We rolled to the wooden floor as a dark shape swept over us, the rush of air that was following the demon actually quite cooling.

Both of us back up to our feet, we turned to see what looked like a giant bat - or vulture - swoop off toward the darkness.

Ren’s radiant shot was quicker than my magical card, but both projectiles blew toward it. A shrill scream pierced the infinite warehouse displaying our corpses, and then there was silence again.

“You alright, Wolf?” I turned to the bear, who had been a bigger target.

“Yeah.” He shook himself off. “It was going for you two, so I went ignored.”

Ren stood and rotated her rifle to face behind us, ready in case it repeated the same attack. “He needs to do that again. Did you feel that breeze? Wow.”

“One hundred percent,” I agreed, while the bear nodded along.

Although, the chances of this becoming an enjoyable experience in the long term weren’t too great. Even if the stacked rows of our mutilated bodies didn’t budge us, there was only so much Domain-time we could endure.

The elf glanced at me while I was busy in thought. “Got any demonic bullshit for this, Max?”

I rubbed at my head. “Without being able to activate my own, I don’t think so. Half of my summoning cards are inert, and I have no Power or Dazzle anywhere to draw on. However, if any of us can do something, it would be you?”

“Yeah?” She scowled at the darkness behind us. “Something with my holy energy?”

“Possibly.” Two ways out of a Domain were either to weaken the demon enough, or break through with a higher density of your own power. Usually via another Domain, but I saw no reason why other elements couldn’t work. “The question is how to do this in the most shark-jumping way.”

Ren pulled a face. “The System translates that phrase, but it doesn’t have any relative meaning in my language.”

“Oh. Jumping the shark is where you go beyond the point of absurdity or believability.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what we constantly do?”

I tried to cast my mind back through the last… month? Arriving in this world, meeting a beautiful elf who fell for me, talking bear, fighting increasingly dire odds against a group of criminals and monsters, destroying a titanic corpse before being plunging into hell… not to mention all the magic.

“We’re a little out there,” I eventually agreed.

Wolf huffed. “Well, I’d like to be a little out of here.”

“A fair point, brother.” I gave him a short bow. “I think I have a plan, if you are ready, my love.”

“Constantly.” The elf shot me a grin.

My arm came out, and the scrolls affixed into my wrist-mount shuffled about as I replaced them with a thought. Although we had been in a Power Token drought down here in hell, plenty of the monsters dropped a variety of scrolls.

Mundane card left my belt and zipped into the air ahead of us slightly. I cast [Weaken State Scroll] on the floorboards, a circle of energy appearing and increasing all elemental damage within.

Ren shot my card with her rifle and then held her hand out. A cloud began to form, golden edges around the gloom before bolts of radiant lighting rained down. To accompany this, I then used [Reduce Area Scroll] to shrink the cloud down, increasing the pressure the attacks had on a smaller area of the Domain.

Each bolt struck the wood with a burst - and didn’t appear to do any damage. I knew a little different, however, as something in my core could feel the vibrations of pain the attack was causing. Like a needle poking at the inside of a balloon.

“Anything I can help with?” Wolf asked.

“Watch behind Ren, if you please.” I turned my gaze to the elf. Pale arm extended, fresh blood ran down her hand, creating little rivers down to her elbow. Her expression was rather dull and neutral.

We had started by wanting to meet in the middle. At some point we had, and then… things just blurred together. More like each other than ever. Our love had settled into a solid foundation of unspoken companionship. We pushed ourselves to the limit and beyond, and our time in hell had totally sanded down any apprehension or remaining awkwardness that our romance held.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I repeatedly threw out magic cards, hoping to cycle for - ah, there it was. The bright crimson of a critical attack.

On the whole, I felt sorry for those in the real world. We were already ruthless and overpowered compared to most. Our filter had now been further ground down between constant violence and impassioned embraces under the dull atmosphere of a land seeped with evil.

We’d emerge from our scarlet cocoon as demons, one way or another.

Held my own arm out, mostly for the visual of it. Poured all my mana and then started on my health into this one card. Blood started to run down my arm, and I caught the look of the elf as she caught me mimicking her. Gave me some come-hither eyes. Would kill for those eyes. Had killed for those eyes.

Didn’t release the card yet. Dangerous, because I had no limit on how much health I could degrade away. Health potion in my left hand, just as Ren pulled out a mana one. We stood and maintained eye contact as we downed them, dropping the empty glass bottles to the floor after. Only, they didn’t hit the floor as I stole hers from the air, and she stole mine.

Wolf grunted. “I feel something.”

“Me too,” the elf murmured, before turning her head back.

So did I, and it wasn’t just the desire to find a demonic hotel to get an early night. The presence of the large bat from back behind us, intending on swooping back down for a second attempt.

I turned and slashed out with the card, releasing it to scour the thick air like a beam of crimson light. The bat loomed into view, and immediate aborted the dive to instead gain altitude abruptly in an attempt to dodge my card.

Left hand grabbed my right wrist, as I controlled my projectile and curved it around to follow the demon. The weight of how much power I had filled it with made it difficult to control, doubly so with the distance it was now traveling. “Don’t stop,” I commanded the elf.

“Oh, I can go all day.” She grinned and furrowed her brow, trying to force extra strength into her cloud attack that was beating down at the floor of the Domain.

My feet slipped apart and gripped into the ground as if gravity had just been increased on me. He was trying to attack, to dissuade me from slicing at the creature gaining higher to a ceiling that didn’t really exist.

Ah, but that was it, wasn’t it?

Larger Domains were weaker by nature. Much like a balloon, I just had to help stretch it out. Card swerved in the distance as I brought another potion out with a shaking hand. Instead of trying to slice him, though, I forced him to keep flying away from us.

Muscles tensed and twitched. I started to feel lightheaded from the range that I was grasping at.

“Corpses look different,” Wolf noted, keeping an eye on our surroundings.

I couldn’t risk taking my aching eyes away from my projectile, but saw Ren glance around in my peripheral.

“You’re right, they’re… less detailed? Smudged or blurred almost.”

We were nearing the popping point. I could feel it now. Critical card was a small blob of red light at an impossible distance in the darkness above. Could no longer see the bat now…

I exhaled and a wave of energy burst around us, a flash of vertigo pulled at our stomachs with an acrid pop. Feet shuffled on dried rock, and I looked up to see the surprised demon prince, his eyes wide and looking at us.

“Just what are you motherfu-”

A dozen fireballs, a handful of icebolts, a couple lightning strikes, and one very pointy rock struck him before he could finish his sentence. As he stumbled and dropped to his knees from the assault, a wave of Hellhounds leaped upon him, tearing through his ruddy skin.

“Boss!” Roger hopped over to the three of us. “I was trying to get into the Domain, but was too strong for me. You got out?”

“Oh, yeah.” I wiped the blood from my hand across my grubby shirt. “Simple really.”

Ren stepped up to me and grabbed my face, hand still slick with blood as we shared a couple of long kisses. She pulled away and wiped the rest of the crimson to mar my shirt as well. “Wonder what my domain would be, if I had one.”

“You want to be a demon?”

The elf tilted her head from side to side. “I’m probably not in the right mindset to make a sensible decision on that. It’s probably not a good idea, right?”

“Even if possible,” I agreed diplomatically. “That’s a big change in your core being. Not advisable.”

“If you become demon king, though, you’ll not stop me from becoming your demon queen?” She bit her lip, which made it very difficult to dissuade her.

Before I could throw cold water on the idea, one of the hellhounds whined beside me. I turned and kneeled down beside him to see that he had the silver crown the demon had been wearing in his mouth. A little demon blood on it, but that seemed thematically appropriate.

“Oh, that’s a good boy.” I smiled and gave him a pat on the head as I took the crown for myself.

“Ah, Boss - that’s not a good…”

Too late. I had placed it on my head. Back up straight, I raised an eyebrow at the elf. “Opinion?”

“Top hat is much more fitting, but you might as well keep it. We could use more… costumes.” Her eyebrows moved up and down, as if I couldn’t read her intention like it was on a billboard already.

“A fair point.” I reached up and grabbed at it.

Only now it wouldn’t move.

I pulled a face and looked at my pact demon, the rabbit already grimacing and trying to melt away from my glare. “What have I done, Roger? You could have been a bit more prompt with any warning.”

“You’re… a demon prince now, your Highness.”

Ren whistled, but Wolf didn’t look impressed. No doubt it was due to the part of me that was a demon. Now I had glued an object of monarchy to my fragile skull, I had invited myself into the most dangerous game of all.

“So… now, I’m eleventh in line for the throne?” I crossed my arms, an act only slightly painful for the recovering right limb.

“Pretty much, yeah.” He shuffled awkwardly. “That means you’re even more of a target, your Highness.”

I clucked my tongue. When it didn’t rain ash, it poured.

Ren placed her hand on my arm, a finger dancing circles on my tattered clothing. “So, what are your first orders as demonic royalty, my prince?”

I grinned and pulled her in closer.

“First off, eleventh is much too high a number. Let’s go lower that.”