"Oh, great lord Dazkareth, bless the lost lambs who have forgotten your name. May those who have lost their lives be granted eternal rest, free from the chains of corruption that dare to consume our world. Let their fighting spirit drive those still fortunate enough to remember the names of the lost to continue the fight, till the day we learn the truth of the heavens, and the betrayal they have committed."
At the altar's front, a young woman knelt, her silver hair cascading down her sides. Crimson candles cast flickering purple flames that danced around her as she prayed. Her modified nun habit, unlike the standard black and purple of the Dazkareth sisters, was gothic, a contrast to the chapel's plainness.
Such an act would be frowned upon by the sisters and chapel heads, but she never cared. The others were beneath her. No matter how hard they tried, they could never obtain an ounce of the favor bestowed upon her family by Dazkareth.
While his presence was faint, she could still feel her deity's heartbeat. His spirit flowed through the mana her markings absorbed. Even if the entire demon race had forgotten him in favor of the new deity that took his place, the young woman would never stop praying to him.
He would return. She would always think. And upon his return, the betrayers who struck down the deities would receive the punishments they deserved. There is no other justification for allowing the invaders to run rampant for 200 years besides a coup d'état.
"There you are, Velantra." Another woman, dressed in the plain clothes that Velantra despised, approached her from behind. "The headmaster is calling for you."
Velantra rose, stepping down from the altar without a word. Behind her, the purple-flamed candles guttered and died one by one, until only a single flame remained. She glanced back at it and murmured, "How little faith."
Everyone at the chapel was a believer of Dazkareth, but with each passing day, the faith in him amongst the believers dwindled away. It made sense to Velantra; she was not ignorant enough not to realize that the people's trust in a deity who has been missing for 200 years fades.
However, as the priestess of Dazkareth, the reality did nothing more than make her blood boil. As the last living member of the Vaelshade, she needed the demon race to remember the deity who had been there at their side since the dawn of the world's creation.
"Ma'am?" The other sister tilted her head at Velantra, feigning innocence. She knew what Velantra's comment was insinuating, but she knew better than to get on her bad side. Everyone knew the weight of Velantra's power, whether as a noble or believer; she was not to be messed with. "I implore you not to treat the other sisters with such scrutiny. Such actions will only question our faith towards the Lord."
"I understand," Velantra spoke, sadness in her tone. "It's hard to see our Lord's believers fade away in favor of the new one without them knowing the reason for his disappearance.
"There is a reason for it, Ma'am?"
"Yes, but I have yet to collect the proof I need to show the demon race that they are being misguided towards the path of destruction."
"Should you figure out the truth, what shall you do?"
That was a question that Velantra had no answer to. She racked her brain about it for years, but no valid solution within the realm of reality came to mind. She could easily say she'll tell the demons, but who would believe her? The demons overwhelmingly support the new deity, as they were ready to cast aside Dazkareth. Only undeniable proof would sway them—and that proof could come only from the creature sent into this world, outcast by his kind.
"I'll expose the truth of the war against the invaders."
"That battle between those creatures and the ground races? Why? Here in hell, we needn't worry about their attacks."
"I have a feeling that once the ground races are decimated, they will find a way to gain access to the pits of hell and come for us. That is why I need to do this. Expose the truth of the war and get the people to realize that their new deity is sitting on the back lines and supporting the efforts to drive this war to ruin."
The sister tilted her head and let out a sigh. "Always the dreamer type. That part of you I respect, even if the rest of you is nothing more than a prideful idiot." As she spoke, two candles lit up behind her.
Velantra smiled faintly and turned toward the altar doors. Ancient scripture dedicated to the forgotten god was etched deep into the wood. Her fist tightened as she pushed them open.
"Pristess."
"My lady."
"Witch."
"Tch."
Velantra glided down the corridor, passing sisters who greeted her with either reverence or scorn. She wore her practiced mask of serenity, refusing to let them see the sting behind her eyes, even if each degrading comment was a prickly thorn in her heart.
"Simple plebeians." She muttered to convince herself to stay calm. "Even that monster's jab hurts more than this."
She kept walking until she reached a pair of modest doors. With a simple knock, Velantra called to the headmaster. Without a single word, the doors flung open with a less-than-modest display of fire magic. An old man sat at the center of the room behind a desk buried in paper and books.
He peeked out from behind the pile, gave an "Ah!" of recognition, and promptly swept everything onto the floor in a spectacular avalanche of parchment. With a welcoming smile, he nodded towards a small couch that sat across from his desk. Velantra returned the gesture and closed the doors behind her, hiding an annoyed expression. She made her way towards the couch as the man spoke.
"Lady Velantra." The man spoke with an imposing force, though he was not angry; it was simply who he was.
He crossed his arms over the desk, showing how tight his purple suit was as it strangled his muscles. His grey hair, messy as if not brushed in days, strangely complemented his large black horns, which were chipped from countless battles of his prime. A black tail danced behind him as he locked eyes with Velantra.
Velantra locked onto his tail with annoyance. A demon's tail was a mirror to their inner thoughts. It was common knowledge that a proper noble demon would hide their tails when meeting others and rarely show them.
"Care for some tea?" The headmaster was about to snap his fingers before an icy tone stopped him.
"Drop the formalities, Master. I may be of noble blood, but you still outrank me in this environment." Velantra bit back the words she really wanted to say. The man before her was not of noble blood, just a commoner who struck gold with his family heritage.
The man frowned, his tail flicking in sync. "You're hard to please. I heard that showing your tail to a noblewoman was a sign of trust. You know how difficult it is to keep this thing contained, right?"
"Yeah," Velantra replied coolly, "That saying only holds weight for those born with noble blood. From you, it's more like a small dog showing affection to the one who feeds it."
"So I'm nothing more than a dog to you now?" His tail flicked upwards, and he snapped his fingers. A pillar of flames danced until a wooden paddle appeared in his hands.
"Eh." Velantra let out a terrified noise as she reflexively covered her behind. "I am not letting you touch my butt. I'm too old for that now, and that place is reserved for someone who would treat it with more care than you."
"Oh, hush, you're only 250 years old. That barely qualifies you as an adult."
"Anyone would be a child in the eyes of a 1,000-year-old fossil such as yourself." Velantra sighed. "You called me to get my report, or to sexually harass?"
The headmaster and Velantra were the only two within the chapel with up-to-date knowledge about the invaders. Demons were not a ground race, meaning that they lived isolated from the elves, dwarves, and beastmen. But should the races fall, methods of finding them would come to light, posing a significant threat to all of demonkind. But it is because of this isolation that the war on the surface seems unnatural.
"So far, no confirmation that either we, demons, or the angels had any involvement with the arrival of the humans. But due to recent events, I fear that the likelihood of involvement of either race is high." Velantra said with her eyes locked with the headmaster's.
"Humans are what they call themselves?" Velantra nodded in response to his question. "I see, but are you grasping at straws with that accusation, or do you have some kind of proof? I know how…lost you can get in your emotions."
Velantra dismissed the headmaster's comment with a click of her tongue. "Two. I have two lines of reasoning. The first is the global bounty board. My pet's information was leaked onto it with his full name and role played in the human army."
The headmaster's eyes widened with interest. "The global bounty board, huh? I see why you believe that either of us, demons or angels, is involved, but doesn't that paint a bigger target on the dwarves? It is their technology. Oh?" The headmaster looked at Velantra's smug expression and gave her a slight smile.
"That's where my second line of reasoning comes into play. Humans have the power to use our blessings and embed their power into their weapons. Normally that would be impossible unless—"
"—Fossilization." The headmaster's eyes narrowed with disgust as he finished Velantra's statement.
Velantra understood his disgust as the process of Fossilization was strictly taboo and was known only to demons and angels, the longest living races in the world.
"The process where a ceremony is held to compress the body and soul of a creature to create stones empowered with poor beings sacrificed, allowing other races to use blessings that never belonged to them." The headmaster continued. "Where is your proof of this?"
"My pet human," Velantra said. "He holds a weapon infused with the power of the elves. My only guess is that the other humans that once stood by his side wield the same, if not other races' powers."
There was a long pause before the headmaster finally spoke again. "At least…we found the origin of their power." He took a breath as he rubbed his wrinkly face. "So the humans are killing us with 'us?' How twisted can this war get? Velantra—"
"Not happening."
The headmaster glared at her with his crimson eyes. "You have no reason to deny my direct order." There was a change of tone in the way he spoke. He hid his mouth with his hands as his eyes narrowed. Velantra could tell that she had just provoked an old veteran who had fought against the angels.
"I told you." She stood up, keeping a calm expression as she tried to calm the hornet's nest. "My pet's information was leaked. Should some pompous elven underdog prince catch wind, he will be dead faster than you can hide your tail. If he dies, this whole thing is over. There is not gonna be a second chance."
"That is what happens when you bind your soul with his. Why did you trust him so much? He killed thousands of innocent people, yet you bind your soul to his like it was the most natural thing to do."
"It was a gamble I was willing to make. We sat on our asses for 200 years, and look where that got us. Time is running out before we become the next pathetic mound of corpses like the noble beastmen were just a few days ago."
"Man, you are stubborn. I will never understand the heart of a maiden like you." The headmaster relaxed and let out a sigh. In the palm of his left hand was a ball of fire. A small crystal appeared in the place of the flames. He tossed the crystal to Velantra, who caught it with ease. "You know interracial marriages are also strictly taboo due to the incompatibility of our genes, but seeing as how the humans are just like us, I'll try my hardest to convince the demon elders to allow such an atrocity."
"W-w-what!?" Velantra's pale face blushed a bright red. "I have the pride of a noble demon, and my mind is focused solely on protecting our race from destruction. I have no time to waste diverging in matters of love."
"What are you talking about, Vel?" The headmaster flashed a smug grin. "I was referring to allowing him to stay in hell using your family name."
Velantra said nothing. She held her breath as if resigning herself from going off against the headmaster in a fit of rage. She then dashed out the door, slamming it behind her.
"Youth," The headmaster nodded as he snapped his fingers and returned to work.
Velantra returned to her room, shouting curses towards the headmaster as she tried to calm her beating heart. The thought of falling for the monster named Judas filled her with rage. He was nothing more than a killer who would lie about his real name to her. She knew that the man had little trust in her. So why, why did the thought of him fill her heart with warmth?
"It has to be the will of Dazkareth. The Lord is guiding me towards him because he knows that man is the key to solving this mystery. Yeah, that's it!" she said, convincing herself.
Once her heart relaxed, she turned towards a desk that sat at the edge of the room. Six monitors sat on top, with each displaying different screens relating to the ongoing war. One of them showed a flowing river in a lush green forest near the slum village where Judas was currently.
But her attention was fixed on the top left most screen, a bounty card for a man named Lucan Draeven. His name matched the records she had dug through from Judas' armor, and his face was an uncanny match. The humans had broadcast their own kind to the world of creatures who wanted nothing more than his head. There was hardly any place for Judas to hide. In a matter of days, he would be killed.
Velantra bit her lip as she stripped bare. The light from the monitors reflected off her smooth, pale, voluptuous body. On her back was a black pointed tail, held in place with tape. Next to her bed were a pair of black see-through stockings that slipped on. She then approached her closet and grabbed a fluffy purple and black gothic dress. She stepped into it and briefly struggled to get it above her chest. Once finished, Velantra reached for a pair of long black silk gloves that reached her elbows. She grabbed a small umbrella that matched her outfit and placed it at her hip, where it hung comfortably.
"The humans know he's alive. But who are they working with to have this broadcast to the people of this world?" Velantra said while fixing her long hair. "Someone is directing this play of destruction, I swear to end this before the climax."