noah’s mask was doing a remarkable job of hiding the blood streaking down his face.

    pain wrapped his entire being. spikes dug into the insides of his stomach and jabbed deep into his spine, trying to blend him apart from within. his skull pulsed with a relentless headache and his mouth was as dry as a desert rock.

    it had been a long time since he’d last had an inquisitor turn their magic against him. he hadn’t forgotten the sensation in the slightest — but he was a lot stronger than he had been the last time he’d faced one.

    he could withstand it. it wasn’t an enjoyable experience by any stretch of the imagination, but that didn’t matter. noah could deal with pain. he’d felt worse. so long as the inquisitors bought his bullshit, he would stand in the center of the room and eat the burning magic for as long as it took.

    and it was working.

    the entire room stood in stunned silence. inquisitors and demons and nobles stood alike, frozen like a sea of ice sculptures, disbelief holding all of them in place.

    not a single one of them could tell who he was or what he was supposed to be. he claimed to be from the damned plains, withstood inquisitor magic, but did not work with the attacking demons.

    attempting to discern his intentions was impossible.

    even for him.

    this is really not how i was planning to do this. how did i just randomly choose the one day where the demons were planning something? why are there so many inquisitors around — and what the hell was salthazar going to say about orlen before he died?

    i’ve literally been talking out of my ass for the past few minutes. i’m going to need to use the bathroom if i’m forced to spew much more bullshit... but at least i’ve gotten just about every single rune i wanted and then some.

    the original plan is in smoking shambles, but who gives a shit? we have what we came for. all i need now is a way out... and to test a few things in the process.

    “are you man or demon?” the inquisitor before noah demanded, clutching his rosary to his chest like it was a pearl necklace around the neck of a wealthy woman who had never worked for so much as a penny in her life.

    “dispatch him,” another inquisitor ordered as he ripped himself free of his surprise. “man or demon, he plans to collaborate with the enemy. spider is our foe.”

    the first inquisitor grabbed a dagger from his waist and slashed it across his hand. blood exploded forth in a river, swirling around him—

    there was a wet thunk.

    blood splattered across noah’s clothes.

    the inquisitor froze. he swayed, then looked down at a clawed hand protruding from his chest, fingers wrapped around a still-beating heart.

    his lips parted. whether it was in surprise or pain, they never got to find out. the hand squeezed shut and the organ squelched like a wet sack of meat — which noah supposed it was. without a word, the inquisitor pitched forward.

    he crashed to the ground and his rosary slipped from his fingers. it rang against the stone floor with a loud, echoing crack. several of the bones shattered and their pieces rolled to a stop all around the dead man, quickly swallowed by a growing pool of blood spreading around his body.

    and above the dead man stood lee. the nails on her hand, now stained red, had sharpened to elongated points. blood and viscera covered it like a layer of thick, unmixed paint. it dripped and splattered to the floor beside the inquisitor.

    it took noah a moment to even realize he recognized her.

    “anyone who approaches spider will die,” lee said, her voice ringing through the silent room.

    it wasn’t a threat. it was a promise.

    “a demon killed an inquisitor,” a noble whispered. his fear spread through the room like an invisible serpent, coiling through the air in a split instant.

    there was another moment of silence.

    “run!” a woman screamed.

    nobles scrambled in every direction. magic surged and chaos descended like a heavy blanket — only to be rudely ripped away no more than an instant later as an immense domain slammed down over the entire room.

    the frost covering the ground and walls grew thicker. noah drew deeply on combustion, yanking power from the master rune to keep his body from starting to freeze.

    “calm yourselves,” a woman said, emerging from the crowd of inquisitors and shrugging off her robes. glistening white and silver armor covered her body, patterned in the unique fractals of falling snow.

    every step she took left a frozen step on the ground. coils of frosty mist rose up from it and tendrils of ice stretched out from them, freezing portions of the ground into solid ice. her eyes burned into noah; two flat, frozen lakes. her angular features were completely emotionless.

    the hair on the back of noah’s neck stood on end, and it wasn’t from the temperature. she was strong. not the strongest person he’d ever come up against, but after meeting sievan, it was going to be rather difficult for anyone to ever fill those shoes.

    lee lowered her stance as the woman approached, but noah put a hand on her shoulder.

    she was a lot stronger than the average rank 4, but this was no mere inquisitor. she was too strong. to have a domain this large... she was a rank 6, and she was easily as strong as evergreen had been if not considerably more powerful.

    “even if you are no demon, you cannot think i will allow you to empower the greatest enemies of humanity,” fuyin said. she pressed her palms together. frost gathered between them as she pulled her hands apart, forming into a glistening sword.

    “they will not be your enemies,” noah said. “demons are as much a victim of their power as humanity is. the reason they hunt humans is not one of their own control... but i can change that. if your wish is to purge demons from this world, inquisitor, then i am your greatest ally.”

    “liar!” another inquisitor yelled.

    noah’s lips twitched in amusement behind his mask.

    the funniest thing is, i’m being completely honest. i really can completely remove the majority of the threat demons pose to people. half of these guys are only hunting people because their runes force them to... but all that matters is that i’ve given the demons a reason to fight.

    after this, the demons will put up enough of a distraction out of desperation to get free of their weakness that lee and the others can escape. any that actually manage to find us, i’ll keep to my word and fix. if i want to take on the nobles gunning for isabel’s master rune, i’ll need an army.

    i can hardly pass this opportunity up. it’s not my fault this one just served itself to me on a silver platter.

    “hold,” fuyin said, raising a hand.

    noah blinked in surprise.

    there was genuine thought in her features. she was actually considering his words.

    “how?” fuyin asked.

    many of the other inquisitors spun to her in surprise. a large man pushed through the ranks, throwing his hood back to reveal a bald man with a thick, bushy beard and unsettling, golden eyes. the man barely even looked human. he was nearly eight feet tall and proportionately wide. it was like a brick wall had taken to the flesh.

    “you can’t be planning to hear him out,” the mountain of a man said. “fuyin, you are stepping out of bounds. we have our orders.”

    “our duty is to seek ways to halt the demons. spider claims to possesses one,” fuyin said flatly. “we have waited this long. i believe it is wise to wait longer, inquisitor tren.”

    she’s not the one in charge? there’s no way they sent two rank 6s for this, right? does that mean fuyin is actually just a really strong rank 5? damn. i’d love to get a look at what runes she’s got rattling around.

    “you are overruled, fuyin. we will discuss this after the conclusion of this inquisition. it seems your attitude may need to be adjusted,” the large man said. he turned toward spider and pulled a huge rosary free of his sleeves, cracking his neck. “inquisitors, prepare to—”

    “you could try that,” noah drawled. if fuyin was interested in his offer... perhaps he could leverage that. “and many of you will die. perhaps most. but why would you cut the tail of the lizard when it will simply regrow?”

    “what do you propose?” fuyin asked.

    tren glared at her. “enough, fuyin. your orders are to purge. this arrogant fool claims to be the head of the demons, but all he can do is stall for time. there will be no more—”

    “i will remain behind. everyone else here will leave,” noah said. “you’ll have many chances to kill demons in the future... but how many will you get to learn information from the one who can stop them?”

    “what?” lee asked, spinning to noah.

    “or i can kill you and all the other demons here,” tren rumbled. “and then i will get everything i want.”

    “you can certainly try,” noah said. “and regardless of what happens, you will not learn anything that i have to share. you need the knowledge i possess, inquisitors. so tell me — will you lose the battle for a chance to win the war?”

    the huge man stared at noah. all around him, inquisitors twitched and nervous crowds stared down at them. if tren attacked, this would be a bloodbath. even with this many inquisitors, there were enough demons to do an enormous amount of damage and everyone knew it.

    “what do you fancy yourself,” tren growled. “some manner of savior?”

    noah smiled. his grimoire had given him a perfect answer for that, even if the book hadn’t been thinking of this particular scenario when they’d last spoken.

    “i prefer to think of myself as a herald.”

    “they’ll never let you live,” a demon called. noah glanced up at the voice — it was aylin who had spoken. “if you do this, you’ll die! why would you give up so much for demons you don’t know?”

    nice, aylin.

    “because i am not so easily killed,” noah said simply. “today will be remembered as a demonstration of my power. it is up to the inquisitors to determine if the memory will be carved into history with blood or quill. so what do you say, tren? will you burn your chances at true victory just to kill a few demons?”

    tren glanced to fuyin, then grit his teeth.

    “speak, then.”

    hook, line, and sinker.

    “everyone is to evacuate first. i will remain. and then — only then —will we bargain.”