Pierce’s rapid advance forces Mephistopheles to center his attack to him. Using this as an opening, Lasphalia and I make a wide flanking maneuver to meet him head-on. Putrid violet smoke pours all around us, the ancient brick floor itself crumbling from its effect. I first take a jab at the man only to find him swiftly sidestep away. But just as he does the ground he lands on begins to shake with the formation of a clever trap spell. It explodes in a red hot fury, but the man is hardly phased. He skitters to a stop and puts on the most annoying smug look I’ve ever seen.

“You are clever, I will give you that. But without Scourge, you will n—“ He again stops himself. “...Damn it, I did it once again! You never heard a thing, hear me?”

“How could I hear you if you insist I never heard a thing?” I say, then hating myself for making such a lame joke. “Anyways, you’re really giving us plenty to go off of. Let’s first look in on this ‘Scourge’ you just mentioned.”

“Why must I, the great Mephistopheles, be forced to battle imbeciles? It is so unbecoming of me!” he pouts, putting the back of his hand dramatically over his forehead. “I will kill you. I will kill you twice!”

“Have fun trying,” I say. I again rush him with Lasphalia backing me up. I feign a right attack as Lasphalia comes in from the left. He manages to just barely block it with his arm, but the force causes him to slide backwards a ways.

“That trick won’t work on me, see?” he says with a pained grin. “Even if—“

Just then, out of nowhere the Admiral appears behind the man with a long steel blade in full swing. Sparks fly as the Admiral demolishes the area the man used to be standing. But he is nowhere to be found when the smoke clears. I quickly snap back and forth trying to find where he went. But then I hear a scream and my eyes are brought to Lilith.

“—Even if more cheap tactics are superimposed upon similar cheap tactics,” says Mephistopheles, hovering a violet glowing finger from Lilith’s throat. He has a hand clenched onto her shoulder and wrapped his other arm around her other side to immobilize her. The glowing shields around us begin to flicker. At my feet still stands a cloud of putrid violet smoke, which begins to crawl its way up my legs. I take a step back, but falter as I realize it’s started seeping through the barrier. I can see its damage already spreading, corroding my armor and causing my skin to burn. The pain sets in almost immediately after, and I’m forced to drop to one knee.

“Yes, grovel in the light of your own deaths. Curse fate for having birthed you as such weak, helpless creatures,” he caws, throwing his head back in jeering laughter.

“Helpless?” Lilith mutters, shifting her neck in the man’s hold. “Do you see anyone groveling? Do you see anyone begging for their lives to be spared?”

“The great Mephistopheles needs not hear their sails of agony or their pleas for salvation, only the blood-red aura of fear that—“ He stops, looks around, and grits his teeth annoyedly. “What is this? No fear? Is it— H-Have I lost my touch? Hey! Fear me, you insignificant whelps!”

“You’ve dropped your guard,” says a voice that brings with it a blur of a figure seemingly out of thin air. It slashes down across Mephistopheles’s back with a blade, casting the horrifying sound of ligaments and flesh being flayed like a filet knife through the belly of a fish. “Touch her again, and I will ensure you will forevermore pray for nothing less than the sweet release of death.”

Pierce lands, and Mephistopheles collapses. Pierce kicks him in the kidneys for good measure.

“Strange, it would appear the distraction suddenly became the frontal assault,” says Lasphalia, pacing forward. She glances down at the bleeding Mephistopheles with a look hinting at disgust. “Fine to assume this one will not be getting up, yes?”

“This was rather underwhelming,” Pierce mutters. He walks over to Lilith, and places a hand on her head. “Thank you for providing me with an opening. Rather quick thinking, on your part.”

“U-Um— W-Well, I just did what anyone else would have done,” Lilith sputters. “A-And as a support member, it is only natural that I—“

“Miss Lysandersen—! Look out!”

The next few moments pass by in slow motion. Lasphalia leaps in front of Lilith just as a rusted metallic object emerges from the ground. Lasphalia just barely manages to push Lilith out of the way before it pierces her abdomen straight through, breaking off and leaving a half-meter long stake embedded in her stomach. She stumbles, and fights herself before giving in and dropping to one knee. Gorgon stands above her with an open mouth.

“Wh— What is...” she sputters. “I... suppose I let myself... get careless...”

She collapses as blood pools around her.

“L— Lasphalia!” I scream as the most of it just now registers in my head.

“What a show, I must say. Really, quite the spectacle,” he laughs from on the floor. “Your teamwork could have used some work, however you surely made up for it with sheer ferocit—“

Pierce severs the man’s head with a single stab to the neck. He kicks the dismembered appendage off into the shadows with the heavy sweeping of his boot.

I tighten my grip around kenkui’s hilt. My teeth grind at the seething rage building up inside me.

“How unfortunate he could only best a single adventurer. Well I have had enough of this foolish meddling,” Gorgon spits. “And I have had enough of sending idiots to do the work of a god.” He leans in on us, shifting his implied gaze back and forth. “But I am a gentleman, so I will give you all one chance.“

“You and your damn chances!” hollers a voice.

I turn, and to my horror I see the decapitated head of Mephistopheles rolling back towards us. He’s still alive, and is using his tongue as a sort of paddle to move himself.

“Finally decided to rejoin the fight, you half-devil? You shame of our species?” snarks Gorgon in the direction of the head.

“Yea, yea, bring all the headless puns you can muster, at least I’m not off satiating my own urges instead of simply killing them,” Mephistopheles retorts.

“You just did. And failed, at that,” Gorgon says simply.

“Gods, self-pleasure would be so much easier if only I could loosen my own head as he,” Lasphalia sputters, moving just a little. I honestly hadn’t realized she was still conscious.

“You’re bleeding out and you seriously just used up energy to get out another sex joke?” I mutter. “Whatever, but I’m gonna need someone to stop that bleeding. Sit tight, because I’ve got an idea. Lasphalia, I will save you.”

Lasphalia lays her head back down and closes her eyes with a pained expression.

“An idea now, do we? The great Mephistopheles never lets his prey go free!” Mephistopheles hollers. “Your days are numbered, boy. For we now will—“

I run up and basically punt his head across the room. I don’t hear it land for a good few seconds, and clap my hands together with a slight feeling of satisfaction when I do.

“I am not one to thank my enemies, but— thank you,” says Gorgon.

“Of course. And hey, you’re quite the considerate guy— for an entity made of pure evil.”

“You understand what it is I ask, correct?”

“A fight to the death? Yeah, I wouldn’t expect anything less at this point,” I say. “And seeing that I’ll be dead anyways, I might as well go all out.”

“Not only you— Send every fighter you can muster. This will be entertaining.”

The robed figure raises a hand. He was probably standing there the whole time, but it startles me anyways.

“My master grows impatient,” he says. “Will you resurrect him or will you not?”

“Simmer down, he’ll get resurrected either way,” I mutter. “Yeah. If I win, I’ll resurrect him myself. But he’s been dead three thousand years. He can afford to wait another few minutes.”

“A fair exchange. But can your words be turned to action?” says Gorgon.

“You know it. Bring it on, you freak,” I say. “Nora, Admiral, Pierce— let’s fuck ‘em up. Lilith, mind keeping an eye on Lasphalia?”

“Y-Yes, certainly!” Lilith replies.

“Do not tell me what to do,” mutters Pierce, stepping forward.

“We will bring honor to our names, one and all,” says the Admiral, who cringes as he again steps heavily on his bad foot.

“Cyr— let’s win,” Nora affirms, taking to my side.

“You are taking a foolish route to this situation.”

“Did you really have to stop me? Shit just got good.”

The Bloodstained Hero again stands before me. “You will not be able to defeat him. Even if all of you were well, but one is near death and another is on protection duty.”

“You just watch,” I mutter. “You seem way more level-headed, for being another version of myself— so you probably haven’t ever been stupid enough to even try what I’m about to do.”

“He cannot kill you.” He pauses. “I thought you should know.”

“Wait, what?”

“The power known as Scourge was created by... By someone very similar to yourself. By means I had not uncovered before my death, this Scourge prevents anyone possessing it from ending your existence. Which means by the time the foul beast Gorgon has killed all your companions, you will be the only one left standing. The shock of this event would be devastating. So let me ask you this— Can you continue to live, even when their blood falls heavy on your hands?”

“I couldn’t think of any other way. So I’m going to do it my way.”

“Of the seven million probable outcomes, the one you have chosen proves to be the most difficult. One miscalculation will cost you everyone you love.”

“Hey— didn’t I tell you?” I say. “I will never be you. I will never become the Bloodstained Hero.”

He hesitates for a moment, sighs, and shakes his head. “Loss is a jarring event. It can change the foundation of your very being. But you have experienced it before even coming to this world. And I do not mean that childhood friend.”

I impulsively grit my teeth. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“Bury it as long as you want. But this time through, you have the power to easily do many wrong things while once more in a damaged mindset. Keep this in mind, and fare well.”

He fades out.

“‘Fare well?’ Who the hell says that any more...?” I mutter to myself. Maybe he took in a little more of this world than I have.

I ready kenkui while the world rolls back out in front of me. I decide I kinda like the buffer that the time-shift thing has. It gives me time to think. I look between my companions with a hint of sorrow at the thought of them not making it out alive. Sure, I only really know Nora of all of them at the moment, but even the thought of Pierce biting the bullet seems terrifying to me. The Bloodstained Hero’s words were far from motivational, so I guess I’m going to have to find motivation elsewhere. It isn’t that hard though, seeing as I’ve already got someone at my side who’d go to the ends of the earth for me.

“Alright, everybody,” I say, having little if any control over the nervous cringe on my face. “It’s time for us to surpass our limits here. That’s how we’ll survive.”

I cleave straight through every single card in my possession, the culmination of my time in the Forest of Change. Every enemy I’ve defeated so far is fuel for this one charge. I feel myself grow stronger with each card that my blade halves. It’s like millions of hours of life experience are suddenly condensed into one host.

“What is... N-No— It can’t be—!” Gorgon bellows, shifting in place. “What is... What is this power...?”

“Hard goddamn work,” I reply.

“No... Even you do not realize. How can you have—?”

“Enough talk. I’m probably gonna collapse once the battle’s over, so I’d really appreciate it if I beat you once and for all.”

Like a well-tuned clock, the four of us burst forward in complete unison. I lead with a horizontal slash directed at the beast’s thigh, which he avoids by sidestepping away from me. He retaliates while I’m still in mid-swing, sending a low arm hurtling towards me that could easily skewer me alive. Instead, Nora leaps in front and redirects the energy of his attack towards the ground with a heavy kick followed with a burst of the legs sending her leaping over me. While it’s somewhat distracted, Pierce and the Admiral take to a form of flanking maneuver. Pierce comes in through his blind spot while the Admiral leads to his front. Gorgon shrugs off Nora’s move and catapults a fist straight for the Admiral. Pierce sees this and uses his chance to land a real hit to his pitch black body. Gorgon grits his teeth and drips of black ooze lightly flow down his sides. It seems almost like a decisive blow, but I can tell the beast really sees it as no more than a scratch. Gorgon pulls back his fist and slams the Admiral to the ground with a speed I don’t think even I would be able to replicate.

“Admiral!” I call out. He doesn’t respond.

Gorgon leaps high into the air. I muster up all the power I’ve absorbed to match his height with a well-timed burst of energy. He swipes at me but I kick off of his arm and land against the side of one of the pillars, again kicking down to speed myself up even more. As I sail towards Gorgon once again, I angle myself so I’m just past his reach. Moments before we touch the ground I make another advance which he tries to counteract. Instead I grab ahold of his twisted wrist and plant my legs against his side, preventing him from effectively landing. I use the power of our combined momentums to slam his chin to the floor. As I try to get away he takes ahold of both my legs with one arm and throws me overhead. I temporarily lose my line of vision as I tumble midair until crashing upside-down into a stone pillar, making an indent out of my spine. Had I not been wearing this armor, my ribs probably would’ve collapsed on themselves. Through inverted vision, I see Nora stumbling towards me while Pierce rushes Gorgon.

“Cyr!” she exclaims.

“Heh, that hurt,” I mutter. I push myself off from the pillar and twist around, landing on my feet.

“You need to be more careful, Cyr!” she chides.

“Yeah, I figured,” I reply. “Anyways, what’s your analysis?”

“So far he only seems to be using physical attacks,” she says. “He is certainly the entity that stalked us, but the chaotic energy in his body seem to completely contradict his calculated attack patterns.”

“So, we should prepare for some sort of second phase?”

“As of now, he is playing with us. He seemed fearful of your powers at first, but—“

“—But, he probably saw how underwhelming my so called ‘best’ is. This guy’s on a whole other level. And I... Nggh—!”

My power already seems to be leaving me. It’s already drained my body further than I’ve ever gone before. I’m being kept alive by sheer adrenaline. I fight the waning strength and manage to regain my edge.

“Let’s just... finish this thing,” I groan, wiping my mouth of the speck of blood that came from biting my lip.

My journey in The Forest of Change is enough for a story of itself, and through it I know I’ve already grown past what my old world would consider humanly possible. The hardships I endured over a matter of only three weeks has hardened me to the spirit of battle, and though my power is stolen from defeated foes, it’s my own strength that I gained over that time which propels me forward today. And for some strange reason, right now, as I walk towards certain doom, I feel like becoming a hero is closer than ever.

“Avette, switch!” hollers Pierce as he heaves off another attack.

I spring forward and aim for Gorgon’s spine, forcing him to turn to me to block it. I kick underneath his hand as he swings, leaping back up and spinning around. I surprise myself by actually nicking the back of his wrist. He recoils slightly, but otherwise is unaffected. He turns his arm to hit me with a back-hand swing, but I dive out of the way and his hand instead collapses one of the pillars. This gives me an idea, but I keep it to myself because it’s so obvious Gorgon would understand if I hinted at it. So as I evade, I consistently try to cut him again just to keep his attention on me. I examine the pillars as I go, looking for ones with cracks pointing in the right directions and ones that hold up bigger parts of the ceiling. Finally, I see one just right and decide to take my shot. I slowly veer off in that direction without making it obvious. Gorgon is furious at this point, and his swings grow less and less calculated as we go. Once I make it to the pillar I time it so he’s mid-swing before leaping up and off of it to land behind him. His hand pulverizes the base of the pillar as he skids to a stop. The top crack in it is the first to break free, which lands next to the beast. But as the rest comes quickly crumbling, he realizes he’s been led into a trap. A heavy segment of it breaks over his head, another landing on his leg and pinning him. In his daze which would surely only last seconds, I leap up onto his back and drive kenkui straight through his abdomen. He reels, and I jump away just in time for him to come free. I feel something grow inside me, and I know that I’ve won.

“How’s that?” I say.

“As expected... of such a bearer of that trait,” mutters Gorgon as he gets to his feet. The wound I gave is slightly more grave than the others he faced, but the temporary instincts in me are saying he’s absolutely fine nonetheless. “Admittedly, I am caught unprepared. I know I cannot kill you. But it seems at your best you are also unable to kill me. I think I will—“

“You know this power, right?” I say.

“I am evidently more familiar with it than you,” he replies.

“Then you should know all too well what happens next,” I say. “For example, what I have been fighting you with are the combined essences of enemies I’ve already fought against. And all I have to do to get said power is to cut them near a vital point. Doesn’t matter how bad I cut them, as long as it’s close to any vital point. In short, I’ve stabbed you and now I can use your own power against you. Honestly it was over the minute I did. So what’s your move?”

“If you think you can truly fight with my power in such a tiny vessel, then you are just as moronic as I first wagered,” he says, gnashing his teeth. “The impact would surely...”

“Kill me?” I smile. “Well that wouldn’t be too opportune on your end, would it? I mean, of course you need me alive. You could easily kill me, and yet you say you can’t. But how would you know you can’t if you’ve never met me before? The way you say it makes it sound like you’ve known someone like me was going to pop up all along. So if I used your power now, I would die, foiling your plan entirely.“

“You wouldn’t dare!” he hollers.

“Try me, bitch.”

He continues to gnash his teeth together in silence as he weighs this information in his head. Finally, he leans to me.

“Knowledge of your rebirth is worth far more than anything measly Lord Velaruux could offer us,” he cackles. “Where mortals exist, there are always those willing to join us. Mark my words, your end is nigh. Once our Master has received news of this, he will see your downfall come true. Personally!”

Gorgon struts over to where Mephistopheles and Lasphalia lay. Pierce holds Lilith behind him and holds his sword in an antagonizing way towards the monster. But Gorgon ignores him and instead snatches up the decapitated Mephistopheles.

“H-Hey! Gorgon! Bring my head, too!” Mephistopheles’ voice shouts from a distance. “Over here! Yoo-hoo!”

Gorgon grumbles and plods over to the head, slings the body over his shoulder, and takes his skull in his grip. He then slowly turns to me. “This is not over,” he says, and fades out into the surrounding black.

“—And you have the power of awakening ready?” asks the hooded man as we approach the throne of the skeletal corpse.

“Yeah,” I mutter.

“Are you sure this is safe, Cyr?” asks Nora, who walks just beside me. “I mean, it was outlawed for a reason, right?”

“It’s not my power, so who gives a damn,” I reply. “Besides, he should be resurrected with my morals in mind, so there’s totally nothing to worry about.”

“Yes, but—“

“Now cast the resurrection magic if you will, boy,” says the hooded one.

“Call me ‘boy’ one more time and I’m walking out,” I reply. He doesn’t respond, so I turn my attention back to the throne.

I’d just before looked at my passive skills to make sure I really did get it. Thankfully enough, that was one of the rewards I got from stabbing Gorgon.

I approach the throne and draw my sword. I can hear the hooded guy nervously tapping his foot behind me. I choose to ignore him and instead bring up my skill cards, (Yeah, I figured out how to open it back in the forest, but that’s not important now). I carefully slice the icon which appears as a half-skull half-human face. Kenkui lights up as a greenish energy flows from it to my body. I aim my hands at the corpse and mutter some magical nonsense that apparently the skill gave me knowledge of. But the knowledge disappears as the green energy leaps from my fingertips to the corpse. The air pressure in the room goes crazy as the green energy seeps in through Velaruux’s empty eye sockets, causing the whole corpse to flail uncontrollably. The skeletal figure tilts its head up though the spasms, and dark particles begin to pool into him from the air itself, manifesting as a silhouetted body covering the remains. As more condenses, a sound begins to form. It quickly dons on us that it’s a scream that’s originating from deep within Velaruux’s chest that fleshes out the more particles are added. The body suddenly begins to glow white, and we’re abruptly blown from the pedestal. I sail backwards, the last of my strength leaving me on impact. I lose consciousness in probably the biggest fit of pain I’d ever felt.

“...Cyr? Young Cyrus? Cyrus, awaken!”

I awaken to find an unfamiliar face uncomfortably close to me. I yelp and skitter backwards. A man in front of me bursts out in hearty laughter.

“Well! Welcome back to the land of the living, Cyrus!” he exclaims. “For it is I that saved you!”

The man is probably two heads taller than I am, and head to toe in heavy muscle. He wears a dusty outfit that’s torn in all places and just barely holding on. He’s got a head of long braided hair, and tan skin with a pronounced nose and yellowish eyes. He’s grinning with a proud sort of look.

“And... who’re you?” I ask.

“Oh how now, have you forgotten already?” he says. “Before you is none other than...!”

An almost mummified-looking man with dried-out eyes and flaky white skin steps out from behind him and begins to wave his hands enthusiastically, which is apparently very difficult given his stature. “—Lord Velaruux!”

“And who the hell are you?!” I shout.

“This is my apprentice, Kiplam!” says Velaruux, clapping the saggy creature on the back. “A little dry, but nothing a day in the hot springs can’t fix! After all, we’re finally free thanks to you!”

“I was the man in the hood,” says Kiplam, pulling some black fabric from behind his head. “I didn’t want to scare you with my appearance...”

“W-Well, I think you failed at that,” I wheeze. “U-Um, s-so you’re Velaruux, right...? I needed to ask you to—“

“All done!” He exclaims. “A fair wound, but nothing a little wave of the fingers couldn’t cure. And that old man seems to be up and about as well!”

“I am not old—!” I hear from behind me.

Turning, I realize that the Admiral, Pierce, Lilith, Nora, and Lasphalia are all not too far behind me. Seizing her chance, Nora practically jumps on top of me. What comes out of her mouth are a mixture of thankful words and harsh nags seemingly slurred into one. I can hardly understand her, so I put her at ease by setting my hand on her head.

“Y-You were... dead,” says Nora. “After you brought back Velaruux, he told us your heart had stopped beating. I—“

“Not only your heart, Cyrus,” Velaruux adds. “I had to rearrange practically your entire circulatory system, you know!”

“Well, what else was I gonna do,” I sigh. “It was either die or risk dying. And... I kinda wanted to see what would happen if I stacked all my powers in one...”

“You did what?!” Nora exclaims. “Cyr, that’s not right! That isn’t okay! You knew what would happen all along!”

“Look, I had a choice to make. I didn’t want to risk losing anybody else. And c’mon, it all turned out, right? Everyone’s alive!”

“That it is, Cyrus,” replies Velaruux. “Now, there are certain topics the two of us must discuss, before we leave. They mostly have to do with the contract I have with those who resurrect me.”

“O-Oh, okay. What’s up?”

“The sky, I suppose, but I don’t know how that relates to—“

“What do you need to talk to me about?” I reword.

“Ah, Well little things, this and that, but mostly in concern with your motive. After all, what I absorbed from you, all I absorbed from you, as a matter of fact, was that you had an overwhelming urge to save the girl you are in love with from the cold grips of death. How noble indeed! But—“

“T-T-The fuck are you talking about?!” I sputter. “I-I wanted to save them all, I...”

“No no, I’m absolutely certain that all that went through your mind was how you wanted to save that Lasphalia woman. You were even contemplating telling her how you felt as soon as you did! And well— you saved her, so what will you do?”

I can’t bear to look in Lasphalia nor Nora’s directions because I fear the faces they might be making.

“W-Well hey, so is there anything else you were gonna say to me?!” I blabber.

“Actually, there is. As your one true goal at the moment of my resurrection was to save the woman, I am afraid our contract has now expired. Therefore— I am finally free to pursue the life of luxury I have forever dreamed of, and I have only you to thank!”

“G-Great, good for you,” I sigh.