The boss fight - if one could call it like that, considering that the Bloody Mari's were just a little notch above the normal Marionettes - ended with three heavily wounded people, five fractured bones, an unknown number of lesser wounds and a few Red Orbs for everyone.

Which was probably the thing that made everyone angry. At the situation, at each other, at the monsters. They were just… angry.

It started with a combination of curse laden muttering and whispers. The majority of the people left standing, only by the infernal grace of their unknown benefactor, began to talk among themselves. Most of the people attempted to keep their voices low enough so as to prevent other groups from listening in. This normally would have worked in a calmer, more sedate setting.

However, with the reality of the situation setting in and the loss of several of their members, whispers soon gave way to shouting.

"Those belong to me!" One voice shouted.

"Bullshit! I didn't see you kill it!" Another voice, in a different group but answering a similar sentiment, responded.

"Everyone just calm down!" An authoritative voice called.

"You're going to let him speak to you like that! Grow a damn spine!"

Throughout the area, more of these shouts began to make themselves known and it didn't seem like there was much to stop them. And like a powder keg, someone was eventually set off.

From one of the crowds, two figures broke rank, landing blows on each other that in other circumstances would be more dangerous. Now, it was more of a show force. One was a man in a formerly high quality, but a now torn, business suit. His tie being used by his opponent to keep him close. The other was a similarly dressed woman who was desperately trying to choke her opponent. The tie eventually tore apart and sent the two to the floor away from each other.

Tired, but still glaring daggers at each other, they arose and began to address the crowd equally, both attempting to out speak the other.

"Listen!" The man began while rubbing at his neck. "If we all work together, I can assure you that we can create a plan of action that will…"

"That will get you all killed!" Spat the woman. "I've worked with this bastard for over ten years, and I know damn well, he wouldn't hesitate to throw you under the bus."

"Like you're any better!? I know what you did to Terence and Andi over the Kinler deal." He looked back to the crowd. "If you follow her, I can assure you she won't hesitate to leave you out to dry."

This continued for several more minutes and people actually began to congregate around both speakers. Maybe it was demonically enhanced charisma, maybe it was the need to follow a strong leader, or maybe some of the people didn't know any better, but a good chunk of the people began to form two camps.

There were however the outliers, two groups to be exact. The larger of the two groups was populated by an almost entirely high school to early college age crowd. A large guy who must have dumped everything into enhancing his strength stood at the front with both arms spread to his side. His now massive wingspan, preventing anyone from stepping beyond his presence.

The high school crowd was a more blended group. Signs of physical enhancement were obviously present as well as a gracefulness that probably wasn't there a few hours ago. The big jock turned to his group and began to speak.

"Look, they talk a big game, but they're pencil pushers! They don't have what it takes to be a part of the team, but if we set our plays right, we can do this. Who's with me!?"

Several jocks in the crowd wearing partially ruined jackets and jerseys hollered in agreement, before moving themselves to the edge of the group and funneling them closer for a bizarre team huddle.

And then, there was Alex and Sol, the only two people in the entire affair to not follow any of the groups. Silently, trying to not catch any attention, Alex took a few careful steps back, keeping his new staff off the floor. Watching the situation degenerate without doing anything.

Mostly because it was a powder keg ready to go off at the slightest spark. And, considering the situation, anything could be a spark.

"I think…" He whispered to Sol, low and slowly. "That we need to take a couple of steps back and let them go their way." The grim look on his face was a clear expectation of things going to the pits.

"Honestly, if the escalation continues like that, I doubt that they will survive for more than three rooms. Four, tops. Two, if we encounter a proper boss." The down turned edges of his lips were enough signal for his mood.

"Yeah, no kidding. We just let uh, let them be on their way and maybe we will try to get 'that' for you." Sol said, stressing the word 'that' ever so slightly. Before looking back at the crowd.

"I think the business people will be the biggest issue in the long run, though. Not the groups, just those two." Sol continued.

Alex nodded, not moving his eyes from the two 'leaders' in silk. The man was preening more than a peacock, while the woman seemed almost feral.

"I'm almost expecting a clichè betrayal where the two of them have been working together all the time. Like we are in court or in a business deal and not in a life or death situation. Well, life or soul, considering… Demons." Alex shrugged, before starting to look around, apparently uncaring of what was happening.

"I'm around 450 Red Orbs and I'm aiming for Basic Magical Knowledge. Which is more of a passive boost than a technique, but, hey, every little bit, yeah? How about you?"

Sol paused before going silent, and responding "I think I'm at 1,700 Red Orbs… I'm holding out for another 300 for that sweet sweet air hike. Honestly though, I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning that, they seemed to mutually know those Terence and Andi fellows enough to be on a first name basis with them."

Sol gave a quick glance over to the sports crowd before looking away. "Though Mr. Spo… that term for sports anime, guy. The one who wouldn't be out of place in a 1950's horror movie, he and his actual crew may be something to be worried about. You think we can get some more red orbs out of the Bloody Mari's?" Sol finished with a question.

"It depends on how it works. Notice, we have been here for a while since the last demon appeared and no more had come. Something's telling me that it's… gonna be bad." Alex grimaced, before looking up to the ceiling.

Nothing.

And yet, the air was subtly colder. Almost like the temperature had dropped.

"Yeah, very, very bad. I'm just hoping it's not Boss Monster bad. If it is, we're all dead, no if or buts."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…."

Appearing with the cacophony of laughter, a series of five abnormally large skulls, marked with demonic runes, began to float in, all letting out a bitter, scornful laugh. One of the people who had been injured by the previous Bloody Mari attacks attempted to stand and fight.

In defiance of reason, the Sargasso closest to that individual began to mimic the act of taking a deep breath. The person must have realized something was coming and attempted to escape the potential threat. With the demonic enhancements and in top form, they more than likely could have made it. But they were weakened and in the process, faltered a single step. The skull let out a chill mist that froze the leg of the fleeing person solid. Unfortunately and to make matters worse, because they were in mid-step, the frozen limb was rooted to the ground. The person pitched forward, and their weight, combined with their forward momentum led to catastrophe.

There was a grinding, cracking noise, as the still warm flesh of the leg shore off its frozen half. The poor bastard fell to the ground screaming only for the same Sargasso to close the distance quickly. With a sickening crunch, the lower half of the person's body disappeared into an invisible gullet. The top half soon followed.

The demon seemed to bask in the taste before it and fellows turned towards the rest of the people.

"There we go." Alex said, dejected, with his shoulders slumped, before he pointed the staff towards one of the skulls and cast his bullet spell. The slam of the magical energy hitting the bone of the demon skull and cratering it - although not enough to break it fully - was enough of a wake up call.

"Apparently, they didn't remember what you said to them before." Another bullet flew, this time joined by the rest of the people attacking the group of skulls, some yelling and shouting, some in silence, others crying or wailing.

After the two shots, Alex turned towards the other side of the room. "So, if I'm correct - and I've played this game more than once - more demons should appear on the other side. Hell is a bastard like that."

He wasn't wrong. Five new skulls appeared from a red seal hovering in the air, almost invisible on the fleshy background of the room.

"Yep. A bastard like that." Three quick shots hit the front skull, shattering it to pieces before the remaining four turned and flew straight towards the duo.

"I have five shots remaining. I'm afraid I'll have to depend on you again, I'm sorry." Alex apologized, holding his staff firmly in his hands.

"No problem," Sol responded before he moved to the left side of the small horde. As he did, the Sargassos began to turn toward him. Sol threw his dagger at the nearest one, not caring if the dagger hit with the blade or pommel point. Ironically, the dagger struck true, and a section of the Sargasso's form shattered. As it floated back, Sol was on it, smashing it directly at the nose ridge, shattering the demonic skull.

Sol would have given himself a pat on the back if he didn't see the other Sargasso behind preparing its chill breath.

"You shit!" was all Sol said as he leapt further to his left, landing close to a dead Bloody Mari.

"Oh you boneheads, guess I'm going to be learning how to throw knives today!" Sol shouted before throwing one of the Mari daggers. The dagger did not land as cleanly as the previous one, but it did hit the socket and did seem to disorient the Sargasso long enough for Sol to attack. Several axe swings later, and all that bone was only shards on the ground.

In the meantime, using the time that Sol had bought him, Alex had been charging the bullets like before, one in his left hand and the other on the tip of the staff. When he shot them, both hit a skull - a different one for each - and it exploded violently, destroying both remaining skulls.

The amount of Red Orbs was more than the Marionettes, but not as much as the Bloody Mari, which made sense.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get pretty hungry. And tired." Alex remarked, leaning on the staff with a slight tremble in his limbs, clearly using the piece of enchanted wood as support. He was pale and sweating slightly.

"Wanna go and see if the Divinity Statue can give us some food?" He was half joking, his lips raised in a smirk.

Sol looked back at the crowd, before nodding "I'd normally hate to leave these people like this, but I'm more afraid of them than for them. Besides, I just just hit 2,000. Double jump here I come." Sol said before really taking in what Alex just said, "I guess spell casting takes a lot more out of you than I realize. Yeah, let's get there now. Maybe if we're lucky they'll have moved on by the time we get back."

"I doubt it. And… yeah? It's more that every spell I use is, like… weighing on me. I can still feel the demonic power that I got lent, but I'm not touching it. So, the energy from these spells comes from me. And from the language, I'm not sure I understand it completely." Alex shrugged and kept pace with Sol, giving the mob - and the other demons that were appearing - a rather large berth.

"I'm with you about them, though. Demons, I know they will kill me. Humans can be much scarier if they break. Let's just hope it won't happen.."

After a few moments of walking, they were back in the starting room, the Divinity Statue still there. Alex simply let himself slide down on the ground near it, waving his hand at Sol.

"I need to take a moment to breathe. You go on and take your new trick. I'm curious to see what happens."

"Alright." Sol said before touching the statue. Back in the void, Sol addressed the statue.

"Okay, ma'am. You know what I want. Show it to me."

A window popped up showing Personal Enhancement with the Demonic Enhancement options front and center. Sol merely leaned to one side of the window and gave the statue a flat stare.

The window disappeared and reappeared displaying Abilities.

"Thank you, but I'm not buying into those demonic options. I'm not a chump who doesn't see the web and the spider. Physical enhancement, the 5,000 red orb variant is a future potential investment, but I need movement options first and foremost."

With that said, Sol pressed the option for Air Hike, and saw his red orb counter drop to 0. As it did, he felt a strange sensation in his feet. It was as if the expression, spring in your step, was a legitimate thing. The feeling dissipated, mostly, and with it, Sol gave his goodbyes.

Upon seeing hell again, Sol took a few steps back and jumped. The moment he hit his peak he could feel something underfoot, something for him to jump from. So, he did and his jump height doubled.

"Woo hoo! Double jump!" Sol shouted excitedly before descending and not sticking the landing.

"Oh shi!.." He lay in a small heap for a few moments before staggering up. "Why does Dante and Nero make this shit look easy?"

"Because they are part demons?" Alex said, cheekily, in between snickering and trying to stop his laugh from coming out. "Also, you should have known that everything that goes up, must come down."

In the end, he managed to take several deep breaths and calm himself, before touching the statue and finding himself in the white space.

"Yes, yes, default options. Put them away, thank you very much." As with Sol, the screen vanished, until Alex asked for the Magic section. A list that didn't seem to end appeared in front of him, but he limited his attention to the start.

Magic:
Enochian Magic Level 1 – Basic: 500 Red Orbs
Enochian Magic Level 2 – Intermediate: 2,500 Red Orbs
Enochian Magic Level 3 – Advanced: 5,000 Red Orbs
Enochian Magic Level 4 – Master: 10,000 Red Orbs
Magic Knowledge Level 1 – Basic: 500 Red Orbs
Magic Knowledge Level 2 – Intermediate: 5,000 Red Orbs
Magic Knowledge Level 3 – Advanced: 10,000 Red Orbs
Magic Knowledge Level 4 – Master: 20,000 Red Orbs

Alex seemed lost in thought for a moment, before he started talking to himself.

"Ok, so. Basic magic knowledge sounds like an introductory course to magic, the basics and so on. The Enochian version must be the specialized one. I think I would be better served in choosing the Enochian one, at least for now, to have a better foundation in it. Once I have more Red Orbs, I can take the other one."

He had only 750 Red Orbs, so he couldn't take both. He tapped the Basic Enochian option and a headache started pounding his head in moments.

"Yeah, I don't know what to expect." Grimacing, he moved one hand to his stomach. "Damn, I really want something to eat, there's nothing here…"

The screen in front of him changed and showed a new list. It was titled 'Miscellaneous'.

Miscellaneous
Care Package A: 200 Red Orbs – A set of sturdy clothes for use in battle
Care Package B: 300 Red Orbs – A pack of generic food rations
Care Package C: 400 Red Orbs – A set of basic first-aid supplies
Care Package D: 600 Red Orbs – A set of armor from an earlier time.

Alex blinked at the statue, unsure of what had just happened, only to try and tap on the food option, before remembering that he was 50 Orbs short.

"Well, next time, I guess. Thank you for your help." He bowed at the statue before he was back in Hell with Sol.

"So, good news and bad news." He turned fully towards his friend. "Good: the statue sells food. Bad: I'm 50 orbs short." And he shrugged in a 'What can you do' expression.

"Well, we'll just have to save up for that next time round." Sol said simply. "Knowing our luck may very well come after the next fight, so, a victory meal." He finished before noticing the increased volume of sound from the other room.

He gave a cautious look to Alex before taking at his axe and dagger and approaching the entrance. Looking in, he did not like what he saw.

The skulls were dead, their fragments all but cast to the four winds. The fighting that was still going on was verbal spats between the various remaining people, though Sol noticed that the sports crowd were not there.

"You fuck, those were my orbs!" Someone shouted.

"They were my friend's!" Someone else responded.

"Yeah!? Well they're not using them anymore!"

To be fair, the 'friends' mentioned really weren't using them. Beyond the massive skull fragments, there were partially broken remains of ice sculptures that Sol knew damn well weren't there before. It didn't help that besides some of them, there were bloody remains of half-eaten body parts, and unfortunately, there were alot of these bodies throughout the room. Before Sol could try to get a better look, the yelling grew in intensity.

Several people from the two suit gangs were starting to go at it like a public pub brawl. This lasted for only a few minutes before a shout from either side, and two rather large figures pushed through the crowds and separated them. The figures were obviously people from both sides who had physically boosted themselves significantly and as if to say "I'm holding their leash," the leaders were coming.

The female leader was first on the scene and even from the distance he was, Sol could see her hands balling into fists. She seemed to share a look with her counterpart who had just been a step behind, before motioning her muscle to haul the instigator before her.

The instigator, a youngish man with blond hair that looked like it was once slicked back, but now fell across his eyes, tried to struggle out of the grip before realizing what was going on.

"Look, boss," he began, a slight tremor audible in his voice. "We needed those orbs, the glasses guy got his share earlier before everything went to shit, I figured it was only rig…!"

He was cut off when the woman's fist buried itself in his gut. Before he could do anything else, the woman spoke.
"Do you understand what we're dealing with here? The opportunities we have here?" She asked, her voice like venom.

"Ma'am I…" He didn't finish as she backhanded him. Normally a hit like that would stun someone, maybe take a tooth or two even. However…

*CRACK!*

A sharp crack resonated through the room as his head fell limply to the side. His body then broke down into red orbs which flew into the woman.

"You always were disappointing Peter." She said a matter of factly before looking behind her.

Her counterpart had his hand on his side's instigator while tapping a Bloody Mari dagger on his shoulder. He spoke softly but forcefully.

"You see that? if you do that again, that's what's going to happen, understand?" The man asked in a patronizing manner.

"Ye..yes sir!" the office suit managed out.

"Good… good. As that other guy said, we're in hell, no one has room for fuck ups. No, we've spent too much time here. If we're going to escape this place, we'll need to start now. Not one step back." Their leader spoke.

There were some halfhearted protests, but the glint of his dagger stopped those dead in their tracks.

The other group seemed to shrink at the glare of their leader and began to grab whatever they could find that could pass as a weapon and made towards the exit.

Sol quickly backed out of the entrance way and looked at Alex with a pale face.

"Remember how you mentioned that the first death would be at human hands? Woman Boss just backhanded someone so hard, she snapped their neck. Also uh… they're taking my advice about not fucking up here. So… that may be a problem given their attitudes." Sol said as quickly removed his glasses and slipped them into his pocket.

"You can always count humans to be humans, after all." Alex proclaimed, looking both pale and green on his face.

It took a few minutes for both of them to recover. Then, once they were marginally calmer, something happened to send everything spiraling down again.

All three of the 'leaders' came inside the room with the Statue, noticing Alex and Sol sitting there, not doing anything. And, more importantly, not being with any other group.

"Hi there, how are you doing?" Sol said in a polite but obviously nervous way.

All three of them didn't say anything, just looked at the two: one with his weapons in his hands and the other leaning on a stick while sitting on the ground.

Until the college jock pointed at Sol with a smile on his face. "Heeeeey! You're that one that shouted at us when the red mannequin thing killed that guy!" He was panting slightly, sweat on his face, clearly just fresh out of the fight. The man and the woman, on the other hand, looked a bit more composed, but both of them narrowed their eyes towards Sol.

Sol blinked owlishly before responding, "Yeah, well my blood was up and everyone seemed to be stuck in place. Figured they needed something to break the shock of the large puppet-like creature, right?" Sol asked as he pulled the glasses from his pocket but did not put them on. He just left them hanging in the fingers of his off-hand.

"And I mean look what happened next, more of them showed up, along with those skull things. Can you imagine what would have happened if we were all still in a state of shock?" Sol asked while planting his main hand against his hip, close to the axe head that was looped into his belt.

"Right, Alex?" He asked while not taking his eyes off the three.

"Yeah. And who knows what will happen from now on?" Alex asked, rhetorically, keeping an expression of sadness on his face, turning slightly towards the group - as more of the others had come in the room - and shrugging slightly.

"Then you can certainly see why you should join us and try to…" The man started, but Alex raised a hand immediately.

"I won't be of much use to anyone. I'm diabetic, you see, and I don't have any medicine with me. So, it won't be long before I either faint or start shaking and then faint. I would just be a hindrance for whoever is near me. Sol has decided to stay with me until I… fall asleep. For comfort." Alex gulped, before looking away and then back at the others.

Who were now looking everywhere BUT at him.

"I'll move, so you can use the shop however you want. Good luck." Using the staff as a cane, he got up and started moving away, one hand grabbing Sol's elbow to make him move together.

"Yeah, we'll just keep everyone's back covered. I can't see worth a damn without my glasses, so I'd be horrible with you all."

Sol began to move alongside Alex before whispering, "Please tell me the diabetes was a lie because if not, we'll have to hope beyond hope that there's some demonic insulin around here."

Alex didn't say anything, just kept tugging Sol away, until they were on the very other side of the room, away from everyone else.

"Wasn't a lie. But I'm pretty sure I'm cured. Remember the Blue Orb?" And he cocked his head to the side, at the statue. "It's.. well, I know only a little bit from my basic magical knowledge, but I'm pretty sure that it's pure life. So, complete healing of any illnesses. The rest will probably heal everything else about us the more we advance down this path."

He shrugged. "What can you say? Magic." He ended in a singsonging voice, a grin painting his lips.

Sol gave a cautious smile. "Well, God, I hope that's true, might make sense why my vision improved. I meant what I said, I can't see anything very well at all without my glasses, or should I say couldn't. My eyes definitely got better after that blue orb hit… I was about two seconds from chucking my glasses at the first person to make a move if it came to that…"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "I can understand and rationalize killing demons, but people? I don't know if I'm ready to cross that line yet."

"Neither am I. Also, keep the glasses. I'm pretty sure that my sight got better, too, but still nowhere near perfect. Neither is yours, I'm guessing. I'm willing to suffer a bit of a headache until I can get it healed. I'm thinking that the Physical Strengthening should do the trick."

Before he could continue, the sounds of feet stomping on a squishy, fleshy floor came and the group of people remaining - still split in three - was marching towards the room where the Marionettes spawned. And they were clearly aiming for the room after that. Specifically, the giant door made of stone and covered in fleshy vines on a wall.

While they were passing near them, the female leader stopped for a moment, turning towards Sol, and tried to affect a sympathetic behavior.

"I'm sorry for your friend. I wanted to let you know that after he's… gone… you are welcome in our ranks. If you survive." And then she turned and returned at the head of the group.

Sol let the group pass before speaking, "Well, we know who the super bitch is… I feel like that statement is going to become a lot more literal soon. All right, we let them pass and get you that purple orb. More shots mean better crowd control after all."

"You're not going to hear me disagree." Alex muttered, looking towards the door. Under the combined strength of six people, the door slowly opened, showing a floor made of stone tiles, the same fleshy, squirmy walls, and another door, far, far in the distance. Then, the groups of people entered and the sounds of battle started again.

"Let's wait a few minutes and then try to take the Orb? I think You could use the Barrier spell I have as a leaping platform, so you can save one jump for later. Also, maybe use the axe as a sort of hook to grab the edge if you don't manage to reach it completely? Could work, no?" Alex proposed, getting up and stopping overplaying his previous illness.

"Yeah, I'll knock it down. I don't want to accidentally touch it and take it from you." Alex nodded at Sol's proposition and moved towards the nearest point where they could reach the upper platform.

The first attempt did not go as well as one may think. Was the barrier platform a good idea? Yes. Was the use of Air Hike a good idea? Also yes. The execution however…

"Fuck fuck fu…" Sol tried to as he missed his target, fell and landed at the edge of the barrier, tripping over said ledge, and falling back to the ground. He lay there briefly for a moment before getting up and grumbling.

"Oh non-demonic faust bullshit physical enhancement, you can't come soon enough. Okay… round two." Alex snickered slightly, before growing pensive.

"How am I going to get up there?"

*****************************************

Spoiler, not easily. Luckily for them, there were a lot of corpses of marionettes around. And a lot of cloth.

Plus what they had gotten before. So, now to create a rope…

******************************************

The axe sailed through the air in a solid arc, bloody red cloth streaming behind. It was Sol's second attempt at the throw from the barrier but at least he wasn't falling like an idiot. The axe struck the Purple Orb, which briefly wobbled in the air, before falling straight down.

"Okay!" Sol said triumphantly, "That's 1,750 you just saved and they did not."

"Assuming they even know that it's there." Alex smiled and grabbed the Purple Orb, way too paranoid of something happening at the last minute to wait.

The thing melted - for lack of another word - into him. And… he was… light.

For a single moment. He shone from the inside, curls of smoke-like purple light escaped from his mouth, eyes, ears, and nose, the shine illuminating all around him. He rose in the air for a second, a few inches and not more, before, slowly, returning to the ground.

Breathing heavily, Alex opened his eyes and smiled, wide, before calling a bullet spell to his hand: it came without problem, without charge time or anything else. Furthermore, he cast six in quick succession and he was still standing without even breathing heavily.

"I think I just got my first basic attack." Alex was clearly on the verge of laughing, no matter what.

"Alright, we have more options now." Sol said before dropping down from the barrier. So, let's see what's behind the door number stone."

Upon looking through the door, there was already a noticeable difference in the layout. Unlike the natural rock and flesh that dominated the previous two rooms, the architecture here was far more uniform. There was still an active demonic presence present with the flesh-like vines that seemed to be attached to and burrowing through the stonework, but all in all, it was at least more inviting.

Unfortunately, the door comment Sol made was a little more on the nose than he realized. As the hallway from the door extended and opened to a larger room with several archways clearly denoting an exit. The signs of battle were present but no human bodies. There were Bloody Mari's strewn about which bode for better and worse. However, most of the potential exits were bricked up, with only four 'open.' Not truly, however, as three of the four were sealed by walls of wailing spectral faces, leaving only one exit for Alex and Sol.

"Well, it seems someone is trying to either split us all up or prevent us from running back to the statue after every battle. What do you think?" Asked Sol.

He gulped, the high of the Purple Orb having been completely eliminated.

"I think that this looks a lot like a problem. That said, we need to choose where to go. If I remember correctly, we could open those seals with the Red Orbs, but it sounds like we don't have enough to do so, so… we can only go forward. Maybe we could farm a bit before moving so that we can upgrade ourselves a bit, but I don't know if it's going to work. Oh, right." He snapped his fingers, before pointing at Sol.

"Keep your eyes open and see if you can find anything secret like before." That said, he started moving forward, his staff held tight in his hands.

"Yeah sure." Sol responded, before walking to the walls and tapping his axe to them.

"Okay Sol, think. This isn't dark souls, so if you hit that, well then you've got a fight on your hands." Sol thought as he tapped each of the bricked up walls with his axe, producing zero results.

"So, the walls aren't budging meaning our only war forward seems to be door number 4."

Alex nodded, before stopping and pointing down a hallway that was in between two arches, right after the penultimate door and the last one. Hard to see, unless you were right near it.

"What's down that hallway? I think I can see a glow… and a corpse. Well, a hand. I don't know if it's attached to a corpse or an alive person, just unconscious." He stopped for a moment, before continuing, with a rather green look on his face.

"Or if it's attached at all."

Down the hallway was indeed a corpse, savagely mangled by something. However, the strangest thing was that the blood trail did not come from the main site of battle but rather the wall directly opposite the corpse.

Sol snapped his fingers and pointed at the wall. "Secret mission challenge room right? This guy must have accidentally touched the wall and… trapped in a demon room. What do you want to do?"

Alex looked at Sol like he had completely lost his head. "You want to try a challenge room while running on Permadeath?" His voice was slightly tilting towards the hysteric side of the spectrum.

"Yes, it could give us a truckload of Red Orbs, but… Oh, damn it. You've convinced me." Alex hung his head low, waving at Sol to go on.

"Alright," Sol said as he drew both weapons and touched the wall. There was a flash and the two found themselves in a similar room as the branching point. The stench of fresh blood stung their noses before a noise caught their attention. From the ground, four summoning circles manifested calling forth a set of Bloody Mari's.

"Well, I guess you guys are here for a little while longer." Sol said with a grimace.

"Fuck you and fuck me." Alex answered, before starting to focus, magic energy collecting on top of his staff in the form of a charged bullet.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter will be posted this coming Friday evening.