Anzu was on the brink of exhaustion, his body bleeding from nearly every orifice. For weeks, he had pushed himself through rigorous training in the depths of Pandemonia, where only the most formidable demons and fearsome beasts dared to tread.

The cavern around him was sprawling and vast. Magma flowed in rivulets of molten orange, casting a malevolent glow upon the rugged, obsidian walls. A suffocating heat hung heavy in the air, making it difficult to breathe. Despite this, several shadowy ravens stalked the area, no doubt Amuria’s work. The birds always served as her eyes and ears.

In front of Anzu was a wraith dragon. Though it did not have wings like the dragons that roamed the mortal world, it was no less majestic than its living kindred. Its skeletal body was shrouded in an ethereal, semi-translucent aura of magic. Its empty eye sockets seemed to be able to track movement as though they were truly capable of sight.

The wraith dragon lunged at Anzu with a deafening roar. Its skeletal form driven by an insatiable hunger for combat. Anzu's instincts kicked in, and he managed to evade the dragon's deadly charge just in time with a desperate leap to the side. However, the relentless monster pivoted with chilling speed, and with a single sweep of its tail, it smashed Anzu against the walls of the cavern.

The impact unleashed a torrent of rocks and rubble on top of Anzu, threatening to bury him alive. Yet, as Anzu drew upon more of his inner strength, he unleashed an electric shockwave that reduced the rubble around him to powdery dust, allowing him to emerge, bruised and battered, but unbowed.

The wraith dragon, however, showed no mercy, launching itself at Anzu once again. He managed to dodge the dragon’s attacks for some time, but soon, his battered body was stretched to its limit. While his guard was low, the wraith dragon impaled Anzu through the chest with its tail. He let out a gasp full of blood as the dragon raised him higher and higher on his tail, before slamming him against the ground over and over again.

As Anzu was repeatedly slammed against the ground, he was reminded of the pain and humiliation he suffered when he fought against Alza. He was too weak, and he hated himself for it. He only wished to prove himself to his Father, that he still had worth even though he was far from the line to the throne, that he was still part of a noble lineage. All he needed to do was awaken the power that had always been his birthright.

As the wraith dragon finished slamming Anzu to the ground, it opened its jaws and lowered its head, preparing to consume him whole. Yet, as the dragon’s head neared his body, a sudden surge of crackling lightning surged from Anzu’s body, The lightning soon intensified, splitting into cascading arcs that forced even the wraith dragon to fall back as electric energy began to shatter its bony body.

As the electric cacophony reached its peak, an explosion of arcane energy erupted from Anzu’s prone form, knocking back the wraith dragon onto its back. From the debris emerged a fearsome, beast-like figure.

***

Amuria had been quietly watching things unfold all this time, from the comfort of her bedroom. She watched from the eyes of her ravens, each one shared their vision with her, forming a much bigger picture in her mind.

She cracked a smile when she saw Anzu finally awaken his ascended form. Such power was out of reach for the vast majority of demons, except for those belonging to the noble lineages. She had always expected that one day, the youngest of the demon princes might finally awaken their strength. Today was that day.

Anzu had morphed into a giant horned wolf. Arcane lightning coursed through every sinew, illuminating his form in a dazzling display of raw energy. His black fur seemed to crackle and shimmer with electric might. In his ascended form, Anzu was easily the same size as the wraith dragon he was fighting.

With a furious howl, Anzu charged towards the wraith dragon with blistering speeds. He slammed into the wraith dragon’s body with a resounding boom of a thunderclap. The dragon could only flail helplessly as it was slammed against the cavern wall. The impact was so strong that molten magma poured out, engulfing both Anzu and the dragon.

Despite this, neither side seemed to care for the plumes of magma that engulfed them, both resumed combat as if nothing was hindering them even in the slightest. The wraith dragon tried to sink its jaws into Anzu. But with a sudden shockwave of lightning, he was able to repel the dragon with ease.

Anzu then charged towards the dragon, with crackling electricity emanating from his jaws. He soon locked his jaws around the dragon’s neck, biting through it with a loud crunch. But he did not stop there. As the dragon flailed and thrashed about, Anzu discharged another explosive burst of lightning, reducing the wraith dragon to nothing and scarring the landscape.

Amuria’s view, however, was abruptly interrupted as several of her ravens were caught in the blast. She breathed out an annoyed sigh after the fact. She would have to bear the responsibility of bringing her younger brother back. She closed her eyes and vanished into a cloud of ravens.

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She tried to recall exactly where her brother was. Soon enough, she manifested herself in the same cavern that Anzu was in, pieced together by her shadowy ravens which transported her to her destination.

Unfortunately for Amuria, the moment she materialized in front of her brother, he did not seem to recognize her. With a resounding howl, Anzu unleashed a searing lance of lightning aimed directly at Amuria. The electrifying beam tore through the space, its blinding brilliance striking her with pinpoint precision. Upon impact with the beam, however, Amuria's form appeared to disintegrate into countless ebony feathers, each one transforming into a raven that took flight and scattered throughout the cavern.

It seemed that her brother was not yet capable of controlling his true form, it was of no matter, she just needed to calm him down. Amuria manifested just behind Anzu. Once he noticed that she was there, he growled and prepared to charge at her.

Yet, with a flick of her wrist, Amuria conjured hundreds of shadowy ravens from thin air. The birds swarmed Anzu’s head, causing him to thrash around wildly, trying to swat away the offending creatures in vain.

With a snap of her fingers, Amuria caused every single raven which swarmed Anzu to combust into black flames. The barrage of explosions continued for several minutes without stopping for even a moment.

Amuria did not want to kill Anzu, not even in the slightest. But she would need to weaken her brother before she could bring him back from his ascended form. As black flames battered her brother’s body and ate at his flesh, she couldn’t help but marvel at what she saw. Anzu kept thrashing and howling about as if his stamina did not deplete even in the slightest. Perhaps he might stand a chance at bringing back their eldest sister after all.

***

When Anzu awoke, he found himself in his bed, Amuria seated at a chair nearby.

"What…happened?" Anzu muttered weakly.

Amuria let out an amused snort. "Congratulations, brother, you finally managed to awaken your ascended form."

"I…don’t remember that well, all I know is that I was fighting that wraith dragon."

"You were, and then once you were on the brink of defeat, you managed to unleash your true power."

"I did?"

"You should be able to feel it now, brother, that primal wellspring of power that you can feel deep within your soul."

"Yes…I do feel…different. It’s as if there is another pool of energy, I can feel from within my body."

"Excellent, you are now like the rest of us." Amuria said.

"Perhaps with this, I can push Alza closer to her limit." Anzu said as he looked at himself briefly.

"I don’t doubt it. I expect to see much better results from you next time."

Anzu let out a weary stare towards Amuria. "I just hope that I don’t push Alza too hard, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her ascended form before, and I don’t want to imagine it."

Amuria chuckled. "Believe it or not, brother, Alza doesn’t even have an ascended from. Or I suppose I should say, she hasn’t unlocked the ability to do so yet."

"But how is that possible? I thought she was supposed to be the strongest out of all the demon princes?" Anzu asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"In her true, demon form, Alza is the strongest out of all of us. She never once lost a battle, except against…him." Amuria spat, the ground trembling in response to her unbridled rage.

Anzu quickly moved to assuage his sister’s anger. "Amuria, with all due respect, let’s…try to keep things reasonable, yes?"

Amuria sighed. "Right, my apologies."

"You know, I don’t think I ever actually got to see Sister Alza’s full power firsthand." Anzu said, hoping to divert the topic of conversation.

"That’s because she didn’t have time to waste with weaklings." Amuria said, a smug grin etched on her visage.

"I’d appreciate it if you would educate me rather than insult me, sister." Anzu said.

"Very well, take a look up there, Anzu." Amuria raised her right index finger high to the sky. In the distance, there was a large sphere which floated far above the ground. If one squinted enough, they could see that the sphere seemed to be formed out of rock and chunks of soil.

Anzu raised an eyebrow. "Isn’t that just one of the moons we have here in Pandemonia?"

"You are correct, that is our third moon." Amuria said.

"And you are telling me this because?"

"Pandemonia used to not have moons, brother, and they are not natural occurrences. They were artificial creations."

"No…you can’t mean." Anzu muttered in disbelief.

"Alza made all of the moons in Pandemonia, brother." Amuria said with pride. "And she dedicated the third one to me, as a gift."

"How…did I not know this before?"

"Oh don’t blame yourself too much for not knowing, it’s not something many people would even care to ask."

"But still, I didn’t know it was even possible for demons to do something as ridiculous as creating a moon to begin with."

"I could barely believe it myself at first when Alza told me about it."

"I see why you admire her so much, Amuria."

"Of course, she was the perfect exemplar for all demon kind. Father is still stronger than Alza in terms of raw power, but if I had to choose someone to follow, it would be her."

"Are…you allowed to say that?" Anzu asked.

Amuria shrugged her shoulders. "Oh please, father knows how I feel towards Alza, he doesn’t really mind."

"Right…well, if we are done here, I suppose I’ll take my leave." Anzu said as he prepared to get up from his chair.

"Wait just a moment, brother, I think you are forgetting something very crucial."

"What?"

Amuria sighed. "We are going to meet with the others soon, don’t you remember?"

Anzu scratched the back of his head. "We are?"

"By the dead gods you are hopeless." Amuria muttered as she face-palmed. "We were going to discuss our plans for dealing with Alza, remember?"

"Didn’t we already discuss our plans before?" Anzu asked.

"Not in complete detail."