Groaning, Zoe keeled over and rolled onto her side where she curled up. The level up notification came, but she brushed it away. She could only focus on keeping herself alive. Gritting her teeth, she canceled {Cleansing Hellfire} and put everything into {Heal Wound} instead, as it felt more powerful relative to how much mana it consumed.

Belatedly, Zoe realized the dagger was still inside of her. Wheezing a curse, she yanked it out. While she vaguely remembered something about leaving blades inside the wound, she had magic now. When her guts were writhing back into shape in real time, it seemed like a good idea to remove any unnatural obstructions. Fortunately, she steadily began to feel better. And then she suddenly felt like shit.

{Last Defiance has deactivated: conditions no longer met.}

Frantically, Zoe thought back to the various system messages she had received in just the past few minutes. What was {Last Defiance} again? And why did she no longer have it? Oh. Right. The demon thing that kicks in with impossible odds. Wait, that must mean that the system thinks I actually have a decent chance at surviving this shit now…

Rolling over, Zoe scanned the rest of the chamber. The paladin was now standing atop the altar, which was now shattered into jagged chunks of blackened stone. Brandishing his gleaming sword, he hopped down and began advancing towards the cultist chieftain, who stood several paces away from the base of the pyramid.

The chieftain’s robes were tattered and choked with stone dust. He looked haggard — his hair was matted and messy, and he had a wild, shaky look in his eyes. He was still handsome, in a disheveled sort of way. As Alexander reached a point halfway up the pyramid, he stopped. “I’m afraid that you won’t be getting away from this one. We honestly should have sent in a Paladin sooner.”

Instead of replying, the cultist reached into his robes and withdrew a small glass ampule. Through her pain, Zoe squinted at it. She could make it out in the dim lighting far more clearly than she expected, though the details were still hard to parse.

Something writhed within, a sort of swirling and twisting darkness, speckled with what almost looked like starlight. The chieftain raised it to the level of his eye, and the paladin froze.

“And I’m afraid that I’ll have to deny you the satisfaction,” the cultist spat, “as you have denied me mine.” He whipped his head back. “I won’t forget this.”

Turning to eye Zoe from the side, he lazily waved in her direction, and she froze as well. “And I won’t forget you either.” And then he crushed the ampule.

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

The night sky exploded around him. Stars and dust and most of all — the space in between enveloped him, briefly lashing outwards to tickle the base of the pyramid. And then the universe collapsed inward upon itself, spinning faster and faster until it vanished, leaving nothing but a fading afterimage.

The cultist chieftain was nowhere in sight. All that was left were the bodies of his subordinates.

Groaning, Zoe rolled onto her back. The wound in her gut still hurt like a bitch, even though it was now completely sealed over with pale flesh. She continued using {Heal Wound} but the returns seemed to be diminishing, and she hadn’t checked her mana recently. Perhaps there was a limit to it that she was hitting.

Reaching down, Zoe stupidly poked herself in the stomach. She instantly regretted it, curling up tighter and hissing loudly in pain.

“You!”

Once again, Zoe froze. She didn’t hear the paladin approach, but she could feel him. He had a presence that pushed against her uncomfortably, almost like sunlight against a rash. Licking her lips, she rolled over once more and forced herself to face him.

He stopped just half a dozen paces away and frowned. Zoe noticed that he hadn’t yet sheathed his sword. “What have you done?”

Oddly, the paladin’s words mirrored the cultist chieftain’s in a way that made Zoe distinctly uneasy. Slowly, she raised herself up to a sitting position, ignoring the ache in her stomach. Looking up at the paladin, she tried her best to make herself look confident yet unthreatening. The first was difficult, the second less so. “Uh, I killed a few of the other cultists while you were fighting the chieftain?”

The paladin stared down at her, his expression stony and unmoving. “You absorbed the core. You became a demon.”

Zoe gulped — she couldn’t help it. He was, what, a holy warrior? Who killed cultists? And she was now apparently no longer human, but rather some kind of lesser demon? Yeah, this didn’t bode well. And they were now alone together once more… Shit, what do I say?

“I had to. I had to pick a healer class to stop dying, but then I ran out of mana, so I absorbed the core so I could stop dying again.”

“I see.”

“What now?”

Alexander remained motionless for several seconds before tilting his head and fixing her with a deep stare. “The circumstances of your… condition, are rather… exceptional.” He paused. “I will bring you back to the nearest temple. They will know better than I how to handle your unique situation.” He turned his head, muttering under his breath. “Perhaps there is a cure.”

Zoe furrowed her brow. Just what was he suggesting? “Do I have to come?”

Alexander shrugged. “If you want to live.” He chuckled dryly. “Come. I promise it won’t be so bad. I’m here to help.” bending down slightly, he extended his gauntleted hand. “Will you accept?”

Zoe stared at the hand before her. She had never been religious, but she wouldn’t be surprised if actual gods really did exist here. But still, the thought of being brought under the thumb of some kind of church made her squirm. No, she absolutely refused to submit to that kind of authority.

But what other choice did she have right now?

Zoe took his hand.

“I accept.”

For now.