Worm - Justice For All

by SeerKing

When Taylor Hebert Triggered in the Locker, the Entities were slow to act. Instead of the [Queen Administrator], she was gifted with the seed of power known as an [Embryo], which becomes a powerful weapon one month after The Locker. How will this change the world of Earth Bet? Gamer!Taylor! Has a TVTropes page!

15. Quest 2-6

"Iustitia!" - Regular Speech

'Mistress!' - Thoughts/Telepathy

[Justice For All!] - Skill/Ability Being Used

Beta'd by BigCC

Quest 2.6

Hill of Inverted Justice

The first thing I noticed when I emerged in the Dimensional Pocket was…red. A lot of red. Seriously, everything around me seemed to have been bathed in a thin coating of red. At first, I thought it was blood, but a closer look thankfully dispelled that disturbing thought. Instead, it was like the entire place was being lit by a red strobe light, casting a red pallor over everything in sight. Then I finally noticed exactly what all the red was covering.

"A basement?" I muttered aloud, more than a bit confused. Beneath the sheen of red light, the entirety of the room I was seemed to be formed of roughly hewn stone and primitive concrete. The only adornment was the light hanging from the ceiling, a small spot of bright red surrounded by a cage of glass and metal. Oh, and the large steel door that seemed to be the only way in or out of the room. The utter lack of windows or any other ventilation certainly made this place feel like an underground basement

"Or maybe some kind of dungeon." I reconsidered after a moment's though.

'Mistress, this place appears to be completely deserted.' Iustitia noted, though she too seemed a bit surprised by our current surroundings. 'I had not expected us to appear within a building. Given the location of the gate, I had honestly expecting us to be forced to fight our way up a hill; that certainly sounds more akin to something an aspect of violence would concoct.'

"Sound about right, but this…I think we're in some kind of castle or keep, or at least the underground part of it, Iustitia." I offered as I started making my way towards the door. "This place certainly feels like its underground, so my best guess is that we're going to fight our way up from underneath a hill or making our way deeper into it, with the big bad waiting at the top or bottom." I continued, before frowning in thought. I didn't like the kind of enemies that this kind of environment immediately brought to mind. "Let's be ready for anything going forward, I don't like the feel of this place." I muttered aloud.

'Of course, my Mistress. I am forever ready at your side.' Iustitia agreed solemnly.

Warily using my tipstaff to push the door open without touching it, I peered into the corridor outside. There was only more stone and red light leading off into the distance, slightly sloped upwards. Looks like it was the first option, we were going to fight our way out from beneath the hill, which meant we were likely starting from the bottom.

So, the pocket's entrance, which had been located at the top of the hill, had inverted us and brought us to the bottom of whatever dungeon this pocket had shaped itself into. 'Inverted' Justice. Ugh, whatever Fragment had created this place had a truly horrible sense of humor.

Stepping cautiously through the door on the other end of the corridor, I found proof that I was right, this place was truly a dungeon in the most literal sense of the word. Black iron bars stood darkly on either side of the next hallway, forming a number of cells on either side of the significantly wider corridor I found myself in. Thankfully all of them were empty.

At least of anything living.

Scattered throughout the cells were several brown and white skeletons, each dressed in the ragged, faded remnants of what were once Cape costumes. And none of them looked like they'd belonged to adults.

They were closer to my size…or even smaller.

The sight sent shivers down my spine. There weren't many of them, no more than a half-dozen of them thankfully, but I very much doubt that they were just a thematic element. No, these were likely all that was left of the Capes that Hamelin had killed in his mad quest. The ones that had either been too resilient, frail or simply stubborn for his rats and statues to capture non-lethally.

The ones that had fought to the death rather than be captured and used as batteries for the Mad Cape.

I averted my eyes from the sight, reminding myself that there was nothing I could do for them now. Even the costumes were too badly decayed for me to get a good look at, so I couldn't even help identify them for Director Piggot and the PRT.

At the end of the rows of cells was another steel door, only this one was badly rusted and hanging off the wall on a single hinge. There was also a large, ominous dent in the center, as if someone (or something) had tried to punch their way through the door. Was it just another decoration or had this actually come from another part of Hamelin's original Dimension Pocket and been used when the Fragment residing here started to build its own Dimension?

Deciding it was better to err on the side of caution, and honestly not trusting the heavy mass of metal not to fall on me if I tried to open it normally, I had Iustitia shift into her First Form before slashing through the last remaining hinge. The rusted, decayed metal parted like paper beneath the Sword of Justice, causing the rest of the door to drop to the ground with a heavy, metallic clan that echoed down the corridor it had been concealing. This was swiftly followed by the sound of at least a couple sets of heavy feet slowly shuffling in my directions.

"I fucking knew it…!" I spat as the monsters shambled into view. "More zombies! Fuck, I hate being right!"

Shambling into view, were three very obviously dead soldiers. They wore the rotten remnants of leather armor studded with bits of metal, with rusted, dented open-faced helmets on their heads and each had a rust-dotted short sword clutched in their decaying grasp.

"First zombie pirates, now zombie soldiers! Is this going to be a theme with these Pocket Dimensions!?" I groaned out as I adjusted my stance.

'I am no more happy about this than you, Mistress. Cutting through the rotting flesh of the undead is most…unpleasant.' Iustitia remarked, the sword and scales in my grip shivering slightly in my hands. 'Might I request a thorough cleaning once we return home?'

"Of course." I reassured her gently…before charging into combat. I lunged forward with a [Blade Charge], stabbing the lead zombie through the stomach before a quick activation of [Blade Sweep] practically ripped it in half.

You have defeated Remnant of Injustice (LV17)! You earn 150 EXP!

You have looted [Rusty Short Sword]!

You have looted [Emblem of the Unjust]!

You have looted $50.00!

I ignored the messages for a moment, quickly slicing the remaining two zombies to pieces before looking over the loot I'd gained, all three having dropped the same thing. The sword was…an extremely poor weapon. The kind of thing that I'd only use if I was desperate. The [Emblem of the Unjust] was an accessory that I couldn't equip due to Iustitia's incompatibility with the concept of [Injustice]. For those that could wear it, it bolstered all their physical stats at the cost of reducing their maximum MP.

Useful, but not something that would fit me even if I could use it.

I suddenly paused, remembering something important. "Iustitia, why couldn't I see those monsters' names or levels? I thought that the System Core we found would fix that?"

I could practically feel my Embryo freeze up in realization. '…oops?' Iustitia offered hesitantly, before apologizing. 'Forgive me Mistress, after the information overload I suffered from uploading it and the Gacha System, I utterly forgot about actually activating the Player-Monster Interaction System afterwards. I shall do so immediately!' I felt her do something in the back of my head, before the air around me seemed to ripple for a moment with some unseen energy instantly before it dissipated in an instant. A moment later, Iustitia spoke up again, 'Done. You should now be able to freely see the names and levels of any and all enemy monsters except for the levels of Boss Monsters. Sadly, opposing Players and other humans won't be affected, you can only view information about them if they allow it.'

'Good to know.' I acknowledged before advancing down the corridor the three zombies had shambled from. After a few moments, I came across something quite odd.

A map.

A large, very crudely drawn map, but a map all the same. It was seemingly bolted to the wall of the area I had just entered. There was even a crudely drawn X near the bottom right, likely indicating just where I was.

"Okay, this is a bit too convenient." I muttered eyeing the map skeptically. "Still, if this thing is anything close to accurate, then this place is massive." Just the floor I was currently on, the lowest and smallest one, was nearly the same size as the block my house was on, and there were at least three other floors above this one, each about the same size as the one I found myself on now. There were, sadly, no indications about where any entryways or exits were located or what else was hiding in this strange dungeon/bunker place, but there was at least a general layout of the rooms connected to each floor.

'Mistress, I have finished memorizing it.' Iustitia pinged in after a few moments. 'Assuming this is in any way accurate I should be able to guide you through the next few floors. I assume the Boss is either at the end of the 1st Floor or directly above it.'

"Likely above it. Either we'll find ourselves in the midst of some medieval battleground or maybe in some kind of throne room. Either would fit the aesthetic." I offered with a shrug before groaning as another though occurred. "Great, this place is just screaming 'swarm tactics' to me. I'm going to get ZERG-rushed by a fucking army of zombies, I just know it. Looks like the [Lone Gun and Star of Frontier Justice] and the [Cudgel of the Law] are going to be getting a workout tonight."

There was roughly a dozen rooms spread out across the floor I was on. Most of them were cell blocks like the one I'd just passed through but there were a few larger rooms past them. Likely guard rooms or something like that. I searched each and every room and cell that we passed through as we made our way across the floor, but the pickings were lean. There were thankfully no more skeletons in any of the cell blocks, but the guard rooms were almost bare as well. However, what I did find in abundance were [Remnants of Injustice]. Aside from the three I'd killed in the corridor, there were several more sets of three to five wandering across the cell blocks and at least a baker's dozen in the first guard room I stepped into. All told I'd killed at least fifty of the undead bastards on this floor alone, and the next three floors were likely going to be even worse!

Ugh, I hate the undead. I really, really hate the undead!

"There's the last of them." I practically sighed in relief as the last echo of Iustitia's shot faded into the background, accompanied by the thump of the of the last truly dead corpse hitting the ground. "For this floor, at least." I added morosely as an afterthought.

Still there were some benefits to fighting through the undead masses. For starters I'd earned close to two grand from this floor alone, which was very nice. Second, I had leveled up three times, bringing me up to Level 21, and had put all three levels into [Maceman], which was now at Level 7. I'd only earned a single new skill from it, [Armor Up] which boosted the effectiveness of any armor that I wore by ten per level of the skill. Not exactly the most game-breaking skill, but useful enough. Hopefully I got something better before I maxed [Maceman] out.

Looking over the loot I'd gained from clearing the last guardroom, I discovered there was an item labeled [Fourth Floor Gate Key] mixed in among the junk. It was a pretty self-explanatory item, particularly when I found the massive iron doors sealed shut by an equally massive lock just down the corridor from the guardroom. Taking out the far-too-small key out of my Inventory and was surprised as it vanished in a shower of pixels as I touched it to the gate, causing the lock to come open with an extremely loud *CLANK* before the doors slowly swung with a loud grinding groan.

"Again, convenient." I muttered to myself as the doors finished swinging open, revealing a flight of stairs leading up. Well hell, it looks like I was going to be getting my exercise in tonight.

I was really starting to hate this Pocket Dimension.

After three long flights of stairs, I was silently cursing and promising grim vengeance against whatever sadistic bastard had invented the concept of stairs. Even after all this time, I was still only barely recovered from the damned Locker. My Stats overrode and bolstered my body's actual limitations in combat, but outside of it I was still a feeble, out of shape teenage girl.

"Seriously…fuck stairs…!" I wheezed out as I finally reached the top of the stairs, pausing to take a moment to rest and get my breath back. Just to be clear, these were long, steep stairs; not the kind you'd find in a school corridor but rather something out of an old building. Not fun to climb.

'Should I remind you to start jogging more, Mistress?' Iustitia offered helpfully.

'Yeah, we'll start tomorrow, after I recover from this nightmare.' I mentally agreed with my Embryo as I pushed myself off the wall I'd been leaning against and turned to face the open doorway leading into the next floor. Exactly why it had no door was a bit puzzling, considering that nearly every room in the floor below had them, but not something I thought was worth dwelling on.

Advancing through the doorway, I was momentarily struck dumb by the sight of the new floor. The large corridor I found myself in, far larger than any in the lower floor, was completely covered in writing. Single words and small phrases littered every inch of the floor, wall and ceiling; with size and legibility ranging from small, perfect block prints scribbled across the wall to a massive chicken scratch on the ceiling with characters taller than me. Several seemingly ran into each other, making the already chaotic collage of words all the more illegible. Still, I managed to pick out enough bits to get the general message.

'Hate'

'despair'

'PaRaHuMaN'

'REVENGE'

'JUsTicE'

"Wow." I could only blink in shock. "It looks like this particular Fragment isn't going to be the most…stable."

'Hmph, of course. Justice follows law and order; Revenge is but the satisfaction of one's base desires.' my Embryo harrumphed as I felt her staring disdainfully at the writings. 'Only the truly mad would equate Revenge and Justice on even terms.'

Hearing Iustitia continue to grumble about how this particular Fragment was perverting the very idea of Justice, I couldn't help but wince. It was like she was taking this entire place as a personal insult.

The sound of shuffling feet and shambling steps quickly brought us both out of musings as I instinctively raised my gun toward the source of the sound; quickly catching sight of even more [Remnants of Injustice], shambling down the corridor in mass. They were only slightly higher-leveled than the ones on the floor below being Level 17-to-18 rather than the 16-to-17 range I'd fought before, but they were just as poorly equipped as the ones below. The only issue was that there was even more of them. This one group had at least a dozen of the shambling bastards.

[Headshot]ing the first one, I quickly emptied Iustitia's chambers on the next two, eliminating them as well, before shifting my Embryo into her tipstaff form as I went to town on the rest of the zombies. With their numbers boosting my [Order in the Court], each swing sent one of the first few zombies I met flying to slam into the walls.

With a grunt, I smashed the last one upside the head, sending its head spinning to face in the opposite direction. Even as [Order in the Court] faded with their dwindling numbers I was still fairly strong with just my own stats to deal some serious damage to the relatively frail undead.

Looking around and panting slightly from the exertion, I realized that I'd already killed more monsters than I had in Pequod's Dimensional Pocket and I was barely a quarter of the way through.

…I was going to be working all night to clear this place, wasn't I? Fuck me running.

As I started looking through the various rooms scattered throughout the floor as I slowly mowed my way through the undead horde, my exasperation quickly started to turn to a mounting sense of unease. Each room was filled with sketches, drawings, portraits, pictures and even statues of various A- or S-ranked Parahumans; all completely shredded, wrecked, burned or otherwise destroyed beyond reason. It was only the small bronze name plaques on each door that allowed me to identify who each room belonged to. Alexandria, Legend and Eidolon of the Triumvirate, Nilbog, Pastor, Bastard Son and Upperhand of the Elite, Panacea, Cinereal, Valefor and Mother Mathers (though there only vague outlines in her room) of the Fallen, Lung...there was an entire fucking wing dedicated to the Slaughterhouse Nine and its various members.

It was a veritable 'who's who' of the most powerful costumed men and women in North America, on both sides of the law.

"He…Hamelin…he was really planning on going after all of them, wasn't he? I know he was insane but this…dear sweet god in heaven." I couldn't help muttering aloud. The sheer hatred and obsession the various art pieces and their destruction represented was unnerving on a truly unspeakable degree. I could understand that kind of hatred for the Nine and the Elite, maybe even Legend since he'd been involved in one of the fights that had cost Hamelin everything, but this? This wasn't justice, this wasn't even revenge. This was just a madman lashing out at the world, trying and trying to make everyone else suffer with him.

'This justice has been twisted so far that it can't even be called something as base as revenge anymore. There is nothing left but hatred and violence!' Iustitia practically snarled in my ears as we stood outside the latest gallery. 'We must move forward, Mistress; this vile place must be put to the sword and cleansed from all the worlds!'

That actually drew a rattled chuckle from me, I'd never heard my Embryo so…zealous about something before. Her courage and determination in the face of her antithesis gave me strength and I managed to push aside my mounting unease and resume my hunt for the monster holding the next floor key. That seemed to be the idea behind this place; fight through the hordes, claim the key, and gain access to the next floor.

Funnily enough, I found the likely contender a short while later. It was a large-than-life zombie; easily at least seven feet tall. Physically, it was almost a perfect, if enlarged, mirror to its smaller kin save for its equipment; instead of a rusty short sword, it clutched a solid, if rough-looking, halberd and rather than ragged leathers, it was dressed in solid looking, if crude, armor. A hauberk I think it was called, a chain shirt with several pieces of plate armor adding extra protection to its abdomen.

Greater Remnant of Injustice LVL 20

'Is this thing some kind of mini-boss?'

'Nay Mistress, it is simply a stronger-than average floor monster, nothing remotely close to true Boss Monster.' the Maiden of Justice replied dismissively after studying the undead for a moment. 'It will certainly be a bit tougher to deal with than those walking cadavers we've carved our way through so far, and the resulting loot will certainly be a sight better as well, but it is nowhere near the challenge even a Floor Boss could provide. Defeating it should prove to be no challenge, Mistress.'

I gave the hulking undead another cautious look before switching back to the [Gun and Star of Frontier Justice] before quickly taking aim at the lumbering behemoth in front of me. Instantly everything seemed to slow down around me as I entered [Quickdraw] mode. With deliberate aim I leveled my gun at the brute's exposed face and activated [Headshot] as I squeezed the trigger.

The bullet soared across the distance in an instant before slamming into the zombie's head right between its eyes, causing it to explode like a watermelon. The headless remainder tottered slightly for a moment before collapsing to the ground.

You have defeated a Greater Remnant of Injustice (LVL 20)! You receive 500 EXP!

That…that was it?

'...huh.' I could feel Iustitia tilt her head in the back of my brain as she stared at the remains of the 'elite monster' in honest shock. 'Impressive shot, Mistress. You scored a double critical with a single pull of the trigger. Still, that was most…underwhelming, even for nothing more than a simple elite monster.'

"Ya think?" I snorted aloud before walking over and, after switching Iustitia back to her sword and scales form, tapped the tip against the monster's hauberk.

You have looted $100!

You have looted [Third Floor Gate Key]!

You have looted [Halberdier Class Book]!

You have looted [Poor Steel Halberd]!

I blinked slightly as I looked over the loot I'd earned. "Is this a hint about what your next form will be Iustitia?" I asked curiously as I withdrew my sword/Embryo away from the dissolving corpse in front of me.

"No Mistress." the Maiden of Justice replied instantly. "I still have no clue what my Fourth Form will be. I haven't even tried to alter the loot drops since halfway through Hamelin's original dungeon. This was simply the result of random chance."

"If you say so." I agreed with a shrug. I'd take a closer look at the skill book after we cleared the dungeon, but it certainly didn't sound like something I'd use unless one of Iustitia's new Forms took the shape of halberd. Pulling out the key, I unlocked the heavy, iron doors (that were even larger and heavier than the ones blocking the way up from the 4th Floor) to reveal yet more stairs.

Oh joy.

"Iustitia, is it me or have the monsters in this dungeon been a bit…flimsy for their level?" I asked slowly as I made my way up the stairs. "I mean…it just feels like it's been a bit too easy to mow through them so far."

Sure, the numbers had made it a bit tedious, but even when I'd first entered, every Remnant had fallen with only a couple of good hits. Now I could one-shot most of them as long as I used a Skill and even with just base attacks it only took two or maybe three hits to take them down.

'I suspect that Fragment ruling this Pocket is trying something close to the opposite of Pequod's strategy, Mistress.' Iustitia replied after a couple moments of thought. 'Despair Energy accumulated slowly within his Dimension Pocket and he primarily focused on gathering most of it for himself and his pet, leaving little to feed and empower his regular monsters. However, the…Violence Energy gathered by this realm likely accumulates far more quickly, and the Fragment controlling this blasphemous place is likely using it to spawn more and more monsters. However, it doesn't seem to be using the energy to strengthen or nourish the monsters he creates, resulting in them being weaker than their levels should attest. It would also explain the weakness of the elite monster we just faced; even his stronger creatures are little more than hollow constructs with little Energy to empower them.'

Given that Brockton Bay was fast approaching a level it could be called the Mos Eisley of North America, I could understand Violence Energy (as Iustitia named it) accumulating quickly.

"So, he's basically going for a quantity over quality approach?" I asked, before sighing. "I'm definitely going to be ZERG-rushed, aren't I?"

'At some point, it is most likely Mistress.' my Embryo agreed, before continuing warily. 'Unfortunately, I doubt that the Fragment has let itself wither like its creations. It will no doubt be just as dangerous as Pequod proved to be.'

"Pequod did say that he was the weakest of the Fragments." I noted grimly as I finally reached the top of the stairs. "If that's the case…we might just have to use your Third Form's Active Abilities to beat him."

To be specific, the skill I'd been avoiding using was [A Silver Bullet to Strike Down Villainy], for two big reasons. First, I could only use it once a day, meaning it was very much a hit or miss option. Second, was the fact that, once I activated it, I couldn't attack the target for five minutes afterwards, meaning I would be forced almost entirely on the defensive during that time. It was a remarkably powerful ability, since it tripled the damage I dealt to the target for the rest of the day after those five minutes were up, but it was getting through those five minutes of hell that were the problem.

Hopefully when Iustitia eventually evolved again, it would loosen some of the restrictions on that particular skill.

Stopping once more at open doorway leading into the second floor, I took a moment to catch my breath before pushing forward.

Only for a loud 'twang' to echo through the air as my foot passed through the doorway. A second later an arrow pinged off my cuirass and sent me stumbling back a step into the stairwell. I just managed to catch myself before I was sent tumbling back down the stairs I'd just conquered.

"What the hell!?" I snapped out, pushing myself into the side of the doorway and peeking out around the edge. I quickly caught sight of several more zombies all armed with bows and arrows.

Lesser Remnant of Injustice LV15

"Alright, now you brain-munching bozos have irked me!" I spat out, shifting Iustitia into her gun form and quickly stepping around the edge and opening fire. Two shots was all it took to take down the first archer. With a growl, I abandoned my cover and charged forward, gun barking out a steady stream of fire as I charged. Two more zombies fell before they could fully draw their bows back, and I was on top of the rest before they could do the same. The rest rapidly fell to a furious barrage of [Pistol Whip]s as I quickly bludgeoned them into dust.

You have defeated 7 Lesser Remnants of Injustice (LVL 15)! You gain 350 EXP!

"Just like in games; ranged fighters tend to be a bit lower-leveled than close combat types." I noted as I started tapping the corpses with Iustitia's sword form, getting $150 each, plus several dozen [Poor Quality Stone Arrows] and three [Poor Pine Bows] from them.

'I have not noticed such a commonality before, Mistress.' Iustitia noted curiously. 'Then again, none of our opponents so far have been primarily ranged attackers. The only ones with a solid ranged attack were those rats in the Despair Pocket that spat concussive water balls.'

I winced. "Please don't remind me of those things, if I never see a giant rat again it'll be too soon." I muttered dryly. "Well, let's see what this floor has to show us."

Aside from several more bunches of [Lesser Remnants of Injustice] scattered throughout the floor, the entire floor seemed to have been a massive storehouse of some kind, filled to the brim with boxes and stacks of paper, ranging from notepads filled with tiny scribbled notes, to stacks of computer print offs, to page after page of notebook paper covered in various forms of writing.

Picking up one such page, I blanched as I realized just what these were. Assassination plans. Dozens of them for each and every Cape who I'd seen scattered in the galleries below.

And nearly every page had at least one large mark across it in blood red ink. Notes that read 'WON'T WORK!', 'NEED MORE INFORMATION', 'TOO WEAK!', 'INSUFFICIENT POWERS', 'NEED MORE BATTERIES', and several that just repeated "FUCKING CAPES!" over and over again.

Once again I felt my unease start to rise. Hamelin…Hamelin had really been insane. I'd known that from the beginning, but when I had originally confronted him he'd just seemed so much more…controlled, I guess. He'd been an evil jackass and a cruel bastard, but he hadn't been the kind of wild-eyed crazy these floors were showing.

Or maybe he'd just been really good at hiding how far around the bend he'd actually gone.

The plans themselves ran the gamut from the meticulous notes and details of an obsessively skilled planner, to the ravings and wild junctions of a disconnected madman, to utter and complete gibberish; sometimes all on the same page. Either he'd written these things in some kind of code, or Hamelin's ability to communicate had fluctuated violently at times.

After a few more moments of looking, I decided that I wouldn't find anything useful among Hamelin's demented ramblings and moved on to the last room; where the stairs to the first floor awaited. Guarding them this time was a hulking brute of a zombie that made the [Greater Remnant of Injustice] from the 3rd Floor seem puny by comparison. It was close to ten feet tall with a body built like a half-rotten body builder, all covered with thick plate armor, and it carried a massive tower shield in one hand and a large, spiked flail in the other.

Remnant of Greater Injustice LV21

Well, this one certainly looked like a more solid threat than anything else I'd faced since I entered this place…also, the way these things' names were arranged seemed to be a clue on their threat level. Rather than simply being a 'large piece of injustice' like the one below, this one was 'piece of great injustice.' If my hunch was right, then it was a mix of both the level and the name that told you just how dangerous a target was, rather than just the level alone.

"Iustitia, the [Cudgel of the Law]." I ordered calmly, choosing the most appropriate weapon and class for this situation.

"Yes, Mistress!" my Embryo eagerly replied, the familiar weight of the tipstaff replacing the sword in my hand. The only way I had to break through thick armor easily was with the [Maceman] class skill [Crushing Blow]. It was a skill designed to smash through and destroy armor, weakening the target's defense so I could use other weapons and skills to more easily finish it off.

As soon as my slow, steady approach brought me within a few meters of the Remnant, it suddenly snapped into motion. With a slight metallic jingle and the rasp of armor grinding against armor echoing across the quiet corridor, the massive remnant stood up to its full height and began to advance toward me in return. It was soon joined by a distinctive whistling sound as the monster began to clumsily spin its flair around, the spiked ball glinting wickedly in the red light.

Deciding to not let the larger, stronger beast get the first move, I darted in with a sudden sprint, bringing my tipstaff around to smash into the zombie's flank. As soon as my blow landed, I was started backpedaling, pulling away just in time to avoid the return swing of the flail, which smashed into stone floor. This left the monster's side wide open so of course…

"[Crushing Blow]!" I growled and slammed my tipstaff into the same flank that I'd struck moments before. The head of the short club, wreathed in peridot-green light, slammed into the armor covering its abdomen and the entire side of the metal equipment bent and buckled like it had been hit by a runaway train. The zombie flew back and into the wall thanks to the secondary effect of the tipstaff responding to my stamina drain.

"Dang, it sounded like I just struck a gong when I hit that thing." I muttered before recoiling from the black-green ooze that was dripping from the ruptured armor. "Urgh, gross. What the hell is that stuff? Mortician's fluid?"

"...it's putrefied flesh, Mistress." Iustitia pointed out in disgust. "It's rotted down to the state that it's mostly liquid held in place by whatever Energy is animating the corpse. Please give all of my forms a thorough polish when we get home."

"Sure thing." I promised her, before continuing to batter the zombie into submission.

Slow, with poor armor and nothing to mitigate my speed, the [Remnant of Greater Injustice] was basically a walking sandbag for me to practice my [Maceman] class skills on. Three minutes later and the large brute was slumping to the ground, flail already broken with the head reduced to a flattened pancake from a lucky hit.

You have defeated a Remnant of Greater Injustice! You gain 753 EXP!

You have leveled up! Level has been automatically placed into [Maceman]!

You have learned the skill [Double Strike]!

You have learned the skill [Stunning Blow]!

You gain 50 HP!

You gain 5 Strength!

You gain 5 Toughness!

You gain 5 Endurance!

You gain 250 MP!

You gain 500 Stamina!

Tapping it with Iustitia's sword form (taking care to not touch her to any of the putrefied flesh), I looted the corpse.

You have looted $500!

You have looted [Steel Hauberk]!

You have looted [Steel Bracers]!

You have looted [Second Floor Gate Key]!

Hum. Pretty generic loot, but the money was nice, as was the key to the next floor.

When I unlocked the door with the key this time, it wasn't a set of stairs that lay before me, it was a wooden room with a lever on one side, which was pointed down. Obviously it was some kind of crude elevator.

"Well, looks as if we're heading up a bit further than a couple of flights of stairs with this one, Iustitia." I mused.

"Be on your guard, Mistress." my Embryo cautioned me. "I do not like this."

I had to agree with her; being trapped in a single room, unable to avoid anything that might infiltrate the elevator...yeah, not fun. But I didn't exactly have any choice, so I had to be extra careful here.

Entering the elevator, I switched to Iustitia's Third Form again, before using one hand to tug the lever upright.

With a 'click', the small wooden elevator started to move upwards, and I kept my guard up as it did so. Something told me that the more dangerous enemies were still to come.

Name: Taylor Hebert

Cape Name: Justitia

Gender: Female

Level: 22

Title: None (*)

Job(s):

(1) Swordsman (LV10)

(2) Maceman (LV8)

(3) Gunslinger (LV4)

EXP: 50/3600

Embryo: Maiden of Justice, Iustitia

Embryo Type: Maiden with Arms

Embryo Forms Achieved: 3/7

Stats:

HP: 1340

MP: 1680

STA: 6050 (+250)

Strength: 115 (+10)

Toughness: 115 (+15)

Endurance: 115

Dexterity: 55 (+5)

Luck: ?