The Prince of Demons

Ryker

I woke up, hoping today would be the day I got the sign from Lord Nyx that I could finally act. The worst part of each attempt was when I was a kid because waiting to grow up again was monotonous. Praecan was already awake nearby looking so stressed about the Institute of Mages's future. Relax, you will not be alive to worry much longer more than likely. She at least brought me to Speranza for the Festival of Renewals which saved me a lot of time, even if my blood boiled at the thought of asking Speranza for assistance due to the fact that they had deep pockets. I replayed the spar I had with Nil from the other day, comparing it with the last several attempts to defeat him. He's way ahead of previously; it's probably because of Krahinn. Overcoming the Imperial Family of Speranza was already going to be a difficult task whereas Krahinn was a different beast altogether.

I remembered seeing him lose his temper momentarily, witnessing the wrathful form of that <Eternal>; that raven manifestation as his <Mana> collapsed the space around us while he forcefully dragged us off Tenebrae. How does one deal with that? Not only the earliest that bucknarl managed to get a <Totem> but by far the strongest one he ever had. It's not even close. Lord Nyx told me the attempt that would matter would be distinctly different than all the others. I wish she was clearer about what made the attempt that mattered distinct other than Krahinn entailed, though I doubted I was stopping the assault from the Void King. I definitely would not consider his <Magic> bombardment an overall improvement over Nil evaporating Modinar with <Cosmic Alchemy>.

Krahinn casually cast that <Spell> too. Nil came up with that idea as a literal child. How did a child come up with <Magic> that could destroy a kingdom? Praecan was stressing over her precious Institute of Mages distracting me, trying to hide how grim her situation was. Even if Krahinn wasn't bad enough, Nautilus was backing the Imperial Family too. Emperor Father Nil, Nautilus, and Krahinn are all so powerful. Even with Lord Nyx's assistance, the wall I had to climb just kept getting more insurmountable, but she chose me to climb this wall, so it was my burden. This might be the most spectacular variant of the wall I've even seen so far, let alone had to climb. Lord Nyx did promise I would have help for the final push against Nil and his world ending ways which made this less hopeless. Lord Nyx also did give me the knowledge of each attempt and memories so I could keep trying, but Nil simply kept climbing higher and higher with each iteration. I know Lord Nyx told me he could reset time and save information between resets, but I have memories of each and overcoming him seems just as if not more difficult each time.

At least I finally knew the answer as to why Nil kept resetting time: the Void King. Someone who hated Nil enough to try and kill him each and every time, so Nil blew up the world to stop him. He would rather destroy the world than die. I was curious as to just how strong the Void King was if Nil could never win. Or did he just not want everyone he knew to die? I reminisced over the endless attempts, trying to think of any of them where more than just Nil survived before he reset time. Luna and Lux in most of them, Riva sometimes. I learned he apparently had a brother Ein and uncle Nez. How often do they die before I get a chance to come to Speranza? It was nearly every single time I could remember as I had never heard of them. Wait, that was a lie, because Praecan sometimes whimpered about a Nez in her more emotional times. It might be why we were here in Speranza, visiting her friend who just slept his way into the Imperial Family. Good for him I guess, just doomed himself to the fate of the rest of them though.

Speaking of his loved ones, Luna. She seemed to change one of the times and forever after was Nil's precious partner. Is it that she is similar to me? A Regressor? Which one of us was the original? Could she remember each time, or just the previous? Did it matter? She made her choice; Luna sided with Nil. Everyone just seemed to side with him. At least the Void King seems to see the light of the monster of Nil. It ate my soul that Modinar ended up embroiled in a civil war this time, rather than the prosperous democracy I wanted for it. Modinar's flag would be the one flying victoriously at the end, I just needed to make it reality. Today was thankfully Temple, so I could contact Lord Nyx with a prayer for an update on when I could act. It was the silver lining of this aggravating time in Speranza.

Unfortunately for you, Praecan, your final sacrifice is likely eminent. The downside to Lord Nyx's assistance, the <Magic> required the sacrifice of another. The most suitable candidate to act as a conduit was my <Magic> teacher, Magus Supreme Praecan. I used to feel bad about it, but getting her out of the way as efficiently as possible became more prudent after a while. Her floundering, indecision, and worthless desire to keep the Institute of Mages around tended to be more of a hindrance than help. Argranz appeared, usurped her, and got it destroyed anyway; granted, she never lived long enough to see it get destroyed as the plague killed her shortly after. Maybe it was the grief of losing the position of Magus Supreme. Not that it overly mattered as I took a more efficient route at getting access to Lord Nyx's construct and information nowadays.

"Ryker, you shouldn't frown so much." Praecan sighed at me. She always looked so desperate, like she was hanging on by a thread. Ironically, this time was less than usual. It was the earliest time I had ever met her, not that it was going to change her fate. I needed Lord Nyx's <Magic> if I was going to save Tenebrae; fitting that my triumph was going to be on his home turf.

"I am sorry, I was thinking of Modinar." I lied, seeing her pained expression. Good, she won't follow up and annoy me.

"It is tragic what happened, but we need to move forward. We can begin a new life here, rebuild, and try to make the best of this." Praecan stated as her shoulders slumped. I needed to remember to act like a kid as adults tended to panic when I spoke like them.

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"But I miss it." I grumbled, adding some pouting eyes.

"I do too." Praecan agreed. Her body slumped a bit more as she rubbed her face.

"Do we have to go to Temple?" I tried knowing it would get the reaction I wanted.

"Yes. Come on, we don't want to be late." Praecan declared as I knew she would. So predictable. Unfortunately, she was about the only being I knew how to get on my side consistently. Not all are created equal, as Ekard I never succeeded even once.

Praecan and I walked to Temple as I silently debated what to ask Lord Nyx. Maybe now while Krahinn was absent? I would need substantial help at the moment to defeat Nil, let alone his family at the moment. But last time we talked it seemed as if the time was nigh. How? How would I be able to overcome something like Krahinn? Nautilus would be daunting enough, but Nautilus and Krahinn? I shouldn't doubt a Lord; Lord Nyx chose me to help save Tenebrae, and I needed to remember that. Lord Nyx had a plan, a vision, and I just needed to be patient. Umbra was a surprisingly nice town as we walked towards Temple. It's only fair it seems nice until it burns. I could not wait for this place to meet the fate that Nil cursed Modinar to so many times. Or to put his body on display like a trophy. That was the moment I think I would savor the most, finally getting to triumph and save Tenebrae from the scourge of Nil. I would be lying if I didn't salivate thinking of being able to return the favor of Nil display my corpse on a pike though.

We reached Temple, sitting near the back so as to not impose nor disturb service. Several minutes later after we arrived, the Imperial Family arrived. Nil was looking at Luna like she was all that mattered to him as they went to take their seats. It's weird to see kids make that kind of expression. That was the one thing I never understood, how was Nil such an overwhelming freak of nature? I knew he trickled information through time to himself, I knew his family had deep pockets to work with, but each and every time his strength just got more and more monstrous. Was it purely his family? Strong lineage combined with the ability to buy anything he needed? It's so unfair. Everyone should be equal in that regard, not dependent on having some loving, rich family to allow you to become that level of freak. This wall proved to be unbeatable so far, but I knew this time would be different.

This time we're both kids, you haven't had time for your family's precious money and innate talent to create that canyon. I knew from our spar he struggled to overcome my experience. It was all I had over him, but I was going to take advantage of it for every drop that I could. Some part of me felt like it was boiling as I thought over how difficult of a fight Nil already became. I train hard, and he's already at a point where it's difficult to catch him. Having <Bases> early made such an unfair difference. Technically, irrelevant after full <Acclimation> and training them to their maximum which took roughly fifteen years, but until that point was reached time of possession was a massive factor. Did Nil start when he was a literal baby? I didn't care how talented he appeared to be, there was no way he possessed that much talent, something else had to be afoot. And demons get to live for centuries on top of it all. Luckily, there were far more humans than demons. Or if Fae, Elves, Gigants, or any of the other longer living races decided not to risk the Tyrant of Time and help it wouldn't be such a problem either. That was irrelevant now, as Nil's defeat was going to be happening one way or another this time. I took a composing breath, trying to contain my frustration. I was not going to blow this because I couldn't control myself for a month or so more at most. It was regretful that I couldn't slip into Nil's room and slit his throat at night, but the castle security was a bit much for my child body to be able to circumvent to attempt such a feat.

Temple service was nothing spectacular, sounding nearly like background noise as I waited for the chance to pray to the Lords. Even now, Nil just sat there in the special place his family got to because they had privileged blood. I cannot wait to make it flow through the streets of Umbra. All of my effort and preparation through thousands of lives had been for this moment, for this singular victory. The victory that mattered, the one that would lead me to the victorious ever after. Tenebrae would finally be the glorious utopia I had envisioned for so long. Lord Nyx should respond; she invested so much in saving Tenebrae that she wouldn't let it fail now. Not when we were this close. I've endured so many deaths to reach this point. Soon. Soon I would be able to pray to her and get a timeline of events. Praecan seemed to sense my annoyance, as she assuredly rubbed my back. If you were less useless, it likely wouldn't ever have gotten this bad. I made sure to control my face better because some of my irritation leaking out would be bad. Thankfully, tt was finally time to pray to the Lords, so I kneeled and began praying.

Lord Nyx, it is Ryker. Please respond, I need your guidance. I prayed, hoping for a fast response.

In a matter of moments, I felt the world slip around me as Lord Nyx answered my prayer. Her response to my prayer was blissfully fast. I was hoping to hear that her construct was ready to go, and the glorious revolution against Nil and his destruction of time was about to be brought to it's knees. That I would finally be able to raise the army I dreamed of against Speranza to save Tenebrae and defeat the monster of Nil and his family. A small part of me was sad to see Luna on his side, as she used to be such a useful ally against him, but that wouldn't slow me down now. She never could fight as well as the rest of us, but her money and contacts were invaluable at combating the coffers of Speranza. Too bad for whatever reason she suddenly flipped to being on Nil's side. I heavily suspected she was a Regressor as well, but why she'd side with the world-ender was beyond me. I never risked confronting her on it as I was not sure what all information Nil was capable of passing himself between timelines. No way was I risking him learning that I am a Regressor by some miraculous stretch. What information did he already pass himself? From how he stared at me I suspected he was at least wary of me. I would assume at least a warning of those who become his enemies. Not important because now was for my meeting with Lord Nyx; I was surrounded by a similar void, seeing a feminine form in front of me.

"Good thing you're here! Kron is attempting to ruin everything and is helping Nil because Nil is their representative! Whenever Nil is done praying, he is going to attack and try to kill you! We need to act fast!" Lord Nyx informed me in a panic. Of course, nothing ever went smoothly.