The Prince of Demons

"We need to do something! If we can prevent it, we need to!" Elder Nil snapped at me.

"Well, this is a bit awkward. As I have told you about <Astral Scale> to deduce the plot is underfoot, if we try to prevent her fate it will only end in disaster. Magus Supreme Praecan is more than likely to die unless for some odd reason rebuilding the Institute of Mages is earning her a ton of points from Nyx." I explained. Elder Nil glared at me.

"Then why would you inform me of it?" Elder Nil probed in a tone of pure irritation.

"I was not aware we had some obligation to save some person who has died well before you ever met her usually. I guess this time she will get to die in a nice place." I retorted with a shrug.

"Do people dying around you not bother you?" Elder Nil pressed in an annoyed tone.

"It does, but once <Astral Scale> enters the fray I can tell you from experience, trying to avoid it will make it much, much worse. <Magic> does not like it when you try to circumvent or alter events. It's why the Void King has to subtly do it over a few decades. There are severe restrictions when manipulating the <Veil> or using <Astral Scale> and given the rate of increase we're basically along for the ride at this point." I clarified for him.

"So you decided to inform me I will have to idly sit by and wait for someone to die?" Elder Nil checked with a fierce scowl.

"In retrospect, I did not think this through all that well. I should have thought this through more, for which I apologize." I apologized to him.

"I feel so much better." Elder Nil shot back. This was not my finest moment.

"Technically speaking, we can't try to save her; however, we can try to kill the killer." I pointed out.

"How is that any different?" Elder Nil inquired in an irritated tone.

"How you approach the conundrum. I could not possibly explain the intricacies of manipulating the <Veil> and <Astral Scale> in a small-time frame, but if you want to attempt avoiding what's coming, our best attempt would be to kill the killer." I explained to him.

"And for figuring out who this mystery killer is? Is there any method to verify?" Elder Nil probed. I let out a bit of a nervous chuckle.

"Eh, no. It will have to be an exercise in pure reasoning as well as being comfortable killing someone on the thought we are correct." I answered. Elder Nil glared at me.

"I never said it was an ideal solution; it was just our available solution. I am willing to swear on my name that directly trying to save Magus Supreme Praecan will end horribly as the retribution from the <Magic> for trying to circumvent or manipulate it directly will be catastrophic." I assured Elder Nil.

"Fine. What makes you confident it's imminent? Not something in the works?" Elder Nil asked as he took a massive deep breath.

"The fact her <Astral Scale> value was actively climbing as I was looking at her. That is highly unusual. Not to mention, for how young she is, her value is way above what it should be and to be clear I mean it was bordering triple. It only gets that far outside the norm by being an absolute hero, favored by a Lord, or someone methodically plotting to enact horrible things upon you. So, unless the first two are somehow true, someone plans on brutally killing her for some reason. That style of climbing is generally in the final portion of someone's time before the malice hits." I clarified for him.

"What about Ryker's?" Elder Nil checked. I shrugged.

"No idea, I didn't bother looking at him." I confessed. What did Ryker matter?

"If her value is high, is there not the chance that his value is high as well?" Elder Nil pointed out.

"Maybe. I have zero interest in saving someone who your grandson is eventually going to kill." I retorted. Saving Ryker yielded absolutely no benefit; it was actually harmful towards us.

"What do you mean?" Elder Nil inquired, looking confused.

"As you are probably aware, I have a compendium of information Nil and Luna store with the <Eternals> to pass themselves information between destroyed timelines. In that compendium, it is a documented certainty that every attempt one way or another contains Nil and Ryker fighting to the death. Magus Supreme Praecan might be worth seeing if we can somehow avert her fate as she is actively contributing to the <Magic> knowledge on Tenebrae; as for Ryker, there is only detriment in trying to save him. He and Nil for whatever reason are always bitter enemies." I explained. The compendium was convenient in times like these. It also helped focus Nil's efforts on the more useful <Magics>, not that it was something to think about at the moment.

"Do you know why that is?" Elder Nil pressed. I looked at him, thinking of how to nicely phrase my next statement.

"What part of, 'for whatever reason' was not clear? I have absolutely no idea." I retorted. Elder Nil went to say something but stopped himself before letting a defeated sigh.

"Luna never thought of documenting the why?" Elder Nil sighed, averting his eyes.

"Did you not want to include Nil in that statement?" I taunted him.

"We both know the answer to that." Elder Nil conceded while struggling to match my gaze.

"As much fun as it would be to continue this, we are likely on a tight timetable if you want to attempt to change things." I stated. Maybe there was something we could do.

"Well, maybe you can provide some insight then." Elder Nil sighed. Let's see what I can do.

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"What insight could I provide?" I probed politely.

"As you were trying to figure out why Nil's <Astral Scale> was increasing, and it is quite likely tied to whatever event is about to unfold. Unfortunately, I cannot fathom what Magus Supreme Praecan did to warrant such enmity. I cannot even think of who would be willing to go to such lengths against her." Elder Nil confessed in a defeated tone.

"Well, given Nil's <Astral Scale> and hers, logically she is the primary target. So, the question I would immediately ask is would anyone want her position as it is what instantly comes to mind." I inquired. Elder Nil mulled it over.

"Nearly everyone who could take it is dead, and the rest are not interested in that sort of thing. That is what makes this challenging, most of who opposed or disliked her were killed by the Void King as far as I know." Elder Nil explained. That did make it more perplexing.

"Could her coming to ask Speranza to fund the new Institute of Mages angered someone? I am not sure how intense of an issue or slight that could be perceived as." I tried, seeing if it sparked anything.

"You would have to be actively tracking her to know she did that, and getting to Magus Supreme Praecan in the castle is no easy feat. Spying and knowing about the conversation would require a level of effort and dedication I am not sure anyone is currently willing to exert. Even then, to fund or partially fund what she is asking for would require deep coffers like Speranza or the Entente Kingdoms. To add to the confusion is the fact that the Institute of Mages was a fairly neutral party most beings took pity on the survivors of the organization for being annihilated in a day by some unknown assailant." Elder Nil instructed as he clearly was thinking it over.

"Okay, so quite unlikely it is tied to her position as Magus Supreme is what you're indirectly saying. Or if it is tied to that, it's by an unknown entity you have no idea about which would be surprising. On a personal level, who would want to kill her that badly? That value is only possible out extreme malice." I probed. Elder Nil thought it over.

"Could it be the favor of a Lord somehow? That Nyx is entertained or enjoying seeing her claw back?" Elder Nil asked in an uncertain voice for once.

"Nyx is a cruel, self-centered narcissist of a Lord; I highly doubt it would be her. Struggling back from oblivion would be something Utol enjoys, but again, I doubt it would create that result. We're talking well beyond what it should be, which shows immense favor, and I frankly don't see it." I retorted. Elder Nil looked quite frustrated.

"So, we just have to wait and see? You are a great and wise <Eternal>, can you not think of some other method of narrowing it down? There has to be something that I am missing you can figure out. I do not want to stand idly by when I can help someone." Elder Nil pressed in annoyance.

"While I am flattered about what you think I am capable of, I am old and experienced, not omnipotent. I am not familiar enough with Magus Supreme Praecan to narrow it down. Any <Spell> I use to help narrow it down will only bog us down with more restrictions if you wish to intervene. I can double check the compendium to see if maybe one of the notes or iterations left behind something useful if you want; it would not take long." I offered. Elder Nil smiled a little.

"I would appreciate it. Thank you, King Krahinn." Elder Nil replied. Ugh, him being so honorable makes it hard to give him grief.

I opened a <Portal> to Ygdazi, stepped through, and then opened the <Rift> to the compendium. I stepped inside and immediately felt something was off. What? <Mana>, all the ambient <Mana> vanished in an instant. An insidious chill went down my spine as I realized I was in some blank void. What? How was that possible? Scius was not this skilled at <Magic>, nor was he the type for this kind of trap. Who? Who could create this? I tried casting a <Spell>, seeing nothing happened. A Lord. As I realized I was now in the presence of a Lord, a feminine figure swirled together with a malicious smile projected on its face as I could feel her glare at me. Nyx was paying attention when I called her a cruel, self-centered narcissist. Was she seriously going to intervene over a mild insult? I doubted it; she was petty, not an idiot. I made sure to go into my real form with all my eyes at the ready just in case she wanted to get violent. I can't possibly win against her, but I can survive her onslaught if she wants to punish me for saying that.

"Greetings Lord Nyx." I stated politely with a formal bow.

"Wow, suddenly polite Krahinn? You said such mean things about me before." Nyx taunted as her malevolence oozed off of her in waves.

"Your representative and I do not exactly get along, nor do you act in a way I find my views aligning with. I am sorry if I offended you with my words." I apologized. It was killing me internally, but she was a Lord at the end of the day.

"Don't flatter yourself, you may be a strong being, but you are still but a rodent to me. Also, your fight with my precious Scius is highly entertaining, especially given we are FINALLY reaching the final chapter of the Nil arc in my show. Sheesh, it's so boring watching the same show over and over and over and over and over and over again with minor differences. The first time was a twist I wasn't expecting, and then it just draaaaaaaaggggggged on. Granted, a final chapter twist of you growing a heart was a surprise, but too little too late." Nyx ranted as her irritation and wrath crept into her voice. She and Scius have such similar personalities. Granted, she's way worse. Nyx had an over animated way of moving and using her hands as she spoke that was obnoxious.

"Please enlighten me, if you did not get offended by me calling you a cruel, self-centered narcissist, why do I have the pleasure of your company?" I inquired. Nyx just laughed at me.

"Because silly, I can't have you ruining this exciting episode! You may be a rat, but you are a smart little vermin. And since Nil insisted on making me watch the same shiza on repeat, I decided I could spice it up a bit after his like, I don't know, thousandth?, failure. I am finally getting to see it bear fruit all these times later as the finale is approaching! It's so fitting!" Nyx explained excitedly.

"How does killing Magus Supreme Praecan yet again spice it up? Or in the compendium there's the information needed to deduce your meddling now that I'd be looking for an irregularity and you know I'd find it, so you just want to keep me here until it's over." I deduced. It's something to do with Magus Supreme Praecan that I never thought was interesting; Nyx hid it in plain sight.

"See! You don't even need me to tell you! Now, unfortunately, if I keep you here until it's over, my poor Scius's <Geas> might break from the <Veil> I'm burning. We made the <Veil> a bit too well to stop outside interference, so I've had to spread it out a lot as if I directly waved it my poor Scius would be killed by the other six in jealousy. I just need to keep you here until it starts." Nyx explained, waving her finger in my face by the end.

"I thought Lords couldn't interfere in their Realms." I pointed out, hoping she'd give me more information.

"I am not interfering passed keeping you sitting right there. What I'm doing would never work if Nil didn't reset time so many times, as I only did one itsy bitsy teeny tiny thing in the grand scheme of things. But now, this is going to be amazing to witness." Nyx bragged, flicking her nonexistent hair in some gesture of magnificence.

"Mind telling me in advance?" I tried, hoping she'd answer.

"Not a chance. Now shut up and wait; it should only be a few days." Nyx snarled at me as I let out an annoyed sigh. What did she do? How could she have subtly interfered while circumventing the <Veil>? I tried summoning part of the compendium, but Nyx stopped that cold.

"No spoilers!" Nyx told me with fake cheerfulness. Elder Nil, I'm sorry I lied. Saving Praecan cannot possibly be worse than whatever Nyx has schemed; please put it together before it's too late.