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“What the hell is that?” one of the soldiers said from behind. “Stinks like hell down here.”

It was Corporal Andrews, the man who had replaced Richards.

“You answered your own question, son,” Jim said. “Hell is right. You weren’t with us on the initial run, but the entire second base stunk like this. Turned the place into a sewer, they did. We’ll need a damn good cleansing after this.”

“I’ll take care of the ones making the stink,” I said. “But as for the stink itself, well…”

Andrews laughed. “Yeah, I get it. Shit rolls downhill, right?”

I could only grin.

I choked up on my axe and glaive as we approached the final stairwell to the sixth floor and the screech of demons joined the foul stench in the air. What looked like a hundred of them crowded the small space, crawling over one another as they pressed against the barrier to get at me. I halted before the writhing mass of red-skinned creatures and then looked behind me, waiting for Harris and Kelsey to catch up.

Kelsey ran with her axe on her shoulder, but barely carried anything else. A pair of shorts, boots, and a tank top was all she wore, showing off the various scars crisscrossing her battle-hardened skin. I couldn’t have been more proud. I matched her in the dress code department, stripping down Berserker-style to a bare chest and pants cut off at the thighs. We were in stark contrast to the flak armor and tactical gear that Jim and his men wore, but the raw freedom of mobility filled me with an eagerness to get started.

I could sense the same in Kelsey.

Perhaps even more so.

Her Flame was burning twice as bright as mine, roaring with Frenzy. I had to remember her hatred of demons was the core of her Dao. It was yet one more reason she absolutely needed to join me at the second base. If all else failed, her boundless Frenzy could be the savior of us both.

“Time to put your [Iron Skin] to the test,” I said to Kelsey with a wink. “Happy hunting.”

She gave me a nod and smiled. “Just save some for me.”

I laughed at that and then cycled my Frenzy.

“I’m heading in. Give me thirty seconds before you follow.”

Engaging [Steel Skin], I readied my axe and glaive and took off in a sprint towards the swarm of demons within the stairwell. I released a cry of aggression as I hacked into the shrieking mass. They folded like tissue paper against the might of my cleaves, my casual strength alone now able to kill them with a single blow.

My [Bloodlust] triggered, replenishing my Frenzy and I pressed on in a torrent of carnage and rage, cutting through the demons like I was harvesting ripe wheat. Their claws and rusted weapons were all but ineffectual against my [Steel Skin] and I used the advantage to dive deep into the midst of them before releasing a powerful Frenzy-filled technique.

“[Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]!”

Arcs of blue lightning fired from my body, frying hundreds of them at a time as I lit up the bunker with my own personal fireworks display. I pressed forward against the throng that remained, not waiting to take care of stragglers just like Jim had strategized. The tide soon turned as they began to flee from me with fear permeating their ranks.

I kept it up—hacking and slashing.

I didn’t tire.

I didn’t rest.

The process became almost mechanical as I brought the wrath of my blades to bear upon the weak demon fodder. I couldn’t tell what was going on behind me, but the popcorn sound of gunfire said there were more than a few strays left behind from my sloppy work, but the exuberance of Kelsey’s battle cries let me know that it was just fine with her.

I kept focused on my own task at hand and simply pressed on.

What felt like over an hour passed as I finally cleared the sixth and seventh floors, accessing the basement. I got a sense of déjà vu as I went through the process of clearing the bottom of the facility yet again, reminiscent of when I first encountered Jim and his team.

The demons were thick—hundreds if not thousands of them packed into the space so tightly that it was like pushing against a wall.

Then something began to change.

As I cut through the demons, I began to feel the bite of their claws through my [Steel Skin]. Not enough to break it, but enough that I wasn’t totally insulated anymore. Something was making them stronger.

And then I sensed it.

Dark Frenzy…

Vibrant and pulsating.

In the darkness I could barely make out anything, save the scantily clad bodies of the demons themselves, writhing and screaming. But then suddenly an eerie red glow filed the air, like the light of the Bloodmoon itself. Whatever it was pushed against my Flame and I shielded myself with [Soul Shield] to prevent it from being snuffed out.

The light rose into the air, like a glowing red ember in the darkness and then suddenly it crashed down to earth again. Ka-thoom! A huge explosion of light and sound rocked the basement as a wave of Dark Frenzy and heat washed over me.

A hundred demon screams were cut short in death cries as a wave of corpses radiated outwards from the explosion. I shielded myself from the flying bodies with [Steel Lightning], some of them impacting and exploding with the reactive force on contact.

From the flash of the explosion a huge figure emerged from the darkness.

It was at least three stories tall, humanoid in shape but just barely. Its body appeared to shift and squirm, like its skin was crawling with leeches. Only when I strained my eyes did I realize that what was moving was actually the limbs of hundreds of demons, all smashed into one another in a horrific mosaic of depravity and gore.

My mind reeled when I realized what it was.

A Corpse Demon…

I’d only read about them in my handler’s manuals before—the result of some demonic force herding together the bodies of their fallen comrades. And in this case, it had just made a hundred more corpses to feed upon. The bodies of the demons it’d just killed slowly twisted and coiled, manipulated by the unseen power of the giant creature, becoming part of its body. It was like watching one of my [Mark] techniques take hold, except in a grand and perverse form.

The thing had no head, but where its stomach would be was a gaping maw. In its hand was the glowing red object I’d seen in the dark. A crude-looking hammer made of twisted, blackened steel, but the head was a red crystal that glowed with the power of Dark Frenzy.

The monster seemed to look in my direction and its maw salivated with dripping offal and body parts. “Son of the Cursed Flame… We knew thou wouldst come.”

What the hell…?

I wasn’t expecting it to talk.

In fact, I was expecting to find another gate or something, but not this.

Whatever this was?

It was a Corpse Demon for sure, but they were supposed to be horrid mindless masses that merely consumed. This was something else.

An Awakened Corpse Demon perhaps?

My Flame stirred with the apprehension of the unknown power I faced.

Surely the [Odds were Against Me].

The Demon inside me grinned.

Always…

As the fresh Frenzy flowed, I channeled it into my meridians and increased my size with [Mark of the Giant].

“Know this then,” I said to it. “First, I’m going to destroy you. And then I’ll be coming for your god.”

I charged forward with lightning bursting from my weapons, popping demons like rotten fruit as I trampled over them. The Corpse Demon swung its hammer down and I leapt to the side as it went off like a bomb again, sending demons and concrete hurtling through the air.

I regained my footing in a roll, slipping on guts before laying into the ankle of the giant monstrosity with both my axe and my glaive. The mangled corpses gave way to the power of my hit and the creature stumbled as its foot was severed.

But no more quickly did it happen, than did the Corpse Demon simply form another foot from the sea of corpses around it.

Not good, I thought.

The hammer came down again and I jumped in the air to avoid the blast of more demon corpses and Dark Frenzy.

“Irritating gnat!” It spoke with a deep rumbling voice that resounded within my soul. “Thou shall mock our lord no more.”

I thought for a moment, considering just what this thing was. It wasn’t a manifestation of I’xol’ukz like what had become of Hong Feng or Hin Wu. This thing had its own mind.

An underling.

But it was a damn mini boss at best.

I laughed scoffingly. “I’ve killed your ‘lord’ like three times now, you smelly pile of shit. You think you stand any chance against the true Fury of the Frenzied Flame?”

The creature roared as if provoked by the name alone and I followed up my verbal assault with a full-on blast of [Fear the Flame] itself. It roared even more, shying away from me. I took the opportunity to heighten my reflexes, surging forward with [Mark of the Beast]. My body transformed near instantly and I leapt twenty feet straight up to land on its leg. I bounced off the writhing mass of flesh to springboard into a downward cleave, aiming a critical blow at its weapon hand.

“[Double Three Log Chop]!”

Both weapons cleaved into the tangled mass of rotting flesh, snapping the bones with satisfying cracks as they cut through to the other side. The hammer fell to the ground and the monster roared in pain. I landed next to the crude weapon, enduring the Dark Frenzy radiating from it as I kicked it across the room and away from me.

The Corpse Demon seemed to become more mindless then, devolving from a humanoid shape to land on all fours. It began swiping at me with its elongated limbs and I avoided one only to be struck by the other. The world spun with pain as I went sailing end over end and crashed into the wall.

Damn, I cursed. Mini boss or not, this thing still packs a punch.

I regained my footing and went on the assault again, cleaving and chopping with my lightning-charged dual weapon techniques. But as soon as I cut off a piece of the creature, it would simply reform.

Shit… cutting its body is having no effect at all.

I needed to take this thing out some other way.

I formed a quick and desperate plan.

I had no idea if it would work but I had nothing else left to try.

Cycling my Frenzy, I charged forward with [Steel Lightning], ignoring another slam from its arms as I literally dove into the cavity of its gaping maw. The putrid scent of decay was enough to make me throw up immediately, but I held it together to annunciate my attack as I shot half my Frenzy towards my jing.

“[Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]!”

Torrents of blue lightning radiated from the core of my being and blasted outwards into the guts of the Corpse Demon, cooking it from the inside. My world turned upside down as the monster roared and bellowed, but I kept it up, putting my all into the attack.

With a primal grunt I surged with Frenzy and then something like a bomb went off as the insides of the Corpse Demon exploded with me inside.

Va-boom!

Blood and offal filled the air as all around me chunks of rotted flesh fell from the sky.

I took a moment to steady myself, realizing it was all over as the corpses finally stopped moving. I promptly emptied my stomach, finally giving in to the putrid carnage surrounded me. I released my [Marks] and shrunk back to normal size. The majority of the demons were likely dead now, if not all.

But the sporadic sound of gunfire told me a few were left at least.

Kelsey must have just arrived with the cleanup crew, I thought.

I hefted my glaive onto my shoulder and stumbled back through the dead bodies towards the sounds of combat and the main entrance door. I rounded a mound of corpses, expecting to see Jim’s men picking off stray demons, but what I did see sent my heart into my mouth.

There, standing atop what was left of the hammer was Kelsey.

Or what used to be Kelsey.

She was twice her normal size, red skin rippling with inhuman muscle and from the sides of her head were a set of bull’s horns. She roared and shrieked as Jim and his men kept peppering her with suppressive fire, the bullets bouncing off like pebbles hitting a wall.

Shit no! I thought in panic.“Kelsey!”

Inside her Flame was belching black smoke, overcome by the effect of the Dark Frenzy.

I broke into a run to reach her, just as Jim began yelling to his troops.

“I’ll hold her back!” Jim shouted as he took point, blasting Kelsey at near point blank-range with his rifle. “Everyone, fall back now!!” He then shouted directly to her. “You fight whatever the hell that is, Kelsey! I know you’re still in there, damn it!”

I could only imagine what had happened. Kelsey had transformed before their eyes.

And now she’d lost all control and had turned on them.

“Kelsey!” I screamed again, dropping my weapons as I neared her, but her attention was drawn by Jim. Before I could even reach, she jumped off the hammer and struck him hard across the chest with a wide sweep of her claws. He cried out sharply as his rifle went flying, along with his flak jacket and a good portion of flesh beneath.

Shit! Jim!

He continued to scream as blood gushed from the open wound. Kelsey echoed the cry, rallying in a fervor, perhaps triggered by her [Bloodlust]. She leapt at him, swiping her claws at him for a killing blow when I barreled into her from the side.

I knocked her off her feet and sent us both tumbling across the gore-strewn floor. Kelsey righted herself immediately, swift like a cat and was on top of me before I knew it.

Her sharpened teeth snapped at my face as I held her back by her wrists, her eyes yellow and filled with unbridled Frenzy and rage. Even with my strength she was nearly a match for me. It made me realize just how powerful I became under the full effect of the demon.

And Kelsey was no different.

I glanced back to see Jim’s men dragging him away as he clutched his torso, hissing in pain. He was hurt bad, but he wasn’t the one I needed to save right now. My Flame was protected by my [Soul Shield] technique, but Kelsey’s was floundering and growing darker and redder by the second. More than that, I knew where she now was.

In that space between spaces.

The hidden realm where I’xol’ukz could freely roam.

I’ve got to get her out of there!

I looked for the hammer and saw it glowing not thirty feet away.

My body was too worn out to use a [Mark] again so quickly, even if the added strength would do me good right now. I had to beat Kelsey back with whatever I had left in the tank. Releasing a cry, I drove my forehead into her nose and pressed both legs into her torso, kicking her off of me. She went flying and screaming, flipping about to land on her feet before she even hit the ground.

I used the time to flip onto my own feet and went at her hand to hand as she charged back at me. Her claws ripped the air—wild and savage swipes, but under it all she was perfectly executing her base forms. It was horrific and impressive all at once and for a split second I wondered if this was what I was like when I began to lose control.

“Kelsey, don’t let go!” I shouted to her as I blocked her forearm from cutting me to shreds. “Sense my Flame. Come to me! Don’t let I’xol’ukz take you away!”

She whipped about with a swift kick to my stomach that sent me flying, her speed incredible. I crashed into a mound of corpses and was nearly pummeled as she followed up with a hatchet kick that drove her heel straight into the concrete floor. I side stepped before it connected, and used the opportunity to send a full-on fist straight to her jaw.

Her head snapped to the side, followed by her body as she cartwheeled away from me before crashing heavily into the wall.

I didn’t wait to see if she was okay.

I dove for my axe instead.

Snatching it off the ground, I ran towards the glowing red stone of the hammer and leapt into the air with a double-handed strike.

“[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!”

Blue lightning crackled from the ceiling, illuminating the basement as I drove my axe into the growing red crystal. It struck with a boom! and I was thrown back as the crystal exploded, sending a shockwave of Dark Frenzy flying in all directions.

I landed on my ass some distance away and rolled onto my feet.

Silence fell then and the pressure in the air subsided.

The Dark Frenzy was gone.

Illuminating myself with [Steel Lightning], I looked for Kelsey and found her slumped against the wall that was now decorated with the spiderweb-crack of her impact.

“Kelsey!” I shouted as I knelt down to her. Her body was shrinking, slowly reverting to its normal shape and size. Internally I could see her Flame returning to normal as well, the black soot disappearing and leaving no trace of gunk at all.

I was thankful for that.

I’d stopped it in time.

Kelsey suddenly came to with a gasp for air. Her eyes quickly focused as her soul reinhabited her body again. Before I could even say anything, she scrambled to her feet.

“Oh my God!” she screamed. “Jim!!”

She indeed hadn’t completely lost it.

She’d seen everything.

I rushed to follow after her and found her wailing and kneeling before Jim who was now spread across a stretcher on the floor. The rest of the squad surrounded her, weapons drawn and pointed, but she obviously didn’t care.

I rushed to put them at ease with [Struggler’s Resolve].

“It’s okay now,” I said. “It was that hammer that was affecting her. She wasn’t in control. But she’s okay now.”

My words fell on deaf ears, everyone still too traumatized by what they had seen to react at all. Kelsey however continued to sob as she pawed at Jim’s busted chest.

“Jim, I’m sorry!” she cried. “I’m so sorry!”

Suddenly with a ragged breath Jim stirred and Kelsey all but killed him again as she crushed him within her arms in an embrace. “Jim! You’re alive!”

I rushed to check him as well, but he didn’t look good. Half his ribcage was exposed and the amount of blood seeping through the stretcher looked enough to fill three people. Still, he clung to life, wheezing, his lungs no doubt already filled with fluid.

“We’ve got to get him to my mom!” Kelsey said in a panic. “She can save him!”

The soldiers were about to react when Jim weakly raised his hand.

“Leave it…” he said. “I’m not… leaving… this basement.”

“Jim, come on!” Kelsey said. “You can make it. I’ll carry you!”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t blame… yourself… for this. Understand? We saw… what happened.”

“Jim, please, just let me—!”

“Stop,” he said and then he looked over at me. “Finish the mission, son. You have the maps. Don’t… let this happen… to her again.”

Kelsey broke into another sob as Jim hacked out a ragged cough, blood spewing from his mouth.

“Jim!” she cried.

But there was no answer.

“Jim!!”

I stood back as Kelsey banged on his chest repeatedly—helplessly and I realized then that she was enduring the pain of not just taking her first human life, but the life of someone she loved. Quiet minutes passed as the reality of it sunk in for her and everyone else. I couldn’t tell what the soldiers were thinking, but they restrained their emotions with a professionalism and stoicism that could rival my [Indifference] technique to its core.

Finally, Kelsey stood and the soldiers gave her a wide berth.

She looked at me with sad eyes and I opened my arms to embrace her as she ran into me still crying.

“I tried, Max,” she sobbed. “I tried so hard, but it was too strong. That monster came and... I could still see everything, but just couldn’t… I just couldn’t...”

“It’s alright,” I said. “This wasn’t you. I should have been more careful where I kicked that damn hammer. You weren’t ready to face anything like this.”

“No,” she said and her eyes then burned with anger as she looked up at me. “This was I’xol’ukz. That damn monster did this!”

“Hey,” someone said softly, and it took me a minute to realize it was Lieutenant Harris speaking. He was looking at the both of us warily, like we were about to turn into demons again. “Can either of you explain what the hell just happened?”

I’d only ever used [Mark of the Giant] around them, so seeing Kelsey transform into a full-blown demon would have been a shock beyond reality. I lowered my voice to keep the calm. The last thing we needed was another freakout.

“That hammer I destroyed was like a small chunk of the Bloodmoon,” I said. “The energy it radiates is what causes the spirit beasts and demons on the surface. Left long enough, all of you would become demons just like her. Kelsey and I… we just happen to be hypersensitive to it. It causes us to transform much faster.”

It wasn’t a fully accurate explanation, but it was one I knew they would understand.

“Shit…” Corporal Andrews said vacantly. “Why didn’t you tell us this could happen?”

“Didn’t know we’d run into something quite like this,” I said. “I was expecting another gate. Something we could avoid. But unfortunately, I kicked the hammer away from me and it landed too close to Kelsey.”

Murmurs went through their ranks as they all tried to process what I’d said.

I realized it was no different for them as when I had transformed before Fia.

Albeit, perhaps after living with demon attacks for so many years, the outcome of losing Jim to a demon wasn’t nearly as unexpected. But seeing Kelsey suddenly becoming one of them certainly was.

“The main thing is this,” I said. “We’re both still human. Kelsey is still the same Kelsey you know. And trust me, this has been as traumatizing for her as it’s been for you.” I glanced down at Kelsey who was still shaking in my arms. “Maybe even more so…”

“I’m sorry, everyone,” Kelsey said. “I’m sorry I did this. I just…didn’t have control.”

Moments passed in silence, but slowly I could see the shock and uncertainty ebbing in their eyes, replaced with compassion for the young girl sobbing in my arms.

Finally, Harris let out a sigh.

“Well, we’ve seen all kinds of crazy shit, so it’s not like we can hold any of this against you two,” he said. “Not after all you’ve done for us.” He then looked to Kelsey and nodded. “That goes especially for you. You’re one of us. Always will be. Remember that. What’s done is done, alright? We move on.”

Kelsey sobbed with a nod, accepting the understanding and forgiveness in Harris’ words with grace.

“What do we do now, Colonel?” Andrews said looking to Harris, and in that instant, every soldier acknowledged that Harris had just succeeded Jim as the defacto leader—the last remnant of their military to survive.

Harris huffed out another sigh.

“Is it safe for you two to continue?” he asked. “Will this happen to her again? To you?”

I shook my head. “Not if I can help it. I have somewhat of a defense against it. Kelsey still needs to develop hers.”

Kelsey frowned at that and I could sense she felt guilty again.

“We should head back to the surface to regroup,” Harris said. “We’ve just lost Jim. The whole community is going to have to come to grips with that. You two could probably use some resetting as well.” He then looked to Kelsey. “You’re going to need some time to process this. Okay?”

Kelsey looked back at him and a sudden defiance entered her gaze.

“No,” she said.

Harris blinked. “What?”

“I said no, we’re not going to the surface,” Kelsey said. “Jim died by my hand, because I was being controlled by a monster. A monster we still need to go and destroy.”

“Kelsey, I’ll order you if I have to,” Harris said. “You’ve just been through something traumatic. We all have. We need to reassess—”

“We still have hundreds of miles of demon-filled tunnels to fight through,” Kelsey said. “If we stop to take a break now, we’ll just be inviting them in here to fill this bunker back up again.” She then looked down at Jim’s body. “And we’ve already paid way too damn much to clear it this far to go back.” She then looked to me. “Max, I say we keep going.”

I looked back at her and could sense the burning of her Frenzied Flame.

Deep within was the pain of loss and sorrow, the Struggler growing stronger to balance the Demon in her soul. She’d grown more in the last ten minutes than she ever could killing hundreds of spirit beasts in the wild.

“Without struggle, there can be no progression,” I said, reciting the verse as I rested my hands on her shoulders.

She nodded as her eyes melted into sadness again. “We have the maps, we have supplies. The only thing we don’t have is time.”

I looked to Harris. “You’re in charge now, Harris. But Jim’s dying wish was to press on. So, we’re going to press on if that’s cool with you.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.

“Please don’t tell my mother about this until I return, okay?” Kelsey said. “I don’t want her to know that I—”

“There’s nothing to tell her,” Harris said. “Jim was killed by a demon. That simple.” He then looked to his subordinates for confirmation. “Isn’t that right, gentlemen?”

The soldiers around him all nodded.

“Yes, sir!” they sang out in unison.

“Very well,” Harris said. “Now, Specialist Kelsey, I expect you to set out and destroy that demon, understood? You give them hell for what they took from us.”

Fresh tears came to her eyes as she nodded, her guilt and regret being pushed back with forgiveness and resolve. “Yes, Colonel. Thank you, Colonel.”

Harris nodded. “Alright then. Andrews, Butler, give these two your packs.”

The soldiers stripped and handed over their gear. Once suited up, Kelsey and I retrieved our weapons from the ground and gave them all a final salute.

“Godspeed, you two,” Harris said, saluting back.

“Thank you, Harris,” I said shaking his hand. “Where we’re headed, we’re going to need it.”

As they departed, I gauged my Frenzy along with Kelsey’s.

We were both depleted but the pain and anger in Kelsey’s heart was spewing more than enough Frenzy to drive us towards our goal.

“You ready?” I asked.

Kelsey didn’t answer me right away.

From the look in her eyes, I could tell the young girl I knew was gone.

A woman and warrior stood before me now.

“It’s just 200 miles of tunnel and an entire base filled with uncertain death, right?” she said as she stepped forward. “Let’s get it done. For Jim.”