Yet another demon

"What the!? What is this!?" Seraphina exclaimed while Riyku narrowed his eyes at the blackness before him. It seemed to block out their ability to tell what was beyond the doorframe. "It's the same as when I first ventured into the first floor. After passing through this substance, I was confronted by the Upper-Class Demon, Verso." Riyku would explain. Seraphina looked at him before looking back at the blackness before them. "Do you think you will be confronted by another demon just like Verso?" Seraphina inquired to which Riyku shook his head. "I am not sure. I know far too little of this place to tell." Riyku would reply to her, before looking towards her. "There is only one way to find out though. Shall we get going?" Riyku asked of her, just to make sure she was ready. Seraphina would nod and seep into his shadow. Riyku would push past the blackness and seemed to have arrived upon the other side which revealed the same replication of how the mansion looked when going up on the second floor. Though... it was different in the sense that the second and first floor of the other world mansion was not blocked by a door. The rail guards and balcony that looked down upon the first floor were there, and when Riyku took a look he could see the twenty imps dancing around as if they were never slain. "Strange... there was no rail guard when we were down there. Was there?" Riyku inquired, almost as if talking to himself.

'No. I did not notice anything. Just the set of stairs that led to this door. But, Riyku I can feel a strong presence here.' Seraphina spoke through the internal link thanks to the fact that she was in his shadow. "I know." Riyku muttered, "I can feel it too." He would turn on his heel to be faced with a female demon this time. The woman appeared to be dressed like a maid, to which she would curtsy towards the male. "Good day, Abnormal. It seems you have finally decided to make your way up here after taking care of Verso." The woman's red beat eyes looked up at him as if taking him in.

"Abnormal?" Riyku inquired to which the woman would nod. "Yes, Abnormal. That is what we in the Underworld call those we do not understand. You have the scent of a demon, yet one of a mortal as well as one of the Shadow and of a Reaper. Your scents are mixed and fused together so much so that is impossible to determine what you really are. Therefore, you are Abnormal." The maid stated, to which Riyku's brow would raise. "Shadow, Reaper, Demon?" None of these made much of any sense. Yes, he knew he wasn't normal, nor was he even a mortal but to claim him to be three different things. That was entirely new. "I can also sense one of the Elder Queens of Darkness in your presences. No need to conceal yourself, Madam." The Maid would add. Seraphina would appear from Riyku's shadow with a click of her tongue. "Quite the keen scent you have there. You must not be any normal demon." Seraphina stated and the maid would shake her head.

"I am not anything special. My name is Verona, I am a Maid of this Castle. Normally, I would greet our guests with my brother Verso, but his foolish and reckless behavior got him killed just as I told him it would." The demon maid Verona stated with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "So you plan on standing in our path, a battle to enact upon revenge?" Riyku inquired and to his surprise, Verona shook her head. "I am not stupid enough to fight a losing battle. Although, I also can not let you continue your venture throughout My Lord's Castle either." Verona seemed to keep firm to her statement when she narrowed her eyes at him.

"So you will choose death before your own life? Your loyal to your lord is strong." Riyku stated, having noticed her resolve. "My Lord is the one who picked me up off the streets and tended to me after all. Anyone who intrudes his Castle will be met with a hasten exit." Verona stated as she took to stance. Riyku would sigh softly and shake his head as the Demon Slayer Replica appeared in his right hand yet again. Pointing the tip of the blade at Verona he would call out, "Very well then. I'll reunite you with your brother then." Meanwhile, Seraphina seemed to have been skimming some kind of plan in silence as if to prepare for the assured battle.

Verona was the first to initiate her attack; though it wasn't anything like the dash attack Verso came at him with. Instead, the woman seemed to have tossed a ball of blackening flames in his direction. The most interesting part was that the flames disappeared for a solid moment before reappear right in front of him. Kissing his teeth he would step back and bring his blade up as if to block the flames; however, the flames seemed to have exploded just before Riyku could act. Thankfully though, Seraphina had used her shadow to shield him. "Watch out Darling, that is the Advanced Hell Flame Magika. The flames will disappear only until they reach their target. The flames are also homing so be extra careful." Seraphina called out to him as Riyku looked to her with a nod. "Thanks." He replied, and Seraphina smiled brightly. Verona seemed to have chuckled lightly, "Should have known one of the Elder Queens of Darkness would know about the Hell Flame. Your present appearance is far too deceptive of your actual age, Mistress." Verona stated which caused Seraphina to growl towards her. "You did not just call me an old hag!?" She shouted as she stomped her heel upon the ground which caused the shadows to lash out her in sets of thorns.

Verona would jump back several times to avoid the sets of thorns which caused her to plant her feet against the wall behind her. Pushing off of the wall she had planned to dash straight towards Seraphina, but Riyku had already come up from beneath her through the shadows. The blade bathed in holy light caused Verona to growl before her body vanished and appeared a short distance away from the two of them. "Again?" Riyku would narrow his crimson eyes upon the woman. "She is a demon after all. All demons of upper-class or higher are capable of performing the skill 'Blink'." Seraphina would explain to Riyku to which Riyku sighed heavily. "Of course she is," Riyku muttered before his body disappeared and reappear just before Verona who was caught off guard by the sudden thrust of a blade. This caused her to use 'Blink' yet again to evade and Riyku would follow up the moment she appeared. Sadly, this game of cat and mouse had to come to an end eventually, and it wasn't in Riyku's favor. Verona had used several magical skills that slammed into Riyku without warning. Flames seemed to have erupted from his right, shards of ice from his left, and heavy winds from above happened to have all caught him off guard. The explosion of elements was enough to catch Seraphina's eye rather quickly. "Riyku!" Seraphina called out.

Verona had lept from the smoke while panting heavily and wiping some sweat from her cheek. "Wasn't easy... pulling off a combo spell with Diabolical energy influenced within," Verona muttered as she steadily regained her composure. Well, she would have if she allowed it since Riyku had parted from the smoke himself, blade in hand and ready to lope off the woman's head. His usual laid back expression was exchanged with one that held the intent to kill. Verona would jump back to avoid one slash, lean to the side to avoid another, rock to the other side to avoid a third and used 'Blink' to avoid a thrust that came in her direction. When her being appeared she was breathing quite heavily; her legs happened to have begun to buckle. "How are you still alive?" Verona growled at Riyku who had glanced towards her. "because I am Abnormal." Riyku smirked as he spun the sword around so that he held it in a reverse manner.

Riyku would kick off of his heel to dash towards Verona, bringing the blade around in the form of a slash which would cause her to lean back; however, that arc was a feint since he had brought the blade downward while mid-straight of horizontal which gave him the extra reach in order to make his cut. Verona had growled in pain as she slides back, grasping her chest which leaked of black blood. "Bastard!" Verona shouted at Riyku who merely smirked. Bringing the weapon up to rest the blade against his shoulder as he used his free hand to give her a 'come on' signal. Verona only seemed to growl, more like a beast than a refined maid. It wasn't till a few moments later did some kind of ring appear around her. The outer edge appeared just as lethal as the inner edge, yet she seemed to be immune to any form of damage.

"A hoolahoop?" Riyku tilted his head to the side before chuckling and shaking his head at the woman. "It's a Ring Blade, Darling. Though they are generally only sharp on the outside. Perhaps it is was crafted to never harm the registered user. If anything it might be a possessed weapon." Seraphina explained as she approached him from behind. "Possessed weapon eh? Well, mind giving me a hand?" Riyku shifted his iris' towards Seraphina, having eyed his Shield Point gauge which was nearly empty. His Mana Pool was around the half-way marker if anything his Energy was the only thing that was still in tip-top shape.

"Of course, Darling." Seraphina would steadily wrap herself in what appeared to be boiling black goo. It wasn't from her shadow, but something else entirely different. Her wings furling out and her claws coming into play as she bared her fangs at Verona.

'Link activated. Linked with Seraphina.'

A text box had appeared upon Riyku's UI for a moment which caused him to narrow his eyes in confusion before it disappeared and his eyes shifted back to Verona when Seraphina called out his name. The damned woman had dashed towards him dancing around with her weapon like it was kind of toy to play with. Kissing his teeth he would bring up his blade to block and deflect the force away from him which pushed the blade from the ring aside, yet Verona had continued pressuring him. Seraphina would dash towards Verona with an attempt to swipe at the woman with her claw; although, she would deflect the claw with her ring blade while simultaneously pressuring Riyku.

'Shield points have reached Zero. Loss of life is possible.'

Gritting his teeth Riyku would unleash a roar that shook the entity of the castle as a whole. It wasn't the roar that pushed Verona away, but the wave of Diabolical Energy the male began to release. It was heavy, far too heavy for her to comprehend which caused her to kiss her teeth as she struggled to keep on her feet. "Darling?" Seraphina would fixate her gaze upon Riyku who happened have begun to emit some kind of blacken aura.

'Dark Form acquired.'

'Diabolical Aura acquired.'

'Rosario Style acquired.'

"W-what is this!? You masked your power?" Verona growled towards Riyku whose being seemed to split into several entities as he appeared her. Though the entities were nothing more than mere after-images since the moment Verona slashed at it she felt nothing. Her eyes and head continued to track Riyku have best she could, but it seemed as she was only capable of tracking the after-images shown. "Damnit!" Verona shouted in frustration through her body would jolt when she felt something pierce through her chest from behind. Next happened to the fact that she would spew blood. Looking down at the blade filled with the light she began to panic and release a massive amount of energy from her entity which caused several spells to flourish from her being. Riyku had removed the blade and stepped back from this frenzy of attacks.

"Riyku?" Seraphina had approached and placed a hand upon his shoulder which caused him to look back at her. "I'm fine. Don't worry." Riyku stated, his crimson eyes had shifted from her towards Verona who was panting heavily due to exhaustion. Seraphina's expression was different, it wasn't that she was worried he was hurt, but more so about something else. "Well, alright." Seraphina would look back towards Verona who was using her ring blade to keep herself off the ground.

"Where did you gain that power!? Only the Shadow Lord should be able to use such and power and he vanished eons ago!" Verona seemed flustered, she was incapable of comprehending what was just happened. No, it was more like she did not want to believe what was happening. "Shadow Lord?" Riyku inquired before shifting his eyes to Seraphina. "The Shadow Lord was the title given to the previous Underworld Ruler. He was given such merely because of his feats in creating the creatures known as Nightmares. Nightmares were creatures born of pure darkness. Creatures that ruled over the shadow and lurked in the night. They would feast on anything in their sights. Well, anything except their own creator." Seraphina stated though it seemed she was hiding something. Her expression gave off such, but Riyku had returned his glance back to Verona midway through her explanation.

"Exactly! So how in the hell do you have his power!? The ability to use the darkness at will!?" Verona shouted to which Seraphina chuckled. "I am giving him such an ability, child. I am one of the Queens of Darkness, after all." She would taunt the woman, though she wasn't really lying either. Seraphina was not giving Riyku her power, but more like he was taking it from her. Gritting her teeth, Verona would use the last of her strength to dash towards Riyku before using 'Blink'. "I've already seen that damn trick..." Riyku narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward and swung his blade around as if to cut down Verona the moment she appeared, and that he did. The woman was far too in shock that she had not realized she was dead. Her body would expunge into dark mist and steadily seep into his own body.

'Verona, The Demon Maid defeated'

'102,872 Experience points earned'

'730 Souls acquired'

'Key to floor three acquired'

The text box appeared upon his UI, and just like how he defeated Verso last night, the same thing happened with Verona. No trace of the woman was left, and the reward was given to him. The steady black aura would dimish and the weapon in hand seemed to return to his inventory via Weapon Return. Riyku was about to look back at Seraphina, but the woman had slammed herself against him as if trying to tackle him to ground from behind. "We should rest up before we continue onward.' Seraphina stated to which Riyku nodded. "That is fine with me. For whatever reason, that battle was completely different than yesterday." Riyku would state as Seraphina released him and the two of them moved to sit down on a couch nearby. "From what you told me about last nights battle, then I would have to agree." Seraphina would concur with him.

Riyku would sigh lightly and hold his hand out as if summoning something. Indeed he was summoning something. The Book of Monsterology. "Demon, Verona The Demon Maid. Upper-Class." Riyku stated what could be known as keywords and the book began to flip pages rapidly before landing on the page that held a picture of Verona with her status.

Name: Verona The Demon Maid

Level: 92

Race: Upper-Class Demon

Category: Demon

Experience points given: 93,520 Points

Drops: 730 Souls, Key to the third floor

Hunted: 1 Time

Weakness: Holy Weapon

"Ninety-two?" Riyku narrowed his eyes before looking to Seraphina who would shrug. "I know nothing of that kind of thing. Though if she is on par with your level, it would only make sense that she posed a threat to you. Perhaps you should level up a bit more before heading to the third floor." Seraphina would state to Riyku who seemed to sigh lightly and close the book in his hand before storing it back into his inventory via Weapon Return. "Perhaps. My experience bar seemed to have shot up towards a good eighty percent. If the next floor demon is stronger than this one..." Riyku would pause mid-sentence which drew upon Seraphina's attention. "Next floor? Hang on... There were only two floors. Well, there should only be two floors." Riyku would narrow his eyes in thought before looking around the room. It was then he made note of yet another door just past another set of stairs. Beside that door had been another white sphere that was not there before.

"If there is a third floor... just how many floors are there?" Riyku question softly before sighing heavily. "I could not tell you. Though, we should check out the left and right wings of this floor. We may find something again." Seraphina stated as she eyed the room. Indeed there was a hallway within her sights and beside them was another hallway which went in the completely opposite direction of the other one.

After a few more moments of resting up, Riyku would be the first to stand up and Seraphina would soon follow. The two of them made their way into the Right Wing, which was the hallway just beside them. Looking down this hallway one could see several doors. "If I am not mistaken, the first two doors here are for guests, the next set of doors happened to be storage rooms and the following set of doors are supplied rooms," Riyku stated to which Seraphina nodded. "I believe so, yes." Riyku would proceed to the door on his right and attempt to open it, yet the door appeared to be locked. Interestingly enough, there was no option to lock pick it. Jiggling the knob again would cause a text box to appear.

'You are unable to enter this room at this time.'

Blinking for a moment the male was baffled by what he read. "What's up?" Seraphina inquired when she noticed the confused look upon his face. "We can't enter this room at this time." He pretty much repeated the text aloud. "Hmm... Want to try and break it down?" Seraphina was partially joking when she said that. "I don't think it will work, but you are more than welcomed to try." Riyku would reply as he stepped back and Seraphina shook her head. "Nope. If you are certain it will not work, then it will not work. This world is confusing... far too different from any normal world. The laws of this world seem to remind me of something though...." Seraphina would mule over her thought, but Riyku was not planning on waiting much longer since he had been able to open the door adjacent of the locked one.

Pushing into the room, he scouted around and found nothing of interesting. Though the room itself did resemble that of the room Lira had been staying in. "It's a guest room, yet..." Riyku would leave the room only to look at the locked door one more time. "Did you find anything?" Seraphina was about to enter the room he just left but was caught off when he left himself. "If memory serves correct this room is the room Vex is staying in," Riyku stated to which Seraphina tilted her head in a confused expression. "How so?" She inquired. "The other room looks just like Lira's in a way. Though, I can not be certain without going back to check for myself. I'll do it when we return though." Riyku stated before turning to face other doors down the hall. "Do you want to go through those as well?" Seraphina would ask. In truth, she was merely tagging along as a means to kill boredom. She did not seem to care much about learning the depth of this place even if it felt oddly familiar to her.

"Yeah. I think we should. Just in case." Riyku would proceed onward with Seraphina at his rear. The two of them entered but storage rooms yet found nothing. Next, they entered the supply rooms and still found nothing. "Nothing at all eh? Let's check out the left wing. We may find something there." Seraphina would state and Riyku would nod. "Of course. It'll be our last section before we return back to the other world. We have been here for about three hours give or take. I am not keeping track, but merely going by how it has felt." Riyku stated and Seraphina would nod. She was aware of the time ratio mainly because of the fact that the two shared the same thought process when she was stored in his shadow. As the two made their way back to the main hall they took note of several creatures crawling around. "More Monsters?" Seraphina inquired to which Riyku kissed his teeth. "I haven't fully recovered yet either." He muttered as he made note of his Shield Point gauge being a quarter full. After all, he never entered any kind of 'form' state; he merely used Seraphina's power. So his Shield Points and Mana Pool were still in a recovery state.

"Well, what do you want to do Darling?" Seraphina inquired to which Riyku took a moment to think. "We push through. After going through the left wing, we won't return until I've leveled up a bit more. I'd rather not leave without exploring what I can." Riyku would reply. A smirk curved across Seraphina face as she stepped in front of Riyku. "That's what I like to hear. Now, watch your wife at work." Seraphina seemed to mutter something inaudible and shortly after her body steadily began to 'fill' out. All the curves growing ever plumper just like her wings, spadetail, and horns seemed to grow. It was then that she opened her eyes to reveal a bright red beat glow and snap her fingers which caused several implosions to occur within the main hall.

'Demon Dog defeated x10'

'550 Exp acquired'

'500 Souls acquired'

The text box appeared the moment the creatures turned into a dark mist. Seraphina's body size and proportions seemed to steadily return to normal as did her Horns, Wings, and Tail. Softly she would stumble back into Riyku's arms. Looking up at the male she would smile softly, "How did I do?" She asked to which Riyku looked down at her with a smile of his own. "Perfect. Can you walk?" He asked softly and she nodded lightly. With Aid, Seraphina would raise back into her own two feet and the two would make their way towards the Left Wing. "I believe that the two rooms before us are Mina and Skylar's, the following two rooms are guests rooms which one of them is mine and the final two rooms at the end of the hall are for the Head Staff. I do not recall ever hearing about the room where Aiya stays though... " Riyku stated, having recalled that Mina never mentioned the room of which Aiya would be resting. "Who knows, you can bed the woman later." Seraphina would tease him lightly which caused him to shake his head. "If anyone, it'll be you." Riyku would tease back which caused her to giggle softly. "A one on one match under the sheets? Why not just do it here and now?" Seraphina teased with a whisper to his ear. Riyku would ignore her lust for now open the door into Mina's room. Well, the door that was supposed to lead to her room. "Interesting...." Riyku muttered upon discovering something. "What did you find, Darling? A lovely bed too---" Seraphina seemed to have fallen silent at the sight before her eyes. The expression she bore was that of utter shock. "No... way..." She muttered softly.