At this point, Rey wasn't even surprised, just disappointed that he hadn't seen this coming from a mile away. Last time, a demon had opened the door and let Unokir in, and the same had happened this time. The only difference was that last time Phil had betrayed them and opened the door in secret, and this time, he had sent Tia himself.

  While still hidden, he glared at Tia. The woman had played her part perfectly. The way she had tried to refuse being the volunteer, knowing full well that in the end, it would have to be her. In essence, she had played Rey like a fiddle. Rey was equal parts angry and equal parts scared of the nasty demon beside her, who thankfully hadn't seen where he was hiding.

  Rey stayed hidden because he did not want to face that monstrosity alone. Not to mention, the demonic Barbie was with him as well. He wished she were easy to kill. Any wounds that he inflicted on her could be reversed and sent back to him. There was only one way to kill her, and that was to destroy her so fast and utterly that she had no way to heal herself.

  Cutting off her head should do the trick.

  He was running out of options and time. Unokir was surveying the castle as if he had just bought it, and Tia was being a good Real Estate agent, showing him around.

  "This is a nice castle," Unokir said. "I think I'll keep it and make it my home."

  "Oh, I'm sure you'll like it once the previous tenants have been taken care of," Tia said, with a smile that was strangely characteristic of her true vicious self.

  "Indeed," Unokir's voice was as smooth as ever. He sauntered close to the stairs.

  Rey pressed his back to the stone half wall, doing everything he could to make himself as small as possible, so as not to draw his enemy's gaze.

  "Where is your former boss?" Unokir asked. "Our last chat was so rudely cut short. I want to repay him for that flight."

  "He's around here somewhere," Tia replied. "Thought he was being so clever by putting me up as the scapegoat. Who's sacrificial lamb now, you motherfucker?" She shouted, and her voice echoed in the mostly empty hall.

  "Now, now, we shouldn't be so vulgar," Unokir said. "Rey, please come out, and let's talk face-to-face. This time without a stupid door between us."

  Rey didn't know what to do. He was cornered, yet he still wasn't without fangs. The corridor where everyone awaited lay directly in front of him. If he made a run for it, he would never get to the others in time. If he stood up now, he'd be sliced so fast, even his ghost would need therapy. Unokir was faster and stronger than Rey. The worst part was that he didn't know his rank. If he did, he could've decided whether to fight him or flee. However, given what he had dealt with the last time, it was best to flee.

  "Oh, come now, Rey, don't be like that," Unokir purred. "I know you're here somewhere. I can smell your fear."

  "That's probably just the piss running down his leg," Tia scoffed.

  Rey sighed and pushed off the stair wall to finally come face to face with the nightmare that had plagued his dreams for a while now. He couldn't help but wonder if he had arrived too soon. It must be the recently departed Phill's doing.

  "Unokir, it's been a long time," Rey cried happily. "I see you've been keeping well, and not a speck of blood on your suit. Even after all the demons you've slaughtered."

  He dusted his coat off lightly. "Well, I have to keep up appearances and look nice for my host. By the way, you've done an amazing thing with the place. Floors so clean, you can almost eat off of them."

  "Why? Thank you." Rey moved ever so slightly backwards towards the corridor, but he did so in a manner of inspecting the place.

  "I'll cut to the heart of it, Rey," Unokir began. "I'm a generous demon; I will allow your fellow humans to join my ranks as demons. All you have to do is become dinner."

  Rey's eyebrows shot up. "That doesn't seem like a tempting offer."

  "You don't expect me to forgive you for raising your hand against me. It's a poor master that keeps a rabid dog around that attacks its master. And you did so in such a public manner. You will have to be punished."

  Oh, if I had my old powers back, you would have been grovelling at my feet. Begging me to let you eat my shit.

  Rey was mad at himself for not going back once he had gotten powerful enough to get revenge on this mangy mutt. But by then, He was so powerful that it would have been beneath him to waste his time on this ant. It would've been akin to an elephant travelling the length of the African continent to stomp on a tiny ant. But now, Rey was even smaller than that ant.

  Rey nodded. "Fair enough. Trust me, I would do the same to you if our roles were reversed." He moved towards the corridor at a casual pace, as if he were thinking about something.

  "He's planning something," Tia said, moving for Rey. "Best to kill him—"

  Unokir raised his hand. "I want to give him the time to think about it. After all, I'm a gracious master."

  "Your graciousness is going to get you fucking murdered," she snapped. "I'm telling you this bastard is—"

  Unokir growled and backhanded her into the wall. She hit the wall with such ferocity that there was an audible crunch, and a small crater formed on the stone wall. She left a trail of blood down the wall as she fell to the ground.

  "Next time, you will remember that it's best not to disturb me." With a low growl, he turned to Rey.

  He held up his hands. "I accept. Just give me a quick death, and you can keep my soul. I don't want to live as a demon. No offense."

  "Your terms are agreeable." Claws snapped out of his hands.

  "Just give me a moment to say goodbye to the others and break the news to them," Rey said.

  "Fine, but be quick about it. I'm running low on patience as it is."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Rey locked eyes with Tia and saw only hatred in the girl's eyes. If he knew one thing about her, it was that the girl could hate. He knew she wouldn't just lie there in a world of pain after being humiliated so. A part of him wanted to gloat, but the other part of him knew he could use her. After all, the demon had caused her all this pain, so it could be reversed in kind.

  He nodded to her. "Goodbye, Tia. Hope you have fun lying all broken like that. You deserve it."

  That was all the prodding she needed. Her eyes flashed to Unokir, who looked to her for a moment before he cried out and clutched his head. His hand came back bloody. Rey saw a cut open on the back of his skull. He must've gotten more injuries along his back as his shirt became stained red with blood, while Tia was fully rejuvenated.

  "You think you can put your hands on me?" Tia thundered. She unsheathed her swords and slashed at Unokir's face, leaving a nice, long cut along the bridge of his nose. "There, now every time you look in the mirror, you will remember me."

  She said nothing to Rey, as she sheathed her sword and walked out the door coolly, leaving the door open to all the demons awaiting outside. A couple of them poked their heads inside, and Rey didn't wait to welcome them. He saw his chance and hurled his dagger at Unokir and sped it up with Gravitational Repulsion. The knife flew at blinding speed. For a moment, Rey thought he would do it, but the demon caught it just an inch from his eye.

  "You think this little toothpick could hurt me?" He threw the dagger into the wall, disgusted.

  No more daggers remained in the armory. And Kassandra had given him that dagger, but he didn't have time to think about that. The other demons had started pouring into the castle. He dashed down the corridor, with the shrieking demons following behind him.

  Thankfully, the others were already out of the rooms and waiting for him as he ran full tilt at them.

  "Seal it behind me!" He roared. "Seal it."

  Jerry thankfully understood and stepped to touch the wall. Steel spread out from his hand, travelled upwards to the ceiling, and then downwards. He passed through the lowering steel barricade and directly into Sergei's arms.

  It was a testament to the man's super strength that he didn't even budge an inch while Rey nearly passed out. It was as if he were a train that had hit a wall and nearly derailed itself. Thankfully, he only got a nosebleed. The doctor came forward to see.

  "It's just a nosebleed," Rey said. "I need to retrieve my new and improved weapon. I'll be back soon."

  He pushed past to the armory, as the others asked what had happened. He didn't reply as he didn't have much time. The demons were clawing at the steel barricade, and it would break fast.

  The armory was mostly empty. Everyone else had taken their fill. There were no swords, long daggers, or anything remotely of the kind. He gritted his teeth as he wanted to hit something in his frustration.

  He looked at his trusty scythe, which he had placed in the corner, as sneaking with it made things a little tricky. Looks like it's just you and me.

  ***A few hours ago***

  As the others prepared for the ambush on the Unokir, Rey was preparing too. He was finally about to do what he had been hoping for a long time. He didn't want to do it here, in case someone saw it and stole his scythe, especially before he left.

  His thumb passed over a circular cavity in the wooden shaft. It was right around the middle of the shaft. He had seen this divet many times as he fought, but he never paid much attention to it, as he didn't have the Talent point for it.

  He pressed it, and a familiar message showed up in his vision.

  [This weapon is missing a Runic Skill. Please input a Runic Skill into this slot.]

  He realized with a start that he had been an idiot all along, but now, he had a spare Talent Point just sitting there, shooting the shit.

  He opened up his Talents, and the sub menus were in his vision—Skills, Core, Abilities, Stealth, Power, Arcane, Weapons, Elements, and more. He opened the Arcane sub-menu and quickly found what he was looking for.

  [Runic Skills are the Arcane power etched in metal. Runic Skills are powerful abilities inscribed into metals, which can then be input into weapons, armor, or even the bodies of warriors, channeling mystical forces through Sovereign Runes. Runic Skills are created by combining a Skill, a Pure Metal, and a Sovereign Rune. The purer the metal, the stronger the Runic Skill will be. Runic Skills do not rely on Magic Affinity but on Magic Power alone. Hence, no Mana is used when activating a Runic Skill.]

  "Why are you grinning like that?" Kassandra asked, from behind him, making him jump.

  He hadn't heard her come in. The girl had cat-like stealth.

  "Oh, Kassi, this is the answer to the biggest problem in my life," he replied.

  "Which is…"

  "Fucking low Mana."

  "It couldn't be that low anymore," she said.

  "It's decent, but my gravity skills are heavy on the Mana consumption side, so I need this more than I needed water."

  "And what is it?" She asked.

  "Runic Skills," he cried. "I'll explain later. I found some good stuff for you, which will have to wait, unless you have TP remaining, and I don't mean toilet paper."

  She shook her head. "I have neither of those things."

  "Tough, then if we survive this coming battle, I'll make sure to tell you all about them," he said. "Now, let's see how to get this done."

  He quickly acquired the Talent with his one Talent point. The Runic Skills skill appeared in his Passive skill section.

  Next, he ran to the other end of the armory, which held nothing anymore. There used to be a pair of daggers there, but Kassandra and he had swiped them a long time ago. He reached up over the cabinet and jammed right against the wall was the small box that held his most prized possession. He opened the lid, and inside was a round ball of shiny metal.

  "Is that silver?" Kassandra asked.

  "That's right. One of the purer metals you can find in Hell, before you get into the Legendary grade metals."

  "I'm not even going to ask how you know that."

  "Good. It would've wasted time, we don't have."

  He took the ball into his hand, touched it to the dip, and the ball was a little bigger than the hole in the shaft, so he would have to do some pushing. Now, he needed a skill and a rune. Skill was the easy part. He was going to use Gravitational Attraction. The hard part was going to be the rune. He didn't know if the Sovereign rune had to correspond to a specific Sovereign, as they all had different Attributes they ruled over.

  Zalathar's attributes were Chaos and Madness. Zarius was Order and Balance, Maya was Greed and Jewels. There were twelve Sovereigns, and none of them had an Attribute even remotely close to Gravity.

  He chewed on his thumb as he thought about this conundrum. In the end, he figured that any Rune would do, but he had the one silver ball. He didn't want to fuck it up. Then a thought occurred to him. None of the other Sovereigns had anything to do with him. Zalathar, the biggest cuckold in Hell, was his saviour from death. So, that meant that he had to use his rune. It was a good thing; he had known him quite closely for the past five years.

  He took the precious metal ball in one hand, used Gravitational Attraction on it, while he etched Zalathar's rune on it with his dagger. It was basically a Z with a small squiggly line going through the middle and two small horns on it.

  There was a small flash as the rune set.

  [Runic Skill created: Gravity's Kiss. Imbued with the essence of Gravitational Attraction. Upon activation, it generates a gravitational force that briefly pulls enemies toward the wielder, disrupting their footing and balance. The wielder can dictate the pull's strength, determining the speed at which their enemies are drawn to them. Close-combat warriors who want to control the battlefield can disrupt enemy formations and force engagements on their terms. Recharge Time: 1 Min. Recharge time can be shortened with higher Magic Affinity.]

  You just had to fuck me with the last part, didn't you? But still, one minute isn't so bad.

  He applied the newly formed Runic Skill to the scythe. He was planning on using everything he had to push the ball in, but all it took was a little push with his thumb, and the silver ball plopped in as if they were an exact match. A silvery light flashed over the entire weapon, originating from the Runic Skill.

  "Is it done?" Kassandra asked.

  Rey motioned the scythe towards her. "Let's find out."

  He clicked on the silver Runic Skill, and Kassi yelped as she was lifted off her feet and flew right into his arms. He laughed at the sight of her flabbergasted expression. Then he noticed how close her face was to his, and quickly let go of her.

  She chuckled lightly. "Looks like it works."

  ***

  Rey tightened his grip on his new scythe. "Bring it on, you shapeshifting bastard, this scythe is about to write your obituary in blood."