Sevin stood outside the Necrosium with Skully looming behind him. “This plan could end in death. Not the good kind of death, where Mortis lends us tools to restrain Life. The bad kind, where I have a skeleton named Kaden. I don’t want one of those.”

  Next to him stood the necromancer Danae, a woman wearing sleek white robes and carrying a scroll, who was still cooing over Skully like a mother with a ten-foot tall, plague-ridden monsterous baby with sharp rib-jaws and a penchat for tearing his own head off to chase after Kaden on bone-spider legs. She patted Sevin on the back. “It’s perfectly safe and brilliant. We already have a demon Kaden’s bound. We just don’t have the power to reform her. But Limey kindly offered Kaden a Demon’s Daughter.”

  “We don’t even know if it will work!” Sevin said. “I mean, I’m all for experimenting on demons, but what if something does wrong and we lose all that power?”

  Kadens shrugged. “I take her seed back to Limey, he gives me a new Daughter and we repeat.”

  Danae motioned to Skully. “Ok, my magnificent big boy. I’ve engraved the runes on your bones, you should be able to tear lesser demons into goo. Sevin will channel it into the core.”

  “Sevin will try to channel it,” he said.

  Desmona’s core was most definitely bound and Kaden’s willpower had never been higher. “Be right back. I’ll have a much higher level Demon’s Daughter out to murder me. Be ready.”

  Kaden picked his path to Limey’s domain with care, because demons weren’t ones to care about collateral damage. But once he had it planned, he added two backup options. And rounded the corner to head toward Limey’s domain with a solar dragon in his soul. “Scaley! You. The demon lord. Xiklick. Lickey? Limay? If I step foot in your territory, you’ll kill me?”

  The crowd moved away as Kaden approached. He kept eye contact with the Demon Lord as he lifted his foot and set it down on the polished red tile that marked Limey’s territory.

  A streak of red from the left corner of his eye, and Kaden [Shield Bashed] the Demon’s Daughter backwards through a Portal. “Yeah, I’m not worried about it.”

  Kaden was very worried about it. He strolled around the corner—and took off at a sprint. Three blocks away he climbed a building and leaped from roof to roof. His Portal had led to the entrance of Omnor, and an enraged Daughter could probably cover it very quickly.

  Make that insanely quickly. A blur sprinted toward him, throwing bystanders aside. Kaden wasn’t using a spell, but it was magic, of a sort. A foot away, [Split Second] activated, and Kaden let the Daughter lash out at him. He was already moving backwards, already falling, kicking, as her momentum sent her shooting over him—through a Portal back to Limey’s domain. Kaden peered through. “Sorry folks. You know how demons are. Dumb. That’s how they are. Brought this one back to you, Limey!”

  He closed the portal and sprinted for the Necrosium. With every moment he drove mana into [Moment of Speed]. It wasn’t meant as a movement buff, but it worked if one didn’t mind burning mana like dry leaves. The gleaming white dome of the necrosium came into view, and Kaden pushed himself himself faster, muscles burning.

  The slightest shadow from above, the whisper of feet. Kaden held his path, waiting, then mentally pushing on [Split Second] as the Demon’s Daughter dove for his neck.

  Your skill with [Split Second] has increased!

  The skill hadn’t changed since the first tier, but the first drop of skill lengthened the activation window, giving him earlier warning. Skully and the others stood not twenty feet away, but Kaden pushed the opportunity.

  The Daughter lunged at him, swiping with claws. If the claws would strike his chest, Kaden waited, activating [Split Second] manually over and over until he received another boost. Second Tier skills required high risk to raise.

  The slice that nearly took his arm off, he didn’t even see coming.

  His right arm hung limp, and Kaden dove backwards, kicked the lunging daughter, and scrambled as she began to laugh. And then scream, as Danae, a centurion Necromancer, invoked a skill that locked the demon’s arms at her side.

  “Skully, feed.” Danae waited as his monster picked her up. His sternum split, the spiked ribs openning like a venus flytrap. He fed the demon into the cavity and held her there as the ribs closed. His vertebrae began to rotate and grind.

  If he hadn’t been gushing blood from his arm, Kaden would have enjoyed the sound.

  Grey goo splattered from the demon, and the process took on speed, until at last, there was nothing but the demon seed clattering around in Skully’s ribs. Skully removed the seed and spoke. “Tasty.”

  Danae fainted.

  Kaden would have sworn she was smiling.

  With his good arm, Kaden downed a healing potion.

  I could work wonders with this blood, if only you’d dedicate it to me, Nurav said.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  A potion, too, could work wonders without endangering his soul. As Kaden sat up, Sevin focused, one hand holding Desmona’s core, the other in the mound of protoplasm. “It is not so simple. But zombies, too, can mold flesh. I wonder, if it is similar.”

  “He spoke,” Dana said, as she opened her eyes. “He said ‘tasty.’ How long has he been able to speak?”

  “A while.” Kaden said. “Is something wrong with my back? I feel cold.”

  Danae looked behind him. “You’re missing most of your skin. Nothing major. Also, there’s a rib that’s only on because it’s attached at the front. And there’s the problem with your spine. You really shouldn’t pit yourself against level fifty demons.”

  “Got it!” Sevin shouted. The wobbly pile of jelly seeped over toward Desmona’s core, sinking into the core.

  Kaden watched.

  Everyone watched.

  And after a few moments, Sevin picked up the core. “I think it’s defective. It’s full, I mean to the brim, but it’s not doing anything.”

  Kaden accepted Desmona’s core and studied it, paying attention to the feeling. “It’s been asleep a really long time, but Demons can survive in Inventory. I’ve commanded her not to regenerate, we’ll try again tomorrow. Is my back healing?”

  “Somewhat,” Sevin said. “What shall we do with the other core? Necromancers need no demon titles.”

  Kaden took the core and headed back to Limey’s territory, taking his time.

  The Demon Lord saw him coming, and rose, arms crossed, as Kaden approached. “You bound her?”

  Kaden held up the core. “No. When you reconstitute her, tell her to be faster. Or stronger. Or have better skills. Maybe all of those. She had nineteen levels on me.” He wound up and threw the Seed, using [Moment of Speed] to hurl it with all of his force.

  It smacked Limey right in the reptilian face.

  You have gained a new title: Hunted by Demons!

  “Oh, come on. How was I supposed to know that would kill her?” Kaden swore under his breath. There certainly wasn’t all the fanfare that had accompanied the first Demon title. Limey was staring. Limey’s teeth were showing. Whatever he was uttering was likely nothing to do with how handsome Kaden was.

  For the second time, Kaden ran, this time opening a portal straight to the Necrosium. “Better to get inside.”

  “Demons. I don’t fear demons,” Danae said. “Skully, prepare to feast.”

  A horde of daughters surged into the intersection four blocks down, howling and screaming as they sniffed the air.

  “On second thought, Ymercist has been looking forward to seeing you,” Danae said. “Everyone inside, visiting hours are over. Unless you want to deal with those.”

  Kaden rushed inside, only relaxing as the mout of the necrosium slammed shut. Outside, a horde of demons screamed curses and spoke in a foul language [Multispeak] didn’t translate. “I overdid it.”

  “There is no such thing when dealing with Demons,” Danae said. “Now. You know what I like? A good Tomb Champion. They’re not as versatile as Skully, but they’re so strong. And we have so many. Unleash the monsters!”

  Kaden hated to be a nuissance, but he suspected much of his life would be nuisancing. “Can I get an empty room to practice in? I’m going to try and force this demon to manifest.”

  “Of course!” Danae was all smiles. “If I can spend time with Skully. And get a donation from him to one of our skulls. What do you say, big guy? Fancy some fun?”

  “Fun.” Skully uttered the word like an executioner.

  ###

  The core did not move. It did not wiggle. It did not wrap itself in protoplasm that would become flesh. It remained completely inert. Kaden had re-applied [Soul Binding] over and over. Time was ticking and the sooner he got Desmona walking the sooner he could force her to talk. It didn’t so much refuse his commands as not understand them.

  Night had come and gone, and with it, the demon horde returned to serve their master, their numbers severely reduced by Danae’s Tomb Champion experiments. Even Limey understood the need to have his Daughters ready for business, and Sevin had joined Kaden to watch him not re-animate the core.

  The dragon hatchling burst from Kaden’s soul, summoning itself. It batted at the core like a scaley kitten and then growled at Vip, who sat in Kaden’s lap. Vip was neither frightened nor amused, putting her head back down to sleep.

  “I have a theory,” Sevin said. “A core is the heart of a demon. But what if they are blind? What if they are deaf? Would you be so eager to immediately respawn?”

  It beat Kaden’s theory. “What would you recommend?”

  “Take it to the desert wastes. Leave it in the sand, with no spells, no instructions, nothing. And then, we wait.” Sevin drew a book from Inventory, flipping through the pages. “Yes, I can use [Silence of Death] to mask our presence.”

  “Sounds great to me. Ghastos is getting closer to his return with every minute.” Kaden shoved the core into Inventory.

  Congratulations! You are being hunted by demons!

  Outside, in the hallway, hooves clopped on stone, then something shrieked and screamed.

  “Who left the demonic portal open?” A man shouted. “Somebody left the portal open again. Gods-damned grahts. Clean up your mess, people!”

  “Be right back.” Sevin opened the door and dragged in a dead Graht. “I love a good corpse. Don’t repeat that to Sara in those words. I love what I can do with a corpse—no, I love the potential to test my powers with corpses.”

  Kaden watched as Sevin activated a skill. The Graht’s corpse turned grayish, and shriveled. A thin stream of grey goo pooled, seeping away from the corpse, leaving a regular, boring pile of meat. “You got way more power from the Demon’s Daughter.”

  “It’s [Graht.] It’s mostly flesh, where Daughters are mostly power.” He dispatched a bird. “Initiates go through a lot of corpses. Of course, if you have a use…”

  “Be my guest.” Kaden had no need for dead [Grahts]. A few moments later, someone knocked at the door, which receded into the wall.

  Two intiates in black robes stumbled in, then spotted Sevin and bowed. “Sir. The Scion of Death Ymercist said you have a gift from Mortis.”

  Sevin crossed his arms. “Indeed it is a gift. At great risk, our friend here unleashed a demon as a trial. The necromancer who slew it passed his test as well. And now, it falls to you. Use it to grow your power.”

  They quickly dragged the corpse away, talking excitedly about how it would be the most powerful undead graht ever.

  “Really?” Kaden asked.

  “It is the least we can do. To give the initiates the chance to grow and the attitude that will make them appreciate every resource. A dead demon to you and I is nothing. To them, it represents an opportunity they would otherwise kill for.” Sevin didn’t seem annoyed in the least. “You do the same, with your town, and your quests, and your mine.”

  “That’s what got us into this. If I’d just cleared the mine myself? None of this would have happened.”

  “Or worse may have occured. One day, both of us will go before Mortis. Perhaps sent by the claw of monsters or demons, or maybe wrestling to deny a Cataclysm. On that day, the ones we made stronger will be there to take our place.”

  In that light, it made sense. “How do we get to the FarPortal without Limey sending a flock of demons?”

  Sevin’s warm smiled accompanied a halo of death mana that wreathed him as the mana stones activated. “Oh, you’re going to love this.”