Chapter 16: Amethyst

1

Ozin was shoved onto the floor, his hands tied behind his back. His nose connected with the rock surface. Blood flew.

'What are you planning to do with me?' he repeated. 'Just get it over and done with!'

'Oh no. You're too funny. Weak, sad, useless hermit,' Demonlord spat mockingly. 'We're gonna use you as bait.'

'This isn't a children's game!' Ozin yelled angrily. 'You can't use me as a weakness to manipulate my friends!'

'Oh, but that's exactly what I'm going to do,' he laughed. 'I'm going to kill you in front of their eyes, I could just imagine the shocked and sombre expressions on their sweet little faces. In fact, I'm sure they'll come and rescue you, seeing how determined they are.'

'You can kill me, but let them go!' he shouted. 'I'm the one who planned all this; they've got nothing to do with any of this.'

'But they do,' Demonlord replied softly. 'Looking back, I realise one of them is a compass that can track the location of my… treasure. The blonde girl, I presume?'

He's getting every part of it right. Ozin thought nervously. This is disastrous for us. Catastrophic. 

'They've challenged me as you did; they're just as guilty as you are.' he said coldly, the tentacles beneath his chin squirmed menacingly. 'All of you will die.' He raised one claw and aimed it at the hermit. Ozin watched in terror as the Talisman emitted a bright blue light. That same blue light emerged from Demonlord's palm. His eyes widened. That's going to blow a hole in the ground.

He had rolled to the side by mere milliseconds before a huge beam shot from Demonlord's hand. The blue-ray made contact with the hard rock and melted through it like butter; it pierced through all of the rocks and just carried on going, drilling through the tough crust of the mountain like paper. A blinding flash engulfed everything, followed by the sound of a massive explosion. A few seconds later, Ozin opened his eyes, trembling. Beside him, a hole the size of a football led deep down below. The explosion created a crater the size of a building. He looked, unable to move or speak. Demonlord laughed coldly behind him, 'I was dying to cast that move; you're the first person to see it. Congratulations.'

'How…' Ozin sputtered in immense shock. 'How… did you manage to do that?' He turned to look at Demonlord slowly. 'Only Gorowrath himself ever used that move during the duel, how did you come across that?'

'I was curious, myself,' replied Demonlord. 'Either way, you guys get to die flashy.' He grinned, revealing two sets of knife-sharp teeth.

'Even the head of the council could only create fireworks out of it – the Talisman of Wisdom,' he muttered to himself. 'Unless…' Ozin turned white, remembering what he first theorised back at the Tower of Oblivion. 'You have to be joking.'

Demonlord looked at him, confused. 'Joking? Am I not clear enough?' He roared with uprise. 'I can use the Talisman easier than anyone else, better than everyone else. Because I'm a prodigy from the beginning, superior to other demons and even you magical rats. Do you understand?' He hissed, spittle spraying onto Ozin's face.

That's still what he thinks. Ozin thought quietly, careful not to let Demonlord hear this time. His lifespan exceeds normal demons, competing with even the Three Races. Not only that, but he is so all-seeing, so sly, much to a demon's shock. He could use the Talisman as he pleases, with no signs of a novice. It's official. Demonlord is his incarnate, his s –

'Are you ignoring me?' Demonlord shouted. 'That's it. You're receiving a beating. Take him away.' He ordered the demons in Demoniac.

'You may have me captured, but don't underestimate them,' Ozin yelled. 'They'll come for you and take you down, even with your superior powers. Mark my words.'

Demonlord grinned. 'I'll be looking forward to that,' he said confidently.

The hermit was dragged out of his sight by the guards. He nodded in satisfaction. The Three Races had already made a move. By sending their people and allying with Germans, they've made it clear that they're going to declare war on me. He licked his lips. In that case, I shall start unleashing the Talisman onto real people, not just my demon dummies. With that, he picked out the ancient artefact and caressed it gingerly like a baby.

Come to me. He beamed. After I'm finished with you, I shall take over the world. 

2

The time seemed to be one in the morning, the darkest hour in the nychthemeron of the Alpine Realm. 

Sammy was proven to be a prodigy when it came to directions. Not only did they manage to find their way back to the tent, but they were also shocked to find a paper slip on the boulders where Ben hid June.

Got out safely. Currently on my way to steal the Talisman from Demonlord and rescue Ozin, with the help of an extra Swiss ally. If you somehow found this note, follow the trail of demon blood that we got from the tent. – June

Indeed there was a trail of blue glow-in-the-dark fluid leading into the distance. Sam promptly looked at Ben and gave a nod of confirmation. Ben swallowed nervously.

'We've gotten into a bit of a blip very quickly.' He said gravely. 'June's a very clever person, she can deal with whatever she wants. But Demonlord? Not even she – and her accomplice could take on Demonlord on their own. They'll need our help.'

Sam said nothing, his face expressionless. Finally, he spoke, his voice was quivering. 

'Ben… are we… gonna die?'

Ben bit his lips. 'I can't tell,' He replied and grabbed his hand. 'But if we fail, many more will die.'

The caves were always dark, but they felt even the brightest light couldn't pierce through the darkness at that moment.

And yet… the air felt thicker, allowing them to breathe better. They have reached a point where it's only going to get warmer from here. Because, unlike the rest of the mountain, they have entered the perimeter of the Talisman's warm radiance, and demons won't attack them – if they do something Ben had come up with.

Following the trail of demon blood, they slowly but surely advanced towards the fierce final battle that awaited them.

However, they would realise later that even when they'd thrown everything they got at the king of the demons, their chances of winning were like a fly fighting back against a fly swatter.

3

June began having a hard time breathing. The heat that emitted from molten lava made the temperature rise so much she thought she might suffocate. Many hot water molecules infiltrated her lungs and suffocated her like an asthma attack. The crawl space was getting tighter and smaller. It was getting hard to move through for her. Maxy could slip through them with minimal effort, but she struggled to advance because she was afraid that her limbs would get pinned. She gasped each time she reached out her hands, searching for something to grope onto as the rocks above and below her tore at her clothes and skin, drawing blood. 'Practice taking deep breaths, sister, not shallow ones,' Maxy advised. 'Don't look back at your feet, look ahead. Breathing can calm your head down and relax your cramped muscles while also giving you strength and flexibility. Believe in yourself, June!'

She said my name for the first time. June thought. Before, she just called me sister. Listening to her advice, she took deep breaths, allowing the humidity to escape from her tightened chest. Her efforts paid off—as soon as she was just beginning to warm up, the crawl space got bigger dramatically, allowing them to nearly stand up. They entered an archipelago of large, clear caves that seemed to have no end to it. Meanwhile, the pull of the Talisman felt stronger than ever. June's heart was beating faster than a rabbit's. Nearly there. She panted. We are so close to reaching Demonlord. I could feel the atmosphere tighten around me as his heart burned with flames. And then: What are those purple gemstone fragments embedded in the stone walls? 

At first, she ignored them, but as they gradually climbed higher, more and larger chunks of them appeared around her. What could they be?

'Maxy, what… are those?' She asked. Maxy seemed to be in a daze, so she gently patted her on the shoulder. The gemstones looked as if they emitted light by themselves. A dim, violet glow filled the caverns. Many of them were missing—cavities along the walls that didn't form naturally. The demons must have been excavating them for centuries…

'Amethyst,' a single word drifted out of Maxy's daze. It was almost like – a powerful lightning strike that ran down June's spine – a click of realisation in her head. Amethyst? Where have I heard that before? She was holding onto Maxy's hand tightly before she knew. She remembered Ozin telling them the story of Gorowrath and Ozin III the first time they'd met, he'd mentioned Amethyst before.

'Both kings had the desire to conquer the Rocky Plains east of the Vessel River, as it had mass amounts of amethyst crystals that were used in crafting the most magical items.'

The Rocky Plains? She choked, almost tripping over a rock

(Amethyst crystals exist yes they exist and it's because meteorites there were meteorites that constantly crashed into there)

And pulled Maxy over with her. Maxy spasmed, awakening from her daze. 

'Huh? What? What happened?' She spoke slowly.

But June wasn't paying attention to her. 'Amethyst,' she repeated and suddenly jumped in excitement. 'Amethyst. Amethyst. Maxy, you said it was amethyst! What are they doing here in Sorrow Mountain?' 

'Calm down, sister! You're gripping my shoulders so hard it hurts!' Maxy complained, and June drew her hands back reluctantly, still shaking.

'Sorry, I got carried away,' she apologised. 

'Demonlord harvest them regularly,' Maxy explained. 'I've seen him do it at least a hundred times now, he started doing it after he found that precious Talisman of his. He told me what it was, but never why he did so. Geez, I can't keep up with what you're thinking right now. You're too quick at thinking. What about amethyst?'

'I remembered something,' she whispered. 'Something about amethyst crystals growing somewhere in the Rocky Plains. It's in here too?'

'What are you talking about?'

'I'm extremely sorry!' June cried in frustration, making Maxy flinch. She pulled at her hair, gritting her teeth. 'I did remember! But it's starting to fade again…'

'Both kings had the desire to conquer the Rocky Plains east of the Vessel River, as it had mass amounts of amethyst crystals that were used in crafting the most magical items.'

Used in crafting the most magical items.

'So he harvested them after he got the Talisman!' June shouted. 'It makes sense!'

'I apologise for my slowness, but please tell me what you're talking about!' she pleaded. 'You suddenly got hyped up by some gemstones, sister. That's unusual.'

June took a deep breath, brushing some of her blonde hair off her face. 'I couldn't relate with anything until you somehow told me that single word, amethyst.'

'Demonlord told me,' Maxy replied. 'He said that the gemstone was very powerful. Nothing more.'

'Exactly! He was using it to strengthen the Talisman's powers. Ozin told me only the Rocky Plains contained them… but it's actually here too!'

'How did he figure it out? I mean…' Maxy blinked. 'He only obtained it a year ago.'

'Clueless, we're clueless at the moment,' said June. 'Clueless.'

'Where would he have gathered this information?' Maxy mused. 'I could barely make out what he was saying half the time.'

'Hang on, what did you say?' asked June. 'You can understand Demoniac?'

'No, I can't,' said Maxy, shaking her head. 'It's only him. The rest of the demons still spout nonsense for me. It's a weird feeling. I'm afraid I can't explain it to you.'

His words are translated. June wanted to say. She also wanted to tell a lot more, such as being unlike the rest of the demons. His words can be comprehended by translation magic. That could only mean one thing. His profile record is in the index, and no one knows about it. From as far as the Alpinos knew, only the Three Races had a record on the magical index, yet somehow, through some miracle—Demonlord was on there. That's how he could communicate with his victims without any issues. How could this be? The mysteries grew instead of unravelled throughout the expedition in this mountain. At some point, even the most convincing knowledge they'd believed in could send them into disarray. Believe that nothing is impossible and everything is possible, that's how you survive Sorrow Mountain. For the third time, she realised that she was holding Maxy's hand tightly, each time more diligent than the last. There were still things troubling her. Questions that were left unanswered. Almost like they were being deceived from the beginning. Almost like –

But in the end, she kept quiet. She could just be repeating things that Maxy already knew, already aware of it, but couldn't bring herself to talk, like her.

'How are we going to stop him from excavating more amethyst?' Maxy started, her face sweaty from the heat. 'He'll only get stronger.'

'We don't want to worry too much about it right now,' replied June. 'Once we reach his lair and snatch the Talisman away from him, the amethyst would be the least of our concerns.'

'Should we try to destroy a big one?' asked Maxy, raising the hammer. 'For good measures, of course.'

'Alright, but we don't wanna take too long.'

Maxy didn't need to be careful, as they were not here to excavate them flawlessly, unlike Demonlord. The rocks embedding the crystals were easy to break, almost as fragile as graphite. The amethyst themselves, however, weren't so easy. In fact, no matter how hard they tried to smash it, the gemstone refused to break.

'Throw it into lava,' Maxy suggested. 'It's not going to break with brute force—at least not us. We lack in strength.'

'Right,' June whispered. 'But where are we going to find a lava pool?'

'That's simple,' Maxy winked. 'Say—have you been feeling the heat coming from around us?'

'Yes. But I can't tell which way leads to the lava pool.'

'You don't have to destroy the amethyst crystal, you know,' said Maxy. 'I didn't know it was this tough.'

'That's fine,' replied June, who was sweating uncontrollably from repeatedly bashing the hammer against the violet gemstone. Glitters of purple crystals glowed in the night, turning her hands to match their colour scheme. An intrusive thought flashed before her mind. What if I touched it with my hands? Surely nothing would go wrong. After all, the pureness and allure of the amethyst crystal were too hard to ignore. It was definitive, divine. Deceptive. Wait. Who said that? Who said deceptive in front of me? There was nothing deceptive about it. Everything about the purple, translucent gemstone was meant to be –

'NO!!! DON'T!!!' Maxy howled. She managed to startle June, but her hand was already on the crystal.

Spasms of electric shock jolted up her arm. Meanwhile, a purple flash appeared where her hand connected with the gemstone. A shockwave sent both of them flying, deafening their ears.

'What was that?' June crawled up to her feet, crying. 

'The amethyst crystals have enchanted properties,' Maxy replied dully. 'Normal people can't even touch it without getting burnt.'

'Then, then demons…'

'Demons feed on magic, and it's also a part of this world,' she explained. 'I'm not an expert on the field, but Demonlord once told me that demons go through a transformation sometime in their lives, imbuing their own blood with magic.' She looked down at her feet as if what she just said was sinful.

'I see,' said June. 'Noted. But what about the lava pools?'

'We could try,' Maxy sniffed the air. 'I can remember where one is now. Follow me.'

She's so weird. June couldn't help but comment and took off with her. They'd knocked off 

a dozen of them each, each the size of a football, and carefully wrapped it around in their thick clothes to avoid contact with it. Maxy had seized my arm after I touched it, and she got shocked too. But she said burning… That didn't feel like burning. The shock was nonetheless painful, but it was adequate and bearable for her. 

The lava pool Maxy talked about was actually a miniature ravine, with a river of hot lava running across at the bottom (June was wondering how lava reached out here at this altitude but guessed that it was blasted straight from the mantle of the earth). It wasn't far away from the gemstone caverns, so they went back and forth and destroyed almost all of the amethyst in the cavern (according to Maxy, who said this was the only reserve Demonlord found). The purple gemstones hissed pneumatically as they sank slowly into the bubbling molten rock. 

'This is all we could do to sabotage Demonlord in the background,' concluded Maxy. It took them about half an hour to excavate and destroy every amethyst crystal in sight, which left them exhausted and unable to move. 

'What now?' June panted. 'I can't even lift up my legs, they feel like lead.'

'We've done a pretty good job,' replied Maxy. 'We've cut off the back support. Now we have less to worry about in the future when things are looking grim.'

'How – exactly – does Demonlord power up the Talisman with the thingamajig?'

'He um…' Maxy concentrated. 'He just kind of put the two objects next to each other, and then the amethyst would lose its purple hue and turn grey. He said that's how he knew the power-up was ready.'

'How long would it take him?'

'When he first got the Talisman, I remember seeing him scowling impatiently as he waited a few days for the amethyst to feed the Talisman power. That's how long it took for a starter,' she paused and saw June sighing with relief. ' – but the more he did it, the faster it got. The last time I saw him doing it, it took him about ten seconds.' 

June's jaw dropped. 'So it's a necessary thing we just did, isn't it?' She looked at her, laughing nervously.

Maxy clenched her fists. 'Now, even if he gets his hands on the smaller chunks, I will do everything I can to stop him. I believe we can defeat him, even by his current abilities.' She unclenched her fists and clutched the metal collar on her waist sorrowfully. ' – if he doesn't decide to interfere with me.'

'Hey, I won't let him,' June patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. 'If there's any way I could prevent that from happening, I will.'

'Actually, there is a way,' Maxy marched back away from the lava pool, which she promptly followed. 'Demonlord must be concentrating his willpower on me to control the collar – and that could be broken if he gets distracted. You could just stand in between us.' She inhaled sharply. 'Not a very good decision, if you ask me.'

June nodded but said nothing.

'Furthermore, he can't just shower us with Talisman attacks. The Talisman is very energy-consuming—even for him—from what I've seen,' she continued. 'He better use it strategically on us, or else he'll just run out of energy, and we can decapitate him.'

'Decapitate him? With what?'

Maxy silently and swiftly drew out a Mainz-style gladius from a bag. 'Demons can tank massive blunt damage attacks, but swords as sharp as this one can pierce through to the bone. Stole this from the workshop. For some reason, Demonlord wanted to make his army of demons wield swords like this isn't mediaeval times. I tested this on a few of them that tried to attack me, and it worked pretty well. Take this one, too.' She drew out another one from her bag and handed it to June.

'Maxy, you can't be serious!' said June. 'I have no experience with swords. I might harm myself or you.'

'Who said I did?' Maxy shrugged. 'Only a few weeks, as far as sword-swinging goes for me. Come on, we don't have much more time.'

'But –' 

'When the time comes, your strength will awaken on its own.'

4

'How did you like my room, hermit?' Demonlord pulled up to Ozin's cell, whispering softly. 'Did you like all the amethyst decorations I placed around the chamber, some hung like a chandelier on the ceiling. It's marvellous if I must say so myself. Oh, why is everyone so shocked?' seeing Ozin's bulging eyes, he laughed sarcastically. 'Oh, you must be so eager to know how there was such a large deposit of amethyst in these caves all this time. Well, after I wipe out every Alpino in your country, that'll be the least of their concerns.' There was blood dripping from Ozin's forehead and mouth, but he kept his mouth shut.

Demonlord coiled his tentacles and wrapped them around the bars like hands impulsively, shaking the room. 

'Before I kill you, I want you to know that there's no hope for the Germans to save you,' he continued calmly. 'I've set up a dangerous game for them to play with a success rate of a thousandth in one. Even those people, who are so weak compared to me get a sporting chance, aren't I generous?'

'They'll beat you, I believe in them,' Ozin started, his voice dry and shaky. 'Even if you dice me into a thousand pieces, the vengeance in their hearts will never vanquish as long as my will continues on. Their vengeance will be directed towards you, Demonlord.'

'Such bad manners,' he snapped, grabbing Ozin from the room effortlessly with fury. 'Shame on you.' He tossed him to the other side of the rock corridor and scowled. Ozin felt the air in him getting forced out as his back made contact with a blunt boulder. Even with the pain shooting through every inch of his insides, he kept dead calm, not giving Demonlord the satisfaction of triumph.

'You're… lucky,' rasped Ozin. 'You'll… be… sorry. When… I… get… my… hands… off… these… restraints.'

'That's so unfortunate. It won't happen,' Demonlord grinned maniacally, revealing his fangs thirsty for bloodlust. 'I need to get your head straight off your current dreams and ambitions because they're just going to cause you more grief and disappointment later. Let's go take a nice blood dip.' With that, he lifted Ozin by his foot and hung him upside-down like a doll with its seams torn apart. He rocked from left to right nauseously as Demonlord took big steps. 

Feeling like he was going to throw up, Ozin inadvertently realised what Demonlord was about to do to him. A basin as large as a bathtub filled with red blood sat in the middle of the lair. Demonlord lifted him over the pool of blood easily and let the dread get to him.

'In we go,' he announced triumphantly like an enthusiastic child. With his hands and legs tied up, he could only watch as the top half of his body submerged into the bloody tub. He forgot to take a deep breath and swallowed a mouthful of coppery blood. What animal did he get this blood from? Perhaps a mixture? He felt sick at the thought but could only endure the kind of torture only criminals would have received back in Alpine. This isn't Alpine. His mind told him. This is hell.

Just as he thought he was about to drown, Demonlord yanked him back to the surface, his claw still holding onto his foot. The blood—it's icy cold! His teeth chattered as he coughed up multiple mouthfuls of it. The coppery stench and saltiness were getting to him, as Alpinos hated blood more than anything else. Demonlord was clearly manipulating him, destroying his sanity before June or anyone could arrive to save them. I… must… endure this! He gasped in between coughs. I… mustn't… give in! Mustn't… let… this… monster… win! He was given a few more seconds to breathe before getting pushed back in, without a hint of mercy. The icy cold blood was freezing his own. Soon his heart would slow down from the cold and lack of oxygen, and he would fall into a coma. It was the repetitiveness that made it so hard to endure. Go in—go out. Go in—go out. Cold—warm. Cold—warm again. His pale green hair was dyed bright red, looking like he'd suffered a fatal wound. 

'My friends… will come and save me!' Ozin shouted, tears rolling down his forehead. 'They will—because I trust them!'

'Don't make a fool of yourself, you indolent hermit!' Demonlord roared—and plunged him back in. 'You're getting old, yet you're acting like such a child! You've lived millennials longer than those brats! Yet you're relying on them to save you! Don't you feel like an idiot?'

'I'm… not… stupid!' He screamed when he came back up. 'And don't you dare call them brats! They've got more guts than you'll ever have! That's why you'll be defeated in the end!'

'I'm seriously going to leave you in there the next time you speak! You horrendous, annoying maggot!' Demonlord snapped. 'Look at your pathetic being, are you seriously believing that anyone is coming to save you? Look at –'

A noise came from the door, which Demonlord didn't notice at first, with all the shouting. Until a butterfly knife came flying at his face. His instincts fired up immediately, and dodged the flying object that was aimed at lodging into his face. The knife hit something behind him with a sharp, clear thunk!

'Leave her friend be,' Maxy spoke with great authority.