?????'s Point of View

Unknown Location

“Where is Tor!?” I bellowed.

Two more powerful magic signatures had appeared. Even from The Crimson Wasteland their magic could be felt. Not only that, but it would appear they were fighting Arthur Pendragon. A few people came to mind and it’s possible Fluffy had reappeared. This was something that would likely interest him, and if he was present, I needed to head there myself.

“Tor is still in the East.” One of my Ghouls reported.

Ripping off a chunk of the table I was hunched over, I growled as I looked towards the hole in the stone wall and considered flying there myself. With multiple teleports, I might be able to make decent time and intervene. If Fluffy was present, along with The Anomaly known as Arthur, then Flare and Sulva were as good as dead.

My skin began to rot as I moved towards the hole in the wall as the first clumps of flesh began to fall from my bones. However, as I readied to take flight, the magic signatures dropped. This made me pause as I looked off into the distance. Stopping my transformation, I went over the implications of this sudden development. Fluffy isn’t one to turn down a fight, which meant others were present and the fighting had some to an abrupt halt.

The names left my mouth bitterly. “Credo and Pestilence have gone to the King of Old for succor, have they?” I mumbled out.

If they had approached Mordred, then it was likely to form an alliance or retrieve some manner of information. Part of me wanted to intervene but rushing there would be pointless as they would likely flee once Flare and Sulva arrived. After all, it’s the only reason they’ve stayed alive this long.

Cassidy's Point of View

The Island

The sand finally fell back onto the beach, and I looked to see Arthur bleeding horribly as the two Demons floated overhead. Typhon tried running forward and was quickly stopped by Kine, Ayda, Floyd, and myself. My attention turned back to the two Demons as Typhon struggled futilely in our combined grasps. Upon turning back to the Demons, I saw their weird forms rescind.

“What are you?” Credo asked Arthur in a wary tone.

Part of Pestilence’s side was missing, but it quickly regrew and healed completely as if it was never there. My eyes widened upon seeing it and my gaze shifted to Arthur whose wounds were closing albeit slowly, but in a similar manner. Memories flashed before my eyes as I watched him tear out his own heart and watched it regrow.

Arthur unleashed waves of magic from his body that were suffocating. “I am more than you could ever comprehend.” He answered in a dark and low tone.

Falling to my knees as his magic seemed to take over the entire area, I watched the two Demons frown. They glanced at one another before they started speaking with Arthur. Given the blasts of air whipping past my ears, I couldn’t make it out, but Arthur calmed down as they began to talk.

“Pestilence should’ve never attacked them with the intention to kill. For that, I apologize, but his methods worked. There is more to you than we first thought.” Credo stated as he gave a small apologetic nod before smacking his brother in the back of the head. “But I have to ask, why are you still here?” He asked Arthur after a moment.

“Why does it matter?” Arthur shot back.

“It fucking matters.” Pestilence growled out. “I want to know why you’re still here after everything that’s happened!” The Demon gestured to Arthur in irritation. “You’re clearly not a mortal, if you’re still around now, but why return to Lestrania?”

Credo sighed. “What my brother is trying to say is that we are trying to understand why you care about Lestrania so much. Even two thousand years ago, you acted in their best interests. After everything you’ve been through, returning as you have makes little to know sense and we’d like to understand someone we’re hoping to work with more in the future.”

Pestilence began pacing. “You single handedly destroyed the Demon Queen and her horde before disappearing.”

“I was injured, and she did the same in return incase you forgot. The sacrifices that came from our run-in with each other is burned into my mind.” Arthur answered in a saddened tone. “We each decimated each other’s forces in a way I never thought possible.”

“So, you stay out of a need for revenge?” Credo wanted clarification as our group kept quiet, with the two Priestesses whispering to each other.

“I stay because this is the best place for me to be. My reasons are my own, but yes. Revenge doesn’t sound too bad while I move forward with my own goals.” Glancing back at us, Arthur continued. “I also have a few debts that I need to address while taking care of a few more personal matters.”

Pestilence scoffed. “Leave them to their fate. The weak have no place in this battle.”

Arthur turned back to the two Demons. “On that we can agree, but someone has to protect them.”

“Rudnurth has been a decent enough deterrent.” Credo stated and that confused me slightly, but Arthur just nodded. “It doesn’t need to be you.”

“You’re not wrong.” Was Arthur’s soft response. “Nonetheless, I am fine where I am.”

Credo frowned. “Very well.” The Demon then glanced at us. “Despite your allegiances, and burdens, we would still like to work with you moving forward. Not many have killed a Demon Lord in recent times. It is likely that you have set into motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped.” He then gestured to himself and his brother. “We would be willing to ally with you and aid you moving forward.”

Many of us were surprised at that and I watched Arthur as he was silent. He seemed to be considering his offer, which is not something I would’ve expected. Demons were clearly foul creatures that should’ve never existed. The fact that he was even thinking about this worried me. However, seeing Arthur’s expression made me freeze as it seemed filled with anguish and a hollowness all at the same time.

Before Arthur could answer though, I watched as all three of them turned their heads at the exact same time, in the exact same direction. All of them looked annoyed or disturbed as they looked off in the distance. Pestilence grinned after a moment, but Credo grabbed his shoulder before shaking his head as if telling him no.

“It would seem you have little time to think about our offer.” Credo commented. “What have you decided?”

Arthur looked back at us as his wounds had finally healed and he sighed. “You help me figure out a way to get them out of here, and I will consider your offer, but that doesn’t mean I accept. Words are just that. Words.” He then gestured to the two Demons as he turned back to them. “You’ll need to prove to me that you’re sincere in your offer and don’t mean Lestrania any harm.”

Pestilence smirked. “You don’t want to ask your ‘Priestesses’ for their opinions?” He mockingly inquired.

Rolling his shoulders, Arthur started to move towards us as a screeching shook the entire Island. “No need.” He commented after it died down and we stopped covering our ears.