Marcus turned towards the source of the attack that had stooped his momentum in the battle against The Ghost King.
He had one-sidedly been pushing Arriba into a corner by targeting the scepter that was a powerful undead weapon and the true source of his power. Though before he could deliver the finishing blow against the abomination of a weapon, someone else had interfered.
Looking at the interloper, he appeared to look like a normal human around seventy years old. His hair was graying, and he had the presence of a veteran warrior.
Still, Marcus could see through this façade. There was something far more sinister about this man than the outward appearance that he was displaying.
"That's a pretty good disguise, but don't think I can't feel the disgusting presence you emit, demon." Marcus spat.
For a moment the man wore a face of confusion, but he dropped the act almost immediately when he noticed the certainty in Marcus' eyes. It was obvious to him that his ruse was not going to work.
"Guess, there's no use trying to fool you huh."
The corpse that was being piloted by the demon opened its mouth and a hideous pale wormlike head pushed out of its mouth.
Seeing this vile display, Marcus took a step back and winced. He had seen quite a number of appalling things since arriving on Mirrion, but this was among the worst.
In that instant when his guard had dropped, the Ghost King regained his bearings and unleashed a powerful attack of pure mana and spiritual energy he had been preparing.
Sensing the incoming danger, Marcus understood that the demon had only revealed itself to him as a distraction.
Holding out his right hand, Marcus intercepted the attack with his shield that suddenly formed from one of the bands attached to his arm.
At the same time, he had to move his scythe to intercept the incoming attack from the demon's chain mace.
The demon was conversing with Arriba amicably and appeared to be inspecting the scepter the Ghost King wielded.
At the very least Marcus was able to confirm that they were not setting up an ambush for him. Still, their apparent comradery brought several questions to his mind.
'Guess I'll need to go up and confirm what is going on for myself.' Marcus thought, righting himself and floating out of the deep crater he was at the bottom of.
When he reached the surface, he turned his gaze intently towards the demon controlling the corpse of a deceased man.
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It was carefully assessing the undead weapon and had several tools in its hands that it was using to apply emergency repairs.
Immediately this display gave away the identity of the demon.
"So, you're the one that created that atrocity." Marcus said, his tone conveying his animosity.
Turning towards Marcus, the demon wore an amused grin on the face of the dead man he was wearing like a suit.
"You wound me. How could you call my masterpiece an atrocity?" The demon said in an exaggerated manner. "As a fellow forgemaster, surely you must be able to assess the immaculate quality of my work."
"You could have created the most powerful weapon in the world, and I would still consider it garbage because of the methods that you employed. I read the plans used to make that thing. How many people, beasts, and monsters did you have to tortured and killed to create that monstrosity?"
"Oh, but don't we both use whatever means are necessary to get what we want? I can tell at a glance that the scythe you wield is a soul bound weapon. While I don't care one bit about the societal constraints the people of this world limit themselves with, that doesn't change the fact that both of us forged weapons that are considered taboo by most. The two of us are not so different.
In the eyes of the masses, we're both monsters."