Evil

Alliance

"Lord Lionel, the Garlynx Sect approaches." My right-hand man, Charles Harken, warned softly, the faintest hint of a tremor in his gruff voice.

Julius Lionel Barshiek is my name. I was named after my great grandfather, the great warlord, Julian Lionel Barshiek who was a respected and feared individual by righteous and demonic magisters alike for his awe-inspiring power. He was a rank 7 magister, one of the elites of the righteous faction. Despite his power, his heart felt compassion and empathy.

Building Juniper City, he declared it an open city where both righteous and demonic magisters could walk the streets without fear of being killed. Any violators of this peace would be expelled and banished from the city. This allowed Juniper city to flourish in trade, becoming known by both factions as the Gem of the East.

Naturally, being this affluent brought about envious stares of greed, like predators in the shadows waiting to pounce at the opportune time. The Garlynx Sect was simply the biggest of the predators. A dragon in the midst of hyenas.

Unfortunately, we were fighting a war on one front already, against two allied demonic factions.

"The Colvihar Clan?"

"They have chosen to remain neutral."

Bam! I slammed my fist on the table in anger,"Bastards! How are they any better than the demonic factions? Sitting around like vultures circling a corpse, ready to devour the remnants of my clan? Were the rewards too little? Or is the risk too great? Perhaps the Garlynx is allied with them secretly?" Numerous possible scenarios flashed in my head, each one more worrying than the last.

I paced around anxiously, muttering to myself,"What to do? What to do? What to—"

"Lord, if I may?"

I paused, turning to him,"Speak, Charles."

"The Abyss Arena was disrupted yesterday with the appearance of a mortal."

"Hm?"

"The mortal in question went under the alias Artemis. Reports all state she went toe to toe with the rank three magister Electric Monarch and came out on top with two moves despite having fought fifty consecutive rounds prior. The current abilities shown are her inhuman strength, endurance and rapid regeneration of wounds. The only known weakness is her defence. She was easily injured."

"Strength, endurance and regeneration?" I pondered to myself as I asked,"Where is she now?"

"In the Barshiek Clan's inn, Songbird's Retreat."

"Good. Follow me, we shall call upon her." To beat a rank three so easily, it was something one who rivalled a rank 5 magister could accomplish.

Even in the Barshiek Clan, there were only two rank 5 magisters and they were the in the highest echelons of our clan. They were the Grand Elder, Tiberius Barshiek and my father, the Barshiek Clan's leader, Solomon Marvin Barshiek.

They wouldn't take action until a calamity befell the clan so asking them to take action this early would be overkill. Furthermore, they were in closed door training to break through to rank 6 so disturbing them would not be beneficial to us in the long run.

———

A knock sounded at my door, my mood instantly lifting.

Opening the door with a smile,"Is this room ser—Eh?"

Two (charming) men stood at my door. The first had short blonde hair and striking emerald green eyes which captivated me to no end. He wasn't exactly bulky and exploding with muscles but resembled one of those agile gymnasts I had seen participating in the Olympics. Dressed in a shirt that hung loosely off him with a logo of a wyvern on the right shoulder, hiding the assets that lay beneath, he'd easily pass as a model back on earth.