The two dragons stared at each other with challenging gazes, then Azazel turned his head, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

  He looked scared.

  “This seems bad,” Kril whispered, holding out his pitchfork. “If you want me to go into assault mode and beat her up, let me know.”

  “Do not do that,” I replied hurriedly. “We definitely aren’t ready to beat someone like her.”

  It was silent for a moment as each of my companions gazed at the pair of powerful creatures, then, Azazel seemed to give up. His shoulders sagged, then he began to speak.

  “For how long do you need me?” He asked through clenched teeth.

  “Forever,” Kyr harrumphed.

  “No!”

  “It’s not up for discussion,” she said calmly, gripping the dragon’s muscled left arm. Azazel snarled, wreathing his limb in violet flames.

  The True Dragon of Fate was undisturbed, and her eyes glowed purple.

  [Time Keeper Kronatus]

  My adoptive dragon brother froze, meeting Kyr’s glowing eyes.

  “I will be back, brother,” he blurted out, then transformed.

  “What?!” I shouted in confusion, but the pair darted into the sky, disappearing in a blur of motion.

  “Should we chase after him?” Atea asked, unfurling her wings.

  I tracked the two dragons as they soared through the air, watching as they disappeared into the horizon. “No,” I replied, still shaken by the sudden intrusion.

  I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems like Kyr showed him something with that skill of hers.

  [Maybe she showed him how stupid you are, and he decided to leave for good.] Joshua quipped.

  Not helpful.

  [Are you gonna get him back?]

  I wouldn’t know the first thing to do. If he is in trouble, I still have a shadow mark on him.

  “We need to keep moving. Azazel can handle himself,” I decided. My companions seemed unsure, but they themselves had even less of an idea about the dragon's motives than I did.

  After a while, we eventually made our way back to Mount Boom, and the first order of business was to figure out what to do about all the dead elven soldiers. I wasn’t quite so empathetic as to hold a burial for them or anything, but it also felt wrong to just let my companions dispose of them somehow.

  “Lucivar,” a Dryad began, and I recognized her as Sylva. “Is it possible for us to make use of these corpses?”

  “Of course,” I answered, then continued inquisitively. “What will you do with them?”

  “It is possible to give birth to new Dryads using their bodies.”

  That’s kind of dark, but at least their deaths will fulfill a purpose?

  [Better than nothing.]

  “Sounds good to me. Let me know if you need anything else.”

  Sylva nodded, then returned to the small group of treants and dryads, relaying a plan of action. The gathered forest inhabitants seemed hopeful, although they still had an air of somberness to their movements and expressions as they began to gather the elven soldiers' rotting corpses.

  The next plan of action was no longer clear to me, as I had originally thought about clearing Lioren’s dungeon with Kril and Azazel, hopefully reaching level twenty and becoming eligible to evolve into a Demon Duke. However, Kyr’s sudden appearance had thrown a wrench into that plan.

  Plus, now that I’m thinking about it, leaving my companions behind to go off and do something else was how I got into this mess in the first place…

  [Look at that. The idiot learns.]

  You were also part of the problem, asshole.

  [Sure, buddy. Anyways, what exactly is your plan?] Joshua asked.

  I stood in silence for a moment, thinking.

  What would you do?

  [Kill more elves.]

  I sighed, knowing that talking to Joshua likely wouldn’t lead me anywhere. However, I partially agreed with the parasite's suggestion. The elven threat was the biggest roadblock when it came to accomplishing my goal of beating Luminarch to the Primordial relics, and I had still yet to figure out what exactly the elves were trying to do in the first place.

  “Hey,” I called out, addressing Zorrack, Fang, Viressa, and Cedric. The four of them turned to face me, waiting patiently for my next sentence. “What do you think we should do next?”

  “We should train,” Zorrack proclaimed, swinging his blade upwards to rest across his broad shoulders. He had obtained a new piece of equipment: two spiked arm guards that were attached to his meaty forearms. Fang nodded his agreement.

  Viressa answered next. “I believe that eliminating the elves should take priority. We possess enough strength to deal with captains, and even the prince wouldn’t be able to handle all of us.”

  Cedric’s face hardened at the mention of Lirien. “We should kill him.”

  I observed the small demon for a few moments, meeting his eyes. They held a steady determination, like he had already decided that the death of the elven prince would be his primary objective.

  I don’t remember him feeling that strongly about the Elf. Did something happen?

  [Not sure, but I’m with him.] Joshua replied happily.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Alright, I hear you guys. Maybe we can go after the elven settlement near the forest? As long as the King doesn’t show up, it should be pretty simple.”

  My companions each nodded in agreement.

  “Go ahead and begin preparing. We will leave as soon as I’m finished with this,” I said, procuring an item from my inventory.

  [You have used Portable Forge, what would you like to do?]

  I didn’t have quite enough gold to afford the Cloak of Illusion, which could’ve been interesting, but I decided to go ahead and upgrade the Crown of the Ruler instead.

  [Gold -4,000]

  [Iron Bar -5]

  [Nightstalker Claw -1]

  [Crescent Fang hide -5]

  [You have successfully forged a Legendary item!]

  Those materials make no sense!

  I felt a surge of power as I re-equipped the item, both the base stats and the special effect of the item improving along with the rarity.

  I wonder what happens when an item reaches mythic or transcendent tier?

  The portable forge disappeared, and I walked off to find Eztara, whom I had a few questions to ask. The wraith was floating near the warg’s den, looking on with a bored expression as he observed the dryads and treants gathering the fallen elves.

  “Demon,” the wraith greeted.

  I nodded, then began to speak. “Do you have some sort of history with that dragon?”

  “Not much. Back during the time of the great war between the demons and angels, the dragons were mostly neutral.”

  “Mostly?”

  “The true dragon of will was not,” Eztara explained simply.

  “What?” I said in disbelief. “Then, whose side was he on?”

  “I believe he fought with the demons, although considering that I was relegated to guarding Lunarius’ domain most of the time, I know very little besides that.”

  This is new information. Then, whatever is going on between Azazel and Kyr must have to do with their history. But why hasn’t Lunarius mentioned this to me before?

  ”Another question, you said you had your memories messed with by Luminarch, right? Did he do some kind of branding on you as well?”

  The wraith stared at me blankly, as if considering whether or not to answer, the nodded slowly. “Something like that. My memories are still recovering, so forgive me if my answer is unsatisfactory.”

  I feel like he’s hiding something, but I’ll let it go for now.

  “Thank you for the information, Eztara,” I said gratefully. It was a mystery to solve at another time. “Do you mind if I use Shadow Mark on you?”

  “If you must.”

  I stepped forward, laying a hand on the shoulder of the ghost-like being. Despite his near incorporeal form, the wraith was rather solid to the touch.

  [Shadow Mark]

  “If something happens, please do not hesitate to activate it,” I said.

  “As if I would need your help,” Eztara replied with disdain. I smiled in reply, then turned, looking for my companions.

  But Eztara left me with one final warning. “Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew, demon. Lord Lunarius would be rather disappointed in me if I allowed his toy—” He paused, stumbling over his words. “Rather, an interesting being such as you to die.”

  I didn’t turn before I muttered a reply. “I don’t plan on it.”

  The light from the sun above leaked down to the forest floor in cracks, barely managing to slip past the canopy of greenery. Cedric leapt from tree to tree above me, keeping an eye on any would-be attackers. Zorrack was riding Fang, who had summoned ten wargs to fan out and scout the surrounding area as we traveled. Viressa walked beside me, eyeing the woods cautiously.

  I had sent Kril, Atea, and Lioren on a separate mission to investigate the swamp to the south. I remembered what Conrad had said about there being a group of lizard people who lived out there, and I wanted to see if they were potential allies or enemies. I also wanted to confirm if they truly did possess one of Soltheron’s relics.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked, glancing at the female demon.

  “Undecided,” she replied. “And you?”

  “I’ve been better,” I said honestly. “Let’s go over the plan one more time.”

  She nodded, and we began to recap the plan of attack we had decided upon. Assuming that the elves had bolstered their defences after our attack on Mount Boom, as well as having already had this specific settlement destroyed once before, we expected a number of powerful foes to be present this time around.

  While the captain-level elves were somewhat of a threat, it was rather trivial for me or any of my companions to deal with them in a one-on-one situation. However, we also didn’t know the true extent of power in the elven army, and we couldn’t exclude the possible threat of enemies even stronger than the captains of the elven army. While I was confident that, along with Signeir and Joshua, I would be able to defeat someone on Lirien’s level, it was unlikely that my friends would be able to accomplish the same feat.

  Last time, the elven prince's arrival was a surprise, and I wasn’t willing to let that happen again. Cedric and the warg summons from Fang’s skill were responsible for vetting the premises for any powerful threats, while Zorrack and Viressa would make up the main attack force. The now acolyte class demon was well equipped for handling large groups of enemies on her own, and Zorrack could act as both a tank and an AOE damage dealer using Stormcaller.

  I no longer had a Shadow Mark on Cedric, so I was inclined to stay beside him rather than send him on his own this time around. After the initial attack from the other three, we planned to lie in wait and take down any captain-level or higher threats before they could mount a counterattack.

  “Any news?” I asked Fang, who was slowly walking back towards me with his ten warg summons in tow.

  “At least two Elf Captains, including the Ice girl from before.”

  So Iseldrynn is still stationed here.

  [Can I kill her this time?]

  If we get the chance, but it's also important to try to capture anyone who might know anything important.

  A dagger dug into the ground beside me, then Cedric appeared, activating his teleportation skill.

  “I saw someone walking near the fortress. He seemed strong,” the demon began without prompting. “He was wearing black armour.”

  I nodded. It seemed that a new threat was present this time around. “I will deal with him if he shows his face. The rest of you should be able to handle the foot soldiers and captains.”

  My companions each nodded in affirmation.

  “Are we ready?”

  “Always,” Zorrack grinned with anticipation. Cedric and Viressa’s faces hardened with determination.

  The war against the elves had begun.