Was I just asked by an over sized rottweiler to become Satan as I stand staring at the moldering corpse of a thorny giant? Maybe I had hit my head five or ten more times than I thought...

  "Um." Was about all I could manage, swaying precariously where I stood.

  "You will most likely die in the attempt." Stated the dog, not seemingly bothered by that at all. "But, it looks as if that is going to happen regardless, so you may as well try, correct?"

  "Sure..." I said, not really positive how one was supposed to respond to such a request. "You aren't really a dog... are you?"

  If a dog could cock an eyebrow and look at a woman like she was bonkers, than that was what this dog was doing right now. "No." He said, sounding mildly exasperated. "I am a demon race known as a hellhound. I am the progenitor of the race, as a matter of fact: Pride. It has long been my great honor to serve and accompany our great lord: Tristan, The Black King." The dog's- Pride's- eyes settled on the skeleton, looking both honored and a little sad.

  "Your name is Pride?" I found myself asking, eyes fluttering and breaths coming in shallow gasps.

  Pride looked at me like he wanted to comment on questioning his name, but decided against it. "I think you should get to the process rather than asking question. Should you live, I will answer what ever you like."

  I didn't know if I wanted to become a demon king. Or Queen I supposed. But I definitely didn't want to die! And pride was correct: I had but a few scant minutes of life left in me, and no matter how crazy, Pride was offering me a chance to live. I wasn't about to pass up on that, even if it did mean I was signing my soul away to the devil. I was pretty sure I did that years ago anyway.

  "And... what is the-" My eye lids felt heavy now, and I was worryingly cold. The dog was right, if this was going to help me live, I needed to do it now." "-The process?"

  "You must consume the flesh of Tristan, who you see seated here before us."

  Now, I knew I was half dead and probably prone to hallucinating... Hell, this all may be some elaborate dream and I was still laying flat and broken at the bottom of that damn hole. But, even as a product of my imagination (Depraved as it was) was this talking dog seriously telling my to eat demon mummy jerky right off the bone?

  "You have to be shitting me..." I managed to blurt out, not even slurring it this time, even if my legs could barely hold me up.

  Pride looked at me like I was the one who was crazy. Then I realized that the term 'shitting me' was probably foreign to a demon dog that live underground for untold centuries in a fantasy world.

  "Three other people have attempted the change before you." Said Pride, seemingly deciding to ignore my last statement. "Obviously neither of them succeeded, and died quite painfully. But, if you do obtain Tristan's power, you will live. I suggest you not delay any longer." He eyed me up and down again. "Either way works for me. Either it works and we both get out of this place, or it doesn't and you die and I get a free meal."

  Great. I can't say I hadn't been threatened to be made into dog food before, but this was the first time it felt like a real possibility. Not to mention, the first time it had been suggested by the dog itself.

  My legs could hold me up no longer, and I fell to me knees. It probably should have hurt, but I was beyond that now. What it did do was bring my face horrifyingly close to the desiccated flesh of the mummies leg. I shivered at the thought of what I was about to do, because I was going to do it. I didn't want to die, and this was either my only chance, or an elaborate joke played by a talking dog claiming to be a demon.

  I never thought that someone seriously telling me to eat another person would be the most likely option. This world just keeps getting better and better.

  Under the seemingly disinterested gaze of Pride the not-rottweiler, I reached out a hand toward the corpse. Its skin was dry, but at least there wasn't any kind of smell. I closed my eyes, did my best to quell my roiling stomach, and dug my nails into a flap of the flesh.

  The sound of it coming free of the bone was nearly the end of me. I suppressed the rising bile and fought against blacking out at the same time.

  Cannibalism was one of the ten truly horrid things I had never done. But this wasn't really cannibalism right? It wasn't a humans flesh, now horribly pressed against my unwilling lips. It was a demons. It didn't count!

  Though I could recall putting the strip of meat in my mouth, the rest is nothing but a haze of blurry memories. Most of what I could recall was the pain. Pain and unrelenting hunger. Flashes of me screaming into echoing room, begging for death and feeling like every inch of me was simultaneously on fire, and being ground into dust. Then the pain would fade slightly, causing me to drag my shaking body up just high enough to take another chunk of meat. And the screaming would come again.

  I had no clue how much time had passed when I finally came to my senses. I was covered in a cold sweat, laying on my back, and panting up at the invisible ceiling. I was shaking like crazy and felt like absolute crap. The last time I felt this crappy was after a really bad flu.

  "Would you look at that..." I heard Pride say some place to my left. "You lived. Congratulations, Mistress."

  I forced my sore neck to turn my throbbing head so that I could see the dog. He sat near me, red eyes steely but the slight wag of his tail letting me know that he was pleased.

  I really didn't know how to feel, myself. Sure, I was glad I was alive, but at what cost?

  Nah, forget that. I was just glad to be alive. What the hell did I care if I was a demon now? None, that's how much. Besides, surly being a demon meant that there were pluses too, right? Demons were badass back on earth!

  Shifting to sit up, I gasped in pain. Not due to the broken arm that I had forgotten about, but now saw was completely healed, but due to a strange, slight, weight on my back. Turning my stiff neck to see what was on my back, I noted that my mousy hair had now turned a light shade of purple. That would have shocked me if it wasn't for the fact that I was now staring at what I could only assume was a pair of leathery wings attached to my back.

  Wings? I had freaking wings!? No way... Okay, flying would be awesome, but these things- no, there was no way these flimsy, purple-ish black scaled, leathery things were big enough to carry an one-hundred-twenty pound woman off the ground.

  Anxious about what else was different, I hurried to my feet, ignoring the aches and pains. They were just jokes compared the the screaming haze I just went through, after all.

  I hadn't taken a good look at myself in a while, actually, and now I noticed that my cloths were nearly none existent. My shirt was nothing but scraps, and my jeans were a torn, and bloody mess. My boots still looked functional at least.

  Not only had my hair changed color, but it was now longer. I would probably be sitting on it if I didn't pay attention. And my skin had gone even paler than it had been before. Not only were my injuries gone, but feeling with my hand I could tell that my nose was neat and straight. And I wasn't just referring to its recent broken state. I mean, even the crookedness from previous breaks had smoothed out.

  In the process of checking myself out I stepped back and yelped. Looking down I saw that I had a damn tail. Which I had just stepped on. Wow. I took the long, leathery appendage in my hands and saw that it was barbed at the tip, and rather sharp to the touch.

  Holly crap I was a demon!

  "If you are interested, your eyes are also now a reddish hue as well." Stated Pride, who had sat there and let me have my little freak out in silence.

  I reached up to touch said eyes, as if feeling them up would some how confirm Pride's words. Then the tell tale 'ping' of this world's voice sounded, making me jump as I hadn't been expecting it. Does turning into a demon level you up?

  [ Species change achieved.

  New species: Demon Race

  Sub Race: Demon Queen (God Race)

  Level: 0

  All stats changed to reflect new race:

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Strength: 100

  Stamina:100

  Dexterity:100

  Intelegance:100]

  I stood there, looking off into nothingness, as the voice sounded in my head; telling me that the rest of my base stats had risen to one-hundred points apiece. I knew my former levels were a great deal lower, but I also didn't think that that number reflected one of a damn God subrace.

  And what was with that anyway? A God? No way.

  Also, what was with the level zero? I didn't have many levels to begin with, but I did know that I had started off at level one when I got here. How did a person get a level zero?

  But I didn't have much time to think about it before the voice went on, telling me even more confusing information.

  [Title earned: God-Kind, Demonic Queen

  New skills, enhancements, and curses added: Black King's Curse, Unwavering, Consumption

  Unique Skill obtained: Creation

  Skill level-up: Appraisal has now reached level four.]

  Okay, Appraisal leveled up. That was good. But I didn't know what the rest of it meant.

  "Why would appraisal level up if I hadn't fought anything...?" I asked.

  I hadn't been directing my question to Pride, but he answered all the same. "Lord Tristan also possessed this skill. I would say that, rather than relearning the skill, you, instead, gained additional levels."

  "What? I don't understand."

  Pride lifted a hind leg and scratched behind an ear as he explained. "I assume you saw that you are level zero and have several new skills?"

  "Yes, though I don't know what they are, exactly."

  "Well, if your appraisal is high enough you may be able to asses yourself. If not, tell me what it is you are confused about and I will do my best to explain it."

  Okay, sure... I guess I was taking advise from a dog now. I am a demon who takes hot tips from oversized rottweilers while deep in the bowls of a messed up fantasy world dungeon. Mom was right, I should have dressed like a tramp and got me a rich Daddy. What the heck has my life become at this point?

  Actually, scratch that. I'd go insane if I had to simp to a sugar daddy. I'd probably be in jail for murder...

  Directing appraisal on myself usually didn't give me anything but my own name, just like when I directed it at anything, really. But since the last time I'd used it, it has now gone up three levels: once before my 'should've killed me' fall, and now twice more after eating demon jerky.

  Gross.

  Now, however, I was given a plethora of information to go through. At least, it was a lot compared to what I was able to see before.

  I couldn't see all the nifty stats that the mysterious robot voice informed me of moments ago, but I did see quite a bit of other things. There was my name, my age, my new race and sub-race, along with a list of my skills. Accessing my limited knowledge of these types of video games, I decided to indicate one of the skills and see if it provided me with more information.

  Huzzah! It worked, lucky me.

  [Appraisal LV.4: Allows holder to view and asses people, places, and objects. Effectiveness scales with each level.]

  Okay, that was about what I expected. Now, to see what the confusing skills gave me.

  [Black King's Curse: A curse held by all beings of the Demon Race. Holders are unable to level as other beings of Zearsa do. Instead, demons gain other means to harvest skills and stats from other beings.]

  Um, what? Harvest from others... that sounded unpleasant. I might have to ask Pride about this one, but I'd wait till I checked out the rest.

  [Unwavering Lv.1: Obtained when the holder displays fearlessness in the face of death. Holder gains resistance to the status change of Fear, scaling with each additional level obtained.]

  Well, surviving near death experiences has finally provided me with a tangible reward. Though, I don't think my highly nonchalant and sarcastic personality really needed further leveling.

  [Consumption: Passive skill. Holder obtains partial stats and- rarely- skills of beings the holder consumes. Materials consumed must be unprocessed.]

  Oh god no. Please, do not tell me that that meant what it sounded like. My eyes drifted to the skeleton where it sat on the throne. I felt myself heave as I saw just how bare those legs now were, and immediately looked away.

  I guess that partially explained the curse thingy. So, because I was a demon, I could no longer level like a normal human, and instead, had to obtain skills and stats in other ways. And, apparently, my 'other means' was to chow down on raw meat in the hopes of a little boost. Oh man, this was going to get horribly graphic real soon.

  Wanting to not think about chewing on the face of a goblin, I turned my attentions back to the final skill I had gained: Creation. This one was listed under the heading of 'Unique Skills', and made me think that that meant that it was a pretty great skill. Something had to make up for all the curses and the eating-raw-people-meat-thing right?

  [Creation: Holder obtains the power of creation, allowing the holder to bend and mold the world at their whim. This is classified as a 'God Power' and can only be used while consuming massive amounts of mana.]

  "Ah- what?" I found myself muttering out loud.

  Pride, having spent this time wandering in a slow circle around me, sniffing, looked up and asked: "Is there a question you need answered, Mistress?"

  "My name is not mistress." I sighed, the name making me cringe.

  The dog blinked his red eyes at me. "Than what would you like me to call you?"

  "My name is K-" I froze mid introduction. Karen. Karen, the demon queen? Wow, the irony. I have to say that my name has made me the butt of many a joke in the last half of my life. But this was a whole new level of meme I was just not ready to live.

  Hell, new life new name, right? And since this world liked acting like a game, I may as well take the name I usually used when ever I felt like making a character: Nyx. Mind you, I usually played farming simulators... so Nyx the demon was a change. "Just call me Nyx."

  "Very well, Nyx, What was bothering you?"

  "Um, well, I was going to ask about this 'Black King's Curse', but then I saw the skill called 'Creation' and I am afraid I don't know what to make of any of it..."

  Pride tilted his head in a very dog like manner. "The Black King's Curse is a passive skill that all of Tristan's children- the demon race- possess. We were created for a purpose, and this curse is the result of that. It is called a curse, but really it is just a way that prevents our kind from both gaining power from our demonic means as well as from the 'normal' method."

  "Wait, hang on." I said rubbing my fore head. There was so much there to unpack! "Demons were created? By this guy?!" I asked, pointing to Lord Skeleton Bones, who I was doing my very best not to look at. "And, what do you mean that demons were made for a purpose?"

  "I can certainly give you the whole run down of the lore if you like." Stated Pride, doggy eyebrow raised. "Though, it may take some time."

  I sighed. "Well, I am curious, but I think the quick version will be good for now."

  "Very well. Lord Tristain was a Hero of old, and as a reward for his brave and selfless sacrifices and service, the world gifted him the power of a god. The skill you have- Creation- is a signifier of one becoming a god.

  With his great powers and skills, he made us demons. I was one of the first seven he created: the progenitors of the race. We were, essentially, made to quell the rising tide of monster activity. But, over time, the other races grew to resent our kind, humans chief among them. We were nearly wiped out, as a matter of fact.

  Lord Tristain exerted the last of his power to make this dungeon, and our people lived here for a time. But a few decades later, the others found us and the genocide continued.

  Lord Tristan orders us- the progenitors- to take our people and find nooks and crannies around Zearsa to live and thrive. Meanwhile, he would use the last of his life force to maintain what he could of this dungeon and preserve his body, spelling it so that, if consumed, his skills and titles might be passed on to another, who could then protect us demons in his stead."

  Damn. I really wanted the long version, and I definitely had a lot of questions. But now wasn't the time to get into the details.

  "Wait, he was a hero?" I asked, unable to resist a quick glace at the scary lich-looking, giant of a man. "As in, a human summoned to this world from Earth, like me?"

  "Oh? You were summoned here?"

  "Yes, me and a bunch of others were forced to come to this world by a kingdom called the Stella Empire or something. At least that was what the sketchy priest told us all."

  "I have heard of the Stella Empire. They were the key force behind the humans during the war that drove our kind to the brink. And that would have been a few centuries ago. Tristan was a human who was summoned to this world, yes. Though it was a different kingdom that brought him here, one that was lost in the war he was summoned to fight. He arrived with the Consumption skill. I am sure that you can imagen that it was not highly favored at the time..."

  "Ah, yeah, that I can imagine." I said, not much liking having it now myself, as a matter of fact.

  "He managed to break through the initial barriers and became a great hero, much loved by all races, till time passed and the humans turned on us, quickly followed by the others." He used a fore-paw to scratch his muzzle, seemingly lost in the past. "But I had thought the ability to summon heroes was put to rest... though it would not surprise me if the humans brought it back, especially the bigoted peoples of that particular empire.

  Still, it's not like it was ever meant to summon large numbers of people. Tristan described it as being used to summon three people at most. The more people summoned, the less power each individual hero would possess. If Stella had called forth the numbers you suggest, then I can not imagen them being all that more powerful than the stronger of the human race."

  I nodded. "I was what they called a 'dud'. I had a fairly useless skill, and piss poor stats on top of it all. Most of the others were stronger, but not to the extent that they could become a god, I'd say. I wonder why Stella summoned so many of us."

  "I am afraid that I have no way of knowing. If you want to know about the ancient world or demon lore, then I am your hellhound. But as for any recent topics or history, I am afraid that I am woefully uninformed. I have spent the better part of a millennium down here after all."

  "Er, right." I sighed again, suddenly extremely tired. I suppose it wasn't too surprising, given the fact that I just spent days in an unending dungeon crawl then fell down a hole. I ate a man that was probable- mostly likely- cannibalism. Then went through a crazy process that was horribly painful and ended up turning me into a freaking demon god. I needed a damn nap! "I don't suppose you know the way out of this place? Unless there is a reason we need to be here?"

  "I know the way." Pride said, glancing at the corridor I had entered from. "A few ways, as a matter of fact. This is a very large dungeon, created by magic to connect to many places all over Zearsa. But, now that the god's power has transferred to you, the magic holding this place together will start to erode."

  "Wait, is the whole place going to cave in on us?" I asked, worriedly looking up again.

  Pride shook his head. "No. It will take years for the full degradation to take place. But, slowly, this place will cease to exist. It will be best to leave. If you want my suggestion, I would say we should look for the other progenitors. It is best to have as many allies as you can, especially if the Stella empire is up to the same antics as in the past."

  "Good idea. Then please, lead the way." I wanted out of this room, at the very least. I did not want to spend any more time in a room with a dead man I just... Ate. Ugh.