A third Daemon.
Simon stared at its four wings, then at the path continuing beneath them.
The ash beyond held more footprints.
This was not the last.
His companion knelt beside him, its branched horns nearly touching the ground. They had barely survived becoming the previous Daemon, and something already considered it unworthy of standing.
Then the pressure arrived.
Simon's elbows struck the ash.
He tried to draw breath and felt his ribs refusing to expand. The force pressed through the weaker bloodline and reached everything connected to it.
His body in Velmora shook.
The Superior Demon Lord's skull vibrated beneath Jorra's heart. Red light filled the bone, holding the Bloodline Gate and the road beyond it open.
A skull taken from anything below a Demon Lord would have shattered by now, collapsing the road with Simon still upon it.
Even the Superior Demon Lord's bone had begun to creak.
Lilith steadied it with her palm.
On the path, bare feet approached.
