Transmigrated As A Stepdad In A Fantasy Doujin World

Chapter 8: 8. The Ascension Devil & The Marked One

Brianna did not wait for an answer.

She grabbed Kael’s wrist with surprising strength for someone who had just been on her knees and pulled him toward the black gate.

”You have the potions,” she said her voice still rough. ”Healing and energy. They will need them. Move.”

Kael planted his feet for half a second. The thought of running flashed through his mind.

The dungeon felt wrong. Every instinct told him to leave the packs take the portal and get as far from this place as possible.

He could not.

Brianna’s grip was firm and her hybrid orc strength was already higher than his current body could handle.

Even if he broke free she would catch him before he reached the outer tunnels.

Fighting her was not an option.

He was still only an intermediate warrior with no real combat skills unlocked. She would drop him in two moves and then drag his unconscious body inside anyway.

’I cannot flee. Not strong enough to stop her. Not strong enough to outrun her. Why the damn goddess couldn’t even give me a single overpowered skill to save my own skin in this damn fantasy world.’

He let himself be pulled.

Brianna slammed her green hand against the gate. The runes flared once then the heavy door groaned open under her push.

The boss room hit them with thick hot air and the sound of battle.

Kael’s eyes swept the circular chamber. The seven devil statues lined the curved walls under cold blue crystal light.

Cracks ran through two of them. Dust and stone chips littered the polished black floor. The air tasted of ozone and old blood.

In the center the Ascension Devil fought with almost casual movements or more accurately, played with them casually.

Its four clawed arms moved in lazy precise arcs.

The thick segmented tail swept low forcing the short swordsman to jump back.

Yellow eyes tracked every motion without urgency. Bone plates shifted and reset after each minor hit.

Tina loosed arrow after arrow. Most bounced off the bone plates.

A few stuck in softer gaps but the devil did not flinch.

The full orc’s heavy punches landed with solid cracks yet left only shallow dents that sealed themselves moments later.

The short swordsman darted in and out his oversized blade flashing but every deep cut closed almost as fast as it opened.

They were not winning.

They were being allowed to live a little longer.

Brianna’s grip on Kael’s wrist tightened.

”Potions. Now.”

The Ascension Devil’s yellow eyes shifted and locked onto Kael.

A cold shiver ran straight down his spine. The gaze felt heavier than the entire dungeon. Older. Hungrier.

The devil moved.

One sweep of its thick tail sent the full orc crashing into a statue hard enough to crack the stone.

A backhand of two clawed arms knocked the short swordsman and Tina across the floor.

Both slammed into the opposite wall and dropped. Unconscious. The full orc tried to rise once then collapsed again.

Brianna shouted and lunged with her staff glowing bright green. A binding spell shot forward.

The Ascension Devil did not even glance at her. One casual swipe of a clawed arm struck the side of her head.

The hybrid orc crumpled to the floor and did not move.

Then the creature came straight toward Kael.

It stopped in front of him and crouched until the glowing yellow eyes were level with his.

A language Kael had never heard poured from its mouth. The words meant nothing yet the meaning burned directly into his mind.

’You. The marked one. The one who carries the scent of the old blessing.’

Reality twisted.

The boss room vanished.

Kael stood in an endless black space with no floor no ceiling no walls. Only quiet and the same Ascension Devil sitting calmly as if on an invisible throne.

”Are you the Blessed One?”

Kael’s thoughts raced.

’This thing has the wrong idea about me. I should act like one of their own for now.’

He forced a nod.

At the same time he screamed inside his own head.

’System. Do something. I just transmigrated a short while ago. I am about to die again. Useless system given by a useless goddess’

The Ascension Devil’s voice returned.

”Do you plan the resurrection of the Devil Queen in this world once more? If so how do you plan to progress with the future?”

Kael kept his face steady.

”Yes. I plan to.”

”Explain the method.”

Kael forced a calm tone.

”First I raise my reputation. Higher reputation opens higher-ranked dungeons. The right dungeons hold the old seals and the materials needed for the ritual. Also with my higher reputation I can infiltrate the central academy where I’ll find most informations I need to resurrect our beloved Devil Queen. Without access to those places nothing can begin. So I climb. Reputation first. The rest follows from there.”

It was pure bullshit. He had no plan. He was only buying time spilling some cliche plans he read on novels before.

The yellow eyes kept watching him.

”Remember this. Find the thirteen black hearts scattered across the world as fast as you can. If you are lying to me I will erase you. Your families. Every person you have ever known. Nothing will remain.”

The weight of the words pressed against Kael’s mind like cold iron.

”Do you need those pitiful ranking ones still breathing outside?”

”It would be better if you spared them. If they die here others will investigate. That would only create suspicion around me.”

The Ascension Devil was silent for several long seconds.

Then it leaned closer.

”Fine. I will give you a skill. Use it when the time comes to fight those old heroes.”

Kael’s brows drew together.

”The old heroes? Weren’t they all supposed to be dead from the war?”

”No. Some survived. Their strength may even surpass what they held before. You do not need to think about them yet. Just use the skill I give you. Grow stronger. One day you will be able to defeat them. The condition for unlocking the skill will appear when you become a C-rank warrior.”

Dark energy gathered at the tip of a claw and sank into Kael’s chest without leaving a wound.

A system window flickered open.

[New Skill Received: ???]

[Origin: Ascension Devil]

[Status: Locked – Unlock condition: Reach C-rank Warrior]

”Wake them. Leave this place. Do not fail.”

The infinite black space cracked and shattered.

Kael stumbled back into his body.

He stood again in the boss room. The Ascension Devil sat motionless on the bone-and-iron throne eyes closed.

The seven statues along the walls now burned with deep red light in their carved eyes. The entire dungeon felt like it had begun to die.

Cracks spread slowly across the polished floor.

Kael moved fast.

He pulled a healing potion from his belt pouch forced Brianna’s mouth open and poured it down her throat.

Her green eyelids fluttered. She groaned and sat up slowly.

”Take Tina,” he ordered. ”I will carry the other two.”

Brianna still dazed nodded and staggered toward the dark elf.

Kael hooked the full orc under one arm and the short swordsman under the other.

As a warrior-class his body was naturally strong but it wasn’t that strong to run holding two grownup man.

It seems the system also upgraded his body while integrating with him but still it wasn’t a massive upgrade.

The lean muscle across his back and shoulders took the weight without collapse.

It helped that one of them was a shota barely five feet tall and light. The full orc was heavy but manageable for short distances with the upgraded body.

They ran.

Out through the open gate. Down the empty tunnels. Past the dissolving remains of the Crystalscale. Through the flickering portal at the entrance.

Cold outside air hit them as they burst from the dungeon into the late afternoon light.

Behind them the portal shuddered once.

The red light from the statues flared brighter then the entrance sealed itself with a final grinding sound of stone on stone.

The dungeon was dying.

And Kael had just been marked by something far older than any rank on the normal ladder of power.

’System, at least respond me, what the fuck was that creature and why it talked to me as I’m like one of their hidden agents trying to take down the world by resurrecting the Devil Queen.’

Kael asked internally as he looked at his hand and suddenly saw a mark just below the palm of his left hand.