Ace of Capes [Superhero LitRPG] [Isekai] [Card Crafting]

Lexie was leaning against the cave wall, her body on fire.

Both literally and metaphorically.

The flames licked on top of skin that was now protected by only a thin layer of a forcefield. Some of it had burned her still, but even as she bled, she barely felt it. She barely felt anything at all.

She didn't know how long she'd been fighting. The dungeon had been fighting back with everything it had. Trolls. Bats. Three-headed Hydra. A big dinosaur-looking creature. Basilisks. Other horned beasts that she didn't know the name of.

They came one after another. Sometimes in groups.

The dungeon even started combining monsters into one, creating chimeras. At that point, it was just overkill.

Yet, somehow, Lexie had fought all of them and won. She could barely believe it herself.

Even as her body was wrecked and wracked with agony, she'd won.

At first, she'd fought out of fear and to save herself. She didn't want to die even if the situation felt hopeless.

Then, she'd fought out of anger.

No, not just anger. Rage, the kind that would burn the whole world down if she let it.

She'd been betrayed again and again by those she trusted. Tate. Her father. Naem.

That rage had powered her through most of the battle.

However, it eventually fizzled out.

Then she was just fighting to ward off despair. Because if she stopped, then she would simply have to fall and take the blows. She'd have to accept her doom and accept that she was probably going to die here.

She refused. She wouldn't accept that.

She wouldn't die like they wanted her to. She wouldn't let the bastard win. She would keep fighting even if there was nothing inside her left to fight for.

She probably looked a mess right now. When she bothered to stare down at her body, she could see the gaping wounds on her body. Things hanging out. A bone poking through. System healing wasn't working well anymore. It had probably reached its limit. The wound did heal thanks to her Eldritch regeneration, but it was not as fast and not nearly as clean.

No matter. She'd gotten used to the pain.

After all, she'd had plenty of practice.

Lexie chuckled. At least Naem had done one good thing for her before leaving her here. All that practice with Ganor had somewhat prepared her for the horrors of living in this dungeon. Plus, her eyes had even adjusted to the dark somewhat. She could see enough to know that nothing was coming at her right now.

The monsters always came from the walls of the dungeon, and Lexie wondered if the dungeon was creating them or simply borrowing them from other dungeons it was connected to.

Either way, it wasn't doing that now.

They were both taking a much-needed break.

Lexie wasn't sure, but she probably should have been dead by now. She'd been gored in the stomach by a boar-like creature at some point. A troll had battered her too, when she let her guard down, and at least one of them had gotten her in the head.

She'd also suffered a poisonous bite from one of the serpentine heads of the Hydra.

Yet she was still standing. Even with the hole in her skull, her hair smeared with blood. Even with the even bigger hole in her abdomen that had stopped leaking somehow. She was standing.

The dungeon was frustrated.

Lexie was elated.

The pain was a constant now, so she no longer felt it. At first, it had been unbearable. She'd activated <No Pain No Gain> and it had turned her misery into power. She did have to take breaks in using it so the card wouldn't overheat, and during those times, she had to manage the pain by herself.

During those times, she'd screamed till she couldn't stand it anymore. It had chipped away at her mind and her humanity.

And then she'd gotten used to it. She'd accepted it. It was part of her now.

Luckily, none of her cards had overheated, despite being powered by her Eldritch side.

Lexie had tried to use magic without her cards. She'd tried to activate the fire while using her own pathways.

Nothing had happened, and that was when the trolls had jumped her.

She thought it was because maybe her magic was tied to cards somehow, or maybe her Eldritch pathways had been primed for them. Maybe eventually she would be able to unprime them, but she wasn't sure she wanted to. The cards gave her versatility and made it easier to activate the skill she needed without thinking too hard. They also made it easier for her to change or adjust the skill for her preferences if she wanted to.

She smirked. How ironic. Cards were supposed to be the strictest, least versatile of the magical options.

But now, they were her greatest strength.

The dungeon grumbled its warning that it was going to unleash more monsters.

"No," Lexie groaned. "Five more minutes, please."

The dungeon grumbled in response, and Lexie chuckled. She realized she wouldn't even know if five minutes had passed or not. Time flowed differently in the dungeon than in the outside world. It also felt different when she was fighting.

Lexie truly couldn't count how many creatures she'd faced already. Sometimes they came in ones and twos. Often, they came in dozens.

Maybe now, the dungeon was going to send her a legion. Maybe that would finish Lexie off once and for all.

She didn't care anymore. They would hit her and hurt her, but all she knew was that she would not fall. She would fight and survive. She had something to do.

As the dungeon was winding up for another attack, Lexie finally remembered what she had to do.

She had to make her way into the Other.

When she got into the Other, she could find the dungeon that held her Uncle Max.

She could enter it and save her Uncle. Then she would go back to the Other with her Uncle and enter a dungeon that was on Earth, from which they could come out.

That seemed like a solid plan.

The only problem was that to get to the Other, she needed Eldritch help. Of course, Naem was a traitorous piece of shit, so she couldn't use him. She needed to do it on her own.

She figured she might be able to ask the dungeon for help or trace its pathways to find the Other, but it typically reacted very negatively to her touch, or to any reminder that she was here and still alive.

"Say," Lexie spoke out loud, while readying herself for what would come next. "You don't happen to know how I enter the other, would you?"

Lexie heard the dungeon's reply. She was pressed against the wall, so she clearly heard it as it whispered, Get out.

"I would love to." Lexie's voice was hoarse from all the dust and smoke she'd inhaled, and she coughed to clear it. "But I need to get into The Other first."

"GET OUT!"

"I'M TRYING!"

The dungeon screamed, and it was followed by a burst of energy in the air.

A Griffin sprouted out of the opposite walls, screeching.

Then another.

And another.

There were about six of them. Or at least that was what it looked like. They all had hard chitinous skin and gnarly, angry faces. They launched themselves at her, opening their mouths wide.

Fire burst from their throat, sweeping through the air.

Lexie sighed and instantly activated Windkiller. It would have been nice if she'd had a blank card on her. Then her Eldritch mana might have automatically created a water card to counter the fire, like it had done during Diana's fight. Or maybe not. Maybe she would still have needed the intent first.

For now, all she could do was create a shield of wind around her that blew the fire in the other direction.

She was about to couple the wind card with VOID FLAME–which was itself a combination of two cards–but pain ripped through her veins, and she decided to give that one a rest. That card was close to overheating; she could feel it.

Instead, she tornadoed the flames around her, the force of the wind catching the Griffins in their whirlpool.

The dungeon wasn't done. It spat out more, and they came at her, too.

Lexie fought back with even more wind, abruptly killing the wind to fling them through the air.

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Even as they slammed into the wall, it wasn't enough to knock them out. They would come at her again.

She got to her feet, groaning at the aches.

Her head pulsed, pain radiating. Whenever she used a lot of power, she felt the pain most intensely.

When the pain had been most severe, she'd blacked out. She'd somehow still kept fighting when she did, and she assumed that meant that her Eldritch side had taken over entirely.

There is no Eldritch side, an inner voice reminded her. You are the Eldritch side. It's you doing everything. Your mind is simply not accepting it yet.

You don't want to accept your power. You don't want to accept what you are.

You're stronger than the dungeon.

You're a lone Eldritch cut off from your Lord. If you were not strong, you would have perished already.

Instead, you survive. And you can now draw from the Chaos Mother.

All you have to do is accept what you are.

But Lexie still wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready for a full Eldritch metamorphosis.

She wasn't ready to acknowledge that she was, on some level, enjoying this.

No, enjoyment wasn't the word, but there was no human word for what she felt.

At first, when Naem had said she would stay in this dungeon forever, she'd been furious. And then she'd been terrified that he was right.

But now, she was almost resigned.

No, resigned wasn't the word either.

It wasn't like she wanted to stay in this dungeon, but she wasn't dreading it either. There was a part of her that felt like staying in this dungeon was what she was meant to do. So it brought her a certain...relief? Peace?

God, it was so annoying not to find the proper word.

Light. That's the word.

Fighting these creatures and winning brought her light. Killing things that wanted to destroy her, exerting her dominance over them, brought her light, too.

And during those moments when her power surged beyond her wildest imagination, it brought her so much light she blacked out to protect her mind from the horrors she was enacting.

It was either that or accept the monster she'd become.

As the Griffins got up and flew at her, with their claws out, Lexie had no other choice.

She activated the <VOID FLAME>, but the card was hot and overheated.

It shattered into pieces right before her eyes.

But Lexie refused to accept its destruction. It was hers, and she would never let it go.

Something happened.

Pieces of the shattered glass hung in the air for less than a millisecond, then they flew back and assembled into one piece.

Just like before, the cards stitched themselves back together using pieces of her soul.

Lexie knew then instantly what had been done that.

She'd drawn from the Chaos Mother.

She didn't know how she did it. But it was the same feeling she'd had before. The one that had scared Naem.

She had somehow drawn from the Chaos Mother even without him, and she'd made another soul card.

It felt like sheer power moving through her veins, supplementing the chaos within. It was exhilarating.

This time, her VOID FLAME flame was never-ending. It raged and consumed, and even the next legion of creatures was sent at her.

And the next.

And the next.

It scorched everything around her, even her skin, as Lexie laughed maniacally. The screams echoing around her were music to her soul. She didn't think she'd ever enjoyed anything this much before. She forgot everything about what she was supposed to be doing here. She forgot if someone was waiting for her outside, forgot that there was someone she was supposed to save.

She was Eldritch. They didn't save. They merely destroyed.

Something within her fought for her mind, but she suppressed it. It was the human, but she didn't want to deal with that at this point.

Being a human had been so complicated. There were too many things she had to worry about, too many people. Too much conflict within herself.

Now, all the conflict was outside of her.

Being an Eldritch was so beautifully simple. So pure. So powerful.

Everything else, all her emotions could be distilled into simple delights. Burning the Griffins to ashes. Slicing the heads off a Hydra.

Killing anything that tried to kill her. That was her purpose.

She could do anything she wanted here. No more control. No more sadness.

Just pain and pleasure.

She couldn't have achieved any of the things she'd achieved in this dungeon as a human.

As a human, she'd been powerless. Weak, Underestimated, and betrayed.

Here she was powerful. She was a conqueror. She would become a Lord of the Eldritch. And everything, including this dungeon, would submit to her.

Lexie laughed again as she rose, in the ashes of her enemies, flame on her skin that she no longer bothered to put out. She put her hand out to the dungeon. Images flashed in her mind, but she discarded them, aiming to enter the soul of the dungeon itself. She stared into the abyss of its consciousness and sought to rip it away from its original owner.

"Give me everything you have," Lexie told the dungeon, smiling. "I will destroy it all. Then, I will destroy you."

***

It had only been a few days since Lexie's disappearance.

Yet so much had changed.

Aiden had gone somewhere. No one knew where, and a lot of people had stopped by to ask. First, it was the mayor, a man with piercing eyes called Luke. Then it was Monty Ward, whom Tate knew from the game.

They all questioned Tate at length, yet Tate always had the same answer for them. He didn't know where Aiden went. He'd woken up to an empty house, and he didn't have any clue what was going on.

He knew that Monty Ward had an aura-reading ability, so he tried to stick as close to the truth with him as possible.

Monty peered at him closely through the interrogation but didn't give any indication that he thought Tate was a suspect.

Then Tate finally asked, "Why did he leave anyway? Why's everyone looking for him?"

"Because they're about to put out an APB."

"Why? It's only been a few hours. I thought you would have to wait at least a few days before you did that."

Motny sighed, and his head dropped. Then he looked up sharply. "You're close wth his daughter, weren't you? Lexie? I mean, I know the two of you were on the same AFC team."

"Yes," he said.

"Well, then you should know. Lexie Sparrowfoot disappeared in a dungeon earlier today. Aiden found out. Reports say that he left the academy fuming, and now we don't know where he is. He somehow managed to disable his tracker, and he's gone with the wind." He raised his eyebrows. "Do you see how that might be cause for concern?"

Tate's body froze.

He didn't know how to react to the news that Lexie had been trapped in a dungeon.

"How-" His voice was suddenly hoarse, and he cleared his throat. "How did that happen?"

"It's a long story that I can't really get into. But if you see Aiden, let me know."

That was all Monty Ward was willing to tell him before he left.

That wasn't enough for Tate.

If Lexie was lost in a dungeon, then that meant...she was as good as dead.

But Lexie wasn't supposed to be dead. Her fate points were high. She was powerful and knew so many powerful people.

She wasn't supposed to die before Tate.

Tate wanted to scream. He wanted to call Ael and demand answers, but Ael wasn't responding to him anymore. He hadn't responded to him ever since Tate refused to devise a way to kill Lexie to steal back his fate points.

"That's the only way you might survive this," Ael had told him, but Tate shook his head.

"No," he said.

"I thought you were ruthless," Ael said. "I thought you were willing to do anything to win."

Tate thought about it. He thought about what it would mean to kill Lexie. To lure her into a trap that would end her life forever.

He would be powerful then. He might even be cured. It would be worth it.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Anything but that," he told Ael. "I'll do anything else except that."

"Why?" Ael's lips twisted in a sneer. "Because she saved your life a lifetime ago? Because she was the only one who cared about you when no one else did? Because you had a sad teenage crush on her?"

Tate didn't say anything. It would only lead to more mockery from Ael.

"So pathetic," Ael said. "Your plan to cure yourself using the dungeon won't work. I'm telling you so you don't bother wasting time. Even if she agreed to help you, what are you going to do? Wish away the damage that has been done to your body?"

"And what will killing Lexie Sparrowfoot earn me?" Tate shot back. "You just want to help the Alchemist and Vulcan so that he'll bond with you."

"Yes." Ael didn't even deny it. He didn't need to. "Because I like winners. Not losers like you." He sighed. "Truly, I thought you would be a winner too. You had so much potential, but you're just as disappointing as the rest of them, letting futile emotion get in your way. I suppose our discussion here is done."

Ael had then disappeared, and no matter how many times Tate screamed and pleaded, Ael didn't return.

So went Tate's last hope for survival.

Tate hadn't quite accepted his death yet. He was still in a state of limbo, the period before acceptance.

But somehow, he was having an even harder time accepting Lexie's death. During the two days after he learned of her death, he found himself staring into space.

He'd open up their old messages, reading over everything that had been said. He reminisced about their delves, their arguments, and how kind she'd been to him in both lifetimes.

He even dreamt about that darn can of Coke she'd given him had started all this mess.

And now she was dead, he couldn't fathom it. Sometimes he had a log in his throat that he couldn't swallow. Sometimes he would stare into the air and feel listless and lost.

Sometimes it felt like someone had ripped his heart out.

Everything in the house reminded him of Lexie, but he stayed because he had nowhere else to go.

Emma came over every day to make sure he ate. Sometimes she brought over a casserole. It wasn't the best, but he'd had worse, and she seemed pleased to see him eating it.

Sometimes she cried while she was there, and he had the uncomfortable experience of awkwardly patting her on the back and telling her it would be okay.

Then, on the morning of the third day, Aiden was back.

Tate was shaken awake by the Archmage looming over him with a darkened gaze.

"Do you know a man called Dominic Vacek?"

"Huh?" Tate's brain was too groggy to think.

"You said this world was a story in a game. Which role does Vacek play? What does he want exactly? Do you know his weakness?"

Tate swallowed. The questions now made sense to him, but he wasn't sure how much he could say.

"It's okay," Aiden said. "Please just tell me if you know anything. I no longer care if I live or die, but I need every information I can get to save Lexie."

Tate swallowed. He'd done so many bad things in his life. And it looked like he was nearing his end. Maybe this could be the one good thing that he could do before he died.

However, telling the man direct ISTS information might endanger Aiden even more. Amongst the ISTS' strictest rules was revealing the identity of other known Chosen. Aiden might die instantly if he knew.

"I can't really talk about who he is in the game," Tate said.

"Do you know his weakness?"

Tate thought about it. "That's complicated to explain."

"Okay, well, answer this last question. Do you know if there's any possible reason he might want Lexie dead?"

Tate hesitated on that one. The answer, of course, was yes. As a Chosen, Lexie was probably the biggest threat to Vacek. If he cared about winning the game at all, or even just saving his life, he needed to get rid of her.

But Tate didn't want to tell Aiden that. God only knew what he would do with that information.

Nonetheless, Aiden could read it on his face.

"He does? Doesn't he?"

Tate dropped his gaze, but it was too late.

Aiden inhaled sharply.

"What you did with the Alchemist," Aiden said next. "It was because you wanted power, right?"

Tate nodded slowly.

"Do you still want it?" he asked, and Tate's head snapped back up. He was shocked by the words leaving his mouth.

Looking closer, he also noted that Aiden looked and felt different. He didn't look like the kind, older man who regularly smiled and made him breakfast.

He looked every bit the villain they accused him of being.

"If you do still want power, I know how you can get it," he said. "In return, you're going to help me save my daughter."