“To believe you not only outmaneuvered my machinations but also have the strength of will to return here astounds me,” Mammon both insulted and complimented the goblin.

  “Believe me, I have no desire to endure your presence.” Armand countered.

  “Nevertheless, you foiled my plans and you must atone.” The demon tisked and sighed, “If I kill you. The Demon of Knowledge is returned to hell and I cannot have that.” The devil lamented, “Some light torture will have to be sufficient.” The grin widened to inhuman proportions as the gracefully dressed figure began to grow taller, claws extending from its fingertips.

  Armand squinted at the devil; he wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with this but he prepared himself for battle nonetheless. Mammon leaped forward, and the goblin raised his arm to defend. The claws slashed against his soul but sparked like they skittered across steel.

  “Your soul is inordinately strong for a mere mortal…” The devil huffed, “That blasted Astaroth taught you how to strengthen your soul, didn’t he…” The goblin had been absorbing small amounts of souls over the years but he had not expected it to strengthen him to this point.

  Since he was here, we might as well experiment. He willed his hand to turn into a blade, much like when he would do his soul-severing ritual. The hand easily morphed into a large and sharp blade. The goblin turned, lunged at the demon and slashed. The resulting cut was small, almost like a paper cut, and a faint amount of dark fluid dripped from the wound.

  The dark fluid vaporized on touching the superheated air and turned into a dark cloud. The goblin felt that when wisps of that dark vapor passed him, he felt a sudden desire to drag the demon back to his dungeon to extract all the knowledge he could from him.

  But before he could make that mistake, a loud roar in the distance shook the world around him. Mammon’s face had taken on a darkened hue of rage. The ground began to shake as something large came from the distance and before the devil could strike and before he could see what was noisily approaching, a hand reached through the ether and grabbed him, pulling him out of hell.

  The place he was dragged to was much nicer; the warmth was not scorching but rather like sitting in front of a fireplace wrapped in blankets nursing a hot beverage. It was bright, but only till his eyes adjusted did he see a field of golden grass stretching endlessly, waving gently in an ethereal breeze.

  “That was rather close, dungeon master.” The goblin turned to the source of the voice and was surprised to see Uriel in his angelic form standing there.

  “Uriel! I am glad to see you!” The goblin embraced the angel, only wrapping his arms partially around one of the giant figure's legs. “What happened back there?”

  “Well, you pissed off an archdemon by damaging one of his soul clones.” The angel replied. “That slice is going to take him years to repair.”

  “I hardly did anything.” The goblin whispered, thinking of the tiny nick he left on the demon’s chest.

  “Normally yes but damage to the soul is not so easily repaired,” Uriel added, “especially if you use soul-severing magic like you did.”

  “And that dark stuff leaking from his wounds?” The goblin asked.

  “Concentrated emotions, in Mammon’s case, concentrated greed.” Uriel began to walk through the swaying grass, Armand following alongside him. “You’re lucky you only got a whiff of the stuff or your personality could have been permanently affected.”

  “How could you tell there isn’t any lasting damage?” asked the worried goblin.

  “Simply, your soul is still that healthy purple it normally is.” The angel rubbed the top of the goblin’s head, who was still as tense as a snake ready to strike. “Release your tension; you are safe.”

  “Perhaps if you confirm our whereabouts, I could relax.” The goblin turtly replied.

  “Of course,” the angel acknowledged. “Then allow me to welcome you to Celestia, Armand.” He dramatically waved as a large marble building came into sight.

  “Interesting… So how were you able to find me?” The goblin’s curiosity got the better of him.

  “Hell and Celestia are a lot closer together than you think. Much like two sides of a coin.” Uriel explained, “I sensed your presence in hell and worked as quickly as possible to get you out of that wretched place.”

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  “Then I am in your debt.” The goblin stated, “What can I do for you?” The goblin knew when debts needed to be repaid.

  “Then allow me to fill you in on the situation.” They began walking into the large marble spire, passing numerous other angels along the way. “There is a faction of hell attempting to infiltrate the material world, destroying the barrier between material and immaterial planes.”

  “So demons and elementals would roam the earth?” The goblin surmised.

  “Even the gods would be released.” Uriel further enlightened the situation. “It would be the death of almost all mortals, and what remains would become cattle for those higher beings.” They slowly made their way up an endless staircase.

  “That is some frightening news,” While Armand did not live there, his friends did, so his concern was palpable.

  “The forces of hell already have several minions in play in the material plane attempting to become strong enough to shatter the barrier.” They stopped on a certain floor and entered; the room was pure marble—tables, chairs, bookcases, and even the fireplaces were carved marble. Uriel took a seat at the table and the goblin followed suit.

  “I take it this is where my involvement begins?” The goblin asked.

  “Right you are; having endured your company these last few years, I feel that you are a right fit for us.” Uriel acknowledged, then continued, “We hope you can eliminate their pawns in the material world.”

  “While I am very invested in preventing the end of the world,” the goblin began, “that seems like it would be a challenge for me in my current circumstances.” After all, he was a dungeon master trapped in a dungeon, a place between worlds.

  “I have to disagree with you on that,” Uriel replied. “You have many roots in the mortal world, the elves, several servants, even a queen at your beck and call and yet you claim that you are the wrong person for said task?”

  “I guess I have made a lot of friends during my time as dungeon master.” Armand had not really thought of this; his social net was not of the largest priority to him and he did not consider the power that said individuals had.

  “Furthermore, I am well aware of your reckless plan to create a pawn in the real world.” Uriel revealed his last piece of information.

  “I wouldn’t call it reckless…” Armand began to counter but the angel raised a hand to silence the goblin.

  “Bisecting one’s soul is by definition reckless.”

  “I didn’t share that part…” The goblin thought he had done a good job keeping his plans concealed.

  “Your face revealed it all that day.” The angel explained, When Uriel told him about the effects of severing a soul, the goblin had become extremely worried. However, to save her, Armand had decided that he would go through with the plan, consequences be damned. “Terra also, how do you mortals say it… spilled the beans.”

  “I didn’t know that angels knew how to bribe.” The goblin laughed; he had thought the earth lord's body had become quite shiny of late; the angel must have blessed it.

  “Like I said, demons and angels are not so different in nature; merely how we go about it is different.” Uriel said, a rare smile on his face. “Let’s return to the matter at hand. In exchange for your cooperation, I will give you a method to safely split your soul in twain.”

  “As in I will not be split into two beings?” The goblin asked for clarification.

  “Indeed, perhaps a demonstration is needed.” The angel closed his eyes and proceeded to begin to split down the middle. Two eyes became four, one pair of wings became two, and soon two identical Uriels stood before him. “Soul creatures are the best when it comes to soul magic.”

  “I’m probably going to have to punish Thoth when I get home, huh?” The goblin was already furious that the demon had sold him some faulty goods.

  “Don’t be too mad; he did well to start you off with the basics.” The two angels merged back into one being. “If you were to try these techniques with no experience, you would probably end up shattering your soul.”

  “Then he is spared the rod today, but I refuse to provide him a carrot.” The goblin jested.

  “The only way to control a demon is to give them what they want till they become dependent like a dog.” Uriel harshly stated in reply, “And unfortunately they recruit individuals who think similarly.”

  “A most curious perspective,” the goblin mused; the phrase ‘it takes one to know one’ passed through his mind. “Perhaps we should return to this soul magic you are speaking of.”

  “You are right…” The angel looked back at the goblin; perhaps he was picking up some bad habits from these mortals. Nonetheless, he continued. “The secret lies with the art of soul homogenization.”

  “A long word I haven’t heard of…” The goblin commented, “Please explain.:

  “The soul is usually split into parts: memories, likes, fears, behavior, and the self. Because it is not all localized, large severing's can remove large sections of a person’s being.” The angel explained, “So you need to make the soul the same throughout, merging everything into one consistent soul mass.”

  “Like making a cake, you have to stir everything thoroughly to make sure it is consistent.” The goblin surmised.

  “If you wish to grossly oversimplify it, then sure.” Uriel stated, “To homogenize one’s soul, you need to use this spell.” The angel tapped Armand on the forehead and he saw the circle and invocation that he needed. “You will compress your soul to be as small as possible, pushing all the parts of your soul into one place, making one dense, uniform soul. It can then be spread back out.”

  “Understood. Would it also spread the transformation of my soul?” The goblin asked in worry since the silver patch of his soul had grown a bit.

  The angel nodded. “It will but it is too small to consume your soul of the moment; I suggest severing it and reattaching it after the compressing.”

  “A decent plan.” The goblin replied that he felt a slight tugging. He would be waking soon. “Well, consider the job done.” He said to the angel. “Before I go, however, what is the name of the group trying to break the barrier?”

  “Does it require a name?” The angel asked.

  “Mortals need something to rally under, so obviously our enemy has a name.” The goblin replied.

  The angel shrugged, “I have heard whispers that they are going by a name.” He leaned forward as Armand slowly faded away from Celestia. “They are known as the Order of Return.”