Grant squirmed beneath the giant scaled body. Although he was nowhere near the head, I had to presume that just being near something so large would be intimidating. The fact that he was about to be held in the giant's claws probably didn’t help.
A dragon, of eastern influence, stretched from the corpse room, through the next, and coiled in the fortification room with the rest of the army, excluding Mercy’s two ratkin, who seemed unwilling to leave Mercy alone. It had dozens of legs stretching down its entire length, as well as powerful arms every so often. Its long body was adorned in the natural scaly armor of dragons, as I had willed it to be. The head, while taking inspiration from eastern style depictions of dragons, was without those long ass whiskers. I didn’t see their value in battle.
Now? Mercy asked, giddy.
Yes. I said, actively forcing down the will of the long ass dragon.
Grant, holding both Mercy’s core and my own in either hand, raised Mercy up to the belly of the dragon. Their wills touched, and I felt a clash. My suppression worked, and Mercy successfully claimed my most powerful monster as her own. I wasn’t worried about retaliation though. As soon as I suspected anything was off, I’d order Grant to touch our cores together, and I’d kill Mercy myself. Just in case, Grant had orders to do the same if he so thought was appropriate. I didn’t like trusting an idiot, but I didn’t really have a choice.
The cores that he’d consumed did nothing. Grant was unable to evolve, for some reason. A mystery to consider later. Which was just such a shame, because he didn’t have any dark vision, which meant that even if I shared senses with him, I still wouldn’t be able to see any further than my own domain. He returned to wearing his old adventuring gear, passing off the knight's armor in pieces to whichever of my evolved guppies could wear them.
After spending the majority of my mana on Grant’s statue back in the core room, I barely had anything left to open up the fortifications. To the point where I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to do so myself.
Well, whatever. I may as well do what I can.
I thinned out the walls in specific points, shifting stone away from designated failure points. Once I finished depleting my mana stocks, I set myself in a ready stance, heart beating fast.
Ready. Mercy, cover me.
I retracted my domain, sucking back my territory. Unlike what I thought would happen, I did not regain the mana I spent expanding my territory, marking it as a definite loss. But regardless, it was all part of the plan. Mercy happily spent some of her own mana stores, ballooning out her cuboid domain until it enveloped what little territory I had left. Mercy surrounded me, swallowing me entirely.
Grant instinctively touched my core to his sword pommel, still sheathed. “You know, I feel like I should be holding my sword. Holding two cores just feels… wrong.”
Mercy laughed, obsessed with her newfound power. I ignored her for the most part.
You need to hold both of us. I told Grant. You can’t hold us and wield a sword at the same time.
“I know. I just wish I had a necklace or something that holds one of you. I could still touch your cores together if one of you were in a necklace, right?”
True. I thought of his idea. But A: we’re out of time and B: I don’t want to trust my life to a string, so I’m sure Mercy wouldn’t either. Your hands feel very reassuring.
Actually they felt rather clammy, and through the connection I could feel his nervousness rubbing off on me, but I couldn’t actually say that to his face. Not just before battle.
My empty platitudes seemed to calm him somewhat. “Thanks.”
You’re welcome. Now show the dragon where to hold you.
The nervousness returned, and Grant swallowed hard. He crouched as the long dragon lowered a spine hand to grip his waist. Grant held Mercy’s core against the dragon, so she could share its vision.
Alright everyone. Let’s make an entrance.
I hated being where I was. My vision essentially only encompassed Grant and that was it. I couldn’t see anything else. I could only feel where my minions were and trust my mental image of the layout they described to me. The lack of information was killing me, so I could only imagine what it all looked like.
The fortifications blew out from the inside, breaking at the tops and bottoms of the bars that acted as walls. A massive Chinese dragon with dozens of legs and mutated arms appeared to ‘fly’ out, rising into the sky with a roar as a giant crab broke free, releasing an army. Rab, the giant crab in question, wore bone armor over top his regular carapice. A skull decal decorated his shield claw, and a visor covered the one remaining eye. His ‘helmet’ had a distinctive gash cutting across it, revealing the scar he wore so proudly. A warrior's wound.
His powerful legs pierced the stone wall, climbing down it with the less agile monsters of my army on his back. The others followed down the wall, scaling the wall towards the ground. They poured out quickly, until not a single one remained. And below ground, a snake led an army of smaller creatures in a pincer attack, flooding into the nursery of bats that Depths cared for.
As promised, Sneaky got the first kill. I felt a small amount of mana enter me.
KILL! I decreed.
And my monsters obeyed.
The ground rushed away beneath Grant, disappearing from my vision entirely. I felt gravity lurch through my connection with Grant, and we were off. He followed the length of the massive dragon, snaking back and forth as the full length of the beast made itself known to Depths.
Any sighting of Depths’ boss monster?
No. Subsonar responded. Our forces have landed. They’re meeting the expected resistance, although the forces of the fortress are bundling up in our direction. There doesn’t seem to be an outward response yet for our underground forces.
Good. I gave my attention to Sneaky. You hear that? You’re in the clear for now. Kill as much as you can, as fast as you can. The more damage we can do to their reserves, the better.
Aye! Sneaky replied happily. Some of the bigger ones have left the nursery, but we’ll kill the rest! Should we make ourselves known?
Not yet. We need to make sure we have their undivided attention before you surprise them. I want Depths to panic when they realize they left their backdoor wide open.
Aye!
I felt Grant’s stomach lurch as we fell over a cliff. We’d entered Depths’ territory. Without my territory touching theirs, I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but that was the point.
From Depths’ perspective, only Mercy was invading.
Depths could not hear me. They could not see me. Even with our dungeon senses, we only knew that ‘an enemy’ was within our domain. We didn’t know which monster belonged to which dungeon. All Depths could see was that my dungeon had suddenly vanished, a load of monsters invaded their territory, and a previously unknown cuboid dungeon was the perpetrator.
AHAHAHAHA! Mercy cried. DIE! DIE, DIE, DIE!
At times like this, I really wished I could sense another dungeon's mana. I wondered exactly how much mana Mercy was gaining compared to me. Probably more, considering the long dragons utility, but that hardly mattered.
Still no boss monster?
No. Subsonar reported. The other five dungeons are watching. They seem to be agitated.
NO! Mercy shouted suddenly.
What?
Mercy just cried angry gibberish. Subsonar responded in her stead.
I believe that the boss monster has appeared.
Great! What’s it look like!?
It’s… not what we expected.
In a world of seemingly random evolutions, the only factor I really considered was ‘big’. All five of the other dungeons had giant monsters, so I figured it would be a safe assumption that Depths would as well. As such, my giant dragon was designed in such a way that it could bind the monster for long enough that the rest of my forces could get Grant and I to the enemy core. So to say that this boss monster defied my expectations caused a massive blow to my ego.
It’s small, only half as large as Rab. Humanoid, with four bat’s wings coming out from its back. It’s impossible to see with eyes, presumably because it’s the same color as the darkness around the battlefield. And it’s fast. Too fast to make out any more details than that.
I clicked my tongue. So it could only be found via echolocation, was that it? Damn, if I had known that… No, it’s too late. My decisions were already made. It was time to live with them.
How’re you doing Mercy?
DIE! She shouted in rage. I heard her dragon roar.
So basically, not good. Damn. We just needed Grant to get to the core, that was it. That was the only mission.
Coil the dragon around the fortress. I advised Mercy. Have her shield us inside. Just keep the boss monster out.
The dragon roared again. I heard equal parts pain and determination. Its body surged forward, pulling Grant along. If memory served, we were pulling close to the fortress. I felt my forces take blow after blow. Cam died, as well as the two ratkin I’d taken from Depths. A number of my guppies succumbed as well. Surprisingly, the urik was doing quite well, although it was much further back than the rest of my forces. I could feel a majority of my men surrounding Rab, forcing their way forward. Successfully too, if the mana influx was any indicator.
The hand holding Grant jerked down. Not even an instant later, a body as black as the void shot through.
I only caught a flash of an image of it, but the instant burned itself into my mind. A giant humanoid body, covered in hairy scales. It had claws on every digit, and sharp horns shaped like curved blades curling out of its forehead. Either hand held a wicked looking blade, wet with dragon blood. The head, bat in origin it seemed, stared directly at Grant and the red cube he held against the dragon.
And the next instant, it was gone. Too fast for the mind to comprehend.
A demon.
I smiled with rapturous glee. A demon! An honest to god demon! The perfect staple of the fantasy world! This was fantastic!
I must have it.
The draconic hand holding Grant fell limp, only barely attached to the dragon itself anymore. The demon's blades had carved right through the tendons. Grant flailed, falling to a mossy ground. He coughed up whatever air was in his lungs, and took a breath on instinct.
You’re undead. I reminded him. Get up and move. RUN!
Grant scrambled to his feet. Although he had no heartbeat, I felt a pressure grow in his chest. He looked around with fear, stumbling over uneven terrain.
Boys! Protect the payload!
My army rushed over to Grant. Not a moment too late either. Rab held his shield claw over Grant. The claw dipped with an obvious impact force from above, hidden from my view.
We came across the first enemies. All of them were dead by the time they entered my domain. I had to ensure that fact, since I really didn’t want Depths knowing I was here. My army surrounded Grant as they advanced, protecting him with their lives.
And with their lives they did. Their life signatures disappeared suddenly and instantly. Without warning. It was a binary system, I only knew if they were alive or dead. I didn’t know who was injured or how bad. But it didn’t matter, their lives would not be forgotten.
Bottom Dweller halted his movement, and I heard a clash of metal. He cried out his war cry, and Silver joined him. They were occupying the demon.
All armored individuals! Attack the demon! Silver, get out of there! Sneaky! Time to make yourself known!
Aye!
Rab abandoned Grant, charging for the boss monster. The remaining few surviving monsters drew tighter into Grant, protecting him from stones thrown from the fortress. All of a sudden however, the stones stopped being thrown.
Meat shield ready! Mercy grit nonexistent teeth. Kill Depths quickly!
Grant almost ran face first into the long dragon's body. He braced himself against it to slow his momentum. The body raised slightly at the impact point. The shortest guppy soldiers that followed Grant this far crawled in, shouting their war cries. Once the dragon lifted high enough, Grant ducked beneath its body and entered the fortress through a destroyed wall.
I felt Subsonar glide from his perch to directly above the highest peak of Depths’ dungeon. Which meant in order to find the core, all we had to do was do directly beneath him.
I guided Grant with vague directions of left and right. Mercy helped by pointing out dead ends, instructing Grant through their contact. The guppies surged forward, engaging the evolved bat monsters as we encountered them. One by one they fell, and one by one, we were slowly leaving them behind.
A swarm of bats entered my domain, crashing into every exposed surface Grant had. One bat slammed into my core.
YOU! Depths roared in fury.
I couldn’t help but smirk, even as Grant shoved me and Mercy into his pockets for protection.
Peek-a-boo…
Grant held his mouth and eyes shut tight, entirely relying on my instructions to avoid fallen stones and other obstacles. He could no longer run through the hordes of bats, and instead had to rely on simply forcing his way forward at a steady march. Body after body slammed into him, not attempting to destroy him, but to simply force him back. Grant felt no pain, even when a hobgoblin bat surprised him from behind with a stone club to the back of the head. Against my better judgment, I allowed him to release me from his grip so he could draw his sword.
Without the consequence of failure holding him back, Grant struck down the hobgoblin, beheading it even after receiving another painless blow to the shoulder. He roared in effort, taking his hand off of Mercy to two hand his sword. He slashed the air, striking down dozens of tiny bats with each swing.
I felt my army fall behind me. Death after death, one after the other. Bottom Dweller had to retreat behind Rab’s armor. Both of them reported heavy damage. Rab was too slow to do anything against the demon, and Dweller could no longer stand. The demon disengaged, presumably flying to carve a path through the giant dragon blocking the way. I felt all of my critters die, not all at once, but in rapid succession. I wanted Sneaky to retreat, but I knew that wouldn’t be possible. She was just going to have to make do.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
And then I saw it.
Through Grant's eyes, I saw a pyramid so dark purple it was almost black. It rose out of the ground like a sand castle, stuck in a crevice at the corner where the wall turned into floor. He could only catch glimpses of it through the swarm of bats battering his face, but he saw it nonetheless. And so did I.
Grant switched back to wielding his sword with his off hand, shoving his hand in his pocket for my core. The instant he brought it out, the bats dove for it, scratching painfully at the surface.
Obey! I shouted with expectant glee. Obey-obey-obey-
For each blow struck against my core, I claimed one bat. Each frail, pathetic bat would attempt to wrap their whole body around my core to protect it, only to get torn away by the savage claws of the numerous enemy bats that so desired my death. Grant roared, shoving me through the swarm as best he could.
And then I entered the dungeon space.
----------------------------------------
I stood in the center of a flowing asteroid belt of stars. They flowed around me in a circle, rising and falling independently of each other, creating a beautiful protective torus. I had only half as many stars as I had last time I was here, and by far less of the large stars than I would have liked. But the three largest, and by far most important stars remained. Rab, Mimi, and now Grant’s.
Before me sat a dark purple pyramid. Approximately half as large as its physical equivalent at the size of a softball. It floated in space, surrounded by a stagnant sea of stars, by far outnumbering my own. There must be thousands of insignificant specks of stars, and almost a hundred small marble sized ones. One particularly large star, which I could see was actually in the shape of a burning pyramid, caught my attention, hovering directly above the peak of the core pyramid. It was at least as large as a baseball, by far being the largest star on the field. That would be the demon’s will.
You… Depths rumbled again. You wish for death. I will grant it to you.
I chuckled. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan for that. You’re going to be the one to submit.
And I really did want it to submit. If I killed it by overpowering its will, I might not be able to claim its subordinates as my own. If it submitted of its own willingness, I would gain all of its subordinates.
I’d finish this in a single blow.
SUBMIT.
The thousands of insignificant stars sucked into the core. It swelled in size, flexing as if it had just received a blow.
Depths growled low. No.
The now larger pyramid shot out from the protection of its remaining stars, slamming through my torus and into my stomach, point first. I coughed, blowing spittle out that never technically appeared. The pyramidal core began spinning, drilling further into my stomach. Its sides tugged at my skin, twisting and tearing into my stomach.
My hands gripped the core at the corners, slowing, and then halting its rotation.
I breathed heavily, dazed from the pain I’d just experienced. This wasn’t like the pain I felt when my core was damaged. That was all mental pain. The pain experienced when noises rang too loudly, or when you ate super spicy food. Superficial feelings that could only be described as pain because the body didn’t have a better reaction for what to call it.
This was real pain. Physical. Damaging on a visible level.
Black blood leaked out from where the point of the core had drilled into my stomach.
I stared at it, almost incredulous. Despite the pain I felt, I couldn't help but stare. It was just so unbelievable to me that I could feel pain on this level. I didn’t know what to do.
The pyramid twisted, wrenching itself out of my grip. I limply watched it retreat for a second before it circled back, aiming for my face. I flinched and ducked, a little too late. The pyramid struck my forehead, knocking me back in this empty space. It didn’t stop there, rounding back again before slamming into my spine, my side, my hip, my chest, the back of my head.
It circled around again, aiming for my heart.
A blood vessel appeared on my forehead. KNOCK IT OFF!
I slammed a fist down on the core, knocking it way off course. It still struck my shin, but at least I managed to hit it back.
Depths chuckled, finally retreating back to its stars. You are young. Naive. Your inexperience shall be your downfall.
Bullshit! I shouted back. In this space, I have the most will! That means I will win!
Depths chuckled again. You are blind. You cannot see the damage I have done to you, and you have done nothing to me. I am the better fighter. I will kill you, and then I will claim your monsters for my own, or kill them for their mana.
I spit nothing off to the side, just because it felt appropriate. But I did heed Depths’ words. I had black blood pouring out all over me. Not even an effort of will could repair the damages. That was new.
Depths’ stars circled around them, gaining speed. They shot out, slamming into me like high speed bb shots. I shouted in surprise, pulling my leg up and arms close to protect my body. I watched Depths through a crack in my defenses as they began spinning. They moved in a curving path, slamming into my side while I defended myself from their stars. Fuck! I could feel their sharp points with every impact!
Depths impacted me again, crashing through my torus to do so. I felt a small number of my stars vanish.
I recalled the memory my pink pet dungeon shared with me. When it faced the other dungeon, the stars both cores wielded disappeared, and when they emerged, their monsters were dead.
I grit my teeth with sudden fury. Depths was killing my minions from within this space!
Depths made for another charge again, deliberately aiming for my torus. I abandoned my own defenses against their stars and raised a hand. My stars rose, avoiding Depth’s strike, even if it did hit me directly. Their stars pelted my face, cutting shallowly across my skin.
YOU BASTARD! I shouted in fury. Leave my minions alone!
Depths laughed. You knew that one? No matter! Either I destroy your monsters, or I destroy you! I may not get mana from their kills, but who cares! I shall gain your mana when I kill you!
I completely abandoned my defenses, striking out with flailing fists against Depths’ stars. A small number of them shattered on impact with my knuckles, but the rest just shed the flesh on my fingers.
I paid the pain no mind. With half a mind, I shifted my stars around me, flowing them nebulously to avoid the attacks of Depths and their stars. I couldn’t get all of them however, and his slightly larger stars crashed into my smaller ones. My stars vanished, completely unable to defend themselves against their attackers.
No! I cried, trying my best to defend my people. I attempted focusing my attacks on Depths, but they just flew out of reach whenever I tried. Then I noticed that their demon’s star still hadn’t moved.
I lunged for it, pulling all of my stars with me. When I swung for it, the star finally moved, dodging out of the way. But it wasn’t as fast as Depths. So I swung for it again, pushing off ground that wasn’t there to reach it. I raced after it, reaching out a hand to crush it in my grip. Depths’ core intercepted, slamming into my hand.
But I could do it. I could kill their demon, I just had to be smart about it.
I never got the chance. Depths and all of their stars retreated, grouping up once again. I glared in their direction, hiding my own stars behind my back. Black blood dripped from nearly every part of my body, vanishing to dust the instant it fell away. I could feel my power draining from me with every drop.
Tell me something. Depths mused with a cocky voice. Their pyramid morphed as they spoke. What advantage do you think you have by being squishy? Why do you forego natural armor?
Their body stretched, growing limbs. Legs, arms, and four bat-like wings. They transformed into their demon, judging the claws on their hands. Why do you not use your monsters as the tools they are?
The hundred-ish stars that had been assaulting me swirled, coallessing in Depths’ new hands. They formed that same wicked blade I’d seen the demon wielding. A curved edge, with spikes out the back and a hook at the end. Depths toyed with the blade, forming a second blade out of the demon's star alone. Depths’ ugly mug gave me a cocky look.
I’m merely curious.
They struck, both arms cutting in the same direction. I leapt back, barely avoiding the blades. The attack didn’t end there however, as Depths rushed in, cutting the knives across thin air, always just barely missing me. I grit my teeth, debating on if I should mimic them. Would creating tools of my minion’s wills damage them? Would they survive on the other end? Could I risk trying? Should I risk trying?!
No. I couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t risk their lives. The instant I got out of here, I’d need all of their help just getting out of the cavern. I’d lost too much in taking on Depths, I couldn’t risk fighting any more.
I had to win here.
I had to.
My will boiled up within me, forming the only attack I knew I could do at range.
SUBMIT.
Depths halted for a split second, cringing. But they resisted.
No.
I tried again.
SUBMIT.
And this time, I timed their flinch. They were halfway through recovering from a lethal swing, and off balance. I dove in, mirroring boxing moves I’d seen in movies. I could only afford a quick jab to the jaw before I had to retreat out of reach of their blades.
Depths did not chuckle this time. They glared at me, a dribble of black liquid pouring out of the corner of their mouth.
Ah. I relaxed a touch. There we are.
Die. Depths growled.
I didn’t even need to call forth my will this time. I dodged their two bladed strike with a sidestep, striking upwards towards their elbow. They used one blade to cut for me, this time cutting a streak across my chest. Too shallow. Before they could use the other blade as a follow up, I kicked their stomach, knocking them out of reach.
I smirked confidently, although inwardly I began panicking. This was no longer a fight to simply survive. This was a fight I needed to try and win. And that meant getting past those knives.
And I had zero real life combat experience.
But.
I had my will.
I thumbed the corner of my mouth, rubbing away a bit of blood. Depths did the same, taking a second to observe the blood dissipate to dust off their finger. Their eyes drew back up to mine.
Step one, I decided, would be taking away their advantage.
Depths charged me, flying in a straight line. I flared my will, not for myself, but for my stars. They followed my direction, dispersing in a great flurry of movement behind me. Depths hesitated, just for a fraction of a second as they watched my stars balloon outwardly. They decided not to pay them any mind, and committed to the attack.
I used their hesitation to predict their line of attack. Instead of dodging, I parried their blows, brushing aside their strikes with my open palms. The blades scraped against my skin, but neither managed to cut me. I leaned into one shoulder, meeting Depths’ charge by driving my shoulder into their face. I felt a satisfying crunch as I broke their giant, disgusting bat nose.
They cried out in pain, pulling back for a second. With a growl, they returned to their ready stance. So did I, nervous, but ready.
We stood in a field of stars, and yet our eyes were only for each other.
He dove again.
I flicked a finger downwards. Rab's star dove, meeting the top of Depths’ skull, right between the horns. Depths obviously felt the impact, but ignored it in favor of lashing out again. Their movements were wide. Fast, but predictable enough that I could dodge the worst, and minimize the damage of the unavoidable. My stars converged, striking the areas of Depths that they could not reach with their humanoid body.
They continued their attacks, but they got easier and easier to dodge. They were becoming distracted. Slowly, their attacks devolved into nothing more complicated than a wild animal. It was then that I struck back. I caught Depths’ wrist, pulling him across my body. I pulled a move I’m sure I saw in a kung-fu or karate movie somewhere and drove my palm into Depths’ extended elbow. Bone snapped, and they lost grip of their knife.
I pushed Depths away quickly with a foot to the stomach, pulling back my stars as well. We stood in open air, staring each other down. I held their other knife. The one I believed was made of the hundred smaller stars.
Depths nursed their arm, but reached for their stolen dagger at a distance. I felt a tug, as the knife wanted to fly away from me. I gripped the handle even tighter, unwilling to let it go.
I readied my stars around me as I observed the knife a little closer, seeing if I could point out the individual stars that made up the knife. I couldn’t.
Depths forced the knife to wiggle in my hand, trying to pry it free. It should have been obvious to them that by now, I wasn’t letting go.
So why didn’t they just disperse it into the hundreds of stars again? Sure, I had readied my stars to destroy theirs, but they weren’t even trying.
Once they become a tool, can you not undo it? I ask.
Depths’ only response was to try harder to remotely pull the knife away from me.
If you can wield them remotely, why even wield them in the first place? I ponder aloud. That’s what I would do. Make blades that just float around and swing at things. Is there something restricting you to wielding them?
DIE! Depths shouted, diving for me.
My stars swirled in a circle, slamming into Depths’ side as a single mass. They tried to dodge, and it only mostly succeeded, as my stars only hit their legs. I stepped forward to halt their retaliation by blocking their knife with my own. They struck each other, and we disengaged.
Well to be fair, us cores do seem to move faster than our stars. Is that the reason? By wielding them ourselves, we’re able to put them to more effective use? I study the knife further, swinging it back and forth. It would make sense I suppose. Plus it’s easier to know exactly where everything is all at once, rather than needing to worry about all these individual stars.
Give me back my knife. Depths demanded.
Their will washed over me, but any desire I had to let go of the knife faded rather quickly. It was pitiful really. I found it rather astounding that they were able to put up as much resistance against me as they did.
I considered the knife again, wondering what would happen to the wills that collectively made it up once we were out. Would the knife return the wills of the individuals back to them? Or would they somehow coalesce into a hive mind? I found that prospect rather enticing, even if I wasn’t willing to test it myself. I presumed they would be safe, because otherwise, why would Depths risk their ace in the hole? Or was the demon a special case since it was the lone will that made up that other knife?
I wonder what would happen if I broke it?
Without thinking too much further than that, I lifted up a knee and held the blade in both hands. I poured my will into the action, willing it to shatter against my knee. The knife couldn’t resist, and shattered. The dark purple blade crumbled to dust, vanishing to nothing.
Depths growled, but otherwise didn’t react.
You were right. I told them. I was inexperienced. Without your guidance, I would probably have lost. Thank you for teaching me.
Depths shouted a war cry. Their form collapsed in on itself, forming their pyramid once again. Their demon remained in the shape of the wicked knife. With a sudden burst of movement, Depths charged me, point first and spinning.
But I was warmed up by this point.
My body flowed according to my will. It clenched a fist and brought my wrath down upon my opponent. The strike carried my will to kill along with it. Depths resisted once again.
A corner of their body chipped off. It turned to dust, and then to nothing.
Depths charged again, and their knife chased in after them. I struck down on Depths again, accepting the blade into my shoulder. With my free hand, I gripped the handle and wrenched it out against its will. This knife struggled much harder than the previous one, practically dragging me along as Depths charged in for another body blow.
I twisted my body to accept the blow right in the center of my stomach. My free hand caught Depths, holding the core trapped against my body. From here, it was just obvious about what I needed to do.
I struck down with the pommel of the demon knife, cracking Depths. They cried out in agony, trying to force their way out of my grip. My flesh caught, twisting around with Depths’ struggled, holding them in close. I struck again.
Depths’ body may not have the disadvantage of flesh, but it didn’t hold the advantages of it either.
We both cried out in pain as we hurt each other. And with one final blow, Depths shattered.
----------------------------------------
My avatar stood over the purple core as it fragmented itself. Hundreds of bat bodies collapsed, mid flight. I bent over, propping myself up with my hands on my knees. Somehow, I felt out of breath. Drained of energy and will. Although I was whole, I felt so much lesser than myself.
Then the mana slammed into me. I froze, completely unable to move as the tidal wave of energy flowed into me. It didn’t last a mere moment, or even just a second. The mana rushed into me for a full minute, during which I was unable to speak or think coherently. Vaguely, I recognized my defenselessness.
But then it was over.
Ahhhhh… I sighed in relief. The memory of pain washed away on its own. Quite frankly, I felt amazing.
“RAAAHHHH!” Shouted a loud voice.
I flinched at the unexpected sound. What’s happening?
The boss monster has gone into a rage. Subsonar reported. It’s attacking the dragon.
Stop! Mercy was sobbing. Please! Mercy!
“You’re back!” Grant cheered. He was sitting on the floor in front of the core’s fragments. “I think we’re in danger here. Where’s everyone else? Can we go home now?”
I shook my head. Afraid not. There’s one last thing I want. Excuse me Mercy.
My will slammed into Mercy’s. Mana trickled out of me, hardly anything compared to what I had gained from the battle. It encountered the walls of the room we were in. Out through the crumbling corridors and into the open sky. I touched the giant body of my former dragon, recognizing instantly the fact that it wasn’t mine. My domain ballooned, expanding in all directions until I claimed every inch of territory that Depths had once claimed as their own. Due to the shape of my core, I didn’t quite reach the tunnels where I had originally come from, but that didn’t really bother me.
What bothered me was that I still didn’t own this demon.
It didn’t fly around any more, instead favoring brutism as it carved into the giant dragon, even as it tried to run away. Clearly, it had once tried to fight back, but the demon had lopped off every limb that had tried. At this point, the dragon was no better than a snake with a few stray limbs. And it was bleeding heavily.
At my instruction, Grant left Mercy on the floor of the core room, now accompanied by Sneaky. He walked through the crumbled corridors of the once mighty fort until he came under open sky. He raised up my core and raised his voice.
“Behold! The one that destroyed your master!”
The demon whipped around, fury and violence in its eyes. It roared, turning into a blur as it charged directly for Grant. Instinctively, Grant tucked his arms into his chest to defend himself. The demon slammed into him, knives first, slamming him back and through the remaining fortress walls and into the cavern walls.
Grant smirked at the demon, clearly enjoying the fact that nothing hurt. He presented my core to the demon's chest.
Obey.