"LAYLA!"

I rushed over and shook her limp body.

"Interesting."

Alerted to the raspy voice behind, my head turned a 180 degrees to see a black figure in a wide top hat and coat, accompanied by five ghouls behind. The Ghoul Champion.

Standing up one foot at a time, all while maintaining eye contact with him, I felt an unseen energy wash over me as the cool gusts of wind blew past my skin, causing the hairs on my arm to stand at attention. This man, if he can be called one, radiated nothing but confidence, malice and terror. Staring into his eyes was akin to staring into the void itself; it was slowly sucking me in.

"To be immune to my mental abilities, you're not bad."

"What do you want?"

"Haha."

Then with a flick of his wrist, my body flew to the left, slamming me into a row of trees, befelling each one I collided into.

"So. Where is my device?" he directed it to Layla, who was now beginning to regain consciousness. His hand made C shape, its concave facing Layla. With a slow and steady motion, he lifted his arm, bringing Layla upward.

"Answer me."

Layla grabbed her neck with both hands, frantically trying to remove the phantom hand that constricted her airflow as her body gradually floated upward.

"Grk…. grk... grk…" Her throat squeezed out whatever sound it could make.

"I said. Answer me." A wry smile formed on his face as his fingers began curling inwards, putting in more strength into the grip. Layla's eyes started rolling back as her hands lost their strength, falling limp by her side. Her face became flushed, devoid of its usual color. Her cheeks turned a ghastly shade of purple, and her lips, now pale and slightly parted, quivered with the effort to draw breath. Her body trembled uncontrollably, desparately attempting to take in air.

Suddenly, a fireball sizzled through the air, beelining for The Ghoul Champion from his left. He swiftly jumped back, narrowly dodging it and releasing his grip on Layla. She gasped for air as she collapsed on the floor again, her hands instinctively still reaching for her throat.

"Hah, you're really good aren't you," he chuckled as I stepped out of the mess of trees.

"Where's… Javen?" I squeezed words between my rapid breaths.

"Where's my device?"

"She didn't… take it. You made a mistake." I bluffed with a straight face. He probably wouldn't buy it. Yeah, he wouldn't for sure. Well, at least it bought me time to walk over to Layla.

"I made a mistake?"

A large translucent magic screen then formed before my eyes, showing a scene from outside an underground entrance. Three ghouls stood about guarding this place, their hands carrying a spear-like weapon. But just seconds later, black arrows impaled their necks and they dropped to the ground lifeless. Another few seconds later, a fair-skin lady came into view, passing through the underground entrance. Her back was facing us, but that long platinum-blonde hair was as clear as day.

My widened eyes went down to Layla, who simply closed hers in acceptance upon seeing the footage. She wasn't denying what had happened on the magic screen — she had really killed three ghouls to get that resurrection device.

"So I made a mistake?" His raspy voice echoed. Slight tremors started to rock the ground and crack lines ran through the lake. My feet stuttered, reaching for the best position it could find as I tried to hold myself up. Up above the blue skies gradually faded into a dark red hue, signalling the beginning of an end.

"Lay, you okay? We need to run, now!" I whispered to her. But she was still in a seated position, sulking or feeling defeated. This was no time for that! Get up Layla!

"You think I'll let you go?" He raised his palm in the air, creating a black magic formation. Countless thick, black roots shot out from it, planting themselves deep into the snow in a circular shape around us. I created a doorway using Creation Magic to avoid getting trapped, but the shiny opening got instantly obliterated upon touching the black roots. And now, w were now in a dome-like with the six of them.

"You look promising by the way. Why don't you show me what you can do?" He placed one hand at his waist and smiled, waiting for my first move.

Multiple options ran through my mind, but for some reason I pictured none of them working against him. Maybe I'll throw at him? Or maybe I'll charge straight at him with magic swords. Argh, no point fretting over it. I settled on , a new spell Layla taught me which causes the earth beneath a target to rise up abruptly. In theory, the sudden vertigo of the target would usually immobilise them for a while, giving users an opportunity to hit harder subsequently.

And so, the ground beneath the Ghoul Champion shot up high into the sky, bringing him up and making him collide into the black roots above. It didn't penetrate the dome though.

"Haha, that's it?" A raspy voice came from behind me. What the? I wasted no time and turned to restrict with him , but his arm went through my abdomen before I could cast, his fingers reappearing at the back of my body.

"Urkk!!" Blood surged out of my mouth violently, spraying crimson droplets into the air as a wave of merciless assault rippled through my being. My vision blurred, my arms became weak; it felt like they were longer belonged to me.

"G…. G!" Layla called out upon finally regaining her senses, interrupting my train of thoughts. But as she tried to do something, she got backhanded by the same hand that went through my abdomen, sending her flying across the lake.

"N-n….no… L… Lay…" My words were nothing more than soft whispers as I dropped to my knees, my hands clutching at the hole The Ghoul Champion had bestowed upon me, trying to stop the red liquid that was gushing out uncontrollably, painting the snow white ground a crimson red. He was so quick, that when my gaze went up again, he was already towering over Layla's body. How…? Was he using teleportation magic?

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"How disappointing. Everyone in this world is so weak." I heard him mutter as he telekinetically lifted Layla's body again with a simple hand motion.

"You two, take care of him." He instructed the ghouls as he and the other three then vanished into thin air.

Though quite slowly, the hole in my body was starting to close up, thanks to the enhanced Layla had taught me. My eyes gradually regained their normal vision, and darted back and forth between my abdomen and the two ghouls who were approaching me. The dome cage made of black roots was still active despite The Ghoul Champion's absence. No good. When I scanned the roots with my eyes earlier, I discovered that they had an incredibly dense structure, so much so that simple spell casts wouldn't even scratch it. That left me with only one option: to fight those two ghouls.

Hand still gripping my injury, I got on my feet, redoing the layers of magic and physical barriers that The Ghoul Champion had easily broken. However, the ghouls were smart. Upon seeing the magic formations I had casted, they immediately reacted by casting their own. Shadows from the floor solidified, reaching out to grab ahold of my limbs, restricting my movements. Next came a black hand that sliced through the air toward my face, its fingers coated with a dark red. I quickly enhanced my legs and kicked the ground, narrowly avoiding the hyperelongated arm that one of the ghouls had thrown at me. It had plunged straight into the tree behind, melting it into a puddle of goo. Now high in the air and free from the shadows' grasps, I casted , creating an enormous magic formation on the ground beneath the ghouls. Before they were able to jump out of it, purple flames bursted upward into the sky in a vortex, incinerating everything within its area. The blanket of snow was erased, leaving the brown earth scorched and bare. Trees succumbed to the inferno, their leaves and branches ceasing to exist, leaving behind only their blackened skeletal trunks. But the ghouls were still in one piece. In fact, they were only on their knees for a moment before they stood back up again, ready for another round. What the heck?

I flew through the air, barely weaving around the barrage of attacks they sent at me while throwing back some of my own as I wracked my brains to find a way to defeat them. These ghouls, what was their weakness? They had to have one, right?

…

Argh, how was I supposed to know? These guys didn't exist a hundred years ago! Although my attacks landed pretty easily due to the ghouls' surprisingly slow movements, they were nothing more than tickles to these guys. I needed more power in my spells. Using the modified strength enhancing spell might work, but I needed something more assuring. Then an idea hit me. What if I stacked the enhancements spells onto the enhancement spells themselves? In theory, it would increase the spell power exponentially, but I wasn't sure if the spell would be succesfully casted in the first place.

I rapidly descended back down, landing on the ground, right within arm's reach of the ghouls. If I wanted to do that, I needed to buy time, and the best way was to engage them in hand-to-hand combat. I laid the foundation for underneath the ground below us and started enhancing its power.

One

I sidestepped a push-kick from one of the ghouls and counter-attacked with a straight punch, but it didn't faze him at all. Nonetheless, I continued advancing toward him with kicks and hooks, dodging whatever he threw at me.

Two

While I was busy with the first one, the other ghoul rushed me with a magic sword, cutting open my left sleeve, but barely missing my skin. Looking at it with my magic eyes, I realised the tip was laced with poison. That could have been disastrous. The first ghoul had also suddenly become more proficient in his hand-to-hand combat. No good.

Three

I started to take on a more defensive style and retreated as much as I could. At this point, I had already stacked three enhancement spells which used up quite an amount of my mana. Pouring any more of it anywhere else would be unwise.

Four

This should be enough. Any more and I would really be out of mana. I quickly casted , temporarily immobilising them. It wouldn't hold them for more than two seconds, but it was all I needed to get out of the super-enhanced . I flew out of the spell range fast and finished the magic underground formation. A loud hissing sound echoed in this black-root dome, and a second later, bright purple flames spiraled into the sky like a fiery tornado, their heat distorting the air around them. They bursted through the roof of the dome, reducing everything within its reach to ashes, its sheer power also obliterating the ground beneath them. When it was complete, nothing was left inside the circle--no trees, no debris, no corpses. Only a large crater, a stark reminder of its sheer destructive power.

"Whoa," I muttered, lowering the arm that was shielding my eyes from the intense amethyst light. The scene before me had the perfect mix of destruction and beauty. The crater, now a barren land, showed no signs of the ghouls. Good. The first of my problems were down. Looking up toward my exit -- the hole in the dome -- the sky's ominous red hue began fading, restoring the serene blue that should have been.

Escaping was important, but there was something else I had to do first. I headed to the point where the Ghoul Champion had vanished. Using my magic eyes, I looked at the vicinity closely. Traces of magic were indeed present, but the source was Layla and Layla only. I couldn't find any hints of The Ghoul Champion no matter where I looked; it was like he was never here at all. Then hovering above the dome, I looked far and wide across the skies, hoping that Layla's magic would at least leave a trail. There wasn't any -- her magic trail ended right where she vanished.

Shit.

***

The Underground World

"Layla."

Her head drooped. Her arms were chained above. The continuous throbs that pulsed through her head -- so pain, so naseauting.

"Layla!"

Her eyes opened gradually, blinking away the confusion as she struggled to take in her surroundings. A dim room. Cell bars in front. A metallic yet pungent odour. Brown walls on both sides. A voice that wouldn't stop calling her.

"Are you okay?"

Her eyelids felt as heavy as a brick. Who was that beside her? Was it a man? Or a woman? Why was it so hard to open her eyes?

"Hnnn... hnnn..." she called out, her voice barely a whisper. Her voice, what had happened? Why couldn't she speak a single word?

"What?"

"Hnnnn!! Hnnnn!!" she replied, desperately lacing her muffled cries. Her head drooped again, her eyes half-opened. It saw a bare body, no longer fair-skinned, but mostly black. Her arms, they became black too.

"Mmm!!!!! Mmmhmm!!!" A tear streamed down her cheek. Her fair and smooth skin she had worked so hard to maintain, gone. All gone.

"Ah. Finally awake." A raspy voice echoed in the room. Standing at the cell entrance was The Ghoul Champion.

"What did you do to her, you freak?!" Javen roared as his body fought against the chains that held him to the wall.

"I believe you would call it a consequence." The cell door opened and The Ghoul Champion walked in. "Looks like things are going well, but I have to say though... wow." His widened eyes ogled Layla as his hand reached out.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!"

"And what will you do about it?"

Javen's teeth clenched tightly, almost to the point of shattering. He had turned his head away, unable to bear the violation that was occurring right beside him. The suffocating silence of the cell was only filled with Layla's muffled whimpers, each one a dagger to his heart. The sounds tore at his soul, fueling the flames of rage within him. "I'll kill you... I'll fucking kill you!"

The Ghoul Champion smirked. His hand, having fully enjoyed her curves, pulled away from Layla's trembling body. Then sounds of footsteps echoed in the cell.

"My lord, the preparations are complete. We are ready to move." A ghoul interrupted.

"Good." The Ghoul Champion dismissed him with a wave of his hand before turning his gaze to Javen.

"Now, little King, sit here quietly while you watch your city fall."