Fyrwal and Tessa fell to the ground, their eyes watery, but they managed not to shed a single tear.
Once the last Demon was summoned and they mustered the strength to look up, only Lith and Vastor were still standing.
One because he was used to dealing with pain and anger. They had plagued Lith since he had memory on Earth until the day Elysia was born. He welcomed the feelings of the Demons like old friends, embracing them instead of fighting back.
The other because he was too stubborn to fall and because he considered the souls’ grievances but a drop of water compared to the ocean of his crimes.
“Is this the best you can do?” Vastor snarled, knowing that his victims had suffered much worse than any of the Demons he was conjuring. “Stop being angry at me, you losers. Come and get me if you can!”
The Master weathered the suffering and hatred like he was the one who had killed the souls’ original body. For all he knew, it wasn’t a farfetched possibility. Even if he was wrong and was in no way involved in their deaths, he still took responsibility.
Vastor wasn’t proud of his crimes but wasn’t ashamed of them either. He had done what he had to and was ready to pay for it once his goal was achieved, not one second sooner.
The Titania, the Hydra, and Orion knew nothing of this and only felt their respect and admiration for the old Professor grow. He stood where even old heroes of legend had fallen.
“I would beware what you wish for, my boy.” A frozen, clawed hand gripped Vastor’s shoulder so hard that he felt the grip through the Davross of his Dominator armor.
“Grandmaster Paax!” Vastor turned in horror, his face twisted in guilt and regret behind the visor of his full helm. “I’m so sorry. I-”
“Don’t.” Edrahg Paax, the late Grandmaster of the Kingdom’s Highmaster Order and Vastor’s mentor cut him short. “You’ve done plenty of bad things, my boy, but my death is not one of them.
“I had become old, bitter, and stupid. I knew what was going to happen when I stepped out of line, I just didn’t care.” Grandmaster Paax sighed.
In his shadow form, he looked like a man in his late fifties with a perfectly trimmed goatee white with Decay. Even in death, his face had more wrinkles than parchment paper. The deep ages lines had been carved by decades of shame and regrets.
Paax’s whole body was covered in heavy chains that would have crushed a mortal man with their bare weight.
“I’ve never resented you, my boy. Quite the contrary, I was relieved when I learned they had sent you to ‘retire’ me. Spending my final moments with a friend was a blessing I didn’t dare pray for.”
‘Retire?’ Locrias inwardly echoed, remembering where he had heard the name Paax. ‘He was a Professor in the light magic department of the Black Griffon, a complete nobody famous only for the way he had died.’
On paper, Archmage Edrahg Paax had died of a heart attack over thirty years ago, a few days after announcing his retirement. Dying so suddenly for such a trivial reason was unusual for an Archmage who had access to the best treatments in the Kingdom.
He had been an esteemed Professor for a long time but after receiving the title of Archmage his talent seemed to have disappeared. After that day, Paax had accomplished so little in the field of magic that aside from his students very few people knew his name.
Death had made him famous as a joke, his life a footnote in the Archmages archives.
“What are you doing here, Grandmaster?” Vastor’s voice contained a tinge of hesitation, wondering if his old mentor had come back to haunt him or to exact his revenge. “Lith called for those who have loved and lost. You lived and died alone.”
“I did.” Paax’s shadow nodded. “In fact, I didn’t answer his call. I answered yours. Listen to me young man, I’m not proud of what I did and my current appearance shows it. I’m not proud of what you did either, but you can still turn a new leaf.
“It’s not too late for you. You can still do more. Be better.”
“I’m-” The Master attempted to reply.
“Not interested, my boy.” The Grandmaster cut him short. “I told you what I had to. The rest is in your hands. The only thing that matters is the mission and dead or alive I won’t let your still-powdered ass ruin my record.”
While Vastor talked with his former mentor, Lith sent the foreign energies of the When All Are One array to his Demons. The spirits of the dead swelled, the life force and Spirit Magic Lith infused in the Demons’ bodies were influenced by the Titania’s blood, multiplying their strength.
The Hydra side, instead, gave the Demons six extra serpentine necks sprouting out of their shoulders, each ending with gaping mouths dripping venom. Vastor’s side granted them the power of Chaos and Decay, allowing the Demons to use both Cursed Elements freely.
Orion looked around the growing army of Demons of Darkness, hoping to see a familiar face.
‘Please, my Little Flower, be here. I know that coming back is painful but if Juria did it, you can too. Please, gods, give me the opportunity to tell my daughter goodbye. To tell her one last time I much I love her.’
Alas, Orion was young and the human existence short.
To stay behind after death, a soul needed to have a deep and burning regret. To come back from the beyond after moving on, instead, a soul needed unyielding willpower and an even greater regret whereas Phloria had lived a happy and full life until her demise.
Lord Ernas found no one he knew. The soldiers he had trained and the comrades he had lost during the years had all died in the line of duty, proud of what they had done and certain that their teammates would take care of their families.
Orion felt proud of them, but also slightly disappointed.
Fyrwal and Tessa weren’t so lucky.
There were quite a few faces they recognized in the crowd. They belonged to their lost children, those who they had failed as mothers or had simply taken the wrong path due to selfishness and arrogance.
“I’m sorry, mother.” A young-looking male Titania said. “I know I disappointed you and I don’t expect your forgiveness. I just wanted to see you one last time and tell you that you have no fault in my death. You were right and I too stupid to listen.”
“Too little, too late.” Tessa snarled to keep her voice from cracking. “You had centuries to get your head straight. All you had to do was show remorse through your actions instead of running your mouth and repeating the same mistakes.
“That’s how you died, Lia’rtha, and I have no reason to believe you have changed. That any of you has changed. If you are here, it means you couldn’t even die properly.”
“Agreed.” Fyrwal nodded, her hands clenched so tight that she would have bled if she weren’t sharing the Titania’s regenerative abilities.
