Deep underground, the air was still and cold. The only light came from blood-red sigils flickering on the walls of the chamber. A cultist knelt before a jagged throne of obsidian and bone, his head bowed so low it nearly touched the stone floor.
"She's gone, my lord. Kindness." His voice was a shaky whisper. "Arden… he saw through her immediately. He didn't even let her speak. It was over in a breath."
The cultist trembled, waiting for punishment.
The Herald sat motionless upon his throne, the right side of his face hidden behind a cracked, featureless mask. His one visible, violet eye stared ahead, unblinking. When he spoke, his voice was a dry scrape. "A miscalculation."
He let the word hang in the silence.
"First Harm, now Kindness. Two of my Hands, broken." He didn't mention Harm's body was already being stitched back together in a vat downstairs. The insult was what mattered. "This ends now."
His head turned slowly, his gaze settling on the massive figure standing beside the throne. The being was a giant of blackened stone, with glowing cracks running through its skin like lava. In its chest, a core of raw magma pulsed with a low, angry thrum.
Sorrow.
The giant took a single step forward, the ground groaning under its weight. It dropped to one knee, the impact cracking the stone beneath it.
The Herald rose, a slow, deliberate motion that made the shadows in the room seem to deepen. "No more subtlety. Begin the Second Phase. Burn their hope to the ground."
Sorrow didn't speak. He never did. But the heat in the chamber swelled, and the magma in his chest flared bright with understanding. He stood, turned, and lumbered into the darkness, leaving behind the smell of sulfur and coming ruin.
I stared as Lilith cheerfully asked for a fifth helping. The fork in my hand felt heavy. I didn't know what was more unsettling: how she'd made herself at home, or how the palace maid just kept bringing her more food without a word.
"Another plate, please!" Lilith said sweetly, resting her chin on her hands and kicking her feet beneath the table like she hadn't just devoured enough to shame a noble's banquet.
The poor maid bowed with a nervous smile and vanished again into the kitchen. I briefly considered apologizing on Lilith's behalf, but that would've required taking responsibility for her, and I wasn't ready for that kind of relationship.
Ever since she'd shown up with all the confidence of a childhood friend from a past life I apparently just forgot, she'd stuck to me like a leech. Which she probably also ate, judging by the pace she was demolishing the bread basket.
Not that anyone had stopped her.
Apparently the emperor himself had approved her "staying close to her Master," and at this point, I was half-convinced Radames would welcome a dragon to court if it used the right fork.
We sat in the grand dining room now, all of us together for once. Arden, Sora, Lysandra, Lilith, and me. A real team gathering, if you ignored the fact that we were a mess.
Arden and Sora had been doing their own thing. Old habit, I guessed. They functioned like two halves of a silent, synchronised unit. Meanwhile, I'd been busy flailing through training and trying to claw my way out of the "dead weight" category.
Lysandra had been monopolized by Veylan and Thalia, the two of them clearly getting some kind of sick joy out of baiting her into trying every magi-weapon under the sun. All they had to do was phrase it as a challenge, and her devil pride would practically equip the gear herself.
Lilith just chewed, hummed, and smiled like everything was perfectly normal.
Lysandra finally had enough. She jabbed a finger across the table, her crimson eyes gleaming with irritation. "Who do you even think you are, waltzing in like you're one of us?"
Lilith licked a spot of sauce from her thumb and smiled. "Her Master's beloved companion, of course."
I shrank a little in my chair.
He didn't look up, completely focused on dissecting a piece of roast. Sora nudged him and whispered.
He blinked, glanced at Lysandra like he'd only just noticed her, and said, "Hm? Oh. I see no problem with having more hands. She seems powerful, and I've only read about her kind. We don't have to worry about her turning on us." Then he went right back to his food.
Hearing him say that was a relief. At least I knew I didn't have to fear the cheerful monstrosity following me around. Though it did make me wonder…if her core was stronger than mine, what did that make me? The master, or the pet?
I pushed the thought down. I still didn't know if her appearance was a reward or some strange punishment.
Lysandra's mouth opened, then shut again. She turned back toward Lilith with fire building in her eyes.
Lilith stuck out her tongue. "Jealous?" she sing-songed.
"Jealous?" Lysandra crossed her arms. "Please. Someone as refined as myself has no reason to be envious of… of commoners. Let alone lower life-forms."
I didn't catch what Lilith muttered next, but I felt the temperature shift by a few degrees.
As they launched into a sharp-tongued argument, I just sat there, accepting that this was my life now. It was strange.
But I didn't hate it.
For the first time ever, I had something like friends. People who bickered and sniped, but who'd probably also have your back. Not that I'd ever say that out loud. I had enough problems already.
Lilith still hadn't explained where she came from. Every time I asked, she'd just pout and say there was no point telling me anything if I couldn't even remember our contract.
Which was, admittedly, annoying.
Even Veylan hadn't been able to identify her species. When we asked, he got that gleam in his eye he always got when he found something "interessting." He even asked to take a few samples of blood, hair, and maybe a mana reading.
Lilith made it very clear that wasn't happening. I don't think I've ever seen a grown man backpedal that fast.
And honestly… I was sort of impressed.
A soft knock came at the dining room door.
A soft knock at the door interrupted us. A young servant slipped in, moving with quiet efficiency. She approached Arden and leaned in close to whisper.
"My lord Arden, my apologies for the interruption. His Majesty asked me to inform you that a new dungeon has been discovered. It appeared at dawn to the east. The initial scouts report its mana signature is… unlike anything they've seen before. It's been marked as unclassified."
Arden set his knife down. He didn't look surprised, but a new focus sharpened his posture. "Understood. Something's come up that I need to handle."
Sora immediately turned to him, her chair scraping softly. "I can come with you."
Arden reached over and gently patted her head. The gesture was familiar, but I saw the line of his mouth soften just a little, and his voice held a quiet warmth when he spoke.
"Not this time. It's better if I go alone. You should stay here and spend some time with your friends."
Sora's shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly. She didn't argue, but the slight pout on her lips was unmistakable. It was clear to everyone at the table, except maybe Arden, that she'd rather be at his side than with any of us.
Lysandra raised an eyebrow but said nothing, while Lilith watched the exchange with open curiosity, still chewing on her food.
Then, he casually slipped on a ring on his finger.
The air in the room wavered, the light bent and folded around him. Then came the sharp pop of displaced space.
And just like that, he was gone.
All that remained was the ring: cracked, still faintly glowing, lying on the marble floor with a soft metallic clink.
Sora was already crouching, reaching for it. She picked it up gently, cradling it like something rare.
I stared at the empty space where Arden had been a second ago. The sudden silence felt louder than the pop he'd left behind. "He just… left. For a dungeon."
"If he left that fast, it must be a serious one," Sora said, her voice a little quiet. She was still looking at the spot where he'd vanished.
"But… just like that? Aren't those places death traps? Couldn't he have at least finished his meal? Or taken a carriage like a normal person?"
Lysandra let out a short, sharp laugh. "You heard the report. A mana signature 'unlike anything they have seen.' For a man of his proclivities, that is summons enough. He does not suffer delays, nor does he appear fond of sharing spoils."
Sora looked down at the broken ring in her palm. "It's because of this," she said, her voice soft but clear.
"The ring?"
"It's a teleportation relic. But it's not as simple as just thinking of a place and going there. It needs an anchor, a specific point to lock onto."
I frowned, trying to follow. "But he's never been to this dungeon. How did he find an anchor?"
"That's the hard part," Sora explained, her fingers tracing the crack in the gold. "He used a scrying spell first. A really powerful one, to see the mana from here. A new dungeon, especially a high-level one, has a mana signature so dense it's like a beacon. The ring can't find a place, but it can lock onto a specific concentration of power if you can pinpoint it. He had to calculate the exact location based on the mana's flow and density from miles away, and then use the ring to bridge the gap."
My mind boggled at the sheer complexity. It wasn't just a magic trick; it was a feat of spellcasting that sounded impossible. "So the ring is just… the key. But he had to find the lock first. From another room."
Sora nodded. "Pretty much. Most mages couldn't do one of those things, let alone both at once."
"That's insane," I breathed, the word feeling inadequate.
"'Insane' is putting it lightly," Lysandra muttered, though she looked more impressed than annoyed.
From her seat, Lilith let out a little huff, poking at her cake. "So many big words. Couldn't he just point and go?"
"But when did he even do all that?" I asked, the practical side of it hitting me. "We were all right here. We didn't hear any spell or see him do anything but listen and then vanish."
Sora's gaze grew a bit distant. "That part... even I don't fully understand. He doesn't chant or use gestures for spells like that. He can cast them internally, projecting the calculations and the scrying sight right into his own mind. It's like he's reading a map only he can see while he's sitting there looking at you."
The image was unsettling. He had been sitting with us, perfectly still, while in his mind he was already mapping the distant wilds and performing arcane calculations.
"And he just carries that around? To skip the walk?" I asked, the question feeling dumber by the second.
"It wasn't an emergency," Sora said, a faint, knowing smile touching her lips. "He just didn't want to be late."
"Late to what? A monster-filled death maze?"
"To the loot," she said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Lysandra gave a small, amused laugh. "Naturally."
"So he burned a one-use relic just to get there first?"
Sora nodded. "It's his hobby. He… collects relics."
There was a pause.
"…That's one hell of a hobby," I said.
"He says it reminds him of games," Sora added, her voice quieter. "From his homeland."
Lysandra arched a brow. "Games."
"Yeah."
It was Lilith who broke the silence, her voice a blend of genuine curiosity and a darker, more acquisitive interest. "What do his other relics do?" She was looking at Sora, but I got the distinct feeling she was already mentally cataloguing Arden's treasures.
Sora blinked, then seemed to consider the question seriously. "His rings," she began, her tone sobering. "They're resurrection relics. Each one brings him back to life if he dies. But only once. Then they break."
The silence that fell was thick enough to chew on. I looked down at my own hands, my normal, boring, tragically mortal hands. He wore what, six rings? Seven?
So he didn't just walk into suicide dungeons; he sauntered in carrying a stack of extra lives. Death was just a minor inconvenience, a temporary setback.
And what really got me?
He'd found them.
These world-altering artifacts were just lying around for him to pick up, like rocks on a grassy plain. A secret, bitter part of me wished for just a sliver of that kind of fortune.
Sora turned the broken teleportation ring in her hand, the cracked gold glinting, a tiny, shattered monument to absurd power.
A relic that ignored space. Rings that ignored death. A man who vanished like a ghost and could reappear just as easily.
Lysandra gave a soft scoff, pulling me from my thoughts. "What about the rest?" she asked, gesturing vaguely toward Arden's empty seat. "He wears more than just rings."
Sora nodded. "Right. His necklace is a relic too. It boosts his luck."
"…Luck?" I echoed.
"Mhm." She nodded again. "He already had high luck. The relic just… pushes it past normal limits."
I leaned back in my chair, trying to wrap my head around the pile of absurd magical nonsense I'd just absorbed. Arden had resurrection rings. A teleportation ring. A necklace that made him even luckier than he already was. And he'd thrown one of them away just to beat everyone else to the dungeon.
All because it was fun.
I didn't know whether to be jealous… or absolutely terrified.
A lull settled over the table. The only sound was the clink of Lilith's fork as she stabbed at what was left of her cake. That's when it hit me… neither she nor Lysandra really knew why we were here. Arden, Sora, and I had gotten dragged into the Emperor's mess directly, but the others had just… come along for the ride.
I cleared my throat and looked over at Lysandra. "I don't think we ever actually told you. About the cultists. Or why we're here."
She raised a brow, arms still crossed. "I assumed as much. The cult has meddled in matters beyond their reach for far too long. But no, I was never told the specifics of your mission."
Lilith straightened, eyes shining with interest. "Cultists? That's what this is about? No wonder everyone's so twitchy."
Sora gave a small nod, her voice soft. "The Emperor asked us to deal with them. There's a hideout out west in some old ruin. They're trying to bring back the Demon Lord. Arden's… stopped something like this before."
Lysandra's gaze sharpened. "The Western Ruins. I know the place. Devils like me get summoned there, used and discarded. If they succeed, it won't just be a problem for your empire."
I gave a short nod. "We were supposed to check it out, maybe strike before they could regroup. But with the attacks here, everything's been pushed back. Arden said we had to wait for the right moment."
Lilith tapped her lip with a finger. "So we're raiding a cultist base? That actually sounds kind of fun. Dangerous, sure, but still fun."
Lysandra's expression was unreadable, but her voice was steady. "If you're serious about stopping them, I'll help. Not because I care about your empire, but because I won't let them use devils like me again."
Sora offered her a faint, grateful smile. "We're going to need all the help we can get."
I tried to sound more confident than I felt. "Once Arden's back, we'll figure out a plan. Until then… we'll have to wait."
The maid, who had been quietly refilling water glasses, paused near the head of the table. "If I may," she said softly, "Following the scout's report, His Majesty specifically recommended that the rest of you avoid any… rash undertakings. He stressed that patience would be best for now."
And with that simple reminder, the room fell quiet again. We were a team, for better or worse, left with nothing to do but wait for our walking calamity to return.