Behind the door of the sealing chamber, various lines of magical power glowed strongly all over the walls. They were intricate and interconnected with one another, almost like veins that were carved into the stone.
And if they were veins, then the center of the sealing chamber’s door was the heart, for that is where the core of the seal was. A core that was not only revitalized, but also was stronger than ever as it pulsated with incredible power.
Power that flowed throughout those ‘veins’ in the same direction.
A floating black sphere at the center of the room.
Such place had the appearance of a mausoleum, but that was not a place to let the dead rest, no.
It was a place that held an Emissary of the Evil God.
All the ‘veins’ convened at the floor beneath the floating black sphere, creating a pillar of light that covered the spere completely.
That pillar of light was a weak one before it was revitalized, so much so that it even had started to go on and off.
Something that disturbed the sleep of the being inside of the sphere.
It made his mind stir with memories of his last day awake.
He was Akramax, the Emissary of the Evil God that brought the gospel of hunger and sickness to the imperfect world ruled by a naïve Goddess.
Yes, that was what his God had made him see.
A world where a Goddess tries to be close to her people was imperfect, filthy, warped.
A God must stand above, a God should treat its creations as mere bugs with only one purpose in their lowly lives, worship.
A God should ignore their pleas and find pleasure in their disgrace.
A God should always show them that hopelessness is a bottomless pit by pushing them further and further into it.
And so, giving them longer lives, the blessing of magic, preemptively taking care of the petty reasons that could start wars and offering a helping hand at crucial moments.
Those were acts unbefitting of someone called a God.
Those…were true sins.
The people of Arte needed to know of true, horrifying struggle. They needed to suffer, to fear and be bathed in blood until they were either dead or devoid of hope.
But they did not give up when he and his fellow Emissaries tried to bring such unholy gospel to them.
When they tried to spread the absolute truth that their God had showed them, they resisted!
They fought back!
They rejected their true essence as simple cattle!
How dare they reject the wisdom of his God?!!
And if that was not enough, the naïve Goddess then fought his God as the Emissaries fell one by one to those Knights chosen by her.
Yes…she dared to raise her hand against someone that was clearly superior to her.
They who wanted to correct her mistakes.
They wanted to show her the true way.
She even dared to fight him in an unjustly and cowardly manner by taking away those who helped him stay in her rotten world.
As per that pathetic divine law, no outside gods may lay foot on another's territory.
Of course, his God had wisdom on his side and knew that he could go over and stay if he used his Emissaries to take root in that world.
To anchor him and his gospel.
But the opposite was also true.
Every Emissary that fell weakened his God and his presence in the world.
How could Akramax dare to inconvenience him like that?!
That is why Akramax fought to the bitter end against the Knight that had confronted him.
And that Knight made him furious!!
His eyes, his voice, his way of moving, everything of that Knight looked as if he wasn't taking him seriously.
He even dared to yawn in his presence and complained about how tired he was!
He even brought out some alcohol and dared to ask if he could have a few drinks before their fight.
That damn Knight! He was like that, yet his strength was up to par with him! And the blessed weapon he wielded was something not to scoff at too.
A sword that looked so simple, that it could even be mistaken as a cheap one…by those who do not make weapons that is. Not only that, but its sheath seemed to be of simple leather too. Truly, it was a weapon that reflected its owner's personality. But it was still a blessed weapon as much as the feared and renowned Rainbow Sword. A weapon whose name has been lost to history.
And as his God's fight raged on in the heavens, the oceans, the mountains, and a certain gatekeeper city, Akramax' fight raged on in a valley, one that ended up in them breaking the ground's surface and being dropped into the unknown.
Indeed, they fell into a massive cave where Akramax unleashed all manner of unspeakable ailments towards the Knight, but he was too fast, too agile, and his weapon never stopped protecting him too.
But no matter how many times the Knight slashed him, he would regenerate, showing how foolish of a task it was to try and kill him.
He was like some of his fellow Emissaries, for he would come back for as long as sickness and hunger existed.
And the Knight knew that too.
He knew that very well.
So much so that he never intended to kill Akramax.
No, he had planned to do the next best thing.
So, he pushed Akramax deeper and deeper into the cave without him knowing, only to realize it when it was too late.
That is when the Knight held his sword closely and started a powerful chant, one that called out the name of said weapon and then…it happened. Threads of deep blue light started to surround Akramax and slithered their way through the walls of the cave.
The lines of light then made two great slabs of rock move as if they were alive and positioned them in front of the Knight as part of great double door.
As Akramax looked around, his cave-like surroundings began to transform into a mausoleum, one that was filled with that Knight's magic.
He was going to be sealed.
Thus, Akramax was forced to humiliate himself and acted in desperation. Just before the seal was complete, before the great slabs of rock completely locked him in, he shot one last but great ailment at the still casting Knight.
One that the Knight was not able to evade, but…he kept casting his sealing spell.
And soon enough, Akramax was surrounded by a pillar of light that robbed him of his humanoid form and turned him into a black sphere as he was forced into a permanent sleep.
Waiting.
The ailment he had shot at the Knight was one that would rob him of his ability to use mana correctly. For he would end up expending his own life force at the same time. All in hope that the ailment would be quick enough to kill him while he still casted the seal.
But Akramax, in his desperation, did not realize that even if sheathed, the Knight’s blessed weapon would protect him from that ailment. Even so, that ailment was still within him. And if he and his weapon were ever separated, then the ailment would take a hold of him and kill him the next time he used magic.
With his sleep disturbed, Akramax’ senses were able to pick up on something.
An essence impossible for him to forget.
The essence of his master, the Evil God.
It was faint but he could feel it scraping away at the seal.
'Not much longer...just a bit more...I will be free...'
Such were the thoughts of Akramax.
And so, some time passed, and his patience started to run out.
He could feel that it was almost time, just a bit more and he would be able to once again roam through the world spreading his God's words.
So why not give it a little push from the inside?
Yes, that was what occurred to him.
And so, he mustered up all the power he still had and started to push back at the seal.
His spherical form twisted, forming something that resembled an arm and tried to strike at the weak pillar of light that had been surrounding him all this time.
But that is when it happened.
A wave of not one, but two outrageous powers surged through the magic ‘veins’ that covered the mausoleum and in turn, to the ones under him.
Thus, the pillar of light found itself revitalized and sent a great backlash to Akramax.
He screamed.
"AaaaaaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH—!"
The agony was unbearable.
The part of himself he had used to strike at the pillar of light was gone.
Nothing had remained of it.
No trace at all.
But not only that, the damage had reverberated all the way to his mind and soul.
And it was simply too much.
They broke.
The being once known as Akramax was gone.
With his mind and soul broken, he was nothing more than a mass of corrupted power without a will.
Even then, said power had also been affected by the energies that struck its former owner.
It was weakening by the second and one day it would disappear in its entirety.
Such was the fate of Akramax, broken and now sealed in a mirror space with no chance of his power ever coming out and being used to hurt the world.
Somewhere in Arte his fellow sealed Emissaries felt his loss…
Somewhere in Arte the sealed Evil God felt a slight shiver…
Both stirred if only for a moment.
_________________________________________________
Hmm...I think I had heard a scream earlier...but it seems it was nothing.
Man, that would be creepy here.
Imagine being completely alone and suddenly hearing a scream.
Scaary...it could be that my mind is playing games with me due to all this silence, so let's finish up and get out of this mirror space.
"Space, heed me, obey me, lock what is in front of me in this space, may it never be moved or accessed, [Locked Space]!"
I can hear the space around me groan before transparent chains appear from the ground and ceiling, forming various 'X' like patterns in front of the massive rock door.
Stolen story; please report.
They shine strongly for a bit and then they disappear.
"Good, I think that is enough. [Door]."
I summon a [Door] to my personal space, I headpat and hug Ilya, and then I teleport from there to the cave where everyone is.
As I appear in the cave, I find that everyone is looking at me with eyes full of amazement and confusion.
"Of course, they are!! What you did left me speechless, dear!!"
Ah, so that is why I did not hear from you past that initial reaction and that question, darling.
"That is obvious!! You...you...! Are you aware of what you just did?! Moving the entire sealing room to another space identical to this one, and then even locking it in that same space! That is...! Why did I not think of that?!! That is how surprised I am, Auros!!!"
But I did take this burden off your shoulders, right, Nerinne? No Dragon Lord or King will be able to use that emissary for anything.
"That is...yes. Thank you very much, dear. You fulfilled your promise. I do feel better now."
Just what I wanted to hear, darling.
"Fufufu~~."
______________________________________________
"My Lord, what just happened?"
So asks Erevain, but looking at everyone's faces I can see that they share the same question.
"There was an Emissary of the Evil God sealed behind that door. The seal was too weak and could break at any moment. As such, I deemed it necessary to..."
Their eyes widen as they listen to everything that I learned with Nerinne about the door, the seal, the Emissary and of course, what I just did.
"As expected of My Lord...even abnormal expectations will be blown away by My Lord's power."
Says Erevain with an expression of surprise on her face, one that also has a hint of resignation and acceptance. As if she just let go of whatever little common sense that she had been using to measure me.
I know that I wanted this kind of reaction, but it feels weird...
"But there is also the matter of the Great Founder of this Kingdom and this being the place where he sealed an Emissary of the Evil God. Most importantly...this is the first time I hear about him being a Knight of the Ever-Burning Will. That is something that puts a new perspective to the tales everyone grew up with. I hazard to guess that he erased himself and his charge from history by propagating the tale of the last knight dying while killing the Emissary..."
She says that while in her usual pondering pose.
"Not just that, Leader. That gives a whole new meaning to the existence of this Kingdom..."
Says Erica while looking at the gaping hole I left when I transported the entire sealing room.
"No, I do not think so Erica. The Great Founder never stopped serving the Goddess, Miss Nerinne. He kept protecting this world from that threat and built a village that would in time turn into a Kingdom that kept his will. The will to protect others from those who seek to harm them...no matter what the reason was and that will had been central to the Kingdom until now..."
Erevain's expression turns into a glare for a moment as she continues.
"Which makes what my Father was trying to do by freeing that thing even worse. Regardless of him being manipulated by Violet Death and Eternal Winter..."
She looks at the hole too and walks towards it, stopping right at the place where the door used to be.
"I will stop my Father from dirtying your last will any longer, Great Founder. This I swear."
She says so by putting her fist on top of where her heart is supposed to be and speaking in a solemn tone.
She really looks like a great leader and one that could be named the future regent.
"Master, Leader, I apologize for interrupting, but we have twenty minutes before the effects of the poison wear off. The one's in charge of this place will most likely take it as a natural gas leak and keep working. But that reason only holds if the poison's effects remain under this timeframe. Any longer would leave side effects and thus, traces of something else happening."
Says Allegra in her calm tone.
"I presume Master has a way of dealing with that hole too, right?"
She asks while pointing at it. Which is obvious, because if we leave it like that then all of her efforts to create a traceless poison would be for nothing.
"Hmph, of course. Erevain, please step back from there."
I say so in my edge alter tone and move towards the hole.
Erevain nods and steps back.
Ah, also, darling. Write a letter to the Dragon Lords with a bit of the feelings you have towards them.
"Kukuku...very well dear...kukuku…"
Wow, instant dark Nerinne and I just said 'a bit'...
I raise my hand towards the hole, but then I look back at Mika since I can feel her gaze quite strongly.
Her eyes are burning with questions, so much that if this was an anime, her glasses would be shining.
"Mika, tell me the question that is burning inside of you, right now."
I say so with a confident smile and she reacts to it by getting startled for a second and moving her glasses up with her left hand.
"Y-yes! I-If I ignore the startling implications of there being greater spatial spells than [Grand Teleportation] and [Grand Gate], then it would be a question that has been on my mind since Master mentioned the mirror space's appearance! Where is the reflection of the sealing room that got replaced with the one here?!"
She lets out that question with all her heart. And hey, it’s obvious that for her, a caster, what I just did blew up everything that she thought it was possible with the space attribute.
Even more so given her studious nature.
And I'm about to reinforce that idea with what I’m going to do now.
"Right here."
*snap*
I say while snapping my fingers and making the reflection of the sealing room appear right where the original room was.
""""...!""""
All the maids are left agape because of it, but Mika is the one who is more shocked than everyone else.
If this was an anime, then her glasses would be broken from the shock.
"N-no chant...no spell...just snapping her fingers...was Master holding onto it this entire time? Ahahaha...haha…I know nothing of magic...all those years...all those books. Now I know how…now I know how you felt…Josie…ahaha…"
She says so in a trembling voice—! Wait, Mika! I know it was shocking, but don't go into an existential crisis!! Mikaaaaaa!!
"And here we go! Come back, Mika~~!"
That is Lucy trying to make Mika snap out of it by poking Mika her cheeks, but to no avail.
"Then how about here? Ehehe~~."
"Hyan! What? What was I saying? And w-what are you doing p-poking m-m-my bre-beast!"
So exclaims a now embarrassed Mika while covering her shapely medium sized breasts!
And yep! Lucy poked her right breast right in the 'special button' and made her come back like that!
Also, that was a really cute voice, Mikaaa!!
Oh, she hit Lucy on the head.
"Ow! I did it because you were on one of your shocked fits! If what Master did shocked you to that point, then wouldn't that mean that there is much more to learn? That should be exciting for you, Mika!"
Says Lucy with her spunky smile and her usual wink.
Mika smiles and nods.
"That's right! If Master's actions make no sense, then it is my duty to make sense out of them! To map out this outrageous, strange, and nonsensical new world of magic!"
Oooh she is all hyped up now! I should be happy about that! Even if some of those words were a bit sharp!!
"Yes! That is the Mika I know~~!"
Says Lucy sharing her friend’s excitement.
"Master is amazing! She looked so cool while doing that! It makes me want to follow her even more!!"
With how Bertia is saying that, I can't wait to tell her that she can call me Master Big Sis! I bet it would sound great!
"I finished, dear~~~."
Good, then let's put an end to this.
I move towards the massive doors and open them with my brute strength.
"My Lord..."
Says Erevain while readying her sword with a cautious expression on her face.
"Do not worry, Erevain. There is nothing inside, it is just an empty structure."
I say so while giving her a reassuring smile.
Still, I bet that she knew that, but the cautious part of her still made her say it.
Anyways, a cloud of dust appears as the door opens, revealing it to be a double door.
I then summon to my hand the letter that Nerinne wrote and a shiver goes down my spine the second it gets there.
Heck, I think everyone just felt it.
This letter has a really bad aura to it!
It will be the perfect replacement for the emissary!
"Hey! Those are just my honest feelings!!"
Exactly.
Now…I summon my pen and paper and start writing a letter for the King while I walk inside.
"This is...incredible..."
Says Erevain in awe with the place.
"Was this made by the Great Founder?"
Asks Erica to our dear class president type.
"Yes and no, there are some grand sealing spells that can even change the terrain where the seal takes place. This is most likely the case here. So no, he did not build it, but yes, he made it. Or at least the original one."
Says Mika giving a nice bit of exposition.
As we arrive at the center, we can see a couple of steps leading to a circular platform.
"It must be here where the emissary is sealed in the original."
I murmur looking at the place and then I summon a pedestal from the castle, placing it right there.
"These letters shall be here to receive the King and whoever is manipulating him in person."
I say so while leaving the letters on said pedestal.
As we get out of the sealing room and I'm closing the doors, Allegra reminds me that we have ten minutes left.
Remember that I took a mental photo of the seal and its state?
Well, let's just say that it makes me glad it was light magic.
I let my instinct guide me and I manage to reproduce it at least on the door.
Man, it was kind of hard doing all this precise control for it to be exactly in the same weak state.
But it is done.
Now no one will be able to notice the difference!
'Operation Villain thingy switcheroo', success!!
And if that sounded lewd to you, then you should cleanse your mind you pervert!!
With that let's teleport out of here!
Yay!
To be continued...(illustration of the sealing room's interiors!!)(Also, guess what the letter says in the comments below!)
From Auros' stat sheets: Luca's sheet
Name: Luca (LAST NAME UNKNOWN)*
Race: Human→ High Human
Gender: Male→ Female
Age: 23 years old
Rank: A→SS
Class: Shadow Scout
Subclass: Assassin
Variant: Daggers
Stats:
· Strength: C→A
· Intelligence: B
· Agility: A→SS
· Mana: B→SS
· Endurance: A→ SS
· Constitution: C→S
Passive skills:
· Sound of Silence (Movement & Actions): A→S
· Vanishing Presence: A
· One with the Forest (Traversal): A→S
· Knight’s Oath: A
· Magic Resistance: S (NEW!)
· Unseen Beauty of the battlefield: S (NEW!)
· Physical Resistance: D→S
· Spell Up-keep (Body): B→S
· Rapid Healing: A (NEW!)
· Humanoid/ Beast/ Monster Understanding (Weak points): S
· Tireless Scout: A→S**
· Shadow Scout enhancement: A
· Mana Regeneration: A (NEW!)
· Ambusher: A→SS
· Dagger Technique: A
· Tracking: A
· Dragon Lord Slayer: SS (NEW!)
· Abnormal Status Resistance: S
· Greater Sensory Information Processing (Details): S→SS
· ??????
Active skills:
· Enhance Strength: C→A
· Dagger Thrust: A→S
· Enhance Constitution: C→A
· Shadow Fog Cloak: A→SS
· Enhance Dagger Skills: A→S
· Eviscerate: A→SS
· Enhance Weak Point Damage: B→S
· Precise Strike: A→SS
· Enhance Elemental Resistance: E→S
· Foxhunt: A→SS
· Triple Effect: C→S
· Downward Thrust: A→SS
· Assassin’s Will (Dagger): A→SS
· Shadow Takedown: S
· Shadow Scout Trance: A→SS
· Unrelenting Shadow Assault: SS
Unique traits:
· Unaging (Race).
· Greater Sensory Information Processing (Details).
· Interference Magic.
· Pact of the High Dragon Lord (Voluntary).
· Blessing for the worthy: Knight.
· Blessing of Nerinne.
· Beautiful Voice.
Magic: Dark Attribute Magic.
Combined Magic:
None.
Unique Magic:
Interference Magic.
Spells:
· Shroud of Deception
· Shadow Mist of Interference
· Dark Ball
· Barrier Deceiver
· Flying Needles of Darkness
· Confusing Shadows
· Shadow’s Grasp
· ?????
· Shadow Dummy
· ?????
· ???????
· ?????
Titles: Abandoned Baby, Child of the Forest, Raised by an old Shadow, Grandpa’s Favorite Berry Collector, Grandpa’s only student, Old Shadow’s Inheritor, Godson of the ▆▅▆▅▅, Orphan, Child with no home, Ghost Child of the Roads, Bandit Loot Thief, Savior of a Noble, Hidden Attendant, High Class Student, Royal Palace Infiltrator, Avenger, Scout, Shadow Scout, A Grandfather’s Pride, Walking Mystery, Knight, Scout Knight, Bandit (Fake), Unknown Supporter, High Dragon Lord’s Go-To Scout, Scout Maid, Assassin Maid, Silent Leader of the Scout Maid-Knights, Top Scout of the Maid Knights, Ghost of the Battlefield, Best Friend of the Poison Meister, Silent Dagger, Cute Silent Maid, Shy Maid, Bang-covered Maid.
Nerinne's Divine Glossary Corner:
*Last Name Unknown: When the individual does not know their own last name, even if I know, it is not my place to reveal it.
**Tireless Scout: Said skill and it’s class specific variants, like Relentless Berserker, are passive skills born from the combination of the passive skill Stamina Regeneration and passive skills that enable their user to keep doing an specific action regardless of stamina limits. The result is a passive skill that shares both effects but strengthened further when doing said actions.