Amun Za'Darmondiel-Nox.
***
I know not what she saw in that moment, the Queen Demon Spider, Lilith. The inverse of what I witnessed, I assumed. A comparatively tiny creature stepping on her most-esteemed matron, left beaten and half-dead from the might of a shadow dragon- the Shadow Dragon, perched behind her in the remnants of a once-grand temple. And before her, some 48,000 drow dimming in the eyes of her divine sight.
Simultaneously, I felt... something pull me toward her when she said my full name, but it was tame when compared to the towering beast I saw standing on a web within the newly conquered Darkheart. She simultaneously radiated power and lacked it entirely, like the ghost of a once-great warrior who could only prove their might via the aura they radiated. An innate or even designed feature of this avatar, I assumed, if not an effect of the regiment of dark elves glowing behind me.
47,559 drow, with no faith in the Queen demon Spider; either of their own accord, or hers. Of course, many of them were males. But there were still several females who suddenly prayed for me to save them from their demon appearing before their eyes. And that was several too many for Lilith.
That, however, was the least of her problems.
"Now do you understand, Lilith? Dead or alive, faith or no faith, I will always be here. Unlike you. That, Lilith, is what makes me Eternal. Now then." I spread my arms, smiling at this titanic demoness of a drow. "Are we going to come to an agreement? Or do we have to get violent?"
"An agreement?" she clenched her fists, squeezed her ribs with those four spidery arms, and leaned into a foul sneer. "No matter your offer, we can agree that I will bring my unfettered wrath upon everything you have ever known, much less that which you hold dear! Your precious Maruleans! Your pathetic realm! Your empire! Your Legions! They will burn!
"AND YOU CAN HAVE THESE PATHETIC, TRAITOROUS DROW!" Lilith spat smoldering comets of spittle as she waved her towering frame over the mob behind me, filling the crowd with the pops of exploding demonic energy and the gasps of those who witnessed it. "There are countless more across the realms who will have their sights set on you for eternity, Elven Devil! Your so-called friends! Your devil-kin! Your damnable clan! Amun Za'Darmondiel-Nox, the realms will suffer in anguish until I have you strung in my Crimson Labyrinth!
"How is that for a bargain?"
Grinning wide, I accepted her end of the deal with a nod, then let the Void Devil's Tongue dangle from my mouth; then the Deep Abyssal words flowed. "Very well. In exchange, I, Amun Za'Darmondiel-Nox, will claim the soul of every drow sacrificed in your name, Lilith. Those who have or have had your grace and perish - Elven Devils. Those you deem pathetic and traitorous - Drow Paragons. All those claimed by the Nox - Night Elves. Forever shall they remember the life ruined in your name, and together, we will venture into your Crimson Labyrinth and bring change to you, Lilith."
Though I assumed she couldn't understand my words, her anger was still turned to horrified rage as the ambient arcana melded with the wickedness flowing from me. He burning eyes widened as they coalesced and inscribed themselves onto a contract, forged between us, completing the deal she so hastily agreed to.
"NO!" she clawed at the words to no avail.
"Oho, yes! The unthinking arrogance of a enraged demon spider!" Cononthoth's sourceless laugh rippled through the darkness. "Even you could not sense the devilish owl swooping in from behind you."
Indifferent to Cononthoth's probes, Lilith towered her sneering frame over me to consume my vision with those lidless red eyes and roared. "You have written no contract! I have signed nothing! You are no devil that should exist, abomination! Rogue! Not even Zefroth had that power."
"Well, I'm not Zefroth, am I?" I calmly retorted. "Though I am set upon Zefroth's path, I am Amun, the Twenty-Fifth Child of the Nox. The Elven Devil."
"No mere elf can bind such power to their words, child!" She spat in kind, erecting herself to her full height. "Only Faeladrin."
"Then call me by my other name. The Devil of the Fae." I smirked.
"We have lost such grace!" She bellowed, extending three of her arms to point at me like a child. "You are Amun Za'Darmondiel-Nox! The first and only exalted male of the first and finest house of drow to befall the Mortal Plane! You are my descendant! You. Are. Mine!"
"I am free, Lilith. I belong to no one, for I have existed long before this universe was even a thought in Telin's mind, blessed to be beloved by mana more so than any other in existence. Even the Archfae. Even you and the other deities, elven or not; primordial or not. So, if we've truly lost such grace, perhaps I'll get it back for us."
"The fact stands." She immediately retorted, and with an unnerving calm. "You are my descendant, just as you are a descendant of Zefroth. You are drow, Amun Za'Darmondiel-Nox. And though I detest you for standing against me, I created this avatar to end this battle, and mark the start of our eternal war; for I am proud that, of all creatures in the realms, Telin chose my Drow to be mixed with Noxiana's coveted blood and be used to create his champion.
"But do not let this fool you, child." She leaned forward, sneering. "My drow of Youtera will plague you. My demons will hunt you. I will show you no mercy."
"Of course, because mercy is for the weak. And so, Lilith, don't be surprised when I show you mercy. I'll corrupt you like the rest of your dear Matrons, so fuck off until then."
With a flick of the Void Devil's Claws, the abyss rose and expanded into a cylinder of nothingness that swallowed Lilith's avatar wholly. Not even the echoes of her sneer remained for an endless second before the air began violently displacing, wherein I let the void enter me.
I could've sworn I felt something at that moment. A spark of energy or a notion of expansion or… something. But my thoughts were cut short by a cacophony of gasps and shouts erupting from behind me.
Setting that aside for later, I turned to them at once with a weary smile. I was so tired of this place, yet there was work to do still. Directly before me were Etan, Eban, and Evar, levitating around Abbot, or rather, Great Grandma Eiriol, who was, in turn, staring at me with as much shock as everyone else.
Rightfully, she ignored the ensuing murmurs regarding her being down here as if that still mattered, and asked. "What happens now? To you? To us?"
"Well." I shrugged. "This cavern belongs to her now." I pointed up to Cononthoth and laughed as their eyes widened at the Exalted Gloom, displaying her greatness to the crowd before she disappeared. "As per our deal, she won't torment any of you."
"I- is that…" she began, only to cut herself off with a well-controlled fit of laughter. Not to say it wasn't warranted. On the contrary, it was safe to assume everyone involved still wondered what happened to the red dragon I was set to face last year. Given all that'd been happening, only a few managed to piece it together.
Leaving her to her own means, I took a moment to seal off the Cursed Well and assume my usual form before turning to the crowd of anxious drow. "Anyway, this is now the Darkheart, a beating cavern that feeds her twilight and pours her gloom into the lands. You are hereby free. What you do is up to you, but I intend to accept responsibility for you all by asking you to join me. Though you cannot dwell within my divine realm until you die, you can visit as you live in my Empire. You can join my Troupe or my Legion if you can complete the training and meet my standards. Otherwise, if you want to live on your own, becoming a paragon will make you unbothered by the light. Among other things.
"Honestly." I let out an even bigger great sigh once Abbot Eiriol- Granny Abbot rejoined the fray; I was so tired of all of this. "I didn't do this to free all of you. That was Etan's ambition, and he is my champion. Thus I obliged. When he returned, Etyl tortured him and sought to turn him into a twisted mockery of himself. That warranted her destruction. However, Etyl is my aunt, and the Nox does not kill kin, nor do we raise them as undead. So, I corrupted her.
"Those who fell in this battle - those who were swallowed in darkness, are not dead." I said flatly, looking as many drow in the eye as I could. "They are in my Underworld, slowly but surely being... for lack of a better word, reborn as Elven Devils.
"So, in short, do what you want. Follow your dreams. Stay here in the Darkworld and be wicked. Test yourself by exploring the surface or live free from squalor on my woven worlds above. Whatever you do, you'll have the power to keep the demon spiders away. So figure out what you want to do with your freedom until we leave.
"Between that and now, though," I paused, turning a sly grin about the Troupe. "We chill!"