Jason stared dumbfounded at the notification that was sent to him by The System. This was the Unique class that he was after, but why was it attached to becoming the disciple of a demon? Heavenly Defiance, the User who had obtained this Unique Class in the past, had always stated that it was an item that he had found from the quest reward that had given him his class.
Had Heavenly Defiance accepted Shrarzok the Shadows invitation from the very beginning? Had he always been on the demon's side, waiting for the perfect moment to betray humanity? Looking back, Jason realized that was exactly what had happened. Heavenly Defiance had shown his true colors in a major battle that ultimately tipped the war in favor of the Demons. This battle was three years after – Might, Magic, Mayhem – had opened for players on Earth, and it had been a shock to the general population that Heavenly Defiance, the strongest of the Users, had defected to the enemy's side.
It wasn't uncommon for players to defect to the enemy's side as the majority of the Users truly only believed this was a game. They all just wanted to have fun and spread anarchy, and since it was a game there would be no consequences to their actions in or out of game. They only realized too late that betraying their humanity was an irreversible decision that carried on into the real world on the day of the invasion, causing them to lose their minds and attack their fellow humans. Friends and family weren't excluded from their mindless rampage, consuming the flesh of all who crossed their path.
Jason had halted in his footsteps completely, revealing a weakness that Shrarzok immediately began to take advantage of. Unbeknownst to Jason, Shrarzok's shadow began stretching towards him from a corner of the room behind his back. Slowly creeping across the floor towards Jason.
Jason had misunderstood his advantage of coming back to the past from the future. He had thought the whole game was within his grasp since he had in depth knowledge of the game and knew the outcomes of everyone in it. How would he have known the hidden truth that this quest was nothing but a trap for anyone who accepted it? The choice he had was either serve under Shrarzok the Shadow and obtain unimaginable power or die.
He could attempt to battle, or even run away, but what good would running do? He had already altered the course of events and Shrarzok had arrived much earlier than he should have, most likely bringing the large-scale battles forward. He knew the Users wouldn't be high enough level to affect the battle at this point in time; it was still the first day the game had been released!
Memories of the prior determination he had obtained within the last hour burst forth in his mind. There was no chance he would give up now. He may not be able to obtain the unbeatable class he desired, but right at this moment he had the opportunity to give a large can of whoop-ass to a demon who could cause a lot of problems in the future.
Jason stared at Shrarzok, not intimidated in the slightest by the difference in size. Crouching into a fighting stance, Jason pointed his sword at Sharzok.
"A disciple for you? Who would agree to becoming disciple for a cowardly decrepit demon? You would have better chances at begging the wretches to work for you, they might even accept if you pay them a decent hourly wage."
He sneered in contempt as he continued, "How about this, you bow before me and declare me to be your daddy and I will spare you if you pledge your eternal soul to my sovereignty."
The fire behind Sharzoks eyes intensified, "I see, you still have fight in you." With a snap of his fingers, dark ethereal shadows erupted from shadows that had crept behind Jason, wrapping around his wrists, and pulling him the floor.
Jason attempted to evade them but was unable to due to his own lack in attentiveness to the situation. Jason cursed his luck, and his moment of weakness that led to his capture.
Straining against the ethereal chains that bound his arms to the ground, he could only look up at Shrarzok who slowly began to approach him.
A deep grotesque laugh escaped Shrarzoks canines as he approached Jason. "Puny bug. You will burn in eternal flames until you grovel at my feet and lick the crust from between my toes. When you finally give in to swearing your soul unto me, I will show you further despair by making you kill the ones you love and feeding their corpses to me for my afternoon snack."
No matter how much Jason strained against the chains it was of no use. He noticed that these chains had an anti-mana property that prevented him from activated any skills. Jason could only hatefully stare up at Shrarzok who now stood right before him.
"Resistance is futile. Take pleasure knowing that soon you will know what unstoppable strength means."
Shrarzok opened his mouth and Jason could see swirls of mana condensing into it's mouth. After a moment, the mana appeared to ignite as it rushed forth in a stream towards Jason.
Standing in the hallway with stealth activated, Leviticus had watched the entire scene of Jason's defiance towards the demon and his subsequent capture.
After Leviticus had left Jason at the intersection he had to battle his way through a small army of undead. At the end of the hallway, that he had chosen, was a large doorway where a single Undead Knight was standing guard.
After a successful ambush and lengthy battle where he had almost died several times, he managed to defeat the Undead Knight, picked the lock, and opened the door to find the treasury room of the Cultists.
There he had found all sorts of awesome gear, plenty of gold, and his guard equipment. After equipping his gear and feeling much more secure, he ran to go catch up to Jason who he assumed had gone down the correct path towards the Cultists.
Leviticus had arrived just in time to watch Jason entering the large room to confront the demon, so he decided to activate stealth and observe for the moment.
After watching for a moment, Leviticus couldn't understand why someone strong like Jason would allow himself to be captured, maybe he had some hidden plan? Though, after he saw Jason struggling to get out of the chains, even with the demon right in front of him, he knew something was wrong.
He prepared his bow and two arrows and activated a skill called mana charge that allowed him to imbue his arrows with a large amount of mana. It came with a charge time and significant mana cost, so he could only hope that it was enough to break the chains.
As fire erupted from Shrarzok's mouth, two glowing arrows became visible as they shot forth through the darkness, both in a direct collision course with the chains binding Jason's arms.