Ch15: Serena the Enchanted Imp
"Here we are. Caldeum, the Jewel of the East," Leah sighed as she looked across the city from our vantage point at the hidden camp. "Uncle Deckard loved this place." "He wouldn't now that it's been taken over by Belial, the Lord of Lies," Serena frowned back at her. "Indeed. Belial is the most elusive of the 7 Evils and is a master of deceit, trickery, and disguise. If I know him, he will probably try to possess someone we wouldn't expect him to," Tyreal frowned. "Well, that would mean that he would possess either a villager, someone of royalty, or an ally," I frowned, not wanting to give away the fact that he was, in fact, Emperor Hakan II.
"We're going to need to split up into two groups. Me, mom, and Serena will head on our way to destroy that wretched witch Maghda while you and Tyreal try to find out any kind of information about Belial," I told the duo. "Do you really want to commit murder of an actual person though? I'm still not too thrilled about this quest of ours. It won't bring back Leah's uncle at all," mom frowned. "I know it won't bring Deckard back, but that old bag needs to be killed before she destroys anymore innocent lives," Serena frowned back at her. "W-Well... okay... let's go find that witch then. I'm still planning on one of you two dealing the final blow, however," mom frowned as our two groups headed down the long hill and we had emerged into the slums of Caldeum.
It didn't take long for glances of suspicion to be glanced towards my trio's way (five if you included the zombie dogs), and the one I really wanted to see soon appeared in front of me, her hand on her sword hilt upon seeing us. "Um, we're not deadly you know?" I frowned at her, the shock on her face priceless. "Y-You can talk?... Well, now I guess I can really say that I have seen everything," the woman frowned at me as she removed her hand from her sword hilt. "I am Asheara of the Iron Wolves."
"And we are the Undead Nephalem, you could say," mom smiled, her name sounding really obligatory. "Undead Nephalem? Now I'm even more surprised... maybe you could be of use to our current situation," Asheara frowned at our trio, but keeping her eyes locked on Serena. After all, she WAS a demon. "We've heard reports of an attack on Alcarnus to the Northwest in the Howling Plateau by a coven and their witch leader. We sent some men to go check it out, but they haven't returned for a while now. We need you to go to Alcarnus to take care of the problem if it hasn't yet resolved," she frowned, Serena's eyes going wide when she said 'witch leader'.
"Well you're in luck. We just so happen to be hunting this cult as well as their witch Maghda. Just point us in the right direction and we'll slaughter every last one of 'em," Serena sneered, Asheara's face not really showing surprise anymore. "Okay, I will admit one thing... I didn't expect your imp companion to be a girl," Asheara admitted. "Don't worry. Everyone's been shocked so far... in fact, maybe you could help us spread through the town gossip about our group? I'm sure it'd be helpful in the future," I frowned at her. "Very well. I wish your group luck in defeating the coven," Asheara said as we walked past her and then proceeded out of the city.
Upon going out of the city, we immediately noticed the lack of the Enchantress, who was pivotal in getting past the coven's magical mirages. "Okay, since there isn't an Enchantress helping us, how are we going to get past the illusions up ahead?" I asked as we then proceeded into the valley, killing the Lacuni and Stinging Wasps that impeded our quest. "Well, you may not believe me, but being a Succubus for a good portion of your life can give you some great illusionary mastery," Serena smirked as we finally made it to the mirage. "For example, let me do this," Serena smirked as she cast a spell of a pink light at the rock face, the illusion wearing off to show a group of cultists ready to attack... only to be shocked beyond compare when we caught them in the act.
"You going somewhere, idiots? Or are you just begging for us to kill you?" I asked as I pointed my deadly finger of Disintegration at one of them, exploding his head in gory fashion. "Now, who's next?" Serena smirked as she whipped out her claws. The cultists ran for the hills after that, only to be slaughtered by the approaching Lacuni that were chasing the Iron Wolves. "Well, time to go Lacuni hunting!" mom smirked as she a giant puddle of acid at the five different Panther Men, making them evaporate into nothing.
"If not for you, the Lacuni would've eaten well today..." the one Iron Wolf captain said. "Don't be too surprised at us. We've shocked a good few people already with our presence," I admitted to them. "Are you going to Alcarnus?" another one of them asked. "Yes. We're going to destroy the coven and Maghda the Witch," Serena explained. "Be careful on your way then. The main road to Alcarnus is blocked. You'll need to go to the Khasim Outpost to the northwest to get there," he explained.
We were then on our way through the Howling Plateau, slaughtering anything that got in our way, whether they were Lacuni, Stinging Wasps, Dune Threshers, or even Dust Imps... "It's okay if we kill bad imps, right Serena?" mom asked with a worried smile. "Eh, I don't know them, so it's okay," Serena shrugged the question off like it was nothing. "Oookay... didn't expect that," I admitted honestly as we approached the illusionary 'broken' bridge. Serena sniffed the air and smiled, her pink ray of magic revealing the trick for us to see. "Good job Serena! Now let's go forward," mom smirked as we then made our way into the Stinging Winds. Pretty soon we'd be at the Khasim Outpost. And a few moments after, meeting Maghda one final time.