Year 54

Nakol's existence as a nation is coming to an end. You've seized most of its territory. Its armies have practically been wiped out, and you've even eliminated most of Mortimer's allies.

The only major objective that's left is Dequilet, the capital and currently the only thing saving it is a large magical barrier completely surrounding the city. So far it's proven impenetrable to conventional means, which means you're going to have to resort to magical ones, which unfortunately despite your own best efforts you've failed to bring it down, though you feel as if you've gotten close.

You doubt if Mortimer is doing it himself, you imagine that Semra is probably helping him upkeep the barrier. He might even have a couple of satyr mages still left, though you doubt it. In any case, he's got help and you're probably going to have to resort to a bit of help as well if you want to bring the barrier down.

"Galen's a given, as are the Eye mages, but I'm going to have to take mages off overseeing the Eternal tanks for this project as well. Don't want to, but it'll be necessary." You say while explaining the next course of action in your command tent to Decena.
"We're going to have to wait for those mages to come here, that's at least a few days. I hate this sitting around, is it truly the only way?" Decena asks.
"Unfortunately. Last time I tried to bring it down, I nearly fell unconscious. With enough magic energy though I'm certain it can be brought down, as soon as it is, I want you and rest to blow apart those walls and rush in as quick as you can. Don't worry I won't be far behind no matter how woozy I feel afterwards."

Just as Decena is about to acknowledge your plan, that old familiar voice is heard.

"You know none of that is necessary if you listen to my plan." Semra remarks.

The instant Decena sees Semra she raises her voice and attempts to attack her, though you hold her back from doing so.

"Don't bother Decena, she's not really there. It's an illusionary image. Right on time too. You're starting to get predictable Semra." You say.
"Semra? Is this that svelk bitch you've told me about?" Decena asks.
"Oh so he did talk about me to you. I'm not surprised. Never could get me completely out of his mind…"
"Fuck you svelk! He told me about all the hell you put him through!"

Semra does her usual gleeful smile at Decena's anger.

"My, she IS the aggressively territorial one. Isn't she? Almost sad that her feelings for you are so strong when your own for her are…limited. Trust me dear, he can't ever love you back. How could he? You're not even young looking anymore…"

At this point you have to restrain Decena again.

"Decena, don't pay attention to her. She's just enjoying making you miserable. It's what she does. Semra, what the hell do you want? Shouldn't you be making plans to escape or something?"
"Who said I wasn't? But right now I'm actually here for you. Need your help in killing Mortimer, well what's left of him anyway. It's getting harder to figure out when he's completely all there or not. Zelvix is starting to gain mental control over him due to his shattered confidence and willpower. This war has been very stressful on him as you might expect."

Decena asks what she's talking about and you quickly mention about the supposed demon army that will be unleashed when Mortimer dies, though with the way Semra's telling it, it sounds like this Zelvix is already getting loose…assuming she's telling the truth.

"Semra, didn't YOU claim that it would take you about a decade to properly banish this demon?" you ask.
"Well with you rushing head long into attacking Nakol, I had to step up my research now didn't I? Don't worry though, as I said, I've got it figured out, just need your help in doing so. Remember how we linked our energy together when we were extinguishing all those little gnome souls? Well we need to do something like that again, but this is going to require a slightly deeper connection. Namely we'd have to link our very minds together so as to make the magical connection strong enough to face the demon."

"Here we go…" You think.

"You can't seriously trust this woman!" Decena shouts.
"He most certainly should trust me considering how many times I've warned him about shit and indirectly AND directly saved his life. After all if he'd trusted me all those years ago, he might've saved himself a lot of bother on a certain island. Y'know you still have never told me how you exactly came out of Mortos relatively unscathed. Perhaps you can after we take care of this mess?" Semra remarks.

You don't answer immediately. You've been put in this position several times before and it's the same old thing. Semra tells you something, you distrust her, you usually follow her advice against your better judgment and while things don't necessarily go entirely your way, you can never deny that had you not acted things would be much worse.

But on the other hand… it's the same old thing. You know she's not telling you the whole truth and something about this demon situation seems even more suspicious especially since she's actually encouraging a linking of your minds. Even if she's telling the entire truth about the demon and this being the only way she feels is the way to defeat it, would it really be a victory if Semra had magical access to your mind? Who the hell knows what she might be able to do.

"All of this is pointless anyway, we can't get in unless that barrier goes down." You say.
"Oh that thing? I can make a small opening in it for a small period of time. Of course when I do so, Mortimer will probably instantly know I'm working against him and it's possible he'll completely lose himself to Zelvix, but we should have enough time to do what we have to do." Semra remarks.
"Or I could just wait for my mages to help me bring the barrier down. Then when I do get that barrier down, I assault the city with so much firepower that nothing of this world or another is going to survive it. I don't care how powerful this demon is." You say.

"Optimistic that you believe that, but I tell you sincerely that won't be enough to stop Zelvix. He's in a weakened state now due to his long imprisonment, but as soon as Mortimer's dead, it won't take him long to regain his full strength and when that happens, count on several magical gates opening up. Now MAYBE you'll be able to even repel the demons that will undoubtedly come screaming out of said gates, but quite frankly, YOU are not the young Eternal you used to be and your odds will not be good. And your Empire's odds if you should fall in battle? Even worse. You already survived one trip that you very well shouldn't have…actually you've survived many things you probably shouldn't have, but those days are becoming more unlikely as you approach your twilight years. I understand that you'd rather die a warrior's death, however I doubt very seriously that you wish to die a fool's death. It is one thing to die in a battle that has been properly planned. It's entirely another when you die because you purposely ignore all your information and don't take advantage of the tools and resources that allow you to win efficiently. I'M giving you this chance to win this war now in the most efficient way possible."

You continue to listen.

"We've been in this all too familiar position before Eternal. Why take the chance of making the same mistake twice?" Semra asks.

Decena looks at you as you seriously begin to consider Semra's offer.

"Emperor?" she asks.

You carry out your original plan

Semra's agendas have never always been completely clear with you, but you're sure that whenever it is that you do listen to her, it somehow advances them to an end that will ultimately be no good for you in the long run.

This is one of those times where she's going to have fall back to her plan "b" because you're not helping her in this instance.

"Sorry Semra, I'm going with my own agenda this time. And you're seriously underestimating my abilities if this so called demon invasion does take place. True, I might not be young anymore, but I guarantee I'll be able to handle whatever is going to come next after we destroy Dequilet which is probably nothing anyway."
"Then you're a damn fool. A stubborn old fool who just doesn't want to look weak in front of his devoted…" Semra starts to say, but Decena suddenly cuts her off.
"Shut the fuck up, svelk cunt! You've spun enough of your bullshit lies today! You got your fucking answer from the Emperor, now scuttle back to whatever fucking hole you'll hide in before I hunt you down and I slice that venomous tongue out and shove it up your ass!"

Semra merely smirks at Decena's threat.

"And you used to kiss him with that mouth? Okay, I can see my efforts are going to wasted here. I hoped for a different way, but perhaps this will still work out. Goodbye Eternal, I don't think we'll meet again."
"You said that before." You answer.
"So I did…well perhaps you'll surprise me again. You always did have that special way about you."

With those final words, Semra's image disappears and you can get back to your original plan. Decena is certainly happier about the situation. You execute the order to have mages sent here to help bring down the barrier. You can imagine how upset Galen will be when he's been taken away from whatever less dangerous task he's doing at the moment.

In a few days, your mages arrive and you all focus to bring the barrier down. You tell your army as soon as it's down, to bombard with every catapult, cannon, lightning gun, ballista, and trebuchet they've got and the airships nearby have the same orders to open fire.

When everyone is in place you begin the spell to break down the barrier. It's similar to the time you were focusing on casting the continual firestorm on the dryad forest, but this is actually taking even more focus and energy. It's apparent that Mortimer or possibly the demon inside him doesn't want you getting in.


At some point during the spell, Galen flips out and starts babbling about hearing a voice inside his head. It's enough to cause a temporary break in focus and you try to calm him down, but he exclaims that bringing the barrier down is going to unleash something worse. You have no patience for this and he begins to worry the other mages. You blast him with a lightning bolt while he's in mid-babble and have his body removed from your sight.

"Now then, I want the rest of you to FOCUS! That so-called sorcerer in there is just playing mind tricks in order to save his worthless hide! Whatever voice any of you may hear is just a mere parlor trick and the only voice you should be concerned about is mine and what command it is giving!" you say to the remaining mages.

Going back to the spell there are no more interruptions, but as to be expected a couple of your weaker mages also collapse from the strain of the spell. The barrier however is definitely gone and the bombardment of Dequilet starts immediately.

The utter destruction of Dequilet is loud and full of explosions. You continue to have it bombarded until you're satisfied that nothing is going to be left alive. Eventually though you do call a stop to it.

"Alright, that will do for now. We'll let the fires die down a bit and then send in some squads to rummage through the ruins of that place. I'm fairly certain we killed everything, but never hurts to be sure." You say.
"Hopefully that svelk bitch was in there too." Decena remarks.
"We could only hope, but my guess is she probably fled when she realized I wasn't going to help her."
"I'm glad you didn't. Are you okay though?"
"Me? Yeah, just need to rest a bit. (Whew) Bringing that barrier took it out of me a little. More than I expected I guess. That needn't have been the case had Galen not lost his shit. Bah, no matter. The man did nothing but complain anyway." You remark.

Just as Decena is about to respond, you suddenly feel a change in the air. One brimming with magical energy and a malevolent presence.

A large portal opens up just above the ruins of Dequilet and a red flying creature comes out and then another, and another, and then…

While seemingly hordes of demons are pouring out of this one portal, another portal opens up nearby and then another, and then another and then…

While your army is shocked and scrambling to prepare for this unexpected attack, you just curse silently to yourself.

"Damnit…she was fucking right…AGAIN…" you say.
"Emperor! There are demons everywhere! What are your orders?!" Decena asks in between telling nearby officers to adopt a defensive position.

Your orders are of course to fall back because right now you're starting to become heavily outnumbered as more and more demons come pouring out of the portals. Unfortunately you're also starting to become surrounded. It doesn't help that most of your siege machine ammunition is gone due to your bombardment of Dequilet. The airships are still functioning fortunately, but a good number of flying demons are already making their way to try to solve that situation.

"We're going to have to fight our way of this mess and regroup at the nearest fortress! In the meantime kill anything red with hooves and horns!" you shout. You really wish you weren't as tired as you are, but you're going to have to just fight through it.

A few minutes in and the retreat is definitely looking grim. You got separated from Decena and you have no idea if your other general Flevas is even still alive. Your Eternals are doing their best as always, but the rest of your troops are suffering from a severe drop in morale and mostly screaming in terror desperately trying to get away rather than an organized defensive retreat. You don't know if it's due to fighting otherworldly beings and a seemingly endless supply of them, or if its some sort of unnatural fear aura that the demons themselves are causing. Probably a bit of both.

Your kobold troops however are ever resourceful and in the middle of slicing off the head of a demon, a single kobold tugs at your scabbard. You almost kill him thinking him another attacker before he holds up his arms in panic.

"No! No! Emp! Emp! Help! Hole! Over here here! Scape scape!" the kobold says and points to a hole that one of his people have no doubt made.

Escaping through the tunnel would probably be a good idea since its starting to look like the demons are attempting to cut off your path of retreat, but then you are also concerned about Decena's whereabouts. If your next war is going to be against these otherworldly monsters, you're going to need all the skilled leaders you can get.

You go with the kobolds

Decena's a big girl and can handle herself Chances are she's already making a path towards the nearest fort. You're sure she's fine…well you hope she is.

In any event, you aren't going to be much good if you don't survive this assault so you follow the kobold soldier down the hole.

The tunnel as you expect is smaller than the average human size, but you're able to walk even if you do have to crouch a bit and keep your head down. Several kobolds enter the tunnel after you in an effort to keep the back of you better protected just in case some demons come wandering down.

The kobold who lead you here in the first place continues to runs just a bit ahead of you and repeat directions of where he's heading next. You have to cast a dark vision spell just so you can see since its pitch black.

You follow the tunnels for a bit and there aren't even any demon attacks from behind (or ahead for that matter) and you begin to think that this was probably the best idea, but unfortunately events take an unexpected turn.

With the battle still raging above ground, the tunnels do suffer from minor damage as bits of dirt periodically fall from the ceiling of them. It doesn't get bad until one of your airships which had been destroyed by the demon onslaught comes crashing down right above the tunnels you're in right now.

You hear a loud crash from above and then a louder rumble as massive amounts of dirt fall around and upon you. The kobolds you're travelling with yelp in panic and try to get away either by retreating back the way you came or forward to where you're going. You however can't move quite as fast in the cramped tunnels and you become buried alive under rock and dirt.

Not even a glorious warriors death, just a convenient burial.