An annoying discomfort invaded Qing's dreams of streaming glory as he dreamed of getting a world's first raid completion. He blinked awake, Ghida standing above him, hand raised.

The slap rang out across the tent as she struck him again.

"Hey!" Qing said, grabbing her hand and sitting up. "What the hell!?"

"I've been trying to wake you for ages! Cedric... he's collapsed. The portal's gone."

Qing's stomach dropped. "What? When? How long have I slept?"

"Nearly ten hours," Ghida said, her voice tight. "And things have gone to hell... well, more than usual for Hell."

Qing scrambled to his feet, but stopped and gave a jaw cracking yawn, blinking fiercely and rubbing at his eyes. "Show me," he said, and followed Ghida out of the tent.

The camp was in chaos.

Soldiers argued loudly, others seemingly gearing up to head out, while others were stripping down, looking exhausted and fearful.

Where Cedric had sat, a group now huddled. Queen Ruqiya and Jenny argued loudly, their voices rising above the din of the chaotic camp.

"We need the portal back!" Queen Ruqiya insisted, her hands crackling with electric energy. "One bolt of chain lightning and he will awake!"

Jenny's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you bloody mental? You'll kill him! We need to give him more health potions, not electrocute him!"

"We cannot spare any more health potions, you uneducated fool!" Ruqiya said. "This is war, and we need every resource we have!"

Knut, standing between the two, sighed.

Jenny's face hardened, and she raised her battle axes. "I'll cut you down where you stand before I let you kill Cedric and strand Knut here, dooming him to die in this hellhole!"

"Stand down," Qing said. "Nobody's electrocuting anyone. Stand back and let me through."

Morgan knelt by Cedric's prone form.

"Chest's moving," she said. "But he ain't waking up." She frowned at him. "Thought you might be having the same problem."

Qing knelt beside the old wizard, noting his ashen complexion. "I'm fine. Just exhausted. What happened to the portal?"

"Vanished the moment he collapsed," Jenny said.

"We're cut off, Qing," Queen Ruqiya said. "Trapped here."

A commotion near the camp's edge drew Qing's attention. Two soldiers were grappling, their comrades trying to pull them apart.

"It's been like this for hours," Ghida said, her voice low. "Cedric kept the camp hidden from the demons, but now?" She shook her head. "Jenny and Morgana just came back. An army is approaching. They're scared."

"We all are," Morgana said.

"No shit." Qing stood, his mind racing. They were stranded in Hell, cut off from reinforcements, with Magdalus's army approaching. He needed to act fast.

Qing cast his new heal on Cedric, but nothing changed.

This is going to suck, but I can't think of anything else.

Qing took a deep breath, steeling himself.

"Everyone, stand back." His voice cut through the chaos. "I'm activating Shadowsight. A rift might appear. Whatever you do, don't touch it. It leads to…" he shrugged. "It leads to the land of the dead."

They all scrambled back, though Ghida first gently squeezed his shoulder.

Qing took a deep breath, and was about to reach for the sight when Cedric's body jerked upright with an unnatural, puppet-like motion, its hand rising up.

"Halt, fool!"

A voice, ancient and gravelly, emerged from Cedric's throat, and Qing watched in horror as the old wizard's limbs twisted and contorted, bones cracking. Cedric's eyes had rolled back, revealing only whites, and his mouth gaped open unnaturally wide. "You wish to kill them all?" it continued.

"Cedric?" Qing said. "Is that you?"

"We are the Kine Ashguard."

Qing stared at the levitating body of his friend. "What have you done to Cedric?"

"We put him in stasis," the voice said. "His magic drains too fast. Without intervention, he will die."

Qing looked around at the others, before focusing on Cedric's body. "What can I do?"

"Forge him a conduit to Elrydisan."

As soon as they said it, Qing got a pop-up.

New Quest: [Forging the Soulfire Crucible]

Cedric's life hangs in the balance as his magic rapidly depletes. To save him and maintain the vital connection to Elrydisan, you must collect the necessary ingredients and forge a powerful magical conduit at the Hellforge.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

-Objective: Forge the Soulfire Crucible

-Sub-objectives:

Obtain a vial of greater demon ichor

Acquire a shard of shadowed hellstone

The essence of a damned mage's soul

-Optional Objective: Claim the Hellforge by defeating its guardian

Time remaining: 72 hours

-Reward: Cedric's survival and continued support

-Optional Reward: Ability to forge additional items in the Hellforge

The voice continued. "To restore Cedric, you must-"

"Let me guess," Qing said, interrupting. "He needs the Soulfire Crucible."

"…Yes. How did you-"

"And to make that I need a vial of yucky demon stuff, a stone I'm not going to want to touch, and somehow squeeze the juice out of some damn mage's soul. Sound about right?"

The wizard's head lolled to one side, then snapped back with mechanical precision.

"How could you possibly know?"

Qing tapped the side of his head. "Quest log."

"We do not know this word."

"Instead, tell me where I can get the items."

The Kine Ashguard's voice grew stern. "Vials of greater demon ichor can be found in the Inferno's Purgatory, or harvested from a greater demon. Shards of shadowed hellstone lies deep within the Shadow Realm. A place you do not want to go."

Qing nodded, committing the locations to memory. "And the mage's soul?"

"That... that will be the most challenging. You must find a powerful, damned mage and extract their essence. Be warned, such beings are rare and extremely dangerous. We do not know where one such may be found."

Cedric's mouth opened, but the voice that emerged carried the weight of centuries, discordant and otherworldly. "There is one more thing. The Hellforge itself is guarded by an ancient entity. Defeating it would grant you the power to forge the Crucible, but doing so will cost you. You will have to operate it yourself. You may find it better to enlist its services."

Qing's eyes narrowed. "How long do I have?"

"Three days at most. After that, Cedric's connection to Elrydisan will be severed permanently."

Qing stood, determination etched on his face. "Then I better get moving. But first. What about the barrier? How can I remove it?"

Cedric's body shook. "What barrier?"

"An angel came down and placed a barrier separating us from Darksoul Tower and a big part of Hell," Qing explained.

Cedric's body jerked violently as the ghost erupted, its voice a tempest of ancient, untamed rage. "Those thrice-damned, self-righteous chickens! Parasites, gorging on the blood of mortals while they strut and preen like holy saviours. Their greed, their endless hunger for war. Overgrown vultures waiting to sink those preened claws into carnage they orchestrate! They claim divine right, but cower behind human shields, spending our lives like water in sand, afraid of their own mortality!"

Qing blinked, taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"In Hell, even angels may die," the Kine Ashguard said, Cedric's body heaving for air. "If killed on Elrydisan, angels merely return to heaven, ready for the next fight."

"What about demons?" Qing asked. "Do they also die in Hell?"

"If slain by an angel or a human, then yes. If slain by other demons, then no. But nobody cares. Demons want to die. The number of demons in Hell is limited by Hell's energy. The more souls get sent to Hell, the more energy there is. With every apocalypse, Hell grows in strength."

Qing frowned, processing this new information. "Why?"

"You've never experienced true war, have you?" the voice asked.

Qing hesitated. "I... I guess not. No."

The voice continued, "Half the horror of the apocalypses were done by humans, seeking to conquer and raise their own status."

Another voice suddenly chimed in, "The Devil's genius was always its ability to split humanity. Never once did we manage to face an apocalypse in-"

Suddenly, Cedric's body jerked violently. "Hey! I'm speaking now. Back the fuck off."

Qing watched, bewildered, as what appeared to be an internal struggle played out within Cedric's form. After a moment, the wizard's body calmed, and a single voice emerged. "Yes! I'll speak. I'll tell him. Just-"

"Cedric said the power of demons in hell was far superior to anything a human has," Qing said, cutting them off. "That there would be no possibility of defeating a demonic army."

"Why would you listen to a want-to-be?" the voice said.

"A fake," another said.

"A thief," a third added.

Qing stared at Cedric's possessed body. "Hold on," Qing said, raising a hand. "You mean Cedric isn't one of you?"

The voices fell silent for a moment before one spoke up. "He is not."

Qing's eyes widened. "What do you mean? He's always said he was the last of the Kine Ashguard."

"Cedric was never trained by us," the voice said. "He... adopted our mantle, so to speak."

"But his power, his knowledge..." Qing said, trailing off.

"Self-taught," a third voice explained. "He travelled, read our remaining texts, pieced together what he could. But much of what he believed... was incorrect."

Qing felt as if the ground had shifted beneath his feet. He looked at Cedric's limp form with new eyes.

"So, all this time," Qing said slowly, "he's been figuring things out on his own? Without any real training or guidance?"

"Correct," the voices confirmed in unison. "You have no idea how frustrating it has been to watch him bubbling around. We've screamed at him. Invaded his dreams. Trying to guide and put him on the right path, but…"

Qing shook his head in disbelief. "That's... that's incredible. To have accomplished so much, to have become so powerful without any formal training. It's almost more impressive."

But even as the words left his mouth, Qing felt a chill run down his spine. If Cedric had been wrong about his own background, what else might he have been mistaken about?

He took a deep breath, steadying himself before addressing the Kine Ashguard once more.

"Cedric said there was no chance for humanity to fight a demonic army. That the demons we faced in Elrydisam were mere children, and that we would be washed away by the power of true demons."

The voices emanating from Cedric's body chuckled, a discordant sound that sent shivers down Qing's spine. "Untrue. Look at yourself and Cedric compared to humans," one voice said. "To them you are like gods."

"As with humanity, demons have their champions, though they are far from heroic," another voice chimed in.

Qing nodded. "I met the Alchemancer, and-"

"Stay the fuck away from that monster," the voices said, snapping at him in unison. "It is more powerful than you can even imagine. Whatever you do, stay away. Do not listen, do not engage."

Qing hesitated, weighing whether he should reveal what had transpired with the Alchemancer. The memory of the encounter still fresh in his mind, he decided against it. There was nothing he could do about it now, and he didn't want to have them stop talking.

Instead, he asked, "How powerful is the Devil?"

"Less so than before we locked him away," one voice replied. "A hundred mages sacrificed their life force to build the prison."

Qing frowned, confused. "I thought you were just a few people who came here?"

Cedric's body shook its head, the movement jerky and unnatural. "I told you not to listen to the fanboy. We created a portal and entered Hell. Then we held back the forces of the Devil long enough to open a portal here for reinforcements. Our waiting armies rushed in, and with an ocean of blood held the demons at bay long enough to enact our ritual, chaining the Devil down and ripping the power from him."

"Oh," Qing said. "And then what happened?"

"We died," the voices said flatly.

"All of you?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Ghida asked, stepping up to Qing.

"No energy left for the portals," the voices said, sounding weary. "Trapped here, our energy drained away, battling the demons until they slaughtered us."

"Now, go. This boy's time is running out."

Qing nodded and stepped to his friends as Cedric's body settled back down.

"How about that," Knut said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah. I-"

A notification popped up in front of Qing's view.