Watching Raine leave her and Mel for those two angelic creatures, Celeste’s mentality reeled like claws were raking apart the soft gray matter in her skull. They were perfection itself, and it only made sense for him to go. Despite knowing everything about the situation making perfect sense, a tickle in her spine told her something was horrifically wrong.

  There was an incongruity in what her eyes and thoughts knew to be true, and whatever it was tore at her mind. Her usually razor-quick deliberations were sluggish, and when she tried to call out to Raine, only a giggle emerged between her smiling lips. She tried to clamp a hand over her mouth, but her arms were restrained by the mercenary Vaaterran holding her back.

  For the briefest of moments, a bout of fury swept through her. It brought a fraction of her typical clarity, just enough to figure out what was nagging at her soul. [She called him handsome. What a crock of shit. Not even a mother could love that face!] The shackles binding her senses shattered, and she looked around with clear eyes for the first time in minutes.

  Raine was only a few meters ahead, determinedly trudging toward the den of lying sirens. Mel was struggling against her captor as well. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her mouth opened and closed, her tormented inner thoughts refusing to form into words. [You can’t leave me, too. Brother, mommy, dad… they all left, one after another. I… I don’t want to be alone anymore. I want to keep having fun. Why are you leaving me for them?]

  Somehow, Mel knew that if Raine walked through that open door, she would never see him again. The pain of it was too great; the spell choking her thoughts crumbled. Her cry came from deep in her gut, bursting with dread and laced with grief, “Wait! Don’t go. Please, don’t leave me.”

  Raine looked back, unable to hide his surprise. The Charm they struggled against shouldn’t be resistible with such a significant level gap. He had intended this to be a learning experience but never expected them to break free unassisted. Unfortunately, the two women who called him into the tavern were still watching. He couldn’t let them grow suspicious.

  Swaying on his feet as though confused, Raine continued toward the tavern. He flippantly waved his hand over his shoulder, slurring his words, “It’s… too dangerous for you two. Yeah, that’s it. Stay here. I’ll uhh… be right back.”

  Hearing the husky desire in his voice, Celeste recoiled as if struck, “Oh, hell no. You can’t go. Something is very wrong with them. For fucks sake, they called you handsome! You can’t believe anything they say!” Raine nearly lost his composure, stumbling a step.

  She’s definitely going off that cliff on our way out of here!

  Celeste managed not to react outwardly to his thoughts. [Fine! If he’s still thinking about things like that then he’s clearly got things under control. Last time I worry about you, bastard!]

  The difference between his outward actions and internal thoughts guided Mel toward understanding. She sagged, held up by the mercenary. [Thank goodness. I shouldn’t have doubted him. He came prepared. While I only made a fool of myself.]

  Overflowing with determination to learn as much as she could, Mel’s gaze hardened on his back. Raine entered the tavern without further delay. The tables were set with drinks, comfortable chairs and stools before each. The walls were bare of decoration, and the cloying scent overwhelmed whatever natural odor might exist there.

  Though he was the sole prospective patron, Raine wasn’t the only man in the room. These particular creatures instinctively understood the preferences of their targets, so only the nine women inside approached him. Each step they took was a study of the seductive nature of the female form. Raine’s eyes danced between them, not settling in any one place for long. Their smiles widened as he stood unmoving, his mouth hanging open.

  The first was nearly upon him, her delicate hand reaching to caress his chest. Before she reached him, an invisible wave of tightly contained desire pulsed from her fingertips and into Raine. They locked eyes, and it was her turn to gape. Even that expression would have melted the hearts of most men.

  Her face, perfect to most, lacked the one feature that would have allowed her to be worthy of his gaze. Without them, she was merely a bug in need of a good squish. The debilitating lust she expected to find in his expression was nowhere to be seen, replaced in its entirety with disdain and the need to kill. Raine’s bloodlust burst forth, sweeping over the group and seizing their movements.

  His desire summoned forth a weapon strapped to his arm. Though a tool of defense for some, to Raine, its heftiness was precisely what he wanted at that moment. Disgust churned in his gut as his arm swept toward her in a wide arc.

  [Kindred Heart Shield: (Lustrous Blue - LVL 15) (DEF +90) (PTC +15) (PHY +30) (Durability 250/250)]

  Just before impact, his shield crashed into the air. The forces released by Rupture contorted her features, sending rippling waves across her skin before she burst into a cloud of crimson mist. [-3,279] Bones not belonging to any typical humanoid scattered across the floor. She didn’t die alone; seven of her companions were caught in AOE. A wealth of coins dropped near their remains, but Raine was already moving past them.

  [Obtained 0 Superiority (-100% for defeating a monster more than 2 levels below you)]

  [Obtained 0% Attunement (-100% for defeating a monster more than 2 levels below you)]

  The three lean and muscular men—each highly charismatic in their own way—leaped to their feet. They joined the two surviving women in a piercing howl that sounded through the entire canyon. Raine shuffle-stepped, arriving before the nearest. A backhanded slap with his shield smashed her face into a mess of its former glory. She flew across the room, crashing into a wall.

  The last woman’s body contorted, growing half a meter and widening into that of a powerfully built demoness. Her voice was deep, still holding a sensual quality that could easily enchant the unprepared, “Wriggling little human, you will pay for this!”

  [Lesser Succubus: (Level 12) (HP 2750/2750)]

  Her wrists came together, long fingers tipped with razor-sharp nails spread wide in a fan. A ball of churning lavender energy gathered. It reached the size of Raine’s head in a blink. A shockwave released along the angle of her fingers, and the ball tore through the air. It sizzled, burning the atmosphere. A side-step evaded the projectile. It hit the wall behind him, melting through it with gleeful ease. Raine saved his Discipline, charging toward the curvaceous creature with bounding steps.

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  Her attempt to claw him was easily ducked. His shield impacted her reverse-jointed knee with a meaty crunch. [Critical hit! -667] She fell to her back. A scream caught in her throat as a follow-up slam from the bottom edge of his weapon cut deep into her mouth. Raine’s current Attack Speed was three point six per second, allowing him to smash his shield into her prone form several more times before the men reached him.

  They had also changed, their battle-forms significantly faster and stronger than their human guises. Still, they couldn’t match Raine’s level fifteen attributes boosted by nine completed weapon attunements. He weaved around their attacks, circling the group so the room’s only set of stairs was no longer to his back; the pounding and scraping of clawed feet preceded the two women he’d seen from outside rushing down them. They were accompanied by seven more of their kind.

  Upon seeing their dead companions, the succubi released mournful wails, throwing themselves toward Raine. Another Rupture reduced all but one of the group to bones. A few swift crunches later, and Raine was alone in the room. He quickly snatched up the several silver coins and materials littered about the floor.

  [9 x Demon Horn: (Common Grey) Useful when crafting certain alchemical reactives]

  Heading into the attached kitchen, Raine found the hatch to the underground larder wide open. He jumped down, landing on solid dirt in near darkness. The earthen room was small, and a tunnel on its side led deeper into the gloom. He pressed his back to the nearest wall and waited, his ears perked for additional threats. The discombobulating stench from the tunnel was much thicker than above, but it didn’t bother him now that he was used to it.

  When the remaining few seconds of the fifteen-minute timer in his HUD ticked down to zero, he gulped another potion.

  [Common Potion of Darkvision: (Common Grey) Pierce the veil of any non-magical darkness (Duration: 30 minutes)]

  The darkness fled, replaced by dull gray and white. Raine hastened down the tunnel, which soon opened into a large circular room. Sporadically along its curved wall were room-sized recesses covered by thin cloth. The space was lit only by two burning sticks of incense set before two of the rooms. Inside each, animalistic thumping and grunting could be heard. Raine wasted no time in approaching the first curtain and throwing it aside. He didn’t recognize the man tied up inside. Rupture killed both occupants with equal ease.

  The shaking walls and destroyed furniture alerted the creature in the last room. It tore into the central chamber, nude as the day it crawled from the hellfire that spawned it. In a flash, horns sprouted from its head, and it grew a full meter. Raine narrowed his eyes upon seeing a higher-level creature in a starting zone.

  [Elite Subordinate Succubus: Level 14 (HP 4,828/4,500) (Overhealth resulted from recent feeding)]

  A burst of bloodlust revealed a sparkling wand that fit snugly in his grasp. A wide grin split Raine’s face, and he charged. The monstrous woman took one look at his weapon, then panic gripped her features. With a screech, she jumped backward. Raine was almost upon her when she landed. She slammed her hand on the ground. Demonic Power raced from her fingers and slid through a complex diagram etched into the dirt with blood.

  Raine was intimately familiar with the array she activated. Arrays came in many forms, each powered by one of the three primary forms of energy: Elemental, Celestial, or Demonic Power. Once activated, they could create several advanced effects. This one powered two sets of geometric shields that shimmered into existence, one around her and a larger one trapping him in the center of the room.

  “Drown in pleasure, toy!” The elite succubus snapped her fingers, and Raine’s portion of the shield was flooded with pink mist that assaulted his senses.

  He took a deep breath, savoring the moment before his roar filled the air, “PuriPuri Rainbow Release!”

  The training wheels of the system invaded his thoughts, gently urging him to lift the weapon high to complete the innate skill’s activation. Before doing so, Raine willed his Elemental Power to be consumed while tightly holding the mental image of a raging fire. When he completed the motion, all hell broke loose.

  Through the ground, streamers of violent energy poured into the air. They consumed the pink mist in a flashfire that swept through the shielded area. Raine’s ears popped from the sudden change in pressure. The streamers wriggled in the air briefly before expanding into a blast wave that swept outward instantly, shattering the outer shield and crashing into the walls. The ground around him shook, sending dirt cascading down from the ceiling.

  [PuriPuri Rainbow Release: 10-meter circular ground-based AOE dealing 500% damage with 1000% bonus force and lift. Ignores all defense. (Skill name must be shouted to activate) (Cost: 50 of chosen resource) (Cooldown: 5 minutes)]

  The terrified elite patted her voluptuous body, amazed to still be alive. Her clawed hand landed on the inside of the cylindrical shield that was just large enough to contain her. She released maniacal peals of laughter, “This barrier was designed by The Grand Shimmering One herself. Toy, obediently lie on your back, and I’ll grant you a life beyond your shallow imaginings! Continue to resist, and you will know endless suffering.”

  The tip of Raine’s wand meatily smacked his palm as he approached her shield, still wearing his wide grin. He wound back, a twinkle in his eyes, “PuriPuri Comet Burst!”

  Cassidy’s Comet smashed into the small shield. Its surface rippled fiercely, shimmering dark blue. The force of the blow was transferred into the floor and ceiling, causing the entire underground lair to rumble ominously.

  The mask of confidence on the succubus’s disfigured features vanished, “Stop that! You’ll kill us both!”

  “You’re the only one that’s going to die today, bitch!” Raine wound up and swung again. The shield turned from blue to light purple, and they both knew what that meant.

  Dirt fell both in and out of the shielded area. She returned to her human form, raising her hands pleadingly, “I beg you, stop! I surrender! You can take me as your slave. I’ll obey all your commands. Just don’t kill me, master. Please!”

  Raine brushed off her Charm, smashing the shield again. Cracks appeared along its now dark red surface. She screeched at him, her pretty face skewed with hate, “You’ll pay for your arrogance. Food should know its place!”

  A dark gem appeared in her hand, and she crushed it. From inside, a flicker of black energy shot toward Raine. He side-stepped, but it curved ninety degrees. The little bolt slipped right through his weapon when he Parried, then struck him in the chest.

  Raine frowned when he saw no damage or debuffs in his HUD. The succubus laughed, the sound high and evil before she crushed another gem and vanished in a puff of black smoke.

  Crap. A tracking curse? I’ll have to get scanned at the nobles’ church in Silverlight. She recognized Cassidy’s Comet, too. The only thing she did that was normal was try to Charm me. Please don’t tell me I just ran into another witch-type Vaaterran.

  The smoke inside the shield dissipated. Raine waited patiently, his weapon at the ready. The moment the shield ran out of energy a minute later, he swung hard through empty air.

  She really did teleport. A low-level succubus with a shield array, tracking curse, and teleportation stone? She must have been telling the truth about who was backing her. Why would a demon ancestor be interested in such a low-level zone?

  A man’s voice, thick with anticipation, called out from the room the elite succubus initially emerged from, “My flower, is that you? Where did you go? Your little hummingbird can’t wait anymore; please come back.”

  Raine had to bite his lips to keep from laughing. Fizgore’s tale of being trapped in this den for his first month was a constant joke for everyone who knew him. He was always quick to tell the story, its embellishments growing each time.

  Raine found his old friend strapped to a bed, squirming but not at all to free himself. Raine double-checked that his vodcast recording was working, then entered the room, “Sorry, she’s gone for good. You, ahh… want me to untie you?”

  Fizgore jerked back from the sound of Raine’s deep voice, wild afro swaying, “Gone?! No. That can’t be true! Please, my flower, come back to me! I was so close, so close to discovering the difference between Heaven and Earth!”

  Raine barely kept it together, squeezing out a long grunt as he spoke the language he knew would instantly re-create their bond of friendship, “Heaven and Earth? You fool! How could you fall for a monster’s charms? Everyone knows free cheese only comes in a mouse trap!”