Floor After Floor

"Well, well, well!" Zuriel says as hundreds of guards and mages are here to stop us. "This floor is really packing, huh?"

"Step aside," I say, summoning thousands of bats from my arms.

They bite and scratch the enemy, causing panic, some of them shooting everywhere and casting their spells in the direction of their allies. That's when I begin to feel a little. . . tired. To replenish my strength, I devour a Daemon carcass. I don't want to say that it's delicious even if my Atasaian tongue says it does.

"Good, good," he commends, patting my back.

He's treating me like a dog! "Don't touch me!" I growl.

"Chill, man."

After glaring at him, I turn my attention to the clear path we paved. The remaining prisoners are all strong and battle-hardened. Some of them just like the idea of fighting and didn't make a run for it.

A huge guy approaches us. He's a minotaur carrying a huge club. He says, "My name's Kraugr and I want to crush the All-Seer's skull. I heard that both of you want to kill him as well. Let's join forces."

"Nice!" Zuriel winks. "The more, the merrier!"

"Me too," a woman covered in snake-like wiggling wrapping linen says. Her flesh under those is dry and rotten. She's a. . . what's it called again? Oh, a mummy. "That man imprisoned me for hundreds of years. He will pay."

"Nice to meet your acquaintance, miss," he greets, kissing her hand. "And I gotta say, your beauty is well-preserved under those linens."

"Of course," she smiles.

"May I ask your name?"

"I'm Maat, the princess of Nephthys."

"What a beautiful name." He smiles. "It rings well with your unwithering fairness."

He's cringe, flirting with every woman he meets. Can he just mind his own business? And this mummy, she's flattered?! What the hell?

"Well, then," he wraps up clasping his hands. "Let's take this party to the upper floors!" Like a kid, he skips his steps to the staircase.

"Hey," I say. "Shouldn't we just use the elevator?"

He realizes. "Oh, you got a point. Let's do that."

Then I instantly regret it. Kraugr is too big. I'm here in the back corner, feeling uncomfortable while Maat and Zuriel are freely flirting there. This is so annoying!

The elevator stops before even reaching the next floor. It could be because of Kraugr's weight or because they stopped this elevator intentionally.

"Oops," says Zuriel. "Looks like the elevator's not working, everybody."

Kraugr immediately punches the roof wide open and climbs out. We let Maat climb out first and Zuriel, being a pervert, slaps her butt.

"Nice sound," he chuckles and winks at me. I squirm at him.

As I climb out and am now on the second floor, dismembered bodies of guards and mages litter the place. Kraugr and Maat are formidable allies. I'm relieved that I don't have to do everything now.

"Don't let them do everything for you," says Zuriel. "We'll need their strength on the upper floors."

"Stop bossing me around," I say, had enough.

"I'm not," he smirks. "I'm telling you what to do and not forcing you to do it. It's yourself that listens to me because you can't think of a better idea."

He's right but I don't wanna admit it. Making his head bigger than it already is, is a bad idea. Soon, I could be licking his boots. I'm not gonna let that happen.

I approach Maat and Kraugr. "Please, save your strength for the upper floors," I say. "I'll handle everything for now."

"Oh, why thank you," says Maat.

"You're the man," Kraugr compliments, patting my back too hard.

The terrified enemies retreat to the rooms and corridors, saving me some energy. If I can help it, I don't want to eat any more Daemons for replenishment. I don't feel like myself whenever I do that.

Going floor to floor through the staircase is too taxing. What if I punch the roof above us and jump floor to floor? Nope, it's solid metal. Can't punch through that.

"What are you doing?" Kraugr asks.

"Nah, I was thinking that what if we punch the floor above us and just jump floor to floor."

"Nice try," says Zuriel as he wraps Maat around his arm. "but the floors are indestructible as long as the All-Seer is alive. This whole building is his domain, after all. He created this."

Hmm. . .

"We could try the windows," I suggest.

"Nope, I tried that and learned the hard way."

Is that so? *Sigh* I guess we have to play this by the book. It's frustrating. It will take a lot of time. It has been hours. I bet Nisha and Helena are wondering where I might be.

The higher we get to the top, the more I wish I never climbed up. I lost count of how many floors we have climbed but all I know is that the enemy is getting tougher and tougher. All of them are advanced mages. They cast stronger spells such as exploding fireballs and jumping lightning. I had to withstand most of them because they were unavoidable. It forced me to consume a lot of Daemons on the way. I'm now covered in blood, feeling icky everywhere in my body.

Even tougher mages await us on the next floor. They are twice as strong. My regeneration could barely keep up with the damage. I wanna finish this once and for all! Enough of this!

There are five of them casting spells using their staff and grimoires. I charge relentlessly, taking the hit until they are within my reach. With my claws, I slice them into pieces like sausages. The damage they've done made me eat all of them.

Ugh. . . no matter how much I've done this and how my Atasaian tongue likes it, I still regard it disgusting. These are just a few floors out of hundreds of floors we have to climb. Will I be sane once we reach the top?

To think of it, the more I eat, the more it tastes. . . good.

*Shakes head*

No, stop!

"Are you still you?" Zuriel asks.

"Of course!" I lash out.

"Chill, chill. We still have a long way to go, you know."

"Just shut up and leave me alone!"

Floor after floor, I beat all the guards and mages and devour their flesh. My stomach is bloated but my appetite is not dying. It just makes me crave more. This is like how I felt back at the feast in Carmilla's castle.

I don't know what floor we are but I guess we're pretty high up now and the opponent in front of me is a machine. It's a huge metal snake with a glowing hot throat. It metallically rattles as it moves on the concrete ground.

It lunges to bite me. I stand my ground and punch it in the nose. My arm and knuckle burst like fruit and I get thrown back.

"Easy there," says Kraugr with his huge hand supporting my back.

*Swallow*

I wonder how his muscles taste. I've never tasted something with huge muscles after all. Maybe it's very delicious and gonna give me energy for thousands of hours.

*Slap*

"Snap out of it," Zuriel says after slapping my face. "You're drooling, you know."

Rubbing my mouth, I say, "I'm sorry."

"You will be so sorry if you touched me," says Maat. "Get a hold of yourself, low-life."

"Hey, that ain't friendly, girl," says Zuriel. "Be nice to him, okay?"

She rolls her eyes and looks elsewhere. What the hell is wrong with her?

*Ding*

Kraugr punches the machine, sending it crashing against the wall. "I'll handle this one," he says.

"Much obliged," I remark, sitting on the floor.

He's doing so well compared to me. No doubt that this is gonna end sooner than expected. He summons a huge war hammer. The metal snake's head is crushed by his single swing. The whole building is shaken. Chunks of metal clang everywhere.

"Nice!" Zuriel commends.

What a hit. . . I'm awed at the same time scared. Thank goodness this guy is on our side. By the way, who managed to capture him? That person must be very strong as well. I get the feeling that I'm gonna meet them very soon.

Also, now that I know his strength, I must step up more to preserve his stamina. We don't know how many more powerful foes we're going to face such as this snake. It wasn't even worth his time. I should've defeated it all by myself but the difference in our strength is too much. If I could just use my Angelus Frame, the majority of things should be easier.

After clearing a few floors, Kraugr suddenly becomes wary. He climbs the staircase before me. What's he up to?

"I'll lead the way, Kraugr," I say. "You can save your strength for later."

"That 'later' is right now," he says, looking at us from up there. "It's here."