Two high-ranking guards clad in the heavy, ornate armor of a noble house walked briskly down from the port.
"Help me..." a faint, pitiful voice drifted from behind a rotting wooden cargo deck.
The demon with stained red hair halted, turning his head. "Did you hear that, Regor?"
His green-haired comrade stopped beside him, his expression tightening. "Yeah. Should we go check it out?"
"Sure." The red-haired demon unsheathed his blade with a sharp scrape of steel and stepped cautiously toward the shadows of the deck. Regor hung back a short distance, keeping his hand on his hilt to cover him.
The red-haired demon dipped out of Regor's direct line of sight.
A sudden, muffled sound of tearing flesh and clashing steel echoed sharply. A few agonizing moments ticked by before footsteps approached. The red-haired demon emerged from the shadows, sheathing his sword.
"What was it, Azira?" Regor asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Nothing. Just some pesky sea-scum," Azira replied smoothly, his voice entirely flat. As he stepped forward, a tiny, segmented onyx centipede slipped quietly down the heel of his boot, melting into the shadows of the dirt path.
Azira and Regor resumed their march, heading down the steep slope leading to what remained of Vae-Koris.
The once-glorious city was completely gone. Its towering structures had been reduced to jagged rubble, and right at the dead center of the ruins, the sun-bleached bones of the slaughtered residents were piled into a macabre monument.
Hidden in the shadows, Bani burned with a cold, suffocating rage. *They couldn't even give them a proper burial.* Every fiber of his being screamed for blood, but he kept his composure locked down. *Patience. I will pay every single one of them back.*
As they walked through the camp, Azira and Regor stopped and snapped into a rigid salute, bowing respectfully to a passing Demon General. The general gave them a curt nod, and the guards continued marching. They came to a halt outside the former mansion of the Duke before turning left.
The grand estate was now a hollow shell of its former glory, repurposed as the primary demon command center in the mortal realm.
Inside the central war room, a high-ranking Archmage demon sat behind a heavy mahogany desk, conferring with the General who had just walked in.
"Is there any sign of him?" the Archmage asked, his voice echoing in the stone hall.
"No, sir," the General reported, shaking his head. "We have searched every sector of the ruins and stationed elite guards along the entire coast. Yet, there hasn't been a single sighting. Are you certain our intelligence was accurate about him coming this way?"
"Vilthrax himself intercepted the reports. The runaway was heading straight for this territory," the Archmage said, standing up. His long, stark white hair contrasted sharply against his jagged, obsidian horns. He paced toward the window, staring out over the ruins. "Put yourself in his shoes. If you were hunted and broken, what better place to hide than back home? Double the patrols, secure the coast. He will come. I am certain of it."
The Archmage turned on his heel and strode out of the room, flanked by the General.
Tucked away in the corner, the tiny shadow centipede twitched its antennae. A grim, unsettling amusement washed over Bani—or at least, as much amusement as a soulless insectoid construct could muster. They were tearing the province apart looking for him, completely oblivious to the fact that their target was already sitting inside their command room. He would use their ignorance to the fullest.
Silently, the centipede scuttled out the door and into the overgrown gardens.
A large predatory bird swooped down from the withered canopy, spotting the movement and snatching the centipede up in its sharp talons. It beat its wings, carrying its catch toward its nest high in the dead forest.
The moment they reached the upper branches, the centipede dissolved into a violent, expanding mass of darkness. A pale human hand shot out from the roiling shadow, clamping around the bird's neck with brutal force and snapping it instantly.
The dead bird plummeted, but the mass of shadow caught the wind, transforming fluidly into the silhouette of a massive black bird before surging forward into the open sky.
### The Long Road to the Capital
Staying in Vae-Koris any longer was suicidal. Bani knew he wasn't strong enough yet to go toe-to-toe with an Archmage or a Demon General in this compromised state. Once he grew powerful enough, he would return and slaughter every last one of them. For now, survival meant strategic retreat.
Vae-Koris was a deeply isolated territory, severed from the sprawling trade networks of the central demon empire, which explained why the high command had been entirely in the dark about its current condition.
Bani guided the onyx bird up the treacherous mountain pass leading toward the empire's interior. The nearest human settlements were hundreds of miles away across the rugged borderlands. To survive the journey, the onyx bird flew for grueling miles, occasionally diving down to ambush stray demonic beasts lingering in the wilderness, feeding on their life-force to rapidly replenish his draining mana.
When flying became too conspicuous, the bird would melt into a powerful land beast, tearing across the terrain with blistering speed.
Slowly, methodically, step by grueling step, Bani crossed the threshold. After three days of relentless travel across the mortal plains, the sprawling skyline of the empire's capital finally rose into view.
High above, the charming young golem incarnation looked down at the bustling streets with wide-eyed excitement. *How much has the world changed while I was away?*
While the charming golem enjoyed the sights of the capital, life for the hardened, active incarnation deep in the wilderness was a relentless nightmare of blood and survival.
*SHING!*
Bani ripped his shadow dagger free from the thick hide of a massive, enraged minotaur, stumbling backward as the beast collapsed into the dirt. He fell to one knee, chest heaving, his body slick with sweat and gore.
As the minotaur expired, a thick torrent of primal mana surged from its carcass, flooding directly into Bani's core.
Instantly, his severe wounds began to knit together, closing with a visible, knitting snap of muscle and tissue. Deep within his spiritual center, he felt his soul core shudder violently, undergoing a profound, agonizing structural transformation. Even the shadow bird soaring miles away vibrated with a sudden surge of kinetic euphoria.
*Crack.*
A brilliant, blinding ring manifested around his core, joining the others until a complete set of **seven distinct rings** blazed with ethereal light.
Bani exhaled a long, shuddering breath, a fierce, triumphant smile cutting across his blood-stained face.
He had done it.
Bani had officially ascended to become a **Highmage**.