Xiandre continued through the burning path, only to be met with a dead end. He glanced around, finding no other way forward.
With narrowed eyes, he raised his sword and pointed it at the wall.
"Bare to move this sword and break through this wall," Xiandre chanted.
The golden sword flew from his hand and burst through the flaming wall with immense force.
Behind the wall, another hallway was revealed. The sword returned to Xiandre's grasp, and without hesitation, he began running once more.
Several red-skinned demons rushed at him, snarling and armed. But Xiandre's undead body moved faster than theirs. With swift, effortless slashes, he cut them down.
"Being undead really does make the body stronger than normal," he mused.
At the end of the hallway stood the next door—massive and imposing. But standing just in front of it was a figure in a black cloak.
Xiandre halted.
The figure turned slowly, sensing his presence.
"Xiandre!" the figure exclaimed. It was a familiar voice.
"Amelia?" Xiandre's eyes widened. "How did you get here?"
As he stepped closer, he noticed a scar over her left eye... but then it vanished. Resting behind her was a massive scythe.
"What happened? And what are all these things you have now?" Xiandre questioned.
"I killed the Ruler of Wrath for it," she replied bluntly.
"Just what exactly happened after we got separated?" he asked.
"Well, what happened was..." Amelia began explaining.
*Flashback*
"X–Xiandre!!"
A massive rock came crashing down, sealing the gap and cutting off all sight and sound between them. Amelia cried out in panic as the dust settled.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Death felt close.
She looked back at the five golden archers behind her and broke into a run.
Pulling out her cellphone, she frantically checked for any explosive SIM cards. As she feared, there were none.
Arrows whistled through the air. Three pierced her back, forcing her to drop the phone. Gritting her teeth, she rolled to the ground, snatched it up, and narrowly dodged another barrage.
With trembling hands, she punched a series of commands and hurled the phone back at the archers. It exploded in a burst of light and flame.
She caught her breath, wincing, and yanked the arrows from her back.
"My wounds are open now... I need to stitch them up before I lose too much blood," she muttered.
Suddenly, the five archers emerged from the smoke, seemingly unharmed.
With a curse, she started running again. Despite her severe injuries, she was still faster than them. But she could feel her endurance failing.
"I won't last much longer..."
Amelia ducked into a pile of gold and grabbed a pin from her shoe. She rolled a handkerchief and bit down on it to muffle her screams.
"I have to stitch all my wounds up now... This is gonna hurt," she whispered.
Using her hair tie as thread, she began sewing her own flesh together. The pain was unbearable. Every stab of the pin made her body tremble, but she didn't stop.
Hours passed.
When she finally finished, she removed the blood-soaked handkerchief from her mouth and gasped for air. Her jaw ached—she'd bitten so hard it made her tooth bleed.
She stood, weak and shaking, and stepped out of her hiding place. Her breathing was shallow, and the world swayed before her eyes.
Above her, she spotted a crack in the massive wall—the same one that had separated her from Xiandre.
Without hesitation, she began to climb.
Each movement was slow and deliberate. Her limbs trembled, and her vision blurred. When she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, she leapt toward a flat area on the wall and collapsed there, passing out.
When she awoke, her body felt different.
All her wounds were gone.
She bolted upright and inspected her body—every stitch had vanished, her flesh completely healed.
"What the heck just happened?" she muttered.
Looking around, she saw no one nearby who could've helped her.
"This is..." she began.
Suddenly, her system appeared before her.
[System Update]
(You have reached the potential after death and obtained the power of the Goddess of Death.)
(You have reached Phase 1.)
"Phase One...? Wait, I died...?" she whispered.
She opened her stats.
"Configuration procedure... system," Amelia chanted.
[Death System]
User: Amelia Voidstar
Tier Level: 1
Element: Exanimus
Stats:
Stamina: 10
Attack: 1
Speed: 1000
Defense: 1
"My stats are different... My speed has increased up to a thousand, my defense went down to one, along with my strength—which was changed to attack," she continued. "My element was also changed to Exanimus, and if I'm correct, that's a Latin word for lifeless or soulless."
"My system, which was first called a 'Heavenly System' and then just 'System,' is now being called the 'Death System.'"
"What just happened while I lost consciousness?" she questioned herself, pressing for answers.
[Death System Update]
[New Chant Ability Unlocked]
(Death Bones)
(Bone Rise)
(Teleport)
(Soul Gravity Manipulation)
(Time Stop)
(Large Bone)
(Skull Blaster)
(Death Blaster)
(Barrage of Bones)
(Bone Weaponry Creation)
"So many things are happening at the same time," Amelia muttered and glanced above.
"I have to continue climbing this wall... and find Xiandre—and the others," she said to herself.
"Bone Rise," she chanted. Several bones rose from the wall, forming footholds and handholds that made climbing easier.
As she continued upward, she realized her stamina had drastically dropped. She quickly became exhausted, breathing heavily—but she didn't stop. Despite the burning in her limbs, she kept climbing until she finally reached the top.
She looked around and saw everything below was burning. The ground was scorched and blazing—stepping on it would be suicide.
"How should I get out of this..." she exclaimed.
Suddenly, she heard something charging at her from behind. Without hesitation, a wall of bone burst from the ground, blocking a lethal strike aimed at her back.
Then, in the distance, she spotted an opening—a place without fire. She teleported instantly.
"Sweet, I don't need to chant my abilities to use them," she mused.
She backed up a little, realizing the opening was large enough to be a classroom. Then, emerging from the flames, a demon with glowing red eyes, a black cloak, and armor stepped forward, holding a flaming sword.
"What an awfully strong reflex and power—being able to block my attack," the demon said.
"Who are you?" Amelia demanded.
The demon swung his sword into the air, then stabbed it into the ground, cracking the earth.
"Me? I am Sataniel Morningstar, the brother of Lucifer and the Ruler of Wrath," he declared.
"I see... and why the hell are you attacking me? I haven't done anything," she replied.
"Done something or not, if you're in Hell's territory, it means endless suffering," Sataniel growled and charged.
Amelia teleported to his side, then flung him into the air by controlling his soul gravity—then slammed him back down.
She teleported to a safe distance and launched a Barrage of Bones. Some rose from the ground; others were massive, impossible to dodge.
Satan rose, attempting to slice through the incoming bones, but his blade failed to pierce them—they were harder than his weapon. Forced to dodge, he continued charging toward Amelia.
One bone managed to pierce his shoulder, breaking through his armor and flesh.
He staggered back, but more bones came flying. Forced to block and dodge, he grew enraged. Flames burst from his body as he charged, each step breaking the sound barrier.
Amelia's attacks didn't stop him. He appeared in front of her in an instant and swung his sword. Amelia teleported behind him, summoning a bone sword and attempting to pierce his heart. Satan blocked with ease and retaliated.
She teleported again, avoiding the barrage of sword strikes. Each time she disappeared, a wave of bones chased Satan, forcing him to react defensively.
Finally, she teleported to a distant point and summoned titan-sized bones to form a wall.
But Satan, consumed by fury, smashed through them.
Amelia dodged once again—but this time, when Satan prepared for another attack, something enormous appeared: a massive human skull, large enough to devour him whole.
Its eyes glowed blue. It opened its mouth—and unleashed a devastating blue fire blast.
The attack launched Satan several meters, breaking through burning stone. Amelia panted heavily, her stamina nearly gone. The Skull Blaster vanished after the attack.
"Huff... puff... so that was the ability of the Skull Blaster. No joke. The system did say it would drain my stamina... but not that much," Amelia muttered.
Out of the smoke, Satan stumbled forth—bleeding, armor cracked, flames burning around him, hatred in his eyes.
Amelia summoned a Bone Shield to block his charge.
Satan's sword met the shield with a colossal impact, sending Amelia flying kilometers away.
Mid-air, she grunted and summoned a Skull Blaster beneath her to cushion her fall.
"He's... so strong..." she gasped.
Satan leaped after her, summoning fireballs mid-air.
Amelia countered with massive bones to block the fireballs, then retaliated with another barrage.
She kicked the Skull Blaster's head, turning it into a makeshift jet.
Satan, now with black wings, charged again. Amelia summoned bone after bone, Skull Blaster after Skull Blaster, but Satan dodged them all.
He finally struck the Skull Blaster, slicing it in half—but Amelia had already teleported to another one.
She summoned more, one of which bit Satan and slammed him into the ground, pinning him. Multiple Skull Blasters fired at once.
Amelia, now struggling, fell—but used Soul Gravity Manipulation to land safely.
She stood and turned around. The next door was there—leading to the next floor.
Satan leapt down to her level, walking toward her.
"I see you've finally lost all your stamina. Strange... for such a powerful enemy to have so little endurance," he said, bleeding, half his armor gone, body covered in wounds—but still standing.
Amelia panted, glared at him, then smiled.
"I think it's finally time for my final attack," she said.
In an instant, everything turned pitch black.
When the light returned, Satan looked down. His body had been pierced from every direction by bone.
"Y-you stopped time, you piece of shit!?" Satan roared.
"Looks like I did," Amelia said, raising her hand.
Five dragon-shaped bone heads formed above him, eyes glowing red.
Satan tried to escape, but his body was locked in place by bones and his own flesh. He was stuck.
He had no choice but to accept what was coming.
Amelia closed her hand into a fist.
Death Blasters erupted from the dragon heads, engulfing Satan in crimson fire.
A massive explosion followed. Smoke consumed the battlefield. Amelia's left cheek cracked across her eye from the strain.
As the smoke cleared, she approached Satan's scorched body.
"Aren't you supposed to be fire-resistant? You live in this burning hell," she said.
Satan's lips barely moved. "I can resist all flames in the world. Even I don't understand why I couldn't resist yours."
"You're saying there's something special about the flames from my Blasters? Something that can burn you?"
"That's correct. And it seems you've overpowered me."
"So what now?" Amelia asked.
"We, the rulers of this Hell, are immortal. Even if I die today, I'll return," Satan replied.
"So are you gonna come after me again?" she asked, serious but calm.
"Of course not. You've proven you're strong enough to defeat me. I've no intention of challenging someone who outmatches me."
"I see... do you know where Xiandre and the others are?"
"Xiandre should arrive soon. But one of your group is already dead, and two are on the verge of death."
"I see... so that's just how it's gonna go here, huh," Amelia said quietly.
"To escape this place, you must defeat the Demon Ruler of Pride—Lucifer, my brother. He guards the gates of Hell."
"I see. Where can I find him?"
"That, I cannot reveal. Sorry," Satan said, and vanished.
Amelia sighed and turned to the massive door behind her—then froze as she heard footsteps.
It was Xiandre.