Choosing one was going to be hard. Elveil has who knows what augments and class perks. Improving my reconstruction sounds the most prudent. Although that’s the first time one directly told me what augment it’ll upgrade and not pick something at random.

So I picked “Mechanized Inevitability.” Nothing felt like it changed. What was I expecting?

Molecular Reconstruction:

The host’s body is filled with tiny nanites. The nanites constantly work to upkeep the host’s peek physical condition and repairing any structural damage at the cost of energy. The more severe the damage, the more energy required. Any amount of damage can be repaired so long as at least 2% of the host’s cerebral prediction matrix remains intact and the required energy is supplied.

Stat bonus: none.

Two percent is all I need to rebuild myself? It’s not regeneration. They don’t even say I have cells anymore and that I don’t have a brain, despite me still calling it that. Even the system is recognizing that I’m completely artificial now. I have been for a while now. Now it feels more—I don’t know—official? How many people attempt to climb the Nexus looking for immortality? I wasn’t looking for it, but it’s been practically handed to me.

I looked to the sky as a pillar of light hammered into a cloud of darkness. Those two are still going at it. If the sphinx keeps it up, he’ll drain a meaningful amount of Elveil’s energy.

Everything went still and quiet as a cloud of dust washed over the city and colosseum. The space in the center of the room started unfolding into a ball of light that the sphinx stumbled out of.

He didn’t look so good.

Half of his one wing was missing while the other half dragged on the ground. Seven hundred and thirty-nine open wounds of various lengths and depths covered his body. His blood soaked his fur and dripped to the ground.

The moment his feet touched the ground and the light folded back in on itself to disappear, the sphinx collapsed to the ground. “An hour may have been too ambitious.” He turned his head to me, one eye swollen shut. “What did you release?”

A monster. And I’m about to do it again, hopefully one that’s stronger than the last. “Nothing compared to what I’m about to release.”

I looked out to where Elveil and the sphinx were last fighting, expecting her to be flying directly for us. The sphinx managed to keep her busy for thirty-five minutes. “She’s coming, isn’t she?”

The sphinx groaned as he adjusted himself to lie down more comfortably. “Not right away. That should still hold even her for a few minutes.”

Orange was still working on my alter ego. “I still need more time. That hour was about what I needed.”

“You’re going to need to find a way to delay her on your own.” The sphinx shook his head.

His wounds were healing in front of me. Albeit, nothing compared to the rate Elveil or I could. I looked back at the memory of the time I helped the sphinx fight against Tasha. That sphinx could heal his wounds almost instantly, for a while.

I zoomed in on one of his deeper wounds that went from his shoulder down and around his ribs, exposing some of the bone. The fact that the sphinx was alive and breathing was a remarkable feat. There was something familiar about his wounds and why they were healing so slowly.

Leaking from the wound was a thin trail of shadow magic. Did she really do it? Elveil copied the corruption that Tasha was infected with? How? Why? Will it have an effect on me?

The longer I looked at it, the more I noticed that it wasn’t the same as Tasha’s corruption. Also, the wound was slowly improving the rate at which it was healing. Tasha’s corruption destroyed whatever it touched. This was consuming—feeding. It would grow the more it fed off the sphinx’s regrowing flesh. Elveil’s magic was consuming the sphinx while his light magic fought back like it was a virus.

It probably is like a virus. That’s some critical information. Good thing I saw it now and not while fighting her. I’ll need to do my best to avoid her magic.

It was a slow battle, but it looked like if given time to heal, the sphinx would win.

I crossed my arms. “What I need is something like that dragon to either keep her busy or me to eat to make sure I have enough energy to outlast her. You’ve used up a lot of her energy, but she’s been storing it for days. I’m positive that she still has more than enough to handle me.”

There’s plenty of food in the colosseum.

I jumped at the sound of Orange’s voice. I wasn’t expecting her for a lot longer.

Apologies, but I have good news. Our process has had a major breakthrough, reducing the time required significantly.

“That dragon was created by the Soul Nexus,” the sphinx said with a grunt as his wing snapped back into place. “It will take a long time to pull something from the higher levels back down here again.”

While that’s good news, I’m not eating people. Those are people down there. People with hopes, dreams, wishes!

Then don’t be the one who eats them.

What are you talking about? She isn’t done, is she?

Ten more minutes. We had anticipated more resistance from your secondary personality. We gave you the longest estimation of how long it would take to complete. But we have to warn you, your secondary personality has become intense.

A shiver ran down my spine. Until that moment, nothing seemed to phase Orange. But now? Now I don’t like this plan anymore. It’s too late to back out now, isn’t it?

No. You could still do everything yourself. Your augments have improved your level significantly, and your lycan form has grown because of it. However, there’s no rescinding the conditioning placed on your secondary personality. She’s become a demon.

“Rina?” the sphinx called my name.

I glanced at him. “Sorry. I’m just thinking.”

I walked over to the wall and leaned up against it. We can’t just delete her, can we?

No. Personalities are not something that can be “deleted.” A significant psychological break occurred in your mind to create her. We helped by giving her what you would call room to exist. The secondary personality is an aspect of you. A piece of you was splintered off to create her.

What you’re telling me is that I need to find some therapy for what, make myself whole again?

We aren’t in a position to answer that. Your secondary personality was created so that you wouldn’t feel the pain of the torture Elveil inflicted on you. The same could be done for doing any task you don’t want to do. It will be as if someone else did it.

Stolen story; please report.

That’s cold, Orange, even for you. It’s still my body. I still have to watch. I will be allowing it to happen. That makes me just as responsible for what happens.

You don’t have to watch. It’s a matter of pragmatism. There is still the option of doing nothing. Go to the next floor and leave her behind.

Killa, Shadara, and I won’t be safe if I do. I’ve done too much to be forgotten or ask for peace. You’ve seen what she’ll do. Nothing short of complete dominance is acceptable to her. And from what I can see, she’ll hold a grudge worse than anything. If I thought Nyx chasing me in all those bodies before was bad, that would look like a friendly game of tag compared to Elveil. She must be stopped, here and now.

Then what will you do? Your secondary personality isn’t ready to create the blade demon form spell.

What does she need? Time?

Time will reinforce the conditioning beyond what Elveil will be able to reverse. Right now, she’ll kill, destroy, and torture happily. We simply need to build her independence away from Elveil so that she can face her without falling into a subservient role again. But to create the new spell, she needs inspiration, so to speak.

Something to feed her sin of wrath. I remember. You’re asking me to release her to massacre everyone in the colosseum before fighting Elveil.

That won’t be enough. More is required.

I hung my head. “Can I ask a question?”

The sphinx was looking better. His wounds were healing much faster, and he had regrown his wing back to normal. “You may ask.”

“The rules of challenging people. Is there a limit and is there a way to force them from anywhere on this floor to the colosseum?” I can’t believe I’m saying this. “Can I challenge this entire floor all at once? Or better yet, everyone but Elveil?”

He blinked his wide eyes at me. “Nobody’s ever asked that. But the challenge must be fair.”

I shook my head. “There must be a way to drive everyone here.”

“Give them something they can’t refuse,” the sphinx answered slowly.

I gave a slow nod. “Sphinx, I challenge everyone on this floor to kill me. If even one person succeeds, everyone who participates is to be allowed to go to the next floor. No exceptions.”

“And if you succeed?”

I clenched my jaw. “Then I challenge Elveil to the death. But until a winner is decided, Elveil is to be banned from the colosseum. Can you do that?”

A wide grin spread across the sphinx’s blood soaked face. “That is within the rules. If you kill Elveil, you will pass my test and be permitted to proceed to the next floor.”

I straightened up. “Then we have a deal. Send out the challenge the moment I enter the arena.”

“It will be so.”

Orange, let’s meet my other self, shall we?

She isn’t ready.

What are the chances she falls back under Elveil’s control?

Fifteen percent.

Can I take back over if she does?

We don’t know.

Then let’s take that chance.

I slipped into the simulation where my alter ego was reliving the memory of the blade demon as it tore apart an entire village. It was a small, quaint, medieval-looking village. Wood buildings with thatch roofs and packed dirt roads. Very stereotypical. The air was so thick with the scent of blood I could almost feel the sticky ichor. Less obvious were the smells of urine, feces, and sweat. It was the scent of fear—pure, unabated fear.

I could see my alter ego had immersed herself in the memory. She was standing over the bodies of dismembered children while holding a human woman by the throat. The woman sobbed as she looked at the corpses of what I could only imagine were her children.

“Did you enjoy their screams?” My alter ego pulled the lady’s ear to her lips as she whispered, “I did.” While our voices were similar, she gave hers a more breathy and husky edge.

My split personality looked much like I did and not like the bestial six-legged fox Elveil turned her into. The difference was that instead of a fox tail, her tail was similar to a scorpion’s. Instead of an envenomed stinger, a long, three-foot blade stretched from it. She used that blade to caress the woman’s arm. And when I say caress, I mean flaying the skin off.

She was wearing a simple, knee-length white dress that was soaked in more blood than any dress could. It was surprising to see any white left that hadn’t been dyed red from the blood dripping from it. Long elven ears poked out from the other difference between the two of us. Glowing crimson red hair tickled her shoulders and stinger arms.

“Oh, it looks like we have company.” Her voice was tinged with a sadistic giggle. “I won’t have time to savor you properly.”

With a twist of her tail, she impaled the woman from the side before ripping her into two pieces in a shower of blood. She tilted her head back and inhaled deeply.

“Ah, still warm.” She slowly turned to me with a wide grin full of dagger-sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. “Hello, Rina. It’s good to finally meet you.”

The pleasantness of her voice was a stark contrast to her blood-splattered visage. I turned to Orange, who followed me into the simulation. “Intense?”

She only nodded with an expressionless face. That’s not intense. That’s sadism personified. This isn’t ready? Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling very good about my plan. I don’t think I want to see what an actual demon looks like.

“You know who I am?” I made sure not to make it look or sound like I was uncomfortable.

She tapped a bloody finger on her cheek. “But of course. I have all your memories, after all. But now I can see myself as something other than that mangy pet.” She skipped towards me. Her feet splashed in pools of blood as she did. When she stopped in front of me, she held out her hand to me. “It’s unfair that I know who you are, but you don’t know who I am. You can call me Scarlet.”

“Scarlet?” I raised an eyebrow.

Scarlet rolled her eyes as she pointed to Orange, then to herself. “Orange, Scarlet. We’re not very creative with our naming, are we? Not like it’s really our fault, is it? Being alone all our lives does that. No imagination.”

She looked down to see that I hadn’t shaken her hand. With a shrug, she pulled her hand back. “Although, this plan you cooked up to use me like a weapon—honestly, well done. So you want me to kill Elveil?”

I nodded. “That’s the idea.”

She scowled. “And what then? Huh? What are you going to do with me after that’s over? Do you plan on using me and throwing me out too? Am I here just so you don’t have to get your hands dirty? Are you afraid of a little blood?”

“Of course you are,” Scarlet scoffed as she twirled on her toes and kicked her feet as she walked like a child splashing through the mud. “Maybe I don’t want to. I don’t see what I get out of this. This simulation is fun. There are seven hundred years of memories from the demon for me to experience, to enjoy.”

“If Rina dies, so do you,” Orange added.

That caused Scarlet to pause. She turned her head and glared at Orange.

“And you’ve seen what I’m up against. Elveil can not only kill me, but will. You know that.” Keeping my voice calm was hard. She is insane and eccentric. Not a good combination.

“I know,” Scarlet grumbled. “Okay. But I want control.” She spun around and pointed a stinger arm at me. “And more than just this once. You will let me out to kill, slaughter, maim, decapitate, split, chop, stab, and kill in the future.”

“You said kill twice,” I said.

She smirked and twitched her head. “What can I say? I like to kill.”

“Fine,” I lied.

There is no way I can permit this psycho from getting out again. Doing it this once seems like a step too far.

Scarlet wrung her hands together. “Good.” She then paused and pointed towards the rest of the village. “But, uh, can I have one more massacre for the road?”

She’s twisted. “Just take over and jump into the arena. Soon everyone on the floor will be trying to kill you.”

Her eyes glowed even brighter. “Are you serious?” I nodded. She pumped her fist. “Oh, yeah!”

She disappeared and left me standing with Orange by the small river of blood snaking towards the town. I turned to my AI companion. “Orange, you may have done too good of a job. Are all demons this evil?”

Orange turned her gaze away from me. “No. This is mild, given that she has some of your personality too.”

I snorted. “Mild? This—” I waved to the pile of bodies, “—This is mild?” I shook my head. “Orange, please tell me we can lock her away in one of these simulations forever.”

Orange grabbed the hem of her maid uniform’s apron. “Not forever. She will eventually be able to break out.”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “If I can’t delete her, kill her without killing myself, or lock her away, what can I do?”

“Live with her,” Orange answered before leaving the simulation.

Then that leaves me with one option. Because I refuse to let something worse than Elveil live. I’m sorry, Killa. I’m sorry, Shadara. This is the furthest I can go. Nyx was right from the very beginning. I wish I could say goodbye properly, but Scarlet can’t exist; therefore, neither can I.