Rey woke with a heavy sigh. It was a nice little nap, and yes, he knew it was stupid to take a nap in enemy territory, but everywhere was all enemy territory. Besides, it wasn't like he had intended to take a nap, but killing a city's worth of enemies tended to tire him out. There was not a single place in Hell that was safe for him, especially when he had this pesky thing called a soul inside him.

  However, it was better that the soul was inside him than out. There might've been pros to becoming a demon, but there were cons. The greatest of it was that if he died as a demon, that was it. A big Game Over sign would come up. Now, if he died, he could still live like a Hollow. Without a soul but still alive.

  Then he noticed something odd. He couldn't find his scythe. He was sure that he was holding it in his hands. After years of sleeping in the wild, he had practiced never to let go of anything while he slept, especially his weapons and his cock. There were many situations in which the latter had run away from him.

  He looked everywhere around the pillar, then up and down the steps, just to be sure. It was nowhere. With a start, he realized that his weapon also had his Runic Skill embedded into it, which meant that anyone could use it.

  How did this happen? How did I lose it?

  There was only one explanation. There was someone else, probably another human or a Tigerman, or one of those Varomen, or even a demon, who had taken it. They were most probably not as strong as he was, so they didn't want to risk waking him and exponentially shortening their lives.

  Well, they've exponentially shortened their lives anyway. Once I get my hands on them, I'll create headlines no PR team can fix.

  He snapped his head up to the temple as another thought occurred to him. That's the only place they can be, and if they manage to kill the boss and I'm still standing here with a thumb up my ass, I'll vanish out of existence when the dungeon collapses.

  He ran up the stairs two at a time. He quickly patted his belt, and his dagger was still there. His Mana had recovered a fair amount, and if it came to it, he could kill the boss with just his gravity skills and this puny toothpick.

  He paused at the entrance to the temple. The marble door was just slightly ajar. The orange light of some torches filtered through the opening. He was sure it was closed when he had sat down to rest.

  REST. Not to take a fucking nap. Next time, remember that my tired ass body.

  So, he was right; whoever had taken his weapon was in there, fighting the boss.

  Rey tried to hear any sounds of battle, and when he heard nothing, he was concerned. Had they already killed the boss? If that was so, then he had minutes before the exit collapsed. Or had the boss killed them? If that were the case, then he would be in the clear, as they must've softened up the boss for him.

  He drew a deep breath and stepped inside. After all, this boss was annoying as all hell last time. Killing him with just his dagger would be difficult, but not impossible.

  He walked through the dimly lit corridor as quietly as he could. The corridor was immaculate, and whatever janitorial staff this goat hired must've had five stars on Hoogle. At the end of the corridor was nothing but darkness. He couldn't see anything beyond. It was as if the whole place was shrouded in a quilt of shadows.

  He paused at the edge of the darkness, but there was nothing to it. He had done this before, even though it was with four other people and weapons. He steeled himself and strode forth.

  As soon as he stepped into the darkness, the whole place lit up, as expected. All the torches on the walls blazed to life one by one, lighting up the room. The room was built like a circular chamber with some statues of the boss. Right opposite Rey was a massive statue of a satyr with crossed arms, as if it were a god and all the itty-bitty demons were supposed to pray to it.

  The room was mostly empty save for a few occupants—the boss of the dungeon sat on a throne as if waiting for Rey.

  The satyr squinted his eyes as he surveyed Rey up and down. The satyr was like most satyrs, with the head and legs of a goat and the torso of a muscular man. However, his body supported many bloody cuts.

  [Satyr (Exiled) – ?]

  "You?" Rey said in a hushed tone, as he noted one of the two ladies who had been tied to the pillars. "You took my scythe."

  "Yes, it was your fault for taking a nap," Tia replied unabashedly. She looked unscathed, as she probably transferred all her injuries to the satyr.

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  Rey's nostril flared. He had wanted to pay back this woman for conspiring with Unokir anyway. This was a good chance to do just that.

  The satyr growled. "You—"

  "One second, bud," Rey interrupted him. "I'm not done with her. You caused the deaths of three people."

  "Then why didn't you do anything about their deaths, oh mighty Seer?" Tia shot back. "If they died, then it's your fault for not seeing the future properly."

  That cut far deeper than she would ever know.

  "But they wouldn't have if you had followed the plan," Rey barked. "You would've ended up in the same position anyway, and not gotten backhanded like a two-bit whore that you are."

  Her eyes blazed at that last comment. "I should've ended your life."

  "Why didn't you?" Rey made a profound frown. "Is it because you're not strong enough to take on little old me?"

  The satyr huffed and roared. Well, he bayed rather than roared, but it was loud enough to make the two demon women cringe inwardly. The second demon that was tied to the post was clearly a succubus. Her clothing was ripped in places and hung loosely on her shoulders. She had many scratches on her body and a bruised eye. It wasn't hard to tell that she was nothing but a slave. Something told Rey that the satyr had captured Tia for the same reason he had captured the succubus.

  Demon or human, that was one thing Rey couldn't abide. He searched his memory, and this succubus had been here as well, last time in the same position. The girls were furious when they realized what this half-goat, half-human demon was using her for.

  "You are in my temple," the satyr barked. "You will bow down on your knees and beg for forgiveness, or I will—"

  "Yeah, that's not going to happen, Tekymal." Rey waved a dismissive hand.

  The satyr paused. "How do you know my name?"

  "I know many things about you," Rey replied. "I know that you have a thing for beautiful demon women. Though this recent addition to your harem is…"

  He made a gesture that said she was mid at best. Another comment that cut evil blondie to the core.

  Tekymal snorted. "What is your name, human?"

  "Rey."

  "It doesn't matter—" Then he paused again.

  Rey grinned at him. "You thought I was going to go on a tirade, didn't you, Taco Bell?"

  Tekymal didn't like that one bit, or maybe he didn't like Taco Bell. Then he did something that Rey didn't like. He turned and picked something from around his throne that Rey did like—his scythe.

  Well, he liked the scythe. He didn't like that it was in his grimy hands.

  He swivelled his eyes over to Tia. "Just for that, I'm going to leave you here to die, after I kill this thing."

  "Not me, right?" the succubus chimed in. "I haven't done anything."

  "Never you, beautiful," Rey smiled. "I would never kill a succubus that isn't trying to suck out my soul."

  "Stop ignoring me!" Snapped Tekymal, followed by more baying.

  Rey siffled a laugh. "You look really intimidating while you bay like a common goat."

  The demon did something that cut his laughter short. The fucking goat had the audacity to spin his scythe around as if it were a stick that he was using as a prop to perform at the circus. He ended his act by slamming the butt of his scythe hard on the ground. Rey winced as the sound reverberated in the chamber.

  By some miracle, his scythe was still whole. Rey sighed in relief, but his relief only lasted a moment as the demon pressed the silver orb in the weapon's shaft and activated Gravity's Kiss.

  Rey flew towards him as his own skill was used against him. His worst fear had come to life, and he had only one person to blame for it. Before he could activate Repulsion to stop himself, the goat leapt forward and caught Rey by the neck in his meaty hands.

  Rey hacked, trying to gulp in air, as Tekymal squeezed. "Sir, I'm not into this…kinky shit."

  "The jokes stop now," Tekymal hissed. His face was so close that Rey got a face full of his dank breath. It was like a cheese that had given up on life. Strangely enough, it also reminded him of his time in the swamps of the Kingdom of Rivers. He was in no hurry to return there anytime soon.

  The goat smashed Rey into the ground or tried to, but Rey's head refused to touch the ground. Aw, nice little head.

  "Looks like my head doesn't want to get smashed open on these pretty tiles," Rey commented.

  Tekymal grunted and roared as he tried again and again, but nothing happened.

  [+1 Endurance]

  That was an odd stat to get, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

  After the third try, the satyr tired himself out, and Rey's world was thoroughly spinning, like he had been on the world's bumpiest rollercoaster while asphyxiated for the entire ride. Tekymal grunted and tossed Rey aside like a rag doll. He went rolling into one of the satyr's smaller statues that lined the chamber.

  Rey groaned as he lay there. He was sure he must've broken a few things, as he gave the statue a violent hug. To his right, something moved, and the next thing he knew, the satyr was falling on top of him. He moved at the last movement, and the satyr's hoof cracked the tile where it landed.

  If the others were here, we'd be making goat curry out of you by now.

  Then the demon gripped one of his statues and dropped it on Rey.

  Rey didn't fancy death by crushing. After all, his last death had been by treachery, and the one before that was truly glorious. It had taken them a veritable army to bring down the Skybreaker.

  This made him wonder what his moniker would be this time, as he bench pressed the statue with Repulsion.

  All three demons stared at the statue steadily rising and falling.

  "What?" Rey called. "It's an excellent workout. You should try it out sometime."

  Tekymal reached for him and made his first mistake. Rey used Repulsion and smashed him in the face with the statue. He heard an audible crunch, followed by wailing as the demon spun away, clutching his bloody face.

  Rey shot the statue at his staggering form. The demon went rolling on the ground and dropped Rey's scythe. He immediately activated Gravitational Attraction. The scythe flew into his hand at full speed.

  Rey sighed contentedly. "Ah… I'm never letting a demon's grubby hands take you from me again." Then looked to Tia. "I've added that to your long list of sins, which will catch up to you as soon as I've dealt with the goat."

  Rey smashed the butt of his spear twice on the ground. "So, you lusty satyr, get ready to dance one more time."