With a swift flick of her wrist, her arms transformed into sinister tentacle-like appendages, swiftly wrapping tightly around Rob’s neck and his undead goblin, both still within arm’s reach as she stood upside down on the ceiling above them.
As she tightened her grip, she muttered in frustration, “Ugh, seriously? Why are mine green and purple, but yours are blue?”
She paused her ramblings to glance down—or was it up?—at Yua, who remained beneath them. Rob and his remaining goblin dangled in her grasp as she lifted them off the ground. “Will you stop screaming? It makes talking to myself—I mean, to him—really hard.”
The group stood frozen in confusion and disbelief as Rob, paralyzed by Fear—or perhaps more accurately, immobilized by an entirely different skill—remained suspended in her grasp. Suddenly, his body collapsed, his head separating as his neck dissolved within her grip. The severed head bounced on the ground, coming to a stop just centimeters away from Heather, whose scream echoed Yua’s, amplifying the horror of the gruesome sight.
Meanwhile, the woman’s other tentacle maintained its vice-like grip on the struggling goblin, tightening with sadistic pleasure. Her moans of twisted delight filled the air, adding a chilling soundtrack to the horrifying scene.
The abrupt loss of Rob struck Heather and the remaining candidates with a heavy blow. The two girls’ continued screams rattled through the chamber, mingling with the woman’s moans that followed Rob’s brutal demise. As Heather stared into his lifeless eyes, a wave of fear enveloped the group, freezing them in place.
Jason, his voice thick with disappointment and a twisted hunger, muttered, “Dammit, I wanted the fucking pleasure of ending him myself.”
Jeremy, overwhelmed by a mix of emotions, shouted in fury, “Murderer!” Summoning the full extent of his powers, he declared, “I call forth the rage of the gods, Death Bolt!” A vibrant, purple lightning bolt surged from his hand, striking the woman with cataclysmic force. She was hurled from the ceiling and through the air as the goblin turned to ash in her grasp. Her body smashed into the wall with a sickening splat of black ooze, causing half the chamber to collapse from the initial impact of the skill.
The group fell into stunned silence as stones rained around them, grappling with the horrifying spectacle they had just witnessed. Heather sniffled, tears streaming down her cheeks, while Jason’s jaw went slack, his jagged teeth hanging in disbelief. Jeremy exhaled relief and adrenaline, and Yua remained frozen on the ground, her mind racing with shock and fear.
“What the fuck was that skill?!” Jason cursed in shock.
“Run!” Jeremy bellowed as more stones began to fall.
Heather's voice cracked as she cried out, "What about Rob?" Each word was drenched in desperation.
“Leave his dead ass!” Jason yelled as he sprinted for the exit.
Yua remained silent as she hurried after Jason, scrambling over debris. Stone by stone, the chamber continued to crumble around them as they fled the boss chamber, huffing and heaving for breath.
Then there were four of them...