The custom dungeons were tailored to each party member’s greatest fear; beginning with the youngest member to the oldest, the rooms would get increasingly more difficult. I wasn’t enough of a monster to forcefully torment children and give them no chance of surviving.

However…

Amelia’s face was deathly pale as she stared up at the sea serpent, her entire body trembling like a leaf. She was the weakest and least reliable member of the party despite being the only potential beast tamer.

Now that I had defeated the sea serpent before and earned the achievement “Butcher of Abyssal Horrors,” I could easily use Medusa’s head to defeat this level in mere seconds without causing Amelia any unnecessary fear and harm. Yang quickly pieced this together and looked at me expectantly, but his face fell flat at my expression.

“Amelia!” Wei shouted, quickly reaching out to lift her into his arms.

The sea serpent crashed down on the bridge, splintering it, and the force flung Amelia across the pavement.

I pushed Wei back, preventing him from reaching Amelia even as she violently tumbled down the road. Tears sprung in her eyes while she looked up and desperately reached out for me.

“The wrist cuff! Use it!” I dodged the serpent’s attack, Zhige trembling in my hand with an eager anticipation.

Amelia blinked at me, unable to process or act to my words. The serpent roared, spraying water before it darted forward, chomping down on the bridge and quickly catching up with us.

A sudden blunt pain was felt on my wrist, and I turned back to spot Yang tightly twisting my hand, his eyes glaring up at me.

“Peijin, what is the meaning of this?” He hissed, matching my speed.

I glared at him coldly, tilting my head upward. “Don’t pretend your moral compass matters, Yang. It means nothing to one here,” my voice was almost a low threat. “Amelia will survive.”

The serpent chomped down on the bridge, barely missing Amelia’s leg. She stumbled forward, trying to run, but her movements were frantic and desperate. Turning around, she held the cuff forward and a white light exploded with immense power.

Observer 'Socrates': Jia Li, stop! She'll fail without a sponsor!

The dire wolf appeared, immediately latching onto the sea serpent’s nostrils. Violently chomp and tearing down into the flesh, the sea serpent let out a violent cry and swung its head in a futile attempt to throw off the wolf.

With the bridge collapsing rapidly, Amelia stumbled forward and began to sprint down in hopes of making it to the mainland, but the wolf flew against the ground before her with a heavy thud. Amelia flinched, perhaps feeling the wolf’s pain as her own, and the sea serpent continued its pursuit with renewed vigor.

“Peijin, stop this!” Wei screamed while adjusting the Dragon Gulf sword in his hands. He braced it against himself before bringing down a heavy cut between the eyes of the sea serpent, causing a long slit with blood spraying out like a hose with a thumb pressed over the nozzle.

Amelia’s eyes were squeezed shut, her forehead pressed against that of the wolf. Her hands cupped its gray cheeks, and she was desperately whispering to it as it unsteadily got onto its feet. I could barely make out the shape of her moving lips, but she was murmuring something with frantic speed.

Soon after, the wolf got onto its feet and charged once more at the serpent, this time darting up the snake-like body. Its claws dug through the scales and into its flesh, causing crimson streaks to appear and bleed down all over the serpent.

“Amelia!” I screamed, the blue sweatshirt dragging me forward and making it appear as someone was dragging me down the freeway at alarming speeds. “You need to tame the serpent!”

Tears of sheer fear and exhaustion streamed down her scratched face. Her hands were outstretched and trembling in a failed attempt.

Disciple Amelia activated 'Beast Taming!'

Her voice shook violently as she shouted to me, “It’s too strong! I can’t tame it!” Her voice was hoarse and unsteady.

I intentionally spoke louder to ensure the rest of the party could hear me. “Then we have to weaken it by attacking it!” I screamed over the chaos, sprinting toward Amelia and standing behind her. The blue sweatshirt quickly came off easily as I threw it over her head; it quickly shrunk to fit her, though it wouldn’t do much to protect her in this situation.

“Amelia, these dungeons are custom rooms, because they’re meant to help you evolve your skills. You’re in this room because you’re supposed to tame it,” I whispered into her ear.

Yang, Yue, and Wei had begun to attack the sea serpent with intense vigor, since the situation was incredibly threatening, yet they were also motivated by their desire to protect Amelia.

“I-I can’t do it,” she stammered, her hand flailing behind her in an attempt to hold onto mine.

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“You can,” I insisted, my voice becoming forceful. “Artemis sent me a message. She says that you must tame the serpent if you want her to consider sponsoring you.”

Divinity ‘Far Shooting Queen of Beasts’ is stunned by your lie.

Divinity ‘Far Shooting Queen of Beasts’ is enraged by your cruelty!

Yellow sparks immediately erupted from the blue message boxes, forcing them to disappear before Amelia could fully read them. Clearly, karma was still overpowering godly messages—except for Archangel Michael.

I continued holding onto Amelia’s shoulders, but I now kneeled down to match her level. “Amelia,” I whispered, “turn off your system notifications. You must focus solely on my voice and the serpent.”

Divinity 'Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts’ is mortified by your sudden actions.

Hindsight activated!

Artemis was now far closer to Amelia, her heavenly silhouette practically floating right above her. Reaching out a hand, she pressed through the shadows and tried to reach out for the young girl.

Blue sparks flew around me from the sudden surge in spiritual energy, causing massive bursts of yellow lightning. Artemis was trying to interfere with the course of the scenario, but she was quickly forced out.

I covered Amelia’s ears and defiantly shout at the sky. “Artemis, if you wish to protect this girl so badly, then sponsor her or give me money!”

Warning! You have outraged a divinity!

Observer 'Socrates': Peijin! Stop this! You're going to get her killed!

Of course, Athena wanted to be Amelia’s initial sponsor, but it was clear now that Artemis was the superior fit.

“Amelia, raise your arm up toward the serpent, and ensure the cuff is well in your line of vision,” I instructed. “Focus all of your attention on it, just as you did with the dire wolf.”

Sweat dripped down her brow in thick streaks, her breathing rapid and shallow. Her jaw was tightly clenched, and I could see the immense concentration swirling in her wide blue eyes.

With unbelievable horror, the sea serpent let out a pained and violent roar from the onslaught by the rest of the party. It flung its tail throughout the entire bay, crashing into the other half of the bridge that was barely stable and causing Amelia and I to fly into the air.

Amelia’s concentration immediately broke and she screamed, but I dug the dao into the flesh of the dragon and flung her up quickly, the blue hoodie pulling her onto the head of the serpent.

“Peijin!” Amelia shrieked, and her small hands reached out for me.

I gave a curt nod before flashing her a bright smile. “It’s up to you, Amelia.”

I fell back towards the water, but I dragged my dao down the entire length of the serpent. My feet suddenly landed on something solid, and I looked down to see myself standing on Yue’s spear.

“Peijin, you fucking bitch!” Yue roared, hoisting herself up onto the other half of the spear and squatting to maintain her balance as the serpent continued to thrash. “You have Medusa’s head! End this!”

In the end, the young woman before me was no more than a book character. It didn’t matter if my work had suddenly become reality; Yue’s fate was long predetermined. I could alter it based on how I reacted, but Yue was still Yue. Her personality was trapped in the confines of my own words.

“I can’t!" I screamed back, "Amelia is on the serpent’s head, so it’s too big of a risk if she locks eyes with Medusa! The rest of you are still attacking it, so I can't use it without hurting one of you,” I leapt off of her spear and scaled up the beast.

Suddenly, her spear whizzed just past my head before impaling the beast’s flesh. I looked around for Yue angrily before realizing that she was gripping my ankle, dangling above the water. “What the hell are you attacking your own party leader for?” I shouted.

“I’m not attacking you!” Yue retorted in a frustrated tone, trying to grab her spear. “Look up!”

With a loud crash, the serpent’s tail smacked where I would have been had Yue not stopped me, and the violent thrashing almost threw me off the serpent. My head jerked up to stare at the serpent’s head.

Yang, Wei, and the wolf had restrained the serpent to some degree, digging their weapons or teeth into the flesh of its vulnerable snout, head, and neck. The serpent let out a violent scream, but Amelia clung onto its head using its horns.

Her skin was deathly pale, but she was sweating profusely while murmuring under her breath. This was by far too big of a skill jump for her, and sparks were flying out of her skin as if she were a firework.

“Come on, come on…” I whispered beneath my breath, looking up into sky. This would be a complete waste of time if she didn’t interfere.

An abnormal amount of blue sparks continued to explode all around the bay now. Yue was climbing up my leg, and her long fingers dug into my calf and knee. Her black hair whipped her face, and she spat out a mouthful of salt water.

“Stop scaling me like a damn monkey!”

“Do you want me to drop down and die instead?!”

I remained silent while using her spear and dao to try and scale up the serpent’s body, alternately stabbing one weapon into the serpent's flesh then another before pulling myself up. Each slice sent a deep gush of blood flowing down the serpent's body, and it was quickly becoming more and more frantic.

Yue surveyed the scene for a moment before shouting a barely audible question over the sound of crashing waves. “What the hell are you plotting, Peijin?”

My lip turned white and bleed from how hard I was biting down on it. A thick line of blood trickled down from Amelia’s face and into her mouth, but she quickly clasped a hand over the lower part of her face in shock. She swayed unsteadily as if she were about to fall off at any moment.

“...Nothing.” I replied coldly. Then, my hand grabbed onto Yue’s forearm and threw her back onto her spear. “Stop Amelia when you reach her! She’s going to faint and fall!”

But before either of us could begin our mad dash, Amelia let out a blood-curdling scream as the serpent finally threw her off.