Namiko's eyes slam open.

She's fallen into the deeper chamber, face to face with a sludge-beast of violence and horror. Yes, before her looms the Demon Lord, an eight-horned slime-drenched bulbous beast, his body covered in pus-leaking eyes that goggle around like marbles in jelly shells. The globular beast waddles forward, belches and roars: "Namiko! I've been expecting your arrival" and reaches into a fold of slimy skin and wrenches out a blade. "Now, I'll carve myself some skin." 

But Namiko's been here before. She tightens her grip on the hilt of her own weapon, and there, behind the Demon Lord -- she sees them. Naked and bound by their wrists: Yuko and Maki. Their sweaty bodies writhe in agony. And as she squints, she notices that they are not bound by chain, but by alien tentacles that writhe around their skin, clenching tighter and tighter. 

"Yuko! Maki" Namiko yells. And Yuko cranes her head, sees her partner, opens her mouth to speak, but -- BLLLLURRRGG -- a juicy tentacle shoots down from the ceiling and slides into her oval-shaped mouth. Yuko's eyes bulge. She struggles to force it out, but the wet sausage pushes deeper. 

"Bastard, let them go." 

But the Demon Lord snorts, takes a menacing waddle forward. 

"Never, my dear," he says. "I am going to savor all three of you for tonight's ritual sacrifice. And then tear you open from heel to tongue." He explodes in a burst of gross laughter. But Namiko is already charging forward, already flipping through the air like a blur of vengeance. And she catches the Demon Lord off guard as she plunges her sword into his guts, exploding whatever gut-eyeballs are in her way. And slices up. 

He roars and staggers back. Neon green slime explodes from his insides. 

Maki yells from the inner chamber as another tentacle drops down from above and eases itself down her glistening back. She writhes, "Namiko, please hurry!" 

I'm trying, Namiko says to herself. If you two weren't exploring for the Demon Lord's gems, this mess never would've happened in the first place, but that's what happens when you honor a contract from a wealthy widowed heiress with too much time and a penchant for sadism. 

SMACK! The Demon Lord clubs Namiko across the head. Her sword slips from her grip. She falls to the side, her skirt rising. Her body slams into the chamber wall. Is the ceiling moving? Are tentacles forming across the ceiling? 

"My guts!" The Demon Lord bellows. "I'm going to suck you dry and puke up your carcass for the Ghouls of Ashtron." 

"The only one who's gonna be puking is --" CRACK! A fleshy slime arm shoots out of his side and hits her, slamming her back against the wall. Hard. But that wound in his gut is leaking, oozing out a thick syrupy mess. 

Yuko whimpers from the inner chamber, a soft sound that catches Namiko's ear. Namiko turns to the whimper and it's as if Yuko is speaking to her in a hushed whisper. Yuko says, "He's going to devour us... And there are more... They are coming, Namiko. Please... I'm shivering. And I don't want to die. Save us. Save us and full-body massages are yours for a week." 

Namiko smiles. "You never do lose your sense of humor, do you?" She ducks as that appendage slaps the wall. "Don't worry. This Demon Lord hasn't seen anything yet." 

And Namiko taps her wrist -- a translucent watch bleeds over to black. She taps it again. A rod like a sickle soars up and she grabs it. She twists the hilt. Another sickle-like blade eases out from the other end -- a duel-bladed staff. 

"Hey Demon Lord," she says. "Time for me to carve your ass into sushi-pie!" 

Namiko gulps, chokes back a shiver. 

It's time to fight.