Everything had played out exactly as I wanted.
Zharokath's desperate attempt to escape, the way he clung to that pathetic shred of hope—it was all so predictable. These demons, for all their arrogance and cruelty, were always the same when their lives were on the line. They scrambled, they begged, they tried to run, thinking that somehow, they could slip away from the inevitable. And every time, it filled me with an intoxicating thrill.
I watched as his body began to phase out of existence, the artifact glowing with the last dregs of his demonic energy. He had given everything to power that spell. He really thought he could get away. But I had anticipated it—planned for it.
Just as he began to vanish, I activated Umbralith. The sphere of gravity formed in my hand, crackling with power, tethering him to this room. The void energy that should have carried him to safety was dragged back, collapsing in on itself. And there it was—the moment I had been waiting for.
