While between locations, in the instant that it took me to teleport from one place to another I began to absorb the vastness of Agustino's life. His powers, memories, and secrets, began to slowly circulate throughout my mind and soul.

Even the faintest secrets that the demon had stored away in his mind, in his memories, were ancient ones that expanded my knowledge. Sooner rather than later I would need to sit down and ruminate on what I was learning, but for now I had a war to finish.

The instant after I teleported out of the destroyed palace in the Spoken Scourge I found myself standing on the roof of the building that I had unceremoniously flung Mazek too. Drow was in the middle of fighting her, his dark spear pointed at her agile form as he fired countless shadow spear projectiles at her.

"Your tenacity is admirable, but you are destined to fall here!" He shouted at her, a wide grin on his face as he uttered those words. He was still riding the metallic beast I had given him as a pet and as a mount. Neither warrior had noticed me just yet and so I took this opportunity to turn from them and to see the actual battle that was raging outside of the city.

I turned and looked out over the edge of the building I now stood on. I was able to see the vast city that was controlled by the Agustonians, and the impressive number of buildings this almost Htraen city possessed. The city in front of me stretched out for miles in every direction that wasn't into the mountain itself. The buildings were surprisingly well-maintained, also bordering on the sort of quality I had seen in cities in Htrae.

Beyond them in the direction I looked there was a gentle slope that led to the city. It was crawling with warriors of all sorts, with some of the more common types of warriors being undead and members of the swarm, who faced off against forces loyal to the newly deceased demonic warmonger Agustino. The battle was proceeding as I expected, namely my forces were winning. That said, though that battle was proceeding as I expected, the battle between Mazek and Drow was not.

Drow was not injured, or even tired, but he wasn't able to land a blow on his opponent. Drow was mounted on the pet I had created for him which was also not injured. That was not the case with the robotic dragon I had given to Jezebel, which was currently resting, injured, outside of the battlefield.

Mazek on the other hand, was still enraged but she was also confident and able to easily dodge all of Drow's attacks. Even blinded, the possibly hundreds of thousands of years old warrior was able to match my general. I sighed, and silently came to terms with the fact that my ally didn't yet deserve a demonic pet of his own. Not yet.

I was just gonna absorb her soul and make a new demon of her type to bestow to my servant, but now I guess that didn't matter. I began to approach the pair of duelists, because it was time for me to ascend and I couldn't do it while the two of them were bickering. When I got somewhat close to where the pair were currently duking it out I used my mind to capture Mazek. The demon ceased all movement as I constricted her using nothing more than my thoughts. Drow, having had his eyes on her to the exclusion of everything else, suddenly froze, unsure of what to do.

"Drow... I expected more of you." I told the dark elf, and my words made the elf almost accidentally fall off of his mount. After regaining his composure he turned to face me, and there was a look of mild annoyance on his face.

"Master... I apologize for this failure. The enemy general is more resilient than I would have dared believe she could be." Drow told me, apologizing for his shortcoming. I chuckled, inwardly, silently, at his comment. "Would you still like for me to finish my foe, or would you like to do something else with her? Since you are here, am I correct in assuming Agustino has been defeated?" Drow asked.

Mazek's heart hammered in her chest not just in response to the fear she felt because of my power over her body, but also because of Drow's words. I could vaguely sense her mind attempting to judge the odds of whether or not Drow was both speaking honestly, and also whether or not he was actually correct. I decided to help her along the road to acceptance.

"Agustino is dead. The palace that once belonged to Morthos lies in ruins, which is a shame honestly. All of the demons who served Agustino, aside from his half-demon daughters, are also dead. The only demons who are both loyal to him and who remain alive are the ones here." I informed my worshiper. All at once, a wave of emotions crashed into Mazek, and I felt them rock her to her core.

She felt sorrow and rage mostly, but there were other emotions there too. She felt shock, she also felt a little bit of relief, perhaps due to knowing that she'd never again have to survive a monster like Agustino, or perhaps due to her knowledge that she was going to die soon. After all, she wasn't as foolish as Agustino was, there was no way she believed she could defeat both my general and myself. Especially when just one of us was wearing her endurance down by himself.

I silently appraised her while she tried to resist my powers. I felt her inward struggle to regain control over her own body. Drow turned away from me and faced Mazek again, inwardly cursing his own weakness.

"Demoness... You should be proud. You endured this long, which against me is no mean feat." Drow said, grumbling as he spoke but still speaking frankly. His words were the truth. He was a powerful warrior, and a quick learner. His ability to use the spear I gave him was evidence of that. He prepared to speak more but I chuckled and interrupted him.

"Mazek... You shall serve me, in your own way. But I have no desire to continue this game any longer. I originally planned to absorb your soul and then remake you as my servant, but as a reward for your skill in battle I shall spare you of that fate. Instead I shall only use your soul to learn how to make more of your kind." I informed the demoness, almost out of respect for her. I then closed my eyes.

Mazek's fear spiked up in response to my words, but she was only afraid for a split second. The next second the demoness's mouth opened wide, as if to scream, and her skin began to glow. I was utilizing my powers over fire.

The demoness was being burned from the inside. I had started a fire within her that was already spreading throughout her entire body. It would consume her to the point where I could easily destroy her soul. Drow watched as the demoness began to let out a pained scream and for a moment there was a look of something that was almost sympathy on his face. Almost.

Mazek's skin began to drip and droop as the fire ate her alive from the inside out. While this was happening I rose a hand in the direction of the battlefield behind me. The ground underneath the demons who were loyal to Agustino suddenly opened up and the demons began to scream in fear as they began to fall into a vast chasm. I was here and I was ready to ascend, or rather descend. I didn't want to continue to play with my enemies anymore. I wanted to go ahead and acquire the second tier of influence over the war domain.

Some of the demons who were among Agustino's loyalists had wings and attempted to fly. I allowed them to think that they could for a second, before activating the same power I had used on Agustino when he dared believe he could fly in front of me. I kept my eyes closed but my ability to see wasn't so weak it was dependent on my eyes. I watched the demons fall into the chasm, and as Mazek continued to be burned from the inside out I felt the war come to an end.

Mazek's health and strength continued to leave her body and eventually the demoness stopped breathing entirely as the flames inside of her reached her lungs. I rose my other hand and pointed it at her, before silently destroying and absorbing her soul. I smiled as I felt her powers begin to settle within me, another reward I had acquired as a result of being dragged into a war with an insane demon.

I opened my eyes and turned to face Drow. As I did I began to speak. "Drow... The time has come for me to acquire even greater power. Come with me, and witness the rise of the first new demon lord in half a million years." I said, before creating a vast portal in the air above the two of us. I grinned at my dark elven worshiper and then leaped into the portal, effortlessly reaching it high in the air above us.

As I leaped through the portal I found myself outside of the city of Dunkelheit, the holy capital of the particular branch of Althonites who worshiped me as a god of death, darkness, and evil. As I made it through the portal I heard my dark elven worshiper begin to urge his mount towards it.

All around me darkened trees, ones that grew without any light and were in fact merciless towards sources of light, watched me. I felt them staring at me without eyes, in much the same way as I could watch someone without actually physically looking at them. Their emotions weren't able to escape my "Absolute empathy" ability.

They were excited, they sensed that someone was about to become the master of this strange, fel-forest. I was floating in mid-air and as I began to descend to the forest floor I began to speak.

"Inhabitants of Dunkelheit and the Blackened Boscage alike, lend me your ears!" I commanded, my voice exploding out of me and resounding throughout the entire forest. "I have returned to this layer of the Heart of Darkness with an offering. With the promised offering. I have slain the demon of pride and failure known as Agustino. And I am on the cusp of becoming that which I was always destined to be: the demon lord of darkness, death, and undeath!" I proudly proclaimed, retrieving the massive heart from my shadowy storage space using my powers over darkness and telekinesis in unison.

The gigantic heart was almost the size of an adult human. It was a thick organ that had only recently stopped beating. I chuckled as I took the thing down with me until both it and I were on the ground. The instant I touched the forest floor I felt my senses sharpen like never before. I began to feel new power coursing through me.

I could feel new powers adjacent to my mind, ready to be accepted by me and to become mine. Powers that were being offered to me by the Heart of Darkness itself. And all it took was for me to make a choice. For me to complete the challenge that the Boscage itself gave me, earlier today, following a proud proclamation I had made.

An instant later a notification appeared in front of me. One that brought a smile to my face.

Multi-part notification part one: A Choice

The Blackened Boscage is eager to accept your sacrifice. Are you willing to give the layer the heart of Agustino? If you chose to do so then you shall become a demon lord, the undisputed master of the Blackened Boscage.