Lilyth

I blitzed along the corridors praying that I wouldn't be late. Luckily, Ren wasn't as far as I feared she would be, and when I burst into a summoning altar room I had no issue locating where she could have disappeared to. There was an opening in the wall that reminded me of the entrance to the control room of the Tower of Trials.

I hurried towards it and saw that it led towards a large pure-white spherical chamber. Green lights reminding me of circuitry ran along the walls.

Dafuq?

I couldn't spend too much time gawking at the unusual sights as I had a friend to rescue, which would prove quite a challenge, as she was suspended in the air in the middle of it by beams of black light emitted from a web of small metallic tetrahedrons orbiting her. The process was maintained by a distorted humanoid figure that was hovering behind Ren and seemed to be linked to the solids by thin glass-like strands and seemed to be slowly pouring through them into Rennie, who was slowly bleaching out of colour. I was about to have another dimensional mindfuck, but I was quickly distracted by eight metallic eye-shaped things with spinning viridian tetrahedrons instead of irises that opened along Ren’s body, four on each side, looking straight at me.

‘Leave, mortal!’ a voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere. ‘This no longer concerns you. She is mine now.’

‘Too bad, fucko,’ I responded, summoning my knives. ‘When I imprint on someone that's a bond for life.’

Whatever that wasn’t didn't respond. It must have assumed that the sudden intense glow of the irises was enough.

Not one for taunts, eh?

I could easily tell that whatever was going to hit me, likely wouldn't be survivable. But… I would not leave Ren to that thing.

I closed my eyes and charged.

Caeileera

As we hurried towards wherever Lilyth and Ren were, we could clearly hear the threat directed at my wife.

My foxy idiot responded with something, likely insults, and a few seconds later a loud hiss could be heard.

Lilyth!

We increased our pace with Aki and soon burst into a large chamber. It was a sight of chaos. Ren was floating in the centre of it, surrounded by a wreath of metal and glowing green eyes. There was a distortion behind her, which made me understand why Lilyth started fighting just relying on her hearing.

If you can't see the madness, it cannot affect you.

The eye things were following Lilyth, who was running towards the weird being, occasionally firing off [Shadow Bolts]. Their glow intensified and bolts of green energy fired towards my wife. She managed to dodge most of them, but one singed her back, causing her to stumble and scream in pain.

‘We’ll need to work together on that one,’ Aki said, drawing her swords and firing a [Water Bolt] at the eyes.

As four of the eyes began turning towards Aki, I unfurled my wings and flew over to Lilyth. She was already getting up but looked to be in absolute misery.

Fire! FUCK!

‘MORE PESTS!’ the non-voice boomed.

I landed next to her and while helping her to her feet, cast [Soothe Pain]. There was no time for healing.

‘You okay?’ I asked as we scrambled away from another burst.

‘I am now,’ she gave me a weak smile. Then horror appeared on her face and she pushed me away. A fire bolt passed centimetres away from my face.

FUCK!

‘Caei…’ Lilyth began. ‘Do you trust me?’

‘With my life,’ I responded.

‘Then… hold my beer,’ she said and quickly explained her plan.

By the gods.

Aki

I was weaving between the bolts fired at me. There was actually a fairly easy pattern to them, so with just four of the eyes directed at me I felt I could keep going. I had no illusions about my chances if the monster only concentrated on me. In fact, I was surprised my poor jelly survived that long, but that didn't mean I wasn't singed here and there. Those burns hurt like a bitch, but that only motivated me to ask Caei to teach me [Soothe Pain].

Every scar is a lesson.

One thing I noticed was that my [Water Bolts] were wholly ineffective. It didn't matter if they hit one of the eyes or the distortion… nothing happened. So… out of desperation, I fired off a [Lesser Abyssal Bolt]. I was hesitant to do that since the thing used fire, so there was no telling what would happen, but it was not like my other attacks had any effects on the thing.

Here goes nothing.

My spell impacted one of the eyes causing it to explode in a ball of red-and-green fire.

‘RAAGH!’ The chamber shook from the roar of the monster’s pain.

I didn't have time to fully process what just happened as I got the bastard’s undivided attention.

‘You will pay for this, bastard spawn of the Abyss!’

Just as its eyes began to glow and I moved to run away, I heard Lilyth shout:

‘Two debit cards coming right up, motherfucker!’

Caei

I watched Lilyth climb the staircase I was making for her out of [Floating Disks] while dodging the attacks from the monster with growing horror. The spells drained a lot of my mana reserves so I quickly downed another mana potion between the casts.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Then Aki… did something to finally damage the thing and it lost interest in us altogether, which, while understandable - we seemingly posed no threat to it, was about to prove a costly mistake for the creature, as Lilyth got where she wanted to get and leapt towards the monster shouting some Terran nonsense at it.

What the fuck is a debit card? I thought as I readied myself to assist her.

Time slowed to a crawl. The monster's eyes started to refocus on Lilyth. Aki’s [Lesser Abyssal Bolt] impacted another one of them, destroying it. Another roar of pain shook the chamber making my ears hurt.

Poor Lilyth.

My wife, undeterred, ran the distortion through with her knives, the force of her attack enough to disrupt the hold it had on Ren. Realising she was about to fall and get injured, or worse, I leapt into the air so that I could catch her.

‘Gotcha!’ I shouted when I wrapped my hands around her body.

I misjudged how much the poor half-harpy weighed and she painfully dragged us down into an uncontrolled fall that I arrested with another [Floating Disk] before I gained enough momentum to seriously hurt us both. Still… it felt as if the action almost caused my arms to get ripped off.

As I started to lower the disk to the ground I cast [Soothe Pain] on myself and examined Ren. She looked terrible and literally almost as if she got drained of colour, which made her green clothes sepia and her skin pure white. Luckily, colour started to return to her body, which felt like a blessing.

Another roar of pain reminded me that there was a battle going on.

Taking care of Ren will have to wait.

Lilyth

The feeling of my knives entering the bastard’s body was better than any orgasm.

You will not hurt my loved ones, motherfucker.

The same thing couldn't be said about its roars of pain which made my entire body hurt.

Still… my attack achieved more success than I expected as I knocked the monster from its perch, and we both flew towards the ground, where the force of the impact drove the blades deeper into the creature's body.

Feeling it stir and get hotter, I ripped the knives out and jumped back. It was just in time, as a burst of magical energy propelled me backwards. The brightness hurt even through my closed eyelids.

As I flew through the air, I had time to briefly wonder why that light caused me pain to begin with, given how I had no ocular nerves.

Must be magic, I realised as I struck the ground and skidded across it.

Been a while since that happened. Good thing I haven’t gotten rusty at it.

As I dragged myself to my feet after finally stopping, I opened my eyes and looked around. Aki and Caei looked to be fine if slightly roughed up, while Ren, while unconscious, looked minimally better.

The monster though… when I first looked at it… at him… I first thought I was looking at Nyx. But sadly, it wasn’t my favourite goddess.

Instead… a negative of a man stood there. And by that I mean the guy literally looked like a photo negative. White messy hair and suit and dark bluish skin. Even the blood from his wounds was unnatural, as it was bright, almost neon blue.

The same couldn't be said about Caeileera's [Blood Lance], which pierced the man’s side causing another grunt of pain from the man, quickly replaced by manic laughter.

‘Oh, this is so rich! A Terran, an Abyssal bastard and a Bloodspawn! Did they send you to finish the job?’

Wait… what? Also, how does he know I am… oh.

‘No one sent us,’ I replied carefully. ‘We are here by pure accident. Listen, mate: just let us take Ren, point us towards the exit and we will be out of your hair.’

The god laughed again.

‘Do you honestly expect me to believe that? Three people capable of hurting me… three people that just reek of that bitch Ereshkigal… just wandering here by accident?’

‘Quests led us here,’ Aki said.

‘Or rather strongly suggested the direction,’ I quickly added and shot the notifications over to the man.

The god now looked more sad and perplexed than anything.

‘So that's how it is…’ he muttered. ‘They knew I was here all along…’

‘Who knew?’ Caeileera asked.

‘The other gods,’ I quickly replied, hoping she would get the message.

‘Yes,’ the man nodded, all fight gone from him. ‘So even if I kill you… even if I finish the transfer… they will find me again. And the next bunch of patsies… may not be… as willing to talk things out as you are.’

‘So it is a lose-lose for you, Lord…’ I said, cautiously.

‘A Lord no more I am afraid,’ he sagged. 'My name is Xasvirrell, The Prism That Distorts Dimensions and this is my realm. What is left of it, anyway.’

‘So given the outcome of this fight changes nothing… Can we just leave with Ren?’ I asked. ‘We really don’t want to fight you.’

‘Don’t think I can't sense the deal you made with the Dread Queen, Terran. What guarantee I have she won’t make you attack me once my back is turned?’

‘I think she would have already interfered if that was the case, Lord Xasvirrell,’ Aki said. ‘Why let us try to deal with you if she could just turn Lilyth into her avatar or whatever again?’

The god cocked his head in confusion so I told him about the circumstances of the deal… mine and those of the others.

‘This is the most… tragic tale,’ Xasvirrell said ponderously. ‘I would try to question it, but I don’t think anyone would lie about something so… repugnant happening to them. So… for what it is worth… I am sorry about what you had to experience, Lilyth of Terra. You mortals really never win whenever we get involved, do you? Which makes me really sorry about what I am about to say next… Ren… your friend… my actions may have damaged her soul. Left unhealed… it will just disintegrate in hours.’

I felt rage rise inside of me. Ren didn't deserve that.

‘Is there anything you can do?’ Caei sobbed.

‘Yes. I can finish the transfer.’

‘But won’t that remove Ren’s soul anyway?’ Aki screamed.

‘Normally… it would. But there is another option… one I do not relish… but perhaps it will fix one of the evils I have committed.’

‘Continue,’ I sobbed.

‘I can transfer my essence into her, but meld it with her soul rather than replace it. This would effectively kill me and could have long-term… consequences for her. Ones I cannot predict.’

‘How… how do we know you aren't lying?’ Caei blubbered.

‘You don’t,’ the god said matter-of-factly. ‘You have no reason to trust me. You would be fools if you did.’

‘And yet we have to,’ Aki sighed. ‘Because if we don’t do it… and you are telling us the truth… she dies…’

‘Permanently, if I understood you right,’ I said. ‘No soul… no afterlife.’

‘That would be correct,’ The Prism nodded.

‘But wouldn't you be subjecting yourself to the same fate?’

‘Yes. But it is different for me than for you mortals. In my case… oblivion is the only outcome. And after being trapped here for millennia… and seeing I haven't really changed… Perhaps the decision to destroy me wasn’t the wrong one after all. I have committed… horrible things.’

‘I think you and Ren would have found a lot of common ground,’ Caei said. ‘She is also trying to atone for her misdeeds.’

‘Yes… I saw that. And here come I… and take that chance away from her.’

We looked at each other and gave ourselves small nods.

‘Do it,’ We said in unison.

‘I’m watching you though,’ I said and pointed my knife at him.

Xasvirrell said nothing. He simply walked over to Ren and put his hand on her forehead. Those weird tetrahedrons appeared, but the process looked different. Instead of beaming black light into Ren, it was white. My poor friend, if anything, seemed healthier with each second, time while the Prism got fainter and fainter. Eventually, the god and his tools disappeared. Just before he did though, he gave us a small smile and said:

‘Thank you, for letting me do this. You are good friends to her. I wish I could have met you under different circumstances. Perhaps… I will see you in a different life.’

The dungeon then began to disintegrate around us, but before we could start to panic we ended up on Dwynveia again.

My heart sank after I realised where exactly we were.

‘Why the fuck did we have to end up here of all places?’ I shouted.

I knew the place very well. The stone blocks of the walls, the faded tiles, the sconces with, now extinguished, torches, the unidentified altar thing in the middle, the faintly glowing inscription on the walls. We were in the place this whole clusterfuck began for me.

'Where are we?' Aki asked.

I remembered she couldn't see in the dark.

'The motherfucking Tower of Trials,' I spat.

This is going to suck.