RE: A Guide to Demonic Ascension

Digging my feet through the sand, I take guilty pleasure in the warmth it provides this cold night. If it were regular sand it wouldn't be this warm; the rest of the city is plunged into a chaotic symphony of rage and wailings, and the granules beneath it all burn up, growing in strength parallel to the Demons inhabiting the city.

Grabbing a handful, I watch it pour out the side of my fingers like loose grain and wonder what will become of this world now. What should I do in it? Is there a place left for me, or am I to forge one for myself, fight for the right to exist like all other wild animals?

Atop my perch point, I watch a small posse of Demons and their acquired slaves moving through the broken territories of the Demon hawk. It's not the first time I've seen Demons enslave weaker creatures. In fact, my humanoid appearance almost landed me in the same boat when I first joined Calridian's Broken City.

But unlike Calridian's city, there are no watchful spectres circling in the air, rooting out unjust killings and ending skirmishes. No, here the chaos reigns in an endless cacophony—I haven't had a sliver of silence since waking up at the bottom of the ruins.

However, in the chaos of Kyis there's still some semblance of order, or rather hierarchy that governs. A natural hierarchy any drooling Pink tier or arrogant Blood Orange tier can follow—the strong rule.

It's as simple as that. The reason no other Demon dared go near the Demon hawk's territory, because it sought no servants—I'm certain the damned thing could hear every bit of my transmitted thoughts, and it ignored them all trying to eat me.

Now that it's gone, scavenging lower-tier Demons have come looking for what can be had. I left the Demon hawk's corpse behind, so now they and their thralls feast upon it. I have half a heart to clear them out and free the Humans after all. If I bothered with the hierarchy, then this territory would be mine to defend.

In fact, the entirety of Kyis as is is almost the same as Reais, and if it weren't for Seeker's absence and the Essence-leaking crack in my [Soul Crystal], ruling the entire city as my domain would be an alternate ambition.

I could always return, assuming some Blood Orange hasn't eaten every last Demon and ascended to Maroon tier before my [Soul Crystal] recovers, if it even can.

Reminded of what's at stake, I have another look at the map piece Meira used to navigate. The great Eastern Arch—gate of Kyis, a tall, white-pillared gate and monument built by the Sainid. I spot the gate and its broken arch half buried in the sand some distance away from my perch and tuck the map away.

The worn and creaking rooftop beneath me provides little reassurance, but I leap nonetheless, soaring through the air for a fleeting moment before crashing onto the opposite rooftops. Here the tiles aren't as loose, but I fuel my muscles with Essence and make for the little kiosk on the other side of the Demon hawk's territory.

The kiosk is cornered between and underneath two larger buildings leaning on each other's weight. I do my best not to unsettle either when I land and drop from their rooftop down to the kiosk where Meira and Corym whisper in argument.

"Corym, be serious! We have to get back home," Meira hisses, jostling the Elf by his shoulders.

His eyes alone speak volumes to his apathy and hopelessness. He doesn't even bother pushing Meira off, despite her violently shoving him around. Sniffling, Meira falls back with her own momentum. "Please, Corym, let's go home."

"Meira, don't you see? There is no home, not anymore. We're never going to have peace. That Demon might kill you once you set it free too, if something else doesn't first," he says, resting his head on the side of a loose wooden beam.

"Don't say that. Have some faith, we can-!"

"Faith? This entire thing started because we lacked faith, so don't talk like you're any better than me. You weren't the one being digested, you weren't the one hurled around in a Demon's stomach."

Meira crawls back, grabbing a hold of his hand before he can pull it away. "You're right. I wasn't, and maybe now isn't the best time to be full of faith, but what else is there now? Would you rather experience that again? A Demon's stomach? Staying here is just as suicidal as leaving with a Demon we can't trust."

He tosses her hand away with a hiss. "Exactly. I'm not going to convince you to end this miserable life the way I will, so don't try to convince me either."

"Corym… I…" Meira starts, only to clamp her mouth shut and find herself a corner to curl up with her tears.

With their argument at an end, I wait a brief moment before pulling away the slab of concrete acting as a door.

"You're back!" Meira springs to her feet. "Did you find it?"

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I glance at Corym curled up in his corner, and even without the use of [Mesmer] I know he's resigned himself to death here.

"I did. I'll head back out to scout the path so we know our steps well in the morning." Nodding at Corym, I ask, "And how is he?"

"He is fine, thank you," Corym says with all the bravery of a dead man.

Meira tosses me a look but nothing else, "Alright then. Stay in here, the both of you." Pushing the slab back in place, I utter, "Wekt," turning invisible to scout the path toward the eastern gate.

Launching myself back onto the rooftops, I continue down the path, scaling tilted towers and vaulting over fallen pillars and growing sand piles until the path ahead is a cluster of numerous low-rise buildings coated in sand, corpses, and likely Demons—I couldn't be the only one to think of traversing the rooftops.

Perched at the top of a tower, I have a great view of Kyis from its height, and the gap between the buildings below is small enough I won't have to exercise Essence or mana to see. Knowing this, I activate [Mesmer] and read my surroundings for Demons. Very few put up a fight against the peering psychic ability, allowing me to map out the new territory I've technically invaded.

Knowing where to avoid, I drop down from the tower onto the first ceramic-tiled rooftop. With the tower behind me and the other four surrounding this neighborhood, it's easy to tell the kind of Humans who lived here.

Not anymore though.

Hopping onto the next rooftop, I crouch, ensure I'm still invisible, and peer down at the Demons lounging in the street with a dozen corpses rotting in a sand pile nearby.

Most of them are [Hezzura]—bone Demons of Reais—but the rest are a variety of [Swak] and [Ashka] Demons. I count thirteen in total—twenty, including the seven nude Humans they've captured.

There are a number of things a Demon could do with a Human in Reais. Some Humans are sold as slaves to higher-tier Demons in exchange for Essence, spells, artifacts, and even their own freedom. However, since sand-filled Kyis isn't Reais, those Humans would be used for the barest means—labor, sex and food.

It'd be a torturous experience, a mind-breaking one to be sure. I've seen its victims firsthand in Calridian's Broken City. Being of memorable Human origins, I contemplate saving them before thinking better of it.

What would I do with them then? Take them with me? All seven of them, along with Corym and Meira? They wouldn't even trust a Demon saving them to begin with, and I have no intent of being a Human shepherd either.

The Demons themselves aren't slouches, especially not when I'm in this miserable state. Each Demon must be around mid-Crimson tier, if not higher, the weakest of which would be the perforated, acid-leaking [Swak] Demons assigned to watching the Humans.

As it stands, the Essence flowing into my Crystal barely feels like it's Blood Orange tier. I let out a sigh and lean against the edge, set to leap onto the next rooftop. "Better not start what I can't finish."

Though my excuse isn't heard, one of the Humans lets out a scream, ranting off aggressively at the [Swak] looming over him and the rest. Intolerant to insolent slaves, the [Swak] swipes, moving to take off the man's head and torso, but the man seeing it coming, falls flat on his stomach, and makes way for a duo behind him to peel forward with a broad, serrated saw.

At the same time, something wet and stringy smacks onto my face and I'm yanked off my feet and across the rooftop before I can even raise my hand to wipe it. Suddenly smashing into ceramic tiles knocks me out of [Invisibility], and I blindly activate [Mesmer] to find and assault the mind of my assailant.

[Mesmer] fully unleashed onto the Demon's mind breaks it long enough to rip its webbing off my face and flip onto my feet, backing away from the tower where a nestling of [Pavshka] Demons grows from the side.

Four of which descend, menacingly cornering me to the edge of the roof. The [Pavshka] Demons sport a wide, long head with spindly antennas poking out, four serrated hooves for legs, and even a giant sac for their webbing.

On every side, the [Pavshka] raise their sacs and spurt a shot of webbing. I escape by jumping off the roof and landing smack in the middle of the Humans' failing escape attempt.

My appearance, followed by the descent of the four [Pavshka], distract some of the [Swak] Demons, and two Humans wail away from the ensuing chaos. Webbing flings at the ground where I stood a moment ago, and [Swak] acid quickly comes hurtling at my head.

Weaving through their attacks, I whip out and infuse Meira's shortsword with ichor. A broad standing [Swak] charges head first at me, its orifices seeping acid corrosive enough to eat through concrete. Shifting my weight as I run, I twist and a dismembering wave of ichor blasts out from the blade's arc, running through the [Swak] in a clean, diagonal line. An ichoric wave.

"Huh, not bad." I pat myself on the back for the ingenuity of replicating the eyeball's Essence blast attack in my style. An ichoric wave.

A bone spears through my side before I can feint away. The [Hezzura] behind it roars, continuing its charge with me into the side of the corpse pile. Madness in its eyes, the [Hezzura] stabs at me again, poking several holes in my chest before I straddle its first assaulting arm, lock it in, and proceed to punch through its shoulder blade with an ichor-infused punch. Losing balance, the [Hezzura] falls into my chest, where I grab hold of its head and twist it right off.

Plucking out the Crimson [Soul Crystal] from within its skull, I kick the corpse aside and leap out of the battling street, climbing onto the rooftops to push out the bone spear in my side and heal the gaping holes in my chest.

Below, there aren't many Humans left standing, let alone fighting against the Demons, but the momentary lack of order tosses the Demons into a natural free for all with the teamworking pair of [Pavshka] apparently coming out on top. Their webbings aren't any good against the [Swak], but between the acid and webbings, the [Hezzura] numbers quickly dwindle.

Scouring my surroundings again, I find the broken eastern gate arch and set to continue the journey when a scream tears through the air. Searching for it, I know it's not any of the gut-spilled, headless Humans below, because it's familiar.

"Stop! No!"

It's Meira. I turn and leap across fast enough to watch a [Swak] rip off and leak acid into her bag—the one with Gestalt Crystals. The Crystals spill onto the floor, cracking and sparking blue arcs of mana as they tumble down the slight incline soaked in the [Swak] acid. In a short moment, two of the numerous Crystals meet, setting off a chain-reacting explosion that echoes through the neighborhood and sends a cloud of blue sparkling dust into the air.