While I had no doubt earned a few cool points by flying off on my sword, it turned out that it wasn’t really made for such a purpose. It wasn’t just because the eye on the hilt was constantly glaring at me throughout the journey. As soon as we were well out of sight of the town, I dropped down on the grass and sent the sword back to hell.

Not only did that wave of being sensible wash over me, but so did a heavy amount of exhaustion. Outside the area of the spell that had been cast, I could now sleep. It was almost tempting too. Just a quick nap and I’d be on my way.

I shook my head and straightened my back out. No. The show was more important. Even as I felt the grains of my sanity drop through like an hourglass in my mind, I wouldn’t rest until I had completed my mission.

With an unnecessary click of my fingers, I switched places with my demonic ace high in the sky and turned into a demon. My wings caught me, allowing me to briefly hover in the air before slowly gliding forward. They weren’t really good for anything more than short-term flight, but for gathering my bearings, it was very helpful.

My eyes scoured the northern scenery for three quick seconds before I switched places back to the ground.

There was a group heading this way. I’d need to get closer to learn if the caster was among them, but I hadn’t a feeling they wouldn’t be. Why risk losing the advantage?

More worrying than that was further north, there were more groups of monsters. I didn’t have enough time to see if they were all heading this way, but the fires and the way the area near the city glowed with crimson light…

I never really had the time for video games back on Earth, but the situation reminded me of one I had seen once. A real-time strategy game where you had to build bases against an opponent, and then you would send out units of certain troops to capture locations or hunt for resources.

Not content with taking over the city, the Crimson Shadow was now expanding out and conquering the rest of the area. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to fight fires. Cutting off the head of the beast should be enough to stop the progress of the blight seeping into the world. Something that I was partially tempted to go and attempt right now.

I drummed my fingers against my side. Actually, I was pretty sure I could feel the cold stare of Ren burning into the back of my head even as far away as I was now. I’d stick to the task at hand—the first port of call being intercepting these monsters heading for the town. While I trusted the few guild members still awake to handle themselves, I might be able to dig out some clues from the corpses I was about to make.

My demonic form dropped away, and I picked my top hat back up from the floor.

----------------------------------------

A good twenty minutes of walking later and…

Well, no. It wasn’t really good. I ached and felt sleepy. We sorely lacked a way to travel faster than plodding along on foot. Even the masses of scrolls and potions I had under my belt—figuratively speaking—there wasn’t anything that was good for more than short bursts of speed.

And I wouldn’t be caught running. Not headlong into danger. That would be a good way for me to crack open my skull, which I was specifically supposed to avoid. I didn’t want to get into any trouble with the others.

Maybe they wouldn’t find out though…

I was well aware I was slightly losing it. That didn’t make it any easier to keep my mind out of control, but the lack of third party accountability was troublesome. No protection from mental maladies, the threat of corruption still lingering at the edges of my mind, and a lack of sleep. Adding that to my desire to be completely uncontestable, I was likely to smudge the line soon enough.

What line that actually was, I wasn’t sure.

I paused and looked up at the trees. In a reversal of my usual luck, I could be the one to drop an ambush for a change. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the approaching group, but I was sure they weren’t Players. Too tall and uniform. If the Shadows had access to sending smarter Monsters at us, they’d do that rather than risk what few actual members they had left. We’d already cut down all the weaker parts of the group, the part that was able to fail upwards remained.

With a few deft hops, I was up in the tree. Maybe overkill when I could turn invisible and teleport, but with enemies on their way to attack my friends, I wanted to go the extra mile.

My eyes switched through my Inventory, arranging everything. Demonic ace filled with five items. A hell-bird already summoned a bit further back into the woods. I could hear the growing applause of the audience… no, that was footsteps. Clamoring for the door, the crowd had to find their seats before the show started.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I hummed with potential, eager for the taste of Dazzle icons as if they were the only thing that could satiate me. Partially true.

Six figures stepped into view. Tall, bipedal, covered in dense black fur. Jackal-like heads and golden eyes that matched their sporadic armor. Each with a long weapon of similar metal. Powerful, I was sure, even if the System remained silent on what they were.

I dropped from the tree and landed in an empty space in front of them, causing their march to halt. “Ta-da!” I said, giving them a bow as I took down my hat. Not the most over entrance, but my impatience had run roughshod over my need to impress.

“That’s one of the forsaken,” one of the monster said, his voice low and gravely.

“Man-in-purple,” the first agreed, baring his teeth at me. “The prime target that we must kill.”

At first, I was most impressed at their range of vocabulary. Much like the demons in hell, it seemed these Monsters were capable of more thought and free will than most of the other System-created we have come across. Almost made it a shame that they had been sent to assassinate me.

“How about this,” I countered. “Join my side and I will allow you true freedom.”

The leader of the group didn’t even spend a second to deliberate it. “No. Her will commands us, and we will not be swayed.”

Rather than parlay further, the group of six brought up their weapons. Surely they wouldn’t be simple melee beaters. I raised an eyebrow, clasping my hands behind my back.

“Well, I at least gave you the choice.” As I smiled, purple electricity cracked around my body, arcing back and forth. The first of them tensed to leap forward, right as my demonic ace dropped from the invisibility I had cast upon it. It was directly in the middle of them and burst out with a cold wave of magic as it cast [Frost Burst] from a scroll.

Three of the Monsters became rooted to the ground, ice shackling their feet. The leader hadn’t been affected and lashed out at me with a long halberd. Quite a nice weapon, all things considered. Almost ornamental—which meant it had enough flare to make it quite fitting to be a prop in my shows.

I side-stepped the strike, which paused right before it hit the ground. White light trailed the sharp-bladed edge as the inertia took it at a sharp angle back toward me. It found my neck wanting and promptly lopped my head clean from my shoulders.

“Pitiful human,” the leader spat.

had picked up the skill he had used, which was . Once active, a dodged attack would turn into a critical hit instead. A respectable cooldown that prevented it from being too abusable, but all the same—it was something fun to play with.

I emerged from invisibility as the monster gloated over my faux-corpse. “Boo,” I announced, flinging a magic card at him rather lazily.

He twisted and dove from the attack by instinct, my slower card rather easy to avoid. The purple switched to a bright red as it became critical, and I controlled it back into him with a flick. Not terribly accurate, but in striking the back of his shoulder, it burst and rendered that limb inoperable.

One of the frozen creatures had a bow. An arrow burst out toward me as soon as I had come back into sight. I summoned a shield into the air, the long projectile bursting through and shattering my as well. My eye turned to the side as they drew a second arrow up, while another cast a spell at me.

Quite the interesting fight. They were like a full party of varied classes—once I had taken a moment to clock their weapon choices. Even as a ball of fire rushed toward me, I could see another Monster casting some manner of healing spell on the leader I had wounded.

I switched position with my dove, the bird immediately immolated in the burst of fire. My feet shuffled for a comfortable position atop my cannon as it fired out the first bloom of confetti. Demonic ace pulsed with energy as it activated a second [Frost Burst]. Their ranger had already spotted me off at my new position in the trees—even before the colorful paper washed through the terrain—but the others were a couple of seconds slower.

Ranger. Healer. Spellcaster. Leader. Fighter… and the fact that I couldn’t see the sixth meant there was some kind of Rogue. The fighter didn’t look too pleased, being one of the ones stuck by the ice both times, leaving him unable to come and hit me with his mace.

As a second arrow whistled through the air toward me, the leader also threw his halberd—gaining a Hellhound latched to his empty hands as a reward. I was already out of defensive options and took the arrow to the right thigh. The thrown weapon hit my cannon and then went into my Inventory—as did the arrow, my demonic regeneration starting to patch up the wound. Not quite enough damage to refresh the cooldown on , so I’d force it.

While the leader wrestled with my hellhound, a lightning Imp unleashed his spell through the group of Monsters. I had a card in my hand that I pooled all of my mana into, before drawing through my health as well. Just enough to drop below 80%. Then I flung it.

Right wrist held by left hand, I controlled it through the air, zipping around those gathered.

To their credit, their defenses were considerably better than most I had faced. The fighter used a shield to deflect the card before the spellcaster put up a magical barrier to protect himself and the healer. A slight cut across the ranger, who couldn’t roll away due to the ice, and then the card dissipated against a plate of armor.

Cannon blasted a bag of flour out in an arc, causing a cloud of fine particles to quickly fill the space in front of me—silhouetting the shape of the rogue trying to sneak up on me. Follow-up shot was a lit lantern.

I switched places with my hellhound, bringing the stolen halberd down on the flat-footed leader.

He went to catch it by instinct, his fingers flopping off as I drove it into his clavicle.

Fire reflected in his eyes as the flour ignited, exploding and setting the rogue on fire. “Just what are you?” he growled, as the blade inched deeper into him. Screams echoed around the woodlands as their healer tried to help the burning creature out.

“Oh.” I smiled, purple lighting still arcing around my body. “More of a monster than you’ll ever be.”