Our faces disappeared from the alerts. A new face and a new name replaced us with greater alarms and greater flashing. I felt oddly upstaged as this new person took up the entire screen and forced even the bloodthirsty dog knight to pause.

“Vendetta, you bitch!” Sir Leal screamed, his hammer pointing at us. “So you were behind this all along!”

“Guilty as charged,” Vendetta cackled like a cartoon witch.

She dispelled the smoke to allow herself to be in full view. She was a woman wreathed in fire with her face hidden behind a horse’s skull. The flesh on her hands had melted away, only sun-bleached bone remained. A slab of melted crucifixes hung around her neck and reflected sharply under the fake sunlight.

“Tell Armaros that I said hello,” she requested as she continued to laugh.

Vendetta held out her skeletal hand and pressed it against the surface of the dome. Her eyes exploded in flame and the temperature ballooned to sweltering heights. I felt like I had been thrown into a broiler and moved myself to use my more heat resistant scales to keep Yoshitsune away from the worst of the burning. Drops of burning mana sizzled against the stone. Like a piece of paper held too close to an open flame, fiery tears formed across the fabric of the spell.

“Out, now,” the woman commanded.

Yoshitsune and I slipped through the gap and hopped down the wall. I dug my claws into the stone to give myself a gentler slide to the bottom. However, as soon as we reached the ground, a ring of fire erupted around us, preventing us from leaving. The fiery woman landed in the center of it. She was taller than I expected and I had to tilt my head up slightly to meet her eyes; a fact that bothered me.

“What are you-“

That was all that managed to leave my lips before Vendetta clapped her bony hands together. The world changed. Artificial sunlight was replaced by dim torchlight. The wide open areas surrounding the city turned into tunnels only slightly more spacious than the Bowels. Many grungy demons, their skin darkened by soot, instantly snapped to attention.

A clear downgrade.

“So, you were behind it all then,” I commented bitterly.

It was already hard enough to figure out Yoshitsune’s expressions. But Vendetta gave me nothing to work with. Her mouth was flat and her false eyes emitted muted flames like dying candles.

“Apologies for stealing your credit,” Vendetta answered with a small bow. “Consider it as an exchange for rescuing you from Brunswick. Once all this is over, I will clear up any misunderstandings. We all win, no?”

“Well, not Herzblatt,” I commented. “Poor fucker had nothing to do with it and now they’re going to torture him extra hard thinking that he is one of yours.”

“Better him than you, no?” She asked coolly.

“Ha, you got me there,” I laughed in response. “He wasn’t one of mine anyways.”

“Then I do not see the problem,” Vendetta shrugged. “Welcome to my home. Please follow me, I have much to discuss with you.”

We followed the burning woman through the tunnels. The ceiling, coated in chisel marks and haphazardly smoothed down, hung just above Vendetta’s head. Like in the Bowels. The walls of the tunnels were covered in mushrooms and moss and small bugs that demons eagerly picked away at to deposit into their inventories.

Every demon that we passed would stop what they were doing to silently greet her like they were a real military. It was almost cute how pathetic her followers looked in comparison to her. It was no wonder she came to collect us all by herself.

Vendetta rounded a corner and we were led to a chamber with a stone throne large enough to comfortably sit three people on it. She lounged atop of her stone like an ancient empress. She nodded to a demon attendant in the room who used a spell to summon a couple more stone chairs as well as a large circular stone table.

“You may sit,” she allowed.

I sat down on the hard seat. It had been the first time since I had used a chair since dying and I was struck with just how inconvenient having a tail was. I tried to drape it and curl it in different ways until the demon who summoned the furniture created a large gap in the lower back of the seat for my tail to squeeze through.

“Thanks,” I grunted towards the craggy attendant who only nodded in understanding.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

After a moment, an orangutan and a rhino waltzed into the chamber. The great ape’s eyes flickered with constant notifications that they parsed through while the other walked with a rigid gait of a regimented soldier. Each step identical in size to the one before and the one after. As soon as they cleared the doorway, the attendant sealed the door behind them.

“I am pleased that you have returned safely, Leader,” the orangutan said with a bow.

“It was not difficult,” Vendetta responded dismissively. “They did all the hard work on their own. I just had to melt the barrier and get out.”

“So they are capable, all the better,” the rhino commented, taking the seat beside me. “You fight well?”

“Would you like to find out?” I asked with a grin.

“I’d like to go over what we know for now. I think it is quite to our benefit, no?” Vendetta continued, ignoring any of the animosity that the rhino was showing me. “Recently, many of Brunswick’s strongest fighters were dispatched to serve in the war above. Their newer crop have been denied the ability to easily gain traits through the Inverted Tower. Something that you two had a hand in, no?”

“No, we had nothing to do with it,” Yoshitsune denied, her face turning towards me.

All eyes turned towards me as I tilted my head, pressing my chin against my knuckles. I first needed to determine what they wanted before I could answer. Was it a meeting with the Follies? Even if they liked fucking with me every once in a while, I doubted I was liked enough to arrange something like that with them.

"Go on, you can mention us. It won’t make a difference anyways," a chorus of whispers entered my head to tell me just how close they could always be.

“I could tell you who they are, but, if you cannot already guess on your own, they aren’t that interested in you,” I replied with a laugh. “And, if you do know who they are, you know that they don’t give a shit about your plans.”

“Listen here, you-“ the rhino tried to speak.

“And which one of them was it that was responsible for this?” Vendetta asked to my pleasant surprise.

“Passion.”

Vendetta drummed on the armrest of her throne with her fingers, creating hollow sounds with every drumming beat. Both of her advisors stayed quiet, not willing to interrupt the thoughts of their leader.

“Then we will simply have to thank them for their grace,” Vendetta finally said. “This opportunity is still too great to pass up.”

“You wish to organize everyone and strike out?” The orangutan eagerly inquired.

“No, our power alone is insufficient,” Vendetta stated, turning it into law in the eyes of her advisors. “Even if we recruit our new friends, two new demons will not solve the population difference. We will need to forge an alliance with another rival of Armaros. One with enough fodder to clog up their advantages and allow us to fight their elites unimpeded. We need to meet with Yóulóng.”

The two advisors gave each other uncertain looks. The rhino almost spoke, but the orangutan took the role instead.

“Those slavers are a poor choice of ally,” the orangutan argued calmly. “In terms of numbers and control of land, there are few others that compare. But, they are also selfish and duplicitous. There is no guarantee that they won’t accept a deal with us just to turn around and sell us to Brunswick at a profit.”

“Then I will offer them something worth having. Speaking of offerings, I would like to secure your assistance as well. Even if you had little to do with the Dungeon’s fall, you still managed to survive the Grigori without my help, no?”

“What are you offering?” I asked. I would have been willing to chip in for free if it meant I got a fairer rematch against the dog knight, but free things are free things.

“I have a map of almost all of the dungeons in the Desolate Plains along with the bosses and expected stats received,” Vendetta answered.

She snapped her fingers and a flame ignited from her fingertips to form a blazing map that spread over the table. Numerous locations were marked off with different icons and colors. But, before I had the chance to inspect it further, it was quickly turned into smoke and wafted back into Vendetta’s hands.

“I like to offer things whose value depends on the gift’s recipient,” she explained. “How valuable this deal is depends entirely on your potential.”

Infernal Contract made with Vendetta. Failure to uphold to your end of the bargain will result in a cancellation of the agreement and additional punishments enacted.

Vendetta smirked as the map was added to my files. I quickly scanned over the contents to see what all was available. I mentally checked off several locations that looked especially promising, eager to build my strength further.

“One last thing. You will be coming with us,” Vendetta ordered. “Not because you have anything to offer, but I would like the location of my home to remain a secret.”

“I do not mind,” I assented and Yoshitsune nodded in agreement.

We all stood up and the chairs rumbled down below us while the wall fell down to free us from the stone tomb.

“I will need a couple hours to prepare,” Vendetta informed us. “If you would like, you can rest in one of our empty chambers until it is time to depart.”

“That sounds good to me.”

The orangutan led us through the tunnels a fair distance to reach the offered chamber. Calling it empty was a bit of a lie. The room was full of communal inventory. Boxes full of potions and sin-gots took up most of the room, leaving only a portion that could actually be stood in.

“I will come back when it is time,” the orangutan informed with a polite bow.

It was fine, I had enough room to summon my sin-got weights and get some exercise in. After a few reps, I frowned. The weights were not heavy enough to earn me additional stats. I would have to set aside some XP to get a dedicated set. For now, I walked over and lifted up one of the boxes loaded with sin-gots.

With a strained grunt, I lifted the box off of the ground and set it back down. This would have to do for now. I managed to trigger a few minor gains before setting the box back down for good. The gains were pathetic in comparison to the amount that you earn when you go out and kill people, but the fight with the eagle and Sir Leal was a reminder that every stat counted a great deal. These small earnings from non-combat might have been what saved my life.

I could feel Yoshitsune’s presence focused on me the entire time. I sighed. When Miranda was upset, she would always wait for me to mention it first. Oh well, I would play along with it today. A promise is a promise.

“Is there something wrong?” I wondered aloud.

“It’s time for our talk.”