The room was no longer a room. The walls collapsed and recessed downwards with a rumbling the made me widen my stance to avoid toppling over. Stones softened into dirt and the bodies of the deceased were swallowed by the ground. Bright light shone in and made me briefly cover my eyes. The smell of a breeze and the sounds of insects filled my ears. For a moment, I was taken back to the times during summer break where I would ride my bike out to the middle of nowhere with my friends and we would pretend to be explorers.

The lingering scent of blood that clung to my body reminded me that those days had long since passed.

When I moved my arm away, I was awe-struck by the change. We stood in an open field, bare of all obstacles or any signs of the tower’s existence. A single dirt road, the only landmark in the grassy ocean, spanned from horizon to horizon.

In the distance, a puff of smoke hung in the air. The puff turned into a cloud into a dust storm. In the center of the tempest was a silhouette that was growing ever larger. Its arms and legs were pumping at speeds that turned them blurry. Like a runaway train, an ancient version of the Flash passed by like a blur. Tan fur and towering ebon horns were the only features I managed to see before it was gone again. The dust storm that followed buffeted us with dirt and blinded us. I felt dust coat my scales and fill the corners of my eyes.

“Hold them off while I get the boss!” I heard Herzblatt shout through the storm as I blinked vision back into my eyes. They took a pointless stab at the passing creature and moved after it.

I gritted my teeth as the dog priest sprinted off. It would be easier said than done. These were serious fighters. There was no need for conversation or even an exchange of pleasantries. Like a dog that saw strangers on their lawn, it was on sight.

The eagle and the cyclops charged us while the scorpion hung back and readied their bow. Their eyes were frenzied as they saw that Yoshitsune was nursing one of her shoulders.

An arrow from the scorpion launched ahead of their two charging comrades; the tip gleamed with an assuredly toxic coating. I sprayed my corrosive spit. The spray connected with the shaft and melted the projectile to the ground like a plane crash. Before it had even the chance to hit the ground, I already sprung my body forward to intercept the enemies.

Yoshitsune wouldn’t go down without a fight herself. Her lightning attacks were already disrupting the tranquility of the plains. Blue bolts torched the grasses and struck both the attackers. The scent of burning flesh and feathers rose in the air like the worst barbeque you’ve ever been to. But, the lightning did little to slow down their advance. Like a Taser to a man on PCP, the pair continued their charge towards us.

“Move back!” I shouted to Yoshitsune as I plowed shoulder-first into the cyclops’ ribs.

It felt like tackling a brick wall. The cyclops widened their stride and attempted to run through me. I swished my tail and raked it across the back of their heels, ripping the tendons and bringing us both to the ground. They raised their iron-studded club and bashed me in the arm while I dug my teeth into their neck.

Another blast of dust and wind covered us and defended us from the scorpion’s arrows. I heard the breaking of glass and a warmth radiating against my back. The cyclops struggled against me as they tried to stand up, but the continuous tail slashes against their flesh kept them floundering against the ground.

Smoke filled my nose as the heat escalated. The field had caught fire and the dry grasses instantly burst into flames. But I did not let go or flee. I allowed the flames to cover us and sear our flesh. Like with the lizard, I summoned the tar beneath me and gleefully scythed the cyclops’ life away. But, unlike that frail lizard, the cyclops was far heartier and would need to be held onto for longer.

I continued to bite and slash as the two of us cooked. The cyclops screamed and thrashed but I only squeezed harder like a constrictor around a boar. I would outlast. I would survive. An arrow deflected off of my reinforced scales and made my side feel numb. My legs scrabbled against the cyclops’ flesh to keep control over the demon. They tried to drag themselves away from the tar and away from the flames. They tried to roll over and crush me. They tried to pummel my skull with their meaty arms. I would not let go.

More glass broke and the winds from the boss grew. The fires grew stronger and angrier. And, before long, the cyclops finally succumbed. All it cost was half my life. It was a cost that was still being incurred by the inferno.

I stayed close to the ground, allowing the flames to continue to lick at my HP. To immediately rise was to allow the scorpion to put an arrow right between my eyes. I summoned one of my recovery potions while I rolled away from the corpse of my opponent. The potion raised my health but did little to remove the discomfort from the flames.

Starting on my hands and knees, I burst into a low sprint in the direction that I could hear lightning. The boss sprinted by again and spread out their fiery presents like a napalm strike. Smoke made my eyes water and my nose ran.

Yoshitsune was flagging like a wilting flower. The eagle demon locked swords with her. It screeched in her face and caused an explosion of air that held off the flames for a moment. She stood firm, but barely, her position almost entirely overwhelmed by the eagle’s strength. Blood trickled from her ears and stained her blue armor.

I leapt at the eagle, using their blind spot to my advantage. But, I didn’t crash into the demon. I felt a violent gust of wind blow from underneath me like an invisible geyser. My fingers brushed against the eagle’s cage but could not grab hold. I flew into the air like a balloon that slipped from a child’s hand.

I crested above the smoke for a moment. I could see the dust cloud of the boss disappear over the horizon before arriving perfectly on the opposite side and performing their run again. It was relieving to know that it could not escape the boundaries of this circle of land, but, by the Mach speeds that it continued to sprint at, I could only assume that Herzblatt had done very little useful to defeat it. Meanwhile, I was being rag-dolled in the sky. At least it was cool up here.

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Not wanting me to feel neglected, the scorpion decided to send me a present. An arrow flew from an unseen location below, but I managed to twist my body around once more to avoid it.

A moment later, I came falling back down to earth. The eagle had their sword poised, ready to slash me in half as soon as I entered the weapon’s range.

Not wanting to be a serving of prime rib, I rained down tar and shot out my caustic spit. Feathers were stained black and metal was left steaming as the eagle hopped away to look like a seagull after an oil spill. They used their wind to blow away the flames and give them a safe place to retreat to.

The ground was coming up fast. I braced myself, prepared to snap a few bones in the process. Then, I saw a red circle appear on the ground and I fell through at speed. I briefly tumbled through Yoshitsune’s pocket dimension, leaving behind a small glob of stomach acid to show my hatred of the weightless feeling. I was then shot out like a cannonball directly at the eagle while a bolt of lightning came from another direction.

As the more dangerous projectile, the eagle allowed the lightning to crash against them while they commanded the air to push me away. I somersaulted through the flames like a circus performer that was about to be on the news for a tragic accident before I dug into the soil and stopped around fifty feet away.

“Go for the scorpion!” I shouted at Yoshitsune, waving off her approach.

“They’re too strong to face-“

Before she had the opportunity to argue, a couple arrows slipped through the smoke to force her to intercept with her sword.

“Watch out, they will paralyze you!” I shouted through the wind and she obediently left to support me in another way.

The eagle, a demon of few words after my own heart, came at me without a single bit of hesitancy. They knew that I had killed a member of their group, but their expression showed no signs of nervousness.

They swung down with their sword and I stepped inwards to grab their elbow and try to disarm them. According to plan, my palms pressed against their elbows to disrupt the swing. My eyes widened as my feet slid across the soil and I was pushed back. I had to nearly bend over backwards to avoid paying the price of flesh to my opponent.

A tailwind caught me in the back and pushed me towards the eagle like I was a fish on an invisible lure. I rolled under the sword and slashed at their legs with my tail. Blood coated the grass, but the eagle remained firmly on their feet.

I didn’t like this. This was the first time that another demon was physically more powerful than me. Even in the midst of a battle I was losing, I still had the thought as to whether my pre-magic physique would have managed better.

While I had enough time to think of the question, the eagle did not allow me the luxury of thinking up the answer. Wind forced me in different directions while their sword was awaiting me at the destination. Like a coward, I could not face the weapon directly. Like a coward, I had to continue to offer parting shots through spells to inflict any sort of damage upon the eagle. I was getting nowhere this way and neither were my allies.

Between attacks, I considered my abilities. My tar was damaging but it did not have any time to accumulate any damage. My spit was blown away before it could reach. My hands and teeth did not reach while my tail was not dealing enough damage.

All that was left was the bonus reward I received by surviving the Corpse-Watcher, [The Great Decay]. I just had to touch them again.

Wind picked up at my back and forced me back towards the metallic tooth of my enemy. I smiled. This time, I was not going to just hopelessly tumble around like an idiot. My tail reached out and wrapped around the eagle’s bare wrist as my foot kicked the blade out of the way. As the barbs created weeping wounds across the flesh, my mind activated the ability.

A black smog surrounded the eagle, causing them to pause and appraise the new notification that appeared on their health bar. With the initiative kindly handed over to me, I rushed the eagle to take a chunk out of them. I got within inches of my target and my mouth began to salivate with reptilian excitement. But, once again, I was forced in an inconvenient direction and was sent flying just out of reach of my claws.

I stopped again and quickly realized that I had not been carried as far away as before. My mana was quickly draining at the same rate that their stats dropped. I grinned, I was finally evening the playing field. I sprinted again with a renewed feeling of confidence.

That feeling was short-lived. A deadly strike of their blade that was only a finger’s breadth away from ending my life caused me to revert back to a more cautious position. Though I desperately wanted to continue to test the eagle’s strength, there was no reason to push myself into an early grave. Time would only be my friend.

My mantra was very different from my actions. Thoughts continued to reinforce the ideals of patience while the flesh moved independently to challenge itself. The lion that killed the old wildebeest was smart, but it was not impressive.

Their sword slowed enough for me to be willing to stick my neck under it and have the confidence that I would survive. I stepped into the strike with the willingness to trade damage for damage. My mouth salivated to be filled with blood and engaged in a race to the bottom that I have yet to lose. Heated claws pressed against flesh while metal bit into my arm. Wind emanated between us and sent us flying in opposite directions.

We quickly downed potions in unison and prepared ourselves for round two.

Control was slowly falling into my hands. My claws were growing to be more dangerous than their sword. The wind that left them was now used exclusively for defense, to keep me at bay until Yoshitsune’s fight with the scorpion concluded.

The eagle seemed to be out of any ideas. They flipped their sword around and grabbed the blade with their hands while brandishing their hilt in my direction. I started to chuckle. They didn’t need to kill themselves like this. I was going to oblige soon. All they needed to do was spread their arms out and surrender themselves to me.

Then my skull was rung like a gong by the solid cross-guard and my brain sloshed in my head like a Jell-O mold in a car accident. For a moment, I forgot where I was as I stumbled away. I tried to blink thoughts back into my head. The eagle wasn’t going to forfeit the opportunity and allow me to recover. Another attack swung overhead, but my reactions were sluggish. A hammer blow from the wrong end of the sword smashed into my scales and cracked them slightly.

Tar sprayed out between us and gave me the chance to regain my senses. There wasn’t much mana left in the bar and they didn’t seem weak enough to activate my [Aura of Fear].

Suddenly, it dawned on me. It seemed that rattling my skull allowed a good idea to pop out of my brain. Not wanting to waste time, I rushed the eagle again. They were ready with the back side of their blade ready to turn my skull into a scaly egg.

Right before my body met with their blade, I manually leveled up. The weapon slowed and the eagle looked surprised for the first time. My sudden increase in stats was enough to push me over the edge and render them powerless against my onslaught. It would be an opportunity that I would not give up. Debuffs piled atop debuffs as their strength fell away and made their final moments pitiful instead of valorous. It took only a few seconds before they transformed from threat to body bag.

I rose to my feet and spat out the blood. My come-down finally struck. I hated this feeling that slithered in my body as I stared at the lifeless body of the eagle. I destroyed something beautiful by sapping my opponent of their power. Our glorious fight was undercut by this ability I was bestowed with. Something akin to regret bubbled inside of me, telling me that I was the scum-fuck that I hated so much.

I shook my head. There was nothing else that could be done if I wanted to win.

I had to win.