Merrich was running after the bird made of arcane power as it speeds through the air on the underground temple, Dayer and Marr were right behind him.

The temple was quite large and had many runic outlines everywhere. These runic outlines were old, and it was clear that they were made by more than one person.

Marr inspected the situation around him and realized there seemed to be quite some time since someone came here.

Suddenly, Merrich commented.

“This place is deserted… We have been running around for almost 5 minutes and we have seen nothing.”

Dayer’s expression changed to one of concern as he said.

“This gives me a terrible feeling. There is a powerful chaotic law in here… I Think that seal might be in a worse state than we thought.”

Marr nodded as he thought to himself.

[The necklace on my chest has been restless since I entered this temple… I think something big is happening here.]

Finally, the bird stopped in front of a stone gate and disappeared in midair. Marr readied his axe as he opened the door. Inside the room, there was only one metallic cage, and inside this cage, they could see a young Elven girl sitting on the cold floor.

The three friends group got closer to the cage, and the girl realized their presence. She looked at them and with a frightened expression, she asked.

“Who are you?”

The Elven girl face was stained with tears, she had beautiful emerald eyes and a golden hair just like her sister. Her figure was slender and agile, and her skin was flawless.

Marr got closer to the cage and broke its door with his axe. The Elven girl had a dumbfounded expression as she kept looking at the open door.

“We are your sister’s friend, she sent us to get you.”

Dayer looked at the girls who still hadn’t reacted and asked.

“Well, are you coming out or not… we don’t have all day you know?”

The girl came back to her senses and inspected the three persons in front of her. Tears poured out of her eyes as she started crying.

The three friends smiled warmly at the girl and helped her up. After a while, she calmed down.

Marr looked at Merrich as he said.

“Merrich I have an ominous feeling about this base… I think there is something weird going on here.”

Merrich nodded as he added.

“I have been felling a dark arcane power coming from the main hall of the temple, and I thought it was related to the weakening of the seal... But this energy is different.”

Dayer had a lost expression on his face as he asked.

“What do you mean Merrich?”

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Merrich took a deep breath as he explained.

“The corruption of the Darkplague and the corruption coming from the Abyssal Tears all over the Swamp are, indeed, much weaker but they are much purer… whatever is happening down here it’s affecting the energy of the heart.”

The Eladrin showed and enlightened expression, he then looked at Marr as he asked.

“What do we do with the girl?”

“We take her with us if she goes out there she is dead for sure.”

The Dragonborn looked at the runes around this room as he said to Merrich.

“You said you can feel the Power of the heart? Can you guide us to its location?”

Merrich nodded as he went out of the room and followed the chaotic flow of arcane energy towards the place where the heart had been sealed.

After running for a few minutes, the three friends reached an enormous golden colored gate. This gate seemed to be made completely out of metal. The image of many heroes fighting against that great demon was carved on top of the door.

Dayer inspected his surrounding and said after a while.

“How do we open this door?”

Merrich put his hand on top of the door and injected Arcane power into it. The carving’s lit up with a blue hue, and the door slowly swung open.

Inside the door they could see a horrific scene, Merrich hurried to cover the young Elven girl’s eyes. The room reeked of blood and hundreds of bodies laid butchered on the floor. All the bodies followed the same pattern, their whole bodies where bloated and their stomach had exploded.

The room was full of runes and in the middle of it they could see an enormous black sphere, it was the source of the chaotic energy on the whole Darkplague swamp, the heart of a demon lord.

A green liquid with a strong and nauseating smell was coming out of the bodies and going in the direction of the heart. In front of the heart, there was a humanoid figure with horns and a tail who slowly turned around, she had purple colored hair and her eyes were completely black.

“Seem like we have visitors. It’s a good thing you came, I was in need of more sacrifices.”

This humanoid creature was a Tiefling, a Half-human/half-demon that most often appear through descent from fiends and humans.

Tieflings tend to have an unsettling air about them, and most people are uncomfortable around them, whether they were aware of the Tiefling's unsavory ancestry or not. 

While some look like normal humans, most retain physical characteristics derived from their ancestor, with the most common of such features being horns, prehensile tails, and pointed teeth. Some Tieflings also have eyes that are solid orbs of black, red, white, silver, or gold, while others have eyes more similar to those of humans.

In many other ways, Tieflings are similar to humans physically. They are, on average, just as tall as humans, from 1.67–1.88 meters and weighed just a little bit more being around 64–91 kg.

Tiefling skin is usually human-like in color, though extending past normal human colors into reddish hues as well. Tiefling hair is also often the same color as human hair, though dark blue, red, or purple are common shades amongst the race.

Marr looked at the Tiefling in front of him and assumed that was Sanarei. He looked at Merrich and said.

“Merrich there is something weird about her, despite being a Tiefling the Abyssal aura on her shouldn’t be so powerful.”

The Halfling nodded as he said.

“There is a mental connection between her and the Heart, I think the proximity of the bloodlines made her easier to control… If you add the weakening of the seal and the fact that they made the base down here.”

Merrich stopped talking, but Marr understood what he meant. The Tiefling was being controlled, and the controller was the Undead King Orzoi.

“Merrich if Orzoi is the one controlling her will she become like me back then?”

“No, it’s fundamentally different. Io took direct control of your body and used it as a mean to exert his own power.”

The Halfling let out a deep sigh as he continued.

“In this case, her mind was eroded, and she became a slave to Orzoi’s will. Her power is the same she always had she just might be a bit more chaotic and forceful on the usage of it.”

Marr nodded as he quickly thought of a plan to deal with the Tiefling, he looked at Merrich and said.

“Take care of Yllana’s little sister Merrich, and support us from behind.”

“Roger that.”

The Dragonborn then turned to Dayer and said.

“Dayer get ready, attack whenever possible and try to deal as much damage as you can I will take her head on.”

Dayer nodded and disappeared into the shadows.

Marr took the Jennu Ariiogarurt from his back and it lit up with the usual pale pink light and blue lighting arcs. He looked at the Tiefling as he said.

“Time to get serious.”