"That's a wrap!" Grandpa Lich's voice boomed throughout the chamber, rattling no one but Zohnos, still cautiously eyeing the undead as he clung to Hogaz and his sister.

"Camp out here or make use of the dormitories, you're all capable mystics. And worry not. I've ensured their cleanliness." Grandpa Lich called to the class, pointing down the hall from which we came before gesturing to me. "Now, come! There are a few hours until dark. We have some catching up to do."

Naturally, everyone but the Tritons trailed Toril, Roheisa and the others in an attempt to learn more about my great-grandfather's eccentric clone. Yet they remained a respectable distance behind us and distanced themselves further once we entered the clearing.

"Roheisa." He smiled warmly at her, a knowing glint in his eyes. "You look so much like Jamettus at this age. Besides… you know." He tossed his head, looking away to my paladin. "And Toril! What a fine paladin you have become! So touched by death! And you!" he faced Jaimess. "Chosen by me to work numbers. Chosen by my great-grandson to be a diplomat. Now, Jaimess has been chosen by the legendary Tengu! Marvelous!" Nodding firmly at Jaimess, he turned to Ed with a wide grin and spread arms. "A renowned Grandmaster Artificer already! And now, a greater legend of Corvus Tower. Edward Pascal!" Finally, his eyes fell on Lucia. "A Valkyrie! No." He squinted curiously, then suddenly rocked back on his heels. "An Empress of Valkyries! You are the honor of your blood, Lady Pike! Hmm." He nodded resolutely to her, dissimilar to the gesture he gave Ed, but then spun on his heels to face me, beaming with surprise. "So they tell me you're a god!"

'You mean I told… ugh. Whatever.' I groaned internally, then sighed out my frustrations as I began pulling darkness and light from my cores and mixing them as they rose into my mind to be mixed with my memories and sent to my hand.

From what seemed a puddle of water rose a shining sphere of light akin to a crystal ball. And within was the sight of a violet-skinned woman with long ears, seen through my eyes before they turned to my father for the first time. "I am what some would call a Divine Soul." I explained while my memories continued. "Before being born, I met the creator of this universe, Telin. The source of mana, affinity cores, the gates, and the reason for the elves appearing in Maru, both in your time and now. He named me as his champion but told me this life would be neither a paradise nor a punishment; neither a heaven nor a hell. Only a test. One I've spent my life preparing for."

"Prepared you have!" he echoed, panning his eyes across those he spoke to and the many onlookers beyond.

"As have others." I snorted. "After they unlocked the secrets of his portals, he gave the elves of Youtera tasks to prepare for my arrival. Their gods gave them more. Much like the tasks that made them meet you and my father. They're slaves to the gods in that way. I, however, am only tasked with living freely as the eternal god of this universe, if only to be judged to see if I'm worthy of rising to his station."

I met his expectant gaze with a flat stare. "I mean, he didn't even ask, so decided I didn't want to join him shortly after being born."

"Wahahahaha!" He roared. "That explains a lot! Your mother. Your intellect and strangeness. Your ambitions. Still, to find you are the god of the universe, and yet walk the path of the first devil is… shocking, to say the least. It puts you on par with Cole, Grimm, and Nergal. Or, it will one day."

My ears perked up. "Cole was a god?"

"Some believed he was. If only because he was the first void sorcerer the realms had known for ages. And a half-elf, like you." He carelessly shrugged before gesturing to my troupe, teleporting in to sit nearby. "But you are! And it seems, so are they!" He gestured to the many Conditor before him. "Yours, I presume?"

"Indeed." I couldn't help but beam wide. "They are my party. And all of them are the result of all my hard work, and theirs. I proposed a deal to them - help me in my endeavors to liberate and stabilize Maru and I shall share with them my everything. I trained them during the second half of last year, taught them my knowledge, and educated them in the ways of war known to me in my previous life, augmented by what you've taught me of magic and might. I outfitted them with the enchantments I learned to create here, melded with the technology I've brought into this universe. They are now warlocks, patron'd to me through their service. My precious explorers, through whom I can vicariously explore the realms. My legions of demigods, led by the gods of my empire, you see before you. The Legio Noctis."

His grin, wide and proud, died the moment he heard the name. He snapped forward, clearing several meters in a few quick strides to drift among the ranks and gaze into their souls one by one. Some stood dauntless; others seemed apprehensive. Still, his face remained immutable, even as he turned to me. "They will be tested."

I grinned, matching the faces of a few like Toril, Jaimess, and Samson, among many others. "Very well."

"And these," Grandpa Lich said, appearing meters away, standing among the Troupe at my rear. "They are warlocks too, yes?"

"My party, the Elven Devil's Troupe. And yes, but they're different from the legions," I said, pointing to the Lunarian's Imperator. "For context, Hogaz was my first warlock. He received the power he wanted in exchange for madness, although that power is my Moonlight. He is my investigator and a mariner. It was through him that I discovered my ability to create pacts without written contracts."

"A power of the Archfae." Grandpa Lich nodded.

"So they say." I shrugged. "Perhaps that's why I became a Rogue Devil when I evolved." Again, he got a laugh at that. "My sorcerous class, however, is the Path of Zefroth. That's what gave me the eyes and teeth and horns and everything else. My most recent tasks were to create four warlocks and have them evolve beneath my divine tree. They are Undying Fiends. But so too did I bless them. Tremendously, however. I did what the Bodhi Tree wishes it could do and pushed them through their paths before their ritual, combining them into legendary classes.

"My herald of death, Wilson Koorb, was the first." I motioned to him, who for once, was open and respectful.

"A pleasure, great Magus." Wilson bowed, palming his skeletal hand over his chest.

Grandpa Lich leaned back, nodding with an approving frown. "A Nox Lich," he said to me, then explained in response to my blank gaze. "They are like liches - undying beings patron'd by our family. Not true liches, though, as they don't need a fresh intake of souls to remain sane. Nor do they need a phylactery. His soul is in your underworld, yes? Part of it, at least? Thus, like a lich, that is where he will go should he be defeated, where he'll remain for a time before returning. Even if it means making a new body. Like our shadows, they only truly die if you do."

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"Partially, I suppose." I shrugged. "They're also devils, though. Or, they will be. For now, their abilities have been corrupted. Wilson was a hedge wizard and renowned alchemist. Now he's the Eldritch Artificer. With Corrosive, Corruption, Chemical, and Disaster magics, he creates potions, enchantments, and equipment for my undead."

"Ah!" Grandpa Lich proclaimed with much exaggeration. "He is your Urda!"

"Y-yes." I nodded.

"I'm certain you know where to learn the true ways of the lich and not this… privileged position." Grandpa Lich grinned knowingly at me as he stopped before my bard, triggering my introductory announcement.

"Famine Incarnate. Rickley Ravenbrook, Fiendish Fencer and the Soul Celebrity."

"Intriguing." He leaned down, studying her as he scratched his beard. "I never thought of bringing along a bard on my journeys. I always thought them obsessed with boners and bosoms or gold and glory. That, or they are simply obnoxious."

"Oh, I can get all the glory, gold, boners, and bosoms I want!" She charmingly sang. "The macabre melodies that make one dance their way to death's door and the secrets mortals carry to their graves - that's all I care for."

"Speaking of." I chimed in. "Nergal is a bard. At least, I think. I met him or his avatar before I left Nydorden Halls, when I finally opened Death's Door. He spoke only in rhymes."

For the first time, Grandpa Lich stared at me with wide, unbelieving eyes that screamed, 'We'll talk about this later.' Then, he turned to our druid.

"Reina Featherfall." I announced. "First Druid of my magical light, combined with our sorcerous darkness - twilight. A crafter of flesh. An Undying Fiend with affinities for Disease, Plant, Flesh, and Life itself. A Divine Mother of Nature who creates her own life."

"So much like Grandmother Corvus, yet so different." Everandus mused. "Not blight but… pestilence. And not only plants but… flesh. Intriguing!"

"I- it's such an honor to meet you, great Magus!" Reina gushed in the same way she did to Corvus, but unlike our ancestor, he patiently calmed her with a raised palm as he turned to the mad lad himself.

"Leary, the Faithful." I announced. "The Goblin Paragon. My wrath made manifest. The embodiment of war. A Super-Villain."

"Why, you are perhaps the mightiest, most regal goblin I have ever laid eyes on."

"Damn straight!" Leary smirked. And his army screamed from the hills.

"UNDYING GOBLIN EMPEROR!"

"But they were not my first companions. My first companion, I adopted."

I then told him of my domains, my split pantheons, and my ability to create pacts through those domains besides having clerics. He flicked his eyes between those that remained, trying to figure out which one it was. And he focused on Iris before his eyes flicked down to her shadow. "You have taken on the name of Cole." A statement, not a question.

"How could you tell?" I asked, half-knowing the answer.

"The shadows cling to her lovingly. My undead long to meet her." He met her gaze. "Tell me, though light may not harm you, do you feel… restless during the day? More at ease at night; akin to a weight being lifted?"

A flash of recognition flashed through not just her eyes, but nearly all the Troupe.

"She is patron'd to the ArcaTech, and she is a cleric of my engineering domain. Her pact saw her be reborn with my blood, divine and sorcerous, into a body of machine-flesh - an augmented human, capable of evolution without magic similar to Vampyr. The sorcery she adopted from me reflects this, and being a cleric of my artificing prowess allows her to bless or cast divine spells on machines more so than people."

"Lady Iris of the House of Cole." Everandus bowed respectfully. "Welcome to the family."

I then explained that Blude and her girls, as well as Geri and Freki, were all possessed by the spirits of the Menagerie and touched by the moon. The girls merged with sky orcas, allowing them to transform and traverse the sea. The next two were werewolves. And then, the one who was fated to teach me of drow culture. The one who wound up being my monastic tutor. Etan Za'Darmondiel.

"Though he has been blessed by me to become a unique type of drow, he made his pact with another."

Everandus' brow rose expectantly. Thus, Etan answered. "Two beings. Ari and Zmon. Sphinxes. Resurrected from the astral plane."

"Etan had a condition, however." I grinned, gesturing to the many night elves spread among the branches. "Don't they look familiar?"

"Members of House Za'Darmondiel, among others." Everandus said with a nod. "I've met the drow of Shujen."

"And you've noticed how their likeness is so similar to that of my mother's?"

"It's been some time but… now that you mention it." He shrugged.

"Etyl Za'Darmondiel, the former prime matron, is my mother's baby sister. These are all my cousins. And Abbot Eiriol is my maternal great-grandmother."

"Heh, you don't say?" Everandus chortled, then descended into a rolling laughter that lasted for several disconcerting moments.

"Yeah," I droned. "My recent foray into Zimysta Falls ended with me voiding the Queen Demon Spider's avatar. A lot of energy goes into creating one - I mean, I can't even make one yet - so I imagine it was quite the setback for her. Yet, she made it clear that this was only the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if she told every drow on the Mortal Plane everything she knows about me. Especially the ones in Maru. Regardless, these ones are of the night now. And Etan's brother, Eban, is my wizard. He made a pact with… er…"

"The venerable red dragon you made a deal with?"

"Fuck." I tutted.

"Did you not think my son would have descended to my underworld to tell me the instant he learned?" Everandus roared with laughter as he cracked my back with his bear-like palm in ways that made me more unsettled by the moment.

"I, er, suppose he would have." I admitted after wiping the blood from my mouth. "I was put up against her during last year's ceremony. I've since learned it was Zorrenor's machinations, given with Dende Morningstar's approval. But either way, yes. I made a deal with her."

His brows only rose.

"By greatly stroking her ego." I nodded, feeling no less at ease. "I offered to turn her into a shadow dragon and be granted dominion- countless lairs in the Darkworld. To sweeten the deal, I offered gold in exchange for her inherited knowledge; I'd accelerate her aging in exchange for accompanying me on my travels until she reached the ancient wyrm stage, where she would remain in perpetuity; and… she could try to eat me whenever she wants." I dismissively added.

"Wah!" Everandus laughed. "You always were audacious!"

"Yes…" I awkwardly nodded. "In exchange, our spirits were tied, as dragon souls are… weird."

"Indeed." He snorted.

"We have a telepathic bond and can share power, among other things, but the important bit is that our bond and my divine soul made her ascend alongside me. She is a divine dragon of darkness; the first of a new type of chromatic dragon. Cononthoth, the Exalted Gloom, and she will give rise to more; birthed by her, laid by the Nonusian Tree of Life, and made from existing dragons, corrupted by our sorcery. I've been made aware that this pleased Tiamat. And…" I paused, pointing at our wizard. "Eban here, has made a pact with her."

"In this form, I am Sovereign Galendra." The towering dragon in drow form surprised me by stepping from my shadow to lower her head just slightly as she met my forefather's eyes.

"Well met, Sovereign! All of you!" He beamed at them, meeting each of them in the eye. "I am Amun's great grandfather, known by some as the Necro King. Here, however, I am only known as Everandus Cole! You, uh, remind me much of my old party." He turned to me, rubbing his beard with a nostalgic smile. "Only it was me, Jamettus, a few others, and a bunch of liches. Not undying devils, and certainly not divine warlocks. But impressive all the same. However." He turned grim as he faced each pair of eyes in the crowd, darkness rippling off his form. "For you to bear the mark of the Nox means you must be blessed by death and graced by darkness. I trust my great-grandson has taught you well what this means."

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