Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

Surprisingly, the location of the Ghost King's portal was only an hour ride from Vertshadow on broomstick.

The Ghost King rode on Lucan's shoulder while Silent rested in his shadow. The broom landed in front of a collapses cottage in the woods.

Shifting the debris aside, Lucan found a trap door leading to a stone cellar. He could faintly see an outline of a portal with Menta's eye.

"If you channel ethereal essence into it, you should be able to activate the portal as long as it hasn't decayed to the point of becoming useless." The Ghost King said.

Lucan stretched out his hand and let ethereal mana fuse into the portal. Slowly, an outline of a large gate started to appear. With a sudden idea, Lucan stopped what he was doing.

"What's wrong?" The Ghost King asked.

"Nothing, I just had an idea."

Before activating the portal all the way, Lucan decided to create a shadow tunnel incase he needed to make his own way back. Yes, he could use a return scroll, but it was better to establish his own passageway.

With his spell completed, he finished activating the portal. A pale green gate stood before him. On the other side was a barrier of green energy. Pulling the gate open, Lucan walked into the portal.

He was struck with a dizzy feeling and shut his eyes as he walked through. Suddenly the temperature changed, he could feel a blistering heat on his face and all around him. Lucan opened his eyes.

He was in a new realm, but wasn't alone. 20 red-skinned figures with horns surrounded him, blocking off his retreat while pointing spears at him. They started to speak to him in a language he didn't understand.

"Squeak, squeak." The Ghost King scurried into his pocket. Lucan activated a telepathic connection with the mouse to ask what was going on, but only received a single word in response. 'Devils.'

Unable to understand what they were saying, the warlock attempted to connect to one of them with telepathy. The moment they noticed his magic target one of their own, the devils became irate and readied their weapons to attack. Lucan's quickly stopped the spell and put away his scepter to show he meant no harm.

As he put the scepter in his bag, he grabbed a return scroll and took it out.

"He, he, that will do you no good here." Said a voice in the common langue. "If you don't believe me, you are free to try."

Lucan did so, he activated the return scroll, but nothing happened.

The devil's wearing matching armor, stepped aside as something 10 feet tall walked into the encirclement. White skin, bones protruding from its flesh wrapping the creature in its self-made armor, with a tail dragging behind it, the devil sauntered up to Lucan.

"Little mortal, you are either brave or truly foolish to infiltrate a devil camp in the nine hells. He, he, do you have no fear?"

Lucan looked around and realized he was in the center of a large military camp.

'Crap.' He cursed to himself. "This is just a misunderstanding. I meant you no harm."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, your intentions are meaningless, your actions are everything." The devil before him was a level 150 Elite, there was no way he and Silent would be able to defeat him in combat. He had to find another way to save them.

"I-, I came through a portal believing the ethereal realm was on the other side. It seems that is no longer the case."

"Indeed, you are in the nine hells." The bone devil said. "The ethereal realm has been removed from this place for many years."

"My mistake, I will be going now." Lucan said, turning to leave. The encirclement of devils closed in and stopped him from taking another step.

"Do you truly believe that those who enter the nine hells are free to leave when they wish too." The bone devil took a step closer to Lucan. "The only way you are leaving this place alive, is if you make a deal with me. Otherwise… my men have been lacking fresh meat." The devil said while salivating.

Lucan frowned. "What do you want?"

"You will sell your soul to me and I will grant you power, I can make you stronger, I can give you the ability to crush all those who would oppose you, and when you die, you will come and serve me for eternity."

Lucan's expression changed. "Ah, you're in the sales game too. What a coincidence. So am I, the name is Lucan Quilldrake, Hand of the false god Raze, I sell all powers related to shadows and mental magic. If you want to create shadow servants, you come to me. If you want to bewitch the mind, you come to me. If you want to intimidate, devastate, and corrupt, you come to me. Just think my name three times and ask for power. All abilities belonging to mental and shadow magic can be attained if you have the experience to spend."

"Interesting, very interesting. But I happen to know that Raze sells to the demons of the abyss, the Duke of Flames has made a large impact there. Wouldn't that make your Raze my enemy?" The bone devil asked with a taunting smile.

"We are a neutral party who sells to any that can afford it. Instead of being your enemy, how about I be your ally. Wouldn't you be removing the advantage the demons have from buying from the Duke of Flames if you bought from me as well? Would your superiors reward you for offering the armies of the nine hells another source of strength? Wouldn't you become revered for your contributions to the cause?"

The bone devil squinted his eyes before speaking to the devils in an unknown langue. Before Lucan could say anything else the 10-foot-tall being left the encirclement. The devils with there spears leveled towards the warlock started pushing him towards the center of the camp.

Lucan was forced into an iron cage that was then hoisted into the air and hung over a pit of lava. Looking bellow, he could see hungry serpents frolicking in the molten material, eagerly waiting for their meal to be delivered, but even after 15 minutes of hanging, the cage never dropped into the lava bellow.

Lucan was unsure of his fate, but he still had hope. The devils hadn't killed him immediately, the one who spoke to him, obviously wanted him alive for some reason. While he was tempted to try and escape the devil camp, a part of him was hoping he could make a deal with the devils. It could turn into a very lucrative business deal if things went his way.

Without warning, the cage lurched. It dropped five feet down before stopping, then slowly rose back to its original height. The sudden fall scared Lucan for a moment but he regained his calm a moment later. This continued for hours. Sporadically, the cage would drop different heights before he would be pulled back up.

After half a day, the bone devil appeared at the edge of the lava pit. "Answer my questions or the next fall won't be stopped."

Lucan looked towards the devil with a bored expression and then yawned. "What do you want?"

"Tell me why you really came here, what is Raze planning by sending you into our camp?"

"Sigh. He didn't send me, I already told you how I came to be here."

The bone devil smiled. "We will see if you keep the same story while you are burning alive." The devil waved his hand and the cage dropped, this time it didn't stop. It plunged into the lava bellow, only stopping when it was almost completely submerged.

The bone devil frowned. Lucan still stood expressionless in the cage, not bothered by the lava.

A second Lucan appeared on the far side of the lava pit, laying on the ground as if he was lounging at the beach. With an illusion in place, Lucan used shadow form to escape the cage and entered stealth after he cleared the pit. Silent had left his shadow and merged into the bone devil's. With her following him for half a day, he knew that there was a good chance he would be able to make a deal. He just needed to wait around for it to happen.

Dismissing the illusion in the cage, Lucan stood up and stretched his back before walking towards the devil.

"So, what did your superiors decide?" He asked nonchalantly.

"You dare to play me as a fool."

"You would only be a fool if you miss this opportunity."

"Hmph, you will come to meet my commander, or you will die here and now."

Lucan picked up his pace and followed the bone devil. "Alright, lets go make a sale." He said as he eagerly followed the devil while Silent merged back into his shadow.