Page 44 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

Silence would strike for the briefest of seconds when she leapt through a portal before reemerging and continuing her search.

Mora really did want to resolve the missing Diabolics above all else, it seemed.

Thanks to Wally’s investigations, I knew the contents of several rooms and had sleuthed through the pocket portals the cameras didn’t cover. But I played along, zipping about, leaving no stone unturned. We wouldn’t find any Diabolics.

Something about their disappearance didn’t add up. They were ever-present in the air yet simultaneously hidden. I could almost feel their claws at my throat, hear their wails in my ears, but nothing concrete. Nothing tangible. Only the rot of their decay as their essence remained unattended to, incapable of recovery.

I hopped through a glowing golden portal into a room that held nothing more than gorgon artwork; the tether connecting to Wally remained strong. Petrified stone statues posed in blissful, heroic, or entertained positions—none the wiser they were about to be immortalized for someone’s private collection. Powerful mana oozed from one in particular, not that it’d do him or anyone any good. Once locked in stone, only a gorgon themselves had the magic necessary to undo the effects. Still, no point telling Wally about these befuddled fools. He’d likely task himself with the duty of undoing the petrification.

After an hour or so of searching, I leaned against a wall semi-studying Mora’s movements as she continued her futile scrutinous search. Across from me stood an unlit portal. The symbols were properly stacked around the doorway, spelling out the secret code Novus used to get in or out of the villa, inside the helm, and for every other doorway…all except for this particular door. Why?

“I’ve never felt more incompetent in my life.” Mora pouted. “This place has everything except for Diabolics.”

“We could still burn it down.”

Mora frowned until her eyes rested on the doorframe symbols. “Why’s this closed off?”

“Busted, maybe.” I shrugged.

“Or…” She fiddled with the symbols, rearranging them into odd patterns. Incorrect patterns, too.

It seemed Mora’s mind processed them the same way mine had when reading the Sylvan alphabet. When I first studied the letters, they reminded me of Hell’s and the way Beelzebub would create barriers to and from his various dwellings throughout the realm, which was probably why my brain worded them out of sequence. Mora didn’t have Wally’s insufferable familiar to hiss and scold her for placing them incorrectly like he had when I attempted to open the portal to the villa and rescue Wally. She’d be at this for ages until she wore herself out.

A luminescent black door activated.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Mora’s smile carried a bright shadow from the reflection of the watery portal.

“How’d you do that?”

“It seems Novus tied this particular door to only open for someone who understood how a Diabolic codex works, whichimplies he was not only abducting demons to harvest essence and power his ship but that he was perhaps allied with some.” Mora stepped toward the rippling door. “Fascinating.”

More like dangerous.

“Shall we?” She extended a hand.

Screw it. I grabbed her hand and stepped through.

Upon arriving, the first thing I did was check the snag of the tether linking Wally and myself. My heart hitched the same as it always did when nearby, so this hidden dwelling didn’t take us too far or block our connection. Good.

The strain in my muscles hit far stronger than the minimal exertion of running around these lower levels. No, this hit with a full-blown wave of exhaustion as the receptors harnessing magic constricted, yet mana and essence coursed through my body undiminished.

I chuckled to myself at how Wally had finally tuckered himself out. The humorous pondering piqued Mora’s interest, but her gaze quickly landed on something far more terrifying.

This place was the engine by all appearances of twisting gears and loud machines. Literal darkness covered the walls keeping it within and divided from the rest of the home. Placed upon a railing stood a mantle securing six Diabolic orbs, each containing a demon and their essence. Wires were wrapped around the tiny orbs, trailing down their stands, and connecting to a hub that fueled everything.

“Hmm.” Mora walked the ramp, trailing her fingers along the railing leading to the six tiny orbs no bigger than a marble.

Guess I shouldn’t have complained so much about my time spent inside the orb Remington trapped me within. “Didn’t realize I had such spacious accommodations.”

“These are made to house a demon, not a devil.”

I tsked. “As if anything could truly contain a devil.”

“You still have a piece of one.”

“Always will.”Unfortunately.

I ground my teeth, ignoring the reminder of the tiniest bit of Beelzebub’s essence intertwined with my own. The two seamlessly synced, an eternal connection to the devil I’d sealed away with every demon of his making.

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