“I appreciate your straightforwardness, Mister Valendor,” Headmaster Ravencrest chuckled. “It's quite refreshing,”

“Well then, let’s get down to business,” Valendor was starting to feel the strain of using so many spells fueled purely by donuts and his physical body now unfortunately requires rest. “I have a proposal,”

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement,” The headmaster said simply. “Let’s hear it,”

“There are two things I want, firstly I want information. Of course, I am willing to trade for it, as long as it is reasonable,” Valendor hurried on to avoid interruption. “I shall provide some extra information for free as context,”

“So, the reason I gave previously about why I was near human settlements enough to be summoned, was not entirely true,” Kira shrunk into her chair at his dark tone, and Valendor almost glanced at her in surprise, he had forgotten she was still there, for he had completely overlooked her tiny presence. It didn’t matter too much anyway, they were in too deep together already.

“The part about the Ebonblight weakening me was true,” He said carefully. Valendor was very wary about openly revealing this fact, but he thought the truth was greatly pivotal to win the human elder’s trust in this case. “But it was not of mere coincidence that I ended up in the human city nearby,”

“So you do have ulterior motives…,” Theodric muttered, as headmaster Ravencrest’s gaze sharpened.

“Indeed, the Lord of Night has sent me on a mission to investigate the demons and their civil unrest, and to put a stop to it as soon as possible,”

“What?!?” Theodric exclaimed in utter shock and shot to his feet, startling Valendor. “How do you, and the freaking shadow pillar, not know about the Demon Wars?”

“Wars? You mean there was more than one- ?”

“More than one?!? That war has been going on since two thousand years ago!” Theodric almost howled in hysteria. “How does the Dark Lord not know about this?”

“Oh, lemme guess: his great eminence was too busy to care about a teeny-tiny two thousand year old war, that his chosen race by the way- ” Theodric paused his angry tirade, to inhale deeply, then exploded. “WAGED AGAINST THE WORLD AND KILLED MILLIONS,”

“MILLIONS!” He roared gutterally, voice cracking. “My comrades -they- so, so many people died, and you’re telling me, you -and the Dark Lord- didn’t even know about it?” He flopped back into his chair, utterly spent from his outburst and heaved heavily.

Silence blanketed the room. Valendor couldn’t say anything, mind reeling from shock, and soul bombarded by Theodric’s pain and grief, both raw and guttural. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, literally and figuratively, the overwhelming truth.

He had only left his demons alone for a thousand years before they disobeyed his orders to wreak havoc, and another two thousand before he even found out about it. The Lord of Night had never once failed so tremendously in his duties, and he was profoundly ashamed.

Although the Lord of Night had fulfilled his role as the shadow pillar by defending the Night Kingdom, which was undeniable in its importance, he had sacrificed one realm for another, when he had sworn to protect all.

And now his negligence had brought about the suffering of the innocent masses, his failure undeniable and dereliction inexcusable. There was nothing the Lord of Night could give as sufficient compensation and no penance he could do to make amends, he could only pick up the pieces and rectify his mistakes.

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The Lord of Night knew he had to keep his head up and reestablish order, as feeling remorseful helps no one. And he thought himself quite cold for it.

A small prideful part of him knew the demons were to blame, but he quickly stamped it out, as their pillar, the Lord of Night should have kept a tighter leash, even if he couldn’t have kept a better eye on them while preoccupied with the sky’s construction while simultaneously fighting off the Ebonic corruption.

“I’m sorry, I should have known better,” Valendor murmured, ashamed. “The Lord of Night was badly held up in the war, but that is no excuse. This massacre could have been easily avoided,”

“I will fulfil my mission properly, so that no more blood of the innocent shall be shed,”

“You don’t care about the lives lost as much as your lost honour anyways,” Theodric muttered, crossing his arms and frowning with displeasure. Valendor turned to gaze at him as they both brooded.

The Lord of Night couldn’t argue against the truth: he was already numb from all the death he had witnessed before the birth of the new world, more numerous than all lives ever lived in this current world. And him being ruler of the Night Kingdom, the realm of dead souls, didn’t help him feel any worse for the millions who died: they were all going to die pretty soon anyway, at least compared to his long existence.

Sure, all his close friends and fellow pillars’ deaths had impacted the Lord of Night unfathomably, but otherwise the end of a bunch of mortals didn’t concern him as much as he knew it should. By the Creator, I’m a monster aren’t I.

That recognition wasn’t new by any means, and the Lord of Night still struggled to feel even a bit of empathy for the millions of mortals who he only knew of as the blue orbs floating down to his realm from the abyss of shadow.

‘Millions’, Theodric had shouted from his soul, all the agony and loss condensed into one word. The deaths that mattered to him dearly had deeply resonated with Theodric’s emotions. However, what was ‘Millions’ but a number to the Lord of Night?

The Lord of Night had nothing left but a duty given by the Creator tying him to this world. And so his duty he shall do.

Valendor huffed softly, turning away from the sullen warrior. “Headmaster Ravencrest, would you be kind enough to gather information on the demons and their whereabouts, a map of the current world and realms would also be appreciated. I would also like a brief overview of happenings in the world in general.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. “I would also like some access to your contacts and information networks occasionally,”

“Shall we meet again in a week or two while you do that for me? In return, you may ask me anything of equal value,” Valendor continued. “As you probably know, the Lord of Night is also keeper of the Ancestral Memorials, anything ever known by mortals that had since passed are his, and will be yours should you ask,”

The headmaster’s eyes gleamed. “I gracefully accept. Give me some time to think of my question, I shall ask it the next time we meet,”

Valendor nodded, but stopped the ancient human when he reached his hand out. “I also have a second proposal, this one is of less importance however,” The headmaster waved at him to continue.

“I must regain mana soon for my mission, if you would provide basic nourishments and allow me to stay at the school along with Theodric,” Who slightly shifted at the mention of himself. “I would protect the school from any Ebonic threat from sunset until daybreak,”

Headmaster Ravencrest smiled widely. “Well, this maybe a painful subject, but you are Theodric’s familiar, and any familiar belonging to the school staff already has housing and food guaranteed by the school,”

“So there is no need asking for my permission,”

“My offer still stands,” Valendor was pleasantly surprised by the headmaster’s truthfulness and appreciated it. “I meant it when I said I have a grudge against the Ebonblight, any little eradicated is a step forward for a better world,”

“Please do call on me if it gets too much to handle,”

“Thank you greatly. I shall keep your offer in mind,”

The Night Warden and headmaster both stood and shook on it, swearing on their mana rings.

“Um…does that mean I’m not in trouble?” A timid voice squeaked.

Valendor had totally forgotten Kira was there again.