Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Eruptions of flame, lightning, and magma bathed Sheza in a macabre array of light. The walls of the Varris family estate, a place she once called home, fell under the onslaught of the Resistance's best mages.

Once upon a time, a sight such as this would have gripped her heart with fear, but that was no longer a problem. Indarel had turned her childhood home into a bastion of corruption and greed. It was now her duty to rip down these walls and build them anew; to return the city of Varris to the gem it once was.

"The walls have fallen! Soldiers! With me!" She roared, drawing her sword. The voices of the resistance joined her own as their forces poured into the streets. Hours of preparation had gone into this assault. By the time they were ready to press the attack, over 90 percent of their men were in position. If Wulf kept his word…

As soon as she thought about the man, he almost materialized beside her. "Good work."

Wulf's black armor and cloak billowed in the wind. His plain black mask somehow absorbing the magical light as though it were the void itself. It took more effort than she imagined to ask, "You will keep your end of the bargain? Lucius Kane won't destroy Varris?"

Wulf turned to face her. The magical effect of his mask sending shooting pains through her skull as she tried to meet his eyes. The man chuckled darkly, sending a shock of fear into her heart. Had she simply sold out her city to someone who won't keep his word?

Wulf moved his hands to his shoulders, unclipping the clasps that kept his cloak in its place. "I will keep my word. Varris will stay in one piece. I swear it." Sheza's eyes were pulled to Wulf's face as he slowly removed the mask, revealing a pair of resplendent glowing eyes; one gold and one silver. "Fighting with these things on is a pain, hope you don't mind if I join in the fun."

Sheza subconsciously gulped. Lucius Kane stood before her with a blank expression. His eyes seemed to pierce into the depths of her soul with a sickening hunger. Despite her draconic bloodline, she felt more like a rabbit before a wolf. Lucius snorted before jumping down from the building they stood atop, breaking her from her spell.

Suddenly she realized the sensation she had of making a deal with a devil during her talks with Wulf, were a lot closer to the truth than she realized.

"Captain! The back line is facing more resistance than we expected approaching from the city."

"Pull forces from the assault team to reinforce the defenses. We knew we would fight a battle on two fronts. Don't let our attackers be stabbed in the back."

"Ma'am, if we do that, we might not be able to continue the forward assault."

"We have reinforcements for that." As if to punctuate her statement, a clap of thunder shook the ground, quickly followed by a flash of bright light. Peering down onto the battlefield, Sheza and her subordinates' eyes flew open in shock.

Walking among a parting sea of Indarel's solders was the singular form of Lucius. In his hands was a strange looking weapon coated in red, crackling sparks of electricity.

***

Lucius found it amusing that Indarel's soldiers were scared to confront him on the field of battle. A simple spell to turn a handful of guards into paste was enough to terrify the others. In times like this, it often surprised him how weak the common person really was.

A life time of being surrounded against the strongest people he could imagine had twisted his worldview. His time in Aedrider had re-educated him about reality. Lucius was strong. Stronger than most. Those that stood above him were probably one in a thousand. Even then, with the right plans and circumstances, he could even overcome them.

Lucius came to a stop, drawing the eyes of Indarel's forces and the resistance. Fighting in the immediate vicinity grinding to a cautious halt to see what he would do.

"Resistance forces!" He shouted, blade in the air. He willed the mana in the air around him to fall under his control. The dark clouds in the night sky began to swirl, slowly at first. "Stand guard at what remains of the gates. The mansion is mine."

Enemy soldiers looked at one another, clearly confused at what it was he was planning. Unwilling to let their silent questions go unanswered, Lucius forced the surrounding mana into a spell, [Lightning Storm]. The clouds above roiled more violently than a stormy sea. Thunder shook the heavens, drawing eyes to the sky. Faces paled at the menacing streaks of light flashing between gaps in the clouds above.

"Fall." Lucius dropped the tip of his blade, finishing the spell. At first only one bolt of lightning struck, frying an enemy soldier to the left of him. A second later, two more fell. Then came four. Eight. Sixteen. The strikes increased with every moment, quickly turning into hundreds of strikes, covering the estate's garden with clods of dirt and burnt flesh. Some bodies were struck multiple times filling the air with the stench of scorched flesh, something that was simultaneously sweet and sour.

Lucius walked amongst the sea of debris, his foot occasionally cracking small splotches of glassed earth. The doors of the mansion were sealed shut and likely blockaded from inside.

While he stood there wondering if he should simply blow the doors open, a familiar feeling crept into the back of his skull.

"It's here!" Grimm hissed. "Find it. Find it quickly. You have to get it."

Grimm's presence faded, leaving Lucius confused. He couldn't tell as much before because of the sudden actions Grimm had taken, but it was clear that the entity was nervous. What remained was the question as to why? What would something like him be concerned about?

Lucius was not against finding these Fragments of the Abyss for his dark passenger, but knowing that something inside the manor that could get Grimm to behave in such away gave him pause. If it could potentially harm Grimm, then what could it do to Lucius?

He quickly shook his head of those thoughts, pushing a small mass of mana into his foot. With a stomp, he activated his [Thunderclap], throwing the doors open with an explosion of force. The heavy, wooden doors splintered. A smattering of furniture shattered against a far wall and a few men's mangled corpses bounced along the fancy, red carpet.

Regardless of what awaited him inside, Lucius needed to locate the fragment, as well as Indarel. A large number of people were congregated on an upper floor where the blueprints said the ballroom was located. It was easy to tell that the elf in question was with them based on the frustrated shouting reaching Lucius' ears.

Another person of note was inside the mansion. On a lower floor, likely the dungeons, was a powerful presence. It was clear as day that it was the Haeddan warrior. Lucius was not ready to act against him yet, so he rushed to the main stairs heading toward the ballroom. Snow and the Master-Ranker could wait. First came Indarel. From what he guessed, it had to be him that knew where Shiyani was.