As I destroyed the gate, I started searching for the chamber with the orb. Of course, they would have tried to get reinforcements from a stronger kingdom, but I had already blocked the city by placing a dome over it—no one can get out by magic. They will surely protect the orb with powerful mages, but that doesn't matter. If I back down from a challenge, I will grow weaker; unless there is no option to succeed, I will move forward. My power is beyond anything they ever imagined.

  From what I learned being forced to fight demons in my own mind for decades, peace is only found when you make a massive display of power and ruthlessness first. Otherwise, nothing will ever change. I was like them once, but not everyone has luck or remorse from others. Suffering changes people.

  One of my dark elf lieutenants came up to me. "Master, we destroyed most of the main forces in the city and secured most of the castle. We killed all the forces that were a threat already. The others either ran or hid in the main power chamber. We interrogated a few maggots to get this information. They will be prepared for our assault and will set traps. That is too much for my men, but we already saw your tricks and power." He smiled. "I'm sure we are not the ones who will have a bad deal in this fight."

  We started preparing for the assault. We created a small dome for the casters who needed more focus and placed several mana-enchanted barriers, along with mana traps hidden from eye and mind. Luckily, the room is huge; as six archmages fight, another will try to breach the barrier blocking the orb. Even if he doesn't succeed, the enemy will have to use more power to block our way out than we will use trying to unlock the portal.

  As I set our forces in position, a chill swept through the room. We saw tentacles made from darkness itself creeping from the main entrance. We knew what was coming. A second later, those dark tentacles ripped the doors off their hinges, and dark power flooded inside.

  Everyone started casting light to terminate the darkness as fast as possible. We did a good job of it, but then shadows started rushing toward the walls and pillars, creating small dark clouds around them. We had to split our forces, shooting bursts of light toward these figures and clouds so there was no place to hide.

  Then, we felt a powerful shadow slip in. I heard a scream and saw one of our arch-lords fall to the floor—a deep wound from a blade was being consumed from within by a black goo. More screams followed as the disciples and soldiers protecting our rear started dying. Death came from all sides. We saw glimpses of shadows with double khopeshes, maces, greatswords, and claws dripping with poison, running through our forces with the speed of a hunting spider. We didn't know if we were attacked by multiple opponents or a single shadow that could teleport.

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  The answer came when I was attacked by a dark elf with a double blade. I pulled a sword out of mana and blocked the attack. The dance of death had begun. We circled each other, and he lunged at me with insane speed, but I was prepared. While parrying the blow, I created a third hand from my body with a dagger made of mana and plunged it into his belly, killing him swiftly.

  As I finished him, I saw another elf in full dark armor taking on five soldiers and a disciple at once. My men were in a bad position. I pointed my hand at him to incinerate him, but I felt people behind me. I sighed and prepared for an attack from three orcs, a dark caster, and a vampire. I created two blades in my hands and empowered them with lightning and light.

  As soon as an orc rushed me, I made my light sword shine brightly, blinding my opponents. It was enough to slash the first orc open and push a lightning wave toward the second, paralyzing him and eliminating him from the fight. Two down, three to go.

  They saw me as a much bigger threat now. The dark caster created three orbs of darkness above his head, the dark elf conjured armor and two daggers, and the orc picked up a shield and an obsidian blade. I shot light power toward the caster, but my bolt was stopped by an orb of darkness. At least the caster seemed taken aback; I am the head arch-wizard of this city, but it was still impressive he could block a single attack from me.

  The orc and elf attacked next. While the caster was temporarily out of the fight, I created mirages of myself and swapped places with one of them. I commanded my mirages to attack. The fight was essentially over; they couldn't stop me from casting if they didn't know which one was real.

  I slid around one of my mirages, and as the dark elf blocked an imaginary attack, I lunged with my blades. He blocked one but was badly wounded in the torso. I corrected it by pulsing lightning through my blade; as our steel connected, his arm started twitching. He tried to block with his second dagger, but he was bleeding and half-paralyzed. One more swing and I cut his head off.

  The orc didn't even have a chance to help. By the time he realized what was happening, the elf lay headless. The dark caster finally regained his strength. It was two-on-one. They knew they had little chance, so they lunged with all they had. The dark caster even began to use his own blood for a self-destructing spell, shortening his life to a single hour for more power.

  Before he could release it, I created a small gate between realities and plunged my blade through the portal into his chest. The orc fell soon after. I sighed and looked around, knowing it was just the beginning.