The Trump Card

The Prophet of Terra chuckled with glee as the last screams faded. The bright red gem in his hands was over the size of two fists. More than enough for their current needs. Absolute power over life and death was in his hands. The despair, fear and powerlessness of his living energy bags was too delicious.

Still, this wasn't enough. He wanted more. Watching the talentless and weaker wizards die had become boring. Stealing the life force and mana of someone powerful was always much more fun. They always struggled and believed that they could live. Haha! They only died slower and gave off more energy.

An assistant quickly swept the ashes away. The Prophet of Terra pointed towards the assistant.

"You there!"

The assistant trembled and bowed towards the evil old man. She struggled to keep her voice and expression calm. The Prophet of Terra did not like blubbering idiots or those who he thought looked down on him.

"How may I help you, Your Excellency?"

"Have the men bring me more fuel. I want lively ones this time. Someone with actual power. Ah, I know! Bring me some from the prison who refuse to join us. Let's sacrifice a few to demonstrate our power."

"Yes, Your Excellency. I'll go right now."

The assistant fled out of the room in a flash. Her life depended on it. When the Prophet of Terra got like this, anyone could become his next sacrifice. The guards standing around the room shivered and tried to make themselves as invisible as possible. Why did the Prophet support this lunatic?!

Several minutes later, the Prophet of Terra was starting to get impatient. Where was that girl?! Was she looking down on him by making him wait for this long?! That assistant better bring him some excellent materials or she would have to personally make up for this mental harm.

Finally, hurried footsteps approached the hidden room. The Prophet of Terra beamed. His next round of entertainment had arrived. However, when the door opened, the worried face of the Prophet of Truth appeared. The Prophet of Terra immediately calmed down and respectfully bowed.

"Hello my dear friend. I'm pleased to say that we should have enough for our current needs, but I would like to gather more energy just in case."

"Hohoho. Yes, so I've been told. You want some of the high-ranking wizards detained in the prison, yes?"

"That's correct, hehe. I hope that you don't mind, but with what we will be dealing with I'd rather have as much of a reserve as possible. Using potential comrades is… regrettable but the talentless can't give up enough energy fast enough."

The Prophet of Truth smiled happily and nodded. No one noticed the disgust flashing through his eyes. Regrettable? Murdering valuable wizards was mere regrettable?! No, it was reprehensible! Absolutely disgusting! Judging by the size of the gem, there was twice as much energy than they needed.

This idiot just wanted to kill those with some fight in them. He had long grown tired of this lunatic taking advantage of his goodwill and murdering people left and right. The Prophet of Terra even arrogantly thought that they were equals. Tch. Still, this idiot had his uses for now.

"I'm sorry my friend, but we'll have to start the ceremony now. It can't wait any longer."

"But why?! Surely those blockheads are enough to control the magic beasts? How could the military break through our defenses so quickly?"

"There's been a breakout at the prison. All of the prisoners have escaped. They're causing chaos around the middle ring and the inner walls. All of our magic beasts are outside of the inner city. If they or Stallesso Forolan's team breaks through, our entire plan could be ruined."

"Oh. Well, then it can't be helped. Let's start the ceremony now."

The instant that the Prophet of Terra was told that no good materials were left, he lost interest. The ceremony was boring. All that he had to do was stand next to a magic circle to control the mana emission of the gem in his hands. The True Order's agents were always so serious with this ceremony, but it wasn't anything big.

The Prophet of Terra rubbed his chin. On second thought, this could be interesting. At the very least, tens of thousands of trash civilians and stupid soldiers would die painful deaths. A smile crept onto his face. Indeed, that could be a good show.

That smile remained as the True Order prepared for the ceremony. Only a few tasks remained. The complex magic formations were already completed. The formation's accuracy and completeness were guaranteed. The Prophet of Truth had personally overseen its creation.

The participants took their places, shivering with fear and joy. They would make history today. The gem was placed in the center of the formation. The lines on the ground began to glow with an eerie red light. The gem floated from the ground and hovered at about eye level.

An eerie chant began in a harsh, rugged language unheard for millennia. The Prophet of Truth smiled. After tens of thousands of years, the greatest enemy to Tellus would return as a weapon under his command. No one could stop him now.

As the mana flowing through the formation increased, small beads of a dark light gathered in the air above the formation. The beads gathered to form a ball, which grew quickly until it finally burst. A column of light enveloped the formation.

When the light cleared, a hole had been blasted into the ceiling above the magic formation. Nothing else had changed, except for the creature floating in the sky above where the ball of energy had once been. A demon appeared on Tellus after a hundred thousand years.

**********

Humans have lived on Tellus for over three hundred thousand years. Much of that history was lost, especially what happened before the Great Disaster fifty thousand years ago. In modern times, the surviving records and legends were mostly fairy tales.

The first magic system, or framework of magic rules, appeared two hundred thousand years ago. The three ancient nations and the Celestial Church were all born by one hundred and fifty thousand years ago. They constantly fought for supremacy. Now they are all long dead and broken into pieces.

That knowledge was always accepted as fact. What wasn't accepted was the creature descending from the sky above Daren. A demon. A creature from ancient legends, whose race had invaded Tellus three times and sought to enslave all of humanity.

Wreathed in flames, the masculine figure had vicious claws and tall, sharp horns. Fire replaced long hair on its head. Its eyes glowed with a malevolent light. Mostly nude, its inferno red skin was covered in glowing symbol-like tattoos. A golden headdress, armbands and leg bands adorned it along with an elaborate loincloth that fell to its knees.

Scholars and historians always thought that demons were actually magic beasts or evil wizards. Afterall, demons were supposed to live in the Void beyond the Magic Dimension. Nothing could survive in the Void. Yet, here it was, towering before them.

Fire rained down from the sky and the screams of its victims echoed throughout the city like a despairing chorus. A sulfurous odor choked the air. Those inside the prison were safe for now, but Stallesso and his advanced troops were immediately caught in the demon's line of sight.

The demon attacked without hesitation and blew them away. The military was next. With extreme prejudice, demonic magic pounded the invading army. They had never experienced magic like this. Their counter spells and tactics didn't work properly.

Demonic magic rampaged throughout the city, killing civilian and soldier alike. A large track of the city was instantly obliterated from the inner city to the middle wall. Not even the True Order agents caught up in this mess were spared. The demon trampled everything and everyone in its wake.

Without a doubt it was strong. Demons, like wizards, were divided into ranks. This demon must be at least an archdemon, which could rival his grandfather, an archwizard. There were pitifully few archwizards in this day and age. They would probably need to summon all of them to defeat this evil.

The most powerful wizards in the city immediately came out of hiding and launched their attacks at the demon and its True Order allies. They could no longer afford to hold back. Daren could feel the mana of Headmaster Marin join the fight. At least his teacher was still alive.

All eyes turned towards Ramona. Their role became even more critical. They knew what they had to do, but who knows if they could actually succeed? She grit her teeth and made a decision that would probably cost most of them their lives in exchange for the safety of the nation.

"No matter what that thing is, it must be destroyed. Judging from that pillar of light and the True Order kidnapping so many people, that monster must be summoned. Kill all of the True Order captives. We are abandoning this place to infiltrate the inner city.

"The summoning spell must be stopped or the city is doomed."