[Hall under Salin]

“It seems that your time has run out humans. My kind are here, laying wast to you little city. Soon your smile will vanish and, oh, how I am going to savor every second of it.” Siurin said.

“Tsk, do you really thin that this would work dragon? That by scaring us we will free you?” One of the men in the circles center said with in disdain.

“How come such a being has this much power. In our hands it will be of much more use.” Another commented.

Hearing this Siurin looked at them in disdain. They solely relied on the work of others and thought themselves to be more worthy of the power that dragons held than dragons themselves. This had reduced his evaluation of them further and made him annoyed to be captured by such idiots.

Especially the idea that they thought they could become dragons themselves via some ritual made him laugh. He had initially held some respect for the demon, thinking him to be the planner behind his capture, but this had destroyed it further. Even ascended dragons couldn't simply make anyone a true dragon and he was sure that no ritual, demonic or not, could do so.

Laying down again, he waited for the arrival of whoever was the source of the dragon mana he had felt.

Hearing Darganth's laughter a short while later, his head snapped towards him. His short moments of confusion about Darganth's laughter was quickly overshadowed by the delight of seeing his brother and friends.

Calming his laughter somewhat, Darganth looked at the others who gave him looks of irritation. Ignoring this, he made his way down the stairs that went down along the wall while motioning them to follow him. Soon they also made their way down, with the elves waiting due to the dense demonic mana in the air. While it would normally also have affected Allaire, the draconic one she had gotten from Darganth protected her.

“Who would have thought that I would see this ritual here.” Darganth said in amusement.

“You know what this does?” Vagha asked slightly shocked.

“Of course, I created it.” Darganth answered, surprising the rest greatly. Looking at the sight down below to see whether their initial evaluation was wrong, they found it to be truly a demonic ritual. Seeing their confused looks, Darganth explained.

“I created it for Nemoress, the primordial of darkness and creator of the demons. As for what it does, well you will see. But I assure you it won't hurt Siurin, he will even profit from it.”

Hearing his cryptic answer, they became even more curious. They didn't doubt Darganth's words that it wasn't dangerous for Siurin. Instead they were intrigued as to why a ritual created by him required demonic mana.

Soon they arrived at the foot of the stairs. Walking towards the center of the room, they were soon spotted by the group standing there. While they were frantically looking at each other in panic, Daranth's group continued walking leisurely. Due to the chaotic state of the rooms mana they couldn't teleport and with Darganth's assurance they had no reason to make haste.

When they reached the edge of the circle, Darganth suddenly stopped. The others also came to a stop and followed as Darganth walked around the edge of the it, searching for something. Only when he reached a rather distinct part did he stop.

“From here on you can't continue, the ritual isn't designed to accommodate more than one dragons. While it won't have an effect on me, if you forced yourself past the barrier the mana here would become even more unstable.” He told them.

“Wait, we can't do anything?” Vagha asked annoyed.

“You could destroy those chains.”

“Can't you change it? Make it ignore us too or something like that, you will need help against the demon.”

“Its already activated, I cant change anything now. While I understand that you want to help, that is currently the most you can do. And don't worry, the demon won't be a problem.” Darganth said to them, calming their frustration somewhat.

After a short moment, they reluctantly made their way to the base of the chains. While they were still annoyed, they couldn't change anything.

Stepping over the edge of the circle, Darganth, Jennia and Allaire slowly made their way to the center. With every step they came closer, the group standing there grew more distressed. Constantly alternating their gaze between the demon among them and Darganth, they hoped for him to finally take action.

“What are you waiting for Zegril? We summoned you to ensure the ritual works so do your job.” One of them shouted, no longer bearing the pressure.

This just made Zegril laugh. Ignoring the enraged humans behind him, he continued to observe Darganth.

“Intriguing, how can you step into the ritual circle? The fail-safes to prevent a second dragon from stepping inside should be perfect, after all the queen herself created this ritual.” He wondered out loud.

“Why do you want to know this? We both know that at this stage the process can no longer be stopped.” Darganth's words caused Zegril to laugh.

“So you also know what it does, am I right?” He asked and Darganth nodded in agreement.

“That's also why I wonder what you use these humans for, it doesn't take any sacrifices to work.” Darganth said, causing the eyes of the six nobles to widen in shock.

Looking towards Zegril in search for confirmation, he just smiled. Before they could act, a transparent wall formed around him and separated him from them. Shocked at this twist and betrayal, they looked at each other for directions. Seeing that none of them had a plan, they just stormed towards the barrier and started punching at it.

Darganth, Allaire and Jennia were meanwhile laughing about this. A group making a deal with a demon and not expecting betrayal was already funny enough, but the sight of five people who couldn't even use mana and one advanced first rank individual mindlessly punching against a mana shield was even more so.

“Wait, that guy also knows this ritual, lets capture him.” One of them shouted, causing all to turn to Darganth.

“Right, as Zegril said mana doesn't work her, I tested it. We just need to overwhelm them.” The aura user among them said.

Raising his eyebrow questioningly at this, Darganth watched in amusement as all six rushed towards him. Turning towards Allaire and Jennia, both shrugged uninterested. Smiling as he turned around, Darganth waited for the men to reach him. Focusing on limiting his strength and speed to normal human levels, he smiled in anticipation for the fight.

He had thousands of memories of his different lives fighting as normal humans and it had been a while since he did so with his memories intact.

Tilting his head to the side, he dodge the first punch to the head before retaliating with a punch to the man's gut. Seeing another nearing from his left, he grabbed the outstretched right arm while hitting his forearm against the first man's chest. Using the leverage, he turned him into the oncoming fist.

With the one knocked out and the other tumbling down from the crash, he turned to the remaining four. Having seen two of them being handled this easily, they circled him carefully. Deciding to go on the offensive as they remained passive, Darganth dashed towards the man on his left. Despite his surprise the man managed to cross his arms before his chest and block the punch.

Without a moments pause, Darganth swung his leg in a sweep, intending to bring his opponent to fall. This forced the man to hastily jump back, but before Darganth could exploit this one of the others reached him. Twisting his upper body by moving his left shoulder towards his right knee, he dodged the amateurish punch at his back.

Continuing his momentum, he swung his elbow into the man's ribs before again putting force on his leg and dashing towards the second one who rushed towards him. Taken aback by suddenly being the target of Darganth's attacks, he failed to defend against the strike. Getting hit first in the chest and then the face, the man tumbled back and fell over.

At the same moment the last of the four who had encircled him rushed at Darganth. Trying to evade the attack, the punch came faster than expected and hit him in the shoulder. Having been brought off balance, he was forced to retreat from the follow up.

“Right, aura user.” Darganth muttered.

Overhearing this, the men smiled arrogantly. Thinking Darganth to be easy prey for him with his superior physique, he rushed forwards and threw a punch with all his strength. Looking at the obvious attack with disdain, Darganth moved out of the way while grabbing the man's wrist. Dragging it behind him with a turn, he threw a punch at the now exposed elbow of his opponent.

The man's own momentum combined with the force Darganth applied caused the joint to break without much resistance, with the arm being bent to the extend that the bone poked out of the skin. Before the man could howl in pain, Darganth followed this up with a knee strike to the chest.

With the man now rolling on the ground breathless and howling in pain, Darganth turned his attention to the other four. While one was slightly wobbly on his feet due to the punch in the ribs, the others were still fit.

Smiling slightly crazed at the fun that fighting like this brought him, Darganth dashed towards them once more. With them now prepared for such surprises, the man that had been sent to the ground moved to intercept him.

Watching the man kick towards him, Darganth slightly moved to the side and let the kick fly past him harmlessly. Now confronted with a fist aimed at him, he ducked under it before jumping into the attacker. Surprised by this, the man couldn't prevent himself from falling over backwards. Before the next one could reach him, Darganth punched down at his face and knocking him out.

Now down to three, the group became even more wary. Looking around for a way out, one man's gaze fell onto Allaire and Jennia and a smile formed on his face.

“Keep him occupied.” He shouted at the other two before rushing towards them.

Before they could even react to this, Darganth was already before them again. Having used their moment of distraction to close the distance, he threw a punch at the left one before turning out of the way of the other man's attack. Missing Darganth, the punch force Darganth's initial target to jump out of the way.

Now left wide open, Darganth made quick work of him. Hitting him in the face, chest and shoulder successively, he finished it with a leg sweep. Already disoriented, the fall knocked the man out. The last one tried to interrupt this, but was too late which allowed Darganth to evade his attack easily.

Without letting him a chance, Darganth attacked the man four times. Despite falling down from this, the man grinned at him.

“Better stop attacking me, the king already has the women.” He said.

Seeing Darganth simply smile at this, he turned around just to see the king lying next to Allaire. While she was still quite a bit from Darganth's level, Allaire was more than capable of fighting even without aura. Not to mention the fact that a normal human would find himself incapable of hurting a third rank aura user even without active aura. Even Darganth didn't feel the hit on his shoulder as while he could limit his speed and strength, the durability of his skin wasn't under his control.

Before the man could even turn back around, Darganth knocked him out with a solid strike to the head.

“Had your fun?” Allaire asked him.

“Not really, even while limiting myself they are just too weak.”

“We can always spar after this, we have more than enough time left today.” She said, earning her a nudge from Jennia.

“Or tomorrow.” She corrected herself.

“I know, I promised you my undivided attention once this is over.” He said to Jennia.

With this they focused back onto Zegril, walking to the barrier surrounding the demon.

“I thought you already forgot about me.” He joked.

“The fate of small fry. The only thing I still wonder is where you got such a powerful magic tool to avoid detection from.” Darganth said.

“Oh, you don't even know who supports me and dare call me a small fry? I wonder whether you would still be that brave is she were present.” Zagril taunted.

“I could guess, but why don't you spare us both the bother.”

Thinking about this for a moment, Zagril kept silent. After a few seconds of thought he just shook his head with a smile. Though this annoyed Darganth, he didn't show it.

“Well, its not like whoever it is could help you here.” Darganth said.

Seeing his confidence with which he made this assessment, Zagril grew curious. Searching his memories to try and find anything he knows about this planet that may be the reason for this, he found nothing. Not wanting to give Darganth the satisfaction of him asking, he just kept silent though he couldn't hide his curiosity.

“Your little artifact can't hide him or her, even I can see that.” Jennia said after a bit, enjoying the sight of Zagril getting even more confused.

“And why would that matter?” He asked after no longer being able to contain his curiosity.

Smiling disinterestedly, she made it clear that she wouldn't answer this. Looking at Darganth and Allaire in annoyance, he received the same look. Snorting in spite, he again tried to reign in his interest.

Standing in silence, they waited for Zagril to finally break. After about a minute Darganth created three chairs made from ice for the three to sit on. This surprised Zagril as he knew how difficult it was to cast spells in an environment with such chaotic mana. It took another ten minutes for him to no longer being able to contain himself.

“Fine, I will tell you who supports me and you will tell me why she can't come here, deal?” He asked. Seeing Darganth nod in affirmation, he continued.

“I don't know why, but after finding out about this ritual I was approached with an offer. At the time I didn't know who it was so I hesitated, but when I was told that I would get the knowledge how it works I instantly accepted. After all, who wouldn't, demonic dragons hold a position above even most ninth tier demons. When I finally met her in person, I was given this artifact without further explanation than to always carry it.”

“Oh, how many demonic dragons are there currently?” Darganth interjected.

“Eleven. While I don't know why, the knowledge how a demon can become a demonic dragon is fiercely guarded. Only very few even learn that it doesn't work like normal advancements, even though she could create an army of powerful and loyal warriors by spreading it. We could have won the war against the angels decades ago with more.” Zagril said after a short moment of deliberation and with frustration in his voice.

“No you couldn't, but continue.” Darganth said.

“Why not, besides the lords there is no demon that can stand against them, they would massacre the angels in no time.” Zagril said.

“The name.” Darganth replied impatiently. Seeing him not wanting to answer his question, Zagril grew annoyed.

“Demon lord Lyadria. She gave me the ritual and the artifact, now keep your part of the deal.” He said in an equally impatient tone.

Hearing this surprised Darganth slightly. While it passed quickly, Jennia and Allaire noticed his reaction and inferred that he knew her.

'Either Lyadria gave it to him just as precaution or she already knew that he would arrive here. And from what he said it seems that they don't really help with the creation of demonic dragons.' He thought simultaneously.

“Well, it seem I was slightly wrong. She will probably arrive, but it still won't change anything.” Darganth said. While it piqued Zagril's interest, he felt that the ritual was close to completion so he didn't pursue it.

“Your part of the deal.” He said.

“Right. The Void Clan lives here and they have forbidden angels, demons and gods from going here. They will likely find Lyadria but ignore her as long as she doesn't stay too long.” Darganth said.

This was a major shock to Zagril, but before he could ask follow up question the ritual took effect and he dissolved into black smoke.

“While my brother trusts you, are you sure that this is harmless to me? That whole becoming a demonic dragon thing doesn't sound good to me.” Siurin said, having overheard the entire exchange.

“Of course.” Darganth said, projecting a sliver of his dragons authority. Staring at him in shock as he recognized who Darganth was, Siurin stopped worrying. Laying down again, he waited for the ritual to finish.

Meanwhile Jennia was looking at Darganth questioningly.

“You said that even with more demonic dragons the war wouldn't end, why is that? From what he said they are far more powerful than all kinds of demons, so wouldn't they pose a major increase to fighting strength?” She asked him.

“I told you the answer already, I took care not to upset the balance. Just like I gave Nemoress the ritual to create demonic dragons, Visuria has one to create angelic dragons. While I don't know whether she used it, as before my death there were none of either, she could quickly reestablish balance.” This made her nod her head in understanding.

“You know her, do you?” Allaire asked a moment later.

“Of course, she is one of the demon lords under Nemoress. As long as there isn't a knew one I know them all.” He said.

Hearing this made Allaire raise her eyebrow at him questioningly. Understanding her wordless question, Darganth just nodded. After waiting for a few minutes, Darganth suddenly spun around.

“Its been a while.” A female voice behind them suddenly said, causing Allaire and Jennia to also turn around.

“That it has. And from your presence here I can only guess that you used my gift quite well, am I right Lyadria.” Darganth said with a smile.