Jupy was right where Riza left him. Not that he would’ve been hard to find, anyway; the trail of destruction led right to him.

The lack of [Message] did mean Riza had to climb all the way up the mountain to actually tell him to descend, and that expended a fair heap of stamina. She took a rest once she arrived, sitting down as she gazed upon the battlefield below.

Whatever was left of the forest was now completely gone. The only remnants were still-burning trees but they were a minority, sitting on the periphery of ashy stumps and giant gouges carved into the ground that looked like the aftermath of a sky-scraper sized creature walking through the area.

All from just one human-sized demon.

A million damage is possible, and that can destroy cities. No bombs, no nuclear warheads—just one humanoid demon.

Riza tried using [Intrinsic Tank] again, the radius shrank to immediately around her, drawing out fog.

Still nothing.

And it’s not radiation damage that’s left over. No skills work. Hmmm. An idea popped into her head.

“Jupy. Use a small [Lightning Bolt] against that rock, would you?” Riza asked, pointing towards the back wall of their cubby.

Jupy nodded and raised his hand, palm outstretched, towards the wall.

A flash of light burst out, one errant arc grazing Riza as it shot past.

It collided into the wall not even a second later, forming a crater a few inches deep as the dust from pulverised rock settled down.

Interesting.

[Lightning Bolt] worked, and judging from the damage, it carried a non-insignificant amount of damage.

“How much essence did that take?”

“Ten,” The demon replied laconically.

Small is right. No metamagic applied, evidently, yet it dealt more damage than I feel it should’ve.

Evidently, that powerful [Lightning Bolt] didn’t create a magicless field but something else instead. Life and air magic didn’t work and… [Meditate] does but with no metamagic, judging by my regeneration.

“Can you aim a [Lightning Bolt] out there? Maximum distance with metamagic this time,” Riza asked again.

Jupy did just so, turning around and aiming his hand out towards the field of destruction.

It was a much harsher slope, the bolt jumping from his hand and down the mountain. Riza could barely see the bolt as it crashed into the collection of trees at the mountain base, knocking them over.

Because we hadn’t done enough already.

But that was clearly metamagic at play. Further than forty metres.

So, metamagic works differently. It has no aspect characteristic to itself and merely piggybacks off the aspect of the magic it’s affecting. I’m sure that’s useful knowledge for the future.

Lightning magic works just fine here. Better than fine, even.

Let’s simplify the situation. A skill that does a lot of damage converts the surrounding area into a zone where only magic of the same aspect can be used, and all other aspected magic suppressed. That seems to be what’s happening here.

Riza looked at Jupy out of the side of her eye.

Except, Jupy is still alive and kicking, and he’s the result of life magic.

So, either my hypothesis is wrong or the reanimation skills work a little differently, like metamagic also works differently.

If all other magic is suppressed, that means the divination the Empire was using to watch this land should’ve stopped as well, right?

Shit. That’s bad. That’s a sign something happened and they’d be racing right here. We need to find Daven and get the fuck out of here.

Jupy’s [Lightning Bolt] made sure that any and all entrances to the nest from the surface were impossible to find and collapsed if they did find them.

Which left only one option. Scaling the mountain once more, the pair located the rough location of the opening to the nest they had dug out when they first moved here.

Except, it was all sealed up. Daven had done that on the day that they had moved, ensuring it was still hidden. Riza couldn’t even be entirely sure this was the actual location but what other options did she had?

It was awkward standing along the mountain. The cave entrance was purposefully flat but the mountain itself was jagged and hilly; Riza had to hold on to large rocks to avoid slipping and tumbling all the way to the base.

First, Jupy begin with small [Lightning Bolt]s. Incremental damage, seeing just what he could do.

It was slow, mostly pockmarks, and once he began layering the bolts in itself, targeting the same spot to dig deeper, progress slowed. Daven had compressed the rock quite well, hardening it up.

So, he needed to up the power. Riza stepped back cautiously as [Maximise Mastery] came into play.

Larger holes, with small clouds of dust this time. Still not enough but nearly.

Another upping of power.

A resonant boom rang out, rocks falling all around Riza as she reflexively coughed from the accumulated dust.

Once all that settled, Riza could make out a wall in the wall. It wasn’t too large but big enough to crawl through, for both of them.

A knot of anxiety unwound itself once she realised she had the right location.

Riza crawled through first, followed by Jupy, and once she was in, she was struggling to see. Light filtered through the hole weakly, sitting at a suboptimal alignment with the sun. She could barely make out the shapes of tables and chairs, carved out of stone. Any further in and she’d be completely blind.

Riza wrapped her arms around Jupy’s arm and held him close. He’d lead the way.

With their lack of eyes, demons were unimpeded by the darkness. Their senses were more intuitive than anything and were fairly limited when outside of fog, but needing light to see was just not a limitation that they shared.

They headed into the nest.

The silence was discomforting. The last time Riza was here, it was filled with energy and creatures. The utterly lack of life made it feel like a ghost town, like she shouldn’t be here.

Jupy wasn’t much for conversation, and that left Riza to her thoughts.

Death was gone. Dead. She had killed him. Jupy was the one who cast the skill but it was under her orders, and he had barely any autonomy as it was. She bore the responsibility of taking a life.

The image of his smoking corpse appeared in her brain, unwanted. She could remember the smell, the stench, of burning flesh. She gagged instinctively; the merest memory strong enough to prompt a reflex.

Jupy stopped for a second as she tugged on his arm, getting a hold of herself, before he carried on walking.

Consequences. There are consequences to my actions.

The man’s words rang in her head over and over and over again. Nothing existed in isolation, and this real world was turning every second.

He died, just like that. [Meditate] wasn’t active but yet, Riza felt unexpectedly calm.

No anger, no rage.

He killed Lefie. He tore out my eyes with his own hands.

But we brought her back. Restored my eyes. Nothing he did was permanent, yet I killed him anyway.

Riza was struggling to understand her own feelings. Something about his death felt familiar—her reaction to it.

Then it clicked for her. Why she felt so little.

He felt like a demon. He wanted me dead, just like the demons do. When I kill a humanoid demon, there’s no guilt, no remorse, no sympathy. It’s like crushing an ant underneath my foot. Just an obstacle to overcome, or a corpse to raise later.

Something clicked in Riza’s brain, and she hurriedly tugged on Jupy’s arm.

“We need to go back. Now.”

Following along behind Jupy and Riza, exploring the nest underground, was the mindless, shambling corpse of Death. They had doubled back for his body, and all his still-intact gear. He was a wealth of knowledge and Riza wasn’t going to just let him go like that.

Just like a demon. She sighed. She’ll think more about her feelings later.

For now, Riza carried the body of Death along with him, as well as all his gear. He was heavy, but she was stronger than ever. The weight over her shoulder sparked a small sense of joy regarding her strength.

She was hesitant to bring his body into the fog, doing a few quick tests to see how long he could last and, apparently, he was fine. Checking his person, Riza found numerous metal discs on his person. They were circular with holes in the centre, like a flattened torus. The moment they made contact with the fog, they lit up with a green glow and Riza’s eyes shot straight to them, a familiar sensation in her brain.

Life essence. Something else to ask him about once we’re out of here.

The trio of them scoured the nest, looking for their remaining member.

“Daven!” Riza shouted as they wandered, her voice echoing down the halls. He was somewhere in here.

“Here!” A manly voice shot back for the first time in a while, and Riza’s body sagged from the relief.

“Keep shouting!” Her voice was hoarse and dry. Even with [Heal] taking care of her thirst, she wished Lefie was there for her throat.

It took a few minutes to navigate the labyrinthian halls before finally, they had found him.

Daven was fine. No damage, no injuries. He looked exactly like they had left her.

Riza’s feet moved without warning, her body lurching towards him. Before she knew it, her arms had wrapped around his large chest as she hugged him. A shudder ran through her.

She finally caught what she was doing just a second later, and quickly stepped back, ignoring her feelings of embarrassment.

“I thought something might’ve happened to you. The damage…”

“You thought something might’ve happened to me? I thought you were dead! I couldn’t [Message] you.”

“Something happened after Jupy used his [Lightning Bolt]. No other magic works here.”

“That… that would explain why I couldn’t dig my way out of here,” Daven said, putting his hand against the nearest wall as if to demonstrate.

Nothing happened. Riza was unsure if he had meant anything to have happened.

“I’m just happy we’re all safe, but now is a good time to leave. Do you remember the way to the tunnel?”

“Is this the right location?” Meren asked, hunched over in a tight tunnel. Her spear was in her hand, carefully manoeuvring so as to not poke anyone.

“Yes. I’ve checked extensively and it lines up on the map. We’ll be right outside the front door, next to a tree.”

“You can trust Andreya, Meren,” Adewyn said from the back, bringing up the rear.

Their fourth member was Harold, who had been digging them there for the past few days whenever he could expend the essence. After finally getting the message from Riza, it was time to enact the next part of the plan.

The earth opened above them, the bright blue sky shining down as the trio hopped up and out of the ground as fast as they could. Harold sealed the hole as quickly as it opened, leaving only a conspicuous patch of grassless earth as evidence.

The street next to them was immaculately clean. The road was laid with perfectly carved, smooth stones, making repeated arch-like patterns. It was strong, stable, and level.

Parallel metal bars were embedded in the road, and a mishmash of very thin ropes hung overhead in a supremely complicated network.

Poles populated either side of the road, some holding up the overhead ropes and other housing what looked to be lanterns.

The buildings around them were distant and far apart, each with their own parks and gardens belonging to them.

Multi-level and with an architecture defying the construction methods used throughout the whole of Meren’s village, it felt like she was in another world entirely.

Red and brown brick made up the walls, an impossibly large metal frame holding it all together. The roofs weren’t thatch but tiled with ceramic, and the windows were large, housing impossibly clear glass.

Looking down the street, in the distance, what appeared to be a fully enclosed, horseless, metal cart passed by.

Alas, they could waste no time gawking; they had a job to do.

The house they had just emerged out of was the smallest of the lot. While many of the others had three, sometimes even four, storeys, this one only had two. Not to mention, its garden out front was barely even there, unlike the veritable parks of the rest.

Andreya knocked with the shiny, silver door knocker, the sound resounding off the red-stained door in front of them.

Both Meren and Adewyn were wearing their armour, which was merely a shirt of mail for Meren, while Andreya had abandoned her Dominion robes for a well-crafted but simple dress which Riza’s critters had stolen from elsewhere in the city.

Seconds passed. The tension was thick in the air. Meren looked around her anxiously, while Andreya held herself with all the poise you’d expect from someone in her position. Adewyn was impossibly at ease, Meren thought. The massive greatsword on her back probably helped.

At last, the door opened. A petite woman with long, luxurious black hair greeted herself. She was wearing clothing far too ornate for a peasant but had a humble bearing.

“Greetings. This is the Lord’s Manor. May I inquire as to who you are and your purpose in arriving here?”

“We have a meeting with the Lord,” Andreya explained succinctly.

“I’m afraid the Lord has no meetings scheduled for today. If you’d like, I can arrange for a time that would be suitable for you both,” The woman explained, pulling out a small book from a front pocket of her dress.

“There’s no need. I’m sure the Lord will find time,” Andreya said and literally pushed past the servant and into the house.

The woman was about to protest but upon seeing Adewyn and Meren behind her, she clearly thought better about it and hurriedly closed the door after them.

“I’m afraid the Lord is currently indisposed but if you’d like to wait in the sitting room, I can inform him of your presence,” She said meekly, catching up with them.

The house was fairly quiet. A subtle pitter-patter of footsteps could be heard, other than their own, and a faint murmur of conversation in another room, but that was it.

Meren was overtaken by the beauty and splendour of it all.

The floor wasn’t wood but a kind of white stone with what looked like grey cracks going throughout, but in a strangely aesthetically pleasing way.

All the furniture was a beautiful dark brown, hand-carved with intricate detail and contrasted amazingly with the floor.

The walls were a deep red, the wood deliciously rich in colour.

Immediately before them in the foyer was a staircase leading to the next floor. To their left, large, open doors presented them with a sitting room, containing furniture far beyond Meren’s meagre imagination. To the right, it appeared to be a dining room, with a table far longer than necessary.

Andreya walked with purpose. Her hand found the metal railing of the staircase, touching it delicately as she ascended. If her clothes didn’t give her away, it almost looked like she belonged here.

Adewyn followed after her, climbing the steps two at a time, and the servant gave one last look to Meren before clutching at her dress and chasing after them, telling them to slow down and wait and she’ll get the Lord for them.

While they met with the Lord, Meren’s part of the plan was different, and her stomach churned inwardly at what she was about to do.

None of this is real. We just need to pretend like it is.

She tried the living room first, finding no one inside. It pained her to walk past the sofas and their irresistibly comfortable-looking cushions as she prowled through the house.

The room next appeared to be a study of some kind and it was there that she found her target.

A woman, with the most beautifully blonde hair Meren had ever seen was sitting on a purple, upholstered chair, leafing through a book. A pair of small spectacles sat on her dainty nose.

“Be a dear and fetch me some more wine,” She said haphazardly as Meren walked in, not looking away from her book.

The walls were lined with bookcases, each filled to the brim with books. In this single room, there were probably more books than had passed through the entirety of Litchendorf in Meren’s lifetime.

Meren tapped the butt of her spear on the ground harshly, startling the woman.

“You! You’re… What do you want?” The woman asked, quickly composing herself.

The lines on her face betrayed her age but even in this unexpected situation, she held herself with grace.

“Where’s the rest of your family and servants?” Meren asked, her voice deeper than usual. She steeled her face, keeping her expression controlled.

“And why should I tell you?” The woman asked, not sounding haughty but certainly non-compliant.

Meren kicked the small table beside her, sending it flying. It crashed into a far bookshelf in an explosion of books.

“I suppose that’s a good reason.”

The servant had eventually relented and led Andreya all the way to the Lord’s office, where he apparently was. Adewyn was with her while Meren was rounding up the Lord’s family and servants, keeping an eye on all of them.

Without so much as a knock, Andreya opened the door and walked straight in, startling the man somewhat.

He was a stout and pudgy old man, with greying black hair that was combed over in a clear attempt to hide what he had lost so far.

Andreya had gone in expecting someone similar to her higher ups in the Dominion. Rich men and women, bedecked in expensive jewellery and with clothes made from the finest linen and silk, impeccably crafted and worth about as much as a small village.

This man was decidedly not that. It wasn’t that his clothes were drab and ordinary—far from it—but, rather, they were Ancient.

His lower half was covered by a massive oak desk in front of him but his torso was clad in a tight-fitting shirt with buttons down the middle, dyed a light blue. Over that seemed to be a strange, shiny brown jacket with a fur-lined inside. Appropriate for winter.

“What? Yes, what do you want?” The man asked quickly and loudly, although not getting up from his chair.

Before the servant could follow them into the room, Adewyn closed the door on them, leaving just her, Andreya, and the Lord in the room.

“Have I angered the Dominion? The Chosen? Is that why you’re here? The increase in rent is to compensate for the winter food shortage. I can assure you it’s not permanent.”

Andreya didn’t respond right away. Instead, she pulled out a chair and placed it right in front of the desk, sitting down slowly. She crossed her legs and clasped her hands together, as if this was just any other day for her.

“I’m afraid that I have to inform you that you are now a hostage. Your family, too,” Andreya nudged her head in the direction of Adewyn, her greatsword fully in show. She was standing in front of the door, blocking the way out.

Sweat trickled down the man’s forehead. His eyes darted to the four windows in the room, then down to his desk.

“Feel free to call the Dominion or the Chosen. Although I do have to warn you, any action you take which I do not appreciate, your family won’t appreciate either.” Andreya smiled a sly, small smile.

The Lord’s hands raised in the air, away from his desk, making sure they were in view.

“I understand.” He nodded rapidly. “What are your demands? Money? Levels? I can assure you that if anything happens to me or my family, once this is over, you will be hunted. That’s not a threat, just the truth.”

He’s cooperative. Good.

“Well, unfortunately, what my boss desires aren’t as easily obtainable as simply money or levels,” Andreya leaned forward slowly. “And we don’t much care about you but, rather, what you can do.”

She picked up a stylus. Magic. A gift from the Dominion, at odds with the Ancient technology and relics all around them.

Leaning back, Andreya twirled the stylus between her fingers.

The man looked between Andreya and her guard, squinting faintly at Adewyn.

“You… you’re the Guardian, aren’t you? We’ve met before. A-A… Andy-something?”

“Adewyn,” Adewyn replied coolly.

“Why are you doing this? Working with her?”

“I’m not the one you’re negotiating with.”

“That’s correct,” Andreya put the stylus down. “And I’d advise you to focus on what’s happening. You know Adewyn so you know I’m serious.”

“You haven’t done anything yet. There’s still time to leave this behind us and escape. We’ve got an Enforcer here. The moment you do something irreversible, even you won’t survive,” The Lord said, looking towards Adewyn at the end.

Andreya was watching clothing. Twitching of the eyes, sweat on his forehead and wrists. She watched his chest expand and contract with his breathing. Very, very faintly, she heard his heartbeat.

[Detect Truth] was active. He wasn’t telling the whole truth.

“But the Enforcer isn’t here, is he? He left, either today or yesterday.” The subtlest of eye movements. A caught breath. She was right.

“How do you-“

“What matters is that, at present, Adewyn is the strongest person in this city. We can do what we want and escape with plenty of time to spare, so I advise you to listen carefully and listen well, and do everything that I say.”

The Lord just nodded. No words.

“Now, pull out your messaging bells but don’t use them.”

The Lord did as he was told. He unlocked a drawer in his desk and pulled out two, hand-held bells, and gently laid them on the desk.

Customary magic item. Andreya had some back in Kratten, although she had no need for them. They functioned the same as a basic level 10 version of [Inform], although without any metamagic or boons. One use per day, only for emergencies. One was for the Dominion, the other for the Chosen.

“You’re going to relay the same message with both of them. You’re going to tell them that Head Steward Andreya and Guardian Adewyn have taken both you and your family hostage and demand a meeting with Head Steward Rensata and Custodian Amalay.” Andreya gestured for the Lord to do so.

Very nervously, with shaky hands, the man picked up one bell and, when he shook it, it made no ringing sound. He spoke aloud the message he had been told to, relaying it exactly how Andreya wanted, and repeated it with the next bell.

“Good. And now, we wait.”

“Uh oh. There’s quite a lot of them. They have the house surrounded.” Lefie’s voice echoed in Andreya’s head, informing them of the situation outside from her vantage point.

“That doesn’t matter. They won’t do anything rash,” Andreya sent back.

She had been sat in the Lord’s office the entire time they waited, and the man was positively drenched in his own sweat. The odour got bad enough Adewyn had to open a window.

Taking a moment to compose herself, Andreya sent another [Message], this time to Rensata and Amalay. She told them to go inside and head to the Lord’s office but they must be alone and unarmed.

Rensata knew Andreya and hearing her voice must’ve confirmed it was really her; he was infuriated in the reply and demanded to know just what she thought she was doing.

She told him that all would be explained once he was in the office and that was that.

Thankfully, both of them did what they were told. Lefie confirmed no one else had entered the house and soon after, there was a knock at the door to the office.

Adewyn opened it quickly, stepping aside immediately to allow the two newcomers to enter.

“I’m glad you could join us,” Andreya said, getting up out of her chair to face them.

Rensata was quite unlike a lot of Stewards. They tended to sequester themselves away in their offices when managing their locations but not Rensata; his skin was tanned from hours out in the sun and he was built like a mountain. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in a suit of armour instead of a robe. He even dwarfed Amalay.

A lot of the time, Custodians were promoted from within the ranks of the Chosen which often meant they had seen battle. As such, they highly levelled and had the strength to enforce any orders they wanted.

That wasn’t the case with Amalay. Andreya had met her only once and wasn’t that familiar with her but how she landed her position was known throughout these provinces.

As well as the catastrophe that landed her in a place like Toila, as far away from the action you could get.

“Do you care to explain what you’re doing here, taking the Lord’s entire family hostage and also how Guardian Adewyn is alive when she was pronounced dead months ago?” Rensata asked, bursting with frustration.

Andreya struggled to keep herself composed when she heard that last nugget of information.

“An Enforcer is dead. Death. He was killed just outside of Trotton.” Judging by their reactions, neither seemed to have known exactly, although Amalay seemed less surprised than Rensata.

“The explosion…” She began to say.

“Explosion?” Rensata asked. Just how big was it, Riza?

Amalay nodded.

“On the horizon. It came from the direction of Trotton. A yellow explosion. It only lasted for a second, though; I thought I was seeing things.”

She saw it. All the elements pointed to truth, but with Amalay, Andreya knew to be on her guard.

“You definitely saw something. That was what killed Death,” Andreya said.

“And you had something to do with it?” Rensata asked, sounding angry.

“Not personally, no. Although, the one who I work for does. You’ve seen that explosion. Imagine it wasn’t ‘just outside of Trotton’ but actually in Trotton. Or Rensenfeld. Or anywhere. It killed an Enforcer. Imagine what it could do to you.”

“That’s why you brought us here,” Rensata said, all the anger having drained from his voice. He spoke sombrely, and heavily.

“It is not just the Lord and his family that are held hostage, but the city, too. Nobody will be harmed if you both do as I say.”

“And what is that?”

“Send word to the Seat of the Regent. An Enforcer has been killed, and Rensenfeld has been taken. We wish to negotiate with the Empire. There is no danger, no harm, if the discussion is kept peaceful. We expect a negotiator promptly, and any talks and agreement will occur within the city, in this manor.

“But if they send anyone after us—an Enforcer or an army—Rensenfeld will fall, and Trotton will be next.”