???: "Oh, I was thinking of murdering you in your sleep, but I see you're not some idiot incapable of perceiving his surroundings."

Lunarius: "Who are you?"

???: "My name is Sttruffon Ewastteres Parapadias, but you can call me Parapadias. Contrary to what you might be thinking, I'm not a demon, I'm a dark elf."

Lunarius: "Dark elf? So there are beings like that around here too? By the way, why are you dressed like that?"

Parapadias has a mask plated with gold stripes, no part of his skin is showing: On his head is a top hat, and otherwise he has a long garment that covers the bottom of his top hat and all the rest of his body, his hands are with black gloves and his feet are with shoes.

Parapadias: "Why, I am dressed like this because we are different from the wood elves, and I am a singularity even among my kind, I ask that you do not ask me questions about my appearance, Lunarius. I have come because my lord, Montegis, asked me to call you as well as your companion for the trip."

Lunarius: "So far I understand, but why were you trying to attack me?"

Parapadias: "I beg your pardon? I don't think you are stupid, this alliance will fall apart the moment my lord manages to accomplish his goal. I was just testing you to see if you are of any use."

Lunarius: "Or rather, you are testing my abilities, right!?"

Parapadias: "Exactly. I'm not the type to usually sneak others behind their backs for no reason. My master would be furious if he knew I'm telling you all this, but I want us to agree that both sides are aware from each other. Don't you think it's cowardice to use lies to deceive naive people?"

Lunarius: "You say all this as if you've watched me talking to the elf."

Parapadias: "But I was. By the way, I already made sure to 'escort' your companion to the meeting point. Now it's your turn, follow me."

Lunarius follows the guy from behind, they jump down the swaths to get back to the flat surface.

Parapadias: "Don't you think this is a solemn morning? Enjoy, by tonight one of us might be dead."

Lunarius: "… You are very honest."

Parapadias: "Am I? A temporary alliance prevents both sides from engaging in battles without exceptional reasons, but that doesn't mean that war will be completely prevented. I'm just letting you know that our side already knows how to deal with little demons of your ilk."

Lunarius: "… What if I killed you here and now?"

Parapadias: "Ohohoh, don't be silly, that's not even my real body."

Lunarius: "So that's why you don't show your face?"

Parapadias: "Yes. See, just ask the right questions and I'll give you information too. You won't be able to say you've been tricked when you're dying."

Lunarius: "… Don't you think you're giving yourself too much luxury to pass on information about yourself? You're sounding like a villain in a story for entertainment."

Parapadias: "Here's the question, am I passing on information for you, or am I leading you through the labyrinth of perdition?"

Lunarius finds himself getting irritated, to get information is not worth having to talk to such a clown.

Parapadias: "Oh, has you stopped? So now is the time for my questions. When you were talking to my lord, did you not notice my presence at all?"

Lunarius: "No."

Parapadias: "I figured, you look quite powerful in my eyes, but you're not as capable as a demon of your level should be, how strange, very strange."

Lunarius: "I'm sorry, but I won't pass on any information about that."

Parapadias: "Does that mean you don't want me to have any idea about how your power works? Hmm, considering your reaction, I would say that this power is not yours, but on the other hand, it's also a sign that you specialize in few skills. Whatever it is, I don't want to talk to you about it any further, trying to figure out your skills ahead of time is spoiling the moment."

Lunarius: "And if this ignorance leads to death?"

Parapadias: "Well, if I die it's not like anyone will miss it, will? Considering you're a demon, I can tell you this: we dark elves don't have any respect for wood elves, in fact we would have much more interests in allying with you demons than serving mere haughty elves."

Lunarius: "Then what are you doing serving that guy?"

Parapadias: "You could say he's also a special case. I have a life-and-death commitment to him despite everything, but even though I'm threatening your life right now, it doesn't mean that I really want to kill you, I just want to get and pass on enough information so that we can trust each other. Two individuals who are pointing knives at each other will only be able to trust each other when they know where the knives are."

Lunarius: "… You are indeed quite weird."

The two finally arrive at the base after the walk, the human soldiers see them and shout: "Commander Parapadias has returned!" And the gate mechanisms begin to turn. Lunarius suddenly sees Kerry flying around and approaching, he eventually joins Lunarius.

Lunarius: "Were you waiting?"

Kerry: "Yes, obviously I wasn't going to accept the clown's invitation to join the base, but he gave me a lot of important information."

Parapadias: "Don't think I can't hear you."

The three walk through the gate, and Parapadias begins new explanations: "Lord Montegis together with Ettlis will depart on this journey carried by griffin."

Lunarius: "Gryphons? So the journey wouldn't be much long of we left yesterday."

Parapadias: "We would've arrived in the orcs in time with then, but that's beside the point, he had other things to do. Anyway, the elven forest is a pretty magical place just so you know, and even though elves aren't exactly excellent tamers, magical monsters still are periodically drawn there. Montegis managed to tame some of these creatures a long time ago, and naturally, traveling in a flying creature is more convenient than in a land creature."

Lunarius: "And you, where will you go?"

Parapadias: "I don't need to travel there, I'm already there."

Kerry: "Oh yeah, you're just a formless essence of your true body, aren't you?"

Parapadias: "Exactly, if you manage to find me there, I will give you a reward."

Kerry: "'Reward', huh?"

Some guards arrive to escort Parapadias and the rest of the group to where Montegis is. As they turn around a building, an arrow immediately comes towards Parapadias, who does not react and has his mask pierced and hanging against the wall.

Montegis: "Parapadias! I thought I told you to disguise yourself as a soldier, don't tell me you're having another fit worthy of the maniac you are!?"

Parapadias: "Sir! Forgive me, but sometimes I think it's better to do things my own way! See you later!" The garment and mask begin to melt towards the ground."

Montegis: "I should be saying that, you bastard!"

The soldier who guided them stays behind, amazed by the scene. Lunarius and Kerry continue towards Montegis.

Montegis: "Lunarius, as that damned probable has already informed you, I've been preparing my griffin, the trip from here to the orcs' territory will take little time, since all of us will be there in flight."

Lunarius sees the Griffon flying low across the open field within the camp. Lunarius wonders how a half-eagle, half-lion creature manages to fly like that.

Montegis: "It's called tornado. If you're curious, these creatures are very old, as old as we elves, they have one of the blessings of Eyshteer, and are able to tame the winds."

Montegis softly whistles, Tornado then starts maneuvering through the air and softly lands.

Lunarius: "Did you train him for this?"

Montegis: "I trained him to try to impress me, naturally you have to have different kinds of special bonds with your servants so they don't betray you."

Ettlis, who has been quiet ever since, questions Montegis, "Are we going to show the orcs the tornado?"

Montegis: "Of course, it's not like I could hide it in my pocket is it?"

Lunarius: "Speaking of pets servants, do orcs also have any tamed creatures?"

Montegis: "Tamed creature? They have the lowest goblins under their command, it is thanks to their servitude that the orcs are able to think of war and battle more than they are able to think of sustaining themselves, but the goblins have a strange fixation in robbing and pranking both other races and their own orc lords, it's a troubled relationship indeed, but the two sides can't live without each other."

Lunarius: "Hm."

Montegis: "Anyway, let's go." Montegis says, climbing on the Griffin. Lunarius notices that he is wearing a rather extravagant outfit, and wonders if all elves are like that, or if Montegis is the one who looks like humans. Attlis, who likes to stay quiet looks a bit more like a typical elf than he does, though she is different in some ways. She mounts the Griffin as well, both have nothing to hold onto the Griffin in mid-flight, Lunarius decides not to think too much about it, they will probably use their magic to maintain themselves up there.

The Griffin flaps its wings, and even with its weight and that of two more people, it takes off into the sky, Lunarius and Kerry create wings and follow right behind, the men who were watching are amazed at the scene, they had already heard from other soldiers that there were demons flying around, but not that they were collaborating with their Lord!

The journey goes on, the Griffin reaches around 180km per hour, so Lunarius and Kerry don't have to hold back too much. Eventually, the mountains cease to be in the landscape on the sides and he can see only the vegetated plane, the forests and the hills, there is no road that leads to the orcs' territory, but eventually he can see an old cemetery located in a region remote named "Heroes' Resting Ground", which was probably placed there when bodies could not be carried back to their hometowns.

As they approached more forest, Lunarius thought he saw a small figure watching him for a moment but it quickly disappeared.

Lunarius: "Kerry, did you feel it?"

Kerry: "Felt what?"

Lunarius: "I think the escorts in the region have already discovered us, not that it makes much difference."

They finally begin to see civilization, the Orcs are located in a forest region near a river, but they don't live in the forest, quite the contrary, those who live in these regions are the goblins, the trees around were all counted, and one can see from upt there humanoid green beings plowing fertile land, some using horses and donkeys, and some using oxen, doesn't seem to be that different from what humans do to plow land, but apparently goblins also tend to animals. It doesn't take long until a citadel with high walls is seen, the elf lands his griffin not many kilometers away, and the two demons also land.

Montegis: "If we fly more they will only pierce us with their arrows, Orcs are much better than humans when it comes to strength and aim."

But it doesn't take long before a small battalion comes out of the gate, they're all on horseback and equipped to the teeth, with the exception of the bigger one in the front, who is only wearing reinforced clothes.

???: "Hold on!"

The elves don't understand, only Lunarius and Kerry, who report what he said and take the lead in the dialogue.

???: "Who are you? Are you in cahoots with the northern invaders!?"

Lunarius: "We are not, my noble orc, we have come to challenge your champion!"

???: "Challenge our champion!? Who are you!?"

Lunarius: "We come from the South, the one in red next to me is the Elven lord Montegis who commands the humans to the south, the Griffin and the other elf are his, and I am Lunarius and the one next to me is Kerry, we are both demons."

???: "Ah, devils? A fellow of yours came here yesterday, he's already challenging our champion since yesterday!"

Lunarius: "He is called Ertudes correct? We have come to his aid."

???: "Aid? Gahahaha, maybe he needs it, his broken comrades are already in!" The orcs burst out laughing, apparently the idea of having more battles to watch entertains them.

???: "Very well, but I already tell you in advance that you are wasting your time! The mighty Torrias doesn't know what defeat is!"

The orcs start to turn around, the 5 follow the path, the gates remain open for them to pass and several other orcs pass by to look, they are also all equipped with their own reinforced clothes and well armed, this is the perfect example of militaries clans. After the wall it can be see yet another barrier of walls covering what looks like a huge tower-like castle. Behind the walls there are several towers and it is possible to see ballistas on top of these walls, there are also several houses, warehouses and other constructions for artisanal uses. The orc that stopped them on the way before comes back with his horse at full speed.

???: "Rejoice, the leaders have allowed your passage to the castle! The fight between you with the champion will take place this afternoon in the square in the center of the city, so you are allowed to meet with the other challenger, Ertudes, to discuss strategies and decide who will be slaughtered first. Everything is allowed except direct intervention in battle without permission, so understood!?"

Lunarius: "We are, I will inform my fellow Elvens of your decisions."

The Orc then proceeds to relay the details to the other orcs in the vicinity, who seem to be pleased with the news.

Lunarius: "The challenge will take place in the afternoon, they will allow us to stay in the castle until then."

Montegis: "Things will run smoothly then."

Kerry: "But if I heard right, they don't allow direct interventions, doesn't that mean our strategy will go against the rules?"

Montegis: "Do you really think that orcs will give a shit about someone singing? At most they will blame the song for Torrias' drowsiness, but what matters is defeating him, as long as we defeat the orcs they won't be that difficult to deal with… our powers."

Montegis seemed to have tried to say something else, Lunarius realizes that he probably has some skill that he hasn't spoken yet, and if Parapadias can be trusted, it means that this skill will be able to totally change the scenario in their favor, now the question is to find out how.

Lunarius: "Kerry, do you have any idea what his secret is?"

Kerry: "No, I'm not even getting any power from the eye anymore, apparently Azel has already dealt with it."

Lunarius: "I don't know if this will be convenient or not, but if Azel noticed I have no doubt he was the one to let the eye bring some of its power to you."

Kerry: "Come to think of it, it makes sense, he was the one who suggested I come. I use demonic power just like all the rest of the demons, but I'm probably the only one capable of utilizing the powers of the eye outside of Oss, he's probably testing me or something."

Lunarius: "Yep."

Continuing along the road for a while, they eventually arrive and travel along a road that runs along the hill and leads to the top, where the inner walls and gates are. Upstairs towers and soldiers can be seen, and eventually the orc that was back there quickly arrives on horseback, asking for the gate to be opened with a very loud voice. Finally inside, they see that the courtyard leading to the castle is surrounded by several military bases.

???: "Our forces operate independently, anyone who approaches from afar can already be seen by our companions up there, all equipped with the valuable human artifact, the telescope, and anyone can assemble a force of answer. I am Deckar of the Horfon clan and I will be responsible for you until the end of this duel, if you entertain our leaders and the people I will also earn my share, Gohohoho." Deckar, like many other orcs is wide, big and green. He has a lot of beard around his mouth and his light black hair is combed with a part going to the sides of his forehead and the rest to the sides of his head, so he is pretty different from other orcs, who are mostly baldy, and he also doesn't seem to have a weapon with him now.

Lunarius: "As you are following us, have you seen any strange people around this fortress lately?"

Deckar: "Strange people?… There are a lot of strange people around here lately yes, but that's not something I should answer. With these last wars and the chaotic situation in human civilization, it doesn't seem strange to me that the people showing up are strange as you devils, Torrias himself wasn't even from around here."

Lunarius: "But is there none among you capable against him?"

Deckar: "No, like I said, Torrias wasn't even from around here, but he defeated enough people to be considered an berserker. If he was more ambitious, he could easily take control of this citadel from the renowned and powerful clans, and i myself also don't think I could last more than a few minutes in a battle against him."

Lunarius: "That means you're pretty powerful too, doesn't it?"

Deckar: "Yes, but Torrias… He's on a whole different level, he creates power that no one knows where it comes from, no matter how injured he may be his wounds just heal without needing anything to treat them, he seems to be able to fight non-stop for all eternity, an absolute monster. Our fortresses to the north were largely demolished by him, now we are having trouble with the barbarians that come from there."

Lunarius: "Barbarians?"

Deckar: "Ortenega's barbarians are formidable fellows who have held their own against Druaga's armies to this day and continue to grow in power. In the past they were kept reclusive in the central North because of our union with the human tribes to the east and north to keep them in tight slash, but as the west is already being occupied by Druaga's armies and the North is long gone, nothing prevents them from taking advantage of our weaknesses, excluding Torrias, who is capable of demolishing their armies as if in jest."

Lunarius becomes more fearful of their possibility of winning. Montegis hears the entire conversation, but doesn't seem to be able to understand anything outside of Lunarius' own words.

The fortress of the orcs looks more like a wide and extremely long tower than an actual fortress, its size surpasses even the inner walls.

Deckar: "By the way, tell the Elf to leave the Gryphon with me, I'll put him in the stables."

Lunarius: "Right.", he turns to Montegis and says that the Orc wants to guard the Griffin from him, and he replies, "I see no harm.", he seems to communicate with the Griffin somehow after looking at him in the eyes, since the beast goes to the Orc voluntarily.

Deckar then calls a goblin and orders them to take the group somewhere, and then takes the Gryphon to another. The goblin does not introduce itself, but has long black hair, red eyes, and pointed ears. Most goblins max out at 5 feet, but this particular goblin appears to be a child. As they follow him, Montegis seems to think of something, and calmly says to Lunarius, "What did you hear from the orc?"

Lunarius: "He was talking about the threat from the north, the peoples of the icy mountains are apparently invading, and Torrias is the only one defending the Orcs after he himself has slaughtered their defenses."

Montegis: "Yeah? I had no idea… Besides, I didn't expect to see goblins in the palace…"

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

Montegis: "Goblins shouldn't normally mix with orcs, elven literature says they are mischievous and rebellious beings of nature. I even understand that they chose to team up with orcs for safety, but there are servants even in the abode of the proud orc leaders? Something is wrong…"

Lunarius ia under the impression that Montegis is being paranoid, but perhaps there is a reason. He then says to Kerry, "Can you see anything coming from this goblin with that eye power of yours?"

Kerry: "Nothing, he seems to be a magical being like the Orcs, but I don't see anything special."

Lunarius then says to Montegis: "I don't think you have anything to worry about, it seems to be just another magical creature."

Montegis: "Right."

Continuing, they begin to climb the stairs, there are several throughout the castle and they serve to go up and down directly between the different floors, quickly they already reach the "challengers' corridor", Lunarius tries to start a conversation with the little goblin after he has announced the name.

Lunarius: "So challenging Torrias is common around here? That means most of his opponents are also Orcs, right?"

Goblin: "… In fact, many opponents he has faced are the northern barbarians. Those giant brutes think they have a chance just because of their size!"

Lunarius: "If they thought they were worthy just because of their size, what do you think of us?"

Goblin: "That Ertudes guy has already called several formidable demons to fight the champion, too bad they were all wiped out in a matter of seconds."

Lunarius: "Huh."

Goblin: "But if I were the challenger, I wouldn't waste time trying to challenge him. There are several formidable orc warriors around here, all of them would be disintegrated without the slightest effort…"

Lunarius: "… Impressive, then could you take me to this Torrias?"

Goblin: "… Of course I can! What's your name?"

Lunarius: "Lunarius, and you?"

Goblin: "Lupino! But now pretend we never spoke."

He then goes ahead and knocks on a certain door with force and rhythm.

Lupino: "Ertudeses, there are companions to save you here ♪"

Ertudes Voice: "Companions!?"

He quickly opens the door, and when he tries to quickly walk past the Goblin, he ends up bumping into his foot and falling. Lupino bursts out laughing.

Ertudes: "… What silly joke is this!?"

Now ignoring Lunarius and the others, he quickly gets up and seems to magically pull a clay statue out of his cloak, then says, "Machiavelli, come and teach this insolent jerk a lesson!" An angry gnome appears, saying: "That's right.", He jumps at the goblin, who hits his head, but the gnome's head is hard and hits him against his belly, the Goblin does a lollipop but still hits against the wall at the end of the hall.

Ertudes: "Go back, I'm satisfied, that pest will never learn anyway."

The gnome jumps and returns to the same clay miniature he was before, landing in Ertudes's hand, who places him back inside his cloak. Pretending as if nothing had happened, Ertudes turns to the group.

Ertudes: "Lunarius? Kerry? What are you doing here? More importantly, what about those naughty elves along with you?"

Montegis: "Naughty? Do me a favor, Lunarius and I are committed to defeating Torrias in an alliance."

Ertudes: "Alliance? With Elves? I'm not so ignorant of the affairs of this world, Elves shouldn't leave their forests, what are you?"

Montegis is silent. Lunarius says: "Let's discuss in your room first, the elves will come later.". Ertudes replies: "Yes, but if I were you, I wouldn't think of leaving these two alone for a fraction of a second.".

Kerry, Lunarius and Ertudes then gather in the bedroom, the place is spacious enough for at least three people to stay, but other than that there is not much comfort, since there is only one bed, on which Ertudes lies down and starts talking.

Ertudes: "Listen, Torrias has nothing to do with the Orcs, that guy seems to have inherited one of the skills of the ancient and legendary "berserkers"! I'm still developing a way to deal with him, but what are you guys doing here?"

Lunarius: "Azel plans to put his plan to liquidate Oss and Perla in no time, we can't expect you to deal with the orcs your way."

Ertudes: "Hmph, it's not my fault If he's in a hurry. Honestly, I plan to leave this planet as soon as Oss is eliminated, so I should be the one in a hurry. I agreed to help Azel a lot because that little dupling disgusts me."

Lunarius: "Whatever it is, the elf I brought has a trick to weaken the Berserker through a magic called flora."

Ertudes: "Flora!? Now things are getting weirder, a Flora user shouldn't leave the forest. Tell me everything you know about these two elves."

Lunarius: "Well… According to the red elf, who is called Montegis, the elf next to him, Ettlis, is able to use her song to mobilize the spiritual forces of nature, and through that, she will calm down the Berserker and weaken him."

Scholar: "… If we consider that berserkers use the force of unconsciousness to control the nature as if a single essence, maybe this will work, but it seems risky, inefficient outside of theory, and above all, those two are not reliable. If what I've learned is right, Flora is the mobilization of the planet's spirituality, this is the power that Eyshteer, the deity who is one with her creation, Kosmotierra, created for the Elves, but theoretically this ability only reaches its magical potential when the elves are in the forest. Chanting can even help mobilize that power efficiently, but I doubt, and very much, that just one elf will be enough to weaken a warrior who doesn't even seem to be from this world!"

Lunarius: "Actually, I've run into Torrias in the past, his name is Rorteneres Ashreen."

Ertudes: "And?"

Lunarius: "I used a certain bracelet to immobilize him, an Ostoporou bracelet, but using that weapon consumed a large part of my power."

Ertudes: "…And then?"

Lunarius: "I'm interested in talking to him first of all, have you seen if he retains any consciousness?"

Ertudes: "Not really, but he seems to know how to limit himself and not go around wrecking things, so that means he must have some conscience control, or at the very least he's been disciplined enough to obey orders, which seems to be impossible in his case. whatever it is, I won't spare the elves' help, but I want you to finish them off or make them surrender as soon as the battle is over. I planned to discard a few more of my pieces to discover all of the Berserker's weaknesses, but it looks like I'll have to go all-or-nothing on the next battle."

Kerry, who was silent, says: "… Do you have any idea what pandora's eye is?"

Ertudes: "I know, Azel already informed me that he had one partially under his control. Honestly, the sooner those eyes are destroyed, the better, having them around means that the Witch Pandora knows what's going on here."

Kerry: "What does that mean in practice?"

Ertudes: "That, as soon as she sees an opportunity, she will start to intervene with her force to destroy this world. To be honest with you, this planet already seems to be doomed, I doubt that she will intervene in a destruction that will not even be caused directly by her, but it's still better to destroy the eyes than keep it on this plane of existence."

Lunarius: "And why do you think that the destruction of this planet is guaranteed?"

Ertudes: "Do you want to hear a story? I am one of the demons that has been here on this planet for almost 1 century, I obeyed Perla and Oss like a good lamb, but I did not blind myself to the realities here. This planet is dying, while the imbeciles with their obscure intentions stayed on the continent of dragons even trough they can't even get out from there, Druaga was consuming the power of this planet from the inside out. We are intervening in a dispute with a predefined and very well planned conclusion. Of course, I can't just leave the planet, and if helping the Lord into piercing the dagger in Perla will make it possible for me to ask for something, I would certainly like to leave here since I no longer see any gain by corrupting the creatures of this planet."

Both Lunarius and Kerry are listening to a lot of exceptional information, but Ertudes seems to be getting more and more grumpy, he gets up from the bed he was lying on and starts gesturing for them to leave the room.

Ertudes: "Whatever it is, I urge you to get out of here, I still have things to prepare for the duel that will take place mere hours from now. Oh, and don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for the elves."

The two leave the room, Montegis is apparently no longer in the hallway, just the Goblin.

Lupino: "The two elves have already gone to their rooms, you two can have this one next door." He says, pointing to a room opposite Ertudes.

Lunarius: "Later i'll see it, first I want to see Torrias."

Lupino: "He doesn't live in the citadel, let's take a long trip to the mountains if that's what you want."

Lunarius: "I'm a demon, in case you haven't noticed, you just need to guide us since we will go flying."

Lupino: "Oh, that's right then, there will still be time to go back i think."

Kerry: "You two can go on, i'll just stick around."

Lunarius: "Huh, but it's exactly you that I need, if Torrias doesn't have a good mind I'll need as much information as possible."

Kerry: "…Okay, but just to be on the safe side, wouldn't it be better to take the elves too? If the stories are true, we're going to need as many shields as possible if everything goes wrong."

Lunarius: "… Even then it will not take that much for him to destroy us, in the worst case scenario I can hold him for a few seconds while you go away. I already fought him once."

Kerry reluctantly agrees to go, the Goblin then begins to lead them to the top of the tower, and they eventually reach a huge door.

Lupino: "I'll get permission to visit Torrias first, wait for me."

He quickly enters, Lunarius and Kerry wait for a few seconds, and the Goblin returns.

Lupine: "Okay, let's fly from the roof of the castle if it will be faster.", They climb some more stairs and finally reach the ceiling, the Goblin seems to make some sign to the orcs but they don't look, he then takes some kind of pocket whistle and blows, attracting their attention, and then gives the signal.

Lupine: "Let's go."

Lunarius and Kerry then create wings, and Lunarius takes the goblin and carries him by the lap so he can give directions, they head north, following the hills where the Orcs castle is, there are several watchtowers and walls built in around, Lupino seems to be enjoying the flight, but he frantically has to signal the orcs not to shoot against them. Eventually they reach a fenced point where Lupino tells them to stop. An orc that was inside a tent quickly comes out and asks for their identities.

Lupino: "I am Lupino, I naturally already have permission to visit Torrias. Those two with me are the demons Lunarius and Kerry, challengers."

Orc: "This is new, now these folk showing up crazy to be destroyed before their time. It doesn't matter if it's a dragon, giant or demon, nobody has a chance. Anyway, I don't need to open the gates since you're going to fly anyway, just keep going north and you'll get there, just find an isolated hut. As for you, Lupino, it's better that you stay here."

Lupino immediately turns to the demons: "It's a pity I can't go, but if you show up alive, let me know how it went!" Lunarius and Kerry look at each other.

Lunarius: "Maybe, maybe not, who knows?"

The orc from earlier goes to talk to the other orcs on top of the wall, and Lunarius and Kerry quickly sprout wings and fly over the wall. Initially they don't see much, but eventually they start to find orc bodies, arrows and craters.

Lunarius: "I see he still continued with full strenght…"

Eventually they arrive at an almost lifeless forest, many trees seem to have been burned, but many more still seem to have had the life sucked out of them. Then they see a huge wooden cabin, the two land and Lunarius goes ahead, initially they don't feel anything, but Kerry is already alert: "I feel that a presence around is sucking all the spiritual life from the place and all it's mana slowly, it's not for nothing that he lives in such a desolate place."

Lunarius: "And I feel like we could end up being decimated any moment now, will he be inside the hut?"

As they approach, the huge door of the hut begins to open, showing a dark and white-haired being of at least 2 and a half meters, he carries an ax with him, and looks mesmerized at the demons, who continue to approach. His body is extremely abnormal and muscular, and his face, despite showing a certain advanced age, does not look the least bit like someone who is close to death, in fact death is echoed from him.

Eventually Lunarius and the being come face to face, with Lunarius looking up and the other being looking down.

Torrias: "You… You…!!!!"

He starts to raise his arms, doing a strange pose with his back stretched forward in the process, Lunarius quickly backs away and conjures his spear, which this time looks more like a trident.

Torrias begins to release a blue aura that seems to be burning the air, the wood of his hut begins to rot and the ground begins to melt.

Lunarius: "How long has it been, Rorteneres…"

Torrias looks on with a curious look and seems to be growing an smile: "Gyahahaha, why are you running away you big ass!? I thought you had defeated me last time, what happened? Gyahahaha!". He suddenly assumes an elastic shape, wriggling even more, and eventually seems to grab the ground with his hand after lowering his body, and in a split second, he already reaches Lunarius after taking a violent impulse, which he barely succeeds in avoiding, but the impact of his blow, which hits the air and causes an explosion of vacuum along with his explosive aura that disperses and then returns to him, causes Lunarius to be taken far away, and so as not to be injured by this explosion, Lunarius appears to have created some kind of premeditated barrier before the attack, which immediately shattered afterwards, and he ends up suffering an impact against a rotten tree.

Torrias: "Hmmm, you look a lot weaker than before! But whatever! I don't plan on killing you or anything, y'know!?"

Lunarius: "Have you regained your consciousness? You're much more talkative!"

Torrias: "I didn't regain it! I just learned to have control over my own body! But do you feel like fighting again!?"

Lunarius: "No thanks!"

Torrias then seems to slow his breathing and control his power, apparently signaling that now there is no longer so much danger in approaching him, so Lunarius and Kerry go to him.

Torrias: "And who's that other asshole? I thought the devils had some badass dudes, just yesterday I just ripped a few assholes to shreds."

Lunarius: "Most aren't that strong, but there are some who come to your level, but they're far from here."

Torrias: "Hmm. Let's be quick, I have a duel in a little while. Oh yeah, Lunin, remember that witch? Some crazy shit happened, my son showed up, and he gave me something to help me regain consciousness, but i eventually got bored and thought about you. And hey, I know I'm slowly dying while I'm still in this mortal body of mine! That's unthinkable, because like, bro, I sacrificed my whole life for this power, it'll be crazy shit if i die without even enjoying it! and like, you demons are like man, but you guys have eternal life, and I want that, you understand!? I did some more crazy stuff, shitted and walked for my son's warnings, and ended up here and became a champion for these ugly green people, and you know what, I want better things to do."

His vocabulary is impressive, you can see that he is using the minimum of his brain, that is, he is using the maximum that he can considering his circumstances.

Lunarius: "You appeared in good time then, my demon lord is in need of new hands, I will only need you to help me exterminate some demons, and eternal life will be yours."

Torrias: "That's it!?"

Lunarius: "Calm down, the whole plan has already been worked out, your role will be to exterminate a few dozen demons while we do the rest of the job. More importantly, I only came here to put the orcs under the demons' command, and we need to defeat you for that."

Torrias: "Defeat me!?" He seems to be losing a bit of control, "I won't hold back in combat, and I don't give a shit whether this vassalization works or not! I can only commit to letting the opponent live a few seconds longer than usual by not exterminating him instantly!""

Lunarius: "That's it then. Anyway, even if we win, I doubt you'll be unconscious for more than a few seconds."

Torrias: "Yes, but if you lose we'll get the hell out of here, I can only stand this place because they give me food."

Torrias then just turns around, stretching his body like a professional athlete and swinging his ax to seemingly go slice some trees.

Kerry: "That was dangerous, but at least it was quick."

Lunarius seems to be a little out of his mind: "…… What scares me the most is the idea of a guy like that turning into a demon… But it's not like we can get rid of him, but i thought I'd never meet him again…"

The two leave quietly, reaching the walls to the south they don't see Lupino in the place anymore, they don't even see him along the way, it seems like the guy is fast by himself.

Kerry and Lunarius then start to argue after absorbing everything that happened moments ago…

Kerry: "We won't say anything about what happened to the elves, but what about the Ertudes?"

Lunarius: "He doesn't exactly need to know either, as he expects a serious combat. If he thinks he has higher chances of victory just because of some small talk even after seeing that monster annihilating his subordinates, then it's good that he keeps thinking just like that. Whatever it is, I'll spy on the orcs, I'll try to see what's inside that big door the goblin entered, you stay in the room and tell anyone who tries to enter that I'm sleeping."

Kerry: "Okay, but how are you going to do that?"

Lunarius: "I have my tricks, relax I've never been caught while I'm trying to be stealthy."

Kerry: "… Let's see then, I also think there is something strange with these orcs, especially with that goblin, everyone around here seems to know him, what are they hiding?".

The two return through the top of the castle, Kerry makes his way to the lower floors while Lunarius begins to orchestrate his espionage scheme. First, he has already confirmed that there are no windows all the way to the inside of that door, and second, it appears to have been magically designed so that only certain people can enter. Lunarius then uses his power to make his body transparent, a trick few demons know how to do, and begins to analyze the arcane language of the seal on the door to find out how to open it without alerting whoever is inside. His analyzes eventually make him discover that this seal is bizarre. It seems to have been made using some magic from the elves, but there is also the presence of demonic power to keep the door closed, which means that it could have been created by an elf and a demon…

Suddenly realizing that someone is coming, Lunarius undoes his transparency, and sees Lupino approaching.

Lupino: "Lunaaaarius, I thought you were sleeping, what are you doing here?"

Lunarius: "…" Lunarius then casts a simple spell used to undo another spells against Lupino, who has his true appearance revealed, a pale, bluish face, and white hair.

Lupino: "Finally bruh, but I didn't really think you were so bold as to come over here, altrough i came to check anyway, but I genuinely thought you had gone for a nap."

Lunarius: "And I didn't think you were a child, Parapadias"

Lupino: "I'm not, my story is… complicated, but I became a demon many years ago, after all, I died in childhood."

Lunarius: "If that's the case, who do you serve?"

Lupine: "Montegis, of course. He did me a huge favor by saving himself from the demon that made me this way. Anyway, you wanted to come in, so let me open it."

Lunarius observes Lupino opening the door, entering inside they see a kind of altar.

Lupino: "Montegis has been watching the orcs for a long time, when he saved me I was hooded, but I began to serve him without thinking twice, keeping my identity as a dark elf always a secret. He always saw me as an unique and useful existence person who obeyed his orders, and in return he gave me all kinds of information. One day he ordered me to spy on the orcs and pass on to him all the information I could, so I used my sister and, using her power, I've reclaimed the original position an elf is supposed to hold among them: "Supreme Leader."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Lunarius: "Are you saying you'll join me in the worst case scenario for Montegis?"

Lupine: "Exactly, but not without fighting back. Listen, we dark elves are absolutely despised by the wood elves, I have a bond of loyalty to him, but I don't have any commitment to the elves. Whatever it is, if you beat Torrias you might have to fight me." Lupino points a black sword who materializes itself trough his power but is much bigger than himself at Lunarius, who realizes that it is clearly an elemental sword, and replies: "Apparently you dark elves also have your own tricks."

Lupino: "Eh, let's see each other later."

Lunarius leaves the place and goes to his room, thoughtful. Kerry approaches him to hear the good news.

Kerry: "Hey?"

Lunarius: "Montegis and Ettlis are already the leaders of the orcs."

Kerry: "… How?"

Lunarius: "Lupino is Parapadias, he is in disguise. Montegis commanded him to come here along with Ettlis, and using their elven and demonic powers, they apparently managed to place Ettlis as leader, and Lupino was disguised as a goblin."

Kerry: "This is strange, very strange, if that's the case, did the Orcs not notice Ettlis, or are they all conspiring along with the Elves?"

Lunarius: "I don't know, but by the looks of it, the scenario will turn into a war field as soon as Torrias is defeated."

Kerry: "We'll have to enlist his help then."

Lunarius: "Yes, but I have a feeling that both Ettlis and the orcs are under some spell from Montegis."

Kerry: "… Is that what I noticed yesterday? I've always had the impression that there's a strange connection between Ettlis and that reddish one."

Lunarius: "Lupino said he will join us as soon as Montegis is defeated. I think that puts all the pieces together, he only continues to serve Montegis after so long because both him and Ettlis are bound as his servants. There is no doubt about it, Montegis probably has some elven technique capable of manipulating dark elves, humans and even orcs, which means he should be the first to be dealt with."

Kerry: "If he has a technique like that, without a doubt he must have some plan. From the beginning he probably just wanted us to deal with Torrias, and if he has a mind control technique, he'll probably be waiting until Torrias is knocked unconscious to use his technique. Dealing with us will be easy later…"

Lunarius: "It's getting late, I'd like to inform Torrias but I doubt there'll be time, there's only Ertudes left then."

Kerry: "Ertudes is already out, said he's trying out a new servant or something."

Lunarius: "Let's go look for him then!"

The two hurriedly leave, but do not find him anywhere in the castle. While looking outside, they suddenly bump into Deckar.

Deckar: "What are you looking for?"

Lunarius: "The Ertudes demon."

Deckar: "He's already in the arena, he's testing a weird monster there or something. On the other hand, Torrias will be here in a little while, he'll probably prepare his typical ritual before the fight, he always says a lot of things when doing it, and altrough people try to ask him what this ritual is for, no one has ever been able to understand his language, it's no wonder that some say he literally came from another planet, we can only isolate him in the north and wait for him to follow the signs we give…"

Lunarius: "Interesting. By the way, I got information that you are being ruled by elves, is that true?"

Deckar seems to widen his eyes for a moment.

Deckar: "…Elves? I don't really know what's been going on around here lately, but I've never heard of elves ruling us…"

Lunarius: "So who rules you then?"

Deckar: "…Funny that I have not much of a idea, if it was a few years ago I would say it would be the council of elders, but at the moment the new leaders act in a totally obscure way since you can't even open that door, and who always talks to them for us is that little green runt, so we can't even tell for sure who it is, we always deduce that they must be powerful shamans who act in the dark…"

Lunarius starts deducing again. If not even a supposedly proud member of a powerful clan knows, it means that few if any people know about it, in which case, it means that the supposed council of elders has been vassalified, or completely annihilated by the elves.

Lunarius: "Do you know what happened to the elders?"

Deckar: "They are well, my father was part of the council, but one day he said that the council was replaced by better prepared orcs. At first we thought something was wrong, but the orders from the top were always very coherent and our independence was maintained, so things went back to normal. The goblin, especially, has proven quite capable, he runs the castle almost entirely by himself, and for years they've been bringing in human relics, the telescopes he brought along have proved quite useful, by the way."

Deckar: "Anyway, it's a little while until the fight starts, I'm going to finish doing some things because later there will be a party, gahahaha!"

The orc seemed quite satisfied when mentioning that there will be a fight, Lunarius has been realizing that this Torrias is being used for some bread and circuses policy that the Elves probably created in order not to arouse suspicion.

Kerry: "The orc was very convenient, I wonder if the others talk as much as he does…"

Lunarius: "In fact, I haven't even needed to use my powers, first came that Parapadias handing me information on a platter, then came this other one who seems to be very relaxed, the whole day has been very convenient in a way."

The two begin to go down the hill after passing through the gates, it takes a few minutes and then they are already down there, eventually they start looking for the arena, and they notice a large crowd accumulating in the east of the city, when they arrive there they see a huge empty field the size of a few blocks, Ertudes is there, apparently shaping something. They try to enter but an orc stops them.

Orc: "Whoa, in a little while the champion will come, nothing to approach unless you want to be slaughtered along with that one."

Seeing that it is not possible to approach, Lunarius uses his power to dialogue with Ertudes at a long distance, despite being extremely difficult for him: "Ertudes, you need to know something. The Elves will try to control the champion of the orcs as soon as the battle is over, you'll need to summon your army after the fight to protect him or something."

Ertudes continues molding his monster, it's a huge clay creature and it doesn't look like it's going to be a fully animated one.

Ertudes: "Lunarius, I'm working on a new artwork, don't disturb me. The elves will your responsability, I'll just protect the big guy after the fight and maybe turn him into a demon."

Lunarius: "Right."

Kerry: "And what did he say?"

Lunarius: "That he'll take care of Torrias as soon as the fight is over. I just hope the Elf's secret technique isn't so absurd as to control Torrias's body from afar or something."

Kerry: "… You know we can't just sit on high about this matter, don't you? It's obvious he's going to use the elf's song to manipulate the big guy's body. I've experienced her power firsthand, and altrough she couldn't fully control me, i had still lost most of the control over my body. She will probably try yo mobilize Torrias's body towards her so that the red elf can perform his technique."

Lunarius: "If it's to think outside the box, I think the past orc elders of the Orcish tribes are also move, altrough i don't know if they will represent any threat. The warriors and orcish citizens apparently don't know who rules them, but the elders sure got the brainwashing experience in first hand."

Kerry: "You're right, they might try to keep Ertudes occupied for a while."

Lunarius: "And Parapadias will definitely also try to stab us from behind. Our only hope is either basically to eliminate Montegis or force him into abandoning his plans, if he escapes we might have to wipe out the entire tribe."

Kerry: "Tell that to the Ertudes then."

Lunarius looks at Ertudes, who seems to be furiously destroying his clay mass to start over again, maybe this is not the best time yet.

Lunarius: "How about going back and checking on Montegis? Perhaps Ertudes advice to keep an eye on him might come in handy, who know what he must be up to right now."

Kerry: "Go alone then, I'll try to talk to Ertudes when he's better while you go keep an eye on the elves."

Lunarius: "Right."

Lunarius flies alone and quickly climbs the hill and pass the walls through the gate, there he sees several orcs talking, many seem to be betting on the would-be-victor of today's arena, and most say it will be Torrias.

Orc B: "I hope Torrias dies this time, it's past time for that bastard to die for slaughtering my clan!"

Orc C: "You know that won't happen, we just need Torrias to become our leader for our humiliation to rise to disproportionate levels, Gahahahaha."

Orc A: "You'll see, the demon just tested Torrias yesterday, right? If he still hasn't run off with his tail between his legs after watching his minions getting slaughtered it means he's going to pull off some trick."

Orc B: "Does it have something to do with the elves and demons that appeared in the morning?"

Lunarius then proceeds to the castle, inside he sees Lupino once again, back to the green shape.

Lupino: "Come on, I thought you were already gone to discuss battle strategy with the other demons!"

Lunarius: "I came to keep an eye on Montegis."

Lupino: "You're wasting your time, at most the only use that you will have coming here will be to see Torrias preparing his ritual for his goddess, "Otheia the goddess of vitality" or something like that, he paints himself in blue and red and then he dyes his hair yellow, and lastly he starts dancing and singing, not a pleasant sight, although a lot of orcs gets excited with the vision, some say it's his war dance… hahahaha."

Lunarius: "Torrias plans to become a demon to gain eternal life, maybe he started to become a believer in this goddess because he thought it would extend his life, and ended up becoming a force of habit…"

Lupino: "Really? If he becomes a demon, I think that in a short time this planet will become a lifeless desert… Anyway, whenever he wins a battle, he fills himself with drink and food and then sleeps on the street, it ended up becoming a custom around here to celebrate together with him after the battles."

Lunarius: "Sounds like good bread and circuses to me."

Lupine: "bread and circuses?"

Lunarius: "It's the custom of rulers to deliver entertainment to citizens that makes them forget their real problems, were you the one who created this culture of putting Torrias to fight?"

Lupino: "No, when we came here Torrias had already lived in these parts for some time, the custom of dueling against him probably started during the conflicts of the orcs against him, and after he was recruited it is likely that disaffected orcs tried to take revenge against him trough the duels, and then it begun generalizing to the enemies as well. When we got here Torrias was already considered a champion, and that was what most attracted Montegis besides the idea of total control over the orcs."

Lunarius: "Incredible. I think he must be 70 or more years old at this point, it's hard to see a human maintaining his peak state for that long, although he is far from being a normal human."

Lunarius then remembers the reason why he came.

Lunarius: "You said before that you wanted to avoid a conflict, didn't you? Wouldn't it be better to talk to Montegis about this?"

Lupino: "This is something you should try. He has no idea that I've given you this much information, and he's probably thinking that everything is going according to his plans. For you to understand, it's likely that he doesn't know very well about the demons's abilities, and my body, which was originally elven, is still controlled by his ability, but I can still act autonomously through my power most of the time, which is not the case with my sister."

Lunarius: "By the way, is that Ettlis really your sister? I think yours names are quite different."

Lupino: "…I don't remember saying that she's fully my biological sister, and you're also the one who's deducing things, not least because that's not how it works among elves. Whatever it is, it's a long strange story, our elven names are complex and cannot be easily understood by those who don't understand our language, and you don't have time to waste with me, do you?"

Lunarius: "Actually, I think it would be more convenient if you called your master over here."

Lupine: "No, he is currently in a state of power preservation, in other words, sleeping. Elves in general have this thing between them and their dreams that helps them keep their powers in any place, it makes more sense for you to go straight there and deliberately disrupt it."

Lunarius: "I'll take that hint then."

Lunarius goes up the stairs and goes to the challengers' corridor, he knocks on the doors hoping that Montegis will wake up since he doesn't even remember where his door his, but nothing, so he prefers to open them. Suddenly, a side door opens by itself, he sees the other elf who is tipically with him, Ettlis.

Lunarius: "Is your master sleeping?"

Ettlis: "… He's in a deep state right now, he won't wake up until I give the signal."

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

Ettlis: "Parapadias has already told you everything, hasn't he? But if we are going to follow his plan, I have no doubt that it will take until half of the citadel is destroyed before Montegis is caught by you."

Lunarius: "And you…?"

Ettlis: "I'm still under my lord's control, but he put a charm on me so I could wake him up, as he has trouble sleeping only for a while."

Lunarius: "Are you stipulating that he should sleep there until the arena?"

Ettlis: "Yes… the bond of flora he established under me is what allows me to create servants for him, I am not able to use my powers if there is not an elf supplying me with Flora, and therefore, it is necessary that negotiations between you take place only after the battle."

Lunarius: "Will we be attacked by someone after the duel?"

Ettlis: "Yes, it's possible that the leaders of the orc clans take advantage to attack your group, they see you as enemies and also find it convenient to try to get rid of you as soon as you guys are exhausted. The original order given is that they keep Torrias immobilized and your group away from him, so that i can use Flora's occult power to control him."

Lunarius: "So I just stay here until the end of the fight, right?"

Ettlis: "Yes, I will wake Montegis up immediately after the duel is over, you just need to see each other eye to eye after that. Just to prove that I'm on your side, I'll be gone now, but you shouldn't enter the room until he's already awake."

She then starts to walk down the stairs. The plan seems to make sense, but the idea of standing by and not even seeing the fight seems frustrating. After she leaves, Lunarius waits a bit and then climbs to the top of the castle, from there he begins to hear violent tremors coming from the north, Torrias is coming at high speed as if he were a cat, jumping high distance and being extremely agile. In a few moments he is already inside the interior walls. More moments pass, and Lunarius sees the big guy himseld painting in the courtyard, a crowd gathers as he demands paint to put on himself, his hair is dyed yellow, and the right half of his body turns blue and the left half red. To finish the ritual, he begins to dance, the orcs celebrate as if it were some cerimony for the battle. Finally, the crowd makes way for the Berserker, who jumps straight into the arena, many start jumping the hill as well to get there fast.

Lunarius then starts flying to see the situation better, the guards don't mind since they are also watching, Ertudes seems to have finished his monster servant, on one side is a large and wide mummy posing, on the other is a demonic monster with horns and wings, huge and wide, the mummy seems to have been what he created before the fight.

Before Torrias starts to come, Ertudes disappears with his cape, which is typical of him. Torrias, even so, is the first to attack, he jumps and starts doing several aerial pirouettes towards the two, the force of the potential collision seems to be coming stronger and stronger propelled by himself. The mummy then prepares some kind of morbid meat and fires in large quantities at him, while the demon flies and begins to eat parts of his own body, which begins to become smaller and smaller, and his left arm, larger and larger. The large quanties of meat flying doesn't seem to do anything against Torrias, who blasts everything that comes at him, but his speed slows down and he probably doesn't know what's coming his way. When the mummy stops releasing it, the demon stretches its huge arm and punches Torrias down, forming a crater where he fell, in the direction of the punch suddenly a demonic circle appears, generating a current of destructive power that suddenly comes out of him and seems to reach Torrias, further enlarging the crater below.

Even so, the big guy still get out of the place, his body, which seems to have serious injuries, begins to regenerate quickly, and finally his aura begins to grow, taking for itself all the spiritual life that surrounds the place. The orcs already seem to start pulling away. However, the elf begins to approach in return, singing, and while using her voice, the spiritual power that seemed to be being sucked by Torrias suddenly seems to be starting to make him fall asleep, and apparently guided by instinct, he turns around, making his way to the elf.

Torrias: "Uohhhhhh!!!"

His scream seems to be expelling power, and the aura he had starts to grow by itself.

Torrias: "So those were your tricks, huh, you'll know what happens when you try that on me!!!"

Ertudes suddenly appears a little behind him.

Ertudes: "I knew this plan wasn't going to work.", He appears to be carrying an armlet, which Lunarius identifies as his own. When did Azel give this to him?

Ertudes then starts absorbing the aura coming from Torrias with his bracelet, and the big guy turns around again.

Torrias: "That? That again!?"

When he tries to punch Ertudes, he responds at the same level, and both of them are knocked back by the explosion. This is a trick Lunarius also used in the past against Torrias, but he wasn't able to absorb Torrias' explosive power that easily. Torrias apparently stops rejecting the Flora's powers to try to absorb more spiritual power for himself, but all this does is start to make him fall even more asleep. Torrias, furious, immediately sets out to eliminate the elf, but a series of elemental powers is thrown at him by origins still unknown, his feet suddenly freeze and a thunder that comes from above hits him in the face, throwing him backwards. Lunarius realizes that Lupino probably used the elemental sword against him.

Ertudes then calls his creatures. The mummy and the demon seem to merge with him, and in an instant Ertudes becomes an elusive giant creature, with a gigantic appearanceless humanoid form. Torrias, who seems to be falling asleep, is suddenly caught by Ertudes, who throws him into the air and, forming a strange cosmos of demonic power and something else, launches him far into the air by means of artificial pressure against the wind, preparing soon after some kind of power to end the able, and apparently it won't be painless. Lunarius remembers the deal he made with Ettlis, and immediately goes back to have a look at Montegis's room. A few seconds pass, and after an explosion coming from where Torrias is fighting, Montegis suddenly tries leave the room quickly, when he opens the door he already faces Lunarius.

Montegis: "Now I get it! So it was you who were orchestrating against me in the first place."

Lunarius: "It was your subordinates who betrayed you, I practically did nothing, to be honest."

Montegis: "So what are you going to want now? I can tell you that I'm capable of simply eliminating you, recovering Ettlis and running away from here with Tornado."

Lunarius: "No need for that, why don't we simply extend our alliance until Druaga's defeat?"

Montegis: "And I will become one of you demons?"

Lunarius: "No, let's be honest, so far there is no clear method to defeat Druaga, and in practice, we will have to rely on as many hands as possible. You started to expand your influence through these lands through your tricks, but how far do you think you're going to go, other than defending yourself against draconian invasions?"

Montegis: "It's simple, Eyshteer has prepared a mechanism to extract the source of power from the tree of life in the elven forest. The imbecile elves refused to go along with my plan, even though they themselves know that this planet will turn to dust in shortly."

Lunarius: "And where is this mechanism?"

Montegis: "That I don't need to inform you now, do I? If you want an alliance, you will also have to inform me of your plans."

Lunarius: "… Right. But you'll have to stop your troops outside, I'm sure it must have turned into chaos by this point."

Montegis: "Lunarius, know that the dark elves are not to be trusted. I kidnapped Ettlis because she is the only one that has compatibility with my power, but in practice, the dark elves are in collusion with Druaga because they were created by him. I saw with my own eyes the excavation of the great temple deep underground in the Tapaquian forest, they are willingly extracting the planet's powers, for that is what they were created for, humans are being used in droves in the process, and it's a mere matter of one or two decades until their plan is completed, I have no idea what comes after that, but I think it will probably be the annihilation of all life on the planet."

Lunarius: "Why did you decide to say that only now?"

Montegis: "Do you think I trust demons? Besides, whoever has been filling your head with questionable information these last few hours probably wasn't me, I was just planning to control Torrias. If we're going to form an alliance, I'm still gonna stick with Ettlis, the orcs and the humans under my command, Parapadias can stay with you, as he's basically a demon too, if he forms a pact of servitude with your lord it means the chances of him conspiring with Druaga will be extremely slim. Now, Torrias is a different matter, well have to see what's happening there right now."

Lunarius: "He plans to become a demon, and he probably will soon since my partner is finishing him off right now along with Ettlis… So let's go quickly."

The two quickly go down the stairs and head to the scene of the conflict, a large-scale battle seems to have taken place and several orcs are lying around the battlefield, the whole place is surrounded by some kind of super-strong hallucinogenic gas and anyone who comes close falls asleep immediately, Deckar can be seen battling Ertudes, he carries a huge sword with him, and purple marks can be seen on his face. Ertudes on the other hand seems injured, and is being pressured with his attacks, having to dodge constantly, and the bracelet he had was destroyed moments ago with a cut from Deckar, to Lunarius's deep disappointment.

Ertudes: "If you had so much power why did you wait so long to face that monster!?"

Deckar: "Gahahaha, don't be silly, Torrias is invincible, you only won because you took away all his strength by denying all his source of power and putting him to sleep somehow, quite clever, but if the clan leaders tried killing you a moment ago that means that our leader also wants you dead!". Deckar prepares to finish Ertudes, the marks on his face glow and he seems to be about to conjure an explosive power, but before he could finish his attack, an immobilization against his body is brought about by means of a song coming from the elf, because while the scene occurred Montegis commanded Ettlis to stop him.

Montegis: "Hmph, I'm able to order her around even from afar."

Lunarius sees Torrias down, he's all torn up on the floor and sleeping at the same time. If someone wants to kill him now is the time. Ertudes, realizing that his opponent has stopped, approaches Torrias and appears to begin a resuscitation ritual.

Lunarius: "Honestly, I had much of a idea this Deckar was also a monster."

Montegis: "The marks he has are strange, I'll have to question him after all this is resolved. Anyway, what gas is that?"

Lunarius: "It's putting all the orcs in the perimeter to sleep, it's probably some trick I don't know coming from Ertudes."

Kerry, who was nearby, approaches the two: "Lunarius, has Montegis surrendered?", To which he replies: "Not exactly, I proposed an alliance, and by the way he accepted it, since the life of Ertudes was hanging by a thread there."

Eventually the ritual ends, and Torrias appears to be getting to his feet. The gas that was in the place also disappears.

Torrias: "So I turned into a demon? I don't feel much different."

Ertudes: "Your life now depends on me, at least until you meet our Lord. Of course, I don't want you under my wings for too long, that power of yours seems too dangerous."

Torrias: "Really? I'm already going to want a rematch later!"

Ertudes: "Rematch? Keep dreaming…"

Parapadias appears from the sky, Lunarius realizes that he was transparent, but he had already noticed his presence in the place for a while.

Montegis: "Lupino, or rather Parapadias. I see you kept a lot more secrets than i expected."

Parapadias: "And you keep your own too, don't you?"

Montegis: "I will grant you the freedom that you want so much to stay with the demons, because I will also be allying with them. Other than that, Ettlis will still be under my command."

Parapadias: "Yeah.", he answer more nonchalantly than Lunarius expected.

Ertudes also approaches along with Torrias.

Ertudes: "So you are the elves… The deal between us demons is that the orcs are to be under our control. I personally find you an inconvenience, but if you're easily able to keep them in check maybe we can reach a compromise. "

Montegis: "… You demons are inhabiting the line of Hur, right?"

Lunarius: "Only temporarily."

Montegis: "I plan to take control under that line. When I told you I planned to take control over the tree of life, it means that it's in the middle over there in the mountains."

Ertudes: "And in return?"

Montegis: "We can help you in some military effort. I cannot mobilize the humans because they are in charge of taking care of the draconians, but I can mobilize the Orcs against the descendants of the giants in the North."

Deckar, who is just watching immobilized, reacts, somehow talking elf language, the mark in his face glows: "Indeed, if you are commanding both as much the humans and we then it means that we can focus on the barbarians to the North, but this farce of having a secret ruler will have to end."

Montegis: "Indeed. What's your name?"

Deckar: "Deckar of the Horton clan, son of Purr and survivor of the Barrants tragedy, I did not expect elves to be in charge, perhaps the legends that you were our rulers in the past are not just talk."

Montegis: "But that's because I'm an anomaly, the elves are no longer able to control you orcs, only me, and you, want to be controlled?"

Deckar: "No. If you want to take control, you're going to need someone to represent you, right? It doesn't make sense to keep a non-existent ruler, why not put the orc council back in power?"

Montegis: "I am able to control you orcs to some extent, I am able to undo the leadership of the orcs, but that doesn't mean I can make them fully loyal, capable or committed to my orders, so for me it's better that the independence of the tribes can be maintained and a non-existent leader besides me control you orcs."

Deckar: "But listen to me, how much and until when is that going to count!? It takes a trustworthy leader to lead the men."

Montegis: "And so, I don't need a council of orcs, but neither do I need a king or tribal leader to concentrate power and popularity. My strategy will be simple, now that Torrias is out of the way: You must proclaim the people that the elf shaman Montegis has been elected as leader after eliminating Torrias through a conspiracy with the demons, and that you, Deckar, will be the one to represent his will."

Deckar: "…Even if I do, it will only generate instability between the clans with someone like me above then!"

Montegis: "I already control the leaders of the clans, have you forgotten? They will understand you. If someone opposes your authority, just challenge them in duels, in a short time you will already rule with great authority. You can restore the council of the elders if you want, but they should be below you in the hierarchy, and I should be always at the top."

Deckar is silent. Many orcs who had fled from there begin to gather, startled to see Torrias up and together with the challengers.

Montegis: "Now talk with your people, and say these things: Listen, i Deckar, of clan Horton, son of Purr have something to proclaim!"

Deckar then regains control over himself. At first he is unsure of what to do, but Ertudes gives him a little push: "If you don't feel like it, maybe you'd like to challenge Torrias again?", He immediately figures out what he should do after seeing the big guy in perfect condition, and starts walking among the crowd and while proclaiming what Montegis ordered him to.

Deckar: "Listen, Torrias has been defeated by the demons and the challengers! Montegis, the elf shaman, was the one who conspired with them, and now he will declare himself leader of the tribes! The elders also agree!"

He keeps saying words between these lines as he talks to the crowd, Ettlis, meanwhile, seems a little out of her mind, and Montegis goes to wake her up.

Lunarius: "Well, I think we're pretty much done here."

Ertudes: "Yes, but from what I understand we're going to have to take the Lupine goblin with us…?"

Kerry: "Lupino is not a goblin, but a dark elf, he is already a demon."

Ertudes: "Oh, so he's an elf as well. One more that will have to form a contract with the Lord."

Parapadias, who appears to be arguing a bit with Montegis, suddenly approaches the group.

Lunarius: "Come on, I'll open a portal to Azel."

Ertudes: "You? I have a convenient and quick way to do this. Just stand still for a few seconds."

They stand still, suddenly, Ertudes seems to extend his cloak, quickly throwing it over everyone. In the blink of a second, they've traveled over a thousand kilometers, and they're at the demonic base. Different from before, the place is already walled and several demons are coming and going.

Marry, who was sitting near a rock close to the gate, quickly came to Kerry after spotting him.

Marry: "Kerry! So you're still alive!"

Kerry: "Hello Marry! I could already feel your presence from afar."

Lunarius: "Did you already know she was fine?"

Kerry: "Of course, I thought about it a lot, apparently Azel deliberately gave some of the eye's power to her so she could recover, that's probably where the alleged leak came from."

There are several houses made by demons, and in the center there is a huge house, Ertudes, Parapadias and Torrias go there. Lunarius has some more dialogue with Kerry and Marry before going on alone.

Entering the place, he sees the three from before plus Azel, Ertudes is talking to him while the other two seem to be waiting.

Ertudes: "I assume Lunarius will be able to explain it to you later."

Azel: "A lot happened while you were away, so I also have a lot to explain. As for these two, they will have to go to the two towers on top of this house. Just take them there to make them go through the ritual of oath."

Ertudes: "I'll take Torrias, the other one will have to look for someone else to take him there."

Azel then looks at Lunarius: "Take him there.", Naturally he has to answer with a "Yes.".

The two go up the stairs, and Parapadias says, "I think I'll give up my Elf name, since I'm going to become fully demon."

Lunarius: "You will have to pronounce a new name in front of the Lord anyway, you can go with Lupino. In practice you will completely abandon your nature as a living being, and it is possible that you will feel very strange after you finish the ritual."

Lupine: "… Maybe I'm better off as half-elf."

Lunarius: "It's not a good idea, you yourself know that it's only a matter of time until your body dies, before that it will be better for you to find a Lord to keep your spirit even after losing your body. In practice, you'll want to create a fixed body for yourself in the future."

Lupine: "Fixed body?"

Lunarius: "When you have enough power you will be able to create a body identical to your original, it will still be maintained by your power, but the difference is that it will be completely compatible with your power."

Lupino: "In practice I will be creating an outfit that totally suits me, is that it?"

Lunarius: "…Basically."

While the two go walking and going up through the house, they suddenly come across Resselph.

Resselph: "… Lunarius, you're back and now you're also having to deal with kids?"

Lunarius: "He is not exactly a child, his name is Lupino, and he will form a ritual with the lord."

Resselph: "Eclyst and Suzy aren't either, by the way, they're back, I'll tell you the news later."

Continuing on, they eventually arrive at a tower, inside Lunarius orders Lupino to lie down, and conjuring a dagger, he begins to utter several words whose languages are in accordance with the language taught by the demon lord so that enough power is released through his attack to contact him. He then quickly plunges the dagger into Lupino's stomach, who doesn't feel any pain, the dagger has assumed spiritual form, and suddenly Lupino comes into direct contact with the Lord, Lunarius also can hear his words.

???: "So you're the… What's your name?"

Lupine: "Lupino."

???: "Do you have any idea of what you are doing? You will sacrifice your mortal body, and in practice then it will decompose, having to be maintained solely through your power. It also means that you will be abandoning your lineage to this planet and its gods ."

Lupino: "It's something I accept."

???: "Very well, now I will consume your half, and in its place I will place a part of my persona. This will establish that you will be my servant while that half is inside you. Do you agree?"

Lupine: "I agree."

A spiritual representation of the Lord then appears with a huge sword, Lupino is a little scared, but the sword goes through him in half and disappears, and a second later he feels as if nothing had happened.

Lupine: "I…"

Lunarius: "You are called Lupino, your old name no longer interests you."

Lupino: "… Yes, and you are Lunarius."

Lunarius: "Do you want to stay here? Because I'll be coming down."

Lupino: "You can go, I'll be there soon too…"

Everyone who has gone through this ritual has also gone through the feeling of strangeness that comes soon after, in practice the Lord subscribes their memories, they still keep the memories of the past in their head but it becomes pretty vague, it takes many months, possibly even years, until a being becomes fully accustomed to being a demon.

Lunarius, naturally, has also gone through this, he has perhaps never been the best example of someone skilled and smart, but his apparently abnormal ability to ignore defects, even those that have hostility against him, were some of the oars that led him to as far as he's always been, not because he's naive, but because he's always testing what can give him hidden benefits, a way to offer himself to danger in exchange for something.

Perhaps through fate, his life, followed by series of disasters, was always cursed both before and after he was sacrificed by a necromancer. His spirit, however, remained all the time, and after he fulfilled his purpose as a "vessel", he had no choice but to agree to the offer of his offensers, who made him a "new being".

His memories of his true past became vague, but he decided to confine himself to find his path again. An unbridled quest for power followed, punished by his special misery, as they made him understand things through misfortunes. All he knows is, an individual is only able to push his limits when he is limited by his abilities and the world around him. Wherever this idea came from, he knows very well that he is not a mere being who exists to be punished by the seas of reality, he has a purpose that he himself still does not understand, because, as a conscious living being, he exists to break the rules.

Even unconscious, the individual always maintains his unique qualities, if there is someone without a heart, there will still be memories, and memories guide attitudes, generating more memories and attitudes. Someone like that ends up performing repeated actions to continually realize who he is, it could be a habit, it could be an addiction. What is important is how much the individual is able to make himself a light that clarifies his own goals and perceptions, and if we think more about it, naturally every layer of knowledge will open up, but not without taking risks.

Sense - he always thought - is, for consistency illusory, most people choose to follow a logical sense, but they never care about their own roles in guiding others, and when they do, it is because they have been punished for their delusions. The basic belief is that actions create meanings, not that meanings lead to actions, but on the other hand, both benefit from each other. People who seek to create meaning for themselves and their actions are, in practice, entering a territory of illusions and meaningless justifications. On the other hand, those who completely ignore the senses are surprised by their fate, and end up dying and failing prematurely. Therefore, a balance is needed, a compromise: If you are not capable of sacrificing yourself for meaning and action, what definitive logic will there be for this whole path? Is it not one's own emptiness, the abandonment of oneself in terms of natures to guide oneself in a hell disguised as paradise? The answer for Lunarius is certain: It is the weaknesses that make the man, and it is his strengths that move him, if he prioritizes his weaknesses, his strengths weaken. If he prioritizes his strengths, his weaknesses get worse, so the correct path is not to prioritize, but to follow the natural sense of things, the more you go against your instincts, the more your body and your spirit will suffer because of it, so, it is not correct to get stuck in a series of codes, be they of action or of meaning, be they of ideals, morals or selfishness. As he observed in the humans he has made contracts to this day: The sacrifices performed are the stupendous expenditures of the nature of the soul, and what is soul? The futility of actions compiled in a series of factors that subconsciously justify them. Many think of it as an extension of the spirit, but both spirits and souls are but sums stipulated for an exalted correction when transformed, that is, an essence brought forth by the universe to bring man where he ought to be, and when various spirits and spirituals things follow their paths, the one who possesses the original essence will be able to see where everything should be, this is the power that Lunarius seeks, the power that his 'alter ego' already possessed.

While philosophing with himself, he sees Ertudes with Torrias.

Ertudes: "Lunarius, have you heard the news?"

Lunarius: "What?"

Ertudes: "Perla deliberately volunteered to be stabbed, Oss apparently ran away upon finding out somehow about our plan and that the Lord is involved."

Lunarius: "Really? Where is she?"

Ertudes: "Azel trapped her in a barrier. It's not much use against a demon of her level, but it's to trust that she won't do something funny behind our backs. Anyway, I better get rid of Torrias and make the lord send me off this planet soon."

Torrias: "Hmm? Are you going to leave? I thought you were going to let me annihilate you."

Ertudes: "…No, and you're going to go through the process of becoming a full demon, I doubt you'll be very right in the head during that. I've already agreed with Azel that your power must be sealed until you take control over your demon form."

Torrias: "I can't seal my own power, what are you thinking?"

Ertudes: "First of all your body is not human, I'm pretty sure it was floated by some sort of 'magical anabolic', or to be more precise, a dose of spatial magic flowed with some exotic substance, in practice this must have destroyed your nerves, but the fact that you're still alive shows that whoever administered them in you knew very well what they were doing, perhaps after having already sacrificed hundreds of other people for their research."

Torrias: "And you conclude?"

Ertudes: "You are not even conscious at the moment, your entire consciousness has been directed to the plane of spatial fluctuation along with your unconscious, and you are able to use such fluctuations along with spiritual and mana conditions to raise this fluctuation and generate to natural capabilities of a Berserker, that is, depending on your breath the fluctuation can rise, using nature to heal and create different types of powers, and what you use is a spiritual impact of elements, absorbing all spiritual nature to create a space explosion. You squirm quite a lot because you have to squeeze these elevations and create a vacuum 'point' along with the spirit, right?"

Torrias: "You're smart! I think you're the first person who could understand me, other than that witch."

Ertudes: "Lunarius, do you know who this witch is?"

Lunarius: "She is called Eteria, if I remember correctly she was being persecuted by a certain order and had connections with demons, I had to help her under Luxon's orders, and all I got was the bracelet you let be destroyed."

Ertudes: "Oh, you mean that bracelet you mentioned to me in our previous talk, forgive me for lying to you, but that Orc's attack was totally sudden and out of my expectations, he knew very well what he was doing. Anyway, I think this witch is written in the documents of the old academy of Varitas. "

Lunarius: "Have you ever been there? I heard it was destroyed after an interspace war."

Ertudes: "I didn't participate in that war, in fact I was one of the 'sacrifices' of the academy, but i managed to get away with it by becoming a demon."

Lunarius: "Sacrifice?"

Ertudian: "The academy collected individuals with enormous amounts of spatial magic to feed Pandora, the academy got involved in this war precisely because I managed to get away and saved myself before being consumed, which led to a disagreement between the academy and Pandora, and when she is dissatisfied with insufficient tributes, she enjoys plunging entire peoples and planets down the path of destruction."

Academy of Varitas was an ancient place of exercise of so-called space and interdimensional magic, which is something wielded by certain peoples who wonder trough space, and is also used by several demons.Most people who came to this academy were from the planet of Ronda, where its students studied the arts of interspatial manipulation.

Lunarius: "So all your tricks are a mixture of demonic power and space magic, right?"

Ertudes: "Exactly. When I arrived on Kosmotierra I only came because I had a contract with a certain someone, but it won't do you any good to know who that is."

Lunarius deduces that it is either Oss, Perla or perhaps some third person he has no idea about, no use thinking much about it.

Ertudes: "Actually, I hope that the being I serve dies along with this planet, but I don't doubt that he will try to pull me back here when he needs me, I need to look for new sources of studies to find out how to cut this contract since a lot of things are totally different from what i expected… My analyzes lead me to believe that the only possibility is through the original essence that I heard so much about, but I don't see any means of obtaining it on this planet."

Torrias: "Original Essence? What is that?"

Scholar: "You know what space magic is, don't you? You should also know that all types of magic come from the same source: The power of the universe."

Torrias: "I studied spatial magic myself, but i don't know what that is."

Ertudes: "… Well, the basic explanation is that this is the power of god, but I guess I'd have to explain it to you in more detail. Anyway, Lunarius, I'll be off."

They follow their paths, Lunarius also begins to go towards the floor below, but suddenly he is faced with two demons that run towards Torrias and Ertudes, he identifies one as Eclyst, but who is the other? The Suzy one? Anyway, he sees Resselph bellow right after

Resselph: "Hello, you probably met Ertudes on the way, did he tell you something?"

Lunarius: "Yes, I've heard about Perla too."

Resselph: "Well, Azel is already inside the barrier talking to her along with Kerry and Marry. The important thing you should know is that Oss somehow discovered our plan, and disappeared completely. The last orders he gave to Perla apparently are that she must let herself be pierced, so to try make his location impossible to be discovered."

Lunarius: "…That is, we will miss the chance to find out where he is?"

Resselph: "Azel still wants to try to use the perception of Pandora's eye against her to try to discover something more, and the plan was to wait for Kerry to come back to test it. his life is apparently secure, but we don't know about Marry, so Azel decided to discuss it with Perla along with the two of them to reach a conclusion. We still don't know how Oss found out everything, and the most plausible suspect for now is the eye."

Lunarius: "Where are they?"

Resselph: "In a building surrounded by a barrier over there, but we were instructed to wait. Why don't we exchange information as much as that? Who are those two that came?"

Lunarius and Resselph begin exchanging information about everything that happened. After Lunarius tells Resselph what happened in the Orcs' territory, Resselph says: "Eclyst and Suzy came back a little while ago, they were even together with Perla."

Lunarius: "And what?"

Resselph: "Apparently they encountered a witch calling herself the "Witch of the North", Suzy tried to communicate with her and eventually discovered a Druaga-controlled city in the far north. The witch did not identify herself, but sheltered her while she scoured the region, she apparently has great control over the blizzards and cold in the region, the information I received is that many humans were moved there to separate themselves from those who live in the center, it seems to be some isolation policy, and there are also prisons in the region, apparently Druaga sends all the criminals that appear in the cities he administers straight there. There is also no fixed presence of his army in the region, there are several buildings around the place and humans get food by hunting and planting. Suzy tried to find out if there is someone leading those humans but she couldn't find anything out, and Eclyst eventually came in. Lastly, Perla appeared and apparently knew the witch, and willingly turned herself in to the two. In the end, the information is too vague to conclude something definitive."

Lunarius: "It's really strange, I thought there would be some forced labor going on there, just like it happens more in the center with humans."

Resselph: "I have an idea about that, the witch probably works for Druaga, if there are no draconian forces there it means he left someone to run the humans and the prisons. Suzy mysteriously didn't get much information, but if the Witch is on Druaga's side that means that she read her movements and deliberately conspired so that she didn't find out. Compounding Perla to know her means either that the witch plans to betray Druaga, or that Oss is involved with her."

Lunarius: "Hmm. Anyway, does by any chance Ru-"

Suddenly Eclyst and the other demon appear coming down the stairs, the one presumably Suzy comes running ahead and Eclyst looks annoyed at having to follow her running sister. They come straight to Lunarius.

Suzy: "So you're Lunarius! As I predicted, you do indeed look silly as your name implies!"

Lunarius: "Do you know what it means…?"

Suzy: "Yes, that you live with your head on the moon! Did you give yourself that lame name?"

Lunarius: "Not really, it's basically a nickname from ancient times. And you, what's your name?"

Eclyst suddenly complains: "Suzyy, all of a sudden that big one and now this one? What do you want by running around?"

Suzy: "Sister, where do you plan to go in this life without knowing the strangers around you? Wake up to life!"

Suzy then turns her gaze to Lunarius: "As my sister already said, I am Suzy! And you are Mr. Azel's new subordinate!"

Suzy is almost identical to her sister, both are about barely five feet tall, the main difference is that she is a little "wider", her face is a little chubby and she doesn't have any straps on the sides, but like the sister she also has a ponytail. She also has her own mask carried on top of her head, it looks like a skull with an "S" on top.

Lunarius: "Technically yes, I'm going to have to virtually make him the new archdemon pretty soon…"

Suzy: "I always thought he should be the archdemon because, like, he's cooler and stronger than Perla! If he's not the one who's going to reap the dragon king, who is!?"

Lunarius: "Actually I have a good idea what it's going to be, the-" Suddenly there is a bang outside the mansion and Lunarius again finds himself unable to finish what he was speaking, the four go to see what happened and Resselph points out that the roof of the house where the barrier was has fallen, more importantly still, the demons are agitated, pointing out that they are suffering an attack.

Resselph: "I knew bringing Perla here under such suspicious circumstances would lead to some trouble…"

Suddenly Perla can be seen, flying with 4 wings outside the barrier, she starts to release several powers with destructive force against the house she was in, but Azel counterattacks at the same level, so there are a lot of explosion in mid-air. Whatever it is, the surrounding houses are starting to crumble, and the demons seem to be busy with something outside the base walls.

Resselph: "Lunarius, now's your chance! Eclyst, cover for him. Suzy, you come with me, we got make an way out of this mess."

After Resselph and Suzy leave, Eclyst seems unsure of what to do.

Lunarius: "Come on small Eclyst, if you help me I promise I'll let you put something you might like in my face, right??"

Eclyst seems to like the idea, and Lunarius is acting on instinct making this sort of promise since she looks like a kid a lot, deep down he just wants to complete his mission soon and whatever the rest. Suddenly she seems to start some kind of conjuration ritual against herself, and several clones of herself appear and go towards Perla. Lunarius had no idea that she had such an ability, but he takes advantage of the crowd of clones to approach her without being noticed.

Perla has her hands full with Azel, who is approaching with his scythe, the two are in a power struggle, where Perla unleashes massive powers that are both going towards Azel and hitting parts of the wall. During the sudden dispute, she releases a gust of that power against the Eclyst clones, who get obliterated en masse with the touch, but Lunarius continues to approach through others who are still left.

Lunarius, by observing around the walls, realizes that snowball monsters are attacking by teleasing gusts of snowballs capable of destroying the walls and that seems to be affecting even the demons, it is clear that they are not just made of snow. Interestingly the demons are releasing their own blasts, which don't seem to be actually affecting the monsters, so the outcome of the battle is becoming clear if things continue like this.

Finally getting close to Perla, she notices their approach and summons several flying familiars towards the crowd of clones, most of them seem to be dark fairies, who are casting spells capable of undoing the clones at high speed, the clones are responding with their own gusts, which are tearing the fairies apart, but Eclyst apparently already stopped with her magic and there are no new clones coming. Lunarius finally breaks away from the crowd of Eclysts, and summons his spear. As previously described, the spear is looking like a trident, something that Lunarius has noticed and seems troubled, is Lilith's power somehow merging with his own? He concentrates and eventually the trident turns into a spear again.

Approaching the fairies, he manages to deflect both enemy fire and friendly fire from the clones behind him, and with a swing of his spear he realizes that he is able to expand his demonic power when attacking to hit more fairies, the effect being that he eliminates most of them and Perla quickly realizes it. Suddenly a magic circle appears in the air near her, a demon with wings appears, and suddenly conjures something that seems to be some kind of barrier in front of her and Perla, extending to all sides and it's apparently already going to block Azel's attacks too, Lunarius is unsure about what to do, but suddenly Azel tells him, already much closer: "Just stick your spear against it, it shouldn't be a problem considering the power you have at the moment."

Lunarius then concentrates, and pierces the spear against the barrier, but it doesn't seem to have any effect, the barrier is almost completely surrounding the two, when suddenly Ertudes appears from the air with his cape, conjuring with him Torrias, who clings against the air and immediately throws himself into the barrier through the gap it still had, immediately sending everything flying inside it, The other demon who was with Perla does not seem to have withstood the attack and begins to fall unconscious, causing the barrier to break down, but Perla still seems to be more or less well, a sign that she managed to defend herself somehow.

Lunarius takes the opportunity to launch the spear against her, joining the form of the essence in his dagger with his weapon, becoming a trident. Perla counterattacks with a blast of her power against Lunarius, but Azel appears and nullifies her attack with a swing of his scythe, and Lunarius manages to penetrate the trident against her. Perla, however, immediately breaks the trident with her bare hands and sends Lunarius away with a kick boosted with her power, but the trident, fused with the dagger, still seems to have an effect, and a light appears where the attack was delivered, apparently causing her to lose conciousness.

Lunarius closes in again, and catches Perla mid-air, realizing that his power is being sucked out, but instead of completely losing it the power seems to entering Perla's body.

Azel: "She didn't die. In fact, she only attacked us because she had to, if what she says is correct then the dagger will make her regain control over herself. the important thing now is to deal with the monsters down there, but I have the impression that we must get away from here as soon as possible."

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

Azel: "If these snowballs are attacking, it's probably a sign that the witch of the north is involved. Resselph had already foreseen this possibility and is probably freeing up space for the other demons. Who knows what's to come after this attack even if we managed to defeat these monsters, and Druaga probably has already been alerted, so we need to move to other place anyway…"

Azel then sends Ertudes to take all the demons that were left behind and join them later, the demons regroup down there and Lunarius goes along, Resselph has already begun clearing the way, since if they were to go through the sky there is a risk of them being shot by the monsters.

The group then quickly clears a path through the crowd, and before long they are already starting to move away from the army of the weird snowball monsters. Their attack seems driven by a strange magic lethal to demons. They head north, and eventually Ertudes appears with demons that had been left behind, including the one that was knocked out by Torrias and Lupino, who begins werdly flying by himself after receiving orders to. Continuing for a few minutes, Perla appears to be awake, and returns to fly by herself.

Azel: "Hey Perla, have you come to your senses yet?"

Perla: "Yes…"

The trident mark that Lunarius had on his cheek then goes to Perla, who now has it on her forehead.

Lunarius: "Perla, you have now absorbed my trident mark, I wonder what will happen to me…"

Perla: "The Li-, I mean, the Lord said that you will retain part of the power until necessary so to sustain your body…"

Lunarius: "Good. Azel, why are we going north?"

Azel: "We'll have to deal with the witch if she's already targeting us anyway."

The group continues north, and after about an hour, something seems to be starting…

Far away, in the volcanic mountains of Gorramah, an existence seems to be waking up from its slumber. A huge flying monster in humanoid form, full of scales and that hardly seems to be a dragon at all starts to come out of the lava.

Druaga: "Demons? Now seems like the best time to exterminate them. May Hur turn to dust in the ocean!"

Focusing his huge body, something seems to be going from the center of his chest to his mouth. A sudden light came out through its gullet, and all the energy seems to go up to the sky and hit the clouds, and from them, the current of energy goes straight to the ground, hitting the mountainous regions of Hur. All those who saw the scene, which happened in a mere instant, have the same impression as if the sun were to ever descend to Earth for a second, the light covers the whole planet and instantly travels trough it. In the next instant, the entire region of Hur is gone with the exception the mountainous entrance to the north through the east passage.

Lunarius and his group, who witnessed the phenomenon, managed to survive, but the entire mountainous region that existed just now ceased to exist from one second to the next, all that can be seen is the ocean in its place. Before they were to be disintegrated along it, Perla warned the group that the witch said she would notify Druaga as soon as she discovered their location, and that it would be best for them to teleport to safety. Ertudes, then, decided to take them to the pass to the east of Hur, where he had already left a base with his monsters ready in case he decided to eliminate the orcs, which means that they would have died anyway if Druaga had extended his powers to destroy the entire Hur Line, but that probably means he didn't want to split the continent entirely in two.

Ertudes: "…I almost died for good, I'm more than determined to get out of here now."

Azel: "Well, it was only expected that someone carrying the "original" power would be capable of at least that. But honestly, if he has so much power I don't understand why he doesn't just eliminate everyone, maybe there is some limit to what he can do… "

Perla: "Let's decide what to do tomorrow…"

Ertudes guides the group to a big house he has just built, its base is full of monsters of all kinds, but what most impresses Lunarius is a kind of minotaur, but he has a skull on his head and his horns are an extension of the skull, he is giant and carries an ax of the same size, and on the other there is a kind of robot scarecrow carrying some kind of sniper, Lunarius recognizes that Ertudes is a good collector of demonic familiars.

The big house, which Ertudes built on the spot, is identical to the one Azel made. Kerry immediately goes to the top carrying Mary's body.

Azel: "Ah, I had to eliminate the eye, Marry doesn't look like she will last long if she isn't rescued by the Lord soon, as her existence was tied to the eye."

Lunarius: "I hope it ends well for her."

Ertudes: "…Honestly, I'm planning to leave tomorrow, Azel, Perla, let's have one last meeting first."

Azel, Perla and Ertudes gather around a table, Resselph also goes, interested in listening and discussing with them. Lunarius also seems interested in going to listen, but Eclyst approaches him and pulls his clothes.

Eclyst: "Remember your promise?"

Lunarius: "…Promise?"

Eclyst: "D-Don't pretend you didn't! You said you'd let me put something on your face."

Lunarius: "… Ah, I think I did something like that…" *Deep voice*, "What do you want me wear in my face?".

Suzy, who seems interested, approaches: "Are you going to put something on his face? Why don't you stick something in his mouth!?"

Eclyst: "Well…"

Lunarius: "I don't want anyone putting anything in my face for no special reason…"

Suzy: "Then can I put it on too?"

Lunarius: "Need a reason…"

After some torture sessions, Eclyst pins a star-like figurine under his right eye, saying that a moon needs a star to be beautiful, and Suzy, on the other hand, manages to stick an star-shaped earring in his mouth and another two in both his ears, with the justification In the end that he needs to be more stylish, needless to say, this will likely have long-term adverse effects on their opinion of him, dealing with childs is trouble…

The next day, Ertudes packs his things and asks the Lord to leave the planet, but is forced to leave all his subordinates in place to compensate for his loss. Lunarius obtains power to genuinely become a 3rd class demon, Kerry, who was carrying her sister's body, manages to have her spirit rescued by the Lord and she forms a new body. Resselph and Azel didn't say what they asked for.

The next morning, the group moves halfway to the North, and it was decided to build a new castle among the mountains, and it was also decided that they would use the Orc reinforcements to face the barbarians to the North.

Much does not seem to be quite right with regard to past events, however. Perla's subordinate who was attacked by Torrias, for example, appears to be suffering from some form of amnesia. But Perla confirms that her name is Lynsei. And Oss is missing. On the other hand, Perla's subordinates who were further east had already been evacuated further north by her, so it means that it will be easy to fight a two-front war against the barbarians. But considering the circumstances, the priority became not to alert Druaga so that a new tragedy does not occur like the one that occurred in Hur Line, several human tribes that inhabited the surroundings ended up being exterminated, and several demons that were in the region were also extinguished from the face of the planet. Lunarius thinks that Ertudes may be right, Druaga has already reached virtually godlike status, there are few ways to combat him. First is Lilith, but apparently there are other conditions to summoning her, and it's clear to both him and Perla that she will have to be sacrificed. The only other way would be to go after Henri and the power he managed to get his hands on, but that would likely mean going to war with the humans, and who knows if Druaga won't simply decide to drown the island or go after that power as soon as he finds out.

Lunarius and the demons can only watch the world's dawn for now.

End of chapter 2