Vritra looked down at Alzinth coldly, she could have killed her as soon as she confirmed Samel was safe but leaned against the idea in favor of making her suffer a bit more. Did Vritra regret her decision? As a dragon it was in her nature to never regret anything she did, even the king's death was nothing but a mark in her path of destroying the sages. As for the fox whose teeth were about to rip into her body, or the arrogant look that appeared across its face as it relinquished in its early victory—Vritra only had one thing to say about it, and it was far from regret.

“Die.”

Black flames completely engulfed the fox before her, and Vritra watched with no remorse as it screamed in surprise then agony.

“I-impossible!! Ahhhhh!”

“Dragons are beings that inherently surpass all other lifeforms and are closest to godhood at birth. The status is hardly something we rely on in the first place.” Vritra scoffed. Her black flames were an amalgamation of her knowledge and understanding of the world and its rules, brought to life through the control of origin. She had long since learned to control origin without relying on the systems mana.

All the system did was alter the origin for its user in a way that meant they need not understand its makeup or underlying principles. What separated a being in the second over the third awakening was being able to freely manipulate Origin without the status. At such a level, one could begin to step into the path of the gods. Therefore, dragons who were born with a high synergy with origin were already closest to the gods on creation.

Vritra watched as Alzinth continued to scream in agony as the black flames slowly spread across her distinct coat of white fur. The acrid smell of smoldering flesh rose in a smog of ashy mist as the pink flesh beneath her thick coating burned through to the bone. Vritra allowed the fire to completely run rampant this time as the surrounding air seemed to fester in a vacuum of heat, not lowering its heat like before

“You're not going to beg?” To Vritra most demons were cowardly and would use any opportunity to get a chance at survival, this was hardly her first demon subjugation. In fact, during the time of her king, when the remnants of Archades had just newly split, most demons went rampant before they fell to their natural instincts and fled the continent.

Alzinth looked up at Vritra with contempt, she knew she would die regardless, she wasn't stupid. Her screams were brought down to quiet whimpers, the only reason she hadnt transformed back was that her larger body was all that kept her alive–perhaps this was her instincts taking whatever little shape it could in her understanding of pride.

“Just be done with it, liz–”

Before Alzinth finished her sentence, her body was completely engulfed in far more smoldering black flames as she fell to the earth. The heat rose rapidly to the point where the surrounding mountainous, snowy terrain began to melt into water then pits of fire and magma. There were no screams coming out from Alzinth any longer.

The Artifact she used might still be useful in the future.

Vritra extinguished the flames, though all that remained in its place were ashes.

A shame. Well, whatever.

Grabbing onto Samel after extinguishing the flames protecting him, Vritra considered waking him–but decided against it, after all, her time as Lizette had led her to know of the turmoils he would put on himself after realizing his defeat against Alzinth had how he had put Tene’s life in jeopardy. Yes, he would have to face this sooner or later, but now wasn't the time.

Lightly flapping into the cold air on her black-scaled wings, Vritra quickly flew towards her next destination.

The cellar she had instructed Tene and Urila to search down.

----------------------------------------

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

We had emptied out the cellar, searched the halls and rooms outside of it, and even looked around the surrounding snowscape–just tundra forestry and flat snow lands surrounded the tiny cabin. Located just north of our mansion, I had flown here while overlooking the surrounding landscape and hadnt caught on to any clues regarding her wherabouts.

My mother's whereabouts.

“Where! Where could she have gone… don't tell me–she was…” I couldn't even finish the sentence before intense waves of panic and anger washed over me.

“Relax, remember, Vritra said that the life stone she gave her still functions. She's alive.”

“ALIVE!!! But what does it matter if she could be killed any second!” My temper soared as I yelled at Urila in the cramped cellar. Obviously, he didn't care about her, I doubt she was even necessary for any of his goals. I knew getting angry at him was hardly a solution for anything—ugh I wish there were some goblins or something around.

BANG!

The cellar door burst into fragmented shards of wood as heaps of dust scattered throughout the damply lit room. A familiar shadowed figure with now ashy white hair dashed through the dust and blew its contents across the cellar before then slamming against the wooden floorboards from the skies, creating cracks in its surface. A slumped figure lay down resting on her back as Vritra stepped towards us, a calm expression on her face as she scanned the room quickly.

A frown quickly spread across her pale face.

“Vritra…She's not here.” There was a low intensity to my voice like I could erupt again at any moment.

“I can see that child. Let's wake your father, we'll need to formulate a plan. We know too little to even know her whereabouts, let alone save her.”

Putting my father down gently, Vritra touched his forehead with a speck of black flame lightly illuminating her fingertips. Within seconds my father groggily opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings, confusion written all over his face.

“Tene? Urila? What's going on? Who is this woman? Wait…Alzinth!! Where is she!!” Standing up abruptly, he had a slightly panicked look on his face as he took a battle stance.

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“Relax, Father. Vritra defeated her” I walked towards my father and standing on my toes tried to gently placate him by caressing his shoulder. Normally a hug would sit best in this situation–I wasn't in the mood for that at all sadly, not like I was much of a hugger in the first place.

“Vritra?! You escaped! How?!”

So he already knew who she was, I guess They had at some point come into contact with one another.

“It looks like plans were set in motion without your consent, Samel.” Vritra subtly nudged while glancing in Urilas direction.

“I see, the duke”

“...Father, right now we have more pressing issues to deal with. We can't find Mother anywhere, Vritra said this was where Lizette had hidden her, yet she's gone.” My voice was irritated, I couldn't care less about the duke right now.

“Your mother?! Ugh of course, how could I forget! Dont tell me…” A look of fear entered my father's eyes as he hinted for us to quickly explain the status quo.

…

…

After Vritra quickly explained the status quo, my father had a determined steely look in his gaze as he looked at Vritra.

“So, she was captured but should be fine. More than likely, she'll be used as bait for me, similarly to how I was used for Tene. thankfully, since both of the demons are dead, there should be no information leaks regarding Tene. Their focus will only be on me. I'll accept whatever demands they have as long as Zara is safe afterward.”

“Unwise.” Urila interrupted my father.

“It looks like this fool gets it from you,” he added mockingly, looking in my direction.

Fool?!!

“I—don't plan to tell you to weigh your life against hers. But your choice will only lead to the demons becoming far stronger and potentially ruining lives on mass. We will find a better way where neither of you needs to die—master.”

Master?! I see, so they had that kind of relationship. Frankly, I couldn't help but agree with Urila’s words, he was right. Sadly, I didn't particularly care what the demons did to the masses. I just wouldn't lose anything that belonged to me. Yes, both my parents were my possessions, no one could have either of them.

“Also there is no way to be certain the demons will let her go even when you surrender yourself–in fact, there is a higher probability they will use her to torment you,” Vritra added.

Wait? How could I have forgotten?!

“Father, there might be a better way to get info regarding the demons and save Mother.”

At the sound of my raised voice, all eyes in the room focused on me as I pulled out the scepter that I had hidden in a small dimensional space.

“The scepter I had taken from Malgoth had had one soul still present within its dwelling. If we can somehow extract it, it might have some valuable information.”

Soul magic wasn't a distinction of magic that was far unknown and was actually a common practice as long as its legalities in regards to the law were upheld. Of course, stealing someone's soul without their permission was tantamount to execution if caught, and playing around with soul magic in its extremes was looked down upon, but the limits of soul magic were too progressive to be ignored by magic society as a whole.

Everyone had a soul, and once you died, that soul would quickly pass on after a number of days as long as there was no outside or inner intervention.

Experts in the field could easily extract or even resurrect souls temporarily for information. It was used relatively frequently in the law system to extract valuable information. It also had its downsides, of course, there were many limits and unknowns even amongst the top-level soul casters that made the process not only costly to the caster but costly to the captured soul as well.

“The Duke should be able to get a top-level soul caster in from the capital quickly. Still, there is a good chance that Malgoth might have been careful with his souls” Urila added, crossing his arms in thought.

Most criminals made sure that souls were completely extinguished with the help of a soul caster, or at least took them into consideration when engaging in their activities, at least the smart ones did.

“I doubt it,” I added dryly

“Ahem” Vritra cleared her throat rather loudly, as if to alert us of her presence.

“I think you all forget just who I am. Anything a ‘green-eared’ soul caster can do, I can do ten times better.” Vritra said pridefully, somewhat sticking out her non-existent chest.

I see, she made a valid point. Most soul casters didn't need to attribute their entire class just for discussing freely with a soul, general knowledge on the topic should be sufficient to learn how to free and gather intel from the trapped soul, and who is more knowledgeable than an over thousand-year-old dragon.

“Pass me the staff, I'll see what I can do.” Vritra walked over while asking for the staff.

After handing it to her, she looked at it for what felt like a number of minutes, silence filling the room as she motionlessly lay in thought. Neither Urila nor my father wanted to break the old dragon's concentration, not like Urila was one to care for awkward silences in the first place. As for my father, I could tell he was still self-condemning himself in matters relating to my mother and me. Every time I tried to meet his eye, he would look away.

“Finished. Good news, it's a non-imprinted artifact, so retrieval of the soul should be easy. There are also no signs of the soul being tampered with, so we can trust in the information it retells. I can free it now if you wish?” Vritra asked.

I couldn't help but be slightly relieved and I could tell my father felt the same way, now we at least had a lead and nobody would need to be sacrificed. Still, it remained that the soul would not only need to cooperate but be willing to turn on its old master. Most captured souls were usually trained for obedience after all.

“Vritra, please go on ahead—I'm grateful for your assistance by the way, You've done nothing but continue to save my family, master, thank you.” My father gratefully bowed toward Vritra.

“It's ok Samel, it's my duty to protect your lineage, a sworn oath I took years ago. A measly demon won't break my bonds.” Vritra replied as black flames engulfed the staff, the orb at the top of the staff's shaft began to glow faintly before turning as black as the night. Then, as if a projection was emanating from the void-like darkness, a ghost-like figure made an appearance in the room.

It was a young boy who looked no older than me, though I could be wrong since the entirety of his body was distorted and see-through. The boy appeared afraid as if he didn't know where he was.

“CLAAAAaaaAAAAIRRRRrrrrrREEEEeeeEE!!!!!” An echoed almost screechy voice resonated from the projection, like chalk being scraped on a whiteboard. The young boy's figure seemed to finally come to grips with his surrounding, looking at all of us with—animosity.

“Oh it's been a while, I've certainly gotten rusty. One moment.” The flames at Vritra's fingertips seemed to calm down slightly and produce far less heat. The projection in front of us became far clearer and I could now make out a young boy my age with a displeased expression on his face. Sadly, the image had no color, and he was still glass-like.

“You bastards are working with that demon aren't you?—Clare where is she?!” The boy's voice was much clearer now as his voice broke off into clear sorrow, almost as of he was holding back tears. I pitied him, whoever this claire was, was certainly already dead.

I looked towards Urila who then looked towards my father, there was only one man who was best for situations such as this. Neither Urila nor myself were particularly empathetic after all.

“She's more than likely dead.” my father said, sadness entrenched within his voice, I could tell he truly felt for the boy.

“...You monsters!!” The boy's voice was filled with anger and hatred as he pulled out a transparent weapon from the sword sheath on his waist. Written loosely on the sheath read ‘Monte’. The only inscribed weapons were the ones that belonged to powerful families, yet I had never heard of such a family name. Interestingly enough, for the image of the weapon to follow his soul into the afterlife….meant it certainly meant a lot to him.

“Yes, we will kill the ‘monsters’ who did that to her. My wife was also captured, her fate is sealed if we don't help her.” My father said.

The boy appeared slightly shocked, but I'm sure he was capable of putting two and two together. Hurting my father here would save nobody here, not like he could in the first place.

“What's your name?” My father said, walking up to the boy and bending down to his eye level, he spoke to the boy as if he was speaking to a relative or family member.

The boy looked at my father, slightly differently than before, the hatred and resentment in his eyes dimming slightly. My father's nature rubbed off him more than likely.

“Luke, birth-guard of lady Claire Luoisette Monte. I-I failed in my duty, I no longer deserve such a title. If only I had been stronger!!” Luke looked up at my father with deep resignation, he had yet to accept his outcome.

They were clearly from a noble family, yet I had never heard of it in my classes with Lizzette and I was certain I had all the main households memorised. Perhaps they were from a family outside the kingdom–the empire? But then what would an aristocrat from the empire be doing here, and such young children at that?

“I too failed in my duty to protect my family. I understand your pains, but all that can be done now is make sure that such tragedy never happens again.”

“...I'll do anything I can to avenge Claire–but please, if by some chance she's still alive somehow-

“You can leave that to us, if she is still alive we will certainly save her–ill-treat her no different to my wife in the operation.” My father quickly reassured the boy, cutting him off and somewhat giving him hope.

“I see, you're a kind person.”

Too kind if you ask me, The second my father decides to prioritize the child's life over my mother's, I would resort to the exact opposite–that I was certain of.

“People lost their minds as they tumbled through the earth encased in a darkness that resembled the night, the world split in two like a mirror and those that entered its depths only returned a fraction of what they once were. Can you beat that?” Luke asked warily, perhaps he didn't want us to run to our deaths.

Vritra scuffed lightly, speaking up before my father could respond.

“Child, What you described is no god, but a demon that feasts on fear, and there are no forces in this world that I cannot bend to its knees.”