//------------------------------// // 16 - I HATE MAZES. // Story: The Royal Gamer // by SleepyBear //------------------------------// Could I really keep this a secret? Galatea seemed like a good person that sacrificed more than she should’ve, what should I do with this, aren’t I breaking the timeline with this encounter? Perhaps I should leave this place, for now, and see what to do later. However, as I made my way to the exit, thinking what I should do with this newfound information, I was stopped midway out of the attic as my eyes caught something at the entrance, a nightmarish creature, is rising on its haunches. “HELLO THERE.” A voice thundered inside my skull, seeming to come from everywhere around me, like the roar of a lion. Sighing and overly prepared for this shit, I took the sword I brought with me out ready to attack, the Demon simply smiled at my reaction, and with the wave of his hand pushed me back to where I found Excalibur with incredible force. “HOW NICE OF YOU TO FIND THE SWORD, AND HER DIARY FOR ME, IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR FIFTEEN THOUSAND YEARS,” The Demon chuckled in amusement, “NOW GIVE ME THE SWORD AND ILL LET YOU DIE FAST.” , the creature got closer to me and bent down ponderously - I notice he was taller than me at least five times bigger than me, and his body seemed to be made out of shadows- I could feel his breath on my face, and his eyes twinkling with excitement. “You bad guys are pretty cliche,” I chuckled, punching the Demon with my bare fist, pushing him back to the entrance, his attack didn’t hurt at all, it felt like a pillow had pushed me back, “So what are you some God/Demon?” “I FORGOT HOW FUNNY, AND STUPID THE DEMI GODS CAN BE, YOU GUYS ARE TRULY A SIGHT TO BEHOLD,” The Demon chuckled, “I’M NO GOD NOR MORTAL, WHAT AM I KID?” “If I knew I wouldn’t have asked you,” I rolled my eyes at him. “THEN LET ME SHOW YOU,” The Demon smiled, pointing at me with his hand creepy longhand. Once again, I feel the same powerful and overwhelming pressure that pushed me at the beginning, this time it was pulling me forward, towards the Demon, instinctively I locked my sword on the ground to stop his pull as I decided to gather a bit more of information about him, 'Observe’ He is a powerful Great Earl of The ----------, being the ruler of twenty-nine legions of --------, he one of the few ---- that existed before the great rift started, hiding and biding his time and only showing his face when he has something to earn. ‘That too little hp, something is off about this guy, and some information is missing,’ I thought, but I was interrupted as my face was brutally smashed against the floor with enough force to send me right back to the first floor, I’m surprised once again to find it didn’t hurt at all, wanting to get this over with and not wanting to yield to the invisible pressure, I spun around with my sword covered in mana cutting the magic hold he had on me, it was a bet I didn’t know if it would work, but I did. “I am not going down that easy,” I smiled at the Demon and dashed towards him, the Demon smiled at my antics. “WE’LL SEE” As soon as he said that, I noticed that I was surrounded by hot swirling flames, consuming, and tearing at my clothes. The smell of smoke and sulfur assaulted my nose, I felt my body being cut by the fast and hot wings, and the warmth of my blood running down my body, and yet I don’t feel anything but discomfort, “YOU CAN’T FEEL PAIN CAN YOU?” The Demon asked, tilting his head in confusion. I didn’t even notice until he brought it up, but he was right, all I felt was slight touches in my body whenever he attacked me, was that the result of my time in Tartarus, regardless of that, I wasn’t gonna find the answer right now, “.....Who knows?” “HOW SAD, YOU COULD DIE AND NOT EVEN NOTICE IT,” The Demon cackled in amusement letting his guard down, and I wasn’t so nice to let this opportunity go, so taking that distraction I teleported behind him, and with a downward slash, I proceeded to cut his shadowy body in half. Yet the Demon didn’t receive any damage; it was like trying to attack a body of water with a stick, “Fuck,” “YOU CAN’T KILL ME,” The Demon snapped his finger, and once again the invisible pressure crushed me against the floor, “I’M A SHADOW, NO PHYSICAL ATTACK COULD HOPE TO WORK ON ME, EVEN MOST MAGIC IS USELESS AGAINST ME, YOU CAN’T USE THAT SWORD AS IT WAS INTENDED, BUT I WILL!” “For the love of everything I have stolen, stop with the monologues,” I sighed on the floor. The Demon apparently didn’t like to my way of talking because I felt my face is being roughly pressed against the surface of the floor, all I could think of was that the Demon was right I don’t feel anything, just slight discomfort, but that didn’t mean I was taking any damage, so it was time to end this, with that in mind I decided to equip my new sword, “Equip, Excalibur,” as soon as Excalibur appeared in my hand, replacing the other sword I brought, the hold the Demon had disappeared. “A SWORD THAT ITS BLADE REFLECTS THE WILL OF ITS WIELDER, SUCH WEAPON BELONGS TO SOMEONE LIKE ME!” The Demon tried to put his invisible hold on me, but nothing happened, “WELL THEN I SHALL!” “No, you shall not,” I teleported behind him, and with a swift strike, I cut his head off, this time his body started to dissipate, it seems using Excalibur was the right choice. “IT WAS TO BE EXPECT IT, A MERE SHADOW OF ME COULDN’T HOPE TO BEAT SOMEONE WIELDING THAT SWORD, BUT REMEMBER THIS CHILD, HEED THIS WARNING... MANY WILL COME FOR THAT SWORD INCLUDING ME... GODS... DEMI GODS, AND NEXT TIME I WILL COME FOR YOU... COMPLETE!” “Yesh, Edgy till the end,” I chuckled. It seemed I defeated a shadow of him that he sent to retrieve the sword and diary of Galatea, with a chuckle I started to brush off the blood of my clothes, as I slowly start to leave the cursed room, Excalibur appears to be able to cut through magic which is probably the reason why the Demon got defeated so easily, once I was out of the room I notice my left arm is different and taking a closer look it’s clear that it was broken. “Well, I’m not sure how to feel about this,” I muttered, looking at my arm, no pun intended. Knowing it wasn’t anything lethal and that my body would recover soon, I ignored my shattered arm and proceeded to try and find the way back to my group, not before hiding Excalibur, if the Demon was right and the diary was something to go by, Gods would fly to get my head for the sword. “Alright, now… where the fudge am I?” I said as once again, I entered the loop of infinite turns. I hate mazes, turns, and turns…. And wait for it! More turns, fucking place; it’s like a puzzle made for fucking your patience. “HAVE AT IT FIEND!” A very familiar voice shouted, making my ears cry in pain, Luna. “So I can feel pain..mmmm...not sure if I should be happy or not,” I hummed; maybe my ears weren’t affected in Tartarus, or Luna is just that powerful with her voice. “DIE! DIE! DIE!” Luna shouted, meanwhile I was following her voice, trying to pinpoint her location, the more I heard her shouts of glory and victory the more clear it was what I felt wasn’t pain but annoyance. “One thing is getting my arm broken, but not feeling pain with her tone of voice, I need a doctor,” I chuckled. It took me a couple of minutes, but I finally found her, slaying a monster with her bare hands, her dress was drenched with blood, and her hands were crimson red, with the inside of her enemy, or prey. “Howdy,” I nonchalantly announced my presence, making Luna turn her beautiful yet scary bloodied body to me. “VLAD!” Luna cheered the moment she saw me, running towards me in the stereotypical way girls run in movies, skipping in the air, in this case, it was a bit unsettling because she was covered in blood. “So, how do we get out of here,” I smiled, as I reluctantly took her into my arms, I’m not a fan of blood, I don’t hate blood, but I don’t like being soaked in it. “Who broke your arm? And more importantly… is the perpetrator still alive so that I can dismember him slowly and painfully?” Luna asked, touching my limp arm carefully. “Don’t worry he’s gone,” I chuckled, she was adorable, poking my arm and puffing in an angry manner trying to avenge me. “Oh, well,” Luna pouted, disappointed she didn’t get a go with the one that broke my arm. “Maybe you could kill the next monster that tries to attack me?” I offered. “I SHALL! PROTECT YOU!” Luna once again was sparkling with happiness. “So… how do we get out of here?” I asked. “Oh, well, that’s easy, all we need is a….” Luna didn’t finish her sentence; she started to blush and look away. “What’s wrong?” I wasn’t flirting with her, so why would she get all flustered all of a sudden. “We are alone,” Luna whispered biting her lower lip, “We have this room for ourselves,” Oh great, the horny princess wanted to have fun, in a dungeon full of monsters, while covered in blood, and let’s not forget my arm was broken, “I’m flattered, but my arm is broken, and you look like Carrie, so shall we postpone this for a later time?” “Who’s Carrie?” Luna narrowed her eyes at me. Note to self, don’t make references with female characters when you’re inside a demigod dating another demigod, “Its a character from a book I read you never heard of, from an author you never heard of, the coincidences.” “Tia owns every book,” Luna smiled, but her eyes spelled I was done. “Alright, a book I’m writing,” I lied, I might not feel pain, but I don’t want to experience my balls being attached to my chin. “You’re writing a book?” Luna asked, this time a bit calmer. “Yeah…” I sighed. “I want to proofread it!” Luna smiled, offering to help with my clearly fake book. “Sure, as soon as I get…the first draft is done, you’ll be the first one to get it,” I smiled, knowing deep inside that thanks to my great mouth, I would now have to write a freaking book, to keep my balls where they belong. “And as I said, we are alone; perhaps I could give you a treat?” Luna smiled seductively. “I don’t think… what am I gay…” Me rejecting a beautiful willing woman, twice, this world is making me weak. “Then, how about---” Luna was interrupted, by the loud sound of a wall being broken down, dust filled the room, setting Luna and me into a cough off. “HA! I found you brother!” Sombra shouted, rushing through the debris like it was made out of pillows. “Hello, Sombra…” I chuckled, as he crushed my bones with a hug. “Who do I have to kill?” Sombra asked in a low and threatening tone. “My arm?” I sighed; this was all too familiar to what happened with Luna. “Yes,” Sombra was downright scary; he was holding my arm, not blinking, grinding his teeth. “He dead,” I smirked. “Oh, well… good job, little brother,” Saying that was like a switch, he went from serial killer mode to happy mode in less than a second. “So, where is Celestia?” I asked now that the waters had calmed. “She was right behind me,” Sombra answered, looking around. *CRACK!* “What’s that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. *CRACK!* “Huh, it sounds like someone is breaking the walls of the maze,” Luna answered. *CRACK!* “Nah, that’s my Sun, breaking the walls,” Sombra smiled, “I would recognize the sound of her smashing through enemies or walls anywhere!” *CRACK!* “That’s one weird relationship flex,” I laughed. *CRACK!* “It’s fine! Why? I am here!” Celestia broke through the last wall, grabbing a piece of debris and throwing it at Luna, who caught the rock with her face, “THAT’S FOR CHOOSING A FUCKING MAZE!”