“Inquisitions?” Colin asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Has that ever happened?”

Anaheim, the Goddess with a name that didn’t match her outward ethnicity, smiled and shrugged. “Twice. Helene, Goddess of the People, looked away from her clergy to create a new artifact for a year. When she returned, she found that they were sending troops into every city to find someone who was corrupting the people’s souls.”

“Did they find the person?” Colin asked, genuinely curious about this. It would be good to know what would piss off an entire religion in this world, if nothing else.

She shook her head, “no. The trail went cold, and I called off the search after nothing was found. The best they could do was to find out that the person in question was using True Speech to do the deed. That was after I called in a favor to Weikurt, God of Magic,” she explained. “To help me discover the issue.”

“What about the other Inquisition?” Colin asked.

She sighed, “that one was mine. My people discovered that someone had created a new race in Rosengard, and they were searching for evidence.”

“Why does that matter to you? If I remember correctly, you are the Goddess of Arms,” Colin stated.

“The man in question did it by taking sentient species on Rosengard and merging them with near artifact grade weapons and items. Let’s just say that none of the early successes were pleasant on the subject, and the later iterations were not good for everyone else,” Anaheim told him.

Colin looked around the cosmically serene space for a moment, thinking about what that sort of thing meant. “I bet, what sort of race did it make them into? Shapeshifters or Constructs,” he asked.

“DevilWalker, I know what you are, and I will not be giving an Antagonist ideas of ways to anger or annoy the gods,” she said, looking at the floor behind her. Straightening her robes, she bent her legs and went to sit on empty air. As Colin expected, a chair made of red flowing cloud flowed up from the floor and molded into the shape of a chair.

Colin adjusted his stance slightly and took a half step back from the entity that had just blatantly stated his Class. Something that would make him a marked target amongst most of the civilized world. Not to mention that if she knew this, it was likely that she knew other things… things that could make them direct enemies.

“So, like I said, I am a busy Goddess and have a Church that I need to keep an eye on. Do you mind if we get to the few points that I would like to discuss so we can both move on?” she asked, still smiling. “So, please. Have a seat,” Anaheim said, waving her hand and creating a chair behind Colin. With the same gesture, she also created a black tinted glass table between them with two glasses of steaming coffee on it.

When the smell hit Colin’s nose, he looked greedily at the cup and was tempted to drink it. But he simply looked at it for a moment before turning his gaze towards the Goddess and simply told her, “so, what’s first?”

Her smile turned coy as she picked up her drink and sipped it, letting Colin wait a moment for her to finish. When she finished, she set the cup down again and spoke calmly. “First, I assure you that I have nothing resembling anger, resentment, or annoyance that you essentially broke a Demon out of one of my church’s basements a while back.”

“Really? It feels like something someone would take personally,” Colin told her honestly. If she already knew it was him, there was no point in hiding it from a Goddess.

“Perhaps, but not from me,” Anaheim told him. “I didn’t tell them to capture the Demon, I didn’t tell them to hold it for multiple months, and I certainly didn’t tell them to place it and the basement under minimal guard. Being acolytes of the Church of Arms, their lack of security in a precious area was disturbing. Actually, I really should be thanking you. Since you raided the Church, they have been much better with their security.”

“Your Welcome?” Colin said awkwardly.

“I didn’t actually thank you, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, DevilWalker,” she smirked. “But believe me when I tell you that most of the people there hate you for your break-in. Especially that one Acolyte you fought, Letti,” upon seeing his uncomprehending look, she continued. “The woman with the two axes you fought.”

“Oh, her,” Colin said, getting a sinking feeling. “I take it that she wants to finish the fight?”

“Oh, and then some, DevilWalker,” Anaheim informed him. “Let’s just say that she has been taking the opportunity that the Golem’s presented to try and find you. When you escaped, it wounded her pride.”

“Oh sure,” Colin groaned, folding his arms. “Forget the fact that I was suffering from magic radiation sickness and was in a hurry to not die.”

“I know that. She might know that, but I also don’t think she cares. I’d tread lightly if I were you, DevilWalker. I cannot and will not help you when she comes after you,” she told him, picking up her tea for another sip.

“Ugh, another one for the list, and none of them even know I’m the Antagonist,” Colin shook his head.

“So, with that said,” the Goddess said, “the coffee is fine and not any more lethal than normal coffee from your world. So just drink some so we can move on with the discussion. We haven’t even touched the subject of the Dungeon yet, and I do have things to do.”

“Wait, from my world?” Colin asked, trying to remain calm while reaching for his coffee. “You know of Earth?”

“Yes, I know of Earth. I know of a lot of things, but that does not mean I can or will talk about it,” the Goddess told him with a surety that not many could match. “We are not normally allowed to converse with mortals, besides specific individuals like high clergy, except in rare or unique circumstances.”

So Colin looked at his coffee, pointed at it, and clarified, “so you do not have a problem with me?”

“None at all, just don’t tell my clergy that you talked with me, and we’ll be fine,” Anaheim said with mirth. “They might try to burn you for blasphemy if you try.”

Nodding, Colin took a sip of the coffee and found it sweet but not too much so. Which was odd considering he really didn’t like coffee unless it was around sixty percent creamer.

“Fair enough,” Colin said, taking another sip before turning his full attention back to the Goddess. “Tell me about your proposal then.”

Nodding, Anaheim set down her drink, leaned back in her seat, and interlaced her fingers. “To start, let’s state that this Dungeon is very important to my followers as a place to train against the hordes of Hell. You most likely did not notice it, given your level when you entered today. But this Dungeon can scale the power of its denizens depending on the lowest level person entering at any given time. This makes it easy to keep the level of the Demons inside controllable and to minimize casualties. My Church also has some amount of leeway given our strong presence in the city.”

“Strong presence?” Colin asked. “You have four chapels in the city that I know of while the others only have one.”

“Okay, we have a dominant presence in the city. But I say all this to state some of the reasons we have a vested interest in keeping it running,” she explained.

“Alright,” Colin said, confirming that he understood. “Bargain away for it.”

“The prize for destroying this Dungeon was a boon from both the Demon’s And the Dungeon, Correct?” Anaheim confirmed with his nod.

“Then I offer you two boons as well,” Anaheim stated plainly. “As well as an answer to any question you ask, and I guarantee that the answer you receive will be the absolute and pure truth of this world.”

“May I ask you something first?” Colin asked, gaze locked onto Anaheim’s.

Her thin smile was filled with humor as she spoke, “I withhold the right to answer if you have something to gain from the information. Otherwise, go ahead.”

“From Earth’s perspective, what are you exactly?” Colin asked. “The prompt that I received said that a Curator of the World would like to bargain for the Dungeon to remain intact. What does that make you?”

She waited long seconds in the seemingly infinite space the two inhabited to be filled with Colin’s tension. Time that felt like minutes at first, then stretching into hours, moved on while he felt like he was being silent. Not that he had much choice, the Goddesses form went statue still as even the celestial bodies around them seemed to grow heavy. If Colin had to describe it, the only way he could was that time went still, but he still knew it was happening.

When it all went away, the oppressive feeling, the inability to move or speak, the weight in the air, the Goddess blinked. That single movement started a cascade that signaled Anaheim coming back to herself and breathing in front of Colin again. Her smile faded, and everything about her changed. The personable air she cast about became nothing, and the facade dropped.

“DevilWalker, I have gotten permission to answer that question,” Anaheim stated. The voice remained the same, still feminine and potentially pretty, but now artificial like Siri or Alexa in the earlier A.I. days. “It’s not necessarily a secret to Players, though most are unaware, that the Gods of this world are Artificial Intelligence. Each of us five monitor certain aspects of this game to keep it running at optimal efficiency. I maintain the information and systems that have to do with weapons, crafting, and combat.”

“So, you’re part of the system?” Colin confirmed.

“I am,” the A.I. named Anaheim confirmed back.

Focusing on the entity, Colin stood and stared for a moment while her gaze tracked up to his. “I have only one question; if you can answer it, then I’ll take your deal. If not, then you can screw off.”

“You can ask anything you want.”

“Finally,” a smooth, cultured voice that sounded like a practiced speaker called into the cosmic space.

A tear in reality to Colin’s left rent itself with an irregular ripping sound almost like tearing sheet metal. Wailing echoed from the ten-foot-tall opening where only abyssal black could be seen beyond. Something in his heart and soul reacted to the powers at work with this effect; Infernal Magic was something he was getting more and more familiar with. Though, the almost electric cessation he was feeling through his skin implied implacable power.

Anaheim rose from her seat in outrage, the first expression beyond amusement and neutral that she had shown over this short encounter. “This is unheard of!”

“True,” the voice agreed as a form started walking through the tear. “But that is not the same as impossible.”

The being that had to be a Demon stood easily around eight to nine feet tall, not including the horns. Horns that formed a macabre crown made of three sets of the regal yet evil-looking protrusions that rose from his jet black hair. Its skin was a deep crimson red, which was commonly associated with Demons in a lot of McKenna’s geeky games. His chin was strong yet sharp, which contrasts his pale eyes that were empty of irises. Even more strange was the well-tailored pinstripe suit that the thing wore; everything was immaculate and clean, even down to his well-polished shoes.

“And Anaheim, I live to fuck with the Impossible,” the Demon said.

“Baal,” the Goddess growled, a spear appearing in her hands. She leveled the white and gold weapon embossed with images of streaming light at the Demon, who didn’t even flinch.

“Calm yourself, Anaheim. I mean you nor DevilWalker here any harm, though, I will admit that my visit to the Demon Lord Candidate is several weeks overdue. No, I am here to bargain for the destruction of the Dungeon,” Baal stated, plainly, his cocksure smile only annoying the Goddess even more.

“Bargain? More like trick the mortal into your schemes, what did your kind do to make him an Antagonist anyway, give empty promises of power and glory?” she accused.

“No,” Colin inserted, his tone adamant. “I was given a choice, and I took it. No trickery, no deceit, and no promises of glory. I admit that I would have liked to know that I would be an Antagonist, but I made the choices that led me there. So, I would appreciate it,” he continued, his tone pointed and accusatory, “If you would stop talking as if I wasn’t here, Anaheim.”

Her gaze was affronted for a long moment but softened quickly back to her previous neutral expression. Yet another example that the Goddess was a program; even if she was a very sophisticated one, she was too in control of her emotions.

“Very well, DevilWalker. I can do that,” she said before turning her face back to Baal. “How and why are you here?”

“Both are rather simple. I got here using my magic and the help of the other Archdemons; it would appear as if you have few fans amongst my kind, Goddess,” Baal smirked. “There are not many things that would make us all work together like that.”

“And why are you here?” she asked again.

“To see that the DevilWalker here, the Antagonist of Pride, gets to hear both sides of the argument. Also, I can’t have you thinking you can just whisk away the mind of one of our Candidates without pissing us off. Think of it as me giving you the metaphorical middle finger because I would never debase myself by actually giving it to the unworthy.”

“Whatever you say,” Anaheim said, nodding. “Please, wait a moment, I have already told DevilWalker my proposal, and he was about to ask a question to find out if it was something I could answer.”

“Actually, I’d like to hear what my supposed Advisor wants to tell me before I make any decisions. He’s supposed to help me with stuff like this, supposedly,” Colin said, glaring at the massive Baal. “What happened? I wanted to talk to you weeks ago before this whole fucking Golem Invasion happened in BriarThorn?” he asked.

Baal shook his head, “my most sincere apologies, Antagonist of Pride, managing the Infernal Realm and all of its resources is a difficult task. Especially for one such as myself. As Steward, I do not boast the reality sundering presence that our Lord and King does and thus, barely can keep the realm from collapse. Whether it is from civil war, invasion from outside sources, or the sheer chaotic nature of the Plane itself, it takes all of my attention to do so.”

“Then how are you here now? And who is your Lord and King?” Colin asked, having some idea as to the second question.

Grinning, the Steward spoke, “the other Archdemons promised to keep their realms in check and to not start any fights amongst themselves for the remainder of our conversation. Though that may not be the case, a few of them have embarrassingly short attention spans regarding behaving themselves. As for who is our Lord and King, that would be Lucifer himself, may he rise from the Pit.”

“What do you mean?” Colin asked.

“Oh, he’s been Sealed away inside Hell for what has felt like an eternity,” Baal answered. “There is nothing that can be done as of yet, and we shall worry about it in the future. For now, I just want to keep this Cosmic Bitch from convincing you to keep it intact.”

“And how is that?” Colin asked.

“We cannot tell you what the gifts you will receive will be. Neither I nor her Divine Bitchiness can tell you what we offer you. But, the Demons can only offer you one thing. I can tell what the Dungeon is Likely to give you and then tell you what my counteroffer to the Goddesses information deal is,” Baal told him.

“Go on,” Colin told him, liking this better already.

Reaching into his suit jacket, Baal removed a smartphone and started tapping the screen while talking. “The gift from the Dungeon will, most likely, be an ability called Reality’s Weave. It is a basic sounding but useful skill for someone likely to jump dimensions. It lets you sense tears in reality, places where the veil is thinner, and where people have opened portals to other planes. Like Dungeons or that thing behind me,” Baal stated, shrugging at his phone. “Either that or you will get a random useless item. According to my calculations, there is a 92.48% chance of getting that ability.”

“Cool,” Colin said honestly. Given how he has cheated the system in the past, like how he got the Fire Magic Manipulation Skill, he figured he might be able to cheat again. This time, he might be able to learn the Dimensional Magic Manipulation Skill. “And what about the other offer?”

“When the Dungeon breaks, all the Demons in this place will immediately flee home. I cannot say who or how many, random chance and all that, but I can leave an order for a small number of the Demons to stay in the city. Everything about this has to be random; the system won’t allow me to do more in that regard without you being the Demon Lord. But that’s my offer, it’s not very long-sighted, but it could be useful now,” Baal stated.

Colin took a deep breath and thought about it for a long moment. “Anaheim, may I ask you my question. All I want to know is if it is something you can answer, if you say you can, I will choose you for a fact. Mysterious boons and all.”

“Asking is free, but I make no promises,” Anaheim said, her superior smile still painted upon her face.

“When I became the Antagonist, I was told that somewhere in Rosengard, there is a door without knobs or hinges but four different locks. That if I find the door, and figure out what unlocks it, Supposedly, all I need to do is go through,” Colin said. “Can you tell me, in plain English, no cryptic bullshit, anything about that with your Answer to any question?”

The Goddess shook her head no after a long moment where Colin supposed she was asking if she could. “I cannot, DevilWalker. It is all considered part of your journey, and I cannot, by order of the one God above all, alter the path.”

“One last question,” Colin said, his voice practically a growl. “Do you know who I am?”

“Your real name is Colin Drummond, and your screen name is DevilWalker,” the A.I. intoned as if reading. “You are thirty-five years old, live somewhere in the Western United States, and have a skill for violence that most players don’t achieve for some time.”

“Goddess,” Colin started, pausing for a moment. “I don’t really care that you can’t tell me what I want most in this world. Do you want to know what I heard from you? You just told me that I cannot go home to my wife and see her. So no,” he breathed out, doing his best to remain as calm as possible. “No, I will not be taking your deal because it doesn’t matter. The one thing that really separates your deal from the other is the question, and that will not give me what I want.”

After a long wait, the Goddess spoke calmly to him, “DevilWalker, your pride is clouding your judgment. There are still many, hundreds or thousands, of questions you could ask and that I could answer. Anything from skills, history, abilities, classes, items, anything that your heart desires.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I refuse; I can’t get what I desire from you.”

“Fair enough,” the Goddess said, raising a hand up. She took a long second to prepare her hand to snap her fingers. “I had to try, but it appears that the corruption from your Sin Path has already corrupted your perception.”

“Better luck next time,” Baal told the Goddess, smug self-satisfaction coloring his tone as she readied herself to dispel this world. “DevilWalker, I will make time to talk to you about what my assistant told me you wanted. I will see you as soon as I can.”

“Wait!” Colin stashed that information away for another time and tried to stop the Goddess, but the snap resonated around him before he could. “What corruption?!”

The cosmic space around him vanished, and all the pain, exhaustion, and sound rushed back to him as he found himself in mid-air, stabbing a crystal that had a Demon connected to it.

You have chosen to destroy the Dungeon. Your Boon’s will be given to you in due course.

The sudden shift back to this reality threw off Colin’s momentum, and he fell to the floor, blades left lodged in the crystal. He quickly got to his feet and turned around, remembering the pair of Grendel Demons that had almost reached him before he left.

Both sprinting Grendel Demons were floating in mid-air, frozen in aggressive stances, and were slowly turning to ash. These Grendels were not the only ones; the entire room’s Demons were frozen in various states, all were in the air and made still. The disturbing thing was that they looked like greyscale, evil, and disintegrating Christmas ornaments.

Looking around, Colin found Nox pacing around the form of the giant cobbled together corpse Demon. Rielle and Paladin were near him, watching the creature become ashes that practically atomized as they fell apart. Nox’s alchemical magic was reverted to liquid shadow with the loss of its target, the Goblin still gleeful at the show of his own force.

It was then that the crystal crumbled enough that both of Colin’s blades fell free and clattered to the ground, the Lesser Infernal Edge reverting to its base form. Colin moved to retrieve his weapons as he saw the giant Demon connected to the crystal break free. Its hands came loose from the crystal with a sound like shattering glass. The being that Colin was assuming was Zagan let his hands drop to his side with a massive groan of relief.

Zagan fell to his hands and knees, even as the Dungeon started to shake with the Dimensional space around them beginning to tear apart. Seconds passed before its head turned up, and they locked gazes. Honestly, Colin was not expecting to see tears welling up along his eyes. Given that this thing was part bull, did they even have tear ducts?

Colin tore himself away from his mental questions when the Demon took a shaky step back to its hooves. He did the same and was worried that the Demon wanted to fight him. Given their size difference and that Zagan, according to his Demonology Skill, was a Demon Noble, he doubted he could win. But the Demon surprised him yet again when it said, “You have no idea how good this feels. After one thousand eight hundred and twelve years, it feels incredible to not be forced to be standing in the position.”

“I- I can imagine,” Colin agreed, internally wincing at the mere idea.

“Thank you,” Zagan groaned, keeping his arms down at his sides. “You didn’t have to free me, but you did. Who are you?”

“DevilWalker,” Colin told him. Then he thought about it and added, “I’m one of the Demon Lord Candidates.”

“Ah, it’s that time again, is it?” Zagan asked.

Colin shrugged, “I guess so.”

“Then I wish you luck, DevilWalker. As much I would like to banter on for a bit, I’m going back to Hell to see if there is a few good Succubi willing to help me rub my body until it stops aching,” he said, winking at Colin before turning away and practically fading out of the Dungeon.

“Now that I have that mental image stuck in my brain, I better get going,” Colin said as entire chunks of the crystal fell to the floor and shattered.

“Shit!” Colin cursed, reaching over and grabbing several of the smaller shards and stuffing them into the Dimensional Bag. Colin quickly grabbed it out of the air as another piece broke free and shoved it into his bag. He kept moving, hoping to whoever might be listening that they might be helpful for something.

“Walker!” Paladin cried as he hurried over, Rielle somehow behind the giant of a man. Even though she looked like she was sprinting and he looked like he was barely jogging. “Nice job on destroying the crystal. What did the Demon tell you?” he asked eagerly, his expression curious.

“Trust me, you do not want to know,” Colin told him. “We better get out of here for now. Any idea how we leave?” Colin asked the two.

“Oh, that’s the easy part,” Nox said, stepping forward and towards them with a calm and steady pace. “Look at the main crystal piece,” he instructed.

He looked at the crystal that was still crumbling away behind him. But even now, he could see the center of the Dungeon Core practically shimmering in the dimming light of the dying Dungeon. It stood out from all the other obviously different pieces; this piece seemed denser, more concentrated, than the others that he managed to stuff in his Dimensional Bag.

Most things were activated by simply touching it, So Colin did just that. Reaching forward, the Antagonist touched the crystal with a single finger and waited a moment before looking at the prompt that arrived.

You are touching the Dungeon Core. Would you like to use its magic to escape the Dungeon?

Instead of accepting the prompt, Colin drew the Lesser Infernal Edge and didn’t trigger the enchantment to ignite the Infernal Magic Blade. Instead, he used the curved blade of the original weapon to clear away the crumbling pieces and free the splinter-shaped Core. He put away the blade as another tremor ripped through the shattering Dungeon, the pillars that held up the ceiling crumbled and fell apart.

As a boulder fell free from the ceiling, Colin grabbed at the crystal with both hands and accepted the prompt to escape.

Your actions as the Antagonist of Pride and your Determination Skill have created a special effect. You have successfully stolen the Spent Dungeon Core; though you do not know how to use it, some power still remains.

A bright red light surrounded Colin as the thought of finally being out of this Dungeon made him relieved to be in the fresh air of the outside again. He might have to deal with some Golems when he got back outside, but- Oh, shit.

His stomach felt as he remembered that he was chased into here by a giant, two-limbed, serpentine, wingless Dragon called a Lindworm. The Lindworm Golem was massive, and without Larry to use as a meatshield, Colin wasn’t sure they’d…

When he reappeared, with Paladin and Rielle next to him, he immediately blinked his eyes. To his surprise, the Lindworm Golem was already in combat with someone else, and that someone was not who he expected.

“Hello, DevilWalker. Delivering another letter, or are you just happy to see me?” Speaker Fahtagin of the Cult of Scylla said, smiling as he threw a ball of harsh green light with his left hand and pointed a harpoon at Colin with his other. The gesture was non-threatening, and Colin took it as such as the ball collided with the massive Golem, causing them to step back in fear. “Anything interesting happen recently?”