Having warned Azuria about the danger, Reinfried, Demetrius, and I headed into Ashenbrook to find the Stabilizing Staff. The world was as silent and empty as in the early hours before dawn. We didn’t encounter any enemies on our way, but we knew that Faust couldn’t have left the portal unguarded. Soon the cultists would leave their insectan nests. Soon they would strike like hornets.

From the shadow of a building, Reinfried scouted one of the town’s roads and said, “The coast is clear, but we should still be careful. Our mission will be much easier if we remain undetected.”

“I sneak past Aberrations every day,” I said. “This should be easy.”

“You sound overconfident,” Demetrius scoffed.

Without saying a word in response, I moved into the shadow of another building and gestured to him. He followed me, slowed by reluctance and weighed down with doubts. Before he could catch up, however, I was on the move again. I hurried through a small alley and stopped behind a short fence. From there, I looked at one of the busiest streets of Ashenbrook.

“You’re moving too fast,” Demetrius said as he stopped behind me.

“He knows what he’s doing.” Reinfried came to my defense.

I blocked out their voices and scanned the street for signs of danger. Two parallel lines of houses ran down the dirt road. The doors were broken after forced entries, and the thatched roofs were damaged as if a giant had flattened them into footstools. On the opposite side of the street, a few wagons were turned over after a seeming crash. Grain was scattered on the ground, but small farm animals scuttled around without touching it.

“It’s a trap,” I said. “The cultists know we’re here.”

“There’s no doubt about it.” Reinfried nodded.

“A trap?” Only Demetrius looked puzzled.

“Look at the roofs,” I said. “They seem to be damaged, but what could’ve caused this damage? If the buildings had caught fire or if Belphegor had stepped on them, they would’ve collapsed.”

“Now that you mention it…” Demetrius began to see what I had noticed.

“The roofs were flattened to allow people to stand on them,” I continued. “The cultists are hiding up there right now. But that’s not all. Look at the wagons. Why are all of them on the other side of the road?”

“People are hiding behind them,” Reinfried said.

“Probably,” I agreed. “So, what do you want to do now?”

Demetrius looked at the road again and said, “It seems adventurers use their own kind of magic.”

“Yeah, you learn it at the guild.”

He smiled and said, “I can protect you from enemy spells. Lance, you get on the roofs. Reinfried, you take care of the enemies behind the wagons. The mage with the Stabilizing Staff may be among our ambushers, so remember to look for him.”

Reinfried and I nodded.

Demetrius started reciting an incantation to prepare his defensive spells. The arcane words made his tongue dance to a mysterious rhythm. When he was ready, he strengthened his resolve, left the safety of the shadows, and ran to the middle of the road. Reinfried and I weren’t a second late to follow him.

As expected, the cultists appeared on the roofs of the houses. They raised their hands toward the sky and sought power from the giant black sphere—the portal to the Maida. This power arrived in the form of dense dark fumes. Concentrating the gaseous substance in their hands, the cultists fired destructive spells at us.

“I can handle them,” Demetrius said. “Follow the plan!”

He raised a defensive barrier unlike any other. It had the shape of a dome and covered the entire area like a semi-transparent cloche. Dark fireballs exploded with deafening blasts. Thunderous zaps painted a lattice in the sky. Scalding water poured down like torrential rain. But the barrier was impregnable. It absorbed the enemy spells and nullified their effects. Protected from the attacks, Reinfried and I arrived at the houses on the opposite side of the road.

“Come on, Lance.”Reinfried bent down a little and interlaced his fingers over his knee. “Jump!”

“Don’t get yourself killed, Reinfried.” I stepped on his hands.

“You too,” he said as he launched me up.

After I landed on the flattened roofs, I looked down one last time to see where Reinfried was going. And it was then that the rest of the enemies appeared on the battle-scarred stage. They stepped out from behind the wagons and from inside the houses. No… These people… They’re not cultists. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The enemies who had appeared were the townspeople. Controlled by the demons, they rushed to attack Demetrius, who was busy keeping the barrier up.

“Don’t kill them,” I shouted. “If you kill them, they’ll never come back.”

“I won’t,” Reinfried said and hurried to protect Demetrius.

Having warned Reinfried, I turned around to handle the cultists on the roofs. Most of them were busy firing spells at Demetrius’s barrier, but a few had already noticed my relative proximity and identified me as a pressing threat. As soon as I moved, several fireballs flew at me.

“I hate this cult,” I sighed and rolled to avoid the attacks. The fireballs exploded on the roof and started several fires. As the house collapsed under my feet, the cultists continued to pressure me with their unrestrained onslaught. I jumped from one wooden beam to the next, from one roof to the other, and tried to close the gap that separated us.

But I didn’t make much progress. This is bad. They’re firing too fast. Whenever I took a step forward, I had to take two or three sideways. Their aim was precise, and their barrage was unending. Only three houses separated me from them, but I doubted that I could ever shorten this distance. I was at a real standstill.

“Demetrius can’t keep the barrier up for long,” Reinfried shouted from the ground. “Lance, they don’t care about the townspeople. They’ll kill us all.”

“I know, Reinfried! I know!”

I sidestepped a black fireball, but another exploded in front of me and knocked me backward. I almost fell off the roofs. When I opened my eyes, I was hanging in the air, grabbing a wooden beam with one hand. Below me, flames were consuming the skeleton of a house.

There must be a way to get past their attacks.

I felt pain all over my body, and the smoke made it difficult for me to breathe. The same smoke, however, also hid me from the cultists’ view. Their annoying attacks finally stopped as they tried to find me.

It’s as if they’ve got infinite power. They never run out of mana, and they don’t need any time to recite incantations. It’s all because of the portal to the Maida. Wait a minute—if they’re using the portal to launch their attacks…

“Lance!” Demetrius cried out. “We have to retreat! The barrier will break!”

If that’s their trick, then maybe… A smirk appeared on my face. I grabbed the wooden beam with both hands, pulled myself up, and stood in the smoke. It’s a risk, but I’m willing to take it.

“Lance!” Reinfried said. “Are you still alive? We’ve got to retreat.”

“I won’t retreat, Reinfried! No way!”

I took a step forward and jumped out of the smoke, surprising both my enemies and allies. The cultists fired at me again, and the black flames swished through the air, brushing the roofs as they made their way toward me. But I didn’t jump away; I didn’t try to avoid the attacks. Instead, I ran straight into them.

“You’ve made a big mistake, cultists.” I grinned and raised my left hand. The fireballs landed on target but never exploded as planned. The black flames hovered around my wrist before they were absorbed into my body. “It’s time to end this fight.”

“Stop him!“ one of the cultists shouted. “Don’t let him come near us!”

But after every attack, I emerged from the smoke and the ashes like a phoenix. From one roof to the next, I jumped with my sword. I was quick and merciless, zigzagging among my enemies and defeating one after the other. Before I realized it, only a few cultists were left. They tried to recite new incantations, probably to summon familiars or golems.

“But it’s all useless now,” I smiled. “Totally useless.”

I interrupted their spell-casting with rapid slashes. The few survivors jumped off the roofs and retreated to safety. They disappeared among the houses, and I was sure that I wouldn’t see them again in my life.

“It’s over!” I shouted. “The cultists ran away.”

“Finally!” Reinfried said. The townspeople surrounded him, and he was moving fast to parry their pitchforks and shovels. “Demetrius, it’s time you did something about this.”

“Give me a second.” Demetrius deactivated the domed barrier and cast a new spell. His hands started to glow like two lanterns, and he waved them hypnotically in the air. Only a few seconds passed before the townspeople fell to the ground like drowsy children. Many snores came afterward.

“Good job, you two.” I jumped off the roofs and wiped soot off my face. “I think this was their main force. It was a tough fight.”

“You gave quite a performance,” Demetrius said.

“How did you stop their fireballs?” Reinfried asked.

“They were using the power of demons. When I noticed that, I realized I could just absorb their spells.”

“It’s part of being a Void Mage,” Demetrius said. “Eventually, Lance will be able to absorb all forms of magic.”

“That’s a scary power,” Reinfried said.

“Yes,” Demetrius laughed. “Many people still refuse to believe that Zeke Yuchi existed. And do you know why? It’s because he was immune to magic.”

Immune to magic…

As I pondered over the words, Demetrius began to recite a new incantation. The earth shook, and water erupted as if from a geyser. Like a virtuoso conductor, he directed the flow to put out the fires. The blazes died one after the other, and in the end, only a few embers shone in the dark silhouettes of the charred houses. “We’ll leave the townspeople here,” he said, “and come back to help them later.” As the smoke dissipated, he led the way into another alley. Unlike before, he looked purposeful and confident.

“Where are we going?” I said.

“During the fight, I spotted the staff. The cultist who had it ran this way.”

At the end of the alley was another street that ran parallel to the previous one. There were no signs of a second trap, however. The dirt road was empty, and the roofs couldn’t serve any ambushers. Even the insides of the houses were charred and desolate. This part of Ashenbrook had turned into a ghost town.

“The place Serena loved so much…” Reinfried murmured.

“Better days will come,” I said. “We’ll make sure they do.”

“No, they won’t,” a shrill voice said, and a cultist appeared on the other side of the street. His face was triangular with a pointy chin. A long auburn beard covered half of it, while an aquiline nose and green eyes crowded the other half. In his hand was a wooden staff—a work of art that featured three Belphagoric heads biting colorful gems: a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald.

“I admit it: you cornered me,” the cultist said. “I’ve lost many men, and I can’t run anymore.”

“Give us the staff,” Demetrius said.

“Oh, I can’t. I’m a great man, a revolutionary. Christopher Fergus. Remember this name,” the cultist said. “And great men triumph over adversity. Oh Lord Belphegor! How can I defeat the Void Mage? How can I protect the staff and the portal from this rebellious servant of yours? How can I…”

I whispered, “Is it me, or do all these cultists go over the top?”

“Pretty much,” Reinfried sighed.

“They think drama gives them character.” Demetrius shook his head sadly. “But they hardly qualify as performers.”

“Listen when I speak!” Christopher Fergus shouted.

“Hand over the staff,” I said.

“How can I destroy the wicked? How can I perpetuate my Lord’s reign?”

He ignored me.

“I know! I should use them! They are the solution! They are the key to victory!”

As Fergus continued his nonsense, Reinfried and I noticed two moving shadows, one on the roofs and another among the houses. Suddenly, they jumped at us. I raised my sword just in time to stop a sickle from cutting my head off, and Reinfried avoided a two-handed sword half the size of a grown man.

We backed away a little, and so did our attackers. Then we could finally see them. There was a slender man with two sickles in his hands, and next to him was a giant who stood seven feet tall. The two men had crimson eyes, and black vein-like marks covered their skin.

“That’s the answer! I should hire the local thugs!”