Joshua went first, leaping towards me with unbridled fury.

  But he was slow.

  I parried his strike, then Signeir began to charge up his skill.

  He appeared behind me, his blade slowly re-sheathing. The grass was singed and burning at the tips where he had passed using Infernal Draw.

  My arm fell to the ground with a wet splash, severed at the elbow.

  “Be careful, demon. I may kill you befo—”

  Signeir couldn’t finish his sentence before I flung him skyward. He crashed down like a comet, creating a small imprint in the ground.

  The moment that the fire spirit had charged, I allowed him to land a hit, cutting his side with my claws as he passed. A bright red chain of blood was now attached to him, and I was swinging the spirit around with reckless abandon. I gritted my teeth in pain, but I could handle it.

  I had already spent the better part of my life lying in a hospital bed, after all.

  “Don’t ignore me!” Joshua roared, charging forward and sending a flurry of strikes in my direction.

  I turned, using the chain to block his attacks. I spun it around, trying to ensnare the Parasite’s arms, but he slipped away, stopping a few feet away from me.

  I let the blood chain dissipate. Signeir stood, dazed, then stared at me with a blank gaze. “Sacrificing your own limb to land a hit? I’m almost impressed.”

  My arm had grown back unnaturally quickly, and my health had replenished to near full. The bleed damage from Claws of Mutilation continued to tick, filling me with a surge of power.

  I felt unstoppable.

  This time, I went on the offensive, rushing behind the pair with lightning-fast speeds. I cut into Joshua’s torso twice, drawing a splattering of blood, then parried his attack as he spun. Signeir activated a second skill.

  [Runic Fire]

  His orbs spun, shooting out a swarm of glowing fireballs. I summoned a blood chain, tossing Joshua through the air and forcing him to take the damage from the orbs. They each burst into a fiery explosion, blackening his skin and creating a foggy haze of smoke as my ears rung from the sound.

  “Watch what you’re doing, dumbass!” Joshua screamed at Signeir.

  The fire spirit didn’t waste a beat before responding. “Maybe you should stop losing.”

  Interestingly enough, damaging Joshua still healed me as long as I wasn’t under the effects of Claws of Mutilation's bleed effect, which in turn also healed Joshua’s HP.

  Wait a second…

  I let Joshua fall to the ground, then ran forward and cut into him three more times, severing an arm, a leg, and creating a deep laceration across his shoulder. However, despite my stats being twice his, plus being further buffed by the Sovereign’s Will effect, the Parasite was still more naturally skilled.

  Joshua tanked the hits, coming to the same realization I had. He fell to the ground and spun, sweeping me off my feet with his one good leg. I fell hard, but he was upon me in a moment, clawing into my chest and summoning a blood chain simultaneously.

  It was my turn to be flung across the grassy field, landing with a sickening crack as I felt a bone or two break in my arm.

  “How’s that feel, Carter?!” He taunted.

  I stood up, stumbling slightly from the impact.Then, I smiled cockily. “Better than this will.”

  Five explosions rang out, splattering blood all over the sea of green.

  “Interesting!” Signeir yelled in surprise, using Infernal Draw once more.

  This time, I blocked the attack. The flames of his sword licked at my skin as the fire spirit’s eyes widened, and then I kicked him backwards several feet into the air.

  Our spar continued for a while, neither mine nor Joshua’s HP ever dropping low enough to consider dangerous. However, this was not because I lacked the power to defeat the pair of evil beings.

  No, I was just abusing a game mechanic.

  Another five explosions rang out, and I could see that only a few more seconds remained on Parasitic Nemesis’ duration.

  [Utilize the second activation of Claws of Mutilation 30 times (30/30)]

  Perfect.

  I leapt backwards, dodging attacks from both of my opponents, who glared at me in frustration.

  “You’re lucky, Carter!” Joshua screamed, fading away as the skill duration ended.

  Signeir regarded me cautiously, one hand holding the handle of his sheathed katana. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What game are you playing, demon?” He accused slowly.

  “Ah, so you’ve caught on,” I smiled, then activated the item I had been saving.

  [Lesser Cognition and Claws of Mutilation are being fused!]

  [Rarity Increased!]

  [Your skills have evolved into Accelerating Hemorrhage!]

  This is gonna be fun.

  [Are you serious?! You were using us to evolve your skill?!] Joshua raged in my head.

  Yup. I thought you would be proud of me.

  Joshua didn’t answer.

  “I may have underestimated you, demon,” Signeir conceded, dropping into a fighting stance. “But it will take more than that to earn my respect!”

  [Runic Fire]

  A burst of flaming spheres shot towards me, but I was even faster than before, deflecting each one with a simple swipe of my new claws. They were longer, still red-tipped, but now glowing with a light blue aura.

  Then, I disappeared.

  “What—”

  The spirit didn’t have a chance to speak.

  I dug my claws into his back with a flurry of movement, each strike making me feel faster and faster, as well as making his movements feel slower and slower.

  [Infernal Draw]

  Signeir dashed, but I could see his movements clearly. I grabbed his arm, slamming him down to the ground. Two blood chains appeared, digging into his limbs. I pulled, yanking them into the air and stepping on the spirit's back.

  “Give up?” I taunted.

  “Never!”

  I pulled harder, nearly ripping Signeir’s arms apart.

  “Alright, alright!” He shouted in fear. I loosened my grip a tiny bit, then smiled menacingly.

  “Who’s the boss?”

  The spirit didn’t answer.

  I yanked again, eliciting a cry of pain from the fire spirit.

  “Who’s. The. Boss.” I repeated.

  Signeir clenched his jaw in defeat. The silence stretched for what seemed like eternity before he finally muttered a response. “You are, demon.”

  He disappeared, the time limit to the skill coming to an end.

  [You have convinced Signeir you are worthy!]

  I was now eligible to upgrade the skill that summoned him, but I planned to save it. I wasn’t sure how powerful he would become, and I couldn’t risk something like what happened with the Elven settlement again.

  And what happens if Joshua uses the skill?

  Lioren slowly made his way over to me, staring at me with surprised eyes. “Remind me to never mess with you, Lucivar,” he mumbled wearily.

  I smiled, jumping up to land on his back. “Shall we check on our new Elf friend?” I replied.

  “Good to see you again, Lucivar. Azazel has filled me in, and I think I have the gist of things,” Eldros called out as I approached, still riding atop the Ashmane’s back.

  “It’s good to see you as well.”

  The hero had arrived in Mount Boom, walking alongside my dragon companion, who shrank down into his true form and wrapped himself around my neck.

  “I will say,” Eldros started, eyeing Azazel. “Perhaps a less… famous messenger would’ve done the trick?”

  “All of my companions are either demons or monsters,” I replied simply.

  Eldros seemed taken aback, glancing around, then smiled, as if suddenly realizing I was telling the truth. He rubbed his head sheepishly before responding. “I guess you’re right. I’m sure I could find something to help with that back in Elurien…”

  I waved my hand, wanting to focus on the matter at hand. “So I assume you’re willing to help us?”

  “I’ll gladly use Thaleres’ blessing on the Elf, however,” He paused, staring at the ground. “I’m afraid that I can’t be of assistance should they come to attack your territory. Tensions are tight between us humans and the Elves as is, and I would hate to be the reason my kingdom is attacked.”

  I nodded in understanding, not having expected help from the adventurers anyway. “Let’s be on our way then,” I said, leading the hero to the small cage where we were keeping Iseldrynn. The treants Druval and Thuldur stood guard, as well as the pair of Dryads who had facilitated the trials of the Verdant Accord. They were named Nymphona and Sylva, respectively.

  “Druval, Thuldur,” I greeted, nodding at the pair of guards.

  “Hi, Carter!” Thuldur responded happily, and each of my gathered companions stared at the treant with a confused expression. He withdrew slightly, as if the attention would make him burst into tears once again.

  “So you’ve returned. Have you decided to torture me after all?” Iseldrynn spat, trapped within the confines of a crude wooden cage the Dryads had conjured up.

  “Oh, nothing like that,” I replied cheerfully. I nodded at Eldros, who proceeded to activate his skill.

  [Truth Dragon’s Blessing]

  Iseldrynn’s entire demeanor shifted, and it seemed almost as if the Elven captain had been replaced by a small puppy.

  “Do the Elves know where my territory is?” I started.

  “No!” She responded happily.

  “Why are the Elves expanding towards Ossara’s forest?”

  “I don’t know!”

  I glanced at Eldros, who shrugged in response. “It only allows them to tell truths they are privy to, and they can’t glean information that would otherwise be unknown to them.”

  I sighed, then continued.

  “Why are the Elves attacking?”

  “I don’t know!”

  “Is the Elven King working with someone?”

  “There are rumors, but I’m unsure!”

  I paused, then looked into the Elf’s gleeful gaze.

  “Is there any correlation between the Primordial Demon Luminarch and the Elves?”

  Iseldrynn paused, gritting her teeth as she resisted the urge to speak. “I… I have only heard rumors.”

  My companions all fell into silence, the revelation cutting across the grassy field.

  So there’s a non-zero probability that Luminarch is at least partially responsible for the Elves' actions, but why?

  “Why would Luminarch want to work with the Elves?” I asked out loud, not particularly aimed at the female Elf before me, however, she responded anyway.

  “I’m not sure!”

  “Do they not tell the captains of their army anything?” I wondered aloud.

  “Not really!” She responded, smiling widely.

  I thought for a second, then came up with a final question to ask.

  “If I released you, what would you do?”

  “Return to Ilvereth and gather the Elven army. Then I would kill all of you!”

  “Sounds about right.”

  [I like her.] Joshua commented.

  “Alright, Eldros, that’s enough.”

  The hero released his skill, breathing heavily. It seemed that keeping it active for such a long time was draining on his mana reserves.

  “What does this mean?” Druval, the angry treant I had met in the forest, asked.

  “Does Luminarch want to kill us, too?” Thuldur sobbed, wiping a tear from his face.

  I patted his humongous leg gently before speaking. “It’s still unclear. I need to speak with Ossara…”

  “There is more to this story than the history between the Ruler of the forest and the Elven Prince, that much is sure,” Lioren stated wisely. I nodded in agreement. We sat in silence for a moment, reflecting on the information we had just received.

  “I may be of use,” Eldros began. “I’m not as well read as someone like Conrad, but I believe that the Primordial may be trying to regain his former power.”

  “How so?” I inquired.

  “It is said that thousands of years ago, before the demons were sent back to Hell, each of the four Primordials ruled over a domain here in Terra.” A pause. The hero looked up, closing his eyes as he recalled the information. “They each had numerous powerful relics, and we adventurers have been searching for the world dungeons where they were said to be kept.”

  I nodded. His story had lined up with Lunarius and Eztara’s retelling thus far.

  “I believe that the books say that in order for a Primordial to gain their true strength, they must gather all of the relics that once belonged to them.”

  “Do we know which belongs to Luminarch?” I asked.

  “Only one, though he is said to have possessed four,” Eldros answered. “The Crown of Sight. It was told that it would allow the user to see potential futures and rewrite fate, but it was last rumored to be located deep within Elven territory.”

  “Then, could the Elves have been the ones to find it?” Lioren inquired.

  Eldros nodded gravely. “The crown may be influencing the Elves, or perhaps the Primordial White has already reclaimed it from them.”

  And he already has the six that belong to Lunarius…

  “We need to find the rest of Luminarch’s relics before he does,” I proclaimed.

  “That would mean hunting for dangerous dungeons that have been lost since the age of the gods. Are you prepared for such an ordeal?” Eldros challenged, worry crossing his face.

  I already found one…

  “Prepared? Who needs to prepare?” I answered cockily, though deep down I knew that the task ahead of us would not be easy.

  [Looks like we’re fighting a god.] Joshua laughed, almost excited.