"So eager to die, child? Worry not, death will never take you," a voice whispered as all I saw was darkness.

  I woke up to see a ceiling of stone before sitting up and rubbing my head.

  "So you're awake," I heard Nana's voice to my left. I saw her sitting by a pot, cooking a stew in an iron cauldron, her focus on the food she was stirring within.

  "What happened?" I asked, looking around to see the dirty floor, before my eyes fell upon the girl from last time, resting comfortably on the bed.

  "You followed after us, and because you did not arrive when I said jump, I thought you were captured... until I saw you floating down the river with your body..." Nana paused, covering her mouth in disgust. "Slowly started to pull itself back together."

  "...right... cool... so can I get answers on what THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" I screamed, only to have an apple fly at my face and knock me back onto the ground at its sudden impact.

  "Keep it down, the empress is sleeping," Nana said, as I sat up to see her silver eyes glaring at me.

  I looked at the girl on the bed and found her tossing and turning before falling silent. Nana sighed and went back to her duty of cooking while nudging her head for me to sit by her side. So I did just that and crawled over to sit beside her and look at the food being prepared.

  "There is not much food I could find due to how close we still are to the demon kingdom," Nana whispered while sighing. "Ask away."

  "...thank you. Why am I here?" I asked, looking between Nana and the sleeping kid. "And who is the kid?"

  As I turned back to Nana, she backhanded me, causing my head to turn and my eyes to go wide before I slowly brought my focus back to her.

  "You will address her as her majesty or empress," Nana hissed, glaring at me again.

  I stared at her before blinking and getting to my feet.

  "Why would I do that?" I asked in a soft voice while rubbing my cheek.

  Nana gritted her teeth before slowly standing up and grabbing the handle of her rapier.

  "Not unless you want to suffer. I cannot kill you, but from what I can tell, you can still feel pain so long as it is not instant," Nana explained in a soft voice.

  I only stared at her, then turned my gaze to the sleeping child.

  "Make a barrier of sound. Silence that which is not from this world and make so none can hear us," Nana chanted as my head snapped over to her, just as a sphere of air formed around us.

  "...uhhh no. I will call them kid until I get a name. I am not from here, and there is only one monarch I would ever call majesty," I declared, standing my ground until Nana scuffed and swiped her weapon past my form, raising it to her face to show blood from it.

  My balance nearly toppled as I caught myself, only to find my right leg was cut off. I stood there looking at my severed leg before falling on my rear and screaming in pain. Just as I started to scream, my once-severed leg began to slither toward me and attach itself to my body. I sat there staring as my leg was reattached, but even then, the pain lingered.

  "The fuck?" I screamed, looking at my leg, then at Nana, who stood over me.

  "Your endurance really is D-," Nana said before pointing her rapier at my stomach. "You will submit to her majesty."

  "No," I said, gritting my teeth as Nana narrowed her eyes and slowly began to pierce my gut, earning another bout of screaming.

  "I have no idea what your other curses are, but it is pretty clear from that other mage that your mind cannot be manipulated," Nana explained, slowly pushing the blade deeper into my stomach. "But there are other ways to break you."

  "Fuck... you," I stuttered out and aimed my hand at her form. "SUMMON!"

  Nana stared unblinking while I blinked.

  "WHAT THE FUCK!" I screamed as the skull of a honey badger appeared, stunning both Nana and me.

  At first, it looked around in search of something, then turned to me and disappeared.

  "Again. WHAT THE FUCK?!" I screamed as a status window appeared in front of my face.

  [Condition not met. No sacrifice present. You need the corpse of a species to perform a sacrifice and summon a negative aspect from the user.]

  After reading it, the status disappeared before I lay flat on my back and stared at the ceiling in defeat.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Fuck," I whispered as Nana moved to stand beside me, her blade sheathed as she stared down at me.

  "...will you submit?" Nana asked with a raised brow.

  "I will not call her majesty or empress," I repeated, but the heat in my tone was gone.

  Whatever I did, all the spit in my voice had disappeared, and I felt conflicted about how to feel or why my rage was gone. I watched Nana as she grabbed the handle of her rapier again before I raised my hand.

  "But I will call her by her name... so can I please get her name?" I asked with a calmer head, which made Nana freeze.

  She sighed and nodded before releasing her hold on the weapon. Her focus then fell upon the sleeping girl.

  "Lilith Vaelor, Empress of the demon kingdom..." Nana paused and looked to the ground. "Or whatever is left of it."

  I slowly sat up and groaned in pain from getting stabbed, facing the sleeping girl.

  "Lilith Vaelor," I repeated her name and nodded before slowly getting to my feet and dusting my rear off, even though I felt a bit wobbly from what had taken place only seconds ago. "And your name?"

  "Nelathiel Umbraveil," she answered before snapping her focus to me. "Only her highness may call me Nana."

  I raised my hand in defeat and nodded quickly.

  "Got it. Nela... Nelathal?" I repeated as her eyes twitched in annoyance.

  "Can you not pronounce my name?" she questioned.

  "Look, I am trying, okay? I am not used to saying such names... hell, I forget names easily," I admitted while taking a step back.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  "Nel. Call me Nel," she spoke before opening her eyes at me.

  "Nel it is," I said with a weak smile. "So... what's going on in the world for me to be brought here? Usually, it's the humans that summon heroes from another world."

  "The human kingdoms did summon heroes from another world... others like yourself..." Nel paused and looked me up and down before scowling. "Maybe not like you. Usually, they are fit and... have better stats. The last hero I fought had stats that were mostly in the A rank, and I was barely able to beat them... mostly because they were playing around too much, so I pierced their skull when they thought they won."

  I blinked and rubbed the back of my head.

  "So... what's going on?" I repeated, earning a sigh from Nel.

  "The humans have enslaved all other races due to their stats and powers," Nel continued and looked away. "Sadly, the normal rulers were all but slain by the heroes they summoned after they defeated his majesty grandfather..."

  "Well, shit... that is a twist," I commented softly.

  "There was a civil war between heroes for a time, but sadly, the ones who won were the tyrants. All the heroes who surrendered now serve under the tyrants... and to keep their army strong, they occasionally summon other heroes to strengthen their hold on the world," Nel said, closing her eyes.

  "How is that possible?" I asked, confused.

  "They have a Grand Summoner on their side who uses the combined mana of civilians, slaves, and other heroes to summon more. If they share the same view, then they simply side with them; otherwise, they put a slave spell on them. If that fails, they just kill the hero."

  I stayed quiet at the information given before looking at the ground and rubbing the back of my head.

  "How did you get your information?" I asked.

  Nel looked away and scuffed in annoyance.

  "We had spies..." she answered with a hint of pain in her voice.

  "So... I was summoned to protect Lilith?" I asked with a raised brow while glancing at the sleeping child.

  "Yes."

  "How?" I asked, looking back at Nel. "I don't even know how to use my ability. You saw it yourself. I summon masks that don't even—"

  Nel looked at me as if she had figured something out before blinking.

  "Status," I said, causing my status to appear in front of me. I read over it. "Does the status define certain areas if I point it out?"

  "No," Nel answered bluntly.

  I nodded and focused on my curses, but soon drifted over to my skill.

  "Can you bring me a dead body?" I asked, looking at Nel, who glared at me. "You want me to help protect Lilith or not?"

  She stared for only a moment before scuffing and leaving the cave. After what felt like seconds, she returned with the corpse of a soldier and tossed it down toward me.

  "Now what?" she asked, folding her arms over her bust.

  "Summon," I said, reaching my hand out at the corpse, only for nothing to happen. "Come on!"

  Frustration set in as I glared at the corpse. "Summon, god damn it!"

  My frustration seeped from my mind as the skull of a ram appeared. It focused fully on the corpse before flying toward it. The moment the ram skull made contact, it fused with the body, causing it to start twitching and cracking. Eventually, it stopped completely, its flesh melting off and its attire morphing into a black cloak as dark as shadows.

  "FUCK!" the ram screamed while sitting up and glaring out the cave entrance.

  I jerked back at the sudden scream before clearing my throat.

  "And thus I have a helper now," I said with a smile, crossing my arms.

  The ram looked around before focusing on me. Slowly getting to its feet, it stepped closer until it stood as tall as I did, tilting its head.

  "What did you say?" the ram asked.

  "I have a helper now?" I repeated, my voice tinged with nervousness.

  The ram straightened and nodded slowly before looking up at the ceiling. Before I could follow its gaze, it slammed its head into my forehead, sending me to the floor in a daze. Blood poured from my eyes and nose from the impact alone.

  "I am no one's helper!" the ram shouted, standing over me. "You are a servant of the Canvas... not an equal!"

  I shook off the daze after a few seconds before the ram straddled me and repeatedly slammed his forehead against mine. Nel stood by, watching in fascination. The ram eventually stopped, stood, and dusted himself off. As he straightened his cloak, I lay there with a bloodied nose and a smashed-in face that was already beginning to fix itself.

  "The fuck, man..." I whispered, trying to push myself up, only for the ram to step on my chest and shove me back down.

  "Dhalmor is my name. Not a helper. Not a servant... that's you, and do not forget that," he declared while scuffing and looking around. "Where the fuck is this anyway?"

  "We are in hiding right now..." Nel answered while watching Dhalmor carefully.

  "Why?" he asked before looking down at me.

  "I am still trying to figure out what to do..." I admitted.

  "I answered because I thought something fun would happen," Dhalmor complained while turning to face Nel, his foot leaving my chest.

  "I have food ready. Would you like to join us?" Nel asked respectfully, making my eyes widen.

  "What about me?" I asked, getting to one knee.

  "What about you, dumbass?!" Dhalmor shouted.

  "Can I have some?" I asked, looking at Nel. She stared at me before sighing and nodding.

  "We eat... then we move... we have lingered here for far too long," Nel stated as she turned to wake Lilith.

  "She is strong," Dhalmor whispered to me. "Not as strong as me, but enough to put up a good fight. I can see why she killed you twice."