????'s Point of View

Helmsforth Temple

“Don’t get me wrong,” Mordred began as he looked at the two brothers. “While they did irritate me in the beginning, it would seem both want to stay true to their word.”

“Even if it means their word was given to a weakling.” I commented disdainfully. “What happened that made you so weak?”

“Weak?” He repeated. “There are many words I would use to describe myself, but in your presence, weak isn’t one of them.”

Amused, I gestured to him and the area around us. “You hide who you are, can’t protect those under your care, and claim that you aren’t weak.”

He glared at me in return. “I’ve had a long week.” Holding up his arm, he continued. “Believe it or not, but I just got this arm back.”

My gaze drifted to Credo and Pestilence, who shrugged before I moved next to them. “How confident would you two be going against him right now?” I asked in a hushed tone.

Both seemed surprised at that. “I have doubts we would win, or even survive, for that matter.” Credo answered.

“What makes you say that?” I inquired.

“Despite him having gone against a Demon Lord and an Experiment, he seems perfectly fine.”

Pestilence scoffed. “I don’t think he could kill us. After all, the fight didn’t last long, so it’s likely he’s just more rested this time around.”

I listened to both opinions. “What if it were all three of us?”

Credo frowned. “We already gave him our word and we caught him off guard last time. You should remember that he’s the one who injured the Queen all those years ago. Not an easy feat, I assure you.” He stated. “All of us may be classified as Demon Lords, but remember, he has been killing several of us as of late.”

With my own frown, I glanced back at Mordred. “Do you think I could beat him?”

To my surprise, it was Pestilence who answered. “No. He’s hiding something. Whatever it is, it’s something he doesn’t want anyone to see, but if you were to push him far enough…” He then shook his head. “I’m not sure it would be worth it.” All of us glanced at Mordred, who was watching us emotionlessly. “Arthur clearly isn’t in the right state of mind.”

“Your specialty is going against people who use spells and cut away at their magic directly. I’m not even sure how you’d go about targeting Arthur’s invisible attacks.” Credo explained before glancing at Pestilence. “Besides that, we saw something when we fought him that is hard to describe.”

“So, you two say, but I just crossed blades with him.” I replied.

“And he sent your ass tumbling down the mountain.” Pestilence shot back as he crossed his arms. “I bet you didn’t even notice all the debris floated off the side of Helmsforth entirely, so no one got injured.” Then he glanced over at the man in question. “Also, not sure if you’ve noticed, but he doesn’t seem to be all there right now.”

Credo agreed with his brother. “It does seem as if he’s about to crack.”

A small smile came to my lips. “Then let’s see if we can get him to crack.”

Grabbing my arm, the redhaired Demon tugged me slightly. “That isn’t what we agreed to!”

Ripping my arm from his grasp, I replied. “You don’t have to help. I’ll do it all myself.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think that’ll matter too much to him.” Pestilence commented before shrugging. “I mean, I’m all about a good tussle, so it doesn’t matter to me.”

Wanting to be the voice of reason, Credo stepped between us. “Have you two lost your minds!? People have died tonight, and we have no idea their relationship to Arthur.”

Pointing at him, my smirk grew. “Then let’s target someone else.” Both moved to protest, so I quickly continued. “We’re not going to kill anyone. We just need to make it seem like we are.”

The two brothers glanced at one another. “This seems like a poor plan, and I want no part of it.” Credo informed me before stepping back with his hands raised. “I am nothing more than a bystander like everyone else here.”

Pestilence sighed and then stepped beside his brother. “Despite me wanting to join you, I will trust my brother on this.”

“Fine. Who do you think he cares about the most?” I asked while keeping my gaze on the two brothers. “Come on. You must know something.”

Instead of replying, both just gestured to the youngest High Elf present. As I looked at her, it seemed so obvious. Mordred was standing almost directly in front of her. My smirk disappeared as my eyes saw her watching us fearfully. Turning back to the two brothers, they gave me a look.

Gritting my teeth, I grabbed my sword and channeled my magic into it. “Very well.”

Turning towards Mordred, unnerved me since his eyes started to twist as he watched me. Without wasting any more time, I teleported above Lucia and readied my sword. It was easy to ignore their barriers. What I didn’t expect was for a bright light to engulf my entire right side as I fell to the ground.

It felt like the entire right side of my body was gone as I fell into the dirt. My eye looked up, and I saw a giant beam of magic shooting into the sky. There was no doubt in my mind that it shot thousands of feet into the air and illuminated the surrounding area for miles. A guttural growl was all I heard before it slammed into me. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even beg for my life as it crashed into me. Everything quickly went black, but only for a moment.

Then, in a flash, I was once again standing next to Credo and Pestilence. The two brothers quickly teleported far up into the air as they likely saw what I saw. My sword’s magic fizzled out as my eyes once again met Mordred’s. They were focused on me in a pleading manner.

“Don’t.” Mordred said softly. “Please don’t.”

Backing away slowly as I felt my body quiver in fear, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. After all, it wasn’t every day you saw yourself die and are given a second chance.