With the deed done, we got dressed. We stepped through the door of the soul cabin and found ourselves back in the hallway where we’d slain the Headless Knight.
Since this way had been a dead end, we returned to the antechamber and took the right hallway. Another Headless Knight stood at the end of it, guarding a double door. I conjured my wind hammer, sprinted toward it, and bashed it before it could raise its shield. Its sword clattered onto the ground as it fell. I raised my hammer above my head and smashed it into shadows.
Another goldcore was ours. Esme now had four goldcores and almost two hundred soulcores in her storage. I was beginning to feel wealthy for the first time in my life.
We entered the room the Headless Knight had been guarding. Ayla raised her lantern high so we’d have enough light to look around. Tattered banners hung on the walls, and the floor was a mess of broken pottery and furniture. At the end of the hallway, something gleamed. As I approached, it became a clear: a bronze chest.
“Could this be what the monsters were guarding?” I asked.
Esme put her hands on her hips. “It’s bronze. Only a gold chest would encase a treasure worthy of this place.”
“Agreed,” Ayla said. “The real treasure’s probably down the center passageway.”
I opened the bronze chest. It was empty. Except… something shimmered at the very bottom.
A ring. I picked it up. The band was obviously silver, but the gem was crystalline and bright purple. Amethyst, maybe?
“Any guesses?” I held it up to them.
“No need to guess,” Ayla said. “Check what it says on the inside of the band.”
I held it up to Ayla’s lantern and checked the inside of the band. There were letters, but too tiny to read.
“What are these, letters for ants?” I said with a grin.
“Ants?” Esme bit her lip. “How could ants read?”
I sighed, a tad deflated that neither of them would ever be able to appreciate my Earth references.
“We need an eyepiece to read it,” Ayla said. “An appraiser would have one.”
“Or,” Esme snatched the ring from me, “I put it on and we see what happens.”
“You’ve changed, Esme.” Ayla smiled at her friend. “Back in the day, you were terrified of the old men who sold fruit. Now, you’re willing to wear gear without any idea of its effect.”
“And you were the opposite.” Esme giggled. “Always willing to risk it all. Made quite a few not-so-smart bets, too.”
“I did learn more lessons than I cared to.” Ayla grinned. “As much as I want to know what that ring does, there are such things as cursed magic rings.”
Esme played with the ring in her hand. “How bad could it be?”
“It could turn you into a frog.” I recalled a status effect from one of my favorite JRPGs. “No need to rush things.”
Esme nodded. She dropped the ring in her soul storage.
We backtracked to the antechamber. Only the middle path remained, so we walked down it.
A Headless Knight guarded a double door. I sprinted toward it, leaped till my head almost hit the ceiling, then came down on its neck stump.
A goldcore clattered onto the stone amid shadows. I landed and wiped the sweat off my cheeks.
“I’ll take that one, if you don’t mind,” Ayla said. “Need to repay a debt.”
Esme and I nodded. What was ours was hers, after all.
We faced the massive double-door. It was two-stories tall and etched of ornate wood. I pulled the handle; it wouldn’t budge. I pulled with all my might, and managed to open it just a crack. We slipped inside.
A massive throne sat at the far end. It could only be meant for a giant. Pillars lined the room, and atop the pillars rested a platform. Skylights brought the sunshine in. It all smelled of ancient dust. The rest of the throne room was barer than I expected. Spartan.
As we approached the throne, a man wearing a gleaming crown materialized on it. His skin was gray, as if covered in a layer of dust. He was three times my height and width – a giant. As tall as that Soulless Knight’s second form.
The three of us stood still. The Crowned One hadn’t noticed us yet, though his eyes were open and wide.
“Wait,” I said. “That thing’s obviously not going to invite us over for tea. And it’s enormous.”
“We need an escape plan in case things go bad.” Esme gestured to the door we’d come from. “Uhh… run for the door?”
Ayla scratched her cheek. “For that to work, we’d all have to stay on this side of the monster. Not ideal.”
“I’ll get behind it,” I said. “You two keep your backs to the door.”
Esme shook her head. “The three of us are a team. I won’t let you take all the risks.”
I snapped my fingers. “Let’s use our Leaping Shoes to gain a tactical advantage.” I pointed to the platform atop the pillars. “How about you jump up there and loose ice arrows from that perch?”
Esme nodded. “Okay, but what about you two?”
I looked toward Ayla. “We’ll use our hammers on its legs. Break them. Remember to keep your back to the door, so we all have an avenue of escape.”
“He’s got big brains to go with his big cock,” Ayla said with a wry smile. “Let’s do this.”
That compliment gave me a confidence boost. I wondered if that would translate to increased strength, somehow.
“Let’s do this,” I said, determined to win.
Esme leaped upon the platform atop the pillars. I stayed to the left and Ayla to the right. We conjured our hammers. The three of us moved forward toward the Crowned One.
Once we were twenty feet away, it stood. It pointed at me with a skeletal hand larger than my body. Its eyes erupted into balls of fire.
“You do not belong here,” it said, though its mouth didn’t move. The voice came from everywhere. Dark and discordant, as if from hell itself. “I will devour every soul on this wretched rock. Then, once I have digested this fetid planet, I shall travel to yours and begin again.”
Did it mean… Earth? Was this the voice of the…
“Shadowsoul,” Esme said. “The Shadowsoul speaks through it. We’ve… we’ve chanced upon one of its tethers, somehow!”
A laugh from the depths of hell echoed in my ears. My bones quivered. “Yes, lovely girl. I will sup on your flesh and soul alike. You will never find rest within my bowels. Tortured for an eternity, you will pray that you’d never been born.”
That sounded bad. I glanced back at the door. Sure, I’d gotten more powerful, but powerful enough to fight one of the Shadowsoul’s tethers?
The door slammed shut. Then it disappeared, replaced by smooth wall.
No way out.
“You will not run,” it said. “Your name is Remy, is it not? I shall feast on your body, mind, and soul. And from it, I will discover the precise location of your home world.”
Okay, that sounded pretty bad. Was I about to doom my own world? While I didn’t love Earth, there were plenty of good people on it. I obviously didn’t want the same cataclysm that destroyed this planet to end the lives of billions on Earth.
“We’re the ones who’ll be feasting,” I said as I raised my hammer. “You wouldn’t put your most powerful tether on this tiny, insignificant piece of shit island, would you, Shadowsoul?” I grinned. “Know what? You’re nothing but a talker. And talkers make me hungry!”
The Crowned One let out a deafening screech. Wind howled against us, almost pushing Ayla and me backward. Esme struggled to keep her balance on the platform.
The Crowned One conjured a blade of fire that was twice my height. The embers upon it crackled. It jumped off its dais and dashed toward me, the ground quaking with every step.
I slid under its frontal swipe. As I passed beneath its legs, I struck its shin with my wind hammer.
Shadows burst as it dropped to its knee. From above, Esme loosed ice arrows at its head, wisps of shadow erupting. Ayla hit its other foot with her hammer, then backstepped as its flaming sword pierced the ground where she’d stood.
This was too easy. This motherfucker doubtless had a second form. We ought not to get cocky.
Its bony foot erupted with fire as it kicked in my direction. I rolled forward, conjured my ice katana, and tried to slice a toe off. I managed to cut a wound from which plenty of shadow bled.
Ayla ran forward and hit its shin with a hammer thrust. It swiveled toward her. She backdashed several yards.
My turn. I took the chance to execute a jumping attack on the back of its knee. I cut a huge swathe across its rotting form.
Meanwhile, Esme continued doing ice damage to its head. Wisps of shadow sprouted from each of her arrow shots. I suspected that once this thing reached half health, it would enrage and we’d see its true and final form.
After a few more attacks, it staggered and fell on its knees.
“Don’t go near it!” I shouted. “It’s about to reveal its second form! Don’t take the bait!”
But Ayla was already dashing toward it. She slid to arrest her momentum, but by then, it was too late. A tentacle covered in eyes burst out of the torso of the Crowned One. It raged toward her.
With the deed done, we got dressed. We stepped through the door of the soul cabin and found ourselves back in the hallway where we’d slain the Headless Knight.
Since this way had been a dead end, we returned to the antechamber and took the right hallway. Another Headless Knight stood at the end of it, guarding a double door. I conjured my wind hammer, sprinted toward it, and bashed it before it could raise its shield. Its sword clattered onto the ground as it fell. I raised my hammer above my head and smashed it into shadows.
Another goldcore was ours. Esme now had four goldcores and almost two hundred soulcores in her storage. I was beginning to feel wealthy for the first time in my life.
We entered the room the Headless Knight had been guarding. Ayla raised her lantern high so we’d have enough light to look around. Tattered banners hung on the walls, and the floor was a mess of broken pottery and furniture. At the end of the hallway, something gleamed. As I approached, it became a clear: a bronze chest.
“Could this be what the monsters were guarding?” I asked.
Esme put her hands on her hips. “It’s bronze. Only a gold chest would encase a treasure worthy of this place.”
“Agreed,” Ayla said. “The real treasure’s probably down the center passageway.”
I opened the bronze chest. It was empty. Except… something shimmered at the very bottom.
A ring. I picked it up. The band was obviously silver, but the gem was crystalline and bright purple. Amethyst, maybe?
“Any guesses?” I held it up to them.
“No need to guess,” Ayla said. “Check what it says on the inside of the band.”
I held it up to Ayla’s lantern and checked the inside of the band. There were letters, but too tiny to read.
“What are these, letters for ants?” I said with a grin.
“Ants?” Esme bit her lip. “How could ants read?”
I sighed, a tad deflated that neither of them would ever be able to appreciate my Earth references.
“We need an eyepiece to read it,” Ayla said. “An appraiser would have one.”
“Or,” Esme snatched the ring from me, “I put it on and we see what happens.”
“You’ve changed, Esme.” Ayla smiled at her friend. “Back in the day, you were terrified of the old men who sold fruit. Now, you’re willing to wear gear without any idea of its effect.”
“And you were the opposite.” Esme giggled. “Always willing to risk it all. Made quite a few not-so-smart bets, too.”
“I did learn more lessons than I cared to.” Ayla grinned. “As much as I want to know what that ring does, there are such things as cursed magic rings.”
Esme played with the ring in her hand. “How bad could it be?”
“It could turn you into a frog.” I recalled a status effect from one of my favorite JRPGs. “No need to rush things.”
Esme nodded. She dropped the ring in her soul storage.
We backtracked to the antechamber. Only the middle path remained, so we walked down it.
A Headless Knight guarded a double door. I sprinted toward it, leaped till my head almost hit the ceiling, then came down on its neck stump.
A goldcore clattered onto the stone amid shadows. I landed and wiped the sweat off my cheeks.
“I’ll take that one, if you don’t mind,” Ayla said. “Need to repay a debt.”
Esme and I nodded. What was ours was hers, after all.
We faced the massive double-door. It was two-stories tall and etched of ornate wood. I pulled the handle; it wouldn’t budge. I pulled with all my might, and managed to open it just a crack. We slipped inside.
A massive throne sat at the far end. It could only be meant for a giant. Pillars lined the room, and atop the pillars rested a platform. Skylights brought the sunshine in. It all smelled of ancient dust. The rest of the throne room was barer than I expected. Spartan.
As we approached the throne, a man wearing a gleaming crown materialized on it. His skin was gray, as if covered in a layer of dust. He was three times my height and width – a giant. As tall as that Soulless Knight’s second form.
The three of us stood still. The Crowned One hadn’t noticed us yet, though his eyes were open and wide.
“Wait,” I said. “That thing’s obviously not going to invite us over for tea. And it’s enormous.”
“We need an escape plan in case things go bad.” Esme gestured to the door we’d come from. “Uhh… run for the door?”
Ayla scratched her cheek. “For that to work, we’d all have to stay on this side of the monster. Not ideal.”
“I’ll get behind it,” I said. “You two keep your backs to the door.”
Esme shook her head. “The three of us are a team. I won’t let you take all the risks.”
I snapped my fingers. “Let’s use our Leaping Shoes to gain a tactical advantage.” I pointed to the platform atop the pillars. “How about you jump up there and loose ice arrows from that perch?”
Esme nodded. “Okay, but what about you two?”
I looked toward Ayla. “We’ll use our hammers on its legs. Break them. Remember to keep your back to the door, so we all have an avenue of escape.”
“He’s got big brains to go with his big cock,” Ayla said with a wry smile. “Let’s do this.”
That compliment gave me a confidence boost. I wondered if that would translate to increased strength, somehow.
“Let’s do this,” I said, determined to win.
Esme leaped upon the platform atop the pillars. I stayed to the left and Ayla to the right. We conjured our hammers. The three of us moved forward toward the Crowned One.
Once we were twenty feet away, it stood. It pointed at me with a skeletal hand larger than my body. Its eyes erupted into balls of fire.
“You do not belong here,” it said, though its mouth didn’t move. The voice came from everywhere. Dark and discordant, as if from hell itself. “I will devour every soul on this wretched rock. Then, once I have digested this fetid planet, I shall travel to yours and begin again.”
Did it mean… Earth? Was this the voice of the…
“Shadowsoul,” Esme said. “The Shadowsoul speaks through it. We’ve… we’ve chanced upon one of its tethers, somehow!”
A laugh from the depths of hell echoed in my ears. My bones quivered. “Yes, lovely girl. I will sup on your flesh and soul alike. You will never find rest within my bowels. Tortured for an eternity, you will pray that you’d never been born.”
That sounded bad. I glanced back at the door. Sure, I’d gotten more powerful, but powerful enough to fight one of the Shadowsoul’s tethers?
The door slammed shut. Then it disappeared, replaced by smooth wall.
No way out.
“You will not run,” it said. “Your name is Remy, is it not? I shall feast on your body, mind, and soul. And from it, I will discover the precise location of your home world.”
Okay, that sounded pretty bad. Was I about to doom my own world? While I didn’t love Earth, there were plenty of good people on it. I obviously didn’t want the same cataclysm that destroyed this planet to end the lives of billions on Earth.
“We’re the ones who’ll be feasting,” I said as I raised my hammer. “You wouldn’t put your most powerful tether on this tiny, insignificant piece of shit island, would you, Shadowsoul?” I grinned. “Know what? You’re nothing but a talker. And talkers make me hungry!”
The Crowned One let out a deafening screech. Wind howled against us, almost pushing Ayla and me backward. Esme struggled to keep her balance on the platform.
The Crowned One conjured a blade of fire that was twice my height. The embers upon it crackled. It jumped off its dais and dashed toward me, the ground quaking with every step.
I slid under its frontal swipe. As I passed beneath its legs, I struck its shin with my wind hammer.
Shadows burst as it dropped to its knee. From above, Esme loosed ice arrows at its head, wisps of shadow erupting. Ayla hit its other foot with her hammer, then backstepped as its flaming sword pierced the ground where she’d stood.
This was too easy. This motherfucker doubtless had a second form. We ought not to get cocky.
Its bony foot erupted with fire as it kicked in my direction. I rolled forward, conjured my ice katana, and tried to slice a toe off. I managed to cut a wound from which plenty of shadow bled.
Ayla ran forward and hit its shin with a hammer thrust. It swiveled toward her. She backdashed several yards.
My turn. I took the chance to execute a jumping attack on the back of its knee. I cut a huge swathe across its rotting form.
Meanwhile, Esme continued doing ice damage to its head. Wisps of shadow sprouted from each of her arrow shots. I suspected that once this thing reached half health, it would enrage and we’d see its true and final form.
After a few more attacks, it staggered and fell on its knees.
“Don’t go near it!” I shouted. “It’s about to reveal its second form! Don’t take the bait!”
But Ayla was already dashing toward it. She slid to arrest her momentum, but by then, it was too late. A tentacle covered in eyes burst out of the torso of the Crowned One. It raged toward her.
