The Prince of Demons

Krahinn

Mortals were the worst. Lords I hate mortals. Nil was simultaneously innovative and the largest moron on the face of existence. How to not die? This was not good. Composing breaths. How long did we have? I activated my , measuring Nil’s current . We had a few hours thankfully. Nil successfully cast , trapping all of us in it. He even managed to alter the time standard; this was a truly proper . Nil has serious talent for . That was for considering later; now was for getting us out of here. I was trying hard not to scream at the moment. How? How to get out of here? If this space collapsed it would be destructive to say the least. What should we do? I racked my brain. Ipnerslei was doing some calm breaths as she paced in little circles. I wanted to strangle Nil, which would end up in the collapsing. I mean, I would survive. Hoggdin probably was durable enough to survive the collapse; it would take us a while to heal though. Ipnerslei didn’t have the to live. Lords, why? Why give an idiot the ability to make pocket spaces that’ll kill them and anyone unfortunate enough to be dragged in. Wait, was in the compendium. I mean, trapping the Void King in something like this and leaving before collapsing it on him should do massive damage. I inspected the actual a bit better. As much as I hate the Void King, if he could think of an out in a matter of seconds, that’s problematic. Or the solution was simple. Actually, I knew how I could get out. Yea, the entire challenge was getting them out. Just great.

“So, Krahinn, when did you become this brat’s ? I thought you hated mortals.” Hoggdin teased with a shiza eating grin as he wandered over to me.

“I am not a , and I still dislike mortals!” I snarled back at him.

“Could have fooled me.” Hoggdin taunted. I was going to kill this giant lizard.

“Taunting each other is not going to be productive.” Ipnerslei interjected, still looking like she was hanging on by a thread. Nil was sitting slouched over, looking guilty. I let out a heavy sigh. I made a promise to Hugminn I’d keep her safe. Which unfortunately meant I needed Nil to somehow cast a way out.

“Shape up Nil, pity your stupidity later.” I snapped at him which got me a glare from Ipnerslei.

“What?” I asked her as she was giving me a disapproving stare.

He had no way of knowing just how dangerous the was. Ipnerslei lectured. Why was she like this?

Nil is the entire reason we are here; he tends to cast first think second and he needs to have some sense on just how dangerous some of his ideas are beat into his skull. I snarled back.

You could be the one to show him how to be better. Ipnerslei retorted. I wanted to smack her.

Why do you want me to end my life? I shot back as I mulled over our predicament.

I don’t want you to end your life Krahinn; I think you should try moving forward. Being Nil’s doesn’t mean you’ll die if he fails. Ipnerslei lectured. I let out a sigh.

Why are you like this? I grumbled. Even now, Ipnerslei was pushing like this.

Because I know you’ll think of an out. Ipnerslei answered. Ugh. Fine.

Still not saying I’ll be his , but I’ll drop it for now. I conceded. Her upbeat positivity was obnoxious.

“Come on Nil, we need a solution.” I stated, trying not to sound deadpan. Nil looked at me with narrowed eyes.

“What did Ipnerslei tell you?” Nil inquired. Sheesh, no faith in me.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I deflected. Hoggdin chuckled next to me.

“Definitely not a .” Hoggdin chuckled. Only three of us need to get out of here you blasted lizard.

“Good luck getting out of here you scaled bomslog.” I shot back. Hoggdin’s mouth began glowing as he looked at Nil.

“Hoggdin, we are all leaving here today. Do not threaten to scorch Nil.” Ipnerslei assured him.

“I’m still going to attack Nil the instant we are out of here.” Hoggdin threatened. Nil let out an irritated sigh.

“I’ll just surf the flames again.” Nil retorted. Hoggdin chuckled at the idea.

“I was thinking my fist.” Hoggdin informed him. Nil was clearly fighting the urge to let his fear show.

“Wow, bullying a child; so petty and low. Even I wouldn’t stoop that low.” I mocked him. Nil and Ipnerslei both gave me some side eye.

“Come on you nerd, get us out of here.” Hoggdin whined. So impatient.

“I don’t know how!” Nil snapped at Hoggdin.

“I was referring to the bird brain.” Hoggdin informed him.

“Nil, what exactly did you do?” I asked him as I kicked my feet up and floated in the space.

“I wanted to expand the mental space of thoughts. Like, an imaginary space that I was in control of. I imagined it being kind of perpendicular and out of phase with the current Realm, and for the time standard I used my thought speed.” Nil explained. Perpendicular and out of phase? Interesting way of interpreting the underlying mechanics.

“Why like that?” I prodded. What did he use as the base?

“Imaginary numbers. They are represented geometrically as perpendicular to the real axis. Wave functions also use imaginary numbers, and out of phase waves are technically ninety degrees. It’s been a while since I’ve done that type of math, so my understanding is a bit fuzzy.” Nil described. Huh, that wasn’t in the compendium.

“What’s an imaginary number?” I inquired. Hoggdin’s eyes had fully glazed over by now.

“Um, you use the imaginary unit i and multiply it by real numbers. It’s a number that doesn’t technically exist but is useful as sometimes things with real applications need them to be solved.” Nil clarified. I wish I could see the applications of the concept; it clearly could be improved upon. So is currently the imperfect form.

“And you used your thoughts to make the time here. Can you pull out the ?” I requested. Nil summoned it, and time wasn’t moving at all. We stared at it, and not even the seconds were moving on the .

“Can you please get a move on?” Hoggdin groaned. He looked so bored.

“I need to understand what Nil cast. As I assumed, it’s .” I spat at Hoggdin.

“It’s a severed space that the kid clearly created, and he even altered time a bit. I don’t care what kind of fancy spin you want to put on it, this place is going to implode, and the collapse will likely kill us. There’s no real way to contain the explosion.” Hoggdin shot back.

“Not necessarily. Huh. You know, that is a solution. No, as fun as it would be to be that spiteful, it would hurt my long-term goals. That is our backup plan.” I sighed. I’d love to bring this into Arcadia and let Void King deal with containing the explosion of , but I’d rather him not know that I’m acquainted with Nil.

“What solution?” Ipnerslei probed. Nil looked a bit curious.

“Well, technically, I can encompass this space with my own and bring it into Arcadia before forcefully shoving us out.” I explained. It would be highly destructive, but it would technically work.

“I’m fine with that.” Hoggdin stated with a bit of a nod.

“Ah. I see the issue with that plan. I mean, it’s a destructive solution.” Ipnerslei added on. At least we wouldn’t die. Just need a cavalier approach to dropping a city leveling explosion somewhere.

“Where’s Arcadia?” Nil probed. He looked around a bit sheepishly.

“It’s where the Void King is from. It’s his home.” I answered. Nil made an ah face as he now understood the issue. Also, why I’d be okay with dropping the explosion there.

“I mean, why not do that? I doubt you’d be near a kid who is on the side of the Void King.” Hoggdin inquired. For a brute he’s sometimes sharp.

“It’s imperative that the Void King does not know I am considering helping Nil.” I answered vaguely. Hoggdin smirked.

“So, you’re a Reincarnator. I guess I can spare you if you’re an attempt at killing that forler.” Hoggdin cooed, looking at Nil.

“You all seem to really hate him. Is it tied to Hugminn?” Nil asked. Ipnerslei looked at him as I clenched my teeth. That bezka.

“You don’t know?” Hoggdin probed, looking between Ipnerslei and I with a toothy smile.

“Um, I told Nil he might want to ask you about him before he brought us into the .” Ipnerslei explained meekly, looking away.

“Don’t worry. I got this.” Hoggdin taunted, glaring at me.

“You shut your mouth or today is the day I get a nice set of scales.” I threatened him. Hoggdin just laughed.

“I’m sorry.” Nil stated quietly, slumping down a bit.

“As it’s mostly your two’s fault I’m here, I’ll just say this: Hugminn is Krahinn’s deceased, twin brother.” Hoggdin informed Nil. Nil made an awkward oh face.

“Do not mention him ever again.” I spat at all of them.

“I didn’t know.” Nil muttered, looking depressed.

“I don’t blame you Nil; I blame Ipnerslei for trying to constantly get me to help you.” I snapped. Ipnerslei looked away.

“I mean, I was wondering when you’d try to kill him again. This kid doesn’t seem hopeless.” Hoggdin yawned, seeming bored already.

“If I try again, I want to make sure it ends with the Void King dying or worse.” I shot back. Hoggdin just laughed.

“Bok bok bok.” Hoggdin mocked me.

“I don’t see you trying either.” I pointed out.

“Because I can’t try again. We both know I’m in no shape to attempt it. I imagine my time has passed, so I can just hope to live long enough to see someone finally topple him.” Hoggdin retorted as he stretched. Nil seemed to realize something.

“Krahinn, what happens if we turn back time to undo the cast of the ?” Nil checked. Hoggdin let out a massive laugh.

“Turn back time? That’s glorious kid. What’s next, you’re going to manifest a Lord?” Hoggdin laughed mockingly. Nil isolated us in time according to the . Despite the fact we were thinking over what to do, time in the Realms probably hadn’t moved much. Wait. Hold on. That’s something worth testing. That idea was for later.

“Let’s test.” I told Nil. If this worked, it possessed a much, much better application. Void King, how have you managed to win?

“Wait, what?” Hoggdin spat, sounding baffled.

“Nil can turn back time. We’re about to test a new frontier~!” I chimed happily.

Nil seemed put off by my enthusiasm, Hoggdin seemed baffled, and Ipnerslei was smiling at me. I walked up to Nil as he activated his and engaged the . We are so testing that second application the instant we’re out of here. I began channeling his as I cast . His best feature by far. Sure enough, the four of us were back in the Wastes as if nothing happened. Nil’s took a massive hit from dragging the three of us, but he was fine because I cast the . It worked. It actually worked. I began laughing. Oh, this is so unfair; I've seen some unfair but this has to be the most egregious. Hoggdin looked around like he was questioning reality. Nil seemed vastly on edge from my laughter. How to formulate this? Using his was difficult, but it was necessary for the idea. And we have Hoggdin as a testing dummy~! Ha ha ha ha ha ha. I think I had the basis down.

“Hoggdin, I need you to attack Nil with the intent to sever him from the fact he ever existed. When I say you need to attack him, I don’t want some half-hearted attempt. Imagine he’s the Void King and let it loose. Specifically, a because if you slash him with your claws, I’m not sure what the result would be.” I requested as I laughed. I kept my ethereal hand on Nil as he immediately tried escaping.

“Relax Nil. We are about to test something awesome.” I assured him. Nil really began panicking now. Big baby.

“Um, I’m not going to smite the kid for the laughs.” Hoggdin stated as Nil was flailing against me.

“Don’t worry for his safety, you’ll be the most in danger if this works.” I told Hoggdin.

“What’s the idea?” Ipnerslei checked. Not a chance I was explaining this in advance.

“Either you all trust me that I haven’t suddenly lost it, or we’ll never know.” I taunted, shrugging with my free hand.

“If the kid can rewind time, let’s see.” Hoggdin conceded which made Nil look panicked.

“Nil, relax. Just keep the and active and trust me a little bit. You are about to see something amazing.” I assured Nil. Nil let out a defeated sigh as he realized this was happening.

Hoggdin with little hesitation began to cast . Not as spectacular as I would’ve preferred, but Hoggdin’s specialties lay in his . As soon as he cast it, I cast to wrap around the before using the to erase the from time. As expected, both vanished. Hoggdin’s jaw dropped. Nil’s face lit up as it became clear he wanted to know how that worked. We aren’t done. I used a minor to un-erase the while using it to launch the full right back at Hoggdin. Reintroducing a from a time that no longer happened was as destructive as I thought; a massive surge of now augmented the as Hoggdin was now not safe from his own . He went wide eyed as he deflected the incoming up. I could grab it with another , but this is good enough. The idea worked. It became unstable from the as I shielded all of us and our eyes with from what was about to happen as it now detonated in the sky above. The entire Wastes shook as the world turned white from the calamitous discharge of . Even with between us and it, the sound it made was deafening. The best part was, Nil could cast that combination six more times. I mean, if I was the one controlling the at least. Hoggdin's arm was bleeding from where his own hit it. Oh Void King, I soooo want to try that on you.

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Hoggdin roared as I laughed maniacally.

“Awesome!” Nil chimed, looking at me with awe.

“Now, time to lecture you, you dilwaul. I’m going to drill how stupid you were into your thick skull.” I snapped at Nil.

“I want an explanation!” Hoggdin insisted, seeing the large gash in his arm.

“What was that?” Ipnerslei pondered, see the sky above looked destroyed. I'm going to have to fix that.

“A fun combination. Now, Nil, you moronic-“ I began as Nil gave me a forlorn stare.