Swordsman of the Rift

by Brandon Varnell

  Fire Slash: Attack +5

  Fireball: Attack +5

  Dual-Wielding (passive skill)

  Whirlwind Axel: Attack +10

  Triple Thrust: Attack +10

  Total Skill Points available: 0

  “It looks like I haven’t gone up from level 69 yet,” I said with a small frown. I pulled up another screen and checked to see how much Life Essence I needed to reach my next level. “And it says I still need 4,569 Life Essence Points before I reach level 70.” My frown grew. “That demon gave me a thousand points, but it’s just not enough. I need to kill at least five more.”

  Michelle shrugged. “Such is the nature of increasing your level. The higher your level, the more Life Essence you need to reach the next one.”

  “I know,” I said.

  “Let’s just keep working hard,” Adina suggested.

  Michelle gave Adina a scathing look. “It is easy for a succubus like you to say that. You can raise your level simply by sleeping with Bryan.”

  “Tee-hee!”

  “Don’t laugh like this is a joke!”

  As Adina and Michelle began what I’d taken to calling their comedy routine, I looked at the others and saw they were all done with their fights. Elric, Vyra, and Christine had finished off the Alaster they’d been fighting. Meanwhile, Brad had taken care of all the smaller enemies that had surged around the two larger enemies’ legs. The man in the dark black armor and wielding a scythe struck an awfully solemn figure as he stood there all by his lonesome.

  “Honestly,” Michelle sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. “I wish I could level up simply by having sex with Bryan. Life would be so much easier.”

  “But it’s not like my level just increases, you know.” Adina pouted, her cheeks swelling like a pair of balloons. “I can only use that method to increase my level to the level of whoever I am sleeping with. Once I’m at the same level as that person, I can’t draw anymore Life Essence from them. And I haven’t had to do that with Bryan since I already reached level 69.” Adina placed her hands on her hips and thrust out her massive breasts, which jiggled and shook like a pair of water balloons. “I reached that level all on my own, you know.”

  “Maybe level 69, but I’m pretty sure you gained the previous two levels by sleeping with Bryan,” Michelle said.

  “Well… yes. That is true.”

  Adina rubbed the back of her head, while Michelle rolled her eyes and smirked. As they finished talking, the two walked with me over to where the others were all waiting. Michelle’s toga swayed as she moved. Each step appeared incredibly elegant. Meanwhile, Adina walked with a bounce in her step and a sway in her hips, which caused her chest to jiggle uncontrollably. Adding to the sensual allure of her walk, her wings extended and retracted several times.

  “Is anyone injured?” Brad asked, looking at all of us. When we shook our heads, he nodded. “Then let’s move on.”

  We began walking again, following Brad as he led us through this labyrinth with a grim expression marring his face. This particular area looked a lot like a maze. There were many turns and dead ends and we even found ourselves walking in circles a number of times. Sometimes we would run into open rooms like this one, which were filled with demonic legions, but other times we would simply find ourselves going nowhere.

  I wasn’t sure how long we’d been down here. My internal clock had long since lost track of time. With no sunlight, no seasons, and nothing except my own sense of exhaustion to guide me, I couldn’t figure out if days, weeks, or months had passed.

  “You three are quite the team,” Christine said as she walked up to us with a smile. “You took down that Alaster like it was nothing. I’m very impressed by how well-coordinated your attacks were.”

  “Thanks!” Adina said with a smile.

  “You and your group are not bad either,” Michelle added.

  But Christine shook her head. “We don’t work as well as you three. Your bonds are a lot stronger than ours. It allows you to really bring out the full potential of each member of your group.”

  “I suppose that is true,” Michelle said with a slow nod as she glanced at Elric, who was speaking enthusiastically to the scowling Vyra. “Your other two teammates do not mesh well together, I have noticed.”

  “Elric is a pretty cheerful guy, but I think he grates on Vyra’s nerves,” Christine admitted with an amused smile.

  “And you?” I asked curiously.

  Christine tilted her head as she pondered the question, then shrugged. “I do not dislike him, but I do sometimes wish he would not hit on me. I’m not really here to find love.”

  “And what are you here for?” I asked.

  “To stop this invasion from spreading.” Christine shrugged. “The Rift Plains are currently on the brink of being completely overrun by powerful beings from numerous other worlds. If these creatures make it to the Rift Plains, they will have access to many portals that lead to Earth, and then they will come and many people will die.” Christine’s grim countenance made me frown. “I am sure you’ve noticed, but while some of the beings from this side are benevolent and kind . . .” She nodded at Adina and Michelle, who both smiled back. “. . . Even more of them are cruel and would gladly slaughter or enslave humanity for their own amusement.”

  “I have noticed that, yes,” I said, thinking back to our battles against Maliperum and Naamah, two demons who epitomized what she was talking about.

  “I don’t want to see that happen.” Christine’s smile was filled with determination. “While I have chosen to stay in the Rift Plains, I do have family living back on Earth, and I don’t wish to see them be enslaved or killed.”

  Everyone had a motivation for doing something, whether it was fame, fortune, glory, or to protect the people they cared about. My original reason for agreeing to help Brad was simple. I wanted to escape. I wanted to run away from the haunting nightmares that plagued me, to escape from my inescapable past, if only for a little while. My reasons weren’t anywhere close to being noble like Christine’s were.

  It really made me think.

  We continued on for what felt like several hours, stopped when we became hungry, slept when we became tired, and fought when we ran into enemies.

  Alaster was a fairly rare—and exceptionally powerful—demon that only showed up occasionally, like once every few days. Most of the creatures were fought were demons like Lamia and Incubus.

  Lamia were harmful spirits who killed infants and seduced sleeping men. There were a lot of rumors surrounding these vengeful spirits back in my world. One story said that Lamia was originally the queen of Libya, daughter of Belus and Libya, who won Zeus’s heart. In her jealousy, Hera killed all of Lamia’s children who were fathered by Zeus, and when Lamia retreated to a cave, she unleashed her wrath by killing the offspring of human mothers, usually by sucking the blood of the children.

  She was also sometimes associated with Adam’s first wife, Lilith, but Adina assured me that whoever came up with that particular story was an idiot and didn’t know what they were talking about. What I did know was that her name was derived from a female demon with dragon heads at the end of their feet. Whatever they were, these vicious demons looked like hags with long noses, dried leather skin, and were covered in large cloaks that hid their decaying, wretched bodies.

  By contrast, Incubi were much more simple to understand. They looked mostly human. However, their skin was sometimes a different color—mostly red and pink—and they had the appearance of fallen angels with wings blacker than the night sky and glowing red eyes. They were also naked. None of them wore a single stitch of clothing, which meant their nut sacks were out for everyone to see. I still remember the first time we had run into one and Michelle used her sword to relieve the demon of its cock.

  I had felt equal parts vindication and sympathy.

  As the hours—or days?—passed, our group eventually arrived at a large door. Though I called it large, I think massive might have been a better de
scriptor, for this door was so huge that it disappeared high above us. Darkness engulfed the area above our heads, so I couldn’t even see where the door ended. Made from a green metal of some manner, the door contained the depiction of a demon with the heads of a ram, a bull, and a man. His body looked like a mishmash of animal parts. What’s more, this creature was feasting on a naked human woman.

  I felt my lips curl in disgust.

  “This is a relief of Asmodeus,” Michelle stated as she looked distastefully at the door. “There is a story about him. He once tormented Raguel’s daughter, Sarah, killing off each husband she wed before they could have intercourse. After the seventh husband died, Sarah was about to hang herself in grief, but instead prayed to God for death. He answered her prayer by sending Raphael to aid her. He instructed Tobiah to place a fish liver and heart on the embers for incense, which repelled Asmodeus when he appeared to claim her next husband.” She paused for a moment, then clicked her tongue. “I somehow doubt Raphael would come to that girl’s aid again.”

  From her bitter words, I got the feeling Raphael was now one of the bad guys, a member of the group who had expelled her from Heaven.

  “We will rest here for now,” Brad said at last. “It looks like we are almost finished with this mission. I don’t want anything bad to happen because we got overconfident and attacked before we were ready.”

  No one disagreed with his words. Soon, all of us had found a spot to rest.

  The current area around us looked a lot like the ruins of an ancient civilization, complete with debris littering the ground, decayed walls that were crumbling in numerous places, and fallen columns that had tipped over. It was a wide space as well. Everything here looked a lot bigger than anything I had ever seen back on Earth. It looked like this place had been made for giants.

  I sat with my back resting against one of the pillars, eating a light meal of dried meat. It wasn’t much, but I was only eating because it was a habit. I didn’t actually need to eat.

  Adina and Michelle sat with me, as always.

  The cuddly succubus was hugging my left right close as she leaned her head on my shoulder. Her tail had curled around one of my legs and was affectionately stroking it. Fortunately, her wings had retracted, so they weren’t getting in the way.

  Michelle sat on my other side, so close our thighs were touching. She quietly ate her meal of dried meat without complaint. As she ate, her robes shifted every so often to showcase her ample assets. When I looked at her, my eyes ended up traveling down until they reached her pale thighs, which were visible because her toga was riding up her legs.

  “I want to have sex,” Adina suddenly said.

  Michelle rolled her eyes. “When don’t you want to have sex?”

  “Heh heh. Never.” Adina giggled as though she’d told a joke. “But seriously. We haven’t been able to have sex for awhile now. I really wish we could sneak off and at least get in a quicky.”

  “Nothing is ever quick with you,” I said with a snicker. “There’s a time and place for everything, and now is not the time or place for sex.”

  While Adina pouted at me, Michelle nodded. “I agree with Bryan. We are currently on the cusp of our most important battle to date. Beyond those gates lies a demon even some of Heaven’s best warriors fear fighting. Asmodeus is not someone we can take on without being fully rested.”

  “I guess so,” Adina said with a sigh. “In that case, I am going to sleep.”

  “Rest well,” I said.

  “Yeah…”

  Adina shut her eyes and quickly drifted off, her breathing evening out and her tail going limp. She snuggled a little closer, nuzzling her nose against my shoulder and mumbling a bit before falling deeper into sleep. I remained still and tried not to shift. I didn’t want her suddenly waking up. On my other side, Michelle released a soft sigh and smiled.

  “That girl lives completely in the moment.” Her smile turned brittle. “I wish I could do that.”

  “Are you thinking about your comrades up in Heaven?” I asked.

  Reluctantly, she nodded. “I wish I could know what was happening up there, but even if I manage to escape from this world, I do not know which portal leads to my Heaven. It’s something of an oddity, but there are dozens or perhaps even hundreds of different heavens, and each one is a little different. Anyway, when I was expelled, it was incredibly violent and I had no time to figure out where I was. All I could do was run away.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to return eventually,” I assured her. “We will be with you every step of the way.”

  “Thank you,” Michelle murmured.

  I smiled. “Get some sleep.”

  With a slow nod, Michelle yawned before making herself comfortable, which meant placing her head on my lap. I wondered if she realized she was acting so intimately with me in front of everyone else. Perhaps she was too tired. She slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Since I still wasn’t tired, I spent my time gently running my free hand through her hair, until even I was too tired to stay awake and drifted off.

  “Hey, Bryan. You and your lovely ladies need to get up now.”

  I jerked awake at the sound of the voice, blinking my eyes open as something stirred on my leg.

  Looking down, I saw Michelle slowly waking up, lifting her head off my leg as she glanced around with an expression that made her seem as groggy as I felt. A little bit of drool was leaking from her mouth. For whatever reason, I thought it was adorable. Michelle’s pure white wings flapped a little as she continued waking up, and I turned my attention to Adina. The succubus sleeping against my shoulder was a much heavier sleeper than Michelle. She was pressed firmly into me, her well-developed and luscious body giving me thoughts of giving her the most orgasmic wake up of her existence, though I knew I couldn’t do that here.

  “We’ll be up in just a moment,” I finally said, looking at Elric.

  “Yeah, sure. Hurry up, though. Brad is getting impatient,” Elric said before wandering off toward the dark knight in all black.

  “Time to get up, you two,” I said to Michelle and Adina.

  “I am already up,” Michelle groaned as she placed a hand on her head. “Though I really wish I was not.”

  “Is my lap that comfortable?” I asked as I shook Adina awake. The succubus squinted her eyes open as she peered at me and Michelle while smacking her lips. I gazed at those lips, wishing I could feel them wrapped around my cock, but only for a moment before I shook the thought away. Now wasn’t the time.

  The three of us stood up, Adina raising her arms and stretching out. I heard a number of loud pops from her back and shoulders, which made me wince, but she didn’t seem to notice as a slight smile adorned her pretty face. She brought her arms back down and looked at the two of us.

  “So, we’re about to begin?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Looks like we’re heading into Asmodeus’s lair.”

  “Fuuuun,” Adina said with a drawl.

  “I’m not sure what’s so fun about it,” Michelle muttered as she crossed her arms.

  “That was sarcasm.”

  “Your sarcasm needs work.”

  As the two lightly bickered, we wandered over to where Brad, Christine, Elric, and Vyra were now standing. When they saw us coming, Brad and Christine smiled, Elric grinned, and Vyra scowled at us. I didn’t let that bother me. Vyra was always scowling. I figured it was her default face, or maybe her reptilian features just made it seem like she could only scowl.

  “Are we ready?” I asked as the three of us stopped alongside the others.

  “We are,” Brad confirmed. “All we need to do now is get this door open.”

  “Right. So, uh, just how are we supposed to get this door open?” Elric glanced at the massive door, easily twenty or thirty times bigger than us, with an uncertain look. “I mean, this thing is huge. Even with all of us pushing on it, I doubt this door will even budge.”

  The man had a point. As I gazed at the door, even I c
ould not help but think opening it on our own would be impossible.

  “Maybe there’s some kind of lever or pulley that we can use,” Vyra suggested with her typical scowl. She crossed her arms, a single clawed finger tapping against her hard scales. “A door like this would normally have some manner of opening it that doesn’t require manpower.”

  “You mean it normally does in our world,” Christine corrected with a shake of her head. “Do not forget that we’re not on Earth anymore. Our world’s logic doesn’t necessarily apply to this one. What’s more, I don’t see any pulleys, levers, or anything that might suggest this door can be opened.”

  “Then what should we do?” asked Vyra.

  Before anyone could propose another idea, the doors opened on their own, releasing a loud squeal as if the hinges were rusted over. All of us turned to look at the door. A pensive expression flashed across Vyra’s and Christine’s faces when they saw what was happening, and I couldn’t blame them. It seemed like we were being invited inside, but considering who we believed was on the other side, it was clearly a trap.

  “It looks like we’ve been offered an invitation,” Brad said with a nervous chuckle. “It would be rude to refuse.”

  No one laughed.

  We journeyed passed the doors, which had only opened a crack, but that was a big enough crack that all of us could walk through. The moment each of us had entered, the doors slammed shut. We were officially trapped.

  The air inside of this place was incredibly stale and moldy. It was like the scent of decay and rotting flesh. As we walked further into the room, I could see that this place was truly massive. It vaguely reminded me of a colosseum. Several tiers encircled this room, though it didn’t look like they were seats so much as layers of bedrock. I looked up. The ceiling high above us was visible thanks to a series of glowing crystals hanging from it. One of those crystals was bigger than the rest. When I glanced at it, I saw…

  “Mother!!” Adina screamed as she tried to run forward, but Michelle stopped her, grabbing the girl by the hand to keep her from traveling too far ahead of them. “What are you doing, Michelle?! Let me go! My mother! She’s right there!”