As expected the trip has been uneventful. Physically there are no problems. Even Pink can withstand a week or two of nonstop travel without difficulty. For me the only challenge is staving of the horrid prickling feeling that plagues my every step when my mind is otherwise unoccupied. For a while I tried to count the things we saw, in order: clouds(208), birds(17), sea monsters (5), fish (73) – until I was completely tired of and unable to continue the exercise. It took about half a day to reach that breaking point.

After that I tried a bit of self-reflection. I really should have held my temper better with that Celestial, though he was arrogant and deserved a much more horrible death than the one he received, I've acknowledged the need to work on controlling myself a bit better. Circumstances have changed and while arousing the hostilities of whatever powers may exist across the sea will probably not be immediately fatal (though even that much is a small leap of faith) it is undoubtedly counter to my stated goals – for now restricted to reconnaissance, while leaving the door open for the possibility of future cooperation. It is a sad thing but I am no longer atop my throne – I will have to slightly adjust my expectations of other people to reflect that fact. Probably less people bowing, scraping, and groveling to me in my future – to start with. I need to work on checking my pride to some degree – though I assure myself I have no need for something like pride, thus far in the situations where it has been sullied I have handled myself less than ideally, so those reassurances ring a little hollow.

Even I have things I may yet improve on obviously.

So with that in mind I tried to practice debasing myself a bit in front of Pink, flying with a wing slightly crooked – beating out of rhythm – allowing some small winged creature to alight on my shoulder for a while, purposely neglecting to control my power as I move – causing my motions to appear jerky and unsteady and even launching a few crackling beams of energy into the sea – cleanly missing the sea monsters I was “aiming” for; along with other such humiliating spectacles. Pink for her part never showed any reaction to my antics and I was never overcome by a lust for her blood – so perhaps we can call the attempt to subdue my raging sense of pride a success? Though just imagining Pink mocking me for those shameful displays causes my blood to rise a bit – so maybe only partial success.

After a week of my strenuous “training” which had mostly devolved into acting in small but noticeably ridiculous ways in an effort to get a rise out of the girl. An interesting little distraction, made more amusing by Pink's stoic and steadfast determination to ignore me completely. Something that would normally make quite angry but in this case I instead simply relished in the challenge. So maybe the training is effective after all? Who can say. What can be said is that my training, while an amusing distraction, does not actually do much to advance my goals – which takes some of the proverbial wind from my sails. What, exactly, can I do though to advance those goals – flying through some desolate patch of sky hundreds of miles from anywhere? The answer of course, has been staring right at me all along. Or, really, I've been staring at her.

Pink.

What can we do about her? I know precious little about the succubus, yet I am entrusting to her – well I can say the fate of the world without too much exaggeration. So it would be perhaps wise to acquaint myself with her to some degree. She should feel honored – rarely do I show servants such consideration. I know some things about her already of course – she is beautiful, but she is weak, she has tied herself to me magically to a degree that makes her loyalty unquestionable, but what prompted that decision is something of a mystery. And regardless of anything else, she is the tool I have chosen for the most important job I've ever undertaken. I would remiss if I did not hone such a thing to the finest edge it could be hold, would I not?

These thoughts in mind I slowly lower my wings – which I had pulled up behind my back nearly vertically while flapping only their very tips – into a more natural position. With a sad wave of my hand the half dozen fluttering birds of green fire – which have been flying circles around us for hours – disappear, along with the eight segmented worm – similarly built of fire, and which has been swimming through the air alongside us since the sun set last night – and finally even the flaming primate – who has been following us through the skies with a long series of elegantly choreographed dances – also dissipates. A shame, they were novel, and also good practice for intricate magic control that wasn't also mind-numbingly boring. That done I allow myself to pull alongside Pink – matching her pace more closely than I have been bothering to so far.

“Pink.”

She ignores me.

Rolling my eyes I call out again. “Pink.”

And she finally meets my eyes. “Ah, sorry mistress. I thought you were continuing your game.”

“Not a game Pink, it was training. But I am done for right now – I suspect that once we reach Suprema such training will continue anew whether I like it or not...” I trail off, feeling a bit depressed by the truth of that statement, before continuing. “I've decided it would be prudent to know a bit more about you Pink. So with that in mind – how old are you?”

“Ah. That's true isn't it? We don't know much about each other.” Her face is thoughtful. “I am unsure of the answer to your question though – I had recently seen my fifty second winter when I was sealed in that tomb, as for how long I was there... well I can only say it felt like an instant.”

“Mm, well with that particular magic you were effectively frozen in time, so no matter how much time elapsed while you were unconscious you essentially did not age. A bit strange that you would describe the experience as 'being sealed' I was under the impression that such magic was only so effective when the target willingly ingested a potion immediately proceeding the ritual to stop your time? It is a magic to stave off certain diseases and hostile magics, feign death, or pass large quantities of time painlessly – not a magic for 'sealing'. Or am I wrong?”

“I'm not sure mistress, it was not my magic. I ingested a potion that had unexpected effects – most probably I was betrayed. In fact I can probably call it a certainty at this point. That Mia sided with my sister...” A shadow crosses her face.

“You are a demon Pink – you must learn to expect a bit of betrayal. Still you are quite young – though I might have guessed you to be a bit younger with your level of magical ability. Isn't this level of magical power something expected of a child out of there tenth winter or thereabouts? But maybe I'm just misremembering? It has been long since took note o-”

Pink's face has become more and more gloomy the longer I speak so I stop short. Pink notices I've stopped on her account and a blush creeps into her cheeks. Making her somehow pinker still.

“Ah I'm not sure how to respond to that mistress. My sister was a much more accomplished magus than I – though we were the same age – but we were both considered to be well above the average for our age. Or even when compared against the general population. My sister especially was already a tenth circle mage at the time of my sealing, one of less than a hundred across the whole continent...

...much of it was attributed to your blessing of course!” She rushes to add that last bit, as if it had nearly slipped her mind.

“Yes. The blessing bestowed upon my Chosen would have such an effect wouldn't it? I hadn't accounted for that… magic has fallen far indeed if you are considered something great.” I muse aloud, before seeing her stricken face. “Ah, no offense intended Pink – I'm merely trying to confirm some things. How exactly was magic taught to you – to produce such a result?”

“Well, mistress, first you find a tutor to teach all the basic – commonly known – incantations to a fledgling magician. This education typically brings a pupil to the third circle with a spell repertoire that covers simple offensive and defensive spells from the four elemental schools. Beyond that it gets tricky, wealthy families hire more experienced mages to impart their knowledge and with this method even a wealthy merchant child might reach perhaps as high as the sixth circle. Learning beyond that requires contact with a true master mage. either through a school they run, as their apprentice, or through an exchange of some sort – rarely money, such masters have little use for such a trivial thing – usually some sort of political capital or surrendering a secret of your own.

Of course, demons from established Houses – like my sister and I – have the advantage of a master mage's tutelage when it becomes necessary, in the form of the head of the House. There is – was – to my knowledge no House whose master was not a tenth circle mage, or at least a very high ninth circle. Each House had at least one jealously guarded secret magic and most had many.”

“I see. A grim picture you paint Pink. What of Rune magic? You've been describing learning incantations almost exclusively.”

“...Runes are the purview of laborers, I was never rightly taught in their creation or formation mistress. After all they can only be used to enhance an already powerful item marginally, or for the creation of trinkets and baubles – like the everburning torches. Supposedly the highest members of your Order had some secret knowledge pertaining to Runes – to maintain the magics of the Grand Cathedral – but I know not what that might have been.”

“Pink. Explain to me exactly what you know of Rune Formations.” I keep my voice level – controlling my incredulity.

“Rune Formations are an inferior form of the magic generated spontaneously by incantations. With their inscription certain high quality materials like mithril or adamantite can receive a permanent enhancement but lesser materials are consumed by the magic. Mostly they are used by craftsmen with low mana capacities, creating sub-par magical weapons of war – grenades and the like – for use by the slave races. Other than that …they have various daily uses – a rune to repel water when it rains or a rune or create a sphere of silence for a time to let you fall asleep. Wealthy families use runes to spare themselves the energy of casting a dozen cantrips a day.

Ah there are exceptions though. The Holy Relics of the Goddess are suspected to use Runes to aid in the creation of their powerful magical effects. Such Holy Relics are – relatively common – most major Houses have at least one and they act as powerful deterrents and equalizers on the battlefield. Like my Rivenblade which can appear and disappear as I will it and has an effect of increasing the potency of my soulfire while I wield it. However, these relics are said to be gifts directly from the hand of the Goddess and prying too deeply into their construction or functionality is blasphemy.”

I sigh. Looking forward I focus on the horizon and the endless blue sea stretching out beneath me. I have the time I suppose. But really. Where to even start …?

“I sense you are displeased mistress.” Pink's voice is deadpan.

It occurs to me she probably knows why too. She has seen me using magic. She knows I am much more capable than she is while working with more or less the same resources – if in different quantities.

“Yes you could say that Pink. Mostly because everything you've just spouted about magic is wrong. It's incredible any magic has survived at all with a system so heavily reliant on word-of-mouth. What happens if the head of your House dies before he can pass his knowledge to you Pink? Is it just lost forever? What the hell is an elemental school? A circle of magic? And don't even talk to me about that ridiculous tripe regarding Rune Formations.

You would be more useful if you were more knowledgeable in magic Pink. But the task of reeducating you looks to be a gargantuan one.” Pink is looking extremely depressed as I speak – how do your wings even droop that low and maintain flight? “But. BUT. I will attempt to impart a fragment of wisdom unto you, that you might be more useful in the future – rejoice.”

Her depression disappears like it had never been, her whole face lit in a wide smile as she looks at me. “Yes mistress! Thank you for your generosity to this unworthy servant!” She even lapsed into her servile tone I note with a sense of vague revulsion – but it is perhaps to be expected. What demon would not leap at the opportunity for more power? More power at no cost, just gifted from on high! It is certainly cause to rejoice for any demon I think wryly. There is a cost though – just one being paid by me as I struggle to envision some teaching method that will be both effective and effortless.

…

…

…

I don't think something like that exists. Oh well let's go for the next best thing.

“Pink. Since it seems much of your knowledge of magic is tied up in incantations here is my plan. You will speak aloud your incantations and I will endure your horrible mangling of perfectly good words. Then I will correct your incantations and attempt to impress proper enunciation and grammar onto you.”

“...and that will make me better at magic?”

“Yes. An incantation is just a sentence or a phrase comprised of Words of Power read aloud – it's an exercise in speaking a foreign language, not just trying to recite goobldygook. So of course how well you speak the words will affect your end result.”

And so began the tedious process of teaching Pink – that continued until Suprema came into view.

================

Suprema. We've arrived. We pass over and onto the land without fanfare. No one comes to greet us and I don't sense any particular magical defenses. So it is with very little effort that we arrive in the land of the humans. Pink and I land on the edge of a huge cliff that overlooks the sea we've just arrived from.

Suprema is a very different place compared with Artas. From this vantage on the cliff, looking inland there is only a sea of green. Suprema is very green and brown – no grays at all hardly. The sky above us is blue – as it has been since we left the comforting canopy of ash over Artas weeks ago – and below us a forest stretches out. A huge expanse of green trees with occasional breaks in the leaves revealing an equally lush ground below. I'm not ignorant, there were tress in Artas as well though they were something of a rarity and also uniformly withered and gray, so it is something of a spectacle to see so many trees in one place. A proper forest. Truly a terrible thing to behold, all green and soft looking – no self respecting Demon Lord would allow such a thing in their territory, purely on based on the aesthetics of the thing. But a fitting backdrop for the lands of soft creatures with delicate sensibilities like humans and doves.

Aesthetic taste aside there is one major improvement I've noticed since setting out – and it is especially obvious now I've arrived in Suprema. The horrid skin-crawling cheese-grater feeling has greatly receded the farther I've gotten from Artas and here I can barely feel it at all. It's still omnipresent enough that I'm reluctant to try to just drop this little quest and go back to sleep right now but it does give me some new information.

“The feeling of discordance has receded somewhat, the further we travel from Artas.” I speak my thoughts aloud for Pink.

“That is excellent news mistress!”

“It's also new information Pink. The corruption is much more widespread on Artas than here on Suprema. Why is that?”

“I-I don't know. Perhaps the humans have been purging the corrupted creatures and as a result there is less corruption?”

“Maybe. Or maybe the humans have some method… it's too early to speculate. But keep it in mind Pink. On that note you have our next move plotted I assume?”

“Yes mistress, I nearly have the spell formed – give me a minute.”

That said Pink fell silent, practicing her voiceless incantation I imagine. Something I tried to teach her a bit of because in my experience if you are having issues with pronunciation and enunciation it is easier to simply forgo the verbal component entirely – so long as you have a grasp of how your incantation is supposed to sound. It's cheating a bit really – and probably stunting her growth towards being a true mage of the kind my father would have acknowledged but I have judged that a permissible failure, considering the raw materials I had to work with. After a few moments she's done – I can feel the wave of her spell pulse out from her body prickling at my skin as it goes. She holds her pose for a moment head slightly tilted as if listening for something until she relaxes and releases a sigh.

“As was expected – I was unable to sense any other demons. I limited the range somewhat at your advice so we will have to recast it every few hundred miles we travel but …well it's not promising.” She looked morose as she reports the result of her spell. Then she continues.

“However this was not unexpected. It's unfortunate but we will have to press on. We will continue into the human territory and introduce ourselves to the first humans we come across – to gauge reactions. If they are receptive to you, the Demon King, then we will have them introduce us to their leadership that we might divine exactly what measures are currently being taken against the mana imbalance. It would be good if there was some solution pending completion and we would be remiss to not verify one way or the other.

In the probable case that no measures are being taken we will have to intervene directly and for that I have a few ideas. The Celestial's could be persuaded to seal their magic – for one. Since we've opted to avoid just killing them that would be the next best thing.”

“Unlikely they would be open to that sort of persuasion Pink.” I smile a bit just imaging asking some puffed up dove to voluntarily surrender his magic.

“Probably. But it's an option. Moving on, we could introduce demonic magic to other races – it is something that can be taught after all.”

“The barrier to entry for beings unable to innately draw on demonic energy to gain that ability is …prohibitively high.” There is no levity in my voice as I say those words. While it is possible to teach such things, it is not an easy – or a pleasant – process for any of the involved parties.

“Indeed. I doubt I could do it as I am now – I don't have access to the libraries of home so I'm doubtful of my ability to create all the required components from memory. That why I think, currently, the best plan would be to create more demons. Using the humans and other races living here on Suprema for the base materials – we could raise an army of demons.” Pink's voice is cold and her eyes are flat as she looks out over the forest – inland toward where all the various civilized races presumably live.

“'Create more demons' is it Pink? We will need a lot of demons to properly address this imbalance. I'm thankful for your willingness to sacrifice your body to further our cause but I think that task is a bit beyond you, even if you are a succubus.” I reply, stonefaced.

Pink's serious mood disappears instantly, as her face flushes and she sputters out “O-obviously that is not what I meant Goddess. I was referring to a Holy Relic said to have been possessed by Lord Xeven, a relic that could posses whole armies of thralls and turn them against their masters. And the longer the relic held dominion over them the more demonic they became – orcs and goblins developing the ability to use soulfire and carving terror across the battlefield. I'm not clear on the exact effects or limitations of the relic – Lord Xeven carefully seeded disinformation and jealousy hoarded his secrets – but his army of half-demon thralls is recorded fact. It was how he secured the boarders of his territory against the constant incursions from Suprema and from Lumineux.”

I raise a single eyebrow to her explanation. “And you have this relic Pink?”

“I don't. But it should be here, on Suprema, somewhere. The Holy Relics are said to be indestructible – further no one would be fool enough to destroy one. You recall those detours we took in Artas? I was attempting to search out any Holy Relics remaining on the continent alongside our investigation into the monsters. And I detected none! Which means they've almost certainly been stolen – by humans or Celestials. If an army marched through Lord Xeven's territory they certainly looted his treasures and brought them back here to Suprema! Holy Relics are constantly sought after as the most highly prized spoils of war among demons, I can't imagine Celestials wouldn't realize their value. And with the location magic I just cast I can detect the Holy Relics, my Rivenblade was detected as was the circlet you're wearing, so we just have to find Xeven's Relic! Or maybe I could reproduce the effect with an incantation that woul-”

I hold up a hand to silence her. I keep my eyes trained on my beautifully manicured nails. Considering. I know of the item of which she speaks. It is a terrible thing. One of the few things I know to be older than me. Perhaps an actual Relic of the Demon God – if such things can be said to exist. Most such “Relics” are merely gifts I've half-assedly produced for various subordinates over the years – the sword Pink wields is an example of such a gift, I don't remember what made the man I gave the sword to worthy of receiving it but I do remember that I was feeling especially annoyed by the constant hounding and begging from my servants at the time of its creation, which is why it looks like someone just smashed their fist into a wall of volcanic rock and dragged the thing out whole and called it a sword; because that's exactly what happened. But the item she speaks of is older, older even than I. And while perhaps it could even be the solution to our problem the cost would be… well it's not like I care about what happens after.

“You will not be able to reproduce that effect with your magic. I know of the item of which you speak, it is a defective thing. The intent was probably a wand that would be able to cast a mental domination effect en masse, the resulting mindless thralls that slowly develop the ability to wield demonic energy are inexplicable things – the result of a mislaid rune undoubtedly. In short the effect would be very difficult to reproduce. But the idea to find the item is not a bad one.” Assuming you have the resolve to use the thing once you get your hands on it I think, looking at her through half-lidded eyes.

“At any rate let's continue on Pink. We will meet the humans as you've planned, you can search out your trinket as we go.”

Saying so I unfurl my wings and set off once more – into Suprema. My face still dark, shadowed by thoughts of The Master's Chain.