Chapter 2: Demon's luck - part 3

???: "Oh, I was thinking of murdering you in your sleep, but I see you're not some idiot incapable of perceiving his surroundings."

Lunarius: "Who are you?"

???: "My name is Sttruffon Ewastteres Parapadias, but you can call me Parapadias. Contrary to what you might be thinking, I'm not a demon, I'm a dark elf."

Lunarius: "Dark elf? So there are beings like that around here too? By the way, why are you dressed like that?"

Parapadias has a mask plated with gold stripes, no part of his skin is showing: On his head is a top hat, and otherwise he has a long garment that covers the bottom of his top hat and all the rest of his body, his hands are with black gloves and his feet are with shoes.

Parapadias: "Why, I am dressed like this because we are different from the wood elves, and I am a singularity even among my kind, I ask that you do not ask me questions about my appearance, Lunarius. I have come because my lord, Montegis, asked me to call you as well as your companion for the trip."

Lunarius: "So far I understand, but why were you trying to attack me?"

Parapadias: "I beg your pardon? I don't think you are stupid, this alliance will fall apart the moment my lord manages to accomplish his goal. I was just testing you to see if you are of any use."

Lunarius: "Or rather, you are testing my abilities, right!?"

Parapadias: "Exactly. I'm not the type to usually sneak others behind their backs for no reason. My master would be furious if he knew I'm telling you all this, but I want us to agree that both sides are aware from each other. Don't you think it's cowardice to use lies to deceive naive people?"

Lunarius: "You say all this as if you've watched me talking to the elf."

Parapadias: "But I was. By the way, I already made sure to 'escort' your companion to the meeting point. Now it's your turn, follow me."

Lunarius follows the guy from behind, they jump down the swaths to get back to the flat surface.

Parapadias: "Don't you think this is a solemn morning? Enjoy, by tonight one of us might be dead."

Lunarius: "… You are very honest."

Parapadias: "Am I? A temporary alliance prevents both sides from engaging in battles without exceptional reasons, but that doesn't mean that war will be completely prevented. I'm just letting you know that our side already knows how to deal with little demons of your ilk."

Lunarius: "… What if I killed you here and now?"

Parapadias: "Ohohoh, don't be silly, that's not even my real body."

Lunarius: "So that's why you don't show your face?"

Parapadias: "Yes. See, just ask the right questions and I'll give you information too. You won't be able to say you've been tricked when you're dying."

Lunarius: "… Don't you think you're giving yourself too much luxury to pass on information about yourself? You're sounding like a villain in a story for entertainment."

Parapadias: "Here's the question, am I passing on information for you, or am I leading you through the labyrinth of perdition?"

Lunarius finds himself getting irritated, to get information is not worth having to talk to such a clown.

Parapadias: "Oh, has you stopped? So now is the time for my questions. When you were talking to my lord, did you not notice my presence at all?"

Lunarius: "No."

Parapadias: "I figured, you look quite powerful in my eyes, but you're not as capable as a demon of your level should be, how strange, very strange."

Lunarius: "I'm sorry, but I won't pass on any information about that."

Parapadias: "Does that mean you don't want me to have any idea about how your power works? Hmm, considering your reaction, I would say that this power is not yours, but on the other hand, it's also a sign that you specialize in few skills. Whatever it is, I don't want to talk to you about it any further, trying to figure out your skills ahead of time is spoiling the moment."

Lunarius: "And if this ignorance leads to death?"

Parapadias: "Well, if I die it's not like anyone will miss it, will? Considering you're a demon, I can tell you this: we dark elves don't have any respect for wood elves, in fact we would have much more interests in allying with you demons than serving mere haughty elves."

Lunarius: "Then what are you doing serving that guy?"

Parapadias: "You could say he's also a special case. I have a life-and-death commitment to him despite everything, but even though I'm threatening your life right now, it doesn't mean that I really want to kill you, I just want to get and pass on enough information so that we can trust each other. Two individuals who are pointing knives at each other will only be able to trust each other when they know where the knives are."

Lunarius: "… You are indeed quite weird."

The two finally arrive at the base after the walk, the human soldiers see them and shout: "Commander Parapadias has returned!" And the gate mechanisms begin to turn. Lunarius suddenly sees Kerry flying around and approaching, he eventually joins Lunarius.

Lunarius: "Were you waiting?"

Kerry: "Yes, obviously I wasn't going to accept the clown's invitation to join the base, but he gave me a lot of important information."

Parapadias: "Don't think I can't hear you."

The three walk through the gate, and Parapadias begins new explanations: "Lord Montegis together with Ettlis will depart on this journey carried by griffin."

Lunarius: "Gryphons? So the journey wouldn't be much long of we left yesterday."

Parapadias: "We would've arrived in the orcs in time with then, but that's beside the point, he had other things to do. Anyway, the elven forest is a pretty magical place just so you know, and even though elves aren't exactly excellent tamers, magical monsters still are periodically drawn there. Montegis managed to tame some of these creatures a long time ago, and naturally, traveling in a flying creature is more convenient than in a land creature."

Lunarius: "And you, where will you go?"

Parapadias: "I don't need to travel there, I'm already there."

Kerry: "Oh yeah, you're just a formless essence of your true body, aren't you?"

Parapadias: "Exactly, if you manage to find me there, I will give you a reward."

Kerry: "'Reward', huh?"

Some guards arrive to escort Parapadias and the rest of the group to where Montegis is. As they turn around a building, an arrow immediately comes towards Parapadias, who does not react and has his mask pierced and hanging against the wall.

Montegis: "Parapadias! I thought I told you to disguise yourself as a soldier, don't tell me you're having another fit worthy of the maniac you are!?"

Parapadias: "Sir! Forgive me, but sometimes I think it's better to do things my own way! See you later!" The garment and mask begin to melt towards the ground."

Montegis: "I should be saying that, you bastard!"

The soldier who guided them stays behind, amazed by the scene. Lunarius and Kerry continue towards Montegis.

Montegis: "Lunarius, as that damned probable has already informed you, I've been preparing my griffin, the trip from here to the orcs' territory will take little time, since all of us will be there in flight."

Lunarius sees the Griffon flying low across the open field within the camp. Lunarius wonders how a half-eagle, half-lion creature manages to fly like that.

Montegis: "It's called tornado. If you're curious, these creatures are very old, as old as we elves, they have one of the blessings of Eyshteer, and are able to tame the winds."

Montegis softly whistles, Tornado then starts maneuvering through the air and softly lands.

Lunarius: "Did you train him for this?"

Montegis: "I trained him to try to impress me, naturally you have to have different kinds of special bonds with your servants so they don't betray you."

Ettlis, who has been quiet ever since, questions Montegis, "Are we going to show the orcs the tornado?"

Montegis: "Of course, it's not like I could hide it in my pocket is it?"

Lunarius: "Speaking of pets servants, do orcs also have any tamed creatures?"

Montegis: "Tamed creature? They have the lowest goblins under their command, it is thanks to their servitude that the orcs are able to think of war and battle more than they are able to think of sustaining themselves, but the goblins have a strange fixation in robbing and pranking both other races and their own orc lords, it's a troubled relationship indeed, but the two sides can't live without each other."

Lunarius: "Hm."

Montegis: "Anyway, let's go." Montegis says, climbing on the Griffin. Lunarius notices that he is wearing a rather extravagant outfit, and wonders if all elves are like that, or if Montegis is the one who looks like humans. Attlis, who likes to stay quiet looks a bit more like a typical elf than he does, though she is different in some ways. She mounts the Griffin as well, both have nothing to hold onto the Griffin in mid-flight, Lunarius decides not to think too much about it, they will probably use their magic to maintain themselves up there.

The Griffin flaps its wings, and even with its weight and that of two more people, it takes off into the sky, Lunarius and Kerry create wings and follow right behind, the men who were watching are amazed at the scene, they had already heard from other soldiers that there were demons flying around, but not that they were collaborating with their Lord!

The journey goes on, the Griffin reaches around 180km per hour, so Lunarius and Kerry don't have to hold back too much. Eventually, the mountains cease to be in the landscape on the sides and he can see only the vegetated plane, the forests and the hills, there is no road that leads to the orcs' territory, but eventually he can see an old cemetery located in a region remote named "Heroes' Resting Ground", which was probably placed there when bodies could not be carried back to their hometowns.

As they approached more forest, Lunarius thought he saw a small figure watching him for a moment but it quickly disappeared.

Lunarius: "Kerry, did you feel it?"

Kerry: "Felt what?"

Lunarius: "I think the escorts in the region have already discovered us, not that it makes much difference."

They finally begin to see civilization, the Orcs are located in a forest region near a river, but they don't live in the forest, quite the contrary, those who live in these regions are the goblins, the trees around were all counted, and one can see from upt there humanoid green beings plowing fertile land, some using horses and donkeys, and some using oxen, doesn't seem to be that different from what humans do to plow land, but apparently goblins also tend to animals. It doesn't take long until a citadel with high walls is seen, the elf lands his griffin not many kilometers away, and the two demons also land.

Montegis: "If we fly more they will only pierce us with their arrows, Orcs are much better than humans when it comes to strength and aim."

But it doesn't take long before a small battalion comes out of the gate, they're all on horseback and equipped to the teeth, with the exception of the bigger one in the front, who is only wearing reinforced clothes.

???: "Hold on!"

The elves don't understand, only Lunarius and Kerry, who report what he said and take the lead in the dialogue.

???: "Who are you? Are you in cahoots with the northern invaders!?"

Lunarius: "We are not, my noble orc, we have come to challenge your champion!"

???: "Challenge our champion!? Who are you!?"

Lunarius: "We come from the South, the one in red next to me is the Elven lord Montegis who commands the humans to the south, the Griffin and the other elf are his, and I am Lunarius and the one next to me is Kerry, we are both demons."

???: "Ah, devils? A fellow of yours came here yesterday, he's already challenging our champion since yesterday!"

Lunarius: "He is called Ertudes correct? We have come to his aid."

???: "Aid? Gahahaha, maybe he needs it, his broken comrades are already in!" The orcs burst out laughing, apparently the idea of having more battles to watch entertains them.

???: "Very well, but I already tell you in advance that you are wasting your time! The mighty Torrias doesn't know what defeat is!"

The orcs start to turn around, the 5 follow the path, the gates remain open for them to pass and several other orcs pass by to look, they are also all equipped with their own reinforced clothes and well armed, this is the perfect example of militaries clans. After the wall it can be see yet another barrier of walls covering what looks like a huge tower-like castle. Behind the walls there are several towers and it is possible to see ballistas on top of these walls, there are also several houses, warehouses and other constructions for artisanal uses. The orc that stopped them on the way before comes back with his horse at full speed.

???: "Rejoice, the leaders have allowed your passage to the castle! The fight between you with the champion will take place this afternoon in the square in the center of the city, so you are allowed to meet with the other challenger, Ertudes, to discuss strategies and decide who will be slaughtered first. Everything is allowed except direct intervention in battle without permission, so understood!?"

Lunarius: "We are, I will inform my fellow Elvens of your decisions."

The Orc then proceeds to relay the details to the other orcs in the vicinity, who seem to be pleased with the news.

Lunarius: "The challenge will take place in the afternoon, they will allow us to stay in the castle until then."

Montegis: "Things will run smoothly then."

Kerry: "But if I heard right, they don't allow direct interventions, doesn't that mean our strategy will go against the rules?"

Montegis: "Do you really think that orcs will give a shit about someone singing? At most they will blame the song for Torrias' drowsiness, but what matters is defeating him, as long as we defeat the orcs they won't be that difficult to deal with… our powers."

Montegis seemed to have tried to say something else, Lunarius realizes that he probably has some skill that he hasn't spoken yet, and if Parapadias can be trusted, it means that this skill will be able to totally change the scenario in their favor, now the question is to find out how.

Lunarius: "Kerry, do you have any idea what his secret is?"

Kerry: "No, I'm not even getting any power from the eye anymore, apparently Azel has already dealt with it."

Lunarius: "I don't know if this will be convenient or not, but if Azel noticed I have no doubt he was the one to let the eye bring some of its power to you."

Kerry: "Come to think of it, it makes sense, he was the one who suggested I come. I use demonic power just like all the rest of the demons, but I'm probably the only one capable of utilizing the powers of the eye outside of Oss, he's probably testing me or something."

Lunarius: "Yep."

Continuing along the road for a while, they eventually arrive and travel along a road that runs along the hill and leads to the top, where the inner walls and gates are. Upstairs towers and soldiers can be seen, and eventually the orc that was back there quickly arrives on horseback, asking for the gate to be opened with a very loud voice. Finally inside, they see that the courtyard leading to the castle is surrounded by several military bases.

???: "Our forces operate independently, anyone who approaches from afar can already be seen by our companions up there, all equipped with the valuable human artifact, the telescope, and anyone can assemble a force of answer. I am Deckar of the Horfon clan and I will be responsible for you until the end of this duel, if you entertain our leaders and the people I will also earn my share, Gohohoho." Deckar, like many other orcs is wide, big and green. He has a lot of beard around his mouth and his light black hair is combed with a part going to the sides of his forehead and the rest to the sides of his head, so he is pretty different from other orcs, who are mostly baldy, and he also doesn't seem to have a weapon with him now.

Lunarius: "As you are following us, have you seen any strange people around this fortress lately?"

Deckar: "Strange people?… There are a lot of strange people around here lately yes, but that's not something I should answer. With these last wars and the chaotic situation in human civilization, it doesn't seem strange to me that the people showing up are strange as you devils, Torrias himself wasn't even from around here."

Lunarius: "But is there none among you capable against him?"

Deckar: "No, like I said, Torrias wasn't even from around here, but he defeated enough people to be considered an berserker. If he was more ambitious, he could easily take control of this citadel from the renowned and powerful clans, and i myself also don't think I could last more than a few minutes in a battle against him."

Lunarius: "That means you're pretty powerful too, doesn't it?"

Deckar: "Yes, but Torrias… He's on a whole different level, he creates power that no one knows where it comes from, no matter how injured he may be his wounds just heal without needing anything to treat them, he seems to be able to fight non-stop for all eternity, an absolute monster. Our fortresses to the north were largely demolished by him, now we are having trouble with the barbarians that come from there."

Lunarius: "Barbarians?"

Deckar: "Ortenega's barbarians are formidable fellows who have held their own against Druaga's armies to this day and continue to grow in power. In the past they were kept reclusive in the central North because of our union with the human tribes to the east and north to keep them in tight slash, but as the west is already being occupied by Druaga's armies and the North is long gone, nothing prevents them from taking advantage of our weaknesses, excluding Torrias, who is capable of demolishing their armies as if in jest."

Lunarius becomes more fearful of their possibility of winning. Montegis hears the entire conversation, but doesn't seem to be able to understand anything outside of Lunarius' own words.

The fortress of the orcs looks more like a wide and extremely long tower than an actual fortress, its size surpasses even the inner walls.

Deckar: "By the way, tell the Elf to leave the Gryphon with me, I'll put him in the stables."

Lunarius: "Right.", he turns to Montegis and says that the Orc wants to guard the Griffin from him, and he replies, "I see no harm.", he seems to communicate with the Griffin somehow after looking at him in the eyes, since the beast goes to the Orc voluntarily.

Deckar then calls a goblin and orders them to take the group somewhere, and then takes the Gryphon to another. The goblin does not introduce itself, but has long black hair, red eyes, and pointed ears. Most goblins max out at 5 feet, but this particular goblin appears to be a child. As they follow him, Montegis seems to think of something, and calmly says to Lunarius, "What did you hear from the orc?"

Lunarius: "He was talking about the threat from the north, the peoples of the icy mountains are apparently invading, and Torrias is the only one defending the Orcs after he himself has slaughtered their defenses."

Montegis: "Yeah? I had no idea… Besides, I didn't expect to see goblins in the palace…"

Lunarius: "What do you mean?"

Montegis: "Goblins shouldn't normally mix with orcs, elven literature says they are mischievous and rebellious beings of nature. I even understand that they chose to team up with orcs for safety, but there are servants even in the abode of the proud orc leaders? Something is wrong…"

Lunarius ia under the impression that Montegis is being paranoid, but perhaps there is a reason. He then says to Kerry, "Can you see anything coming from this goblin with that eye power of yours?"

Kerry: "Nothing, he seems to be a magical being like the Orcs, but I don't see anything special."

Lunarius then says to Montegis: "I don't think you have anything to worry about, it seems to be just another magical creature."

Montegis: "Right."

Continuing, they begin to climb the stairs, there are several throughout the castle and they serve to go up and down directly between the different floors, quickly they already reach the "challengers' corridor", Lunarius tries to start a conversation with the little goblin after he has announced the name.

Lunarius: "So challenging Torrias is common around here? That means most of his opponents are also Orcs, right?"

Goblin: "… In fact, many opponents he has faced are the northern barbarians. Those giant brutes think they have a chance just because of their size!"

Lunarius: "If they thought they were worthy just because of their size, what do you think of us?"

Goblin: "That Ertudes guy has already called several formidable demons to fight the champion, too bad they were all wiped out in a matter of seconds."

Lunarius: "Huh."

Goblin: "But if I were the challenger, I wouldn't waste time trying to challenge him. There are several formidable orc warriors around here, all of them would be disintegrated without the slightest effort…"

Lunarius: "… Impressive, then could you take me to this Torrias?"

Goblin: "… Of course I can! What's your name?"

Lunarius: "Lunarius, and you?"

Goblin: "Lupino! But now pretend we never spoke."

He then goes ahead and knocks on a certain door with force and rhythm.

Lupino: "Ertudeses, there are companions to save you here ♪"

Ertudes Voice: "Companions!?"

He quickly opens the door, and when he tries to quickly walk past the Goblin, he ends up bumping into his foot and falling. Lupino bursts out laughing.

Ertudes: "… What silly joke is this!?"

Now ignoring Lunarius and the others, he quickly gets up and seems to magically pull a clay statue out of his cloak, then says, "Machiavelli, come and teach this insolent jerk a lesson!" An angry gnome appears, saying: "That's right.", He jumps at the goblin, who hits his head, but the gnome's head is hard and hits him against his belly, the Goblin does a lollipop but still hits against the wall at the end of the hall.

Ertudes: "Go back, I'm satisfied, that pest will never learn anyway."

The gnome jumps and returns to the same clay miniature he was before, landing in Ertudes's hand, who places him back inside his cloak. Pretending as if nothing had happened, Ertudes turns to the group.

Ertudes: "Lunarius? Kerry? What are you doing here? More importantly, what about those naughty elves along with you?"

Montegis: "Naughty? Do me a favor, Lunarius and I are committed to defeating Torrias in an alliance."

Ertudes: "Alliance? With Elves? I'm not so ignorant of the affairs of this world, Elves shouldn't leave their forests, what are you?"

Montegis is silent. Lunarius says: "Let's discuss in your room first, the elves will come later.". Ertudes replies: "Yes, but if I were you, I wouldn't think of leaving these two alone for a fraction of a second.".

Kerry, Lunarius and Ertudes then gather in the bedroom, the place is spacious enough for at least three people to stay, but other than that there is not much comfort, since there is only one bed, on which Ertudes lies down and starts talking.

Ertudes: "Listen, Torrias has nothing to do with the Orcs, that guy seems to have inherited one of the skills of the ancient and legendary "berserkers"! I'm still developing a way to deal with him, but what are you guys doing here?"

Lunarius: "Azel plans to put his plan to liquidate Oss and Perla in no time, we can't expect you to deal with the orcs your way."

Ertudes: "Hmph, it's not my fault If he's in a hurry. Honestly, I plan to leave this planet as soon as Oss is eliminated, so I should be the one in a hurry. I agreed to help Azel a lot because that little dupling disgusts me."

Lunarius: "Whatever it is, the elf I brought has a trick to weaken the Berserker through a magic called flora."

Ertudes: "Flora!? Now things are getting weirder, a Flora user shouldn't leave the forest. Tell me everything you know about these two elves."

Lunarius: "Well… According to the red elf, who is called Montegis, the elf next to him, Ettlis, is able to use her song to mobilize the spiritual forces of nature, and through that, she will calm down the Berserker and weaken him."

Scholar: "… If we consider that berserkers use the force of unconsciousness to control the nature as if a single essence, maybe this will work, but it seems risky, inefficient outside of theory, and above all, those two are not reliable. If what I've learned is right, Flora is the mobilization of the planet's spirituality, this is the power that Eyshteer, the deity who is one with her creation, Kosmotierra, created for the Elves, but theoretically this ability only reaches its magical potential when the elves are in the forest. Chanting can even help mobilize that power efficiently, but I doubt, and very much, that just one elf will be enough to weaken a warrior who doesn't even seem to be from this world!"

Lunarius: "Actually, I've run into Torrias in the past, his name is Rorteneres Ashreen."

Ertudes: "And?"

Lunarius: "I used a certain bracelet to immobilize him, an Ostoporou bracelet, but using that weapon consumed a large part of my power."

Ertudes: "…And then?"

Lunarius: "I'm interested in talking to him first of all, have you seen if he retains any consciousness?"

Ertudes: "Not really, but he seems to know how to limit himself and not go around wrecking things, so that means he must have some conscience control, or at the very least he's been disciplined enough to obey orders, which seems to be impossible in his case. whatever it is, I won't spare the elves' help, but I want you to finish them off or make them surrender as soon as the battle is over. I planned to discard a few more of my pieces to discover all of the Berserker's weaknesses, but it looks like I'll have to go all-or-nothing on the next battle."

Kerry, who was silent, says: "… Do you have any idea what pandora's eye is?"

Ertudes: "I know, Azel already informed me that he had one partially under his control. Honestly, the sooner those eyes are destroyed, the better, having them around means that the Witch Pandora knows what's going on here."

Kerry: "What does that mean in practice?"

Ertudes: "That, as soon as she sees an opportunity, she will start to intervene with her force to destroy this world. To be honest with you, this planet already seems to be doomed, I doubt that she will intervene in a destruction that will not even be caused directly by her, but it's still better to destroy the eyes than keep it on this plane of existence."

Lunarius: "And why do you think that the destruction of this planet is guaranteed?"

Ertudes: "Do you want to hear a story? I am one of the demons that has been here on this planet for almost 1 century, I obeyed Perla and Oss like a good lamb, but I did not blind myself to the realities here. This planet is dying, while the imbeciles with their obscure intentions stayed on the continent of dragons even trough they can't even get out from there, Druaga was consuming the power of this planet from the inside out. We are intervening in a dispute with a predefined and very well planned conclusion. Of course, I can't just leave the planet, and if helping the Lord into piercing the dagger in Perla will make it possible for me to ask for something, I would certainly like to leave here since I no longer see any gain by corrupting the creatures of this planet."

Both Lunarius and Kerry are listening to a lot of exceptional information, but Ertudes seems to be getting more and more grumpy, he gets up from the bed he was lying on and starts gesturing for them to leave the room.

Ertudes: "Whatever it is, I urge you to get out of here, I still have things to prepare for the duel that will take place mere hours from now. Oh, and don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for the elves."

The two leave the room, Montegis is apparently no longer in the hallway, just the Goblin.

Lupino: "The two elves have already gone to their rooms, you two can have this one next door." He says, pointing to a room opposite Ertudes.

Lunarius: "Later i'll see it, first I want to see Torrias."

Lupino: "He doesn't live in the citadel, let's take a long trip to the mountains if that's what you want."

Lunarius: "I'm a demon, in case you haven't noticed, you just need to guide us since we will go flying."

Lupino: "Oh, that's right then, there will still be time to go back i think."

Kerry: "You two can go on, i'll just stick around."

Lunarius: "Huh, but it's exactly you that I need, if Torrias doesn't have a good mind I'll need as much information as possible."

Kerry: "…Okay, but just to be on the safe side, wouldn't it be better to take the elves too? If the stories are true, we're going to need as many shields as possible if everything goes wrong."

Lunarius: "… Even then it will not take that much for him to destroy us, in the worst case scenario I can hold him for a few seconds while you go away. I already fought him once."

Kerry reluctantly agrees to go, the Goblin then begins to lead them to the top of the tower, and they eventually reach a huge door.

Lupino: "I'll get permission to visit Torrias first, wait for me."

He quickly enters, Lunarius and Kerry wait for a few seconds, and the Goblin returns.

Lupine: "Okay, let's fly from the roof of the castle if it will be faster.", They climb some more stairs and finally reach the ceiling, the Goblin seems to make some sign to the orcs but they don't look, he then takes some kind of pocket whistle and blows, attracting their attention, and then gives the signal.

Lupine: "Let's go."

Lunarius and Kerry then create wings, and Lunarius takes the goblin and carries him by the lap so he can give directions, they head north, following the hills where the Orcs castle is, there are several watchtowers and walls built in around, Lupino seems to be enjoying the flight, but he frantically has to signal the orcs not to shoot against them. Eventually they reach a fenced point where Lupino tells them to stop. An orc that was inside a tent quickly comes out and asks for their identities.

Lupino: "I am Lupino, I naturally already have permission to visit Torrias. Those two with me are the demons Lunarius and Kerry, challengers."

Orc: "This is new, now these folk showing up crazy to be destroyed before their time. It doesn't matter if it's a dragon, giant or demon, nobody has a chance. Anyway, I don't need to open the gates since you're going to fly anyway, just keep going north and you'll get there, just find an isolated hut. As for you, Lupino, it's better that you stay here."

Lupino immediately turns to the demons: "It's a pity I can't go, but if you show up alive, let me know how it went!" Lunarius and Kerry look at each other.

Lunarius: "Maybe, maybe not, who knows?"

The orc from earlier goes to talk to the other orcs on top of the wall, and Lunarius and Kerry quickly sprout wings and fly over the wall. Initially they don't see much, but eventually they start to find orc bodies, arrows and craters.

Lunarius: "I see he still continued with full strenght…"

Eventually they arrive at an almost lifeless forest, many trees seem to have been burned, but many more still seem to have had the life sucked out of them. Then they see a huge wooden cabin, the two land and Lunarius goes ahead, initially they don't feel anything, but Kerry is already alert: "I feel that a presence around is sucking all the spiritual life from the place and all it's mana slowly, it's not for nothing that he lives in such a desolate place."

Lunarius: "And I feel like we could end up being decimated any moment now, will he be inside the hut?"

As they approach, the huge door of the hut begins to open, showing a dark and white-haired being of at least 2 and a half meters, he carries an ax with him, and looks mesmerized at the demons, who continue to approach. His body is extremely abnormal and muscular, and his face, despite showing a certain advanced age, does not look the least bit like someone who is close to death, in fact death is echoed from him.

Eventually Lunarius and the being come face to face, with Lunarius looking up and the other being looking down.

Torrias: "You… You…!!!!"

He starts to raise his arms, doing a strange pose with his back stretched forward in the process, Lunarius quickly backs away and conjures his spear, which this time looks more like a trident.

Torrias begins to release a blue aura that seems to be burning the air, the wood of his hut begins to rot and the ground begins to melt.

Lunarius: "How long has it been, Rorteneres…"

Torrias looks on with a curious look and seems to be growing an smile: "Gyahahaha, why are you running away you big ass!? I thought you had defeated me last time, what happened? Gyahahaha!". He suddenly assumes an elastic shape, wriggling even more, and eventually seems to grab the ground with his hand after lowering his body, and in a split second, he already reaches Lunarius after taking a violent impulse, which he barely succeeds in avoiding, but the impact of his blow, which hits the air and causes an explosion of vacuum along with his explosive aura that disperses and then returns to him, causes Lunarius to be taken far away, and so as not to be injured by this explosion, Lunarius appears to have created some kind of premeditated barrier before the attack, which immediately shattered afterwards, and he ends up suffering an impact against a rotten tree.

Torrias: "Hmmm, you look a lot weaker than before! But whatever! I don't plan on killing you or anything, y'know!?"

Lunarius: "Have you regained your consciousness? You're much more talkative!"

Torrias: "I didn't regain it! I just learned to have control over my own body! But do you feel like fighting again!?"

Lunarius: "No thanks!"

Torrias then seems to slow his breathing and control his power, apparently signaling that now there is no longer so much danger in approaching him, so Lunarius and Kerry go to him.

Torrias: "And who's that other asshole? I thought the devils had some badass dudes, just yesterday I just ripped a few assholes to shreds."

Lunarius: "Most aren't that strong, but there are some who come to your level, but they're far from here."

Torrias: "Hmm. Let's be quick, I have a duel in a little while. Oh yeah, Lunin, remember that witch? Some crazy shit happened, my son showed up, and he gave me something to help me regain consciousness, but i eventually got bored and thought about you. And hey, I know I'm slowly dying while I'm still in this mortal body of mine! That's unthinkable, because like, bro, I sacrificed my whole life for this power, it'll be crazy shit if i die without even enjoying it! and like, you demons are like man, but you guys have eternal life, and I want that, you understand!? I did some more crazy stuff, shitted and walked for my son's warnings, and ended up here and became a champion for these ugly green people, and you know what, I want better things to do."

His vocabulary is impressive, you can see that he is using the minimum of his brain, that is, he is using the maximum that he can considering his circumstances.

Lunarius: "You appeared in good time then, my demon lord is in need of new hands, I will only need you to help me exterminate some demons, and eternal life will be yours."

Torrias: "That's it!?"

Lunarius: "Calm down, the whole plan has already been worked out, your role will be to exterminate a few dozen demons while we do the rest of the job. More importantly, I only came here to put the orcs under the demons' command, and we need to defeat you for that."

Torrias: "Defeat me!?" He seems to be losing a bit of control, "I won't hold back in combat, and I don't give a shit whether this vassalization works or not! I can only commit to letting the opponent live a few seconds longer than usual by not exterminating him instantly!""

Lunarius: "That's it then. Anyway, even if we win, I doubt you'll be unconscious for more than a few seconds."

Torrias: "Yes, but if you lose we'll get the hell out of here, I can only stand this place because they give me food."

Torrias then just turns around, stretching his body like a professional athlete and swinging his ax to seemingly go slice some trees.

Kerry: "That was dangerous, but at least it was quick."

Lunarius seems to be a little out of his mind: "... What scares me the most is the idea of a guy like that turning into a demon… But it's not like we can get rid of him, but i thought I'd never meet him again…"

The two leave quietly, reaching the walls to the south they don't see Lupino in the place anymore, they don't even see him along the way, it seems like the guy is fast by himself.

Kerry and Lunarius then start to argue after absorbing everything that happened moments ago…

Kerry: "We won't say anything about what happened to the elves, but what about the Ertudes?"

Lunarius: "He doesn't exactly need to know either, as he expects a serious combat. If he thinks he has higher chances of victory just because of some small talk even after seeing that monster annihilating his subordinates, then it's good that he keeps thinking just like that. Whatever it is, I'll spy on the orcs, I'll try to see what's inside that big door the goblin entered, you stay in the room and tell anyone who tries to enter that I'm sleeping."

Kerry: "Okay, but how are you going to do that?"

Lunarius: "I have my tricks, relax I've never been caught while I'm trying to be stealthy."

Kerry: "… Let's see then, I also think there is something strange with these orcs, especially with that goblin, everyone around here seems to know him, what are they hiding?".