CHAPTER 2

“So are we going to remain here and silently accept the shitty treatment?” said Osfor.

In a cell near him Greetman grunted to the comment and was unable to talk back as he was chained and ha a mechanism that prevented him from speaking.

“Well, it seems that until the misunderstanding is cleared up we will be staying here for a while…” said Takeda.

“Guard!” shouted Osfor!

Soon after that a prison guard showed up. He was wearing a brown millenarian uniform with a small hat over his head. He had plain looks like a person that you will soon forget his face once you meet them on the street.

“What is it, traitor” said the guard.

“I could do without the traitor but tell me something how are the things out there?” responded Osfor

“Why should I tell you? Traitor. You should guess how the situation is, the country is in turmoil the king is dead and his son is nowhere to be found. Thankfully we were able to locate another relative to the royal family the situation should clear up soon.”

“A relative?” said Osfor “King Elior had only one son and before he rose to the throne he too was an only son. How did you manage to do find this said relative?”

“They said it was a bastard son of the king. For the moment one with royal blood in them is better to appease the worry of the people considering the declaration of war that you country had announced. Damn Alsians you kill our king and demand the return of the ones responsible over it…Now shut up or I will have to shut you the same way I did to that loud mouthed bastard. I was having migraines from his shouting all day long.”

To this statement Ainz grunted again under his breath.

“Ok, ok no need to be so pesky thank you for the information though.” Said Osfor.

Normally a guard would not speak to the four of them and tell them what is actually happening but six months of imprisonment had thought Osfor how to handle this person and tease information out of him from now and then.

Thankfully the ones responsible over the captivity of these four neglected one minor thing.

“Damn bastard I would be sure to kill him first the second I get out of these restraints” Said Greetman. His voice however was not hearable to the guard as he was using Osfor’s telepathy to speak to his comrades.

“You are too heated at minor things Greetman, however it is weird that they found someone like that so soon. I know for a fact that Elior loved his late wife deeply to cheat on her or to have a son from another woman. It seems that the Organization is behind this appearance of this new ‘heir’. ”

“I agree” said Takeda who was calmly reading a book inside the cell. A book to which the guard had agreed to give to him due to him being the least ‘troublesome’. Yes the least troublesome as even Midorikawa was unable to hold her cool and almost managed to rip out the tongue of the same officer once he did a thing that deserved such a treatment…a tale for another time

He then added

“Where is that damn Ousay by the way…”said Osfor “He should have been here months ago something must have kept him from coming to get us I even sent him a ‘message’”

“Well your methods are weird using that familiar of yours…but anyway I just hope that he managed to read the situation and get our forces out of the Alikhian lands. If our mages that came here were to be imprisoned or worse killed we would have a very poor standing once the said war truly breaks…” said Takeda

“He is not an idiot. And even so Kansaki was with him he should know better than to let something like this escape his mind. So we only have to wait if Osfor said that he had sent him a message we will know soon enough.” Added Midorikawa who was too imprisoned near the four.

***

“This is so tiring…” I complained to no one in particular.

“You need to be more flexible. Try again”

I began to try and reach equilibrium again but found it really hard to maintain. Even more so than before to the extent I thought that it was but a fluke.

After countless tries I finally managed to get the right feel to it.

“Good. Maintain that state for as much as you could, we will begin shortly after you reach your limit.” Added Drakhsis.

To be honest this dragon is very kind and tolerant. He is passionate about teaching me these things, he might have his own agenda and plan for using me to leave this place but after all he is a good person-dragon…

It took me about three minutes before I finally collapsed.

“Hmm not bad. But not good enough either. For you to try and reach out to the Devil lord without it overpowering your body and taking control again you will need to maintain that state for far longer than this. At least an entire day.”

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“WHAT!” I said “An entire day! That is absurd. It’s been six months already the crucible should have already risen according to you shouldn’t I be headed there right about now? Hell, I don’t even know which way it is”

“Leave that matter for later. The crucible will remain standing for an entire year you still have time now hurry up.”

Damn this. I’ve been here in this world for almost a year now. Six months with Drakhsis and another four alone with on month travel to get from there to here. It was my seventeenth birthday last week and I only got more training for a birthday present.

I tried to reach equilibrium again and began from the start.

…

After few days –two weeks- I finally managed to maintain the state for as long as I wished. The idea behind it was simple. If I were to put it in words I can say that my Magoi circuit is divided into two main branches. With the spiritual energy in my body being more than ninety five percent of the entire Magoi circuit and only five percent was left to mana I was having enormous troubles trying to exert the excess spiritual energy to get both of them to the same frequency. Now that I no longer needed to keep that forty percent of my spiritual energy dedicated to keeping the devil at bay as he removed the curse I became much stronger but it only made reaching equilibrium even harder.

But thanks to a tip Drakhsis had mentioned earlier if I were to harness aura into my body the equation would shift. Especially if I could for example exert about sixty percent of my spiritual energy and burn it without using it and use the aura energy from the outer world to first increase and constantly replenish the amount of mana in my body and have it at the same time fill the remaining gap I would have about a third of my spiritual energy a third of mana that was created by the aura and a third of pure aura in my body. The entire thing relied heavily on controlling aura and managing it while exerting the excess spiritual energy to make everything fit. I only needed to practice on how to constantly harness it.

It was very hard at first due to like Drakhsis had said before this world’s energy is very complex and hard to transform but now I can do it with ease.

“Good.” Said Drakhsis “Now let me tell you one thing. Depending on how high the concentration of each of the different elements within your body you could take an aspect related to it. Let me further explain. Dragons are creatures of aura. So reaching equilibrium while favoring aura over spiritual energy and mana would let you stay in that form for a long time. Doing so while favoring spiritual energy will grant you the ability to use the aspect of the Ashurian god that you descend from. Lastly favoring mana over the other two would make you closer to achieving the demon from but for now try not to use the god form as it seem that your connection to him is rather…lost”

This is probably the result of him doing that jumpstart on me to force the devil out.

“So we start with devil form” I said

“Not so quickly now. First of all you should be capable of defeating him in combat to which I think you will be lacking but I will be sure to assist. Although you proved capable by defeating most of the creatures in this world a devil lord is not one to be underestimated. After all they challenged an overseer and a person that is believing themselves having a chance with them is either a fool or a very strong fool.” Said Drakhsis

“There’s been something that was bugging me lately. You said that some of those that challenged an overseer were Everlastings even more so some legendary warriors. If Ashura was in fact a god of war why didn’t he do the fight himself I mean I am his descendant shouldn’t I had lived in the true world? Shouldn’t he have more descendants? Why only me and why in the fallen world?”

“I do not know youngling. It seems that probably one of those to have challenged the Overseers must have been a decadent of Ashura and to which you are born from. But it matters not probably he can only feel his link to you and probably his entire dynasty has ended. The fact that the link between the three worlds is severed is quite depressing…”

I then asked

“What do you mean the link between the worlds?”

“Before the great plans as you call it, fell it was a part of the true world. Now that the overseers had decreed it to be a prison none could leave and none could enter. Only one entity besides the overseers was granted this privilege…and only he could travel between all of them even if he himself is not a god.” Said Drakhsis with a tone full of seriousness

“Who is this entity? He seem rather strong if he is able of such feat.”

“He is. He is in fact too strong. He is older than time. Even gods fear him and even we dragons shall meet him…he is an Everlasting. The Everlasting Silence…”

“Death…”I said.

“Indeed…Thathanos is his name but never mention it in the outside world. I would prefer if you don’t even think of it. He is a very fickle being with a twisted mentality…always craving for power while he himself have nothing to do with it.”

After hearing this spooky piece of information I asked trying to change the subject.

“So how are we going to…Euh…tame a devil lord?” I dumbly asked.

“Reach equilibrium.”

I did so

“Favor mana but don’t lose the equilibrium state”

I did so making mana a bit more about forty percent and thirty percent for each spiritual energy and pure aura. It was difficult and I almost slipped out of the state but managed to hold on after moments.

A blue hue surrounded me while the Magoi inside my body began to harmonies.

“Good. Now. FANALFEIS YAMI”

Once he said the words that meant untrue dark I was engulfed in an abysmal world. It was dark and nothing was perceivable.

I began to get the creeps as cold sweat began to drench my back.

I know this darkness. It was the same darkness I dreamt of those days…it is the living place of that thing that would always wake me from my sleep.

“Ashurian…”Said something with a sordid voice.

“You have the gall to show yourself in this world. You broke our contract and you still come to this place. Are you that willing to die…” said the same voice.

“What are you talking about? You were waiting for a chance no matter how small to take over my body. You even did so, and almost got me killed” I said in a loud voice feigning bravery but my voice really didn’t convoy it.

“It was due time. It was time for me to take over your body as such was our contract. But now you are much stronger. Did you come here thinking of defeating me? You know without the eye you are nothing. You managed to lose such a gift. A gift I would have been glad to have once again…”

Once again? Is he talking about the time he took over my body and used it? Or is it something else…

A creature soon showed itself in front of me. He had blood red skin color looked like a human but was almost two meters and a half tall. He had two horns protruding from his forehead and bending backward he had leathery wings similar to the ones I gained in that dragon form but were smaller in comparison.  He was shirtless by the way. He had a tail that ended in a sharp tip. The thing was buffed and looked like a body builder that focused more on the chest area and neglected a few weeks of leg day. You get the picture. In his right hand he had a sword…a sword I knew very well…The Devourer…how come? Wasn’t it taken away from me when I was back at Quietus? Strange…

“So…are you ready to die Ashurian?” said the entity and I unconsciously took a step backwards

“Worry not youngling. I am with you.” Said Drakhsis. His words gave me courage. A courage that told me that I could force this devil lord into submission…the fact that he was capable of killing a few hundred mages back at quietus was still bugging me but well, you only live once…