I did not want to know what the demon meant by that. As I released my mana, it flooded out of me and into my skill. A skill that greedily sucked up every bit of mana I gave it as it expanded to cover more area than ever. Everything around me came into sharp relief and it all looked so, weak. I felt as though I could level a building just by looking at it wrong.

  And that wasn’t the weirdest part. The sight of the ambient mana that surrounded us looked as though it was spiraling toward me. It reminded me of times that I watched as water spiraled toward a drain. A moment of tracing the path later and I found that the flood of mana was pouring into my mana pool. A mana pool that looked blazed with the power of the sun.

  With an effort of will, I pushed what I saw and could now sense to the back of my mind. While the demon had been nice enough to wait, he wasn’t likely to do so for much longer. Eyes locked onto him, I found that his body had changed. His human appearance was gone, replaced by something that might have been called demonic. While a pair of black horns poked their way through his salt-and-pepper hair it was the flexing of his clawed hands that got my attention. It wasn’t like a creature would need any weapons if they had those things.

  After a deep breath, I dropped into a ready stance. My body relaxed as I centered my mind on my goal: to survive as long as I could.

  The world slowed as my mana poured from my core and into . Stone and dirt exploded as I pushed against the planet and charged at the creature. The world around me smeared as I moved.

  While I mentally reeled at the sudden change in speed, my body tried to compensate. I was lucky that I wasn’t the only one that needed to do so. The demon’s eyes widened as I came to a stop in front of him. Too bad it came to its senses in time to catch my downward slash with a claw.

  My foot slid to the side as I started to spin. Bright orange-red sparks flickered into the air as I pulled my blade along his claw while his other hand slashed through where my arm had just been.

  Out of nowhere, a meaty tail slashed across my exposed side. The strike cut through my dress as if it were normal fabric and it managed to cut a good gash across my side before I could react. My voice was slightly higher than I expected as I cried out in pain. I tried to back away, but the creature didn’t give me a chance. It matched me step for step as its claws and tail struck out at me.

  As we moved around the courtyard people, both his and mine, tried to get out of our way, but every one of them were so slow. I had to work to deflect the strikes that would have hit some of them. Unfortunately for both me and those I protected, limiting myself to use only one had cost a few people and left me with cuts and gashes. God I wished the dress had a pocket where I could put this damned orb.

  Oddly enough, he didn’t seem to care who he hit while he went after me. At first this confused me but after the fifth time he took out his own people, I took advantage. All I can say is that he must have been fixated on me because he didn’t seem to notice what I was doing.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one such hit managed to cut off an arm. The strike was nowhere near a killing blow. It wasn’t even something that would limit the guy’s future. Not when there was magic to heal him. He looked calm as he reached around to a pouch on the side of his body. It took him a moment to feel around before he pulled out a red potion. With practiced ease, the man yanked the cork out with his teeth. He didn’t hesitate before he downed whatever the liquid was.

  The severed arm instantly started to regenerate. Bones formed first, quickly followed by muscles and skin. Everything, from start to end, took a matter of seconds.

  Unfortunately the potion did not stop with the arm. Odd growths started to appear up and down his newly replaced arm before it spread to the rest of his body. The demon must have noticed something because he finally broke away from our little fight as he raced over to the man. With cold precision, he severed the man's head from his body.

  While the head fell to the ground with a light splat, the body stayed standing. I watched in horror as the neck started to regenerate.

  Thankfully, the potion stopped working before the neck finished regrowing. As if it had given up, the body finally crumpled to the ground. “I should have known that damn goblin would go so far as to try something like this.” He sneered as he slashed at me.

  “Like what?” While I should have expected it, given the rest of the changes, the soft feminine voice shocked me. The mental shock nearly caused me to mistime a dodge as the demon targeted my neck.

  “Poisoning the health potions I ordered.”

  “How would that even work?” I demanded as my mind tried to figure out how someone would poison a health potion. The distraction was enough to keep my mind off my new voice.

  “Oh, don’t act so stupid.” He sneered. It was almost comical when he finally realized I was being entirely honest. He barked out a laugh that was dark and unsettling. “You truly don’t know, do you? Those people you are working with are worse than us demons. At least we refuse to stoop to tricks and traps to get what we need. Then again,” He took a second to glance around at all the dead. “You might fit in with them.”

  “What did they do?” I managed to grit out as I stopped his tail with the flat of my blade. The hand that held the orb backed up the blade as I tried to keep the weapon from slipping to one side or the other.

  “There is a reason no one is allowed to use sapient blood in making health potions.” His words confused me for a second before I recalled the warning in the description for Crimson Leaves. “Ah, so you have seen the system warning.”

  With those words, the demon doubled down on his attacks. My lack of a second hand to support my weapon or to give me extra motion only made the situation worse. It didn’t help that he seemed to almost double in speed. I had to pump everything I had into my just so I could keep up.

  As I moved, I felt my bones and muscles cry out as I pushed my body to its limits and beyond. Bones broke, muscles tore, ligaments ripped, and blood oozed from my pores as my movements broke my body down. Within a microsecond, my body healed itself of the damage only to have to heal the damage again.

  The boost was enough to allow me to pull off a few magnificent blocks but, more often than not, I ended up taking a hit. A slash here, a stab there. Tiny wounds that rapidly healed at the cost of energy, time, and pain. Every time one of his strikes hit, someone behind us yowled and yelled as people fought. From what I could tell, someone was trying to force their way toward us while the rest of the escapees were trying to hold them back.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Not seeing another way out, I canceled my . Now that all of his minions were dead, it wasn’t doing me much good anyway. If anything, the group behind me that was trying to keep someone from joining the fight was distracting as hell. As one, all the mana that had surrounded us rushed back toward me.

  It rushed into me with the force of a tsunami. Without conscious thought, a part of my mind started to shape it. To me, it looked like it was forcing it into something like an unfinished spell. The strain of trying to keep the demon back while my mind worked to do something was nearly too much. Just as I thought I was about to lose my mind finished whatever it was doing. All at once, the mana around me was forced to condense and burn.

  The air around us became akin to plasma as the mana in the area raged against my control. My body’s regeneration kicked into full gear as it worked to replace the burned and melted flesh. I scrambled to keep a grip on my weapon as something bashed against both of my hands.

  Without reason or warning, the demon jumped back. The air around me stopped burning as I released the spell and focused on the slightly smoking demon. I held my weapon in my off hand as I warily watched him. As I tried to figure out what his next move would be.

  The bastard spat a glob of something that looked suspiciously like blood on the floor as it held something up. A grin stretched from ear to ear as it spoke. “You lose.”

  The words confused me. Was the creature just trying to stall me so that it could heal? If that was the case I couldn’t let him have the chance so I charged. “STOP!” Its voice was loud as it reverberated through my skull. At the same moment, a sharp, searing pain sliced through my body as his claws scraped against something in his hand. He held it up for me to see. “Do you know what this is?” His voice was both sweet and full of malice.

  I shook my head. The only thing that looked similar was the SoulStone, but that was gone. Used up. Replaced by something else. Something that was…it was then that I realized I no longer held the odd marble.

  I took the moment to stop and look at the thing. Whereas the SoulStone had been the size of a small fruit, the new object was closer to a large marble. The brilliant golden-yellow color had changed to a deep azure with striations of lighter blues that actively moved as they licked up the edges. It almost looked like the striations were centered more on the demon's fingers.

  He must have gotten annoyed at my silence or distraction because he scraped a claw against it. The move caused yet another sharp pain to slice through me. It felt like he was scratching directly into my very soul. The pain was enough to drop me to the ground.

  I found my eyes locked onto his shoes as he slowly walked over to me. A claw-tipped digit lifted my chin as he spoke in glee. “This is your orb. Every Kitsune has one.”

  At the mention of orbs and Kitsune, it dawned on me just how fucked I was. “Ah, I see that you have some idea of what I have.” His smile softened. “With this, there is no need for me to get you to sign any contract. As long as I have it, you are mine. Maybe not your mind or your heart, but those will both come around eventually. Not that I mind.”

  His clawed finger cut a thin slice into my chin. Slowly, he lifted his blood-tipped claw to his lips. His eyes closed as he licked the blood off. “The best part is, you can no longer attack me. Not for as long as I hold onto it.” As he opened his eyes, they roamed up and down my body as he licked his lips. “And, I don’t think my daughter will be getting you. Not with that body. I think I want you for myself.”

  With that statement, fear like I had never felt flashed through me. I was practically his slave as long as he had that orb and there was nothing I could do about it. From all the stories I had read about Kitsune, their orbs were a part of them. Whenever they lost or had the orb stolen, they did anything and everything they could to get it back. They didn’t care about the consequences as long as they got their orb back. They were the Lokis’ of Japanese folklore. They created chaos to get what they wanted, or because they were bored.

  Not that it mattered if I stole the thing back. That demon was probably going lock me into a contract as soon as he could write up the terms. I doubted that whatever he wrote up would have any wiggle room, let alone a way out. Maybe I could find someone more powerful to take him out for me. Then again, I was more likely to end up in deeper shit if I tried that no matter how it turned out.

  I gave up. I was done. I needed out. Mentally, I called for the system to log me out. Nothing happened. I pulled the system window up and flipped to the logout option. It was red with a simple note next to it.

  Okay, that was just fucking annoying. I lifted a hand up as I tried to hit the button before the demon could order me not to. “Stop.” With the one command, my hand froze a fraction of an inch from the button. He continued as if he knew what I had just tried to do. “You will not leave this world until I let you. Now close your interface.”

  I fought against the order as hard as I could. Mentally I tried to force my hand forward that last bit. To press the button. Unfortunately, his order was too simple and direct for me to ignore or misinterpret. My hand shifted from its intended path. It pressed the button in the corner, closing the window. He had me and there was nothing I could do and we both knew it. Too bad for him though.

  While the window had been opened, four timers had been stacked to one side. Each of which counted down. The sight reminded me that all these boosts were limited and they were just about to expire. As soon as they did, they would impart to me some doozies. So, unless he wanted to kill me, I was going to be less than useless to the demon for the near future.

  With thirty-seven seconds left, I smiled as I called forth my mana. I sent it towards the gate to give them one last bit of help. If I was lucky, he wouldn’t even see the mana around me shift. Not with the storm of it that blanketed the area.

  Before he could order me to do something else, I put my plan into action. The mana that gathered around the door packed in tighter and tighter until the air practically boiled. He might have noticed something as his eyes lifted from me but it was too late for him to do anything.

  With a force of will, I forced the mana to combust. Blue flames exploded outward. The force of which took the door and a decent chunk of the wall with it. While the majority of those that stood nearby were thrown to the ground, the demon simply stumbled.

  Thankfully, the beastmen didn’t waste a moment. As soon as they were able to, they stood up and ran as they raced for freedom while they still had the chance. I noticed Ytri, Lucas and Lance shoot looks in my direction. They almost looked like they were debating coming after me. While that would be nice, they would die if they tried and we all knew it. As one, the three of them joined the horde in running.

  “Ah, such a rebellious soul.” The demon’s voice tore my gaze from the retreating backs of my charges. His demonic features were gone as he dusted off his torn and battered guard captain uniform. He looked like he didn’t care that he had lost his prisoners. Hell, maybe he didn’t. “Even in the face of death, you are fighting back in every way you can. Guess it is a good thing I love to break my toys.” He looked around at the tattered remains of his group. A group that he himself had killed. “And you even managed to get rid of the help. Bravo. One less annoyance to deal with.” Orb in hand, he shrugged and ordered, “Get up.”

  I saw no other option but to bid my time and pray. Just as I got to my knees, the timers all ran out. As one, every muscle in my body screamed and gave out. The fall was maybe a foot but it was enough to break a few bones. Pain, practically nonexistent until now, returned with a vengeance.

  My skin screamed as the soft breeze cut across it. Muscles tore themselves apart as I shook from the pain. I was fairly sure I screamed, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. All of the pain overwhelmed my brain to the point that it blanked out before passing out moments later from lack of oxygen. My last thought was of how I had managed to complete the quest, even if it did cost me everything.