Lucan and Silent walked down from the top level of the tower.

"Master, Mistress, is there anything else I can get for you? I still have a few trinkets you might be interested in."

"Keep them. You will need something to protect your life." Lucan said. "From now on, I want you to make 100 spell scrolls a month for me. If you do well, I will reward you with magic."

The previously depressed Roland became ecstatic. If there was one thing the wizard loved more than anything it was magic. His excitement washed away the other emotions he was feeling as he began to look through the list of what Lucan had to offer.

Seeing that he was distracted, Silent and Lucan made their exit.

Stepping back into the shadow realm, Lucan retrieved the parchment that declared ownership over Roland's soul.

"Here girl, this is for you." Lucan said, setting it in front of Adrestia.

As she touched her claw to the parchment, it went up in smoke.

Purple hellfire began to swirl in front of her. When the flames died down, they gathered to take a look. Sitting on the grass was a set of blood red metal claw covers.

[Soul Collector]

[These claw weapons can be used to retrieve the souls of those you kill. When a target is finished off by these weapons there is a one in four chance their soul will be claimed by the user. They can only be wielded by those who have received gifts from the nine hells.]

Lucan went to pick them up. The moment he touched them, they turned to blood and dripped between his fingers, pooling on the ground and reforming.

Adrestia brushed his hand aside and approached the claws. As she stuck her legs forward, the claws turned to liquid and flowed over her body, reforming on the ends of her limbs.

"Look at you, fancy." Silent said while scratching the drake's head.

Lucan received a notification from the nine hells. For her next gift she had to claim five more soul to receive something. But now that should be a bit easier at least.

"I guess her tip panned out." Silent said in regard to Lilith.

"Yeah, even though I can't use the spells yet, I did get a grimoire." Said Lucan before dismissing his previous deal with Lilith.

"You should stay away from that women."

"Of course, my beautiful wife is so smart. I will listen to what she says."

Silent blushed as Lucan enjoyed himself. She always got flustered whenever he called her his wife. Seeing the look on her face when he did so was one of his new favorite past times.

He grabbed her and brought her close. Giving a kiss on her neck he whispered into her ear.

"My lovely wife."

He kissed her again and again while teasing her, giving her a little playful bite. His hand slide down her back as he enjoyed a handful of her perfectly shaped bottom.

"You still have a lot of work to do. Act serious." She said, pushing him away with red cheeks. "You need to get as many levels as you can before the fight, and maybe buy a spell book or two for your grimoire."

"Oh, I am very serious. Because when I win, I get to marry you in the game." He then leaned closer to her again and whispered. "And we will have an enjoyable wedding night. Don't forget that you don't only need something to wear for the wedding. You need something to wear at night, or actually you need something I will be able to take off."

Silent pushed him away again but didn't reject what he said.

Feeling embarrassed she escaped into his shadow. Lucan mounted his broom and flew towards the nearest dungeon while trying not to get distracted by his daydreams.

***

The arena in Vertshadow was packed to the brim. There were many more players here compared to the last time Raze hosted an event. Super was making his rounds, setting up his cameras.

The people from Terracrop and the Windy Willow organization were both present in the box reserved for Lucan. Ever since the terms had been arranged in the morning, this fight now greatly concerned them.

It would be a fight to the death and the loser would forfeit his position as Hand of Raze and be banished from the shadow realm for all eternity.

Lucan's uncle Bo sat in the stands next to Pickle, his subordinate.

"Do you think he has a chance?" Bo asked.

"I am not sure, but this morning he seemed confident. I will believe in him."

"You two shouldn't have to worry." Said Sturdy Willow as he took a seat. "When has Lucan ever done something he wasn't confident in? Everything will be fine."

"I hope so." Uncle Bo said.

The arena quieted down as Raze made his entrance. Standing in the middle of the open area he made and announcement to the crowd.

"Thank you for coming today. Two of my Hand��s have irreconcilable differences and can no longer work together. They, with four companions each will find out who will remain in my service. This will be a fight to the death. Without further ado, let them begin."

*Clap*

Raze clapped his hands, disappearing from the center of the arena and appearing on his throne overlooking the area.

At the same time, the two gates on opposite ends slowly opened.

The Plague Baron walked out into the arena with four vice generals. Lucan was surprised to see that he didn't bring any players. His four vice generals all belonged to different classes. There was an archer, a knight, a mage, and a priest.

Lucan walked out into the arena with his own team. Silent Night was with him as always. Tyrannical Kyp was selected to join with his beast companion Tango. Lucan was impressed with what he had done in the city of Desolation. MILOCARA joined them as well. The cryomancer was someone who gave up his life to take down a giant, as long as Lucan paid his fee, he was happy to join the warlock in battle. The last person to join them was Holy Willow. A paladin Lucan had previously worked with. Lucan thought it was a good idea to bring at least one person who had the ability to heal.

The fight turned into a battle between five players and five NPCs.

"ALL HAIL THE EMPRESS!!!"

"ALL HAIL THE EMPRESS!!!"

Several players crowded closely to the front of the arena and formed their own cheer section for Silent. She tried to hide her embarrassment, but it didn't escape Lucan's gaze.

Both sides eyed each other from across the 500-foot arena.

"Alright guys, remember that if the Plague Baron or I dies, that is it. Everything is over."

"We got it."

The Plague Baron and his four vice generals spread out while Lucan and his team stayed together and slowly walked forward.

"This will be your end!" The Plague Baron shouted.

"I hope you wrote a will, so I will have something to wipe my ass with when I am pillaging your territory." Lucan responded.

Kyp was the first to act. He summoned Tango and hid in his shadow.

Seeing him move, the others reacted as well.

The vice general archer unleashed a flurry of arrows. Ten were shot at a time in a high arc upward. The archer was able to fire five more times before the first arrows fell.

Lucan's group ran forward together.

Their first priority was to kill the priest. Doing so would make it easier to kill the Plague Baron.

The vice general mage summoned a circular wall of earth from the ground, surrounding Lucan's party. Before they could react, earthen spikes protruded from the walls. With a wave of the mage's staff, the walls closed together, rushing at each other with their spikes out, shrinking the space inside.

*Bang*

The walls came together, before returning to the ground.

Lucan stood their unharmed but four dead bodies lay at his feet.

"Ha, ha, ha. Is this really all you brought to help you? How pathetic." Said the Plague Lord. "Get ready, now that you are all alone, I will destroy you."

The Plague Baron lifted his arms, out of his sleeves came a swarm of locusts. Covered in a deadly poison the flew towards Lucan covering him completely while the archer sent arrows straight towards him.

Lucan stood still as his health bar slowly dropped. He didn't even have the chance to fight back before his health bar emptied. His bloodied body fell to the ground in a slump.

"Ha, you never deserved to be a Hand. I hope you think twice the next time you want to come at me."