A mile from the Main Gates of Avaron, Indrajit, the Artist, and the Demon King paused.

Indrajit: Lift Veil

An azure palace sprung forth out of nowhere. It was hiding in plain sight. The structures’ beauty was comparable to that of the Indraprastha. Laden with reflective surfaces, the entrance was a massive door decorated with all kinds of gemstones.

Artist: That is an incredible Citadel. You have built such a spectacular home, why not live in it? The town should be too boring for someone like you.

Indrajit: The residents of the holy place are unaware of who I am. One must ensure that some secrets are not revealed.

Demon King Vezbek: So what do we do now.

Indrajit: Your mate and I will lock horns. If he wins, I will tell you about where my ancestry and my past life. If I win, you shall owe me a debt. Someday, I will come to collect it.

Demon King Vezbek: That seems like a reasonable agreement. Alright, the deal is on. I wish you both all the best.

The three entered the blue palace.

_____

A sprawling amphitheater was lying in wait for them. The King took a seat in the stadium.

Demon King Vezbek: Wow! These cushions sure are comfy.

The two hooded foes faced each other. They were not like ships passing in the night.

The Artist withdrew his musical instrument from one of his many pockets and began to play. Almost instantly, the illusionist felt a crippling sensation in his knees and was forced to freeze in one spot. The piper took a step closer to his nemesis.

The son of Ravana had his speech taken away from him. Using his mind's eye, he summoned the Brahmadanda. The divine rod of Lord Brahma absorbed all of the sounds that were echoing within the arena. For a second, the music stopped. That is all Indrajit needed.

Indrajit: Activate Divine Weapon - Parvatastra

An enormous mountain hurtled toward the Artist. His lips had reached the wind instrument, and a new tune escaped from it. When it was about to strike the piper, the mountain stopped dead in its tracks. Instead, it changed direction and flew towards the combatant who had summoned it.

Indrajit: I see, you have the power to sway anything and anyone you encounter. That would be impossible for most demons to overcome.

He narrowly dodged the mountain as it struck the wall of the arena and disintegrated into a thousand pieces. The piper kept playing.

The pieces surrounded the illusionist and glided toward him. Then, they combined all at once and turned into a spear that resembled the combined size of 5 great chariots, and the resulting projectile gathered speed.

Indrajit: Wow, you really are a Greater Demon. So I will stop holding back from here onwards. Activate Divine Weapon - Maheshwarastra.

The spear vanished as a great beam of light swallowed it whole.

Indrajit: Activate Skill- Tamasi Maya

The illusionist’s body turned to ash.

Artist: So that’s it? You commit suicide when you think you can longer overcome my might?

“Suicide? What a joke. I am right here brother. Inside the battleground. I am the air you breathe, the dust underneath your feet. I am everywhere, and I am nowhere. You can no longer touch me, your tunes have been rendered useless. If you surrender now there would be no shame upon your character as a warrior. Only 3 men before you were able to force me to use this particular ability imparted by none other than the Lord of Lords, the Destroyer. All of those men were Gods. You should be proud.”

Artist: I am not done yet Indrajit.

As the music grew in volume and pitch, the deafening noise cause the entire palace to crumble. Sharp objects fashioned of out the building materials impaled the ground, leaving only the tiniest of space for the Demon King and the piper.

The illusionist began sniggering. It enraged the piper further, but he could not sense where the enemy was, so there was no one to aim mammoth arrows at.

”Tell me, Artist? What is the meaning of reality? Do you believe in everything you can see?”

Artist: And in what I cannot.

The disembodied voice continued, “But how can you kill an enemy who does not exist in reality, but only in your dreams?”

As these words were expressed, the surroundings turned black.

“In the world of illusions, no one stands above me. Well, one does but he won’t be coming to save you. I ask you again, what is the meaning of reality? If you answer correctly I shall set you free. But you must think before you say anything. If you come up with the wrong answer again, the spark of your life shall be extinguished. Take all the time you need brother. I am not going anywhere.”

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The Artist sat down and attained a meditative posture, then closed his eyes. As his breathing slowed down, the blood flow to his head grew. The silence stayed undisturbed for a while. Then the piper said, “Reality does not exist. We do not exist. At least not as separate entities. Like the sea that is endless, we are each drop, connected and yet detached at the same time. The world we see through our eyes is an illusion. Reality is understanding that one day, the illusion will come to end. The day we achieve Supreme Consciousness is the day we shall break free.”

When the piper flung his eyes open, the illusionist was seated right next to him.

Indrajit: Took you long enough. I thought you were gonna stay in the Hole forever. Your King started weeping, thinking you had passed.

Artist: Since when was I unconscious?

Indrajit: I began using Sammohana (a weapon that puts the target/+s in a trance) Maya right before you started playing the instrument. Your magic is strong, but you are not on my level. Maybe one day, the fight would last longer.

Artist: This was not a great experience. But it helped me mature as a demon. And for that, I thank you. What do you need…

Indrajit stopped him because the piper completed his speech.

”For now, you need not concern yourself the debt. A day will come when I will need something from you. You cannot turn me down, that is all. Our words are our bonds.”

The Demon King embraced the piper, his face still wet with tears.

Indrajit: You are new to this, aren’t you Vezbek?

Artist: So what now?

Indrajit: Now we shall partake in worldly pleasures after all.

Artist: Where is the best brothel in Avaron? I don’t come here that often.

Indrajit: Not sex. My father lost everything because of his perverted tendencies and ego. Thus, I have decided to follow a path of celibacy. There is no need for a fish to jump into the net. We shall drink mead of course! This town has the best alcohol on this entire planet.

Artist: Alright. That works too.

______

Scene Shift- Market Square in Avaron

Alvin’s Restora was nearing closing time. The illusionist could hear Cassandra’s screams from beyond the doors. Sighing heavily, Indrajit guided the two in.

Indrajit: Hello young duchess! This here is the Demon King Vezbek, and his right-hand man who is an expert at playing tunes via his flute.

The blonde lady looked up and smiled. Her face had turned crimson.

Indrajit: Come on, you have had enough. Milady you need to go home soon. Give my friends these drinks, and I will help you sober up.

Cassandra: Where is Fiona? I wanna squeeze her cheeks…

Indrajit: She has another playmate and I don’t alcohol will agree with him.

Demon King Vezbek: That is a fair assessment.

Cassandra: I want to listen to a decent soundtrack. Could you play something for us, masked warrior?

Artist: Well, alright.

Indrajit: After everything we went through, you still want to play.

Artist: This is a symbol of resilience. When all of us will be gone, our music will remain forever. We are but shadows and dust.

Indrajit: That’s more like it! Now you feel like a true brother to me. First, let us see who can drink faster…

The tunes emerging from his flute made the flames of the candlelights escape following which they started encircling the handles of the mead mugs.

This astonished all observers who were drawn to the new duo in town.

Guest #1: I thought you guys from the Swamp were a scary bunch. Clearly, I was wrong.

Demon King Vezbek: We are trying to open up a department that will focus on tourism. Please visit our lands and dine on some nice meat which is unavailable here.

Indrajit: You just had to kill the mood, didn’t you?

Guest #2: Actually, can I get directions to the Swamp?

Cassandra: Hey! You shameless Avaronian. How can you dine on meat whilst praying to Lord Kit?

Guest #3: He is ever-forgiving? Surely the Lord who has no enemies will not mind if I try some good chicken and pork once in a while. I heard they eat giant bison in the north.

Indrajit: You are referring to Frosthen right?… I gotta check out that area too. So many places to explore, and no time to die.

After a drinking competition (which the Artist won) the three helped Cassandra reach her home safely and then returned to Deflake’s inn. For obvious reasons, the piper puked a little outside the door.

Mr. Deflake: You dirty the walls, you clean up the mess.

Indrajit promises the inn owner that they would take care of everything in the morning. For once, the inn owner let the matter slide. The three went up the stairs, bid each other good night, and slept in separate rooms. When dawn broke, the Demon King was awakened by the wailing Groucho and a surly MaGroucho who were standing outside the hotel. Groucho pointed one finger at his mouth and then at his stomach.

The twin Giants got to try a vegetarian meal for the first time in their lives. Deflake was taken aback at their behavior and was even more flabbergasted when they asked for seconds. Indrajit had not awakened yet, so the King and his subjects headed toward Duke Charon’s Palace.

______

Scene Shift: Duke’s meeting room

Duke Charon: So were you able to influence the masked fellow?

Demon King Vezbek: Well, yes and no. Don’t worry Duke, he is not going anywhere. You’ve got quite the Adventurer there. What Class is he currently at?

Duke Charon: I believe that he is a Class 3.

The Demon King fell off his chair and injured his spine.

Demon King Vezbek: Come on you must be kidding! Didn’t he take down a Prime Dragon?

Duke Charon: Yes, but in our town the rules are a bit different. One must complete tasks in a specific order. He does whatever he pleases.

Demon King Vezbek: I guess in a way it serves him well. A Class 3 Adventurer won’t have any specific allure. But at least give him the Class 1 post, he deserves it, sir.

Duke Charon: Sir, I have been forced to share the distilling technology our town has preserved for generations. That was Dreadneck’s condition for sending mages our way, which is a bigger headache for me than anything else as of this moment.

Demon King Vezbek: Your priorities make no sense to me. Can’t you see…

The cacophony of voices inside the room grew louder. The Artist and the twins appeared confused.

Glossary:

Brahmadanda: A variation of Brahmastra. While the latter is a destructive force, the Brahmadanda is used to protect the user. Sage Vashistha countered Sage Vishwamitra's Brahmastra during the Battle of the 10 Kings using this weapon.

Maheshwarastra: Energy from Lord Shiva's third eye stored in a weapon. Can reduce anything to cinders.

Tamasi Maya: A boon Indrajit obtained via severe penance dedicated to Lord Shiva. He can use it to formulate terrifying hallucinations which can effectively misguide and endanger the lives of his foes.

Sammohana/Pramohana: All those affected by this fall into a swoon.

The other weapons have been described within the chapter.