It was a chest surrounded by brown smoothstone, metal locks securing it in place.
[Hacking into the engineering facilities…]
[Successfully Completed Your Quest]
[Walk Towards The Chest To Claim Your Ultimate Reward]
"Guys," Zylus paused, "look over there."
A huge gulp filled the room, coming from none other than Michael. The chest shone with bright light that shot upward, like a pillar reaching toward the sun. The light poured into the dungeon's ceiling.
"That's our reward," Zylus said coolly. "We should probably go claim it."
Each one of them nodded, following him closely. But then, something seemed off.
"Wait!" Michael stopped them in their tracks, "It's dangerous. something's off." He added.
Weird… I don't sense anything out of the ordinary.
As all of them stopped, Michael continued to walk forward.
"Hey, Michael," Zylus smoothly said, "I thought it was dangerous? Why are you still walking forward?"
Michael marched forward, but as he heard Zylus's voice, he paused for a quick moment. His head spun back, his eyes narrowed, staring towards the entire group.
"Even though I said it was dangerous for you guys," he paused, rubbing dust from his uniform, "I never said that danger applies to me…"
With that, an overwhelming type of murderous aura came streaming from him. Each of them stood in shock, unable to move from the absolute panic that encompassed them.
"No, it couldn't be," Zylus nervously worried, "You're the man I sensed before… in that alleyway."
"Oh yeah," Michael responded. Each of them stood frozen in place, shaken by the suffocating pressure coming off of him, "You fought a couple of my minions, but I killed them right after." Michael smiled, licking blood off the dagger Zylus had given him.
"But that tool! That's mine! What's wrong with you, Michael?!" Zylus yelled, hoping this was all just a simple nightmare.
"This thing?" Michael looked down at the dagger Zylus gave him, "You can have it back, because I…" He paused, throwing Zylus's dagger back as he reached into the light coming
from the chest, "only need this…"
"Since that aura felt the same as earlier," Zylus whispered frantically, "It couldn't be…"
"You got it," Michael said. "I am truthfully, physically, and mentally…" The pause was long, but his smirk widened, "A Spirit."
"A Spirit?!" Each one of them yelled, forming their weapons once more, "Then how'd he get in?" Zenos asked, but no one responded.
"This can't be true…" Zenos said.
"But it is." Michael grinned, "And you guys have to live with that." A bright light shaped into his palm, but its outline was a dagger, one that seemed crafted by light itself. "And now," he teleported right beside Zylus, "You get the same treatment that all you Demons deserve."
Shank!
Michael appeared right in front of Zylus, piercing a bloody hole into his right leg, making him fall on one knee.
They all stayed in place, shocked by the sudden teleportation. There was no sense in Michael's movement, yet, somehow, he appeared.
"Ahhh!" Zylus screamed in pain, afraid of what may lie next.
"You see," Michael teleported back into his original position, "This is the cost of being too friendly to almost everyone you meet, Zylus!" He grinned, "But in this world, only the strongest come out on top. And we Spirits are stronger than you petty Demons."
All of them paused. They realised even if they were to make a move, they couldn't actually affect him, but Zenos couldn't live with that fact, because he was a fighter.
Zenos started to rush in, his gaze fixed on Michael.
"I got him," Zenos smiled.
"No you don't," Michael appeared behind him, stabbing a clean cut into Zenos's back. "Weakling."
"Ahhhhhh!" Zenos screamed in utter pain, more than Zylus.
Frey and Emilia stood in place, afraid, they wouldn't have been able to do something even if they tried.
Michael started to walk backwards, his hands crossed behind his back…
"You see, Zylus," he said, "I wanted to ask you a question about this world, if I may."
At this point, Zylus needed to stall for more time for the rest, "Sure, go ahead." He said.
The once-happy smile Michael held high now bled from deception and murder. Michael tilted his head slightly, observing Zylus as if he were nothing more than an experiment.
"So tell me," he asked calmly, the light-dagger dissolving back into particles, "Why do you think this world allows Demons to exist at all?"
Zylus clenched his teeth, blood dripping onto the stone beneath him. His leg trembled, but he forced himself upright.
"To be obstacles," Michael continued before Zylus could answer. "To be stepped on. To struggle. To make us Spirits stronger."
The light from the chest flickered.
"That dagger was just there to allow me to unlock my true potential," Michael said, glancing back at it. "And you took my words just like bait, a fish getting swept by a fishing rod most truthfully."
Michael turned his attention back to Zylus.
"I wanted to show you something that I couldn't in the Demon realm."
Michael's expression darkened…
"That you, Demons, are vulgar creatures, ones that should not exist at all."
Zylus felt it then–
That same suffocating pressure from the alleyway.
That same presence that made his instincts scream.
"But don't worry," Michael smiled, stepping backwards as his form began to blur. "I won't kill you."
Everyone froze.
"Killing you now would be a waste." His body began dissolving into light. "I want you to grow. I want you to struggle. And when you finally think you're strong enough–"
He vanished; the pressure disappeared instantly. Zylus collapsed fully this time, losing consciousness entirely.
"Zylus!" Emilia screamed, rushing to his side.
Frey dropped to her knees, hands shaking.
Zenos lay unmoving, blood pooling beneath him. The chest's light dimmed, then shattered completely.
[Quest Completed]
[Reward: ERROR]
[Warning: Spirit-Class Entity Detected]
[Status: Survivor]
Zylus stared at the ceiling, breathing shallow.
"... A Spirit," he whispered.
For the first time since entering this world, Zylus truly felt… Haunted…
But the pain wasn't over yet, because a thought passed through Zylus's mind.
"Save the Demon Realm… Zylus." That voice belonged to none other than the man who first brought Zylus to this world…
Medrus Miro.
It wasn't a sound from the outside world, but one that came from his unconscious self. A cry for help, crying for only one man…
The Sovereign of Uncertainty,
Zylus Elwis.