An explosion erupted around us, blasting outward and completely smearing our vision. Aether Shell was cast as a dome onto a set area rather than a target, so the congregation was unharmed. The ear-splitting sound of the explosion stunned everyone. But before long, panic and cries of fear swelled within the civilians and the adventurers who hadn’t experienced expert-level spells were either awestruck or petrified.

A column of earth shot up within the dome-shaped Aether Shell and released hundreds of stony needles in all directions. I let my guard down for the funeral service, and there was a bloodbath. Circle of Divinity constantly applied the effects of Greater Heal and all of its weaker counterparts throughout the area. “Get to cover! Remove the needles, you will be healed!”

The second I gave those instructions, I aimed my palms upward to the sky, towards the floating enemy above us. A barrage of Fireballs was directed to it, but after the first few hit some kind of barrier, the attacker retreated.

I summoned Dreadhoof and grabbed onto the saddle, mounting mid-air. The black wings of the foe made it obvious I was in pursuit of a demon. I used Telekinesis, but the demon removed the debuff from itself, truly an expert wizard. It looked back, then cast a portal in front of itself. The portal led above me so it disappeared and erected an Earth Wall in front of me, then aimed a Ray of Sol at it. The explosion sent Dreadhoof and I flying in different directions. I landed in some bushes and took a few seconds before I could make sense of what was going on.

If not for my last-minute Aether Shell, my body parts would be raining all over the forest; I’d be forced to switch out to my lich form. Alright then. I cast Starfall then shot out Electrostrikes like fireworks at the demon. Of course, it shielded itself again but a mountainous number of spells like that would eventually affect it. It got paralyzed for just a second from the smothering of Electrostrikes then I pitched it up into the air with Telekinesis towards the arcane clusters from Starfall. Under that paralysis, removing the debuff was pretty difficult.

An arcane cluster hit the demon directly, and a scream of pain was heard; its use of mana was no more, at least temporarily. I slammed it back down to the ground with Telekinesis, placed it in Aether Imprisonment to lock its mana and movement off, then dragged it through the forest floors towards me. She was covered in scrapes, dirt, and arcane dust, with bits of blood here and there.

On a part of her clothing was the Hellfire clan’s symbol. I sighed. Of course. So, overwhelming power, huh? I felt like my choices were slowly disappearing. If their clan witnessed so many of their soldiers being wiped out in seconds and still sent someone after me, then what hope was there for diplomatic solutions?

Once I flew over the site of the funeral and ensured everyone was okay, I went to my castle with my prisoner and sat her down on a chair on the opposing end of a small table. “I am immortal and my mana runs circle around yours, not that you can use it. This castle is teeming with undead as strong as the late Barnod Doomhorn, and countless more are in the forests outside it.” With that explanation, I released the movement lock from Aether Imprisonment. “I suggest you act without aggression. Now,” I joined my hands together and leaned in, “after what happened a few days ago, why would the Hellfire clan still come here?”

She remained silent as a mouse and didn’t budge an inch. I understood that gesture, and truthfully, that was my last attempt at doing things over tea and biscuits. “Then I have no use for you.” The icy undead hand from Hand of Winter gripped her.

“Wait, wait!” She urged. “I’ll, comply.” The look in her eyes were one of absolute disgust, perhaps towards herself more than me, but they weren’t deceitful. There were no tricks she’d try to pull. It seemed her instincts won out over her duty. “The Hellfire has no choice.”

I rolled my eyes, slouched back, and groaned. “Yeah?” A few thoughts ran through my mind at that point, but thought number one was how tiring this all was. “Is it all worth it?”

“What do you mean?” she asked. She was prudent and chose her words with utmost care, but didn’t want to show fear.

I looked into those jarring eyes of hers. Sometimes it felt like I could see where they were once elves within their demonic appearance. “Land, mana, saving the demon race, whatever you’re fighting for, is worth it? Does Fyren understand that the Hellfire will be dead? Does he know the Doomhorn is under my control? Does he know the Darkviper clan is against him? Why? Why do all this? You can have a sustainable stream of mana for your children’s maturation if you approach it different. So why target the humans like that?”

Her head tilted in perplexity. “Do you, really not know?”

I scoffed. “Guess not. Please, enlighten me.”

She was about to say something, then stopped. “I, can’t. I’ve taken an oath, and if I break it, it means the end of my family. It’s, in our reports, but, have the Darkviper and Doomhorn really defected to you?”

“Yes. Who are you exactly?” I asked.

She squeezed her wrist. “I am Pyralis Hellfire, master of the Hellfire clan. I can only tell you what I know if you keep my family safe.”