"Volantis? Whatever software the demons use for him told me that he's undergoing self-repair. Do you mean you want to accelerate that process?" Aldrich asked the Death Lord.
"Software…?" The Death Lord ever so slightly tilted her head, making Aldrich realize that she obviously would have no idea what that word meant. "I do not grasp that word, but I understand the essence of what you are saying. And to answer: yes and no.
We will restore Volantis, but not in the way the demons wished."
"Explain," said Aldrich.
"The fact that you have caused the Demonwill entrapped within Volantis to manifest like this, to try and scrub Volantis's soul, means you managed to get him to reclaim a shard of his former soul. Quite likely through recalling old memories, no?" said the Death Lord.
"You would be right about that," said Aldrich.
"Excellent!" The Death Lord tapped her pipe with her index finger in a positive gesture. "Then that signals the Demonwill is weakened near to its destruction. Weakened enough to be completely dispelled.
If the Demonwill is purged, then Volantis will return with the full extent of his old soul. But-," The Death Lord narrowed her one eye as she stared at Aldrich. "It is your decision whether you desire this or not. Volantis was a proud warrior in his life of yore, and he followed a leader he devoted himself greatly to. It may be that should he return with his old spirit intact, he will not recognize you as his own."
"Is that why you never tried to restore Volantis when he was under your command?" said Aldrich.
"Partially. Mostly, it was because the Demonwill was too powerful for even myself to sunder," said the Death Lord. "Which is an interesting aspect of this whole situation to note. It would appear that without the Flame Arcs in this New World of yours, demonic influence is at its weakest."
Aldrich did not know everything about demon lore, but he did know what Flame Arcs were. Demons were not actually native existences to Elduin, the main physical realm that Elden World mostly operated on.
Demons instead hailed from a hell like separate realm of eternal flame called the Pyre. Because of their extradimensional status, demons needed some kind of physical anchor in Elduin to manifest.
For most demons, this was the Flame Arc, an enormous collected of demonic runes that generated a constant field of infernal energy from the Pyre that sustained demonic presence. Demons that relied upon the Flame Arc were called Incarnated demons for their physical forms were literally built up and incarnated by the Flame Arcs.
Other demons, particularly those that were converted from Elduin native to demon, were called Anchored demons, for they were permanently 'anchored' to a specific physical body. In Volantis's case, this was his armor form.
Flame Arcs also supported the vast majority of demonic magics, so it made sense that in earth, where there were no Flame Arcs or any demons, really, the magic that kept Volantis's soul chained would weaken.
"What will your decision be, Usurper?" said the Death Lord. "If you do nothing, the Demonwill within that armor will still have the strength to restore Volantis to a state where he knew nothing of his original soul.
And you need not worry of the Demonwill weakening to such an extent that it will fade away entirely – like a parasite, it will eternally sustain itself to a minimum extent off of Volantis's own soul and power."
"In the case that Volantis does rebel against me, do I have an option of subjugating him?" said Aldrich.
Technically speaking, Volantis was not one of Aldrich's undead. He could not just enforce his will on Volantis and be done with it.
This was because demons were one of the very few existences immune to being raised as undead.
When Aldrich 'raised' units from the Necropolis, he did so using sigils – symbols of power – granted to him by the Death Lord.
All those symbols did was transfer ownership over to Aldrich.
For most of the undead, switching ownership meant they became his own undead with no issue.
But in Volantis's case, all it meant was that he just switched literal physical ownership over to Aldrich like two players swapping items with each other.
"Yes," said the Death Lord. "But it would be a difficult one. You could defeat him in combat, which would weaken his soul and allow the Demonwill to take over again.
I have an Arena to isolate Volantis for this purpose.
That is, if you do desire his awakening."
"Volantis is strong, but he can't handle facing my Legion alone. The risk isn't significant to take him down. I just need to know whether there are actually any benefits to letting Volantis have his old memories," said Aldrich, speaking from a point of view of pure rationality.
Aldrich valued Volantis, it was true, and if possible, he would have liked Volantis to have his old self without the chains of the Demonwill erasing who he originally was.
But the thing was, if all this just made Volantis an enemy, if there was no discernible benefit to Aldrich, then he would not go through with it either.
"Volantis would gain access to the martial skills and experiences he would have had in life," said the Death Lord. "In my research, I knew Volantis to be an Orclord, just shy of a Warmother or Warfather which leads entire hordes.
The soul also influences one's physical form to an extent.
With his original soul fully awakened, his armored body may undergo direct changes that no doubt will increase his strength.
The amount of power he receives will be appreciable. And if he accepts you as his Armored still, then it may very well be that over time, those powers and traits may transfer over to you."
Aldrich had an idea of what Volantis could gain.
Orcs in Elden World were immense physical powerhouses with their defining trait being their endurance.
Unlike trolls, orcs did not have regeneration, but what they did have was an indomitable will and bodies that seemingly never tired, letting them fight and fight and fight for days even while they hungered or even nursed near lethal wounds.
Volantis would also gain access to the skills he would have had as an orc warrior.
Orc warriors practiced their own unique combat art called Shaping that involved martial arts moves that manipulated the elements of nature around them.
Depending on what tribe they were from, they could shape earth, fire, or wind.
Aldrich did not know exactly which tribe Volantis was from, but if he was an Orclord, he should at least be a master in one of those shaping arts, potentially multiple.
"Alright, I'll do it," said Aldrich. "Take me to your Arena."
"As you wish, my dear Usurper," said the Death Lord. She tapped the Throne Shard with her pipe, causing it to crackle with energy.
A list of various small portals appeared representing each of the floors of the Necropolis.
As she started to scroll through them with flicks of her pipe, Aldrich asked, "Do I have access to the Necropolis through this Throne Shard as well?"
"My, getting greedy now, are we? But I do like that. However, no, not past the fifteenth floor which you cleared and claimed as your own," said the Death Lord. "All others are still under my control. But you will be given opportunity to challenge them and make them yours over time."
"Over time, then, this entire Necropolis will be mine?" said Aldrich.
"That is the end goal of this, yes," said the Death Lord. "Ah, here we are."
She tapped a small portal showing in insides of a colosseum like arena with her pipe.
The portal expanded greatly, engulfing all the others to create one singular portal.
"The preparations are complete," said the Death Lord. "Take whoever you wish for this. In the case that Volantis is…less than cooperative. Orcs can be a troublesome bunch in that regard."
"Valera, Okeanos," said Aldrich. "Come with me."
"I am ever by your side, master," said Valera with a bow of her head.
Okeanos jumped a dozen meters in the air and landed right behind Aldrich. "I serve."
"Good," said Aldrich. In the case that Volantis did turn aggressive, Aldrich had to make battle plans against the armor.
Volantis had powerful area of effect Shattered Bone necromancy spells, so Aldrich did not want to take any units that might die in the crossfire. He wanted to take strong individual units that would overwhelm Volantis and protect Aldrich.
Okeanos and Valera were good enough for this purpose.
Valera could guard Aldrich, and Okeanos was strong enough to overwhelm Volantis, not to mention Aldrich himself had decent firepower too. He did not take other strong units like the giant, Crab, or Merman because in the case that this whole restoration attempt turned sour, he wanted to test out Okeanos's strength.
"This is all you are taking?" said the Death Lord. "I should not doubt your judgement, though. And my, this one-," The Death Lord immediately manifested behind Okeanos, inspecting the variant with curious, gleaming emerald green eyes.
As she spoke, lavender smoke curled out from her lips and flickered around Okeanos. "Is quite the specimen. The New World has its own fair share of mighty creatures, that is to be for certain."
Okeanos whirled around and swiped at the Death Lord in complete reflexive instinct, his rainbow colored eyes wide in utter surprise that someone could just completely blindside him like that.
"Ah, my apologies." The Death Lord swayed backwards flexibly, deftly dodging the blow. A gust of pressurized wind passed her face from the forceful swipe, blowing her faint purple hair backwards.
"Stand down, Okeanos," said Aldrich.
"…Yes," said Okeanos as he warily stared down at the Death Lord.
"I let my curiosity get the better of me. That was rude," said the Death Lord. She strutted back to Aldrich. "Sometimes, I cannot help myself. I do love things that interest me. As an immortal, that is one of the few things that casts away the boredom of eternity.
Now, enough wasting time."
'…But you were the one wasting time' thought Aldrich, but he did not voice this intrusive thought.
The Death Lord nodded at Aldrich and passed through the portal.
Aldrich sighed. The Death Lord's personality was almost like his opposite. She was less serious, more impulsive, and quite vocal about everything. The type of person he would not have gotten along with well in the real world, but he dealt with the cards he was given.
"Let's go," said Aldrich. He looked down at his clawed hands. Claws that might turn against him soon. "And prepare for a fight."
"I am ready," said Okeanos as he clenched his fists, surges of crackling green and blue energy traveling around his colorful shell.
"As am I," said Valera as she materialized her shield and armor.
