Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan - 7:10 PM

  It took more than a few minutes for everything to calm down after the fight. Once the barriers came down, the roar of the crowd and the celebrations of the Angels made me refill my Mental Points with an Arcane Breakfast Tea to quash my migraine before it could get worse. Just because I could live with the pain didn’t mean I wanted to.

  “That was an excellent fight,” Malphazarin praised as he descended personally to greet us. The other Angels, minus Glaraphel, parted for him. “However, I must insist that we confiscate the Demonic weapons used during this match.”

  “Yeah. That was a dick move, guys,” I joked, waggling my finger at them. The Angels all nodded as if I were being serious, but my friends just rolled their eyes.

  “I don’t know if you remember this, Warmonger, but you’re a scary dude,” Mercury said as he handed over the curved dagger he had in his possession. “You’re about to die and then, what? You become invincible for five seconds except for a specific type of damage? And you heal? Of course we want to shut that down.”

  “Oh, I’m not saying it wasn’t fair game to exploit one of my few weaknesses,” I chuckled as I shook my head. “I’m just saying it was a dick move.”

  “Not to mention a potentially harmful one,” Malphazarin chastised, not reading the mood as he took a sword from Jeff and another dagger from Kayla. “These weapons are corruptive. Overuse means becoming a Demon yourself.”

  “Yes, we are well aware of the dangers of Demonic weapons. Your Consort here actually gave Jeff and I a hands-on demonstration back in the early days,” Kayla said, throwing me under the bus.

  The Seraphim slowly turned to me, and I shrugged. “It was necessary to kill a huge beast. Clearly, I didn’t turn into a Demon. Quite the opposite, really.”

  “And we were incredibly careful with them, too,” the Double Agent continued. “We put them into our inventory after receiving them with proper personal protection, and this was the first time they’ve been used. Jamie didn’t even get a chance to take her gun to the range to test it out.”

  “Should have anyway,” she complained, crossing her arms.

  “Not that it mattered at point blank range,” I said, rubbing my chest where she had shot me. It didn’t hurt anymore, but I remembered the sting.

  “The gun, please,” Malphazarin politely requested, holding his hand out towards Jamie.

  The Weapon Master wrinkled her nose before looking at me as if asking if she really needed to. Out of everyone here, she’d be the least susceptible to Demonification since she was a Golden Half-Dragon. Unfortunately for her, the Angels wouldn’t leave well enough alone and it would be a lot easier on everyone if she gave it up. I nodded.

  “Fine,” Jamie said, rolling her eyes. She swiped open her inventory and retrieved the submachine gun before basically throwing it into the Angel’s hands. He caught it easily. “But if I ever need it for whatever reason, like fighting the Fallen, and I manage to survive, I’m coming to you to complain.”

  “I am fairly certain that you will be capable of surviving that scenario without it,” Malphazarin replied. Now that all of the weapons were gathered in his arms, they erupted in a ball of purifying fire. It only lasted for a few seconds but still caused everyone except Jamie and the other Angels to back up a few feet from the heat. Once it disappeared, he allowed the slag to fall to the ground. “And now we won’t have to worry about those anymore.”

  “Where’d you even get them from?” I asked curiously. “Aside from Pittsburgh, y’all didn’t really go anywhere with a lot of Demons about.”

  Not one to let good materials go to waste, I Pulled the purified slag to my hand and sent it into my inventory. It was doubtful that Ash could get around to using them, but it was a habit at this point. Malphazarin didn’t seem to mind.

  “The Dealer,” Jeff answered as he put his arm around Kayla, pulling her close. He had an aura of satisfaction around him, like he was content with the outcome.

  “Betrayal,” I said, holding an arm up to my heart as if struck.

  The Queen’s Knight snickered. “He was real interested after we told him about our first match. We were told more about your Heavenly Hero thing and how to get around it because of Sara—”

  “Betrayal!” I cried out, managing to sound indignant this time.

  <<<>>>

  [[Patron Message]]

  Don’t give me that. You can fool a lot of people, Anthony, but you can’t fool me. I saw your face light up when you realized that Jamie had pulled a Demonic gun on you. It was hilarious.

  <<<>>>

  “Alright, yeah, I wasn’t mad at it,” I agreed with a smirk as I snapped away the message. “And I’m going to have to have a talk with the Dealer soon, I think. Passing out Demonic weapons to my friends. For shame.”

  “You literally just said you weren’t mad at it,” Kayla said.

  “Yeah, but he doesn’t know that,” I replied, waggling my eyebrows.

  “You’re in way too good a mood for someone who claimed our fight ended in a draw,” Jamie observed. Out of the guild, she had taken the perceived loss the worst. She had also been the first one out during this fight, which was the complete opposite of last time.

  “Of course I’m in a good mood,” I scoffed, nudging her with my elbow. “I’m really proud of all of you! The way you all fought together, your tactics, how y’all switched things up from what I was expecting. I mean, Merc, I thought I was going to take way less damage from your Tenfold than I actually did, even with Cheetah Sprint speeding you up. You made some choices when it came to attack trajectories that I wasn’t even considering. That really beat the hell out of me.”

  “Oh, well, you know,” he replied, thumbing his nose. He was clearly pleased with himself, and rightfully so. “Learned a few things here and there. I’m probably not the same fighter you were expecting, you know? Because I’m learning from Jeff and Kayla, too.”

  “They're sneaky,” Jamie agreed. “Sparring with Jeff is one thing, but Kayla is underhanded. I mean that as a compliment, by the way. I've been stabbed in the kidneys during training more times than I care to admit.”

  “Big praise coming from you,” Jeff whistled. Kayla rolled her eyes but smiled, both pleased and embarrassed by the praise.

  “I am confused,” Malphazarin stated, looking between us before his gaze settled on me. “You told them that the fight ended in a draw? You were clearly the last one standing.”

  His words made me nod because, technically, he wasn’t wrong. “It’s because of that form I used.”

  “The one that made you go ghost?” Mercury asked, leaning forward excitedly.

  “Become a mental construct, but yes,” I corrected with a smile. “It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Take a look for yourself.”

  Snapping open my menu, I brought up my Warmind abilities and shared them with the group. Malphazarin wouldn’t be able to see it, but I was sure it would get explained anyway.

  <<<>>>

  [[Ability]]

  Cognitive Form

  Level 8

  You become ethereal as your body becomes a mental construct. Nonmagical attacks no longer affect you, and magical attacks deal 78% less damage. Attacks meant for incorporeal creatures work as intended, and all psychic damage you take is increased by half. All damage you take in Cognitive Form is doubled upon return to your body. You can only be affected by absolute or spiritual healing.

  Without the constraints of a physical form, the efficacy of all Warmind abilities are increased by 34% while in this form. All gear worn at the time of the transformation is still considered equipped, and you become immune to critical hits.

  This form can only be used for as many seconds per day equal to your base Willpower stat.

  <<<>>>

  “All damage taken is doubled upon returning to your body and you can only heal from two sources?” Kayla read aloud, arching an eyebrow. “That sounds dangerous.”

  “It can be. You know, high risk high reward,” I replied with a shrug. “So long as I have Heavenly Hero, I don’t need to worry about accidentally dying. I can rack up as much damage as I want and then tank it, then not use it afterwards. It’s a capstone ability for a reason.”

  “Which—”

  “Yes, no hurting myself. You’ve been very clear on that from the start, as has Sara,” I said, sticking my tongue at her. “You’re just going to have to trust me when I say I’ll use it responsibly.”

  Kayla glared at me for a moment before sighing. “Alright. I suppose you’ve earned that trust by now. Did you decide that the match was a draw before or after my last ditch attack on you?”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “After,” I answered happily. “It was at that point I thought to myself that this was decided and you had successfully shenaniganed your way into a draw. If we hadn’t fought in a safe Angel space, I would have died the moment I dropped out of Cognitive Form.”

  “Then why even go into that form in the first place?” Mercury asked, tilting his head.

  “You, mostly,” I laughed. He pointed at himself, and I nodded. “You can nullify my barriers and you came out with a Demonic dagger at my back. A Force Field wouldn’t have worked.”

  “One of your Constructs could have,” he replied.

  That got a snort out of me. “Yeah, if I could see back there to make one. Construct is line of sight. Those Aura Stun Grenades were a huge plus in your favor and were definitely a big reason why you got so far. However, Jamie having a Demonic weapon made me realize that none of you were going to half-ass this fight, and that you’d have one, too. You made me pop Shield on instinct and I lost it. I felt it the moment you pulled it out, so, Cognitive Form to decrease the damage from magical sources in tandem with Heavenly Hero was the only play I had.”

  “Alright, we’re not really buying this, are we?” Jeff asked, shaking his head.

  “What do you mean?” I asked in return, arching an eyebrow.

  “I refuse to believe you didn’t have an out. You’re Anthony Franklin,” Jeff answered, gesturing towards me with his free hand. “The Staff of Raphael wouldn’t have helped you?”

  I shook my head. “Nope, that’s all physical healing. Spiritual healing is for, like, ghosts and shit. That’s much, much harder to come by. Native to necromancers, mostly. There might have been someone in the crowd that could do it, but even in one this big and varied it’s unlikely. Without the arena’s absolute healing bringing us all back up to full, I’d have been toast.”

  “Your bowling ball stops a death blow once, doesn’t it?” Jamie asked, crossing her arms.

  “From an outside source, yeah, but not when the damage is done to myself,” I answered.

  “Huh,” Mercury said before raising one of his gloved hands. “You also could have just grabbed the Genie’s Ring off my finger, too. Or used Katie back at the Angel Express.”

  I raised my hands and wiggled my fingers. “Can’t rub them in Cognitive Form. No flesh.”

  “Maybe, but Bethany or Ash would have done it for you,” Kayla stated.

  “It’d have to be Ash because Bethany can’t talk to the Genie. But, also, time limit.”

  <<<>>>

  [[Patron Message]]

  You also could have flown to the Hellgate. Entering it would be ill-advised, but the Armor of the End buff would have given you enough hit points to survive.

  Dark Sacrifice’s second form reduces maximum hit points, which wouldn’t have hurt you, but provides a flat 40% reduction in all damage. That could have saved you.

  Calling this a draw is a little dramatic, don’t you think?

  <<<>>>

  “Et tu, Sara?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “Flying to the Hellgate definitely would have exceeded the amount of time I had left in Cognitive Form, so that’s a no go. I am fast, but not that fast. Dark Sacrifice also wouldn't have worked because going ghost, as Mercury put it, has a higher damage reduction and they don’t stack, so it would only stop the damage when I turned back and at that point I would have already taken it.”

  “Maybe, but,” the Double Agent started, motioning towards my crown. “Doesn’t that thing have a skill that resets cooldowns? That would have reset Heavenly Hero, giving you another lease on life.”

  “Shit, I forgot about that one,” Jamie remarked.

  “It has a week-long cooldown,” I said sourly.

  “Worth popping if it saves your life,” Mercury interjected.

  I made sure he saw me roll my eyes at him before continuing. “Yeah, but y'all also nullified that. Which I know you know, because you’re Kayla. Jeff, can you remove this talisman for me?”

  “Yeah, I can do that,” he answered with a smug grin that matched his wife’s. The Queen’s Knight carefully pulled it off of my crown, making sure he didn’t mess with the accessory directly. He handed it to me. “Here you go, boss.”

  My smile was a thin one as I looked at the now blackened piece of paper. The pattern on it was a dead giveaway, I just didn’t have the opportunity to see it since he had put it on the back. Now that it was in front of me, I saw that it was exactly what I had expected it to be.

  “A Skill Nullification Talisman, which works on whatever item it’s tagged to,” I explained, holding it up for Jamie and Mercury. “It didn’t affect Emperor’s New Clothes or Supporting Stars because those are continuous but, as something I'd need to activate, King’s Rest was definitely off the table. There was no way I was getting Heavenly Hero back online, and you know it.”

  “Yes, I do,” Kayla replied haughtily. “I just like hearing you explain your demise. I had hoped you wouldn’t figure out what it was, but I gave it to Jeff with the assumption that you would.”

  “It was smart, and it was sneaky, and it was perfect,” I told her. “You’re evil, Queen Kayla.”

  “Wait,” Jamie said, putting her hands on her hips. “So it was actually a draw? Like, you really would have died? You’re not just saying that to make us feel better?”

  “Oh, no, my goose would have been thoroughly cooked,” I answered with a chuckle. “I mean, your lives would have been forfeit, but only needing four people to take me out? Do you know how long it's been since I felt cornered by other players like that? If we had another month or two and there's a chance I could have lost outright. Y’all are amazing, honest.”

  “Hell yeah! Considering I watched you whoop ass in a one verse forty-something and still have enough juice afterwards to end a scenario boss, I’ll absolutely take a four v one draw against someone like you,” Jeff laughed before giving his wife a small shake. “Because it just proves that Kayla is a real queen, getting us that far. Along with all the other things she came up with, I’d say she was the real MVP. Shame she had to die with us, though.”

  “Hear hear,” Mercury agreed.

  “She was downright diabolical,” I added. “I thought I was used to you and Jeff, but I wasn’t expecting you to push all the way to level 10 of Part of the Crowd, or to use it in tandem with Marked Target. That was huge.”

  “It was a group effort, is what it was,” she claimed simply, trying to push away the praise despite the pleased smile on her face.

  “Alright,” I said, holding up my hands. “But I’m guessing Skuld is proud of you, too.”

  <<<>>>

  [[Notice]]

  The Patron [Skuld] confirms that she is proud of her Avatar and pleased with her performance.

  <<<>>>

  “Straight from the Norn’s mouth,” I said as I shared the message Skuld had to spend points to send to me. That, it seemed, finally got a reaction from Kayla and her smile turned into a grin as she looked away. “Take the compliments. You earned them.”

  “Yes, I suppose I will.” She leaned against Jeff, who appeared to be ready to lift her up onto his shoulder for a victory lap. He showed wisdom in not following through.

  “It was truly exemplary work,” Malphazarin praised. “In fact, I have high hopes for all of you now that I’ve seen this exhibition match. I had my reservations before, but they are now gone.”

  “Thanks, General,” I said with a grin. “But, why are you sticking around? Not that I’m kicking you out of the conversation or anything, but usually you’re all over the place getting stuff done.”

  The Seraphim turned to me and nodded. “I needed to speak with you specifically, Consort, but I didn’t want to interrupt your revelry. I felt as though a breather first was necessary despite the importance of my report.”

  “Appreciate that. Whatcha got?”

  Malphazarin shifted uncomfortably, as if he didn’t like the news he was about to give. “I have received word from our scouts who have passed through the Hellgate in preparation. It seems as though there has been a celebration recently.”

  I arched an eyebrow in confusion. There weren't supposed to be any big events going on in Hell at this time, but what was supposed to happen was thrown out of the window a long time ago. “A celebration?”

  “Indeed. We believe that a new Demon Lord was raised to replace Pustibule in order to cover up for his death, though I am not sure on whose orders this was.”

  “That’s… something, for sure,” I said slowly.

  Nodding, the Seraphim continued. “Unfortunately, it gets worse. Whomever this new Demon Lord is, she has ascended to a higher position still.”

  “She?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “Wait, the only thing higher than a Demon Lord is the Emperor.”

  “That is correct,” Malphazarin replied. “I am glad that you see the magnitude of the issue.”

  “I don’t think I do. The Emperor has been disposed?”

  He shook his head. “No, the Emperor has taken an Empress. They now both occupy the Burning Palace as equals, or as close to it as possible. We don’t have nearly as much information as we hoped at this point, but I wanted to keep you in the loop.”

  “Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” I said before a text box popped up.

  <<<>>>

  [[Patron Message]]

  I just contacted the Dealer to see if he had heard anything about this, and it seems as though he has. He said to sit tight, and he’ll visit the Angel Express after the Patron’s Ball tomorrow.

  It is alarming news, and I’ll do what I can to get as much information out of him as I can before then.

  <<<>>>

  I read through the message and snapped it away. “If you don’t receive any more information on the matter, Malphazarin, then that’s fine. My wife will brief me on the situation herself.”

  “Doubtful,” Jeff said, and I could tell that he had spoken without really thinking about it.

  “If the Highest Sister says that she will have the intelligence we seek, then we would do well to believe her,” the General gently chastised.

  “No, I meant…” Jeff trailed off and clammed up.

  “He meant she’d rather debrief him, if you know what I mean,” Jamie finished with a cackle, causing the knight to turn red as he looked at her, somewhat horrified that she’d say it out loud to Malphazarin.

  Who appeared confused. “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” he said, tilting his head. “Are you saying that the Highest Sister will—”

  “They’re not saying anything,” I quickly interrupted, giving the two degenerates a proper glare before reaching up and patting the Seraphim’s shoulder. Both of them had to hold in their laughter. “Thanks for the report, General Malphazarin. Is there anything else?”

  “No, that is all, Consort,” he answered with an Angelic salute. “I will keep you in the loop should any new information come to light.”

  “Appreciated, and dismissed.” I nodded at him, and he flexed his wings before flying off. Jamie broke first and started laughing, which cascaded through the group. I sighed with mock exasperation. “What in the world am I going to do with you two?”

  Jeff threw an arm around me and I let him pull me in. “Feed us. You’ve got a feast skill now, right? Let’s make a table as long as the field! To the good fight!”

  “To the good fight!” Mercury repeated loudly.

  “Fine,” I said with a smile. “Feast just says for my flock and there's a lot of people here. Let’s see if there’s an upper limit, eh?”

  A cheer went through the group at the prospect of food, and I joined them. One last night of revelry and the Patron’s Ball was all that was left between us and the endgame. We could all use a bit of downtime, and I was happy to provide.