“What is this place?” Viressa gasped in awe, whirling around as she took in our new surroundings.

  The portal had led us to a massive, almost completely flat expanse of gray sand. The landscape seemed to extend infinitely, and I could not spot any sort of stopping point. Dots of glowing rocks peppered the ground around us, like sprinkles atop a birthday cake. They shimmered with similar colors to the vibrant jungle we had come from, but that was where the similarities ended.

  The sky above was lit with magnificent colors, blues and purples darting across space, and I could see blinking stars in the distance. It felt as if an entire galaxy was shrunken and placed directly above us. The same odd, violet moon floated in the sky, staring down at us with contempt.

  “This must be the dungeon bosses… home?” I said quietly, unsure of myself.

  But the system didn’t let us wallow in mystery any longer.

  [You have entered the domain of Eztara, the Lunar Nightmare.]

  Nightmare? That doesn’t sound good…

  [Neither does Carter.] Joshua replied bitterly.

  Just because you don’t like your name doesn’t mean you get to make fun of mine.

  [Why don’t you shut up and focus?]

  The world around us shook violently at my parasite's words, and I saw the being that we would have to face approaching from the horizon.

  A wraith-like, hooded figure floated towards us. It had no legs, its torso forming into whisps of energy surrounded by its cloak of pure white. Violet energy raced from head to toe like lightning, despite the being not having toes, and it held a huge, glowing scythe in its hands. The weapon's blade was forged from purple light connected to a blackened handle. The being wasn’t particularly large like I had expected, instead appearing only about my height.

  “Hey there, Eztara!” I shouted towards the dungeon boss, hoping to resolve our coming conflict with friendliness. “How about instead of us fighting, you just make yourself one of my companions and we get outta here?”

  “Another one dares to enter my dungeon?” Eztara replied calmly, his voice withered and ethereal, like the voice of a monster you would imagine living underneath your bed. “You will regret angering the Lunar Nightmare.”

  “What kind of lame-o refers to themselves by their title?” I questioned. Viressa stared at me wide-eyed, glancing at the wraith with fear. “That’s like if I called myself, ‘the dying cancer patient’, but… hold on a minute, that kinda has a ring to it—”

  “Silence!” Eztara roared, angered by my tangent.

  “Lucivar, shouldn’t we take this seriously…?” Viressa whispered, gripping her staff with whitening knuckles.

  I smiled at her. “Pissing people off is the first step to gaining the advantage in battle,” I reassured the demon confidently, despite the fact I had no idea what I was talking about.

  Besides, it's just a rare dungeon boss; how bad could it be compared to Ragnar?

  [You’re going to get us all killed.] Joshua sighed.

  Viressa seemed momentarily stunned, then nodded as if she had just heard great words of wisdom. But she didn’t have time to formulate a response. Eztara appeared, moving quickly for a guy with no legs. He swung his scythe, but I brought my hand up, meeting the blade with my claws. The two weapons grinded against each other, but Viressa was quick to back me up.

  [Lesser Wind]

  A blade of compressed air shot forth, slamming into the wraith's side, but it had little effect. Eztara dashed back, then rammed his scythe towards me again, creating a second impact with my claws. We danced through the sandy battlefield, nearly equal in speed. A trail of purple energy flowed behind the wraith as he moved, creating a beautiful blur as we clashed. Neither of us could land a proper hit, and I eventually decided to retreat momentarily to come up with a plan of attack. I leapt backwards, narrowly dodging a slash from the violet scythe, landing gently beside Viressa.

  “Don’t run now, demon,” Eztara spat, twirling his scythe with a skillful flourish and slowly floating towards us. I hurriedly whispered my plan to Viressa, but I had only seconds before the dungeon boss was upon me, slashing his scythe downwards. Viressa backpedaled to avoid any collateral damage, then went into action.

  [Mana Barrier]

  The shimmering blue shield appeared in front of me, reflecting Eztara’s attack and shattering into shards of light. I caught a glimpse of the Wraith's eyes widening as his weapon shook, momentarily throwing him off balance. I struck, landing a solid blow against our enemy's torso before he suddenly disappeared.

  “Silly tricks will not lead to your victory, demons,” Eztara spoke slowly, and I could see blackened blood trickling from the wound in his stomach.

  How can he even bleed? Isn’t he basically a ghost?

  [Just let me fight, I’m bored.]

  Nah.

  A chain of red rushed from my palm, hooking itself into Eztara’s stomach. I pulled myself forward, hurtling through the air as I approached the wraith, who was now suffering from the twenty-five percent move speed debuff effect of Blood Chain.

  I gotchu now.

  [Lunar Slash]

  Eztara flourished his scythe, sending a crescent wave of violet energy careening towards me. I reacted fast, pulling the chain violently to redirect my flight path, ducking underneath the attack. But Eztara was ready, spinning his scythe again and cutting straight through the Blood Chain, regaining his full speed.

  I dug my feet into the ground, trying to come to a stop, but my momentum carried me too far. Eztara slashed, cutting deep into my shoulder as I attempted to duck, but a steel sword unexpectedly dug into his right arm.

  Three skeleton warriors had appeared, momentarily distracting the dungeon boss. With three violet flashes, the skeletons were dispersed, but it allowed me the chance to strike. I leapt forward, one arm landing a hit against Eztara's arm while the other was deflected by his scythe. A bolt of fire suddenly appeared, slamming into the wraith’s face. I struck again, this time landing two more hits, black blood splattering from wounds on Eztara’s chest and shoulder.

  “You insolent fools!” Eztara raged, but I slammed a final claw straight to his skull, batting him through the air.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Too bad for you, bud.”

  A deafening explosion cascaded from the wraith's ethereal form, splattering blood all over the sandy landscape.

  “Good work, Viressa!” I shouted triumphantly, shooting my companion a thumbs-up. But she didn’t smile back, instead staring wide-eyed directly above me.

  Don’t tell me…

  A heavy blow slammed into my side, sending me flying through the air. My HP lowered dramatically, despite the fact that the blow hadn’t drawn blood. It felt as if every bone in my upper body was broken as I struggled to get up.

  [That’s what you get.] Joshua taunted.

  “Facing me under the second moon may be to your benefit,” Eztara started, rising from the ground, his body still reforming with a blinding flash of purple light. “But I have been granted strength beyond your comprehension!”

  Granted strength?

  The wraith suddenly transformed, growing almost twice as large as he had been. Glowing white chains appeared, hanging around him loosely. His scythe began to morph, its blade growing even longer, sharpening into a violet point.

  Dudes got a second phase. Great.

  Then, the wraith disappeared.

  “Lucivar!” Viressa tried to warn me, but it was too late.

  The purple scythe impaled me through the chest, raising me into the air. I gasped sharply, clawing desperately at the protrusion poking out of my upper body.

  [Parastic Manifestation]

  [Willing Host]

  Joshua appeared, glowing red from my skill. He summoned his Greater Fire Spirit, slicing a claw into Eztara’s now huge arm and simultaneously summoning a Blood Chain.

  “Move, Carter!” The parasite commanded, and I obeyed, wrenching myself free from the scythe and falling to the ground in pain. I was slowly healing, both from my innate regeneration and the attack Joshua managed to land.

  But Eztara was magnitudes faster than before, twirling his blade and cutting deep into Joshua’s arm.

  “You’ll regret that!” The parasite raged, and the Greater Fire Spirit converged, fire washing over Eztara’s body. I gathered myself, sprinting over to where Viressa stood. She cast a Fire Lance, but Eztara deflected the attack easily.

  “Do you happen to have any special moves?” I asked frantically, but she didn’t answer, looking into my eyes with fear. I summoned my own Greater Fire Spirit, cutting deeper into Joshua and I’s combined health pool, willing the wisp of flames to assist my clone in warding off the enraged dungeon boss. They clashed, claws sliding against the violet scythe, but I could see Joshua slowly losing ground, and I knew that we didn’t have long.

  “Do you have any items or anything?” Viressa asked, and I quickly combed through my inventory, spotting something that I had been saving.

  “I have this,” I started pulling the item from my inventory and staring down at my palm. It was small, almost pill-like, but radiating a golden glow. “But I was waiting for something better to use it on…”

  “We don’t have time,” Viressa replied calmly, acting as the voice of reason. I heard a heavy grunt, then looked up to spot Joshua fling threw the air, landing heavily beside us and kicking up a cloud of dust. He groaned, rolling over and spilling blood all over the ground beneath us, then he faded away, his HP dropping to zero. My Greater Fire Spirit suffered a similar fate, disappearing with a wave of Eztara’s scythe.

  “You have nowhere to run, demons!” The wraith roared, slowly approaching with full confidence.

  But what should I upgrade? I could try and use it on Claws of Mutilation or Blood Chain, but who knows if they’ll be strong enough…

  “Hurry, Lucivar,” Viressa urged, digging her feet into the ground to face the wraith.

  [Greater Fire Ball]

  A plume of flames rushed forward, but Eztara didn’t even break his stride, continuing to float towards us menacingly. My head spun from indecision, weighing each option, although none seemed like the correct answer.

  [Use it on me.]

  Hell no!

  A second fireball shot from Viressa’s staff, a gust of wind following shortly after. Eztara shrugged them off as if they didn’t even exist.

  “Your time has come, demons,” the wraith smiled cruelly, approaching faster now.

  [Hurry up you fucking idiot!]

  Goddamnit! Whatever!

  I used the item, selecting the Demonic Parasite passive that I had possessed since I was first reborn back in Hell.

  [Unique skills cannot be evolved using a Rarity Upgrader!]

  Are you fucking kidding me?!

  [Oh.] Joshua said simply.

  What the fuck do you mean ‘Oh’? We’re—

  A sharp pain cascaded from my arm, then extended down to my leg. Both limbs fell to the ground, my body falling directly afterwards. Viressa still faced forward, not even realizing that Eztara had appeared behind us.

  My vision faded, and I could feel myself slowly slipping into unconsciousness. My HP dropped dangerously low, lower than it had ever been before. I had only moments left before the wraith would finish me off.

  [Guess that's it.] Joshua lamented.

  Not yet… there’s this…

  I closed my eyes, not entirely sure how the skill functioned, but it seemed that my will alone was enough to activate it.

  [Shadow Mark]

  Nothing happened for a moment, and I wondered if it even actually worked. Eztara paused, staring up into the sky as if one of the Aspects I had met would come down to smite him, then he began to laugh.

  “What the hell was that? Some kind of—”

  His mouth went slack, then his ghostly head slowly slid from his body, dropping unceremoniously to the floor.

  I picked my head from the ground, and I noticed Viressa shivering with fear. The type of fear that I hadn't seen since I had saved her from Luminarch’s ritual back in Hell.

  Lunarius strode towards us, hands behind his back, wings extended into the air around him. He lifted his head, and I could see the curious, glimmering silver eyes boring down at me. His pitch black cloak was tattered and singed, as if he had just gone for a swim in a lake of fire. He tilted his head, then glanced around curiously.

  “I thought I said to summon me when Luminarch was around. Really, a simple wraith like that should be no big deal for you.” The Primordial stopped, regarding me with an unreadable expression. “I was in the midst of dealing with Soltheron, but alas, saving you from impending doom is the more… interesting choice, I would say.”

  Then, the voice of the seemingly undying wraith spoke again. “You insolent demon! The power granted to me dwarfs any that you could possibly possess!” Eztara rose, glimmering with white light, appearing almost like…

  “How interesting! It seems my brother may have been here first,” Lunarius mused, stroking his chin excitedly. “I apologize, Lucivar. It seems your timing has resulted in something unexpected after all!”

  What the hell is he talking about?

  Eztara glowed, tendrils of white light intertwining with the violet energy that had already clad his form, creating a storm of blinding flashes. Then, the moon above abruptly transformed as if a light bulb had burned out. Rather than a vibrant violet, the celestial body was suddenly pitch black.

  [Total Eclipse]

  “Luminarch himself has blessed me in exchange for the relics of the six moons. Not even another Primordial Demon could dare face me in this form!”

  [Warning! You have entered a Transcendent dungeon! Turn back now or you will surely die!]

  That warning was not there before!

  “Hmm? You have the ability to change the moon variant at will now? How adorable,” Lunarius laughed, approaching Eztara slowly. “Please, little wraith. Do your best to entertain me.”