Fresh from completing his trial on behalf of Twilight, Haskor next visited Mhaldor, the now-familiar shrieking of gryphons heralding his chariot's descent toward the Stygian Crossroads. Meeting with Tyrannus Antoninus and a temporarily mute Zorina among others, the Demigod lost no time announcing the next trial. A rebellious Demon Prince had begun causing ripples in the hierarchy of the Inferno, and Haskor was to put them down with extreme prejudice.

Within the realm of this Prince, whose name was known only as Ghaurnrothe, laid a unique artifact, said to be of great assistance in the Mhaldorians' unfolding machinations. Much like the Trial before it, Haskor pressed the mortals to prepare a great ritual in order to visit the Infernal Realm, and was gone.

Some months later and the unholy rite was prepared. Utilising the vivisected corpse of Blackwillow, Axios Aristata led the proceedings: a fell ceremony of blood magic and murder which sought to contact Malortis, the Portal Master. Details of the exchange remain hidden, but local gossip among Mhaldorians suggests that a hefty price indeed was paid to the daemon in order to ensure passage. Quickly resolving an ego-based dispute with a local Magi of alleged renown, Haskor outlined the task ahead and urged great caution to his companions.

The portal, composed of viscera, bone, and gore, opened into a realm of foetid rot and bubbling decay. Immediately the atmosphere itself began to devour the Mhaldorian host, poisoning their blood and atrophying their faculties with each inhalation. As Haskor went to meet the Demon Prince in combat, the mortals fanned out through the spire in which they found themselves, soon encountering their treasure: an ancient lens, bound in root and rot and ruin.

Together they toiled to purge the network from the area, painstakingly destroying root and stem and carving away the blighted foliage guarding their prize. Though it resisted, forcing Antoninus in particular to valiantly endure much of the rotsheart poison on his own, eventually the web of plantlife and squalor receded before the exacting eyes of Evil's most faithful.

In turn, the might of the Self-Made was made manifest in battle against she who claimed the title of Decay's Queen. A twisted perversion of all that her Infernal swamp made manifest, the Demon Prince hurled recognition, accusation and judgement upon Haskor: worse, of acting to betray a truce between the God of Evil and the Demon Princes of the Inferno. Answering accusation with sword-tipped rebuttal despite a competing confirmation shouted by Aegoth, the storied might of the Self-Made bore axe and blade in hand, engaging Ghaurnrothe in clash after clash that soon ended in decapitation.

But Ghaurnrothe was more than a mere body, for she was all her foetid realm and Mhaldor, even Haskor himself, mere flecks deep within. It was a fact not unnoticed by some few perceptive soldiers of Baelgrim accompanying Haskor, and after a strategic shift brought on by Haskor's obliteration of an army of the Prince's puppet selves, the glory of the Self-Made swept back into battle. He need not battle as a mortal would, with weapon in hand upon the field. This was his Trial, a challenge of Ascension, and to triumph Haskor would face the Queen of Decay as would a proper God.

And so, raising hands to the sky, crimson flame formed the legendary weapon of Divinity. Blazing a trail of fire across the skies, the bolt of Divine retribution tore asunder Ghaurnrothe's defence
and set her bodily core aflame amidst shrieks of agony. With that same Wrath limning his blade, Haskor, the Self-Made, Returned, Reborn, guided chariot to heart and split the Queen of Decay in twain.

With Ghaurnrothe's final form defeated, Haskor arose triumphant from the protracted battle, nose-bloodied and ego bruised but victorious nonetheless. The surroundings began to warp with the death of their host, the infernal will no longer present to enforce cohesion. Through the portal hurried first the Mhaldorians then the Demigod, back to the Holy City. Crimson mist revealed the presence of Lord Malevolent, Whose acknowledgement landed upon Haskor with the weight of eons.

And while the Mhaldorians celebrated their triumph and examined their prize, the Demigod waxed victorious, bellowing at Targossas to expect his arrival anon...

Penned by My hand on the 3rd of Ero, in the year 968 AF.