It was like glitter.

Pure clusters of arcane bolted down like mini-meteorites and bust open on impact, spreading a super lightweight dust over an expansive area. This dust would scramble the mana of any living organisms, provided they were they caster’s enemies, and prevent those affected from using their mana for a short period of time. Starfall, the master spell, rendered this prideful lot of wizards useless.

They could do nothing but scream and bawl for mercy when their clothes combust into flames. In fact, everything superheated by the catastrophic vortices of fire created by Aetherflame Cataclysm would burst into flame and leave nothing but ashes. The master spell was leagues worse than a raging wildfire. Tens of thousands died by the second, until nothing but ashes remained.

The border of the entire Darkviper territory was lined with scorched land wider than stadiums used for the Olympics. Red-hot earth was all one could see. There was not a trace remaining of the Hellfire clan, not even their bones remained. But the deputy that I protected, he was there, cursed with my protection that allowed him to witness the decimation of his clansmen.

Here I was, committing a massacre, but I had yet to do something as simple as giving Solina the grievous news about her father. Doubts reared their heads into my resolve. I killed so many in the space of a few days that I feared the results of this conflict if I continued this way. Maybe Niran the Primeval was right after all, it was probably better to rule and unite Nemus through overwhelming strength instead of the back-and-forth battles. Prolonging it would just mean more lives lost.

The sight was as magnificent as it was malefic. The sad thing was that I stopped the spell prematurely. If it ran its course, I reckoned an area of Nemus probably bigger than the size of the Darkviper region would be destroyed. I looked upon my arsenal of offensive master spells with newfound fear and respect; they were certainly not playthings to use on a whim. I saw then the reason for fear and hatred towards me, a death list monster.

The shaking deputy was in my sights; I pondered what my lines should be. I expected what I said to be relayed to his clan master, and subsequently, Demon King Fyren. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if I should callously confront Fyren and settle it similar to how I settled things with the Doomhorn clan. Demons respected those with power, and thus the king of demons was the strongest of them all. If he was a monster, he would definitely be on the death list. However, I wasn’t too worried about losing to him – I was immortal, after all.

I rubbed my neck. What a pain in the ass. Let’s just take this one step at a time. Once I stood in front of the Hellfire deputy, I cast Pacify to get my message across properly. “Can you teleport?”

Despite being forcefully calmed, he shook his head in fear. His pants were soaked in urine, and he had some trouble standing up. Oh well. I summoned a flying undead warhorse. “I am the Lich God, and I have a message for you to deliver to your master and king.” Another Pacify and an Intermediate Heal set his nerves right. “Stand.”

He followed my instructions acutely and hung onto every word’s enunciation with a titan’s grip. He mounted the horse as I told him to and it floated adjacent to Dreadhoof.

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“This is my message: Submit, and I won’t annihilate the demons. Serve, and I shall consider saving your dying race from your, afflictions, by providing all the mana you could ever want. Go now, tell your master, tell your king.”

His warhorse sped off with my command. Well, that’s that. I took one last look at the mayhem in my wake. You fools… I had enough of killing, but they had to push my buttons.

Once I had enough of my self-reflection, I returned to Perseverance. Most households, or what was left of them, were back together. Security was beefed up and the place was much livelier after the prisoners were rescued.

That was great, but Solina had to know about her father. With the amount of time that I spent dealing with the Hellfire wizards, I figured someone already told her, but I forgot most adventurers were stationed outside Perseverance to help with the situation in case there was another attack.

The sun was setting, twilight reigned. Solina sat on her own, away from her assigned squad at a village a bit north of Swenrai Village but south of Perseverance.

“Hey, Lina. We should talk.” Already, she had a disconcerting air about her. I created a bench for us to sit on through Synthesis. No matter how much I thought about the easiest way to tell her, it was still astronomically difficult to free those words from my larynx’s prison. I took a deep breath, and decided to go for it. “I went ahead with search and rescue today. Lina, your father was killed on the way to their prisons.” She folded her arms, shook her head and closed her eyes in dismay. “I’m sorry, but because of how it happened, I couldn’t bring his body back.”

Solina stood up and paced about. “No. No, no, no.” She refused to believe it. The horrible feeling that her worst fear has come through was eating her alive. She rapidly rubbed her own arms in an attempt to calm down. “Deidre, please…” she sniffled and kept shaking her head, like she didn’t want me to continue.

“I know this isn’t the best time, Lina. But I don’t want you to live in that house by yourself. It’s,” I stood up and held her hands to somewhat calm her, “your choice, really, but I hope maybe Tina or Adam could stay with you. Of course, you’re welcome to stay with me for as long as you like, just say the word. It’s okay if you’d like some time for yourself, but please don’t stay alone for too long.” I hugged her. “Think about it, okay?”

I let go of her and was about to leave, but she held onto my wrist weakly. Poor girl. We hugged again, and her endless sobbing felt like torture as she released her tears right on my shoulder and assailed my ears. It really hurt to see Solina of all people break down like that. I knew deep down that she had her fair share of hardships; I could see it in her eyes when she would totally blank out, as if her mind was in another plane of existence. Her constant happy-go-lucky nature reminded me of Isaac. He hid his pain so well that unless you spent copious amounts of time with him, you’d never know the troubles that plagued him. Solina was like that, and despite the fact that Tina and Adam basically spent time with her like I spent with Isaac, they never spoke, or even hinted at her past.

Why is it always the ones that act the happiest? I wondered, peering at her eyes dyed red from tears.

A few days after, reinforcements arrived to Perseverance, so the mercenaries’ job was done and most of the adventurers could return home. Solina could finally hold the rites of death for her father. It was the first of many that I would attend. The Warrior Guild’s trainer had a headstone decorated with flowers and blessed with liquor. His first sword as a newbie adventurer which he took good care of was placed against the headstone by Solina. Although, it was just a replica, she kept the real thing at home and considered it an heirloom. I enchanted both the real thing and the duplicate so they’d stand the test of time.

Many adventurers who knew him spoke of his wit, merits, and grounded character. He was every newbie warrior’s favorite trainer. The good things said about him only solidified the fact that he was gone. It was a dark time, complemented by overcast skies.

However, a bright column of light appeared next to his headstone, the same beam of light that foreshadowed a Ray of Sol.