Chapter 750

Chapter 750: Magical Display

“Master Seso?”

Demisette’s voice came from outside the tent; she had returned from Lakeshire.

Jesse reluctantly opened his eyes at the sound. He sat up, leaning against a nearby wooden post as he caught his breath, still recovering from Molofeel’s torment which had lasted gods knew how long yesterday.

He rubbed his face, draped his robe over his shoulders, and glanced at the succubus lounging in the corner who watched him through half-lidded eyes. “Come in,” he said.

Demisette ducked inside, her gaze sweeping over Jesse and the succubus. Any demon summoner would recognize the lingering aura in the tent and know exactly what had transpired the night before.

She pulled a scroll from her bag. “The demonic enhancement spell. It’s yours now, Master Seso.”

Jesse unrolled it. The contents were written in Demonic, meticulously annotated in Common and supplemented with numerous Orcish symbols, making the description incredibly detailed.

Demisette asked, “Master… how much is this spell worth?”

“That depends on its true power, Ms. Cloyce,” Jesse replied. “I need to learn it, to see what this magic actually *does*, before I can judge its value. But I’d say at least five gold coins. I place great value on my demon servant’s strength.”

Demisette visibly hesitated. She clenched her hands. “Could you… could you demonstrate the magic for me first, Master?”

“Two Soul Shards,” Jesse said, holding out his hand.

“No problem.” Demisette took a deep breath, trembling as she pulled the Soul Shards from her pocket and placed them in Jesse’s palm.

Jesse rubbed his thumb over the shards’ smooth surfaces. He then pulled out a bottle of strong Mana Potion and downed it in one gulp. “Follow me.”

At the Storm Altar, several warlocks crowded around Kallez. The rumbling of lava within Blackrock Mountain drowned out their words completely.

Kallez would occasionally respond or lash out in anger, startling the warlocks into stepping back. Yet they understood Jesse had enslaved this demon and commanded him not to harm anyone, making it safe to approach.

Jesse wasn’t worried the warlocks would learn anything useful from Kallez. If communication was this difficult for him, the master, how much easier could it be for them?

Besides, while Kallez, as a Doomlord, commanded many demonic spells, the most potent ones required the demon’s own power to roar the incantations effectively – spells like Cripple.

If those warlocks truly possessed the skill to harness a language curse, overcoming the curse’s disruption to bellow the incantations like he did, then letting them learn such spells hardly mattered.

After all, these warlocks *had* helped summon the demon. Though Kallez falling under his control was unexpected, Jesse saw no reason to hinder their planned communication and study, or to antagonize these denizens of the dark edge.

Jesse led Demisette with practiced ease to a gully on the back mountain. Scanning the area to ensure they were alone, he addressed Demisette standing a distance away. “I cast this only once, Ms. Cloyce.”

“I understand,” Demisette said.

Jesse tossed the Soul Shards onto the ground. He murmured the incantation with practiced ease, slowly drawing the surrounding Shadow Power to gather swiftly above his head.

As the dark serpents of magic converged, Demisette initially tried to decipher the words forming on Jesse’s lips. But the sight of the black magic serpents biting and coiling into an evil shadow star wiped all thought from her mind, leaving her only able to stare dumbfounded at the sky…

Jesse hadn’t cast The Hand of Gul’dan in a long time. Guiding the shadow star forming in the air, he realized he felt even more adept than during the bombardment of Dethmoora in Nethergarde… or in Eldre’Thalas.

Even without the souls from the Blasted Lands aiding him, he conjured a truly terrifying shadow star coiling ominously overhead.

Mana burned through him ferociously. Jesse felt control slipping away.

The Hand of Gul’dan demanded two emotions: loneliness… and hate. His journey through Grim Batol had steeped him in both.

He remembered that trek, leaving Stormwind for Menethil Harbor, staring at the waves of The Great Sea while contemplating his uncertain path…

The suffocating sense of walking alone, intertwined with the profound loneliness of being a traveler stranded in this world, grew colder within him.

And the hate… In that moment, his urge to kill Deathwing had nearly overwhelmed him.

The dark shadow star flared violently. Dark purple magic flames erupted with a *whoomph*, making Demisette stagger and clutch a nearby boulder.

Jesse too sensed the magic straining against his control. Though it fell short of the terrifying result achieved at Nethergarde with its perfect confluence of place and souls, this was frightening enough.

At Nethergarde, the Pit Lord Azgath had absorbed the full force of the shadow strike. In Eldre’Thalas, Dethmoora’s shield, bolstered by the city’s magic array, had absorbed the impact. Here, nothing existed to withstand such an explosion.

Jesse vividly recalled the devastation from his first successful cast of The Hand of Gul’dan in Elwynn Forest; he himself had barely survived it.

He severed the spell, dissolving the falling meteor in mid-air. If it had struck the ground… the consequences were unthinkable.

The dark magic serpents tore at each other, scattering wildly through the air, staining the entire gully a deep, unnatural purple. It took a long time for the valley to return to normal.

Jesse stared numbly at his hands. Spells fueled so intensely by emotion were also the most prone to spiraling out of control because of it.

A single moment of lost composure just now could have buried him and Demisette Cloyse forever in this nameless place.

“Letting it fall is paid content, Ms. Cloyce,” Jesse said, looking up at the darkening clouds. “Bring enough coin, and I’ll show you the whole act.”

“That was sufficient, Master Seso,” Demisette’s voice trembled. “I may never forget that shadow star for the rest of my life. Whatever the cost, I want to learn it. My earlier proposal… could you reconsider it?”

“I already gave my answer,” Jesse turned back. “Did you think I refused just because Molofeel was there?”

“Miss Molofeel is a powerful huntress; many warlocks know this. But…” Demisette paused carefully. “My servant possesses transformation magic. You’ve been to Gladys’s hideout; you saw Gorzeeki’s servant. Mine is far stronger. We could both serve you. She can transform into whatever form you desire – a woman you long for, even a noble… like Queen Tiffin, or a princess of Lordaeron, or a High Elf… until you are satisfied.”

Jesse said, “I appreciate the offer, Ms. Cloyce; it does sound tempting. But focus on preparing the coin. I need gold more right now.”