Li stood outside the cottage, by the fields, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked westward, past the rolling adows and slopes of Riviera's outlands, past the line of the forest, and into the depths of the dark distance. Beside him, Zagan also sat, facing the sa way, the demon's eyes gleaming a bright red.
Between them, the still corpse of an insect lay. It looked to be a hybrid between a wasp and a spider with eight carapaced legs, an abdon that ended in a curved stinger, and shredded insectoid wings. It was the size of a small child, and it was a wonder it could fit so easily into the body of the orc warchief.
"Tell , Zagan, do you recognize this being?" said Li.
Zagan bared a few of his fangs. "This personage does. It is Zerzal, demon general and herald of Gluttony."
"I figured it was a demon of so noteworth," said Li. "And so I subdued him with force almost equivalent to that which I used upon you. Unfortunately, this thing was far weaker than you, and crumbled under pressure imdiately.
Died before I could even make it feel any asure of pain. Before I could get it to talk more."
"Zerzal is a being of many, capable of splitting itself apart into a swarm, and in exchange, each of his bodies is fragile."
"Then he is still alive? This is just one of many bodies?"
Zagan shook his head. "No. As herald, my personage knows well the scent of living demon. The power you used to purge his being echoed throughout every single one of his bodies. The herald Zerzal is no more."
Zagan began to utter a low, rattling growl. "But that is not punishnt enough. Not only does Zerzal deign to intrude upon your territory, but he has succumbed to the forbidden power of the Abyss.
Power that no demonkind should ever rely upon."
"Not only him," said Li. "Zerzal was still acting in his capacity as a herald for another, and in this case, it was still the Burning One. The demonic invasion this ti around is wildly different than the one you and others talked about.
This ti, it isn't just demons, it's eldritch power coming into the mix as well."
"A conclusion that my personage has also reached," said Zagan. He beca still, almost solemn. "To think the whelp this personage counseled in all the millennia long traditions and principles of the Swarm would turn to the Abyss for strength and to enforce its corrupting curse upon demonkind."
"Tell of this Abyss." Li understood that it was the body of water nearby where the demons lived and also capable of being accessed by the Hinterlanders, considering that Azhar when training as a shaman knew that there was an eldritch existence lying in those depths.
Of course, Li knew that to be Noctus, Helios's twin brother, but all this ti, he had been under the impression that Noctus was fully dormant, locked into an eternal sleep. Evidently, either Noctus was awakening, or the demons were simply drawing upon the fallen god's powers as he slumbered.
"It is a body of ill-fated waters that stands still beside En Arkennan, the center of chaos within which my kind spawns and hunts. Its depths are obscured, hidden even to demonkind, but throughout the centuries, we have co to understand that there is power lurking in the depths, power that ripples sweetly and alluringly, but so sweet is its taste that it becos maddening, a rotten fruit that we decided many centuries ago to never indulge in."
"Doesn't your kind believe in power? The hunt? Preying upon each other to reach superiority? It seems like such a power source would be to your kind's interest."
Zagan snorted. "The heart of demonkind may be based upon power, but not like this.
Our kind believes fundantally in power invested within ourselves. Power projected by our own proud bodies built up by centuries of fight and consumption.
Power emanating from minds sane and honed by the whetstone of ti, not guided by spectral whisperings that have no place in this realm."
Li nodded. "Then you have no issues with that very sa power lying within myself?"
"The power that we crave is pure. It does not wield but is wielded. Your power, though similar in type to that of the abyssal whisperings, does not seek to take away control from others. Control - the sense of self that allows for one to truly cherish the power they wield, to understand both its potential and consequences.
But accepting the whisperings of the abyss is no better than debasing the self to eternal slavery. That is unbecoming of the pride of demonkind, thus, soliciting the whispers of the Abyss is the foulest heresy that one of demonkind can ever commit."
Zagan paused for a second, his black fur rippling as a soft breeze passed by his coat.
"And even your power, this personage has not drawn upon. Not from a sense of revulsion, but of principle. It is not within this personage's beliefs to borrow power which is not inherently mine."
Li took in Zagan's words.
It was true that the demon had not actually beco much stronger since he had taken this form. In fact, the demon was far weakened since the ti Li had fought him, and likely, it was due to the fact that Zagan could not feast on human souls or demons to regain his strength.
Zagan could have, at any point in ti, simply drawn from Li's strength to amplify himself, but he had chosen not to out of an unflinching dedication to principle. And also because there was no need to really exert himself considering even in this state, he could practically annihilate any threat that ca to pass in Riviera.
"But" said Zagan. The demon flared open his eyes wide, his eyes shining even brighter like red hot coals as his gaze burned into the West. "Now, this personage must humbly ask to draw upon your strength, to restore mine self to my full might.
For if the Burning One has commanded the Rite of the Swarm, bending all seven demonic sees together, and has also succumbed to the madness of the Abyss, then it is all too likely that the near entirety of my kind has fallen to those foul depths.
I shall not stand idle while my kin beco puppets dancing on strings held by another. It is better for them to be slaughtered under my might than to suffer such a fate."
"You have my full permission to draw upon my power," said Li with a smile. "Restore yourself to your forr glory. No, to heights even beyond that. Do not treat my power as separate to yours. Your bond to has never been one of absolute servitude.
You chose to submit to my strength, and now, you can choose to use my strength as you wish."
Zagan bowed his head. "Gracious thanks, Great Old One."
"But, I will ask you for now to hold off on fighting. I know that demons have a higher resistance to eldritch corruption, but that does not an you are immune to it. Tomorrow, I am going to tap into my powers and find a way to counteract it. If all goes well, then I should also find a way to restore your kind.
Guard this cottage and my daughter in my absence and use any amount of power necessary from for that task."
Zagan nodded.
"Understood," said the demon with a resounding firmness to his voice that had been absent ever since he had settled down by the cottage. It rang with warped echoes with a distorted, faint growl undertoning it. It was a voice that would have drawn shivers from every living being, telling them of the brutalization their bodies and souls were to face should they near it.
A voice fitting for war.
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