Demonic Magician

I could almost taste the blood as the sounds vibrated through my skull. Even now, the first time I had… it had always been something that could happen. The moment I stepped through the portal my fate had been decided. The death, the blood, the suffering I would both enact and overcome. Would I change any of it? No. Every step had brought me to where I was now.

“Excessive,” Ren noted, after a brief pause to take in what I had just enacted.

“The real tricky part is getting the two pieces back together again.” I dropped the gore-soaked weapon to the floor. Any longer and my arm muscles would have burst from the bone. I wasn't meant to use a weapon like that. The single word from the elf repeated in my head, echoing around. There was some nuance to the whole thing that was more of an ironic joke that would be a lot less funny if I explained it to her. Not that this was currently very amusing. “Sorry.” It was excessive, unlike me. But it was me, so I was apologetic. I felt cold, withdrawn.

“I know what you are and can do. These are no friends of ours.” Her bright eyes turned to me and her hand raised to fill me with radiant warmth, a needed heal that only felt uncomfortable at first due to her insinuation that I was a demon. Well, I was reading through a few lines there - perhaps a little self realization. "Just, don't lose yourself."

I nodded. The current atomosphere reminded me of Hell, or at least the new memories I held. It wasn't very healthy for my mental state, I was able to admit that much to myself. Not a demon, but I had hung around them and did demon things. The situation sunk back into me as the anger cooled. “Let’s go find Wolf.”

Roger had found a new home in the red-haired ranger, and I flung him his mace as we went back through the ruined rooms. It didn’t take long to find the large bear a couple of rooms down, which must now be back up against the gatehouse wall, if I were to guess. The fort seemed bigger on the inside, but that might just be because all the rooms were similar in design, and oddly devoid of furniture or decor.

Wolf had a number of arrows in his right shoulder and flank, and a gash that ran over his eye. His little bowler hat was also mostly cinders. Worse could be said for the remains of the warrior he was currently chewing on, the scraping and cracking of armor vibrating around the room. Another figure, a female spellcaster, lay dead slumped against the opposite wall - mostly disemboweled.

Ren ran over and healed him as I tried to focus. My hands were sore already, I needed to pause and let my mana regenerate fully, otherwise I’d be running on empty for the rest of the fight. I hovered over the option to fix my outfit. While I would no longer feel any embarrassment to be in my underwear, I doubted we had five minutes where I could get away with being so vulnerable. I wanted to look my best for the big piece at the end, but perhaps just crossing the finish line would be the better outcome.

“How you holding up?” Ren came over to me, concern across her brow.

I'd freely admit the heat and smoke were getting to me, my senses numb to it. We were long past being fine. “I feel like I am in Hell.”

“Is that why you’re smiling?” She raised an eyebrow.

"It is close," Roger added from behind. "Hell stinks a lot fuckin' worse, though."

I hadn’t even realized I had been smiling this whole time. Something that was potentially worrying. Maybe dissociation from the violence. “Are my eyes purple?”

“A little, yeah. They get more intense when… things are more intense.”

“Just in combat, right?” I narrowed my questioning gaze at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, dickbag. Now, what’s our next move?”

We had probably killed most people in this section of the fort, along with a good amount of those defending the gatehouse. All sections were on fire, and liable to collapse eventually. Being outside would be beneficial, but might put us in danger of the rest of the Shadows.

“How many have you three killed?” I asked, rubbing at my eye sockets. Briefly clocking that I, a humble magician, was currently going on a killing spree through a fantasy gang hideout. Humble magician, and demon hunter, apparently.

“These two, red-hair, three outside… oh, there was one other. Seven?”

“Nine for me then.” I clucked my tongue. “That shouldn't leave too many, if the scout was well enough informed.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Not that it’s a competition, but nine is impressive.”

“I had help from Roger and my demons, of course.” Plenty of luck and exploiting how brainless a lot of the gang was, too. “Perhaps we can just go through the walls and into the other side? They’ll be expecting us to use doorbs.”

“Doorbs?” She tilted her head.

“Doors. Sorry, this smoke is making me woozy.”

She nodded, but looked concerned. Wolf dropped his current chew-toy and backed up, ready to go through the wall. Red light pulsed around him as he charged and blew through the wood into open space. He slid across cobblestone and waited for us.

The middle of the gatehouse, caged bars blocking the road to the left and the bridge to our right. From beyond, the sound of the running river was almost calming. But only almost. It wasn’t the most well-defended fort. If you reinforced a wagon, you could probably slam through the large metal gate by the process of shifting them from their wooden hinges - or however they were attached. If we were a little more selfish, Wolf could have just run us straight through and over the bridge and they’d either have to chase us down or let us go.

A thought that was cut short as the bear repeated the process and blasted a hole into the next building. The figure inside was trampled in surprise before Wolf crunched down onto their skull. With how powerful he was, I didn’t doubt we could slowly take on a whole city of bad guys, just going room to room without them having the opportunity to do much. Not that I wanted to put that out into the world.

We entered in behind him. The smoke was thicker here, the heat more oppressive. Perhaps not the best idea to enter the more damaged side of the fort, probably the most damaged thanks to my Imp+. However, we did need to clear out all the Crimson Shadows, and had some manner of advantage in restricting range. Couldn't leave any behind to poison the area once we had moved on past the river.

The door on the right side burst open and a robed figure leaped out, a spell prepared in his hands. He took an arrow to the leg and immediately stumbled straight into the bear's face. Wolf glared at the man and he recoiled just as my card slit across his throat. Chest crushed straight after by a massive paw. Roger stood behind us, fingers tapping on his mace as though he had something on his mind.

“See, does that count as mine or yours?” Wolf raised an eyebrow with a grin.

I gave him a bow. “All yours, my friend.”

Ren nudged me as she walked past. “Been looting?”

“Ah, not much. I figured we could circle back to it if we lived.” I scratched the back of my head and smiled. “Picked up a couple of crossbows, just in case.”

“They work well with your Dexterity, and that you can swap through them quickly.” She nodded.

“I just have to remember to reload them.” In saying that, I hadn’t so far today. Three loaded ones, the rest were spent. Prep work was important, but I had been rather distracted lately.

I peered through the next room, card in hand. Everything had an amber hue to it, with the flames licking at the rooms above us. A few tables and chairs, but nothing—or rather nobody—untoward in sight. Then again, invisibility was a thing. I threw a conjured plank of wood into the room. As it arced toward the floor a figure appeared as their crossbow bolt fired prematurely from down the end of the room by the next doorway.

“Shit!” the person hissed as the impaled plank cluttered to the floor.

“Mine!” Roger pushed past me and ran awkwardly after them, mace in his hand. I let my card vanish. Although I had a good sense for it, I was still partially likely to impale him in the back of the head with it, rather than the opponent.

“When we get out of here...” Ren removed her hat to wipe the sweat from her forehead. “We need to design more comfortable outfits.”

As much as I liked our ensemble, perhaps if this was going to be a full-time thing, we could make some adjustments. “And Wolf could do with a little bowtie,” I added.

The bear grunted and glowered at me. “No, I don't think so.” He shook his head as he tried to wipe his muzzle on his thick forearms. “But some armor would be nice.”

I grinned. We had started painting a picture of success already, even while things were still in progress. Ambitious? Maybe. We had cleared through the majority of the fort. The Crimson Shadow lay in ruins, save for wherever Jokkar was hiding. The building itself was being burned away. Even if we were to fail now, we had set them back by a huge margin in this starting area.

But… would there be any other Parties that would come along and do the same as we had? Eventually, perhaps. It was the nature of adventurers to rise up against evil, of course. By that time, the Lady may have achieved whatever mad plans she was trying to put in motion - and that could prove detrimental to any who stood opposed to her. We needed to find more information.

After surviving the day, of course.

Roger came back into the room, now in the body of the figure he had chased out into the next. Their masked head was dented inwards, but the purple ears that had burst from their skull probably didn’t improve that situation.

“Today has been fun as fuck, boss. Super glad you didn't die.” He stepped over and rubbed the viscera from his spiked mace across his clothing. “Oh, I wanted to apologize.” He turned to Ren and gave her a bow. “I treated you like shit before because I only recently realized you are an actual person.”

“That’s…” Ren furrowed her brow. “How did you not previously?”

“Just like… the way that you are.” He waved his free hand up and down toward her. “I just didn’t believe something real could be like… that. But now that boss-“

I raised my hand. “That is too many threads of discussion I do not want to get into, especially not in our current situation.” I gave an exasperated shrug toward the elf and she rolled her eyes in response. She had an arrow against her bow still. Things were tense, despite the moment of brief manic levity between the odd bunch that we were. Aching fingers flexed, ready to draw another card.

My brow furrowed as a vibration shook through the wooden floor. Was the building starting to collapse already? We’d need to get out as soon-

The wall beside us exploded, showering us with splinters and wooden shards. A huge figure stepped into the room, easily ten feet tall and completely covered in thick plated armor painted bright red. Atop the helmet, a white hand-print decorated the forehead, blazing eyes peering out of darkened recesses. There would be no points for guessing who this could be.

“You dare question the Lady?”

Immediately, he swung a large mace around, pure force surrounding it. Ren fired off her arrow, but I didn't have time for a magic card. The next few seconds were a slideshow. He struck us all. My Card Fan+ hardly appeared before being immediately erased. The walls exploded. We were sent tumbling across the hard cobbled road. Light rain began pelting me. Refreshingly cool, almost a blessing compared to the hellish insides of the fort.

I blinked slowly. Still alive, but in a lot of agony. The echos of a stunning attack faded from me as I pushed myself up. Turns out it wasn't fun being on the receiving end of one of those. Broken ribs pained my breathing, slowly healing as I idly bandaged myself despite the disorientation. My eyes darted around the outside as realization brought panic to the forefront of my brain, chilling me further.

Wolf off to my left. His breathing was heavy and tongue lolled out his mouth as he laid with eyes closed. Maybe just the effects of the stun, but I couldn't see that kind of icon to be reassured. To my right, the corpse Roger had been in was empty. Killed in action. I couldn’t bring him back for a while. It was either disperse him or raise my shield up.

I craned my neck back to see Ren. She lay still, blood matting her blonde hair and running down her face. The slight breeze took her hat, and it rolled across the road toward the embankment. I couldn't tell how injured she was, but either she hadn't recovered from the stun or she was unconscious. Couldn't be dead. Just... couldn't. I wouldn't allow it, not at this stage.

Fear and anger filled my insides, burning for control. The pulse of purple electricity shuddered through me as energy arced around my body.

Jokkar stepped out of the ruined building and onto the road. His plated boots ground against the stone as he struck a martial pose.

“Look at how easily those who stand against Her fall.” His booming voice filling the open space, the only other sounds to oppose being the light pattering of rain and the crackle of burning wood as the fort degraded in the background. He spun the cylindrical mace around in his hands. It was studded at the end. Pearl-like teeth. It had the slight mar of crimson across it. Ren’s blood. Above his head was a new icon I hadn't seen before. A question-mark of black upon light gray. I knew what it was by instinct. Ren's new ability, making him more easily debuffed, and dazzled.

A parting gift, setting up the main event so I could really shock and awe him. Even if she wasn't awake to watch it, I couldn't let her down now. I slowly rose to my feet, which seemed to amuse him.

“You dare stand? Stronger than you look. usually puts most down for much longer.”

The interlocking parts of the anger and power within me found their purpose. Pain and adrenaline flooded through me in waves as the crackling energy that pulsed around my body grew wilder and more intense.

“Max Stun?” I grinned, blood running from my mouth. “Don't mind if I do.”