Well, they might have been destroyed, but at least now I knew the capabilities of the magical potions in this world. I’d ensure none of my enemies ever got the chance to down one.
I heard a steady rushing sound, and I expected to see yet more monsters to kill when I looked up. Instead, I saw Infernal Essence bleeding free of Jeff’s corpse and floating toward me. The black mist washed over me before seeping deep into my avatar. I looked down at my hands, dripping with blood and viscera, to see the shallow wounds from the imps fading, closing, far more quickly than they should’ve been.
Was this another Vampiric Expertise perk?
Had to be. There was no other explanation for it. I could feel nothing of the potion in my body anymore, but my senses were greater and my strength had increased from only seconds before. My only explanation was that the Tainted Elf grew stronger on more blood, more chaos, and more carnage. As a long-dead creature from the Infernal Realms, that wouldn’t have surprised me one bit.
I walked out from behind the kitchen bench and looked at the grotto-turned-bloodied-battlefield.
Jeff’s corpse had crumbled, his flesh wasted away, and only bleached bones were now visible. I wasn’t sure whether my bloodsucking routine or the potion had done it to him. I felt no ill-effects myself from the potion so it must have been the former. Imp carcasses formed a carpet of flesh and bone, and my feet squelched in blood as I returned to Bertha.
She stood over her ma’s corpse, a wistful look in her eye.
“Do you regret this?” I asked. “Do you regret becoming my champion?”
“That is one decision I will never regret.” She turned to me and smiled, but I didn’t overlook the moisture in her eyes. Sure, she was a warrior, abused by her mother and brother, but it had probably still hurt to play this part in their deaths.
I glanced at my timer.
Fuck.
Less than ten minutes left.
A cascade of windows finally appeared in my vision.
Von Dominus killed Squallish the Infernal Imp!
Infernal Essence +150
Von Dominus killed Oltop the Infernal Imp!
Infernal Essence +150
Von Dominus killed Ma the Hell Troll!
Infernal Essence +100
Von Dominus killed Jeff the Hell Troll!
Infernal Essence +200
Von Dominus killed Lesser Imps x 20!
Infernal Essence +400
I didn’t have anything to spend my essence on yet, but now I had nothing impeding my journey to the mountaintop, so I could spend big as soon as I started my dungeon. I wasn’t sure what I could use the essence on, but figured there’d be a bunch of cool dungeon-specific items I could build.
The notifications had counted the Infernal Imp that Squallish had killed, so it seemed that any time an Enthralled creature slew something, it counted toward my own kill tally.
Neat.
Now it was time to scale Shadow Crag.
I grabbed Bertha’s poleaxe and gave it to her. “You all right?”
She nodded, her eyes wide with awe. “And you?”
I glanced over my skin again. Even the burns seemed to have faded where they should’ve been scalded and blistered. I offered her my hand; she took it with eagerness.
My whole body was still brimming with energy. Whether or not it was the blood I’d drunk, the Infernal Essence my avatar had absorbed from the monsters around me, or the leftover adrenaline, I didn’t know. I easily pulled my champion to me, and we kissed in a heady concoction of passion and lingering battle-lust, as I savored the taste of my new champion.
There was a clatter outside, and I swore under my breath as I grabbed my cleaver and prepared for another round. Another Infernal Imp fluttered through a broken window, its purple mark down its back not quite as distinct as the others.
“Want to do the honors?” I asked Bertha.
“There’s no need!” the imp cried out. “I’m not here for trouble.”
I recognized that voice. “You’re the one who said you’d rescue me, aren’t you?”
“Indeed,” the imp answered. “I asked my kin for help. We live in the caverns beneath the Black Sands, so it took some time to get here. Unfortunately, I was delayed. Squallish and Oltop would not let me leave, and they ensnared me. They said they would try to destroy you. The Sand Pirates have poisoned their minds. They do not believe a dungeon core returning to our realm would be good for the monsters.”
“Them and everybody else, apparently,” I said. “You’re not interested in using me for your own benefit?”
“No,” he answered. “Well, not precisely.”
“I promised you would get to plunder my dungeon if you rescued me. You did a pretty shitty job of that.”
“Oh . . .”
I glanced around the practical abattoir the whole cave had become. “I asked for your help, Imp, not for a harder fight against my captors.”
“Forgive me, Master, but I couldn’t sway them. And have they not paid for their mistakes?” The imp flew into the room and hovered above the imp corpses. A devilish smile crossed his face, and a little cackle burst from his lungs. “Thank the Goddess!”
“You’re quite the familicidal little bastard, aren’t you?” I asked the imp.
Both Bertha and the imp harbored a strong hatred for their families. It seemed like finding disgruntled family members and turning them against their own was becoming my shtick. Back on Earth, I’d heard people get called homewreckers, but this was something else.
“This was the worst day of my life until I witnessed this glorious display of the Goddess’s hand!” The imp looked like he was about to leap free from his skin and do a little dance around the corpses.
“Lilith didn’t do much,” I said.
“Tell me, can your dungeon have another champion?” the imp asked me.
I recalled my dungeon creation screen from what felt