Alastor was exhausted. He beat the second God, although the world had a little taste of what its end could be like. Chaos was everywhere. Every country was now in an uproar. They claimed that all these disasters were caused by the presence of a new demon lord and therefore all the tragedies, the destructions were blamed on him. Though not many even knew who this demon lord was, which was fortunate.

After coming back to the demon lord’s castle, the boy only wanted to go bed, to snuggle into the warm sheets and forgot about everything else. It was a bit awkward with Mephisto and the others at first but they followed his instructions in the end. Hopefully they learnt their lessons. With Azureus now taking in charge of the demon army, Alastor has dispatched them to seek and capture every celestial roaming in Ragna, not to imprison them but just to keep them in check in case they did something stupid. He did not want to antagonize them too much for now since it was Ikarus’ people.

The new weaponry that Mephisto used also raised some concerns. Alastor was not aware of their presence and he wondered what else did the demons keep secret from him? But he would take care of that tomorrow, just not now. For now he just wanted to rest.

Alastor was not exhausted physically. His health was perfectly fine. But the questions, the mysteries, they just kept coming. Even the Gods were acting strange. If they really wanted to kill him, why did they not come together instead of facing him alone one by one? What did Merkabah mean with his last words?

“To save is to kill!”

He felt like as if this was all part of a game and Alastor was just a pawn, being guided all the way from one purpose to another. Nothing made sense to him. Who killed his parents? What was Eden’s goal? So many questions yet no answers.

Lying on the bed on his side, he faced the window as the boy contemplated about his problems. Then he heard the sound of the door of his chamber opening with someone walking inside. Slowly the person mounted on his bed and laid next to him, putting their hands around him tightly. Immediately he recognized her smell.

“I didn’t expect you to be that bold.” Said Alastor as he turned back to look at her.

“No don’t. Don’t turn back. Just…let me stay like this!” Ikarus kept Alastor from turning to her.

“….ok” muttered the boy.

The two did not say a word the entire time. Alastor was confused. He did not understand Ikarus’ reason of doing this. He wanted to ask but at the same time he wanted to oblige to her, for leaving her in the dark, for letting her go through that ordeal with Merkabah.

In the end it was her who broke the silence.

“Do you remember when you saved me and brought me back to your house? The time when you decided to create the bond that chains us together.”

“I do.” The boy replied.

“I was a broken girl at that time. I felt I was on a cliff that was on the brink of collapsing….Why? Why did you bring me back? Why did you…mend me?”

“…..” the boy did not say a word.

“Was it out of pity? Seeing an used tool being cast out by her own family…”

“NO! Stop talking like that about yourself!” The boy shouted loudly.

“…I am sorry…”

“It’s not your fault!”

“Then tell me! Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know…at that time I just couldn’t leave you there like that. I couldn’t”

“….” Ikarus remained silent.

“I am sorry for not giving you a better answer.” Said Alastor.

“It’s alright. I was just being stupid for asking you that. What’s important is here and now.” The celestial let out a small chuckle as she buried her face in his back, embracing him even more tighter.

“…ok that’s starting to hurt…” Alastor muttered.

“I am not letting you go…Hi hi!” she smiled. “Say, I will say something now so not a word ok?”

“Ok”

“I love you” Ikarus spoke softly and quickly buried her face in his back to hide again.

“…..hu”

“Not a word. I don’t want you to answer me or anything. Just let me stay like this!”

…...

“Will you become a demon lord, Alastor?” the girl asked.

“Do you want me to?”

“Of course I don’t! Yet I am not sure what I would do if you decide to become one…it hurts when I think about it. But I want you to know that you must be the one who make that decision, not me or anybody else. Don’t let anyone use you for their goal! Take fate into your own hands! And whatever decision you take, no matter the consequences, I will respect it!” Ikarus spoke in a sad tone.

Alastor finally turned his body around. Ikarus’ face was now right in front of his chest. Slowly he snuggled her and gave her a kiss on her forehead, making the girl blush and try to hide her face with her hands.

“Thank you for speaking your mind with me! I….I promise that I won’t let anyone deciding my fate. I swear.”

“…Can we stay like this until morning?”

“Of course we can! You are getting bolder and bolder, Ikarus!”

* * *

Back to the lonely two spiders who seemed now even more lost than ever.

“Holy shit dude, how many days have it been?”

“Three weeks….still digging…..I miss the outside man…. *heavy breathing* But at least we got away from that wall. I think I will go crazy if that thing continues.”

“What do you think it is? It went for hundreds miles. And that metal was special, something I have never seen before. Could it be some kind of ancient dungeon that sunk into the underground? I have never heard of anything like that in Ragna.”

“Dungeon or not, it’s over. Now we can continue our work before we……”

*CLINK (metallic sound)*

“You got to be kidding me. Another one of those walls?”

“…..HELP ME! LET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“Calm down dude! Maybe instead of going around it, why not go under it?”

…..

“God damn. How deep are we now?”

“Since we changed our direction and decided to go deeper… around fifty miles I guess.”

“Just how big is this thing? It just keeps going down and down.”

“Shhhh….be quiet! Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That sound. It comes from inside the wall.”

The spider carefully approached the wall.

“….You are right. There is some weird sound inside. Like metal hitting each other. A hammering sound and something rolling…Some kinky shit is going on behind this wall, I tell you.”

* * *

“I see that everyone is here already so let us begin!” announced Alastor, sitting together with Ikarus on his left side, Maria on his right side, Stella standing behind him, the four demon royal guards on the other side of the table and finally Alice sitting on the couch easting a cake.

“As you have known, the events that happened recently were still shocking to all of us. But now it’s not the time to stand around like an idiot and ignore what just happen. It’s not also the time to keep secret from each other.

I admit that what happened at Caelum was by me and perhaps I should have consulted with everyone first. However, the fact remains that you also haven’t been entirely honest with me. These strange weaponry, the Destroyers as you call them, are the most powerful weapon the demon army currently has and I have no idea about their existence. Secondly I will not tolerate anyone into forcing me to become your demon lord. That’s not to say that I won’t become one but according to our agreement, Mephisto, I still have quite a bit of time left so I would appreciate if you can respect my decision.” Alastor gave his speech.

“That’s reasonable. I apologize for me and my colleagues’ behaviors. I swear we won’t interfere with your decision again.” Mephisto said.

“Good! Now that’s a good start if I ever know one. So how about you tell me what these Destroyers are and what is that door in the underground of the castle?”

“The Destroyers are constructs that were built by the Artificer during his alliance with us. For years he supplied us with mechanical soldiers and in return we will provide him everything he needed for his research. Even this castle was an old testament between the Artificer and the first demon lord after the Exodus.

However the Destroyers are quite unstable and these I think are only the old prototype. The Artificer was actually supposed to provide us a new model with a way to control these machines better but in the end he died before he could accomplish that. Over the years we have had a few accidents with them so their uses are strictly forbidden and can only be called upon as a last resort.

The door in the underground leads to a place called Tartarus. It’s basically an underground fortress that serve as our location to train our troops as well as hiding them from the curious eyes of the outside. That’s how we manage to remain hidden for so long. From above the castle is hidden by a barrier and they will not search that thoroughly because there is no large settlement of demon anywhere, aside from a few clans of demons that are not part of our army. Needless to say, that place was also built by the Artificer with the help of his mechanical soldiers that never need rest or food.” Mephisto explained.

“Interesting! I always thought the demon army is just a gathering of a few hundred soldiers hiding somewhere in Ragna. To think they have been here all this time right under me. You have to show it to me latter.

Alright on to the next issue. Azureus, how are we doing with the celestials?”

“So far we have captured 3549. As you all can probably imagine, they are not very happy being in our custody. Some have attempted to flee but it’s easily manageable. Not many among the rest are fighters. I believe a few more is still out there but it won’t be more than four thousand.” Azureus reported.

Hearing it, Ikarus clenched her hand. It was shaking when she heard the distraught news. Her own people was on the brink of extinction because of their God’s madness. Even his reason for doing so was unclear until today. She could not help but feeling sad and angry at not just him but also at herself for leading him there.

Then Alastor took her trembling hand and held it tightly to reassure her. This didn’t make someone very happy.

“Ehem….so what about that celestial you brought, Ikarus? Who is she exactly?” Maria asked.

“I actually don’t know her name but Mikael seems to know her.” Answered Ikarus.

“Ingrid…her name is Ingrid.” The door opened as a skeletal figure walked in. It was Noroeth.

“Ingrid the White, the missing hero?” asked Alastor. Ingrid was also one of the only two survivors of the tragedy at the demon lord’s castle, together with Morgan. But now that Morgan was dead, Ingrid was the only person that could help them shed some light on this mystery.

“Yes. The only survivor from that tragedy ten years ago, if you don’t take me in account.” The lich answered. “And perhaps the only one who knew what really happened. But….”

“But what?”

“I don’t think you can get anything from her. Whatever caused her injuries has also made her very mentally unstable. Together with Amelia and the healers of the castle, we have tried to restore her wounds and psyche but no matter what we did, nothing would heal. All of her Mana Stream has been cut off.” Noroeth explained.

“Mana stream? What is that?” Maria asked.

The witch Amelia decided to explain. “Mana stream is the flow of mana that travels across a person’s entire body. Imagine it like your vein that circulates the blood in your body but in this case it’s mana. Without a mana stream, mana could not reside within the body and the person will never be able to use spells.

That’s not the worst. Healing magic actually relies on the mana stream in order to heal somebody. Pouring your own mana into the body of an injured person, guiding it through the mana stream to reach the wound, that’s the basic of healing magic. However, in Ingrid’s case, we could only use superficial healing with herbs and potions because her mana stream has been cut off.”

“Cutting off the mana stream? Is it even possible?” Ikarus said in disbelief.

“It is, with soul magic.” Alice said as she put a piece of cake in her mouth. “Among all the technics used by soul magic sorcerers, there is one that could be used to stop the flow the mana, therefore temporarily incapacitate a mage. I believe you have a firsthand experience with that, right Alastor?”

“Yes…indeed it was an unpleasant experience.” Alastor thought of Morrigan. With a simple touch, the Zagon Empress was able to neutralize his attacks. Though he was weakened at that time, that still put Morrigan in a dangerous light. Did she have anything to do with this?

“That same technic, if used by an extremely talented mage, could remove the mana stream permanently instead of just a short time. However, that kind of skill is not something you can easily find in the world. I am not even sure if anyone could use it in this world at the moment.” Lilith teased. “Have you tried checking her soul?”

“I wanted to as there was nothing we could do for her body. Unfortunately I don’t have much experience with the living and might damage her soul if not careful.” Answered the witch.

“It’s alright. We have the best doctor here that knows everything about the soul already. Am I right to say that, Soul Forger Magnus?”

Everyone turned to Alastor. They knew that this entity Magnus was residing inside the boy’s body and was the one behind the creation of the demon lords based on what Lilith has told them. However they have yet to meet him once.

“Is this true, Magnus?” Alastor talked to himself.

“…. Technically…yes” Magnus spoke through the boy’s body.

“Can you do something for her? I will let you use only my hands as I want to watch this.”

“I will see what I can do…”

…..

The group decided to check on the celestial Ingrid who has been resting in her own room. To avoid frightening her, only Alastor would come in. The girl was sitting on her bed, staring at the window. Perhaps she felt the warm sunlight coming in from that direction. The boy carefully walked up to her slowly.

“Hello…..ah no…” he forgot that she could not hear him. Even when he was next to her, Ingrid did not react. Her broken wing reminded him a bit of when he just found Ikarus. He had a sad expression just by looking at it.

“Who could have done this to you….” Alastor spoke to himself. “Do your thing, Magnus! Be gentle with her!”

“Here I go!”

A dim blue light wrapped Alastor’s hands as they became translucent. Magnus moved both hands forward and touched the girl’s chest.

“Open up to me”

A crack fissured on Ingrid’s chest like a hole. It was even possible to look inside although it was very dark. With the crack opened up bigger and bigger, Magnus put his hands inside.

“What are you doing?”

“Searching for her soul. Be quiet! Let me concentrate! …..Ah here it is. Hum…This is bad.”

…..

As everyone was anxiously waiting outside for the result, the door opened with Alastor walking out.

“So how was it?” Ikarus asked.

“Her soul has been badly damaged. I can confirm that these injuries were indeed caused by a soul magic user, and a very powerful one. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do for her psyche and senses. She will remain a handicapped for the rest of her life.” Magnus said.

“Too bad….to think that a hero could fall in this state…” Lilith spoke.

“Let’s just take care of her for now! Maybe we can find something that might help us but sitting here thinking about won’t help.” Alastor conveyed.

“You are right. There is nothing we can do about it for now anyway. If possible I would like to move on to the next matter.” Mephisto insisted. “About that thing on the sky.”

Ah yes. The God of Celestials Merkabah may have died but he left something: the giant gate that still hovered on the sky of Ragna. That object almost destroyed the entire world and now seeing that it was still there rendered the group even more nervous. It might have been closed for now but what if it opened up again?

“I have investigated the gate myself yesterday. I tried to open it but it just would not budge. I don’t think physical strength is enough, it needs perhaps some kind of key or something.” Alastor said his mind.

“I am not sure I want to open it. Why would you?” asked Maria.

“Before he died, I heard Merkabah calling it the gate of Celestia. From what I can gather, Celestia seems to be the name of the heavens where the Gods resided. I figure if we could find a way to open it, we can seek the answers from the Gods themselves. Also I don’t like to just wait for them to come. With that door open I could go find them myself. At least then we will have more options.

For now just keep a close eye on that gate! Just in case another one passes through.” The boy spoke.

“…I am afraid they already have….” The beastman Naberius uttered.

“What do you mean?”

“Before the gate closes itself, I saw two light coming out of it with incredible speeds. One was heading toward the direction of Oros while the other one toward Mara, though I am not sure where it was going to exactly.” Naberius confessed.

“It must be two of the Six. So this time they sent out two at once. But still why not coming for me directly? Just what are they planning this time?”

“Do you think like Merkabah they could be going back to their own people?” said Ikarus hesitantly. Memories of the massacre in Avant-Heim was coming back to her. She couldn’t forget those images: the bloody streets, the bodies piling up on each other, the collapse of the island.

“Could be. Though we know that it’s not a good sign….”