For nearly a few seconds neither of the two fighters talked, they just rested a bit, searching for any opportunities. The face of the female warrior was still getting weirder and weirder but didn't affect her in anything else besides the color of her skin. Seeing this, the old mage began to grin a little, since he was hoping that she would be weakened by his spell. None of them would admit it, but they were exhausted and couldn't fight anymore. The first to recover enough of his strength would be the winner. And while the woman was more injured than her opponent, her breath was noticeably calmer.

The previously strong and resilient white armor was getting corroded as the seconds passed and the leather armor under it was perfectly visible in multiple parts of her body. Her helmet that was half destroyed only show her green face filled with determination. Even with only that slight glimpse, one could easily tell that she was beautiful, but that aspect didn't prevent the cultist from trying to kill her. And since the two of them were stuck, she began to ask what was bothering her mind.

"Who sold us out?"

Hearing this, the white-bearded man began to laugh, only to realize that he was wasting his breath. With his face expressing his discontent at that situation, he only smiled and began to rub his chin.

"Oh oh oh, would you look at that, the great princess of Massalia asking me something? And even when we are all alone and in the middle of the night. You know, we could do something else, if you want too. Don't worry, I will share my experience with you."

As he spoke those daring word, he began to show a salacious expression on his face, to provoke the woman even more. But all he met was just plain disinterest. She did react when he began to move his hand but relaxed a little after seeing no danger. Unfortunately, the answer that she got was not what she wanted. Sighting about the fact that she will never find the true culprit, she began to prepare her body for her attack.

"But since I am the sole survivor, I can probably give you a hint. In exchange for something."

The words of the magician took her by surprise. She didn't expect him to talk at all, his cult caused a lot of problems in the last decades. They were predicting the return of the dark gods from the legends and therefore acted in a way that could please them. Like their names were suggesting, those beings of supreme power created countless disasters when they were still alive or present on the planet. But by now, a lot of those damages were fixed, except the few exceptions that would be a reminder for all eternity. So, for someone like that, to talk to her, that was in charge of the security of the kingdom was strange at the least.

"What do you want? You know very well that nothing you could be saying would save you! The best I can offer is the fact that your body won't be disintegrated and threw through the Lake!"

Hearing this, the old man truly laughed for the first time since a few days. He totally discarded his safety and even began to pant. The sight baffled the princess, not expecting her enemy to be this carefree. At the same time that she could use this opportunity to finish him, she was now really curious. What did she say that could be so funny for him?

"Nothing can save me HAHAHAHA! Don't worry princess, I won't die today. As for what I could tell you, you would be the one glad to still be alive after hearing it. I don't care for whatever will happen to my body, the only thing I want from you, besides this wonderful laugh, is your impression of that pillar of light that we saw."

"The pillar of light? What are you babbling about old fool? I have no idea of what it is, I only care about why it is happening in the Kingdom of Massalia."

The magician shook his head hearing this. He was clearly not satisfied by this answer, so he began to reformulate his question.

"What I am saying this, did you feel fear when you saw it? Did you feel that doom was arriving on his chariot, ready to swallow the entire world once again? Did you feel it?"

And as he spoke, he began to slowly march toward the warrior. The light provided by the two moons above their heads was barely enough to allow her to see the madness in the eyes of the cultist. He was smiling and looked ecstatic about something that she couldn't understand. No matter how hard she thought, the only possibility was the pillar of light. He turned weird when he began to talk about it and by linking the missing part, she understood something far too terrifying for her, causing her to unconsciously step back.

"No! This can't be! It's impossible, they are all dead! Everything was destroyed!"

"HAHAHA, you know very well that's not true! You know the song that every bard recites, do you want me to sing it or do you remember now? It begins like that .."

"SHUT UP!"

The princess violently threw her sword at the distant magician, hoping to kill him. But that na?ve though was not realized as she saw the sword stop barely a meter away from its target. Knowing that she lost the initiative she rolled back toward the corpse of another warrior and took his sword. She was ready for anything, except what was happening. The old cultist didn't even fight back, he just maniacally laughed as he manipulated the sword in the air.She cursed herself for not attacking him when he was lost in madness.

"Look over here!"

Not finding anything better than one of the oldest trick in the book, she shouted that at the intention of the magician. But while her original intention was to distract her opponent, the location that she was looking at baffled her. No matter how obscure the night was, it was still fairly visible, especially for people like her and the bearded man. But one location was filled with darkness, that even she couldn't see through. The fact that the female warrior was staring quite intensely at something finally woke up the cultist from his trance. And he too finally noticed the veil of shadows that was standing still.

Both of them looked at each other, but all they saw was utter surprise and disbelief. None of them were responsible for something like that and with their recent conversation, the only logical solution was a legend. The man instantly threw himself to the ground, venerating the shadows while the princess pointed her sword at it.

"GREAT DARK GODS! This servitor worked for your return with all his might. He is awaiting your instructions."

For a few seconds, nothing happened, causing the pious shout to be quite comical. Only after a long moment of silence, where the two humans just hoped for it to be true for one and false for the other, did the shadows moved. Even after being prepared for it, both of the former fighters shivered at that sight. Truly the name of dark gods was a good choice.

"?tenalp siht fo eman eht si tahW" asked an infantile, yet feminine voice.

Now, the two humans were truly shocked. Who would have expected a god to have such a young voice? The princess even began to thought that if a young girl was in front of her, she wouldn't have a voice that sounded different. But the main problem was the fact that none of them understood each other. Probably after seeing the faces of incomprehension, the shadows began to move near a warrior that was not quite dead. In fact, if he wasn't healed in less than an hour, he had no chance of survival.

Unfortunately for him, it was not a priest that was coming for him but the Grim Reaper incarnated. The warrior and the magician perfectly saw a tentacle leaving the shadows and began to wrap itself around the injured soldier. Then, after lifting him in the air, it entered his mouth and after a few muffled sounds, the wounded man stood still. The tentacle then spread in his entire corpse and began to merge back to the main shadows. The only thing that remained in the air was a little blue sphere that quickly followed the same trail that the cadaver.

"Do you understand me?" The same voice of a child resonated in the air. But unlike last time where it was met with surprise and disbelief, this time adoration and terror were present. The cultist began to recite his entire set of prayers while the princess was shaking on her feet. She had seen a lot of things, but not anything like the monster in front of her. Nothing was left from the man that followed her in her expedition.

Probably happy with their reaction, the shadows extended her tentacle to gather all the corpses around it. No matter who they were, warrior or cultist, male or female, human or not, everyone disappeared for all eternity in the obscure mass of darkness. During this entire process, the two survivors didn't dare to even move a muscle, even the magician stopped talking. His belief was unshakable, but he still feared the anger of the dark gods. Figuring that the only way that they could be appeased would be a sacrifice, he turned his sight on the beautiful princess.

Profiting that she was still in shock from what was happening around her, the old magician casted one of his most terrifying incantations. This spell was used by the monsters of the legends and one of the few remnants of their existence, no matter how hard the different kingdoms tried to destroy it. Right after he recited the last syllable, a dark light appeared between his hands. Only at that moment did the princess realized how dire the situation was for her, albeit a little too late.

"Take my [Sever Soul]!"