Rory and Viv confirmed that the Ifrit really was dead. Viv had no intention of being pretty or careful about it. She summoned her Omnipresent Sabre and stabbed it through the debris multiple times, all over the pile. Rory grimaced. If the monster hadn’t been dead by then, it surely couldn’t have survived those brutal stabs.

Once Viv stepped back, looking both grim and satisfied, Rory used his Weaving on the dead Ifrit.

[Sigil Options]

You can now pick a Woven Sigil from a maximum of three options. Choose wisely.

Sigil of Abyssal Inferno

Type: Element Rarity: Mythic Efficiency: High Summon abyssal, all-consuming flames

Sigil of Flare Feather

Type: Evolution Rarity: Exceptional Efficiency: High Grow feathers that allow flight with dark fire

Sigil of A Wish

Type: Divine Rarity: Mythic Efficiency: High Grant a wish in return for a sacrifice of commensurate value

“What’s going on?” Viv asked. “I know that look on your face. You found something cool, didn’t you?”

Rory had to actually laugh. “I found something very weird. There’s apparently a Sigil that can grant wishes.”

Viv blinked. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“How does that even work?”

“Well, let’s find out.”

Rory picked the Sigil of A Wish, obtaining a silvery-white Sigil with the image of a sparkling, antique, oil lamp.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of A Wish. You can now grant a wish by sacrificing something of equal value. Afterwards, the Sigil will shatter.

[Cerulean V] allows a single wish to be granted in return for a sacrifice.

Stats

Type: Divine

Rarity: Mythic

Tier: Cerulean V [0%]

Efficiency: High [75%]

Rory explained the description to Viv. She frowned when she heard the bit about the sacrifice, which grew deeper when she learned about the limit of a single use before the Sigil “shattered”, whatever that meant.

The deep lines age had drawn on her face made her look more haggard than she was. Not that Rory minded. Objectively prettier as she might have been in her youth, just like him, all the little things that showed her age just emphasized how far they’d been at each other’s side. The deep grey in her hair, the lines around her mouth and eyes, the way her skin had become a little papery at places—they were all signs that reflected Rory’s own symptoms of advanced age.

Symptoms that they had gone through so much of life together. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’ve got a connection,” Bo called from down the street. “They’re saying they’re okay.”

“Let’s worry about this later,” Rory said, putting the new Sigil away for now as he started walking towards the jeep.

Of course, they couldn’t simply wish for things to be better. Not with that sacrifice cost attached. But it wasn’t useless. He just needed to find out its parameters, of what kind of wishes needed what sort of cost, before he could make use of it.

Bo drove the truck to the front of the grocery store. Viv had gone inside to help April find everything they could salvage from the ruined store. Bringing the vehicle closer would let them load it quicker too.

“Are you driving back to the palace?” Dez’s voice was tinny through the Sigil of Calling.

“No, just pulling closer the store,” Bo said. “We’re finally going to get some real food, man.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Dez,” Rory said. He leaned against the truck’s open window. “Where are you guys exactly?”

“Hey, man. Let me explain the whole story. And then you can tell me what happened at your place.”

Dez went on to explain his weird tale about how he had come across a doctor treating the people who had left for Mirrorend from the bunker. Apparently, they’d been forced to stop and hide after meeting a monster.

The doctor supposedly had a worse story to tell, but he wasn’t willing to explain it yet for some reason.

“I think he wants to talk to you personally, Rory,” Dez said.

“Well, put him—”

Rory was interrupted by the Sigil of Calling. It started glowing on the truck’s dashboard, then started blinking, dimming and glowing and dimming again, over and over.

“Uh, are we getting another call?” Bo asked.

“I think so.” Rory tapped his hand on the Sigil. The glow became steady. “There.”

“Hello?” It was Sue. “Rory, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear. What’s up?”

“Where are you guys? And where’s Dez and Evelyn?”

“Hold on, let me see if we can connect in a three-way call.”

“There’s no time.” Sue was starting to sound more and more scared with every word. “Listen to me. There’s some kind of Imp here, and he’s threatening to uproot the whole palace.”

Rory gripped the edge of the jeep’s door tightly. “A what?”

“An Imp. I don’t know. Can you all just get over here, quickly? He’s not a monster that wants to fight. This is… worse.”

Rory was having a hard time not cursing as Sue often did. The Wraith Lord had warned him the Imps were attempting to set up a business, just as Rory intended to after he established the Safe Zone, but he hadn’t thought they’d be upon him so quickly. So many worries to handle.

“Worse how?” he asked. “Sue, you’re not making any sense.”

“Just get over quickly, please. Hurry!”

Bo cursed. The line disconnected, and Rory thought the conversation had ended, but Dez had been on hold all this time, apparently.

“What happened?” he asked. “Did you get a call from Belcourt? Is everything okay?”

Rory grimaced, then quickly relayed what Sue had said. They didn’t talk for long. Sue and the others back at the palace sounded like they were in trouble, and it sounded like Trish’s brand of solution wasn’t going to help.

“You two going to just stand there or help us out?” Viv asked from inside.

Rory neglected to point out they’d been carrying out important business and quickly went inside. With his and Bo’s help, April and Viv brought in as much groceries as they could fit into the back of the truck. There were a lot of frozen goods that would last them a long time, along with beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and many packed foods that was a good step above what they’d scrounged together so far.

They’d also gotten fruits and vegetables, whose seeds would help April complete her garden. Best of all, they were able to unplug one of the freezers and fit it in the back of the jeep.

There was also some Mana they managed to pick up. Not a lot, and Rory was starting to think he needed to figure out how to get a steady supply of it, but every little bit helped. Forager Force really came into play well, the trickle of Mana floating to them working as a guide to where clumps and piles had gathered.

“You guys might want to see this,” April said at some point from farther inside the store.

Rory followed her voice and found himself in a small storage room filled with old cleaning supplies. It wasn’t just any old room, however. The top of the walls was covered with a glossy dark material, rivulets running down and freezing on the lower half of the walls.

“What is this?” Viv asked in minute wonder.

No one was foolish enough to touch it. It looked like rubber mixed with ash then crystallized to make it look like glass. Rory stepped closer and used his Sigil of Weaving on the wall, obtaining a Sigil with the picture of a square plate in a purplish grey colour.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Cynium. You can now summon Cynium, a material used in the making of deceptive mirrors and windows.

[Cerulean IV] allows creation, manipulation, and imbuing of material in a 25-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Cerulean IV [0%]

Efficiency: High [65%]

Rory gazed at the new Sigil for a second. “This is what we need to create Sigils of Wielding.”

“Wait.” Viv stepped forward, though she didn’t touch the strange material. “This is the Cynium I saw with Insight?”

“Apparently. We’ll need to collect some.”

With the others’ help, Rory scraped off some of the Cynium and gathered them in a few Ziploc bags. Once Rory deemed that they had enough for the time being, he used his Sigil of Frozen Lightning within and around the whole store. They’d need to return to grab all the stuff they couldn’t on this trip, and the traps would help keep monsters away.

Just before they left, Rory took a moment to turn his Weaving onto the grocery store itself. White lines dissolved bits and pieces of it until he was left with a light green Sigil with the image of a bag full of fruits.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Produce. You can now deal with production and storage of food. How lucky you are to not have to starve.

[Cerulean IV] allows 20% soil nutrient regeneration and cold storage in a 2-meter radius in Area of Influence. Improves passively.

Stats

Type: Settlement

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Cerulean IV [0%]

Efficiency: High [67%]

Rory pocketed that too. Another settlement Sigil that would bring them a step closer to establishing their Safe Zone.

The pickup rumbled along the road after they set off. Bo drove a little slower and a little more carefully considering just how much they had piled into the vehicle. Rory was squeezed in with a bunch of frozen meat and fish, and a still-cold freezer behind him. Lucky for him he was getting used to the chill thanks to constant use of his staff.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the palace, and when they did, Rory’s unease only deepened when he saw that everything seemed mostly fine. There was no sign of danger—no barricades were overturned, no blood pooled on the ground, and no sign of any monsters anywhere.

Except at the top of the stairs leading to the main hall.

The creature turned to face them as Bo halted the truck in the parking lot. Rory’s Sigil of Knowledge quickly worked up to inform him that the creature was indeed an Imp. A Volcano Imp to be precise, its crimson humanoid body built like a child with a horned and bearded demonic head, an arrow-tipped tail whipping around, and a trident in one clawed hand. Large bat-wings blocked off half the entrance.

The others were tensed at the doorstep. Trish stood fully armoured in steel and Allen and Sue were a little farther behind, all of them looking like they were a step away from committing murder.

Dez’s group was also there, Trish’s Spyder parked closer to the palace. They had a new person with them, a man in a tweed suit who Rory supposed had to be this doctor fellow.

They hadn’t attacked for there was no sign of any violence anywhere, which worried Rory. None of the Sigils of Frozen Lightning had been triggered either and the Imp was hovering deep inside their territory.

“What took you all so long?” the Imp asked. His voice was thick but scratchy, belying his stature, like a drunkard struggling against a sore throat. “I’ve been waiting here for over an hour!”

“Who are you?” Rory asked, stopping a few feet away from the monster. It irked him a little that he had to look up at the Imp.

“I am Molten Aglas,” he said. Like his name, his eyes flashed a burning, liquid orange. “And I don’t need to hear what you’re called. I’m only here to warn you that you had better get out of here before I see you again. Things won’t be pretty, otherwise.”

“Are you telling us to leave our homes?”

“Exit this town.

The Imp’s manner of speaking left no room for negotiation, nor any place for some sort of reasonable conversation. But Rory wasn’t one to be swayed so easily.

“What exactly do you mean by your threat?” he asked. “How exactly won’t things be pretty?”

The Imp gurgled. Its neck glowed as though there was a fireball stuck in its throat. Rory tensed, but when Aglas spoke, it was only with words. “I am only an emissary for the Imps for now, but if you do not leave, if you do not give up on your foolhardy notion of establishing a business here, we will return in force. You do not wish to see what the Imps can accomplish together.”

“You realize we don’t have to be at odds about this. Some friendly competition can help us both do better, and even then, we both don’t have to sell the same things. You Imps can take some—”

“Enough.” Aglas slammed the butt of his trident on the ground, throwing up fiery sparks.

Rory swallowed, glad his reflexive startle hadn’t been able to overcome his lethargy to act. Silver linings of being old.

Viv stepped forward. There was a dangerous gleam in her eyes, a suppressed anger raring to burst free from her grip. She always got mad when people disrespected them, especially Rory, and now the Imp had roused her ire.

“Do you think you’ll simply walk free, now that you’re here,” Viv said. “You can’t simply come in here, threaten us, and—”

The Imp’s eyes flared. “How dare you—”

But he was rolled over by Viv, whose voice rose even higher. “—and expect to leave in one piece. If you refuse to cooperate peacefully, there’s no reason for us to do so as well.”

“Viv, no.”

It was Trish who had spoken. Her brows were drawn down in anger, but she was shaking her head in clear warning. Rory’s mouth dried up. If Trish was the one who was cautioning them against violence, there was something far more terrible going on that wasn’t apparent to Rory.

Aglas had drawn his trident closer. The tips had never looked sharper. “Did you truly think I came here alone?” He waved his arm around them. “There are far more of us observing this interaction than you can possibly know. The moment you lay your hands on me, they will raze this land to the ground, turning your souls to the primordial ash and powder that you were all born from.”

Viv had stopped cold. She turned around slowly, her eyes trying to make out other Imps but failing to find anything to latch onto.

“So,” the Imp continued, relishing the way they had all been rattled. “What is your answer to my ultimatum—surrender and departure, or eradication?”

Dez stepped forward this time. There was much the same look on his face as there was on Viv’s, though his was a deeper thing. “Our answer is that we intend to make a home for ourselves. If you oppose that and act against us, we’ll be forced to defend ourselves.”

“Brash talk.” The Imp tutted. “So, you’ve chosen eradication. Well, you shall face your due reckoning soon enough.”

Dez’s fists flared with dark fire, the same as Rory had seen with the Ifrit. “I’ll be escorting you out of here, Aglas. Tell your friends to leave.”

Aglas allowed himself to be escorted to the end of the parking lot. He paused to sneer back at them at the gate, but when more fires burned in Dez’s fists, he moved on. As he departed, lights went up in the distance around the palace, each a different colour from sunny yellow to dank green, all fading as the Imp left.

Rory closed his eyes for a moment and forced the rising worries about the Imp’s threat down beneath the surface of his mind’s murk. This Imp faction was nothing more than another challenge for them to overcome.

And like the rest so far, they’d win against this one as well.