Hungry Necromancer

"You…I know of you."

Hearing that doesn't inspire a shred of hope in me. I'm not exactly in the best place to be recognized by people that aren't my subordinates, I've made a whole lot of enemies and not that many friends, fewer still allies.

Throughout my stint in this world I've gone around making a whole lot of trouble and barely getting out of it, now it seems I'm in the crowning jewel of all the messes I've stepped into.

Biting my cheek I set a shaky smile on and answer, "Do you?"

It's lip pulls back in a fanged snarl, "You are the one that sent Icktar running, aren't you?"

I gulp and nod, there's no way I could forget the name of the Demon Lord of Minotaurs and previous 'Benefactor' of Demme so soon after meeting his Avatar. It was a miracle the Spriggan was willing to work with me to get rid of him, for now at least.

The Zilant recedes a bit, licking its lips it yawns another burning breath of fire, "You did well by me, it'd become tedious having to look out for his return in these realms, without him on the move I can build at a steady pace. But now you've come to me, attacked my lair."

"Uh…I…um, I had no idea it was yours, I mean, I would have thought otherwise if I did. Like I said, I was only helping him," I jab a thumb at Jungle, "Hunt the Beast Mother, at least that's what we've been calling it."

"And this…" it slithers away, hissing at the air, "'it' is supposed to be me? You must truly have no idea what you've stumbled on."

'No, not an exact idea.'

But I do have an idea. It's mentioned Icktar already and from its behaviour and the aura it exudes I know it's not a Deity. Which leaves only a few other options to explain the scale of power it's sitting on right now.

Either it's a Demon Lord like Icktar or it's a powerful Nature Spirit like the Spriggan.

'I'm betting on Demon Lord.'

"I am Venegue, Serpent King of Reais and you are in my Realm. I see you've taken a liking to one of mine."

"One of yours?" Shaco slithers out peeking frightfully at the Serpent King. "Wait…we're in your Realm?"

That explains more than a bit. The strange sensations I felt walking through the tunnel must have been us being transported to Reais. Specifically a Realm in Reais.

"The tunnel…that's your way into our world. Why does every Demon want to visit here? We're not that great."

Venegue's eyes snap away from Shaco and to me, "Your world is weak, fractured with even a fallen God vying to seize control of it. The Gods you worship have all but turn their backs on you yet you still pray, it's fortunate that a few remain to protect you, your world would be mine otherwise."

It leans in and takes another deep breath of me then hacks, "You stink of Lotar."

"Ha..yeah, we know each other."

"You are his servant, his disciple and follower. You will return to him and report of me." Venegue growls, eyes bursting into flames and the world trembles, clouds form in the sky and torrents of rain, of lava descend.

Jungle's eyes snap to me but Eldwin is already having him covered, the Spirit Warriors are quick to make a tent over him.

Venegue roars a pillar of flames into the sky and the rain slows to a stop, its eyes stop burning and as it bears down at me I can't help falling on my butt, "I should end you here and be done with it. But I can smell that you're a pragmatic…human. We both have expansion goals and you've stumbled on mine, tell me, what are yours?"

Flat on my ass I stutter, "Uh…my goals?" A low rumble is its reply, "Uh, well, I'm currently trying to…carve a Kingdom out of the one I'm in right now?"

"A Kingdom of your own?" It muses, a sinister cackle erupting from it, "If I had a soul for every time a mortal came to me seeking to reach such heights…I ought to be a Deity myself."

I blink at this, "Why aren't you then? Oh, uh, I mean…Souls are what you get for granting powers right?"

It bears down at me again and snarls, "You think I'd grant a Kingdom for a mere mortal soul?"

"Uhhh…is that not how it works?"

"There are things more valuable, you'll find out soon enough. But having a peek at your schemes you seem to be faring well for yourself…except the part where there's an army outclassing yours marching down the line." The cackling starts again and it licks its lips, "Say we strike a bargain."

"I think my soul is sorta busy with Lotar right now so…can't strike any more bargains, hehe."

"Your silence is what I need, silence and inaction."

"My silence…why…you want to invade our world without Lotar noticing."

"Preferably any Deity noticing, and I'm willing to strike a bargain to keep my little nest on the underside hidden until I manage enough influence to manifest an Avatar or the likes of one on your Realm."

'Awful honest with its plans…but then..'

I have a feeling I shouldn't ask this but I'm curious, "And why isn't it easier to bite my head off right now?"

There's that low rumble again, it snakes its head between Jungle and I before speaking again, "I will be taking a head off, but not yours…you're too…tainted." It curls its nostrils in disgust.

"You can't kill Jungle."

In response Venegue lifts into the skies of its Realm, wide broad wings batting at the air, stirring the waters as its scales break, leaking lava and bursting flames. It roars down a pillar of flames atop Jungle and the Spirit Warriors covering him. In a flash I feel all the Spirit Warriors extinguished.

Venegue swoops down and plucks out the charred, crumbling remains and swallows it in a single snap of its maw. I can't do a thing to stop Venegue, its oppressive power and the clear threat of death keeps me still.

It snakes back to me; the low rumble cultivates dread within me. Venegue spits out something, it clatters past me but I'm frozen in place to look. "It is done, no more foolish statements."

Mute, I nod, dry swallowing as it bears down at me.

"Lotar, the vile wolf is the only reason you still survive. I suppose you should be grateful to him. Now then, what say you? Will you strike this deal with me?"

I nod.

"Good, I'm sure you'd like an army to fend off the one that's coming for you and your…rabble." It snickers and wraps around me, lifting me off the ground, "Your ambition must have blinded you, to think you thought your mess of men would withstand the forces that come for your head, Lotar sure knows how to pick them.

"I cannot give you an army, any sign of my presence noticeable to Deities is what I'm trying to avoid, but I can give you something that'll ease the strife you'll undoubtedly face."

Venegue reaches up with its tail and scratches at its neck until a scale tears off, falling into my waiting palm. It burns but I don't dare drop it, gritting my teeth I cast a glance at the Demon Lord.

It grins, "That bit should suffice, yes, more than enough." It twirls me away with a snap of its tail, launching my limp body back out in the ocean of monsters. The monsters waste no time besetting themselves on me, pulling down on me, drowning me until.

"Ack-!" Coughing up dirt water on the floor I find myself back at the entrance of the tunnel, the looming darkness all the more sinister now that I know what lies in it.

Wiping my mouth I activate [Sense Death] and look around for any of my allies, or even Jungle's soul. But there's nothing, no matter how much I search, where I search in the dark lit Cavern, I find nothing.

Eldwin, the Spirit Warriors and Jungle. They're gone. Even reaching out to them, their spirits does nothing, I hadn't gained a strong relation with any of them before…

"What kind of fire…how…"

I've lost them all to a single breath of fire. I suppose I know better than to test a Demon Lord.

"Fuck." I gasp, bent over, gasping for solid breaths. Gripping the torn off scale in my hand I stare at it for a bit and wonder if it's worth it.

[Venegue's Scale]

[Venegue's Spawn attains a fraction of his power once eaten.]

Venegue's spawn?

Shaco licking the scale suddenly makes sense. This is for him, for Shaco to…eat. But the thought of Shaco being the Demon Lord's spawn gives me pause, sure enough Shaco was a random snake Anselm and I caught out in the wild, not a Demon Lord's spawn…right?

'I can't be sure of anything anymore.'

Tucking the scale away in my pouch, eliciting a small hiss of disappointment from Shaco, I start heading back out to Demme. With hope I can start the Spirit Warrior thing again, but I'm going to get an earful from Anselm, that I can be sure of.

"Hah, bet he'll be glad he didn't come on this adventure."