AC 2021 - Round Two: Team Three

[Preston]

Round 2 will begin January 5th, 2022 at 12:01am EST.

Round 2 will end January 21st, 2022 at 11:59pm EST

Team 3
- Leoric
- Shinsou Vaan Osiris

[--Prompt--]

The country of Alerar has been turned upside down by the emergence of the Demon Gate. While it was first thought as a mere inconvenience to be studied, a thing of cultural significance to the demons of the Tular Plains, now it has become a nightmare. Demons of Haiadia are spilling forth into Alerar, swarming the open countryside and the Khufein plains as they advance towards the isolated cities of the region. Mere shock-troops and scouting parties have advanced so far from the ruins, but surely more is to come as the portal remains.

In response, the Southern Border of Alerar has been encroached upon, and being overrun, by the Tular Plains demon population. These far more humanoid demons, having lived on the surface of Althanas for decades, can feel the calling of their Infernal brethren. They take up whatever arms they can find and march towards the plains, unorganized and fanatic commoners, but en mass number upwards of tens of thousands.

From the North, the dwarven armies emerged as well. They are not only acting in defense of their mountain fortresses, but actively marching into the open flatlands of Alerar. Slowly they advance towards the gate in an organized force.

[--Challenge--]

Your challenge for Round 2 is to find a way to continue your story from the end of round 1 seamlessly into round 2. What has transpired since you ended your last round? How have you, and your new partner, come to end up working together?

Additionally, you should incorporate the factions that you had worked with initially, and how they progress towards the ending - with elaboration on the end goal.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

It had been a long journey from Sanctuary, but they had finally arrived.

The cross shaped portal manifested just above the floor, tearing open with such force that a powerful backwash whipped a layer of dust into the air in an instant. Four figures stepped through the cacophony. They each judged, in turn, the two foot gap between the lip of the portal and the stone path below, stepping down perfectly. The first one down, the dark elf Cazri, held the golden sword of King Elrohir Fararil by her side. It still pulsed with a luminescent blue hue, and as before in Sanctuary, the white runes on the blade shimmered with arcane power.

As the others joined her by her side, the dark-skinned elf turned and raised the sword aloft. Like a conductor of a paranormal orchestra, the shape and consistency of the blinding void now bent to the dark elf Cazri’s every stroke as strange, tendril like anomalies morphed and swirled in front of Shinsou’s face.

“Where are we?” The Telgradian asked as the portal finally snapped shut in front of him.

Jivvin’s biomechanical contraption whirred as a raspy voice echoed through the grate in his metal mask. “We call this place ‘Kragala’ – our residence. It is quite safe from the demons in Alerar.”

It’s not the demons you need to be worried about. Shinsou thought as he turned to take in his new surroundings. But you’ll find that out soon enough.

“Quiet now, and come,” The words passed Cazri’s thin, grey lips as her silver eyes slithered over her comrades, “There is work to be done.”

The dark elf led, whilst Sabal, Jivvin and Shinsou lagged slightly behind in silence. A minute’s walk took them over a glistening white marble path that carved an icy garden in two. The walkway was covered with the kind of crispy, frost covered leaves that reminded the Telgradian of a winter’s morning. As his entourage’s footsteps crunched in time, Shinsou cast his gaze to the enormous building ahead.

“Are you comfortable with the choices you made?” Cazri asked Shinsou without turning or stopping, “Your actions in Sanctuary are irreversible, you know.”

“I made peace with what I was going to do a year ago, when we came to our agreement.” Came the taut response as Shinsou wiped the corner of his mouth on his sleeve. Just ahead, a silver gate stood at least three times the height of the ten-foot wall on either side of it. The perimeter wall encircled the whole dome shaped building, which was topped with crystalline spires that glinted like diamonds in the low morning sun. It seemed that the structure was made of some sort of white granite, and finely carved statues adorned the edges of the gate around its massive iron doors. Jivvin noticed the Telgradian’s expression and motioned with a feeble wave.

“Impressive, is it not?” The sandpaper voice carried over like the shearing of metal on slate. “It’s actually Raiaeran architecture.”

I don’t give a fuck, mostly because I’ll be burning it down soon.

“Beautiful, yes.” Shinsou said as he tried not to appear disinterested.

As they approached, the group exchanged no further small talk. Cazri pressed her hand against the iron door on the right, and after a bit of a struggle it slowly opened on its massive chrome hinges.

The secretive halls within were as silent as a crypt, and but light and airy. The whole place seemed so scarcely attended, with barely anyone other than a few personal attendants walking its cold corridors or empty walkways. Far over their heads, vaults and arches sailed up and converged in a classical array of marble carved embellishments. A row of marble columns rose to the ceiling and created an avenue that extended past the end of the dome chamber in which they stood. At the end of this avenue a white statue of a goddess, shrouded in celestial robes, loomed over the walkway with a single hand held towards the heavens. The floor consisted of a myriad of marble slabs that led to a centre circle underneath the peak of the dome, from which all other passageways through the building were connected. Here, the flooring was laid in such a way that the emblem of the guilds was sketched out over the circumference of the room.

“This way,” Cazri spoke this time, gesturing to the east. “We have something we’d like to discuss.”

The dark elf once again led the way, walking a straight path between the columns with a silent Jivvin, Sabal and Shinsou in tow. The lay-out of this section of the building had high, narrow windows of colourful stained glass, patterned to portray important events in Alerarian lore. They alternated with the pillars, dark with the lack of any background light. Under these, tucked into coves far into either side of the corridor, were strange pedestals that contained small statues of previous guild members. Rows of lighted, scented candles flickered on top of tables positioned either side of these figurines.

“We have the Sword of Elrohir Fararil, as promised.” Cazri said to the Telgradian behind her, “But I’m afraid that is not enough. Retrieving the sword caused us many unexpected problems, and the unleashing of the demons into Alerar is the largest of them. We cannot conquer a dead country, nor can we relinquish the sword.”

There was no sound of acknowledgement for a moment; just a snort.

“I'm sorry, you're going to have to repeat that,” Shinsou retorted, “Our agreement was clear. I kill your political opponents and give you the Temple of Elrohir Fararil, and I get the sword. Are you telling me you are going back on your word, Cazri?”

“Ah, but what good is your own word, Shinsou Vaan Osiris?” Cazri asked calmly, but assertively. “Did you think I did not notice your reluctance to kill the knight and the young diplomat? You did not follow through on my request to eliminate them. You broke your contract first. But, I will give you an opportunity to correct this egregious oversight.”

Shinsou stopped, brushing a thread of chestnut brown hair from his face, his golden eyes steeled onto the form of Cazri ahead of him whilst Sabal and Jivvin stood motionless behind him.

“What do you want?”

“Unlike you, we do not take chances.” The dark elf’s whisper rode a puff of frozen vapor. “You are familiar with the game of chess? If so, you’ll understand what I mean when I say that we have a number of pieces in play. You are but one of them, Shinsou Vaan Osiris. Our knight, in this case.”

Sabal grinned, wide and full of teeth like a shark. “We have another piece who has strayed from the board, a pawn. This one does not know it yet, but they might be the key to sealing the demon gate once and for all. See that you put him back into play, take him to the demon portal in the Temple of Elrohir Fararil and then we’ll talk about the Sword of the First King.”

"Oh, will we indeed? Who exactly do you think you are talking to?" Shinsou spared his unknowing foes a hard glare, a mote of uncharacteristic anger in his voice. "I'm Shinsou Vaan Osiris. You're on thin fucking ice with this deal, my chums, and I promise you that I shall be under it if it breaks. So, Sabal, why don't you see that you mind your fucking manners, and show me the respect I deserve?"

The trio fell quiet. The Telgradian had few equals in terms of relative power, and were it not for the fact that he currently needed Cazri, Jivvin and Sabal alive until Storm Veritas got here, he would have already sent them on to the next life and taken the blade for himself. The only problem was that they knew it as much as he did, and so Shinsou had to make sure that his emotions didn't go further unchecked.

“Now. I'll do what you ask, this time, because it is in our mutual interest. But only this last time, and I do mean it. So, where can I find him, and what’s his name?”

[Leoric]

It had been a few hours since Leoric had gone ahead of his group to scout out the area. It was a breezy night of cold winds from the north. He almost regretted his decision of scouting ahead but he knew if he had stayed in town and continued drinking he wouldn't have been able to control himself and ended up betraying Felicity’s trust. So this was a kind of punishment, if he could control himself he could have stayed in a warm tavern, drinking his heart out next to a warm campfire.

“Keep up! Those that fall behind stay behind! We are almost to the city.” a deep booming voice cried out, shaking Leoric away from his thoughts and causing him to stop his swinging and land on a thick branch above the dirt road. Not far from where he was there was a large group of people in wagons and on horseback coming through, led by a few guards who looked like they had just been through hell. Leoric leapt down from his Perch and slowly approached the wounded caravan.

“You guys look like shit, did you decide to pick a fight with a Hurricane or something?” He asked as one of the guards gently ushered him to the side of the road so the wagons could pass. The guard stayed near Leoric, Leoric could only imagine it was to make sure he did not harm the caravan.

“The Demon portal has been opened, several hundred demons moved against our town and it took everything we had to hold them back long enough for several caravans to get out. This is the last one we could offer protection to.” the guard said as he was barely keeping himself standing up right with his spear as a walking stick.

“Last one? I have been on this path for hours and haven’t seen a single one. Did they come this way?” Leoric started to get worried if he had missed something on his way here. If he had, he would have to escort this caravan back to town to make sure they made it.

“No, we sent each caravan off in different directions to neighbouring towns to make sure some people would make it, if we sent everyone the same direction it could cause the demons to focus on heading that direction out of town. And jeopardize our neighbours.” The guard wobbled on his feet a second as Leoric leapt to his side and helped prop him up. “There were still people trying to evacuate but the guards you see here were all we had left after only an hour, we couldn’t stay any longer.”

Leoric could hear the anger, the sadness, and the rage in his voice. He could feel the trembling through the armor as he helped him stand up right. “Look, i can’t promise anything as i am one man, but here take these. And give them to the other guards. They taste like shit but will at least give you a boost of energy to help you guys make it town. I am a scout for a party heading towards the temple to stop this, I will head into town and see who I can help, and who I can send on their way.”

The guard looked at Leoric’s hand which held 4 cubes of compressed leaves and plant matter. It was an organic compressed cube, it was high in proteins and where it wouldn't give them an immediate boost to their stamina, it would help slowly replenish what they had used by the time they reached town. The guard grabbed them and looked up at Leoric, the pure desire in his eyes to get back to town was clear, Leoric recognized the look, the man needed to make sure more people got out safely but his duty had dragged him away and if given the word would rush back to the town.

“I know what it means to want to protect people, especially a town. I have a place back home that I would die to protect. Every caravan or group of people I send, I will give them a strip of this purple cloth” Leoric held up a dozen strips of ripped cloth he had gotten from clothes hanging on a clothesline just as he left on his scouting run. “These were going to be to mark dangerous zones on the path for my party, but it will help the guards differentiate which refugee’s came from where and help you with some peace of mind. Now, get to town, get at least a few hours rest, and then come back with an army to take back your home.”

The guard relaxed some, lifted his hand to his mouth and ate a cube, making a face as the first bite let the bitter flavour flow through his mouth, after a few moments of chewing and a single swallow he shook Leoric's hand and gave him some information about the town and a warehouse of leftover guard equipment that could be handy before leaving with the caravan and running to catch up to the other guards and hand them a protein cube.

Leoric took off at a brisk pace for him, running down the path at an absurd speed while rolling his shoulders, it was time to save people, it was time to fight, it was time for maximum effort. At that thought Leoric entered full speed, using everything he had learned to move as quick as he could, even jumping and pulling himself forward with a few well placed shots with his M.A.D. device pulling him towards tree’s the dart had connected to.

—---------------

The sounds of screaming, of roaring, of metal clashing against metal could be heard as he got close to town. The smell of war was thick in the air, burning wood and flesh, the recognizable tang of blood floated on the breeze. It fueled Leoric’s urge to go faster; there were people who needed him. As the treeline broke Leoric started sprinting towards town as he saw a group of civilians trying to fight a single demon. It wasn’t going well, they would get a few good hits in, but the Demon would let out a large sweeping attack with its tail and knocked several of them back before it began to stretch out its neck, it took a few moments but Leoric would of called it a snake Demon, the shape of the head and the articulating neck was very reminiscent of a snake.

The snake demon arched its head, flared whatever was on its neck giving his head an almost rounded diamond shape to it, and bared its fangs. The poor young man standing before it was shaking in his boots, unable to move or run out of sheer terror and fear. The demon let out a snarl as it was about to snack on the poor man's head, the young fellow just stood there and closed his eyes.

THWUMP!

Leoric managed to arrive just in time. With his momentum and full sprint he had taken out his sword and plunged it deep into the demon's chest. The momentum carried both of them a fair distance down the dirt road from the militia. The Tail and head of the demon were swinging erratically from the surprise and pain as Leoric, while panting uncontrollably, withdrew his sword from the snake demon’s guts and quickly decapitated before he could get bitten. As the head slawed off the body an arterial spray began filling the air before the body fell back twitching on the ground.

The blood rained from the sky and every drop that touched Leoric’s skin burned, at first, but as it stayed a few seconds later it would disappear, either evaporating or being sucked into his skin. As it disappeared though it invigorated Leoric, it felt good, it felt like slipping into a beautiful hot spring after a tiring day of field work and training.

“Uh.. thank you sir.” a young stammering voice said, shaking Leoric back to his senses. “Where did you come from? And how did you do that so easily?”

“It's. all. In. the. Speed” Leoric said as he was finally catching his breath. “I ran here after I met the last caravan, speaking of which, take this and get any survivors you can and get out of here. That will let your town guards know I sent you back. And at a first glance know what town you came from. “

“But, we want to defend our town too, we can’t just let demon’s walk in and take it from us.” the group nodded in unison as the young fellow protested. Leoric sighed and with a quick flourish of his sword, cleaning the blood off of it, before putting it back in its scabbard on his waist.

“Your town, your home, you may think it is a place, but its the community. How do you think all your loved ones, all your neighbours are going to think if you all die and they never get to see you again? Sure they may be like ‘he died protecting our homes’ but at that point they would have a new home. It would have been a waste of your life. The best thing you can do right now is to get a few supplies, get as many people as you can in a short amount of time and head out.” Leoric bent down next to the still barely twitching demon on the ground and did a quick examination of the armor.

“But sir.”

“No butts! Although they are great, there is going to be a detachment of the military arriving soon. They will get back your town for you. And if you want to fight for it, once you meet up with them, march with them. But right now saving innocent lives is what matters most. I will create a distraction, fight a few demons, and buy you guys enough time to get out of town. We will get your town back or my name isn’t Leoric Blackwell”

The militia talked amongst themselves for a second before nodding in agreement and split into a few search parties as Leoric formulated his plan. How was he going to actually fulfill his promise? With his strength and speed he was sure he could handle quite a few demons by himself, not to mention his wind magic. But how was he supposed to create a distraction?

Within a few moments, the militia had ushered quite a few people out of their homes and was starting to send them on their way. Leoric had come up with a plan and found a house that had recently been set on fire but had plenty of fuel left to burn. He closed his eyes and asked for forgiveness from whoevers house this used to be. He was going to use his wind magic to create a giant fire tornado, as high and wide as he could sustain to get every demon’s attention within viewable range of the town. Once the caravan was through the break in the forest and well on their way he would use the ash, dirt, and dust to create an obfuscating cloud and hide somewhere for a little bit. He had been running for far too long and was starting to feel exhaustion creep in on him. He knew he had to take a breather or he wouldn't last a prolonged fight.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Leoric Blackwell.

The name cycled through his mind as Shinsou Vaan Osiris was spat out of the portal a kilometre from the town of Casa Antiga, and immediately broke into a sprint towards where his senses guided him. The Telgradian had absolutely no idea what his one-time accomplice Leoric Blackwell was doing in Alerar, nor why his “esteemed employers” thought that the distinguished adventurer might have been the key to closing the portal in the Temple, but he was at least grateful that the pair had met before. Because of this, his spirit sense would allow him to locate the man with relative ease.

His livery of faded cream and black slunk through sheets of falling rain, whilst leather boots splashed into puddles shaped in potholes. As Shinsou navigated the road, his mind wandered back to Umbra and Celandine. Thoughts of his comrades coursed through his mind. The demon presence had intensified greatly, and the Telgradian only hoped that Umbra’s strength and Celandine’s courage would see them safely home. That aside, the knowledge that he alone would soon redeem them gifted his feet tireless haste.

Every breath fed him strength, and every exhalation escaped as a plume of vapour into the chilly ceiling of clouds. His body swayed from side to side, the partially destroyed track to Casa Antiga destroying the rhythm of his pounding legs. It was clear that the demons had attacked here, rending the roads, buildings and agriculture around him into fields of debris and embers. It made him uneasy, and every now and again Shinsou cast a glance over his shoulders, as if expecting pursuit at any moment.

Cresting a low rise, Shinsou slowed to a walk as the full scale of the devastation of the town unfurled before him. The demons had taken huge chunks out of the defences of solid stone, and pockmarked flame scar remained where proud houses and noble manors had once stood. Refugees streamed out of the only road out in exile, in constant fear of having to endure another assault. The militia had apparently ousted whatever demonic presence they could find but protecting the citizens leaving via the back road was stretching their lines thin. It was clear to Shinsou that they would falter in the face of another overwhelming assault. Everyone was trying to pull together for what little remained.

This is what you would leave as your legacy for Alerar, Cazri? You’re a damned fool.

The dark elven sentries at the first picket, huddled against a collapsed stone house and shivering in the rain, saw the Telgradian first. Their eyes tracked him, and when he stopped for breath neither offered him a hand.

“My name is Shinsou Vaan Osiris, part of a Radasanthian relief delegation,” The Telgradian half-lied, “I’ve come to meet with a man named Leoric Blackwell, one of our number, and provide whatever assistance I can.”

Relief drowned the picquet soldiers as they pointed beyond the stone house, down the road.

“Any help you can give us would be valued. The demons tore apart our supply carts, and we’re short on men and supplies. Leoric was last down the main road, to the right.”

“Thanks,” Shinsou responded with a nod, “If there is anything I can do to help, I will.”

His feet broke out again in a run.

Down the main thoroughfare he went, the rattling of Enpera’s sheath beneath his white greatcoat echoing around the wrecked stone foundations of the townhouses lining the streets. Broken walls of wood and plaster flanked him, partially spilling into the streets, and as Shinsou ran he could hear muted whispers from the unseen occupants within. Everything reeked of sewage and death. And the whole town tasted of hopeless lassitude, of too many people crammed together in fear and uncertainty for far too long.

Cutting a corner beneath the eaves of a balcony, Shinsou could sense Leoric’s life aura within one of the damaged houses on the right. With little time to waste, the Telgradian slowed from his sprint into a fast walk, and burst through its heavyset doors.

“Shinsou?!” The handsome adventurer said as he nearly shit himself from the startling manner of the Telgradian’s entrance. It looked as if he were about to prepare some sort of magic, but Shinsou didn’t have the time to ask.

“Leoric bloody Blackwell. Our paths cross again, it seems. and in such a gods-forsaken place as this.” Shinsou spared a wild glance in the direction of his new comrade.

“What are you doing in Alerar?” Came Leoric’s obvious question.

He wondered what Leoric would say when he learnt what Cazri had asked of him. Would he trust the Telgradian at his word? Would Shinsou tell Leoric about his grander plot against Alerar’s coup de etat? What would he, and the others, think of Shinsou?

For a moment he stood there, lost. Then the Telgradian crouched down beside him, his waxed ivory coat bristling against the floor.

“I was sent here to make sure you got to the Temple of Elrohir Fararil, because there are certain people who believe you might be able to do something about the portal. I don't know why, right now,” Shinsou spoke into the sudden silence as curious pairs of eyes from militiamen outside peered at the house, the sudden commotion attracting their attention. “but while they may be right, let me tell you now that there are wolves in these hills. They lie beyond the grasp of the demons, using the invasion as a cover for something far worse. The same wolves sent me here because they think I’m their friend, but they're sorely mistaken. Find me somewhere we can talk, and I’ll explain everything – and I’ll tell you what we’re going to do about it.”

[Leoric]

The sudden burst of someone running into the house he was in, followed by it being a friend threw Leoric off guard. Based on the quick run down he was given it sounded like a coup was being planned, using this Invasion as cover.

Leoric now knew that someone was behind all the needless deaths of innocents happening.

Whether Shinsou was going to ask for his help or not, those who started it would be brought to justice.

“Before we can find a quiet place, I have to finish up a distraction. I am about to create a massive fire tornado here in the middle of town to draw whatever demonic forces are left directly to us. I had planned on fighting for a while to give the townsfolk and the militia time to get away. With both of us here, I am sure we can give them enough time before we need to leave ourselves. Before we get overrun - or, well - before I get overrun anyway. I have yet to sleep and I have pushed myself beyond my limits already just to get here as quickly as I could.”

The strain of all this was showing, he doubted he would have the energy to stand, let alone run if things went sideways but Leoric being who he is pushed that thought deep down and focused with all his strength on his preparations.

He stood up as his back injury flared up for a second, reminding him of a past discussion with Kylie's adoptive mother and his now girlfriend Felicity.


—---------------

“You killed those people” Leoric said, flinching in pain as he was being dragged off the harpoon he had landed on. Thankfully it was laying down so only the barb had managed to get stuck in his back, somehow avoiding all his vital organs. It still hurt like a bitch and made it hard for him to stand, but he was alive.

“What was I supposed to do?" a familiar fiery red head said brusquely, getting a better grip of the harpoon before continuing "They were attacking us and you told me to take care of the cannons!” Leoric braced himself against the mast of the ship as the cold frigid air kissed the newly exposed wound.

“You say you saved us, but you left them in the middle of the freezing cold ocean with no land in sight!" Controlling his growing irritation, he added "Those men were just doing a job. I told you to disable the guns - not destroy them! and I certainly didn't say sink them!”

“Oh and I am sooo sure you had a better plan then Mister perfect?” Felicity scoffed sarcastically as she started turning to walk away.

“Nobody is perfect, we just try our best. And yes, I did have a plan... Disable their rudder and set them in a spin! It would give us several days of a head start for us to get away. Meanwhile, they are alive and able to repair their ship or signal for help." This time he was unable to hide it, the irritation came through in his words. "How would you feel if someone sunk our ship and killed all of us, just because we were a trade vessel?" He let that sink in before refining his composure. "Everyone has their reasons for doing what they do, it is not our place to judge them for it.” The wounded brawler known as Leoric slid down the mast and sat on the ground as his legs grew weak, no longer able to support him.

Without missing a beat, Felicity turned on her heels with a fire in her eyes that could have matched her hair “And what if they attack another ship and kill everyone aboard? Or what if they are slave traders? Or what if-”

“What if they are doing this line of work so they can feed their families at home?" Leoric interrupted before she could carry on her rant "What if their child is sick and is going to die if they don't do the only job they can to pay for the medicine or food that they need? Are you going to pick up the slack and take care of their family for them after you MURDER them?” Again, he let the possible consequences sink in "We can not presume to know their past or future. Stop trying to play Hero and actually think like a decent person for once!”

Felicity huffed, crossing her arms as she stormed off back below deck while one of the crew members of their ship ran over with some basic first aid equipment.

“Leoric, are you saying you will never kill anyone?” the crew member asked with something between admiration and curiosity.

“I never said that. There are some extreme cases where murder is the only solution, BUT" he continued holding his index finger up as if trying to emphasize his point "until we know the full circumstances - what they have done in the past and what they are planning to do in the present - We can’t make that call.” Leoric sighed as he laid down, rolling onto his stomach, allowing them to work on his back.

“You know, you don’t give off the feeling or look of a good guy, but you sure do think like one.”

Leoric chuckled at the crew member's words. It wasn't the first time someone had said that and it would likely not be the last.

“Heh, I just refuse to take any more needless life after I destroyed a family by doing what I thought was correct at the time. I didn’t know the circumstances around their situation and killed the father of a 3 year old boy and the husband of a woman who ended up becoming one of my best friends. Having to explain to them both that her husband and his father was never going to come home..." Leoric paused, searching for the words to describe how that felt, it was not easy "That was heartbreaking and I could never do that again.“
---------------------------------


Leoric snapped back to reality and went outside through the door that was now barely hanging on by its hinges after Shinsou barged through. The Militiamen had done a good job piling a bunch of broken carts and pieces of flammable material in the center of what he could only presume used to be a bustling market square at some point. He nodded to them and they tossed a few torches into the pile to start the process of slowly setting it all on fire.

“Shinsou Vaan Fucking Osiris, this is going to get a little hot. I would recommend standing back and making sure these men get to the escape route. I will stay here and kill any demons that arrive.” Leoric knew he had a plan, and that his plan would work. There wasn’t any room for failure, so either it worked, or... Well, he would make it work, there was no alternative. The only foreseeable problem was as the militia fell back from the market, they could be cut off by incoming demons. If Shinsou kept an eye on them, they would be fine.

He knew all of this, but there was something nagging at him. Something pulled him to the Temple. For some reason, he wanted to stay and kill every last one that showed up. He knew he was exhausted and the proper plan would be to kill a few, run, hide and repeat. After killing that first demon in town, all he wanted to do was go on a warpath - make the demons fear him more than death itself!

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and started to move his arms in a wide-arcing circular motion. The wind began to pick up, circling the market square. The faster the wind blew, the more intense the blaze in the center became as it fed the flames with perfect synchronicity. It wasn’t long before it was a raging inferno and the wind was beginning to move uncomfortably fast; the sand, dirt, and rocks that were picked up were blasting the side of the brave man's face. After a few moments, the ash and embers were being picked up and started to mix with the debris in the wind, making it harder and harder to see the center of the market. If it wasn't for the light from the fire, there would be no visibility at all.

Leoric sank to a knee as his exhaustion hit him hard. His body couldn't take much more, but he knew he had to push through with all he had. If he couldn't do this, who else would? With a great big grunt from sheer effort, he stood up once more. He carried on with the wide circular arc movements he made with his arms, controlling the wind and - when he felt like he was going to collapse - widening his stance a bit more, he cried out.

“Maximum Effort!”

Fwoosh!

The entire obfuscated tornado he had been creating erupted into flame in its entirety, so much so that it looked like it was setting the clouds themselves on fire. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle, but it wasn’t his normal chuckle or his usual hysterical laugh of success. It was something deeper, something more maniacal. Seeing the sheer destructive force of this thing felt good to witness. He stumbled a few feet back before drawing the sword at his hip, trying his best to be alert to his surroundings. The fire tornado wouldn’t last much longer, now that he wasn't moving the wind himself. It would, however, last long enough to be a beacon for every demon in town.

He hoped Shinsou was as good in battle as the rumors said, they were going to need all the help they could get.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

A few years ago, Shinsou Vaan Osiris and Storm Veritas had travelled many miles from Radasanth to the township of Whitevale in order to overthrow the ruling council of the Brotherhood. The Telgradian remembered explaining some hare-brained scheme to his electromancer peer to enter the fortified complex by sneaking in under a hay wagon. The soaked and exhausted Veritas had done his best to listen carefully to him, but Shinsou knew that his philosophies, ponderings, and looming strategy had not at all sat well with the wizard. Looking back now, he could understand why it had been beneath them. It exactly was the type of plan a novice would have undertaken.

Shinsou felt like he was re-living the moment, but it was already too late to warn Leoric of the folly of his actions. Before the Telgradian could speak, a wall of flame washed through the heart of Casa Antiga, dazzling and disorienting almost as soon as the young adventurer had conjured it. The wave of hazy heat bathed the town in shimmering mirage, before forming a twisting column that extended what seemed like a hundred foot into the sky. The spell wrought havoc, eliciting screams from startled refugees and militiamen alike as nearby wood and stone blazed in molten pyres, alight with remnant white fire.

A faint aroma of charcoal overrode the stench of filthy smoke, and backdraft wafted through the limp strands of Shinsou’s hair as he spared the adventurer a disparaging glance.

Gods damn it, Leo!

It was obvious to the Telgradian that the militia here were under-resourced and already stretched thin by the assault they had borne. More worryingly, Casa Antiga still had a large number of vulnerable refugees fleeing the town out of its southernmost road and there was still a large contingent trapped in the various crumbling structures dotted around, now unable to make their escape due to the sheer force and power of the flaming tornado that began to chew up the town’s square. Worst of all, no-one, including Leoric, Shinsou Vaan Osiris and the men on picquets a hundred yards out from the city borders, had any idea of the kinds of numbers of demons that such a ‘beacon’ would attract to the town. It could have been a handful, or, in the nightmare scenario, a legion.

Too late to worry about that now, Shinsou lamented to himself as a number of vicious snarls echoed harrowingly from beyond the outer walls of Casa Antiga. His arcanely-attuned senses instinctively scanned the plateaux that stretched out around them. Another round of wails pierced the cacophony of the tornado, followed closely by a third. Each of them were more numerous and voluminous than the last, and the Telgradian’s senses only confirmed what his ears had just heard for themselves.

“They’re coming, Leo,” Shinsou clapped a hand on the exhausted adventurer’s shoulder, “We’re beyond the fucking pale at this point, so we might as well go all in. Sustain that flaming monstrosity as long as you can and tell the militia to start evacuating who is left. I’ll do what I can to draw their attention. ”

With that, Shinsou’s black boots kicked up from the floor beneath him and carried him back through the heavy doors of Leoric’s house. Moments later he stood alone in the square, a few hundred feet ahead of the fiery whirlwind, as smoke choked the visibility in all directions. He could hear the hissing, salivating groans of the approaching hell spawn long before he could see them, and placed a steady hand over the hilt of Enpera. It was then that the first of their number lunged from the thick smog, a crimson pair of eyes burning from behind the mask of an ornate crowned helm.

Shit, revenants!

He had encountered one before, in Salvar, and had hoped at the time that he would never have to again. Revenants differentiated horrifically from the demons he had faced so far, because unlike the living, breathing Tular and Haidian variants, these beasts manifested in the corporeal plane by infesting the bodies and vestments of long-dead warriors. This one must have been a mighty warrior in whatever life it had previously lived. Tall and powerful, it loomed malevolently over its insignificantly diminutive opponent, an iron-encrusted finger beckoning the young man towards his doom. Shinsou didn’t wait. He called upon his dark magic immediately, weaving his arms about his person to manifest a pair of dark matter spears. Carving the air before him with black, shimmering power, the Telgradian grunted as his powerful weapons sheared through the metal and bone of the undead warrior. Its helm bifurcated, the revenant’s eyes flickered once and died.

The man in the white coat steeled himself, wiping the sweat from his brow as scores of people started to filter through the smoke and towards the rear of Casa Antiga. Despite all he had been through in his life, he had not been killed yet. Every battle, some tried. Even though the flaming tornado behind him started to feel like a funeral pyre, built just for him, Shinsou Vaan Osiris was still here.

“Get moving, you stupid bastards!” The Telgradian shouted to a couple who were attempting to pack their belongings from the burned out shell of a house not fifty feet from him, the only structure he could see through the thick smoke. “Out the back, quick!”

Low rumbling laughter began to roll across the square, borne on a foul wind, before a wagon-sized fireball blazed through the smoke towards the ruined shell of the only visible house. The resulting explosion cast a million burning splinters in all directions, instantly vaporising the couple who had been trying to escape the nightmare. Sudden shafts of orange light parted the oppressive fog of soot and ash as the silhouette of some ungodly beast skulked towards him; it was unnaturally large and heavy, to the point where the smaller, ancillary demons that had been attracted to Leoric’s fire tornado scattered from its presence like frightened mice. A quintet of smaller fireballs followed, aimed at the feet of the Telgradian in an apparent attempt to drive him backwards and away from the smoke-smothered road. Splashes of hellish flame took life among the dirt as Shinsou quickly hopped back and left, watching in quiet awe as chunks of earth upturned with each step this new monstrosity took until it eventually halted and snarled.

“You brim with dark power, boy. I shall enjoy feasting upon it. It has been a long and barren journey from Tular, and that journey has not provided much more than a pitiful morsel.”

Shinsou’s eyes widened as he took in the tradespeak words of the ungodly sight in front of him. Two slit eyes peered mockingly from a minotaur-like head above the ground, their supernatural yellows smouldering with hellish power. His chassis defied comprehension: impossibly ripped musculature, sneering visage, bull-like limbs with bladed hooves. Not one, not two, but four more revenants were arrayed in formation about it. Their weapons were held in silent salute as their soulless armour whistled forlornly in the wind.

The only thing you'll be feasting upon is oblivion, you ugly piece of shit. Shinsou retorted in his head, sneering. Goddamnit, Leoric. God-fucking-damn-it.

“Shin no Kotei; Saigo.”

Hot, thick air from the flaming tornado behind them pushed back against him like syrup, clinging to his skin even as it resisted his movements. As Shinsou heard the roar of his own power, the last thing he saw from beyond the amethyst arcs of lifeforce that enveloped him were the four sets of emotionless crimson stares. They tracked him, watching as Enpera’s blade at his side split into beads of light and absorbed into his body. Within seconds, an abyssal amethyst veil blanketed the Telgradian and dissipated just as quickly to reveal an almost different man.

His height had increased by a foot, but the most noticeable feature was that his skin had gained an ivory coloured, flexible armour plating covering his body from his toes to his neck. Shinsou’s eyes and hair had turned a crimson red to match the fiery glow through the smoke. Arcane energy, sour like raw citrus, flowed through his body and manifested in violent crackles outside of it.

“What sorcery is this, boy?” The gigantic minotaur enunciated the word “boy” with a bellow, “Do you think-“

Suddenly, searing pain exploded in the demon’s left pectoral. The lemon taste on the beast’s tongue from Shinsou’s power turned to ash, and thick blood filled his oversized nostrils. The world sped up again as three white matter spears protruded from just above his heart, pinning his rotator cuff for a moment. His brown fur dampened with arterial blood, but before Shinsou could follow up, arcs of dark energy coursed through his nerves and smashed the protruding spears into dust.

With a quick step, the Telgradian retreated slightly from the great demon, his feet light thanks to the power at his command. Warily he and the nameless beast circled each other, the pairs of burning Revenant eyes bearing witness to their confrontation. The town square resembled a warzone now, and had become an arena littered with debris and flame.

The revenants roared unintelligibly, in warning or perhaps in admonition, as Shinsou’s new nemesis lunged towards him.

[Leoric]

“They’re coming, Leo,” Shinsou said as he clasped a hand on Leo’ shoulder.

”No shit, that was the plan!” Leoric thought as he huffed and puffed, his legs shaking under his body's own weight.

“We’re beyond the fucking pale at this point, so we might as well go all in. Sustain that flaming monstrosity as long as you can and tell the militia to start evacuating who is left. I’ll do what I can to draw their attention. ”

“That was the fucking plan from the get go!” Leo cried out as the roar of the flaming behemoth cried out in front of him, the sheer amount of heat forcing him to back up a few paces to keep his hair from singing. As Leo turned to face his now ally he had already ran over to another side of the flame tornado. Leoric sighed a light sigh of relief, if he had shin here then maybe they can do this. Or at least if the worst was to happen, someone would get his body home.

As much bravado as he started with, it was quickly draining as his body was pointing out it was past its limit and would soon collapse. He was going to use his bravado, his courage, his ego, to push him through as much as he could but how long would it be before his body collapsed and wouldn't listen to him anymore? Leo was knocked to his senses as a large slimy and smooth body impacted hard with him.

Leo looked up as his body impacted the ground and slid a few feet as a smooth, glistening demon stood before him. Leoric could only imagine the glistening and slimy feeling he felt was a defense against the flaming tornado. Leoric quickly spun his legs to create momentum and launched himself to his feet. His left leg twitching under the strain.

“Nog geb ahnah shuggoth, mgah'ehye ya ymg' lllln'gha bthnkor ng ahthrodog ahorr'eogor” The demon hissed towards Leoric as he licked what could only be lips.

“What? Man, you come all the way here and can’t even speak tradespeak? Such a disappointment for a low level demon.” The exhausted adventurer smirked as he gripped his sword hilt as tight as he could and pushed himself forward.

Leoric knew he could fight this demon, there was no doubt in his mind. The only inkling of doubt was from how long it would take, he knew there would be more demons arriving and so would need a lot of force behind a swing or a cut to make any deep wounds. This is when an idea came to mind, he quickly raised his left hand towards the demon and shot off his left M.A.D. device which the demon deftly dodged, however the device had now connected with an empty barrel that was barely held together against a shop just behind him. With a quick command to his M.A.D. it pulled in the barrel at high speed and smashed it across the back of the slime covered monstrosity and forced it to stumble forward.

As it stumbled forward Leoric used its own momentum against it and sliced clean through it’s left leg. The demon cried out and shrieked as it fell to its only knee. The Brawler was far from done and using what little momentum he had left he used all of his might to slice clean through the neck. Leoric huffed and fell to a knee as the sound of snapping sinews could be heard as the head of the demon slawed off and fell with a slump into a puddle of its own blood.

It wasn’t long before another demon crawled down from a rooftop, hissing and clicking at Leoric as it did so. Its long tongue moving like a tail, swaying and moving with amazing prehensile movements. Leoric wasn’t given long to admire the sheer oddity that was this demon as it launched it’s tongue at him, like a bolt out of a crossbow.

Leoric thought he was going to be able to dodge it but instead it impacted his leather vest, the sheer force sending Leoric sliding across the blood soaked sand at his feet. He quickly grabbed the spot out of instinct and felt the regular feeling of his leather vest, with a quick glance down he remembered he had gotten his leather vest enchanted some time ago to be as strong as damascus and it just saved his life. The shock of realizing he was perfectly fine and what everyone used to call him gave him a bit more energy as he stood up right and walked towards the demon slowly.

“You should really do research on who you are fighting before you fight. But let me fill you in real quick. I am Leoric Ironabs Blackwell…”

There was a sudden leap into the air from the demon before he could finish his boasting and another tongue attack was sent flying forward. This time Leoric quickly side stepped and dropped his sword only to quickly grab the tongue before the demon could pull it back.

“... And I am the best brawler you will ever see” with this Leoric began to swing the demon around by its tongue before giving it a quick and strong pull straight down. The brawler pulled his fist back and with every ounce of strength he had, with the little magical power he had recovered since casting his spell, he put everything into the skull of the demon as it came crashing down beside him. Sending a spray of dust, and debris into the air from the impact.

As the dust and debris settled Leoric looked down and noticed there were now two demons dead at his feet. The most recent victim still twitching. Leoric bent down and grabbed his sword and quickly decapitated the second demon. As blood began to pour out of the now missing head, Leoric's body collapsed. He barely caught himself with his hand now firmly planted in sand and demon blood. His lungs protesting from all the exertion.

Leoric closed his eyes and tried to focus on getting his breathing under control, after all breathing techniques were one of the more important skills his Master had ever taught him. However within moments Leoric felt perfectly fine, his stamina had completely recovered and with a shock he opened his eyes and the immediate vicinity around his hand that was in a deep puddle of blood, was now perfectly clean and there wasn't any blood around his hand.

“Wait, does all demon blood absorb into people? No… then what is going on”: Before Leoric could begin to deduce a theory a foot collided with his ribs and sent him rolling a few dozen feet away. He looked up to see a giant armor clad figure standing where he just was, it’s foot still out stretched and it’s eyes glowing an ominous red color as it peered into his soul.

The Brawler quickly got to his feet, rolled his shoulders and was ready for a fight. He now felt like everything was perfect, he had no exhaustion, his body was aching for a fight, and he was ready to give it one. He launched himself towards the demon, kicking off with all his might and using his magic to push himself forward as quickly as he could. However as he was about to connect with the armor clad revenant it reached out its hand and managed to grab Leoric by the throat. Lifting him quickly into the air and then slamming him down into the dirt between the two demons he had just killed.

Leoric gasped for air as the impact was intense. Not to mention the amount of force that was now squeezing his throat closed. There was no way out for him, his mind entered a panicked state as it realized that it had no oxygen left and it couldn't think of a way out of this predicament. Leoric went limp, his ripped and tattered shirt barely covering his arms as they splashed down into the massive puddles of demon blood around him.

The hand on his throat was loosening, Leoric quickly opened his eyes and felt nothing but rage, fury, his want for destruction was outstanding and he just wanted every demon to be dead by his hands. He reached forward and grabbed the thick armored forearm of the revenant and for a moment he could have swore he saw fear in the glowing eyes of his opponent. It was delicious to see.

With a quick and powerful grasp Leoric felt the gauntlets of his opponent dent and malform as the grip around his own throat completely relaxed. There was a swift kick that launched the armour bound goliath back a few feet and Leoric effortlessly got to his feet, completely reinvigorated and feeling like he could destroy the entire Demon army himself. With a snap of his fingers the fire tornado behind him instantly vanished and there was molten rock and piles of ash where the market stalls used to be.

With a quick glance at his hand after snapping his fingers, Leoric noticed his entire arm was black. No, not just his arm, his entire body was black. Not only that but it felt stronger as well. In the middle of examining his new skin color the brute of a revenant charged him with a sword drawn this time. Leoric sighed and turned to face him. Launching himself forward a few paces and using his wind magic to Quaking strike his opponent several times. The brutes armor shattered, revealing dead, and decaying flesh underneath as Leoric quickly grabbed the outstretched arm that was going to attack him and flung him across the molten town center and then quickly jumped over the molten ground and landed next to Shin.

Or well, what Leoric thought was shin. He looked incredibly different and was fighting a hellish monstrosity. Leoric cracked his neck and sheathed his sword before raising his fists.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

The Telgradian flashed a sideways glance at the newly arrived Leoric Blackwell as the great beast thundering towards them stopped dead in its tracks. The demon’s eyes fixated only on the blackened arm of the adventurer and, with a violent snort, the minotaur retreated.

Why did it stop? Shinsou wondered, his own eyes scanning his periphery before locking onto the adventurer’s strangely darkened forearm. What’s that arm about? He didn’t have that before – did he get hurt?

Without warning, the large demon had retreated beyond his revenant honour guard, and the undead warriors began to move in his stead. They danced like puppets on the greater demon’s strings, synchronising their movements perfectly despite the tight quarters. Each of them was equipped with a thick heater shield intricately inscribed with blasphemous glyphs; two were armed with straight swords, the third an axe more suited to cutting down castle towers than trees, and the last a grim scythe-like weapon attached to a weighted ball that was probably made for busting through fortress walls and barred gates.

Only when he was close enough to see the very specks of rust on their wickedly notched blades did Shinsou force his body into reacting, pure adrenaline and arcane power fuelling him. He instinctively ducked the first cross-sweep from the left, evaded the downwards swing from the right by leaping backwards half a step, and pre-empted the third stroke by lashing out with Enpera in his right hand, the lai sword clanging harmlessly from the axe-wielding revenant’s shield. The manoeuvre bought the Telgradian the precious two seconds needed to lift his left hand to waist height and scatter a fistful of dark matter.

“Eat shit.”

Ten, then twenty, then a hundred small balls of pulsating dark matter burst into life between the two men and their undead opponents. Wreathed in amethyst arcs that were dazzlingly bright and beautiful, they lingered for only a moment before arcing towards their targets. Orbs burst against raised shields and dark armour, but enough of the projectiles rained in from enough different trajectories that still the helms of the revenants were buried in explosive splendour.

“You an interesting specimen of mortality, boy.“ The injured demon leaned back on its haunches, languidly crossing its forearms as wisps of black magic whisked past its face. “But him? I couldn’t feast on him if I tried. So, it’ll have to be you. I’m looking forward to consuming that energy. I can already sense your transformation starting to wane.”

As Shinsou had previously learned the hard way, even a single revenant was notoriously difficult to destroy, requiring first the separation of its necromantic essence from its corporeal body, and then the complete obliteration of said essence. And that was saying nothing of the powerful demon that now lurked behind them. The battles of an arcane warrior were always a measure of how well he could conserve the limited resources available to him, but entering the relatively freshly mastered 5th grade of Shin no Kotei would deplete his reserves of stamina to almost non-existent, and his act of defiance a moment earlier had used up a lot of energy as well. Thus, even before the dark magic and the fire had died down, even before it had started, he had made up his mind to end the fight quickly. Retrieving his Enpera with a flick of his wrist along its silken cord, his body held low and muscles tensing with the effort, he broke off from the regenerating corpses of the revenants to attack the greater demon himself.

There was no way that his foe would let him attack that easily. A lash of pure, glowing flame came hurtling his way, wrapping around his armoured ankles and taking his feet out from beneath him. Shinsou reacted instantly, lashing out with his magic and slicing through the white hot coil with a blade of finely honed dark matter before it could burn through his plating. Enpera whipped up, parrying the minotaur’s balled-fist as it soared towards his face.

It was then that the snarling beast felt something bitterly frigid pierce his shoulder, shattering his arcane wards like so much fragile glass. Searing pain shot through his numbed body, even as Shinsou lept from the ground and pinned him to the sharp stones in Casa Antiga’s square with three further white matter lances, making light of the demon’s attempt to kick free. Malevolent crimson seeped soullessly from the stricken beast’s gnarled face as a terrible howl echoed across the burning townscape.

Dimly, the minotaur saw the Telgradian prepare a final white matter lance for the deathblow, edging the point to the beast’s throat.

“What did you mean when you said you couldn’t feast on him?” Shinsou, a foot planted on the beast’s blood-mottled fur chest, indicated to the nearby Leoric. “Why did you retreat?”

“Do you not know?” The beast continued, heedless of the desperate situation unfolding before him. “I feed on your struggles. Every burst of power you unleash to try to defeat me, every well-laid plan and hopeless effort, I consume and grow stronger. But he is something different entirely. Look at his arm – the mark of the demonic. I cannot feast on my own, as it would end me.”

Leoric approached the ground next to Shinsou, physically shoving another revenant away from his partner with a flurry of strength. Through blurring vision and rapidly receding stamina, Shinsou saw the adventurer’s arm properly this time. It was as if it had been charred, or cast in dark iron. Leoric was a young adventurer with great strength, but his powers seemed unstable and untried beyond what Shinsou knew of him. This demonic mark, however…

“Tell me how to get to the Temple of Elrohir Fararil.” The Telgradian moved the humming lance point to within millimetres of the beast’s throat.

“I see now,” The bipedal monstrosity heaved a pained breath from his lungs, “Cazri, you traitor.”

The hand holding back the white lance of imminent death faltered at the mention of the dark elf’s name.

“What did you say? How do you know Cazri?!” Shinsou demanded to know.

“The dark elf, and the two others by her side. She promised us the Sword of Elrohir Fararil in exchange for the demons serving her "holy" interests in Alerar.” The greater demon struggled to breathe, blood seeping into the back of its animalistic throat, “Our kind are blind to everything but the glow of the Sword of the Elrorir Fararil. But I see now. She’s sending him to close the portal. Only a demon can do it, and none of our number would willingly close it until the sword was in our possession, as promised.”

Son of a bitch, Cazri’s playing us all off against each other. Shinsou thought. Before he could put together the pieces of the puzzle in his mind, he heard the clinking of metal onto stone only moments after the greater demon dropped something onto the floor.

“This seal,” huffed the minotaur, “When activated by the one with the black arm, will take you to straight to the Temple. I have no right to ask this, but destroy the portal and stop this. Our kind will keep serving her as long as she is promising us the Sword. She has already disposed of her political enemies in the west and it is clear she intends to lead us into a war against her remaining opponents, and you to your deaths. There is no honour, or glorious purpose, in any of this.”

The last thing the demon saw as he slipped into blissful unconsciousness were the drifting white-embers that beckoned him to the sky, and the reflection of two sets of emotionless stares tracking his death.

“What is your name?”

Shinsou’s final question to the greater demon N’Gal was only heard by Leoric Blackwell, and the flames that surrounded them both in the town of Casa Antiga.

[Leoric]

Leoric stood proudly next to Shin as the man deftly destroyed some revenenants and afterwards set his sights on the large minotaur-esque demon in front of them. It wasn’t until he called Leoric Demonic did something click in his head.

—--------------------------------------------------------

“You have your fun an' all that, but the minute you find out any o’ those girls are there against their will, you get your dick outta there. I ain’t forkin' money over to filthy fuckin’ slavers.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, Red. Don’t kill the Mood" Leoric retorted as he enthusiastically entered the ‘House of lady favors’.

“But that’s what i do best” she smirked as she waited outside.

Leoric had met Red a few nights prior after he had swiftly taken care of a few thugs in a bar brawl. She became enamoured with his quaking strike ability; how he was able to strike people, even though his limbs were clearly nowhere near his target when he swung at them. She begged for Leoric to teach her how to do the same thing. After careful consideration and with a mischievous grin, he put forward his terms. His original demand of her being the payment was met with hesitation but coming to a compromise that would meet Leoric's end desire, she instead offered to pay for an all inclusive experience in a brothel.

He was only half way done when the carnage started. He quickly got dressed and left the room. As he did, Leoric had a thought; grasping the door frame, he peeked his head round the corner back into the room, pausing only to blow a hasty kiss and flash his winning smile to his bedroom companion before disappearing once more. Whoever - or whatever - it was would rue the day they interfered. He ran outside to find a hammerhead shark demon rampaging through the streets. Its head was a hammerhead, but the torso was that of an incredibly muscular humanoid. It would prove to be a tough battle, one of the few where Leoric almost lost his life trying to show off in front of his companion. However, just before he struck the killing blow, an exchange occurred between the two.

“How are you this strong? Even most demons cannot match my strength, let alone my speed!” The demon hoarsely whispered, breathing heavily as he lay on the ground, barely able to move.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Leoric smirked with pride at the compliment as he did a quick flourish, spinning the sword in his hand. “I am a demon; Demon of the bottle and lust.”

Leoric didn't hesitate, he plunged his blade into the demon’s neck causing blood to pour out of its mouth as it coughed out its last words. “If you wish to be a demon so badly, here-”

Shortly after the Shark headed demon had collapsed, Leoric lit the corpse on fire to dispose of the vile monstrosity. It had barely been engulfed when the body exploded and blood began to rain from the sky. Everyone else ran for cover, only a few people got coated in it, trying their best to clean themselves off with whatever they had on hand. However every drop, even the tiniest amount of blood that fell on Leoric - that touched his clothes or his skin - rested where it landed briefly, then quickly dissipated and disappeared leaving not a trace. Red speculated that it had been absorbed into his skin. Concerned, she told him he should get looked at, but the exhausted and victorious brawler felt fine and never bothered.

—--------------------------------------------------------

“That damn Shark!” Leoric mumbled with a grimace as he saw a Revenant get back up and begin to make its move towards Shinsou. With some nimble movements, Leoric was in front of the Revenant. Two lightning fast, full force punches easily dented the armor and sent the demon tumbling backwards.

Shin's powerful attack seemed to have made the revenant commander he was facing collapse to the ground. As he prepared to finish the demon off, Leoric positioned himself next to his powerful ally so he could hear the exchange.

”Cazri was behind all of this? It explains how she knew so much about me, but all this bloodshed... All of this needless slaughter, just for what? To make her queen? Empress?" The thought of anyone being so reckless and immoral for such a petty reason was inconceivable. "Not if I have anything to do with it.” The angered brawler seethed inside as he deftly dodged an incoming strike from another Revenant that had managed to get to its feet. Leoric responded with an attack of his own, before grabbing the outstretched arm of his attacker and, with a grunt of effort, quickly threw it over his shoulder and slammed it into the ground.

“Well, with what you told me when you first showed up, and now with Minno's words, I think I know what we were going to talk about. Let’s finish this fight, then deal with Cazri ourselves.” Leoric bent down and grabbed the sigil. The Revenants halted their assault and stared at the sigil in the marked brawler’s hand.

With a glance at the sigil, then back to his current partner in crime, a few thoughts came to mind. He only knew of Shin’s personality from his girlfriend Felicity, the two of them had bumped into each other while going mining in some mountains once. Could he trust this man to do the right thing? Or was he going to be played and toyed with, just how Cazri was currently using him? It would be a risk taking him to the portal. Leoric sighed. Felicity made him out to be a morally good person, and when combined with the fact Shin wanted to fill Leoric in on what was actually happening before Leoric caused a scene in the center of town... He would have to accept what he was told at the moment and hope everything was going to be alright.

“Shall we?” he asked as he hesitated for a moment to make sure the Minotaur demon was dead before grabbing Shin’s shoulder and ripping both of them across the battlefield.

The sensation of being ripped from one place to another instantly was disorienting, even sickening, and the feeling of the magic was like falling into a fresh mud pit, then rolling into sand: Wet, sticky, and abrasive all at the same time. Thankfully, it was only a moment before their feet touched the ground. Leoric immediately felt that pull he had experienced before they had set sail, only this time it was more intense. All he wanted to do was touch the portal, to become one with it. His mind was conflicted, he knew what needed to be done, but at that moment, he felt like he didn't want to close it.

“Shin, should we deal with this now, then deal with Cazri? Or deal with Cazri first, then come back here?”

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Leoric’s question struck a chord with Shinsou, who was impressed that the young adventurer was shrewd enough to anticipate what he himself had been wondering. Would Cazri make her way to the temple to deal with them herself or not? The Telgradian reasoned that the dark elf’s eyes, and those of her subordinates, were watching their every move and had seen their exchange with the slain greater demon. If that was the case, as he thought, then Shinsou knew it was only a matter of time before she confronted them both.

“She’s not here, yet,” The spellsword confirmed as his senses reached out, “But like you, I think it’s only a matter of time. Let’s get this portal shut first, and we’ll cross that particular bridge when we get to it.”

The hallways of the great monastery in which Shinsou and Leoric now found themselves were hardly less forlorn than the burning town from which they had just escaped. They begun to prowl through them, ducking from one tremulous spot of torchlight to another, creeping slowly through the dark and leaping quickly past each glowing pool. Shinsou noted that they had not yet been faced with another creature; demon or otherwise, the entire place seemed almost entirely deserted. He assumed that their arrival had not yet been detected. Judging from what he knew about the demons, once one of them picked up their scent, all hell would break loose. Just a single demon could release alarm pheromones that would make any of their brethren in the vicinity hunt them more stringently and ferociously than before.

It’s too quiet. What do demons do when they aren’t eating or fighting? Have they all left the temple and flooded north? It took him a moment to disregard the possibility. No. There will be some sort of guard, most likely revenants. Not even the demons are dumb enough to leave their only gateway in and out of Alerar unprotected.

Shinsou looked over his shoulder at his shadowy accomplice, who was gliding silently behind him, but it was then that the Telgradian stopped dead on the spot. His senses, deep within his gut, hit him hard. Running his tongue over his teeth and shifting from foot to foot, he knew what he felt.

Cazri had just arrived to their east.

“She’s here, Leoric, and I’m sure the timing isn’t a co-incidence. She knows we’re coming.” The white and black clad man felt a sudden chill rising up his spine. “So, let’s go kill the bitch.”

Shaking himself and turning around, with only the adventurer leering over his shoulder, Shinsou sniffed derisively and began down the eastern hallway at a trot. The corridors were low and squat, barely high enough for the head of the man trailing him. The walls were pocked with ancient looking doorframes at intervals that grew increasingly irregular, providing the only decoration in the rather spartan passage. Every once and a while they flourished with scrolls or fasces carved into the stone.

The deeper into the temple they went, the denser the humidity became. Barely a hundred foot from where Shinsou could now sense Cazri to be, it was too cool to make either of them feel sticky, but enough to be rather clammy.

That’s the sign of active arcane power, Shinsou noted as he traversed a slanted walkway, What is she doing?

As the pair finally reached the lip of the entrance to a large chamber, the now all-too familiar creaking of old armour, clunking of metal soles and feral groans alerted Shinsou to the presence of more revenants within. Cautiously, from behind the corner, he cast his gaze about. There was nothing but a sheer wall on one side, and a door too far behind Cazri to be of any importance. She was there, just ahead of the open demon portal with the Sword of Fararil Elrorir firmly in hand, flanked by four revenants on each side that seemed to be following her orders. Shinsou’s golden eyes rested on her stoic, dark face.

“Leoric, listen to me,” The Telgradian hissed, “We need to go in with everything we’ve got. Can you muster another one of those flaming tornados? If so, melt the revenants down to their bones. I’ll hit Cazri hard, and once’s she’s dead I’ll use her sword to warp those revenants to the middle of fucking nowhere.”

Shinsou had only the perhaps misplaced hope that his dark magic would finish the dark elf for good. Bursting forward into the room, the Telgradian waved a hand and felt an electrical tingle as his deadly arsenal of Enpera Kurohitsugi lances formed up behind him. Cazri’s silver eyes flicked right just in time to see a storm of the deadly dark matter spears tear towards her.

“N-no!” The dark elf yelled as the lead lance plunged into her chest, shearing flesh and bone just below her heart. The cries of the startled revenants rasped around the chamber as the remaining spears tore through their bone and armour like black buckshot, spreading rotten flesh and green mottled blood over the sandstone of the temple floor. As he heard Leoric dash in behind him, Shinsou ran to Cazri’s body, kicking the loose sword away from her grip and unsheathing Enpera from his side. His golden eyes cast a mad gaze down upon her as she coughed up a stream of fresh blood.

“You've run out of time, Cazri," Shinsou spat, "I'll send the others to keep you company in hell shortly."

Cazri sighed painfully, sparing him only a disparaging glare. With an almighty thrust, and an angry snarl, the Telgradian stabbed Enpera’s blade through the heart of the dark elf. There was a death rattle as her muscles went into spasm, and a bloodied froth spewed from the corner of her black lips.

Now then, where's that sword gone...?

It was then he felt a burning, agonising pain in his back. Three knives pierced his flesh, stabbing through the shoulder, the hip, and across his left thigh. His tunic trousers dampened in arterial blood. Arcs of dark energy coursed through his nerves. Spastic contortions further tore his wounds, and below that the corpse of the dark elf beneath him simply melted away. The thick air and unusual light contorted, and the world churned to a whirlpool as the illusions shattered.

“Clever little trick, isn’t it? If I remember, you used it in Sanctuary to fool us into thinking you killed our enemies. Once bitten, twice shy.”

It was her voice. Cazri was alive, and she'd known about his deceit all along. The spears had struck nothing but ghosts and the bodies that had been flung to the side were nothing but tricks in the light. Pressing a bloodied hand onto the floor, Shinsou gasped as the dark elf withdrew one of the knives from his back.

"Pah...!"

His mind blanked with agony. Ragged nails dug into his palms. Teeth bit into his lips. But despite all of the pain, he still had the will for a display of defiance, one last show of his resolve. He fought to stay conscious. He wanted her to feel his power and determination tremble through her bones. To fear it.

Buy me time, Leoric.

Runny phlegm disgorged from his mouth, bright crimson in the firelight, as the adventurer made his move.