Incubus Ascension

The royal chamber’s heavy doors hung ajar, torchlight flickering across marble floors still slick with the remnants of earlier violence. Liam’s eyes snapped open, chest heaving as if he had just broken the surface of deep water. For a split second, the disorientation clawed at him—’How long was I gone? Did it work?’—then his gaze locked on Valdora standing opposite him, mouth slightly agape in speechless shock.

Valdora recovered first, voice sharp with disbelief. "Just how did you manage to get back this fast?"

Liam didn’t answer. The weight of his twin blades felt right in his hands again, familiar and hungry. He launched forward in a blur, muscles coiling with power he hadn’t possessed moments ago. The speed stole his own breath. ’This... this is different.’ Mid-leap, he flicked open his status window with a thought.

**Level: 800**

A savage grin tugged at his lips. The numbers burned bright, fueling the fire already roaring in his chest. He had people to protect. A world that kept trying to take everything from him. Not this time.

Valdora’s eyes widened, then narrowed in fury. "You wasted my levels increasing your own, you insignificant worm!" He spat the words, hands already weaving dark threads of power. "Just how did you break free from my mental prison?"

Liam ignored the taunt, closing the distance in a heartbeat. His blades sang through the air, forcing Valdora to stumble back. ’Keep talking. Every second you waste is another I use against you.’

Madusa moved like lightning beside him, her form a deadly shadow. She struck without hesitation—a devastating blow that cracked Valdora’s defenses and sent black ichor spraying across the chamber floor. Together they pressed the assault, steel meeting corrupted flesh in a brutal symphony. Valdora’s final scream echoed off the walls as their combined strikes ended him.

A soft chime rang in Liam’s mind.

**Hidden Quest Completed: Getting Rid of the True Devil for Good.**

**Rewards: One Shard of Reality. Location of Goddess Nyx unlocked.**

Liam tilted his head, catching his breath, when he noticed Madusa kneeling beside the corpse. She placed a hand on Valdora’s chest, eyes closed in concentration. Golden holy power flowed from the fallen devil into her, shimmering like captured starlight.

"Can you pinpoint her?" Liam asked quietly, voice rough with urgency. He thought of the goddess trapped somewhere out there, alone and vulnerable. The same way he had once felt—adrift, fighting shadows no one else could see. He wouldn’t let that stand.

Madusa nodded, her expression steady but fierce. "She is on the side continent."

Liam’s eyes widened. ’She never left?’ The realization hit like a physical blow. All this time, so close, yet unreachable until now. He turned to the others, voice firm. "We move. Now."

They ran without pause, boots pounding ancient stone corridors and then open ground. Wind whipped at their faces as they reached the towering cliff overlooking the hidden portal. The swirling gateway hummed with latent energy, promising both salvation and danger. Liam spared a glance at the girls—his family in all but blood—and stepped through first.

The teleportation pulled at every nerve, then spat them out onto the side continent’s wild terrain. Madusa immediately pointed toward a brooding dark mountain in the distance, its peak shrouded in unnatural shadow. "There."

They pushed onward, the landscape growing harsher with every step. When they finally reached the mountain’s base, Madusa raised a hand. "Get back. I will wake my sister."

The group retreated a short distance. Madusa pressed her palm to the cold rock and murmured, voice thick with emotion, "Sister Nyx... wake up. I’ve come."

Dark energy coalesced at the summit, swirling and condensing until a woman materialized. Liam recognized her instantly—Goddess Nyx, mistress of darkness. But she looked diminished: shoulders slumped, one leg limping as she descended. The sight twisted something protective in Liam’s chest. ’No one should have to suffer like this. Not after everything.’

Nyx’s gaze met Madusa’s, urgent and strained. "It’s bad. You need to leave. There is a group of exiles targeting the two of us."

Madusa’s eyes widened. "Really?"

Before anyone could react, figures in dark clothing melted from the surrounding rocks, encircling them in a tight ring. Their leader stepped forward, voice cold. "Get away. Leave Nyx and Madusa alone."

Liam tilted his head, assessing the threat even as a new notification flashed.

**Quest Received: Protect Nyx and Madusa from the Scorpion Gang.**

’Scorpion gang?’ he thought, surprise flickering. ’Were they really this strong?’

"Are you the Scorpion Gang?" he asked aloud, keeping his tone even.

The man at the front smirked. "How did you know?"

"I have my ways." Liam glanced back at Nyx and Madusa, then returned his focus to the strangers. "Why are you after those two?"

The leader, flanked by seven others, walked ahead of his group. "Name’s C2."

The princess’s eyes widened beside Liam. "Wait—you’re part of the capital orphans?"

C2 shook his head, expression hardening. "We’re all different people, from every side of the continent. We were lucky enough to get accepted by The Eye."

Liam tilted his head again. ’The Eye.’ Another quest appeared immediately.

**Quest: Stop the Summoning of the Eye to the Main Continent.**

**Failure: The realm will be destroyed. The world will fall into eternal darkness.**

**Reward: One Shard of Reality.**

The stakes settled heavy in Liam’s gut—not abstract doom, but the very real possibility of losing everything and everyone he had fought to save. ’I’ve come too far to let that happen.’ He checked their levels quickly. Three hundred each. Manageable.

Without another word, he lunged. His blade flashed, and the fight erupted. Power surged through him at level 800, every strike decisive. One by one, the eight fell beneath his assault, bodies crumpling to the rocky ground.

Liam’s eyes widened as the impossible unfolded. The fallen stirred, halves stretching and knitting back together with grotesque elasticity. They rose again, eyes burning with malice.

"Surrender," one hissed. "You’ll only get tired. We win eventually."

Liam’s jaw tightened, breath steady despite the adrenaline. "No."

C2 stepped forward, voice dripping contempt. "You leave me no choice." He reached into his pocket and activated a device. A shimmering barrier snapped into existence around Liam, the girls, Nyx, and Madusa.

Liam slammed his fist against it. Nothing. Not even a scratch. ’Damn it.’ Madusa charged her full power and unleashed a devastating strike. The barrier shattered—but before they could escape, it reformed stronger than before.

"This isn’t good," Liam muttered. He glared at C2. "What now?"

C2’s grin widened as he pressed a button on the device. A thick mist began pouring from the barrier’s edges. Liam and the others clamped their mouths shut, but the gas seeped through skin regardless. He inspected it quickly.

**Mana Sleeping Mist – Rank: Otherworldly.**

**A mist that induces sleep in any target, ignoring level differences.**

Liam gulped, pulse hammering. ’Not like this.’ He shot a look at Madusa. "Charge another peak attack arrow. Now."

She obeyed without hesitation. The arrow loosed, exploding against the barrier and crumbling it once more. In the same instant, Liam hurled one of his swords with pinpoint accuracy. C2’s reaction was too slow. The blade struck the device dead center, shattering it. The barrier dissolved completely.

Liam moved fast, binding the eight immortals tightly while they were still reforming. He stood over C2, voice low and edged with steel. "I know you’re immortals. But I could always weigh down your feet and toss you into the sea to become fish food." He paused, letting the threat sink in. "I just want information about your boss. The Eye."

The mountain wind howled around them, carrying the weight of unfinished battles and fragile hopes. Liam’s grip on his remaining blade stayed firm, heart anchored by the people standing with him—flawed, determined, worth every risk. Whatever came next, he would face it head-on. For them. For the chance to finally set things right.