What a bright sunny day. What could go wrong?

So Victor asked himself, as he flew over Isabelle Maure’s corner of the V&V Empire. Tonight was Samhain, the Outremonde equivalent to Halloween. A time when undead and monsters acted up, like the ones making up his entire nation.

And they had failed to kill Odieuse before this date.

Which meant that she would get her hands on those ‘arrows of light’ he had been forewarned about. Between the missing Apple of Knowledge, Brandon Maure’s Wind Spears, and the Fomors’ access to Earth technology, Victor had a pretty good idea of those weapons’ true nature.

The future looks dire, but not all is lost, the Vizier told himself. They had magic, allies, levels, and resources aplenty. They defeated Maure, the Nightblades, Wotan, Akhenapep, and even recruited a goddamn Tarasque. They would soon face their most dangerous enemy yet, but there was hope. With [Harvest], he could focus on extracting every information Mag Mell had accumulated on Prydain, and prepare for the coming war.

Still, Victor would need a pocket dimension sanctuary as soon as he could manufacture it.

He finally reached the settlement that the Archdevil had established, a fortified town in the middle of the desert. Unlike the semi-anarchic Murmurin, the governor ruled her patch of Maureland with an iron fist; almost all of the settlers were bug-like fiends, and Victor noticed an armored hellknight at every street corner. Workers built new houses and fortifications everywhere, while sorcerers were busy growing plants on the dry soil.

He quickly located Isabelle managing a group of fiends establishing the foundations of a new watchtower. The archdevil oversaw the construction with a pleased gaze.

“Isa?” Victor called her as he landed. “How is my favorite private teacher?”

“Darling, you are back!” she said, smiling at his arrival. In fact, she looked much happier than he had ever seen her before; she had taken some weight though, especially at the hips and the belly.

“I see that you have adapted to your new role well,” he replied, removing his helmet.

“As you did to your new armor,” she said, appreciating it. “You feel different. Did you earn new levels?”

“And a huge charisma increase.”

“I can definitely see that,” she said, looking at him like an appetizing dinner. “Maybe we should put it to the test?”

“Actually, I can cast Tier VIII spells now,” Victor said, taking her in his arms, “I thought I could fashion my own private dimension.”

“Mmm, I have scrolls for spells that you could learn,” she replied, pushing him a bit. “I will be more than happy to teach you that trick if I am allowed to furnish the place. I have high standards for private leisure sanctuaries.”

Truth to be told, if he could do it, Victor wanted to build more than one sanctuary. To have back-up escape sanctuaries for Murmurin’s citizens, planar hidden caches, maybe intermediary checkpoints between the colonies. But that was long term planning.

“I would be very glad to resume your magical studies, especially in [Diabolism],” Isabelle said. “That will take my mind off this urban development project. The raw fabric of Happyland will bow to our will.”

They would certainly need it. “I’m always up for a private lesson, but you also wanted to tell me something important, no?”

“You are looking at it,” she replied, a hand on her stomach, "Or rather, at her."

“Oh, that you have gotten ffffffffffffffffffffffffff—”

Victor’s brain stopped working, as the truth hit him like a truck on a highway.

His mind rewinded several memories in quick succession, linking them all together into a simple, terrifying picture.

“I have something to tell you on your return.” “She couldn’t make it in time.” “A medical examination…”

Intelligence check successful!