Leo didn't need to deliberate. An alliance with a Demon Lord was a dangerous proposition, but the reward was a divine artifact that could channel and amplify the power of a god. It was a weapon he desperately needed.
He gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.
Graz'zt's grin was radiant. "Excellent! I do so love a man who knows a good deal when he sees one." He snapped his fingers again, and the frozen time resumed its flow.
The divine attacks of Amon-Et and Oghma Scyre slammed into the spot where Graz'zt had been a moment before, their energies annihilating each other in a cataclysmic explosion that shook the Gray Keep to its foundations.
"He's gone!" Amon-Et's avatar roared, its form flickering with rage.
"No," Oghma Scyre's voice whispered from the walls. "He is still here. Shielded."
Graz'zt stood beside Leo, a shimmering, translucent barrier of abyssal energy protecting them from the fallout. "A simple trick," the Demon Lord purred. "But effective." He then looked at Folgreis, who was staring at the unlikely pair with a look of horrified disbelief. "Now, as for you, my dear paladin... I'm afraid you've seen too much."
Graz'zt raised a hand, and a bolt of pure, unmaking energy shot towards Folgreis. But before it could reach him, a streak of light—Gungnir—intercepted it, dissipating the abyssal magic.
"What is this?" Graz'zt asked, his amusement finally fading, replaced by a flicker of genuine surprise. "Another artifact? You're quite the collector, aren't you?"
Leo didn't answer. He simply opened a vortex to Earth. "Leave," he commanded, his voice cold and flat. "Now. Before I change my mind."
The vortex was his escape route, but it was also a threat. He was offering the Demon Lord a way out, but also showing him a door to a world that Graz'zt had likely never seen—a world ripe for corruption, a world without gods to stop him. It was a temptation and a warning, all in one.
Graz'zt stared at the swirling portal, then at Leo, his eyes calculating. He understood the unspoken threat. This was not a simple demigod. This was something else entirely.
"Very well," he said, his charming smile returning, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "A deal is a deal." He tossed the Dawn Scepter to Leo, who caught it effortlessly. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you." With a final, theatrical bow, Graz'zt stepped through the vortex and was gone.
The portal snapped shut. Leo was left standing in the ruined library, facing a stunned Folgreis and the two warring gods, whose full attention was now focused entirely on him. He held Gungnir in one hand and the Dawn Scepter in the other, two of the most powerful artifacts in Thera.
He had just successfully stolen from two gods and a Demon Lord in the middle of their own war. The sheer audacity of it was staggering.
"You..." Amon-Et's avatar began, its voice a low, guttural growl of pure hatred. "You will know my wrath."
"His thoughts are a chaotic storm," Oghma Scyre whispered, the very air around Leo beginning to fill with maddening, contradictory ideas. "He seeks to master the Sun... and the Dawn... and Knowledge... and Deception... and Creation..."
For the first time since his accidental apotheosis, Leo felt a genuine thrill. Not of fear, but of pure, unadulterated power. He had just played a game of gods and devils, and he had won. He looked from one enraged deity to the other, a slow, confident smile spreading across his face.
"Gentlemen," he said, his voice ringing with a newfound authority. "Shall we continue?"