Ren closed the portal after Glastor had fallen through and before the pliers had entered completely. “Damn, I really liked these.” He said and picked the handles up and stored them, then cast another portal 30 feet up. Glastor appeared and fell from there and down to the ground. He hit the ground hard and everyone saw that he had 3 of the Void creatures attached to him by their mouths. Ren took out his pistol and shot the creatures, who screamed for an instant and dissolved from the Light and Anti-void enchanted bullets.

“You... bastard.” Glastor stared daggers at Ren and sat up. “Do you know what...”

“Yes, and guess where I'll send you again if you dare come after my people.” Ren said. “It won't be for just a couple of seconds, either.”

“I wasn't gone for seconds!” Glastor exclaimed.

“It was only seconds here.” Ren said and smiled. “So, are you done? Are you ready to play your trump card yet?”

“Yes.” Glastor spat at him and stood up. “I wanted to save this for when I had you on the ropes, then I was going to destroy you and take your head.”

“Ha. You're funny.” Ren said.

Glastor took something small out of inventory and hung it around his neck, and Ren identified it.

Talisman of Ordinariness (Rare) This talisman makes everything within its area of effect ordinary. All special weapons, magic armor, spells, enchantments, etc. become the standard versions instead.

For example: A Master level Fireball spell becomes a Beginner Level 1 Fireball. A sword that grants Swift Strike and is Sharp to cause extra damage, becomes a basic sword with no bonuses. An item with an enchantment acts as if it didn't have the enchantment, etc.

Durability: N/A

Area of Effect: Personal Aura of Owner

“Tell me you found that in an ancient temple.” Ren asked pointed at it as he lost the Angered condition.

“Yes, with the Minor Demon's help.” Glastor said, and Ren laughed. “What's so funny?”

“We have the same trump card!” Ren laughed and laughed, then bent over and guffawed.

“Is it really that funny?” Someone in the crowd asked.

“Hooo. Hoo.” Ren stopped laughing and stood up straight.

“You really are crazy, aren't you?” Glastor asked.

“I've spent so much time prepping and preparing to spring a surprise on you, and I was so worried about affecting everyone around me because my basic Aura is so big... and here you are doing it for me, and your Aura is only 20 feet wide!” Ren grinned at him. “Yours can't even reach the front row seats because of the barrier!”

Glastor dismissed Ren's amusement as a false front and equipped a basic sword and shield. “Get ready to be pummelled.”

“I sincerely doubt that.” Ren said and stored the backpack and all the other attachments on his armor. Then he stored all of his other equipment except for the Beetle Crown Ring.

“See you later, Ren.” Teepo said. “Kick his ass.”

“Oh, I will.” Ren said as Teepo dissolved into the ring. Ren stored the ring and his armor, which left him in just his underwear, and he heard a bark of laughter and felt a strong spike of amusement from his support section. He quickly glanced that way and saw Gretchen's face flush red.

“Why do you keep turning your head away?!?” Glastor asked and charged forward. He moved really slowly, now that he was only normal, and Ren easily dodged out of the way long before Glastor could swing his sword.

“Well, it's simple really.” Ren said. “I'm not that concerned over you now.”

Glastor grimaced at him, and tried to charge again.

Ren easily rolled out of the way and moved off to just outside the limit of Glastor's Aura. “When the Sage of Ages told you that you needed to get by my enchantments and defenses, you dismissed it as if it was going to be easy.” He said. “I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I can see why you weren't bothered by that idea.”

“Stay still!” Glastor said and stored the sword and shield and pulled out a bow and arrow. He tried shooting it and it flew off to the right.

Ren didn't even have to dodge. “When I received the same talisman, a really good friend told me something very important at the time. It was just an odd sentence while we talked, and I didn't realize the significance of it until much later.”

Glastor shot two more arrows and came close to Ren. “I suppose you're going to enlighten me.”

“Yes, actually.” Ren said gave him a big smile and equipped a basic iron shield. “She told me that while wearing that talisman, I wasn't a King, or an Artificer, or anything else.” He smiled. “I was just me.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Glastor asked and stored his practically useless bow and took out an iron sword and iron shield again.

“You see, she was right.” Ren said and didn't try to dodge as Glastor ran over to him and swung at him with the sword. He blocked the sword with his shield and deflected it. “I'm not a King or an Artificer right now.”

*Clang* *Clang*

Glastor looked like he was sweating a little from attacking, so Ren stepped back a couple of steps to give him a rest. The sword Glastor was using was pitted and dented on its edge from hitting the shield, but the shield itself wasn't even scratched.

“So... what.” Glastor panted.

“Well, if I'm not a King or an Artificer, I can't use those abilities.” Ren said and smiled. “I also don't have their restrictions.”

Glastor was surprised, as was everyone else, when Ren equipped a basic iron longsword.

“Being normal is awesome!” Ren said and stepped forward and swung at Glastor's shield. The longsword cut through the top of the iron shield like a hot knife through butter and sheered it off.

“Wh-what...”

“You better parry!” Ren said and swung the sword again. Without his abilities, he couldn't fight with techniques from the game; but, because of his perfect memory recall, he knew how to fight on his own without the game's help.

Glastor raised his sword and tried to knock Ren's sword aside, and Ren's sword bit into the edge of Glastor's and cut an inch off the whole side of the blade, all the way down to the hilt. The piece of iron fell to the ground and Glastor stared at it. Ren chuckled and cut the other side of the blade off and made Glastor's sword into a practice sword that had no cutting edge.

“How are you doing this?” Glastor asked and tossed the useless sword aside and took out a broadsword.

“I'm a Master Blacksmith when I'm not normal.” Ren said and swiped at the broadsword and cut the tip off. “I've been making weapons for years.” He said and swiped at Glastor's broadsword again and cut off 3 more inches. “I haven't learned how to make Legendary weapons yet, but I can fold and forge metal with my eyes closed.”

Glastor watched in shock as Ren cut more and more of the broadsword away.

“Normally, once you fold metal a dozen times, it pretty much gets formed into a perfect mixture and folding it after that, makes no difference to the metal's strength.” Ren explained. “However, this world isn't normal. There's magic involved. I had forgotten this several times while I forged and folded metal up to 50 times to create better things, and you know what? The metal got stronger and had higher Durability.”

Glastor tossed the broadsword hilt aside and took out another sword and equipped another shield.

“So I got to thinking.” Ren said and swung at the shield Glastor held and cut the top off of it. “What if I folded it a hundred times?” He asked and swiped at the sword and cut the tip off. “A thousand times? Or ten thousand times? What would that metal be like?”

Glastor could do nothing while Ren talked and cut another sword into pieces.

“The metal would be awesome, right?” Ren asked and stopped swinging his sword to give Glastor a break. “Well, I didn't stop at ten thousand.” He said and equipped a set of armor that looked just like his platinum armor, except it was only iron, just like the sword and shield he held. “This is the official debut of metal that's been forged and folded one million times.”

Glastor's mouth dropped open in shock at that, as did most of the crowd in the arena. Ren couldn't feel their shock and awe, mainly because he was only normal at the moment; but, he could see it in their eyes and on their faces.

“So, do you get it now?” Ren asked and turned to look at the crowd. “This isn't a high class or expensive armor that's unique or singular like my platinum armor. It's just basic iron.” He said. “All it took to make was time and patience.”

“Behind you!” Someone yelled.

Ren stayed facing the crowd as Glastor took out yet another sword and swung it at his neck. The blade seemed to move in slow motion as it arced through the air. Glastor grinned widely as the sword found its mark and impacted on the weakest part of Ren's defenses... and then the blade broke and shattered. Everyone in the arena and watching on the screens were once again shocked at this.

“I think I felt a tickle.” Ren said and turned back to Glastor.

“But... but... your neck... I hit your neck!” Glastor muttered but everyone heard him.

“Yeah, about that.” Ren said and stored his helm. “I guess it's time I told you how I secured the top three spots on the XP leader board.” He said. “I actually maxed out my character level recently.”

A lot of people expressed disbelief, some called him an outright liar, and others were too stunned by everything to react at all.

“A few choice people know this already.” Ren said and glanced over at his support section.

“You keep ignoring me!” Glastor nearly yelled as he jumped and tackled Ren. A gasp and more disbelief went through the crowd as the two men tumbled to the ground. Ren had stored his shield and sword instantly before they landed, then the two men rolled over and ended with Glastor on top, and he made fists and started to punch Ren in the face.

“It's... because... you're not... worth... bothering about.” Ren said between punches, then he raised his hands and caught both of Glastor's. “You must have put all your spare stat points into Strength.”

“How did you...”

“I almost felt those punches.” Ren said and sat up, which pushed Glastor off of him.

Glastor tried to pull away from Ren's grip, and couldn't.

“My turn.” Ren stood up and smiled pleasantly at the look of fear on Glastor's face. He let one of Glastor's hands go and rabbit-punched the arm of the hand he still held.

“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!” Glastor grunted each time as Ren punched his way up the arm to the shoulder.

“I call it the Meat Tenderizer.” Ren said and let Glastor's hand go. The arm flopped down to his side, completely useless. Ren did the other arm before Glastor could react and it hung limply as well. “You really should concede the duel.”

“N-never!” Glastor said, then yelled as Ren grabbed him by the chest flipped him over, and slammed him into the ground. It knocked the wind out of Glastor, and he laid there in the dirt and tried to catch his breath.

“Come on. You've lost.” Ren said. “Just give up.”

“K-kill me if you dare!” Glastor spat. “You'll see what happens when-URK!”

Ren stepped on his neck and pressed down. “I don't need to kill you. If I wanted you dead, I would have just shot you when you became normal.”

Glastor and everyone in the arena stared at him.

“What? Did you think I wouldn't make normal bullets?” Ren asked and laughed. “I planned on being normal myself, remember?”

Glastor's face turned blue as Ren choked him with his foot for nearly a minute, then Glastor tapped the foot on his neck and submitted.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Notice! PvP Mode: Duel has ended.

Ren removed his foot from Glastor's throat and stepped back.

Notice! You have defeated your opponent Glastor Killdane. Because your levels are so vastly different, no rewards have been awarded.

I don't quite agree with that. Ren thought, and then shrugged slightly. It ended with us fighting normally, but I guess we're still technically at the levels we were before.

“You beat me.” Glastor said and shook his head. “You beat me at my own game.”

“I suggest you practice more with shooting a bow and arrow before trying to do it without any skills to assist you.” Ren said and held a hand down to him.

“Wow, you're either crazy or really stupid.” Glastor said and stared at the offered hand. “We just fought a duel, which would have been to the death if I'd won.”

“I know.” Ren wiggled his fingers. “You had fun, didn't you?”

“Definitely stupid.” Glastor said and took the hand, and Ren lifted him to a standing position as if he weighed nothing. “You put all your points into Strength, too.”

Ren chuckled and didn't answer. “Say, can I borrow that for a minute?” He asked and pointed to the Talisman of Ordinariness.

Glastor put is hand around it to stop Ren from taking it. “I'm not that stupid.” He said. “I'm not giving you my most valuable item!”

Ren waved his hands in a clear no gesture. “Breaking it now wouldn't do either of us any good.” He said. “Assuming it can be destroyed, I mean.”

Glasor opened his hand and looked at the talisman. “What do you want it for?”

“An experiment.” Ren said. “I give you my word that I won't steal it, or alter it, or damage it in any way.”

“You just expect me to take your word for that?”

Ren took out his special iron shield and held it out to Glastor. “You can hold this while I have your talisman.”

“You're giving me a shield that can deflect probably every weapon that exists?” Glastor asked, surprised.

“I'm not giving it to you. I'm borrowing your item and you're holding this one for ransom to get the item back.” Ren said.

Glastor thought about it for a few moments. “I'd rather have the sword as collateral.”

Ren chuckled and stored the shield, took out the sword and flipped it in the air to grasp the hilt in the opposite direction, and held the handle out to Glastor, who slipped the talisman off of his neck and held it out. They each reached with their other hands and grasped the other's item, and let go.

Glastor's arm acted like a pivot as the sword's tip dropped to the ground and dug in almost a foot before it stopped, and he stared at the sword. “What the hell? I... I can't lift it!”

“Yeah, folding it a million times made it super-dense.” Ren said and walked away from Glastor and stopped 21 feet away. He felt everyone's emotions again and felt his own powers and abilities come back into play. “Oh, yeah. That's so much better.”

Everyone watched in fascination as Ren turned back to the edge of Glastor's Aura and held the talisman in the palm of his hand right next to it. He put his other hand on top of the talisman and activated his Duplicate Magic Item ability, then started to move his hand like he had a stack of money and 'made it rain'. A copy of the talisman fell into Glastor's Aura and landed on the ground, then another and another, and Ren stopped when he had 20 of them.

“Hey, it worked.” Ren said and chose the pile of talismans and stored them, then walked over to Glastor. “Thanks a lot.”

“How did you do that?” Glastor asked. “Once you made a copy for yourself, your powers should have been cancelled by it!”

“It wouldn't have worked after the first one; but, since I made them and they appeared inside your normal Aura when finished, the talisman's ability was negated by yours.” Ren said.

“So, even if you had equipped yours...”

“It wouldn't have made any difference because yours was already in play.” Ren said and handed him back his talisman. “Thanks.”

Glastor let go of the useless sword and Ren picked it up easily and stored it. “I was completely outclassed, wasn't I?” He asked and stored the talisman, and they both returned to their full selves.

Ren chuckled. “No, you had a great chance to actually do what you planned. If I hadn't found my own talisman and prepared myself to use it to it's fullest potential, I would have been at your mercy.”

Glastor nodded. “Is there any chance that...”

“Not after you threatened my friends, no.” Ren said.

“That was just trash talk during a fight.” Glastor said. “I was hyping you and everyone up so I could power my abilities.”

“Yeah, I figured that; but, it's still no.” Ren said. “I expect to get nerfed pretty bad during the next update, and I want to see if they can figure out how I did what I did, or if they are just going to grey out the items I made.”

“Damn, that sucks.” Glastor said and held out his hand. “No hard feelings?”

Ren glanced at the hand and raised his eyebrows at Glastor, who laughed.

“Damn, you're both stupid and smart.” Glastor said. “Don't get too comfy. Once I figure out how to get by your basic defenses, I'll come back.” He smiled as Ren nodded and then leaned in close. “So, what do you want me to summon?”

Ren leaned in and whispered, and Glastor jumped back.

“You can't be serious!” Glastor exclaimed.

“I'll give you any extra materials you might need; but, it's you that has to perform the spell.” Ren said. “Just tell me what you need.”

“Blood.” Glastor sighed. “Lots and lots of blood.”

“It has to be yours.” Ren said, and he nodded. “I'll keep it flowing for as long as you need and keep your Health maxed without healing you.”

Glastor sighed and took out a dagger, cut his palm, and walked around Ren in a circle. “This is going to hurt like hell.”

“Not at all.” Ren said. “I've got you covered.”

Glastor glanced at him as he finished the blood circle, then walked it again and sprinkled it with salt. His hand was already healed and he stopped by the inside edge of the large circle. He knelt down and took out several black candles and incense, snapped his fingers and lit them, and took out an ancient book.

“Ooo. I love books.” Ren said and looked over his shoulder.

“Unless you want me to rot your brain, look away right now.” Glastor said and rolled up his sleeves.

“Awwww.” Ren moaned in disappointment and turned away, and laughter rumbled from the crowd. Glastor found the right page and started to speak the magic words, and Ren felt Mana and power flow around the circle.

“I'm ready.” Glastor said, and Ren took out a small vial of numbing liquid and poured it on Glastor's wrist. Glastor was surprised by this, then when Ren took out his hammerpick and jabbed it into his wrist and held it there, he was doubly-surprised that he didn't feel a thing as blood gushed out of the wound. He was not surprised when he gained the Bleeding Profusely condition, however.

Glastor said the next part of the ritual and used the dagger he had cut his wrist with, and drew odd symbols into the dirt. Ren kept his eyes averted because he didn't want to interfere with the spell, whatever it was, and maintained Glastor's Health while allowing his blood to pool inside the blood circle. Ren had been smart and had stepped up into the air a step so that he wasn't touching the blood. When Glastor finished the incantation, there was just enough blood to fill the blood circle.

At that moment, there was a crack of thunder and the ground under the blood circle exploded.

Ren and Glastor were unharmed as the dirt and dust billowed out. Everyone in the arena, and watching the displays, were surprised when a large and imposing figure gently floated up from under the ground and into that dust cloud.

“Who DARES to summon ME?!?” A very angry woman's voice yelled into the dead silence of her arrival.

“I, Glastor Killdane, summoned you for a single purpose. To fulfill the requirements of losing a duel.”

“YOU INSULT ME!” The woman's voice screamed and Terror flowed out from her.

“Please, calm down.” Ren said as he removed the end of the hammerpick from Glastor's wrist and healed it.

The figure gasped loudly. “N-n-no! It... it can't be.” The woman said, and Ren felt her disbelief. “It can't be.”

“I assure you, it's true.” Glastor said.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” The woman's voice yelled, and Glastor clamped his mouth shut. The dust cloud started to settle, and everyone was shocked as the figure in the dust became apparent.

It was a Marilith Demon.

People screamed and hollered at the monstrous creature's appearance and started to panic and run.

“SHUT UP!” Ren commanded with his full authority and nearly everyone stopped talking. “SIT DOWN!”

The ones that had stopped talking sat down right where they were, seat or no seat. Quite a few resisted his command, however.

“What part of 'you will not be harmed' did you not understand?” Ren asked them, which lifted his 'shut up' command. “The arena floor is inside a Magical Barrier of Protection! Nothing can get in or out, so stop acting so stupidly!”

There was a general murmur that he was being harsh, and he sighed and looked up at the Marilyth Demon.

“It's really nice to see you again.” Ren said, and she frowned.

“You had me summoned.” The Marilith Demon said through gritted teeth. “I am a Greater Demon, Ren.”

“Yeah, I know. I couldn't do it myself, though. I needed to wait and find someone else to do it for me.” Ren said.

“Wh-what?”

“I didn't intend to leave you there all alone.” Ren said and took out a piece of parchment. “Please sign this.”

“What is that?”

“Well, when summoned, the creature or whatever is supposed to be offered a reward for doing a task, then they can return from where they were summoned from.” Ren said, and she nodded. “Well, I have a difficult task for you to perform; but, I also have a great reward.” He smiled. “After you're done of what I want, you can go back to Shargon Caverns.”

“Why the parchment?”

“Please, just sign it.” Ren said and held the contract out to her. “I drew this up because just having a verbal agreement could be subverted by... well, anyone... so I wanted it in writing.”

The Marilith Demon bit her thumb and leaned way down and touched her thumb to the parchment. She couldn't read a word of whatever it said, but she felt that Ren was telling her the truth. She and Ren were covered in a slight glow for a moment, then the ground under the blood circle reformed and the circle faded away.

“What just happened?” Glastor asked, a little confused.

“Your required task is done.” Ren said, kind of formally. “Thank you for completing our bargain.”

Glastor looked at him with wide eyes for a moment, then stored everything he had put out. “I hope whatever you wanted this thing for was worth it.”

“It's not your concern, but yes. It's totally worth it.” Ren said. “I'll lift the barrier when you get over to it.”

Glastor nodded and walked over to the main doors of the arena, and Ren shifted the barrier slightly and made an opening for him to leave, then shifted it back.

Ren turned to the Marilith Demon. “Now, let's discuss-UGH!”

The Marilith Demon punched him right in the face with her fist. Ren's face was mangled and blood spurted out from his nose, then he healed right away. She was surprised by this, so she punched him again, and again, and didn't stop until she had used all 6 of her fists at least twice. Ren hadn't moved or tried to defend himself, and his face was a pulped and bloody mess. A moment later, he healed and smiled at her.

“I deserved that.” Ren said, and she didn't understand why he was happy. “I'm sorry I teased you when I left you.”

“Then why...”

“I didn't want you to forget about me.” Ren said, and she looked at him with wide eyes. “I figured making you angry would keep me in your thoughts.”

“It... it did.” The Marilith Demon said and coiled her tail around herself and settled down, and Ren climbed up onto her. She cupped her upper arms automatically and Ren laid down on them. “All I thought about was getting revenge on you the next time I saw you.”

Ren chuckled and rubbed the side of her face. “That's why I said I deserved the punches.”

“So.” The Marilith Demon said. “What is this task you want me to do?”

“Didn't you read...” Ren blinked his eyes for a moment, then smiled sweetly at her. “Thank you very much for trusting me.”

The Marilith Demon's face flushed slightly red at his sincerity.

“I told you the task was going to be difficult, and it really is.” Ren said. “The reward at the end is going to be worth it, though.”

“What is the task?” She asked. “I can get started on it right away.”

“I want you to spend the rest of your life with me and the family I've built here.” Ren said, and complete silence fell across the crowd.

“Excuse me?” The Marilith Demon asked, surprised.

Ren leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You signed the contract, so you've got to complete the task to the best of your ability.” He said and grinned as he felt her disbelief. “You won't get the reward until the task is complete.”

“Great Vasalor.” The Marilith Demon whispered. “You... you've freed me.”

Ren nodded. “It's a nice little loophole, isn't it?”

“Unless I die.” The Marilith Demon said, and Ren laughed.

“You've fought hundreds of Adventurers and countless other very powerful creatures.” Ren said. “I'm not worried that you're in danger. Are you?”

“I could be summoned...”

“Nope.” Ren said and grinned. “You are magically bound to me until our pact is complete, and it can't be subverted or altered once started.”

“You... are amazing.” The Marilith Demon said.

“Only when I'm awake.” Ren joked.

“What about when you're asleep?” She asked.

“I tend to grope whoever is in bed with me.” Ren said and wiggled his fingers at her chest, and she laughed.

“I think I can live with that.” She said.

“Then it's time to get started.” Ren said and pointed across the arena. “I believe your sister is dying to greet you.”

“Wh-what?” The Marilith Demon held onto Ren and whipped around instantly to look where Ren had pointed. “LYLYTH!”

Lylyth stood up and walked down to the edge of the magical barrier.

“Go to her.” Ren said and hopped out of the Marilith Demon's arms. “I'll open the barrier when you get...”

The Marilith Demon darted across the distance and stopped at the magical barrier in less than a second.

“...there.” Ren finished and opened the barrier.

“Sister.” Lylyth said.

“Lylyth.” The Marilith Demon said and slid through the opening, then they hugged each other.

Ren closed the Magical Barrier of Protection and activated his Hands of the Gods ability Rocky Hands, with the Green Thumb option. Thanks to Shanna the Earth pixie and their year together, Ren had learned how to grow bushes, grass, and trees from the Earth he created. He put his hands down on the ground and quickly covered the entire inside of the arena with rich soil.

Ren grew grass first and everyone watched in amazement as he covered the ground with green. He made saplings sprout out of the ground every 2 feet, then grew them up and up until they were about 8 feet tall. Everyone was surprised at the sudden appearance of a forest that was just barren ground a few moments before, and then Ren walked up into the air. He had on his platinum armor, minus the helm.

“Now that I've got all of that out of the way, I need to apologize to a very special someone.” Ren said. “With all of the things I've done and accomplished, I've unintentionally let one single thing slip away from me. The more I tried to confront my feelings about what I did, the more depressed I got about it.”

Everyone watched him intently as he looked very sad.

“I kept putting it off, and the more I delayed, the worse the situation became. At the time, I wasn't that worried, because I knew I could always make up for it... and then, it became awkward. I tried talking about it, and that kind of made it worse, because I still wasn't ready to confront what I did... or rather, what I couldn't do then.”

No one knew where this was going, and then Lara, the Sage of Ages gasped loudly.

“REN! NO!”

“I'm sorry, Lara.” Ren said and changed his Hands of the Gods ability to Burning Hands. “I have to.”

“Not here!” Lara pleaded. “Not in front of everyone!”

“I can't delay any more. My heart can't take it.”

“REN!” Lara yelled as Ren shot pure Fire out of his hands. The forest below him caught fire immediately and started to burn, and because the trees were so thick and close together, the fire spread quickly.

“I pray to you, Deity of Fire.” Ren said. “I offer you this lush forest, full of life, as a sacrifice for you to hear my plea... and my apology.”

A bright red flaming portal opened 150 feet away from Ren and expanded to 100 feet across, then a humongous hand made of Fire reached through. It scooped up parts of the burning forest and pulled it into the portal until there was no forest left. All that remained was some scorched grass and torn up dirt in the 4 large furrows left from the Fire hand's fingers. Everyone stared at the devastation and then someone screamed and pointed, and they all saw the hand come back through the 100 foot portal and reach for Ren.

“REN!” Nearly everyone in his support section yelled as he was grabbed and pulled towards the portal.

Several of the dancers screamed at the sight, some in frustration, because no one could do anything because of the magical barrier. When Ren was about to be pulled into the portal, the humongous hand got stuck.

“I'm sorry, Deity of Fire.” Ren said sadly. “You can't take me there on your own.”

The humongous hand opened up and let him go, and he knelt and rubbed the hand.

“I humbly request permission to visit, and will submit myself to you as a prisoner.”

“Ren! You can't do this!” Lara exclaimed. “She's really angry!”

“I know she is.” Ren said. “She deserves to be, after I've ignored her for so long.”

“Ren!”

“She's my daughter, Lara.” Ren said, and a hush fell over the crowd. He checked the All-Seeing Mirror to make sure it was clear where he was going. “I need to see her, no matter what happens.”

Ren cast a Portal spell and it opened up into the Fire Realm. A geyser of flame, the exact size of the portal, gushed out and covered Ren. Lots of the players and people watching the screens around the country screamed and cried, especially Princess Diana at the castle and Queen Valercia in the human starter city, then Ren stepped out of the stream and waved.

“I'm okay.” Ren said and nearly everyone was surprised that he wasn't at least partially melted.

In only a few moments, the entire inside of the magical barrier was filled with flowing Fire, and no one saw the humongous hand go back through its portal or saw Ren step through the portal he had created. Ren dismissed the portal once he was through and he was inside a throne room so large he could barely see the roof. On the throne was a 1000 foot tall woman made entirely of Fire, and he knelt on one knee in her presence.

“Hello, Father.” Fire Dancer said derisively, then smiled evilly. “Welcome to Hell.”