Alastor's POV
I found myself in the Abyss again. This place was still the same as ever, constantly veiled under a black mist. In front of me sat a human female on the ground. She had long black hair covering her face. The most peculiar aspect of hers was what she wore. Chains, lot of chains as if she was a prisoner. Her hands and legs were shackled. Her arms covered by chains. Even her body did not have a single shred of cloth but only chains, enough to conceal her private parts. A black tattoo trailed from her legs to her face.
"So you finally found one." said the woman.
"Alice has one too you know. But yes I admit that I did not expect to find one so soon." I said.
"Alice is your sister. I don't count her as the first. But as for this woman, you barely talked to her. And she was an enemy." she continued.
"I will manage it. No need to worry about me, Beatrix!"
"The chain works in both ways Alastor. It will affect both her and you. Just like our pact, there is a price for everything. There is a reason why demon lords don't want to give their power so easily."
"I already knew about that. You don't have to remind me of that. Let's just get on with this."
"I hope you know what you are doing!"
Beatrix stood up and took out a chain from her body.
"Are you ready?" she asked me, holding the chain with her arm.
"Will it hurt?" I said.
"I will try to make it as painful as possible."
"What!!"
Without warning, the chain lashed out at me and pierced my heart. It hurt much more than I thought it would.
Meanwhile in the real world, Ikarus has prepared herself and sat next to my sleeping body. As I opened my eyes, from my chest, opened up a black whole. The chain flew out and plunged into her heart, opening up a white hole. Something was beating inside. Was this Ikarus' heart?
The chain ensnared her beating heart. I could feel her pain, passing through the chain to my own. So the link was established.
It was finally over. The chain disappeared, together with the holes on our chest.
"What....was that?" Ikarus asked me, trying to catch her breath.
"The
Ikarus did not realise that a silver ring has manifested itself on one of her finger. A gleaming gem as blue as the sky was embedded on the ring.
"What a beautiful ring! So does it work?" Ikarus looked at the ring with excitement.
"Focus your mana into it! As for its power, even I don't know. It depends on you and what you want. For now just think about your wings!" I advised.
Ikarus closed her eyes, trying to focus. The rings started to glow as Ikarus was enveloped by a blue light. The next moment, when the light dimmed a little, I could see it. Her back no longer had the broken wings. Instead a grand pair of translucent wings extended from Ikarus. Even her scars were fully healed.
"Magnificent!" I blurted at the sight.
As for Ikarus, she simply looked at her new wings, silently. Did she not like it perhaps?
"Sorry they are not pure white like the original one!" It seemed I screwed up a bit.
"No no that's not it. It's just they are beautiful." her voice wavered."Thank you! Thank you!" At that instant, she grasped me and hugged me tightly.
It was difficult to breath but I let her anyway. I kind of liked this feeling.
"Uhmmm....do you want us to come back later?" a female voice woke me up.
Ah damn it. Stella, Tasha and Edward were staring at us. In an instant I pushed Ikarus away. Seeing the others, Ikarus flustered with her pink cheeks.
* * *
"Alright Ikarus! Time for you to go test the ring's power!" Alastor said to the celestial next to him.
The group was now in front of the bandit's hideout. This was due to Ikarus who wanted to exterminate them before leaving the village.
When he asked her why she would do such a thing, even after being treated like that, she simply answered "Because I want to believe in people".
Alastor could not comprehend the reason that would push Ikarus so far. What was it? Selfish justice? Or something else? As for Alastor, this coincided with his interest. He remembered the bandit talking about Caine village. They must know something about the incident last year.
Ikarus lifted her hand and focused on the ring. A magic circle opened on the ground and something came out of it. With her right hand bearing the ring, she grasped the object and pulled it out.
A white spear adorned with two small angelic wings on both sides. The tip resembled a cross shape. The tip and the handle was connected by a blue gleaming crystal.
"Let's go! Stella please protect Tasha and Edward!" Alastor gave his order.
With that, Alastor and Ikarus charged forward into the bandit's camp.
* * *
"Drink it up boys! For tomorrow we have a raid to do! Hahaha!" the bandit leader said while gobbing down his booze.
"Boss, what if they give us the right amount as we demand?" one of the minions asked.
"Doesn't matter. That village is already out of resource. We will need to find another one soon anyway. Also the archduke has given me orders to move closer to the capital and find a target there."
"I still could not believe that the archduke is with us in this. Not only he sent us reinforcement from the army, he even stopped any bounties on us to appear. Without the bounty from the capital, no one would be able to stop us now. Truly amazing."
"Just remember to make it look like a demon's attack and leave not a single thing that could trace back to us or the duke!"
"No problem boss! We have been doing this for more than a year already. We know our stuff! Too bad we lost half of our group last year at that damn village. Heard there truly was some monster showing up and killed everyone."
"Well the less we are, the more we get for each of us. I don't see a problem with that."
"ha ha ha good good! Well then! A toast to our richness!"
"I see. So the archduke was behind this. No wonder the men who attacked the village was wearing their emblem. Bunch of idiots." a disembodied voice startled the drunk bandits.
"What? Who is there? Show yourself!" the bandit leader, sobered up and shouted out loud.
From the shadows, a kid and a woman holding a spear emerged.
"You are that monster!!!" a bandit pointed at the woman. It was the woman he almost beat to death earlier that day.
He grinned at the easy opponents. A brat and a sickly woman.
"Let me take care of this boss!"
The bandit took out his sword. But before he could even more from his spot, the poor bastard felt a slight pain in his chest. He looked down, only to find himself impaled by the spear he saw. But it was not just the pain he felt. His whole body was shivering and felt heavy. His breathing became slow and shallow. He tried to move his mouth but all he could do was mumbling intangible words.
From the wound where the spear touched him, his skin started to freeze and in a mere matter of second, the bandit became a block of ice.
Ikarus retracted the spear, causing the frozen bandit to shatter in thousand pieces. But the spear itself has changed. The previous blue crystal has now switched to a red color.
Terrified by the scene they witnessed, the other bandits desperately lunged toward Ikarus in hope of killing her before she could move. Unfortunately for them, with a single swing, Ikarus has created a flaming corona burning them to ashes.
Again after her attack, the crystal switched back to the usual blue color.
Even Ikarus herself was surprised by the spear's abilities. As if her mind was one with her weapon, she immediately understand how to use it, swinging it around like a part of her body.
The only one left was the bandit leader, still overwhelmed by the monsters in front of him.
"Tell me all you know about the attack on the villages or I will let my associate here take care of you." the young boy spoke with a sinister grin on his face.
"Please don't kill me! All I know is the archduke ordered us to attack the surrounding villages, making sure that it looks like a monster attack. In exchange he would lay us off the bounties and pay us a lot of money.
Please that's all I know! Here is the order the archduke sent to me last year. You can take it!"
The bandit took out a scroll and gave it to Alastor. On the scroll was the instructions for the attacks and a seal of the archduke.
"Please let me go! I only did what I was told to do!" the bandit pled for his life.
"But of course! I promise she won't harm you" Alastor said.
Hearing that, the bandits was relieved. He could finally get out of his nightmare. He slowly walked by Ikarus, continuously observing her movement. But she simply let him go. The boy did tell him the truth. He could the exit by now. Finally.
"But I will!"
Alastor raised his hand toward the bandit and created a black hole in his hand. The bandit tried to run to the exit but the suction force was too strong. He carved his fingernails on the ground to try resisting. The exit was right in front of him but he could not reach it. In an instant he failed to grab at the last moment and disappeared into the hole.
"Why not just kill him right away?" Ikarus asked the boy.
"I wanted to let him hope. Let him see that he has a chance to get away alive. And at the last moment just before he could reach it, I took away that hope. That way he could feel the ultimate despair upon his moment of death, retribution for what he has done. Don't you agree?"
With no answer from Ikarus, the two headed back to Stella. The poor doll did not very appreciate being separated from Alastor, even more letting him with a celestial. But Alastor did insist that the celestial would stay so Stella had no choice but to accept it.
They continued heading toward Cedra. With luck, they would reach it in a few days.
The next day, Edward approached Alastor fidgeting, while everyone else was still sleeping, except for Stella who never slept.
"...Hi...Alastor!" he greeted him.
"Good morning Edward! What can I do for you friend?" Alastor tried to be friendly toward to the boy. Edward has avoided him for the whole journey since leaving Ragna because what he did was a bit excessive in term of violence.
"Can you teach me how to fight? I want to become stronger. Just like you. Like you did at the harbor and the bandit's hideout." he urged
"So you did see me again at the cave." Alastor said
"I..am sorry. I only peeked a little. But you were amazing back there."
"I thought you were afraid of me because of that."
"Yes a bit. But I know you did what you have to." Edward admitted.
"Then tell me why you want to become stronger." Alastor asked.
"At the harbor you said you would do anything to protect your family. To me, Tasha is someone of my family. It doesn't matter what everyone said about her. I don't care if she is a demon. I just want to be able to protect her. But right now I am weak, too weak to do anything." the boy confessed.
"Protecting your family isn't just about strength. If you don't have the will for it, then it doesn't matter how powerful you get. Can you say with conviction that you are prepared to die for Tasha? Because if you can't then I will consider this conversation never happened."
"I can" without hesitation the feeble boy looked at Tasha. His eyes filled with determination.
"Louder" Alastor said.
"I CAN"
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"Good. From today onward, I will teach you how to master your magic. Be prepared as I am a strict teacher!"
* * *
Alastor's POV
It has been a week since I took Edward as my apprentice. Despite the fact that his mana pool was very low, he compensates with a very good control of his mana flow and has memorized all the basics.
And he learnt pretty quickly, which made me curious on why he would do bad at school according to Tasha. Either the teacher was an incompetent or something else happened there.
I have tried to ask him on several occasions but he always changed the subject while keep a somber face. Something was definitely up.
But I did not press any further. It was not my business after all. As for my plan, I needed to find a way to investigate this Archduke. Hopefully since Edward came from a noble family, they could help me with something.
Anyway we finally arrived at Cedra. Time to find the Osborn mansion.
* * *
Osborne Mansion
It has been a few weeks since Edward disappeared without any news. Richard Osborne, current head of the family, was worried something might has happened to his son. But when he asked the help from the authority, they only responded by saying it was his fault for letting his son wandering alone with a demon. But Richard knew Tasha. Indeed she was a demon but he knew she was a kind woman. Of course no one listened to him when he said it.
With his wife crying every night, Richard was getting desperate. He did not know what to do. But then from his study, he heard a loud voice echoing in the hall.
"MY LORD MY LORD! The young master has returned!" a man ran as fast as he could to his master.
"What? Where is he? Is he alright?" the lord asked his servant.
"Yes I have led him to the guest room. He is fine my lord."
Hearing his son has returned, Richard called his wife and ran to the guest room. As the door opened, he saw his precious son. Tears poured out as the parents were overjoyed seeing their child coming home. They ran to him, hugging him as close as they could. So they were not dreaming. Their son has indeed returned.
"What a touching reunion!" a young voice spoke.
It was then that Richard realized there were three others persons in the room, aside from Tasha. A white haired young boy with red eyes and two beautfil women: a silver short haired beautiful young woman and a charming blue haired one.
Lord Richard hurriedly stood up and fixed his clothes.
"I apologize for my behavior. I am Lord Richard Osborne, father of this boy and head of the Osborne family. May I ask who are you?" Richard asked.
Before Alastor could even respond, Tasha quickly jumped in.
"They are Alastor, Stella and Ikarus. On our way back to the mansion, we were kidnapped and brought to Ragna. If not for them, young master and I would have been sold as slaves somewhere else. They also brought us back here safely."
"Oh dead lord! I did not know. These accursed bandits are getting more and more aggressive every day. But I did not think they would dare kidnap a noble in broad day light like this. Those bastards! In any case, it's good enough for that you two are safe. And where are my manners?" Richard turned to Alastor." In the name of the family Osborne, I want to give you three my profound thanks for saving my boy. Please accept this! I know it's not much compared to what you have done for us but it's a small token of our appreciation!"
Rirchard took out a pouch filled with gold coins. But when he gave it to Alastor, the boy refused.
"Thank you for your hospitality but we did not do this to receive a reward. It was common sense for us to help someone in need. So there is really no need for any kind of compensation" Alastor said firmly.
"What???" Both Richard and Tasha yelled out in surprise. But when Richard turned to Tasha, she quickly covered her mouth and looked away.
"But I could not just let you go without any kind of reward like this. Ah I know! Do you have somewhere to stay in the capital? Why not stay here for a few days? At least to let us thank you for what you did." Richard pleaded the two guests.
"It's true that we don't have any place to stay. We are simply travelers you see. So if you don't mind we would like to take you on your offer." the boy responded.
"But of course. Tasha, could you prepare rooms for this young man and lady?" Richard asked the maid.
"I will be staying in the same room as Alastor." Stella spoke softly. She clang on his arm, showing that she did not want to be separated from him.
"My apologies. My sister had trouble to sleep without me so if you could kindly let us share the same room." Alastor apologized for Stella's sudden behavior.
"Please give me a room right next to his please!" Ikarus intruded.
"But of course. There is no problem at all. Please take a rest! We will send a servant to get you once dinner is ready! Until then, please enjoy your time!" With that Lord Orborne took his wife and son excused themselves and left the room.
Tasha led the trio to their rooms. On the way, she asked Alastor why he did not take the money even though he has told her that he expected a reward. But he simply answered that he had no need for money. Of course he did not. He already took a fairly large amount before leaving from the Vault. Also by refusing the money, Alastor could make the family indebted to him, allowing him to ask for their help when he needed, especially since it was his first time at the capital. Never hurt to have a connection with a noble family.
While waiting for dinner, Alastor pondered to figure out what to do next. He could probably charge into this Archduke's house but that would cause unwanted attention. He still had others places to go after Ceadric so it would be better to not get a bounty on his head.
Anyway it was time for dinner. Tasha just arrived to take them to lord Osborne. Perhaps talking with them might give Alastor some ideas.
"So master Alastor, I heard from Edward that you are an exceptional talented mage. Is that right?" Richard asked the boy.
"Is that right? What else has he told you about me? And please, lord Osborne, call me Alastor. I am too young and inexperienced to be called master." Alastor glanced at Edward, who shied away from his look.
"He told me how you defeated the bandits and saved him and Tasha. And how he wishes to become like you. " Richard continued.
"Please lord Osborne! You flatter me too much. I am sure with time young master Edward would one day surpass me easily". Alastor smiled at an embarrassed Edward but in his mind, it was quite different. 'Like hell you would!'
"So Alastor, what's your plan after this? if I may ask." Richard asked.
"To be honest, I don't have any plan yet. If I may ask, lord Osborn, are you familiar with the Archduke?" Alastor confided.
"You mean Archduke Galatal? Yes I know him, only by name though. I have never met the man himself. He is the king's right hand. Especially ever since the king fell ill he has taken over of all the court's matter while waiting for the Prince to come at age, which will take place in a few months.
Just between you and me! I heard there was some tension between the archduke's faction and the prince's. There are even rumors that the archduke is trying to assassinate the prince to take over. But those are just idiocy.
Even if for such outrageous thing to happen, the council would never accept someone out of the royal family to be crown. They will just find another relative of the king in that case.
Anyway it seems I have talked too much. Why do you want to know about him?" Richard explained.
"Just simply curiosity milord. I am born a commoner in the country side so I am not very familiar with Ceadric's politics. Then may I inquire you more about the prince? Surely he should let these rumors lurking around like that." Alastor asked.
"The prince does not have time for such lousy rumors. He is currently finishing his studies at Helios Academy. The same one as Edward goes to." Richard said.
"What is this Helios Academy?" Alastor inquired.
"The Helios Academy. By far it's known as the most prestigious school in the entire continent. Not only it has brilliant teachers from all corners of the world, the school is known for gathering the best students.
To keep its reputation intact and not let any outside politics intervening with the students' education, the school follows a strict neutral policy.
While it is located on Ceadric's territory, it has its own laws and rules that applied to everyone inside the school. It does not matter whether you are human or elf, commoner or royalty. Everyone is the same. Thanks to this policy, students from different countries can gather inside this institution without worrying about politics."
Alastor's eyes brightened when he heard what Richard just said.
This school would be the perfect next destination for Alastor. If he was a student, he could investigate how powerful everyone from different countries are. He could profit from the classes to learn one or two new things. Surely Mephisto and the others did not teach him everything. And most importantly he could approach this prince to inquire further about the archduke. If they were truly enemies, Alastor could take advantage of the prince's influence to take down the archduke. Now all he needed was to find a way to get in.
"You said this is the school Edward go to?" Alastor asked. He remembered Tasha saying something about Edward was bullied at school.
"Yes. He has been there for a year now. During the school year, you will stay inside the campus provided by the school but now it's the vacation so he went back to home to visit us. My son is not very bright but he is motivated so I sent him there. Which leads to my next question: would you agree to go to this school with my son?" Richard implored.
For years, Richard has knew about the situation his son was in, how he was bullied at school. The father could not do anything about it. As they said: everything happened in Helios stayed in Helios. But now he has seen that his son has changed a bit from last time he saw him. It could be that this was thanks to young Alastor's influence. What his son needed was a friend.
"It would be perfect for you. And since you two are close in term of age, you could be friends. You can teach him one or two about magic. At least he can't be worse than he is now, right? Of course the others two ladies can accompany you. I will take care of all the paper works and fees so you can just focus on your study. So what do you think?" Richard tried to convince Alastor.
It seemed that coming here was the right decision after all.
* * *
Somewhere else in Astora
Ten individuals were standing in a dark room around a large round table. A map of Astora was imprinted on the table itself. In front of each person lay a candle, enough to show someone was there but not their face.
"May the glory of the Sanctus grant you strength. You all may sit!" one of the shades said. "Terrick, has there been any progress on your side?"
"Aside from a few minors issues which do not require attention, the rest has been going smoothly. The archduke has done exactly as what we commanded. I have already given the artefact. With its help, soon he will take control of the whole of Ceadric itself. And that mean we will."
"Minor issues you say? Terrick, what you are doing is crucial in taking over Ceadric. Please keep that in mind! I prefer no problems at all than minor problems. Deal with it quickly!"
"Of course!"
"And what about Zagon? Any news?"
"Unfortunately it was not doing so well. The Empress proved to harder to break than we thought. Which is why I have arranged something else. It's just a matter of time before I succeed."
"The Empress is the sister of the last Hero. It's no wonder that she would be difficult. However I would have wished that you talked to me before changing the plan! My plan!."
"I only wish...."
"We will talk about this later. Anything else?"
"The elves have already been dealt with. A civil war is unavoidable at this point. All we need to do now is wait when the time comes."
"Very good! Still don't be careless. It's when we thought we won that we usually lose. So make sure there would be no interference from outside."
"It has been taken care of. No one would be able to come in Malatas right now."
"Good. Then what about Oros?"
"The plan at Oros is still undergoing. I have to rush it a bit since Celdora has already caught up with our plan."
"Celdora has lived for a very long time. Everything that lived has to end one day. Now it's his time! Deal with it!"
"Of course"
"Sigh. So aside from a few minor problems, like Terrick said, everything else has been going on smoothly. Do you understand now Terrick? Compared to the scale of our plan, what they failed to do can still be considered a minor mistake, but still when you think about it, their mistake could cost us a nation."
"I understand milord. I apologize for my ignorance!"
"As long as you can learn something out of it. With that the meeting is adjourned."
The nine shades disappeared in an instant, together with their candles fading out.