With a flash of light Lizzy appears beside me and instantly all their mounts start trying to back away. It is only from the cursing of the riders that I realize the other four behind him are also summoned. Looks like they made an evil party, maybe because I killed some of the heroes.

'Lizzy, the mounts are yours, I will handle the riders.'

Lizzy 'Okay!'

Lizzy lets out a sinister sounding hiss and the enemy mounts all try to turn and run. Unable to regain control of their mounts, the five heroes dismount and let them run. Lizzy takes off so fast that even I have trouble tracking her movements.

A few seconds later there is a high pitched squeal as the first mount dies. Meanwhile I start walking towards the heroes with the naginata in hand. Not only are their weapons all possessed by shadow demons but I can sense that each of them is host to a shadow demon.

Marcadus yells "Die monster!"

He jumps forward and tries to impale me with his lance, but I simply swing the naginata. It cuts through the lance like butter and kills the shadow demon inside of it. Marcadus just stands there staring as his weapon turns to dust in his hands.

"Is that all you've got?"

Taking a few steps I move through the heroes swinging only at their weapons. I almost trip over my own feet because I wasn't expecting to move so fast. It is only then that I remember the Anti-Hero title I got and that it increases my speed.

As their weapons all turn to dust the heroes panic and try to run away, all going in different directions. I am in no mood to show mercy so I chase down each one and cut them down. Once the other four are dead I turn my attention to Marcadus and easily catch up to him.

Instead of cutting him down I simply trip him and watch as he falls on his face. Instead of getting up to face me he tries to crawl away, he is crying like a baby. Seeing Lizzy returning I decide to finish Marcadus and with a single swing of the naginata I take his head off.

10 Rank 1 Shadow Demons defeated! 10,000 Exp gained!

5 Rank 1 Shadow Beasts defeated! 5,000 Exp gained!

5 Heroes defeated! 500 Exp gained!

'So, Lizzy, how was the summon? Better than a portal?"

Lizzy 'Yes, much! I didn't feel anything at all, one second I was in the stable, the next I was here.'

'That's good, but it only works one way. I can't send you back to Illium without having you go through the portal.'

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Lizzy 'Sure you can! Just go through the portal and then summon me! By the way, where are we?'

'We are just outside the capital of the kingdom, it is currently overrun with shadow demons.'

Lizzy 'Oh, that's why those beasts tasted so weird!'

'Yeah, sorry about that.'

Lizzy 'It's fine, it's better than sitting around in the stable.'

As I am thinking of what to do with Lizzy I suddenly notice the sky getting lighter. It is far too early for dawn so I look towards the city only to see it glowing. I quickly fly up for a better look only to find the city walls and the lines in the city glowing a dark purple.

"Un, Krenocia, what's going on?"

Krenocia says "The spell is activating!"

"But how? No humans have entered the city!"

Krenocia says "I have no idea, but it is obvious they found something to sacrifice."

"Wait, could they sacrifice shadow demons?"

Krenocia says "Well, I suppose so? Maybe."

"Alright, how do I stop it?"

Krenocia says "You have to destroy enough of the lines to destabilize the spell."

Before Krenocia is even done explaining I have thrown myself into a dive at one of the lines of rubble. Me landing without slowing down turns a section of the line into a crater, but doesn't even hurt me. I quickly repeat this a few more times but I quickly realize the glow is just getting brighter.

"Why isn't it working?"

Krenocia says "I don't know! It should have fallen apart already!"

"The energy is all gathering in the center. That is unholy energy right?"

Krenocia says "Yes, why??"

Without answering I again throw myself into the air but this time I fly straight to the center of the spell. The glow in the center is a lot brighter than anywhere else, the energy is so thick it is almost touchable. As I land in the dead center of the spell I take a deep breath and brace myself then cast Holy Light.

As soon as the two energies touch there is a massive explosion with me sitting dead center. The odd thing is I don't feel any pain, only an immense pressure for a second and then nothing. I quickly check myself over, half worried I just killed myself, but everything seems to be fine.

It is only as I look around that I realize something is very wrong, there is no longer a city around me. Instead there is nothing but a dark twisted landscape like something out of a nightmare. While I can see just fine, there is no light source that I can find, this doesn't look like anywhere I've seen before.

"Krenocia? Krenocia!!"

Krenocia says "Ash! There you are! What the blazes were you thinking?!?"

"Hold off on the scolding for now. Can you tell me where I am?"

Krenocia says "Oh, it looks like you somehow blasted yourself into the shadow plane!"

"What?! Alright, how do I get out?!"

Krenocia says "To be honest, I'm not sure. I don't know much about the shadow plane."

"Well, do you know anything about planer travel?"

Krenocia says "Sorry, no."

"Can you talk to any of your followers like this?"

Krenocia says "Yes, but they tend to freak out when I do."

"Good, contact Myria. Have her teleport to the tower and ask Yui about planer travel. Then she can tell you and you can tell me."

Krenocia says "Alright, but it may take some time."

"That's fine, I will just explore a little while I wait."

Krenocia says "Be careful!"

"Aren't I always?"

The last thing I hear is her grumbling then the communication cuts off. Since I have no idea where I am I just pick a direction and start walking. It doesn't take long for some of the odd shadows in the area to start moving towards me.

As they get closer they shift until they resemble humanoid figures, there are dozens of them. They are coming from all directions so I take a stance and when they are close enough I start spinning the naginata. Anything it's blade touches lets out a scream and turns to ashes.