The spell missed, it’s emerald and onyx lights impacting the wall just behind him and detonating as he dove out of the way. He stood, opened the door to the previous passage, and stepped through as he slammed the door behind him.

A handful of seconds later, the door bent under a powerful impact followed quickly by several more. Voices both deep and bestial yowled in rage at their escaped prey. Demons were not the type of creatures to lose their prey and give up. In that spirit, the crowd of Demons began banging on the door again in earnest as they screamed their rage.

Colin hadn’t taken a few steps away from the door when another voice, in the common Rosengard tongue, barked orders. “Stop banging on that door and step aside!”

BOOM! CRASH!

The door was blown from its frame in a burst of red and yellow flame, followed quickly by gore that splattered on the walls. The Roaming Boss stepped through the door and grinned menacingly at Colin, “whoopsie, I guess they were too slow. Hahahahahaahha,” it chortled loudly, eyeless sockets looking in his general direction.

Colin had a few seconds to make a decision. Either fight the Demon without the normal demons around it or continue to flee and come back more prepared. It was expensive to get in here, but was it worth the risk to find out what would happen if he died while stuck in the game.

The choice was made for him when the boss looked into the hall from whence it came and pointed at him, “what are you waiting for! Get him, you idiots!”

A Dracowolf ran out of the door almost immediately and broke into a quick sprint upon seeing him. Though it had a chase on its hands. Colin had sprinted on his own when the boss had called for the others to go after him. He dared to take a look back and found a quartet of Dracowolves closing in on him, with a half dozen Lesser Plated Demons walking behind them.

He reached the large double doors that led outside before he was forced to stop. There were enough of them coming that Colin did something he hadn’t had a reason to try yet.

Sliding the mythic Xiphos into its sheath, Colin rapidly opened his dimensional bag, and dove to the side to avoid the pounce of two snarling Dracowolves. Finishing his action, he wrapped his hand around the neck of the Banjo.

The link with his mana pool was near-instantaneous, and Colin worked himself into position. Triggering Bardic Magic, he slammed the Banjo’s pick through the strings in one strong and loud burst of sound. Magic power coursed through the instrument, radiating out an explosion of sound many times louder than what should have been possible.

With the magic, visible waves of sounds burst in a three hundred-sixty degree circle around him. All three Dracowolves dropped to the floor, grabbing their ears and whimpering was blood seeped past their hands. He strummed the Banjo again, but no burst of magic enhanced sound flew from his instrument.

Dropping the Banjo, Colin drew his Mythic Xiphos and hacked into the nearest Demon with the fervor of a well-rested lumberjack.

Then turned to face the next when one pounced on his back, knocking him to the ground. Its claws dug into him as he hit the ground, keeping his face down, as the Demon atop him chuckled in amusement. It flexed its claws, enjoying the groans as Colin felt every minute movement as its nails dug deeper.

You have taken 43 points of damage and now have 239/282 health remaining. You have taken 3 points of damage and now have 236/282 health remaining. You have taken 4 points of damage and now have 232/282 health remaining. You have taken 2 points of damage and now have 230/282 health remaining.

Health ticked down in variable amounts as the wounds got aggravated and worse with the Dracowolf’s tortuous ministrations. Beyond the pain, Colin could hear the Lesser Plated Demons approaching with the rest of the Dracowolves. With the Roaming Boss behind them all, It’s staff clacking against the ground with every step somehow piercing all other noise.

Vision and focus narrowing, Colin felt his blood boil as he wriggled underneath the Dracowolf’s weight. These things were beasts, nothing more than sadistic fucking monsters. What did they have on him? Numbers could be overcome, strategies could be beaten, strength wore low, and confidence turned to fear. What were these things to what he was becoming? He was the Antagonist, the Avenger, he was the DevilWalker!

If he died here, there was no guarantee that he would be able to come back since he was a part of the world and not quite a player anymore. He could not afford to find out, he refused!

Your Determination has made you strong. Everything that the Strength Attribute effects are doubled for 15 seconds. Everything that the Speed and Dexterity Attributes effect are multiplied by 1.5 for 15 seconds. Your Determination skill is now level 3. You will has been strengthened, and the effects of this skill have grown.

Muscles swelled, vibrated, and spasmed with the sudden change. Colin’s clothes felt tight and constrained, his joints especially so as he moved his limbs underneath his torso. The Dracowolf pushed down, trying to keep him down, but Colin braced and pushed off the ground with all his might.

With its perch moving upwards violently, the Demon came off his back with a surprised yelp as Colin scrambled to pick up his Xiphos.

“Run for the exit! You can make it, DevilWalker!” Nox yelled from within the shadow.

Groaning at not wanting to waste the valuable boost to his attribute, Colin turned to run for the exit. Even if he managed to kill one or two in a rampage, there was no chance he could make it to the Roaming Boss before his bonus ran out. He took a half-second to check his health, and it wasn’t high enough that he thought he could beat it reasonably.

He’d turned around, taken a few steps onto the bridge the led on and off the base and activated Kinetic Vigor, hoping for a speed boost. With the increase, he felt practically superhuman, fast, and strong enough to take on anything. It was weirdly intoxicating but not enough to override his ingrained discipline.

His elation lasted all of five seconds before he heard the Roaming Bosses voice scream over the roaring of noise in his ears, “Infernal Quake!”

Suddenly, the structure under Colin’s feet moved and trembled. Groaning and grinding stone met Colin’s ears as he froze, all his instincts telling him that this was bad, horribly bad. Of course, his instincts proved right as the shaking intensified in the passing seconds, and fissures started to split the rumbling brick. The spell’s real purpose took hold as whole blocks fell from the bridge and into the roiling magma below.

“Shit! Shit shit shit,” Colin yelled, reacting faster than he cohesively thought. He dropped into a sprinter’s stance for a second and bolted towards the exit. Jumping over new gaps, ducking to avoid pounding Dracowolves, and doing anything he had to to keep moving.

Only to be stymied by a gap over ten feet across that Colin almost bowled into. He looked up ahead and could see the shadowy, veil covered exit that meant escape and freedom from this overwhelming force.

He judged the distance again and took a few steps back, his plan was stupid but straightforward. Activate Kinetic Vigor, sprint at the gap, and use Lesser Knockback on the floor. He was hoping that using it on an immovable object would push him instead of the floor. It was a stupid plan, and he would be better served to just make a spell to help him jump the distance, but he was unlikely to get the time. Dracowolves could be heard coming behind him, and he knew he only had a few seconds.

So he activated Kinetic Vigor and leaned forward into the sprint.

“Mamon’s coil!” Announced a voice that always meant terrible things.

Three twisted pieces of black wire sprang from the already crumbling ground and wrapped themselves around both of Colin’s ankles, and his right thigh.

You have taken 5 points of damage and now have 167/282 health remaining. You are suffering from Binding Greed. You have been rooted and take 5 points of damage every five seconds until either the spell wears off or you break loose.

“Fuck!” Colin howled as he tried to work his hands around the barbed wire coiled around his legs. The wire pulsed red as another five health was drained, and he could not force his fingers under the binding. Drawing the Xiphos, Colin started to saw against the wire around his thigh and hoped he could cut through before-

“Maximize impact, Life missile!” the Roaming Boss announced.

Colin turned to look at the weird eyeless thing and watched as a cherry red shaft shot from the Demon, towards him. Impacting, piercing, and killing, two Plated Demons, and one Dracowolf before hitting him square in the chest.

You have taken 78 points of Damage and now have 89/282 health remaining. You are bleeding heavily. 5 damage every second until a regenerative healing spell or potion is applied.

Bleeding heavily? That was an understatement. Colin grabbed at the pulsating shaft embedded almost dead center of his torso, feeling it become substantial in his grasp. It burst into little pieces of red light that vanished into the air. The hole it left behind was an inch across in width and went all the way through his chest and leaked like a faucet.

“Well, shit. I’m fucked, right?” Colin asked, looking down at his shadow.

“Yes,” Nox said solemnly.

A bloody grin spread across his face.

With an uncaring swing, Colin sliced through two of the barbed wires holding him to the spot. That act increased his mobility, and he activated Aligned Strike as a Lesser Plated Demon jumped across the nearby space and raised its rusted sword. Colin pivoted and gritted his teeth together as he sliced through the Demon’s dominant arm.

Aligned Strike was immediately reactivated twice more as he cut through the Demon’s exoskeleton and then thrust the Xiphos into the wound. Colin looked past the slaughtered fodder and at the Roaming Boss. Not thinking too hard, Colin withdrew one of the throwing knives and launched it at the robed Demon.

The Demon didn’t deign to dodge the attack, letting the enchanted blade slice through its cloak and activating the ignition rune. Whatever the robe was made of lit like a torch, engulfing the thing in a torrent of flame within seconds.

With a laugh, the Unknown Boss Demon clacked its staff into the ground, and the fire whooshed out. “Anything else you want to try? Made you want to throw a bucket of water on me next. I would enjoy the refreshment!” it chortled.

Colin spat a mouthful of blood out and raised his middle fingers at the Demon with the final words as he watched his health tick down to zero. “If I live past this, I will be back!”

“DevilWalker! I will see you in your room!” Nox yelled, trying to make sure Colin could hear him.

The Demon’s eyes widened in surprise as Colin’s eyes went dim. “DevilWalker! You’re the final Demon Lord Candi-”

His hearing cut out, the pain faded away to blissful numb, and his eyesight went midnight black as he lost consciousness.

Colin flared up into wakefulness what felt like seconds later. He remembered this space, this empty void well. Last time he was here, he had been killed by Monty and his group and had been given the info needed to find his class.

Now he was alone, a bloody red prompt hanging in the air in front of him.

You Have Died!

“I know I did, but hey!” Colin yelled at the hanging prompt.

Would you like to LOG OUT or STAY AND BROWSE until respawn? Respawn in -1:59:59

The familiar prompt gave him hope of going home for a second.

ERROR! You are the Antagonist in the World Narrative and, as such, cannot Logout. Instead, you will be able to respawn in one hour. This is your second death. The first death in the game is always considered a freebie by the system. This time you will be penalized some experience points comparable to your manner of death. You died fighting in an Instanced Dungeon, Solo, and against a horde of Demons. The last hit against you was dealt by a Roaming Boss, your penalty will be increased. Your experience point penalty is 500 EXP. You now have 3218/9115 experience needed for level 11.

“Well, fuck,” Colin groaned. “At least this means I’m still like every other player. If I die, and I can come back.”

System notice. As the Antagonist, you are both of the world and not of the world at the same time. While you can still die and return to Rosengard, true death is possible. Be Warned, DevilWalker!

Colin let out a sigh, “of course. Why should I expect this game to keep me alive instead of using me and killing me.”

Carefully, Colin fell to the floor and took a cross-legged stance. He was ready to do his meditation impression and wait for the hour to be up. Then the system did something useful for the first time in a few minutes.

Would you like to skip to your respawn? An hour will pass in real-time, but this will feel instantaneous.

With a thought, Colin said, “yes” to the prompt, and he felt drowsiness take him over and consume him. He passed out from exhaustion seconds after accepting the prompt, and a feeling of contentment washed over him.

---

You have Respawned. You are inside your rented room in Miranda’s Echo.

Colin opened his eyes, and with a start, jumped to his feet with his Xiphos now in his hand. The location was familiar to him, it was indeed his room in the Tavern he had played a few nights ago. Was it really called Miranda’s Echo?

Shrugging, he berated himself for the freakout and put away the weapon. Nothing was in the room, nothing here was going to hurt him in the least.

But Colin knew what he wanted to do, and he was fighting the urge to go back to that Dungeon right now and try again. Only his lack of funds to pay for his entrance and the fact he wasn’t ready for it held him back. Taking a deep breath, Colin took a minute to calm himself and thought about what happened.

First, he’d been severely outnumbered. Two, he didn’t have the proper skills or levels to properly attack the Dungeon as he was. Three, his gear could have been so much better. Four, he wasn’t at his full potential when he went into the Dungeon.

When he gained his tenth level, he was informed that he could obtain a subclass. With his subclass, Colin could either specialize his abilities, broaden them, or take another path to power. As Antagonist, he didn’t think he could just retake it as his subclass since you needed a class trainer to gain a class or subclass. So he could either broaden his vision, which was pretty broad already given his Path of Pride, or choose another path and merge the two into something interesting.

He knew what he wanted. More importantly, Colin was reasonably sure that he knew how to get what he wanted. The problem was, how could he get it without endangering himself. He didn’t think it was possible, but he knew he had to try. It wasn’t his nature to accept the easy routes, that meant taking the ambitious one.

To be fair, isn’t ambition a trait of Pride?

Colin pulled off his backpack and found everything in there as he’d left it, and the Information Tablet was still in his pocket. He took a few short minutes to peruse the magical device before putting it away. There would be time for that, and that time wasn’t going to be when he was about to do something either incredibly stupid or smart.

If he survived, it would be smart.

He put everything back into his bags and put them back in their rightful places, and stepped out the door. Only to go back inside and write a quick note for Nox on a small pad of paper that Colin had found in the dresser the night before.

With that done, Colin left the room and walked out of the Tavern, doing his best to avoid anyone’s gaze. He was paid up until tomorrow but wanted to prevent anybody from talking to him about the ruckus last night. How do you explain a fight between an Enraged Goblin Alchemist and a God?

With that, Colin left the Tavern and made his way to another part of the city that was relatively close. He looked up at the burned wood sign that read, “Skillets of Power.” The restaurant was small, but the smell of bacon wafted out to him and almost made him reconsider his plan.

No, this was going to happen. Colin walked inside and found himself face-to-face with Henrietta, the woman he’d spent some time negotiating with a few nights before. She had her fists planted onto her hips and glared at him with nothing more or less than annoyance.

“The boss said she could feel your agitation coming from a mile away,” she scowled. “Follow me. Hey, Fran! Coover the front for a few minutes!”

“Yes, Ma’am!” returned an anorexically thin woman with short black hair and a mildly rumpled white and green dress.

Colin followed behind Henrietta as she led him down past the kitchen and down into the basement passages again. She walked him to the third room in the hall this time and walked him inside it. This room was a private storage room because trunks, dress racks, and bedroom furniture filled forty percent of it.

She closed the door behind them and faced Colin, “I thought I told you to not come back here unless you get a note. We do our best to not attract attention, and repeated people coming down here look very suspicious.”

“Well, it’s been several days without a word. I would have thought that you could have come to me with something by now. At least about the Krimson Spire Guild,” Colin explained. “But that’s not why I’m here, Henrietta.

“Alright then, Walker. Spill it. What do you want now?” she asked, tapping her foot in exasperation.

“I want to speak to your boss,” Colin said, tone level and voice flat.

“When I ask why, I expect a real answer, or else it is an automatic no. Why do you need my boss?” she asked, eyes not missing a single movement from him. It felt like she was trying to read him, and he got the feeling that she got a fair amount from him.

“I need a class trainer, and I know your boss can do Psionics. How else can she be talking to you so you can respond to me the last time I was here. I want that too.”

The woman froze as if whatever she thought he might want was nowhere near what she expected. When she started doing anything again, of course, she began to laugh. Loud, unbridled, and mocking laughter that frustrated the man across from her to no end.

When she stopped, she asked him simply, “You’re a motivated little shit, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Well, let me tell you something. I am a stubborn bitch, and I won’t let you get what you want that easily. What did you expect? Just walk in here and get what you want, like that?” she said, snapping her fingers.

“No, I was hoping to bargain. But I want to get paid upfront,” Colin said, adamantly.

“Get out,” Henrietta ordered. “We don’t work that way, and even if we did, we don’t train outsiders.”

Shrugging, Colin looked at the woman with an icy smile. “What would it take?”

“Nothing you can get me,” Henrietta told him with the same amount of cold amusement she was getting from Colin.

“Try me,” Colin told her, taking a step back and leaning against a heavy wooden dresser.

Grumbling to herself, Henrietta glared at him again and seemed to be debating this. It really looked like she was going to tell him to just get the fuck out, and that would mean that he was going to try plan B. At least until her hands relaxed, her scowl dropped, and she hunched a little into herself. “You won’t go away, will you?”

“No,” Colin answered.

A sigh escaped her, “Walker, I don’t want to tell a random customer what my personal problems are, or explain my life story to you. It’s tedious, tiring, and honestly a little boring. But if you help us help our little illegal guild, I will pass along your request.”

A single nod and a vocal, “what do you need?” was all she got.

“One of our youngest members did something idiotic. Normally, you have to inform me or someone else like me what your target is so that we can confirm if it is plausible for you to complete safely. But when Daphne came to me about a job, simple B and E, nothing violent or overtly dangerous and lied to my face about a few details. The Noble in question was hosting a three-person delegation from the Feylands to the west.”

“Her purpose was to steal from them, not the Noble, and was caught. As punishment, They have locked her up until they leave and are planning on taking her with them. I do not condone her actions, Walker. Still, I do not want her taken away to the Feylands where she will never return,” Henrietta finished.

Colin knew nothing of the Feylands beyond the few things mentioned in that history book he’d read. The Feylands were, obviously, home to the various types of Fey, Fairy, and Daemons that inhabited Rosengard. It was an untamed wilderness about as big as the United States, and no one dared to subjugate it. The reason was simple. The last time someone tried, the entire marching force five thousand strong, including a Princess and two Princes, were never seen again.

There were three rules of dealing with any intelligent denizen of the Feywoods deemed necessary enough to even mention in a history book. You do not lie to them, you do not cheat them, and you do not steal from them. That was it. You do that, and they would do the same in turn.

“I understand, what do you want me to do?” Colin asked, keeping his voice calm.

“You’ve probably already guessed, but I will answer anyway. I need you to break Daphne out of there. Preferably without getting the attention of any of the residents. We know where she is in the house, we just can’t get to her without breaking one of our boss’s rules. No violence,” she said sighing.

“So you want me to go in there, get the kid, and get out. Preferably without getting caught or setting off the alarms, correct?” Colin asked, letting the information sink in. He’d done a few mission’s like this back on Earth. The only real difference was that he had all the equipment he needed, here, he was improvising.

“Yes,” Henrietta confirmed.

“How long do I have?”

She shrugged, “it’s not clear. They might be leaving tomorrow or the day after, my agent couldn’t get a close look at the calendar,” she answered. “I would just suggest you go tonight.”

“Do you have blueprints for the house, a hand-drawn map, anything?” Colin asked.

Henrietta nodded, “we have a hand-drawn map. We could probably get the blueprints, but we would need another day or two to do so safely.”

Colin nodded and thought about his options. He could think of a few things that could do the trick. Or at least make it a lot easier to get the job done. All of which would require some preparation time.

“Alright, I’ll do it. In return, you’ll what?” Colin asked, needing to hear her say the words.

“In return, I’ll tell my boss what you did and pass along a good word along with your request,” Henrietta said.

Quest: This Miscreant of Mine. Objective: Break into the Manor House of Prince Ferris of House Reynett, and rescue Daphne, the would-be thief from their guests. Reward: A good word to Henrietta’s Boss, Unknown. Time Limit: tomorrow morning.

“Well, glad to know we can reach an agreement,” Colin said, heading for the door. “I’ll take that map really quick, and then I will be on my way. Have lots of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.”

“Walker,” Henrietta started, opening the door and stepping through it. “I just want to ask one thing. Why are you doing what you are doing?” She wasn’t looking directly at him, seemingly nervous about the answer. Why she was afraid was what Colin wanted to ask. He was absolutely sure she was at least twentieth level in a class, so she could probably kick his ass. So why the fear?

“What do you mean?” Colin asked.

“You want to rescue a Demon from a church, you’re looking into Outworlder Guilds, and now you are trying to get a rare Psionic class, why? Why go through all this trouble?” She asked, now looking at him in the face.

“I don’t like to talk about my past either, so I will make this quick. A few weeks ago, I had a choice. I could have set aside anger and just continued on with my life without worry. But I was stubborn, and now I have no option but to seek power where I can find it, and use it to grow more and more. All to get back to the one I love,” Colin told her truthfully.

Nodding, Henrietta had nothing to say about Colin’s statement of fact. He was a man who regretted a choice that haunted his life to this day. There was nothing that could be done to fix it, except for moving forward.

Henrietta turned and started to walk down the hall to the last room, she entered it and left Colin in silence as he thought about McKenna again. “Damn you,” Colin muttered towards the God who trapped him in the game.

When she returned a few minutes later, she handed him a large folded piece of paper and a small card. She explained that the card would tell Daphne who sent him so that she would cooperate with him in their escape. She pointed out a short personal note that she had written on the back, it read, ‘Cooperate with him, or you will be thrown out on your ass.’

Colin took both and shook Henrietta’s hand before leaving the basement. He was back out on the street a short minute later and headed back to his room at the Tavern, where he hoped Nox would be waiting for him. He hated short deadlines, but here he didn’t have much choice.

Besides, he had a secondary objective to the quest granted him. If he was already going to break into someone’s home, he would go the extra mile and rob them fucking blind.

Why wouldn’t he, he was the Antagonist after all.