Rey looked around, and he couldn't believe his luck. In his last time through Hell, he hadn't run into a dungeon until he reached the Kingdom of Night. He couldn't be happier if a hundred beautiful women had offered themselves to him to be ravished in any way he chose.

  They were in a massive circular room that lit up with an ethereal red light from above. There were lush, green trees of all kinds, just like the ones they had back on Earth. It was like a slice of home, but the red light made it look as if the whole place had been washed with blood. The occasional screaming and shrieking made the hair on his arms stand on end. That also ruined the serene view. However, overall, he would give this place three and a half stars on Yelp. The rating could go up or down depending on whether they made it out of this dungeon.

  The rocks shifted, and the tunnel shut behind them. This signified that the dungeon had reached its maximum occupancy.

  Ajay clutched his arm with a trembling hand and flinched whenever a scream echoed through the dungeon. "Rey, where are we?"

  "We're in one of the best places in Hell," Rey exclaimed. "This is called a dungeon. They are scattered all over Hell. They're like a pocket dimension built into the fabric of Hell. Once a dungeon closes, as it did behind us, not even S-Tier demons can burst in here without breaking one of the fundamental laws of Hell. We're totally cut off from the outside world…"

  Rey gasped as the realization dawned. This means that Zalathar cannot spy on me here. I can say whatever I want without repercussions.

  A manic grin split his face. "Fuck you, Zalathar, and your whore mother, who I fucked, by the way, and she gurgled my seed like it was the blood of a virgin."

  Of course, most of it was a lie, but not the fucking his mother part. She had nearly suffocated him, but in his defense, how was he to know that Anemara was into asphyxiation? Overall, it was quite a fun experience—a solid four out of five.

  Rey waited, and nothing happened. No demon lord blasted out of the tunnel wall behind him to turn him into paste or leave him a drooling mess who couldn't even recall his name.

  Rey waited a few more moments. Then jumped into the air. "Yes. Yes! I love dungeons."

  "A-Are you okay, Rey?" Ajay asked cautiously.

  "I'm more than okay, my Bollywood Brainiac. For the first time, I feel free. You wanted to know what this place was. So, unclog your ear holes because I'm about to give you a golden shower of information."

  The poor lad was obviously confused as he stepped back from Rey, but would catch up soon enough.

  "A dungeon is a place where lots of demons gather to fight it out. When a dungeon opens, a demon is designated as its boss, in a way. It's more complicated than that, but let's just say that. The said boss lures other demons into the dungeon, which in our case was most likely the succubus, hence the naked bombshell, that we couldn't resist following. But now we have to kill her if we ever want to leave. Of course, we can have some fun with her, but if you're not careful, she'll suck your soul right out of your dong."

  Ajay blinked. "What?"

  "Succubus are sex demons. They lure other creatures to have sex with them, and if you finish in any way while you're with her, you lose your soul. Or if you take too long, they might get bored and bite your face off or other parts." Rey motioned to Ajay's crotch with his eyes. "But by god, it's some of the best sex you will ever have."

  If you'd ever been with a succubus, regular women just couldn't compare. Once he had turned into a demon, he actively sought them out to release pent-up tensions. They were the hookers of Hell. Pay them enough money, and they would do just about anything, and the best part about being a demon—no STDs.

  Rey giggled at the memories of doing things his humanity would never have let him do. I may turn into a demon early just to satisfy some needs.

  "How do you know all this?" Ajay asked, looking at him as if he'd grown horns.

  "I can see the future, remember." Rey slapped his back and hefted his scythe. "Time to get stronger. For we're not going to find a better place to rank up."

  Rey watched the treeline, and he could see shapes flitting about. He hadn't moved yet because the fighting hadn't started. He waited for the demons to make the first move so he would know which way to go.

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  "What are we waiting for?" Ajay asked.

  "Just wait and watch, and stay close to me. Dick to butt, understood?"

  "O-Okay."

  The best thing about being Rey was that he didn't need to ask how much Mana Ajay had or what spells. He already knew all that from last time. Just like his previous playthrough, he was with Ajay when they stumbled into their first dungeon.

  Rey couldn't help believing that the future was repeating itself, even if in slightly different circumstances. The dread of failing to change things was settling on him once again. His breathing became a little ragged. His first thought was to run through this dungeon as fast as possible and rush back to the castle to ensure Kassandra was okay.

  No, focus, Rey. If the future is unfolding similarly to last time, then she still has lots of time, which you won't have if you make a mistake here.

  His only play was to kill as many Rank 2 demons as possible and hopefully get a rank up before leaving this dungeon.

  There was movement in the treeline a little to his right. A pair of demons were fighting it out. One looked like a female Vorclaw. A lioness, rippling with muscles, stood on her hind legs and swiped her claws at what looked like a classic red demon with no skin and a pair of black horns.

  Rey knew he had seen its kind before, but couldn't remember its name. After killing hundreds of different types of demons, it was hard to keep all the names straight.

  [Zolath - ?]

  "Which one do you want?" Rey asked, then used Identify on the Vorclaw, which was only Rank 1. "Never mind, I'm taking the Zoloth."

  Rey had half a mind to use Attraction, but didn't. He didn't have enough Mana to go around flaunting skills, no matter how much he wanted to. He ran towards the skinless demon, who turned his head just in time to see Rey's scythe coming to skewer him. He disengaged from his fight and jumped back in time to dodge Rey's attack.

  He bared his fangs at him. Rey didn't have time to worry about the Vorclaw. He hoped that Ajay would take care of the lioness. The Vorclaw did come for Rey, ready to rake his back with her claws, but he felt heat on his back and heard a yelp that sounded so much like a household cat.

  The Zolath bared its fangs at Rey and readied its vicious claws as it lunged at him. He side-stepped the demon and swung his scythe in an arc, smacking the demon in the back. It stumbled forward, creating some distance between them. Rey capitalized on his staggered enemy and stabbed the demon's side. The blade pierced the demon's ribs and came back slick with black blood.

  The horned demon cried out, placed a hand on his side, and licked the blood off them with a sharp, warty tongue.

  "Okay, we get it, dude, you're so hardcore." Rey rolled his eyes. "Now, let's continue, shall we?"

  The demon did a combination of a screech and shriek and followed it up with a demented giggle.

  "Well, fuck you too."

  Rey made the first move this time. Knowing the Zolath would dodge to the side, Rey feigned an attack. Then, he followed it up with a series of thrusts and finished it by piercing the demon's neck with his scythe.

  The demon hacked as it tried pathetically to slash Rey, but died without even getting within a foot of its killer. Rey placed a foot on his chest, ripped out his scythe, and let the dead demon stain the ground with its filthy blood.

  [+1 Dexterity]

  [You have killed a Zolath (Exiled) – E+1]

  Waste of my fucking time.

  He looked behind him, and Ajay had created a nice bonfire of his demon.

  "If you can see into the future, then shouldn't you know what moves your enemies are about to make?" Ajay asked.

  "I should. Shouldn't I?" Rey just left it at that. "Let's get a move on. There are so many demons to kill. So many stat points to earn and a succubus to fuck."

  "I thought you said—"

  "Don't get caught up in the details, my friend. It's like what my grandpa used to say—if a fine broad is willing, there's no reason to give yourself blue balls."

  His eyes widened. "Your grandpa used to say that?"

  "What did I say about details?"

  Rey started ahead, and it took everything he had not to start cackling. Oh, I'm going to have fun with you.

  Rey remembered he was far too scared all the time to be joking around so much when he went through Hell the first time around. But because of all the things that were awaiting them and all the horrors he had seen, he would go insane if he didn't joke around a little bit. Besides, he had a cheat sheet for the future now, so there was much less to worry about this time around, figuratively speaking.

  There was movement to their right. Rey turned in its direction but saw nothing. His partner must've also felt something as he stopped, surveyed the tree line, and didn't even ask an obvious question, like why they were stopping.

  Leaves rustled behind Rey, and he snapped his head to it, only to find nothing save for a swaying branch. There was a soft footstep behind them, then another.

  "I'm sure it was nothing," Rey said.

  "You sure, because I hear—"

  "No, I'm sure," Rey cut him off and motioned behind him, hoping against hope that his nerdy friend understood the meaning.

  Ajay nodded, restoring Rey's faith in him and the Nerd Kingdom as a whole. He motioned for Ajay to keep walking, and as they did, the footsteps behind them quickened. Then he gave his friend a quick nod.

  Together, they turned, thrusting their weapons into their pursuers. Ajay's sword flashed and caught the Gorran in the neck, and Rey's scythe gutted the demon. Before the big monkey could snap his weapon in half, he yanked his weapon out.

  The pair of demons was of the same kind that had pursued him and Kassandra when they had gone to dump Phil and Latoria's bodies. So, he had an extra bone to pick with this kind of demon, as they had hurt Kassandra.

  Rey didn't give the monkey a moment to breathe and littered him with so many holes that it looked like Swiss cheese at a rat convention. Contrary to his pyromaniac habits, Ajay didn't burn this one and went for the good old slashing it to death.

  [+1 Dexterity]

  [+1 Perception]

  [You have killed a Gorran (Exiled) – E+2]

  Rey grinned. "Was yours also Rank 2?"

  Ajay nodded.

  "Good. Now, we know what we need to focus on." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's go kill some monkeys."