Princess Ember was seated on the white balcony readying to ascend to Heaven. She prettily spread out her wings and in the sunlight, they became snowed. "I will give you an upgrade to your power Jocob," she said. "A great one." She did not turn her head. Yet he felt a sudden wave of strength, thickening his blood and strengthing his limbs. He felt wider, taller, stronger but it was only when he gazed over and saw his reflection in the window, that he was made aware that he'd become almost godly beautiful. Handsome and harrowing with thick, chestnut locks draped across his new, enhanced muscles; ones bracing for a fight.

  He took the powerful ruby-hilted sword that had appeared in his hand and glanced with blood lust upon its blade. He then was temporarily driven out of his reverie when he heard the soft cry of little infant Adora. He went to check on the child and lifted her up. Despite himself, he was quite taken with her tiny, tapping fingers and her great, golden curls and that winning, ivory smile. Though even sweet babies were not his thing. Babes over babies and all that. He cared for her for a while but unsurprisingly, just as Ember had warned, a rampaging bang could be heard at the door. Jacob was pleased. His body ached for battle.

  Outside, he saw a black, wet, disgusting thing that was over nine feet tall, walking toward the front of the castle. its oily feet slapped across the ground as it lumbered forward and left a watery darkness dripping. Falling from its form like fetid rain. To his surprise, it did not even attempt to bypass the castle's fortress or locks. Instead before his very eyes, it turned into a black liquid but one with a still somewhat demonic shape, and slid under the castle door. Jacob felt not fear: his entire form he realised was gunning for a battle, for a noble fight. He put down the baby who clapped her little hands in a strange delight and he got ready to defend the castle. He didn't care that none of the monstrous beings were real but just some grand, optical illusion of some trickster AI. Playing its cat-and-mouse game with him, in this virtual reality nightmare.

  Fury danced in his limbs and he longed to smell the copper scents of another's spilled blood. He felt in his chest the exhilarating rush of a flighter's rage. The black-demon thing entered the castle but instead of attacking it stayed in its gross puddling form with just a single, visible, leering eye coloured gray and dead as the light of a clouded dawn. In slithered up and into the front door's lock and Jacob heard a snap as the powerful lock broke. He soon realized this would allow every wicked person and evil creature inside.

  The creature then swung at him and to Jacob's surprise, the sword glowed and flew from his hand; immediately severing its head. However, two more disgusting, oily, black heads sprung up in its place.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  A voice a little like Queen Ember's spoke in his mind.

  "Set the sword aflame, nimrod. "

  "I can't."

  Well, yes he could. He realized. He could. The sword soon turned lightly-golden and then blazing red and he sliced off yet another two heads only for four to grow in their place. However the sword suddenly turned brilliant and beautifully blue and with a final swing and some blood-curdling, horrifying shriek, the creature liquified. Dismantled into a great dark river that flowed across the castle floor.

  A bunch of wild-eyed people with blazing pitchforks swarmed in and to Jacob's startlement, many carried rifles. None of this world made sense.

  "Anyone you touch directly will die," a helpful voice, informed him. This time he thought it might be the voice of the AI.

  He touched someone who rushed at him and they indeed fell down. Their face had become fogged and green and their lips had turned a deathly white. He soon cried out a little in pain as he realized he had been shot at and a pitchfork driven into one of his vast, muscular limbs.

  "Clam down," he heard Ember's sweet, exasperated voice.

  "This is my last tip. By only one means will you die."

  Jacob reeled a little and braced himself for the agony that was clearly being dulled by a warrior's rage but soon it dimmed away to nothing and he saw not a crimson wick of injury remained. He felt a strange urge to call out and before he could even think, certain words had escaped his lips.

  "Shadow Beast hear my cry."

  The Shadow Beast swooped in and tore the first half of the crowd to shreds as Jacob set the rest ablaze. The Shadow Beast was in its dragon form and all the remaining golden flames glittered upon its shadowy scales like the fire of heaven had downwards reigned. Soon the sword-summoned fire entirely burnt away. Adora had meanwhile, crawled from her lacy, white cot and out to the castle entrance. She laughed. She lifted up her little hand and made all the charred and smoldered bodies dissipate and soon the rain-mist outside swirled ever-thicker as if the dead had joined its ranks. Become one with the other rain-mist spirits of purgatory.

  Just as he was about to celebrate, a beautiful young lady with twisting, curling horns appeared. She was dark and clearly demonic but also really exquisite. As if someone had aged Ember up a little, into a great, busty beauty.

  She had a most large, soft, heaving bosom, with a gentle, tapered waist that dipped in and out like the winding of a valley. Her flesh was smoky and somehow still soft...Okay, he had to calm down. Lust was rising in him and yet she was clearly no friend of his. He braced for a fight. She came over and yet to his great surprise, she utterly ignored him. Went to coo at, and then pick up, Adora.

  "What a sweet little devil-child," she remarked.

  "I will fight alongside you. The precious one must be protected." The sleeves of her tight, black-and-white dress slid prettily down her shoulders as the demon smoke drifted about her form. She took out a dangling ribbon and in doing so unfurled her crimson hair. She smiled. "A war-minded, half-deity will come tomorrow," she said