The whole place was falling apart. Whole walls were crumbling down as massive tremors shook this place. Shards of glass scattered through the floor due to broken windows were everywhere, scathing those that did not have any footwear protecting them. And of course, to add the final touch the scenery, ponies and necromorphs were at each other's throats--carcasses and blood tainted the entire corridors with its volatility.

I nearly stumbled downwards as the shockwave from a nearby blast resounded just a few feet away from me. I supported myself by placing my arm on a window sill. I opened my eyes, only to find a jarring fact to slam into my face--this building is extremely tall. I can barely see the ground from where I stood! Should the foundations of this building give way due to the constant bombardments, I doubt that I'll be able to survive the fall.

What's worst was the fact that corridors upon corridors were flooded with advancing necromorphs that seems to be coming from an unknown, never ending source somewhere. Due to the explosive nature of the opposing side, I doubt that this building will hold for long.

"Call off the attack!" I yelled out as I sprinted as fast as I could to what appeared to be a large opening. I don't know if it actually leads to the exit, but I'd much rather not stay here. "No need to unnecessarily waste your undead lives! It's time to retreat!" I commanded, and to which they obliged. Necromorphs went on the defensive and crawled into whatever crevice they could find torn in the wall.

Of course, there was confusion within the ranks of the ponies. With quite the number of their friends slaughtered and mutilated by my undead followers, it was no surprise that they did not even hesitate to stop volleying the necros with their own weapons, though, with their inaccuracy and the proficiency the necromorphs have over being elusive, little to no necromorph has been struck by the ponies.

With the necromorphs retreating, this place will soon be filled with a rather apoplectic crowd of murderous ponies. Normally, that wouldn't sound too terrifying for me, though, now that I've seen the capabilities of these things, I'm not even going to think twice before running out of here.

I ran as fast as my legs would allow me, a considerable number of necromorphs following closely behind me; I'll take it that they're my personal bodyguards. My personal team of necromorphs consisted of five pukers, a regenerator, and a couple of slashers. Quite versatile bunch. Only a few could possibly withstand their might.

I took cover behind a pile of rubble, unfortunately, my guardians are way behind me. I nearly got detected by another pony donning armor keeping check on a locked door. I cursed sharply before I withdrew the bow I took earlier. Calming myself down, I took aim. I let go off the arrow.

Unfortunately, the arrow rebounded from his golden armor, much to my dismay. The arrow made a clanking noise before it thudded the ground. Seeing this, I dove back to cover to avoid being spotted.

"I thought gold was supposed to be soft?!" I muttered out inaudibly in a panicked state before I drew back another arrow I held in my hand. The pony, albeit being suddenly ambushed, did not hesitate in drawing his sword with an almost a perfect flourish.

Once more, I drew back my last arrow with my bow, and I rose from my cover. Just as I released the arrow, the pony sidestepped... accidentally into the direction of the arrow. The arrow struck the front leg of the unlucky thing.

The pony fell to the ground wincing in agony. "Huh. I guess I'm just lucky." Warily, I approached the sword that was now on the ground and picked it up, lobbing it outside the window. Hopefully, that won't impale anyone by accident.

I feel as if I've run for hours, at normal circumstances, I'd be down on the ground unconscious. I have no idea where I gain this surge of vitality from--I guess it's from the adrenaline.

I managed to stop just in time to avoid getting crushed by large debris falling just in front of me. Of course, with this thing obstructing the escape route, I have no choice but to fend off the marauding group of ponies approaching us from behind us. Reluctant, I gave an order to my necromorphs. "Dammit! There's no alternative route from here, and I doubt that they-" I pointed at the opposing forces rallying to my position, "-will just simply let us walk out of here."

"Pukers! I want all of you to reduce the stones blocking our path." With an acknowledging roar, the pukers scurried to the large fragments of stone and began unloading their acidic payload onto it. It will take some time, but it shouldn't be too long.

"The rest of you! Defend me and the pukers!" I ordered them. As much as I wanted to stop the bloodshed of adorable-looking, yet murderous, ponies, I refuse to allow them to just simply skewer me with a lance, or something of the sorts. With a war-cry that reverberated through the corridors, my necromorphs charged recklessly.

The sortie launched by the ponies was met with resistance from my own combatants. The regenerator was the one first to meet the enemy. Swinging its incredibly sized blade-arm, it managed to halve the body of an unfortunately positioned pony. The regenerator swiftly followed up the attack by plunging itself towards the middle of the ponies' formation, coercing them to break their alignment to avoid suffering the same fate of their ally.

The slashers immediately followed, ignoring the lesser non-unicorns in favor to directly attack the unicorns that were still fumbling and disorientated from the regenerator's dive. The slasher taking on the right flank dove to dodge an incoming bolt of energy discharged from a unicorn. The slasher retaliated by expertly bisecting the pony's right leg.

Suddenly, before the slasher could finish off his victim, a beam of light passed right through the slasher's face, embedding a hole into it. The slasher staggered back, stunned from the surprise attack. Another similar ray of light impacted the slasher's torso, the sheer force of the beam managed to sever the slasher from it lower body.

"Crap. They've got reinforcements." I bitterly cursed as I spectated a much larger wave of ponies closed in from the distance. At this rate, I'll be surrounded.

One of the slashers just recently got burned to a crisp, its charred corpse lying on the ground permeating an awful stench of burnt flesh. This is not good. Of course, the fallen slasher was quickly avenged by its two remaining brethren.

"Pukers! Mind going a little bit faster. They're-" before I could finish my sentence, I felt the floor beneath me starting to give way, cracks and fractures appearing on the surface of it. "What the-" Before I could even realize what just happened, the entire flooring beneath me crumbled entirely.

I find myself falling. Everything was incredibly slow thanks to my body profusely producing adrenaline. I looked around me, bits of stone, ranging from the tiniest pebble to a boulder were falling to the floor. I could still see the flames raging on the upper floor that I was on just mere seconds ago.

Finally, I struck the ground.

Thankfully, through some sort of miracle, I was not harmed by the several debris of stone falling with me. The duration of the fall wasn't that long as well, so I doubt that I'm severely injured. A few lacerations and bruises, but that's about it.

I have not a single clue on why the floor just started faltering like that- perhaps because the supports started to wear away due to the ongoing conflict? I could care less at the moment, however. I'm just extremely relieved that I'm not hurt.

"I can't believe it-" my words were rendered short, however, when I saw that a broken-off support beam of some sort has impaled my body. As expected from such an extent of injury, it was bleeding incredibly quick. The initial blow to my body appears to have failed to kill me, I guess it missed a vital organ, but at this rate, I'll be dead within seconds due to the hemorrhage.

I coughed out blood. "How... how did I noticed this just now?" I asked myself. Although, the answer to that question might be due to the mix of shock and adrenaline surging through me. "Argh... To hell with this," was all that I could mutter before I blacked out once more.

Perpetual darkness was all that I could see, and this is most likely what I'll see for a long time. It's cold, dull, and tormentingly depressing. If this is what it feels like when I'm dead, then this is just awful.

I've spent how long now? Hours? Days-

"Days? Don't be ridiculous. You've been 'dead' for about twenty minutes or so," I voice spoke out. Chillingly enough, the voice was precisely similar to mine. "You're not even dead. Well, not yet, anyways."

"What?" I uttered in the blackness of my mind.

"You see... that book you have in your possession, it has quite the scary properties."

I replied to whoever was speaking to me, "Yeah, I know. It can-"

"Yes. It can summon beings from across universes. I am well aware of that... especially since that I'm a being created by the book." I paused, pondering on what it just said. "Anyways, you'd want to keep going, am I correct?"

"What do you mean?" I hesitated to respond.

"You want to keep living, yes? Don't bother saying otherwise. That would be a complete lie, wouldn't it?" the ominous voice asked, to which I responded with a slow, weakened nod. "Well then, I suggest that you avoid using the book too often..." I felt a warm sensation building up within me as I started to slowly regain control of my body.

"...now that you've unlocked its full potential," as the voice said that, I saw a glimpse of what appeared to be a mirrored image of me. However, this duplicate of mine, unlike my red glow radiating from my eye, had a purple one. He also seemed to be smiling at me with sadistic-looking eyes.

"Oh, and take note: you are now in-debt to the book. Now that it saved your life." The duplicate began to fade away, but not before managing to speak, "Don't be surprised that the next time you die, you find yourself being possessed by it."

My eyes widened, uncertain of what to think of.

Before I could question the mysterious clone, I was suddenly brought back to reality, as if life itself approached me and slapped me in the face; it was that sudden. I gasped for breath as I shot my eyes open. The sounds that were once muffled, the scents that were once blocked from my senses were all returning. I bolted back up out of reflex. Absent-minded, I dislodged myself from the spiked beam that impaled me.

Eyes widening, I looked at the gaping hole in my body letting out blood. Before I could faint from just merely looking at the disturbing sight, a glow of purple enveloped it, and I felt my flesh rejuvenating, mending the agape wound.

"What just happened?" I asked myself, dumbfounded in a cocktail of astonishment and confusion. Suddenly, painfully intense migraine emerged into my head. Clenching my head as I shut my eyes closed, but instead of seeing nothing but black, I could only see static. As I cringed as the pain did not diminish in pain, I could see a person's image appearing in the haze of static.

Then I realized something. It was the duplicate of me from earlier!

The mirrored image of my appearance spoke out something, but the words were obscured and drowned out by the sting of indescribable pain and along with the ominous static deafening me. However, I could form bits of words here and there; he was talking about something about the Summoning Grimoire, saying that this was one of the effects, I think?

The figure stood with a demented smile before progressively fading away in the static. Seconds seemed to be hours as the static finally disappeared. Along with the disappearance of the crackling noises of the static was the agony ringing in my head. Regaining my clarity and equilibrium, I opened my eyes.

Surprisingly enough, it seems that not much have changed since my duration being incapacitated, seeing that not much have changed. Dead bodies were strewn about like trash on the floor. Blood painted the walls with its scarlet-red pigment. Entire walls were torn apart, the remnants of said walls were reduced to rubble piled up, blocking several pathways.

A feeling of nausea washed over me as carefully began inspecting my surroundings a bit more thoroughly. The pathway behind me most likely leads to the inner interior of this colossal castle, so I guess it would be sensible for me to carry on through the hallway ahead of me. Before I did just that, however, I noticed that the hallway appears to lead to some sort of bridge.

The bridge was quite lengthy and quite wide. On that bridge, however, were two ponies. These ponies however, were much possessed similar discerning features. Both of them had wings and horns. Through my experience with combating these things, I presume that they have the capabilities of flight and... manipulating physics to shoot fireballs at me.

"Wow. Just great. Bloody brilliant! How the hell am I supposed to get out of here now?" I spoke to myself as I turned around. Before I could take even a single step forwards to the opposite direction of the bridge, however, I felt a sudden vibration in the ground. "What the-" Suddenly, debris upon debris poured from the upper level of the castle and directly on to the hallway that I opted to traverse through.

I find myself with my jaw agape in a confounded state as I simply glared at the pile of debris now blocking my path. "Oh," I kicked one of the pebbles that landed adjacently near my foot, "come on!"

Looks like I'll have to pass by the bridge... with no reinforcements whatsoever.

I groaned in despair. "Hopefully, they won't decide to kill me on sight."