-]|[-

Hallasan, Baengnokdam

Amainurri hated what had become of her and her children. The ones who had tried to hunt them had failed right from the moment she had first awoken. They entered her lair and killed dozens, hundreds of her children. But they had been weak. In the end, they were nothing more than nourishment for her and her kin. They had eaten well, prior to the exit from their prison cracking open.

She had attacked immediately, determined to get revenge for all her slain children. All the little ones she had raised from the time they were mere eggs. The humans of the land had proved to be plentiful and had filled their bellies for months. Their corpses had littered the island for some time, providing her with the means of rebuilding her kingdom. When they had run out of humans to feast on, they had turned to the many animals on the island that couldn’t escape. And the other Denizens of Chaos that had appeared from other prisons had made for delicious meals too.

The humans had abandoned the island to Amainurri and her victorious warriors, but it had only been for a short time. Again, they crashed against her warriors, feeding them with their blood. Again and again, they had tried over the passing of the seasons, always bringing fresh meat and sustenance for her children.

But it seemed that the last time had defeated them in heart if not in body. She had not seen a human on her land in over two years. The animals which had once been plentiful had also been wiped out. Even the disgusting trash the humans ate in their stone boxes had been consumed.

Amainurri and her children were growing desperate. The children of her children were eating their children. She had been forced to focus her efforts on evolution. That had always been the strength of her species. To consume a thing was to know a thing, and she had eaten many, many things. Her experiments had become desperate, with each failure striking a deep blow to their ambitions.

She had attempted to create children who could swim, only for them to sink below the waves. She had attempted to create children who could fly, only for their wings to be weak and malformed. It had taken her over a year to begin to perfect the process, letting out cries of fury with every failure.

But now? She had succeeded. The first of her children to have wings, strong wings had been born weeks ago. They had succeeded in leaving her kingdom but had not returned as commanded. Amainurri was forced to assume that they had been felled by the humans. Either that, or their wings had not been as strong as she had hoped.

And so, she continued to perfect her new children. Each generation spawned with stronger wings and more defined features. She was satisfied that they would be able to hunt the humans with greater efficiency, bringing back fresh meat for the rest of the colony.

But one lone soldier would not be enough. Every time the humans had attacked, they attacked with strength. Greater strength than her soldiers, in many respects. She would need many to realize her ambitions. And she would need a stronger soldier. A leader for her armies. It would cost her much to lay such an egg. Half a year’s worth of her mana…

Her pincers clicked together. “WHO IS THERE?!” Amainurri yelled as she looked towards an area that suddenly had a presence within. Were the humans here to attack her once more? All around her, her children readied for battle and a feast.

“My, my…” A seductive chuckle rang through the darkness. A chuckle that had every cell in the Queen’s body freezing. “Is that how you speak to your mother, Amainurri?”

“M-My Queen!” Amainurri howled as the stone those damnable Rulers had shoved into her spine ached.

“Tut, tut.” The woman looked very much like a human barring some inhuman facial features. Her smile was just a little too stretched out, and humans had no horns. “Such pain those Rulers have put you through, my little Amainurri.” The completely stunned ants did not dare approach the one who looked so like food, for their instincts told them to bow. She placed a hand on Amainurri’s carapace. “Allow me to help you.”

The second her fingers touched the Ant Queen, the silver ant felt her power skyrocket. “Queen Querehsha!” She howled in ecstasy. Her mana skyrocketed and several of her armored plates seemed to molt off and crash to the earth below. She grew in size until she was almost twice as big as she once was. Her new armored plates were a mixture of silver and red.

And Amainurri felt powerful. Perhaps on par with some of the Monarch of Destruction’s weaker kin.

“There.” Querehsha smirked as she lowered her hand. “You were always one of my most precious daughters, Amainurri. You’ve done well to take this island for yourself. Soon, it will be time to fight against the Rulers once more.”

“Yes, my Queen!” Amainurri’s mandibles clicked.

“But first, you must prove yourself once more.” Querehsha said as she backed away. “Soon, the humans will attack. The events of this timeline have been strange, and so we will need you to test them.”

Timeline?

Amainurri had no idea what her Queen was talking about. “I do not understand…”

“You do not need to.” Querehsha said, “The boost to your strength should be enough for these humans.” The Monarch of Plagues declared, “Should you prevail, you and your children shall be an excellent vanguard against the scum. Now, my darling Amainurri… I believe it is time that you do what you do best. Until next time.” She vanished into a green tear in the atmosphere.

“Yes, my Queen.” Amainurri clicked as she gathered her mana. It was time to see just what her new blessing entailed. She would have to experiment a bit longer, but it would be worth it once her King was born.

-]|[-

Heejin frowned when she entered her Job-Change Quest Dungeon. “Are you freaking kidding me?” She deadpanned when she saw all the snow, ice, and pine trees surrounding her. It looked almost exactly like the Red Gate, with the only difference being that it was pitch black and the dead of night. The urge to scream, “WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SNOW?!” was intense.

She settled for summoning her well-loved-by-this-point coat and putting it around her shoulders. Her senses had improved massively since the beginning of the Red Gate, so she was confident that she would sense any ambushes. Still, she had her wand ready.

And it was a good thing she did, because an ursine roar sounded as a giant form burst from the trees. It was an absolutely massive bear. Bigger even than the Frost Bear Jinwoo had turned into Tank. Its fur was a blazing red, but it was also covered in runic markings. Its bulk was so great that several huge pines went crashing to the snow-covered ground.

Heejin swallowed as she gripped her wand tightly. “Okay, beastie.” She said as she glared at the bear. It once again roared and reared up onto its hind legs, looking like it was trying to bear hug her to death. She quickly leapt back, having decided that she needed to put some points into strength, as little as she wanted to. She never wanted to get caught in a situation where she needed to move and find herself unable to again.  

The bear crashed down, shaking the land and let out a furious roar. The runic markings on its fur lit up and, to Heejin’s shock, an explosion of fire radiated out from it. It melted the snow instantly and instantly charred nearby trees black. The wave of fire radiated towards her, and she quickly motioned with her wand. Runes wrote themselves before her and a wall of icy wind erupted forward. The two elements collided and caused a burst of steam that surrounded the two combatants.

She wasted no time, mentally thanking Jinwoo for allowing her to train with not only Beste, but even with Tusk for a short time. ‘I won’t try fire against this thing.’ She thought to herself as she waved her wand. The snowbanks swirled and turned into an icy fox similar to the one Beste used. The fox let out a cry and surged into the steam. The bear roared in agony this time, and the steam cleared due to the shockwave. The bear’s left side was entirely frozen in enchanted, purple ice.

It roared futilely as it tried to power out of the ice, with Heejin leaping above it. She spun once through the air, which filled with green runes. The runes pulsed before thirteen bolts of green lightning erupted from them and met in the center beneath her feet. A gigantic bolt of power shot down, piercing straight through the giant bear’s torso and leaving a huge hole in its chest.

The bear barely managed to whimper its last noise before it slumped down, held up only by the ice it was still frozen to. Heejin landed without a sound and let out a smile. ‘That wasn’t so-’ Her eyes widened as the corpse began to glow golden like its runes. She took a step back, but it was too late. The gold flashed and erupted towards her. She tried to shield herself, but the light hit her almost before she could react. She gasped as her green eyes glowed gold for a moment before they dimmed.

[You have defeated a Rune Bear.

You have collected 200,000 Runes.]

“Huh?” She blinked at the screen and the space that the Rune Bear had just occupied. It had completely vanished. She shook her head, “Maybe I should actually read these…” She deadpanned a little sardonically. True, she had been annoyed by the winter ‘wonderland’ but that was no excuse. She opened her prior messages.

[You are not permitted to leave this Dungeon until you have completed the Job Change Quest.]

[In this area, allies are forbidden.]

[Daily Quest remains active. Time dilation is in effect.]

“Oh, crap!” Heejin cursed, “Please tell me I can buy food in the store at least! If all the creatures in here vanish, then how will I eat?!” She hurried to open the store and was relieved to find that she could, indeed, at least buy food. “Okay, there’s that, at least. But what the heck is with these Runes? What can I even use them for?” She could see them in her inventory, but she didn’t really feel any different.

And what was her objective? Why wasn’t the System actually telling her anything? She rubbed the back of her head before she just let out a sigh. “Well, nothing to it but to do it, I suppose.” She had also leveled up from killing that beast, so there was that too. She wandered into the forest, looking for more enemies to fight.

-]|[-

Songyi frowned when she opened her eyes and looked around. “Wait, what? This place looks like the castle Jinwoo said he had for his Job Change Quest. What, are we reusing assets now too?”

“Songyi?” Someone else called and she whirled around.

“Jinho?!” She asked incredulously. “What are you doing in my Job Change Quest Dungeon?”

“What are you doing in mine?” Jinho asked her as he scratched the back of his head. “What in the world is going on? Aren’t Job Change Quests supposed to be solo only?”

Songyi felt a chill go down her spine half a second before the whole room rocked. “Shit!” She steadied herself. “What was that?”

[This castle is under siege!]

“Oh no.” Jinho whimpered, slumping over slightly.

[In this area, potions and access to the store are forbidden. Shadow Equipment is also forbidden. You may not leave the area before the Job Change Quest is complete. Teleportation Stones are disabled.]

“FUCK.” Songyi squeaked out as she felt herself losing a whole bunch of stats. She quickly opened her inventory and whimpered when she saw that her normal gear was disabled with red ‘x’ marks over every piece. Even her precious Failnaught had been disabled!

[Equip yourselves and join on the defense. The castle must not fall! If the enemy reach the inner sanctum, you will die.

Castle Gate Health: 95%]

“There’s no escape at all?!” She asked, completely aghast.

“What are we supposed to equip ourselves with?” Jinho snarled. He didn’t have a single armor piece or weapon that Jinwoo hadn’t given him! ‘At least the skills I got from the Shadow Shield and Greatsword haven’t been disabled.’

Songyi sighed in relief as she saw the [Ice Slayer’s Bow] was in her inventory and she grabbed it. “I have this, at least. We need to go! Hurry!”

“Songyi!” Jinho ran after her as she reached the huge double doors and pushed them open. They ran and ran until they came upon what looked like the castle gates and threw them open. They burst into what looked like a courtyard absolutely filled with Black Knights. The sun hit their faces just in time to see what looked like a small meteor strike the castle battlements. Half a dozen knights got blown off of them, clattering and clanging as they landed next to Songyi and Jinho. He grimaced, “Sorry friend, I need these more than you.” He said as he grabbed the shield, spear, and sword.

The two leapt up onto the battlements to see what was going on. “Holy fuck…” Songyi grimaced as she saw what they were facing. It was a sea of demonic-looking knights approaching, and the lands they were coming from had a red, bloody sky and charred lands. There must have been tens of thousands of them coming.

“Damn it, what the hell am I supposed to do here?!” Jinho cursed, “I’m a melee fighter!”

“Well, learn some range and fast.” Songyi said grimly as she drew her bow. She pulled back on the string and let out a grimace when she felt how lacking it was in comparison to her usual bow. The ice arrows felt frigid on her fingers, too. “…Archers!” She yelled suddenly, having had an idea. All of the Black Knights around them stood at attention. “Let’s kill us some demons!” She hissed as she finished drawing her bow. “VOLLEY!”

All of the knights did so as well, and they unleashed a volley of magical arrows that rent armor asunder and pierced through thick hide. Songyi was firing three arrows at a time, with each strike freezing a Demon Knight where it struck. Some instantly lost limbs from the attacks, while others lost their heads.

“We can command them!” Jinho realized. He looked down where he saw that the drawbridge had been knocked down from a prior attack. “I can go down and defend the gate!”

“Don’t be an idiot!” Songyi yelled at him, “Why would you go outside the gates? Look how many there are!” She shot another couple of arrows, felling some demons that were rushing for the drawbridge.

“I can jump back up here if I need to!” Jinho protested, “I’m useless like this!”

“You sure about that?” She shot back, “If you can just jump, why aren’t these demons doing the same? You think they don’t have the stats for it?” Her eyes widened, “FLYERS! Shoot them down!” She started shooting up and the archers followed suit. That left the oncoming hordes to rush for the portcullis unmolested. And worse, they were starting to shoot up at the battlements as well.

“If I’m wrong, I’m wrong!” Jinho yelled, “I need a company of Warriors and Tanks! With me!” He roared as he leapt down to the drawbridge. “Quake of Provocation!” The red aura burst from him and taunted all of the nearby demons. And then the quake hit, shattering their armor and sending a score of them flying. Roughly one hundred Warriors and Tanks landed nearby, “Anything gets close, kill it dead!” He commanded as he traded his black shield for a much more vicious-looking one from one of the Demonic Knights.

“Idiot.” Songyi hissed as she saw Jinho leading a small detachment of men past the drawbridge. “This isn’t 300!” One of her arrows froze a demon’s wing and it fell out of the sky. “Ewewewew!” She yipped as she took it in up close. It was naked besides for a torn-looking loincloth and was even more skeletal than the Wendigos had been. Its wings looked like a cross between a small number of very inhuman arms and tree limbs held together by webbing.

[Winged Horror]

‘Well that name’s fucking appropriate!’ She hissed in her head as she drew her Knight Killer and stabbed it in the side of the head, killing it instantly and sending green blood onto the battlements. She yanked it out of the Horror’s head and resumed shooting.

Down below, Jinho was in the middle of the melee. He cut one demon in half with a greatsword that he had picked up, and his ghostly white-flame limb followed a few milliseconds later. It slashed through half a dozen demonic knights with explosive bursts of flame, knocking them flying.

The Black Knights were doing their jobs too. They were weaker than the demonic soldiers but better trained. The Demons, by contrast, seemed rather mindless, and their only tactic seemed to be ‘Zerg Rush.’ One Black Knight defended against a swipe from a greatsword, with a fellow knight quickly following up with a quick spear thrust.

‘These guys seem to be a bit higher level than the Shadow Knights.’ Jinho though to himself as he dashed and cut another seven demons with his blade and spectral limbs. His eyes widened, “MAGES!” Demon Mages flung giant balls of fire, bolts of lightning, and shards of ice at the platoon Jinho had gathered. “Shields!”

They all drew shields and created a phalanx. Magical energy poured out of their shields and formed a solid, albeit transparent wall. The elemental attacks collided and exploded with tremendous bangs, draining their mana.

“Continue taking out the Winged Horrors!” Songyi commanded the archers as she turned her attention downward. She nocked her bow and fired an arrow at the first Mage she saw. “Tch.” She clicked her teeth as she saw that another demon blocked it with his shield. “Let’s see how you like this, then!” She drew another arrow back and charged it with Mana. When she fired it, a shockwave followed. That same knight blocked again and this time, was frozen solid along with another three demons and a mage behind it.

She hissed as she shook off her fingers. “Damn it! Give me my Failnaught back!” She whined, dodging rapidly as an arrow almost took her eye out. She fired back and smirked when it launched back and crashed into another archer. “Serves you right.” She kept a careful eye on Jinho. He had lost very few of his knights so far, but that could change in a moment.

She had at least gained a level from all this, so her Health, Mana, and Fatigue had been reset, but from what she could see, they might have barely thinned the herd. “We can do this…” She muttered to herself before the sky above them lit up. “Shit! Catapults!” She cried out as the meteors started falling once more. She aimed up and charged mana into her arrows until she felt them start to warp and even freeze her fingers. She shot three, trying to meet the burning boulders and destroy them.

Colossal explosions ripped through the sky, but Songyi’s face fell when they continued to fall unabated. Now they were just frozen. “COVER!” She dove off the battlements and into the courtyard. Half a second later, one of the frozen meteors struck right where she had been standing and sent stones raining down. A couple archers also met their untimely fates, shattering as the battlements broke around them.

She grimaced, having taken a healthy HP hit there from her hurried landing and a few stray stones smacking her. She leapt back up once she sensed that things were clear. Several of their protections had been destroyed and she had to snatch an arrow out of the air. She flipped it around and charged mana into it before firing it right back, causing a large explosion. “We might be in trouble…” She muttered as she took a new position and searched for those damned catapults.

-]|[-

Jinwoo was starting to get rather irritated. With the size of his army, it had taken him very little time at all to hit floor eighty. Not even half a day, in fact. He had divided each army into groups, with all of his Elites (Igris, Blades, Beste, Tusk, Tank, Titan, Chief, Kasaka, Buryura, and Cerbie) leading each group of mixed fighters. He had fought as well, with a smaller group of High Orcs accompanying him. Things had gone excellently with each group, and it had barely taken an hour each to climb those first four floors.

Since then, progress had slowed to a complete crawl. He had been stuck on floor eighty for over a day now. He had drained quite a sum of gold refilling his mana but hadn’t taken all that much damage from it. He’d grabbed a couple levels off of it too and was now close to level one hundred. He wondered if there would be anything special that happened once he hit that mark.

He just didn’t get it. “Where the hell is the entry permit?” Jinwoo growled out as he stared at the burning landscape. No one answered… but his MP counter started to go down rapidly. ‘My mana is being drained at an insane rate. My shadows are getting demolished all of a sudden!’

It was Buryura’s group that was suffering all those losses. He waited a few moments, but the rate of Mana loss wasn’t slowing at all. He cut his losses and called back his Shadows once he felt even Buryura itself get killed. He quickly drained a Mana Potion and then ran in that direction. When he landed where the battle had happened, he frowned. There was obvious evidence of a fight and even some fallen [High-Class Demon Knights] that had been mauled by the Yetis, but the demons themselves had vanished. ‘Stealth, maybe?’ He frowned as he leapt up to the top of a tower. ‘Igris and Blades are the nearest groups. Will they attack them next?’ He minimized his presence and waited.

He waited so long, in fact, that he almost wondered if the whole thing had been a fluke. And then Kasaka’s group started draining his mana again. “What?!” Immediately, he summoned them back. ‘They skipped Blades and Igris entirely and went for the next weakest group. If they were just trying to systemically take my army apart, they should have attacked them. They must have realized how strong Blades and Igris are. They’re picking and choosing their targets, which means…’ Jinwoo de-summoned Cerbie’s group as well, leaving Chief’s group as bait.

He quickly made his way over, minimizing his presence as best he could. Once again, he lamented his lack of a Stealth skill. Joohee barely used hers!

Still, he did a good enough job of hiding, apparently, because he saw a whole company of mounted [High-Class Demonic Knights] led by a single [Demon Noble] who looked pretty slender and feminine. ‘Do these things have genders? Or does it just look that way?’ He kept a close eye on them as they charged, instantly taking out half a dozen of his shadows. The Noble leapt from her horse and dove right for Chief. She weaved around one hammer, shattered another’s shaft with the greatest of ease, and then leapt up. Chief’s head went flying as she front flipped behind him, landing and instantly blitzing a couple of the Yetis, skewering them together before ripping them apart.

He smirked as he jumped from his perch, instantly grabbing their attention. The Demonic Horses screeched rather than neighed as they charged him. He drew his twinned daos and, with a bloodthirsty smirk, prepared for some fun.

An Umbral Rend took out a dozen of the knights in one go, shocking them. They didn’t have even the slightest opportunity to sound a retreat before he was inside the group, another dozen heads going flying into the air.

They finally had a chance to retaliate, and Jinwoo easily dodged a few thrusts of a spear before kicking the demon in the head. He went flying through one of the buildings and died instantly. There were still almost eighty demons left, and they surrounded him, trying to skewer him all at once. He jumped and twisted around the spears, seemingly getting trapped within almost like a jungle gym.

He grabbed two of the spears and pulled as he spun. He knocked the spears away as he landed on his feet, the two knights crashing into each other in bloody splatters. He vanished and literally lifted a horse off its feet, impaled on the two spears. He ran forward, spearing more and more horses together and then stapling them into one of the buildings. It happened so fast, the demons couldn’t even react. He leapt out of the way of more spears, thrown this time, and watched as the demons he had trapped below were all impaled repeatedly by their own comrades. He landed and raised his hand.

Ruler’s Hand shot outwards, snatching a horse and knight before fastballing it right at another group. Jinwoo could almost hear the sound of bowling pins being knocked down as the group dispersed into a rain of limbs and armor pieces. He vanished and appeared next to another knight, punching it square in the chest and blowing a hole straight through its armor. The shockwave continued and ripped apart another few.

He dodged some sword swipes and kicked off another knight’s head. He summoned Chief, Cerbie, Kasaka, and Buryura, smirking as they immediately attacked as a group, overwhelming the knights with their combined fury over the earlier insult. Acid and poison rained down from the snake and spider while Chief used his massive hammers to batter around the knights. Cerbie burned them to crisps.

And Jinwoo, confident that the situation was handled, turned to the demon noble. She was trembling in obvious fear. “And then there was one.” A small squeak erupted from the Noble’s helm. She was wearing a pale gold armor with blood red accents. Her weapon was a weird one, with the closest match he could think of being a twinblade from one of Soohyun’s fantasy games. “I’ve always wondered whether a monster was capable of feeling fear.” His face was shadowed in the light of the burning buildings. “Guess I have my answer.” His smile put the fear of everything into her.

And yet despite that obvious fear, she charged and started attacking him. Her attacks were sharp and quick. Much more so than her knights. If Jinwoo had to guess, he would say she was somewhere around Haein’s level. Maybe a bit weaker. Definitely stronger than Yoonho though. In any case, it most certainly wasn’t enough, as he showed her by cutting her blade in half with one of his. He grabbed her by the helmet and reared back. “I SURRENDER!” She screamed in fear.

“…Eh?” Jinwoo blinked. ‘I keep running into intelligent beasts lately.’ He sighed and tightened his grip before ripping her helmet off. His eyes widened, ‘What the fuck?!’

The demon was revealed to be absolutely beautiful. She had long, vivid purple hair, red eyes, and cute, pierced, elven-like ears. She also had some markings on the sides of her eyes. She waved her hands in front of her, “P-please forgive me! You win! Please spare my life!”

Jinwoo raised an eyebrow, “You attack us and then beg for your life?”

She smiled a little hesitantly, “W-Well we are the guardians of this floor. I-I can’t let you slaughter all my people…”

‘Wait, does that make me the magic beast in this situation?’ He thought to himself incredulously. “You waited until your entire retinue was dead.” Jinwoo said flatly.

“Y-you’re very fast, my Lord…” She swallowed nervously. “A-And besides, a Knight’s duty is to protect their Lord. They would be happy as long as I’m safe.” She was covered in sweat and giving him an anxious, slightly cheesy smile. Jinwoo deadpanned at the admission, before shaking his head.

“I could let you go. You look human enough it doesn’t feel right to kill you.” She relaxed a fraction and started lowering her hands. “But…” Her spine went completely stiff as he got closer. Her anxiety skyrocketed as he got right into her face. “Can I actually trust you to never attack me again?” His ominous power was nearly crushing her.

She felt as though she was going to die from pure fear. “O-Of course.” Her knees felt weak for more than one reason. “I would never lie to you, m-my lord…”

He looked into her eyes for a few moments, sweatdropping slightly as he felt the other emotion in there that wasn’t fear. Maybe his Perception was a bit too high. He shrugged it off, stepping back. “Fine. You get to live.” He declared and she let out a shuddering breath of relief. “I have questions for you.”

She swallowed and nodded reflexively. “Ask them, my lord.”

He raised an eyebrow again at the address, “Do you know where the entry permit for the next floor is?”

“I-Is that what you were after this whole time?” She asked him in surprise. “Yes, my family is holding it.” She relaxed slightly more now that the hostilities seemed to have ceased. “In fact, I know where all the permits are on all the remaining floors.” Jinwoo’s eyes widened. That would dramatically speed up his climb. “If you can guarantee the safety of my clan as well, I can be your guide.”

Jinwoo regarded her. “What’s your name then?”

“Ah! I am Esil! Esil of clan Radiru.” Esil smiled at him. “May I have your name as well, my lord?”

“Sung Jinwoo. Jinwoo is my given name.” Jinwoo responded. “Do you demons hear a voice that never stops telling you to kill humans?”

“Huh?” She blinked before tilting her head a bit to the side. “No, but I do hear a voice that isn’t my own.”

“And what does that voice tell you to do?” Jinwoo asked her.

“‘Protect the place you’re in.’” Esil responded.

He frowned slightly, “When did it start?”

“Since we first arrived here.” Was the response. “From the moment I first opened my eyes in this place.”

‘Arrived?’ Jinwoo regarded her carefully. “And where were you before that?”

“The Demon Realm.” Esil told him, “We just woke up one day and were here. It was very strange.”

“And what were you doing in the Demon Realm?” He wondered if there was any use in this line of questioning. With the way things had worked thus far, it was likely that Esil was just a creation of the System. She was probably just the equivalent of an NPC giving a programmed backstory.

Only… maybe that wasn’t the case. Jinwoo’s eyes widened as Esil glitched. Her eyes were as wide as they could get and flickering with visual artefacts. Her smile had vanished and when she spoke, it even stopped sounding like her. It sounded more like she was speaking with some weird sort of audio overlay over it. “WaR.” Her voice had also lost all sort of inflection. She was just tonelessly presenting information now. “We WeRE prEpARiNg FoR wAr.”

‘What the hell is happening to her?’ He thought, “With whom?”

“aN ENEmY SO stroNg thAT WE HaD tO UniTE All Of dEMoNkIND TO FACe iT.” She declared, “It LOokED LIke waR WIth thEM WAs on thE hoRIzON WheN-” The visual artefacts on her eyes intensified, covering not just the pupils but everything else as well. Jinwoo flinched and took a step forward, “THE PERMiTtED aMouNT oF inFoRMatIon HAS BEen EXceedED. ThIs coNversAtION Is TerminaTED. THE PERMiTtED aMouNT oF inFoRMatIon HAS BEen EXceedED. ThIs coNversAtION Is TerminaTED. THE PERMiTtED-” Esil flinched and fell back.

Jinwoo was by her side in a moment, catching her. She looked like she was almost feverish and was unconscious. ‘What the fuck was that?!’ He thought to himself. The System had definitely overplayed its hand there. Clearly Esil had answers. Maybe not all the answers, but answers, nonetheless. She was no fucking NPC created by the System like he had initially believed. She was a real being that had been essentially kidnapped and brought into this Tower. This war she was thinking about was real.

And clearly, it didn’t want him knowing about any of it. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

He picked Esil up bridal-style and carried her to a safe location. He even summoned a pillow for her to rest her head on as he sat down next to her. He fed her a few potions, but there didn’t actually appear to be anything physically wrong with her, so they didn’t work. He would just have to wait for her to wake up now.

He cracked his neck and settled back to relax, grabbing some food while he had the chance. Only he immediately had to start summoning his shadows as the lower-rank demons that he’d been fighting for nearly the entire tower so far started to swarm them. To his surprise, the demons were actually after Esil.

In fact, they seemed even more senseless than they were before. They only attacked the shadows because they were in the way, not because they actually wanted to fight them. They seemed almost desperate to get to the young demon woman he was protecting, and not because they wanted to rescue her, either. They were quite nearly ignoring him entirely in their rush for the fallen noble.

He killed the horde quickly and summoned his entire army to encircle them. “Kill them all.” He said as he sat back down, certain that nothing was getting past his shadows. He continued with his meal before settling back to relax. He was able to nap for about an hour, only to find Esil was still unconscious.

Might as well see if he could call the girls. He immediately noticed that Songyi, Jinho, and Heejin were still busy with their Job Change Quests. He frowned when he saw that Jinho and Songyi especially looked like they were having a hard time. ‘Good thing we suggested leaving their dailies mostly finished.’ Jinchul, strangely enough, had yet to get a Job Change Quest.

Joohee, Soohyun, and Miho were all available though, and none were marked as busy. He called them. “Hey girls.”

“Jinwoo!” They all grinned at him. “Missing us already?” Miho snarked at him.

“What happened to your hair?” Jinwoo deadpanned back at her, and she instantly let out a slightly feral-sounding growl. He smirked in response and blew her a kiss.

“How is your climb going?” Joohee asked before taking a bite of what looked like a hot dog.

“I got slowed down pretty badly on floor eighty.” Jinwoo told them, “Apparently the random demons weren’t holding the Entry permit, so I spent all of yesterday spinning my wheels.”

“Ugh, that sucks.” Soohyun groaned, “I haven’t been having much fun either, truth be told. I’m running into more and more enemies that can resist my attacks in some ways. Have had to get creative.” She grumbled, “Hell, I had to fight a miniboss that I swear was fucking with time. Felt like I was moving through molasses.”

Joohee sighed, “I haven’t managed to make much headway either.” She told them, “There are enemies that defend the First Sphere, and there are thousands of them. I’ve been making a dent, but I’ve had to go rest a few times. Haven’t actually broken in yet.”

“Well at least you haven’t had to fight Kamish’s younger brothers.” Miho deadpanned and Joohee choked and started to cough. “I’ve killed three of the fuckers so far. Took me an hour each.”

“Well that explains the hair.” Joohee managed to get out before she resumed coughing. “Soohyun, is your thingy working?”

“Yup!” She responded in relief. “Was able to get a full night’s sleep, thankfully.” She turned to Jinwoo, “So, do you have a plan for the coming floors?”

“I do.” Jinwoo smirked slightly, “In fact, I even have a guide now.”

“A guide?” Miho furrowed her eyebrows. “How the hell do you have a guide? In Demon Tower?”

He opened his mouth, only for a moan to cut him off. The girls’ eyebrows raised as he snorted. “Well, speak of the devil.” Jinwoo moved so that the screen would put Esil in view. “Meet Esil.”

“Oh my god, she’s so CUUUUTE!” Soohyun squealed, “Look at her widdle fangs!”

“Bring her home immediately, Jinwoo!” Miho commanded as Esil started to blush.

Joohee rolled her eyes. First over Jinwoo befriending an actual demon, and second because of her two idiots. “How is he supposed to bring a demon home?” She snarked at the other two. “…Even if she is cute…” She admitted after a few moments.

“H-Hey… I’m a powerful demon… I’m not cute…” Esil pouted and all of their eyes widened.

“Wait, you can see this?” He asked in surprise. The girls were shocked as well.

“S-Should I not be able to, Lord Jinwoo?” Esil asked, worried she had stepped in something she wanted no part in.

The System responded for him.

[Esil Radiru has met the requirements.

Suspending Party-Size Limit within the Demon’s Castle only.

Accept Esil Radiru into the party?]

Jinwoo raised an eyebrow as he read, with Esil moving to sit next to him. “I’ve met the requirements? What requirements?” She asked cluelessly.

Miho shook her head, “God damn System and its random ass bullshit.” She muttered, “Don’t bother, Esil. It’s being obtuse on purpose.”

Jinwoo shrugged, “Accept.” He said and a new screen matching Esil’s hair color appeared in front of her. He quickly explained its features and how to use it.

“Woah!” She breathed as she looked at the screens intently. “Wait, so this ‘System’ allows you to grow stronger? And that’s why you’ve been climbing up the tower?”

“That’s right.” Jinwoo told her.

“Huh.” She tapped her chin, “It seems kind of like my racial ability… just more controlled.”

“How so?” Jinwoo and Miho asked at the same time.

“Well, we demons can grow stronger naturally,” Esil said. “But primarily, we grow stronger by consuming souls.” She explained, much to their shock. “There’s quite a lot of infighting and competition even between the noble clans.”

“Ahh, so that’s why the mindless ones were in such a hurry to get to you while you were unconscious.” Jinwoo muttered.

Her eyes widened, “Oh, yes.” She swallowed, “Thank you for protecting me.” She blushed at him a little. “Weaker demons like them can’t even recognize demons with intelligence like me as one of their own. They’ll desperately try to get to us to drain our blood.”

“So wait.” Soohyun said, “Does that mean that we’re eating the souls of the monsters we kill? Is that our ‘EXP?’” She demanded.

Esil shrugged, “I don’t know enough to say, Lady… uhhh…”

Jinwoo facepalmed. “Sorry, Esil. This is Baek Miho, Yoo Soohyun, and Lee Joohee.”

“Nice to meet you!” Esil chirped with her best smile.

“Same here, Esil. You keep our idiot out of trouble, will you?” Miho chuckled as Jinwoo rolled his eyes.

“I-Idiot?” Esil sounded aghast.

“We’re just teasing.” Joohee reassured her. She smiled impishly. “He’s our idiot.”

“Oh! Are you lovers?” She asked curiously.

“Yup.” Soohyun grinned at her.

Esil grinned back, “I see Lord Jinwoo is a real demon, even if he’s human.”

“Eh?” Jinwoo looked at her, baffled.

She giggled, “The most powerful demon nobles tend to have multiple partners. I’m actually the oldest of over a hundred siblings.” All four humans choked and started to cough at that.

“First, why?” Joohee managed to get out. “Second, how do you even remember all their names?”

“Well, it is the quickest and easiest way for the clans to build their strength. Demon strength tends to breed true, so a powerful set of parents will almost always lead to a powerful child.” She frowned, “Though most of the other clans are ruthless on top of that and force the children to fight and compete to make the strongest heirs possible.” She drooped as Joohee let out an infuriated growl.

“That’s awful.” Miho growled. She couldn’t imagine being forced to fight to the death with her brother. They gave each other shit, sure. They pounded each other a couple times and left each other bloodied and in need of painkillers, sure. But to the death? That was way beyond the pale.

“That’s beyond cruel.” Soohyun was grimacing. She knew Jinho and his brother didn’t have the best relationship, but they weren’t literally at each other’s throats.

“Father agrees.” Esil told the magenta-haired woman. “The other noble clans consider my clan to be full of weaklings because Father refuses to allow that.” She shrugged slightly, “Though I suppose it isn’t as bad as it is for you humans, since when we die, we’re just reborn in the demon realm eventually.”

“Wait, even if your soul is consumed?” Joohee asked in confusion.

“I don’t really know exactly how it works.” Esil admitted, “Just that it does.”

“Oh, maybe that’s why I can’t turn any of you into shadows.” Jinwoo muttered to himself. He shook his head, “Anyway, let’s see your stats, Esil.”

“Sure!” Esil smiled and showed Jinwoo her screen.

Esil Radiru

Level: 131 66

Job: Demonic Noble

Fatigue: 0

Title: None

HP: 27600

MP: 6010

Strength: 140

Agility: 140

Perception: 140

Vitality: 140

Intelligence: 140

Available Ability Points: 0

“Huh? Why is my level crossed out?” Esil sounded very confused. “It says I’m a hundred and thirty-one, but then it lowered me down to sixty-six?”

“Hmm, we were wondering how that would work… Everyone else who joined us were A-Rank and weaker. Jinchul’s stats were at four hundred when he joined us. Jinwoo, how strong would you say she is?”

“I’d say she’s around Haein’s level of strength.” Jinwoo told them.

“I guess the barrier for S-Rank must be around five-hundred then. Maybe six. I don’t know. At least in terms of our System stats, anyway. Haein is the strongest S-Rank in Korea other than us and Chairman Go. Choi Jongin and my brother are quite a bit weaker than her.” Miho muttered, “You’re a good bit beyond that, so you’d be classed as a fairly powerful S-Rank if you ended up coming to the human world.”

“Anyway, to answer your question, it looks like it normalized you to around our level. If you were at your true level, you’d struggle to level up.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. Is there a penalty for the normalization?” Esil asked before standing and launching a few punches and kicks at the air. “I don’t think I feel any weaker?”

“I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Soohyun giggled. “Anyway, we better get back to work if we want to clear these Dungeons this week. Have fun, everyone!”

“Not too much fun though.” Miho smirked at Jinwoo, “Unless you bring her home.” She smirked at Jinwoo as Esil’s face flashed red.

“Love you!” Joohee called out before hanging up. The rest of them followed suit.

“Well, shall we visit your castle, Esil?” Jinwoo asked, rather eager to get back on the road.

…

Jinwoo whistled, “Now this is a castle.”

“Thank you.” Esil was happy he seemed to approve of her home. “It’s not much compared to some of the other castles, but it’s still home.” She smiled at him, “And it’s further away from the flames, so it’s cooler in there too.”

“Wonderful.” Jinwoo responded. They quickly made their way up the steps and entered the castle. A demon with a horned helm was standing guard.

“Where is my father?”

“In the throne room, Lady Esil. Who is that man behind you?”

“A very important guest. Show him some respect.” Esil commanded. They continued on and made their way to the throne room. “Hello, father!” She smiled at the man who looked very Dracula in Jinwoo’s opinion. “I’ve brought a guest.”

“Esil… Wha-What?!” Esil’s expression fell slightly as her father reacted negatively. “What have you done?! Who is this that you’ve brought into our home?!”

Esil’s eyes were wide, “H-He’s my guest, as I’ve said…”

“What kind of guest walks into another’s home with an army of soldiers?!” Her father roared, “Can you not see them, Esil?! There’s an entire battalion in that man’s shadow!”

“Oh?” Jinwoo sounded surprised. “You’re the first being I’ve ever met who is capable of seeing them. Your senses must be incredibly sharp.” Esil’s father swallowed heavily. “You can relax and thank your daughter for our lack of quarrel. The two of us have an agreement. I am here for the entry permit to the next floor.”

“The entry permit…” Her father squeezed the arms of his throne. ‘It pains me to negotiate with a human, but if he’s the one who killed Vulcan and Metus, we have no chance against him.’ He ground his teeth together slightly. “Is that truly all you’re here for?”

Jinwoo chuckled, “Yes. Though Esil will also be accompanying me.” He casually put an arm around her shoulder. She blushed heavily again but smiled.

The demon noble was immediately ticked off and tempted to order the attack, but the look on his daughter’s face told him she was neither displeased nor afraid. It absolutely rankled his pride, but he was forced to order a dinner put together while he sent someone to fetch the entry permit.

…

“So, an entry permit and a guide.” Her father said as he cut his piece of meat. “That truly is all you’re after?”

‘This looks like a regular steak. Do they have cows in here?’ Jinwoo was cutting his own and finding it incredibly soft. It was apparently even compatible with human biology. “That’s right. In exchange for sparing her life, Esil agreed to accompany me on my quest.”

‘If I had known this monstrous human possessed his power, I never would have sent Esil out!’ He chewed the tender cut of meat for a few moments while he gathered his thoughts. “You won’t put my daughter into danger, correct?”

Jinwoo chuckled, “Oh, plenty of it.” He said and the Radiru lord almost snapped, “But she’ll get all the stronger for it. The next time you see your daughter, she will be one of the strongest demons you’ve ever seen. I can promise you that.”

‘What?’ Eyes widened all around. Only Esil herself and Jinwoo didn’t react. ‘How can he promise something as ridiculous as that?’ And the smile on Esil’s face told him that she believed him wholeheartedly. ‘What form of spell has this human put you under, daughter?’ He thought to himself in cold anger, knowing there was nothing he could do even if he truly was leading her on. Finally, he hissed, “Very well.” He snapped his fingers, and a dark figure rose beside him, “Here.”

“Thank you.” Jinwoo accepted the entry permit and verified that it was what he was looking for. The human and the noble demons he was sharing a table with finished their meals in relative silence. “Are you ready to depart, Esil?” He asked once the table was cleared.

“Yes!” She said confidently.

The two set out towards the bright light reaching for the sky.

-]|[-

“Ugh, can you just tell me something?” Heejin groused as she finished killing another giant troll. It didn’t look much like the trolls she’d seen in video games, honestly, with the only similarities being the armor-like flesh and the sheer size. Instead, it was covered in runes, seemed somewhat intelligent, and even had a rune-covered weapon. Their faces were almost human-like, if in a very uncanny valley manner, and large horns curled around their heads.

And they were extremely strong. Every strike from the giant pillar it carried caused localized earthquakes, and this particular one had even thrown around magma. It had cost her half her mana and over twenty minutes to kill it. She glared at the fallen wolves also littering the battlefield. They hadn’t even had the decency of attacking the troll as well!

“What am I supposed to do with these damned runes?” She asked the snowy night. But the System was silent. Just as it had been for the previous two nights. She shook her head as the corpses all began to glow at once, filling her inventory with runes. She let out a loud sigh. “This sucks.” She continued to walk aimlessly. She had tried to climb the trees to find something special about this place, but everything just looked the same.

But finally, something different happened. She wandered into a cave to shelter for the night, only to feel a faint trace of mana coming from deep within the cave. Her brow furrowed and she cautiously started making her way deeper, only to come across a stone-hewn wall. “I definitely feel something… just what are you hiding?” She asked as she placed her palm against the stone, only for her arm to sink in. “An illusion!” She gasped before phasing through the wall.

The second she did so, she let out another gasp, this time of wonder. She had stumbled into the most astonishing visage she had ever seen. It was a picturesque night, with an absolutely massive moon that took up at least a quarter of the sky hanging above. The moonlight brilliantly lit up a lake in shimmering silver. The entire landmark was surrounded with tall trees with a huge mountain off in the distance, mirrored on the surface. “It’s beautiful…” She breathed out in shock.

[You have located the Well of Eternity.]

“Finally.” She smiled. Something else was happening!

[This resting place will be undisturbed by enemies.]

Her eyes widened. That was massive! It gave her a real home base!

[Offer your runes to the Well of Eternity?

Yes/No]

“Yes!” Heejin said immediately and watched the four million runes she had managed to scrounge up over the past two days seemed to drip like liquid moonlight into the lake.

[The Well of Eternity has accepted your runes.

Lake Capacity: 4,000,000/100,000,000]

Heejin’s face fell. “Are you freaking kidding me?!” She screamed into the empty night, now that she knew she wouldn’t be attracting any beasts here. “I’m going to be stuck here for over a MONTH!” She groaned, sitting back against one of the trees.

That was a long time to go with only monsters out to kill her for company. She couldn’t even contact her friends. The System’s communication features were disabled inside the Job Change Quest area. She had already tried yesterday.

It was just like being stuck inside another Red Gate. Exactly like it, with the damn weather and environment and everything! “At least the well isn’t frigid like outside.” She sighed, her fury gone. She bought some food in the shop and ate in silence. She missed her friends already, and now she wasn’t going to see any of them for at least a month. She wouldn’t even be able to hear their voices.

“…There better not be a damn volleyball available in the shop.” She muttered, before wincing. “Oh great, I’m already talking to myself. Wonderful.” She sighed as she got her camping gear out and went to bed. ‘Hopefully everyone else is having a better time…’ She thought before dozing off.

-]|[-

Songyi and Jinho were not, in fact, having a better time. They had been killing demons for hours at this point without a break. And initially, they were doing alright. Each time they earned a level, their stats rose, their HP and MP regenerated, and most importantly, their fatigue reset to zero. They had fallen into a rhythm, killing demon after demon and only really having to take cover whenever those catapults fired those meteor-like things.

No matter how strong she got, she was completely incapable of even diverting those damn things from the castle. Each time they hit, unless Songyi commanded the archers to abandon ship, as it were, she would lose at least a couple of them. She had even tried to find the catapults to take them out, but they were either guarded by illusions or weren’t catapults at all. Maybe they were mages firing them, which would make sense, seeing as there was usually quite some time between volleys.

In essence, they had been stalemated. They killed hundreds of demons, leveled up to refresh themselves, got the hell out of dodge during the few dangerous moments, and continued the process.

But their easy stalemate had broken. The enemy names had been a very dark orange initially but had gradually brightened more and more before they became white. And then even that bright white slowly dulled until they were dark and gray. They just weren’t getting EXP anymore, and now their exhaustion was starting to creep up higher and higher. Songyi’s fingers had long-since gone numb, and while Jinho hadn’t been injured, he was absolutely drenched in sweat.

Something had to change, or they were going to be overrun.

And as if that was exactly what the demons had been waiting for, they halted. And then a tremendous roar rang through the air.

A massive demon started making its way forward. It was about ten meters tall and absolutely covered in armor except for its head. It had flames for hair and was holding a warhammer. Beside it, a much smaller demon walked, holding a sickle that was crackling an ominous, ghostly flame. It looked more like a religious creature due to the white habit it was garbed in. It even had a feminine face and body.

The huge demon roared again and moved faster than it had any right to. It wasn’t faster than Songyi, but it was certainly fast enough to surprise her partner. It was upon Jinho in an instant, its hammer crashing down on his shield. Jinho let out a grunt as he held it back, his knees bending from the impact.

The smaller demon, however, was fast enough to match Songyi. In fact, she was fast enough to get behind Jinho in an instant, her sickle raised to take his head off before he could even react. Songyi, however, could. She shot an arrow barrage that forced the female demon to almost dance away from Jinho. “Stay away from my friend!” She snarled.

The [Apostle Matriarch] looked at her from the ground as Jinho roared and pushed the bigger demon away, gaining some distance from the other one. And then Songyi saw her smile, even through her shawl. The Matriarch held her sickle to the side before whipping it at Songyi.

“WHAT?!” Songyi gasped as the sickle stretched out massively, becoming whiplike. It wrapped around Songyi’s bow before she found herself yanked off her feet and the battlements alike. She managed to avoid crashing with a roll but was forced to let go of her bow to do so. “Alright, bitch.” Songyi hissed as her bow went back into her inventory, just in time to avoid becoming charcoal from a burst of ghostly white flame. “You have my attention.” She summoned her Knight Killer and held herself ready.

The Matriarch smirked before summoning a ball of ghostly flames.

Songyi’s eyes widened as it exploded upwards and then into many little balls of flame that tracked towards her. She was forced to dodge and roll out of the way, hissing as she realized they followed her. The Matriarch wasted no time and charged her, her sickle swinging in a feral rhythm. She made the mistake of trying to block the attack with her dagger, crying out as she was knocked back and nearly into the deep chasm that separated the castle from the land.

Songyi scrambled up and dodged forward, just barely avoiding becoming about a head shorter. She rolled and leapt up, summoning her bow and firing a barrage of arrows. The Matriarch danced once more, knocking all of them out of the air as she waltzed towards Songyi. Just as Songyi landed, she was forced to duck under a palm thrust that erupted into a cloud of that strange fire.

The Matriarch spun around, flame trailing her sickle in a lingering pattern. It would have been elegant if it hadn’t been so vicious. Songyi missed a dodge by a hair, and the sickle scored a small slice on her cheek.

Songyi screamed as the fire burned worse than anything she had ever felt. Worse even than the soul attack from Inonoch. She lashed out with her dagger, throwing it at the Matriarch’s leg. She howled in fury as she scored a hit herself. The Matriarch’s cry was almost a sonic attack itself, but now her white habit was being stained black with blood as Songyi summoned her dagger back.

A decent distance away, Jinho wasn’t having a much easier time. The massive demon’s defenses were strong. Jinho had to attack with all his strength to even scratch it. And every time it attacked, he had to block three or four strikes from that massive hammer. His bones rattled every time it hit his shield.

And his shield wasn’t going to last too much longer if he kept doing it. Already, it was covered in dents. He wasn’t going to get anywhere like this. ‘Damn it! Why does this stupid System have to take away the gear Boss gave us?!’ It was true that they had been relying on it, but why take away the System shop too?!

He dismissed the shield and took out twin swords. He might end up having to fight this thing with papercuts, and these were his fastest weapons. He dodged instead of blocking this time, jumping on top of the hammerhead when the demon tried to pull it back and leapt for its head. The demon roared in surprise as it moved its head, dodging one of the blades but getting hit square by the other.

A deep gouge opened on its skull-like face as blood poured out. It howled in pain and fury as Jinho front flipped and landed on the ground, whirling around. With blood in its eyes, the demon spun and attacked wildly, whipping its hammer around quickly. Jinho was able to keep pace, all the while knowing that if he got hit a single time, he could expect some broken bones at best. Again and again, the demon attacked, its fury powering its movements. It used all its strength to try to crush Jinho utterly. And after a moment of careful dodging, Jinho saw it slow down. He leapt up again, unleashing a flurry of strikes against the monster.

He clicked his teeth as he kicked away from the beast. ‘Its armor is too thick!’  He thought.

[You have created the skill: Deadly Storm.]

‘That’s Boss’s skill!’ Jinho realized. Maybe that would give him the edge against this damn armor. ‘I need to be faster!’ He thought as he activated his Dash skill. Jinwoo and the girls had made sure that all of them had the skill, no matter how traumatizing it was to acquire it.

He vanished from sight, and a series of white flashes surrounded the beast. It roared in agony again as bits of its armor shattered and clattered onto the bloody ground. Jinho was panting as he appeared again, this time behind it so he could watch out for Songyi.

The demon started to rage, its muscles bulging. It roared towards the sky and an insane burst of fire erupted from its head. The heat was immense, and Jinho was forced to summon his shield to defend against it. Even then, he was forced back and hissed as he felt his shield start to melt. When the shockwaves stopped, the demon turned around. Each step it took seemed to melt the ground beneath it. Jinho dismissed his shield again, knowing that it wouldn’t help him much here.

His eyes caught the flame surrounding the hammer, and because of it, he started to run to the left when the demon raised it overhead. It slammed the hammer down and a wave of fire erupted outwards, immolating everything in its path for a hundred feet. Even a few dozen demons met their screaming ends.

Jinho’s fatigue was high, his health had taken licks, and his mana was getting pretty low. He needed to end this now before he was too exhausted to fight. He summoned a greatsword and prepared himself. Dash activated and the ground beneath him shattered as he moved. The demon was able to dodge the strike aimed to disembowel it, only to be surprised as his spectral limb followed the strike with explosive bursts of fire. Similar fire to the one that the enemy Songyi was busy with was using, actually.

The demon howled in agony as the flames burned it and drained its health like a curse. Jingo dashed again and this time cut deep into the demon’s thighs. Blood practically exploded onto him, hot and boiling. He hissed as his HP took a huge hit, but the demon was in worse shape as another ghostly limb nearly made it half the demon it used to be. Jinho backed away and raised his sword, roaring as he swiped down. The ghostly limb cut the demon in half.

[Level Up!]

He almost cried in relief as he was restored. His eyes widened when he saw his rewards. “A Rune Stone!” He cracked it and glowed as the power entered him.

[You have acquired the skill: Imbue Element

Imbue your weapons with the elements to enhance their power and range.]

He didn’t really have too much time to think about it, because the demons were starting to swarm again. He chanced a glance at Songyi and sighed in relief. She was doing just fine.

With the Matriarch’s mobility crippled, Songyi had a much easier time dealing with her. She still had to be careful, because the monster had imbued her weapon with that ghostly fire and had started using it as a whip. Every strike left streaks of flame all over the ground which lingered even with nothing to burn. And every time Songyi tried to get close or shoot, the Matriarch had summoned a shield of flames around her. If just a scratch had already hurt that much, Songyi didn’t even want to think about running face-first into a wall of it.

“Damn it, I really hate this bitch.” She cursed as she charged up an arrow. She was going to have to lead the Matriarch into a trap. She had at least gotten the Dagger Throw skill after nailing her the last time, so Songyi was pretty confident she could do something about it. All she needed to do was cripple the bitch’s other leg and then she would be grounded.

As the arrow started to overcharge, Songyi loosed it. As predicted, the Apostle Matriarch used her one good leg to fling herself away. The arrow hit the ground and created a small glacier where the demon had been standing. The direction was predictable, and Songyi was already preparing another arrow. She fired it, and like she expected, the Matriarch’s weapon warped and stabbed into the ground in front of the demon, yanking her forward.

Songyi activated Dash, swearing to never again give Miho shit for chasing them around with the intent to kill until they managed it. She had kept it in her back pocket, and it was going to pay off big time. She blitzed forward while her enemy was defenseless, using her Knight Killer to cut her arm off.

The Matriarch screamed as blood gushed from its stump. The fire surrounded her sickle as she whipped it around in a frenzy, screeching like a madwoman. Songyi dodged again and again, taking care not to even risk stepping in the fire. The little scratch she had gotten earlier had cost her a thousand HP over about a minute as it burned.

But the Matriarch’s injuries took their toll, and she gradually slowed down. Songyi Dashed again the second she sensed an opening, burying the Kight Killer under the enemy’s chin and straight through her brain. “Eat shit and die.” Songyi hissed as she ripped the jagged dagger through her enemy’s face, splattering herself with blood.

[Level Up!]

“A Rune Stone?!” She asked incredulously as she saw the rewards for killing her foe. “Give me something good!” She crushed it and her eyes glowed.

[You have acquired the skill: Alteration

Alter the form of your weapons using magical power.]

“Wait, but I’m primarily a ranger! Why would it give me a melee skill?!” Songyi asked in shock. Not that it wouldn’t be useful but…

She stopped as a light bulb appeared above her head.

No, wait, those were the meteors.

“SHIT!” She screamed as the meteors hit the battlements and the portcullis. This time, a sick sound rang out as metal sheared and was torn asunder. “Shit, shit, shit!” She cried out as the System displayed a message.

[Castle Gate Health: 0%.

Retreat to the main gates.]

“Damn it! Jinho!” She yelled.

“I saw!” Jinho was rushing back. They entered through the remains of the portcullis and Songyi grabbed a fallen sword.

“Let’s see if this works the way I hope.” She hissed as she began pumping mana into the sword. Far more mana than she could ever pump into an arrow. She nocked it on her bowstring and pulled back. As she did so, the plain sword changed. It thinned out and lengthened, becoming more aerodynamic. “Eat shit and die!” She yelled as she fired her ‘arrow.’

It flew through the air like a bullet, far faster than any arrow she had ever fired. And with the amount of mana she had fed into it?

A massive explosion killed what had to be hundreds of demons.

A feral smile crossed her face. “Oh fuck the hell yes.” It was time to be a loot goblin and steal every weapon she could get her hands on.

Jinho sighed as he watched her run around. Looks like he’d have to deal with commanding the troops. They still had a castle to defend.

-]|[-

Done!

Hope you guys enjoyed! I’ve got two more chapters for NSSL to finish off the S-Rank Keys and Job-Change Quests, and then I wrote one additional pilot thing for Solo Leveling. Once those are done, we’ll be moving onto something else. If the muse cooperates, it’ll be Big Tiddy.