Amber stared at the woman from the Saints of Truth, if not for the fact that her presence showed actual power she would’ve looked quite ridiculous, especially with the words about ‘cleansing filth from the world’, but sadly it wasn’t some kind of joke. It was the truth.

  And unfortunately, it was also a truth that she wanted to take Amber’s war prisoner that she worked hard to acquire. Even though he looked messy and battered, it was still hers.

  “The demon summoner is dead,” she explained massaging her temples. “This guy is just an accomplice.”

  There was a brief silence between the two as the woman planted her scythe and crossed her arms.

  “And what is the reason you wish to shelter the accomplice?” she asked in a quiet and gruff voice.

  “Ransom from the Arcane Council or information from him, or maybe if he doesn’t prove useful he will die.” Amber gestured leisurely.

  The woman grabbed onto the shaft of her scythe, “So if he proves useful then he gets to live?”

  “Maybe?” Amber wasn’t entirely sure what to do with him just yet. “So long as he doesn’t try anything funny, I don’t see why not. Besides, isn’t it a bit crazy to come and demand him when you just sat and watched the demons attack the city?”

  “Your strength left me no room to worry about it, demonkiller,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “If I hadn’t been here, you would’ve saved the city?” Amber incredulously asked.

  After a moment of silence the woman nodded, much to Amber surprise. At this point, she had actually been ready to battle, after all the woman in front of her was a member of the Saints of Truth. The same organization that said curse users were sacriligeous and worthy of death due to their demonic origins, the same organization that hated demons and seemed to worship the first Primordial Spirit.

  The woman pointed at Mercoth again.

  “Name your price.”

  Mercoth in response grimaced, evidently going with the crazy saints was definitely what he least wanted. But Amber didn’t exactly care about what the man thought, rather she cared about what she could get out of it.

  “It’s not going to be cheap, you know? He’s very high level, and his information can be very important to me.”

  The woman nodded. “Information of the Council is not impossible.”

  She seems even willing to negotiate with me. Amber glanced at the entourage of other saints that were going to arrive in a few seconds. Were they actually here to fight the demons and nothing else? After all, if they had other reasons it was likely the woman would have already attacked her.

  Now that Amber thought about it, all this time her voice had barely fluctuated, almost always carrying a cold and emotionless tone. Which meant, she actually didn’t feel enmity towards her? Well, she had no way to know.

  “It’s something I’d need to think about, but you’d also need to compensate me with a divine artifact,” Amber finally stated.

  There was a silence as the woman’s mouth curled downwards, before finally she spoke.

  “Unreasonable.”

  Unreasonable? It was just a divine artifact. It didn’t even need to be a good one.

  “It can be any kind,” Amber clarified. “It’s just a divine artifact.”

  In response, Amber got was a head shake.

  “The council would just tell you to kill him, that’s my offer.”

  Hearing that, Amber frowned. There went the idea of getting ransom, but it made sense considering the Arcane Council was such an evil organization.

  Still, they aren’t willing to pay that, huh? Isn’t it a bit stingy? Amber thought for a moment but she actually didn’t really know what else she could get out of the Saints of Truth.

  “Any offers?” she raised her brow.

  After a brief silence the woman spoke, “You can join us. Your hands are stained with demon blood so I’m sure the Principalities are willing to overlook your Class.”

  Join… them? Ha? Just as Amber was about to scoff, she heard a snort from her side as a shadow formed from the ground, taking the appearance of a cloaked figure; it was none other than Frei.

  “To think the one time you speak more than a sentence it’s to spread faith, embarrassing.” The elf crossed her arms. “Make a serious offer, please.”

  The woman was unfazed as she pointed, however this time it was at Amber.

  “Then, in exchange for that accomplice, I shall assist you in your upcoming peril.”

  “Upcoming peril?” Amber frowned.

  But before there could be an answer, the saints finally arrived with the figure that was helming the group immediately rushing over to the woman. His voice, however, was far from pleasant.

  “Archbishop Esther, what do you think you’re doing? Our job here is done,” he said to her with irritation.

  “Theoderick, we should negotiate for the accomplice.” She pointed towards Mercoth. “He’s from the council.”

  The man called Theoderick glanced over, his eyes passing by Amber before lingering on Frei for a long period of time before finally ending on Mercoth. Who at this point had an ashen expression.

  “Negotiate, huh?” He seemed to ponder before shaking his head. “Absolutely not, he won’t have the knowledge we need. He’d need to be at least the apprentice of an Executive.”

  Following those words, Theoderick grabbed Archbishop Esther’s hand as he began to pull her away. It was evident he was quite irritated with her.

  “We’re leaving now.”

  “Ya guys have been ogling me since the demons came and now ya suddenly wanna leave?” Frei said in annoyance. “Ya think I’d let you?”

  “If we wanted to fight you, we wouldn’t have approached in such a leisurely manner.” Theoderick glanced back in a displeased manner. “Besides, I think you have other things to worry about, Dark Reaper.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she furrowed her brows.

  The man smirked. “If you think the council would spare your hometown just because you’re a member, you’re quite naive.”

  Her frown deepened, and just before she could say anything else, a burst of light flashed where the two figures had been standing. When it vanished, the man and woman were gone. Shortly after the group in the distance also left in a similar manner.

  Amber was left to stare and just as she was about to sigh and turn around the woman’s cold voice entered her ears.

  “Pity we couldn’t come to an agreement.”

  Amber paused as the voice continued.

  “May we meet again, demonkiller, if you survive the demon that has marked you, that is.”

  It vanished as quickly as it came, but Amber was left with a frown. A demon has marked me? Was that even a thing? It sounded ridiculous. Was there something special she could detect? After thinking for a moment, Amber turned to Frei.

  “Frei, what was that woman’s class?”

  The still frowning elf paused for a moment before answering.

  “Supreme Demon Hunter, and her Legacy Branch was Light of Salvation,” she said simply.

  Supreme Demon Hunter? Suddenly, Amber felt that the warning she received wasn’t so ridiculous. However, wasn’t that woman underestimating her a bit? Didn’t see she her beating up the mage? No, she definitely did see it.

  So, if she’s not underestimating me, can she see the strength of the demon that marked me or something?

  Deep in thought, Amber and the others returned to the Grand Fortress.

  * * *

  The inside of the fortress itself was almost intact, save for the broken gate and a lot of dead demons at the entrance plaza. Even though the battle had actually been quite bloody at the start, with a large majority of the Warriors injured, the actual outcome of things had been nothing short of fantastic. With a grand total of zero casualties, the defense of the fortress could be considered very successful.

  And Amber actually felt quite good about that fact. Now walking through the streets, only Frei and the messy looking Mercoth were still with her, the rest of the people were busying themselves with the clean up including Aveline.

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  “Thank you for taking care of the defense, Frei.” Amber smiled at her elven companion, but she seemed rather… distracted. It took her about an extra second to register Amber’s words, as she blinked and looked over.

  “Oh, uh, yeah, you’re welcome.”

  Amber recalled the previous interactions before asking: “Are you worried about Froststone?”

  “Thorn’s age is catching up to him,” Frei said slowly. “What if that old geezer dies or something? He’s like my last remaining uncle.”

  Mercoth coughed, grabbing both of their attention. “I can tell you the state it’s in, if you’re more lenient on?—”

  Frei scoffed. “Ya trying to save your neck already, huh?”

  She glared over at him with a frown, evidently irritated from his interjection.

  "Spit it and maybe I’ll consider not killing ya. But I guarantee ya that there’s no way in hell you actually know of his state.”

  The man frowned and seemed to think for a moment before letting out a long breath, evidently giving up.

  “Listen carefully, only a single Level 300 was sent to Froststone. Our main goal was to plunge the entirety of the republic into chaos, whether people survive or not didn’t matter all that much. So there’s a good chance he’s fine.”

  Frei frowned but didn’t say anything, and Mercoth didn’t press, but instead he turned to Amber.

  “I hope you can consider being more lenient with me. I’m just a loyal worker of the Council, nothing else. In reality, I have no problems with you, or the primordials, or anyone really.”

  The elf glanced over. “To think you’re already licking her boots because you know the council won’t do anything to save you. Pathetic.”

  Amber raised her brow but didn’t say anything, instead she turned to Frei.

  “You know, if you’re so worried, why don’t you go?”

  “Not before he dies.” She looked over at Mercoth. “This bastard may just very well be scheming for an opportunity to run away, y’know? In spite of how amiable he looks, he won’t hesitate to betray you given the chance. We should just get the information we can from him, and kill him.”

  Amber thought for a moment as the member of the Arcane Council tensed, before she smirked.

  “Maybe he can shake my hand instead, not only can you relax but we can also get more information that way.”

  Frei blinked before seemingly starting to consider something. “Most of his use is providing information I don’t know after all. Quite the good idea, if I say so.”

  Mercoth hearing their conversation seemed to frown, but it was evident he seemed quite unsure of what they actually were talking about. Amber tapped her chin.

  “Say, do you think I made a loss by not trading him to the saints when I had the chance?” she asked Frei.

  After all, pretty much everyone seemed to think the council wouldn’t pay anything to get him back, so at this point Amber believed that to be the truth.

  “Not necessarily,” Frei answered. “They don’t know the outcome of this place yet, heh. Maybe we can use him as an infiltrator, I’m sure at this point my betrayal is very heavily suspected.”

  The old man’s face darkened. “If you think I’ll tempt a fate worse than death, then you’re wrong. Moreover, even if you try that I’ll probably die.”

  “Oh right, your whole organization will make you do a contract with a primordial or something, right?” Amber thought for a moment. “But it shouldn’t be impossible, after all we can snatch your reports from you and read them, there’s no need for you to say things outloud. Technically speaking all of this would be happening against your will, so the contract wouldn’t fault you for it.”

  Frei nodded. “Indeed, usually captured members of the council are expected to commit suicide immediately. So the higher-ups certainly didn’t consider this possibility.”

  As she finished, she gave a meaningful glance at Mercoth, whose face turned for the worse.

  Finally, he spoke. “It’s still a no.”

  Frei laughed. “We’ll see if you’re still as adamant, once you’re given the choice.”

  Amber nodded, and under her guidance they arrived at the inn they had been staying in, much to the surprise of the captured Arcane Council member. His expression seemed to give it away as Frei gave him a glance.

  “What, were you expecting some sort of prison?” She smirked. “Well maybe you will prefer to be a war prisoner after this.”

  To Amber, it was quite clear that Frei was looking forward to the Essence Pact happening, or the contract, as Amber usually called it. As for whether, she herself was looking forward to it, she wasn’t quite sure, but the prospect of having a new insider in the organization did excite her. As for why return to the inn instead of elsewhere; well… it was simply the most private space Amber could think about.

  Now standing inside their room, Amber glanced over at Frei.

  “Could you set a barrier to block the sound?”

  “Aye aye.” She gave a salute.

  At the same time, Mercoth had a terrible frown as he spoke. “I don’t know what you two are planning, but if you think you’ll be able to convince me to betray the council, think again. You’ll have a better chance torturing me, if I don’t end myself before that, that is.”

  Amber glanced over at the man as she sensed Frei’s spellcasting go off. Finally, she spoke.

  “Isn’t the only reason you refuse to cooperate, because you think you’ll die either way?”

  The refined and rather battered old man pursed his lips but said nothing, Amber took the opportunity to continue speaking.

  “What if I decided to spare you once all this is over?” She raised her brow. “All you’d have to do is worry about the council pursuing you.”

  “Do you think I have a chance at running away from them?” he asked incredulously. “It wouldn’t take them long to track me, moreover what makes you think I believe you’ll spare me?—”

  “She’s plenty trustworthy, but y’know old fox. Are ya sure you wanna keep on trying to negotiate? She can just reignite the curses she placed on you, and at that point you’ll have no choice but kick the bucket,” Frei said from the side. “If ya actually wanna live this is kinda your best chance.”

  He bit his lip, and Amber nodded, indicating that Frei was pretty much right. If she were to trigger the curses again, the old man would be seriously injured almost immediately in spite of being a Cursebearer. That’s how strong the Curse of Disintegration and Curse of Eternal Flames both were.

  After seemingly deliberating, he gritted and turned to Amber.

  “Fine, what is your deal. I’ll betray them.”

  Frei smirked, and Amber smiled as she asked.

  “What is your name? Your entire name.”

  He frowned. “Mercoth, that’s it. I’m no noble.”

  Amber nodded and began to move her Essence towards her heart.

  “Mercoth, do you agree to be my ally for at least a year? As an ally, you won’t act in a damaging way to me or my companions, whether it is divulging information, or setting traps, or even ignoring us when we require your help. You shall treat us with great importance and assist us in dealing with the Arcane Council. In exchange, I shall forget your transgressions and drop all my enmity towards you.”

  Finally, she extended her hand with a small smile.

  “Trying to engage in damaging behaviour towards us will result in great pain, and complete disregard of it will cause death. What do you say?”

  He snorted and just as he was about to grab her hand, he seemed to notice something as he looked at Amber. At the still covered flaming Amber, he could see a slight orange glow on the opening of the cloak, and her eyes seemed to shine ever so slightly. Taking all of this he gulped.

  “So that’s how it is…” He sighed. “Fine, it’s not like it’s impossible for you to force me to take the vow.”

  Finally he shook her hand and Amber felt a great drain towards her Essence, consuming over half of it in one go. She let out a long breath, as a notification arrived.

  You’ve made an Essence Pact with Mercoth Trisk.

  “I thought you were just called Mercoth?” Amber raised her brow.

  “To strangers I’m just Mercoth,” he said simply. “But now that I’ve joined you, you’re qualified to know.”

  Frei clicked her tongue. “I bet you his plan was to pretend to agree before betraying you.”

  “Not wrong.” Mercoth said as a potion appeared on his hand. “But now, there’s nothing that can be done. I just hope both of you make my betrayal something that’s hard to figure out for them.”

  The elf smirked. “Who knows.”

  With a sigh, he drank the potion as his still open wounds began to heal. That said, his once combed hair was still messy, and his beard had parts that had been singed off. His attire was missing on his shoulder. If not for the fact that the inn-keeper was in hiding, Amber would’ve even suspected it would’ve caused some level of trouble.

  Well… her awe-inspiring aura appearance would’ve certainly caused even more trouble. Even now, she had to constantly stop the flames of the curse from spreading.

  “So, is there anything you want from me at the moment?” he asked Amber.

  “Actually, I need you to find out which demons were summoned along with the Demon of Genesis, considering a very strong demon wants to kill me.”

  He nodded, and Amber continued:

  “Also, you’re going to assist me with engraving my bones with curses later.”

  Mercoth blinked. “You what?”

  Frei chuckled at the shocked reaction of the man, before turning to Amber.

  “Now that this is taken care of, do you mind if I?—”

  “You should go.” Amber nodded at her. “There’s no need to worry about anything now.”

  Frei smiled. “Then, I’ll get going.”

  Shortly after that, she melted into darkness before disappearing. Amber was left to stare, before she took out the notebook with the schematics.

  She had decided.

  She was going to make the rest of the runes into a continuous permanent circuit and simply snap them off as needed.

  As much as she wanted to dismiss the warning from the girl that was Archbishop Esther, her intuition told her it was far from simple.

  Amber looked at the starry sky, before shaking her head.

  * * *

  Now quite away, Archbishop Theoderick turned to her companion, Archbishop Esther and asked what had been bothering him the most.

  “If you wanted to take that Arcane Council member away, why didn’t you do it by force? Dark Reaper wouldn’t have been able to stop you and that woman was?—”

  “I couldn’t,” Esther replied simply.

  “Couldn’t?” Archbishop Theoderick was baffled. “What’s that supposed to mean.”

  In response, Esther shook her head. “She hides deep secrets. To look down on that demonkiller would be akin to forfeiting my life.”

  Theoderick observed the woman for a moment, but found that her demeanor hadn’t changed, which meant she was most definitely serious.

  “So, she isn’t simple.”

  He got a nod in return that explained what had been bothering him initially, but there was something he didn’t get.

  “Why did you leave your post to go there? You didn’t even fight like you usually do.”

  “My fate as a Demon Hunter is to erradicate those evil-spawns, especially if they’re strong.” She glanced back in the direction of the Grand Fortress that was now a mere dot in the distance. “Unfortunately, this time it wasn’t meant to happen.”

  He frowned, but ultimately shook his head. He didn’t even want to ask what she meant at this point.

  The mission was completed and as far as Esther’s odd behavior went, all he would do was report it to the higher ups. Attacking the Dark Reaper was, unfortunately, too risky at that moment, but in the future things would certainly be different. With the information they gathered she and her great sinful companion were sure to die.

  One of the Holy Principalities is sure to act after hearing Esther’s evaluation.

  His lips curled into a smirk. In spite of mishaps, he was in a good mood, which is also why he didn’t admonish the eccentric Archbishop at his side.

  * * *

  The Servant of Chaos, or rather, the Demon of Chaos, looked at the vast night sky and at the vast stars filling its great canvas as he smirked. Around him, blood and corpses filled his surroundings, demons and humans alike. Even those cloaked humans that claimed they had the same goals as him had perished.

  Feeling his strength and level increase, he gripped his fists as he expanded his senses.

  “So, you haven’t moved?” Shaking his head, he began to walk away. Each step echoing with a squelch. “Your hubris shall be your undoing, Amber.”

  There was a single extra town between him and her target, and with it he would reach the same level that the Demon of Genesis had. He had long learned his lesson of being overconfident, so he had long prepared for this battle.

  “Heh, I look forward to see how you flee, woman.”

  With that, he stepped forward going further east, in the direction of his target.