Alphonse had to close his eyes when he activated [ Flicker Steps ], in fear of ripping his eyeballs to shreds. He had to remember where the enemy was before he moved. Thankfully, he moved so fast that the fat monster’s body was freshly implanted in Alphonse’s mind.

His fingers adeptly wrapped around the leather wraps of the meat cleaver’s handle as he slashed forwards, the blazing speed brought with it a jolting sensation in Alphonse’s arm as the cleaver scraped past the skin of the demon-like monster. The momentum of his body continued as his cleaver… and then body slammed into the heavy metallic doors behind the demon. The sharp resistance of his cleaver hitting the door sent a shock-wave of paralysis up his arm.

The demon’s rage filled eyes quaked, its own cleaver smashed down towards Alphonse.

Alphonse, in that second, scanned around him. Felecia was screaming something, her eyes filled with dread and hopelessness as her staff lit up with a holy white light. Markus’ large shield ramming towards the demon to stop it. Haydon appeared above the demon, his dagger gleaming a savage dark shadow like the darkness of the night. Tariq’s bow had already fired an arrow as it twirled through the air like a rotating bullet.

Alphonse’s eyes rested on Gabriel, Oskar and John. They were standing together, protecting each other. Their hands were frozen as inaction took over their bodies.

Gabriel’s eyes were calm, like a still sea. The expression of nothingness marred his face as he watched as the cleaver screamed towards Alphonse’s head.

Alphonse thought deeply about using [ Spectral Rage ], before gritting his teeth as his eyes steeled.

I wonder what I will forget this time. The thought tore at Alphonse’s mind. After all of this, who will I become?

Alphonse weakly smiled as his eyes turned bloodshot. The thought of killing ran rampant within his mind. Thanks to his upgraded [ Spectral Rage ] he could move however he wanted. Alphonse placed his foot onto the wall just as the cleaver was about to gut him in half. He activated [ Flicker Step ] as the wall crumbled under the sudden force of pressure. Alphonse rotated his body as his feet gouged into the ground, his body grinding to a stop.

“Support me from range if you can. Haydon, make sure those shadows don't appear.” Alphonse quickly said, as his body disappeared once more. He could feel the drain the skill had on his body, so he had to make it count.

The demon wasn’t able to lift its arms in time as Alphonse’s cleaver slammed into its thick collar bone. The sound of metal cutting into bone bounced into his bony fingers. Deep inside, his stomach bubbled. The scalding sensation of liquid shot up from his throat as it covered the demon in a vile green substance.

The demon’s lips curved up into a smile as its head rammed forwards, colliding against Alphonse’s chest as it sent him crashing to the ground.

A gentle embrace felt within his body as Felecia’s healing spell eased the pain somewhat. Alphonse ignored the pain of his bones, snapping back into place as he shot up to his feet. A crazed grin took over his face, blood seeped from his lips. His bloodshot eyes gleamed a hint of excitement.

The least I can do is tie one fucking leg down. With the thought Markus moved forwards, gold liquid crawled up his arms as they clasped around the demon's legs. The demon was about to pound its large fist downwards but Markus lifted his shield over head as the fist bombarded the large tower shield. Markus’ knees buckled under the strength of the fist, but his arm continued to wrap around its leg like a vise.

Haydon used the power of shadows as they coiled around the demon-like figure. They were like snakes as they slithered around their target, acting as rope as they pulled the monster’s arms backwards.

Tariq’s arrows fired like a stream. The only target he aimed for were the eyes. The arrows found their mark as the demon thrashed around on the spot.

Its large body smashed through the constricting they had placed it under. It kicked Markus back as he collided against the wall.

Alphonse sprinted towards the demon. The others had made time for him as he grabbed hold of the demon’s horns. His teeth, covered in a deep black shadow, sunk their way into the thick flesh of the monster. The teeth ripped their way through many as blood sprayed all over Alphonse’s face. Alphonse wasted no time. He planted his hand against the crater that had been left from the bite as ice formed into sharp spear tips. With a thought, the spear tips shot down the monster’s throat, ripping the soft insides of the demon to shreds.

[ Butcher Demon consumed ]

| 12 Strength added.

| 14.6 constitution added.

< Skill extraction failed >

Alphonse jumped off the monster as it crashed to the ground.

“Why didn’t you attack?” Alphonse’s calm eyes turned towards the three that hadn’t acted. Blood dripped down from the corner of his eyes. The sheer contrast from the deep scarlet blood and Alphonse’s sky-like blue eyes sent an icy shiver down their spines.

“I didn’t want to get in your way.” Gabriel shook his head as sweat formed, his hands trembled as they tightly gripped around his staff.

“Oh, is that so?” Alphonse said, as a smile appeared on his face. “Alright then.”

Alphonse’s eyes glanced past John and Oskar. The faint smile on Alphonse’s face was like a cold-blooded demon had set its eyes on them.

He becomes scarier by the minute. We need to do something about him. John swore in his mind. Every time they made it out of a fight, Alphonse seemed to become scarier. He was becoming harder to predict. Would he kill them if he found out what they were planning? Or does he already know? The thought sent goosebumps up his arm.

Alphonse grabbed hold of the demon's leg and pulled it to the side, away from the large metal doors. His head peered into the room. Large metal hooks latched meat carcasses up onto the ceiling. The aromatic smell of fresh meat tickled Alphonse’s nose.

The frigid cold must have kept the carcasses from rotting. Alphonse thought as he excitedly looked at all the meat from within the freezer-like room.

“Markus, you think those fire pits will work?” Alphonse left the freezer as he nodded towards the many fire pits that lay against the wall.

“Should do, it just uses wood to burn.” Markus looked around and he walked towards a man-made hole in the wall, it was filled with dry wood. A lot of it had rotten over time, but after digging for a while, there were a few suitable pieces as he threw them into the pit.

“Think you could help us here a little, Gabriel?” Alphonse smiled towards the wizard.

With a thought, a wisp of flame left the wizard's staff as the dry wood blazed to life. The fire from the smoke wafted upwards as vents had been crafted into the ceiling of the kitchen.

Alphonse brought over a large carcass. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he would find out soon enough.

“I have these as well.” Alphonse took out some ingredients he had collected; eyeballs from the guard, the black-purple flowers from the castle courtyard and the dust from the homunculus.

“Well,” Markus looked at the ingredients, but shook his head. “Not much I can do with the ashes. I’ll think of something for the other pieces, though.”

“Oh, thank you.” Alphonse nodded in disappointment. No luck getting another skill from the homunculus then.

Markus got to work as the fire raged. Now and then, he would take care of turning the large carcass until it was golden brown, and the juices were gently flowing down. The fluid from the meat sizzled as it hit the fire below.

Alphonse clove off a fresh leg from the demon as he handed to Markus.

The others waited patiently, taking the time to rest. Although they were pressed for time, they had no choice but to wait for Alphonse to power up.

I hate to admit it, but you’re our only chance of escaping this damned place. Then, I’ll throw you to the monsters the first chance I get if need be. Gabriel’s plotting eyes glued to Alphonse’s back. Ideas and thoughts were running wild inside his head.

The smell of cooked meat wafted into Alphonse’s nose as the stomach pains cramped up his body. His eyes excitedly watched as Markus brought over the carcass towards him. Vivid purple of the flowers stained the meat with a side dish of cooked zombie tongue.

Alphonse couldn’t wait any longer as he devoured the meat in front of him.