“How were you able to summon an Eldritch Horror?”

  Toulif stares at Eva with a gaze full of contempt. She isn’t aware how she accomplished summoning Tiffany, but that isn’t an answer Toulif wants. No answer would satisfy him. The question itself is a trap constructed out of petty spite. Eva has to answer anyway.

  “I don’t-”

  The trap is sprung “Of course you don’t know! But this is still your fuck up! How are you going to fix it?!”

  A trap is laid-

  Eva grimaces “I don’t-”

  “Of fucking course you don’t know! You know why?!” He doesn’t even give her a chance to answer “Because it’s my problem now! I have to fix it for you! It’s not like that the princess needs to do fucking anything!”

  Toulif fuse burns out and he shakes his head as he turns away. The rage he feels towards his sister is unwarranted, irrational even. The world had been unfair to him, unfair to them both-

  “You know, when you joined the Cult of Deighngon, I thought, ‘Finally, the useless sister of the Zeta Empire will finally have a purpose!’ Then I got injured…” He gestures to his face. A massive scar with a missing eye and a clipped ear. “And that was it- It was over, just like that… The ugly can’t become emperor. Did you know, father said that to me?”

  Eva stares at her brother with a complicated expression. This wasn’t the first time her brother had ranted at her, nor did she think it would be the last time it happened. She doesn’t answer him, she doesn’t need to.

  “And now I’m here.” Toulif raises his hands and slowly clenches them “Protecting you-” His voice is filled with disdain “You useless excuse for an elf! Let alone royalty!”

  Toulif approaches his sister as a dangerous intent surrounds him. “Why do you-” He scowls at his own words “You- get to be in the line for succession. You-”

  Toulif is interrupted by a commotion from outside of the tent. He immediately puts his mask back on and his sister follows suit.

  He flinches at the sight of Tiffany. Her face is full of rage and her presence makes Toulif grab the hilt of his sword reflexively. Eva comes out behind him and freezes at the sight of the Eldritch Horror.

  Her mind is sent into a panic at Tiffany’s gaze. When she gets complimented, her thoughts only spiral further. What does she want? Is it a trick? Is she planning something from this?

  Toulif’s gaze turns to the blue demon that Eva summoned. His thoughts are more clear. It’s only a matter of time until she kills us all-

  Tiffany suddenly calls out to Charlie for water. This makes the siblings pause. They watch the interaction in silence until Tiffany has left. The siblings' thoughts have now aligned. It’s impossible to predict what the demon will do next.

  Toulif glances at his sister, who is now wearing her mask. “Evan. We’re going to kill that demon.”

  Eva frowns behind her mask, but nods “I agree. She is too dangerous.” Eva hangs her head as she pulls up her Summoners Insight. “I have some idea on what her abilities are.”

  Toulif nods at the vice captain “I saw her fight, so I have a few ideas on how to counter her. I assume she has a self healing skill?”

  “Yes, Aura of Vitality, but after her class advancement, I think it was consolidated into Aura of Constitution.”

  Toulif blinks at his sister “Class Advancement? But I thought-”

  Surprisingly for the first time in a while, Eva was the one to cut Toulif off “That she was hiding her level? I thought so too. But the truth is far more terrifying.”

  Toulif frowns at the implication “Are you saying she was actually leveling this entire time? That rate of growth is impossible! She would need to be constantly fighting monsters that are far higher level than herself!”

  Eva glances back at her brother and Toulif pauses. He remembers the thousands of dead roaches. The walls of black fire surrounding Tiffany and the emancipated Roach Empress. She had only been fighting those that are higher level than her. The true terror of Tiffany settles in Toulif’s mind. She wasn’t hiding her level.

  She was simply stronger than her level suggests-

  Toulif asks his sister a question “What level was she when you summoned her?”

  Eva grimaces, not knowing what her brother's reaction might be. She answers him regardless “She was level 6 when she was first summoned, three days ago.”

  Toulif’s mind stops. Level 6? Tiffany reached level 38 in only three days? He thinks back to when Tiffany split from the group, when she suddenly went off on her own. She was really level 21 at the time.

  Toulif posture stiffen as he zones out in his thoughts. Tiffany left to challenge the Roach Empress and an entire army of roach monsters, by herself… At level 21-

  And won-

  Toulif breaks from his stupor, it was far too ridiculous, he couldn’t believe it, and he didn’t. “That healing ability is going to be a problem. We’ll need to kill her as fast as possible. Gent, you will use your earth magic to hold her down. Me and Eva’s summon will go for the kill. Everyone else evacuate before she returns.”

  Eva sighs at her brother’s complete dismissal of the issue “She has a class skill called Magical Aura Perception. She might notice that something is wrong if the non-combatants start leaving camp.”

  Toulif frowns as he is reminded about Tiffany’s perception abilities. Something that they actually used to great effect when they were traveling together. Now they were going to have to plan around it.

  Toulif gives more orders to the cultists “Everyone will help fight then. She is a dangerous enough opponent that we will need the extra assistance anyway.”

  Eva furrows her brows. “That is not a good idea.”

  Toulif turns back to his sister and speaks with vitriol. “What?”

  Eva scoffs “Tiffany is a demon capable of psychic damage, and powerful psychic damage at that. She instantly killed two cultists when she was first summoned in a matter of seconds. Anyone below level 30 doesn’t stand a chance.”

  Everyone paused at that. Even the demon was staring with wide eyes. Eva starts sweating at the sudden attention and silence. “Uh, but I don’t think it’s something she can abuse. I very rarely seen it used, but it’s still something we need to consider. I suggest that everyone below level 30 stay in the tent.”

  Toulif stays silent while he stares at his sister, but relents and sighs “Very well.”

  With that, the group of cultists start constructing their plan to slay an Eldritch Horror.

  ---

  I grit my teeth as my eyes are locked staring down at Charlie's body, frozen in a half fallen over position. The black particles from the dissipated dark spike stick to the air. My right arm is cleanly cut off from my shoulder and slightly pushed to the side, but stationary mid-air.

  My mind strains and I can’t move-

  Congratulations, you have evolved a skill

  -

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  (Quick Thinking) becomes (Instant Thought)

  Instant Thought / Level (1)

  (You have grown remarkably adept at pushing your mind to save yourself in extraordinarily dangerous situations. You pushed your wits to the limit and now you may think instantaneously. At great cost.)

  Expend mana or stamina to increase your rate of thought by (200%)

  Expend sanity to condense your thoughts into a single instant

  Quick Thinking has evolved into Instant Thought. I would celebrate if it didn’t feel like my head was about to explode. I can’t believe Toulif just killed Charlie to attack me!

  I can’t have such thoughts right now. Not when my sanity is being drained. I start thinking of a plan on what to do next, but my anger towards Toulif keeps building. My eyes are locked on Charlie's collapsing body.

  In a way, it was my fault Charlie died. I took him hostage, even if Toulif was the one that killed him.

  By the time I figured out what to do next, I’m fucking pissed-

  A hand of black fire explodes out of my amputated stump and grabs onto my severed arm. Charlie’s body finishes collapsing to the ground and Toulif launches himself at me.

  My arm is pulled back to me and reconnects at my shoulder and I start pushing Aura of Constitution to heal it as fast as possible. Muscles tie themselves to each other and the skin melts together. My arm explodes in pain as the nerves reconnect.

  “Dark March!”

  Toulif swings down at me and I catch it with my newly reconnected arm. A shockwave explodes outward as the blade digs into my palm, but I stop the blade and grip it.

  “I’m done holding back.”

  The blade explodes as I crush it in my hand. I take my right hand and slam it across Toulif’s jaw as he falls towards me. His mask cracks from the impact and slightly slips off. I grab his mask and push it back into his head. I push forward and slam his skull into the ground-

  The ground erupts and the dungeon tremors once again. Cracks break across the rock, exploding outwards from Toulif’s head. Charlie’s lifeless body is flung across the room from the pressure.

  I look down at Toulif, who is now non-responsive and slowly raise my hand. His mask has a heavy crack running through it and chipped at the base. There is blood leaking from behind it, but his head is still intact. I didn’t get a notification so he isn’t dead yet.

  I think about just killing him right now, but I decide against it. I sigh as I look up at the rest of the cultists with my aura fully manifested. The amount of fear they are feeling right now is enormous.

  (Terrifying Presence) has leveled up! (2 → 3)

  (Excessive Momentum) has leveled up! (4 → 5)

  (Aura of Constitution) has leveled up! (4 → 5)

  I grimace as I think of what to say and I step forward.

  I suddenly feel someone grab my ankle. My head snaps down to see Toulif with ashen black hands griping my leg. He gains black flames around the fringes of his soul. He tightens his grip and my ankle snaps from the pressure.

  “Demonic March!”

  I’m lifted into the air then slammed face first into the ground. My teeth crack and my nose breaks. I’m lifted once again and thrown across the room at incredible speeds. I cough blood as my back crashes into the wall.

  Before I can fall to the ground he reaches me and drives his fist into my gut. I ignore the fountain of blood spilling out of my mouth and I grab his head and headbutt him. He recoils and his mask cracks further.

  With aura coating my leg, I knee him in the gut in return. A shockwave blasts outward from his back and I feel a few of his ribs break. He slams his blackened fist across my face just in time for me to reinforce it with aura. My blood splatters across the wall behind me as another shockwave is created from the impact.

  I throw a punch at his face with my left, but he defects it with his forearm. My right fist gets through and strikes his chest. I feel more of his ribs break as another deafening blast is created.

  ---

  An awe inspiring exchange of blows follows in the span of about six seconds. The sound of rolling thunder reverberates through the dungeon as two individuals with skills that greatly increase their own stats trade blows. Wind blows through the spectators from the pressure that is created from the battle.

  In this period of time, 151 hits were exchanged. 64 were landed by Tiffany Day. 87 were landed by Toulif Le’tain.

  After the seventh second, it finally stops.

  ---

  “How the fuck are you so strong?!” Toulif says to me with disbelief.

  I stare at him with my tired eye. We are both completely bloodied, our arms are broken and our ribs are shattered. I think Toulif might be down one lung. His mask is crumbling off his face, but he brings his mangled hand up to touch it and it instantly repairs itself.

  The area around us has been absolutely annihilated. We are practically standing inside a crater at this point. Splashes of blood, ripped robes, and broken armour are scattered all around us.

  I would heal myself to kick his ass until he is unconscious but my stamina has reached its limit. My exhaustion is indescribable, but if I pass out, they will definitely kill me. I force myself to stay awake and answer his question. “Cause my strength is out of this world!”

  I laugh out blood at my own stupid joke that no one but me would get. Maybe it’s because my brain is concussed, but I’m in a pretty good mood. I speak deliriously with my mouth full of blood. “Hey, Toulif, what kind of demon am I?”

  Toulif grits his teeth “You’re an Eldritch Horror.”

  The world swirls around me as my eye drifts to the group of cultists. “That’s right! That is what I said I was… Hey you!”

  The blue demon blinks out of the stupor he was in and points to himself “Me’s?”

  “Yeah you. What your name, you big blue bastard.”

  He grins “I’m Herldren!”

  “Herldren! That's really hard to say- anyway. Do you know what an Eldritch Horror is?” My mouth droops as I force my fading mind to stay.

  Herldren frown at me. “I don’t knew much about em.”

  I chuckle painfully, I don’t want to lie about what I am anymore, it wasn’t even that fun to begin with. “Well apparently, Eldritch Horrors are very good at dealing psychic damage!”

  Everyone predictably finches at that.

  “I could! If I wanted to, kill everyone here! Right now! … Toulif! Why am I not going to do that?”

  Toulif blinks at me and his soul is filled with confusion “Why haven't you killed everyone?”

  I point at Eva “Because of- of the vice captain! They are my friend. And I have hurt them. And I feel terrible about it, so I promised I would never hurt them again!”

  I collapse to the ground as my legs finally give out. I curse as my broken bones shift inside my body. Darkness starts to overtake my eye. Fuck, I might actually die here.

  “Ya- wanna hear a secret Toulif.”

  Toulif stands over me as some cultist runs over to him and casts a green magic circle. Is it healing him? It feels weird for a cultist to be a healer. I dismiss the thought.

  “I’m not an Eldritch Horror at all! I’m not even a demon, I just thought it was funny when Eva called me one. Herldren saw through me right away and that's why I hit him in the first place.”

  Toulif looks down at me with disbelief. Of course he wasn’t going to believe me, why would he?

  “The vice captain didn’t summon a demon, but a human with a demonic soul. Ha! Did you know that having a demon's soul didn’t even bother me. Not in the slightest!”

  Toulif finishes healing and the other cultists start to gather around me. Eva is there, but I’m having a hard time seeing her. Man, I’m really about to die.

  I close my eyes and wait for it to come. I’d thought I would be more upset to be honest…

  My hairs stand on end as I force myself to jolt awake. I force my aura to manifest to repair myself and all the cultists surrounding jolt back. Toulif raises his hand to kill me, but I blurt out before he can swing.

  “You need to run! Something’s coming!”

  Toulif pauses, but goes to kill me anyway. Herldren speaks up “What da fuck it dat?!”

  That stops Toulif completely as he looks towards the blue demon. I grit my teeth as I force my exhausted body to stand and heal.

  Toulif looks back to me and back to Herldren. “What is it!”

  “I’s don’t fucking knew!”

  My Magical Aura Perception has picked up a soul coming straight for us. Its mere presence fills me with dread. “Just fucking run or we’ll all die!”

  I say it, but it’s far too late. I snap my head to the side to see a monster just inside a path further into the dungeon.

  The entire group stares at the monster in silence. It’s a small ball of fur about a foot in diameter. It has two chicken-like legs sticking out of the bottom. Its soul is a massive swarm of brown rocks surrounding it. The ball splits to reveal a mouth full of shark-like teeth as it grins.

  (Fledgling Atrocity / ???)

  Toulif and I speak at the same time-

  “Oh fuck.”