A week had passed since Jack made his proposal to Seryth.

Seven days for word to travel between the warring clans and for arrangements to be made under the fragile banner of peace.

The throne room was impressive. High vaulted ceilings supported by marble columns that gleamed.

Banners bearing the Aurion crest hung from the walls, and the floor was polished stone that reflected the luminescence of the light demons who called this place home.

Seryth sat upon her throne, resplendent in armor that caught and amplified the light around her. Her wings were spread slightly, a display of authority and power.

To her right and left stood two elite guards.

Against the far wall, almost invisible in the shadows, stood Kyren.

The reanimated demon remained perfectly still, his hollow eyes fixed on nothing. To anyone who didn't know better, he might have seemed like a decorative statue.

The massive doors to the throne room swung open.

Vok'thar entered first.

The Thal'Gorin War Chief was tall and broad-shouldered. His eyes were pits of absolute darkness. He wore armor that looked like it had been forged from midnight itself, and at his hip hung a curved black blade.

Behind him came Nyx'ira, the champion of the Thal'Gorin. Her form was slender but no less dangerous, shadows coiling around her like living serpents.

Her void-like eyes scanned the room with professional wariness.

Four Thal'Gorin guards followed, each one radiating the controlled menace of trained killers. They spread out in a defensive formation, hands near weapons but not quite touching them.

The tension in the room was palpable.

Vok'thar's dark eyes swept across the throne room, taking in Seryth, her guards, and finally settling on Kyren standing motionless against the wall. His expression shifted to something between confusion and suspicion.

"Where is the Soul Warden?" Vok'thar's voice was deep, carrying the weight of shadow itself. "Your message said he would be present for this... discussion."

Seryth remained seated, her luminescent eyes calm. "He will arrive shortly. Please, have patience."

"Patience," Vok'thar repeated, his tone making it clear what he thought of that suggestion. "I came into the heart of Aurion territory under a banner of truce, based on the words of an outsider I've never met." His shadows coiled tighter around him. "My patience has limits, High Commander."

"As does mine," Seryth replied coolly. "Yet here we both are, taking a risk for the possibility of peace. Perhaps we should remember why we came."

Nyx'ira stepped forward slightly, her void eyes studying Kyren with unnerving intensity. "That one," she said, her voice like wind through a crypt. "The undead Aurion warrior. I recognize him from the battlefield where the Soul Warden killed all the demons, War Chief."

Vok'thar's attention snapped to Kyren. "An Aurion serving the Soul Warden? Interesting." His shadows rippled with something that might have been anger. "Where is your master, corpse?"

Kyren's hollow voice echoed through the throne room, emotionless and final. "He will be here shortly."

As if summoned by those words, the side entrance to the throne room opened.

Jack stepped through, and every eye in the room turned toward him.

The new armor transformed him into something from a nightmare. The crimson-black plates gleamed in the throne room's light, the veins of darker red pulsing with barely contained power.

The skull embedded in his chest piece stared at the assembled demons with hollow malevolence, its eye sockets glowing faintly red.

The helmet obscured most of Jack's face, but through the T-shaped opening, his eyes were visible. They glowed yellow. It made him look less human and more like the demons he walked among.

The Infernal Spear rested casually in his hand, its runes pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

He looked like a demon lord. Like something that had crawled up from the deepest pits of Tartarus to bring judgment upon the living.

The Thal'Gorin guards tensed immediately, hands moving to weapons. Nyx'ira's shadows coiled defensively. Even Vok'thar's expression shifted to something more wary as he took in Jack's appearance.

"Soul Warden," Vok'thar said slowly, his dark eyes studying every detail of Jack's armor. "You look... different than the last time I saw you.

Jack walked forward with measured steps, his armored boots ringing against the polished stone.

He stopped in the center of the room, equidistant from both groups, and planted his spear on the ground with a solid thunk that echoed through the chamber.

"Thank you for coming," Jack said, his voice carrying clearly despite the helmet. "I know this meeting required significant trust from both sides. I appreciate your willingness to listen."

"We're listening," Vok'thar said, his tone making it clear his patience was already thin. "Your message promised information that could end this war. I'm here because even the possibility of ending four years of bloodshed is worth the risk. But my time is not infinite, Soul Warden. Speak your piece."

Jack's eyes moved between Seryth and Vok'thar, making sure he had everyone's attention. Then he began.

"This war," Jack said, his voice steady and authoritative, "did not start because of pride or territory or even the gift that humiliated you, War Chief. This war started because someone wanted it to start. Someone who benefited from keeping both of your clans focused on killing each other instead of asking questions."

Vok'thar's shadows rippled. "Elaborate."

"The weapon that Seryth commissioned as a gesture of goodwill," Jack continued, "the dagger that caused your humiliation before Pho, it was sabotaged. The original weapon was swapped out before it reached you. The Aethrium used in its forging was deliberately chosen for its... unfortunate effect."

Seryth's light flared brighter. "What? That's impossible. I commissioned that weapon from a trusted smith. The chain of custody…"

"Was compromised," Jack interrupted, his gaze fixed on her. "By Pho himself. He arranged for the swap, ensured the weapon would have exactly the effect it did, knowing it would destroy any chance of an alliance between your clans and ignite a conflict."

Vok'thar's form seemed to grow darker, shadows expanding around him like a physical manifestation of rage. "You're saying Pho orchestrated my humiliation? That he deliberately…"

"Yes," Jack said flatly. "And that was just the beginning."

He turned slightly, gesturing as if toward the valley beyond the city walls. "The Aethrium deposits you've both been fighting over for four years, the surface crystals along the river, they're nothing compared to what exists beneath."

"Beneath?" Nyx'ira's voice carried genuine surprise.

"There's an entire mining operation underground," Jack explained. "Pho discovered it decades ago. Massive Aethrium deposits, far richer and more concentrated than anything on the surface. While you've been killing each other over scraps, he's been extracting the real wealth from right under your feet."

The silence that followed was absolute.

Seryth rose from her throne, her wings spreading wide, her light blazing so bright it was almost painful to look at directly. "That's... Pho has been mining our territory? During our war? While we…"

"While you were too busy fighting each other to notice," Jack finished. "He bought out independent miners, hired his own workers, bought your miners and built an empire on the Aethrium trade. He's been selling to both sides, profiting from the war while ensuring it never ended."

Vok'thar's voice was quiet now, but somehow more dangerous for its softness. "How long have you known this?"

"I discovered the mine a week ago," Jack said. "I fought Pho's assassins there. Killed four of them. The fifth escaped to report back to him." He paused, letting that sink in. "Pho knows I found his operation. He knows I understand what he's been doing. Which means he'll be planning his response."

"Why?" Vok'thar asked. "Why would Pho go to such lengths? He's a Disaster-class demon. He could take what he wanted by force."

"Because of what's beneath the mine. The reason the Aethrium grows so richly in this valley. The source of its power."

He paused, making sure every demon in the room was focused on him.

"There's a dying titan under the mountain."

The reaction was explosive.

Seryth's light flared so bright the guards had to look away. Vok'thar's shadows erupted outward like an explosion, darkening half the room. Even Nyx'ira, typically composed, took a step backward.

"A titan?" Seryth's voice cracked with disbelief. "That's... titans are a myth. Ancient stories. They can't…"

"I've seen it," Jack said, his voice cutting through the chaos. "A hundred meters long, lying in a cavern fifty meters beneath the mine. Gray skin covered in Aethrium crystals that grow from its flesh like a parasite. It's dying, and it's the reason the crystals grow."

Through the T-shaped opening of his helmet, Jack's eyes burned with red light that reflected off the polished stone floor.

"Pho found the titan. Built his operation around it. And started a war to keep both of you from discovering his secret." Jack's voice was cold. "That's the truth you came here to learn. Your war, your dead, four years of bloodshed, all of it orchestrated by one demon's greed."

Vok'thar stood frozen, his shadows churning like a storm barely contained. When he finally spoke, his voice was fueled by rage. "If what you say is true, if Pho truly did this..." He trailed off, too angry to finish.

Seryth had sat back down on her throne, her light dimmed to something more manageable but her hands gripping the armrests so tightly the metal groaned.

"A titan. Pho's been mining a dying titan." She looked at Jack. "How can we verify this? How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Jack met her gaze steadily. "I can take you there."

He turned to address both leaders equally. "Or you can go back to killing each other while Pho continues to profit from your conflict. The choice is yours."

The throne room fell silent again. Seryth and Vok'thar exchanged glances, an entire conversation happening in that single look between enemies who had fought for so long they understood each other better than allies might.

Finally, Vok'thar spoke. "If what you say is true, Soul Warden, then Pho will pay for his deception." His dark eyes fixed on Jack's glowing red ones. "But I need proof. Take me to this titan. Show me the evidence. Then we can discuss what happens next."

Jack nodded slowly, his crimson-black armor gleaming in the throne room's light. Through his helmet, his eyes burned with an intensity that made even the Thal'Gorin War Chief uncomfortable.

"As you wish," Jack said quietly.

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