I straightened my tie as I walked down the tiled corridor, my mind whispered to me.

  Never leave your companion.

  Shrugging it off, I looked at the hallway around me.

  This hallway, is already far more decorated than the other.

  I glanced around, then behind me, in case Elder Pachu had noticed me gone. But there wasn’t even any glimmer of light reaching down here from Sister Smithfield.

  My glow was far too insufficient to see well, but I had a plan.

  I remembered what Elder Pachu had suggested a while back and I speared one of those gremlin heads and walked by with its flickering fire light which drooped to the floor like liquid tar.

  The dismembered creature's head whispered to me incoherent promises of pain and suffering, the shadows morphed in the flickering light. As I walked, the decorations in the hallway became more and more elegant, but at the same time it seemed that they stretched towards me, reaching, pulling me in towards them.

  I grimaced at the situation I had found myself in. I had expected a dead end, but the hallway seemed to be growing, becoming more grandiose, and I feared I had erred in my decision, but one quick flashback to the chummy Elder Pachu sidling up to the sisters, made me click my mouth in irritation, and I pressed forward.

  My footsteps clicked on the now semi-reflective white tiled flooring.

  When did the floor change?

  Red curtains draped across the walls, golden emblems and pins holding them in place, fine embroidered art decorated the walls behind the curtains.

  I stepped up to inspect one, when I was far away, it seemed beautiful and elegant, but when I got close, it seemed to be an illusion and it was a disgusting collage of trash, filth, grime, pictographs depicting vile violence.

  I shuddered and stepped backwards.

  Maybe don't inspect the dungeon too closely.

  But now that I knew what the murals all around me were likely depicting, it felt less elegant and fancy, it made me feel more uncomfortable than anything.

  I finally came across a massive door, covered in the murals now clearly depicting violence, and blood with red fabric, skin colored fabric, very little clothing on each human depicted, some depictions were morbid obese whose clothes couldn't cover them, they were eating other obese individuals.

  I blanched, looking away, I gripped the doorhandles.

  Then a thought came to me, I remembered the district leader talking about a really strong opponent, that had been barely bested by the missionairy who manifested incredible combative powers.

  I released the door handles looking behind me thinking of going back to grab Elder Pachu. Or Sister Smithfield.

  My hands felt something grip them.

  I quickly jumped looking at my hands, and one of the obese murals had its hands around mine and the door handle.

  I screamed in horror, the mural was alive, and its mouth widened with embroidered drool dripping down its mouth.

  Then it grew from the doorway and fell upon me.

  I resisted, I pulled, but it encompassed me and I felt friction upon my skin, as if I was receiving rugburns all over me, it squeezed me and swallowed me.

  I was shocked to find that finally it had released me.

  Glancing around, I realized I was no longer in the same place.

  There was a dim throne at the end of the room I was in, a figure sat upon it, his head was hung low, a dim torch barely lighting his silhouette.

  The size of the room was a mystery, but every time I shifted, the noise echoed as if it was trying to fill a spacious room.

  The man evidently heard me and woke from his slumber, he moaned, he shook, and with his fat fingers, I could see just enough to know that he wiped his face.

  Then dim torches all around lit and I understood the extent to how large this throne room really was. It was fit for a European king, pillars rising even to the ceiling on both sides, a red carpet from the door I had just passed through, reached all the way to his throne and the steps before him.

  But between him and I was a true version of the obese mural on the door, it had blood from its previous mural depicted feast dripping down its chin, its legs were obscured by its overflowing excess skin and it was chittering its teeth.

  The dim lighting left just enough to the imagination in the grandiose throne room, enough darkness to question whether something was lurking within.

  "A-are you okay?" I mustered the courage to stand, and speak.

  I spoke past the fat figure, which was obviously not a real person, but the man in the throne seemed as human as I was.

  The man looked up, tears filled his eyes, and dripped down his supple cheeks, there was a crown on his head, and shackles that chained his hand to a scepter besides him. The crown seemed to be tied to the throne itself, glued perhaps, but it was too tightly fit around the man's head to be taken off.

  I gasped.

  "Bishop Aldred?"

  The man sobbed at the recognition of his face. "Elder? Where is your companion? No, forget that, leave! Save yourself Elder, I'm past saving... leave me, I can't be helped. I'm beyond redemption."

  I stuttered, unable to say anything, my throat was caught in its words.

  The creature between us still hadn't stirred.

  Finally words found its way into my mouth, "You of all people should know bishop, that nobody is beyond the grace of God."

  He sobbed, but not a sob of gladness, but a sob of hopelessness, and his fat fingers of his free hand found its way into a bag of chips that were in his lap.

  As he munched he seemed to find more composure and he looked up again. "Leave me!" He roared a full bellowed roar of a fallen king.

  And at his words, the creature in the middle of the room stirred, and its eyes filled with red, a gleaming glowing electronic red. Like some sort of movie villian, not one that had any place in the real world.

  The creature with its large arms thrust them forward, and dug its huge fingers into the ground, scooting closer to me.

  The menu of the holy ghost popped up.

  ^The HG^

  Boss room: Bishop Aldred's Hell

  I read it, with ample time with the large creature scooting towards me, its face clearly not human, but more disfigured than I would have wanted to imagine.

  "Okay! But what is that thing!?" I yelled at the notification.

  ^Bishop Aldred's Unconquered Hunger^

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Matchup advice: Run.

  Obedience boost: Slight

  I read the notification, and my eyes widened.

  Run? That's your best advice?

  The creature seemed to have enough of its slow crawl, it grew impatient, and it gripped the red carpet and yanked it into its mouth and like a vacuum, it sucked up the carpet, pulling me with it.

  I screamed and scrambled to get off the carpet, I held my stick, "What am I supposed to do? How do I win?"

  Bishop Aldred mumbled from his position on the throne. "I asked myself that same question every single day. But I just wanted more. More. More. I would pray each day, God just give me this, and I'll be satisfied. I thought I could be. But receiving what I wanted was the greatest curse. I pushed my friends, my family, even my ward members away-"

  I wanted to listen to him further, but I was kind of in a life or death situation with a giant carnivorous blob.

  I ran around, and the creature screeched at me, a shrill sound, its face distorting further into some ghastly image that made me feel like I would have a heart attack.

  I ran to a torch, holding my wooden stick, and lit it on fire. The thing was easy enough to outrun when I wasn't standing on a red carpet.

  I heard the bishop continue. "Eventually, people were just a means to an end to me. My calling in the church only added to my ego, it got between my wife and I, she often calling me out, saying I didn't care about the ward members, that I was just 'fulfilling my role' because I wanted to look good. I hated that she was right. But I wouldn't admit it to myself, I would roll my eyes at her, I scorned her, mocked her, claimed I was serving my fellow man-"

  The Fat creature wailed in frustration, it did not seem to like the game of tag. But what else was I going to do?

  I got within reach of its back and tried branding it with my burning stick.

  The creature tilted its head and I could see one eye glancing at me from the side. It had a gleam in its eye, and its big arms moved quickly, faster than I thought possible, it gripped my stick and slapped me with it, I winced in pain stepping backwards to get out of reach.

  Ow, that really hurt! Why can't I have armor like Elder Pachu? Or a sword?

  Bishop Aldred continued, but his voice turned into a wail of grief, "We got into an argument about it, just before the massive earthquake. We had reached an all time worst argument. I was so angry with her, I was so mad! Why couldn't she see? And then the worst thing happened, my thoughts, me feelings they manifested into reality. I-I had to watch that thing, it painfully crawled out from my stomach, it gripped me in one hand, and it made me watch as it devoured my wife and kids one bite at a time! It ripped their limbs-"

  I'm not going to lie, the following details are really gross, so I'll summarize, he was going into some really gross detail about how it tortured him and then when he thought it would consume him next, which he wanted at that point, so that the suffering would be over, it put him on the throne and, it worshipped him, it fed him the foods he often craved, brought him everything he desired, wads of cash, tablets, rings, the keys to his car. And the worst part, was that when he started to enjoy his captive power, he started to forget his wife, but then he wanted her to be with him and enjoy it too, and that's when it regurgitated her hair, and handed it to him. That was when he realized how disgusting he really was.

  I on the other hand, just stayed out of reach of the creature as I listened, running to stay alive.

  Finally he said, "I'm telling you this, because I know that I can't be forgiven. I'm the Bishop! I would know better than you!"

  "Uhh Bishop, Look, I know you can't change the past, but that doesn't mean you have to keep doing this. Call the creature off, I don't know! Something."

  Bishop Aldred laughed sourly. "After all I just told you, you really think I control that thing? Missionaries really just are a bunch of kids."

  "Bishop! Snap out of it! I'm sorry about your wife! But Jesus can help you out of this."

  The creature roared at the mention of Jesus' name, I noticed it.

  "Jesus? Jesus." I said, seeing if the word would make it react again, but it didn't. Clearly I had earlier spoken with power, authority, perhaps some faith, but now I was just vainly stating his name without any purpose.

  Vain repetitions huh? I can see why people would shout Jesus' name to repel demons, it works once and suddenly becomes a type of kryptonite in their mind, and they start shouting it hollowly, forgetting the source at which the power comes from. Or maybe I'm just making things up.

  The creature finally frustrated that it couldn't reach me, gripped its excess fat, lifting it up, revealing weak little legs.

  Then the creature started doing squats. At first the squats were slow, weak, futile, but slowly, I watched in horror as I saw the legs visibly bulk up, and the fat slough off of the obese monster, It finally stopped at one hundred squats.

  ^The HG^

  Bishop's Aldred's Hunger has used the skill: One Hundred Squats

  My eyes widened at its new figure. Its upper half was chubby, but the lower half was sculpted to what many would perceive as perfect legs.

  "NO! Not leg day!"

  I hid behind a pillar, covering my mouth, realizing I shouted that out-loud.

  The creature roared. And the ground rumbled as it bolted towards where my voice had come from.

  Then the noise stopped abruptly.

  I noticed something in the corner of my vision, I gasped under my hands, and I looked towards it, The creature was peaking its face around the pillar, looking at me.

  I instinctively punched it in the eyeball.

  The creature reeled.

  I ran, my shoes slipping around on the slippery tile floor.

  Did that creature actively choose to scare me over killing me?

  I hid behind another pillar.

  Bishop Aldred's voice rang out. "Creature, he's behind that pillar."

  I felt betrayed. Confused, I shouted, "Are you serious bishop? You out me so easily?"

  "I just want this to be over. Let me suffer in peace."

  I ran from the pillar to another, using them to prevent the creature from building too much momentum as it chased me.

  I'm just glad it's not strong enough to knock these things over.

  "Bishop! You don't have to suffer, Jesus did all that for you!"

  "Stop it! He can't help me! If he could, I would have been able to fix this before it spiraled out of control. I know it, that thing is a direct result of my actions!"

  Finally I felt it within me, the answer, I needed to run up to the bishop and deliver it to him.

  I strategically positioned myself behind a pillar right next to the steps that elevated his throne.

  The creature peaked behind the pillar, trying to grab me, but I had already juked it and was running at the bishop.

  The creature screamed when it saw where I was going.

  I ran to the bishop and knelt in front of him my hands together, pleading him.

  "Bishop, don't go down like this, its pathetic. If you're going to go down, if the devil's gonna get you, at least go down swinging!"

  His red eyes met mine. His mouth dropped open agape, the smell of salted potato chips wafted across me, but I ignored it and held his eyes.

  "That's what my wife would always say." And for the first time I heard hope within his sobs.

  "Oh Jesus, you haven't forgotten me!" He prayed. A desperate but joyous tone came from him, resonating across the room, causing the whole place to shake. "I will! I will keep on fighting! Help, help me please!"

  The room crumbled around, the fancy draperies around dissolving into mud, the crown around his head breaking into dust, the handcuffs around his hand and scepter snapping easily like twigs. And the creature--did not crumble. It grew further enraged, and with its huge hands, gripped me. It held me, dangling me before Bishop Aldred.

  "No! Don't rip him apart too!" The bishop cried. "How could you do this to me?" This one was aimed at me. "You give me hope and then you let it be yanked from me? This is your fault!"

  The creature pressed its huge fingers against my shoulder blades, pulling at both my arms, threatening to pull my limbs from their sockets.

  The creature's mouth was hovering just above my head, drool melting onto my hair.

  I looked at the Bishop in the eyes, unable to hide the pain from my expression, "If I go down, I'm going down swinging."

  And I pulled my arms, trying to rip free from its grip. I prayed to heaven for help for strength, to rip this creature to shreds and save the bishop.

  I strained, and strained. Everything happened at once.

  My arms made popping sounds at both joints and I screamed a ghastly scream in pain. A loud crashing sound echoed behind me. The creature's grip losened slightly. A breeze whipped by. Bishop Alred gasped.

  "Elder Todd!"

  It was Sister Smithfield's voice from the entrance of the room, out of breath and full of concern.

  The large creature panicked, and its grip doubled down, and I glanced up, and watched as it thrust its mouth down, its cavity filled wormy breath coming down to chomp my head off. I closed my eyes in anticipation.

  *Ching*

  It hit something, the sound of something hard hitting something metallic.

  ^The HG^

  Elder Pachu has used the skill: Whirlwind

  The grip on me loosened, I fell to the ground, the pain was unbearable now that the incredible pressure was no longer keeping it at bay, Bishop Aldred wrapped his thick arms around me, a full grown man, but he was weeping over me.

  My vision was blurry, but slowly I opened my eyes and saw what had saved me.

  Elder Pachu was standing there, full-clad in armor, wielding his sword deflecting the creatures mouth, but blood was spattered all over him and spilling down his chest. The very teeth he had defended me against had shattered and pierced his armor in a shrapnel.

  He fell to his knees withdrawing his sword.

  The creature grinned its broken toothed smile, and chomped down on him.