Kingdom of Loathing

Chapter 32: Tower of Terror

The Naughty Sorceress, dressed in a fully pitch black corset, a long skirt, and an evil looking crown, twirled her staff around while smirking maliciously at Cassidy.

"Congratulations, my dear adventurer!" she spread her arms out wide. "You have finally reached the top at the cost of your loved ones!"

"What the fuck did you do to my friends?" Cassidy demanded, marching up to the Sorceress and pointing the end of her staff right at her enemy's chest. "Release them or I'll kill you."

"Boss, don't!" Frank tried to stop Cassidy. "The Sorceress is crazy strong! You don't stand a chance like this!"

The Naughty Sorceress threw her head back and let out a long cackle. She casted a spell out of her staff, which blasted Frank away and back down the stairs.

"You can go ahead and try!" She crossed one leg over the other. "But if you do kill me, you would never find out where your sister is hidden!"

As she watched Cassidy's eyes widen, she continued, "Defeat me in a fair battle, then I'll let your friends go and tell you where your sister is."

Calm down. She's right- the only way I can get them back is to win in battle.

"Fine." Cassidy retracted her staff. "But you have to swear on it."

"I swear," the Sorceress said as she held up two fingers.

"The ones behind your back, too."

"Ah, you got me!" the Sorceress giggled as she revealed her crossed fingers. "This time's for real. I promise to let your friends go if you win."

"You forgot my sister, too."

"And I'll tell you where your sister is."

"Then it's a deal."

Standing up from her throne, the Naughty Sorceress threw her hair back and gripped her staff.

"Since I'm so generous, I'll let you make the first move!" she offered.

Cassidy had all the time in the world to think of her move. It would be easier to restrict the Sorceress at the beginning of battle to conjure up a stronger move later on. With a flick of her staff, entangling noodles shot up from the ground and charged at the Sorceress.

Before Cassidy could even blink, her enemy disappeared and reappeared behind her. She then swung her staff, forming a hundred red shards in the air and sending them flying towards Cassidy. Shocked, Cassidy barely had enough enough time to counter the Sorceress's spell and form a weak shield around her. The shards punctured and broke the shield, but luckily, that gave Cassidy enough time to leap out of the way. A shard cut her cheek, but the damage was minimal.

"Was that all you could do?" the Sorceress smirked as she landed on the floor gracefully. "I know you've got more than that."

"You sneaky bitch," Cassidy replied as she wiped the streak of blood off her face. "You won't get me like that the second time. I'll show you what I'm made of."

Immediately after finishing her sentence, Cassidy launched a spear of spaghetti at the Sorceress, who simply dodged it.

"Seriously?" the Sorceress cackled. "Did you really think that would-"

Before she could finish her sentence, however, a ravioli shuriken sliced through the air and lodged itself into her stomach. The Sorceress winced as blood dripped from her stomach onto the floor.

"Pulling the same trick twice in a row, huh?" Cassidy scoffed as she twirled another shuriken on her finger. "I thought you had more than that."

Yanking the shuriken out of her stomach, the Naughty Sorceress held out her palm towards Cassidy. Orbs of purple flame blasted out from her hand and at Cassidy, who leapt out of the way and onto the floor. After the dust cleared, a gaping hole was left in the wall of the tower, exposing the endless drop to the bottom.