"Me? A living legend?" A hint of a blush colored Lira's cheeks, and she shyly turned her head to the side, a long lock of gold and fire streaked hair falling perfectly by her rainbow eye. "My, I do not know about that. I merely did what I thought was right."

"Well, certainly, you did many things right," said Mercer, the younger of the two adventuring brothers ever eager to cozy up to beings that happened to be beautiful. "Your looks alone I would gander that the bards and songstresses would have sung of until their throats ran raw."

Lira laughed. The amused type of laugh that sounded like an adult laughing at a child's antics. "It has been almost two hundred years since I have had a compliment come my way. I thank you for livening up my watch. But-," She raised her left hand, showing the emerald-jade ring on her finger. "Widow though I may be, I am still committed."

"Oh," said Mercer.

Mason shoved his brother back with a shake of his head. "Now then, on to more important matters. You see, living in Riviera my whole life, I have come to realize that my views on this world are shallow.

I know not of nearly anything I thought was once undeniable truth."

"You are out of Riviera now and exploring. On a good start to widening your mind, I should say," said Lira.

Mason nodded. "And that is precisely why I must seek your counsel. We are in the midst of a Darkening, the fifth of its kind, and for the first time, we march now upon the demons instead of having their kind savage our lands and families.

And yet, I hear talk of sparing them. Of understanding them. I…can understand it, but my heart cannot accept it."

"The fifth Darkening? Hm." Lira cocked her head with casual ponderance. "Quite a lot must have happened since I ended the third if in two centuries, we are already upon the fifth."

"You are strong. Very, very strong," said Sheela. "And you fight demons already. Why not help us?"

"Ah, I would, but alas, this form you see now is but merely a construct of magical energy, due to fade at midnight," said Lira. "My true form is beyond this world. It shall return soon, but until then, I would not worry much."

She nodded her head back to Li. "You all seem to be in capable hands. And you, young man-,"

Lira turned her attention back to Mason. "From Riviera, you say? From how few creases of strain and turmoil there are upon your face, I should wager you have never left the city nor faced siege nor war.

Nothing against that, of course. Being able to live in peace is a great privilege that should be honored, not mocked. And I will not deny that demons can be savage and cruel and destructive, for they are not human.

They do not share your morals and sensibilities and never will.

And yet, all creatures that live upon this world play a part upon it." Lira shrugged. "The demons, in particular, hold back an evil far greater than they, and they have done so for almost a millennia, for in the end, they too live upon this world and wish for it to prosper."

"A…far greater evil?" said Mason.

"You've already heard about it," said Li.

He did not expect Lira to reveal the existence of Noctus like this, but when he thought about it, it was better to get it out with and explained to a degree.

Would make the brothers and the beastwomen at the least a little more understanding of his goals with the demons.

"The strange rot that came from the insect demon," said Li. "That rot is not demonic in origin. It is something else. Something far, far worse. I know you and your brother march now to fight against the demons, but you are marching against demons under the thrall of a far worse evil."

"An evil they must worship or bind themselves to," said Mason. "It cannot be that darkness does not consort with darkness."

"Not necessarily. Like Old Thane said, demons are different. Maybe some willingly came under the entity's thrall, but I am hopeful that the vast majority did not.

That is why I am going. I can cure the rot, and I am going to free the demons from their control and grant them a chance to help us. And I can assure you now, shirking the help of demons just for what or who they are is a foolish decision in light of the scale of evil that you face. That these words come from my lips should be cause for concern alone."

"Then we must inform the duchess!" said Mason. "I am surprised she knows not of this already. Her heart is golden and generous, and her mind wise and adept. I am sure she will make good use of this knowledge."

"Out of the question," said Li sharply. When Mason flinched, Li lowered his tone. "For various reasons, I do not trust the duchess. I would prefer to do things my way. No risk of interference that way. If you are worried about the safety of the five armies, then know that I have them under consideration as well."

"A wise decision," agreed Asala. She narrowed her eyes in a half glare as she thought of the duchess. "Records of the duchess art murky, wreathed in equal parts smoke and blood. That which history doth not illuminate clear are oft those who wish to bend history to their will – and there is no better indicator of evil in mine eyes."

"Evil?" Mason whipped around to Asala, and Mercer put an immediate hand on his older brother's shoulder to calm him. "The duchess's generosity has lifted the entirety of Soleil from the despair and turmoil of the dark ages.

That we can say we are in a golden age rivaling the era of the first and second light lies upon the shoulders of the duchess and the Order of Light that blesses her."

"Dark ages?" questioned Li. He knew of the era of the first and second lights. Well, what the history book left from Aine told him, at least. But past that, he knew little.

The era of the first light was the name the humans used for the brief period of time the three great gods came down to drive out the demons, introducing Elden World magic and advancements everywhere.

During this era, Helios founded Soleil and ushered in an age of peace and cooperation. A royal bloodline descended from the sun god himself named the Lightborn came to rule the south.

A mythical age from a thousand years ago that Li knew to doubt details about.

The era of the second light came far more recently.

Right after the third darkening, the latest Lightborn came forth wielding long lost armor forged by the sun god and began to stand against the evil of the north, especially as the Elves began to consolidate their power and become the largest threat to the south.

It was here that the Order of Light also became entrenched as the main religion it came to be known today, for once, as Aine was proof of, there would have been countless different faiths worshipping forest spirits or mountain guardians or river elementals and whatnot.

Unfortunately, it was said that the last Lightborn was assassinated by the Beaumont nobles who then took over Soleil with the intention of turning it over to the elves, joining their Republic.

Until, of course, the duchess rose to power, eliminated the Beaumonts, and returned Soleil to independence.