Once, Kaden had huddled in a rolling fortress as darkness fell, knowing that the city walls—or adventurers who guarded the fortress—were his only hope of survival. Now he welcomed the howls and growls that rose as the sun slipped below the horizon and the Time of Monsters began.

Sara had a map to where the Kalaraks had been spotted, and all they could do was hope. The map led to a low valley centered around a wide pond that reflected the stars above. Kaden used [Stealth] to creep over the valley ridge and down into the clearing.

Wolves? Yes, they ran in the distance, chased by lizard men.

Above him, dark shapes wheeled through the sky, visible only by the way they eclipsed the stars. The edge of a silver moon rose in the distance, just barely visible in the pond’s light. Kaden crept back to where Sara waited. “Nothing yet. Should we chase down the lizards?”

Sara shook her head. “It was close to dawn when they were spotted. Most night spawns will respawn. We wait.”

Within hours of nightfall, the wars betweeen spawns settled into a vicious sort of peace, disturbed only by wandering boss monsters and the rare Champion, lit by columns of light. Kaden chose to leave them, and when one wandering Gauntling came too close, they retreated, hiding in the long grass until it passed.

The moon had nearly set when a glimmer of light near the pond drew Kaden’s attention.

Kalaraks were humanoid, except they had four sets of legs. Their skin was golden like the first rays of sunlight, and their bodies were covered in long fur that rippled opposite the direction of the wind. Six eyes covered their heads, looking in every direction, and the herd itself emitted a vaporous golden mist that worked as an early warning system. At least sixty surrounded the pond, most of them standing ankle deep as they basked in the last rays of the moonlight.

Sara mimed drawing a bow.

Kaden held up a hand. Pointed to her here, and him across the valley. The herd would scatter when they were first alarmed. With Trinity and Vip, he could drive the herd toward Sara.Every step he took, [Stealth] was his guide. He ignored the gradual lightning of the sky that said dawn was coming. Slow was steady and steady was stealthy.

When he reached the other side, he summoned Trinity and Vip. Trinity alone could collapse the herd. For Vip he conveyed the thought of barking, of dashing back and forth, not charging into the pack. Trinity would take the west edge, Vip the east. Kaden would drive them into Sara’s arrow-fire.

Nerves made his hands slick, but Kaden would not fail.

He tossed a [Mana Dart] high into the sky.

The signal.

Trinity let loose a trill, a groan, and a roar as she rose from the grass to sprint forward. Vip howled in response and dashed in circles, building up speed until she threw small lighting bolts. True to Kaden’s intent, she didn’t rush in but made an arc of danger.

Kaden stalked forward, not committing to either direction as he headed straight to the center of the shallow pool. The Kalarak herd drifted back, not fleeing yet, but compressing tigher and tighter.

“Now!” Kaden screamed, hefting Remembrance.

Why was Sara not shooting? She’d lost her Mana Quiver’s physical form, but he’d seen her use it. He mentally signaled Trinity to hold off just at the edge of the herd’s vapor, and had Vip close in as well.

The sky had grown lighter.

At any moment the first rays of dawn would shine down and the Kalaraks would evaporate for the night. From across the valley, Sara emerged, swords drawn, pseudopods out as she approached.

“Shoot!” Kaden shouted as the Kalaraks began to nervously dash from side to side. And when they moved, they didn’t run as much as blip from one spot to another. Even with [Moment of Speed], Kaden wouldn’t be able to keep up.

And Sara wasn’t shooting. She moved closer and closer, until the herd became packed.

Sunlight kissed the edge of the valley.

A wolf howled, long and high—and Sara let loose a burst of lightning, not at the Kalaraks, but straight at the pool.

Kaden attacked in that moment, urging Trinity and Vip forward. [Moment of Speed] and the sheer need to kill them all gave Kaden adrenaline to swing Remembrance’s axe head, which sank into a Kalarak and stuck.

Level twenty eight, impossibly fast and built like tanks. Forget the herd, Kaden focused on one, and directed Trinity to do the same. Vip would be moral support.

Kaden’s skin crawled as Sara’s horror let loose with [Anthem of the End] and she struck another. The Kalaraks darted anywhere, everywhere, desperate to escape, and Kaden struk his with [Mana Spike] then tossed one at Sara’s. Every blow was meant to cripple, every attack aimed at the legs until his fell, and Kaden buried Remembrance in its spine.

You have slain a Kalarak.

You have gained experience.

Kaden stuffed it into Inventory and turned on Sara’s, which lay in the water, convulsing as it bled gold into the water. Three solid strikes from Remembrance killed it, too, and then Trinity’s scream of triumph told him she’d killed one.

The rest of the herd was gone.

Vip whined in frustration, too small to bring down one of the beasts.

Kaden dripped blood from his eyes, his nose, his ears. His health had dropped to half from [Anthem of the End], and Sara looked worse. But they’d killed three of them. “Essences. Their loot is essences, but I’m not going to harvest them. We’ll drop the entire carcasse off for Mr. Dervish.”

Sara’s lip trembled and her voice cracked as she spoke. “I tried. The plan was to shoot them, but I couldn’t make [Mana Quiver] work. Lightning arrows would have slaughtered them. All I had to do—”

Kaden caught her and pulled her close, not for a kiss, but a hug. “You did great. We got three. Three’s better than none. Three will be enough.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

It would have to be.

“Is it wrong to say I miss Trella?” Sara asked. “I hate being the most clever one around. Eve is far more intelligent, but she doesn’t laugh. She doesn’t joke or see the joy in the small things, like, having my Horror devour a hornet’s nest just because it tickles.”

“It would be wrong not to. You’re Party Leader. You’re legally obligated to miss people. You probably even miss Wren.”

“Wren is happier without us. It’s odd that her tower still shows as inhabited, but maybe she wasn’t ready to leave, even if she wasn’t ready to stay. Let’s go fulfill that Quest.” Sara led the way back to the grove.

At dawn the Grove bustled with activity, druids rushing everywhere as they headed out to care for the forest, rescue monsters trapped by people, and, Kaden guessed, plant trees or something.

They headed for the FarPortal, and were standing in line when a trio of eagles swooped down. The birds exploded into a cloud of feathers that then suctioned inward, forming a ball of orange light that took the shape of a man. Olidar.

“Kaden, thank the gods. We thought you were going out on last night’s hunting party to the first level of Hell.”

“There was a Quest Sara and I decided to fulfill. We’re headed to drop of the materials now.” Kaden stopped, watching and listening. Everything in the grove was ready to snap at a moment’s notice. “What happened?”

“After Viktor told me you had an omen—”

“Bad feeling,” Kaden said.

“Omen.” Olidar stated it as fact. “I forbid any Druids going out. The local Guild sent a hunting party of babies—sorry, level thirty adventurers—out for their first run into Hell. Nothing serious, just the first plane. Except they were ambushed.” Olidar looked further into the grove. “Please, if you don’t mind, we’re planning now.”

Kaden looked to Sara. If level thirties were ‘babies’ he wasn’t sure what value he and Sara could provide. “I can listen. I can’t promise anything else.”

Olidar rushed through the Grove, dodging tree after tree and then plunging into a treespace. Before Kaden could reach it, an electric shock shot up his spine. He stumbled, and would have fallen if Sara hadn’t caught him with both arms and both pseudopods.

“What’s wrong? Is it the wound on your chest?” Sara asked.

Kaden shook his head. “My Dungeon was ready to rank up and I put it off. Ashi said it would be fine. That was a full party wipe, level tens. It’s not fine. When we go back, I’m going to have to raise it.”

With her help he limped through the Tree Space, and emerged at nighttime in a grove of willows, each of which bent toward the center. Five Centurions stood before a map that scrolled constantly, showing different dots.

“They’re here,” Olidar said. “Thank the gods they went out night hunting.”

To Olidar’s left stood Viktor, the Ranger, and a younger Ranger man at level thirty. To his right waited Ravena, a level twenty nine Druid man—and Eve. Her skin had a faint luminous silver tone to it, and when she saw them, she genuinely smiled in a way she usually reserved for Vip.

Sara ran to her, feeling of her forehead and her cheeks. “Are you all right? What happened? You were supposed to be learning Lunar spells.”

“I changed my Mana orientation with Lunar Condensate from another [Moon Moth].” Eve couldn’t stop smiling.

Kaden had thought she wasn’t capable of it. Like, happiness was poison. Watching her smile was like watching a Bearzerker cuddle a puppy instead of eating it. “How are you not sick? I was sick. Sara was sick.”

“Druids are smart. Condensate modifies the nature of your mana. The key to not being sick is to not have any mana at the point where you take it. Was it bad? Yes. Was it worth it? Completely.” Eve raised a hand and formed an orb of pure mana. It didn’t just look like the moon, it was absolutely the image of the Moon. “I’ve only got three Lunar spells now. [Moon Strike] will evolve soon. It will probably give me [Moon Fall], but possibly [Moon Shower]. One is a heavy blow, the other hits multiple targets.”

Olidar looked to Sara. “Worth the trade?”

“That remains to be seen, but it’s promising. I think we have a deal,” Sara said. She looked back to Kaden. “Only two of the pollen types are fertile, a healing variant and a rage variant. But Eve will be able to come back to learn as her skills level.”

Kaden had hoped for more, but having allies in a Grove was worthwhile. “And the other two types?”

“We’ll make you a better offer when we’re sure,” Olidar said. “Now, if your intelligence stat is higher than your height, you’re wondering what we need from you.”

“That was my concern,” Sara said, looking to each of the Centurions. “What could we accomplish you can’t?”

“Nothing.” Kaden was certain of that, but he kept quiet, only whispering the word. He summoned Vip and didn’t even need to tell her to go to Eve.

The Centurions stepped aside, and a spirit rose slowly from the ground. It wasn’t a woman, it wasn’t a tree, it felt like the King of Vichor in terms of power.

*Hello*. The word hit his brain like a hurricane. A spring scented, fresh and green hurricane that left him battered and refreshed and confused.

“Hi.” Kaden couldn’t come up with more, and judging from how Sara responded, she wasn’t doing much better. Her psuedopods lay limp, trailing on the ground, not dead, but innactive.

*I am she who is. She who will be, spirit of the Grove, great grandaughter of Nature herself. You ask and I answer, and the answer is never ‘nothing.’*

The rebuke wasn’t harsh but it was absolute.

“You have Centurions,” Sara said.

*There is a balance, a balance tilted in our favor by the Demon’s actions. What began with Darmando’s misstep has been compounded. He had no right to be here, nor to summon two daughters without sacrifice. Now his Master dares ascend to the first level of Hell.*

Kaden digested what she’d said. “Nine levels of hell but only one world for us. They get to show up in ours but our Centurions don’t do the same? Doesn’t seem fair or balanced.”

*The alignment of Hell is more fair. Their lords may not visit rage on the least demons, even if they regard them as nothing.* With it came a memory. A memory born from Kaden himself, of Robert Aurora, dressed in gold. *And now the balance is upset because Asmodeus dared set foot in the first hell.*

“Here’s the point where you explain what you want from me or Kaden or Eve,” Sara said. “You may remember Darmando being vastly beyond our ability to handle. Level fifty? Asmodeous, as in ‘Eye of Asmodeus’ isn’t likely to be level twenty five.”

Eve straightened up, holding Vip like a shield against her chest. “And I have Hated by Demons. If I set foot in any Hell, we’ll be swarmed.”

*Not so. The Demon Daughter Lisari’s death granted the [Beast Master] Feared by Demons. In his presence you are masked. But our ask is simple and in line with your abilities. It is not just Asmodeus’s presence that has upset the scales, but the length of time.*

Olidar cleared his throat. “Honored Daughter, I will speak for you, if you will focus your aura to keep the Grove safe. We can go into the first Hell, but every second we’re there swings the pendulum back toward the demon’s favor. You’re first tier. You’re baiscally invisible when it comes to the balance. We want you to find them.”

“Something you should be well suited to,” Ravena said. “Druids have been, are, and will ever be locked in our struggle to protect. We will act in force when we know where to act. We hold an advantage—one bought with your blood, but if we have to spend hours scouring Hell to find them, it’s lost.”

“You have got to be joking," Eve said. “You have Druids who are level thirty. Put your own people on the line. Kaden will say yes because he’s never seen a bonfire he didn’t want to dance in. Sara can be bought. I’m grateful for what I learned last night but I’m not so grateful going to Hell where everything has a six level advantage makes sense.”

“I agree. You need to explain why it is your recall spell hasn’t rescued the Adventurers. Didn’t you say ‘if all it brings back is your bones’ and that sort of thing?” Kaden asked.

“Asmodeus.” Viktor said it like an answer. “Those recall spells work fine, except that a Demon Lord—a real demon lord, not someone useless like Darmando—can block recall in their immediate area. We know he’s still in the first Hell because the recalls haven’t activated. We know the Adventurers haven’t moved to deeper planes of Hell, because moving them would also trigger it during transition. What we don’t know is why an entity as smart as Asmodeus would willingly break the balance like this.”

Kaden had a sinking feeling he knew. He drew Asmodeus’s eye from Inventory. Without an eyelid, it couldn’t blink, but the status messages said he’d guessed correctly.

Asmodeus gazes upon your soul.

Your soul is found aggravating and worthy of being squashed like a bug.

He held it up for all to see, then flicked it with a finger and put it back in Inventory. “What do you know about making deals with Demon Lords?”