Chapter 2: Demon's luck - part 2

He wakes up, lying in bed and feeling nauseous. He realize that he has something he haven't had for long time: A physical, fixed body. He would have thought he has been reincarnated if not for the fact that he is in a dark place with Resselph staring at him.

Resselph: "We're in the west tower, I stayed here so you wouldn't feel alone when you woke up."

Lunarius: "Feel alone?"

Resselph: "Of course, when demons get a body they also start to have feelings and sensations, I'm being kind."

Lunarius: "… Seriously, I already had a body in the past, but this one, where did it come from? And how am I alive?"

Resselph: "First, I need to say that you are basically Azel's servant for now. When you were dying he gave you the necessary support to hold you through until you reached this tower, and you know very well what that means."

Lunarius: "Azel? Was he around?"

Resselph: "Yes, we were going down, but everyone saw the bottom floor and ceiling going down to the bottom floor and the explosion you caused by attacking a barrier, naturally we went down, and we saw a floating eye kidnapping two other demons and looking for something while carrying them, Azel sealed him for information, and as we searched the wreckage we noticed your morbid presence, I suggested for Azel to save you, and i took you to this hall to make contact with the Lord. He seems to have made you absorb a portion of the dagger's essence to help you gain a fixed physical form, and informed me that your existence is now tied to the dagger. The mark on your cheek seems to represent something this conection."

Lunarius: "So im bound to the dagger…? Am I still in a position to go along with his quest?"

Resselph: "The lord didn't tell me anything, so that means yes. Whatever it was, it has been only a few minutes since after everything happened, we have to reunite with the other and progress with the beggining od expedition, let's go. If you want to ask me something, ask me later, I'm in a hurry."

Lunarius: "And what about the bracelet that was lying there? It's mine."

Resselph: "Azel confiscated it, said it's part of the payment for saving your life and that he will put it into good use."

When demons "rescue" the spirit of others, in practice they use their powers to make them a direct servant, and thus give them amounts of power to continue to exist. This means that Lunarius will basically be Azel's eternal servant until one of the two dies… There are, however, more complex things involved in this "connection", but it is necessary to explain other things first.

Lunarius: "… whatever, that bracelet almost killed me several times anyway. Let's go."

The two quickly descend the steps, and see Eclyst on the way.

Resselph: "I thought I told you to wait for me in the courtyard."

Eclyst: "… I don't know, apart from my sister and you, I don't trust anyone else to keep me company."

Resselph: "What nonsense are you saying? Your sister is mischievous, but you seem an even more hopeless case sometimes, but I don't have time to be educating you right now, because we usually just walk around in circles… let's go! I'll prepare a shortcut."

Resselph appears to launch an energy ball against the wall, forming a passageway. Since the castle is all created by demonic power, high-level demons are naturally able to modify everything at will by using interdimensional magic.

Resselph leaves the castle and flies into the courtyard, with Eclyst close behind, and Lunarius going last. In a few seconds, he can already see the demons gathered in groups in the courtyard, Perla is proclaiming her speech on the expedition's agenda, using her demonic power she is able to make everyone around her listen.

Perla: "[…] We still don't know what will be at the meeting point, but the trend is that by the time we get there, our scouts will have already mapped all the surroundings. Unlike when we arrived on this continent, naturally we won't need to build new castles, but if we fail, the tendency is that the war will prolong and we will have to divide our forces. This means that, if we do not manage to accomplish something in this expedition, it is valid to affirm that our objectives will enter into stagnation again […]"

As Perla continues her speech, Resselph signals Lunarius to meet him in the third group, pointing out the location of where it is. Naturally, it's best not to make a flying fuss while a high-level demon is giving a speech, so all three of them land and head to the third group's ranks.

Resselph: "The first and second groups are troops commanded directly by Perla, the third is commanded by Azel, and the fourth is commanded by Ertudes. "

As Lunarius enters the group, Perla starts to finish her speech.

Perla: "[…] And lastly, let us not forget that not only will we count on the target's army as our enemy, but it is safe to say that all forces on the other continent will also oppose our expansion if we act without caution and knowledge of the facts. If any of the leaders want to raise their voice to oppose or suggest something for this expedition, let them do so now."

???: "Then it will be me!"

Ertudes suddenly appears, first the cape seems to have come out of nowhere in mid-air, and then his body appears after it starts to float. Messy white hair, a black and red cape, morbid eyes and dry pale skin, many think he is a low level demon due to his physical characteristics, while others see him as a vampire, no one knows for sure his combat level, only that he has powerful subordinates under his command.

Ertudes: "I object to the fact that you are in command of most of the forces, you are already leaving Pertia in charge of your personal little castle, who among us could guarantee that your are not plotting a new one with our face!"

Perla: "… Pertia is under my command yes, but the troop allocation is by realistic measures, it is necessary to have someone powerful enough to hold back the demons from here. It's not my fault if you never attend the meetings."

Ertudes: "Hmph, it's for foreseeing such a response that Azel and I have already agreed to allocate all our forces to the expedition. If something goes wrong, it's preferable that we separate from your group to act autonomously!"

Ertudes then moves and stays close to Azel, who is right behind her. Lunarius realizes that, in fact, Azel seems to be utilizing all of his own forces from demons that served him before, while Perla's forces are made up mostly of factionless demons, which means that she is purposely leaving a portion of her strength here for future purposes.

This proclamation Ertudes has made appears to be a sign that he is willing to rebel against Perla along with Azel, should she orchestrate plans of her own that go against their best interests. Whatever it is, Perla begins to prepare and launch her timeless allocation energy spheres against the demons. Unlike portals, this type of magic is of a similar type used to create castles, it allocates resources and transports them to pre-planned designated points in a physical state already automatically ready to be sustained, and using the nature of demonic power, it is it is even possible that they cause such resources to float indefinitely at one point in time.

Azel and Ertudes then walk towards the third group, and Resselph walks to talk to them. After Perla finishes teleporting her groups, she teleports herself as well. Azel then stands before the group and says.

Azel: "Listen, let's do as she says, but fractures between our strength and theirs is inevitable. Resselph here says there's someone I should introduce, some of you may already know him from his somewhat heroic attitudes in other campaigns, but what matters is that he is a messenger from our Lord and he has come to bring change."

Resselph: "Exactly, we have to stay quiet about this matter now, but Lunarius is the man who received the power and permission from our Lord to put Perla in her place!"

Resselph then signals the Lunarius to go there. It seems a little incomprehensible to him why he is being introduced, but perhaps it is a custom among Azel's men.

Azel: "Lunarius, I saved you in your last crisis, but I want you to know that you have no obligation to render services to me or because of me, since your very existence is already for the benefit of the demons and my forces. On the other hand, you already understand that Oss is after you, he must have already gotten information that you are planning something. So, the most realistic thing is that you stay with us and face Perla, altrough it's also because i will be the future commander-in-chief. Besides, the Lord seems to trust you a lot to grant you so much responsability."

Lunarius: "…Of course, I'm also committed to gaining something from our Lord, but what are we going to do in this campaign? I'm not very up to date on matters here at the castle."

Azel: "Hmm, I'll explain later, we'll have to go right away because the dragons are preparing an attack. The plan is to convey the idea that we're running away from them, and this has all been orchestrated in recent months."

Azel then launches his own sphere of energy at his troops, before launching himself and his men through another. Ertudes stayed behind.

Everything is instantaneous, and in a second they are already in the other part of the planet, in the mountainous region of the Hur line, which divides the continent of Kheneldia between center and north, Lunarius appears together with Resselph and Eclyst, Azel seems to be in another place. The region is frigid and anyone seeing Azel's group of demons would wonder how individuals who wear little clothing can stand being there. Demons are naturally resistant to cold due to their powers, and feel little even for the standards of demons with fixed bodies like Lunarius and Resselph, who have heightened bodily senses, altrough freezing might still be a issue.

Resselph: "Eclyst, remember what you must do now."

Eclyst: "Yeah, I'll be right there." She sprouts wings and proceeds alone towards the north.

Lunarius: "She is going alone?"

Resselph: "Not exactly."

Resselph turns to Lunarius and says: "You heard our conversation earlier, I planned to go with her but you showed up…"

Lunarius: "But you couldn't?"

Resselph: "I can, but it's more convenient for me to be nearby Azel, as our plans for you will depend on the situation. Suzy performs better when she is alone, on the other hand, she might easily starting messing around with random people. Eclyst is the exact oppost, she is more timid, but does better when there is someone to guide her, but If I were found by Druaga's forces in this region it would be a disaster for this expedition. Incidentally, we will form our base of operations here, it was agreed that each leader would act with certain autonomously, but attacks against Druaga's army are prohibited without unconditional permission from all leaders."

Lunarius: "How much do you know about the situation in these regions?"

Resselph: "…Not much, the original idea was to listen to Suzy's report and mobilize our operations from there, but who knows why the delay, I have no doubt that she went to make friends with suspicious citizens of the north region, she's the opposite of her sister, i knew we should have sent Eclyst in her place anyway…"

Lunarius: "Whatever it is, what do we do first, the conspiracy against Perla or against Druaga?"

Resselph: "At the moment we will just allocate ourselves here and offer support to Perla, she must have her plans, and from the information we receive we will only act a bit autonomously while receiving orders from her. Ertudes on the other hand will act with complete freedom, he has powerful men under his command, but he calls them only when he wants to. Because of that he is ofter considered a special case."

Some demons are forming shacks, they are able to form temporary constructions with their powers, and when they want, they can simply undo their constructions. Of course, this means that the way the demons build and maintain them will also constantly absorb their powers, so it's only a tiny fraction who are willing to build barracks. Others are being called by Azel and sent on group missions, and before Lunarius can ask Resselph any further questions he already indicates that the two need to talk more about the geography of the place and the geopolitical control of the region before making decisions. The demon's forced mapped Druaga's domains very well, but the consensus is that he dominates a part of the North and exerts great influence in the center-east of the continent.

Resselph: "So the first strategy is to look at the checkpoints and how Druaga wields his kingdom. Perla said we should look for uses for humans, but I don't think it's going to be that simple. Druaga commands an army of draconian beings, that is, they all have scales and are able to fly, and unlike dragons, they are equipped and follow battle formations when at war. An old report says that they inhabit the volcanic region a little south of the center, and since they are minions of Druaga, they receive direct orders to collect tribute and allocate humans and other beings when necessary, of course, Druaga hardly needs humans tributes, it's simple population allocation for slave labor, and most are in the center of the continent, but it's not like all of them are under his control, we need to map better the region, and…"

Lunarius realizes that Resselph likes to go to the smallest detail when he himself is interested in the subject, so he says: "In short, we are going to look for allies among the humans and use them as a shield against Druaga, that's it, right?".

Resselph: "Shields? Azel certainly wouldn't think twice, but Perla seems to be quite thoughtful about how to use them, since getting in a all-out war against Druaga is a bad choice. Anyway, it's only a matter of time before we're noticed in this region, building castles is out of the question unless we get forced into a long-term war against other force, but the situation is ripe for a divide-and-conquer strategy."

The two continue to argue, until Azel gets between them.

Azel: "Resselph, since you're together with Lunarius, why don't you discuss how to approach Perla instead of the strategies here? We won't have much freedom until whoever is at the top doesn't know how to make precise decisions…"

Resselph: "We are in agreement on this, but we know that Perla is not really the one hindering us, but rather the one controlling her: Oss. But if the Lord ordered her to be the target even considering that, there's must be a reason. Listen Lunarius, as long as Perla has Pertia and Lynsei, it's basically unfeasible to try anything against her. Fortunately, she left Pertia on the other continent, but Lynsei is more than enough to stop almost absolutely any attack coming from us with her special abilities capable of negating demonic powers."

Azel: "You're forgetting to tell him that Pertia and Lynsei are one of the most neutral people among Perla's subordinates."

Resselph: "Yes, but they're always on her side when it's needed. I don't see any way we can attack Perla if we don't completely desolate her first."

Azel: "It's simple, we need to force her hand and put them in a unfavorable situation. Oss can be extremely powerful in his own right, but I doubt Perla wouldn't come running if he was in danger."

Resselph: "Exactly, the alliance we made with Ertudes was originally to protect ourselves and exchange information about Perla and Oss, but I'm sure he and his men will help us if it's to eliminate both the two as enemies at once. Of course, we don't have much hope of beating Oss and Perla together in battle, but the dagger you have… I'm sure it will help us a lot."

Lunarius: "But I have a feeling Oss is more likely to read our moves first before we figure out where he might be."

Azel: "Oss already knows you're with us, and that's exactly why he'll want to get rid of you if the opportunity arises. I mean…"

Resselph: "The best strategy is to use yourself and someone else as bait."

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

Azel: "Look."

Azel conjures a scythe. From inside it, an energy emits out, and suddenly an eye appears, apparently sealed.

Lunarius: "That eye…"

Azel: "That eye is no longer conscious, I absorbed all the power it had, but I don't know how to control it."

Lunarius: "You don't know?"

Azel: "I have an impression that it originally was from some body, and was probably artificially inserted into another. My analyzes also indicate that it underwent spiritualization and artificially became a demonic weapon, and i bet it directly obeys only Oss, which means the power is prettu much unusable to anyone who hasn't made a contract with it. It's only a matter of time before he tries to get that eye back. On the other hand, Kerry, the demon I rescued, said that this eye originally obeyed him…"

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

"I think I'd better to hear it straight from his mouth." After saying this, Azel suddenly begins to conjure demonic power with his right hand, directing it towards the ground until it forms a large circle on the ground, supported by a series of symbols that canalizes power direct to the exact coordinates of the magical operation. "Come!" After Azel scream these words, Kerry suddenly starts to appear through the circle, already questioning: "Where's Marry?"

Azel: "She's still unconscious" Azel turns to the others, "His supposed sister was having her power absorbed by that eye, luckily I saved her, but I couldn't help noticing that the power of these two is part of the same essence than the power of the eye."

Resselph: "Interesting, that means these two also have a form of eye contract, right?"

Azel: "Spit it out Kerry, we want to know the relationship you and your sister have with Oss and the eye."

Kerry: "… It's a story of many years, I would need to explain everything for you to understand straight, but it's not like I remember everything in detail either. But in short, many years ago Marry and I formed a contract with a certain… Witch."

Azel: "Witch? Which one?"

Kerry: "I don't remember exactly, but I wasn't a demon at the time. Whatever it was, we had to form this contract to preserve our existences… We had to go eliminate a certain sorceress and obtain a certain enchanted crown, in the end, Marry died after selling her own essence to the witch to save me… But I got the power I needed, and in exchange for the crown, the witch offered me the two pair of eyes of the sorceress we defeated, along with her magic, that would supposedly be embedded in them… I used one of the eyes to revive Marry, but she was a mere artificial creation with no conscience of her own, in the end, the demon Oss offered me an option to revive her as long as I granted the absolute use right of the eyes for him."

Lunarius: "And you accepted it so unconditionally?"

Kerry: "Well, there was a lot more involved, remember that I'm just making the story short, I was going to die anyway if I didn't accept it. Oss made another deal with the witch using the eyes and their power as an intermediary, and got the power to make dreams come true."

Lunarius: "Dreams?"

Kerry: "Yes, as long as the individual has enough determination to make dreams come true, even a normal person is able to revive from the dead through his power. My determination to revive her caused her consciousness to return, but to to keep her alive we had to make her a demonic being as well. To ensure our obedience, Oss has made Marry's existence dependent on the power of the eyes. I, on the other hand, do not, but my existence is tied to the eyes, if I somehow die, the eyes will also cease to exist."

Azel: "Hmph, I understand everything, the witch you made a contract with is Pandora, known as the eclipse of the apocalypse and one of the most powerful witches in existence."

Lunarius: "Pandora? I've heard of her from a certain other witch I knew from some time ago. Known as the mistress of interdimensional magic, she exists only to watch over the complete destruction of planets, and is capable of intervening as much as she can to do so. Has this happens, many who think they are getting power from her in exchange for something are usually just being used as toys for her mere convenience."

Kerry: "… Whatever it is, the secret behind Oss's true capabilities actually revolve around another power he possesses, I've seen him battle on one specific occasion, he's able to easily distort the space to target his attacks or instantly hit them with his powers. He can, for example, instantly move and approach his opponent even if he is hundreds of meters away."

Lunarius: (So that's what happened that time he tried to hit me…)

Azel: "If everything you say is true, I don't see very well how to defeat him without counting on Lunarius' dagger…"

Resselph, who has been quiet, suddenly starts talking as if he had an idea: "If he is supposed to manipulate space-time, does that mean there must also be limitations? Azel, do you remember when we worked with Luxon in the past to exterminate that rat that repeatedly ran away from our attacks?"

Azel: "…Yes, but Luxon did most of the work to catch him, we just obeyed his orders."

Resselph: "Luxon told me that if the opponent appears to move as if traversing space-time, it just means that their existence is more sensitive to our perceptions than by normal standards. What I mean is, for a demon being able to do these things, it just means he's using our limited perceptions to perform movements over large distances as if it were instantaneous."

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

Resselph: "I didn't quite understand it when he said it either, but I've always thought about it. I bet Oss doesn't distort space at all, it's more likely that he generates illusions and hides in order to hide his true position while preparing his attack."

Lunarius: "Now that you say it, when he tried to attack me back in the castle, I remember that the strides he took - taking down his minions in the process - was accompanied by a feeling I had that he was close to attack me, and I barely managed to dodge."

Resselph: "Hmmm, interesting, it means it's possible to prepare countermeasures. Rather than relying on our basic perception of where the attacks seem to be coming from, it's safer to guarantee that there are indeed attacks coming. If he attacks without giving any signs, then we'll just have to broaden our partial perception to see when the attack is actually coming. Azel and I will take care of it."

Lunarius: "But how are we going to manage to attract him?"

Azel: "Isn't it obvious? Just drop the handsome Kerry with his eye in a place near Pearl's camp, I'll return some power just to make sure the eye can be noticed."

Azel immediately bestows some of the power absorbed through his scythe to the eye, which doesn't appear to have woken up.

Azel: "I tried to communicate with that eye, but it wouldn't stop chattering, I don't see any reason to make it conscious. Perla is in the westernmost wing, I've already given orders to some of my subordinates to scout the region, she'll obviously see that I'm trying something easily, but that's not so important if can force her hand. Whatever it is, we need to scout the region carefully and make decisions calmly, we need Eclyst and Suzy first of all, they will have an important role in holding the demons and Perla's minions should they try to intervene. The battle will likely go quickly with Ertudes on our side, his magic might be useful in a variety of ways."

Azel then looks at Kerry, "Your sister will be better off sleeping for now. After I find out everything I can I will do something for you two."

Kerry: "…"

Azel: "Now go!" Suddenly the symbol that was under Kerry starts to move in reverse, and he disappears again.

Lunarius: "Think he'll get in the way by walking around?"

Azel: "I don't think so, I'm sure, I don't know when they'll try to control him and his sister again. Besides, Lunarius, why don't you check out the east wing and contact Ertudes? I would do that myself, but you will probably go moldy if you just stands here."

Lunarius: "Shall I?"

Azel: "It's hard for Resselph to shut up when he starts explaining something, I don't want you to feel intimidated into leaving him talking to himself every now and then."

Resselph: "… I'm the one with nothing to do."

Azel: "What do you mean? You were supposed to be accompanying Eclyst now, I'm sure you stayed here just to pose, 'Hmph, that girl has to go after her sister as punishment for being so silly', it doesn't even seem like you took responsibility for the protection of these two. "

Resselph: "… Those two are going to be fine themselves, but I know where Eclyst is, instead, i'm more concerned with the troubles they might bring."

Azel: "Then go soon."

Resselph: "Right, right."

Resselph instantly forms a magic circle on the floor, but he cuts his finger with his fingernail, from which blood oozes and is absorbed by the symbols in the corners of the portal.

Azel: "Do you still use that ridiculous blood spell?"

Resselph: "It doesn't expend much of my power, and it's not like losing a little blood would make a difference… Not everyone has massive amounts of power like you and Perla."

Azel: "And that's exactly why we're 1st class devils."

Resselph seems to want to say more, however, the portal takes him.

Azel: "Now, Lunarius, I want you to go and make contact with the orcs to the east. Ertudes plans to corrupt most of them and raise his army to conquer the are if he can't convince them, but that will just make him stupidly reveal his location and go in direct confrontation with Druaga's men."

Lunarius: "But will he listen to me?"

Azel: "It's not a matter of whether he listens to you or not. Since you're such a big part of our plans right now, he obviously won't lift a finger against you. Use this to your advantage, just show him that you'll get the job done faster. and more efficiently than he."

Lunarius: "Seems even harder…"

Azel: "…Take Kerry with you then."

Lunarius: "But there are no risks?"

Azel: "There are, but the Ertudes certainly won't think twice about destroying him if he ends up trying something funny. He is apparently able to manipulate some of the power of the eyes, extract information from it and try to use it."

Azel then again speaks "Come on!" to perform the conjuring spell from earlier again, Kerry reappears.

Kerry: "Decided what you're going to do with me?"

Azel: "Follow Lunarius, he will tell you what to do along the way."

Kerry: "Right."

Lunarius: "Hey Kerry, follow me."

Lunarius then grows wings and flies, and Kerry does the same and follows close behind. Resselph has given him estimates of the location of the regions, so he has a vague idea of where the orcs are.

Kerry: "Lunarius, I see you've gotten more powerful, I'm sure you'd leave me behind if you were going all out."

Lunarius: "I'm not exactly powerful, this body is being maintained through the dagger the Lord gave me, if it wasn't for that I'd be fucked having to depend completely on Azel."

Kerry: "But how did you lose your power?"

Lunarius: "I spent it to save myself when we were trapped in the barrier. Azel already confiscated it, but I used a bracelet to use all my power explosively."

Kerry: "What bracelet was that?"

Lunarius: "It's called the armlet of the… What was it like… O, o… Oh, I don't remember, but whoever gave it to me said it was a weapon used to imitate the ancient berserkers… This person adjusted the weapon in order for me to be able to use this power, even though I'm not qualified, and in exchange, I have to sacrifice power… Ah! I remembered the name, bracelet of Ostoporou. Do you know the Ostes?"

Kerry: "No."

Lunarius: "Ostes are certain creatures that live on a certain planet, the carcass they leave behind after death is said to be capable of storing great power. Ostoperes, a certain member of the legendary tribe of Berserkers, betrayed his comrades and sold the secret of their powers, he set to work to invent a way to make any being with power able to use it and fight on equal terms with a berserker… But the qualities of the husks left by the Ostes make the demonic and most powers to be liquidated, that is, if I want to use it, I have to sacrifice my own strength. Whatever it is, I got this bracelet as a gift, I'll still get it back from Azel."

Kerry: "Eh, I see he wants to use the bracelet as a ploy against you just like he's using my sister to get me to obey him."

Lunarius: "But if you ask me, you'll end up having to serve him anyway, won't you?"

Kerry: "Yeah, if Oss dies, I think it'll be more convenient to serve him, at least he doesn't hide his true intentions… But where are we going?"

Lunarius: "We'll have to 'assist' Ertudes to put the eastern orcs to good use, but I wonder how useful you'll be in that case."

Kerry: "I still have power, if you want to know how it works, basically I'm as capable as any demon, but when I had the eye I was able to… Aff, I don't have many memories."

"Perfect." says Lunarius nonchalantly, he wonders if this is a act.

The flight of the two easily reaches 200km per hour. A few hours pass, and they begin to see a camp, Lunarius notices armed humans in it.

Lunarius: "Oh, I thought there weren't more human military forces around these parts."

Kerry: "Aren't they Druaga's minions?"

Lunarius: "If that were the case we would have already been intercepted. Let's land and see if we can get information."

The camp has walls and watchtowers, there are two men armed with rifles who notice them. One already shouts: "You… ha-have wings? Who are you and to which faction you belong!?"

Lunarius already answers through the soldier's ears: "We're not with anyone. And you, aren't you tired of standing there for hours?"

The man starts to get conflicted: "I- that's beside the point! Tell me who you are!". Lunarius keeps insisting: "Seriously, don't you think you're just standing there making a fool of yourself while your leaders are sitting and lying in their tents?" The other soldier doesn't understand anything, since Lunarius is communicating directly with the soldier beside him, and seeing his partner getting into conflict he shouts to him: "Rebber what's the matter with you!?", The other soldier, however, keeps whispering to himself: "They are right, what am I doing wasting my time for a lost cause?…", and seems to be preparing to leave the tower, but suddenly a strong and powerful voice echoes : "Don't be influenced by the demon's words! Open the gate now for me to pass!".

The soldier who seemed to be sleepwalking suddenly wakes up, and the two respond: "Yes sir!" and begin to turn the gate mechanism. Opening it, Lunarius sees two elves. They are identical to humans, but unlike them, their life is enhanced and enhanced by the breadth of spirits. Naturally most elves are found in the so-called forest of life, where they are able to live for centuries, so an elf leaving there means that they have deliberately shortened their own lifespan. Of course, Lunarius doesn't know all of this, but they do emit some weird aura in them.

Lunarius: "What are you? One of the legendary elves of this planet?"

The elf replies in another language: "You should answer the questions first. I just caught you harassing a human, what do you want by invading our camp!?", Lunarius feels uncomfortable and pressured by these words, as if the elf was using some power to disturb his senses. The elf has a furious complex, his eyes and his hair have a reddish tone so beautiful to the point of looking ruby, the other one beside him, who is calm, also doesn't lose in terms of appearance, her eyes and hair, which is held by pink bands in a ponytail, are violet in color and are very very light. Seeing elves like this shows the reason why they don't live together with humans, as a capable observer would say, but they are wearing typical human noblish clothes, Lunarius wonders if the forest elves also dress like them.

Lunarius: "Well, we're just passing through, but I stopped here to get some information. Just so you know, we're also after Druaga."

Red Elf: "After him? I don't care! You demons are the most despicable beings! For me you could be all extinguished!"

Lunarius: "Calm down… We're going to leave your forces alone, could you just tell me how is the situation with the orcs?"

The elf seems to be getting even angrier. His red color seems to highlight his fury well, he replies: "Are you after the orcs too!? If you take a step in front of this camp I swear I will exterminate you and that weakling at your side!". The saying goes that words have power, but in this case, for Lunarius, they do, he will hardly be able to fight two elves together.

Lunarius: "Even if they are in danger? I'm going there precisely because they are in danger of being destroyed!"

Elf: "And how do you know about something like that!? I know, some mouse has probably already allocated itself there without me noticing, and you're going to take along his rope to sneak there!"

Lunarius: "Well, yes, but the plan is to get help against Druaga, you should know that orcs are not easily influenced by demons since they can be pretty strong-willed."

The elf seems to think a little and calm down, the elf next to him seems to say something to him, but Lunarius is unable to capture any sound frequency coming from them.

Elf: "Very well, I want to talk to you in a more suitable place, but just the two of us, I don't want you and your little friend creating conspiracies under my nose, so you should come alone, the other will be supervised by my partner."

Lunarius seems to have managed to somewhat persuade him, he then tells Kerry: "Try to extract some information from the elf over there too.", but Kerry says: "Would it be wise to piss off one more of them?".

Lunarius: "You see with her, I'm asking you to extract information, not coerce. You still have good memories of when you were human right? Start with small talk and then elevate the dialogue to confidential questions."

Kerry: "I'll see what I can try…"

Lunarius for a moment seems to regret making this suggestion, his foreboding never fails.

Lunarius: "On second thought, just stay quiet there…"

He then heads towards the camp and enters through the gate. As he had already seen from above, the men have a variety of weapons, some have rifles, others bow and arrows. Only a tiny minority have swords or melee weapons, which shows that they specialize in defending themselves against aerial attacks. By the way, Lunarius has seen many more modern weapons than these rifles these men are using, some demons use firearms, but they are also usually the weakest, there is only a tiny minority among them capable of use bullets, ammo, shells, explosives, and the like in ways that are useful in the battles they take part, but demonic power is simply too unstable to support generating, maintaining, and strengthening this type of substance for even a decent amount of time, but perhaps the humans have some tricks, especially since the elves are here.

Following the red elf, he takes him to a hall, the place is very well lit, organized and colorful, perhaps this place is private only to the elves themselves.

Red Elf: "Okay, demon, let's get to the point, you want to overthrow Druaga to get his power, right?"

Lunarius: "Exactly."

Red Elf: "But there is no compromise between the beings on this planet and you demons. To me, you are invaders, parasites and sources of corruption and chaos. How can I trust beings that in my eyes are nothing more than detestable?"

Lunarius: "You're applying your common sense to generalize, you should be grateful to us due to the fact that we've been holding back the dragons of the east for decades, if it weren't for our presence on this planet, you'd be fried already, and your goddess and even her children wouldn't have done anything to save them…"

Red Elf: "Blasphemy! If she isn't intervening, it means that Druaga has some trick, also, you aren't the ones who are holding the dragons back, but our goddess, even since the ancient war from more than 700 years ago. My people, cowardly due to centuries of peace and relative isolation from the world, haven't lifted a finger to face Druaga, but I know better! I want to inform you of some facts, this whole region is under my control, I have bestowed magic on humans and am using them the way they should be used.The orcs will soon be completely at my side too, so, what can you demons help me with!? "

Lunarius: "Well, if they still don't serve you, it means that you still don't know how to control them, right?"

Red Elf: "No, the barbaric customs they developed over the centuries and the lack of communication between the elves and orcs made them forget their full commitment to us. My only hope is to train or find a strong human warrior enough to defeat their champion, Torrias the Berserker, he is known as an invincible warrior, and he isn't even an orc, in fact Torrias is a nickname given because he doesn't even know how to communicate…"

Lunarius: "Wait… Berserker? Can you tell me what he looks like?"

Red Elf: "His hair is long, his body is abnormally broad, muscular and flexible to a level that borders on the absurd, he is said to be able to blow up mountains as if they were nothing, and the aura he emits is said to be abnormal and out of the ordinary. He is already capable of intimidating any warrior who is not a single step to his level…"

(Is it him!?) Lunarius has just had a flashback of many decades ago. A witch named Minerva convinced him to use the bracelets to paralyze a certain Berserker warrior, she said he was the result of a certain experiment she called "berserkization", and he was the only one to come out of it alive. However, he lost his sanity, and she needed someone to make him lose consciousness or at least paralyze him for a few seconds. Lunarius sacrificed more than half of his powers to stall the Berserker for a few seconds until she could put an obedience collar on him. If he's the one with the orcs, it probably means he managed to break the collar, but how the hell did he end up in this world?

Lunarius: "Torrias huh, I think I know him… He's a wretch who didn't have much of a conscience, his name is Rorteneres Ashreen, but that name probably doesn't mean much to him."

Red Elf: "So you know him? Do you know any weaknesses?"

Lunarius: "Let me give you some information, in fact there is another demon that went to the orcs' territory, he is much more powerful than me. On the other hand, Torrias probably can't be stopped, but I can put together a strategy as long as I manage to reunite with my mate."

Red Elf: "If that's the case I can't let you go alone. Orcs are aggressive creatures, but they also have their strange codes and without a doubt have secrets. I can let you pass this way, but on the condition that me and my elf companion can also talk to the leader of the orcs and ask for a major request if we manage to win."

Lunarius: "A temporary alliance then? I'm called Lunarius, I think you'll probably be good for something."

Red Elf: "And I, Enswtt Montegis Arionteepes, but you can just call me Montegis. Our spiritual power, which we call Flora, is inherently incompatible with you demons, we elves were created to fight the forces of corruption, so, I can hardly help directly in your fight."

Lunarius: "Then why are you going to accompany us then?"

Montegis: "Although Flora opposes you, that doesn't mean we can't absorb the spirits of nature to help you even if it didn't, the bigger problem is that the elves are not able to normaly communicate with the spirits outside the forest, when we leave it, the flora becomes limited and we end up having to depend more and more on our basic communication with the spirits trough deep concetration. So, I can't strengthen and make spirits accept supporting you demons, but if it's to limit the powers of the berserker, there is some hope."

Lunarius: "Limit?"

Montegis: "My partner, whose name is Dawnar Pormewtts Ettlis, is able to sing a runic song capable of moving the spirits through Flora, basically she quickens the forces of nature to make her opponents have their nerves relaxed and their senses numb. Of course, her skill is unlikely to be able to put a monster like Torrias to sleep, but I believe he's probably vulnerable to this skill if what I've heard is to be believed. First, Torrias uses raw mana to strengthen himself, the "aura" he uses comes from some parallel between his consciousness and his unconsciousness so that he can absorb and 'boil' the mana inside himself and use it to create explosive power. I have no idea which intermediary he uses for all this, as I have never heard of anyone capable of it, but the important thing is that the essence of music through Flora is to bring both the unconscious to rest, as it is music sung to spirits and elves.. ."

Lunarius: "Wait a minute, if she uses something like that won't that make the ones battling Torrias also enter this "rest" state thing?"

Montegis: "No, as I said, Flora moves the spiritual essence of nature, that's how we become friends with the spirits, but when we are out of our forest, flora is limited due to the deficiencies we have when we are out of our cradle. In short, my partner, Ettlis, will be able to use this power to move the essence of nature and her chant to make Torrias feel asleep, naturally, this essence will only be directed against him. It won't do any good if his opponent isn't at least half of his level, even asleep I'm sure his unconsciousness will make him keep attacking."

Lunarius: "Hmm, your whole plan looks good on paper, I admit your presence now seems indispensable."

Montegis: "I will go too, as I don't fully trust you."

Lunarius: "Why don't you fight yourself?"

Montegis: "It would be suicide, I'm not that tough, and since i specialize in quick battles, I admit I don't see much chance against a monster that is said to be unbeatable… However, I've never been able to find a warrior who seems to go to his feet."

Lunarius: "Hmmm." (I'd like to try to prolong the conversation and get more information, but it was hard enough to get the elf to trust me to the point of telling me all this… Hmmm).

Montegis: "That's it, I've said everything you needed to hear, now let's go outside, shoo, shoo."

Lunarius: "Fucking shoo shoo what."

Walking out of the red elf's private hall, Lunarius sees the other elf apparently delirious without noticing that they are coming, and his partner is lying against the wall also apparently in a delirious and reflective state, at least it seems that he didn't even look for a chat, or is he under some spell?

Montegis: "I'll talk to Ettlis, you talk to your friend over there."

Montegis approaches the elf and seems to crack close to her head, as if waking up from a hypnosis, Kerry also comes out of his trance state in the process.

Lunarius: "What the hell happened?"

Kerry: "You took a while. I already say it's the elf's fault, she suddenly started singing and I lost control over my body, on the other hand, she was also delirious."

Knowing all this, it's already clear that things won't be as easy as it seemed when he spoke to the elf…

Lunarius: "Whatever it is, the elf and I have agreed to a temporary alliance. Our opponent will be the champion of the orcs."

Kerry: "Really? But wouldn't the Ertudes alone be enough to subdue the orcs?"

Lunarius: "I'll tell you the details halfway through, including what the elf probably tried to do against you."

Montegis then approaches, saying: "We will go tomorrow, going by horse from here to the border of the orcs will take at least 4 hours.".

Lunarius: "If so, I doubt there will be time to stop my companion who should already be there."

Montegis: "If he's there it means we won't make it in time anyway. It's better to think long term than make hasty decisions, no? Besides, I need to inform my men and share responsibilities, so I can only be going tomorrow anyway. However, I don't want to hear about you inside the camp, and I also know very well that you demons have your own ways and don't need any shelter from the cold or whatever."

Lunarius: "You are very well informed hm?"

Montegis: "I know how to inform and seek information, I wouldn't have embarked on this ambitious mission to save the world if I had come out of the forest while not knowing anything."

Lunarius: "Right." Lunarius has the impression that Montegis acted more friendly and willing to share crucial informarions when they were alone than he does now, perhaps he is simply putting on the tough pose, but it also shows that he, for an elf, is a very rational fellow who knows well what to do and how to act at any time, is very useful information to understand, altrough acting like that might make Kerry suspect about everything he says.

Lunarius: "Come on, Kerry."

Kerry takes one last look at the two elves before following Lunarius. Eventually, the two spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around, and at night, it was considered among them to ignore the elves and head straight for the orcs. The two meet at the top of a mountain, and from there they observed the entire military base, the searches of the two in the afternoon showed that there are signs of having other camps at distances under 100Km with some supplies unit moving around between, which shows that there is some planning in the middle of all this, but it is uncertain whether it was the elves who organized such bases, Kerry thinks that the elves are somehow mind controling the humans. He has been talking to Lunarius about his theories for a few hours now, he is way more agitated than usual.

Kerry: "I quite understand the plan, but let's see if following their terms will make any sense."

Lunarius: "You're probably acting like this because of the female elf's strange behavior…"

Kerry: "Yes, while using those Flora spells of hers, I bet she gets stuck and the other vermilion is the only one able to control her. Let's see what he plans, it's totally possible that more than half of what he said is rubbish to trick us, and he will use it to lock us down as soon as the berserker guy is immobilized so that he can control him using the other elf."

Lunarius: "Hmm, you've been thinking a lot, did you notice anything special?"

Kerry: "Yes, when I had the eye I was able to observe a lot of things that i can say to be… Inexplicable, i can uncouciously notice a lot of things by looking at people, almost as if my power look at them and inform me of their characteristics. You could say that the eye seems to be returning to me, and I'm regaining some of it's ability."

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

Kerry: "The eye has a contract with me. Even while unconscious, it probably has a way to analyze and look for "holes" in Azel's seal against it. I can feel its presence coming back, and when it is complete again, it will probably force me go to Oss…"

What Kerry says doesn't seem like such a conspiracy theory. The eye that Kerry has a contract with is probably the "eye of pandora", Lunarius doesn't know all the details involved, but it is said that whoever uses it is capable of seeing the basic essence of things, a bit of the "third plan" so to speak. Spiritual beings navigate in the background invisible to most eyes, but even the demonic and spiritual senses cannot see and feel them very well, and it is said that those who see it are able to see the interferences exerted by the third plane.

Lunarius: "But you still aren't sure of anything, correct?"

Kerry: "It's just stipulations. In fact, I'm still reflecting on what I saw."

Lunarius: "Hmm, even if your paranoia is correct and the elves betray us, I still think it's better to stick with them until we meet Ertudes again, it will be much easier to deal with them that way."

Kerry: "But Lunarius, remember what he himself said, the elves never had an interest in intervening in this war, don't you think it's strange that one of them is among humans and controlling another elf? I don't see the point in making hasty decisions until we have enough information."

Lunarius: "Right… Let's say the red elf, at this very moment, is preparing an conspiracy against us, if that's the case, then he won't want us to meet with Ertudes… On the other hand, he also wants to use us to face the champion of the orcs… Taking all this into account, don't you think he'll wait until the end of our alliance's purpose to put his conspiracy into practice? Let's also say he'll have allies ready to fight us attack… That just means we're going to have to be ready for whatever it is."

Kerry: "But… What if something more absurd comes along?"

Lunarius: "… We'll have to wait and see, I don't see much point in debating until we have all our allies and start gathering informations. Honestly, I'd like to invade their base now and get as much information as possible through the humans, but I I have no idea what trick the elves might have, alas, the humans probably knows less than we."

The two continue arguing for a while, and Lunarius finally goes to sleep for a bit, he's not exactly exhausted, but as his spirit is completely in sync with his brain, he naturally needs sleep to preserve memories. While he sleeps, apparently a distant past comes in his dreams… Or are the memories materializing somehow to tell him something?

(Lunarius: "You are…)

(???: "A demon of your level already knows what I am, doesn't you?"

(Lunarius: "Wait… so you're the one on the lord's dagger!?"

(???: "Yes, your body is currently intertwined with my essence, in fact, the whole plan the lord passed on to you was just for you to help me be conjured on this planet. Stabbing Perla is just the first step, this is our Lord's golden chance to rob Oss of all he has obtained in all the centuries he has been free under his command doing his little conspiracies.")

(Lunarius: "No wonder I've always had a strange feeling… But me being intertwined with you doesn't mean I can use your power, right?")

(???: Hahaha, obviously not, since what you have right now is only a very small fraction of it. But relax, if you end up dying again I'll revive you, just don't screw things up, the fact that I have the Aries symbol on your cheek is proof of our bond. And the also fact that I am not simply possessing your body and devouring you shows that you are a special existence, but don't think that you have too many rights above me. If all goes well, in the future I will deal with Druaga myself, from the beginning all this about the lord sending mere first-class demons to deal with a Druaga-level existence was just a well-planned pretense, but the lord knows Oss very well, if he were left here without intervention it's possible he might even make it by eventually completing his own objectives, but the Lord has already defeated him once in the past, and of course everything has been foreseen, you remember, don't you? When we had to deal with that army of his in the past.")

Lunarius initially thought it was a memory because the two were closer in the past, but he hardly remembers her, but he knows that the person he is talking to is called Lilith, she is a original demon - a demon from "vanity" -, who ended up becoming subordinate to the lord, the classic symbol of a demon is engraved on her appearence: Two huge and black pointy horns which cames above her hears, but in her case, they are similar to those of rams, an ancient symbology that shows that she is from the sign of aries, not that anyone knows what that means since it's a astronomycal symbology from a distant galaxy… It's been a few centuries since he last saw something like that, he doesn't even remember what the hell she had to do with the aries stars. Normally he remembers her as a giantess, but she is talking to him in a more standard humanoid fashion, maybe it represents the level of her power and essence inside him.

(Lunarius: "I do remember. Anyway, if your essence is in my body, it means that you've been aware of the situation I'm going through, right? Do you have any tips?")

(Lilith: "Tip? I don't think you need any hints, just don't be manipulated like the idiot you are, the fact that you're relying on me now just shows your intellectual shortcomings in a transparent way. By the way, if you not waking up now will die, go back to the real world now, idiot!")

She instantly gives him a diagonal kick, when he wakes up, he sees a dark demonic figure approaching silently, it doesn't seem to be Kerry. Lunarius immediately conjures a spear, which seems to be different from the others he has conjured so far, and prepares to attack.