The Prince of Demons

Krahinn

I really wished for a truly awful future for Nyx and her machinations, but that did little to assist me in the current situation. Once I was free of this blasted prison, I was going to enjoy killing Ryker myself. Nyx, I have no idea what you have plotted with him, but I will enjoy hearing his death cries. She was not foolish enough to taunt me as the clock trickled down, which was not great for gathering information. Nyx might be self-absorbed beyond all measure, but she was unfortunately no fool; the only thing able to match Nyx's self-centeredness was her malice. All that I had left to do was simply wait for the time to pass until I was free.

Nil, I'd help you almost out of spite at this point. I was already committed to making sure Scius died, but Nyx just made sure I was willing to do whatever it took to annihilate him. Arcadia at minimum is paying the price for this. I could feel my blood boil as I waited for the time to pass. The only downside was I could kill Ryker only once, which was forling tragic. Maybe Nil would let me borrow his <Magic> to rewind time to kill Ryker in a multitude of ways until I got bored. To be fair, whatever Nyx cooked up wouldn't be so simple knowing her. It would be dramatic, ironic, and twisted in her sense of fairness. I just needed to see what she did and adapt quickly. Also not take the action she would expect because Nyx definitely planned for my interference once I decided to help Nil. I let out an irritated sigh as she was one of eight beings capable of doing that.

That was not my problem, as I was simply going to brutally murder Ryker. Magus Supreme Praecan likely was not going to survive long enough for me to be free, which was unfortunate for her. Magus Supreme Praecan, I am sorry for your loss. It was tragic that she would likely be long dead by the time I reappeared in Umbra because of Nyx. Time kept marching on as I waited for Nyx's trap to spring shut. I just rested, making sure I was fully recovered to fight. I finally felt the moment Nyx's containment weakened, so I ripped it open so I could return to Umbra. I aimed for Nil while preparing several feathers, launching them at the hostile <Mana> sources I sensed, seeing they were copies of Ryker. Oh, sweet Lord Nyx, thank you. Knowing Nyx, she made a copy each time Nil reset time; I saw the corpse of Magus Supreme Praecan. The trigger for her trap to spring was Magus Supreme Praecan's death knowing that malicious bezka. It also explained her wildly abnormal <Astral Scale>. I cast several <Rends> at child Ryker, which were valiantly stopped by his copies. More and more kept pouring out of space into the Temple. Nyx stored them somewhere off Tenebrae I imagine. I disrupted the two holes, making them shred any copy that tried going through it.

"What an amazing time, I get to relish killing you multiple times." I cooed, launching several more feathers to try and kill the child. The copies made shields that faired much better this time. They have counter measures for Nil that would by extension work on my <Magic>.

"Krahinn! Nyx-" Nil began, but I cast <Sever> around his mouth to stop the sound.

"Quiet. We will discuss this momentarily, first there are multiple Ryker's to kill." I snapped at him.

I created <Shredding Vortex> in the center of the Temple, before using <Rotation Axes> to bring the next several Ryker's to it, creating a massive fountain of <Ichor> as they perished. I also used the <Spell> to shove the citizens out of the way so I had cleaner lines to attempt more attacks on the Ryker that mattered. Several were still trying to get child Ryker out of Temple as the torn-up spaces I created stabilized. Nyx probably has a trap set up if I try to rewind time to stop this from being created. I truly was not risking Nyx's scheming as I knew she had prepared something if I tried to circumvent her will. The only way is through. I continued to rotate and manipulate space to shred several Ryker's as Nil's family overcame the shock and began assisting in fighting the endless copies of Ryker. There are going to be so many of them if it is per time Nil reset time. No use worrying about that at the moment, now was for seeing if I could kill the current Ryker before he got out. I grabbed Nil, borrowing his power to launch several <Spells> and short cutting them to the end with <Temporal Erasure>. Several more copies of Ryker died, but not the one I was after. This is obnoxious.

A few tried rushing me, but they were put into the <Shredding Vortex> for attempting to attack me. This rate of <Spell> casting was sustainable, but I was not getting closer to killing child Ryker. Several began attempting to fight Nil and his family, which was entertaining as his parents and older Nil were more than capable, but despite being down maybe a hundred Rykers, I knew there was still more than an army left to go. I had a theory, but now was the time to test it. Let's use some serious <Magic>. I projected my nine <Arcane Eyes>, focusing them on child Ryker. Target, locked. Creating numerous pathways, mapping trajectories. Preparing <Mana> for use, begin <Spell> formulation. After several moments, I unleashed <Orbital Annihilator>, launching it from six different <Arcane Eyes> while the remaining three controlled their trajectories. As expected, all six rapidly converged on child Ryker, looking to rip him apart. I borrowed Nil's <Magic>, using <Temporal Erasure> to move the <Spell> even closer when I felt it.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Of course, Nyx is not one for fair. In an instant, Ryker, his copies, and the space they were appearing from vanished from the Temple. I destroyed my <Spells> before they collided with something unintended. She left herself just enough margin in the <Veil> to get Ryker away from me. I removed the <Sever> stopping Nil from talking as they all looked at me, Magus Supreme Praecan's corpse, and the roughly hundred shredded <Homunculi> of Ryker. At least the Temple was currently empty as the guards outside secured the area. This was far from over, but I knew we had a day or so before Ryker's assault on Umbra began. An army of copies created when Nil retried fighting Scius was Nyx's style of cruelty. What was the immediate priority? Bury the Magus Supreme Praecan, get Nil up to speed, and prepare for the assault. Of course, he chose to fight in Umbra where the Imperial Family would frown upon the use of <Cosmic Alchemy> to just be done with it. I brought my eyes back, keeping them floating around me like normal.

"If you want this to be quick, I can cast one <Cosmic Alchemy> to destroy Ryker and his army in one fell swoop when they march in a day." I offered, knowing the answer I was going to receive.

"King Krahinn, I know you are trying to be nice, but you are offering to annihilate most of Umbra to accomplish it. We are not going to sacrifice citizens for our convenience." Emperor Father Nil told me.

"It was worth seeing if you all would be onboard with the fast way out of this. I guarantee you all there are countless more where those came from as we are facing a literal army made from failure. First, we should at least put Magus Supreme Praecan to rest with a proper funeral before discussing the next steps." I sighed, trying to think of how to deal with what was coming.

"Not much time has passed, we can use my <Magic> to stop Ryker from killing Magus Supreme Praecan!" Nil suggested. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that it was more dangerous than casting <Cosmic Alchemy>.

"No. Did you see how he vanished? Nyx left herself just enough of a buffer for her plan to begin one way or another. Any lie she said about cutting it close was purely a smokescreen to hide the fact she made sure to have enough <Veil> manipulation left to stop me from killing Ryker immediately. I also know she prepared a similar construct to trigger if I cast that <Spell>. We do not want to find out what she did in that regard; unfortunately, the only way is through." I explained to Nil.

"Is burying Magus Supreme Praecan the most prudent move?" Emperor Mother Poam asked me, looking a bit displeased about having to ask that question.

"It is the least we could do. Child Ryker is not getting anywhere near Umbra until the end now, and his location is being shrouded by a Lord. From here, I imagine the Imperial Family has a contingency for a hostile army besieging the city I would recommend enacting as you are about to have a highly motivated army of what I imagine are quite experienced copies of someone who fought endlessly against Nil." I retorted. I knew Nyx wouldn't have thought of that idea immediately, but the number of Ryker's we were up against was staggering. Individually their <Mana> is not that problematic; the sheer number of them is the issue. That, and they clearly had countermeasures for the numerous people on Tenebrae as a just in case. And what works against Nil will somewhat work against me because of our similar <Magic>.

"Why did you stop me from talking earlier?" Nil inquired, looking quite guilty.

"Do not mope. Now is not a time to be feeling guilty about the battle on our doorstep because of Scius's hatred of you. Granted, Lord Nyx interfering and scheming like this is not good, but do not blame yourself until after it's been dealt with. As for why, discussing important details or information is always ill advised in the presence of an adversary." I lectured him. Nil looked away, not wanting to meet my gaze.

"Just, how many are there?" Nil grumbled. Nyx very likely told him what her plan was to buy herself some more margin with the <Veil> without risking that <Geas>.

"A lot, Nil. If you want me to put a number to it, all that is going to do is upset you." I warned him. Nil looked shocked that I was appearing to be nice.

But if you had to put a number to it, what are we facing? Emperor Father Nil inquired mentally, clearly wanting to have some measure of what we were up against.

Do you want to know? Even when we win against Nyx's entertainment, is knowing just how many times your grandson failed to defeat Scius going to do you any favors other than agonize over just how bleak this is? I probed, curious as to what he thought.

You decided to help Nil, so clearly it is not completely hopeless. The foundation to actually win exists or you would not be helping. Emperor Father Nil shot back. I nearly sighed in annoyance because he was oddly perceptive and smart at times.

Rough number, a quarter of a million. Nil has lost over a quarter of a million times to Scius. I informed him, gauging his reaction. Emperor Father Nil contained it surprisingly well.

Is there any Ryker left in Ryker? That cannot be good for anyone to live that long. Emperor Father Nil asked in a neutral tone.

Why would he bother caring about Ryker? Of course he was wait a second. Something triggered in my mind now that I thought about it for a second. Emperor Father Nil had a point; how did a soul survive that many trips through time? Living for that long? I would be considered ancient, and even I wasn't close to that old. Nil never transferred his or Luna's mind back again and again because he was worried about that exact issue; he instead altered with nudges time after time while recording and documenting what he could. Did Nyx solve that? Would she even bother? Ryker was human at the end of the day, and that level of time was order of magnitude longer than what any human should live. Scius made himself not human to defeat that exact issue. From what I could tell, Ryker still was, which seemed impossible. So either Nyx came up with some immensely clever <Magic> workaround, or she had to do something to supplement that fact. The question was, what? What did she tell Nil? There had to be a clue somewhere, and we did not have a lot of time to figure it out.