In the Highgrove Cellar…

Ice crystals mounted at each corner smoulder faintly, cooling the air to a frigid stillness. Casks, heavy with the scent of fine wine and old wood, line aisles stained red with blood and half-eaten Giant Rat corpses. It’s a grim, grotesque sight… a fucked up mess.

Following the trail of bloodstains brought us here, and we aren’t alone. Guttural, demonic growls echo through the aisles. Imps.

Unlike the thralls we faced earlier, these demons aren’t under the Shadow Fiend’s direct control. They’re scavengers – opportunists feeding on the dead and dying. Barely larger than a child, but deadly in numbers. And where there’s one… there are always more lurking nearby.

The trail of blood ends abruptly just past the door, marking the last stand of Roderic and his crew of beginner adventurers… as well as the workers they were escorting. Rae and Celia – whoever they were – met their end here. I can see what’s left of them now – scraps of armour, shattered weapons, and the remnants of their bodies scattered in puddles of wine and broken wood. Oh, Rinnah…

Imps love the taste of human flesh. And now, they’re coming for us. Emerging from the shadows of shattered casks and splintered aisles… their beady eyes glint with ravenous hunger. Hooves scrape against the stone floor while claws, slick with blood and gore, gleam maliciously in the dim light.

There’s five... ten... twelve… damn! There are way too many. They could easily overwhelm us in seconds, drowning us in a demonic tide of claws and teeth. Yet they hesitate, shifting uneasily. Their hunger is clear as day… but so is their reluctance. They sense something.

Oho! I see! They’re afraid. Maybe it’s me. Imps can sniff out Mana the same way hounds catch the scent of blood, and right now… I’m radiating enough to make them wary. And that’s good – fear is a weapon we can wield.

“Let’s take the initiative,” I whisper to Anna, raising my hand to empower her with my Divine Blessing. “We’ll hit them hard before they decide to swarm us.”

“Understood. Rinnah, I trust in you… let not my enemies overcome me in my hour of peril…”

We charge together, the wide arc of Anna’s claymore Ascalon and my Holy Fire cutting through the imps like a scythe through wheat. The first wave goes down before the others can react, their bodies collapsing in heaps of smouldering flesh. Frenzied shrieks fill the air as the survivors surge forward, desperate to overwhelm us.

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They target Anna, their claws scraping against her armour while the protective light of her Sanctuary shields her from the worst of their strikes. She fights back fiercely, Ascalon flashing as it cuts through Imp after Imp. Meanwhile, I stay close, channelling Heal on her, focusing my restorative magics into rays of white and blue light that keep her steady and strong.

The room descends into chaos, but we hold our ground. For every claw that rakes her armour, another Imp falls… and my Heal restores her strength. Eventually, the demonic tide slows down… then stops entirely. When the last of them crumples to the floor and fizzles away, the cellar falls silent once more, save for our ragged breaths.

“Too late for Rae and Celia,” I mutter bitterly, staring at the broken weapons and scraps of armour. “Fuck!”

Anna, winded but resolute, wipes blood from Ascalon. Her armour is battered and stained, and her exhaustion is plain. Still, she nods at me, determined.

“We may be too late to save them, but we can still avenge them,” I say firmly. “We’ll kill that Shadow Fiend.”

“No matter what comes next, I’m with you,” Anna replies, her voice steady. “What’s our next move?”

“Lemme see…”

I close my eyes and cast Clairvoyance. The light, what little of it exists down here, reveals a door across the room, leading to what looks like a waste disposal chamber. Beyond that, steps descend into pitch-black darkness – likely leading to the Warrens. No light, no guarantee of safety… just more lesser demons waiting in the shadows alongside the Shadow Fiend.

“There’s a way down through that door,” I say, pointing. “It’s filthy and dark, but it’s our path forward. You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, Arisa.”

“Good. Let me…”

“Save your Mana,” Anna interrupts with a small smile. “I’ll light the way forward.”

With a snap of her fingers, she conjures a Candlelight. It blazes momentarily, then stabilises into a silvery orb that hovers between us, casting a steady and bright glow across the room… illuminating a circle as wide and far as Ascalon’s lethal arc.

“Let’s do our best,” Anna says, her voice resolute. “Stay close to me, Arisa. Let’s go.”

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Later, in the Highgrove Warrens…

Darkness, thick and suffocating, recedes inch by inch as Anna’s Candlelight casts its silvery glow. The grim scene unfolds, step by step – Giant Rat corpses strewn across the filth… their flesh reeking of demonic taint.

There’s only one path ahead. These ancient aqueducts were designed to funnel waste, nothing more. Narrow walls and low ceilings leave just enough space for a worker to clear blockages – or for a blade to swing freely in tight quarters.

We barely make it a few paces before encountering more imps. They’re gorging themselves on the bloated corpses of giant rats, their sharp teeth tearing into putrid flesh. Unlike the ones upstairs, these bastards don’t hesitate. Something darker drives them – an evil presence lurking in the shadows.

Not the Shadow Fiend… no, this feels different. Could it be an Imp Master pulling their strings? As each Imp falls, a sinister unease creeps closer. Something is watching. Something is waiting. And from the shadows…