Path of the Berserker

But how?

Why?

Fia continued to weep as a dark fear crept inside Hei Dong’s soul, questioning both his instincts and his daughter’s integrity. He wanted to reject the thought immediately. But had she done it? Had Fia actually lied?

No, he couldn’t believe it.

She couldn’t be capable of something like this.

“Fia,” he called to her, but she was too grief stricken to respond. “Fia!”

He looked to Lo Feng. Somehow the man must have planted one of her quills.

That was the only explanation.

Anger seethed in his soul as Lo Feng continued to gloat in victory.

Yes, that had to be it.

“Lady Silver Light,” Yi Xhi Yen said. “You are accused of committing an unsanctioned attack on a fellow martial sect, including the murder of a Sect Elder and over a hundred disciples. Both physical evidence and an eye-witness account place you at the scene of the incident where you have been reported to have committed these crimes. Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

“I…” She then looked directly at Hei Dong. “I didn’t do it…”

Hei Dong trusted her words as he peered deep into his daughter’s soul.

Inwardly he was relieved.

Fia was no criminal. Just another victim in Lo Feng’s ploy.

“Is that all?” Yi Xhi Yen said. “Can you explain how your quill ended up there?”

Fia glanced up at the High Magistrate with tears in her eyes, before looking back at Hei Dong again. Unlike before he sensed conflict in her soul, like she was holding something back. Hiding something. Finally, she shook her head. “No, I can’t explain it…”

Hei Dong’s heart swelled with anger and grief.

What was she hiding?

Had the Fire Birds blackmailed her?

Used something against her to implicate herself?

For so long Hei Dong thought he’d been the one laying the trap, but he’d been the one in the trap all along.

“Then I have no choice but to rule against you,” Yi Xhi Yen said. “In the matter of the Fire Bird Clan versus the Dong Family, Lady Silver Light, I find you guilty of the allegations for which you are accused.”

“No!” Rhi Dong yelled, collapsing beside him. “Please, your honor! Reconsider!”

But Yi Xhi Yen remained as cold as ever, not reacting to his wife’s pleas.

“You’ve been warned once already about disrupting my court, Lady Silver Moon. Do not cause me to do so again.” She then straightened and looked down at Fia. “Lady Silver Light, for the egregious nature of the crimes you have committed, I have no choice but to sentence you to the maximum penalty possible.”

Hei Dong’s heart froze as Rhi Dong fell to her knees, her mouth open in a silent wail.

“You are to be executed by beheading,” Yi Xhi Yen said. “For leniency I shall waive the immediacy of your punishment and allow your sentence to be carried out in two days’ time to settle your affairs. This is the extent of the grace I can offer you.”

With that she banged her gavel and both Fia and Rhi Dong cried out in anguish as Hei Dong’s world came undone.

* * *

I was in free fall, tumbling through the purplish hued sky.

The chains whipped by so fast they became a blur as I bounced between them, struggling to right myself and get my descent under control. I wasn’t sure if gravity was even a thing or not in this spiritual space, but I braced myself for impact as the red surface of the sphere approached at incredible speed.

My [Soul Shield] technique flared with a brightness that rivaled my Flame itself, burning Frenzy like crazy. I was less than a minute in and already my core was inching towards being ten percent depleted already.

Not good, I thought.

I was a deep-sea diver heading into the unknown with a single tank of air.

Whatever I would find, I’d have only minutes to deal with it, before my Frenzy ran out and I essentially lost my soul for good. The [Odds were Against Me] but even the additional Frenzy from the technique did little to ebb the constraining draining of my Dantian.

The red surface of the sphere began to stretch out into a horizon as I fell closer towards the center and slowly I began to make out details. The surface shifted and moved, like an undulating sea. I was about to prepare for a water landing when I finally saw the reality of what lay below. What I thought were the waves of a red ocean, were instead the red-skinned bodies of demons.

Thousands of them…

My heart leapt into my throat as I careened towards the monstrous horde, speeding at what felt like a million miles an hour. I bolstered my body with [Steel Lightning] on top of my [Spectral Armor] right before impact, crashing into the demons with an almighty boom!

Pain exploded through every inch of my soul as I slammed into what felt like a mountain, demon bodies and rocky shale flying everywhere. Debris and body parts rained back to earth as I roused from the impact, half dazed. An immense pressure of Dark Frenzy seized me immediately, pressing in on me so hard it felt as if I was at the bottom of the ocean. It was enough to make me grunt and cry out in pain, but I stifled it with [Indifference] as I increased the Frenzy to my [Soul Shield] technique to balance the pressure.

I assessed the damage to my [Spectral Body] next and was surprised to find I was none the worse for wear despite all the pain. I still wasn’t sure how any of this worked.

It certainly felt as if I’d just slammed into something physical, but none of this was in the material world, so what the hell was this place exactly? I looked about as the dust cleared and found myself at the bottom of a ten-foot-deep crater that spanned half a football field. All around me the bodies of dead demons began to smolder and evaporate, turning into black smoke before dissipating into the air.

The ground was made of rocky volcanic shale, but it was the same red hue as the demons.

Not far from me, on the edge of the crater more demons loomed, but they all paused as they gawked at me from afar, and from them I sensed something delicious.

Fear…

Hushed whispers echoed through their ranks.

~A Demon of Cursed Flame!~

~How is it here?~

~We must be stronger than it is upon this plane.~

~Kill it! Kill it now!~

But despite their cries for my death none of them moved. That bolstered my confidence as I arose from my crouched position, cultivating their Fear while laying on a heavy dose of [Fear the Flame]. They reacted like vampires shunning sunlight, hissing and cringing away from me.

I realized then that I’d just pulled the reverse of what they’d been doing to us all along. I was now the alien invader inside their bunker, ready to tear them apart. The thought made me smile. It was time to hand out some well-deserved retribution.

I charged up the slope of the crater yelling with fury while brandishing my weapons with [Lightning]. As I made the final leap over the lip, something huge caught my eye.

A towering crystal, the same color as the purple sky, stretched some fifty feet into the air. It was the shape of an inverted obelisk and covered in glowing runes, the narrow end jammed into the ground like a tent stake. Three golden rings hooped its surface and attached to each were the familiar chains of the gate. I followed them to where they disappeared some distance into the sky.

This had to be it, I thought. The thing grounding the gate to our reality.

I dove into the demon horde with a fervor, swinging and chopping, eager to clear them to get to the crystal and destroy whatever the hell it was. But as I did so, something lurked in the back of my mind.

If I destroy this thing, can I still get back through the gate?

I didn’t know the answer, but as I cut through the ranks of screaming demons, I could see even more giant crystals dotted across the alien landscape. Each one had three chains that extended to the heavens, presumably connecting to gates of their own high above. There had to be close to a hundred of them. A hundred gates leading to different locations across our planet.

Or other planets even.

The thought made my mind reel, but then I saw something that sent it into overdrive. Barely visible in the purplish haze of the horizon were the faint outlines of another gate. But this one was huge. Enormous even—thousands of feet high. Flying demons, the size I could liken to battleships, swam lazily in and out of it as throngs of demons exited and swarmed down the sides of a massive mountain at its base. But even more terrifying were the gargantuan demons that strode amongst their smaller brethren, making them seem like carpet as they towered at over a hundred feet tall. Even from this distance I could make out their finer details, monstrous-looking beings with multiple heads and tentacles for eyes.

The thought of there being demons of that size and strength sent me into overdrive, clearing the smaller demons around the crystal in a frenzy to achieve my goal. Not that I wouldn’t relish the chance to fight one of them, but I was hitting the halfway mark on my Dantian and still didn’t have a solid escape plan.

First things first, I thought as I took care of the last surrounding horde of demons with a series of [Lightning Arc Strikes]. I needed to destroy the gate to protect humanity’s home, but as for me getting home, that’d have to wait.

Perhaps I could risk venturing through one of the other gates to save myself.

But who knew where that might lead?

I stowed my axe, along with my thoughts, double-handing my Phalanx Glaive to go in for a [One Chop Cleave]. My blade hit the obelisk was a resounding ring! that resonated like a tuning fork.

It was loud enough to force me to cover my ears and sent my Flame jittering as my [Soul Shield] was pressed to the maximum. I wondered just what the hell the thing was made of and was about to cleave into it again when suddenly all three golden rings began to glow.

I stepped back as tendrils of purple energy wafted from the rings and began to coalesce into a solid form. Three additional rings took shape, seemingly made of the same purple metal of the gate itself, complete with links of chain dangling from each one. One larger ring appeared in the center, hovering some twenty feet in the air, while the other two were smaller and hovered closer to the ground.

Then from within the rings a humanoid shape began to take form. A neck appeared within the large ring to form a collar as slender wrists filled the smaller rings at the side. A feminine body emerged cast in cobalt blue skin. Sharp demonic features etched a face of pure beauty as a twenty-foot-tall succubus with glowing blue eyes and twisted horns appeared. The goddess-like figure leered at me, perfect teeth framed between deep blue lips.

“Interesting,” she said in a haunting and reverberating tone. “A Demon of the Cursed Flame dare disturb the Great Chain Maiden of the Infernal Passage?” She materialized an enormous scythe in her hands and with a flick of her wrist, snapped it open, revealing a blade radiating with a dark luminescence. “Thou shall tremble within my presence. Bow before I’xan’dra and I may yet have mercy upon thy wretched soul.”

I gritted my teeth at just the mention of her name, Dark Frenzy pouring off of her like a waterfall. I shielded my eyes from the madness creeping into my mind from just looking at her unnatural beauty and terrifying power.

“Not a chance, bitch,” I said with [Indifference] and pushed back against her unnatural aura with [Fear the Flame].

Her beautiful visage twisted into a scowl. “Thou dare speak as such to a god?!”

She released a shrill cry that sounded like when I’d struck the obelisk and the three tendrils of energy connecting the rings to the collar and shackles around wrists, solidified into glowing chains.

My Flame flared at the challenge of the powerful being that stood before me, but my Dantian was down to a quarter and draining fast. I had no idea just how powerful she truly was, but between my [Soul Shield] and what I had left in the tank, I knew I had mere minutes to either defeat her or die.

“Prepare thyself, worm,” she said as she readied her scythe. “Thou shall pay heavily for thy blasphemy.”

* * *

“I wish to contest!”

The words rang out in the courtroom and Hei Dong was as stunned as everyone else by who had uttered them. It was his wife, Rhi Dong. She was back on her feet, anger and resentment marring her face, replacing the anguish and despair that Hei Dong knew still filled her heart.

“Your honor, I invoke the martial right of contestation!” she said. “I challenge Master Lo Feng to defend my family of this unjust conviction!”

“Mother,” Fia cried. “Don’t do this! I will contest him!”

“Order! Order!” Yi Xhi Yen yelled, banging her gavel. “Master Hei Dong, I urge you to gain control of your family.” She then looked to Fia. “Lady Silver Light, you are the accused. It would be inappropriate for you to contest your own conviction. Furthermore, you are merely Gold Bracket. Master Lo Feng is Jade.”

“I am also Jade,” Rhi Dong said. “I will contest!”

“Please ignore that, your honor,” Hei Dong said quickly. “I need speak with my client.” He then pulled Rhi Dong by the arm to whisper to her. “Love, you must be silent. This is what he wants!”

“What choice do we have?” she said. “I must try to save our daughter!”

“He wants to kill you. He will kill you!”

“I don’t care!” she said.

Yi Xhi Yen sat back in her chair. “Master Hei Dong, are you going to respond? Are we to take this plea of contestation from your wife seriously or not?”

Tension knotted his stomach.

The day had gone from being one of the greatest victories of his life to being one on the cusp of losing everything he loved. His wife, his daughter. Consenting to contestation could mean the loss of them both.

“Please,” Rhi Dong said. “We must try, husband. I can beat him. I have two days to prepare.”

His heart weighed heavily along with his conscience.

She was no match for Lo Feng.

But she was also right.

What other choice did they have?

He’d have to risk the loss of them both, if he wanted to save them.

Fates help me, he thought.

He looked back to the High Magistrate and straightened himself.

“We wish to contest the conviction by martial court, your honor,” Hei Dong said. “My wife, the Lady Silver Moon, will stand for our family.”

Rhi Dong gripped his hand with a tight squeeze. “Thank you, husband.”

He looked into her tearful eyes and then those of his daughter, praying he had made the right decision and that he had not just condemned them both to die.

“Although it would be unorthodox for a mere elder to contest a sect leader…” Yi Xhi Yen said. “…given the circumstances of this particular case, I will allow it. Lady Silver Moon, you understand that if you lose in the court of combat, the Lady Silver Light will still face execution?”

“I understand,” she said.

“Master Lo Feng? Do you have a challenger to meet this contestation?”

“Myself, your honor,” Lo Feng said with a grin. “I would gladly accept the challenge. It is only right after all that a mother never have to experience the death of her child before her own. I will ensure that nature takes its rightful course in this regard.”

“You son of a bitch!” Hei Dong cursed. “You threaten to kill my wife! My family!”

“Master Hei Dong, control yourself!” Yi Xhi Yen shouted. “And Master Lo Feng. Such statements are unnecessary!”

“A thousand apologies,” he said with another vile grin. “I withdraw my statement. May the fates themselves determine victory in accordance with the irrefutable laws of might.”

Hei Dong could barely contain himself, breathing heavily with anger and hate.

He would have given anything to be a cultivator powerful enough to kill Lo Feng right now, but for all his authority and prestige, in a society where martial law still trumped all, the might of the fist could still beat authority on a good day.

“Very well,” Yi Xhi Yen said. “We shall resume these proceedings within the grand arena in two days. Lady Silver Light is to be remanded into custody until then.” She then banged her gavel a final time. “This court is adjourned.”

* * *

The Great Chain Maiden of the Infernal Passage, the goddess I’xan’dra.

Or so she called herself.

The giant blue succubus continued to leer at me as her glowing eyes pierced through my soul. I had no idea what power or status she held compared to I’xol’ukz. Was she another herald of the stars? A guardian? A servant? A concubine?

But none of that mattered right now.

To me she was just another bump in the road.

I choked up on my weapons as I cycled my Frenzy, tapping into the [Odds that were Against Me] for sure. With a sudden burst from my Flame, I rushed forward, engaging [Mark of the Beast] and [Mark of the Giant].

But nothing happened.

What the hell…?

I was so caught off guard by the misfire that I failed to avoid the lightning-quick swipe of her scythe. The radiant energy of her blade tore into me, slicing straight through my defenses and penetrating to my very soul.

I cried out, feeling my life essence leave me in the form of blood that dripped onto the shale-covered ground below. I reeled from the attack, backing up, not expecting it to be so strong. But then I was facing a self-proclaimed god, and I hadn’t slipped into the overdrive of my [Marks] either.

But just where the hell were my forms?

I’d used them countless times while sparring with Venja while within my own mind. And then just as quickly I answered my own question.

Within my own mind, I thought. That was it.

I was now somewhere outside my own body and I’d left the Demon far behind.

Shit… I thought with chagrin.

The Struggler alone would have to win this battle.

And that meant applying skill over power.

A new sense of resolve filled me as I switched from beast-killer to arena-champion mode. The strength of the Iron Bull would have to win this fight.

“Alright, you big blue bitch,” I said with bravado as I engaged [Fear the Flame]. “Let’s see how well you deal with an unorthodox form like this.”

“You mock me for the last time, worm!” she cried and dove at me with her scythe. “Taste the wrath of a god!”

I parried her attacks with a series of quick Axe techniques, and then countered, forcing her to block. She retaliated with a wild downward swing, but I was ready for it, hopping out of the way while already winding up for a strike with my Phalanx Glaive.

Her scythe ploughed into the ground kicking up shale, but by that time my swing was already well underway. My Glaive came down heavily upon her thigh and the feeling of hitting solid flesh was rewarding in and of itself, but the startled cry she let loose was even more so.

She retreated with a step back as luminescence poured from her wound like blood.

“Filthy Flame!” I’xan’dra cursed me as the wound on her leg quickly began to mend and heal, not unlike the gate itself. “How did thou manage to strike me so? I shall reap thee like a newborn hatchling and serve thee to the lord himself!”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” I said with [Indifference], but she charged back at me with a ferocity that put me on the backfoot. I managed to block two of her strikes before three more landed, nearly cleaving me in two.

I cried out in pain, gushing blood that was part of my soul.

“Thou art nothing!” she screamed in rage. “A mere puppet of the False Flame!”

I regained my bearings and fought back, cultivating her rage to fuel my Flame. I drew on all my experience from battling with Fia and Venja within my mind’s eye, countering and parrying with my axe while landing huge strikes with my Glaive. She cried out in frustration as I hit her again and again, but just like before the wounds healed near instantly.

Damn it, I cursed as I checked what was left of my reserve. This was going to be like losing in the ring due to time.

I redoubled my focus, training my mind to pay attention to her techniques and attack patterns. The world seemed to slow as I slowly took control of the battle, counting her movements as I identified the feints from the true attacks. Desperate seconds went by as the Frenzy in my Dantian reduced to but a sliver. It was barely being maintained by the Frenzy now pouring from my Flame, the pain and desperation of the battle itself the only thing keeping me alive.

But I needed to end it quickly.

I managed to get in a few more quick strikes with my axe, but I was nowhere close to defeating her as she simply healed again. I was beginning to understand what it meant to fight a god now. This was a battle of attrition I just couldn’t win.

Suddenly an enormous roar split the air.

I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see a hundred-foot-tall demon sprinting across the desolate landscape towards me from miles away, killing hundreds of smaller demons in its wake.

I’xan’dra laughed as she drew my attention back to her by striking me swiftly across my chest. I went reeling from the hit, sliding on shale as my Dantian dipped into the red zone.

“Thy fate is sealed, Cursed puppet of the Foul Flame. The thralls seek thy blood, but I shall have the pleasure of severing thy mortal coil.”

Her words infuriated me as I dragged myself to my feet.

The bitch was winning.

But that didn’t mean I was going to stop.

Death was meaningless to me now.

I was beyond Death.

Killing her to save my people was all that mattered!

The strength of my resolve touched the Dao of my Flame and it shifted in color, becoming an even brighter blue. It burst forth with the Frenzy of my conviction, topping up my Dantian as I charged in for a killing blow.

This had to be it.

I had no more time left now.

I feinted with my axe as I tore past her defenses, and then left myself open, baiting her into a heavy strike from above.

But I didn’t try to avoid it.

I channeled my Frenzy into [Steel Lightning] instead, focusing it on the single point of impact alone, strengthening its effect by severalfold. I endured the sharp sting of pain as I’xan’dra’s scythe pushed through my defenses regardless, cleaving deep into the flesh of my soul. I then cried out, using [My Turn] to funnel the pain into an ultimate hit of my own.

“[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!”

My Phalanx Glaive flew in an overhead slash and cleaved directly into I’xan’dra’s chest, lightning striking at the same time as the blow. Shock spread across her face at the unexpected hit, unaware that I had just sacrificed everything to perform a trade of our blows.

But clearly, I had emerged the victor of the exchange.

Shock soon turned to anger as her wound began to heal.

“Thou art foul indeed. A worm, that refuses to die. But die thy shall, by my han—ahhhhh!”

She never got the word out as her mouth twisted into a scream. I’d aimed for the very thing she was about to say, my axe shattering the shackle about her wrist with a ring of crystal and steel. It exploded like glass and the glowing chain to the golden ring disappeared. The ring then faded from a gleaming gold to become a dull gray of leaden steel.

Yes!

I rejoined internally. My intuition had been right!

I wasted no time shattering her other shackle, zapping even more of her strength as the ring turned from gold to lead. I’xan’dra fell to her knees, screaming in pain as her luminescence spilled from her wrists. I backed up and readied my Phalanx Glaive.

“It’s been fun,” I said, cycling my Frenzy. “But I got shit to do and people to save.”

I spun with a [Lightning One Chop Cleave], aiming for the collar about her neck.

My blade hit true and the collar exploded, taking her head off with it.

A fountain of luminescence sprayed from her neck as her body withered and the last gold ring faded to lead.

“Impossible…” I’xan’dra’s voice reverberated as she herself faded from existence. “I will face thee again, puppet. I am as eternal and inevitable as thy demise.”

There was no time to gloat as I looked back at the giant demon still bearing down on me. It was less than half a mile away now and eating up ground fast. With I’xan’dra killed, the free Frenzy buffet from the battle was over and I had mere seconds to live or die. I looked back to the obelisk that had now faded to a dull purple along with the three leaden rings.

“Let’s do it!” I cried as I charged towards it with my Phalanx Glaive.

I slammed my blade full force into the obelisk, but I barely chipped it at all.

What the hell? It’s still as strong as before?

But then just like with defeating I’xan’dra herself, I had been aiming for the wrong thing.

“Not the body,” I told myself, looking away from the obelisk and instead focused on the rings. I yelled as I aimed at one of them and my blade cut through easily with a snap of sparks. The chain tethered to it went sailing off into the sky as if it were an elastic band, disappearing from sight without a trace.

Hot damn! I thought.

But it gave me an idea. I looked back over my shoulder at the giant behemoth nearly upon me. No time to think now! I quickly cut the next chain, watching it shoot into the sky before jumping atop the last one. I clung onto one of the links and channeled my Frenzy to increase my grip. The demon bellowed as its footfalls shook the ground. I swung my axe and broke the last ring, just as the behemoth raised its arm to strike me with a massive club the size of an ocean liner.

I shot away with the force of a bullet, my arm nearly pulled from its socket.

The ground shrank away from me at incredible speed and I watched as the demon’s giant club destroyed the obelisk and everything around it. Before I could see any further the world blurred as the chain pulled me like a torpedo and in no time I saw the small triangle of the gateway approaching.

Don’t mess this up! I told myself and focused my nerves to sail straight through it.

I came out in a gasp on the other side, the purple sky shifting to the deep blackness that was the confines of my inner mind. I landed in a roll and looked back just in time to see the gate shatter like a piece of glass as the remnants of the chain smashed into it. A huge burst of Dark Frenzy went off and then suddenly there was nothing at all.

The Dark Frenzy ceased.

The pathway to I’xol’ukz was gone.

I quickly opened my eyes to share the victory with Kelsey, but was greeted by horror instead. I was still seated in lotus position and all around me demons were thronging. I struggled to make sense of it all, until I saw Kelsey fending them off with my axe. Where did they come from? But then I saw the sky above me was darkened and the Bloodmoon was on the rise.

Holy shit, how long was I gone for?

“Kelsey!” I cried out as I sprang to my feet and immediately laid into a group of demons with my Glaive. I cut them to pieces as Kelsey quickly spun about and I could see her features already starting to contort under the effects of the moon.

“Gah!” she screamed. “Thank God! We need to go!!”

She began cutting her way through the demons heading for the stairwell.

I followed after her, clearing stray demons as I went. I thought that perhaps they had come through the gate somehow, but the huge structure was already in the process of collapsing under its own weight, no longer supported by the unearthly strength that I’xan’dra had given it.

Or however the hell that all worked.

I realized then that these had to be the normal demons that spawned with the Bloodmoon. The surface demons that Venja kept at bay all the time. Even now I could see them trekking down the jagged slopes of the abandoned bunker crater, trying to get to us. The Dark Frenzy in the air was but a whisper compared to what I’d just experienced, but it was more than enough to affect Kelsey.

Her Flame was smoldering by the time we finally reached the stairwell and we both dove quickly inside. We traversed downward and I heard Kelsey take a deep breath of relief as the pressure from the Bloodmoon finally eased.

I looked back, expecting to see the demons following after us, but they stopped at the edge of the stairwell, unable to proceed past the effect of the Bloodmoon it seemed. My Flame flared as a new insight sprung from within me. There was indeed a difference between the demons on the surface and those from the gate. Those on the surface were perhaps once human and needed the Bloodmoon to survive, but not so for the ones that had spawned through the gates. I’d seen where they’d come from and nothing about them was human at all.

“Holy shit, that was close,” Kelsey said, still breathing hard. “I nearly lost it again.”

I smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Thanks for hanging back to protect me.”

“Yeah, you were in a deep trance for ages. What happened? Where did you go?”

I gave Kelsey the short version. The purplish sky, the hordes of demons and the giant blue bitch named I’xan’dra, who claimed she was a god.

“Are you kidding!” Kelsey said, her eyes wide. “You jumped through a gate to hell and killed a damn god?”

I shrugged. “Didn’t feel like I was killing a god. Maybe just a husk of one. Or an avatar or something. But the real her… yeah, I think I pissed her off good and proper. She was hinting at a rematch for sure.”

I then told Kelsey about the towering demons and flying creatures and the massive gate that led to someplace further unknown.

“I’m not even sure where I was,” I said. “It felt like I was on some plane of hell, but I think…” I glanced upwards and an image of the Bloodmoon entered my mind. “…I think that maybe it was the moon.”

Kelsey glanced up at the ceiling with me. “Seriously?”

I shrugged. “Or the spiritual equivalent of it, maybe. But I’m not going back to confirm it anytime soon though. The main thing is this gate is destroyed. The normal demons can’t extend outside of the influence of the Bloodmoon so the bunker is finally safe.”

“Hell yeah, Big Bro,” Kelsey said as she hit me up with a fist bump. “We kicked their asses.”

I laughed weakly, finally realizing just how spent I was.

“Hey Kelsey,” I said. “Let’s take five until the morning, yeah?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she said, collapsing against the wall.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, releasing all the tension of the last three days.

It was finally over.

The battle against I’xol’ukz and his demons was won.

At least for now.

“Hey, Kelsey,” I said.

“Yeah?”

“A quick sprint back home to the base tomorrow and then when you’re ready, I’m taking you to get your reward.”

“My reward?”

“For breaking through to the core realm,” I said. “Maybe you were too hyped up to even realize it, but you just overcame your Fear of Certain Death. Congratulations.”

Kelsey’s eyes grew wide as lemonade filled her soul.

“You serious?”

“Look for yourself.”

She closed her eyes, looking within and after half a second, she let out a yelp of surprise.

“I did it!” she said. “I actually did it!”

I smiled at her success. “Well done, sis.”

But even as I said it, I wondered if I hadn’t had some breakthrough of my own. My Flame seemed to be burning twice as bright now. I hadn’t ascended to the next realm, but perhaps I’d already achieved the pre-requisite for it. Death wasn’t even a consideration when I jumped through that gate and faced down some eldritch god.

Perhaps I now [Feared no Death] at all.

My Flame flared with confirmation as the root of my spiritual Dao increased.

“So, what’s my reward?” Kelsey said, pulling me from my thoughts.

I smiled.

“You get to pick out a new axe,” I said. “At Master Edrik’s.”

“Where?”

“He’s the best blacksmith in Jurin province,” I said and immediately her eyes shone with delight. “Once we get home, I’m taking you to experience the outside world, Kelsey. It’s time to head to the city.”