How I became the Empress of Hell

As I fought off wave after wave of monsters that resembled zombies made up of various plant matter, I realized why this fight would have been so difficult for Xerez, Tessa, and Shadow. Had I not had access to my vast multitude of spells and various skills I would have become quickly overwhelmed. It got so bad that at one point I almost had to release more of my power to be able to handle the never-ending swarms of enemies. Fortunately, Nialla noticed what was happening and diverted her attention away from the boss just long enough to unleash a massive blast of lightning that cleared the area and gave me some breathing room.

Just as I was starting to become surrounded again, I turned my head just long enough to see Shadow gracefully leap onto the boss and jab both of his weapons deep into the huge creature’s head. It let out an ear-piercing wail of despair and began to fall forwards as it died. All of the plant zombies that were surrounding me returned the creature’s cry, and they all dropped to the ground and began to spasm uncontrollably. I watched as both the enemies at my feet and the massive tentacled monster that was the mini-boss stopped moving and collapsed onto the ground in a heap. Cheers erupted from the other four party members, and I quickly moved to join the others.

“Holy shit! Tessa! Shadow! We fucking did it!! Fucking finally!”

Xerez held up his hand in front of Nialla, who enthusiastically gave him a high-five. She did the same for Tessa and then Shadow as they all celebrated their victory. When I finally made it over to the group, I grinned back at them as they all beamed at me.

“Lexia, Catalin… truly… Thank you. Even if we don’t end up finishing this dungeon, it still makes my day to finally beat that damn mini-boss.”

I nodded happily and held up my own hand for a high five, which Xerez gave me without a second’s hesitation.

“I can see why you guys had so much difficulty with this one… those spawns got a bit ridiculous at times. But now we can set our sights on the true dungeon boss. So… where to now?”

Xerez opened up his menu and studied the area display intently before closing it and turning towards the tunnel in the cave that was up ahead.

“It looks like we have to go through this small tunnel. We shouldn’t be in here very long, though. Once we get through the cave it opens up to a forest of enormous trees. The path will actually take us through the massive trees. I remember the party I was in previously mentioning something about there being a hidden objective that you can accomplish that gets you some pretty badass gear, but it was a way higher level than what we could handle. Which means there’s no way we can do it here. I think that we should just focus on getting to the boss as quickly as we can manage and hope we get that item to drop.”

I held back the smirk that was threatening to slip out and instead gave Xerez a single shrug.

“If we can at least take a look at what we’re up against, I think it might be worth checking out. Who knows… maybe there’s a secret way to beat it that you guys didn’t know about.”

Xerez nodded once before returning my shrug.

“Fair enough. I guess the only way to know for sure is to check it out. You all ready?”

Once everyone confirmed they were ready, we all moved as a group into the darker part of the cave.

-

“Holy shit! You weren’t kidding! Those trees are… they’ve got to be over a thousand feet tall!!!”

Upon exiting the cave, we came to a lush forest of trees that were more akin to skyscrapers. The nearest one loomed overhead and I could see that the path led up to a small opening into the huge tree. As we continued along the path, I again was amazed at the beauty of the lush forest in this dungeon. Sunlight filtered through the immense canopies overhead, which allowed the plant life to flourish on the forest floor. Once we made it up to the base of the closest tree, we slowly climbed a set of stairs that had been carved into the earthen brown wood.

If the outside of the tree was jaw-dropping, the inside was doubly so. The interior had to be at least 100 feet across and had an enormous spiral staircase that extended up to what was likely the top of the tree. At various points I could see large chunks of the tree had been carved out to make large rooms, although it was impossible to tell what one might expect to find within.

As we approached the giant staircase, roughly 30 feet ahead of us, a dozen creatures phased through the wooden floor and rose to their feet. They appeared to be some sort of tree monster, made entirely of the same dark brown wood of the tree and held together by a pulsing crimson core that glowed from within. Despite being made entirely out of wood, their sculpted bodies had all the distinct demonic features I had become accustomed to seeing on normal demonkin. Our team moved into formation again with Tessa in the front, and the rest of us readied our weapons and spells.

I summoned a crossbow in hopes it would have an easier time punching through the creature’s tough bark-like skin. Nialla unleashed a cluster of rapid fire bursts of electricity in order to halt the enemies from advancing, and Xerez followed up with several balls of arcane energy that blasted three of the creatures apart. I took careful aim as the closest tree demon made a beeline for Tessa, and let out a cry of triumph upon striking the creature in the chest and damaging its core. It staggered and fell onto one knee, and I quickly reloaded and finished it off with another shot to its torso. 

I was just about to reload again, when I saw another group of five of them rapidly approaching from the side. I tossed the weapon aside, extended both of my arms with my palms facing the new threat, and unleashed a barrage of [Coldfire] spells. I mowed down all but one, and moved into a defensive stance as the last one began to reach forward to swipe me with its claws. A blur of black appeared to the side of the creature, and it turned on its heel and swung at the nimble form of Shadow. When its claws met no resistance, the illusion shimmered and disappeared, and the creature stumbled forward completely off-balance. What I assumed was the real Shadow appeared behind it with both of his weapons in hand, and he plunged the blades deep into the creature’s back, striking its vulnerable core. The demon collapsed as the crimson light was instantly extinguished and Shadow withdrew his weapons and bowed to me slightly with a showy flourish. I gave him a single nod and turned just as the others were finishing up the remainder of the enemies. Two of the tree demons stood motionless in front of Tessa, small pink hearts blazing brightly in their empty eye sockets.

“Everyone all good?”

I nodded to Xerez as I turned towards him and saw that the others were doing the same.

“I think those things are resistant to lightning damage. Even though those blasts weren’t full power, they should have at least had a bit more reaction since each time I damage something with lightning there is a chance for a stun effect. I am almost positive that the stun never took effect even once, and I was doing minimal damage at best.”

I pursed my lips and tapped the side of my nose as I considered our options. Since Nialla was entirely lightning based, having creatures who were resistant to it made her all but useless. We both turned to Xerez as he offered a suggestion.

“Even with [Lightning Specialization] you should still be able to cast [Arcane Blast]. You’ll have to temporarily disable the specialization, and you won’t be able to use any of your other skills that rely on it, but without that specialization your [Lightning Blast] will revert to [Arcane Blast].”

Nialla sighed through her nose and furrowed her brow as she opened her skill menu. She read for a moment and appeared to be scrolling through her various skills before she let out a small cry of dismay.

“Ughhhh. Fuck. Even my Stormtiger form is reliant upon [Lightning Specialization]. That fucking sucks… I had no idea just how much of my build required that one skill to be active. When we get back to the castle I’m going to look into getting some alternate forms of damage for the next time I encounter an enemy who can counter my lightning.”

“You guys have a clan castle already? Just how big is your clan?”

Nialla flushed slightly at her slipup as Xerez turned from her to me.

“We’re not as big as some clans out there, but we’re definitely trying to add more members. We try to keep things as close-knit as possible.”

Xerez nodded as he studied my face for a moment and then gave a single shrug.

“Hey, if it works for you, that’s all that matters, right?”

“Exactly. Now then… Cat… how easy is it for you to disable or enable that specialization?”

“Oh, it’s simple. It’s just a passive ability like any of the others. All it takes is a single push of a button. But I will be completely reliant on you guys if I do this. [Arcane Blast] will be the only spell I’ll be able to cast.”

I squeezed her shoulder to reassure her and gave her a warm smile.

“Go for it, babe. You know I always got your back.”

She nodded once, opened her menu, and pressed a button once. The air around her suddenly felt… lighter. Like there was no longer a slight build-up of electricity. I took the opportunity to give her a quick kiss on her cheek before I turned to the others.

“Alrighty… I think we’re all good.”

As we started towards the staircase, Tessa shot me a curious expression.

“Lexia… are you Catalin a couple?”

I nodded enthusiastically as I looked from my girlfriend back to the tall redhead.

“Most definitely. Although… we haven’t been dating for long. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. You guys seem very close. I apologize if my flirting earlier pushed any boundaries. I know how some people feel about that sort of stuff.”

I shook my head and gave her a smile.

“No apology necessary! I’m polyamorous, and I don’t get jealous easily. I am very protective of her though.”

“You two do know I’m literally standing right here?”

“Yes, you are, kitten.”

I felt Nialla suddenly tense up slightly as I used her pet name and her face flushed slightly. She shot me a glare but then focused ahead as we reached the huge staircase. Tessa chuckled softly behind us as we all began to ascend.