It was strange enough for a demon lord to voluntarily summon a demon legion onto the Prime Material Plane. It might have made some sense if Duke Bilgard were a legendary Red Wizard, but he was only a mage barely at Master level. That a mage like him could command a Klurichir was already suspicious.
That was why Aaron had warned Alusair and the others early on to exercise the utmost caution.
Dragonflame Tongue was genuine. Manuel's sword was genuine. The things Duke Bilgard had sent were genuine.
Fake treasures would never have fooled Alusair and Aaron. Without a sincere surrender, he could never have drawn the Purple Dragon Knights away.
But Cyric's scheme was still crude. Utterly crude!
Aaron roared and lunged at Earl DePies, ignoring both the flames erupting in the mountain hollow and the Klurichir descending from the sky. His Golden Law Transformation bathed everything around him in golden radiance. Drach'nyen appeared in his hand, and every step left a trail of red lotus flames beneath his feet. Bloodthirsty exhilaration flooded Aaron's mind. He had caught the scent of Cyric's divinity!
To Aaron, that was a tremendous source of nourishment!
Below him, Earl DePies, his disguise exposed, finally stopped concealing his true identity-a Greater Doppelganger, a legendary creature capable of completely replacing another person, just like the Changeling and the Changeling Wretch. His dagger's keen edge lay bare as he gestured, invoking his innate magic. The deep blue poison coating the blade lost none of its color amid the flames.
Aaron charged through those flames without hesitation, with Eleanor at his side. Miss Cleric felt stabbing pain all over her body in the fire. Clearly, even Aaron's Flame Cloak could not grant her immunity to fire damage. But Eleanor's hatred of Cyric overcame her physical pain. She