Iskara puts a hand to her face shielding herself from the acrid smoke created by the Boss being vaporized and looks stunned at the ruined plateau.

  What kind of power was that? Iskara cannot believe what her eyes just witnessed.

  The acidic fumes start clearing up slowly in ragged tears.

  A silhoutte starts appearing around lazy, curling ribbons of dust and smoke.

  Jacob appears with the same warm smile of always, looking at her with white teeth piercing through the gloomy battlefield.

  Iskara frowns when a blade of sun hits Jacob and then her face. She looks up, noticing parted clouds that reveal a sunny, clear day.

  The sunlight bites at her and she knows that she's supposed to feel amazement, gratitude, and admiration. Yet, there's only one emotion inside of her now.

  Envy.

  Why him? Why not me? I need that power to fight. I need it more than he does.

  But she shakes her head, trying not to think about it.

  Slowly, she feels the tension leaving her shoulder as Jacob slowly walks toward her.

  The power that she just witnessed will one day be more than enough to fight her family--most likely.

  What was most impressive about what Jacob did, as Iskara at some point realized where the Primordial Spells the Leader of Champions used come from, is that Baalrek the Mad was probably the one to leave behind such spells.

  For a master to leave behind such things, even on a deathbed, to a single disciple who must have been with him for what, less than a decade?

  Iskara shakes her head.

  It doesn't matter how long.

  Even if it had been a lifetime, it's nor unheard of for a master to just bring their best techniques with them in the grave.

  Baalrek the Mad must have loved Jacob dearly, beyond what a parent loves a son, Iskara suddenly thinks, realizing that she's not felt the same love not even from her own mother. Not even close.

  Iskara moves before she can overthink it any further. She lunges forward and throws her arms around Jacob, pulling him into an intimate, desperate embrace. She buries her face in the crook of his neck, hiding her expression from the world.

  Jacob groans. He almost crumbles under the sudden weight, his legs shaking from the aftershocks of The Devil's Engine.

  “We did it, huh?” Jacob says, clearing his throat. His voice is raspy, broken by the exhaustion, but it carries a warmth that makes her skin prickle. Jacob returns the hug as tightly, if not more.

  Iskara has very contrasting feelings. On the one hand, she wants to run away from Jacob, on the other, he feels like the home she never had. Perhaps, he could be her home.

  Yet, for a moment, as she adjusts her face, her eyes peek over his shoulder, staring past the man who just ended the Boss. She locks her gaze on the obelisk, pulsating wildly with purple light now that it gorged on the power of the fallen Boss.

  Yet, it's Jacob the one who ends the hug and actually points at the obelisk with his thumb.

  “Look at that,” he says, oblivious to her. “Pretty nice, huh? Just give me a moment and then we can absorb it.”

  * * *

  Iskara looks at the exhausted Jacob sitting on the ground.

  “So, you said that the other Trial was tough. Was it tougher than this?”

  Jacob curls his lips and thinks, with his eyes pointed at the sunny sky.

  “I don't think so. It was more of a mind game than a physical challenge like this one.”

  “And you're good at mind games,” Iskara smiles. “Aren't you?”

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Jacob cackles evilly.

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  “Come on, don't stupid,” Iskara says. “How was it? You mentioned that Nimirea was there.”

  “I mean, it was tough. One of the two new Champions died and Nimirea herself didn't make it,” Jacob sighs and yawns, clearly feeling tired in Iskara's eyes.

  “Almost?” Iskara frowns. “You almost managed to kill her?”

  “What?” Jacob frowns back and then something on Iskara's expression makes him change his own. “Oh.”

  “What?” Iskara feels that something is off and suddenly understands. “Did you... let her off?”

  “I mean,” Jacob coughs, “no. Not in that way. I didn't have an actual chance to... kill her myself.”

  “Jacob,” Iskara stiffens. “Did you have the chance to kill the Leader of Dark Champions and did you not take it?”

  “I want the Dark Champions to turn,” Jacob reveals. “I don't expect you to understand, but trust me on this one.”

  Iskara, thinking of the Infernal man she met, looks at Jacob as if he was the biggest fool in the world.

  “Jacob, are you seriously telling me that you had the chance of killing her, our biggest enemy, literally the one who one-handedly beat all the Champions together, and you just let her go?”

  “It doesn't sound great if you put it like that,” Jacob scratches his head. “But again, trust me, Iskara, I got this.”

  You don't, Iskara thinks, terrified by Jacob's stupidity.

  “They're not going to change sides, Jacob. They've given everything to their God. Do you understand that if they made a pact with Asmodeus, there's no way they could just walk away without paying with their life?”

  “If killing Asmodeus is what it takes to free them, we'll cross that bridge when the time comes,” Jacob says.

  “You can't just say that!” Iskara is panicking now.

  He doesn't understand the gravity of what he did!

  “Jacob, I need you to promise me that the next time we face the Dark Champions, you'll try everything in order to kill them all. And not just them, any of our enemies.”

  Images of her mother flash in her mind.

  “Iskara, I'm not an idiot. I'm not saying I would let them do just about anything. But I think that fighting them directly is stupid. Let's decimate their ranks, let's take people from them. Let's free them. Then, the Generation of Legends will be even stronger than before.”

  “I hate to interrupt,” the Mithril Golem says. “I should congratulate you both, but I fear I have bad news.”

  Jacob and Iskara turn toward Liuthkrav.

  “What happened? Is there any problem back at the Academy? I'll deal with it when--”

  “It's not about you,” Liuthkrav says, looking at Jacob and then turning his eyes to Iskara.

  Iskara feels her heart plunge.

  “Your mother arrived at the Academy and is demanding that the Headmaster hands you over. Vice Principal John is currently dealing with her.”

  Iskara feels like her worst fear just materialized. She feels like her heart plunged from her chest into her stomach, like her ribs are about to break from the weight of the news.

  Mother must have realized that the oath was broken and now she came to pick me up--she's probably going to torture me to death until she finds the most bloody way of extracting Lucifer's Veins from my cold corpse.

  “Iskara, this is not going to be a problem. Your mother can't do anything while you're attending the Academy. The Headmaster ensures that. She might be powerful, but it's the Headmaster we're talking about.”

  Iskara says nothing and just feels like her entire body is about to have a seizure, like her life is just about to end in front of her eyes.

  Where she finds comfort, sadly, is in her pocket.

  She grabs the Dark Seed and she feels a tiny tendril of power shooting up her veins.

  There's immense power in it--so much that she still has to absorb it but already feels it.

  “Iskara, look at me,” Jacob pleads, extending a hand. “We'll do this, together. I'll be behind you every step of the way. I'll raze your mother's Kingdom to the ground if I need to.”

  Iskara looks at Jacob--she looks at the man who saved their worst enemy from certain death, and feels a tear coming out of her left eye.

  She looks at his extended hand and steps backward.

  She looks over her shoulder, toward the obelisk.

  “Don't,” Jacob says, begging. “Please. I'll help you.”

  Jacob understands what Iskara is about to do.

  “I'm sorry, Jacob. You're not enough.”

  When Iskara looks back at him from the obelisk, her eyes don't have pupils anymore. She has activated Lucifer's Veins and it manifested through the famous Golden Sight.

  Yet, the surface of the eyes is not a pure smooth golden anymore. There are black veins of darkness in the gold.

  “Greater Haste,” Iskara says and she moves at insane speed toward the obelisk, ready to smash it into a million pieces.

  Yet, she finds herself suddenly pushed back.

  She widens her eyes when she finds Jacob transformed into his Infernal form, looking at her with disappointment.

  “You must stop,” he says while his wings, one demonic one angelic, slowly fan at his back. “The Headmaster will protect you, Iskara. I will protect you. I know you're panicking, Iskara, but your mother can't do anything to you right now.”

  “I don't' care,” Iskara spits out, slashing with her claw at Jacob. “Greater Strength. Herculean Might.”

  Jacob parries with his sword and steps back, narrowing his eyes at her.

  “If you think you're getting to the obelisk, Iskara, you're dead wrong.”

  Iskara suddenly feels a massive aura blooming from Jacob and his next attack blows her back several paces.

  “How?!” She asks, confused. “You were exhausted!”

  “I wasn't,” Jacob says, cracking his neck. “You were not injured and you didn't attack the Boss, so you didn't receive nor need any healing. The plateau healed me like after any other wave.”

  “But you--”

  “I lied,” Jacob says with a smile, pointing the tip of his silvery sword at her, with the blade now growing in size like it did when he obliterated the Boss. “And I'm going to put some sense into you now, whether you like it or not.”