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I hit the hot, barren ground fully transformed and in the middle of a crowd of demons. They began talking amongst themselves and as my eyes adjusted to the relative darkness, a familiar, four-armed demon stepped up to me and asked in Abyssal, "Just what do you want here, tiny?" I pulled my arm back and shot a fire-bolt that blew a hole in his chest. "Rretrribution." I replied as his body hit the ground with a thud. "Nefilhame! I'm calling you out, you bastarrd!" I roared at the top of my lungs. He appeared shortly and said to me indignantly, "Who are you to call me out? I am Lord Nefilhame, King of the Eternal Black, Ruler of the Dark Masses!"
"I am Claive Ilusta, and that's all you need to know. Now, I'm going to claim yourr title, and yourr life!"
"Then ready your weapon, fool."
"Oh, this?" I chuckled and hefted Ebon Zephyr. "This was just my ticket herre. I'm killing you with my barre claws." I planted my glaive in the ground as a crowd cleared back and muttered. I willed my claws to burn, and the endgame began.

He shot a fireball at me, which I spun past while launching a fire-bolt in response. Then, he leaped at me and loosed a powerful flurry of blows. As I dodged his attacks, I felt it was harder to parry his strikes than I remembered; it's probably because this is his home turf and not the weak imitation he made of mine. I dodged and weaved between his fiery blows while exchanging some of my own.

I jumped over a low swing that left him wide open, and I launched a flaming dropkick that sent him reeling. As he fell back, I caught a whiff of that familiar odor, best described as a blend of sweat and ammonia: the smell of fear. He looked left and right quickly and said, voice quivering, "Don't just stand there with your mouths agape! Aid your king!" Many began to close in and I replied in a strong voice, "If you value yourr lives, I would suggest against it." And the horde withdrew. I laughed. "The Darrk Masses you supposedly rrule arren't enough to save you now." He reached for his spear, but recoiled from another fire-bolt. I picked up the spear, which once again changed from a dark purple flame to a lush gold. "Just as I thought back on Kithnal... Killing you was a cinch." I smirked as I staked him to the ground, and he screamed as the flames consumed him.

I pulled the spear out of Nefilhame's body and applied the Phasing Seal to it. "My worrk herre is done." I muttered, then shouted, "Listen, you who live in this rrealm! I have no desirre to rrule you. I merrely came herre to kill Nefilhame, and with that done, I have no furrtherr business. Find a new king." I flung the spear, whose yellow flame completely went out as I discarded it, far away. As the demons clamored for it, I drew my glaive, made a portal for home, and lept into it.


[Continued in Chapter 20-4]