Mash had no problems with the fight anymore. There were still plenty of demons, but his stats were so high, that a touch was all it took to kill one. Even without any imitation, and relying purely on his dragon form, he was killing the army just as quickly. Many of the wooden imitations of Priscilla had been destroyed, but he could tell that the battle was almost over. The demons, for all their strength, were unmatched against the powerhouses that remained behind. He was glad to include himself in that list, but he knew that he wasn’t handling the brunt of the enemy.

His mind kept drifting during the fight, as he remembered the prince’s words. The real battles, at least the ones that mattered weren’t taking place here. Ultimately, it would come down to whether the king won his fight or not. He was just fighting to make sure that there was something left when that happened. Although that wasn’t where all his worries were laid. Even if the king’s fight didn’t end soon, some of the other fights that had been sent to another space would be.

His thoughts wandered more as the fight had become easy. His stats and defenses were high enough that these grounded demons were unable to even touch him. He really gained an appreciation of how much his skills had raised his stats in this moment. He had fought a demon of this type earlier, and while they weren’t exactly the same, killing these took almost no effort. Not to mention, he had gained plenty of levels since the start of the fight, and he was curious to see how much his permanent stats had increased. With how many creatures he had eaten, he might even catch up to Luke.

He saw a pack of demons getting close to the wall and fired a bolt of lightning through them. it lanced out hitting and killing several more demons in the process. Even though those demons were fairly far away, they were still within the range of his draconic domain. His domain was massive now, and he had no trouble handling the army. Because of this, he felt an entity move towards him with incredible speed. Mash turned, raising his hand to catch the projectile. A purple fist collided with the palm of his hand, and his hand was deflected away.

The other creature’s strike was too though, and Mash faced a new type of demon. Purple skin that had been riddled with scars and burns, clung tightly to a boney body. Limbs twice as long as normal, and a head that seemed unnaturally small, Mash couldn’t help but be disgusted by the thing. Its body was so wrong. It had long nails that were black as night. A demon, and a high-level one. The fact that it had matched Mash’s strength made him believe that it had to be at level 150. Either someone died, or the demons were still evolving. Either situation would be a bad one.

Mash jumped at the thing, throwing lightning in front of him, as he prepared to tear off a piece of the creature with his other hand. The lightning winked out of existence as it got close. Anti-magic, and it was strong enough to completely stop his magic. Mash hadn’t been prepared for that and saw the demon’s strike too late. Its claws crashed into his face, but his scales were strong enough to stop them. Although, a claw had managed to scratch his left eye, and pain shot from the cut eye. The partial loss of vision didn’t matter with his domain, but the force from the blow sent him flying to the side. Within his draconic domain, he could feel the demon closing on him, but he couldn’t recover before getting stuck again. The demon slammed him into the ground, two fists striking his still airborne body. A crater formed from the impact, but the damage wasn’t very impressive. Mash rose to his feet quickly, preparing for another round. The bigger problem was that he couldn’t stop the other demons like this. He hoped his friends were faring better than him, they were about to get a lot busier.

Red P.O.V

Red opened her eyes, staring at three pillars that felt strangely sickly. They were all black, and she felt sick looking at them. However, she was alive and that made no sense to her. She couldn’t help but look at her chest, but there was nothing there. She wasn’t actually here, it merely felt like she was. Even still, she felt the need to try and clutch at a non-existent chest. Vivid images of her last moments kept flashing into her eyes, but she guessed that it wasn’t really her final moments.

She was somewhat scared of choosing a class. An image of her death as soon as she did, made her hesitate. Normally, she would be jumping at the opportunity but choosing a class could kill her now. However, what was the alternative? To just remain here in nothingness. That wasn’t much better than being dead. In fact, choosing a class might save her life, if she was still alive. Reluctantly, she extended her senses to the first pillar.

Blood Raging Undead: Blood fuels your fury. The blood of your allies bolsters you, while the blood of your enemies destroys. The combination of both turns you into an undying calamity, turning everything before you into rubble.

Red’s eyes bulged at the information. The class obviously named her as an undead, and the implication of that was not something she knew how to deal with. Her first thoughts went to her everyday life, and what it would mean to live like this. She probably wouldn’t be able to age, meaning she would be stuck as she was. While not unhappy with her appearance, being stuck at fifteen sounded annoying at best. Although she didn’t know if that would be the case. Would her body even function like a human’s? What other changes would there be? There would almost certainly be more.

She refocused on the class itself, reminding herself that it was too late to change anything now. The class sounded good, and not just because it made it sound like she was unlikely to die too again. That was enough on its own, but she still considered what else it would do. It sounded like her healing abilities were going to vanish, and she would instead be using her friends to siphon strength. That sounded bad, but it was not the worst thing. With Luke around, she had access to a lot of power if she went this route. However, she was concerned about where a class like this would lead. For now, she moved on to the next one.

Undead Blood Wraith: Your blood is more of your body than your flesh. As an entity of blood, it yields beneath your control. Even the blood coursing through others is not beyond your limits, turn it into your ally. A wraith in truth, you have stared down death, only for your screams to push it back.

Trying to remember her final moments, Red didn’t remember screaming. She had been in a lot of pain at the time, but she didn’t realize that she had actually screamed. It was strange how vividly she could remember what had happened, but not actually what she had done. The images of the hand piercing her chest were lingering at the edge of her thought, but her own attack against the demon had been forgotten.

“Focus!”

She spoke the words to no one in particular. Needing the command to stop her thoughts from wandering. If she kept thinking about that, she would only make her own life more difficult. It was something to move past. No, it was already something in her past.

Thinking on the class, she considered what the other parts could mean. If her body became reliant on her blood, would she be unkillable? Probably not, everyone knew that the system didn’t provide true invincibility. There would be a limit, and it would probably be her mana. Controlling the blood of her enemies sounded good, but it was also one of those skills that were considered taboo. Although, becoming an undead was equally as problematic. While these options were powerful, the implications were too risky.

Undead Blood Lord: A blood noble and a descendant of a true vampire, you have finally been put to rest. Although death could not fully claim you, you returned as something more. As an Undead Lord, you are one of the strongest forces of a Lich.

Red gasped as the information entered her mind. At first, she assumed that the class system was saving her life, but the last line made her think about Luke. The class itself would be fine except for that mention of a Lich. If the class gave her any skill that made her dependent on someone else, even if that was Luke, it was not something she wanted. She had known of her family’s ancestry, so she wasn’t surprised by the reference. Honestly, it was more surprising that she hadn’t seen it mentioned by her classes until now.

This was not the class for her, and she considered the other two options. Either one would be powerful, though one seemed less problematic in the long run. Even with a chance for a taboo skill, the Undead Blood Wraith felt like the best option. Feeling a little hesitant, she struggled to pick the class.

Luke P.O.V

Luke held Red in his hands, desperately trying to heal her. He was kneeling on the ground, holding her tightly as he tried everything he could. She had been dying, and he had felt her soul withering away. In that moment, Luke felt his whole world collapsing and somehow managed to grab her soul and trap it in her body. Even now, her body felt cold in his hands, even though her wounds had long since been mended. Her arms were good as new, and he had even managed to regenerate her missing heart. It didn’t seem to matter though, as she stayed unmoving in his hands. He tried strengthening her soul, tried starting her heart but nothing was working. What was the point of being a healer if he couldn’t actually heal someone when he needed to?

He had been pouring magic into her continuously, uncaring about his own reserves. Finally, he noticed a change, and a flash of hope traveled through his mind. It shattered as he realized that her body was dissolving. His panic only increased, and he tried harder, only to have her literally melt in his hands. Her body dissolved into red blood, even the bones and hair decaying with her body. He ignored the sounds of items clinking to the ground, as her accessories fell from her dissolving body. What had he done? Was this because of what he did with her soul, or was it an overflow of healing magic? Could that even happen?

He had failed, how would he explain this to the others? Slowly his head fell to the floor, at the puddle of blood at his knees. Luke could hear his own heartbeat thumping within his skull, and it was followed by a sinking sensation in his chest. Why did it sound like his heart was in his head, but feel like it had fallen into his gut?

“What did you do?”

Luke’s head snapped up, turning from the oddly clean ground to face Red. She stood before him, looking a bit odd. His mouth went dry, as he tried to understand what was happening, all the while trying to form words.

Red was standing in front of him, a dress of blood clinging to her body. Her skin was pale, and he noticed that it seemed oddly pink. Her red hair was longer, reaching all the way to the back of her knees, and it was a far more vibrant shade of red than before. The pupils of her eyes were white, while her irises were red. He felt his blood run cold as her eyes passed over him. She seemed to be looking at something inside of him. Luke didn’t know what was happening, but he tried to bumble out a response to her.