The night following the battle at Deranel is hellish for Yorun and as he sleeps he sees the battle again, he feels it all, the fear, the light beam connecting with his body, his body crashing through the stone wall and finally his arm disappearing even if it was instant he can feel it all the same. Just as his body hits the ground he snaps awake sitting up and going to grab his left arm and finds it gone still, he is breathing heavily as he then holds his head in his right hand.

"I had hoped that was but a nightmare..." Yorun said quietly to himself

The soul of the Pertaki Nobleman appears before him.

"You deserve this for what you've done to me you wretch" The nobleman said his voice ghostly and full of disdain

Yorun does not respond immediately but he glares at the nobleman before taking the nobleman's magic causing his soul to feel pain.

"You deserve exactly what I've done to you, in the time in which we planned to take Deranel we learned your name we know who you are Azkelt and that you were angry about not having as much power and influence as others in your family so you left for Deranel and used your noble status to make peoples lives horrible or even have some killed for snubbing you" Yorun said his voice also filled with disdain

"As is my gods given right!" Azkelt shouted through the pain

"Gods given right? You've seen whom I serve and know all my actions have been allowed by them including the taking of your soul. You would be in Konlair right now otherwise so consider this a mercy you do not deserve now stay quiet or I make this worse" Yorun said coldly as he stops using Azkelts magic

As Azkelt stops screaming his soul disappears once more, Yorun then gets up teleporting some new cloths and the Cloak of Raeknar on before leaving the room. Yorun decides to head to the war room, passing by the people from the villages who continue to keep the fortresses magical defences active he soon comes across Golanier.

"Hello Yorun early start for you but I'll assume it was nightmares or something from what I felt in your soul" Golanier said

"Yeah you are not wrong there, definitely not sleeping again anytime soon, not like I was sleeping great to begin with but now there's these new nightmares" Yorun said

"Well regardless, you're up and we can go discuss something, lets get to Deranel we have two good new siege weapons we need to talk about" Golanier said before teleporting with Yorun back to the battlefield of the previous day

Yorun looks around but soon his eyes focus on the destroyed part of the city wall he was blasted through by Heltior, his mind once again drifts back to that moment but Golanier notices and quickly draws his attention back.

"Hey Yorun quit looking over there" Golanier said as he grabbed him and walked over to the giant Golem bodies

"Are you wanting us to reactivate these golems?" Yorun asked as he looked at Golanier

"Well yes obviously but not right now, however we need to store them somewhere for when it happens and honestly its the same thing with the army itself. We need to move in a harder to detect way now that are army has grown even larger and for that I have an idea, Sunhale will want to hear this as well" Golanier said

"Sunhale get to the Golems outside Deranel, Golanier has some ideas" Yorun said telepathically to Sunhale who teleported there pretty much immediately after

"Oh this'll be good, alright what is it Golanier?" Sunhale asked

"Yorun give me both your and that nobleman's magic" Golanier said as he turned to the Golems

Yorun takes a breath as he then begins to channel his and Azkelts magic into Golanier. Yorun and Sunhale watch him wondering what Golanier is going to do while Golanier himself seems to be concentrating with the new bounty of magic he has access too but then after a few minutes a couple of large portals open and large skeletal arms come out and grab onto the golems dragging them through and though it is hard to see under the skeletal hand something seems to appear on the golems body. Yorun can feel the strain on his own soul as well as the souls of Azkelt and Golanier from the magic being used here, it takes only moments for the golems to be dragged through leaving large groves in the ground from where they once where. The portals quickly close and Golanier drops to his knees and breathes heavily, Yorun has not seen him like this often and as such both he and Sunhale are intrigued on multiple fronts.

"Alright what the fuck was that?" Sunhale asked immediately to a panting Golanier

"Give me a minute and I'll explain" Golanier said

Golanier takes another few minutes before getting up no longer out of breathe.

"Fuck that takes more than I thought it would" Golanier said

"Alright now explain Golanier" Sunhale said

"You're familiar with the concept of bending reality correct? I know those archives in the elven capital do it well there is a step above that completely ripping open reality a bit to create a small dimension of your own for whatever you need, storing stuff or doing experiments that'd otherwise fuck up the world and such stuff. I tried doing this back in my day but well only the highest level mages in the world can do it which I was but you need to be stronger than any recorded mortal in history to do it without a little bit of help from a god which well I did not have" Golanier said

"If there's no way you did it back then nor could you possibly do it now what did you just do?" Yorun asked

"Well without being able to open my own little dimension I looked to other realms in which I could put things and opened a way to the realm my people called Lokranikar" Golanier said with a smirk

"What name would we use for this realm?" Sunhale asked

"The elves would call it Beraskil and humans call it Kragrum" Golanier said immediately shocking both Yorun and Sunhale who quickly grabs Golanier by the neck

"You went to the realm of demons you ilsantrak!?" Sunhale shouted his final word being an elven one of which Golanier seems to recognise

"Oh bringing out those kinds of words hm Sunhale? Well whatever yes I opened up the realm of demons and laid waste to a part of it conquering it and forcing some demons into serving me. I do not doubt they've taken back some territory however after all when I died any forces of mine that were there would have returned to being normal corpses but I opened to a place I sense an old ally, a demon who served willingly" Golanier said

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"So what they are a fucking demon!" Sunhale shouted finally letting go of Golanier

"You want us to not only story things like those golems in Kragrum as well as our army? That does not seem like a good idea" Yorun said

"Agreed" Sunhale said getting only an annoyed sigh from Golanier in response

"Alright seems I just need to show you" Golanier said

Golanier manages to open a portal next to them significantly smaller than the previous ones and a skeleton arm comes out from the portal grabbing the three of them and pulling them in, Yorun while angry and horrified by what's happening can feel the strain of this portal opening is significantly less than the previous ones. The moment they get through the portal Golanier closes it and as all three of them look around they see a realm of chaos with many kinds of demons flying around seemingly fighting at random throughout the skies and some in the distance do the same on the ground. The weather seems to change quickly and even the simple things such as gravity seems to change slightly sometimes.

"Golanier what the fuck is wrong with you!?" Sunhale shouts angered

"Shut. Up. Right now we're fine, the demons have no interest in us right now anyway might change if we stay too long though so if you do manage to be quiet we can get on with it" Golanier said calmly but slightly annoyed

"Sunhale we do have to defer to Golaniers judgement here even if it is bad that we are here" Yorun said as he makes Raeknars Scythe appear in his right hand

"Now, I know you'll recognise my presence in this chaotic realm so show yourself Celantriak" Golanier said in a commanding tone as he looked away from the other two

A couple seconds pass and a demon walks out of the dying fiery trees around them, the demon is larger than a house almost comparable to the regular form Raeknar takes, it has horns more akin to battering rams upon it's head, spikes protruding from other parts of its body including the knuckles of its fists, it's large frame looks obscenely strong and durable quickly evident by the fact Golanier strikes it with his greatsword and no damage is done.

"Yeah that's you alright, now kneel" Golanier said commandingly as he plants his greatsword into the ground

The demon kneels before Golanier now the same height as a result.

"Golanier kill that thing now before it attacks and we need to" Yorun said as he took back some magic then quickly igniting the scythe with black flames which makes the demon known as Celantriak focus on him

"My lord, you return weaker than ever yet I still come at your call, may I ask who these two are? I sense godly powers" Celantriak said with a dominating demonic voice still staring at Yorun

"They are allies in fact my soul is bound to the humans, not a situation I particularly like but it doesn't matter right now you will tell me what parts of this infernal realm are still my territory" Golanier said

"The immediate area I have kept from the others but other places I had not enough power to keep under control nor the forces, the others deemed me weak for assuming you'd return" Celantriak said

"Imbeciles of course they turned it's in their demonic nature but you know your place Celantriak regardless for now these two golems are in your care understood? Keep them safe, new undead will make their way here soon. A new army has arisen and while not technically mine this place will still serve its old purpose" Golanier said smirking and Celantriak grins in response

"I cannot wait my lord" Celantriak said

"Golanier you-" Yorun began to say but Celantriak suddenly lunged at him

Yorun quickly teleported out of the way and stabbed the scythe as quickly as he can into Celantriak he was aiming for the head but with only being able to use one arm now he misses stabbing into Celantriaks shoulder breaching the seemingly tough skin and black blood begins to spill from the wound but Celantriak just laughs.

"Oh I was right, godly powers, so much more fun" Celantriak said before grabbing the scythe forcing his hand to burst into flames as he pulls it out of himself, he quickly lets it go afterwards

Yorun moves back still on the defensive as he glares at Golanier for a second.

"Alright Celantriak enough that's an order, before we leave I need one thing answered. What remains of my undead generals?" Golanier asked

"Not much a thousand years degrades all bodies too much but some parts I have managed to keep intact enough to do what you wish" Celantriak said

"Bring them. Now" Golanier said

Celantriak quickly departed but immediately upon that happening Sunhale punched Golanier in the face forcing him to stumble back a bit.

"You are angry but this place and Celantriak are very useful" Golanier said as he looks at both Sunhale and Yorun

"This place is the chaotic realm of demons created by the god of Chaos and Injustice Umelikatel. You really think we'll be able to use it while we do Raeknars will!?" Yorun shouted

"Yes actually, the god in charge of this realm which my people knew as Eratikewan as you stated is the god of chaos and injustice but well chaos means they quite literally do not care if it adds to the chaos and while the injustice part may be bad for us well it gets a bit over ruled by the fact the gods are thrown into a bit of chaos with what we are doing so they are content plus there is enough injustice in the world outside of the Fiernian empire for us to continue unabated" Golanier said

"Golanier is correct, Malekanivor which is this particular gods human name generally does not care what anyone does so long as chaos and injustice continue throughout the realms enough. They even created these soulless demons to some of it for them" Raeknar said to them telepathically

"Gods I cannot believe we're doing this..." Sunhale said to himself in the elven language

Just as this conversation is beginning to end Celantriak makes his way back lifting a multitude of different body parts with magic, these pieces seem to come from entirely different races, the head of a Kalrin, arms that could be from elves, humans or both and legs of some draconic race, the literal biggest outlier however is the chest of what clearly came from a giant.

"It is a good thing you kept some part of a giant it will allow for a good few things, keep these here for now once we have more power I will be able to make use of them understood Celantriak?" Golanier asked

"Of course my lord, I take it you still lack the required power, can you not just go collect more souls?" Celantriak asked

"Unlike a thousand years ago I am restricted in that regard by the god of death and justice. We are only permitted to take evil souls" Golanier said eliciting a smirk from Celantriak

"What empire is it you are attacking currently?" Celantriak asked

"My home, the Fiernian Empire" Yorun said still with a tight grip on Raeknars scythe untrusting of the demon

"Then I would suggest one particular port city. Joaralta, the city of criminals of all kinds many of whom have tried contacting some demons over the years" Celantriak said

"That is an excellent idea Celantriak well done" Golanier said getting a sigh from Sunhale

"Golanier can you just return us to the fortress? Whilst the demon may have given a good suggestion I'd prefer to not stay here any longer let alone try and plan something here" Sunhale said glaring at him

"Fine, fine. Celantriak you have your orders continue them to the letter" Golanier said

Golanier then turned away from them all as he reopened the portals then dragged them through once more, the portals however this time did lead to the fortress war room so they could begin planning immediately.

"According to the maps Joaralta is far but it is one of the cities we would have hit fairly soon but unlike some others every one in this city will likely fight tooth and nail against us and we do not have the strength for that especially with the kind of people that are there, elven spy work from before the war started noted powerful mages, war criminals and other such people. With how many of those people are in this city they've grown to be a strong enough city to defy the empire itself, other such cities like them are across the world this is just the human equivalent" Sunhale said

"An all out attack is not the best option right now then, so how about a bit of our own subterfuge with a bit of kidnapping" Golanier said casually making both Yorun and Sunhale look at him confused

"What?" Yorun asked confused

"It's simple Yorun, the city is filled to the brim with evil souls should we get some people in there namely Sunhale and some undead they can kidnap those who'd be useful to bind to our souls and with our ability to control the undead correctly we can easily send ourselves to them and do the binding process" Golanier said

"As fucked up as this sounds it IS a sound plan but how would we get undead into the city stealthily? Sure I've done such things before but this is a bit different plus back then I was extremely lucky" Yorun said

"I have an idea but we shall try it tomorrow, today has been a lot to say the least" Sunhale said

"Agreed" Yorun said

The three of them left the war room and went off to their respective rooms to rest while Golanier teleported out onto one of the nearby mountains to continue training...