Darkness and Hellfire

Isaac and Lenna were seated in the guest seats directly next to Izen and Sera. It was the first time that the four of them had been together since the duo had left on their honeymoon. Marie was standing behind them along with Tim, the guard Captain. Marie and Tim were just there as standard protection detail and had already settled in to wait, observe, and be silent for the entirety of the event. That was what they wanted. If for some reason the two of them were forced to do anything else, then that meant that something bad had happened.

"Thank you." Isaac said and looked past Izen to see Sera. "The letter you sent, it means a lot." He told her. He then looked back at Izen. "And thank you for handling everything."

"I hope it helped." Sera replied.

"I do not mind, but it might be prudent for you to find someone to manage your family's finances." Izen advised him.

Isaac sighed and smirked. "I have someone who will be able to do it just fine." He explained.

Something about his bearing gave Izen pause and he looked at Isaac with a raised eyebrow. "Just like most things with you, I take it there is something else that you are not saying."

Isaac chuckled. "Oh, she just might be a bit too perfect for the Lord of Darkness's book keeper. I already caught her embezzling." Isaac shook his head. Izen recoiled slightly, or maybe it was just to give his wife an easier view as she leaned far forwards to stare at Isaac wide eyed. "But in Lady of Hellfire fashion, it was to feed the homeless children. After we left, she gave Lenna and my portion of every meal away instead of lowering overall meal costs. I don't think she's seen the note I left her yet."

"What are you going to do?" Sera wondered, clearly intrigued.

"Nothing." Isaac replied calmly. "It looks like it is about time for Shamesh and I to start." He stood up and gave Lenna a warm smile. "Don't cheer for him, alright."

Lenna smirked. "The thought had crossed my mind. Instead, I will just remain silent and watch." She joked.

Isaac shook his head and vanished. He appeared in the center of the arena and his shadow opened up behind him. Shamesh rose from it and the two faced each other. Shamesh gave Isaac a deep bow and Isaac nodded in acknowledgement. "No mental magics, they probably won't go through anyway but it's better to be safe than sorry. No Words of Power either. I know that both restrictions, combined with the low flight rule, limit you a lot but it is what it is." Isaac said with a shrug.

"I understand and will do my best to show as much of my power as I can with those restrictions in mind." Shamesh replied with a deep acknowledging nod.

"Then get ready. As soon as the announcer says 'fight', I'm going to come at you like I mean it." Isaac warned his retainer and took a step back while he pulled his sword from his Inventory. His hand had reached into an orb of pure shadows and clenched around a hilt that he then yanked out of the orb. He would wait to form his sword until it was time to strike with it. Isaac was wearing his armor but Shamesh was only wearing his regular suit. The suit of ribbons was expensive and well enchanted but not nearly to a degree where it could hold up to Isaac's Truth with the dark mage's magical might behind it. The enchanted suit, chainmail, and under shirt beneath would be parted like paper if Isaac felt like pushing the sword even a little bit. It was fine for unenchanted blades and beast talons or claws, but it wouldn't hold up to magical blades under even mild abuse. Isaac's armor would be fine no matter what Shamesh threw at him because disintegration spells were off the menu.

Typically Stars of Doom would not be removed from the available list of arena spells, because they tracked their target relentlessly, but Isaac had a way to force the spell to go 'stray missile' by going invisible via his Shadow-cloak. Stray Stars of Doom had a greater than zero chance to end up flying towards the ducal viewing box which meant that it had been taken off of the available list.

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It was really a shame how limited Shamesh was in an arena setting but there was still an upside to it. If Shamesh wasn't worried about keeping any of his cards close to his chest, then he could go all out and focus completely on the battle between him and his master. The spells that he was not allowed to use would just be his expanded arsenal during a real life or death situation. Hopefully no one who was going to be watching the fight would have ill intentions, but if they did, then they would very quickly be blind sided by all of the spells that Shamesh hadn't been able to use in the open arena.

—

Before Isaac had even teleported into the arena, the announcer was already starting. "As I'm sure you are all aware, we have a very special fight for you all today!" The announcer spoke loudly but there was clearly sound amplification magic at work because his voice could be heard across the entire arena clearly. "Not only do we have our very own, double platinum ranked, demigod slayer, legend killer, Lord of all that is Dark." That was when Isaac appeared in the arena. "But! He will be fighting a previously only rumored about entity." Shamesh rose from the shadow that had opened up behind Isaac. "His very own familiar. Some of you may have seen or heard about the bone dragon living in his shadow, well, my sources tell me that this skeletal archmage is the evolved version of that very dragon, isn't that right, Magus Alexander?"

Somehow, by some unbeknown means, someone had gotten Alexander to cohost the event with the announcer. The ten gold per seat price that was put on the match was steep for most people but also doable for an event as legendary as the match was bound to be, especially considering that almost every seat was sold out. Alexander cohosting was probably just to ensure everyone got their money's worth by having someone around who could actually explain what was going on. Any fight between mages needed someone like Alexander or else the common folks would be entirely at a loss while observing the goings on. There were simply too many things that were happening behind the scenes.

"Indeed. The very dragon that helped us on the front lines against the Drow Assault a few months ago has evolved into the archmage that will be proving himself today." Alexander explained. "I will do my best to explain things as they are happening but, not even a court mage like myself will be able to keep up with these two. This will be a battle that only other archmages will be able to analyze properly in the moment. I will just do my best to call it how I see it."

"This familiar of our Lord of Darkness," The announcer looked down at a piece of paper in front of him and read off of it. "'Shaemish'? How strong is it exactly?"

Alexander cringed slightly on Shamesh and everyone who had ever heard his name or spoke draconic's behalf. "His name is in the language of dragons." Alexander began and pointed at a specific point on the paper. "This is actually like two words, 'Sham' and 'Esh' so the pronunciation is 'Shammesh'." Alexander explained. "And Shamesh is a force to be reckoned with. I have fought beside him before and not only does he have far more mana than myself, but he was even able to fight and kill multiple Tunnel Horrors at once, as a mage, which is a notoriously difficult thing to do as they are extremely magic resistant. Having fought alongside both of those that we will be watching today, this will be a learning experience for me, akin to watching professors duel back in my academy days."

"Thank you, Magus Alexander for the explanations. Now, I believe that not only the crowd, but also the combatants are ready and waiting for us." The announcer pulled everyone's focus back towards the middle of the arena. "Fighters! Are you ready?!" Isaac waved and Shamesh nodded while he lifted off of the ground to hover a foot above it.

—

Shamesh wasn't sure how to feel about the exhibition match. On one hand, he didn't want to let anyone down, on the other he did not like being the center of attention, and on Kahtesh's claw that was resting along with the rest of his dormant body in Isaac's study, he really did not want to accidentally hurt his master. Isaac was hard to put down, Shamesh knew that better than most, but it was still possible. The risk was low but even a low risk was too much for Shamesh when his own life hung by a thread connected to Isaac's. The fact that Isaac's life was now connected to Lenna's helped calm Shamesh's nerves but he was still worrying. There was also another risk that none of them had talked about.

Shamesh would die for real, and probably for good, if his skull was destroyed. It had nearly happened before, both as Kahtesh and as Shamesh. He knew that Isaac would never aim for his head, but Isaac was using his sword and swords had a tendency to skip off of things like Reality Shields. With a normal blade, Shamesh wouldn't worry too much, but Truth would cleave cleanly through his bones without even slowing if Isaac was putting any substantial percentage of his regeneration rate through the weapon.

A live fire exhibition match was a good way to show people that he was competent, but the risks were also far higher than he would have liked. The combination of all of Kahtesh and Shamesh's near permanent ends, Shamsha's and the original Kahtesh's actual demises, Isaac's death, and Isaac's mild paranoia all came together to make Shamesh quite the worry wart at times. This was one of those times.

When Isaac told him that he would be coming at him 'like I mean it.' it brought Shamesh's mind back into the fight and away from all of the possible things that could go wrong. If he didn't focus then Isaac would obliterate him before he had even gotten a chance to show off what he could do. He didn't have the luxury of having his head in the clouds. As soon as the announcer said 'fight' he needed to fight like his life was on the line. To do anything else would be to let down his master, his mistress, and everyone who came to watch his public debut. He casted flight on himself and rose a foot off of the ground to allow him to dodge in every conceivable direction. He had no idea which way Isaac was going to come from so he made sure to be as prepared as possible. He just hoped that his Reality Shields would be able to hold up against Isaac's Truth.