![enter image description here](http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u79/SharpshooterJack/markerGerald_zps253683a8.png "enter image title here")  
_Interesting,_ Gerald thought with a cautious smile, starting to feel a hint of confidence himself as his faith in their ability to outmaneuver this cunning serpent before them, if not by wit then at least due to the Grand Master's freedom being so greatly imposed. _With the seal of Hazzergash's prison having decayed enough to allow him to not only exert his influence outside of the crystal, but for his spirit to actually be able to escape, I wouldn't have thought that the Grand Master - a much more powerful demon than any of his generals - would still be so completely sealed that he could not even keep his subjects in line. I wonder why that is? One would think that the Grand Master's seal would be broken the fastest of the six, with him being the strongest... unless the seal is actually stronger? But how could it be? I doubt the Nomad would have held back his Spirit-given powers when sealing the generals, so where did he get the additional power to make the Grand Master's prison even greater?_  
That was a question for another time, though, and one that he could not hope to receive an answer to unless the Grand Master or the Nomad himself told him. At least this meant that even if the generals of the Infernal Empire were breaking free of their ages-old bindings, at least their dreaded emperor was still securely sealed away for the time being... as long as no-one went about activating more of these sigil stones.

"Once he has made the deal," Gerald muttered to Jillian when she was done talking, while the Grand Master now cocked his head left and stared at them intensely, "he knows that he probably can't make it again. We would have to be unusually stupid or arrogant if we went to stop this demon without telling anyone what we'd learned, and the more people are in possession of a piece of knowledge, the more its value degrades. He wants to be sure that he profits, even if we fail."  
"That's pretty close to the mark, yes," the fiend confirmed, surprising the necromancer only a little by being able to hear him despite the lowered volume of his voice. "And I will concede that if you succeeded, that would be a profit to me in and by itself, but as I said before: you won't succeed.  
Which is also why I am hesitant to consider your suggestion, Jillian. Firstly I would point out that the information you seek probably consists of three parts, actually: the identity of the demon, its location and the means by which it spreads the Withering. Even if you had the two first parts of the information, what did you think you would do with it? Destroy the demon? We're immortal; we cannot be destroyed, even if you had the power to defeat it. Secondly, if I were to reveal just the identity of the demon, chances are that you, at least, would no longer be interested in the rest of the information. Gerald would be relentless, of course, since ending the plague is his only hope of salvation, but he doesn't have much to offer."  
The Grand Master snapped his fingers, holding up his right hand with the index-finger extended as though he had had a good idea, and when he spoke his voice was cheery and enthusiastic. "I have an idea! An offer you two surely cannot afford to turn down. I will give you the information in return for you accepting a bet with me. The terms will be as follows: if the Withering is successfully ended within two weeks of me giving you the information, it will be free. I will ask nothing in return and set no further parameters to determine your winning-conditions in the bet. You can end the Withering by any means you see fit, or even have someone else do it for you, and I will be satisfied. So will you, since 'nothing' is exactly what you were offering. Sounds good, yes?  
If you fail to end the Withering within two weeks, however, you lose. If this happens, Jillian, I want your soul. I have no interest in Gerald's, though; your soul is worthless unless you actually win the bet, so there would be no point in taking it. Instead I want your staff. A soul and a remarkable artifact would be suitable recompense for the information I would be giving you, I think. Oh, and naturally I will want the staff even if the Withering claims you both before your deadline. I will want nothing else in that case, though, since it will mean that the culprit behind the Withering at least knows that I sent someone to foil its scheme.  
So, how is that? All the information you wanted, _potentially_ for free? Very generous, I'm sure you'll agree."